The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 248

Chapter 248

In-Ah covered her face with her sleeves. She quickly wiped away her tears. She didn't want to show that she was crying, but tears flowed down her face regardless of how she felt.

The students who had been checking their grades and chatting in the classroom turned their gaze towards In-Ah and Sun-Woo. Everyone blinked, not fully understanding what was happening.

"No, uh, I don’t want to cry. I just... why is this happening..." In-Ah blurted out.

Sun-Woo remained silent. He simply looked at the crying In-Ah.

She tried to hold back her tears, but they wouldn’t stop. She hurriedly went to the restroom. She stopped crying only after washing her face.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red. She still couldn't figure out why she had cried. Was it because she was envious of Sun-Woo doing better on the test than her? Or was it because she hadn’t achieved the results she had hoped for despite her efforts? Was it the regret of not coming in first if she hadn't collapsed on the last day of the test?

She thought about it, but none of these reasons could accurately explain why she had burst into tears. In-Ah wiped her face dry and left the restroom. Right when she was about to pretend nothing had happened and step back into the classroom, she stopped in her tracks.

"Ha."

She didn't want to go back there. Embarrassment caught up to her when she burst into tears, and above all, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to control her expressions. She thought that she might cry again if she looked at Sun-Woo.

Maybe it would be better to go to the teacher's office and ask for an early dismissal.

"Where are you going?"

As she passed by the classroom towards the teacher's office, she happened to run into Sun-Woo coming out of the classroom. His expression was neutral, neither happy nor sad.

It seemed he wasn’t happy at all, even when he had earned the top seat in the midterm exams. In-Ah had been in that situation before, where she had put in too much effort, so no matter how good the results were, she would think nonchalantly, ‘I got what I worked for.’

Perhaps Sun-Woo had studied and worked harder than anyone else during the time he hadn’t shown up at school. However, In-Ah didn't want to acknowledge that. She wanted to believe that she had worked harder than anyone else.

"Why do you want to know?" In-Ah replied curtly.

It wasn't Sun-Woo's fault. The reason she hadn’t been able to secure the top spot was simply because she had lacked in her efforts and hadn't properly managed her conditions until the last day of exams.

In-Ah was well aware of this. However, she couldn’t help but blame and resent Sun-Woo. She wanted to belittle his efforts when she knew nothing about how hard he had worked. At the same time, she felt pathetic and miserable for having such thoughts.

"What do you mean, why would I want to know..? I was just asking a question." Sun-Woo replied, somewhat flustered as if making an excuse.

In-Ah silently watched his reaction. Hearing the aggressive words ‘Why do you want to know?’ would have made anyone angry, but she was impressed that he had held back his anger. His patience just made In-Ah even more miserable.

"Why ask if you're not even curious?"

"I asked because I am curious."

"Are you? Do you even want to know me better?" In-Ah's tone was particularly aggressive.

Her emotions overwhelmed her, sharpening her words.

‘This shouldn't be happening. This wasn't his fault...’ she thought every time she spoke aggressively to Sun-Woo. Yet, she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Why are you pretending to be interested now? Do I look pitiful in your eyes? Have you ever looked at me straight until now?"

"..." T/his chapter is updated by

"No, am I even visible to you?" In-Ah spat out words as they came to her mind, not even knowing what she was saying.

She was simply anxious. Sun-Woo had always excelled in many fields. From practical exams to training, he lacked in no area. He even performed public services such as rescuing lives outside of school. Many students looked up to him.

On the other hand, In-Ah lacked in many areas. She was average in practical skills and training. The only thing she was good at was studying, so she devoted herself to it even at the expense of her health. However, she lost to Sun-Woo in studying, too. She no longer had any edge to be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him. She no longer had a reason to be friends with him.

Even if their relationship grew distant, In-Ah was the one who would take a loss, not Sun-Woo. That thought made her anxious and mad.

Sun-Woo’s expression suddenly hardened. "Did you hope I would fail the exam?"

It was almost as if he could see what was going on in In-Ah's mind.

In-Ah was surprised to see that expression, but at the same time, she was also angry.

‘Yes, you can make that expression because you have nothing to lose,’ she thought with a sense of wonder and childishness.

Sun-Woo approached In-Ah. She stepped back in surprise. The distance between them was close.

He glared at In-Ah menacingly. "Did you want to come and comfort me while I was whimpering about failing my exams? Or did you want me to revere you for doing well on the exam?"

"..."

"Do you wish I was lacking so that I would rely on you?"

"..."

To achieve that, I had to heal Yoon-Ah first. Then, I needed to find a way to reconnect In-Ah to Yoon-Ah smoothly.

I had a plan. I told the Paladin Order that I wanted to participate in the long-term missing persons search operation, so I would soon be able to help out in their searches.

When that time came, I would instruct one of Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps members to escort Yoon-Ah and get them to hide in a building. I would then enter the building and rescue Yoon-Ah completely by chance.

The reason I had the mercenary corps member escort Yoon-Ah was because it seemed more natural that way. Yoon-Ah was in decent condition because she had been under my and Ji-Ah’s care. Someone kidnapping and raising her would make more sense than her wandering lost on the streets for months.

[You have a lot to prepare for.]

"You’re right."

As Legba said, I had much to prepare for the plan. Even if I hurried, it would take at least a week to get everything in order. Since we didn’t know when Yoon-Ah would recover, we need to start preparing slowly from now on.

But realistically, it seemed like we could prepare leisurely. Yoon-Ah didn't seem like she would recover any time soon.

Thud.

At that moment, the staff struck the ground by itself.

"Huh?"

Before I could be surprised, the staff emitted a purple light. I felt something draining from my body. The staff was siphoning Voodoo magic from my body like crazy.

"This crazy stuff! Not again!"

Thud, thud, thud...

The staff struck the ground several times as if it were angry. Then, it drew a spell array on its own. The flowing Voodoo mist covered Yoon-Ah's body, and she calmly accepted the mist. I tried my best to control the staff, but it didn't listen to me at all and continued to strike the ground several more times.

I only realized later that the Voodoo mist also swept me away.

Splash.

I could hear the sound of water dripping down. At the same time, my field of vision turned black. The pitch-black darkness that obscured my view gradually dissipated, revealing an unfamiliar landscape.

'Unnie, I'll be back in a moment. I’m just going in front...'

'Who are you? Wait, who are you? No...!'

'Unnie, unnie!'

These were Yoon-Ah’s memories from just before she was kidnapped.

Her other memories unfolded in front of me as well. The day when she had gone on a spring picnic with In-Ah. The day she had walked home from school together with In-Ah, telling her about what had happened at school. The day the two had fought over who would eat the chicken drumstick.

In Yoon-Ah's memory, In-Ah was often smiling. Unlike the smile she had shown me up until now, her smile then was endlessly bright, pure, and clean. I wandered through Yoon-Ah's memories for a while. Although it was a very short time, I caught a glimpse of her entire life.

Until now, Yoon-Ah had been happy and should have stayed happy—if only Han Su-Yeop's Voodoo Revival Church hadn’t kidnapped her.

"..."

When I opened my eyes, tears dripped down my cheeks. Yoon-Ah had lost consciousness and collapsed. As I approached to check on her condition, I stopped in my tracks.

Her skin, which had been overly pale with prominent blue veins, had regained a normal complexion like that of any other ordinary person. Before fully grasping the situation, Legba spoke up.

[She lost consciousness due to the sudden rush of memories.]

"..."

[When she wakes up, she'll be a person, not a zombie.]

"When will she wake up...?"

[Probably in three days,] Legba said.

In three days, Yoon-Ah would fully recover and regain consciousness. From then on, Yoon-Ah would no longer be a zombie. She would remember everything she heard and saw, just like an ordinary person.

[It seems like you have to get everything ready in three days.]

If I delayed the preparation, Yoon-Ah might find out that I was the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult. If that happened, then I couldn't reunite Yoon-Ah with In-Ah.

There was no time.