NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66
…The silence had fallen again.
But this time, it wasn’t the kind of tense, precarious silence like walking on thin ice. It was a different kind of silence, filled with surprise and bewilderment, a little surreal.
A girl with pink hair, whose appearance was more cool than beautiful, had pushed her way through the crowd and punched her fist out. Maria shouted at her,
“Edyn―!!”
“Ah……”
Edyn, who had been stiffening her face, turned pale when she saw Maria pushing through the crowd towards her.
“Hey!!”
“Wait, just a minute! I admit I was wrong, but that bitch started the fight―”
Screech!!
“Kyaaak?!”
Edyn, who had punched out, was slapped on the back by Maria and fell to her knees. Some of the onlookers flinched and took a step back.
“If you have a problem, you should resolve it with words, not by punching someone! Are you a thug or something?”
“The thug is you……”
“What?”
“No, I didn’t say anything.”
“You. Stay right there.”
Maria, with her lips pursed, approached the female student who was lying on the floor with her arms and legs outstretched, still wearing the same white clerical robe as herself.
However, while Maria’s robe had a chess pawn, representing Bwair, the god of information, embroidered on her chest, the unconscious female student had a coin, symbolizing the god of luck, embroidered on hers.
And as everyone knew, Bwair and the god of luck were not on good terms.
No, they were practically hostile towards each other.
It wasn’t just a competition between the first and second place, but they were truly like enemies who couldn’t stand the sight of each other.
That’s because the followers of Bwair, the god of information, often interfered with others’ luck, changing the outcome of events, so the followers of the god of luck, who acted as notaries and judges during events, couldn’t help but view the followers of Bwair with suspicion.
“Are you okay?”
Maria infused her palm with divine power and lightly tapped the unconscious female student’s cheek. When there was no response, Maria raised her hand higher and,
Slap!
The female student’s head turned to the side with a crisp sound. Kang Seok-ho, who had been watching from a distance, flinched at the sound.
“Hey, snap out of it!!!”
Slap, slap!
The female student’s cheek was mercilessly slapped by Maria’s divine power-infused hand, and her head kept turning left and right with each slap.
-Shouldn’t we stop her?
-Then you stop her.
-Damn, it’s scarier to see the swelling go down from the slaps than the punch…
As the students watched, the swelling on the female student’s cheek, caused by Edyn’s punch, gradually went down with each slap from Maria.
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Are you feeling better now?”
Maria slapped the female student’s eyelids, which were twitching, left and right again.
“Kyaak?!”
“Hmm. Your voice is loud and clear, so you seem fine.”
Maria, with a very compassionate smile, got up, and the students and Edyn swallowed dryly as they watched.
“Are you kidding me……?!”
The female student, holding her left cheek, which had been slapped last, glared at Maria with wide eyes. Maria, with a smile on her lips, asked,
“Is there anywhere that’s still bothering you?”
“Yes, there was.”
“Yes. I’m fine now. But!!”
The female student pointed at Edyn, who was kneeling behind Maria, and said,
“The fact that she assaulted me hasn’t changed. Many people saw it, too.”
“Hey!! It was you who―”
Thud!!
“……Jjeowook!!!”
Edyn, who had been standing behind Maria, was slapped on the top of her head by Maria’s palm and fell to the floor, unable to withstand the impact.
“So.”
The gazes that had been focused on Edyn’s back now turned back to Maria.
Maria’s lips still wore a benevolent smile, but her eyes were sharp enough to pierce through her opponent.
“Are you saying that my child assaulted you for no reason and unilaterally?”
“That’s right. I was just trying to go back to my seat after finishing my work, and when I got close, she suddenly punched me……”
“I see.”
Maria’s eyes, in contrast to her smiling lips, were sharp enough to pierce through her opponent.
Her eyes moved and landed on Baek Hana, who was watching from behind with Nam Seo-hee.
Their gazes met, and Baek Hana shook her head.
It was a signal that Edyn had indeed punched the female student unilaterally, as the female student claimed.
However, neither Baek Hana nor the other two, who were watching from behind, thought Edyn’s claim was false. Although Edyn had a fiery temper and was sometimes eccentric, they knew that the pink-haired girl with her face pressed to the floor was the most honest person they knew.
So Maria was sure.
The female student in front of her had an awakened ability in the ‘telepathy’ category.
That’s why it was a headache.
It was possible to reveal the truth by making an oath to a deity, but it was impossible to do so with the followers of other deities.
That’s because no deity would want their follower to be cornered. Birds of a feather flock together, as the saying goes.
“Should I apologize?”
“As a fellow priestess, I don’t expect that, but it would be nice for others to see you acknowledging your mistake and apologizing.”
Maria’s lips twitched ever so slightly.
‘I’d like to bury her somewhere, but there were too many witnesses to just let it go without apologizing, as the annoying enemy in front of me suggested.’
If the enemy in front of her had spoken aloud any insulting words, as Edyn had said, it would have been a different story. But since she had used a telepathy-type ability, she had no choice but to bow her head here. they couldn’t let their petty pride cause trouble for everyone else.
“Edyn.”
“……”
At Maria’s call, Edyn slowly got up from the floor, where she had been pressing her face, and rubbed her slightly red nose.
“I don’t want to.”
“Edyn.”
“I don’t want to.”
Edyn, glaring at Maria, pointed at the female student and said,
“I can tolerate everything else, but that bitch said that our Executor is a nobody’s lackey and a washed-up has-been. How dare she?!”
-Lackey?
“Yeah. I’ve never even heard of a pillar… Seo……?”
Edyn blinked and closed her mouth. That’s because the voice didn’t come from Maria, who was standing next to her, but from behind the female student.
Behind the female student.
More precisely, from Baek Hana, who was standing a little further away with Kang Seok-ho and Na Joo-hee.
Baek Hana, with her piercing gaze, was glaring at the back of the female student’s head.
Edyn swallowed and approached the female student as she noticed Baek Hana.
“Hey. I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about? I’m being very sincere right now.”
Edyn swallowed again as she saw Baek Hana slowly approaching. Baek Hana’s eyes were sharp, but there was also a slight hint of cluelessness in them, but whenever something negative was said about Baek Woo-jin, her mood completely changed.
“Hey, Nam Seo-hee!! Why are you just standing there?!”
Edyn shouted at Nam Seo-hee, who was still standing behind her. But before Nam Seo-hee could move, Baek Hana was already next to the female student.
“Hey.”
“……?”
The female student turned her head slightly at the eerie voice.
A beautiful girl with white hair that was taller than her own and blue eyes was looking down at her with a chilling gaze.
Twitch.
“Oh my.”
The white beast’s ears that grew out of her head.
I had only heard about them in rumors, but seeing them in person, they looked like something that she really wanted to touch.
“Edyn…. Is what she said true?”
“Hmm?”
At Baek Hana’s question, the female student frowned slightly at Edyn, who was vigorously shaking her head, and replied,
“No, I didn’t say anything.”
“……You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying―”
Hoooook―!!
“Kyaak?!”
The female student, who had been pulled by an unexpected force, fell backwards and landed on her butt.
“What the……?”
The female student, who had been about to get angry at the sudden situation, was now staring blankly at another girl who had suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Hana, calm down.”
“Yeah, yeah. If you hit her seriously, she’ll die, you know?”
“Are you being nice? Here, ah~”
Nam Seo-hee, who had blocked her way, and Edyn, who was holding Baek Hana’s waist from behind. And Maria, who was feeding Baek Hana a piece of chocolate.
Nam Seo-hee, who had barely managed to pull Baek Hana back in time, and the female student, who had been punched by Baek Hana, along with the onlookers, stared at the four of them as if they were filming a sitcom.
Just then,
“If it’s a dispute between priests, that’s fine, but if an outsider gets involved, we’ll have to respond as well.”
Na Joo-hee, who had been standing next to Kang Seok-ho, stepped forward.
With her striking red hair, she walked towards the center and said,
“If you have business with my guest, you’ll have to go through me first. It’s only polite. What, I won’t give her to you anyway.”
“……”
The female student, who had been hiding behind Na Joo-hee, glared at Baek Hana, who was now behind her, and Na Joo-hee turned to face Baek Hana.
The red-tinged eyes and the blue eyes locked gazes.
Na Joo-hee raised her hand slightly, and the people behind her slowly backed away. The people on the opposite side also hesitated for a moment before slowly backing away.
Suddenly, the space doubled in size.
“And. I’ve been watching the situation, and I don’t understand why you suddenly got involved. So, for the sake of my face and credibility, I have no choice but to stop you.”
Na Joo-hee took another step forward and said,
“So.”
Flarrrrk―!!
Without any incantation, a crimson flame rose from Na Joo-hee’s outstretched palm.
“If you have business with my guest, you’ll have to get past me first. That’s only polite.”
A bold declaration of war.
At that, Edyn, who had been peeking out from behind Baek Hana’s sides, frowned and said,
“Why do we look like the bad guys here…?”
Maria said nothing and quietly laughed. And she made a silent promise to herself to report today’s events to Claire when she returned.