<h4>Chapter 261</h4>


    Oh Hee-Jin stood in front of Han Dae-Ho''s office. He hesitated for a long time, clenching his fist at the door, debating whether to knock or not.


    He would asionally bite his lip and wipe cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. After pondering with a heavy sigh, he finally raised his head as if he had made a decision.


    <i>Knock knock.</i>


    As soon as he knocked, Han Dae-Ho came out and greeted him. A smile blossomed on Han Dae-Ho''s face.


    "Oh Hee-Jin? What brings you here?"


    However, seeing Han Dae-Ho''s smile only made Oh Hee-Jin feel more uneasy.


    Oh Hee-Jin gave a faint smile, bowed to greet Han Dae-Ho, and then entered the office. He sat on the guest chair in the center of the office.


    "Wasn''t today your day off? I remember telling you to rest at home since you''ve been working hard..." Han Dae-Ho said as he sat across from Oh Hee-Jin.


    Oh Hee-Jin nodded with a small smile and said, "Yes, but I came here to say something. By the way, your expression has improved a lot."


    “Because the Eastern Pdin Order’s reputation has improved a lot. As the director, I can’t help but feel good about it.”


    Oh Hee-Jin nodded at Han Dae-Ho''s words. At one point, the Eastern Pdin Order had suffered from conflicts with dBP Corporation and a shortage of personnel.


    However, after Sun-Woo was dispatched to the Eastern Pdin Order, he achieved great things such as finding a long-term missing person and making significant contributions during a demon extermination. Somepanies even expressed their intention to sponsor the Eastern Pdin Order.


    Although they were they were stillckingpared to the Central Pdin Order or the Western Pdin Order, the situation had improved significantlypared to the past.


    "It''s all thanks to Sun-Woo. It’s because of that guy that the Eastern Pdin Order is receiving this level of treatment. There are even rumors that other branches of the Pdin Order are going crazy trying to recruit Sun-Woo."


    "...Indeed. He is a very capable individual after all," Hee-Jin said.


    "I''m d I brought him here after finding out about him early. If he had gone to a different Pdin Order, it would have been seriously regrettable," Han Dae-Ho said.


    He was proud of bringing Sun-Woo to the East Pdin Order.


    Although he felt regretful that he would eventually have to send to Sun-Woo the Central Pdin Order, he figured it would be considered an achievement if a student who had undergone dispatch training at the Eastern Pdin Order ended up joining the Central Pdin Order.


    Thinking this way, there was nothing to regret.


    Oh Hee-Jin watched Han Dae-Ho proudly talk about Sun-Woo and smiled wryly. Seeing him smile, Han Dae-Ho tilted his head and said, "What''s wrong with you? Oh,e to think of it, you said you had something to tell me. So, what is it? It’s not anything serious, right?"


    "Yes, it’s nothing serious. I just wanted to take a break for a moment."


    "Ah... Well, you worked even when you were off duty and went through a lot of hardships. How long do you n to rest?”


    "I n to take a break for about a week. It''s been quite a while since I visited my hometown, so I thought I''d go down there."


    "Will a week be enough? You can take a full two weeks off if you want."


    "A week will suffice."


    Han Dae-Ho looked at Oh Hee-Jin. His usually firm gaze was slightly rxed. It seemed like he definitely needed some rest. Han Dae-Ho nodded and smiled.


    "Take it easy. I''ll consider it as paid leave. You''ve worked hard for a while."


    "Yes, thank you. And, I..." Oh Hee-Jin said, but then hesitated.


    Oh Hee-Jin closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip. Han Dae-Ho quietly watched him.


    Oh Hee-Jin finally opened his eyes and said, "It might be good if we don’t burden Sun-Woo with too much work..."


    "Hmm? Well... I understand. Since he is just an apprentice pdin, there is not much work to assign to him anyway.”


    "In that case, that’s a relief. I''ll take my leave now," Oh Hee-Jin said, bowing his head and bidding farewell to Han Dae-Ho before leaving the office.


    On his way out of the Pdin Order, he took out the resignation letter he had kept in his pocket and folded it in half. Then he tucked it deep inside his bag.


    The wind blew. Although winter had not yet arrived, the wind was quite chilly, so Oh Hee-Jin wrapped his coat around himself.


    * * *


    <i>Tap, tap, tap.</i>


    After hearing my words, Sung Yu-Da tapped the desk with his fingernail. The reception room was filled with silence, and only the rhythmic sound of Sung Yu-Da tapping on the desk could be heard.


    I locked my fingers together and ced my hands on top of the desk. Then I looked at Sung Yu-Da. He was not looking at me. Instead, he was looking somewhere else.


    He stared nkly into empty space with unfocused eyes, lost in deep thought.


    "You don''t seem very surprised," I said.


    Then I held my breath and watched Sung Yu-Da. I was curious what kind of reaction he would show. Sung Yu-Da hesitated for a while, then chuckled while looking at me.


    "I already knew that you were a member of the Voodoo Cult. However..."


    The light in his eyes pierced into me as he gazed at me. I listened quietly to his words. I already knew that he knew my true identity. I had shown him my ring, which was my father’s keepsake, so it would be more surprising if he didn’t know my identity.


    He broke the silence and said, "It''s hard to believe that you are the Cult Leader. You might not be the real Cult Leader, and you might just be acting as his substitute at the moment. Am I right?”


    "Why do you think that?"


    "Logically speaking, the Cult Leader wouldn''t do such dangerous actions. Using a substitute to infiltrate Florence Academy and approaching the prtes is safer. Even if their true identity is exposed, it would be easy to discard them.”


    He had had a valid point. If my sole objective was simply to infiltrate the academy, or if there was no need for the Cult Leader to infiltrate directly, it would have been better to use a substitute. That would have been a much safer and more economical option. Nevertheless, I took the risk and infiltrated Florence Academy personally.


    This was because my goal was to meet my mother in the underground prison. To achieve my goal, using a substitute was not an option. I had to be a clergyman in person to gain ess to the underground prison and meet my mother. Why was he asking such a thing? Could it be that Sung Yu-Da was unaware that my mother was alive and imprisoned in the underground prison?


    No, that was unlikely. He was the individual who killed my father and imprisoned my mother in the underground prison. There was no way he didn’t know. Did he throw that question at me to see how much I knew?


    However, there was no need to dwell on it.


    "Ogun."


    <i>Click.</i>


    The lights in the reception room went out. I called Bade immediately after, and the wind blew. The wide-open windows closed, and the curtains were drawn.


    With a tter, the utensils on the table in the reception room floated in the air. The red-hot utensils emitted steam.


    <i>ng, ng...</i>


    With the eerie sngs, the teaspoon used to put sugar in tea was sharpened into a pick. All the other utensils were also sharpened. The ordinary utensils turned into weapons in an instant as they trembled and floated in the air as if they were about to stab Sung Yu-Da.


    "Do you believe me now?"


    Sung Yu-Da did not answer. He just stared nkly at me through the darkness. He wasn’t speechless because he was surprised—rather, he was merely not speaking. He seemed to vaguely know about Ogun''s power.


    The silence lingered for a while. In the dark room, the only source of light was the red light emitted by the utensils, and the only sound came from the trembling of the utensils.


    "So you really are the Cult Leader."


    "Yes."


    "Are you here to kill me?"


    I could not answer that question, because I did note to kill Sung Yu-Da. At least, I did not have any intention to kill him at the moment.


    When I stared at him without saying a word, Sung Yu-Da suddenly stood up from his seat.


    "Then please kill me," Sung Yu-Da said.


    Ogun''s power did not attack him. It meant that it was not a boastful or pretentious remark, but a sincere one.


    Sung Yu-Da sincerely wished to die. More precisely, he wished for me to kill him. However, I shook my head.


    "I did note to kill you today."


    "Why? Did you change your mind about killing me when the opportunity arose?"


    "..."


    I did not answer. He wasn’t entirely wrong. There was a time when my goal was to kill Sung Yu-Da. I thought it was the only method of avenging my parents. My hatred for Sung Yu-Da still remained strong. Nevertheless, I did not intend to kill him. No, I couldn''t kill him.


    That wasn’t the type of revenge that I had in mind. I didn’t want to kill a Sung Yu-Da who wanted death—I wanted to kill a Sung Yu-Da who was unbelievably afraid of death. I desired that type of revenge.


    Sung Yu-Da approached me silently.


    "Do you know why I''m letting you live?"


    I listened to him without responding.


    Sung Yu-Da stared straight at me and continued, "Out of pity. Because your life, which must have been dedicated to seeking revenge for your parents for years, or perhaps even a lifetime, was too pitiful. I spared you out of mere sympathy."


    "..."


    "That''s why I haven''t killed or reported you. Do you understand?"


    At that moment, Ogun''s power attacked Sung Yu-Da.


    <i>Splurt!</i>


    The utensil, which had been waiting for the chance to attack a liar with burning red anger, pierced Sung Yu-Da''s shoulder.


    His im that he spared me purely out of sympathy was a lie. They were most likely words that he had made up to provoke me.


    Sung Yu-Da frowned due to the pain, but he didn’t utter a single groan or a scream.


    "The reason I''m not killing you is because you were friends with my father," I said.


    "..."


    "And because of that, you possess my father’s my father’s research data. I intend to keep you alive so that I can retrieve that research data, and so that I can utilize your power as a former cardinal and a member of the purification n."


    I was not going to kill Sung Yu-Da right now because there was still much to gain from him: my father''s research data, Sung Yu-Da’s political power, and his unique lineage as a member of the purification n. Since I was under Joseph’s suspicion, I needed to seek help from him in many ways.


    "If I truly wanted revenge, I wouldn''t havee to find you."


    The problem was that Sung Yu-Da didn’t seem to have a clear reason to help me. And yet for some reason, he had helped me up until now.


    However, since I didn''t know the reason why he was helping me, I couldn''t use him as I wanted.


    "If I wanted revenge, I would have killed Ha-Yeon instead of you."


    I threw the question at him to test the water, and to figure out if the reason he was helping me was because of Ha-Yeon.


    Perhaps the reason he was helping me was because I could kill Ha-Yeon if I was seeking revenge. It wasn’t a lie that if I really sought revenge, I would choose to kill Ha-Yeon instead of Sung Yu-Da. I wished Sung Yu-Da would experience the same pain as me. I wanted him to lose his family, live alone in regret for a lifetime, and spend sleepless nights with bloodshot eyes.


    After hearing my words, Sung Yu-Da suddenly sat down and said, "Please, kill me."


    We were in pitch-ck darkness and he was bowing his head, so I couldn’t see his expression.


    "Ha-Yeon is innocent. Instead... please just kill me. I am the only one whomitted a crime. So..."


    I interrupted him and said, “So the reason you helped me was because of Ha-Yeon.”


    At this moment, it became clear that the reason why he had not revealed my identity or tried to kill me was because of Ha-Yeon.


    Sung Yu-Da shook his head and said, "...It''s not just because of that."


    He kept his mouth shut and remained silent for a while. The tears that had fallen to the ground sparkled in the dim light of the utensils in the reception room.


    I didn''t realize because he was bowing his head, but he was shedding tears.


    "...It’s because if I don''t help you, I will have nothing left."


    His statement held a lot of profound meaning. However, seeing that Ogun''s power did not activate, at the very least, it was not a lie.


    "Kill me. No, please kill me."


    "..."


    "I... havemitted an unforgivable sin against you and your father, who was my friend. The only way to repent is through death..." Sung Yu-Da said as if confessing.


    He trailed off at the end of his sentence. I had no idea what happened between Sung Yu-Da and my father. Nevertheless, it seemed like something had definitely urred between them.


    However, I did not have any intention of killing him yet. The more he begged for death from me, the less I wanted to kill him.


    "If you seek repentance, please do not die. Not until I tell you to," I said. "I will thoroughly use you. And when you are no longer useful to me, I will kill you. If you do not cooperate, I will have Ha-Yeon killed..."


    I paused midway, because Ogun''s power attacked me. The threat of killing Ha-Yeon if he did not cooperate was not a sincere statement. It was just a tactic to instill fear in Sung Yu-Da and gain his cooperation.


    Swallowing the pain, I continued, "Hand over my father''s research data and tell me the location of Noah''s Ark."


    "I understand. However," Sung Yu-Da said, lifting his head and looking at me with determined eyes. "While I cooperate with you, please do not approach my daughter, Ha-Yeon."


    "Alright."


    The reason I initially approached Ha-Yeon was to make contact with Sung Yu-Da. Now that I had had secured Sung Yu-Da''s cooperation, there was no reason to approach Ha-Yeon any further. I nodded and extended my hand to Sung Yu-Da. He took my hand and stood up.


    Legba, who had been silent for a while, suddenly said, [It''s an unfortunate fate.]