Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 42

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 42

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius Episode 42

There’s No Such Thing as a Good Team (2)

As soon as the teams were formed, I headed to a nearby cafe.

It was to introduce ourselves and create a space to build camaraderie.

But there are so many students here.

“It looks like this cafe is full?”

“Oh, it’s the same over there.”

“Looks like everyone had the same idea.”

Every space in the academy where we could comfortably talk, from cafes to restaurants, was packed with people.

Looking at the groups, they all consisted of six students and one Seonin [a celestial being or immortal].

What should we do?

“Is there anywhere else to go?”

“Ha, couldn’t the teacher have looked into something like that?”

“How would I have known it would be this crowded?”

“Then what should we do?”

“Shall we go to the training room? There should be enough space there.”

There wasn’t really anywhere else to go.

Isabelle scolded me for wandering around aimlessly, but I had nothing to say. I mentioned the training room as an alternative, but it was immediately rejected.

Isabelle said she didn’t want to go to a place filled with the smell of sweat.

Leeji followed up by saying it would be too small for seven people.

I couldn’t argue.

“How about going to the library instead? There shouldn’t be many people there right before lunchtime.”

“Ah! That sounds good.”

“…The library is nice and quiet.”

“Okay, then let’s have a brief chat in the library.”

We immediately headed to the library.

You’re not supposed to talk in the library, but there weren’t any other students there anyway.

It seems like everyone else had the same idea and were looking for a place to talk.

Still, you’re not supposed to talk, but thanks to going to the library every day and becoming acquainted with the librarian, we got 30 minutes.

I never thought that borrowing books from the library every day would help in this way.

Sitting down, I took out a piece of paper from my pocket.

A document for the teacher to write down the students they’re in charge of.

I wrote down each of their names and positions on it.

[Name: Leeji / Position: Guardian]

[Name: Sung Yeonhwa / Position: Dealer]

[Name: Isabelle Sirius / Position: Head]

[Name: Noh Yura / Position: Ranger]

[Name: Seo Yerin / Position: Supporter]

[Name: Isis Walker / Position: Caster]

Writing down the names of the six students feels new.

Especially the fact that half of the six are foreigners and five are female students stands out even more.

But what’s more shocking is something else.

‘Three supporting characters right away.’

They’re also students who are active as heroines by the protagonist’s side.

Sung Yeonhwa, who protects the protagonist with a sword.

Isabelle, who helps the protagonist with magic and family influence.

Seo Yerin, who crushes enemies with a single spear.

It seems like all the heroines who appear in the beginning are assigned to this team.

‘I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.’

I thought I would just be teaching the remaining students.

I never imagined that I would be teaching talented students, even heroines. This feels like things are getting bigger than I thought.

“But, Teacher, aren’t we too disorganized?”

“…Our tendencies are too different.”

“Really? I think it’s well-balanced.”

“That’s the problem.”

Seo Yerin agreed with Noh Yura’s words.

Disorganized? What are you talking about?

I think it’s good that each team member has a clear role.

So, when I replied that it seemed well-balanced.

Isabelle interjected.

She looked at me suspiciously and said.

“I’ll ask you again, are you confident in teaching students with different roles at the same time?”

“Of course. That’s why I picked you guys.”

“Other teachers picked students who matched their major. You know that, right?”

“Of course, I know.”

Teachers each have their own specialties.

There must be a reason why they became professors and teaching assistants at Chilseong [Seven Stars Academy].

But among them, no teacher picked a team based on each of the six positions like me.

They’re each thinking of teaching their own specialties or majors.

Unlike me, they don’t have a plan to systematically fight with team members complementing each other.

Well, it can’t be helped.

‘I don’t really have anything I can call a major or specialty.’

If I had to pick one, it would be swordsmanship.

But it’s not easy to teach swordsmanship with this weak body.

So, I thought differently.

If I don’t have a major or specialty to show off, I can just teach everything I know.

‘Swordsmanship, spear techniques, axe techniques, eye techniques, military strategy, etc. Almost everything I learned in the war is vividly coming back to me.’

All the knowledge and know-how I learned in the war.

If I teach that, it’ll be fine.

Of course, that’s not all.

Players don’t fight alone.

Later on, the main characters like the protagonist and Seo Yerin will boast the power of one against a thousand, but right now, they’re just inexperienced first-year students.

Players basically start with a team of six.

This can be applied to the organization I mainly used.

A Guardian who protects their teammates with their own body.

A Dealer who takes charge of close combat with weapons like swords, spears, and bows, and holds the enemy back.

A Head who is responsible for command and tactics, and leads various individuals as one.

A Ranger who senses danger and enemies from all directions based on innate senses.

A Caster who deals with various situations using magic and aims for the enemy’s vitals with large-scale magic.

A Supporter who is in charge of the team’s healing and buffs [enhancements].

Being faithful to each role and showing off one’s full potential is how to start as a player.

I’m going to teach them from that perspective.

“Can you really do it? Tell me now if it’s too hard.”

“I said I can. You’ve been saying that since earlier.”

“…It doesn’t make sense logically.”

“Everyone, stop it. You’ll know once you learn.”

A girl intervened between Isabelle and me.

The girl, with long black hair fluttering, wore a sword at her waist.

Her name was Sung Yeonhwa, and she was an international student from abroad.

Her origin is Murim [a martial arts world].

She comes from a family famous for quick swords and domineering swords even in Murim.

‘If you only look at the seniority, she’s even higher than Namgoong Seongjin.’

A status that contradicts her naive and cheerful appearance.

But what really contradicts her appearance is not her status, but her skill.

She is a swordsman.

Even the best swordsman among the first-year students.

If my memory is correct, Sung Yeonhwa is at the point where she has mastered the family’s secret martial arts that only the head of the family can learn as the next head of the family, reaching the pinnacle.

Reaching the pinnacle means she has the skills to be active as a current player.

Nevertheless, the basic setting would have been that she came to Chilseong for teaching.

Such a girl intervened between Isabelle and me.

I naturally closed my mouth, and Isabelle remained silent at the subtly emanating energy, even though she didn’t know who she was.

In the heavy silence, a girl raised her hand.

The precise movements were reminiscent of a systematically trained cadet.

In contrast, her snow-white skin seemed unfamiliar with sunlight or outdoor activities.

Let’s see, was her name Isis?

“What, do you have something to say?”

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead and say it.”

“I don’t mind you teaching us according to each position. But in that case, there’s one problem.”

“A problem?”

Isis answered my question.

“Efficiency.”

“Efficiency, huh.”

She nodded.

“If you teach each position, the learning time for other positions will be reduced. I’m worried that the amount we learn will be less than other students.”

If all six of us were wizards, you could just teach magic, but if we all learn different things, we’ll have less time to learn than others.

There’s a simple solution to that.

“Don’t worry about the time. We can teach on the same day and train together.”

“Then the efficiency problem will be solved.”

Isis was convinced by my answer.

She nodded.

However, if there is someone who agrees with one opinion, there is also someone who opposes it.

─Bang!

“…Are you serious?”

Bang, Isabelle kicked the table and stood up.

The atmosphere turned cold in an instant, so I nodded.

I gave her a look to tell me what’s wrong.

Then she glared at me and said.

“You know that the older the family, the more the technology is passed down and becomes independent property, right?”

“Of course, I know.”

“What you’re saying now is that we should share that property with others. Do you know that?”

“I said it because I know.”

“What?”

The older the family, the more information and technology they accumulate and pass down through generations.

It may decline as it is passed down, but it may also develop as generations pass.

And most of the students here are learning the techniques that have been inherited through generations.

Seo Yerin’s spearmanship, Sung Yeonhwa’s swordsmanship, and Isabelle’s magic.

If you train them all together in one place, it’s only a matter of time before the technology is leaked to others.

It would be a big loss for the family.

But that’s not our loss, is it?

“The family is important, but isn’t what’s more important us?”

“…You can talk.”

“Huh?”

What are you saying?

It’s too quiet to hear.

It would have been easy to hear if you had said it as harshly as you did just now.

Why did your voice suddenly get so quiet?

At that very moment.

Isabelle raised her head sharply.

Her expression was as cold as it could be.

“How can you say such a thing!”

“…Huh?”

The atmosphere became cold as well.

What is it? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?

* * *

He and I were bound by a marriage contract.

A marriage contract from the womb. The engagement relationship made from the time we were in our mother’s womb was an old-fashioned means that did not receive the consent of the parties involved.

But Isabelle had never disliked the marriage contract from the womb.

‘Well, he’s too handsome.’

At the time, it was difficult to express it any further because I was young.

Looks aren’t everything, but it was the best expression a 10-year-old girl could make.

He, Baek Seungwoo, was someone you couldn’t help but love.

Not just Isabelle.

Everyone liked him.

The driver with 40 years of safe driving experience, the old gardener grandfather, the baker lady who stroked him, saying he looked cute eating snacks.

Even her picky mother and father.

‘Everyone liked Seungwoo.’

You couldn’t hate him even if you tried.

His expression when he smiled, saying the roses were blooming beautifully. The way he lay down in the flower garden and decorated his head with flower petals. His nature of hugging people regardless of their appearance or status.

Everything was full of lovely appearances.

How could you hate him?

How could you not like him?

‘Especially when he was playing in the flower garden, even my mom said he was prettier than me.’

A man who looks good with flowers.

It’s not an easy modifier to attach.

In the first place, flowers and men are not very compatible words.

But Seungwoo was different.

His appearance, every single action, was more beautiful than flowers.

Strangely, her grandmother watched the scene with a bitter look.

But Isabelle didn’t care about that.

A boy couldn’t look that good with flowers.

In particular, Seungwoo liked roses.

He often stared blankly at the colorful rose gardens.

So one day, Isabelle thought.

If he likes roses so much, let’s make him a gift with roses.

A beautiful bouquet and wreath made by weaving roses.

In particular, the wreath was so pretty with large blooming roses like a crown studded with jewels.

It’s a gift for someone you like, so of course it has to be pretty.

For reference, all the thorns were removed.

In those days, I was too young to handle magic well, and I had a strong desire to do it myself rather than entrusting it to a gardener.

In the end, I got a lot of thorns in my hand, bled a lot, and cried in pain, and my mom found out and I cried even more.

Still, Isabelle rubbed her eyes with her small hands and bravely put a band-aid on the wound. Then, forgetting that she had cried, she ran to Seungwoo with the wreath and bouquet.

‘At that time, I had a strong desire to be praised.’

More than the pain felt in her hand, the growing anticipation with the accelerating heartbeat dominated her.

Will he smile?

Will he be happy?

Maybe he’ll kiss me on the cheek to say thank you.

Her face and heart were dyed bright red with the throbbing heart.

“Hehehe, I hope he smiles.”

I don’t expect much from him.

Just being with him, just watching that smile by his side, made Isabelle’s heart happy.

So please.

‘I hope you smile like before again.’

But why──.

‘But how did Seungwoo smile?’

─I can’t remember that smile.

I can’t remember.

I thought I would never forget it for the rest of my life.

Why can’t I remember? She went up the memory.

Ah, I remembered.

‘Surely after the day my mother-in-law and father-in-law died──.’

Stop.

A memory I never want to remember.

A faded memory creeps up.

At the end of the memory was a huge fire.

Whirr, the bleakly burning purple flames spread through the flower garden on the wind.

The beautifully bloomed red roses turned into black ashes and scattered on the floor.

In the center was Seungwoo with a cold expression that he had never shown before.

He nonchalantly burned the flower garden where he had memories with her.

Then he reached out to her.

Crack!

He tore the wreath and bouquet he had made with a nonchalant expression.

The vines and petals were torn weakly, fell to the floor, and burned.

The flower garden, wreath, and bouquet were burned so much that they could no longer be restored.

I stared blankly at the sight.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“…Why?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

The tears that fell on the floor seeped into the dry ground.

Her shoulders trembled.

“Why are you doing this! This is where we cultivated together.”

“…Not anymore.”

With a firm expression, he moved to Isabelle’s side.

A distance of one span.

Isabelle tried to grab Seungwoo’s hand, but his hand moved much faster than that.

Slap, Isabelle fell to the floor with the sound of slapping her cheek with her hand.

Her cheek was red and swollen.

Isabelle stroked her cheek with an unbelievable expression.

The aftermath was swift.

Her mom and dad were angry that he hit their daughter and fought with Seungwoo.

He, who had taken over the position of head of the family in place of his deceased father-in-law, brought up the idea of breaking off the engagement, using the assault against him as an excuse.

Her parents agreed that they couldn’t entrust their daughter to such a guy, and all of this was concluded in the fleeting moment when Isabelle was locked in her room.

She couldn’t see Seungwoo after that day.

That’s how her first love ended.

Leaving an indelible scar on Isabelle’s heart.