Chapter 217

I quickly tucked the staff that had somehow ended up in my hands into my arms. Several people, including Han Dae-Ho, had visited the Crossroads and had seen Legba holding the staff. If they caught me holding the same staff in my hands, I wouldn’t be able to avoid suspicion.

No, suspicion wasn't the issue anymore. Everyone had been at the Crossroads and had seen Legba. That signified that the Voodoo Cult had been here, and none other than the Cult Leader and Prophet of the Voodoo Cult was present.

"Go back to the hotel and wait."

Fortunately, they hadn’t found out that I was the Prophet and the Cult Leader yet. Han Dae-Ho ordered the clergymen to escort us and send us back to our accommodation. From his demeanor, Han Dae-Ho seemed very rattled about the situation. The same could be said about the expressions of the other kids.

Even Yu-Hyun, who knew my true identity, had a perplexed expression. We didn't say a word on the van. It wasn't just because the clergymen were accompanying us. Everyone was still unable to recover from the shock of what they had seen at the Crossroads.

"Just what did I witness...?"

The long silence was broken by Min-Seo’s muttering to herself as we got out of the van upon the accompanying clergymen’s instructions.

"I saw an old man. I don't know what it means, but he mentioned something about the Crossroads," Dae-Man said.

"What is the Crossroads? Is it something related to the local religion here...? But that grandpa hit me on the head earlier. What was that about?" Su-Ryeon said.

They were still pondering about the Crossroads. Ha-Yeon quietly listened to their conversation. She raised her head and said, "It’s the Voodoo Cult."

“Voo—huh? Why is the Voodoo Cult here?” Su-Ryeon said, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

I silently listened to their conversation.

It was the first time they were directly discussing the Voodoo Cult. I decided not to speak up, as I might accidentally slip up and make a mistake.

Ha-Yeon glanced at Yu-Hyun and said, "I'm not sure... but they’re the only ones I've heard using the word Crossroads."

"So, is the old man we saw earlier the Cult Leader?" Dae-Man asked.

"No, as far as I know, the Cult Leader is..." Min-Seo interrupted Dae-Man. She shook her head and continued, "It can't be the old man. It's almost an established fact that he's not that old."

"Then there's a possibility that he's the Prophet."

"No, idiot. They said that the Cult Leader and the Prophet are the same person this time," Min-Seo said.

"Is that even possible?" Dae-Man said, raising his eyebrows.

Min-Seo glared at Dae-Man and furrowed her brows.

"Don’t you think people would have said it because it is possible?” she said.

"That's a valid point. Anyway, that was an interesting experience," Dae-Man said.

"...I wonder where those people in black went?" Sy-Ryeon asked.

"If what we ran into was the Voodoo Cult, they must have been under a Voodoo spell.” Jin-Seo continued, "Voodoo spells can control people's minds."

"So, did they use a spell to drive people away? I guess Voodoo spells aren’t necessarily cruel or anything like that," Su-Ryeon said.

"Do you really think that they merely drove people away?" Ha-Yeon said.

"Well, now we have another reason to exercise. If we train our bodies, we can withstand spells," Dae-Man said.

"What... logically speaking, you seriously think that’ll work?"

The students chimed in and contributed their own thoughts to the conversation.

Yu-Hyun and I remained silent. I learned one thing from their conversation. People didn’t know as much information about the Voodoo Cult as I had thought. At best, they vaguely knew about the Cult Leader’s age and that the Cult Leader and Prophet were the same person. Ha-Yeon probably knew about the Crossroads because of Sung Yu-Da.

However, when it came to spells and the Loa's power, everyone made baseless predictions, and no one spoke about it confidently. I was surprised about how little information there was about the Voodoo Cult, even though the Holy War had only happened about seven years ago.

It wasn't just the lack of information that surprised me. They didn't seem to perceive the Voodoo Cult as an ‘enemy.’ Perhaps it was because there were more noticeable enemies, like Satanists. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but the fact made me feel uncomfortable for some reason.

At that moment, Su-Ryeon pointed at Jin-Seo's arm instead of continuing the conversation. "Uh, Jin-Seo! Your arm...!"

She had torn her skirt and wrapped it around her arm like a bandage, and the cloth was soaked with blood. It seemed like her wound had been ripped back open. Jin-Seo also seemed to notice the state of her wound belatedly, her expression charged with surprise.

Su-Ryeon seemed flustered, but Jin-Seo was calm.

"Oh my, that’s a lot of blood... Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Su-Ryeon said.

"No, it doesn't hurt... but I think I should either bandage it or get some healing," Jin-Seo said.

Jin-Seo looked around, scanned me up and down, and then approached me.

"There's a healing priest somewhere around here. I'll go with this guy to get treated," she said.

"Why me?" I asked.

I couldn't understand why she wanted me to go with her. Jin-Seo chuckled as if I were being ridiculous. She pointed toward the side of my leg and opened her mouth.

"You're hurt too. There," she said.

"..."

Although it had not caused me discomfort, I failed to notice that the hem of my pants was drenched in blood. I took off my pants to check the wound.

The wound wasn't big, but it was deep cut. The bleeding was heavy, so it seemed better to seek treatment. It seemed I had gotten wounded from fighting the men in black earlier. No wonder I felt uncomfortable walking around since then.

I had almost turned into a Legba.

[You brat...] Legba muttered quietly.

Su-Ryeon looked at Jin-Seo and me. She then nodded and said, "Yeah, yeah. Both of you go quickly. How about everyone else?"

"I'm fine! I’m a little sore, but it’s probably just muscle pain," Dae-Man said.

"Me too... I don’t think it’s that serious. I fought pretty slyly to have been hurt," Min-Seo said.

Yu-Hyun didn't answer and just shook his head. Ha-Yeon also didn't answer. She looked at her palm briefly, then looked up at my face and shook her head.

"...I healed myself earlier. I'll be leaving," she said.

Then she got on the elevator and went up. Her expression and tone seemed cold. The others followed Ha-Yeon and got on the elevator.

Only Jin-Seo and I were left in the lobby. She pulled me aside and silently led me outside the hotel.

It was dark outside. Maybe it was because of the sudden rain, but there were fewer people on the streets, and the lights were dimmer than yesterday. The dark clouds I had summoned had disappeared, and the night sky was spotless. The sky looked bright now that the ground was dark. I could see a lot of stars.

Jin-Seo started walking somewhere, and I followed her.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"The healing priest is outside?" I asked, and Jin-Seo shook her head.

"No, they’re inside."

"...Then why did you come out here?"

"Just because. You can heal, and so can I."

"I'm not good at it."

"Lies," Jin-Seo said bluntly.

It seemed like she was thinking back to the day when I had treated her finger in front of the hospital. However, what I had used on her back then was not healing but a restoration spell. I was in a dilemma. She took me to a nearby park. The bench was wet, but Jin-Seo sat down without hesitation.

"Won’t your clothes get wet?"

"So what? I'm going to throw them away anyway."

I guess there was no reason to save a torn skirt. Since the pants I was wearing were already soaked with blood, I just shook off the water on the bench and sat down.

Jin-Seo untied the knot of the cloth wrapped around her arm. The cloth came off, revealing the wound underneath.

I thought I had a rough idea, but the wound was large and deep. Moreover, it was aggravated due to the battle. Nevertheless, it was at a level where it could be treated with a lesser restoration spell. As long as a limb wasn’t cut off, I could treat most wounds with a lesser restoration spell.

"Come on, heal it quickly," she said brazenly, extending her arm.

"...I don't feel like doing it when you say it like that."

"I'm in pain. Do it quickly."

"Close your eyes then."

"Why?"

"Just close them if I tell you to."

"If I close them, I feel like you'll do something weird."

"...I won’t do it if you won’t close your eyes."

"You're really strict. Fine, I got it." Jin-Seo grumbled and closed her eyes.

I made her close her eyes so I could use the spell. I could use a lesser restoration spell without unleashing Voodoo magic, but making her close her eyes was still safer.

I gently pressed her injured area with the palm of my hand so that the spell would work well. She trembled slightly. Even though she didn't show it, she seemed to be in a lot of pain.

Then, I used the restoration spell. The wound healed instantly. My skills in handling the restoration spell had improved even more than before.

"...Is it over?"

"Yeah," I replied, and Jin-Seo opened her tightly closed eyes.

Then she checked her arm. She nodded as if satisfied when she confirmed that the wound had completely healed.

"Well done. Now, it's your turn."

"My turn?"

"You need to treat your leg. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"..."

I reluctantly stuck my leg out to her. Because I hadn’t put pressure on the wound in time, there was still a lot of flow. Jin-Seo hiked my pants to check the wound, then unleashed divine power and skillfully drew a healing array.

My wound gradually healed as it basked under the light of healing. Jin-Seo surprisingly handled the healing well.

"You’re pretty good yourself."

"Of course. I got a perfect score in healing practical training."

"Impressive."

"I feel no soul in your response. I shouldn't have healed you."

Jin-Seo rolled her eyes.

I didn't respond and just laughed meaninglessly. Jin-Seo finished healing and sat back next to me. A moment of silence filled the air.

"But if you were going to heal me, wouldn't it have been better to do it in the hotel?" I asked, suddenly curious.

If her objective was healing, using the hotel facilities would have been better. It might have been burdensome to unleash divine power in a foreign country, but it seemed like there was another reason.

Jin-Seo stared at me. I couldn’t decipher her expression. Then, she averted her gaze.

"Earlier, the Voodoo Cult and Satanists came to the museum, right?"

"Right."

"...How did they know we were going to be there?"

My mouth was closed shut. I had nothing to say. I was also worried about making a slip of the tongue.

Jin-Seo said, "There might be cult members among the staff."

"..."

"There might even be some among us."

She lowered her head.

"Thinking about it that way... I found the others a little scary. I wanted to come out for a bit."

"...What about me?"

"You're fine," Jin-Seo replied immediately as if there was no need to hesitate.

"At least, I don't think it's you. That's why I came out with you."

"...Thanks."

"Why? Do you think I'm a spy?" Jin-Seo asked jokingly.

I shook my head.

"No way."

I was the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult who appeared at the museum and the spy. I was scared because while answering, the smile on my face didn't feel as natural as before.