Chapter 163

Chapter 163

The demonic beast lifted its head while tidying up its feathers. Its pale eyes glared directly into mine. I stared into those white eyes and stared at Jun-Hyuk, who resided beyond those eyes. The demonic beast tapped the window twice with its large beak and then opened its mouth wide.

"Open up, please!"

"Why should I?"

"Open up, please! I can't harm you! Open up, please! I can't harm you!"

The voice of the demonic beast was grating and harsh, yet it was also pleading and whining. It definitely wasn’t a pleasant voice to listen to. Seeing that I wasn’t opening the window, the demonic beast pleaded with an even louder voice.

"Open up, please! Open up, please! Open up, please!"

"...Lower your voice."

"I can't harm you! Open up!"

Knock knock.

At that moment, I heard a knocking sound from the front door. The demonic beast stopped shouting. Instead, it tried to shove its beak into the crack in the window in an attempt to open it forcibly.

After securely locking the window, I went to the front door.

"Yes, who is it?"

—Um, I'm the dormitory supervisor. Did you bring a friend inside by any chance? You're not supposed to bring anyone in~

"No, it's not a friend."

—I keep hearing strange voices. You didn't bring your girlfriend inside, did you?

"No... I was just watching something. I'll keep the noise down. I'm sorry."

I sat on the windowsill and glanced at the demonic beast struggling to open the window. If the fact that such a grotesque creature had not only entered Florence Academy but also tried to invade my room was revealed, the school would be turned upside down. It might even create baseless suspicions that I had some sort of connection with the Satanists.

—...Something is strange. Can I come in for a moment? Or could you just open the door briefly? Just so that I can check.

The dormitory supervisor's voice was filled with suspicion toward me. If I opened the door briefly, they would probably sneak into my room. Setting aside the fact that there was a demonic beast on the windowsill, there was still a suspicious purple mist inside my room right now. It was because I had been practicing casting spells.

I locked the front door and said, "The thing is... it might be difficult to open the door at the moment.”

—Why is that?

"I just took a shower, and I'm not wearing any clothes. Seriously."

—You took a shower? Didn't you say you were watching something earlier?

"Well... I couldn't hear the sound because of the water, so I turned up the volume, but the noise ended up leaking outside."

—...I see. Please be more careful.

The dormitory supervisor seemed somewhat displeased. I placed my ear against the front door and listened carefully. I could hear the dormitory supervisor passing through the hallway and walking down the stairs.

I finally felt relieved as I returned to the window where the demonic beast was. The demonic beast was still struggling to open the window. Considering that it was a taxidermied creature sent by Jun-Hyuk, it was behaving quite unintelligently. If it really intended to come into my room, it would have been better for it to break through the window with its beak.

"Open... please open up... I can't harm... you..."

Moreover, that demonic beast kept repeating the same words. It was as if it hadn't learned anything other than the phrases “please open up” and “I can’t harm you.” Furthermore, the phrase “I can't harm you” sounded awkward.

Perhaps Jun-Hyuk really was dead, and that demonic beast was just a remnant. It was also possible that it was a taxidermied creature moving autonomously, not under Jun-Hyuk’s control. That was why it appeared to have such low intelligence.

"..."

No, that contradicted the laws of the world, because it implied that he had achieved creationism. There was no way that a hypocrite such as Jun-Hyuk had achieved creationism. The conclusion was clear: Jun-Hyuk was indeed alive. However, for some reason, he had lost the ability to control the taxidermied creatures precisely.

Slide!

I opened the window. If my suspicions were correct, there was a high possibility that the words “I can't harm you” were true. If my suspicions were incorrect, I would probably die or get seriously injured. But I believed that my suspicions were most likely correct.

"I can't hurt you, I can't hurt you..." This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

As expected, instead of exploding or attacking me, the demonic beast cautiously lifted its feet and flapped its wings as it entered the room. As soon as the demonic beast entered, I closed the curtains. Then, I activated the replication spell, Dawn's Blade. If the demonic beast tried anything funny, I planned to plunge the sword into its forehead immediately.

"I can't hurt you, ugh!"

"What the—!"

Then, the demonic beast suddenly started to hurl. I aimed the sword at the demonic beast's forehead. Even without Bossou's power, I could still throw the sword and hit it from this distance.

Splat!

At that moment, something came out of the demonic beast's mouth. It was a black bag that was tied up. I couldn't see what was inside, nor could I even begin to speculate. After retching a few more times, the demonic beast spread its wings in a threatening manner.

I thought it would attack me, but the demonic beast flew away through the open window instead. The flapping of its wings caused the curtains to shake violently. Soon, the room was filled with silence.

“..."

I looked at the bag that the demonic beast had spat out. I couldn’t tell what was inside.

"Ogun. Can you please check if there's anything like explosives inside?"

[I refuse. I am not a metal detector...]

"Please."

[There is nothing inside that is made out of iron, but I can't guarantee that there are no explosives,] Ogun said and then disappeared.

The man who seemed the most sober out of the five responded to Joseph's words.

Joseph nodded and poured whiskey into his glass before quickly downing it in one gulp. Then, he slightly frowned and said, "The alcohol content is too high. Do you have any wine by any chance?"

"...Hey, Joseph."

The voice that came at that moment was filled with clear resentment. It was the same man who had started badmouthing Joseph earlier. The man's face was excessively flushed, and the visible blood vessels popping in his eyes were disturbing.

The man exclaimed, "Don't you think you're being shameless? You're not just a few minutes late, but two hours!"

"That's why I apologized. I'll pay for the drinks too. And strictly speaking, it's not two hours, but one hour and thirty-four minutes," Joseph responded nonchalantly.

The man's complexion turned red and blue, then quickly paled. His lips and eyebrows narrowed. His bloodshot eyes were staring intensely at Joseph's face. The atmosphere immediately became frigid, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over them.

"....An apology? Do we really have to accept such a half-hearted apology?" he said as his voice trembled with anger.

"This friend seems to be really drunk. Joseph, please bear with him. We'll send him home soon."

"Let go! Do you think that I’m the only one who thinks like this? Everyone here doesn’t look at you favorably!"

"Hey, calm down...."

It was an atmosphere that felt like a fight could break out at any moment. One of the colleagues quickly tried to calm the situation, but they were powerless in front of the anger that had inflated beyond control.

Joseph poured himself a drink and smirked.

"I don't know what more you want. Do you want me to confess my sins in front of you or something? Just for something like this?"

"Just? Did you just say just?"

"Yeah, just," Joseph said with a smile.

"By the way, didn't you mention that you were working as a priest at a local cathedral these days? Instead of someone else, I guess I should just confess my sins to you!"

"..."

"Right, I should start by drawing a cross, right? Please tell me how it’s done. It's been so long that I can't remember," Joseph said with a chuckle.

Joseph's eerie laughter was the only thing that echoed out in the silence. The face of the man whom he had mocked turned pale. His fist was trembling, but his eyes were fixed on Joseph without any movement.

At that moment, he picked up an empty bottle. There was no time for anyone to stop him.

Crash!

The bottle dangerously flew across the table, but Joseph easily dodged it. Avoiding a bottle thrown by an angry drunkard was a walk in the park for him. The bottle shattered, and the glass fragments sparkled on the floor under the lighting.

Joseph casually poured himself another drink and said, "Drinking such strong liquor, no wonder you're getting drunk like that. Someone, please take this friend home. An incident might occur if this continues.”

"Thanks. I have no idea why this guy is acting so strange today...”

“Let go of me. Joseph, you faggot! You son of a bitch!”

He continued to curse while getting dragged out by his colleagues. Joseph pretended not to hear as he continued to drink more alcohol. No matter how much he drank, he didn't get drunk. Instead, only bitterness remained on his tongue. Since the atmosphere was already ruined, there was no point in staying any longer.

Joseph got up from his seat and went out. He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

Another man followed Joseph out and said, "Thanks for holding back earlier, really."

He was still a member of the Central Paladin Order, and because of that, he didn’t even touch alcohol due to his principle of abstinence. The fact that he was willing to smoke despite that felt strange to Joseph, but he didn’t bother mentioning it and simply nodded instead.

“There was no need for me to hold back at all. I was never angry in the first place.”

"It’s hard to say that your personality is good, but rather, there's something peculiar about it."

"Just say that my personality is good," Joseph said with a smile. "I didn't know that guy hated me this much.”

"No, he doesn't hate you. It's just..."

"No need to say empty words. It’s completely fine if he hates me. I have a personality that easily sows hatred after all," Joseph said indifferently.

The man stopped smoking his cigarette momentarily and lowered his head with a troubled expression.

"He’s a good person at heart. I hope you don't hate him too much."

"No, on the contrary, I like how he was honest. If I got angry at everything, it would get tiring. Instead..."

There was no need to be wary of people who openly expressed their emotions and showed their dislike. Rather, he needed to be wary of those who didn’t drink alcohol and faked their laughter. Alcohol made people honest, so there was a high possibility that those who didn’t even touch alcohol were trying to hide their true selves. For that reason, Joseph was suspicious of the colleague smoking next to him.

"Please check whether any suspicious individuals are in the Central Paladin Order." Sun-Woo had previously said this to him.

There was no way he would have said such things without reason. He most likely had something that he was suspecting. Although he had no idea what information he had or where it came from, he believed it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

"I have a lot on my mind these days, so I’m quite troubled.” Joseph nonchalantly baited the man.

The man raised an eyebrow, seemingly curious or perhaps interested.

"Why, what's going on?"

"Florence Academy is conducting a practical exam, and someone asked me for advice. It seems like there's a problem with setting the location and time," Joseph explained.

"Hmm."

"Don't you know as well? There was a major incident that occurred last time. Because of that, the teachers are very concerned," Joseph added.

First, Joseph planned to narrow down the number of suspects.