Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 126

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 126

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 126

The Dead City (1)

“Hyung! Hyung! What’s this tail?”

“Wow… It’s really pretty.”

“The tail? Or the face?”

“Your eyes are re~ally pretty.”

“I think your face is prettier!”

Even as vagrants, the children were still children.

Knowing the pain of the destitute, yet retaining their innocence, was both foreign and…

Like lotuses blooming in the mud, they possessed a beautiful aspect.

“…Isabelle, you’ve managed to lead these kids well.”

However, innocence isn’t always a good thing.

At least right now, it was a factor making things difficult for me.

They approached me without hesitation, and their boisterousness gave me a headache.

The children of Temil Village weren’t like this.

The children of this city felt more clingy.

Perhaps it was because they were children whose parents’ existence couldn’t be confirmed.

Seeing Isabelle distributing food and other students leading children over there, I could infer that they hadn’t been touched by adults.

Hair and clothing that didn’t bear the mark of adults.

The dust that their parents would have brushed off at least once was still on them. Besides that, I couldn’t feel the touch of other people.

The fact that there were only children under the age of 17 in the wide-spreading sensory field around me became a clue.

“Really… it must have been tough.”

“What are you talking about? Unlike you, these kids are kind and innocent, so they listen to me well, okay?”

“Well, I guess so.”

I’m not exactly the type to listen well.

If the original owner of this body used that part as a motif for me, then Isabelle’s words would be correct, so I nodded.

It’s an insult, but I have to admit what I have to admit.

“But you know.”

“Oppa! Can I touch this tail?”

“Wow, there are three tails!”

“That’s what I said earlier. Ah, I want to touch it too! I want to touch it!”

“They weren’t as chaotic as these kids, right?”

“That’s… true.”

Even if they didn’t listen well.

At least they weren’t chaotic.

Rather, they tended to do their homework or training silently.

Perhaps it was because they witnessed people dying rather easily at too young an age. They did whatever would help me without complaint.

But they boldly rejected anything that wouldn’t help.

“But… can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it you want to ask? You only ask me questions a handful of times.”

“It’s not that little!”

What are you talking about?

That was the fifth question just now.

Now it’s only a handful of questions.

This teacher is happy that you’re a student who asks questions diligently.

Well… even so, the questions asked so far are nothing compared to Lee Ji-na and Seo Ye-rin, who have asked hundreds of questions, but I was sincerely happy as a temporary teacher.

“That tail… am I not allowed to touch it either…?”

“Yeah, no.”

“Ah! Why?! It’s not like touching the tail will wear it down.”

“Still, no.”

“You didn’t care how much I touched it when you were little…”

That was when I was little.

And even then, it wasn’t me.

So, no touching the tail, you guys.

“Wow! It’s fast, it’s fast!!”

I spun the tail around to mean absolutely do not touch it.

Then Tamamo, who was watching the scene, laughed.

─Puhuhu, what is that.

‘I’m telling them absolutely not to touch it.’

─Do you hate having your tail touched that much? Well, I guess it makes sense. Hehe…

‘……Why, what’s wrong.’

Don’t laugh strangely.

It makes me uneasy.

─Well, the nerves and blood vessels passing under a fox’s tail are close to the erogenous zone. Hehe… You can just think of it as an erogenous zone?

“……”

Whoosh─! Whoosh─!!

The three tails began to spin rapidly, as if they were juggling.

I wondered if they might fly off like propellers if I made a mistake.
The children, forgetting that they wanted to touch it, were watching the three tails spinning with sparkling eyes.

Ah, my tail muscles hurt.

‘Is it because they’re muscles that I don’t usually manage? It hurts like hell when I suddenly try to move them arbitrarily.’

Spinning the tail at high speed so that the children couldn’t even dare to touch it caused more intense muscle pain than I thought.

It felt like the tail muscles would break at any moment.

But I can’t let anyone touch my tail.

This is a no-go.

That’s why Seungwoo didn’t know.

Whoosh─! Whoosh──!! Whoosh───!!!

The reason why the tail muscles could still move even at a rapid speed was that the tail usually wiggled without the owner’s knowledge, subtly strengthening the muscles.

Also, he didn’t know that the end of the tail was slightly curved like a hook.

It was as if it had a sense of self, vowing revenge, saying that it would not forget this humiliation.

Only Tamamo, who was leisurely watching the whole process from behind, knew.

─At this rate, before long, your limbs will betray their master.

‘Who’s betraying who?’

─It’s just a metaphor, a metaphor. It’s not good to overwork your tail like that. Why don’t you just let them touch it?

Tamamo knows much more about the fox’s body than I do.

I’ve only been possessed by this body for two months, while Tamamo has lived with a tail for a time that I can’t even count.

‘No, I don’t want to.’

But there was something I couldn’t give up.

A region I wanted to defend at all costs. The tail was more than just a completely new type of organ for me; it was a kind of shame.

I hated the fact that my pubic area naturally attracted attention.

That’s why I have no intention of allowing anyone to touch my tail.

“Oh, it’s getting faster.”

“Can’t you catch that either, Noona [older sister]?”

“Me? Ahem, of course I can catch it.”

“…Don’t come near me.”

“Hehe, I don’t want to.”

Why is this kid like this?

I was racking my brains at the sight of her using her signature light-based magic without hesitation to catch my tail. All the magic didn’t have killing power, but it was more specialized in capture and restraint than that.

I was unknowingly impressed by the high level of magic that could only be avoided by actively using the trait, 「Magicality」.

It’s usually harder to restrain than to kill.

What did she see and study in this city for six days that her skills increased so dramatically?

As a teacher and temporary instructor, it was an unspeakably happy thing, but I was frustrated with the current situation where she was pouring her trained skills on me.

After using a considerable amount of magic for a full 30 minutes, we finally stopped this damn hide-and-seek.

“S-Stop…”

“Would you stop if you were me?”

“…Yes.”

“…?”

Isabelle had invested almost 90% of her magic power for 30 minutes, so she was panting and struggling to chase after me. On the other hand, I had only used 10% of my magic power, but I had burned most of my stamina.

This damn low stamina.

Is that why?

I momentarily missed Isabelle’s words.

I’m sure there was something more before ‘…Yes’.

My ears are ringing because my stamina is almost completely depleted.

If it was an important word, given her personality, she would have said it again.

Without bothering to ask, I sat down on the floor.

To hell with the teacher’s face, I feel like I’m going to die.

After that, Isabelle didn’t seem to be obsessed with my tail anymore, and sat next to me without saying or doing anything.

But just in case.

Slowly.

As the tail slowly moved away from Isabelle, I could find her glaring at me with a stinging gaze.

No, well.

I’m scared you’re going to touch it.

As I moved my body little by little, the tail that touched something stopped moving. I turned my head to see what it was.

“Roses? It’s amazing that flowers bloomed in this environment.”

Many red roses were blooming.

Not just one, but in flower bed units.

I was distracted by the overwhelming spectacle for a moment.

Isabelle, who followed my movements, said in my ear.

“Do you still… like roses?”

“…Huh?”

What did she just say?

I was dumbfounded by the sudden words.

Not only that.

My head was blank, as if it had been dyed white, and I missed the timing to say anything.

My condition was not good enough that the sign was revealed with a foolish expression.

“H-How do you know that…?”

“How else? You’ve liked roses since a long time ago.”

“Me…?”

Did I tell you that?

As I blurred the end of my words foolishly.

Pfft, Isabelle, who let out a laugh, covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.

Why are you laughing?

I’m too surprised to be in the mood to laugh.

I was so surprised that I missed what to say and how to react.

She finished weaving the thread of conversation that had been cut off.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that foolish expression.”

“Foolish expression…?”

“Hmm? Don’t tell me you’ve never been aware of it in your twenty years of living? When you’re surprised, you make a foolish expression and stop like a machine with an error.”

I’ve seen that expression of yours so many times since a long time ago.

There’s no way I wouldn’t know, right?

As if that fact was natural.

She smiled casually, resembling someone at first glance.

But who does she resemble?

My master?

Teacher?

Or my adjutant?

Even if I recall all the women in my memory, the memory is blurry.

As if a fuse had blown, my thoughts stopped for a moment.

But that alone was enough information.

My expression crumbled at the fact that she knew my taste that I hadn’t revealed to anyone, but I thought I could cover it up enough by adding a new mask.

That’s what I thought.

Even if I heard more about roses, there was no bigger blow than that.

That’s because the person who knew what kind of roses I liked.

There’s no one in this world anymore.

I firmly believed that there wouldn’t be anyone even in the afterlife─.

“─Pure white roses. You thought the roses that weren’t dyed in any color were the prettiest in the world.”

“!!!”

“I even got scolded by you for making a flower crown with it. Well, when I think about it now, it was no different from Jesus’ crown of thorns.”

“……”

Have I ever confided this kind of story to anyone, even when I was drunk?

Even if I pull up deep memories, there’s never been a time like that.

Then, have I ever brought up a similar nuance to Eve even once…?”

‘…No, I definitely haven’t told Eve that either.’

The only one who knows that I like white roses is her.

My beloved master.

She liked red roses since a long time ago, so I, who didn’t know anything and only followed her around, came to like roses following my master.

However, I preferred pure white roses to ominous crimson roses like fire or blood.

That’s why I confessed with it.

Well, the result was… the situation at the time was during the war, so there’s no need to say anything.

After that, we became people who would never see each other forever, so the fact that I liked white roses was the only fact that only I knew in the world.

‘But my ex-fiancée knows that? Even a girl who’s just a setting?’

I’m confused.

I’m now acknowledging that this world is also another existing parallel world in the name of a novel.

This is beyond my comprehension.

“Haa, haa…”

The corners of my mouth are trembling.

My breathing becomes rough, and my chest feels stuffy.

My breathing wasn’t getting better because of the stuffiness that was different from the pain that made my whole body feel like it was burning due to 「Solar Vein Severance」.

“A-Are you okay…?”

I heard Isabelle’s flustered voice.

Well, if someone you were talking to suddenly grabbed their chest and let out rough breaths, it would be understandable.

“Did I bring up old stories and that’s why?”

A question with a hint of unease.

It’s not the feeling of worrying about a former fiancée who broke up badly.

It was an anxiety filled with a deeper sadness than that.

Seriously, why do all these students seem to have a part of their hearts sick?

Is it because I, the teacher, am in this state?

“S-Sorry… I won’t bring this up again…”

“It’s okay. It’s not because of you.”

It’s really not because of you.

Don’t make that face.

This is all.

‘…Eve.’

It’s because of that damn girl.

I don’t know what the hell she did to the novel, to me.

Unless it’s a very big deal, I will trust Eve even if she cuts off my arm and extracts my pupils.

If necessary, I will entrust my life to her as a matter of course, and I can also sacrifice without hesitation. But this case has gone beyond the scope of a big deal.

At this point, I don’t know what her purpose and principles of action are.

‘Does she want my pain or death?’

Perhaps she wants to gain the highest position and authority of the military state I gained in my later years.

Maybe she wants to get my power, which was called the Führer [leader or guide], and throw my soul into another world to seize everything in the gap… but that’s not possible.

‘In the first place, if Eve wanted the position of Führer, I was ready to hand it over at any time and step back to the rear. There’s no possibility that she’d do something this annoying. Especially if it’s Eve, who hates annoying things even more.’

Then what other possibilities are there?

Maybe it’s just a simple game or pleasure.

Well, there are many people who like to put stag beetles to fight and observe them, right? Of course, most of them are men.

Anyway, I think it’s that kind of logic.

While I was dumbfounded─.

─Tsk… I don’t know what happened, but it wouldn’t have been a pleasant thing.

As Tamamo secretly scanned his inner thoughts through the connection called the contract, emotions that were not organized were mixed up and expressed a madness that could not be described.

She clicked her tongue as she read it.

All kinds of emotions were mixed together without being able to distinguish their shapes, as if pouring molten metal on a hard, artificially created expression and hardening it.

His emotional expression was being processed through such a method.

This is not an emotion.

It’s not an expression either.

Tamamo turned her eyes away from the remoteness that she couldn’t even feel as a human being.

Even she, who was called the epitome of a vicious woman, was overwhelmed by the madness that rushed in through the ‘contract’ pipeline to the point where she could no longer maintain her composure.

─I don’t know if it’s okay to call this a human being.

The Gumiho of the world pitied her contractor.

There was one thing she could guess about his condition.

─It’s poisonous. Very poisonous. I never knew that a mental illness could ruin a person to this extent, to the point where it could create an indescribable appearance.

Mental illness.

I don’t know the type, but her contractor, Baek Seungwoo.

He was suffering from a very poisonous mental illness.

To the point where even someone with excellent equanimity could go crazy.

Perhaps it was a mental illness that had already driven him crazy.