Chapter 65
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 65
The aftermath of placing first in the formative assessment died down surprisingly quickly.
"So what if he got first on the theory exam....... That bastard had insane luck with his individual sparring bracket too."
That was because Kang Cheol-min and Seol Yoon-gi's crew, scowling hard, went around shouting at the top of their lungs.
Probably making all that noise to restore the honor of Seol Yoon-gi, who'd been pushed down to third place.......
Seol Yoon-gi himself just glared quietly at his phone until, abruptly, he stared in my direction.
"......."
It was probably the first time since I'd fallen into this world. The first time we'd properly looked at each other.
The brief eye contact ended when Seol Yoon-gi looked away again.
Still, it was a fairly meaningful reaction.
It was rare for him to show interest in anyone other than the protagonist.
Meanwhile, the students who'd been puzzled began to accept it one by one.
"Well, then I guess it makes sense."
"Still, he does seem smart. He passed the last practical training assessment on his own too."
Of course, there were people who had a history of getting tangled up with me in various incidents.
"What's wrong with that moron Kang Cheol-min......."
"Ignore him."
For example, Cheon Seo-yoon and Joo A-rin.
"Why is Park Ha-yul just sitting there? Isn't he stronger than that guy?"
"He's always been the type not to step forward."
The reactions of Lee Dae-ho and Baek Sa-young, who had fought alongside me at the auction house, were unusual.
"Ha-yul. Is patience the composure of the strong?"
Cheol-soo, who knew the full story of the Roberto incident, was also wearing a meaningful smile.
I just let it be.
Because if I tangled with an immature bastard, I'd only end up more immature myself.
A guy who'd lived twenty-eight years couldn't be bothered to grab a twenty-one-year-old and get into a brawl.
"Everyone's checked, right?"
The professor in charge, who had been tolerating the commotion, clapped her hands with a sharp sound.
"Starting today, we're moving into video analysis. You'll watch recorded battles of great figures and write and submit a report every week......."
The students let out an "Ah......" of lament at the word report, but shut their mouths under the professor's sharply flashing gaze.
"Anyone with complaints, raise your hand. I'll pull you aside and train you myself."
That female professor. She's small in stature, but she's a tough one.
When no one raised a hand, the professor began the class she had postponed.
"The first video is recorded footage of a spar between former Yosal Corps 9th Unit Commander Jin Cheol-yong and Vice-Commander Kang Man-sik. As it's a matchup between the Magic Track and the Superhuman Track......."
A large screen unfolded at the front, and soon the battle footage began to play.
I habitually took out the Cheonjam Thread.
Oh-ho.
It was quite informative and interesting, so at some point I began focusing on the screen.
...Couldn't I acquire combat patterns or something through Appraisal?
* * *
Back in my orphanage days, I was a kid who struggled with religion.
Full Gospel, Truth Church, Grace Church, Jogye Order, Cheontae Order, Taego Order, Presbyterian Church, and what else was there.
I remember many places came by, and the types and denominations were so varied that I still get them mixed up.
There were times I called a monk "Pastor" and a pastor "Sister," making the atmosphere turn awkward.
Did I hate it?
No, not that.
I got loads of presents and feasted on food that was normally hard to come by, so why would I turn it down?
I remember one Christmas, I even danced with Yoo So-young.
The prize was pretty flashy, after all.
......Anyway.
The reason I deliberately dredged up old memories was because of the changed atmosphere on the day of the Vatican visit.
The Vatican and Taehak. A meeting of East and West, ancient and modern, that would go down in history.
The Vatican asks Taehak about education.
Like that, banners commemorating the meeting of two heavyweight institutions hung in the streets—though what exactly they were asking about was impossible to tell—and the vehicle entrance and the main building where the welcoming ceremony would be held had been under control since early morning.
There was a good side to it, too.
Because shortened classes were held under the excuse of the chaotic atmosphere.
"Ha-yul. You’re really not going? It’s not too late even now."
"No need."
I left the lecture hall more leisurely than usual and shook off Cheol-soo, who was following behind me.
......But what's this now.
I stopped walking when I suddenly spotted the headband on Cheol-soo's head.
It looked like idol merch, with “Reina” written across it in huge letters.......
With chubby Cheol-soo wearing it, it looked hideous.
"Do you really have to wear that thing?"
"O-of course. It’s limited-edition merch I had a hard time getting."
"Limited edition?"
"It's a pretty expensive item. It even sparkles when Divine Power activates nearby."
He really does all sorts of things. Seriously.......
"Don't act like you know me for a while."
"I-I figured you’d say that, so I prepared one for you too, Ha-yul."
"What?"
As Cheol-soo approached with a goofy grin, I frowned.
Setting aside the embarrassment, having to stick that woman's name on my head.......
What if I got accused of blasphemy?
Just imagining it made my skin crawl.
"I'm good."
"Really? This is an enchanted item with a detection spell on it."
......Enchanted?
"If you don't want it, I can't help......."
"Give it here."
I snatched the headband quickly.
I'd been wanting a completed reference material for better sorcery grafting techniques.
If I appraised the magic-circle section of the headband and understood the principle of compression, the process would become much easier.
"As expected, Ha-yul is a man after all."
"...I'm busy, so I'm heading off first."
After parting ways with Cheol-soo, I stopped by the student cafeteria.
It was an early lunch, and maybe because of the Vatican event, the seats were plentiful.
I ate mostly high-protein food and stepped outside, and noise mixed with microphone sounds and cheers lingered in my ears.
The event seemed to have started.
"The comprehensive training ground will be empty too."
As expected, training while others play is the best.
I walked through the quiet streets of Taehak, heading for the comprehensive training ground.
......But then.
That was the moment a strange man and woman entered my sight.
A foreign woman in robes and two Taehak students surrounding her.
Their faces seemed familiar for some reason, and I thought I knew the name of the pretty-faced thug among the two.
Lee Dong-wook, or something like that.
He was from a mid-sized noble family and was famous for being especially nasty even among Seol Yoon-gi's crew.
"Hey, you said you were sightseeing around Taehak. We'll help you, okay?"
"Heh-heh, you can trust us and follow along. We're not bad people."
Even though I didn't want to hear it, their voices made the situation easy to figure out.
I didn't know how she'd gotten separated during the event, but the woman seemed to be with the Vatican, and those two seemed to be making a move on her, thinking they'd hit the jackpot.
"Tch, as if those punks would do anything else."
I had no intention of meddling, so I pretended not to notice and kept walking.
.......
But why?
Why was an ominous, dangerous sensation suddenly crawling up my back.......
Seized by an inexplicable sense of wrongness, I stopped walking.
I carefully turned my head toward the source of it.
I stared intently at a priestess whose face was fairly ordinary, aside from being a foreigner.
"Uh......."
Then I froze like a statue.
Because someone who should not be here right now was here right now.
Maybe thanks to the effect of Clairvoyance, I could see it.
A bluish film covering her entire head, and beyond it, golden eyes and silver hair encompassing them.
It was definitely her.
Her official title was Saintess, but her actual affiliation was the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The successor to the Inquisition, renowned since ancient times.......
A Vatican weapon of “Sanctification,” without so much as a fingernail’s worth of mercy for anyone she judged wicked or blasphemous.
Reina von Bien Hildegard.
But why was she here? What about the event going on right now?
['Greed' shudders, saying she's an unpleasant woman.]
[It shouts that it will hide for a while, so don't look for it.]
I rubbed my aching right hand and stared into the air.
For now, it didn't seem like 4885's intervention.
Because the sky was especially clear, without a single message covering it.
"Hey. Why aren't you saying anything? Do we look like easy targets?"
Meanwhile, that idiot Lee Dong-wook poked the sleeping lion's nose hairs.
"You’re acting X—ing high and mighty. You came to learn at Taehak anyway, didn’t you?"
The blond guy next to him seemed to have decided to get himself killed, not even hesitating to say something irreverent.
......If a clash broke out here?
The Vatican-Taehak agreement would be completely ruined.
It would throw off a major storyline, so sweat was starting to bead up at that moment.
"No, doesn't your god teach you any mann......."
"Hey. Shut that mouth."
The moment Lee Dong-wook insulted her God, my body moved before I could think.
Lee Dong-wook flinched for a second, then recognized me and grinned, curling up the corners of his mouth.
"What. You interested in her too?"
"Interested my ass. Get lost, dumbass."
"D-dumbass? Did this bastard eat something bad? Do you know who I......."
Lightly ignoring the extra's blustering, I approached Reina, who was staring at me with calm eyes.
First, I boldly grabbed her robe and shouted with bravado.
"Sister. Come with me."
"......."
"......No, please come with me."
Then I changed my words to something quite polite and pulled her in some direction.
"Are you insane?"
"......."
"Wow, this is X—ing ridiculous. It’s me, man. I ate with Yoon-gi yesterday, man. Huh? We even went to the sauna together, man."
Lee Dong-wook's shouting echoed behind me, but I just ignored it.
Because even if I saved that bastard, he'd still act like a lunatic.
More importantly, what now?
I'd brought her out to avoid trouble, but.......
While my head was tangled over the development diverging from the original.
"How far are you taking me?"
Reina stopped and grabbed my jacket.
As her distinctive formal speech and cool voice brushed past my ear, I realized there was something I needed to do before walking blindly ahead.
"As a fellow Taehak student, let me first apologize for the rudeness from a moment ago."
I bowed my head politely on behalf of those idiots.
I swear, it wasn't because she was scary. Or because I was afraid.
......Really.
Fortunately, Reina nodded without any particular reply. I paused for a moment, then carefully opened my mouth.
"I'll escort you to the student affairs office. If you explain your situation, they'll guide you to the event venue......."
"No."
"......Pardon?"
But what was she saying now.
When I looked at her questioningly, Reina continued.
"I haven't properly looked around Taehak yet. So you guide me."
"......Me?"
That was the moment a red light went off in my head.
Because the offer to tour Taehak and accompany her was content that hadn't existed in the original.
Feeling an ominous sense that I'd gotten tangled up for nothing, I subtly tugged at my jacket and tried to pull away.
First I'd retreat, then figure out why this situation had occurred.
"......Ngh."
But contrary to my intention, my jacket didn't budge.
It was as immovable as if a bear were pressing down on it with its front paw, so I spoke as if trying to soothe her.
"Sister? First, let go of this......."
"No."
"Now, now, don't use force. I'm a bit busy......."
"I'm a busy person too."
"Then just go. Honestly, there's nothing worth seeing."
"Please."
Reina rejected my rejection.
Rather, she yanked my jacket and strode ahead.
"Okay. I’ll guide you, so let go of my jacket and let’s go."
I was dragged along with no choice and made up my mind.
Since things had come to this, I would personally uncover why this anomaly had occurred.......