Order of the Golden Bull (1)
Balephor had always assumed there had to be some special reason behind Michael's disappearance.
Now, however, he felt as though someone had struck him in the back of the head.
If Michael had disappeared deliberately, then modern technology should have been common knowledge to him.
Michael saw no reason to hide the truth from Balephor, so he answered calmly.
"That's right. I've been asleep since 1770, so I suppose it's been about that long."
He paused.
"I woke up yesterday, to be exact."
Balephor stared blankly at him.
This was the first time he had heard that Michael had been asleep.
And that he had only awakened yesterday.
There hadn't even been any news about it in Hell.
But after seeing that Michael didn't even know how to use a smartphone, Balephor could believe it.
Still...
"W-Wait!"
Balephor's eyes widened.
"You're saying you attacked my place the day after waking up?!"
Why did he have to become Michael's first target?
Remembering what Michael had done to V.F, Balephor was just about to complain.
Ring, ring, ring...
But Michael's phone continued ringing, completely ruining the flow of the conversation.
By the time it had rung several more times, Balephor's anger had cooled somewhat.
Michael took out the instructions Bishop Yohan had given him and began rereading the section explaining how to use the phone.
Balephor glanced at him.
"Haa..."
Then he held out his hand.
"Give it here. I'll teach you."
And so, without even answering the call, Michael spent the next thirty minutes learning from Balephor what a smartphone could actually do.
Eventually...
"Good."
Michael nodded confidently.
"I understand it perfectly now."
Balephor stared at him suspiciously.
His uneasiness didn't disappear in the slightest.
Still, he had no choice but to trust Michael's ability to learn.
Ring, ring, ring...
The phone rang again.
Michael snorted, mentally prepared himself, and checked the caller's name.
"Yu Sia?"
He frowned.
"Where have I heard that name before?"
Then another thought followed.
"Who was she again?"
Swipe.
Just as Balephor had taught him, Michael slid the answer icon across the screen.
A familiar voice immediately came through.
"You finally answered. I heard you've been wandering around since early morning, so I called you."
The fact that someone was apparently tracking his movements irritated Michael immediately.
"Who are you?"
His expression darkened.
"And what business is it of yours where I go?"
There was a brief silence.
Then the woman responded in disbelief.
"What? Did you already forget my voice?"
It wasn't exactly soft, but it was a delicate voice Michael had heard before.
The moment he listened properly, he remembered.
"Oh."
He nodded to himself.
"The musclehead's daughter."
Then he added,
"Was it Sia?"
A long sigh came through the phone.
"Haa... You're probably the only person in the entire world who calls my father that."
Sia sounded exhausted already.
"That's not important right now. Anyway, I'm glad. I was worried you might not remember me at all."
Michael frowned.
"So why did you call?"
He leaned back in his seat.
"If you're looking for someone to annoy, go bother your father."
Michael could already guess why she had contacted him.
It was probably related to the priest Bishop Yohan had said he would assign to assist him.
Originally, having someone help him adjust to modern society would have been useful.
But now...
Michael had Balephor.
For the moment, he didn't need anyone else.
If anything, another person would only become a nuisance.
So he immediately drew a line.
Sia hesitated.
"Uh... Are you angry?"
Michael didn't answer the question.
"You don't have anything else to say, right?"
His thumb moved toward the end-call button.
"I'm hanging up."
"Wait!"
Michael stopped.
There was a brief silence.
Then Sia sighed again.
"...Haaah. I don't even know anymore."
Her voice became more serious.
"Anyway, I have something to tell you."
Apparently realizing how pointless it was to argue with Michael, Sia finally got straight to the point.
"Didn't Bishop Yohan say he'd assign a priest to assist you?"
Michael remembered.
Yohan had indeed mentioned something like that yesterday.
"So?"
Sia continued.
"Starting today, I'll be assisting you."
Michael's expression immediately soured.
"Bishop Yohan already explained everything to me, so I'll come to you and help you adjust one thing at a time."
Then she asked,
"Where are you right now?"
At first, having someone teach Michael about modern society might have been useful.
But now he had Balephor.
More importantly, because Sia had been assigned by Yohan, she would almost certainly serve as a monitor as well.
If someone followed Michael around watching everything he did, they would inevitably interfere with his plans.
Hmm.
Michael rubbed his chin.
I did tell Yohan I'd accept someone...
Then an idea came to him.
Ah.
This should work.
Michael smiled.
"If you're supposed to assist me, does that mean you'll obey my orders?"
Sia hesitated.
"It's less about obeying orders and more about helping with your requests."
Michael nodded.
"Same thing."
Sia found his insistence suspicious.
But she'd already learned firsthand that arguing with Michael was almost completely pointless.
So she decided to go along with it.
"Haa... Think whatever you want."
She sounded defeated.
"So?"
Michael placed his finger over the end-call button.
"Then I'll give you your first order."
Sia became wary.
Michael's smile widened.
"Listen carefully."
Then...
"I don't need you, so piss off."
"Wai...!"
Click.
Michael ended the call without hesitation.
Then he looked at Balephor.
"Let's go."
Balephor stared at him.
As expected.
His expression became strangely enlightened.
He's insane.
Shaking his head at Michael's outrageous behavior, Balephor released the parking brake and gripped the steering wheel.
After their long argument, the midsized sedan carrying one priest and one demon finally left V.F's parking lot and entered the road.
Meanwhile, at Myeongdong Cathedral...
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Sia stared at her phone in stunned silence after Michael abruptly hung up on her.
Then...
Grind.
Her anger slowly rose.
The sound of her teeth grinding filled the area.
Finally...
"Aaaaaagh!"
She exploded.
"What kind of lunatic is he?!"
Michael had already seemed unusual when he'd suddenly set Jungon on fire during their first meeting.
But after speaking to him directly over the phone...
Sia finally understood how terrible Michael's personality truly was.
After shouting at the top of her lungs, she immediately began searching through her contacts.
"You think I can't find you?"
Her fingers moved furiously across the screen.
"Just wait."
Her eyes burned with rage.
"I'm definitely punching that annoying face of yours at least once."
Watching his daughter suffer because of Michael from a short distance away, Jungon felt genuinely sorry for her.
As her father, he wanted to tell her to simply quit.
Unfortunately...
Within the Exorcism Association, an order from a bishop had to be obeyed.
"Haa..."
Jungon sighed.
"Your father is sorry, my daughter."
What Sia didn't know was that she had become Michael's assistant partly because of the punishment Bishop Yohan had given Jungon.
Shortly after Michael left Myeongdong Cathedral, Yohan had called Jungon aside.
"Jungon."
Yohan's voice had been calm.
"You're prepared to accept responsibility, aren't you?"
Jungon had been fully prepared to accept whatever punishment came his way.
However, what Yohan said afterward had been far more painful than anything Jungon had expected.
"You certainly made mistakes."
Yohan adjusted his glasses.
"But it would also be difficult to say that Priest Yu Sia carried out her mission perfectly."
Jungon's expression hardened.
Yohan smiled gently.
"So I'll give her an opportunity to make up for it."
Then he delivered the punishment.
"Effective immediately, Priest Yu Sia will serve as Apostle Michael's assistant."
Jungon's face froze.
Yohan continued before he could object.
"Unless there is a special reason, you are not to interfere with the Apostle's activities."
In truth, it could barely be called a punishment.
But Yohan knew exactly how much Jungon worried about his daughter.
That was precisely why he had chosen it.
Even remembering the conversation made Jungon's head ache.
Leaving Sia furiously pacing around behind him, Jungon turned his attention back to the documents he had been assigned.
His expression gradually darkened.
There have already been quite a few disappearances this month.
The documents contained a list of missing members of the Exorcism Association.
Recently, an increasing number of priests dispatched on missions had suddenly stopped responding.
It had become a serious concern within the Association.
Jungon's uneasiness grew.
He turned his head.
Sia was still angrily calling someone on her phone.
I just hope that child stays safe...
His daughter was still inexperienced.
But she was also a fully ordained priest.
At this point, all Jungon could do was trust her.
He placed the documents inside his clothes and left Myeongdong Cathedral to attend to his own duties.
Around 9:00 AM.
Osan, Gyeonggi Province.
A sedan traveled along a road surrounded by mountains.
Gradually, it began to slow.
They were almost at their destination.
"Hagenti really hid this place well."
The location wasn't inside a busy downtown district.
Nor was it near a border or some isolated frontier.
Instead...
It had been built deep inside the mountains.
Which meant one thing.
There was something here Hagenti desperately wanted to hide.
Looking at the isolated surroundings, where one human... or one demon... could disappear without anyone noticing, Balephor became increasingly nervous.
He gripped the steering wheel.
"I'm saying this one more time."
His voice became firm.
"I'm not going inside."
"..."
Balephor glanced toward the passenger seat.
Michael wasn't listening.
He was staring silently out the window, lost in thought.
How did those creatures end up in Korea?
Throughout the drive to Osan, one question had continued bothering Michael.
