The Pitying Return
Yeom Man-geun and Yuk Eun-hyeong blinked at her in astonishment, while Ha Pan-seok frowned with an air of indifference. Kang Ji-a showed no expression from the start. The only ones smiling at her were my uncle Lee Jin-seong and Yun Chang-su. Yun Chang-su, in particular, flashed a bright smile and approached her.
"Your complexion looks much better."
"Executive Yun Chang-su! You haven't changed a bit. If anything, you look even younger."
As the two shared an emotional reunion with tears in their eyes, my uncle approached her.
"You actually made it. I thought you might not come."
"Thanks to you, I did. I was a bit late because of some business."
After warmly greeting Yun Chang-su and my uncle, she gave a nod to the other executives. Yeom Man-geun and Yuk Eun-hyeong didn't respond to her greeting and just stood there awkwardly, while Ha Pan-seok impassively bowed his head in acknowledgment.
Her gaze turned to me. Instead of greeting me, she widened her eyes in surprise. Then she walked over.
"Oh my god, Seon-woo?"
"……."
"You've changed so much I didn't recognize you! How did this happen?"
As she said that and reached out to touch my cheek, I swatted her hand away. She said I'd changed, but in my eyes, she was the one who'd transformed dramatically. Her personality hadn't shifted much, but her appearance had. Individually, the changes weren't huge, but together, they altered her impression entirely.
"Welcome back, Gyeonggi Order executive."
I spoke formally, like a bureaucrat. Her expression stiffened slightly.
"Why the formal tone? It doesn't suit you. Just like old times……."
"This is a memorial service in progress. On a broader note, we're still in the middle of an executive meeting."
Whoosh!
I'd spoken harshly to push away her overly familiar attitude, and I invoked Marinette's power. The flames blazing in the center of the plaza surged fiercely toward her, as if to engulf me first. They halted right in front of her nose. She stumbled back with a startled face. Only then did I withdraw the fire.
"Let's save the personal talk for after the event concludes."
"……You're such a stickler."
She murmured with a smile. Right after, I announced the end of the memorial service and entered the Chungcheong Order's worship hall.
The reason I pushed her away so firmly was simple. I just... really disliked her. That's all.
The Voodoo Cult executives, except for my uncle Lee Jin-seong, feared me as their cult leader. My uncle had no real thoughts about me. Ha Su-yeong envied me as the cult leader. But she... from when I was very young, she'd pitied me. She'd looked at me—the cult leader—with eyes full of sympathy.
I hated that pity of hers.
*
"You... what was your name again?"
"Me? I don't have one fixed name. I've got so many...... The most recent one I used was 'Anna'? Or 'Cosette'? Call me whatever. I don't mind."
"Anna it is, then."
Lee Jin-seong nodded. Gyeonggi Order executive Anna was chatting amiably with the other executives, unlike her greeting with them earlier. She shared stories of her life on the run, evading the Papal Office's pursuit—changing her name multiple times, altering her face repeatedly, until she'd finally shaken them off completely.
The executives listened to Anna's tales with interest. She had a knack for making stories engaging. The same events sounded funnier and more thrilling coming from her.
Lee Jin-seong listened especially intently. It didn't feel like someone else's story to him.
"Executive Lee Jin-seong."
As Anna's story wound down, Ha Pan-seok addressed him. Lee Jin-seong, who had been enjoying it, hardened his expression. He'd never had good feelings toward Ha Pan-seok—only bad ones, if anything.
"……Ah, yes."
He replied with reluctant formality, when he usually would have snapped back casually. Looking at Ha Pan-seok's face, he didn't feel the need to be sharp.
Ha Pan-seok looked noticeably haggard.
"Su-yeong...... Is she still in the headquarters worship hall? Why didn't you bring her to today's executive meeting......?"
"The cult leader said there was no need. And she didn't want to come anyway."
Ha Su-yeong hadn't attended today's executive meeting. Do Seon-woo had said she didn't need to come, but more than that, she'd strongly expressed her own reluctance.
Lee Jin-seong stared blankly at Ha Pan-seok before speaking.
"......She seemed really pissed off. Did you, uh, hit her or something?"
"Don't say ridiculous things......! Why would I ever hit Su-yeong?"
"Then what did you do? She's been holed up at headquarters for weeks now, with no intention of going home."
Lee Jin-seong asked. Ha Pan-seok hesitated, mumbling without answering easily. He fidgeted with his lips for a long while before letting out a heavy sigh laced with torment.
"Probably because my new wife I just met... used to be a Romanica follower."
"……."
"She even donated money to Romanica during the Holy War, apparently. Maybe that's what bothered her...... Even though she's a devout Voodoo believer now."
Ha Pan-seok kept sighing as he continued.
"She probably just can't stand the sight of her. Once you start seeing someone that way, everything they do looks hateful. Maybe she ran away from home because of it......"
Rumble!
At that moment, thunder crashed. Outside the worship hall where the executives conversed, rain poured heavily. Lightning flashed occasionally, and fierce winds rattled the windows.
The weather was vicious, as if the apocalypse loomed.
Anna gazed worriedly at the thick raindrops pounding the windows and the tree branches whipping in the wind.
"......Isn't Cult Leader Seon-woo still outside? With winds like that, leaving him out there seems dangerous......"
"Who're you worrying about?"
Lee Jin-seong snorted in response. He glanced out the window and continued.
"He summoned it. The wind, the rain......"
Crackle!
Then, thunder boomed with a lightning strike. A tree in front of the worship hall was hit. Branches and leaves rained down, swept away by the gale to somewhere far off.
"......Even the thunder and lightning."
"……."
The executives, including Anna and Lee Jin-seong, looked out the window. Last executive meeting, Do Seon-woo had summoned a storm to practice his powers. It had been fierce enough to worry if the mountain might blow away. But compared to today, that had been a mere breeze.
Rumble!
Thunder and lightning struck again. The sky flashed, and the ground trembled like an earthquake. Beyond the storm's roar came a thudding sound.
Lee Jin-seong knew what it was. Do Seon-woo slamming his staff into the ground.
"......Seeing Cult Leader Seon-woo again, I'm glad. He seems much better off than before. Back then, he could barely speak, and I was so worried."
Suddenly, Anna spoke as if struck by the thought. Lee Jin-seong stared at her face. Her features had changed a lot from plastic surgery, but that faintly sorrowful expression remained unchanged.
Anna blankly gazed out at the raging storm.
"I'm relieved about that, but...... thinking how hard it must've been for him to get used to it again, I can't help but feel sorry for him."
"……."
Lee Jin-seong clamped his mouth shut and looked outside. Separate from the far greater power than before, the storm the cult leader summoned felt laced with emotion. Amid the lightning striking everywhere and the howling winds and rain, a hint of irritated anger seemed visible.
As if he wasn't practicing powers, but venting frustration.
Lee Jin-seong suddenly thought of Seong Yu-da. His brother-in-law's friend—and the enemy who'd killed his brother-in-law and imprisoned his sister. He'd held back from facing him, fearing he couldn't contain himself, even with opportunities.
If Seong Yu-da, upon reuniting, repented his past wrongs. If he lived in torment and regret, wasting away without need for revenge.
Could he forgive him then?
He tried to imagine it, but Lee Jin-seong couldn't picture himself forgiving Seong Yu-da.
Rumble!
Lightning flashed, followed by thunder. Rain lashed violently against the windows.
*
When the executive meeting ended and we returned to the worship hall, my uncle asked if it was okay for Gyeonggi Order executive Anna to stay there for a while. The Gyeonggi Order worship hall had long been demolished, leaving her nowhere to go. She'd stay just until she found a room, so I said it was fine.
I hadn't been visiting the worship hall much lately anyway, to avoid Mun Yo-seop's surveillance. I planned to minimize visits even more going forward.
Because of what Seong Yu-da had told me today.
"Inquisitor Mun Yo-seop suspects you...... No, he's all but convinced you're the Voodoo Cult leader."
"……."
I'd previously asked Seong Yu-da for Noah's Ark's location. On the way as he led me there to fulfill the promise, he'd suddenly brought up Mun Yo-seop.
I knew Mun Yo-seop suspected me to some degree, but I hadn't expected certainty.
"How do you know that?"
"He asked me directly. If I knew more about you. It was a question assuming you were the cult leader."
"Then why hasn't he denounced or arrested me yet? As an inquisitor, he could apprehend me on the spot."
"Probably because he lacks objective evidence for now. From here on, he'll doggedly tail you to gather irrefutable proof. Be careful."
"……."
He was right. Lately, Mun Yo-seop had been pursuing me even more obsessively. Showing up unannounced at the Eastern Paladin Order where I did dispatch training. He'd even tailed me last time. I'd made excuses to slip away or shaken him off, but I couldn't keep living so precariously forever.
"Can't the Purification Clan do something about him? Like get him dismissed."
"Dismissal would be tough, but creating a pretext to remove him is possible. I'll try to handle it as soon as possible."
I nodded without further reply or questions.
I couldn't fathom why Seong Yu-da was going this far for me. It wasn't just because I held Seong Ha-yeon hostage. As my uncle had said at the recent executive meeting, Seong Yu-da wasn't someone restrained by such a minor hostage.
Something stronger—a vow, or even firmer conviction...... There had to be another reason he couldn't denounce me to the Papal Office and was forced to help me.
Or, as my uncle suggested, maybe he was planning to stab me in the back.
"How's the request to stay away from Ha-yeon going?"
Then, Seong Yu-da turned and asked. I scrutinized his face. His expression seemed genuinely worried about Seong Ha-yeon. But sometimes a strange, inscrutable look flickered in his eyes, making his true intentions unreadable.
"No need to worry. I haven't contacted Seong Ha-yeon anymore......?"
Crack!
Suddenly, the ground collapsed.
"Wh-what the......!"
"What kind of path is th—!"
Seong Yu-da and I plummeted simultaneously. The fall felt unnaturally long. Like dropping from kilometers in the sky, we screamed as we kept falling endlessly.
The moment I tried to stop it with Bade's power or whatever—
Thud!
Finally, my body hit the ground. It'd felt like an impossibly long drop, yet I was unharmed upon landing. I opened my eyes and looked around. Pitch darkness filled every direction; I couldn't see a thing.
"Oh, I wondered who it was......"
Then, a voice came from the darkness. It sounded familiar—not recent, not ancient history, but from some middling past......
"Welcome, esteemed guests!"
"……."
As the darkness lifted and light poured in, I finally remembered whose voice it was.
Noah, the Ark's master, stood before us.
(To be continued in the next chapter)