The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 227

I entered a nearby restaurant with Soo-Yeong. It was a restaurant well-known among Florence Academy students for its delicious food and affordable prices. Since we were already outside, it would be nice to treat ourselves to something tasty.

Up until now, Soo-Yeong had a gloomy expression. Was she sincere when she apologized to me earlier? I thought she was making a meaningless excuse to avoid getting scolded.

Then the food arrived. Suddenly, Soo-Yeong's expression brightened up. She must have been starving because she devoured the food. I watched her eat while I picked at the food in front of me.

Sensing my gaze, Soo-Yeong stopped eating and looked up at me. "Why do you keep staring at me? It's making me uncomfortable."

"No, I was just thinking about how much you’re enjoying the food. I thought you said you weren’t that hungry earlier."

"Ah, earlier... I don't know. Eating made me hungry. But why aren't you eating? You were the one who said we should go grab something to eat."

‘'You? What’s with your language?"

"Uh... well, no. Wait, what should I call you? Oppa?"

"Hmm. You know what? Just call me you for now."

"It works better, right?"

"It’s only temporary. If you keep talking like that when we go back home..."

"Ah, of course~ I’ll behave properly when we head back." Soo-Yeong casually brushed off my words and continued eating.

I quietly observed her eat. She seemed to enjoy the food a lot.

I had ordered a noodle dish but barely touched it. I could barely taste anything and had no appetite. Moments like these were when I regretted sacrificing my sense of taste. It was like I had lost a way to experience joy.

Soo-Yeong had already finished eating and was wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"By the way, what did you talk about with that person earlier?" she asked all of a sudden.

I handed her two napkins. "We didn't talk about anything special."

"Really? You talked for a long time, so I thought it was something important..."

"It wasn’t easy to try and clean up the unnecessary mess you made."

Soo-Yeong wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked flustered. "Ugh. Well, I couldn't help it... No, I'm sorry..."

I couldn't help but laugh seeing Soo-Yeong taking the joke seriously and apologizing.

"It's okay, it's resolved now," I said with a smile.

It had worked out well. No, thanks to Soo-Yeong, things might have worked out smoother than I had planned. I hadn’t been able to figure out the purpose of the device that Joseph tried to secretly attach to my phone through Jin-Seo. It was some kind of holy artifact, and I couldn’t even figure out its intended purpose, even with the use of Ogun's power.

So I sent it to Bae Jung-Hwan, the CEO of dBP Corporation. I hadn’t heard back from him yet, but I had a rough idea of its functions. If it was something that specifically needed to be attached to a phone, its intended function was probably to eavesdrop and spy on text messages and phone calls. There might also be a GPS function for location tracking.

I would use the device to my advantage through Ha-Yeon.

"As long as things go according to plan."

"Plan?"

I had two phones. One, or Phone-A, was the one that I used as a Florence Academy student. Joseph could eavesdrop on it without causing any problems for me. The other one, or Phone-B, was one that I used as the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult. I planned to attach Joseph's eavesdropping device to Phone-A.

I had lied to Ha-Yeon that Joseph was investigating the members of the purification clan, and Ha-Yeon had replied that she would do anything she could to help me. I would do all the communication regarding this through Phone-A.

As a result, Joseph would intercept the messages and calls exchanged between Ha-Yeon and me. The content of the messages and calls exchanged with Ha-Yeon would be related to the members of the purification clan. And to someone unaware of the situation, the messages would appear extremely suspicious because I intended to lead the flow of phone calls and messages in that direction.

The members of the purification clan were hiding many things. Among them, there may be things they were hiding for the greater good and things they were hiding for their own benefit. In any case, this meant that the members of the clan weren’t without a couple of blemishes.

When Joseph intercepted my messages with Ha-Yeon, he would surely feel suspicious. With luck on my side, he might feel uneasy about the members of the purification clan and start investigating them.

In that case, the lies I told Ha-Yeon would turn into the truth. ‘Joseph was investigating the members of the purification clan’ would no longer be a lie. Then, the members of the purification clan would not stay quiet. They would try to restrain Joseph using their power. If things got serious, they might even try to dismiss him.

I would be using the purification clan to restrain Joseph, just like he had tried to do so by using Jin-Seo to attach a listening device to me. If everything went according to plan, I would be able to get rid of Joseph without lifting a finger myself.

"...What are you doing? Aren't you leaving?"

Soo-Yeong’s voice brought me back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, right."

I quickly got up from my seat, paid the bill, and left the restaurant. Soo-Yeong shuffled behind, following me with quick steps.

We walked for a while with no destination in mind. I just walked wherever my feet took me. Normally, I would have gone straight back to the underground chapel, but since I was already out with Soo-Yeong, I decided to take a little detour to explore and chase away any potential wanderings.

"...Isn’t it tiring?" Soo-Yeong asked while we were walking.

I shrugged. We hadn't walked for long, and I wasn't tired yet.

"Not really. We've only been walking for about ten minutes, right?"

"That's not what..."

"If you’re tired, we can turn back."

Soo-Yeong suddenly raised her voice and said, "No, I’m not talking about walking!"

People around us glanced at us and walked by. Their stares made me feel uncomfortable. I stopped walking and looked down at Soo-Yeong.

Just a moment ago, when we were eating, she was fine. Why was she acting like this again? I was starting to get angry.

"Then what is so tiring for you? You should speak clearly from the beginning—"

"Not me, you... Aren’t you exhausted?"

"Me? Why would I be? I've always enjoyed walking," I asked out of genuine curiosity.

I'd always liked walking, and I exercised regularly, so walking for ten minutes wasn't even enough to make me out of breath. Or maybe I looked weak in Soo-Yeong's eyes? Hmm, I did have a bloody nose twice in front of her, so maybe she saw me as a bit out of shape. Maybe I needed to spend more time exercising to bulk up...

While I was thinking that, Soo-Yeong let out a deep sigh.

"No... acting in front of other people, or doing that kind of thing, isn't it tiring?"

"Ah, that's what you meant."

I finally understood what Soo-Yeong was trying to say. I dove into deep thought about my answer for a moment. Ever since I entered the academy, I spent most of my daily life at school and in the dormitory. At Florence Academy, I was constantly acting, to say the least.

But had I ever thought it was hard? There were moments when my heart sank because I almost made a mistake, but I never thought of my job as something difficult. I shouldn’t feel that it was difficult. I had chosen to enroll in Florence Academy after all.

"It's not that bad," I said, raising my head.

Soo-Yeong lowered her gaze from my face.

"Seems difficult to me. If it were me—"

"I had a hard time when your father staged a rebellion. Remember?"

"...Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden? It’s not fair to dig up the past."

"The past? Are you a psychopath? I almost died back then.”

"I apologized to you then, didn't I? Uh... or did I not?"

"You didn't."

I couldn't remember it clearly, but considering Soo-Yeong's personality, she wouldn’t have apologized.

Soo-Yeong listened to me and tightly sealed her lips, pouting.

Then suddenly, her face brightened.

"That's why I left home. Isn't that enough?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"If I’m in the underground chapel of the headquarters, I’m not affiliated with the Chungcheong Branch, so it doesn't matter...right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a bit complicated. Anyway, forget it, let's move on!" Soo-Yeong said with a smirk.

I was a little annoyed, but I decided to let it go.

Ha Pan-Seok had once staged a rebellion but was now a loyal follower. Although Soo-Yeong could be annoying at times, she followed me well. There was no need to bring up the past and to put blame on her.

Above all, Soo-Yeong's spells were special. Unlike ordinary spells, her spells worked on animals and could perhaps even be used on demonic beasts or demons. Her talents would surely come in handy, and it would be better to maintain a good relationship for the future.

"Hey, have you ever acted or lied in front of us?" Soo-Yeong asked all of a sudden.

"Us?"

Soo-Yeong looked around to check if anyone was listening. "I mean, you know, in front of the believers," Soo-Yeong said.

I looked at her. I knew what she was trying to say. She was questioning whether I had acted in the Voodoo Cult, just as I had done in the Romanican Church, or in front of the Florence Academy students.

To be honest, there must have been instances. No, I was always deceiving or acting, no matter when or where. At the academy, I was hiding my true identity, and when in front of the Voodoo Cult, I was maintaining my image and status as the Cult Leader. If the Cult Leader showed any signs of mental breakdown, the cult members would lose morale, and the reverence toward the Cult Leader would slowly wither away.

However, I shook my head and casually lied. "Never."

Soo-Yeong looked at me suspiciously.

"Really? Not even once?"

"Maybe once or twice. But, well, I never really made an effort to hide anything."

"Oh, really? So, you're not hiding anything from us?" Soo-Yeong said.

I wasn't included in the word us. I remembered a time when Yu-Hyun used the expression us. Even then, I hadn’t belonged to the so-called us. Perhaps I was in a position where I didn't belong to either side.

I smiled and nodded. "Of course. There’s no need to after all."

Sometimes, I needed to keep an act up to some, even when dealing with the Voodoo Cult, just like how I had effortlessly lied to Soo-Yeong just now.

Soo-Yeong followed me in surprise. "What's going on? Where are you suddenly going?"

"Let's head back. We've walked enough."

"What are you talking about? It's only been fifteen minutes." Soo-Yeong grumbled as if she was reluctant to go back to the underground chapel like this.

"I'm starting to get a bit tired," I said with a smile.

I wanted to quickly go back to the underground chapel and learn how to use the staff. I would go through multiple trials and errors, cough blood, and fall down, but that was fine.

I just wanted to clear my mind. I knew I wouldn't be able to get any sleep in my current state.