The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 208

[By the way, child.]

Damballa crawled to me while I was resting on my bed.

"Yes."

[Could you explain what exactly you mean by causing a commotion?]

I hesitated, not fully understanding her words. Explain what I meant by causing a commotion. I just wanted her to cause a commotion and divert attention.

Damballa climbed up my arm and continued, [I'm asking how much commotion you want. For example, if you want me to break buildings or people...]

At that moment, a loud noise echoed from the living room.

Thud–!

It wasn't the noise of someone stumbling or a bottle falling. It was the sound of something breaking or collapsing. I was so startled that I couldn't even respond to Damballa. I left the room and was met with the sight of the mess made in the living room.

"Huh? I can't balance!"

"Hey, Dae-Man. Dae-Man, you crazy bastard, wake up!"

"Haha, hey! Dae-Man! Why are you lying down?"

"I don't know. My head, my head hurts..." "

“Ah, sob. Hey, why doesn't anyone listen to me!"

"Sigh..."

Dae-Man was lying on the floor in the living room, and Yu-Hyun was slapping Dae-Man’s cheek in an effort to wake him up. Su-Ryeon had burst into laughter after seeing Dae-Man lying flat on the floor. Dae-Man scowled and complained about a headache while Min-Seo was crying for some reason. The only person who looked relatively unharmed was Ha-Yeon. She sighed while watching the scene. Jin-Seo leaned against the wall and took deep breaths to regain her composure.

It was a real mess. I couldn't understand why the students who were fine moments ago suddenly became like this. I looked around at the scattered bottles on the floor. They had drunk a lot, but above all, it seemed like they had pulled out the alcohol from Yeom Man-Gun's factory. It seemed they were intoxicated from the spell more than the alcohol.

I thought I had made it clear that he wasn’t allowed to drink it.

I called Yu-Hyun. "Hey."

"..."

He didn't respond but lowered his gaze.

* * *

Ha-Yeon watched everything unfold.

Yu-Hyun and Su-Ryeon were already drunk, while Min-Seo and Dae-Man followed soon after. Jin-Seo, who didn't even drink, couldn’t sober up. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Ha-Yeon was the most sober person.

All hell had broken loose when Jin-Seo opened the bottle of alcohol and collapsed. Min-Seo, Yu-Hyun, and Su-Ryeon each said something while looking at the fallen Jin-Seo.

"You act tough, but you're useless. What kind of person gets drunk on the smell of alcohol?”

"Is this why it’s called the secret weapon? Because you can put people to sleep just by its smell?"

"Yeah... but guys, don't we need to wake up Jin-Seo?"

Ha-Yeon wrinkled her nose and frowned, catching a strange odor in the air. Despite the living room being filled with the smell of alcohol to the point where there was no room for any other scent, she could smell a strange and ominous stench coming from somewhere.

She had smelled that odor before. But from where? She tried to recall, but whether it was due to the alcohol or the chaotic atmosphere, it didn't easily come to mind.

"This can't be! Jin-Seo is dead!"

Dae-Man’s shout jolted Ha-Yeon awake from her thoughts. Dae-Man seemed to genuinely believe that Jin-Seo had died as he tried to get up from his seat, his face pale with fear. Yu-Hyun held him in place.

"Hey, she's not dead. Look, she's breathing."

"You’re right! I thought she was dead, thank goodness!"

"Guys, we should wake her up or put her in bed..."

Min-Seo stopped Su-Ryeon from trying to wake up Jin-Seo. "Forget it. She'll wake up on her own. Is it our fault that she got drunk? That’s her problem."

Min-Seo’s eyes looked even more aggressive when she was drunk.

"Someone’s already dead... Is this the power of the secret weapon? Let's go!" Yu-Hyun exclaimed excitedly as he started tilting the bottle.

Min-Seo watched him and asked, "But what's the alcohol content?"

Yu-Hyun rotated the bottle back and forth, trying to look for the alcohol content, but shook his head as if he didn't know.

"20, 25... 30? 35? I don't know."

"The fuck? Is it a power level or something? Why does it keep going up?[1]

"No, it seems like it doesn’t have a number. Maybe I can’t find it?"

"Hey, but we need to know how strong it is..."

"I don't care~ Just drink~," Yu-Hyun said, filling everyone’s cup with alcohol.

He refilled their cups every time they emptied them and repeated this several times.

Ha-Yeon also had a few drinks. The drink had a unique scent but was tolerable because the taste was alright.

The problem was that the students' condition changed rapidly every time they finished a cup. Three empty glasses later, the group began to succumb to their drunkenness.

"There's an age when you can go crazy. If you don’t go crazy during that time, there’s no meaning in doing so. Then it's not fun."

"Ah, this guy is at it again... Hey, is this more expensive than the one you talked about earlier?"

"Ugh... hey, this, this feels strange. It feels like poison, not alcohol."

"This is a big problem. I feel like my muscles are falling off my body."

They all started talking about their own agendas, losing focus or bursting into laughter like fools. Everyone seemed like they had suddenly lost their minds.

Ha-Yeon was the only one who seemed relatively okay. She was a bit dizzy, and her face was flushed, but she didn't babble like the others. Yu-Hyun also seemed relatively fine, but he had been drunk since earlier because he had been drinking a lot.

"How much was this? Seven hundred... was it?"

"Damn, what kind of alcohol costs more than my monthly salary...?"

"Alcohol breaks down protein..."

"Haha, hahaha...!"

After a few more drinks, everyone crossed the point of no return.

Yu-Hyun suddenly laid out the bottle of alcohol he had brought and started calculating the total cost. Min-Seo was surprised at first when she heard the price, but then she started crying as she talked about her part-time job. She said she felt sad and that it was unfair.

Dae-Man complained that his muscles would shrink when he drank alcohol, but that didn't mean he wouldn’t drink. Su-Ryeon suddenly started to laugh like crazy. Jin-Seo woke up soon after, but it didn’t seem like she was fully back to her senses. She had to catch her breath while holding onto the wall.

Ha-Yeon wasn't completely sober either, but she still had enough consciousness to pretend to be sober. She dearly held onto her sanity.

At that moment, Dae-Man crossed his arms and looked around at the drunk kids. The atmosphere, which had been filled with nonsense, momentarily calmed down. "You guys suddenly look so small."

Su-Ryeon's cheerful laughter broke the silence. "What? Haha, hey! That’s because you’re just so big!"

"That's right. Dae-Man is quite big."

"God, Dae-Man! Why do you keep interrupting me while I'm talking? You ruined my flow...”

Su-Ryeon laughed, Yu-Hyun agreed, and Min-Seo cried.

Dae-Man nodded and stood up from his seat.

"I see... Am I just too big? Pursuing strength sure is worth it," Dae-Man said, flexing his body. His thick muscles were clearly visible through his clothes.

Su-Ryeon cheered, Min-Seo and Ha-Yeon looked disgusted, and Yu-Hyun looked impressed, his mouth in a round shape.

Suddenly, Dae-Man's body began to wobble.

"No, wait. It's not that I've grown bigger..."

Thud!

Dae-Man collapsed to the ground, crushing the snacks and spilling the cups of alcohol all over the floor. Dae-Man soon regained consciousness and opened his eyes. However, he repeatedly failed to get up.

"Huh? I can't regain my balance!" Dae-Man said, lying on the floor.

That was the moment Sun-Woo came out of the room. As he witnessed Min-Seo crying, Su-Ryeon cackling like crazy, Yu-Hyun trying to lift Dae-Man, and Jin-Seo staggering even when leaning against the wall, Sun-Woo’s expression turned icy.

Yu-Hyun never bowed to anyone, but he lowered his gaze and put his tail between his legs when Sun-Woo spoke to him. Although Ha-Yeon was surprised, she found something else even more surprising.

"Ah, I’m up! I feel better now!"

Dae-Man finally got up. However, just because he was able to get up didn't mean that he was sober. He would easily stumble if he stood like that. His fall earlier had only ended with spilled drinks, but this time, who knew what disaster it could lead to.

That was when Sun-Woo approached Dae-Man.

Thump.

Ha-Yeon couldn't see what happened. Sun-Woo had simply approached Dae-Man and pushed him. Dae-Man's eyes rolled in their sockets, and his gigantic body leaned forward. Sun-Woo supported the unconscious Dae-Man.

"You're really drunk."

He casually moved Dae-Man to the bedroom and came back to the living room. He cleaned up the fallen snacks and spilled alcohol on the floor. Min-Seo wiped away her tears from being drunk and frowned at the sight.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you cleaning up?"

Thud.

And just like that, Min-Seo was also knocked down.

She wasn’t knocked out because she was drunk. It seemed like Sun-Woo had played some kind of trick. According to rumors, he was training to handle an extreme style of fighting by dueling with a current inquisitor... But it was just a rumor.

Rumors always surrounded him. Among those who talked about him, no one really knew him, and that didn’t exclude Ha-Yeon either.

"She's drunk too. Su-Ryeon, take her to that room over there."

Su-Ryeon nodded at Sun-Woo's instruction. "Ah, okay."

Ha-Yeon saw Sun-Woo's surprisingly calm and relaxed appearance. What an enigma he was. She recalled her father talking about him.

“Don’t be friendly with him, don’t talk to him, and don’t get close to him. No, if possible, don't even go near him.”

Her father didn’t seem like he could continue.

"I'm begging you, Ha-Yeon..."

Her father's voice had trembled. It was her first time seeing her father in such a vulnerable state.

At first, she thought Sun-Woo had the blood of purification. She thought they would eventually have to get married, and there were times when she hated that idea to death. However, as she gradually got to know him, she began to think that she was fortunate that he had the blood of purification.

But then she found out that he did not have the blood of purification. So, what was he exactly?

Her father had always seemed strong and fearless, but even her father seemed to be strangely afraid of Sun-Woo. Who on earth was Sun-Woo? What kind of person was he?

"...Who exactly are you?" Ha-Yeon asked, tapping into liquid courage.

Sun-Woo's cold and piercing gaze swept over her, but Ha-Yeon held her ground, staring straight at Sun-Woo's face without flinching.

This seemed like the last chance she would get to ask this question.

1. ☜