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Chapter 165

“...However, this place has been completely purified of demonic energy in order to be used as a training session venue for Florence Academy and Holy See clergymen. This is a symbolic place where we achieved victory in the war against Wrath,” the teacher holding the microphone said before collecting his breath.

Long story short, he basically seemed to want to say, “This place is safe since there is no demonic energy.”

In the first place, they wouldn\'t have chosen this place as the examination site if there had been any demonic energy left.

“Well then, before the practical exam, let me guide you through the precautions and safety rules...”

While the teacher went through the boring and predictable instructions and safety rules for the practical exam, I looked around and estimated the number of students here. It didn\'t seem like all the students in the school had gathered here no matter how I looked at it. At most, it was one-seventh of the total number of students. While I was looking around to find the rest of the students, I made eye contact with Jin-Seo.

“..."

She looked at me with half-open eyes as if she was sleepy, and then shook her head from side to side. It seemed like she was trying to greet me, but if that was the case, I didn’t understand why she was shaking her head instead of waving her hand.

The teacher spent a whopping twenty more minutes explaining the safety precautions. It was then that we started moving toward the examination site in earnest. The students\' steps lacked strength, perhaps because they were nervous.

In-Ah walked with me, and she said, "It feels like we’re animals being led to the slaughterhouse..."

Upon hearing that, I couldn’t help but somewhat agree with her. What she said was more or less true from my perspective. I looked up at the sky. The sun hung in the center of the sky, emitting intense heat. Today was unusually hot.

"It\'s hot," I unconsciously muttered to myself.

In-Ah tilted her head in response. She pointed at my coat and said, "Take that off if you\'re hot. Why did you come here wearing such thick clothing?"

"Take off my clothes? How can you say that..."

"Huh? No, what... Hey! Don\'t interpret my words strangely!" she said angrily.

I laughed in response and continued to wear my coat. Even if it meant that I had to take off everything else, I absolutely could not take off my coat, at least for now.

“You said it was hot, so that’s why I said that you should take that off. Why are you twisting my words...” In-Ah grumbled and pouted.

She was wearing a hoodie over her school uniform again today. Her hood shook with every step. I stared at her figure for a long time, but I eventually couldn\'t resist and I ended up pulling on her hood.

"Ack!" In-Ah screamed.

She then narrowed her eyes at me and said, "What are you doing?"

"...I just really wanted to pull it."

"Hey, do you want to die?"

In-Ah clenched her fist and glared at me.

"Sorry, I acted impulsively because I was tired."

I smiled apologetically and defused the situation.

*

Just before entering the village where the exam was being held, all the students, including me, had to pass through a security checkpoint. They were trying to screen the students secretly bringing in the holy artifacts they had used during the Holy Name of Charity re-election test. It looked like they were also collecting our cell phones.

As I practiced, I hid the things that I needed to conceal all over my body. Then, I passed through the checkpoint after handing in my cell phone.

Beep!

As expected, the alarm went off at the checkpoint. The attention of the students and teachers immediately focused on me. I deliberately showed a bewildered expression and acted like I had absolutely nothing on my body. Several teachers approached me, and among them was Ye-Jin.

"Do you have anything made of metal in your belongings? You already handed in your phone, right?" Ye-Jin asked.

I nodded and made a similar expression to that of a wrongfully accused victim. Ye-Jin checked the machine again to make sure there was nothing wrong with it, and then turned her gaze toward me. It seemed like she wasn’t really suspecting me.

"Raise both arms. Like this."

"I am... I am innocent."

"It’s not like you’ve committed a crime or anything, so there’s no need for you to say you\'re innocent. Just stay still, please,” Ye-Jin said.

She then took out something like a metal detector from somewhere and scanned my body. When the detector reached my chest, it beeped loudly. Ye-Jin narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

"What’s inside?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I searched the pockets of my coat and pretended not to know what she was talking about. A watch came out from inside my coat. It was the one that Joseph had previously given to me as a “gift.”

With a bewildered expression, she looked between me and the watch.

"Why are you keeping your watch in there instead of wearing it?”

"Uh... I forgot. I should have handed it in earlier."

"Hurry up, please. We don\'t have time," Ye-Jin said impatiently.

I bowed apologetically. Then, after putting on my watch, I naturally continued on my way. With this, I had overcome the first hurdle... or so I thought.

“Wait a second, Sun-Woo. Please come back for a moment.”

Ye-Jin suddenly called me over, although she had willingly let me go. I tried my best to hide the nervousness on my face as I went toward her. If I couldn’t overcome this hurdle, I would have to revise all the plans I had made. I absolutely couldn’t make any mistakes.

After disguising the trembling of my voice, the movement of my eyes, my overall behavior, and my stride, I just barely managed to answer, "...Yes, what is it?"

Ye-Jin looked at the watch on my wrist with a slightly annoyed face.

"Are you just going to wear that during the exam?"

"Oh... would it be better to hand it in?"

"That would be better. Isn\'t the watch really expensive? What if it breaks during the exam? It could also be a holy artifact. And... I can’t tell you about this right now, but in any case, it’s better to hand it in.”

"Really?"

The truth was, I didn’t know the exact price of the watch. All I knew was that it was quite expensive. It was because it was not something that I had bought myself, but rather, it was something that Joseph gifted. In any case, I nodded for now and agreed with her words. Then, I took off my watch and handed it to her.

“Seems like a sign of the end times, seeing as how students are going around wearing things like this,” Ye-Jin jokingly said as she put the watch into a bag with my student number and name written on it.

I just laughed off her joke and tried to join the group ahead. However, Ye-Jin suddenly extended her arm to stop me.

"Oh, come to think of it, you must go through security again. I forgot about that."

She pointed to the security checkpoint.

"...Is that really necessary?"

"Yes, it is. Who knows what else you might be hiding on your body—"

Beep—!

It was at that moment that the security checkpoint beeped again. But this time, it came from In-Ah instead of me.

"Huh? Huuh?"

She looked around in confusion, and her face blushed red as she became flustered.

"What the? Why’d she get caught as well? Hold on a moment," Ye-Jin said with a frown.

She approached In-Ah. Then, she exchanged some words with a teacher who was over on the side and handed over the metal detector to them.

"Ogun."

Meanwhile, I called out to Ogun.

[Lately, it seems like you’ve been giving me a bunch of odd jobs. I wonder if I should accept your request...]

“Ah, just once. Quick.”

[Tsk.]

With a click of his tongue, Ogun reluctantly accepted my request. It was because I had already convinced him yesterday.

Right when Ye-Jin returned, I passed through the metal detector. There was no sound.

"Okay, you’re free to go."

Ye-Jin nodded and sent me off with a lukewarm expression on her face. I quickly joined the rest of the students.

It was when I passed through the first hurdle, which was the checkpoint, that I was finally able to release the tension in my body.

[Luck was on your side again this time.]

[Didn\'t I say this morning that you will have good luck all day today?]

The voices of Legba and Baron Samedi, which were previously muffled due to the fatigue, tension, and contemplation that I had been experiencing, finally began to sound clear. Usually, Baron Samedi would disappear after leaving some mysterious words behind, but he seemed to want to stay cooped up inside my mind all day today.

[It seemed like it would be fun to stick around here today, you see. I also have something to talk about with Legba.]

[Oh dear, I don’t intend to converse with you though.]

"..."

I followed behind the students as I listened to the conversation between Baron Samedi and Legba. While doing so, I recalled my future plans. No matter how many times I reviewed the plan inside my head, it wasn’t enough.

Bringing in the watch and getting caught at the security checkpoint had all been part of the plan. After intentionally getting caught at the checkpoint, the plan was to hand in the watch and make them believe that I didn’t have any other items with me.

If it had been someone who didn\'t know me, they might have suspected something, but luckily, it was Ye-Jin. She had less suspicion toward me than other people. It was because I was a student in the class that she was in charge of, and she had a good overall perception of me.

Above all, thanks to In-Ah getting caught at the checkpoint and diverting all the attention, I was able to pass through the security checkpoint safely by temporarily stopping the machine with the help of Ogun’s power.

I felt a little sorry for In-Ah, but the reason why she was caught at the checkpoint was because I had secretly put the Flame Sword of Eden in her hood when I played a prank on her earlier. I figured that it would be a suitable artifact because it was small enough to fit inside the hood. Since the teachers could catch me if I recklessly utilized Ogun’s power, I set up a diversion in advance so that I could use the commotion to make my move.

"Phew."

After taking deep breaths to calm myself down, I removed my coat and hung it on my arm. Then, I tore open the lining of the coat, secretly inserted Baal\'s Maw inside, sowed the opening shut, and then went back to doing what I had been previously doing. The reason why I wore a coat on this hot day was all because of this.

Inside Baal\'s Maw, there was an emergency mobile phone that I could use to contact Ji-Ah or the executives of the Voodoo Cult. There was also The Gown of the Shem Brothers that I had managed to obtain with Bae Jung-Hwan’s help. It was a holy artifact that concealed one\'s presence and allowed for safer infiltration, and it was also the artifact that Jun-Hyuk had used during the re-election test for the Holy Name of Charity. Lastly, I had a small bottle that contained the bone dust of various animals and an umbrella.

[If caught, you will face expulsion at the very least,] Baron Samedi said.

I had to use all these items in the appropriate time and situation, and I also had to use them without being discovered. Just as Baron Samedi said, if I got caught, I wouldn\'t be able to avoid expulsion. They might even find out that I was a member of the Voodoo Cult.

As I was strolling around while lost in thought, someone called out to me.

"Hey... together. Ha... Let\'s go together."

It was In-Ah. She was running toward me after passing through the security checkpoint. Looking at her from afar, the expression on her face seemed to indicate that she had faced a great injustice.

"Why did you get caught?" I asked.

After taking a deep breath, In-Ah said with a trembling voice, "Ah, I don\'t know. There was some sort of holy artifact in my hood. Even though it wasn\'t something I brought with me. This is really unfair..."

"Hmm... Could it be that someone kind had put it in there so that you would do well on the test?”

“Kind person, my ass. More like someone intentionally placed it in there just to screw with me. I don’t know who it was, but whoever they are, they’re a really bad person.”

"Ah... Man, that\'s a seriously bad person.”

"I\'ve never done anything to deserve hate from anyone recently. What is this..."

I secretly wiped the cold sweat flowing down my forehead as I listened to In-Ah’s rant. I felt a very strong sense of guilt...

We continued to converse with each other, and before we knew it, we arrived at the designated location for the practical exam.

"Ah, ah. I would like to inform the Florence Academy students that I am the supervisor for this exam..."

While the students were lining up, a teacher proclaimed that they were the supervisor and made an announcement regarding the practical exam. As the teacher explained the content and evaluation criteria, I continued to reiterate the plan inside my head. I could not stay calm.

It was no wonder that I couldn’t stay calm. After all, I was about to take the second most dangerous gamble I had ever taken in my life.

*

The practical exam was conducted in groups, but at the same time, it was conducted between different departments. We were competing with groups, but technically, we were actually competing with other departments.

The evaluation criteria was simple.

It was evaluated based on which group, in other words, which department, collected the most tokens. The exam incorporated individual, group, and interdepartmental evaluations. It was essentially a three-way battle between the Department of Paladins, Crusaders, and Priests.

"There are not just one or two virtues that clergymen must possess. Faith is essential, of course, but there may also be times when strength, wisdom, or a kind heart is needed according to the situation."

However, the method of collecting tokens was not so simple. According to the supervisor, active-duty clergymen were waiting in the abandoned buildings and specific locations in this examination site. Tokens could be obtained from these clergymen, but first, one had to fulfill the desired “conditions” that the clergymen would ask for.

"Today will be the day when we comprehensively evaluate your various virtues."

The conditions varied for each clergyman, and the number of tokens that could be obtained also depended on the difficulty of the conditions. If one of the clergymen requested a debate, then the student would have to persuade the clergyman with their perspective in order to obtain tokens. If the clergyman requested the condition to be “suppression,” then the students would have to suppress the clergyman to gain the tokens.

"Individual and team battles are allowed during the exam process. However, only \'suppression without causing bodily harm\' is allowed."

After saying that, the supervisor gave each student a wristwatch for identification and time verification purposes.

Five pairs of handcuffs and keys were distributed to each group, but the group belonging to the Department of Paladins received eight pairs. It seemed like the group with the students from the Department of Crusaders and the Department of Priests were receiving different benefits from the Department of Paladins.

“If it becomes clear that you are subdued and handcuffed, then you will become a hostage. Teams can negotiate hostages by exchanging keys and tokens.”

The handcuffs seemed to be used as an indication that an individual had been clearly subdued. It seemed possible to devise a strategy where we didn’t have to fulfill the conditions stated by the clergyman, and strictly earn tokens through negotiating hostages instead.

"..."

With that, the exam began. The group I belonged to was Paladin-D, and the group name was written on the wristwatch. The starting point for our group was below the clock tower, which was located southwest of the massive crater in the center of the examination site. When I arrived at the starting point and saw my team members, I couldn’t help but frown.

"Ah... damn it," I said.

"Sun-Woo! Are you also on the Paladin-D team?"

Dae-Man was on the same team as me. As far as I knew, in the exam this time around, the teams were “organized into a very fair arrangement by taking the written and practical results into consideration.”

Dae-Man’s practical grades were excellent, and my combined practical and written grades were not bad either...

In other words, there was a high possibility that the other eight team members, excluding Dae-Man and me, were useless. Otherwise, Dae-Man and I wouldn\'t have ended up on the same team.

“It seems like we’ve hit the jackpot. If you and I are on the same team, victory is practically guaranteed, isn\'t it?"

"I\'m not so sure about that..."

Through the information I obtained from Joseph, I knew that the practical exam would be conducted in teams, so I made plans accordingly. However, if the abilities of my team members, excluding Dae-Man and me, were excessively low, there might be a need to revise the plans.

My team members could also be more capable than I thought. After all, they were still so-called “elite” students of Florence Academy. However, putting aside their capabilities, the problem was that no one on the team was taking the initiative to come up with a strategy or lead the team.

"Gather around, everyone!"

I called the scattered members of Paladin-D together. My team members approached with tense expressions and hesitant faces. I anticipated this would happen, but their lack of initiative and confidence were more excessive than I initially thought. In this sort of situation, the first thing to do was to boost the group’s morale.

"Listen up, everyone. We are the Department of Paladins. What are the strengths of a paladin?"

"Compassion and courage, right?"

"That\'s closer to the virtues clergymen should possess."

I euphemistically rejected Dae-Man’s opinion and continued speaking. "Paladins operate in a structured manner. Paladins bring out their full potential when the strengths of multiple individuals are unified.”

"Oh!"

"First, we will elect a team leader. It’s similar to a commander. If no one else wants to do it..."

While speaking, I observed the expressions of the team members. At the mention of electing a team leader, everyone in the group avoided my gaze. I knew this would happen.

"...I\'ll do it. I hope everyone will follow my words without any doubts."

The team members, including Dae-Man, nodded. They seemed to lack enthusiasm but were good at listening. Or perhaps it was because of the reputation that I had built in school that no one dared to oppose me. In any case, I got lucky.

I looked into each of my teammates\' eyes and with a serious face. I said, "Remember what I\'m about to say from now on."

The students nodded with determined expressions. It was because of my forceful tone. On the surface, it looked like Dae-Man was really thinking about anything, but I could tell that he was listening to me.

I continued, "I will leave this team."

The expressions of my team members hardened.

1. I think I mentioned this before, but in real life, the 38th parallel separates North and South Korea. ?