The day after meeting Kim Jin-seo, I went to school.
Although there were no classes due to the closure period, it was possible to use various facilities on Florence's campus. I was planning to use the gym.
The school recommended staying home as much as possible, but I didn't want to spend time alone and desolate in my empty room.
Today I was planning to do chest exercises with bench press, but some monster-like guy was occupying the bench area, so I had no choice but to do back exercises instead.
"Huff."
40kg, 10 reps, 5 sets. Following the basics of lat pulldowns, I worked out my back diligently and caught my breath for a moment. Since it had been a while since I exercised, it was a bit harder than usual.
While resting, I casually looked around. Despite the closure period, there were more people than I thought. They all seemed to be students aspiring for the Holy Warrior or Holy Knight departments.
Among them was Kim Jin-seo too. She was doing cardio on a treadmill.
Fortunately, she seemed to have recovered well. Her expression was better than usual too.
"What. You got discharged? When?"
While I was looking at her, someone spoke to me.
It was Gu Jun-hyeok.
"Yesterday."
"If you got discharged, you should have told me, you bastard. Do you know I went to visit you at the hospital?"
"Ah right. I heard from my uncle. Thanks."
"You knew but didn't contact me? This is really malicious."
"I was too busy yesterday. I had a lot of things to do."
The deal with Bae Jeong-hwan. Meeting with Kim Jin-seo. When I got home, I was tired and went straight to sleep.
It was such a busy day that I didn't even have time to make contact. There was no particular reason to contact Gu Jun-hyeok anyway.
"But is it okay for you to exercise right after being discharged... Huh? Look at this."
Gu Jun-hyeok suddenly made a surprised expression.
"Do you like Kim Jin-seo?"
"What are you suddenly talking about."
Then he suddenly said nonsense.
"No, you were looking at Kim Jin-seo. Weren't you?"
"I just glanced at her briefly earlier. What's the big deal with just that."
"You did look at her. You like her. Right? Do you? Do you like her?"
"No. I was just glad she recovered quickly. She was pretty badly hurt too."
I didn't think it was necessary to explain about meeting Kim Jin-seo yesterday. I just explained with appropriate words.
Gu Jun-hyeok looked at Kim Jin-seo running diligently and quietly nodded.
"...Right. Why did she recover so quickly?"
"What?"
"Does she have good recovery ability? Hmm."
Gu Jun-hyeok crossed his arms and pretended to ponder, then soon grinned.
"She must have gone to a good hospital. She has money too."
"Yeah, probably."
"Anyway, work out hard. I'm going. There's a crazy guy here."
Gu Jun-hyeok roughly wiped his sweat with a towel and left the gym. His steps were somewhat hurried.
I immediately resumed my workout before the flow was interrupted. There wasn't time to think about who the crazy guy Gu Jun-hyeok mentioned was.
Following lat pulldowns with pull-ups, and then seated rows.
When my back muscles could no longer function properly, I moved on to bicep exercises.
"Right way! Hoooo!"
While I was diligently lifting the barbell, a bizarre sound came from the bench area.
A voice too wild to be human. It could fairly be called the howling of a beast.
Arms, legs, chest, etc. A giant with a perfect body without a single flaw was doing bench press.
Five 20kg plates on each side of the barbell.
The giant lifted a total weight of 220kg as if it were nothing.
[Is that really human? It looks like a bear transformed into a human.]
Even Legba, who had been through all kinds of experiences, was amazed.
"Come on! Right way. Easy way! Hooooooo!"
He was truly crazy.
I listened to music through earphones and ignored that crazy guy's shouting. Still, occasionally his shouts pierced through the earphones. His voice was unbelievably loud.
That crazy guy spoke to me when I was about to start my last set.
"Stop. You'll get hurt!"
His massive voice even pierced through the earphones.
"Fix your elbow! Otherwise your joints will be destroyed."
My elbow was actually aching, so I tried correcting my posture as he instructed.
Then the elbow pain disappeared like magic, and I could feel the stimulation concentrating on my biceps.
"Good, Do Seon-woo!"
"What. How do you know my name..."
"It's very good to see you focusing on training even after going through that incident!"
There was a name tag reading 'Kang Dae-man' on his gym clothes. It was a familiar name.
One of the seven freshman representatives, a student who received the holy name of 'Diligence.'
He was also the only student among the freshman representatives who didn't make it to the top ranks during the diagnostic evaluation.
Kang Dae-man went to do his own workout after saying that.
Right way! Hoooo!
His shouts echoed throughout the gym.
"Is he crazy?"
[It seems that way.]
Even when I finished my workout and left the gym, Kang Dae-man was still exercising. He didn't seem to get tired at all.
* * *
One week.
The closure period that seemed like it would never end finally came to an end.
During that period, my daily routine was always the same. I exercised, practiced drawing blessing circles and healing circles, and occasionally practiced sorcery.
I also heard the good news from Uncle Lee Jin-seong that we might be able to find the altar soon.
And finally, on the way to school. The sky was particularly clear today. My steps were light too.
This was the first time the way to school had been this enjoyable.
[There will be a commendation ceremony at morning mass. Do Seon-woo will receive it, so don't be late and come early.]
It was thanks to a text from Teacher Ha Ye-jin last night.
Commendations are included in award records, which greatly helps in becoming a high-ranking cleric. It was a step closer to my goal.
Finally arriving at the auditorium. I sat in the commendation waiting seat and dozed off, and before I knew it, mass had begun.
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..."
"Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault..."
Priests came out and conducted the opening ceremony. Mass proceeded quickly according to procedure.
I spent most of that time dozing. I have no reason to attend mass in the first place. Since I'm not a Romanica believer.
Finally mass ended. The priest came down from the podium, and a teacher holding a microphone went up to the podium.
"Ah, ah. Thank you for your hard work. Now we will have brief announcements and a commendation ceremony."
It was the beginning.
"First, please do not spread unfounded information about the magical beast incident that occurred last week. There are absurd rumors spreading that Satan worshippers have infiltrated Florence. Faculty and school-dedicated holy knights are conducting investigations, so please refrain from mentioning it until the truth is revealed."
Before the ceremony, the teacher delivered announcements.
That Satan worshippers infiltrated Florence is an established fact. Nevertheless, there was a reason why teachers were strongly denying this.
If rumors spread that Satan worshippers had infiltrated Florence, a prestigious private cleric academy, there was a risk of Florence's reputation being damaged. The intention was obvious.
"Next, we will have the commendation ceremony. Kim Jin-seo from Patience class, Do Seon-woo from Charity class, please come forward."
Kim Jin-seo jumped up from her seat and walked briskly to the podium. I followed behind her.
When we went up to the podium, bright lights shone on us.
"First-year Patience class Kim Jin-seo. This student contributed to overcoming disaster situations through resourcefulness and promoted safe evacuation, greatly enhancing the honor of Florence Academy, therefore we commend her. Florence Academy Board Chairman Kim, Chang, Won."
Kim Jin-seo bowed her head and received the commendation. Thunderous applause poured from the students below the podium.
"Next, first-year Charity class Do Seon-woo. Same as above."
I also bowed in greeting and received the commendation. The students did applaud, but the sound was noticeably smaller compared to when Kim Jin-seo received her commendation.
I understood their feelings, but even so, this discrimination was a bit severe.
"Now, greetings."
Following the host's words, we turned toward the students. And we bowed our heads in greeting to the students.
Applause erupted as expected, but that acclaim was entirely Kim Jin-seo's. There was no applause for me.
My mood wasn't great. But I didn't mind.
What was important to me was the fact itself that I received a commendation. It was enough to be happy just getting closer to my goal of becoming a high-ranking cleric.
Mass ended with the ceremony. I walked to the classroom holding my commendation.
The sky was a bit gloomy. Whether it was just my mood, I didn't know.
"Hey, you!"
While I was feeling dejected for no reason, a clear and clean voice came from behind.
When I glanced back, Kim Jin-seo was there.
Her black shoulder-length hair was a bit disheveled. From her rough breathing, it seemed she had been running.
"Ah. You, is your finger all healed..."
"This."
Before I could finish speaking, Kim Jin-seo suddenly held out something.
It was jelly.
I heard this was popular among students these days, but I had never eaten it. This was the first time I had actually seen it too.
"Just to say thanks. I don't think I said it properly then. ...Ah, my finger is fine now..."
"Right. ...Huh? Ah. You mean your finger is all healed? What about scars?"
"Ah, scars... there weren't any."
Somehow the conversation was awkward.
When I tried to speak, Kim Jin-seo interrupted me, and when Kim Jin-seo tried to speak, I interrupted her.
The atmosphere felt even more awkward for no reason. Kim Jin-seo's face, which usually had a cheerful expression, was stiffly hardened and cold.
"Anyway, I'll go."
Kim Jin-seo said that and joined her group of friends who had been walking ahead. Then she took out jelly from her bag and gave it to her friends. It was the same type she had given me.
It seemed she had originally bought the jelly to give to her friends, but gave me one since she had some left over.
[She reattached your finger and gave you one pack of jelly! What a profitable business indeed.]
Legba mocked. In terms of gains and losses, it was clearly a loss.
But since it wasn't an action I had done expecting money in the first place, I didn't feel like it was a loss at all.
Simply because Kim Jin-seo looked pitiful. No, that's not it, I helped her because Kim Jin-seo is the chairman's daughter.
It was a bit disappointing that what I received in return was jelly. Because I dislike jelly.
It was the only food that I, who eat everything without being picky, dislike. Honestly speaking, I don't even consider jelly to be food.
"Hey, why are you walking alone. ...What, jelly?"
After walking for a while, Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok walked alongside me. Jeong In-ah made a puzzled expression seeing the jelly in my hand.
"They don't sell this around here. Where did you buy it?"
"I didn't buy it. I got it from Kim Jin-seo earlier."
"Huh? Are you close with Kim Jin-seo?"
Jeong In-ah's expression hardened slightly. Very subtly.
"Not really close, but we just had some business."
"What. Don't tell me what you were secretly watching before!"
Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been listening from the side, suddenly interrupted.
"What do you mean secretly watching. When did I ever."
"Well, if you're at the level of exchanging jelly with each other, it's not secretly watching but some kind of mutual signal exchange. It's fair to see it that way..."
Thud.
Jeong In-ah kicked Gu Jun-hyeok's shin.
I was secretly satisfied. I was already a bit annoyed anyway.
"Now be quiet."
"Ah, hey! Stop kicking my shin. It really hurts, you know? Want to get hit?"
Gu Jun-hyeok grabbed his shin and hopped around. While engaging in such trivial pranks, we had arrived at the classroom before we knew it.
We casually opened the back door and entered.
However, the way the kids looked at us was a bit strange. More precisely, the way they looked at 'me' was strangely cold.
The children's eyes held clear hostility. All that hostility was directed at me.
"What. Why is the atmosphere like this?"
Gu Jun-hyeok seemed to have noticed that the class atmosphere was strange too.
Ding!
A cheerful text sound rang out just then.
It was a text for Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok. I didn't receive one.
"What is this?"
Jeong In-ah looked at the text with a hardened face.