Chapter 346

"Ah, argh..."

Now covered in blood, the inquisitor uttered strange sounds instead of screams or moans. After finishing the torture session, Sun-Woo approached Yoon-Ah. He broke the handcuffs binding Yoon-Ah and used restoration spells to heal the various wounds on her body. He then tried to help Yoon-Ah up.

She refused. "I can stand up by myself.”

She tried to stand up and walk on her own, but her legs wobbled, causing her to fall over every time. Sun-Woo looked at Yoon-Ah as if she was pathetic.

"It seems like you can't stand up by yourself."

"Uh... I guess it does seem like that?" Yoon-Ah admitted before accepting Sun-Woo’s support.

Walking was much easier with Sun-Woo's help. Yoon-Ah looked around as she walked with Sun-Woo's assistance. The inquisitor and the clergymen who had been guarding the interrogation room were sprawled on the floor.

Their faces were so distorted that it was impossible to recognize them, perhaps due to the blows they had received from Sun-Woo. They were either dead or unconscious.

"..."

Sun-Woo had probably subdued those blocking the way to the interrogation room. Yoon-Ah did not pity the fallen clergymen, but she thought Sun-Woo had been a bit excessive.

Sun-Woo was efficient in most situations. He was occasionally cruel, but that cruelty only manifested when such cruelty was necessary. However, he had displayed much more cruelty than necessary, whether it was turning the clergymen's faces into minced meat or doing such things to the inquisitor interrogating Yoon-Ah.

"Have you been drinking?" Yoon-Ah asked.

Yoon-Ah caught a whiff of alcohol from Sun-Woo. He remained silent and stared blankly somewhere.

Eventually, he reluctantly nodded. "A little. Soo-Yeong kept insisting."

"Soo-Yeong? Oh... you mean her."

Yoon-Ah nodded. She knew who Soo-Yeong was. When Yoon-Ah was a zombie a long time ago, she vaguely remembered seeing Soo-Yeong.

The two of them finally stepped outside. It was sunny when Yoon-Ah entered the interrogation room, but now it was dark due to the clouds. Sun-Woo raised his staff and lightly tapped the ground.

Thud.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Whoosh!

Then, a strong wind blew, lifting Sun-Woo and Yoon-Ah into the air. It seemed like they would fly all the way to the Voodoo Cult headquarters by riding the wind.

At that moment, Yoon-Ah was engulfed in anxiety. It was because the wind was rougher and more unpredictable than usual.

She felt like they might fall and crash to the ground. Due to the anxiety, her body tensed up and her stomach churned. Perhaps the scene of Sun-Woo interrogating the inquisitor had upset her stomach, or maybe it was just motion sickness.

"Why? Uncomfortable?" Sun-Woo asked, noticing Yoon-Ah's suddenly unpleasant expression.

"M-my stomach feels a bit..."

“You can vomit after we land," Sun-Woo said.

Yoon-Ah held her mouth shut with both hands and barely managed to nod.

***

“Uwergh!”

Upon stepping on the ground, Yoon-Ah vomited. She also vomited the location tracker she had swallowed before the inquisitor had caught her. Sun-Woo watched Yoon-Ah vomit everything, then handed her a glass of water.

"Thank you," Yoon-Ah said as she received the glass with a flushed face.

She rinsed her mouth with the water. Due to the loud sound of Yoon-Ah vomiting, people at the Voodoo Cult headquarters came out. Initially, they looked at Yoon-Ah warily, but after seeing Sun-Woo next to her, they relaxed.

"Cult Leader, who is that next to you..."

Among those who came out of the Voodoo Cult headquarters was Ji-Ah. She approached Sun-Woo confidently and then glanced briefly at Yoon-Ah, who was catching her breath with her head down.

Ji-Ah seemed to not recognize Yoon-Ah immediately. However, Yoon-Ah was not particularly upset. Ji-Ah had washed her and prepared meals for her when she was a zombie. Yoon-Ah still vaguely remembered those moments, but that was already several years ago. Furthermore, the current Yoon-Ah was very different from when she was a zombie, both externally and internally. It was natural that Ji-Ah might not remember her.

"Yoon-Ah?"

However, Ji-Ah recognized Yoon-Ah. Her eyes widened. Yoon-Ah never imagined that Ji-Ah would recognize her. Ji-Ah hugged Yoon-Ah without hesitation. Yoon-Ah seemed a little flustered by Ji-Ah's sudden action, but soon accepted it and embraced her.

"Sis, you look exactly the same as you used to. So small," Yoon-Ah said playfully with a smile.

"In the past, you couldn't even speak. But now, you’re very gusty..." Ji-Ah said bluntly as she looked up at Yoon-Ah.

Yoon-Ah stared intently back at Ji-Ah. Within her vague memories of when she was a zombie, Ji-Ah had been a bigger person than anyone else. In a sense, she was even bigger than Sun-Woo. But now, looking at Ji-Ah, she seemed very small. Yoon-Ah felt strange upon realizing that such a small person had taken care of her so diligently.

Yoon-Ah hugged Ji-Ah even tighter. Ji-Ah squirmed and made strange noises as if she couldn't breathe.

Sun-Woo ignored the reunion of the two and turned his head. He seemed to be looking for someone.

Sun-Woo walked toward Soo-Hyun. He slightly bowed his head to greet Sun-Woo.

"Executive Soo-Hyun. Where is Soo-Yeong?"

Soo-Hyun hesitated briefly before answering. However, he couldn’t keep it a secret forever. Soo-Hyun let out a deep sigh and said, "She’s drinking in the executive meeting room. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen..."

"She’s still at it?"

"Yes."

Soo-Yeong was drinking even before Sun-Woo left to rescue Yoon-Ah. She came up with various excuses, such as ‘it’s too cold’ and ‘my heart is troubled,’ in order to continuously fill and empty her glass. It seemed like she was still at it.

Sun-Woo walked toward the executive meeting room. As Soo-Hyun had said, Soo-Yeong was drinking in the executive meeting room. Several empty bottles were scattered on the floor. It seemed like she had finished them all by herself.

Sun-Woo sighed and approached Soo-Yeong. While drinking frantically, she noticed Sun-Woo and suddenly stood up from her seat to rush toward Sun-Woo.

"Cult Leader~!" Soo-Yeong said as she suddenly hugged Sun-Woo.

It was more like she threw herself at Sun-Woo than hugged him. Sun-Woo frowned at the strong smell of alcohol coming from Soo-Yeong.

"How much did you drink?"

"A little, um... maybe a little too much? I didn't drink that much!" Soo-Yeong said in a much higher tone than usual. "Want to drink together? The Cult Leader has been drinking a little lately too, right?!"

"No... I'm good. We drank together earlier today, remember?"

"So, did you come to scold me? To tell me to stop drinking?"

Sun-Woo nodded. "Yes."

He sighed as he looked at the empty bottles on the floor.

"But even if I tell you to stop, you probably won't listen."

"Correct! I won't listen," Soo-Yeong said and returned to her seat.

Then she poured more alcohol into her empty glass. Sun-Woo quietly sat down next to Soo-Yeong. As soon as Sun-Woo sat down, Soo-Yeong emptied the glass. Then, she filled the glass with alcohol and tried to lift the glass to drink more. Sun-Woo barely managed to stop her.

"Ah, why~"

"Stop... At the very least, if you’re not going to stop, drink a little slower," Sun-Woo said.

Soo-Yeong glared at Sun-Woo for a moment, then chuckled and put the glass down.

"I guess I can tolerate that much of a request!"

"Why are you like this? Drinking without skipping a day. It’s like you're going to die soon," Sun-Woo asked.

Soo-Yeong's laughing expression stiffened for a moment. But even that was brief. She once again lifted her glass with a smirk.

"I’ll let you know if you drink together with me~ If you don't drink, I won't tell you."

"I'm not drinking. I'm already drunk from earlier."

"Lies, I saw you drink much better than me last time. No matter how much you drink, you don't get drunk, you! Oh, I mean not

you

, but Cult Leader."

"Just tell me. As a favor," Sun-Woo said.

Soo-Yeong looked a bit surprised. She smiled faintly and emptied her glass once again.

"Cult Leader has become much kinder. You even asked me for a favor! In the past, whenever I painstakingly created a spell array, you would just crush it without even looking at it properly. You would tell me to do it again and stuff like that..."

"You still remember that."

"Yes. And you still haven’t apologized for that. It's been years. How can you not even apologize once..."

"I'm sorry. I was a bit impatient back then. I was also young," Sun-Woo said without hesitation.

"Well, I guess I can forgive you a bit."

"So, why are you drinking so much then? Even Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung doesn’t drink as much as you."

Yuk Eun-Hyung also drank a lot of alcohol, not unlike Soo-Yeong. It was mostly with his own mercenary corps members. If there was one difference between the two, Yuk Eun-Hyung could hold his liquor due to his large stature. He didn't get drunk even though he drank a lot. He drank to have fun and stopped drinking when he got too uncomfortable from his drunkeness.

However, Soo-Yeong couldn't handle alcohol well. She was much worse than Sun-Woo, Yuk Eun-Hyung, and Jin-Sung. She would get drunk quickly with just a little bit of alcohol, yet she kept drinking. She didn’t drink for enjoyment. It was like Soo-Yeong relied on alcohol.

Soo-Yeong finally gave her answer after contemplating for a while. "Because I'm scared. I'm scared of the Cult Leader dying."

"It can't be just because of that," Sun-Woo said coldly.

He was right. Soo-Yeong wasn't just afraid of Sun-Woo dying.

"I'm scared that the war won't end. And..."

"And?"

"If the Cult Leader dies, then I'll be next. That's what scares me the most."

"..."

"If the war doesn’t end even after you die, and if I become the Cult Leader, then I’ll end up taking on all that responsibility... What should I do when that happens?"

If Sun-Woo died, Soo-Yeong would become the Fourth Cult Leader. All the Voodoo Cult members knew this fact, including Sun-Woo and Soo-Yeong.

At first, Soo-Yeong was happy to be chosen as the next Cult Leader. However, as time passed, she got to know Sun-Woo. Her thoughts gradually changed as she learned about what he had experienced and saw how he behaved during the Holy War.

"I didn't want to say it because it’s such a selfish thought."

She didn't want to become the Cult Leader. She didn't want to embrace the responsibility. So, she hoped that Sun-Woo wouldn't die.

‘I don’t want to inherit his role,’

Soo-Yeong thought.

She wished that Sun-Woo would continue to be the Cult Leader. However, she was unable to honestly say that because Sun-Woo probably felt the same way. He also did not want to become the Cult Leader.

Sun-Woo had lost his parents due to the Holy War that had suddenly broken out, and, at a very young age, he became the Cult Leader against his own will. Compared to Sun-Woo, Soo-Yeong's worries, burdens, and feelings of anxiety were nothing.

So, Soo-Yeong could not voice her thoughts. Instead, she continued to just drink alcohol. After getting drunk, the feeling of anxiety eased a little, just a little.

"That won't happen."

"How do you know that?"

"The Holy See is preparing for a full-scale war. They must also be slowly gathering the Holy Army," Sun-Woo said.

He did not find that out via a spy in the Romanican Church. Just like how Yu-Hyun knew Sun-Woo, Sun-Woo also knew Yu-Hyun.

If it were Yu-Hyun, he would be preparing for a full-scale war. He probably knew that it was disadvantageous for the war to drag out for the Romanicans, so he was probably going to wager everything in a single, final battle.

He was probably going to strike during the winter, when a few of the Loa would have their powers restricted.

"I will end it all by then. You have nothing to worry about."

"..."

"Stop worrying about useless things and stop drinking. And if you're drunk, go to bed," Sun-Woo said as if it was not a big deal.

Soo-Yeong was ashamed that she had revealed her innermost thoughts.