Chapter 4

"Ah, Budo Church. You know it, right?"

I know it better than anyone.

"Really? Sometimes there are kids who don't know it."

"It's hard not to know, Budo Church is... But by the way, what's your sister's name?"

"Jung Yoon. She's a year younger than me."

"How long has she been kidnapped?"

"Eight months? Nine months? I don't know. I just hope she's still alive, now."

Jung In-a spoke with a heavy voice, as if even mentioning her sister's name was a burden.

"Recently, there's a rumor that the kidnappings are the work of Budo Church. You should be careful too."

"Uh... Yeah, I should be careful."

Jung In-a continued to speak ill of Budo Church and share her thoughts on the recent disappearances.

As I nodded along with her words, we soon arrived at her house.

"See you tomorrow."

Jung In-a waved. I smiled and waved back, then went inside.

My limbs felt weak. I flopped onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I thought about taking a nap, but sleep wouldn't come.

Rexba was unusually quiet that day.

* * *

"Her name is Jung Yoon, she's 16 years old. Is that right?"

"Right."

"No. No matter how much I search."

After a simple dinner in my studio, I went straight to the underground chapel.

I asked Uncle Jin-sung if there was a member named Jung Yoon. Uncle Jin-sung shook his head.

"I think it's just a rumor. Even if we are treated as a cult, we don't do things like kidnapping, right?"

"That's true, but..."

"Don't worry too much. It's probably some Satanists or other cults using our name."

Uncle spoke as if it were no big deal.

The doctrine of Budo Church is very similar to Romanica.

We strive for respect and love, and our pursuit of goodness is exactly the same as Romanica. Of course, we don't commit crimes like kidnapping.

If Jung In-a's sister was kidnapped, it was probably by another cult using our name. It must be.

No, it 'must' be.

No matter how much I tried to think that way, a sense of guilt and a strange discomfort lingered in my heart.

"Why would I be responsible? I'm the leader."

I lowered my head at Rexba's flippant answer.

If Jung In-a's sister was kidnapped by our sect, it is obvious that I, as the leader, am responsible.

This fact weighed on my shoulders and squeezed my heart.

"Ah, Seon-woo. Are you free this Saturday?"

Uncle Jin-sung pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Saturday? I'm free. Why?"

"We got a request. Do you want to take it?"

"Request? From who?"

Uncle looked at his phone.

"The CEO of 'dPB'."

"dPB?"

dPB. A company that sells and produces relics.

It's a huge company, supplying about 80% of the relics used in South Korea. Its market capitalization is around 10 trillion won.

"Why would the CEO of dPB want us?"

"His wife has a terminal illness."

"Then he should go to a priest."

"Even the priests can't cure her. He's tried fortune tellers and astrologers, but nothing worked. He's reaching out to us as a last resort."

"Hmm."

Reading fortunes and telling fortunes are illegal.

The fact that the CEO of a major company resorted to such illegal activities indicates how urgent the situation is and how desperate he is.

Budo Church has few members, so we can't maintain the sect with donations alone. We make up for the shortfall through such requests.

Given the recent poor financial situation, it would be reasonable to accept the request.

However, there is one thing that bothers me.

"Can we do it?"

"Why not?"

"We lost the altar, and it's been too long since we last took a request. I might have lost my touch."

"Don't worry about that. Just try, and if it doesn't work, you can say sorry and leave."

Uncle laughed, as if it were no big deal.

"Members are leaving, donations are decreasing. The financial situation is dire. We need to take this request."

"Hmm."

"So, are you going to do it or not?"

There was no real choice. If we didn't take this request, Budo Church would be in danger of collapsing.

"I'll do it. This Saturday?"

"Okay. I'll set the schedule."

Uncle busily sent a text message to someone.

* * *

The next day, I went to school a little early.

The start time at Firenze is 8:15 AM, but most students arrive at 7:30 AM to study or practice blessings and healing for 45 minutes.

I woke up early today, so I arrived around 7:30 AM.

The classroom was about half full. Some students were studying, and others were chatting with friends.

I had no friends to chat with, so I planned to sit down and study quietly.

However, someone was already sitting in my seat. I thought I might have the wrong seat, but no, it was definitely 'my seat,' and 'someone I didn't know' was sitting there.

"That's my seat."

"Oh? Ah, sorry."

It didn't seem like they had sat there out of malice, so they readily moved.

I sat down and took out my books.

The Bible and a Romanica history textbook.

Since my physical test scores were low, I decided to focus on the written exams.

Just as I was about to open the book and start studying, I felt someone's gaze.

"What?"

"Oh? Why?"

The guy who had been sitting in my seat was now staring at me from the seat in front. It was a truly unpleasant situation.

If I ignore him, he'll go away on his own.

I thought and focused on my studies. But a few minutes later, he showed no signs of leaving.

"Didn't you fall during the physical test yesterday?"

Not only did he not leave, but he even asked a question. What a guy.

I felt annoyed and glanced at his face. It wasn't particularly memorable. He had a vague appearance. A name tag on his chest read 'Goo Jun-hyuk.'

Goo Jun-hyuk. Goo Jun-hyuk.

So, he was the guy who came in second in the physical test yesterday.

"Right."

I looked at my book and answered Goo Jun-hyuk's question.

"Why did you challenge the special condition yesterday? Was it, like, a special condition or something?"

"Just because."

"Did you plan to fail, or did you really think you could succeed?"

"Maybe."

The questions weren't worth answering, so I just gave vague responses.

At this point, he should have lost interest and left, but Goo Jun-hyuk kept asking questions. I listened with one ear and let them out the other, giving appropriate answers.

But Goo Jun-hyuk didn't leave. He was distracting me from my studies.

"I need to study. Could you please go?"

I couldn't take it anymore and said to Goo Jun-hyuk, trying to be polite.

"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to get to know you. You're kind of famous. I'll go now."

However, Goo Jun-hyuk's last words were hard to ignore.

"Famous? Why?"

"Oh? You didn't know?"

Goo Jun-hyuk, who was about to get up, sat back down.

"You fell asleep during the opening ceremony, right?"

"Yeah."

"You failed the special condition challenge in the physical test."

"Oh, yeah."

"Considering all that, it's strange if you're not famous. There are probably kids who don't know your name, but no one who doesn't know your face."

Come to think of it, I did a lot of things to draw attention in just three days. Being famous is good if you want to become a high-ranking priest, and I do want that...

But I didn't want to be famous for this.

"Whatever. Anyway—"

"Hey, over there."

Goo Jun-hyuk's words were interrupted by Bae Sung-hyun, who was chatting with friends at the back of the classroom.

"Could you be a bit quieter? Other students are trying to study."

"Ah~ Yes, sir! I'm really sorry~"

"Tsk."

Goo Jun-hyuk smoothly defused the situation. Bae Sung-hyun clicked his tongue, seemingly annoyed, even though he was chatting with his friends.

What do you call this situation? There's a fitting proverb.

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black. That guy is completely crazy."

Goo Jun-hyuk said what I was about to say, lowering his voice so Bae Sung-hyun wouldn't hear.

"Bae Sung-hyun seems to dislike you. Be careful. He's famous too."

Goo Jun-hyuk whispered.

"Of course, he's famous as a symbol of charity."

"No, not that. How to put it... I'll tell you later."

Bae Sung-hyun was staring at us intently. Goo Jun-hyuk, aware of this, quickly ended the conversation and returned to his seat.

I continued my studies, but Goo Jun-hyuk's words kept bothering me. The words seemed to scatter in the air before reaching my eyes.

It's not a good thing.

Since I couldn't say anything, I just quietly continued my studies.

(To be continued)