Omen (3)
Omen (3)
The students stared intently at the chalkboard—an antique relic from a bygone era—their wrists moving with a flourish, as if executing a flamboyant swordsmanship technique.
"Ugh...! I took these notes myself, and I can't make sense of a single thing!"
"I'll show you later, so keep quiet."
Only Yoon I-seul, who had delegated the note-taking to her shadow, was leisurely reading through the board's contents at her own pace.
"Today's lecture ends here."
The moment I declared this, the hands of the students who had been in my regular class moved even faster. They must have assumed I'd erase the board and leave immediately, as I always had before.
"The assignment will be collected after the start of Friday's lecture. Baek Ha-na."
"...Yes, Professor?"
The little puffball of white fur, who had grown noticeably larger lately, snapped her head up to look at me.
"Erase the board before you leave the lecture hall."
"Huh? Ah, yes, yes!!"
Baek Ha-na looked slightly surprised.
She wasn't the only one. The other students who'd been frantically scribbling notes also stared at me wide-eyed.
Like believers who had witnessed a miracle.
'I've kept the reins tight on them. It's time to give a little slack.'
And once they'd grown comfortable with the loosened leash,
I would tighten a new, sturdier collar around their throats.
The only difference this time was that I wasn't planning to weed anyone out. I intended to create a harsher environment and drill them. Now that a cleric and an alchemist had joined, we could at least run a mock small-scale raid party.
"Uheoeo...!"
"What the hell, why are you suddenly shivering like that?"
"I dunno, I just got chills out of nowhere...."
The only tanker, Im Gyeong-su—who still couldn't do his job properly—stopped his note-taking and rubbed his arms. That was the last thing I saw as I gathered my things and left the lecture hall.
Click.
"P-Professor...."
I stopped at the sound of Na Yeon-ju's voice, which was exceptionally timid today, and turned my head. But the girl, who had been poking her head out, scurried over and stood in front of me.
"Uh, th-thank... you...."
"Thank you."
"T-tea... tea...."
Claire must have spoken to Lee Ye-sol after I'd asked her yesterday to handle the Fairy matter. That woman worked fast.
"I hired you. If you need something, don't hesitate to tell me."
"Y-yes...."
I gave a single nod and was about to turn away when—
"Ah...."
Na Yeon-ju flinched, looking exactly like a child who'd been excited for something and then had her hopes dashed.
"Do you have more to say?"
"Ah, n-no, it's, it's not that...."
She kept her head down, sneaking glances at my hand while fidgeting with her own hands clasped respectfully over her lower stomach. Every gesture screamed that she wanted something.
Frustratingly, the girl herself didn't seem brave enough to speak up, but it wasn't hard to deduce what she wanted from those little actions.
Pat.
"Oh...."
When I placed my hand on the crown of her head, her shoulders trembled for a second before she leaned in a little more to make it easier for me to stroke her hair.
"Eat a proper lunch."
"Y-yes... heh, heheh...."
Only then did she smile with satisfaction, bow her head deeply, and flee back into the lecture hall as if escaping.
'It shouldn't be a lack of affection.'
Her personal history meant she hadn't been raised by the parents who'd given birth to her, but at her young age, she would've received more than enough affection from the other priests to make up for what she'd missed.
'I can't figure her out.'
The only thing certain was that whatever emotion she harbored toward me was a long way from romantic affection.
If simply stroking her head was enough to give her satisfaction and a sense of worth, then I had no reason to refuse. Besides, it was the quickest way to calm her down without disrupting the mood.
Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter—
The rain that had started before dawn showed no signs of letting up even as noon approached. It soaked the earth, which had curled up tight in preparation for spring.
"Ah! H-hello, sir...!"
"Thanks for your hard work with the lecture!"
When I walked into the main building using the umbrella Claire had prepared as a cane, the assistants and professors milling about the lobby greeted me with great politeness.
I gave them a single nod in return and boarded the elevator.
Ding.
Once off the elevator, I walked down the corridor and opened the door to the lab with the nameplate 'Jaden.'
"Ah, you've arrived."
The man who'd been seated in front of the desk manipulating a tablet stood up and headed to the pantry as if on reflex. Not long after, he returned carrying a teacup filled with instant coffee.
"I adjusted the ratio a bit. I'm not sure if it'll suit your taste."
He placed the cup before me as I sat on the sofa and took a seat across from me.
"It's better than last time."
"Heh. Then all that tasting I did paid off."
"Sounds like you've got time to burn."
"Ahem! N-now, what could possibly make you think that?"
He'd been wearing an expression that suggested he was oddly pleased with himself, but his face immediately stiffened and he shook his head.
"...I carved out the time just for this. I'm serious."
I hadn't intended to press him, but the way he kept rambling suggested he did have a guilty conscience about something.
"How you spend your own time is your business. But before I make you do push-ups, get to the point."
"Ahem! W-well. That old man contacted me before dawn."
Sean Connery.
The Tower Lord of the Clock Tower and Jaden's master.
"It's been... ten months, hasn't it."
"About that long, I believe."
The man who had investigated the Crystal and the rift it created, then immediately cut off all contact and vanished. He had resurfaced.
"And?"
"...He asked about you, Professor. Starting from the most recent events and working backward."
The closing ceremony party.
The confrontation with Ben Stiller.
And other movements within the academy that hadn't been visible from the outside.
"How much did you tell him?"
"He ordered me to answer everything without hiding a thing, so I blabbed it all out. Up to the Summer Festival and the Barrier."
"His reaction?"
"There was nothing special. Then he hung up, but not before telling me to inform him if you had any outside schedule... especially if you were going inside a rift."
Jaden narrowed his eyes and let out a short sigh.
"Something smells rotten. If you know anything, could you share it with me as well?"
"Nothing's confirmed yet."
I didn't trust him.
More precisely, I didn't trust his bottomless thirst for knowledge.
'Whatever choice you make, I'll respect it.'
But a choice always comes with responsibility.
I had no intention of giving anyone a second chance.
My will, which I'd carved into his heart, would rupture it the instant he harbored any negative emotion toward me.
In other words, the fact that he was still breathing at this moment meant he hadn't yet held any ill will toward me. But the incident Baek Ha-na had recently relayed to me through Claire gnawed at that assumption.
The disappearances of children aged ten to fourteen.
And their extracted hearts.
Coincidentally, the physical age of Sean Connery—who had obtained a fortuitous encounter in a rift and grown younger—was very close to that of the missing children.
Was it a coincidence?
'Coincidence or not, it doesn't matter to me.'
He was a little convenient to have around, but if he wasn't, that would be that. He was nothing more than that to me.
If I had to wish for something, it was that he might serve as bait to catch the bastards from the Underworld skulking around like rats.
"If I learn anything, I'll tell you then."
"...Understood."
"And let him know this: I'm going to meet the Eternal Witch in the last month of this year."
"The Eternal Witch...."
He stroked his chin for a moment, a pensive look on his face.
"Ah, I heard from Professor Yoon Do-sik. He said you've had that appointment booked for nine years now."
"Yoon Do-sik told you."
"Huh? Ah, yes...."
His expression suggested he was about to prattle on about the Eternal Witch, but he quietly averted his eyes from my gaze and clamped his mouth shut.
I took out my smartphone and long-pressed the name of a certain individual in my very short contacts list.
Exactly two rings later.
-I've answered the call. This is Finance Department Head Kim Seong-won.
I spoke to the man who'd answered the phone with a voice full of pep.
"I gave explicit instructions that no one was to speak of matters concerning me."
-Sir? O-of course, sir! I can swear to you: in the nine years I've served you, Professor, I have never once divulged any of your directives to another soul!
"Explain how Yoon Do-sik knew about my appointment with the Eternal Witch."
-The Eternal Wi....
His voice, so confident it could have defended his innocence against any accusation, cut off mid-word.
Silence followed.
"Kim Seong-won."
-I-I'm sorry, sir! Th-that, d-during the break, I... I had a few bottles of soju with some sashimi at Yoon Do-sik's place, and... it seems I must have let something slip then....
"Sounds like you had quite a good time."
-Ah, w-well, th-that is....
"Well, it wasn't a secret I needed to hide, so I don't particularly care."
-Haah...!
A sigh of relief?
A heavy sound came through the speaker. His legs must have given out and he'd crumpled to the floor. But as I'd just said, I had no intention of giving second chances.
"Your tongue seems to get loose when alcohol goes in."
-P-Professor...!
"For your sake, you'd better hope you didn't say anything you shouldn't have. Pray to your past self."
I ended the call.
"Um, Professor."
"What."
"Do you happen to have some kind of memory-erasing magic?"
"I know how to make someone an idiot."
"N-no, that's fine...."
His already pale skin went several shades whiter. Then, with a stiff expression that looked as if he'd made a momentous decision, he spoke.
"Starting today, I will give up drink—"
"Jaden."
"...Yeah?"
I pointed toward the lab door as the man, tense as a bowstring, stared back at me.
"Shut up and go fetch Yoon Do-sik."
"Yeah...."