Knot (1)
Knot (1)
The re-created entities, which had been moving vividly, went still.
At the same moment, a thick silence descended.
Not a breath could be heard.
The training room was swallowed by a heavy stillness in which not a single sound could be heard.
"Roll around on your sticky bed."
Vulgar words and a sarcastic tone that anyone would find insulting.
Na Min-seo, the person who had just spoken them, trembled, her lips turning blue.
'I never said that!!'
She wanted to scream it immediately, but her voice wouldn't come out properly.
A torrent of anxiety, fear, terror, and humiliation choked her.
'No, no, no...!!'
Her lips were slightly parted, her eyes wide. Na Ju-hee, who had shielded her by calling her an invited guest, stared at her with undisguised shock.
"Haa, haa, haaa..."
Her legs trembled as if about to collapse. Her heart pounded as if it would explode. Her throat constricted under the pressure and terror of the situation.
Just as Na Min-seo's breathing was growing rougher, Lee Seon-yeong, standing beside her, tightly grasped her pale hand.
Ssssch.
Holy power streamed through their clasped hands, slowly calming Na Min-seo, who had been on the verge of a seizure.
As her mind settled a little, Na Min-seo's narrowed vision gradually returned, and she realized that countless people were staring at her.
And among them was her superior, the one who held her hand.
Meeting her superior's cold, calm gaze, Na Min-seo bit her lip hard and shook her head. She was telling her she had never said those words. To believe her.
It was true she had brought up the Executor to provoke the other party.
But as a fellow cleric, she knew the proper respect. She hadn't omitted the honorific, and she had never used the word 'that bitch.' Most importantly, the last two sentences were words she had never spoken a single syllable of, from start to finish.
【H-High Priest... I-I really, really didn't!!】
Unable to force her voice out, Na Min-seo finally used her ability to convey her true feelings to Lee Seon-yeong.
"......."
Lee Seon-yeong nodded and turned her head. She sensed something was off as well.
She already knew Na Min-seo had brought up Claire to provoke the child of Amusement.
But the level of the re-created remarks was far beyond the pale. In Lee Seon-yeong's judgment, having watched Na Min-seo grow, those re-created words were not the sort she would ever utter.
"It's a little different from what I heard yesterday."
Claire's icy voice made the suffocating, heavy atmosphere even more chilling.
"......."
Under her gaze, Na Min-seo shut her eyes tight and bowed her head.
Her heart, which had barely calmed under that inhumanly cold stare, now boiled with negative emotions once more.
"W-Wait a moment..."
Lee Na-young finally managed to speak.
Claire's blue eyes, which had been fixed on Na Min-seo, turned toward her.
Merely being in her line of sight felt strange—like stepping into the jaws of a giant beast, a chill gnawing at her entire body.
"Speak."
It was the same emotionless voice as before, but everyone could tell. The deepening cold in her tone revealed that her fury was still mounting.
"......."
Lee Seon-yeong could not easily open her mouth.
If she challenged the re-created scene, it would be tantamount to expressing doubt toward Robert—the man who had produced it.
And to cast doubt on the former superintendent investigator of the crime investigation agency, the leading authority in this field, would be a very poor choice. But...
"Robert."
"Hmm?"
The middle-aged man, who looked completely at ease as if separate from this razor-sharp space, turned his head.
"What is it?"
"...Is it really certain that the re-creation was done correctly?"
At this rate, Na Min-seo's guilt would become certain, and Lee Seon-yeong herself, who had stepped forward as the person in charge, would also find it hard to escape punishment. She could not back down.
"Hmm."
Robert, the middle-aged man, took a pipe from his breast pocket and put it in his mouth.
He puffed on the old-looking, reddish-brown hardwood pipe and then spoke.
"A question I haven't heard in a long time. Ah, excuse me."
When Claire's gaze fell on him, Robert put the pipe back in his pocket.
"To answer the priestess's question, I don't know myself."
"......?"
Lee Seon-yeong, along with the tightly wound students, blinked and stared at Robert. As their stares converged on him, he shrugged casually and continued.
"I wasn't at the scene. How would I know if it was re-created properly? I merely combine the scattered mana and piece together the information contained within it to display it."
"Then there's a possibility someone tampered with it."
"Hahaha."
Robert laughed quietly for a while, as if he had heard a truly funny joke, and shook his head.
"Well, yes. That could be the case—if there were an Awakened so sophisticated they could slip through barriers coveted even by other academies and the heads of various nations without my noticing."
"If someone inside assists with the barrier..."
"Ah, stop."
Robert raised a hand to cut her off.
"If you're going to keep pouncing on that, there's no need to talk at all. You could just use the method you like best. I don't understand why you're dragging this out so tiresomely."
Robert raised a hand and gestured at himself and the bowing Na Min-seo.
"Wouldn't it be simply resolved if you called priests from other temples here and had them swear before the god they believe in?"
"That..."
"I know. Your kind don't swear by the names of other gods. But from what I've heard, that's just an unwritten rule you yourselves have established. Isn't that right?"
Claire, whose eyes had grown deeper than before, gave a barely perceptible nod.
"So it seems."
"......."
Lee Seon-yeong bit her lip hard. Her hands had already turned white from clenching too tightly.
If she followed Robert's suggestion and summoned priests from other temples to swear by their gods' names, she could prove that the vile insult was false. But the questioning obviously would not stop there, and ultimately, the fact that Na Min-seo had insulted her would still come to light.
However, because it was the same insult but at a lower level, the punishment would be reduced as well. There really was no other choice.
Yet the reason Lee Seon-yeong could not easily speak was the question Claire had asked Na Min-seo yesterday.
-Can you swear?
-...Yes.
She had sworn before the god that she was innocent.
From that moment, Na Min-seo had to be completely innocent of this incident.
If her guilt were established by other clergy, the god's prestige would hit rock bottom, and there would be strong pressure from other temples.
If this incident became known to the outside world, all sorts of talk about gods and oaths would spread.
'We must end it now...'
Whether by coincidence or not, everyone involved had kept their mouths shut. The academy and other temples still viewed this incident as a simple disturbance caused by the children of the Top 10 Guilds.
This was the moment to minimize the damage. Although punishment from the higher-ups was unavoidable, even that could end with being demoted to some quiet countryside if they tied things up now.
If the matter grew any larger, it might not end with excommunication—she might have to offer her life.
'If only it weren't for them...'
Ian and Robert, who were known to be in seclusion. If only those two hadn't suddenly appeared today, everything would have gone according to plan.
But it was already too late.
Lee Seon-yeong decided to end this by making Na Min-seo bear everything alone.
Vwoom—!!
"......?!"
Na Min-seo's eyes shot open. Lee Seon-yeong's holy power, which had barely been calming her seizure, suddenly bound her body tightly.
In an instant, Na Min-seo was deprived of all movement except breathing.
Lee Seon-yeong released the hand she had been holding and spoke.
"In fact—"
Clank, clank, clank—!!
At the familiar heavy metallic sound, everyone's gaze turned toward its source.
The stairs connecting the first and second floors. Three holy knights clad in silver armor and a young man ascended them.
Unlike the young man who stopped beside the stairs, the holy knights with coins embedded in their chests halted directly in front of Claire.
"Why are you...?"
Lee Seon-yeong stared in shock at the captain of the Third Knight Order, who shared responsibility for the temple with her.
But the captain, who had brought the two knights, did not even glance at her. He handed Claire a neatly rolled sheet of white parchment.
"This is the higher-ups' position."
"......."
Claire unfolded the parchment. Her blue eyes moved swiftly, absorbing its contents.
"So our god was not present."
"They are such free-spirited beings, after all."
At the captain's answer, Claire folded the parchment and nodded.
"Students other than Na Min-seo may leave."
Claire's cold voice echoed throughout the training room.
"L-Let's go."
"Y-Yeah, hurry..."
Maria and Idni each grabbed Baek Ha-na and Nam Seo-hui and fled toward the stairs as if escaping. Snapping to their senses as the four of them moved, the remaining students also dashed toward the stairs, forgetting even to bow.
"Read it."
Once the students were gone, Claire tossed the parchment she was holding to Lee Seon-yeong.
"......."
Lee Seon-yeong caught it easily and unfurled it, her eyes scanning the words.
'We acknowledge our fault in this incident...?'
As she read through the text on the parchment, Lee Seon-yeong's expression changed by the second.
"We acknowledge our fault in this incident and swear to send a letter of apology to those who suffered harm. However, while we admit fault, we clarify that this incident is solely the arbitrary action of High Priest Lee Seon-yeong and the apprentice priest under her supervision. Furthermore, when the apprentice priest swore her oath, our god was briefly absent and sent no response whatsoever, which we request be noted. Lastly, we transfer custody of the guilty High Priest Lee Seon-yeong and the apprentice priest to the Executor of the God of Amusement, Claire Vin Asen."
"W-What is this...?"
Lee Seon-yeong's hand, holding the parchment, began to tremble like someone freezing.
A dark shadow fell over Lee Seon-yeong.
"Lee Seon-yeong."
"Ah..."
At the mere call of her name, Lee Seon-yeong's legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.
A sticky, oppressive energy slowly clung to her.
"The High Priest, who should have been the foremost example, tried to sacrifice a child she should have protected in order to secure her own escape. And then you tried to make her shoulder your sins as well."
The dry, merciless voice pronounced judgment.
"For forgetting your duty and instigating discord out of greed."
Ssshhh— A sword of light materialized in Claire's hand.
"Confess your sins directly to the god you serve and be forgiven."
The radiant light fell upon Lee Seon-yeong.
**
"Well then."
The captain turned. The two holy knights who had accompanied him took the unconscious Na Min-seo and left.
As Lee Seon-yeong's head fell and she lost consciousness, she would be notified of her excommunication the moment she awoke, as Claire had demanded, and would be expelled from the temple. Her student status, obtained through the privilege of being an apprentice cleric, would also be revoked.
"Hehe, I heard you started a relationship. It seems you've finally developed emotions after all."
"Shut up."
As Claire emitted killing intent, Sean, who had come with the holy knights, scratched his head and raised both hands.
"If I offended you, I apologize. More importantly, now that everything's over—"
Vwoom—!!
Sean fell silent and glanced at Kim Seong-won, who stood beside Jaden.
"It's an important call..."
Kim Seong-won ignored the gazes directed at him and answered.
"Yes. Professor."
Since most of those present had hearing as sharp as Ha-na's, overhearing Kim Seong-won's call was not difficult.
-Prepare the Disciplinary Committee for tomorrow.
"Uh, by disciplinary, you mean...?"
-All of the ones who caused trouble yesterday.
"...Understood. Um, do you intend to participate personally as a Disciplinary Committee member?"
-Yes. And Jaden.
"Yes!!"
Forgetting he was eavesdropping, Jaden shouted at the mention of his name. Sean's face crumpled at his disciple's shameful behavior and clicked his tongue.
-You choose the committee members.
"Understood."
-Claire.
"......Yes."
At the note of softness that entered his voice, everyone except Kim Seong-won's eyes widened.
-Come back now.
"...I shall go at once."
It was no empty promise; Claire immediately turned and left the training room, leaving behind those who had been looking longingly at her waist.
After Claire left, the solemn voice came through the silent speakers once more.
-Just do your assigned tasks.
With those words, the connection ended.
"Robert."
"Yes."
Above Sean's head, an ancient wooden staff materialized.
"I told you to handle it well, didn't I?"
"...I believe I handled it reasonably well."
Jaden and Ian moved away from Robert.
The corner of Sean's eye twitched as he said.
"That's what you think, you bastard."
The thick ancient staff cut through the air.