After morning classes ended, it was lunch time.
Everyone except me hurriedly headed to the cafeteria. Thinking it would just be crowded if I went now, I stayed in the classroom to study, when Jeong In-ah approached me.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I should eat."
"Let's go. Let's eat together."
It was as if she had planned to eat with me from the beginning. I followed Jeong In-ah out of the classroom and headed to the cafeteria somewhat bewildered.
Jeong In-ah waved and greeted friends whenever we encountered them in the hallway, and I awkwardly turned my head and pretended not to notice each time.
Jeong In-ah had a tremendous number of friends, both male and female. Just the friends we encountered in the hallway must have numbered in the dozens. Even while greeting all those friends, Jeong In-ah didn't show the slightest sign of fatigue. She was completely different from me.
"Every time I see it, there really are a lot of trees."
On the path crossing the playground toward the cafeteria, Jeong In-ah said.
As she said, there were an incredible number of trees here. It seemed like they had filled all the remaining space after constructing buildings with trees. Thanks to this, the air was good.
"Is this a pine tree? There are wisteria too. What's that one?"
"Cherry tree."
"Ah, cherry tree. I've never seen it before it bloomed."
Jeong In-ah smiled as if embarrassed. The cherry tree that hadn't bloomed yet was covered only with buds.
"But what's the difference between a cherry tree and a king cherry tree?"
"Not much difference. I think the flower petal colors are a bit different."
"Are you by any chance aspiring to be a botanist? You know a lot about this."
I just smiled without answering.
Among the Loa, there are also Loa related to plants. A person with quite an elegant personality, and if you use that person's power, it's possible to make even a freshly sprouted seedling grow into a giant tree in an instant. Of course, the side effects are tremendous as well.
Anyway, thanks to that person, I was knowledgeable about plants.
"When will the cherry blossoms bloom this year?"
Jeong In-ah was vaguely looking up at the sky when she suddenly said this as if something had occurred to her.
It was merely a simple soliloquy, but Jeong In-ah's eyes seemed to be recalling old times, unfocused and distant. The corners of her eyes were drooping, and her mouth was tightly shut.
It was a somewhat sad expression.
"Why. Are you going to see the flowers?"
"I don't know if I'll be able to go this year. Won't I be busy?"
"Did you go every year before?"
[You're using what you learned from your father directly.]
Watching me continue the conversation this way, Legba spoke as if fed up.
Before he passed away, my father taught me many things. Among them were psychology and rhetoric. The reason was that religious people should originally be eloquent and have the ability to read others' inner thoughts.
There were only difficult-to-understand terms like backtracking and regression, but I silently learned them.
The fact that I, who had so few experiences talking with women I could count them on my fingers, could continue such a natural conversation with Jeong In-ah was all thanks to my father.
"Yeah. I usually went every year. Because I like cherry blossoms."
"Really? Where do you usually go?"
"We go to the Han River, and there's a small stream right nearby, right? The walking path there is nice too."
I appropriately responded and occasionally threw in questions to draw out answers.
The more this continued, the brighter Jeong In-ah's expression became. The sad look also faded considerably. It was fortunate.
I continued the conversation using the rhetoric I learned from my father.
"You must have gone last year too."
"Last year? Last year I went with my younger sibling. She was still around then."
However, soon Jeong In-ah's face rapidly darkened.
She had a smile on her lips, but it was merely a forced smile for show.
"Ah... Sorry."
She looked depressed, so I had used my father's rhetoric to lighten her mood and change the gloomy atmosphere. But it had the opposite effect.
"Sorry for what! It's not like my sibling died, I'll find her soon."
Watching Jeong In-ah speak while forcing a bright smile, I felt troubled again. At the thought that her sibling's kidnapping might be because of me.
"Right. She'll come back soon."
This was the only bland comfort I could offer.
While standing in line in front of the cafeteria and having trivial conversations with Jeong In-ah, someone from the front of the line cheerfully waved and joined us.
It was Gu Jun-hyeok.
Gu Jun-hyeok's friends were looking at him with expressions of disbelief.
"This is a new combination. Are you two eating together?"
"What. Why are you suddenly acting friendly?"
"Why, is that not allowed?"
Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah had a back-and-forth conversation with me in between. There was no awkwardness at all in their conversation. They seemed like they had known each other since before enrollment.
"Just eat with your friends, why come over here?"
When Jeong In-ah asked bluntly, Gu Jun-hyeok smiled good-naturedly.
"What's wrong with that. It's better for me to join than for you two to eat alone. That makes the picture more natural."
"What? What are you suddenly talking about?"
Jeong In-ah frowned. I could immediately understand what Gu Jun-hyeok meant, but Jeong In-ah looked completely clueless.
Certainly, it was more natural for Gu Jun-hyeok to join than for Jeong In-ah and me to eat alone.
People my age tend to make all sorts of misunderstandings over trivial things.
"Today's menu is good."
Gu Jun-hyeok said during the meal. Florence's school lunch was really delicious. Rich private schools had exceptional quality even in their cafeteria food. It made me realize that all the school lunches I had eaten until now weren't food but feed.
After finishing our meal and coming out, Gu Jun-hyeok stretched and opened his mouth.
"Ah, but why do we have to take an exam when it hasn't even been 3 days since enrollment. How annoying."
"Why. Didn't you prepare?"
Jeong In-ah answered with a snort.
"Of course not. Me and studying don't get along well."
"How proud."
I couldn't understand their conversation at all.
An exam? What exam? Come to think of it, I think there was one exam scheduled early in the semester.
My memory was hazy.
"Do Seon-woo, did you study? I saw you working hard this morning."
Gu Jun-hyeok asked casually.
"That, what exam was it again?"
"Huh, what? You didn't know? There's someone worse than me!"
Gu Jun-hyeok laughed heartily. It wasn't mockery. It was closer to a laugh of relief.
Jeong In-ah looked at me with worried eyes.
"Today's the freshman diagnostic evaluation. You really didn't know? The instructor told us on entrance ceremony day."
"He was sleeping then."
"Ah."
Jeong In-ah sighed as if feeling sorry.
Freshman diagnostic evaluation. How did I forget that?
My head went blank and my vision darkened. It was truly a philosophical contrast. That's how shocking it was.
"Hey, it's okay. It's not like your life is ruined because you can't take one exam well."
Gu Jun-hyeok spoke optimistically. Sorry, but far from being comforting, it just made me feel worse.
***
Freshman diagnostic evaluation.
A written exam traditionally taken right after enrollment, with no 'direct' connection to grades.
This conversely meant there could be 'indirect' connections.
The results of the freshman diagnostic evaluation are posted as wall newspapers in front of the main building the next day. Teachers gauge the level of freshmen through the diagnostic evaluation results, and provide invisible support like 'pushing for school awards' to high-ranking students.
Naturally, to become a high-ranking cleric, it was advantageous to score high on the diagnostic evaluation.
Therefore, I also planned to do my best on this diagnostic evaluation.
Though I don't know how well I'll do since I didn't study.
"Hey, what number are you going to guess? I'm going to guess number 2."
"I'm going to solve them."
"Come on, just guess. If you guess in a line, you get one-fifth right!"
Gu Jun-hyeok said with a playful laugh.
"Do well on the exam!"
Jeong In-ah encouraged me loudly. Though it was formal encouragement, it gave me some strength. After simple greetings, we scattered.
The place for taking the diagnostic evaluation was the grand auditorium. As the prefix 'grand' suggested, it was a huge auditorium with a capacity of 1,000 people.
All seven classes named after the seven cardinal virtues gathered there. With hundreds of people gathering in one place, it was very noisy and chaotic. I wondered if we could even take an exam in such a place.
I went and sat at the seat with my name and number among the desks lined up in the auditorium.
There were still 5 minutes until the exam, and I used that time to check my writing instruments or study here and there.
Then, someone walked over from a distance. It was a student with very unique appearance.
I was naturally drawn to look at her.
[It would be better to stop staring. Nothing good will come from getting close to that one.]
Legba muttered quietly, but my gaze remained fixed on her.
Skin so close to pure white that even the expression 'white as jade' would be insufficient. Her long hair reaching down to her waist was also completely white like snow. In contrast, her eyes were deep black, and that contrast created an even more mysterious atmosphere.
She had such beautiful appearance that anyone would exclaim in admiration, and she was completely monopolizing the surrounding attention.
Seong Ha-yeon.
One of the seven freshman representatives, possessing the holy name of 'Purity'. She's very popular thanks to her beautiful appearance.
However, I dislike her. Even if I wanted to like her, I absolutely couldn't.
The reason I dislike her so much has two parts.
Thud.
"Ah."
First, her personality is bad.
She was walking and tripped over a chair leg, then bumped into my chair. After letting out a short scream, she eventually dusted off her knees and got up.
Then with a deeply frowning expression, she looked down at me and said,
"Ah, sorry."
Just threw that insincere apology and went on her way again. Her contemptuous expression, as if she didn't want to touch someone like me for even a second, was very impressive.
She suffers from a rare disease called albinism. Perhaps because of the disease she suffers from, she has excessive mysophobia and a prickly personality. She especially hates even talking to men.
And second, her father is an inquisitor.
Inquisitor. A cardinal-level cleric who is one of the high-ranking clerics respected by everyone. Seong Ha-yeon grew up affluently under such an inquisitor father.
The important thing is that her father is the very person who drove our parents to their deaths.
The one who led the Holy War, executed my father's burning at the stake, and imprisoned my mother in the Vatican's underground prison. An enemy of the Voodoo sect who can never be forgiven.
That enemy's daughter is Seong Ha-yeon. It was her father who committed the wrong, and Seong Ha-yeon herself did nothing wrong, but anyway, what I dislike I dislike.
[That's enough now. Go study.]
Legba pulled me out of anger and distracting thoughts. I finally came to my senses at Legba's words and concentrated again on my studies.
From time to time, memories of Seong Ha-yeon from middle school days and the bad memories I had with her then would come to mind and disturb me.
I shook my head to forcibly shake off the thoughts.
"We will now distribute the test papers. Please put all textbooks and Bibles on your desks into your bags. The exam time is 60 minutes, and there are 40 questions. All 40 questions ask about understanding of the Bible. Please note that if cheating is detected, you will receive a score of 0."
Soon, the supervisor's explanation echoed from speakers installed throughout the auditorium.
At the same time, test papers were distributed, and as soon as students received their test papers, they lit fires in their eyes and stared at the question sheets. This was because everyone knew this exam would have a significant impact on their future life.
I too ambitiously picked up my pen and started solving as soon as I received the test paper. However, the difficulty was considerable from question 1. Not just considerable, but so difficult it was overwhelming.
The following examples are students' conversations about 'this person'. Choose the correct explanation about 'this person'. However, one of the students in the examples is lying.
Ga-young: Born as a Nazarite and became a judge.
Na-ru: He didn't get along with the Breseans, but he also fell in love with a Brese woman.
Da-jun: He made a ship from fir trees and saved the people from the flood.
It was such a difficult problem that my vision went dark. Other students also sighed deeply or pulled their hair, showing their despair.
Usually question 1 is supposed to be easy according to common sense, but Florence wasn't a place where common sense applied.
I somehow pulled myself together mentally and carefully worked through the problems. After struggling with question 1 for about 4 minutes, I finally succeeded in deriving an answer.
The answer was number 2.
Just as I was about to confidently check number 2 and move on to the next problem.
[Cough, ugh. 4, ugh, urgh, number 4. Mm.]
"..."
I changed the answer to question 1 from number 2 to number 4.
Legba is deeply knowledgeable in history and religious studies. He has memorized not only the Voodoo sect but all the scriptures of every other religion, and knows all history since the beginning of civilization.
Since he who possesses such knowledge said number 4, the answer to question 1 must be number 4.
[For some reason I like the number 5. No particular meaning.]
[Eh, eh, number 3! Oh dear, the sneeze came out strangely.]
After that, I solved all problems up to number 30 with Legba's help.
At this rate, a perfect score was a sure thing. However, throughout solving the problems, I felt guilty. Wasn't this no different from cheating?
[What's there to feel guilty about? Accepting Loa and receiving their help is also your talent.]
Legba spoke as if trying to relieve my guilt, but the uneasiness in one corner of my heart wasn't resolved. I forcibly suppressed my uncomfortable feelings and turned my gaze to question 31.
Seven years ago, a holy war broke out between the Voodoo sect and Romanica. Choose the incorrect result from this.
However, the difficulty of that problem was clearly lower compared to before.
While questions 1 through 30 required advanced memorization and thinking skills, from question 31 onward they were easy enough for anyone who could read to solve.
Precisely, they were questions that anyone with 'Romanica ideology' could solve.
In other words, they were questions that Legba, who held 'Voodoo ideology', couldn't solve.
[Why is that number 4? A rational explanation seems necessary.]
[No, no. That person wasn't killed by the Voodoo sect. The Vatican fabricated the incident.]
[The answer is number 2. Why, why are you checking number 3!]
Legba cried out as if frustrated. I ignored his outcries and solved the problems using only 'Romanica ideology' thoroughly.
Looking at questions that had intentions to instill ideology favorable to Romanica added to them, I felt uncomfortable inside, but now wasn't the time to consider such things.
***
The next day, diagnostic evaluation grades were posted in front of Florence's main building.
All 700 first-year students gathered in front of the main building to check their rankings.
There were students who checked their grades, despaired, and collapsed on the dirt ground, as well as students who couldn't accept their scores and went to protest to the faculty.
Teachers made constant efforts to quell the confusion, but it was impossible to control all 700-plus students.
Coincidentally, what quelled that confusion wasn't a teacher or faculty member, but a student.
"Ha-yeon, did you do well on the exam?"
"I got everything right. There were no questions I didn't know."
It was like the miracle of the Red Sea. As Seong Ha-yeon made her way through, students opened a path as if they had planned it.
Seong Ha-yeon walked proudly and elegantly along the opened path. It was ingrained dignity.
"That's the inquisitor's daughter, right? The family of purification, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. First place in the entrance exam written test."
Students talked about various things while looking at Seong Ha-yeon. Stories about how her father was this and that, bloodline was this and that, grades were this and that. Some admired her, some envied her, but Seong Ha-yeon herself had no interest in them.
What she was interested in was only grades. The diagnostic evaluation grades.
Seong Ha-yeon's expression hardened when she confirmed her grades posted on the wall newspaper.
Seong Ha-yeon (195.8/200)
She thought it would be a perfect score, but she got one question wrong.
"Wow. You got one question wrong? Amazing. You did really well!"
"I thought it would be perfect. That's too bad."
"Hey, but you're still first place anyway, right? How did you study? Huh?"
Seong Ha-yeon's friends made a fuss. She herself was disappointed that it wasn't a perfect score, but 195.8 points was more than enough to secure first place.
"I just worked a little harder than others."
To her friends' questions about her secret, Seong Ha-yeon answered as if it was nothing.
It was an arrogant answer, but since Seong Ha-yeon had outstanding ability matching her arrogant personality, no one showed distaste.
However, the very next moment Seong Ha-yeon's face hardened stiffly.
2nd place Seong Ha-yeon
Her rank was 2nd place, not 1st place.
1st place Do Seon-woo
The first place position she naturally thought would be hers belonged to an unfamiliar name she had never heard before.
Do Seon-woo? Who is Do Seon-woo?
Among the murmuring students, a low, rough voice echoed in front of the main building.
"What? Do Seon-woo, why are you first place? You said you didn't study!"
When the name 'Do Seon-woo' was called, all the students looked in that direction. There were Gu Jun-hyeok and Do Seon-woo. The owner of the low, rough voice was Gu Jun-hyeok.
Seong Ha-yeon stared intently at Do Seon-woo. A name she was hearing for the first time. But the face was familiar.
It was that person who slept during the lecture on entrance ceremony day. His sleeping appearance looked so stupid that she remembered.
But that idiot got first place? Was it a computer error? Or cheating? She couldn't believe it. No, she didn't want to believe it.
What scratched Seong Ha-yeon's insides even more while she was in confusion was what Do Seon-woo said right after.
"I was lucky."
Do Seon-woo acting modest, saying he was just lucky. Excessive modesty just looked arrogant.
However, since Do Seon-woo had outstanding ability matching that arrogance, Seong Ha-yeon couldn't say anything.