Chapter 292

Beeeep—!

After Sun-Woo defeated Jin-Seo, a loud noise rang out from her shock detection device and signaled the end of the exam.

Sun-Woo and Jin-Seo left Eiden Hill under the teachers’ guidance, and their rankings were announced.

Jin-Seo was in second place, while Sun-Woo was in first place. Jin-Seo stared at the letters 'second place' written on her ranking sheet for a while. She had no complaints about her ranking. At this point, she didn’t particularly care about her grades. Not beating Sun-Woo was also fine. She had expected her defeat, so she didn’t feel disappointed or upset.

There was a different reason why her emotions felt strange. Back when Sun-Woo had overwhelmed her, she sensed a peculiar emotion residing within Sun-Woo’s eyes as he gazed at her. She couldn’t tell whether that sharp and dangerous emotion had been sadism or violence.

After the end of the exam, when they were leaving Eiden Hill, Sun-Woo said, "That was fun."

He was smiling, and his gaze was kind. The dangerous look he had shown earlier had already disappeared. He returned to his usual self.

He was definitely no different from usual, but...

For some strange reason, his appearance felt unfamiliar and awkward. His face, which gave the impression of a remarkably kind fellow, didn’t seem to suit him at all.

"Me too," Jin-Seo responded with a nod.

They were supposed to go home immediately after the exam, so they parted ways. On her way back to her empty house, Jin-Seo thought about Sun-Woo.

This was practically the first time she had seen him reveal his true strength in front of her with such an aggressive and dangerous gaze.

‘Whether you turn out to be a really scary person, or someone with nothing, or even a cultist, I... It doesn’t matter. It’ll still be fine.’

Jin-Seo said such words to Sun-Woo in the past. She had said that it didn’t matter what type of person he was. She was confident that she would still like him no matter how dangerous he was.

But was that really true? Jin-Seo carefully thought about it. If he really was a Satanist, a Voodoo Cultist, or something even more dangerous and malicious, what then?

What if the scary and dangerous face he revealed today was Sun-Woo's true self, and his usual kind and innocent appearance was just a mask? Would her feelings toward him remain unchanged?

"..."

She wasn’t sure. And because she couldn’t be sure of her feelings, she feared digging deeper. Jin-Seo shook her head to clear her thoughts.

***

The practical exam was over, and the overall grades were announced.

I received decent scores on the written exam, but because I achieved first place on the practical exam, my overall ranking was fifth. This was an exceedingly good rank, considering the effort I had put in.

Above me were Jin-Seo, Min-Seo, Yu-Hyun, and In-Ah. Among those four, In-Ah was in first place. In-Ah had achieved first place in the written exam by a large margin. Thanks to that, even though she didn't get a high score on the practical exam, she ended up taking the top spot.

After the end of the exam, there was a ceremony to kickstart the winter break. I met In-Ah there and congratulated her.

"Congratulations."

"What are you suddenly congratulating me for?"

“You got first place. You always wanted to achieve it,” I said.

In-Ah smiled brightly in response. Then, she playfully stared at me with narrowed eyes.

"I feel weird hearing that from you. Are you making fun of me?" she said as she looked at the banner hanging at the entrance of the auditorium, where the winter break ceremony was taking place.

The banner showed the number of people who had passed the entrance exam and a list of their names. It showed the number of people who had passed the entrance exam for the Northern Priesthood, the number of people who made it into the Eastern Paladin Order, and so on.

Jin-Seo, Ha-Yeon, and Su-Ryeon's names were all on the banner. Jin-Seo had made it into the Northern Crusader Order, and Su-Ryeon had made it into the Western Crusader Order.

Ha-Yeon's name was written in much larger letters than others because she had been accepted into none other than the Central Priesthood. And my name was next to Ha-Yeon's.

Do Sun-Woo - Class of Charity: Accepted to the Central Paladin Order.

I finally passed the Central Paladin Order entrance exam with Sung Yu-Da's help.

"Hey, I’m not making fun of you. I’m genuinely congratulating you.”

"Oh, really? Well then, thank you. To think that I get to see a day when a paladin from the Central Paladin Order congratulates me," In-Ah playfully said with a satisfied nod.

She looked at me with a grin and continued, "Anyway, it's really great. I was wondering if you would actually make it."

"Really? Did you think I would fail then?"

"No~ It's not that. I just had doubts. The competition for this year’s Central Paladin Order entrance exam was really tough..."

As In-Ah said, the competition for this year’s Central Paladin Order entrance exam was incredibly tough. Other Paladin Orders typically had a 10:1 fail-to-pass ratio, and the most difficult Paladin Orders had a 20:1 fail-to-pass ratio. However, the Central Paladin Order had a fail-to-pass ratio of 200:1.

Moreover, it was almost unheard of for a student still enrolled in Florence Academy to join the Central Paladin Order. Up until now, only Sung Yu-Da and Joseph had succeeded in joining the Central Paladin Order during their studies.

Even Sung Yu-Da and Joseph succeeded in joining around their second or third year, not in their first year. So, for a first-year like me, joining the Central Paladin Order was a miracle. It was largely due to Sung Yu-Da’s help, but in any case, all was well since it ended well.

“You can’t ignore me just because you’re doing well, alright?”

I laughed lightly and came up with a reasonable response to In-Ah’s question.

“I won’t do that. Do I look like the kind of person who would do that?"

Just because I joined the Central Paladin Order didn’t mean I would ignore the connections I had made at Florence Academy. Instead, I planned to maintain even closer relationships with them.

I had joined the Central Paladin Order with a clear goal in mind, and to achieve that goal, it was crucial not to disregard the connections I had within Florence Academy.

Soon, the ceremony began. Before the start of the ceremony, we prayed and sang hymns, followed by the official part of the ceremony. The winter break ceremony was fairly typical of what you would expect from any other ceremony.

At the end of the ceremony, the students returned home with faces filled with excitement. Other than In-Ah, I greeted a few familiar faces and headed straight to the underground chapel.

After arriving at the chapel, I called Sung Yu-Da on my phone. He answered promptly.

"It’s me. My admission was confirmed the day before yesterday. I will be heading over there soon," I said.

I hung up without listening to Sung Yu-Da's response. There was no need to hear it since I had only called to notify him.

While returning to the underground chapel, I recalled the plans for the future. Although my initiation into the Central Paladin Order was confirmed the day before yesterday, becoming an official member of the Central Paladin Order through the initiation ceremony was scheduled for around February next year.

That was when my actual plans would begin, especially the plan to rescue my mother trapped in the underground prison.

***

During winter break, I was holed up in the underground chapel because I had to research something.

I received my father’s unfinished research records from Sung Yu-Da. My father saw potential in Voodoo spells that could control other people’s emotions and will, or in other words, their minds. He suggested that it was possible to interfere with other people’s memories through Voodoo spells.

The result of his research was Noah's Ark. Noah's Ark served as a medium for storing a person’s memories, which is why I was able to glimpse into my father's memories there.

However, what my father wanted was not just that. He didn’t just want the one-sided transmission of memories, but the exchange of memories between two parties—in other words, the ability to share memories between people.

That was the ultimate goal that my father wanted to achieve through the Voodoo spells. I locked myself inside the underground chapel to continue my father’s unfinished research.

I had a grasp of the theoretical aspects. I could use poteau mitan, the Staff of Reversal, to trigger the reverse spell technique. By using the reverse spell technique on my father's spell, Memory Implantation, not only reading the memories of others but also sharing memories between people seemed possible.

"It’s not easy..."

The problem was that it was easier said than done. In the first place, not only was I unable to master the reverse spell technique, but I also wasn’t able to master my father's Memory Implantation spell.

Thus, using the reverse spell technique on Memory Implantation was even more difficult. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was near impossible.

[It’s a Voodoo spell that Do Myung-Jun devoted his whole life to and was still unable to perfect. There’s no way it would be so easy to accomplish,] Legba said.

"That's right," I said as I nodded in agreement.

Even my genius father wasn’t able to perfect this spell, so there was no way I could do it in just a couple of weeks. Since it was such a challenging task, I put even more effort into it and dedicated myself to researching the spell.

However, I didn't just focus on researching my father's spell.

I also didn't forget to practice spells that I could use immediately, such as the Curse of Fainting and Memory Annihilation. I also didn't neglect practicing the power of the Loa.

I consistently read books. I mainly read literature on spells, but in my spare time, I also read books unrelated to spells, such as books about the history of the Romanican Church and the Central Paladin Order, as well as books on general history and humanities such as philosophy.

Ji-Ah came to find me while I was reading.

“Cult Leader,” she said.

She approached me with her hands slightly clasped together and greeted me with a bow.

Then she glanced at me. I was currently reading a book that detailed how to rule as a lord.

“You seem to be reading a good book at the moment. Is it interesting?”

"I'm not reading it for fun, but it's somewhat interesting. Have you read this too, nuna?"

"Yes, I read it once. It wasn't really to my taste... Anyway, weren't you studying spells until just now?"

"Yes. I finished and started reading."

"Aren’t you going to take a break?" Ji-Ah asked.

I smiled at Ji-Ah and replied, "I feel uncomfortable when I rest."

I knew the importance of rest. Proper rest was necessary for working efficiently. However, I felt anxious whenever I rested without doing anything. I felt more at ease when I did something during my idle time.

Yet, I knew that if I spent the whole day studying spells or practicing the power of the Loa, my body would surely suffer.

That was why I chose reading as a better alternative to rest. Reading allowed me to accumulate knowledge and broaden my perspective, while also giving my tired body a break from spell research.

I closed the book I was reading and asked, "So, what brings you here?"

"I received a message from Yuk Eun-Hyung from the Gyeongsang Branch. It seems that he needs your help."

"Yuk Eun-Hyung needs help? Exactly what kind of help does he need?"

"I'm not sure of the details. But..." Ji-Ah paused momentarily before continuing, "It seems like some conflict has occurred with a certain mercenary corps."

"Which mercenary corps?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems to be the Ravens."

The Ravens Mercenary Corps. When Jun-Hyuk attacked Florence Academy in the past, the Ravens had helped Jun-Hyuk occupy the church.

Based on what Yuk Eun-Hyung told me last time, they were a notorious mercenary corps. I quickly picked up my phone and called Yuk Eun-Hyung. Fortunately, he answered right away.

—

Yes, Cult Leader. This is Yuk Eun-Hyung.

I skipped unnecessary greetings and went straight to the point.

"I heard that you were in a conflict with the Ravens Mercenary Corps."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. Eventually, Yuk Eun-Hyung's voice came through with a cough.

—

I would like to speak to you in person. Are you currently at the underground chapel located in the headquarters?"

"Yes. When can we meet?"

—

I will go there right away. Well then...

Beep.

After saying what he had to say, Yuk Eun-Hyung hung up the phone. It seemed like it was an urgent matter.