The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 268

Lee Seh-Hwa’s eyes suddenly rolled back as she screamed, and she threw a tantrum before she lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.

Do Myung-Jun continued muttering with tears streaming down his face as he looked toward the extinguished candles. Sung Yu-Da supported Lee Seh-Hwa and looked down at her face.

Now that she was unconscious with her eyes closed, her face looked surprisingly calm—so much so that it was hard to believe that this was the same person who had been screaming just a moment ago.

“...”

Sung Yu-Da picked up Lee Seh-Hwa and stood up. Do Myung-Jun looked like he was still unable to get a grip on himself, as he continued to sob while kneeling on the floor. Sung Yu-Da glanced briefly at Do Myung-Jun, then carried Lee Seh-Hwa and left the chapel. Blood was still flowing from Lee Seh-Hwa's ears.

Before understanding the situation, Sung Yu-Da believed he needed to take Lee Seh-Hwa to the hospital. Snow had piled up outside, and it crunched beneath his feet every time he took a step. He didn’t know if it was due to holding on to Lee Seh-Hwa or simply because he was exhausted, but his steps were unsteady. However, he did not fall. Sung Yu-Da exerted strength on his toes as he walked so that he would not fall no matter how weak he felt.

Upon reaching the bench where they had briefly rested, Sung Yu-Da laid Lee Seh-Hwa down and sat beside her.

He gazed down at her face as she lay there. She still appeared calm. Her parched lips, pale skin, and motionless expression made her look almost like a corpse. Sung Yu-Da placed his hand on Lee Seh-Hwa's nose to check for her breath. Fortunately, she was still breathing.

He then stood up, lifted Lee Seh-Hwa, and continued walking. At some point, his vision started to blur because tears had filled his eyes. He could not wipe the tears himself, and there was no one to wipe the tears for him, so he just let the tears flow freely.

Finally, he arrived at the parking spot where they had left the car.

"Ah..."

The car was covered in a pile of mud and gravel.

Due to the raging storm, there had been an avalanche, and it looked like the car had been buried in the resulting debris. No matter how many times he assessed the damage, it didn’t seem he would be able to drive the car.

Sung Yu-Da abandoned the car and simply walked. He walked aimlessly for what could have been several minutes or perhaps even hours.

*

Lee Seh-Hwa regained consciousness later that day. The bleeding from her eyes was due to a sudden increase in intraocular pressure, and there was no clear explanation for the bleeding from her ears. Since there were no visible external injuries, the doctor said she could be discharged immediately.

"Are you okay?" Sung Yu-Da asked Lee Seh-Hwa.

He didn't know exactly what had happened to her. The doctor said she was fine, but there might be lingering effects that didn't manifest medically.

However, Lee Seh-Hwa nodded with a calm face, and she even managed to smile.

"Yes, I'm fine."

“...”

Sung Yu-Da felt more puzzled than relieved after hearing Lee Seh-Hwa's words.

When they visited Do Myung-Jun, she waved her hands helplessly in the air as she screamed. Blood had flowed from her eyes and ears, and she eventually lost consciousness. Considering that Lee Seh-Hwa had behaved that way, her reaction at the moment was overly calm.

Sung Yu-Da silently glanced at her. Lee Seh-Hwa tilted her head as if she was puzzled by Sung Yu-Da's gaze.

"What is it?"

"Are you really okay?"

"Huh? Well... I'm really fine. I'm sorry for making you worry," Lee Seh-Hwa said with a smile.

Was she really okay? Or was she just pretending to be okay? Upon seeing Lee Seh-Hwa act so nonchalantly, Sung Yu-Da felt relieved, but he also felt a bit of unease, discomfort, and a sense that something was strange.

Sung Yu-Da was not the victim of the accident, but even he had not fully recovered from the shock. It was strange that Lee Seh-Hwa could be so nonchalant about it.

"But how did I collapse? Did I just suddenly faint out of the blue?" Lee Seh-Hwa said at that moment.

Sung Yu-Da's face hardened.

"You don’t remember?"

"Remember what?" Lee Seh-Hwa asked as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

Sung Yu-Da silently stared at Lee Seh-Hwa. She seemed to have lost her memory. However, it was impossible to tell how much of her memory she had lost. Moreover, there was nothing good that would come out of remembering.

Sung Yu-Da closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

"No, it’s nothing."

He decided to keep his mouth shut, and he drove Lee Seh-Hwa home after she was discharged.

The car parked at the foot of the mountain was damaged and could no longer be driven, but it didn't matter because there were many other cars that he could drive.

On his way back home, Sung Yu-Da deliberately got out of the car early and walked the streets.

While walking, he looked up at the night sky. He stood there, closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and prayed.

He prayed that Lee Seh-Hwa would not remember anything, that nothing bad had happened to her, and that she was completely fine. He hoped that the day's events would turn out to be nothing. He prayed multiple times.

However, the next day, early in the morning, before Sung Yu-Da had even woken up from his sleep, he received a call from Lee Seh-Hwa requesting that he come over immediately.

Sung Yu-Da quickly got dressed and went to meet Lee Seh-Hwa.

“Arggggggh—!”

As soon as he arrived at her house, she saw Lee Seh-Hwa sitting on the floor screaming, and Jin-Sung who was at a loss seeing her like that.

Sung Yu-Da approached Lee Seh-Hwa.

When he placed his hand on her shoulder, Lee Seh-Hwa was startled and swatted his hand away. She looked up at Sung Yu-Da and said, "Yu-Da, I keep hearing voices. Strange voices...!"

"It's okay, it will be okay soon. Everything will be fine. It's okay..." Sung Yu-Da said as he hugged her.

His lips trembled. Lee Seh-Hwa trembled as she continued to mutter strange things. She kept saying that she could hear voices. The voices kept talking to her, and she could still hear them even when she tried to block her ears. It seemed that the only way for her to deal with the voices was to cover her ears and scream out loud.

Sung Yu-Da believed it to be an auditory hallucination caused by a Voodoo spell. Lee Seh-Hwa had always been sensitive to sounds since she was young.

Sung Yu-Da chewed his finger while embracing Lee Seh-Hwa. Then, he drew the blessing of purification, a special blessing that only members of the clan of purification could use. It was the only power that could heal those affected by black magic or Voodoo spells.

The light of blessing enveloped Lee Seh-Hwa.

"Can you still hear the voices?"

"Yes, I can. I keep hearing them. They keep talking. Ah, ah. Aaaahhh......!"

Lee Seh-Hwa's condition did not improve at all. At this point, her throat was so sore that screaming became difficult.

Sung Yu-Da looked at her. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say, so he could not open his mouth. It felt like his heart was constantly sinking deeper and deeper into a sea of water, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"I will call an exorcist priest."

"This is not that kind of thing. This... ah, ah...."

Sung Yu-Da couldn’t do anything. Lee Seh-Hwa kept trembling. He was afraid that she would go on a rampage if he touched her, so Sung Yu-Da was unable to even touch her hand carelessly.

Even using the blessing of purification had no effect. There was nothing he could do. If this was going to happen, why had he prayed last night? Why did he become a clergyman? Sung Yu-Da was consumed by intense despair.

Then, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. Sung Yu-Da decided to answer the phone for now. He figured it might be Do Myung-Jun.

"..."

And then he heard unexpected news. He had finally passed the inquisitor exam he had been failing for so long.

He heard the voice of an employee congratulating him over the phone. Lee Seh-Hwa, who was sitting in front of Sung Yu-Da, was still screaming in a hoarse voice.

*

Sung Yu-Da had to leave Lee Seh-Hwa for the inquisitor promotion ceremony that day.

He didn’t just leave her, though. He mobilized all the connections he and the members of the purification clan had and called in several exorcist priests and healing priests to Lee Seh-Hwa's house before going to the promotion ceremony.

There was no contact from Lee Seh-Hwa after that day. He visited her house, but perhaps she had moved as it was always empty. He also went to the Central Priesthood. There, Sung Yu-Da heard that ‘Priest Lee Seh-Hwa has given up on joining.’

He recalled how Lee Seh-Hwa had revealed a bright smile after passing the entrance exam for the Central Priesthood.

“...”

He almost cut off contact with almost everyone and devoted himself to work.

His work as an inquisitor was busy. He had to defeat demons and demonic beasts that frequently appeared and suppress armed protests from cultists. The duties of inquisitor were added on to his duties as a paladin, so it was natural that he was busy.

However, Sung Yu-Da lived even busier than he needed to. He would take on any task, regardless of whether it was important or not. When he returned home, he studied without rest. He would study the blessing of purification, Voodoo spells, and the Voodoo Church.

And he tracked Lee Seh-Hwa's whereabouts. He believed that, as long as he studied hard enough, he would someday discover a method to heal Lee Seh-Hwa.

The number of demons he defeated exceeded three digits, and the number of demonic beasts he defeated exceeded four digits. The Central Priesthood also adopted his dissertation on Voodoo spells and the Voodoo Church as research material. And when people started to say that he was the person bringing about the golden age for the paladins...

Do Myung-Jun came to Sung Yu-Da's private office and said, "I'm sorry, Yu-Da."

"..."

Seeing Do Myung-Jun suddenly offer an apology, Sung Yu-Da was speechless. He was unable to formulate any words.

Lee Seh-Hwa, whom he had been so desperately trying to seek, was by Do Myung-Jun's side. Sung Yu-Da stared at Lee Seh-Hwa's face for a long time. It was as beautiful as ever.

Thus, he was even more angry. In an attempt to control his anger, Sung Yu-Da bit his lower lip until it bled.

"It's been a long time since you visited. And you’ve once again shown up without any contact."

"I'm sorry for suddenly appearing like this every time."

"What about Seh-Hwa?"

Tap, tap.

Sung Yu-Da tapped the desk with his finger. He was irritated because still didn't know anything. He didn’t know exactly what had happened on the day Lee Seh-Hwa had lost consciousness.

What did Do Myung-Jun do that day? And why were Do Myung-Jun and Lee Seh-Hwa together now?

"What happened?"

"At that time, Seh-Hwa became the Prophet of the Voodoo Church," Do Myung-Jun said with a complicated expression. "I was conducting the Ritual of Succession at that time. Because both of you suddenly came in, the Loa chose Seh-Hwa instead of me."

"..."

"Seh-Hwa became the Prophet when she was unprepared, so I had no choice but to take her. I’m the leader of the Voodoo Church... and I was supposed to be the one to become the Prophet."

Do Myung-Jun's explanation was not very kind. However, Sung Yu-Da finally understood what Do Myung-Jun was doing back then, why Lee Seh-Hwa went crazy, and why she suddenly disappeared without any contact. He understood all of that now.

However, there was one thing he couldn't understand.

"Couldn't you have told me?"

"There wasn’t an opportunity at the time," Do Myung-Jun said as he bowed his head. "That's why I apologized earlier."

He continued to bow his head as if he was deeply ashamed of himself. Lee Seh-Hwa also did the same next to him.

Sung Yu-Da looked back and forth between the two. Because he had been biting his lips earlier, he could taste blood in his mouth.

His molars itched, so he ground them, creating a crunching sound. He glared at Do Myung-Jun with bloodshot eyes and said, "When Se-Hwa passed the Central Priesthood exam, do you know how happy she was?"

"...I don't know."

Sung Yu-Da stood up and grabbed Do Myung-Jun by the collar.

"You bastard, you took away Seh-Hwa's future."

"It wasn't my intention."

"Whether it was your intention or not, I don't care!" Sung Yu-Da shouted, tightening his grip on Do Myung-Jun's collar even harder.

Do Myung-Jun stared him straight in the eye.

Sung Yu-Da and Do Myung-Jun glared at each other silently for a while. Sung Yu-Da sensed anger in Do Myung-Jun's eyes—a fierce anger that he had never seen before.

Do Myung-Jun grabbed Sung Yu-Da's wrist and said, "Me too."

"...What?"

"My future was taken away from me too. Well, more accurately, I wasn’t chosen. I was supposed to be the one to become the Prophet. If you say I took away Seh-Hwa's future, I have no excuses. But..." Do Myung-Jun said with a chuckle. "Aren't you just as guilty for abandoning Seh-Hwa to attend the promotion ceremony?"

Bang!

Sung Yu-Da slammed his fist on the desk. A massive rift appeared on the glass covering the desk.

"Shut up."

At that moment, Lee Seh-Hwa intervened between the two.

"Stop it."

She had kept her mouth shut the whole time, but she stood up and wrapped her hands around Sung Yu-Da's hand that was gripping Do Myung-Jun's collar. Her hands were cold. Sung Yu-Da let go of Do Myung-Jun's collar. And with a dejected expression, he looked at Lee Seh-Hwa.

"I'm sorry, Sung Yu-Da."

Sung Yu-Da looked at her with his arms hanging out. He remembered how she had said that she used formal language with everyone because she wanted to keep a little distance from everyone.

She was using informal language with Do Myung-Jun and formal language with Sung Yu-Da. During the time Sung Yu-Da spent trying to locate Lee Seh-Hwa to help cure her, the distance between Do Myung-Jun and Lee Seh-Hwa somehow became closer.

What exactly had he worked so hard for? What exactly was it all for?

"Get lost. Both of you," Sung Yu-Da said, glaring at the two of them as if he wanted to kill them.

Do Myung-Jun and Lee Seh-Hwa both left the office.

Sung Yu-Da sat down in his office. There was nothing inside his office. The certificate he had received for becoming an inquisitor and a bunch of commendation plaques he received from the Holy See were lined up on the shelf, but to Sung Yu-Da's eyes, it felt like there was nothing in his office. The plaques and certificates were now nothing more than meaningless objects to him.

Thud.

He hit his head on the desk.

"Ah, hahaha...."

Sung Yu-Da repeatedly banged his head on the desk and laughed as if he had lost his sanity. Blood flowed from his forehead, pooling in the cracks on his desk and spreading through them.

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