Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 115

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 115

Expanded World (5)

If I had my way, I would have preferred to resolve this through dialogue.

Not to spare her, but because I could no longer predict what new problems might arise, and I wanted to conserve my strength.

However, this pest didn’t seem to have any intention of cooperating.

Thwack!

A needle made of flames pierced her flesh, stimulating Yuma.

“Kkeueeeeueeup!!”

She screamed, but the sound only echoed within the cavern.

There was no chance of it escaping.

Truly an empty cry.

Not a single soul to answer.

Perhaps the torture was becoming unbearable, as she desperately signaled her willingness to cooperate.

“I, I’ll help… I’ll do… whatever you… say…”

“Too late.”

I don’t need your help anymore.

From her perspective, she probably thought I was torturing her with needles or thorns made of fire, but in reality, it was reconnaissance [gathering information].

I was assessing her reaction and the depth of magic connected to the fiery thorns to gauge her nerves and responses.

This is because, in some cases, the organs of a demonkin can change.

─Oh ho, how do you know that?

‘What, you mean about the organs?’

─Yes, that. You wouldn’t have been able to figure it out through ordinary means.

‘You know there’s only one way, yet you ask. Of course, I know because I dissected them.’

In the days of facing numerous demonkin who betrayed humanity before my regression [reincarnation or time travel], I suddenly realized something. To deal with them effectively, I needed to know about demonkin.

So, I caught a few demonkin, killed them, and dissected them.

After accumulating such experiences repeatedly, and eventually killing every demonkin I could find, I could easily analyze the state of individual demonkin just by poking them a few times with thorns.

“Don’t worry.”

I imprinted my magic and mana onto the demonkin.

A simple [telekinesis] that forms the core of 「Pyrokinesis」 [ability to control fire with the mind]. I imbued the thorns with mana and magic, turning Yuma’s nerves and muscles into puppets that would move for me.

Now, she won’t even be able to speak properly.

Well, it might be a harsh punishment for a demonkin who tried to kill a large number of people but was apprehended in advance.

Before escaping by conquering the Reverse World, I will definitely kill you and end your suffering.

Just bear with it a little longer.

The empty cry echoed in the underground cavern, but there was no response.

It seems she can’t hear me.

Well, what matters is her ability.

It didn’t matter much.

[You have completely eliminated one of the ‘Singularities’ of the Twisted Reverse World.]

[Remaining Singularities: 1/5]

[In the process of eliminating the Singularity, you have moved one step closer to the end of the Reverse World.]

[Progress: 9.3%]

See?

I was moving in the right direction.

* * *

I left the demonkin tied up in the cavern under the tomb and was taking a short break.

My mind felt hazy.

Was I just accumulating a lot of fatigue lately?

I tried to circulate my mana to clear my head, but before I knew it, my body was sinking deep into the sea.

I floated there, blankly observing.

“Not a bad book. The overall motif is based on us?”

“Yeah, not bad, right?”

I felt a sense of longing as I watched.

I realized something was wrong, and the moment my mind slowly returned, I realized that what I was seeing was me.

“I am……!”

My mouth moved minutely.

Clearly, muscles moving involuntarily.

I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

I couldn’t hear it, nor could I think of it.

Just like most dreams.

“Puhaha! Are you serious? Do you have any ■■■■? Are you serious ■■■■?”

“Yeah, ■■■■. Not bad, right ■■■■?”

“Haha… I guess so. ■■■■ would be good too. ■■■■ ■■■■.”

A story that couldn’t be heard properly.

My consciousness gradually returned to reality, as if cutting off the story midway, floating from the deep sea to the surface. The moment I looked down at this whole scene from above.

I instinctively waved my hand towards the breaking dream.

Something.

There were things I shouldn’t forget.

I felt like there was something I absolutely shouldn’t forget contained within that.

It was just a feeling.

However, if it was the feeling of the Sword Saint, the story was completely different.

* * *

In an instant, the world felt dizzy.

Even though I had only closed my eyes for a moment and opened them, I felt the discomfort of having taken a nap.

“Could it be… did I fall asleep again?”

There was no one around the tomb, and nothing had changed significantly.

In a situation where I couldn’t estimate how much time had passed, Tamamo answered.

─Sleep, huh. It’s actually ambiguous to call it sleep. You only collapsed for about 2 to 3 minutes.

“……Narcolepsy [a sleep disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness]?”

Narcolepsy, a condition where one falls asleep regardless of their will.

For a moment, I suspected narcolepsy, but considering my average sleep time, the probability of it being narcolepsy was extremely low.

─You haven’t slept once in the weeks I’ve been with you, so what sleep time are you talking about? I, who am already dead, probably slept better than you.

“I slept a little yesterday.”

─At best, it wouldn’t have been even 3 hours, would it?

“That’s enough for me.”

One to two hours per month.

That was the optimal sleep time for me.

However, Tamamo didn’t seem to think so.

─Are you serious? Not a day, but two hours a month is appropriate?

“It’s not appropriate. I feel fatigue too.”

A superhuman with magic is unfazed by staying up all night for a day or two.

Of course, even superhumans die if they don’t sleep enough, but with my vast mana, I could replace the fatigue that could be recovered through sleep by circulating a large amount of mana.

However, it was only at the level of ‘being able to replace it,’ so I had to sleep for at least one hour a month.

And that time.

‘Was also a time when our unit, and furthermore, all the soldiers were on edge.’

In the war at the time, I was beyond a living siege weapon, like a nuclear warhead.

Victory accompanied the battlefields I swept through, and high-ranking demons with high intelligence were particularly reluctant to be on the battlefields where I was.

The ability to support multiple fronts alone.

Because I had such an ability, those few hours when I was defenseless were the worst moments for my allies.

In fact, at that time, a large army of demons attacked the outskirts, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties in a single day.

Because those daily habits were ingrained in my body, I still don’t sleep for more than two hours a month.

But even though I had already slept for 3 hours the day before, I collapsed again.

“……Is my body not doing well?”

Is it because I’m lacking stamina, unlike before?

I thought it was a reasonably rational suspicion.

─Is it even possible for a person not to sleep?

“What did you hear earlier? In a month…….”

─I know, you only sleep for 1 to 2 hours.

“You heard well. But what’s the question?”

─I was wondering why you don’t sleep that much. Is there a reason why you have to do that?

A sharp question.

To answer this, I would inevitably have to talk about what happened before the regression, and if I avoided answering, there was a possibility that she would suspect me for not telling her such trivial things.

A situation where I was already providing her with something to be suspicious about.

Even if I didn’t want to tell her, I had no choice but to say something.

‘Indeed, Gumiho are different.’

I don’t know if she intended this situation, but if she did, it was truly a sight befitting the progenitor of the Gumiho, the representative of all foxes.

“…….”

─Why, can’t you answer again?

“No, it’s because it’s such an obvious question.”

I nonchalantly put on a ‘mask’.

A mask of trying to save even sleeping time to study and master magic.

Fortunately, I had experience reading magic books every morning and going through several trials and errors in the training room, so the mask fit me perfectly.

“It’s because I hate wasting the time I spend sleeping every night.”

─So, why?

“I want to fully master magic and sorcery, and reach a higher and more advanced level. You created a system called sorcery, so you should know. Originally, studying is better in the early morning.”

The early morning is perfect for studying because there is no miscellaneous noise created by people.

She nodded as if she agreed with that fact.

However, one question still remained.

─Well, I also compiled sorcery in the early morning, so let’s say that’s true. Don’t you ever think about doing it during the day? If you can’t sleep at night, it must be hard for you too.

She sympathized, but the question was not easily resolved.

If you are a living person, sleep is inevitable to relieve physical and mental fatigue. So, no matter how well you study, why not divide it up little by little during the day?

That’s what she was saying.

‘……I have nothing to say to this.’

I can answer if I try.

But that would only be an excuse, and Tamamo would easily realize that fact.

Should I make a nonsensical excuse, or should I remain silent?

I had to make a choice.

“……Let’s make a contract.”

─Hmm, what did you say? I can’t hear you well?

“Let’s make a contract.”

I’m not talking about the subservient contract with her bound by the ring.

Nor am I referring to the promise to teach her one spell a day for a month. What I want is a completely new contract.

“Subservience, master-disciple, lord-vassal. How about making an extremely horizontal contract without such hierarchical relationships?”

─Hehe, we’ve already agreed to receive corresponding compensation for answering each other’s questions. Wouldn’t that be a horizontal relationship?

“That promise is just a verbal agreement that isn’t even bound by an oath.”

─Then…… is there anything you particularly want?

What I want?

Of course, there is.

I held out the ring finger of my left hand to her.

“「The Contract of the Ring Finger and the Heart」. Wouldn’t this be perfect for us?”

─!!!

“It existed even before the regression, so you must know about it, right? Well, if you’re still uneasy, let’s make a Mana Oath too.”

─You…… do you know what that contract means?

Tamamo, with a surprised expression, spoke in a meaningful tone.

It sounded as if she was saying, ‘Can someone like you handle it?’

“The left ring finger, in a sorcerous sense, signifies a place close to the heart. In that sense, 「The Contract of the Ring Finger and the Heart」 is…….”

─A contract that cuts off the ring finger of the violator and stops the heart. It’s an absolute contract that can never be betrayed, often used in important transactions. I never taught you, but how do you know about it?

“There’s nothing easier to handle than a contract with coercive power.”

─That’s a reason without any romance.

Originally, 「The Contract of the Ring Finger and the Heart」 was created by two couples who flaunted uncontrollable affection and love with the promise of eternal happiness.

Clearly, the initial intention was to wish for eternal love, but its effectiveness was more powerful than imagined, and there are records of it appearing in various frauds until a thousand years ago when sorcery became obsolete.

Also, this sorcery works even on targets who only have a soul left.

Even if they are resurrected in the form of an undead, it is a terrifying sorcery that forces the contracting party to fulfill the contract as long as they are ‘alive’.

And regarding the use of this sorcery.

─Okay. Let’s do that.

She agreed.

Rather, she seemed to like it.

Thus, without either of us saying anything first, we connected each other’s ring fingers with a red thread. Not the red thread of love, but the red thread of the heart.

“I want an eternal companion and a mentor to guide me.”

─I want a minstrel who will understand my curiosity and greed.

What each of us wants is clear.

I want her knowledge of sorcery.

She wants my stories.

Based on this, Tamamo and I designed the contract.

“If the companion wants to satisfy their curiosity, I will speak only the truth without a single lie.”

─In return, I will act as his mentor. Conversely, if the minstrel asks me for guidance, I will teach him all of my knowledge of a thousand years without hesitation.

In a sense, it is a contract that binds each other.

Swish, my left ring finger and her ring finger intersect.

Pure white energy rippling from each other’s fingers.

This was the true essence directly connected to the soul.

The true essence emanating from each other’s Baek(魄) [the physical or animal soul in Korean shamanism] became a kind of seal, making this contract inviolable.

─I, Tamamo, the progenitor of sorcery, swear to protect this contract forever, taking the hundred names and identities, including Mujo, as a guarantee.

Finally, the last gateway of the contract.

It was to complete 「The Contract of the Ring Finger and the Heart」 in a sorcerous sense by uttering the identities and names that symbolize each other.

The moment my turn came, my head went blank.

“…….”

What identity should I state?

My name is Baek Seung-woo.

That hasn’t changed, whether now or then.

My face and physique are also identical. However, what is different from before is the absence of the people around me and the achievements that would prove my identity as a person.

My soul belongs to a certain swordsman, but in this world, I am a foul-tempered prodigal family head and a magician.

So, what should I call myself?

Baek Seung-woo, the prodigal?

Baek Seung-woo, the 107th head of the Cheonho Baekga family?

Baek Seung-woo, the disciple of ?

Or Baek Seung-woo, the leader of the Ninetails Guild’s special operations unit?

─……Hurry up.

As I continued to remain still, Tamamo, unable to bear it any longer, murmured quietly.

Yes, what does it matter if I hide it now?

Now that things have come to this, she and I have become a community bound by fate.

“I am…… the successor of ‘Yeomra’ [King of Hell in Korean mythology] and the student of ‘Holy Mother’…….”

I glanced at Tamamo, and she seemed flustered by the unexpected explanation of my identity. Well, I guess so.

The identity spoken in a contract is a short sentence that signifies one’s life. For her, ‘the progenitor of sorcery’ and ‘a hundred faces and names’ are such things.

So, usually in these situations, the names or epithets of others do not come up. However, in order to define my life, the existence of those two was indispensable.

If it weren’t for those two, I would have no reason to be in this place.

There was no need to desperately live until now.

“As the Sword Saint, Baek Seung-woo, I pledge my ring finger and heart to protect this contract forever.”

The Saint of the Sword.

And the epithet and label attached to me, meaning the Star of the Sword(劍星) [Geomseong in Korean, literally Sword Star].

The moment she heard those words, a smile spread across Tamamo’s lips.

She was revealing without hiding the feeling that she was truly enjoying making this contract. Yes, I’m glad to make a contract with you too, you inhuman being.

Of course, that’s sarcasm.