Chapter 122

Chapter 122

"...Why have you come, Elder Gabriel?"

Chang-Won greeted Gabriel as he entered the chairman's office by slightly bowing toward him. Gabriel acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod.

The two sat facing each other at the table in the center of the office. Without any formalities, Gabriel immediately brought up the main topic.

"I've come to discuss... the disciplinary action against Teacher Do-Jin."

"..."

"Among the elders, there have been discussions...about whether the disciplinary measures were too severe. Therefore, we are considering...lowering the level of punishment."

"Are you saying this is being discussed among the elders?" Chang-Won asked.

The elders, known for their inflexibility and bossiness, had never once reversed a disciplinary decision against a teacher. Once he heard they were considering lowering the level of punishment, Chang-Won began to doubt his own ears.

"Is there a reason why the elders suddenly made such a decision?" Chang-Won asked.

“Of course, we won’t be able to unconditionally...reduce his level of punishment. We will reduce his punishment from a suspension...to a reduction in pay, but in exchange...”

He was saying that in exchange for lowering Do-Jin’s punishment from a suspension to a reduction in pay, they would have him guard the elders during the Satanist Identification Project.

Chang-Won finally understood and nodded while clenching his teeth. He wondered why Gabriel suddenly said things that made sense, but as expected... His clenched teeth trembled at the elders' selfishness.

"...Is that a suggestion or an order?"

"Of course, it's a suggestion. Not an order," Gabriel said.

Then Gabriel looked around the room as if searching for something.

"Speaking of which... Where is the secretary?"

"Well, she said she had some work at home and would be back soon, but there has been no contact since. It seemed quite urgent..."

"Oh dear... I hope it’s not a big deal. The world these days...is so unpredictable...” Gabriel said and then clicked his tongue.

"Anyway, take some time to think...about the proposal. I'll go to the bathroom...for a bit."

With a brief struggle, Gabriel managed to get up from his seat and slowly walked to the bathroom. Once Gabriel arrived at the bathroom, he washed his hands and absentmindedly touched his hair while looking at the mirror.

He hadn’t come to the bathroom to relieve himself in the first place. He went to the bathroom to give Chang-Won some time alone to think things through. While he was doing this, the door of the farthest stall in the bathroom opened by itself.

Squeak...

Gabriel stopped touching his hair and held his breath.

The windows in the faculty members' bathroom were always closed, and they were all still closed. The wind couldn’t have opened the door. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Gabriel slowly walked toward the stall.

"...Who's there?"

There was no response. Eventually, he relentlessly moved his feet toward the corner stall without stopping. Finally, he saw something in the corner stall.

No, more precisely, he saw something hanging in the corner stall.

It was the chairman’s secretary. The secretary's stomach was split in half, and it was empty inside. The secretary's neck was wrapped with her intestines, and her body was hanging in the air, almost like someone who had hung themselves with a rope.

Thud.

Gabriel's phone fell to the ground from his hand. It hit the bathroom tile floor, and the screen cracked.

Gabriel picked up the broken phone with a pale face. Even though a broken piece of the screen was stuck in his fingertip and blood was flowing out, he moved his finger without hesitation.

—This is the Seoul Paladin Order Eastern Branch. What...

"In Florence Academy...a Satanist. A Satanist, ugh...!"

—What? What are you...

"Ugh, guuuuuh...! Cough...!"

The elder couldn't hold back his nausea, and he started vomiting on the bathroom floor. The paladin’s bewildered voice kept coming through the receiver.

***

"Another swordsmanship class? I don’t even know how many students have been knocked unconscious at this point... Alright, good job. Quickly, go back to class and rest."

After moving the two unconscious students to the nurse's office, I left while listening to the school nurse’s grumblings. Then, I immediately headed to the sacred training ground. Baron Samedi's prophecy to beware of screams kept echoing in my ears, and my steps were born out of concern for what might have happened to Do-Jin, who was captivated by the screams.

No? I wasn't really worried about Do-Jin. I just wanted to confirm if I had interpreted Baron Samedi's prophecy correctly.

"...Do you not have to go to the nurse's office?" Jin-Seo asked while following me.

"Me? Why would I need to go to the nurse’s office?"

"Does it not hurt?"

She raised her lowered gaze and briefly examined my expression. Usually arched, her eyebrows were now furrowed as she looked at me with a wary expression..

I shook my head. My abdomen still tingled a bit, but it wasn't bad enough to go to the nurse's office.

"I'm fine."

"You always say you're fine."

"Then should I say I'm not fine?"

"...That's not what I meant!" Jin-Seo exclaimed while abruptly raising her head.

Her eyebrows briefly shot up, and then as if surprised by her own voice, they flinched back down. I gave her a small smile.

"You suddenly got angry. How scary... I’m so scared."

"Think about it as you wish."

"Is that fine?"

"What exactly are you going to think about, to be asking for permission?"

"...True."

We continued walking while exchanging trivial conversations.

Flutter—!

Birds flew up from Eiden Hill. It wasn't just one or two birds. Dozens of birds lined up in a fan shape and flew off into the horizon. It slowly started to feel like the ground was trembling below my feet.

The school was enveloped by a heavy silence.

The faint smile that was on Jin-Seo's face completely disappeared. She stared at the birds flying away with her sharp, narrowed eyes.

Rumble rumble...

Then, with a loud explosion, a rumbling sound echoed and reverberated throughout the area. Following that, a strange sound that seemed like the cries of birds could be heard.

Kyaaa, kyaaak...

As the sounds got closer, I realized that it wasn't the sounds of birds crying. It was the sounds of countless screams tangling and intertwining into a cacophony.

Screams were resounding once again.

An echo of false pain.

"..."

Following the screams coming out from the sacred training ground, there were sounds of explosions and then more screams. It was too systematic and sequential to be called a coincidence. Something was clearly happening. It was a situation that required calm and rational judgment, but the situation did not give me the chance to do so.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

From far away, someone with fluttering brown hair was running toward me. As she got closer, her face became clearer.

With furrowed brows, she tried to hold back her tears, but they still flowed uncontrollably as she wiped them away with her sleeve and desperately ran towards me.

It was In-Ah.

"What’s going—"

Thump.

Before I could even speak, she rushed toward me and hugged me tightly. Her tear-stained face pressed against my clothes before she swiftly lifted her head.

Her big, round eyes with brown irises that were shining like stars stared at me intensely.

"Sun-Woo..."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she called my name. Her familiar scent, which I had grown accustomed to while being together, felt strange. Her fragrance was so strong that it made me momentarily dizzy. I could feel my heart pounding and my face heating up. Her cold hand rested on my cheek.

“I had a class in the training center when suddenly, the building collapsed. Sob, sniff..."

“..."

"Sniff, the kids... The kids were trapped under the pillar. Sob. Help, Sun-Woo, help..."

The Department of Priests had a class in the training center. Now that I thought about it, the explosion sounds seemed to have come from the direction of the training center. Judging from In-Ah's words, the training center collapsed, and as a result, students were trapped under a pillar. Since no one could lift the pillar up, she wandered around to seek assistance when she spotted me.

In-Ah looked up at me with tears streaming down her face.

"What are you doing? Hurry, let's go to the training center—"

Slice.

At that moment, her words were cut off. Simultaneously, her throat was sliced off. In-Ah's severed head detached from her body and rolled on the floor.

Thud.

Her body collapsed onto the ground. Instead of blood, sawdust and cotton poured out from the severed section of her neck.

"Who do you think you’re messing with...?"

Jin-Seo held her sword and looked down at In-Ah's body, or rather, the taxidermied creature's corpse, with a cold and chilly gaze.

Sssss...

Black noxious smoke rose up from the corpse that the blunt sword had severed. The corpse lost its elasticity and became gooey, eventually transforming into smoke and dispersing into the sky.

In the place where the corpse had scattered, In-Ah's school uniform, sweatshirt, and a long, thin thread-like object remained.

"Hair...?"

It was a strand of hair. A long, thin, brown strand of hair.

Wee woo wee woo!

I didn’t even have time to comprehend the situation, let alone have time to be startled. Sirens blared from speakers installed throughout the school.

With a sharp sound of adjusting the audio, the teacher's voice began to flow through the entire school.

Ah, ah. Student Do... immediately... come to the... office. Failure to comply will be considered an act of rebellion... against the Romanican Church. I repeat... student... Woo, please immediately come to the principal's...

The teacher's voice was mixed with white noise, making it difficult to understand. A wave of anxiety washed over me.

Crackle, crackle...

The constant white noise gradually faded and eventually disappeared completely. And once again, the teacher's voice could be heard.

Student Do Sun-Woo, immediately come to the principal's office. Failure to comply will be considered an act of rebellion against the Romanican church. I repeat, Student Do Sun-Woo...

The voice was calling out to me.