The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 324

"We must remember the Holy War once again!"

The lecturer's voice was loud.

"The Third Cult Leader, Sun-Woo, had been hiding until now! That wicked bastard revealed himself. He shamelessly lived among us, pretending to be a decent citizen."

The students were quiet. Some whispered with their friends, but everyone maintained their composure. The lecturer was sweating profusely and speaking so passionately during the lecture that no one dared to make a fuss.

"With the will of Adonai and the various efforts of the Holy See, we have seen the true face of that devil-like bastard, but we are not safe yet. We have not completely neutralized the Cult Leader! He is hiding in places unknown to us, gathering followers, and plotting to overthrow the Romanican Church!"

The lecturer’s hand, which held the microphone, was trembling.

"We must remember! Remember the Holy War, and remember that we are still not safe!"

The 'Cultivating the Correct Historical Awareness of the Holy War' was a lecture held every year in almost every school after the identity of Sun-Woo, the leader of the Voodoo Cult, had been revealed.

Florence Academy originally invited lecturers to give lectures at the entrance ceremony every year, but after that incident, they also invited lecturers to give lectures at the vacation and graduation ceremonies.

It was reasonable. Sun-Woo had attended Florence Academy, and his presence as a cultist among the students deeply embarrassed the prestigious clergy academy.

Naturally, public opinion toward Florence Academy turned negative. To avoid suffering reputational damage, Florence Academy had to focus on inviting lecturers and engaging in useless activities such as campaigns to eradicate cults for a while.

"Also, since we don't know when or where the Cult Leader might appear, we must...!"

The lecturer, giving a passionate lecture as if Adonai had possessed them, suddenly stopped speaking. When the instructor's booming voice in the auditorium suddenly disappeared, the place became dead silent.

The instructor was looking at someone far away. It was not a student, but a teacher dozing off in the middle of the lecture. The instructor couldn't bear it. He left the stage with the microphone and approached the dozing teacher.

The students chuckled, and other teachers shook the dozing teacher's shoulder to wake her up.

"Excuse me, you’re a teacher from Florence Academy, right?" the instructor said with a friendly smile.

The teacher lowered her head in embarrassment. Although she bowed her head deeply, everyone could see the redness on her cheeks through the hair covering her face.

"May I ask what your name is?" the lecturer asked.

"Uh, well...” the teacher said with a flushed face.

"My name is Jung In-Ah..."

Time had passed.

It had already been five years since that incident.

***

After Sun-Woo was revealed to be the Cult Leader, the biggest change was the greeting system for each clergyman.

Sun-Woo had faked his identity and joined the Central Paladin Order. Even if they considered the fact that he had concealed his identity in a clever way, critics questioned how on earth the leader of the Voodoo Cult had ended up joining the Central Paladin Order.

However, no one was held accountable.

—■■, the director of the Central Paladin Order, was found dead in the underground prison, causing shock...

Satanist Executive Jun-Hyuk had killed the director of the Central Paladin Order while the director was conducting an inspection of the underground prison. To be more accurate, Jun-Hyuk had become the 'Satanist Cult’ by himself.

Thus, the blame was aimed at Florence Academy. However, simply criticizing Florence Academy's admission system was not possible. If someone was disqualified during the admission exam process for having unsuitable beliefs, qualified students might unfairly fail to enroll in Florence Academy. Thus, responsibility eventually fell on the entire personnel system of the Romanican Church.

Around that time, Yu-Hyun was chosen at the papal conclave. He faced backlash even after he was elected because he was much younger compared to the previous Pope, in addition to the rumors surrounding his association with the radical group called the Levi Order.

But Yu-Hyun didn’t sit still. He extensively reformed the personnel system of each clergymen group, exposed corruption within some clergymen groups, and even expelled several hidden Voodoo Cult members within the Romanican Church using information from unknown sources.

With those actions, he just barely solidified his position as the Pope. His stance of wanting to capture the fleeing Voodoo Cult's leader and starting a Holy War received criticism from peace organizations and some groups advocating for a balance between the Romanican Church and the Voodoo Cult. However, in exchange, he received a great amount of support from the radical groups supporting war and the groups advocating for Romanican Church supremacy.

"Urgh! That was embarrassing. What should I do? When I go to class, the kids will tease me again."

However, that was all in the past and had become a story that was too distant for In-Ah. She felt so embarrassed that she felt like she was going to go crazy. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and hide inside it.

Lately, she had been suffering from insomnia, and thus she had trouble sleeping last night as well. She couldn't sleep well during class time either, so she tried to rest her eyes for a moment during the lecture... but the lecturer had caught her.

In-Ah's colleague teacher, who always accompanied her, comforted her. "It's okay, it's okay. It was just for a moment anyway. The kids won't remember that kind of thing for long."

"I guess so. Still... Sigh. I should have endured a little if I knew it would end up like this."

"Are you still not sleeping well these days?"

"I do sleep. It’s just that I wake up often," In-Ah said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

She had been suffering from insomnia for about four years. Fortunately, her insomnia was not so severe that she couldn't sleep at all, and she could easily fall asleep with medication, so it didn't cause major issues in her daily life.

However, because she relied on medication for sleep, the quality of her sleep was not good, and as a result, In-Ah always struggled with chronic fatigue.

Looking at In-Ah's face, which had become particularly tired compared to when she had just started as a teacher last year, her colleague expressed their sympathy.

"Take it easy. The problem with you is that you always try too hard. So don't pay too much attention to what the kids say."

"Oh, I don't really care about what the kids say. I’m just exaggerating."

"Well, that's fortunate, but still. If the kids cross the line, you have to be firm. Kids tend to test the limits, especially if they think the teacher is too lenient. And especially since you are young..."

The colleague glanced at In-Ah and then hesitantly added, "No students act up in front of you, right? For example, students who ask awkward questions, like what happened before.”

"..."

In-Ah did not respond immediately to that statement. The students found out that Sun-Woo, the leader of Voodoo Cult, and In-Ah were former schoolmates, and that they were even in the same class.

Although In-Ah didn't know where the information had come from, the rumor spread quickly. The speed at which the students spread the rumor was much faster than In-Ah had anticipated.

One day, a student asked In-Ah, “Were you friends with Sun-Woo by any chance?”

Starting from that question, whenever In-Ah entered the classroom, students brought up questions about Sun-Woo. In-Ah would casually smile and avoid answering, but she felt uneasy every time she heard such questions.

"There aren't any now. I got really angry once before. The kids don't ask anymore after that."

"You did well. Sometimes you have to show your anger to make them stop. If you keep being nice all the time and suddenly get angry, they might see you as a bad teacher though."

“I’d rather relax as a bad teacher than suffer as a kind one.”

Her colleague nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"And, the truth is, it doesn't bother me anymore," In-Ah said.

She then looked out the window in the hallway. It was a pleasant morning with warm sunlight streaming in. The weather was getting warmer, which meant summer was coming soon. It had been almost five years since the day Sun-Woo's true identity was revealed.

She suddenly remembered that day. Whenever this time of year came around, that day always came to mind.

"Anyway, it's all in the past, and... "

She stared blankly out the window.

"Anyway, it's not as bad as it used to be.”

"Well, that's a relief," said the colleague.

In-Ah absentmindedly walked down the hallway. When Sun-Woo's true identity had been revealed, the world seemed to shake for a moment, but then it calmed down again. The world changed little by little, but it remained mostly the same. There were no major changes, and no changes to look forward to.

She succeeded in joining a priesthood after several interviews, gained experience there, and then immediately stepped onto the path of becoming a Florence Academy teacher. Thanks to seeking advice from Ye-Jin, who had walked the same path, and her own hard work, she became a Florence Academy teacher at a very young age, although she was still at the bottom.

She thought things would change after becoming a teacher, but everything remained the same. The world, Florence Academy, and she herself had not changed.

“...”

In-Ah’s feelings and thoughts toward Sun-Woo remained unchanged since that day, and she still felt melancholy.

***

She lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke. Then she held the hazy smoke in and exhaled. The smoke rising to the sky dispersed in the wind. She gazed at the smoke breaking and dispersing for a while. Then she once again took a deep drag of the cigarette.

"Are you smoking again? You just smoked earlier."

Someone approached her from behind. He was Yoon Simon, a new member of the Northern Crusader Order who had graduated from Florence Academy with one of the Holy Names of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. He was already well-renowned among the crusaders for his skills.

"Why are you here when you don't even smoke? Do you have nothing to do?"

"Oh, I came here to see someone."

"Who?"

"Deputy Director Jin-Seo," Simon replied casually.

Jin-Seo felt it wasn't worth responding to and just continued smoking. Simon boldly and naturally approached Jin-Seo's side. He stared at her side profile for a while as she smoked and finally said, "Since when have you been smoking?"

"Six? No, I'm not sure. Anyway, not for long," Jin-Seo replied as she exhaled smoke.

Simon widened his eyes in surprise.

"Huh? Did you just say six? Have you been smoking since you were a student?"

"No... stop asking. It's giving me a headache."

"Hmm, I had a feeling it might be like that. You must have played around a lot when you were in Florence Academy.”

Jin-Seo shot a glare at Simon, and he finally closed his mouth, which had been babbling incessantly. After she finished smoking a cigarette, Jin-Seo descended from the rooftop.

The place where she smoked was the rooftop of the Northern Crusader Order building. She was a respected deputy director of the Northern Crusader Order, and in terms of skill and influence, she was practically close to becoming the director. Some might say that she was the real powerhouse behind the Northern Crusader Order.

A lot of time passed, and Jin-Seo did not want to waste that time. So, she worked harder than anyone else. She spent almost all her time on training sessions, exercise, and studying. She trained like a mad woman hellbent on obtaining revenge.

"Deputy Director, have you ever thought about quitting smoking? It's not good for your health, Why do you keep smoking..." Simon said as they descended the stairs together.

Jin-Seo silently descended the stairs without responding. Simon glanced at Jin-Seo's profile again. She seemed to be thinking about something as her eyes were watery. Simon guessed that she was not thinking happy thoughts.

"There's no reason to stop," Jin-Seo said in a soft murmur. "But there is a reason to continue."

"A reason to continue smoking... What’s the reason?" Simon asked.

Jin-Seo glanced briefly at Simon, then returned to her seat without saying anything. Although she ignored him, he still felt fine.

From the start, Simon decided to join the Northern Crusader Order after seeing Jin-Seo. He liked Jin-Seo's cold and aloof attitude.