The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

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The moment Kim Jin-Seo saw me, she put out the fire and skillfully hid her cigarette. She hurriedly threw away the cigarette butt and left the area as if she was running away.

“Agh, ugh.”

To be precise, she tried to run away. However, while doing so, she groaned while collapsing on the spot. Looking closer, I saw that her leg was also wrapped in bandages. There was not a single spot on her body that wasn’t injured.

Even after collapsing on the ground, Jin-Seo failed to get back up and continued to groan in pain. Her face was twisted, and there was cold sweat on her forehead. Anyone could tell that she was struggling with pain. It looked as if she was hurting so much that she would faint at any moment.

The injuries were severe, but it seemed that the pain she was suffering was far worse.

“Don’t tell me...”

It wasn’t difficult to guess the reason.

Jin-Seo had received the title of the Holy Name of Patience, and she could use the Blessing of Iron-Will. It was a blessing that allowed her to take away the pain of other people through her left hand, and she was able to transfer the pain she was suffering to others with her right hand.

At the time of the incident, she had used the Blessing of Iron-Will to absorb the pain of thirty people. In a situation where it was difficult to even deal with one’s own body, she had absorbed other people’s pain.

Some may call it a noble sacrifice, but from my perspective, it looked like stupidity. She didn’t show it, but Jin-Seo was currently struggling under an immense amount of pain. The sweat on her forehead, quivering lips, and unfocused eyes proved it. The price of sacrifice was always terrible. That was why I disliked the word sacrifice, and I believed that those willing to sacrifice themselves were foolish.

Why? Because my father was also like that.

“...Why’d you do it if you knew this would happen?” I said while looking at Kim Jin-Seo, who was trembling in pain.

This wasn't something I should say to a patient, but Jin-Seo looked stupid to me. If she was going to struggle to deal with the pain so much, then she shouldn’t have gone out of her way to sacrifice herself.

[Hahaha. That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. That’s not something you can say, is it?]

...Come to think of it, it was quite hypocritical of me to say this kind of thing. After all, I also almost died while using Granbwa’s powers. I was also the type of person to sacrifice myself without any apparent benefit.

Cough.

I coughed to get rid of my embarrassment. Jin-Seo was still taking deep breaths and trying to suppress her pain. Her listless eyes eventually landed on me.

“...Are you going to tell other people?”

“Tell what?" f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com

"About this."

Jin-Seo pointed to the cigarette butts lying on the floor.

“So you're asking whether I’m going to tell other people you were smoking?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

That was what I said, but the thought of reporting her had never even crossed my mind in the first place. I only felt pity for her. I wondered how much pain she must have suffered for her to rely on these kinds of things.

Jin-Seo lowered her head after listening to me and said in a trembling voice, "It, ugh, hurts so much. Could you... let it go? If I get caught for this, I...” She desperately tried to hold back her tears. Her emotions seemed to be aggravated due to the pain.

She was stuttering, but it wasn’t difficult to understand what she was saying. She was asking me to close my eyes in response to her smoking.

“If it hurts that much, then all you have to do is hand it over to someone else.”

“...What?”

“The Blessing of Iron-Will. Can’t you transfer pain to other people through your right hand?”

To be exact, it was possible to transfer pain to a target by touching their forehead with her right hand. Conversely, it was possible to transfer pain away from a target by touching their forehead with her left hand. She could activate this ability regardless of the target’s consent if the conditions were met.

Jin-Seo looked up at me with her red, swollen eyes.

“I’m not crazy. Who could I possibly transfer the pain to? I-ugh. I’m not trash. Unlike you.”

She said everything she had to say while groaning in pain. I said all that because I had been genuinely worried about her, but my fragile heart had gotten roasted by an insult in return.

“Just how am I trash?”

“If someone else is going to suffer...Hghh. It’s better if I suffer that pain instead.”

“Ah, sure.”

She sure was a moron.

“And, don’t be... rude.”

Jin-Seo's voice was interrupted by the occasional pain.

“It’s not like you’re going to be the one that takes the pain. Don’t just, ugh, speak recklessly.”

“Then hand it over to me.”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise at my retort. However, her eyes quickly changed to a deep look of skepticism and distrust.

"Ha. I was wondering... what you... were talking about."

She let out a dry laugh as she gazed into the distance. She obviously didn’t think much of what I had said. It looked like she was thinking that it was something I had just said out of courtesy. She didn’t believe it was true at all.

“You have no intention of, mmh, accepting the pain. It’s easy to lie.”

From the words that she had said so far, I could piece together a couple of things. The minds of those who lived a difficult life and couldn’t rely on other people would eventually distort into two types of cases. The first case was a lack of affection. In this case, one would try to rely on others excessively, and if one lost the person to rely on, one would fall into extreme depression.

The second case was a distrust of humans. They were the type of people who would think that they were the only ones who were unfortunate, and they would think that other people's misfortune was not that big of a deal. They would avoid relying on others, and they would secretly despise others. It could also develop into a hatred of humanity.

It appeared that Jin-Seo was the latter. I didn’t know what sort of life she had lived. I only heard rumors that she was the daughter of the F.A. chairman. I had no idea what she went through for her to distrust other people so much. In any case, it was clear that she lived a hard life.

“It’s easy to proselytize these two types of people. These types of people have nothing to rely on. Thus, it’s easy for them to rely on religion and God. If you see these types of people, you should proactively proselytize them.”

My father had taught me these sorts of things. Whenever he said those words, my mother would smack his back. I remember my father doing all the housework that day. Well, to be fair, my father usually did it every day anyway.

Anyhow, I decided to take advantage of Jin-Seo's psychological state. I strode up to her body which was lying on the floor.

“I can stand up, urgh. By myself. So... ah? What, what are you doing?”

I put Jin-Seo's right hand on my forehead. In a normal situation, it would have been impossible, but because of her pain or injuries, Jin-Seo could not resist.

Snap.

With the sound of something snapping, pain that was beyond my imagination poured into my body. My breathing stopped, and every single muscle in my body became stiff. My fingertips, lips, and eyelids trembled. It was unbelievably difficult for me to hold onto my consciousness. My brain viciously throbbed, and even a light breeze felt like a sharp stab.

It was just a few seconds, but those few seconds had almost been enough to break my mind.

Jin-Seo had endured this sort of pain for many days. I could now understand why her words and actions had been much more sensitive than usual. If one were in this much pain, it would be difficult to be considerate of other people. I dare say that the pain was enough to make even a saint curse out loud.

I struggled with the pain for a brief period of time. It was not long before my body stopped trembling. My breathing gradually regained stability, and my whole body felt relaxed and drowsy. The pain started to fade away.

[Are you guys playing hot potato? I absorbed it for now. It stings quite a bit.]

It was thanks to Legba absorbing the pain.

The pain transferred through the Blessing of Iron-Will was treated as a kind of 'curse,’ so it was possible to hand it over to Legba. This amount of pain was practically nothing to them, as they had lived for so many years that it was beyond human comprehension. To Legba, this was simply a little sting.

"What are you doing?"

Jin-Seo looked at me blankly. Since she had transferred all the pain over to me, she was no longer stuttering.

"What did you do? Give it back. Quickly...!”

She floundered and placed her left hand on my forehead. She seemed to intend to take the pain away again. However, it failed. It was because there was a bandage around her left hand. Jin-Seo looked at her bandaged hand with futility.

"It's alright. It's bearable."

I wasn’t the one who was enduring the pain, but Legba. It was true that it was bearable anyway.

"Don't lie to me. What if you pass out like that, you idiot? What are you doing, seriously...!”

However, Jin-Seo didn't believe me. She stamped her feet and desperately placed her left hand on my forehead. It seemed like she was trying to take back the pain somehow, but it was futile. It was because the Blessing of Iron-Will would not activate when the bandages were in the way. In any case, I had succeeded in taking away Jin-Seo's pain. Now it was time to move on to the next action.

Ping-!

A thin, sharp sound rang through the alley. Along with that, Jin-Seo's wounds were healed.

To be exact, it was right to say it was 'restored.'

[Your restoration skills are truly astonishing. The only problem is that you don’t use it when I tell you to use it. Instead, you use it when I don’t tell you to use it. ] Legba recited his appreciation of my Voodoo magic.

What I used on Jin-Seo was the lesser restoration spell. I was a master at it, so I could cast the lesser restoration spell without drawing an array. This would have healed all the injuries that were littering her body, and it should have completely restored her finger, which had been injured enough was almost about to fall off.

“What did you do this time?” Jin-Seo looked at me as if she was dumbfounded.

"Heal. I'm sure your finger should be reattached now."

It was actually ‘restoration,’ but it was the same in terms of treating the wound anyway.

Jin-Seo's face turned white when she heard me.

"Y-you... Didn’t you fail to heal during the practical training session?"

“What are you talking about? I succeeded with the lesser healing spell, remember?”

“That’s what I mean! That was a complete failure!”

It had been a huge success by my standards... I felt depressed, but I tried not to show it. Jin-Seo clutched her bandaged left hand while letting out cold sweat. She was frowning in contemplation.

“The healing priest told me to heal this when it stabilizes later because it will scar if you just heal it abruptly.”

"Oh, really?"

“Why do you keep doing these unnecessary things? Just why? It’s not like you’re not going to take responsibility when it scars...!”

Jin-Seo appeared to be worried about leaving a scar. However, like I said, I was a master of restoration magic. It was possible to reattach an amputated arm with just lesser restoration. There was no way I would leave a scar after only reattaching a single finger.

"I'll take responsibility if there's any scar left. But there won’t be a scar anyway."

"It's a lesser healing spell, so how can there not be a scar? It’s easy to say...”

Jin-Seo tried to vent her pent-up frustrations on me, but she stopped talking as if she suddenly remembered something. I had a rough idea of what she was thinking now. I wasn’t just some smooth talker that was all talk and no show. I only talked when I was certain, just like I did before.

"If you're really worried, go home, remove the bandage, and check it out."

“...” Jin-Seo lowered her head without saying a word. Worry, anxiousness, and hints of anger could be seen in her eyes. She also expressed other negative emotions like helplessness and grief in her gaze. She remained silent for a while before tears started to roll down her cheeks. Within that awkward silence, we just stood there without saying anything to each other.

Vroom—! At that time, a car entered the entrance of the alley with a loud exhaust sound. It was a white car of a foreign make. An unfamiliar man poked his head out of the car window and alternatingly glanced at Jin-Seo and me.

"Miss?"

Judging from his appearance and speech, he seemed to be Jin-Seo's driver. The driver looked at the crying Jin-Seo, and he soon turned his eyes and looked at me. There was a clear hostility in his sharp eyes. It was a little unfair. It wasn’t like I was the one who made Jin-Seo cry.

[Technically, you were the one that made her cry, though,] Legba said. It occurred to me that that might be the case.

Just as my thoughts began to become complicated, Jin-Seo hopped into the car. The car drove out of the alley and went somewhere else. The only thing left was the acrid smell of cigarettes and car exhaust fumes.

[You should've walked past when I told you to do so. What did you expect? Did you think that she would fall in love with you if you helped her?]

“Since she’s the chairman's daughter, I thought it might be useful in the future if we became close. I don’t think it worked out, though.”

[Get closer to her, my ass. You’d be lucky if she doesn’t start avoiding you. That’s the way I see it.] Legba muttered spiteful remarks in a nonchalant tone, and I had nothing to say in response.

[You have too much needless affection. And you’re ashamed of it. And you cover up your shame by saying that helping them might be useful in the future.]

“Just stop. My head hurts.”

[You also have a bad habit of trying to end the conversations when your true intentions are exposed. You should fix that.]

“Ah, okay,” I answered half-heartedly.

* * *

Jin-Seo threw herself on her bed and lay down once she returned home. She felt depressed throughout the entire ride home. It was good that the pain was gone, but the problem was her finger.

'...I'm scared.' She was afraid to untie the bandage. Reattaching amputated body parts through lesser healing spells would always leave scars.

There were even cases where the finger’s shape would get strangely crooked due to reattaching it incorrectly. If that happened, she would have to live with a deformed finger for the rest of her life. She would rather die than have a deformed finger.

"I'll take responsibility if there's any scar left."

Suddenly, Sun-Woo's words flashed through her head. She had no idea where all his baseless confidence had come from. He was someone who struggled to even cast a lesser healing spell. He slept during the entrance ceremony because he didn’t maintain a proper sleeping schedule. Furthermore, he even went rogue and did his own thing during the group training session...!

Of course, thanks to him, they got first place in the training session, but anyway...

Jin-Seo stared aimlessly at the ceiling while resenting Sun-Woo. After a long period of heartache, she soon recovered and jumped out of bed.

“Please.”

She sat down and slowly began to untie the bandage on her left hand. Her hand trembled. She felt like she was going to cry for no reason. Every time a portion of the bandage came off, the trembling of her hands increased in severity. Her middle finger, which had been almost amputated, came into view when all the bandages were removed.

"Huh, ah? Ha. Wow!" Jin-Seo couldn’t help but exclaim. She felt her eyes which had been wet with tears, dry up immediately.

Her hand was perfectly fine. The reattached junction was clean without a scar. It was also attached really well. Jin-Seo moved her recovered fingers around and touched them. Both her sense of touch and the nerves in her fingers seemed to be completely fine.

“...!”

Jin-Seo jumped up and down while letting out a silent cheer. She had recovered enough to resume daily life starting tomorrow. No, it wasn’t just daily life that she could resume. She could start exercising again.

Jin-Seo laughed at her previous self, who had been lost in pointless worries such as, ‘What do I do if there is a scar?’ or, ‘Don’t tell me I’m going to be discarded again?’

When Sun-Woo had said, ‘There won’t be a scar anyway,’ he had been telling the truth.

...Sun-Woo was right. Now that she thought back, she realized she had behaved unsightly in front of Sun-Woo. Why had she done that?

Writing it off as just being in a bad mood wasn't right. She owed Sun-Woo too much for that.

It is questionable how he, who had struggled to cast a lesser healing spell, was able to achieve such perfect healing. Before questioning him, the first thing she had to do was thank him.