御书房文学网

Chapter 14

"As I said yesterday, today will be a normal class." The next morning, Yoo Jung-Hak, who was the substitute teacher for Ha Ye-Jin, explained to the class.

Yesterday, classes were shortened because the faculty members had been called out for an emergency situation. But today, the chaos had settled down, and classes could operate normally. In the morning, a practical training session with the Class of Patience was scheduled, and the academy was once again recruiting additional applicants for dormitories as usual.

Jung-Hak delivered all the necessary information and left the classroom without hesitation.

"I already miss Ms. Ye-Jin," Koo Jun-Hyuk said after Jung-Hak left. Compared to Ye-Jin, Jung-Hak was too cold. It was clear that he didn\'t seem to like students very much.

Jung In-Ah nodded as if she agreed.

While talking about this and that, In-ah asked while looking around, “Didn’t he say we have a practical training session in the morning? Shouldn’t we go outside?”

The other students were already heading toward the training grounds. We were the only ones chatting leisurely in the classroom.

Jun-Hyuk looked at the clock. "There\'s still a lot of time left. I think we can go later."

"Let’s just go now. It\'s better to go ahead of time," I said to Koo Jun-Hyuk, who was relaxed and nonchalant. It was better to go about ten minutes early than to be late.

As I got up from my seat and started to leave the classroom, Jung In-Ah and Koo Jun-Hyuk chased after me.

"But what kind of training are we going to do? Why is this school so unfriendly all the time?"

Koo Jun-Hyuk grumbled.

"It must be healing practice since they’re asking us to come to the barn,” Jung In-Ah stated as if it were obvious. I listened silently.

Jung In-Ah and Koo Jun-Hyuk naturally ended up exchanging remarks with each other.

"Oh, I\'m screwed. I\'m really bad at healing."

"Is that so? Relax. I\'m good at healing."

"So what if you’re good? I’m still bad at healing though?" Koo Jun-Hyuk said while glancing incredulously at Jung In-Ah. She shrugged her shoulders and provoked Koo Jun-Hyuk with her smug expression.

Listening to the conversation between the two, I couldn\'t help but let out a laugh.

[Hang on. Stop by the bathroom before you go.] Then, Legba spoke to me in a low, cold tone. It seemed they wanted to talk about something.

"You guys should go first. I need to go to the bathroom."

"Why do you always go to the bathroom right before training? Do you get a stomach ache when you get nervous?"

"Just ignore this guy and go. We\'ll be waiting at the training grounds."

Koo Jun-Hyuk gave me a solid scolding, and in exchange, Jung In-Ah gave Koo Jun-Hyuk a scolding. I told them I would come back quickly before heading to the bathroom. There was no one in the bathroom. I spoke to Legba while fiddling with my hair in front of the bathroom mirror.

"So, what\'s up?"

[That guy

"Huh? That guy?" I asked back in surprise. It was obvious who Legba was referring to.

That guy was a free spirit that couldn’t be tamed. Even I, the cult leader, did not have the means to restrain him. At times, they were cheeky and, at times, frivolous because of their jokes and pranks, but their power and authority was strong enough to contend with Legba.

[Yes, I came because I had something to say! But you don’t seem to be very welcoming. I must be mistaken, right?]

[Your frivolous personality is tarnishing Loa’s glory. There’s no way we would be welcoming.]

[It’s not that I’m being frivolous, it’s that you\'re being too serious, Legba.]

Two of Loa\'s strongest beings were engaged in a conversation.

As if indicating that they were fed up with that guy’s playful personality, Legba shut their mouth.

[Well, it looks like Legba\'s upset. It should be fine if I give them some candy later though.]

Along with their humorous voice, an image of that guy flashed through my head like a fleeting illusion.

A tuxedo, silk hat, and cigar.

Gray and purple fog flowed out of a cigar. From that guy’s eyes, a red gaze pierced through the fog.

The one who oversaw life and death, and the one who was powerful enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Legba.

It was ‘Baron Samedi.’

[As Legba said, I want to tell you something.]

As I have repeatedly said, Baron Samedi was a Loa with a free spirit that could not be tamed. Unlike other Loa, Samedi did not settle in my body. Instead, they existed in reality and wandered throughout the human world. They would occasionally tell me the information they had collected throughout their travels in the human world.

[You must be on your way to a training session.]

"Yes."

[There\'s going to be a big incident during this training session. I suggest you don’t avoid it and face it head-on instead. There will be some damage, but it may benefit you.]

"...Yes."

At Baron Samedi\'s advice, I nodded my head with trepidation. The information that Baron Samedi gave me was not very useful. Baron Samedi\'s information was always vague and roundabout. It was kind of like a ‘today\'s fortune is...’ kind of feeling. But the difference between a fortune teller and Baron Samedi was that Baron Samedi\'s information was always right.

[Then I’ll be off now. See ya.]

"Please wait a second."

I stopped Baron Samedi from trying to leave.

The periods in which they settled in my body were very brief. Due to this, there were not many opportunities to ask them questions. I figured this was a good opportunity to ask them all the questions that were bugging me.

“Before you go, tell me who the Satanist that infiltrated Florence Academy is. Also, tell me where the Altar is located. Just tell me these two things before you go.”

Baron Samedi collected information by wandering the human world. Sometimes they wandered in the form of a human body, sometimes in the form of a beast, and sometimes in the form of fog. Therefore, the amount of information they had was incomparable to that of humans. It was safe to say that they knew almost everything.

It was likely that Baron Samedi knew the identity of the Satanist that was hiding in F.A., and it was likely that they even knew where the lost Altar was located. When Baron Samedi heard the question, they just giggled instead of answering.

[You don\'t have to know at the moment. I\'ll tell you when the time comes!]

"If you plan on telling me later anyway, you should just tell me now."

[Nope, you’ll have to find out later.]

"Why?"

[Because that way, it will be more fun. Haha.] Baron Samedi laughed as if they were making fun of me before leaving my body.

Purple-colored fog flowed through the bathroom window and into the sky. Baron Samedi left me in the form of fog.

[Tsk tsk, that bastard. At least tell us the location of the Altar!] Legba cursed at Baron Samedi, who had already left. It was a curse that Baron Samedi couldn\'t hear.

Baron Samedi knew everything in the world, but they didn’t share that information with me. The only exceptions were if I was in an unavoidable predicament or on the verge of death. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to hate them because, in critical moments, they would give away important intel. But as Legba said, it was true that they were a bastard.

"Ah."

I then turned on my cell phone because I suddenly thought of something.

There were three calls. Two calls from Jung In-Ah and one call from Koo Jun-Hyuk.

There were also text messages. They were roughly asking what on earth I was doing and why I hadn’t arrived at the training grounds yet.

I checked the time. Practice started at 8:30 am. It was currently 8:34 am.

[It\'s fine even if you\'re a little late. This kind of thing is also something that is worth experiencing.]

"Fine? Just how is this fine?!"

Leaving the unsympathetic Legba behind, I left the bathroom and ran furiously toward the training grounds.

***

F.A. wasn’t just large, but it also had many unique facilities. They had a barn, a gym, and a sacred training ground. They even had farmland.

The location for today’s practice session was the barn. The problem was that the barn was located very far from the main building, and the distance from the barn to the main building was about five hundred meters.

That was not the exact distance. Perhaps it was a little more than that.

"Ha, ha, aghh. Ha."

And I had to run that distance. I was out of breath and had the urge to throw up. My legs were shaking—my calf muscles especially were twitching. Thankfully, I usually worked out. Otherwise, I would have collapsed from exhaustion while running.

"Student, what\'s your name?"

Upon arrival, the instructor approached me with an attendance book. I was just barely able to collect my breath and looked up.

"Do... huff... It\'s Do Sun-Woo..."

"Do Sun-Woo. One penalty point for being late."

The instructor imposed a penalty on me without a hint of hesitation.

According to F.A. rules, accumulating ten penalty points resulted in expulsion. Even a single point was a significant blow.

"Oh, wait a sec."

"Yes~"

"Can you just let me off the hook, just this once?”

"Yes~ of course not!" replied the instructor. The cheerfulness of the instructor’s tone made me even more speechless, but it was purely my fault that I was late, so I had nothing to say. There was no excuse or valid reason to be late, so I eventually resigned myself and accepted the penalty.

"Instructor?" At that moment, a clear and calm voice called out to the instructor.

The instructor, who tried to impose a penalty on me by scribbling their pen on the attendance book, paused after hearing the voice.

"Student Kim Jin-Seo? How can I help you?"

"According to my knowledge, that student returned after consulting with the chairman. It was about scholarships."

"Oh, really? So you were a scholarship student?" At Kim Jin-Seo\'s words, the instructor put away the pen. The instructor then proceeded to pat me on the back.

“If you had a reason for being late, you should have told me earlier. I’m not the kind of person to dish out penalty points without a thought. Anyway, I understand the situation. It looks like you had a hard time running all the way here.”

"What?" I was not a scholarship student and wasn’t late because of a consultation with the chairman. In fact, I had never even greeted the chairman before, let alone been in a consultation with him.

I was just late talking to Loa in the bathroom. It was just plain and simple truancy with no valid reason. I looked at Kim Jin-Seo with a stupefied expression. She raised her index finger and put it on her lips. She was just telling me to let the situation pass like this quietly.

I don’t know why she helped me, but I didn’t think about it too deeply and decided to be thankful that I was not receiving a penalty point. I headed to the area where the rest of the class was lined up.

As I joined the group, Jung In-Ah looked at me nervously while biting her nails.

“Hey! Why were you so late?”

“I got lost on the way.”

"You have to make a plausible excuse for me to believe it... Don’t tell me it’s true?”

"It’s half true."

"Half? No, then what about the other half?"

Jung In-Ah frowned as if she didn\'t understand me. Koo Jun-Hyuk slowly approached me with a stupid smile.

“And this is why it\'s inevitable that you\'ll become famous. You’re really something special. It’s an enviable talent,” Koo Jun-Hyuk said jokingly and laughed.

I wanted to respond, but the situation did not allow for it. This was because the teacher had begun to explain the training session.

"Now that we\'re all here let\'s start the training session. As you all know, this is a practical training exercise with the Class of Patience and Charity. Now then, everyone, please look over here."

The teacher raised his hand and pointed to the right of the barn.

In the location that he was pointing to, there were a number of dogs. Each one of the dogs was making whining noises. Upon further examination, there were dogs with dislocated shoulders and those with limp legs. Those dogs had sustained some sort of injury.

"These are military dogs used by the Paladin Order. All of them were injured during a mission."

The kids who were listening to the explanation looked at the injured dogs with pity.

"Each person will be given one injured dog. You will need to use healing arrays and blessing arrays to treat the injured dogs. Of course, the faster the dog recovers, the higher the score you will get."

The teacher had the staff at the barn carry out the injured dogs. The staff members picked up the injured dogs and delivered them to the students. Thus, one injured dog was assigned per person. A limping dog that was whining in pain was placed in front of me.

"Well, let’s start now. If, for some reason, the injured dog’s condition is critical, you are to report it to me immediately. If you do not report it to me and the dog happens to die, then you will immediately be disqualified. Also, there is no way this will happen, but if you fail to treat the dog in under fifteen minutes, you will also be disqualified.”

With that, the practical training session began. The teacher simply recited the precautions and turned on the stopwatch. The students busily began to draw healing and blessing arrays.

Meanwhile, I slowly sank into a deep, dark pit of despair. I had no idea how to create healing arrays, and I didn’t know any blessing arrays that were related to recovery. In other words, I had no way of treating a wounded dog.

While the other kids were already treating the dogs with healing arrays, I could do nothing but stand there like an idiot.

[Use restoration voodoo magic.]

While I was at a loss for what to do, Legba quietly suggested a solution.