Sanctuary
Sanctuary
After the commotion died down.
Claire and Lee Ye-sol followed Baek Woo-jin into the study.
The remaining children naturally turned their attention to Na Yeon-ju, who stood frozen in place.
-Peep~
The silence was first broken by a cute little burp from the Fairy, who was rubbing her full belly.
Idni, who had been sneaking bites of the Fairy's chocolate alongside Ha-na, cautiously spoke up.
"Must be nice, huh? A remarkable junior like that—"
Smack!!
A familiar sound rang out as Idni's head met the table. Nam Seo-hee glared at her, clicking her tongue, while Maria quietly took over the conversation.
"Na Yeon-ju, was it?"
"Ah, y-yes, ma'am... ."
"Alright. Why don't you sit down for now?"
"Y-yes... ."
Na Yeon-ju, belatedly realizing the scene she'd caused, sat down with overly rigid movements and straightened her back perfectly.
"Hey, you're making us uncomfortable. You don't need to be so stiff."
"This is comfortable, ma'am... ."
Na Yeon-ju's voice, which had been so confident and lively just moments before, was trembling like a leaf. Pitifully so.
"Do you guys enforce discipline too?"
"Do we look like it?"
At Nam Seo-hee's random question, Idni, who had been groaning, lifted her head to answer.
"No. Well, kind of. But it's not enforced by the seniors. It's the High Priest or the other adults in charge."
"What kind of discipline is that? The worst we get told is not to eat late-night snacks and to sleep early."
"...We're adults too, you know? That totally counts as enforcing discipline! Look at her!"
Idni abruptly pointed at Baek Ha-na, who was sitting quietly.
"She clings to the professor and acts spoiled the second she gets a chance! If she needs anything, she just asks the professor and he solves it! Now that is real freedom!"
"...He doesn't grant every request."
"Whatever!!"
Maria felt her face flush with heat.
She had wanted to present a dignified image as a senior, but her closest friend was showing absolutely no tact, completely oblivious to her feelings. Embarrassment was unavoidable.
Still.
"So just relax, dummy. There aren't any adults here, so why are you so tense?"
Idni stealthily snagged a piece of chocolate lying next to the Fairy and tossed it to Na Yeon-ju as she spoke.
"Ah... ."
Na Yeon-ju, having caught the chocolate reflexively, stammered and looked back and forth between the candy in her hands and Idni.
"You definitely messed up, yeah, but the professor and the Executor probably won't even care that much. Worst they'll think is that you're kind of an oddball."
"The professor would, at least."
Nam Seo-hee, who rarely agreed with Idni, nodded her head.
"R-really...?"
"That's what I said."
Na Yeon-ju's stiffly rigid shoulders began to slowly relax. Noticing this, Maria smoothly joined their conversation.
"More importantly, how did you end up with that misunderstanding? And how did you meet the professor?"
"Yeah, yeah. I was curious about that too."
"...I'm curious as well."
Even Baek Ha-na, who had been silent, subtly chimed in.
"Uh, w-well, you see... ."
Na Yeon-ju gulped under the even more intense stares of her senior sisters.
'Is it okay to tell them?'
She quickly ran through the events with Baek Woo-jin in her head.
Thankfully, he had never told her to keep quiet about the incident.
"Did the professor tell you not to say anything?"
"N-no!! He never said anything like that, ma'am... ."
Far from making any such threats, he had only asked questions about her, his voice a bit stiff yet carrying an oddly gentle tone.
"Umm, well, you see... . I was about to do my temple homework when suddenly the priest burst the door open and said an oracle had been delivered."
"Wow, an oracle."
"It's well known that the professor speaks freely with the Great One, isn't it?"
After the last first-year evaluation exam, a new rumor had started circulating through the academy: that the troublemaker Vuar personally favored Baek Woo-jin enough to lend him direct aid.
Derivative rumors claimed the Executor had pulled strings, or that Vuar had simply acted on a whim to strengthen the bond between the two.
Separate from those rumors, of course, the stories of their god Vuar frequently pranking the Executor Claire and Baek Woo-jin—and of Baek Woo-jin attempting to destroy a divine statue on more than one occasion—were extremely famous.
"What did it say?"
"Uh, it was... a set of coordinates. It said to fly a helicopter there, pick up the Executor's lover, and take him wherever he wanted to go."
"Helicopter?"
"Coordinates."
Idni and Maria each seized on a different detail.
"You know how to fly a helicopter?"
"I do, ma'am. Basically, I'm a non-combat-class ability user who can pilot anything that can be ridden."
"Wow... so that's why the professor said that."
At first, she'd wondered what he meant by saying he wanted to make a junior student his chauffeur, but hearing this, it made perfect sense.
"So, where did you meet him?"
"Ah, u-uh, he was standing in the garden of a huge mansion in Paju."
"You didn't see anything else unusual?"
"Uh, there were a ton of golf courses around... ."
Na Yeon-ju trailed off and gauged the reaction of her senior sisters.
Just then.
"It's fine. Can you tell me?"
Baek Ha-na's voice, calm and composed, quietly spread through the kitchen.
"Uh... ."
Na Yeon-ju, who had only been watching the two seniors, turned to look at Baek Ha-na for the first time.
A beautiful older sister with eyes that resembled, yet slightly differed from, those of the Executor she revered.
"It's... just my own thought, but... he looked incredibly exhausted, ma'am... ."
"Exhausted?"
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"...Tell me more. Everything. Anything you remember."
Na Yeon-ju felt a nameless fear creep over her as Baek Ha-na slowly drew closer.
**
"Claire. Your seat shouldn't be over there."
I pointed to the spot beside me as I addressed Claire, who had followed me into the study.
Claire, who had been standing with Lee Ye-sol, flinched slightly. She then approached my side, doing her best to maintain a perfectly composed expression as she returned to her proper place.
"If my presence is a hindrance, shall I step outside for a while?"
"No need. There's plenty of time."
"Ho ho~ Indeed, the night is long."
Claire glared at Lee Ye-sol, who was covering her mouth with a laugh, and gently pinched my thigh with her fingers.
"Let's stop the joking here."
"Yes."
Lee Ye-sol corrected her expression and stood at attention.
"As for Na Yeon-ju, I will speak to Vuar personally. I only need you to inform the person in charge at her original temple that she will be staying here for the day."
"I shall do so. However, professor?"
Lee Ye-sol asked me a question, her tone slightly cautious.
"From what the child said, I heard you promised to solve her homework for her."
"...I did say that."
I had forgotten about it in the chaos of dealing with Baek Ha-na and Claire.
"If you have nothing particular in mind, I will handle it appropriately."
"...I'll leave it to you."
"Heh heh, it is a simple matter solved with a single phone call."
Given Lee Ye-sol's position within the church and my own standing, which had naturally risen thanks to Claire, it truly was a trivial matter—exactly as she said, solvable with a single call to the school.
"How many apprentice clerics currently hold student status?"
"Twenty-seven, including first-years Maria and Idni, along with the upperclassmen."
Twenty-seven.
Not a large number, but not a small one either.
"If a situation requiring an outing arises, attach a senior holy knight to them."
"...I shall ensure it."
She didn't ask for a reason and simply obeyed.
This was one of the reasons I had started keeping Lee Ye-sol close.
"If you want to know the details, ask Vuar directly. In a sense, this is his fault anyway."
What could have been handled quietly had been turned into a spectacle, practically an act of provocation.
'If they have any brains, they won't strike directly.'
If they retaliated now, the culprit would be all too obvious. More importantly, they didn't yet possess a means to stop Claire.
Even so, I'd said it because there was no guarantee that only the underworld bastards would meddle in the mess Vuar had blown wide open. In fact, this incident would make the underworld bastards lie even lower.
'It's the other temples that will become more brazen.'
The ones who wanted to drag Vuar down most were the other gods trapped beneath his oppressive shadow.
He would be aware of this. Perhaps he intended to use this opportunity to pick out the ones he should cut down.
"Convey the same message to the other temples. Ensure high-ranking priests are accompanied by holy knights."
"I will relay this to the main office in the Executor's name as soon as I return."
Lee Ye-sol looked at Claire, who was seated beside me.
"...The professor's will is the same as mine. Unless Lord Vuar delivers an oracle directly, you will uphold the professor's will as if it were my own."
"I shall do so."
The corners of Lee Ye-sol's tightly held lips curled up slightly. Noticing this, Claire let out a dry cough and moved the hand resting on my thigh to her own.
"Finally, Kim Seong-won will send over a list of academy staff. I want you to investigate their movements since the barrier disappeared."
"What is the deadline?"
"It's not urgent, so you can handle it at your leisure."
"Understood."
"That concludes my business. Do you have anything to say?"
"Nothing... Ah."
Lee Ye-sol, who had been bowing politely, lifted her head again as if remembering something.
"Might it be acceptable for me to stay the night as well?"
"Do so. You can share a bed with Claire in my bedroom."
"Oh dear, no matter how you look at it, that place is a little... ."
Lee Ye-sol looked at Claire with eyes that clearly asked if it was truly alright.
"A little what? Surely you aren't implying you don't like it?"
"How could I possibly? I merely do not wish to intrude upon the two of you."
"I, I do not know what you are talking about. Besides, that child also sleeps in the bedroom."
"...You should have mentioned that first."
The moment she heard that the Fairy also slept there, Lee Ye-sol's expression completely reset and she straightened her posture.
"In that case, I shall take my leave now."
As her superior's gaze shifted, Lee Ye-sol bowed to me and fled from the study.
As the sound of her presence rapidly faded, I pulled Claire onto my lap. She had been glaring at the door Lee Ye-sol had just closed.
"......?"
At the sudden shift, her fierce glare instantly rounded into wide, blinking eyes.
"Pro... Woo-jin, sir?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I tightened my arms around her and buried my face in the nape of her neck.
"Th-the children might, c-come in... ."
Lee Ye-sol was out there, so that wouldn't happen.
Baek Ha-na, too, was currently preoccupied with the new face I'd shown interest in.
"Just one hour... Let's stay like this."
She didn't reply.
Instead, a gentle touch came to rest against my cheek and hair.
My consciousness slowly sank below the surface.
"...Rest comfortably."
A slightly worried voice and a warm presence.
For the first time that day, I opened my eyes long after the hour I had designated had passed.