"Ah, the Voodoo sect. I know it."
I know it better than anyone.
"Really? There are kids who sometimes don't know about it."
"It's hard not to know about the Voodoo sect... But what's your younger sibling's name?"
"Jeong Yun-ah. One year younger than me."
"How long has it been since the kidnapping?"
"8 months? 9 months? I don't know. I just hope she's still alive now."
Jeong In-ah continued speaking in a heavy voice, as if even mentioning her younger sibling's name was burdensome.
"There are rumors that the recent kidnapping incidents are also the work of the Voodoo sect. You be careful too."
"Uh... yeah. I should be careful."
After that, Jeong In-ah continued speaking ill of the Voodoo sect and sharing her views on the recent disappearance cases.
While walking and appropriately responding to Jeong In-ah's words, we had arrived in front of my house before I knew it.
"See you tomorrow."
Jeong In-ah waved her hand. I smiled slightly and responded to her greeting, then went inside my house.
My arms and legs had no strength. I flopped down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I was planning to take a nap, but sleep wouldn't come.
[...]
Legba was quiet that day.
***
"The name is Jeong Yun-ah, age 16. Right?"
"Right."
"She's not here. No matter how much I search."
After finishing a simple dinner at my studio apartment, I went straight to the underground chapel.
And I asked Uncle Lee Jin-seong if there was a believer named Jeong Yun-ah. Uncle Lee Jin-seong shook his head.
"I think it's just a false rumor. Even though we're treated as a cult, we don't do crazy stuff like kidnapping, right?"
"That's true, but..."
"Don't worry about it too much. It must be Satan worshippers or some other cult using our name."
Uncle said it as if it wasn't a big deal.
The doctrines of the Voodoo sect have many similarities to Romanica.
In pursuing respect and love, and exploring good, it's exactly the same as Romanica doctrine. Naturally, we also don't commit criminal acts like kidnapping.
The kidnapping of Jeong In-ah's younger sibling was also probably done by some other cult using our name, not us. Probably.
No, it "must" be that way.
No matter how much I tried to think that way, guilt and a strange unpleasant feeling lingered in one corner of my heart.
[Lee Jin-seong is right. There's no need to worry. Even if it really was us who kidnapped that girl's sibling, it's not your responsibility, is it?]
"Why wouldn't it be my responsibility? I'm the leader."
[Hmm, that's valid.]
At Legba's thoughtless answer, I hung my head.
If the kidnapping of Jeong In-ah's younger sibling was something done by our sect, it's obvious that I, as the leader, also bear responsibility.
That fact weighed down my shoulders and squeezed my heart.
"Ah, Seon-woo. Are you free this Saturday?"
What pulled me out of my thoughts was Uncle Lee Jin-seong.
"Saturday? I'm free. Why?"
"A request came in. Should we take it or not?"
"A request? From whom?"
Uncle picked up his phone and looked at it.
"The chairman of 'dPB' corporation."
"dPB?"
dPB. A company that sells and manufactures holy items.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that 80% of the holy items used in South Korea are supplied by dPB. It's such a huge corporation with a total market capitalization of 10 trillion won.
"Why would the chairman there contact us?"
"His wife has an incurable disease."
"Then he should go to a priest."
"The priests can't cure it either. He's met fortune tellers and shamans, but nothing worked, so he contacted us as a last resort."
"Hmm."
Fortune telling and divination are strictly illegal.
But the fact that a chairman of a major corporation resorted to such illegal activities means the situation is urgent and his feelings are desperate.
[Take it. Didn't you say we don't have money these days?]
Because the Voodoo sect has few believers, the sect can't be maintained with donations alone. Therefore, we make up for the shortage through requests like this.
Since the recent financial situation has been bad, it would make sense to take the request, but...
There's one thing that bothers me.
"Should we do it?"
"Why?"
"We lost the altar, and it's been too long since we received a request, so I'm worried we might have lost our touch."
"What are you worrying about? Let's try it first, and if it doesn't work, we can just say sorry and leave."
Uncle laughed casually and continued.
"I don't know where everyone disappeared to, believers are decreasing and donations are decreasing. The financial situation is terrible. We have to take requests like this."
"Hmm."
"So, will you do it or not?"
There was practically no choice. If we didn't take even requests like this, the Voodoo sect would collapse immediately.
"I'll do it. This Saturday?"
"Okay. I'll set up the schedule."
Uncle busily sent a text to someone.
***
The next day I went to school a little early.
Florence's school start time is 8:15. However, most students arrive at 7:30 to study for 45 minutes or practice blessings and healing.
Since I woke up early today, I also arrived around 7:30.
The classroom was half full. Some kids were studying, and some were chatting with friends.
Since I didn't have friends to chat with anyway, I planned to sit at my seat and study quietly.
But someone was already sitting in my seat. I thought I had mistaken the seat, but I hadn't. It was definitely "my seat," but "someone I didn't know" was sitting there.
"That's my seat."
"Huh? Ah, sorry."
It didn't seem like he was sitting in my seat with malicious intent, as he moved aside obediently.
I sat down and took out books from my bag.
The Bible and a Romanica history textbook.
Since my physical fitness test score was poor, I was determined to at least do well on written tests.
Just as I was about to open the book and study, I felt someone's gaze.
"What?"
"Huh? Why."
That guy who had been sitting in my seat earlier was now sitting in front of me, staring at me intently. It was truly an unpleasant situation.
If I just ignore him, he'll probably leave on his own.
Thinking that, I focused on studying. But even after several minutes, this guy showed no signs of leaving.
"You're the kid who fell down during yesterday's physical fitness test, right?"
Far from leaving, he even asked a question. What kind of person is this?
Feeling inwardly displeased, I looked over his face. It wasn't particularly memorable. His overall impression was vague. A name tag reading 'Gu Jun-hyeok' was hanging on his chest.
Gu Jun-hyeok. Gu Jun-hyeok.
This is the guy who came in 2nd place in yesterday's physical fitness test.
"That's right."
I answered Gu Jun-hyeok's question while looking at my book.
"Why did you challenge that yesterday? That special condition thing."
"Just because."
"Did you do it thinking you'd fail? Or did you really think you'd succeed?"
"I don't know."
Since these weren't questions worth answering, I just gave vague responses.
By now he should have lost interest and gotten up, but Gu Jun-hyeok kept asking questions endlessly. I listened to those questions with one ear and let them out the other, just giving appropriate answers.
Still, Gu Jun-hyeok didn't leave. It was interfering with my studying.
"I need to study. I'd appreciate it if you could leave."
I finally said to Gu Jun-hyeok, trying to be as polite as possible.
"Ah, sorry. But I just wanted to get friendly with you. You're kind of famous. I'll go now."
However, Gu Jun-hyeok's last words were hard to ignore.
"I'm famous? Why?"
"Huh? You didn't know?"
Gu Jun-hyeok, who was about to get up, sat back down.
"You slept during the entrance ceremony, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you failed while challenging the special condition in the physical fitness test."
"Ah, yeah."
"With all that, it would be strange if you weren't famous. There might be kids who don't know your name, but there probably aren't any who don't know your face."
Come to think of it, I did a lot of attention-grabbing things in just 3 days. To become a high-ranking cleric, it's good to be famous, and I want that too, but...
I didn't want to become famous in this way.
"Just saying. Anyway…"
"Hey, over there."
What interrupted Gu Jun-hyeok's continued words was Bae Seong-hyeon, who had been chatting with friends at the back of the classroom.
"Keep it down a bit. Other kids are studying."
"Ah~ Yes, class president! I'm really sorry~"
"Tsk."
Gu Jun-hyeok smoothly handled the situation. Bae Seong-hyeon clicked his tongue as if dissatisfied. Even though he was also chatting with a friend.
What do you call this situation? There's a perfect saying for it.
"The pot calling the kettle black, that guy's completely crazy."
Gu Jun-hyeok said what I was going to say. He lowered his voice so Bae Seong-hyeon couldn't hear.
"Bae Seong-hyeon seems to dislike you. Be careful. He's famous too."
Gu Jun-hyeok said in a whispered voice.
"Of course he's famous since he has the holy name of Charity."
"No, not that kind of famous. How should I put it, hmm. I'll tell you later."
Bae Seong-hyeon was glaring in our direction. Gu Jun-hyeok, conscious of this, hurriedly finished his words and returned to his seat.
I continued studying what I was doing. However, Gu Jun-hyeok's words bothered me, making it difficult to concentrate. It felt like the text was entering my eyes but then scattering in the air.
[You're already famous, how nice! It feels like you've taken a step closer to your goal.]
That's exactly why it's not good.
Since it wasn't a situation where I could speak, I just studied quietly.