CH 24

“The watch.”

“Oh, right.”

I hurriedly pressed the button on my wristwatch, but something felt off.

Suddenly, my attire had changed. The coat was long enough to cover my feet, with a cape-like design over my shoulders, and it was unadorned, with several buttons along the front closure. I recognize it from somewhere: it’s what priests wear for important masses.

“It looks good on you.”

I turn around to see Simeon dressed in priestly robes, just like me. He was tall and well-proportioned, so the cassock looked great on him. The lines of his cape, which falls just right on his broad shoulders, and the fascia that circles his slim waist against his broad chest, are ascetic.

I stared for a moment, mesmerised, before I managed to catch myself.

“What’s all this?”

“I told you, it changes to match the world they’ve created.”

“I know that, but I don’t understand why we’re wearing priestly robes.”

“Because we have to exorcise demons.”

I wondered what that meant, but then I heard a voice in the distance.

The door was unlocked.

“Are you the priests who heard the news and came to help Kuma?”

I turned round and saw a pale-faced nun coming down the church steps.

So I’ve become a demon exorcising priest, and she’s here to give us a mission? It’s like getting a quest from a game NPC. Either way, the only way to avoid raising suspicion and getting kicked out is to blend in.

“Hello.”

I smile softly, and the nun places her rosary-covered hand on her chest in greeting.

”I’ve been waiting for you. May I ask your name?”

I almost instinctively said Shin Ha-jae. 17th-century Europe, which is not the name that a priest in a rural cathedral would have. Simeon opened his mouth first while I was wondering what to say to make it natural.

“My name is Simeon.”

“Alas, you must be Simeon. This is….”

Her gaze lingered on me, and I realised that taking any longer to say her name would only raise suspicions. But that’s the only name I can think of right now. It’s the only name I can think of that I shouldn’t say in front of Heo-sang.

What to do.

“Priest?”

A voice, barely above a whisper, spoke up just as the question crept into her eyes.

”John.”

I shivered and looked up to find Simeon staring down at me.

“You should be saying hello, John, not standing there.”

His eyes curved upward as our eyes met. It was a creepily beautiful smile, but I didn’t have time to smile back.

I couldn’t believe he’d called me John in the first place. What lay beneath the gentle smile-were those dark eyes truly looking at me? Or is he still dwelling on the glorious past, now with a name to make me a complete replacement.

“John?”

“Oh, yes, nice to meet you.”

For now, I have to let this go. I greet her with a bright smile, and the glint of suspicion on her face disappears.

”John, Simeon. Thank you both for coming, please come this way.”

As I followed her up the hill, I glanced sideways. Simeon must have felt me staring, but he kept his gaze straight ahead. I finally broached the uncomfortable subject.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I was just freaking out because I don’t know much about baptismal name and stuff.”

He feigned ignorance, and I could tell he was trying to get through to me. Simeon stares down at me wordlessly for a moment as I smile naturally. His dark eyes were surprisingly calm. Then he withdrew his gaze from me and spoke abruptly, as if to himself.

“That was his baptismal name.”

“Oh…”

He opened his mouth sooner than I expected and was caught off guard. I didn’t know what to say, so I blurted out.

“I feel kind of bad about that.”

“Why?”

“I know he means a lot to you, and I didn’t know if it was okay to just use his name.”

I’m embarrassed to say it, but probably not proud. He’s trying to find him somehow, keeping him in a picture frame, looking at him several times a day, and even getting attached to me, who looks like him. You don’t go to all that trouble unless you value something.

I spoke with conviction, but the response I received was cold.

“Precious…?”

Simeon, frozen in place, muttered in a questioning tone. His face furrowed slightly in thought. There was even a hint of displeasure in his shadowed brow.

“Something, you must be mistaken.”

……Mistaken? Does that mean I’m not important to you? Then what are the things I’ve seen, and what is your obsession with me? There were so many things that couldn’t be explained except his feelings for John.

I was about to ask him what he meant when we arrived at the church.

“This is it.”

The church is a rustic stone structure with no colourful stained glass windows. The ivy-covered walls are tranquil and rural, but the door is startling: the old wooden door has four padlocks, each with a chain wrapped around it.

The church of Zagoro is always open for anyone to come at any time, but that one looks like a prison.

“I’m sorry, I should have served you some tea.”

“It’s okay.”

She took a bundle of keys from her bosom and unlocked the locks one by one. Cholkok, cholkok. Judging by the sound of the key turning, it had been a long time since the door had been locked.

“As you may have heard…. Strange things started happening in the village, children suddenly disappearing, people dropping dead in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. It took me a month to figure it out.”

After painstakingly unlocking all four locks, she spoke in a sighing voice.

“The whole disaster… all because of a piece of paper.”

Kiiik-

She opened the door to a pungent smell of dust. Grey dust rolled across the floor from years of neglect, and thick cloths were taped over the windows to keep out any sunlight. The poor interior was more like a ruin than a holy cathedral. She sighed deeply and muttered to herself.

“Just a few months ago, we were actively celebrating mass….”

”Does that mean no one comes to this church anymore?”

“It’s been closed for a while by order of the bishop.”

I followed her inside, lantern in hand, and as soon as the door, which had been the only source of sunlight, was closed, the church was plunged into pitch blackness. It was so dark that I couldn’t see a thing. Fortunately, as she wandered around and lit candles, he gradually began to see his surroundings.

When she finally lit the candles around the altar, she pointed to the floor.

“I needed to lock this thing up so it wouldn’t attract people again.”

As my gaze followed her finger, I saw a familiar figure.

The one who sings with his only remaining mouth, constantly leading the living to their deaths. Six pairs of wings surrounded by ravenous feathers and unspoilt white plumage, a page from a fenex, a contradiction in terms, lay in the centre of the chapel.

”For now, the church itself is acting as a seal, but there’s no telling when it might cause trouble again.”

Despite her calm face, her hands trembled as she gripped the lantern. The sight of her fills me with a sense of mission.

“Don’t worry. I’ll summon it and dissipate it… No. I’ll burn them.”

A thin smile crossed her face as she pointed to me and Simeon in order.

“I’m so glad you two are here, now get some rest while I finish preparing the ritual.”

She set the lantern down on the floor and walked over to the altar. Her back was to me, feverishly preparing for something. Just as he was getting himself ready, he heard a voice beside him.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

Before I knew it, Simeon was at my side. I could see the concern in his eyes, but I didn’t like it. It’s funny to ask when you asked me to go with you half-forcefully under conditions, and if it’s okay now.

“You’re still worried about me, and I’m not sure I can handle it.”

I answer bluntly, and Simeon narrows his brow in confusion.

“I worry about you all the time.”

“What kind of person would ask you to do something so dangerous?”

“…I did the best I could to limit the damage.”

He wasn’t exactly wrong, but the risk was too great for another hunter to summon Fenex. In the worst-case scenario, it could kill him, not just comatose. With that in mind, I can somewhat understand why Simeon wanted to take me with him.

Well, one way or another, the ‘Fenex’ rampage will end today.

I rolled up my sleeve and looked at my watch. There were still more than 71 hours to go. Plenty of time.

“Let’s do it anyway.”

I was about to go to the altar to help prepare for the ritual when Simeon called out to me.

“Shin Ha-jae. If anything happens, tell me right away.”

“Why?”

“Because while I’m using my powers, I can’t see, but I can hear.”

I didn’t ask because I really wanted to know why, but I could feel his concern for me. But as always, I don’t want to be serious. I just want to laugh it off, so I deliberately crinkled the bridge of my nose in a playful way and smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll sneak away without you if it gets dangerous.”

Simeon’s serious expression relaxed a little.