Academy’s PTSD Chaplain

50 – Majestic Kumma Ritual (6)

I stared blankly at the azure sky.

The sun, which had been hanging in the zenith, tilted slightly. The clouds that had been floating alone had long since hidden their forms.

“How far did Head Priest Giovanni go?”

Father Matteo didn’t immediately respond. He simply gazed at the sky alongside me.

“…He gave everything.”

He let out those words, almost as if speaking absentmindedly.

“To protect the students…. Did he say that?”

“Yes.”

“What happened afterward?”

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“Brother Johann eventually surrendered himself to the demons. Even so, he didn’t lose the desire to protect the students. He warmly welcomed students who came to the parish as usual and tried not to listen to the whispers of the demons.”

Giovanni, the head priest, was not an irresponsible man. He wasn’t a bumbling fool, nor was he part of a heretical sect that worshipped devils.

“Brother Johann endured for nearly a month. Until the arrival of the Kuma priesthood, he steadfastly repelled the whispers of demons.”

He was simply a responsible adult.

“However, escaping the clutches of demons with the body of a human proved difficult. The demons had almost entirely seized control of Brother Johann’s body.”

“So, what happened?”

“…Fortunately, before the situation could worsen, the Kuma priesthood dispatched by the Holy See arrived at the academy.”

Although Head Priest Giovanni displayed a miraculous endurance of a month, the power of the demons grew stronger with each passing day.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before his body was completely overtaken.

The arrival of the academy priests sent by the Holy See marked the turning point.

“The Kuma priests immediately sought to perform the Kuma ritual. They prepared quickly, and now only the execution of the Kuma ritual remained.”

However, there was a problem.

It was already too late to exorcise the demons entrenched in Head Priest Giovanni’s body.

“Extracting Brother Johann’s soul was difficult because he was in such a weakened state. Moreover, his strength had been sapped by the demons.”

The Kuma priests from the Holy See found themselves at a crossroads.

To exorcise the demons, risking Head Priest Giovanni’s life?

Or to find another solution?

The cruel reality was that while the Kuma priests sought alternatives, Head Priest Giovanni continued to endure relentless suffering.

Furthermore, Giovanni’s reputation was highly esteemed in the kingdom. It was challenging enough to rigorously investigate the truth about Head Priest Giovanni, and if he were to die on top of that…

“The kingdom would mourn deeply.”

“That’s right. Among the Kuma priests, some had received help from Brother Johann, so the sentiment was even more profound.”

And it was Giovanni who pushed forward the backs of these Kuma priests.

“He said this.”

– If my insignificant life can ensure your safety… wouldn’t that be the path of salvation bestowed upon us by the Lord?

He assured them he was fine and requested the execution of the Kuma ritual.

“…The conclusion was singular.”

In a solemn atmosphere, the Kuma ritual for Head Priest Giovanni proceeded.

And naturally, the Kuma ritual failed miserably.

“The demons clung too tenaciously to his soul. In the end, Brother Johann was completely consumed by the demons and attempted to escape from the place where the Kuma ritual was being conducted.”

One of the Kuma priests, attempting to prevent this, used one of the sacred relics brought for the Kuma ritual.

“The Sword of Archangel Michael. The Sword of Punishment is precisely that.”

“The Sword of Punishment….”

The legendary artifact used by the archangel Micael in the heavens. It was even more surprising that it actually exists, and the fact that they had obtained such a precious relic was even more astonishing.

They were truly sincere in their efforts to save Chief Priest Giovani. I could feel the urgency.

However, a question suddenly arose.

The Sword of Punishment is a relic in the form of a longsword, as the name suggests. But to “use” it against Chief Priest Giovani, who was trying to resist and escape the Kum ceremony….

– On that day, the students were speechless. There stood a horrifying figure of Chief Priest Giovani, with fiery eyes and a bloody chest pierced by a sword.

Suddenly, I recalled the ghost story Dani had told me. He had mentioned a sword sticking out of the chest.

“…Could it be?”

Father Matteo nodded sadly. His lips trembled involuntarily.

“It is to thrust the sword into John Brother’s heart.”

“Did it really have to come to that extreme?”

“Once completely consumed by demons, there was no other way but to take John Brother’s life.”

I was at a loss for words. I just stared at Father Matteo, listening to the continuation of the story.

“Nevertheless, the demons desperately tried to escape. Since Bumaja had already taken his life, they should have left his body as well.”

But the demons did not do so. What could be the reason?

“John Brother was still alive.”

He fought desperately to save his own life, pushing aside the demons for a brief moment and rushing into the Academy Hall with all his might.

He knew what the demons wanted.

“What did they want?”

“…John Brother was greatly praised and even appeared to be moving towards being revered as a saint.”

“Yes. But, that….”

“The demons wanted to prove something. That even a pure soul who had strong faith in the Lord could be corrupted, so that the faith in the Lord could be tainted at any time.”

I clenched my fist tightly. It felt as if my nails were digging into the palm of my hand, causing sharp pain.

“Just for that….”

To corrupt a pure soul and prove that even those with strong faith could be corrupted.

To drag the chosen one blessed by the Lord to Hell and crush the Lord’s hopes.

Chief Priest Giovani was a sacrifice.

I bit my lip hard. I had thought that my capacity for anger, except for matters related to Helena, was extremely limited.

I was wrong. Right now, I was furious to the point where others could see it.

Seeing me like that, Father Matteo smiled bitterly.

“Brother Johann, until the very end, sought to uphold the academy. Upon his arrival at the church, Brother Johann immediately translated that earnest desire into action.”

Arriving at the church, Father Giovanni, the head priest, had an inkling himself.

He had undoubtedly embraced the pact with the demons, a transgression regardless of cause and effect.

Thus, he was fated to cross into the demons’ realm and plummet into hell.

What the demons desired was the corruption of a virtuous soul led astray by their influence – a testament to the twisted intersection of faith.

And, to demonstrate the corruption of the purest beliefs to others.

Father Giovanni pondered briefly. And finally,

“My decision was swift.”

He severed his own fingers and gouged out his eyeballs.

By offering this to the Lord, he dedicated his body as a sacrificial vessel.

Self-mutilation and bodily sacrifice were sins akin to summoning demons.

He chose not to succumb to hell by falling into the demons’ corruption but to hell by his own sins.

“However, it was an act that aligned with the Lord’s desires.”

It was an act of love and sacrifice.

Father Giovanni, while committing a sin, simultaneously performed virtues he deemed fitting for the Lord.

“Having committed a sin, I cannot enter heaven. But with virtues valued by the Lord, I am barred from going to hell.”

“…Then, what became of Father Giovanni, wandering the academy?”

“He aimlessly wandered the academy, imprisoning demons in his own body, rendering them powerless.”

Even in death, he became a prison for the demons.

Trapped within Father Giovanni’s corpse, the demons, in search of the severed fingers, roamed the academy.

“Recovering the fingers, Father Giovanni sought to erase evidence of the bodily sacrifice he had performed.”

“To escape from that body…”

“And to drag Father Giovanni’s soul, unable to do anything on earth, into hell.”

They had clumsily regained their eyes, but the fingers remained elusive.

“The priests of the Guma sect concealed it. However, fearing that if the fingers left the church, the demons would find them, they hid the fingers within the church.”

“The demons roamed the annex because they found the eyes hidden there by the Guma sect. Assuming the fingers were also in the annex was a natural belief.”

Father Matteo closed his eyes. I waited silently for his narrative to continue.

“The Holy See also tried to resolve this situation, but finding Brother Johann, whose appearances were limited, proved challenging.”

“If the fingers were taken away….”

“The devils follow the fingers. If Brother Johann, who sacrificed himself for justice, were to wander the streets with such a sinister purpose to follow the fingers, people might have pointed fingers at him.”

In the end, the remains of Father Giovanni were confined to the academy along with the fingers.

For a long time, enough to be forgotten by people’s memories.

“The Punishing Sword, too, safely returned to the hands of the priests of the Kuma. We must not forget the sacrifice of Brother Johann.”

“…What’s the point?”

“Yes?”

My voice trembled. I cleared my throat, adjusting my tone.

“Really, what’s the point of all this?”

Surprisingly, my tone was quite hostile. In response to my probing question, Father Matteo fell silent.

“Even if others were in danger, the priests of Kuma would have done something. Perhaps no one had to die.”

“Benedict Brother.”

“Are those who consider sacrifice a virtue all like that? Giving my blood, flesh, and eventually my life… Is it so natural to do it every time, like breathing?”

Sacrificing for others. I couldn’t understand it at all. My subconscious was intensely resentful of such individuals.

Those who have no qualms about sacrificing for the sake of others, why do they not think about the pain left behind by those who are sacrificed?

This wasn’t a question of whether they were selfish or not. On closer inspection, it felt like hurling a stone at myself, who couldn’t muster such courage.

Sadness surged like a tidal wave. I bit my trembling lips harder.

A sublime spirit of sacrifice, willingly giving even one’s own life without hesitation for the happiness and well-being of others.

Suddenly, I couldn’t help but think of someone.

The eyes of Father Matteo looking at me appeared. His gaze, observing my anger, seemed ambiguous, mixed with sympathy.

I rummaged through my pocket with trembling hands. A nearly empty cigarette pack was gripped in my hand.

“…Excuse me, but may I smoke one cigarette?”

“Yes. It’s fine.”

My chest felt unbearably tight. I wanted to somehow relieve this tightness.

A futile stick was lit. I tried to focus on the taste of the cigarette.

But I couldn’t. It felt as if my tongue had gone numb. I couldn’t even sense the familiar scent of tobacco that I usually enjoyed.

I felt as if I was mindlessly holding the cigarette in my mouth. Eventually, I nervously flicked away the cigarette that hadn’t even burned halfway.

“The world is truly cruel,” Father Matteo muttered. It wasn’t a statement meant for someone to hear. It was more like a soliloquy murmured to oneself.

“But, that’s what life is, isn’t it.”

Life. It is like a mischievous prankster born from the human free will, the most brilliant grace bestowed by the Lord, with no certainty of where it will lead.

I tightly clenched my fist. The cigarette case in my hand lost its form and crumpled.

“Life… You mean?”

“Brother Benedict. We must not dare to understand their sublime spirit of sacrifice.”

“Then, what should we do?”

“We must accept it. That is also another form of life that they have chosen.”

Another form of life. I quietly contemplated those words.

Then suddenly, I looked up at the sky.

The sun was setting. The sky was being dyed in radiant colors.

I stared at that sight blankly.

“…Life.”

I murmured.

Alone, my face twisted in an uncanny manner.

“Father Mateo.”

“Yes, Brother Benedict.”

“…It’s getting late. Do you have a place to sleep?”

“I am accustomed to spending a night or two on the streets.”

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“Go to the dormitory for the staff. If you walk straight from the entrance of the church, you will find it. Tell the dormitory supervisor that I have requested a spare room for you… If you say that, they will provide you with a room.”

Father Mateo bowed his head in gratitude. I tried hard to look away from his figure.

“Shall we go together?”

“…I’m sorry. I would guide you if it weren’t for my obligations…”

“No worries. You can ask people passing by for directions.”

Smiling warmly, Father Mateo stood up from the bench.

His figure grew distant. I stared at it in desolation and then turned my gaze away.

The twilight was coloring the sky. Burning it fiercely. As if now was the most intensely burning moment, I exclaimed.

I silently gazed at it for a long while.

Was my face turning red simply because of the twilight?

Or was it because of something else?

“…Life.”

No matter how I think about it, I was an unsuccessful human.