Chapter 217

Chapter 217

I quickly tucked the staff that had somehow ended up in my hands into my arms. Several people, including Han Dae-Ho, had visited the Crossroads and had seen Legba holding the staff. If they caught me holding the same staff in my hands, I wouldn’t be able to avoid suspicion.

No, suspicion wasn't the issue anymore. Everyone had been at the Crossroads and had seen Legba. That signified that the Voodoo Cult had been here, and none other than the Cult Leader and Prophet of the Voodoo Cult was present.

"Go back to the hotel and wait."

Fortunately, they hadn’t found out that I was the Prophet and the Cult Leader yet. Han Dae-Ho ordered the clergymen to escort us and send us back to our accommodation. From his demeanor, Han Dae-Ho seemed very rattled about the situation. The same could be said about the expressions of the other kids.

Even Yu-Hyun, who knew my true identity, had a perplexed expression. We didn't say a word on the van. It wasn't just because the clergymen were accompanying us. Everyone was still unable to recover from the shock of what they had seen at the Crossroads.

"Just what did I witness...?"

The long silence was broken by Min-Seo’s muttering to herself as we got out of the van upon the accompanying clergymen’s instructions.

"I saw an old man. I don't know what it means, but he mentioned something about the Crossroads," Dae-Man said.

"What is the Crossroads? Is it something related to the local religion here...? But that grandpa hit me on the head earlier. What was that about?" Su-Ryeon said.

They were still pondering about the Crossroads. Ha-Yeon quietly listened to their conversation. She raised her head and said, "It’s the Voodoo Cult."

“Voo—huh? Why is the Voodoo Cult here?” Su-Ryeon said, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

I silently listened to their conversation.

It was the first time they were directly discussing the Voodoo Cult. I decided not to speak up, as I might accidentally slip up and make a mistake.

Ha-Yeon glanced at Yu-Hyun and said, "I'm not sure... but they’re the only ones I've heard using the word Crossroads."

"So, is the old man we saw earlier the Cult Leader?" Dae-Man asked.

"No, as far as I know, the Cult Leader is..." Min-Seo interrupted Dae-Man. She shook her head and continued, "It can't be the old man. It's almost an established fact that he's not that old."

"Then there's a possibility that he's the Prophet."

"No, idiot. They said that the Cult Leader and the Prophet are the same person this time," Min-Seo said.

"Is that even possible?" Dae-Man said, raising his eyebrows.

Min-Seo glared at Dae-Man and furrowed her brows.

"Don’t you think people would have said it because it is possible?” she said.

"That's a valid point. Anyway, that was an interesting experience," Dae-Man said.

"...I wonder where those people in black went?" Sy-Ryeon asked.

"If what we ran into was the Voodoo Cult, they must have been under a Voodoo spell.” Jin-Seo continued, "Voodoo spells can control people's minds."

"So, did they use a spell to drive people away? I guess Voodoo spells aren’t necessarily cruel or anything like that," Su-Ryeon said.

"Do you really think that they merely drove people away?" Ha-Yeon said.

"Well, now we have another reason to exercise. If we train our bodies, we can withstand spells," Dae-Man said.

"What... logically speaking, you seriously think that’ll work?"

The students chimed in and contributed their own thoughts to the conversation.

Yu-Hyun and I remained silent. I learned one thing from their conversation. People didn’t know as much information about the Voodoo Cult as I had thought. At best, they vaguely knew about the Cult Leader’s age and that the Cult Leader and Prophet were the same person. Ha-Yeon probably knew about the Crossroads because of Sung Yu-Da.

However, when it came to spells and the Loa's power, everyone made baseless predictions, and no one spoke about it confidently. I was surprised about how little information there was about the Voodoo Cult, even though the Holy War had only happened about seven years ago.

It wasn't just the lack of information that surprised me. They didn't seem to perceive the Voodoo Cult as an ‘enemy.’ Perhaps it was because there were more noticeable enemies, like Satanists. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but the fact made me feel uncomfortable for some reason. NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

At that moment, Su-Ryeon pointed at Jin-Seo's arm instead of continuing the conversation. "Uh, Jin-Seo! Your arm...!"

She had torn her skirt and wrapped it around her arm like a bandage, and the cloth was soaked with blood. It seemed like her wound had been ripped back open. Jin-Seo also seemed to notice the state of her wound belatedly, her expression charged with surprise.

Su-Ryeon seemed flustered, but Jin-Seo was calm.

"Oh my, that’s a lot of blood... Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Su-Ryeon said.

"No, it doesn't hurt... but I think I should either bandage it or get some healing," Jin-Seo said.

Jin-Seo looked around, scanned me up and down, and then approached me.

I made her close her eyes so I could use the spell. I could use a lesser restoration spell without unleashing Voodoo magic, but making her close her eyes was still safer.

I gently pressed her injured area with the palm of my hand so that the spell would work well. She trembled slightly. Even though she didn't show it, she seemed to be in a lot of pain.

Then, I used the restoration spell. The wound healed instantly. My skills in handling the restoration spell had improved even more than before.

"...Is it over?"

"Yeah," I replied, and Jin-Seo opened her tightly closed eyes.

Then she checked her arm. She nodded as if satisfied when she confirmed that the wound had completely healed.

"Well done. Now, it's your turn."

"My turn?"

"You need to treat your leg. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"..."

I reluctantly stuck my leg out to her. Because I hadn’t put pressure on the wound in time, there was still a lot of flow. Jin-Seo hiked my pants to check the wound, then unleashed divine power and skillfully drew a healing array.

My wound gradually healed as it basked under the light of healing. Jin-Seo surprisingly handled the healing well.

"You’re pretty good yourself."

"Of course. I got a perfect score in healing practical training."

"Impressive."

"I feel no soul in your response. I shouldn't have healed you."

Jin-Seo rolled her eyes.

I didn't respond and just laughed meaninglessly. Jin-Seo finished healing and sat back next to me. A moment of silence filled the air.

"But if you were going to heal me, wouldn't it have been better to do it in the hotel?" I asked, suddenly curious.

If her objective was healing, using the hotel facilities would have been better. It might have been burdensome to unleash divine power in a foreign country, but it seemed like there was another reason.

Jin-Seo stared at me. I couldn’t decipher her expression. Then, she averted her gaze.

"Earlier, the Voodoo Cult and Satanists came to the museum, right?"

"Right."

"...How did they know we were going to be there?"

My mouth was closed shut. I had nothing to say. I was also worried about making a slip of the tongue.

Jin-Seo said, "There might be cult members among the staff."

"..."

"There might even be some among us."

She lowered her head.

"Thinking about it that way... I found the others a little scary. I wanted to come out for a bit."

"...What about me?"

"You're fine," Jin-Seo replied immediately as if there was no need to hesitate.

"At least, I don't think it's you. That's why I came out with you."

"...Thanks."

"Why? Do you think I'm a spy?" Jin-Seo asked jokingly.

I shook my head.

"No way."

I was the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult who appeared at the museum and the spy. I was scared because while answering, the smile on my face didn't feel as natural as before.