Chapter 209
"...Who exactly are you?"
I didn't immediately comprehend Ha-Yeon's question. She stared at me as if she were trying to see through me and discern an answer. It was a far cry from her efforts of avoiding making eye contact on the plane.
Although her pupils were slightly dilated from the alcohol, I could see the strong determination in her gaze, as if she wanted to extract an answer from me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, staring back at her.
I wanted to know what was going through her mind. Since my last meeting with Sung Yu-Da, Ha-Yeon hadn't come to school, and she had been blatantly avoiding me since we ran into each other at the airport. Sung Yu-Da had clearly said something about me to her. I knew this would happen all along.
But now, seeing her ask me who I was, I could kind of see what Sung Yu-Da had told her. He must have given her some kind of forceful warning, like ‘he's dangerous’ or ‘stay away from him.’ Otherwise, Ha-Yeon wouldn't have a reason to ask me such a question.
"...I think you know pretty well by what I mean," Ha-Yeon questioned, narrowing her eyes and glaring at me.
Like me, she was also testing me, but I had no intention of falling for it.
"I don't," I casually replied.
For now, it was better to pretend not to know. There were too many eyes on us. Min-Seo and Dae-Man had been put to sleep with a spell, but Yu-Hyun, Su-Ryeon, and even Jin-Seo seemed to sober up gradually. There was nothing to gain from having a long conversation with Ha-Yeon here. Instead, I would probably lose a lot.
"...I don't understand why you're acting like this all of a sudden. You seem drunk. Just go inside and sleep."
I reached out my hand to lead Ha-Yeon back to her room.
Slap!
However, Ha-Yeon forcefully pushed away my hand and glared at me with a resentful look. "I’m not drunk."
The situation was proving to be more and more troublesome. Since spells didn't work on Ha-Yeon, I couldn't put her to sleep like Dae-Man or Min-Seo. That was why I disliked the members of the purification clan. They never moved the way I wanted them to.
"I’m not drunk, so answer the─!"
Just as Ha-Yeon was about to continue speaking...
"Uh...?" Her body tilted to the side.
Eventually, she collapsed onto the floor. I was perplexed. I had never used a spell, and even if I did, it wouldn't have worked on Ha-Yeon, a member of the purification clan.
Ha-Yeon groped the floor, blinked her eyes, and then looked up at me with a blurry focus.
"Uh, it's spinning..."
"What is?"
"The ground, the ground is spinning..." Ha-Yeon mumbled.
It wasn't the ground that was spinning, but in fact, her vision. I didn't bother to tell her that. There was no point in saying it since she wouldn't be able to understand.
I observed her condition. Ha-Yeon wasn't under the influence of a spell. She was simply under the influence of alcohol. She had raised her voice at me and suddenly got drunk. Things had worked out in my favor. I no longer needed to answer her question. I took Ha-Yeon into my arms.
“L-let go. Answer the question..."
"Shut up before I throw you out the window."
"..."
I voiced my true feelings because she probably wouldn't remember tomorrow anyway. After I scared her a little, Ha-Yeon stopped resisting and closed her mouth. I carried her into a random bedroom and threw her onto an empty bed. She wriggled on the bed for a moment before falling asleep.
The other kids were just momentarily intoxicated by the intoxication spell, but if we ranked everyone’s drunkenness, Ha-Yeon seemed the most intoxicated. I was in luck.
I came out to the living room and started cleaning up the mess. Yu-Hyun glanced in my direction and started to help me clean up.
"...Hey, I’m sorry. I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
"It's fine. Just help me clean up," I said nonchalantly.
At first, I was annoyed that Yu-Hyun hadn’t listened to me and opened Yeom Man-Gun’s alcohol. But I decided not to get angry about it. I didn't even have the energy to get angry. Besides, everyone seemed to be in better condition than I thought.
When I got high on the intoxication spell, I tended to do ridiculous things. For example, I voluntarily jumped into a burning store building. So, I believed that someone like Dae-Man or Min-Seo would have caused a big accident if they got intoxicated. But they only had minor accidents that could be brushed off as cute little drunk moments.
[The Voodoo mist they inhaled is a grain of rice compared to the amount of fog you usually inhale.]
"..."
I silently cleaned up the living room without responding to Legba. In reality, the intoxication spell engraved on Yeom Man-Gun’s alcohol was minimal. It was the equivalent of diluting the original substance to a very low concentration.
And the intoxication spell I usually consumed was the real deal that wasn’t diluted at all. In other words, I inhaled the purest substance. At times, I pushed it to the brink of a lethal dose. Legba was right. I definitely needed to quit.
"Ha, urgh..."
Jin-Seo sighed and rubbed her forehead. She seemed to have a headache. Her condition was better than before, but it still seemed like her mind hadn't fully recovered. I tried to support her, but Jin-Seo refused my support even though she stumbled with each step.
"I-it’s fine. I can walk by myself."
"Are you sure you’re okay?"
"Yeah, I can... I can do this," she said, gasping for breath. She then used the wall as support and barely managed to enter the room. Thankfully, the accommodation had enough rooms, so each person had their own bedroom.
The bedrooms were first come, first serve, and I wasn't sure if I would end up sleeping on the sofa in the living room, but whatever. I returned to the living room and resumed cleaning up.
However, no matter how much I cleaned, it didn’t seem like there was an end to the mess.
"There’s no end to this mess," Yu-Hyun said, stretching from his crouched-down position.
"Ah, and you guys call yourself clergymen...". I sighed.
I lost what little faith I had left in the Romanican Church when I saw clergymen who claimed to be noble but were really slaves to alcohol.
[You're no different from them.]
I didn't respond to Legba.
After stretching for a while, Yu-Hyun sat down again. He started collecting the trash scattered in the living room and said, "Clergymen are more likely to like alcohol due to their profession. There's nothing we can do about it."
"Shut up."
"Hmm... I guess I have no choice."
By the time we finished cleaning the living room, it was deep into the night.
* * *
Min-Seo and Su-Ryeon entered the room that was initially Yu-Hyun's bedroom, and Ha-Yeon had gone into what was Dae-Man's bedroom.
Yu-Hyun said he would sleep on the sofa in the living room, and Dae-Man seemed to be able to sleep anywhere I threw him. And there was one room left, which was probably where Jin-Seo was sleeping.
If I had the choice, I wanted to send everyone back to their own places, but they were not in their right minds, so I couldn't do that. If I sent them back early in the morning, Han Dae-Ho wouldn't have any reason to suspect us.
Anyway, luckily, I was able to lie comfortably in my bed and fall asleep. As I covered myself with the blanket and closed my eyes, Damballa, who was under the bed, crawled up and coiled up next to my head.
[Oh child, it seems to me like you can't sleep,] Damballa said.
"You’re right. It's kind of hard," I replied.
I answered comfortably, as it seemed like everyone was asleep by now.
[Put aside your worries for tomorrow. It would be a tragedy if you ruined tomorrow because you lost sleep over worrying about it,] Damballa said as if she could read my mind.
I didn't respond and just closed my eyes. I tried to sleep but failed. My mind was in turmoil thinking about stealing the Staff of Reversal at the museum tomorrow.
What if I went to the museum and the staff wasn’t there? What if the worker refused to cooperate with me even after I showed them Yun Chang-Su's letter? What if I got caught stealing the staff? What if there are changes in the schedule and I can't go to the museum? What if I don’t steal the staff tomorrow and can’t turn Yoon-Ah back into a human?
These worries chased away my sleep. I felt like I wouldn't be able to fall asleep no matter how much I closed my eyes and tried. I was about to unleash Voodoo magic and use the intoxication spell, but I stopped, suddenly realizing that I shouldn't rely on the intoxication spell for the rest of my life.
[Should I sing a lullaby for you, little one? My lullabies are very effective.]
"I have nightmares when I listen to your lullabies," I said.
[You’re right, but it would put you to sleep, wouldn’t it?] Damballa said nonchalantly.
I let out a small smirk instead of answering. It could be better to sleep even if it meant I was going to be ridden with nightmares. There was no difference between a sleepless night filled with worry and one filled with nightmares. If I had to choose, I would go with the latter, where I could at least sleep.
"Sing me a tune. Take it away."
[Little one, how could you say–]
Ssssh─!
At that moment, Damballa quickly hid under the bed without saying a word. She whispered, [...Someone is coming. I hear footsteps.]
I was startled and sat up. Then, I listened carefully. I could hear the sound of footsteps. I had no idea who it was. One thing was certain: it was not Dae-Man. His footsteps were as huge as his physique, and I could tell if it was him just by the sound of them.
The footsteps I heard were light and soft. But they weren't regular. They seemed unsteady, stumbling about. Did someone who was drunk get up and wander around?
However, the sound of footsteps was clearly getting closer. I was certain that they were approaching my room.
Click.
The door opened, and faint light from the living room poured in through the crack in the door. The person came in, then climbed onto the bed as if it were her own. And she laid down next to me. I saw her pupils in the darkness. Her gaze was still hazy, as if she hadn't fully regained her senses.
"...I can't sleep. My heart is beating all weird," Jin-Seo said, gasping for breath.
The rapid heartbeat was a drawback of the excessive use of the intoxication spell. She curled up and buried herself in my arms.
I was taken aback and moved my body backward. She lifted her head and stared at me intently, her gaze sad and resentful.
Jin-Seo started explaining even when I hadn’t asked. "I didn't drink. I just opened the bottle, and suddenly..."
I sensed that she felt wronged based on her tone. It seemed like she had heard me muttering, “Ah, and you guys call yourself clergymen..." while tidying up.
"So please don't be disappointed."
"..."
"Seriously, I didn't drink."
"Okay."
"Do you believe me?"
"I believe you."
Jin-Seo smiled when I spoke with conviction. She looked at me with hazy and strangely empty eyes.
"Don’t leave me."
"...I won't."
"Promise." Despite knowing I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help but nod.
I thought she wouldn't remember it by tomorrow anyway. Or maybe it was because she looked unusually small today, hunched up in a ball.
Soon, she fell asleep. When using the intoxication spell, it would initially bring about intense pleasure and make the person feel very awake, but once the effects wore off, drowsiness would set in. I usually took advantage of that and borrowed the effect of the intoxication spell if I couldn't fall asleep.
"..."
I looked at the sleeping Jin-Seo. If what she had said was true, and she hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol, this was all due to the intoxication spell. In that case, she must be very vulnerable to it. She might not have had any resistance to spells in the first place.
If that were the case, I could have put her to sleep with the curse of a fainting spell when she entered the room. I wouldn’t have needed to listen to her long explanations or make promises I couldn’t keep. Even so, I hadn’t been able to push her away firmly. I don't know why I did that.
At that moment, Legba said, [Don't turn your face from the truth. Don't you already know why? People who lack a family think of the people around them as family members and try to fill that void. The same can be said for this child.]
"..."
[You were the same.]
A few names came to mind. Just imagining them getting hurt or something happening made it difficult for me to maintain my composure. These few people were precious to me.
I couldn't sleep. I gave Jin-Seo the bed and went out to the living room. I opened the sliding door and went out to the small terrace. As night fell, so did the dazzling lights of the city. Instead, the stars that were not visible due to the city lights came into view.
I counted the stars and gathered my thoughts.
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