御书房文学网

Chapter 251

Honestly, I was so afraid of going up to the rooftop. It wasn\'t because I had assaulted the Paladin Order’s northern branch director. It was because I kept thinking about what would happen if I went up to the rooftop and In-Ah and Yoon-Ah weren\'t there. I kept thinking about how my mistake might have prevented In-Ah and Yoon-Ah from ever meeting again.

Those thoughts made me anxious. More than anything else, Yoon-Ah was the most important thing for me at the moment.

I climbed to the top of the stairs. I stood still in front of the tightly closed door, unable to do anything. I was too afraid to open the door.

All I could do was place my hand on the door handle and gulp nervously.

Then, I heard Legba\'s voice.

[Open it,] he said.

His voice was calm as always, but it also felt like there was more strength in it than usual.

I took a deep breath and coughed. It was only then that I noticed the pungent smell of smoke.

After a fit of coughing, my mind, which had been paralyzed by anxiety, once again regained its functionality.

Regardless of whether Yoon-Ah was beyond the door or not, I had to open it.

Creak...

I opened the door. It opened with an eerie sound, perhaps because it was an abandoned building. The rooftop came into view, but I couldn\'t see the mercenary’s and Yoon-Ah’s figures because of the smoke.

I cleared the smoke using Bade’s wind, but all it revealed was the desolate rooftop. There was no one there—neither the mercenary nor Yoon-Ah. All I saw was the green floor and a neglected water tank covered in dust.

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn\'t see the mercenary or Yoon-Ah. My strength drained from my legs, and I almost collapsed.

Feeling too helpless to just do nothing, I muttered, "Where could they have gone?"

I felt like I would collapse from frustration if I didn’t at least say something.

Where could the two of them have possibly gone? I had no idea. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out. I was overwhelmed with helplessness.

There was nothing I could do. It ended up like this again—all because I made the wrong choice...

"Cult Leader?"

I turned my head after hearing a familiar voice. The voice came from behind the water tank.

Despite feeling like I would melt and collapse into nothingness, I managed to stand and walk toward the voice.

My heart raced. It was beating violently as if it was wedged between a tripartite of tension, anxiety, and anticipation. I kept walking. I wanted to quicken my pace, but my body didn\'t move as I wanted.

With faltering steps, I finally managed to reach the place where the voice had come from. There were two people hiding behind the water tank—the mercenary and Yoon-Ah. The mercenary was covering Yoon-Ah\'s mouth and nose with her sleeve, worried she would inhale the smoke.

"Ah..."

Thud.

As soon as I saw that sight, my legs gave away, and I slumped down onto the ground. My pounding heart gradually regained stability.

Finally, it was over.

***

"I am Paladin Oh Hee-Jin from the Eastern Paladin Order! Is anyone here—"

"Eastern Branch? Hey, is that bastard your lackey too?"

The angry faces of the Paladin Order Northern Branch members greeted Oh Hee-Jin at the scene.

Oh Hee-Jin tucked his walkie-talkie in and approached them. Up close, he could see that the Northern Branch’s director looked tired. Judging by his condition, it seemed like his nose was broken.

‘Sun-Woo didn’t do that, right?’

"One of my subordinates seems to have come this way. I have no intention of getting involved in firefighting outside my jurisdiction, so you don\'t have to worry," Oh Hee-Jin said.

He tried to suppress the ominous feeling that was surfacing in her mind. There was no way Sun-Woo would have done that. Sun-Woo was a bit crazy, but even so, he wouldn’t do something crazy like break the nose of the Northern Branch’s director.

"Yeah, that subordinate! Wasn\'t that bastard\'s name Sun-Woo?" the Northern Branch’s director asked.

"Yes, that\'s correct. His name is Sun-Woo," Oh Hee-Jin answered.

"That bastard messed up my nose!"

"Oh. Sun-Woo did that..."

Oh Hee-Jin nodded with a dazed expression in front of the enraged director of the Northern Branch.

So, it really was Sun-Woo who had messed up the nose of the Northern Branch’s director like that.

‘I thought he was a bit crazy, but it turned out I was wrong. He’s completely insane...’ Oh Hee-Jin thought.

"So... um, are you saying that Sun-Woo messed up your nose?" he asked.

"Yes, this matter won\'t just be overlooked. I will make sure that both Sun-Woo and you get the punishment that you deserve—”

"Actually, um, Sun-Woo, the apprentice paladin, has a physical therapy license. Maybe he was trying to provide physical therapy and accidentally did that to you..."

"What?" the Northern Branch’s director uttered.

Oh Hee-Jin was so flabbergasted that he had unconsciously mumbled nonsense for a moment, but then belatedly regained her composure and bowed his head respectfully.

"Never mind, I will make sure to take full responsibility for this matter on behalf of the Eastern Paladin Order," he said.

The Northern Branch’s director still seemed displeased as he continued to glare at Oh Hee-Jin with rage.

Oh Hee-Jin bowed his head and chewed her lips. He had no idea how he was supposed to resolve this situation.

An apprentice paladin had struck a director while working in the northern region of Gyeonggi, which was outside of their jurisdiction. He hit the nose of the Northern Branch’s director so hard that he broke it. At this point, Oh Hee-Jin’s desire to resign was much stronger than his desire to salvage the situation.

Oh Hee-Jin proposed, "Well then, I will contact Director Han Dae-Ho right now. If the two of you can resolve this amicably—"

"What? Why bring Han Dae-Ho here? I don\'t even want to see his face."

"Um, then what do you want to do?"

"What do I want? Nothing. Let’s just follow the Paladin\'s code," the Northern Branch’s director said firmly, touching his crooked nose.

Oh Hee-Jin felt his body go completely cold.

The Northern Branch’s director was going to handle things according to the Paladin\'s code—in other words, military law. If punishment were dolled out according to military law, Sun-Woo would not be able to avoid disciplinary action.

Oh Hee-Jin carefully counted the crimes that Sun-Woo had committed in his head. The first ones were assault and mutiny.

Although Oh Hee-Jin had not heard the detailed circumstances, if Sun-Woo had made even the slightest mistake, he could also be punished for obstructing official duties. If he had made a serious mistake, he could even face expulsion from Florence Academy.

"I-I\'m truly sorry. How about we talk to our director, Han Dae-Ho, first? If you go so far as dishing out disciplinary action, the situation will become troublesome..."

"Troublesome? Are you trying to threaten me right now? Are you threatening me not to report it?"

"It\'s not a threat. What I mean is..."

Oh Hee-Jin bowed his head repeatedly to the Northern Branch’s director. However, the Northern Branch’s director did not want to listen to Oh Hee-Jin at all.

He seemed to be very angry at Sun-Woo for breaking his nose and at the fact that he, a director, had been hit by a mere apprentice paladin. Furthermore, his subordinates had all seen him get hit. Punishing that damn brat was a matter of maintaining his reputation as a director.

Meanwhile, Oh Hee-Jin was sweating profusely. It was obvious that if the Northern Branch’s director reported Sun-Woo, the responsibility would also fall on Oh Hee-Jin. If things went wrong, he would also face disciplinary action, and even if he managed to avoid it, he would not be able to escape Han Dae-Ho\'s scrutiny.

"I\'m really sorry. So please reconsider reporting it..."

"So what if you apologize? Even if the person involved apologizes directly, it won\'t be enough. Bring Sun-Woo here!"

"Yes, understood."

‘Damn, that petty director is so eager to receive an apology,’ Oh Hee-Jin thought as he looked around.

He searched for Sun-Woo, but he was nowhere to be found. He could only see paladins and paramedics from the Northern Paladin Order.

Oh Hee-Jin, who had been nervously looking around, glanced at the Northern Branch’s director with cold sweat running down his face. "Um, where is Sun-Woo, the apprentice paladin?"

"Hmm? Come to think of it, didn\'t we come out of the building together earlier?"

The Northern Branch’s director also seemed unsure of Sun-Woo\'s whereabouts. His angry face took on an anxious expression.

He called over a member who was nearby and asked, "Hey, did you not bring that Sun-Woo guy out earlier?"

"Huh? I didn\'t bring him out. I was busy assisting you."

“...”

The Northern Branch’s director fell silent with a stern expression. Upon reflection, he realized that he had no memory of bringing Sun-Woo out of the building. It meant that Sun-Woo was still inside.

The Northern Branch’s director and Oh Hee-Jin looked up simultaneously. The fire in the abandoned building had been mostly contained, but the smoke had not completely dissipated.

With that severe of a blaze, the building was probably already filled with smoke. Perhaps Sun-Woo had unknowingly inhaled smoke inside the building and lost consciousness.

The Northern Branch’s director furrowed his brow and grabbed his forehead. "Ha, what kind of idiot—!"

Whoosh—!

It was at that moment that a strong gust of wind blew over, and a person fell from the building.

The Northern Branch’s director was unable to finish his sentence and looked at that person.

It was a woman with many scars on her face. The wind swirled around her.

Thanks to the wind absorbing the impact of the fall, she seemed unharmed despite falling from a considerable height. It was as if the wind was helping her.

"Wind," Oh Hee-Jin muttered upon seeing the sight.

The Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult could control the wind with the power of a Loa named Bade. The wind surrounding the woman who fell from the building was undoubtedly Bade’s wind.

Oh Hee-Jin was not the only one who felt uneasy. The members of the Northern Paladin Order, their director, and even the paramedics present all guessed that the woman was either the leader of the Voodoo Cult or a Voodoo Cultist.

In any case, she was definitely not a member of the Romanican Church.

"What are you standing there for?! Catch her!" the Northern Branch’s shouted at the paladins.

The paladins belatedly regained their senses and chased after the woman.

The woman untied the muffler around her neck, grabbed it in her hand, and fled from the paladins, using every trick in her book to evade them.

She was fast. The paladins used all their might and even invoked blessings to chase after the woman, but she knew how to use the terrain to her advantage. She leaped over fences, climbed walls, and made her way onto rooftops, successfully evading the paladins.

However, the paladins were extremely determined. They sprained their ankles while leaping over fences and fractured their bones while climbing walls, but they continued to pursue the woman.

The distance between the two parties quickly narrowed. The woman was swift and agile, but she couldn\'t outrun the paladins, who also had the power of blessings. Finally, when the distance had narrowed to the point where they could reach out and grab her...

One of the paladins reached out his arm and grabbed the woman by her hair.

"Caught you!"

Rip!

At that moment, the woman tore the muffler she was holding, and purple mist rose from it.

The smoke enveloped the paladins\' faces, entering their noses and mouths. Their determined gazes, which bordered on madness, weakened in intensity.

Thud.

The paladins’ eyes lost focus, and they fell to the ground.

The woman glanced at the fallen paladins and muttered, "Mission accomplished, Cult Leader."

As she spoke words that the Cult Leader would never hear, she moved agilely and made a swift getaway.

***

While the paladins were chasing the woman, Oh Hee-Hin was stuck in a conundrum.

He wanted to chase after the woman too, as it was possible that the woman was the leader of the Voodoo Cult. However, Oh Hee-Jin was worried about Sun-Woo, who had not left the building yet.

Furthermore, since it was not his jurisdiction, chasing after the woman in the northern part of the Gyeonggi province could unnecessarily escalate the conflict with the Northern Branch.

"Damn," Oh Hee-Jin cursed.

How did the situation end up like this? He didn\'t know what she was supposed to do. No, he didn\'t even know what she should have done.

Should he have searched with Sun-Woo together as a team instead of sending him off alone? Or should he have not participated in the long-term missing person search operation in the first place?

He couldn\'t figure out where everything had gone wrong, and he had no idea what sort of decisions he would have to make in the future.

Oh Hee-Jin sighed in frustration and sat down on the spot.

Thud, thud.

Then, a person came out of the abandoned building. His face was blackened with soot as he emerged through the smoke. He was carrying a small girl on his back.

Oh Hee-Jin stood up in surprise when he saw him.

He was astonished that Sun-Woo, whom he thought was trapped inside the building, had come out unharmed.

However, there was something even more surprising.

"We found Yoon-Ah, one of the missing people," Sun-Woo said with a small smile on his lips.