Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 118

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 118

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 118

Toward the City (3)

“So, I’ll take the first watch?”

“Hey, shouldn’t a guy do it in the middle? Everyone here is a girl.”

“What about the teacher? He’s prettier than a girl, but still, he’s a guy.”

“The teacher is just the supervisor. This is our midterm exam.”

The students were arguing about the order of the night watch.

Initially, they planned to split up into five groups, but they quickly switched to pairs of two because of Thermia, who was staring blankly beside them.

Her skills are outstanding.

If she, as their guide, had other intentions and overpowered a student tired from the night watch, the other sleeping students would be dead.

Of course, thanks to the magical safety devices installed inside their uniforms, they wouldn’t die, but they would fail the exam.

That must never happen.

‘Five people in pairs of two, some will have to suffer. I miss Isabel.’

He missed her, but he wasn’t too worried.

He could create simple objects with her light.

In magic, light is a versatile element.

With enough magic power and talent, almost anything can be achieved. Besides, she was a full-fledged magician building her own domain.

Worrying about Isabel was a luxury.

“More than that, organizing the information comes first.”

He flipped open a book from his ring.

A kind of diary where he wrote down all the lucky encounters and episodes from the novel that he vaguely remembered.

He began to organize the information he had obtained from Temil Village.

The first line he wrote was:

[The name of this world is ‘Temil, the Ruins of Eternal Winter,’ but the key to攻略 [capture/strategy] is not in Temil Village.]

It was a very simple conclusion.

He knew what ‘Eternal Winter’ meant in the modifiers referring to the other world.

This land had become permafrost, where the snow never melted. Because of that, it became ruins. So far, it made sense.

But why does the name Temil appear in the name, but we are heading to a city called Frontier?

‘Wait… I need to recall.’

The information obtained from the torture and the children.

This task was no different from piecing together shattered glass beads, scattered like fragments.

In other words, it was damn difficult.

How can I turn this into one piece of information?

─If it’s so frustrating, why don’t you take a break? Take a nap and do it with a clear mind.

‘No, I won’t be able to finish it in time if I do that. We only have a week to stay in this world.’

Sleep is a luxury for me.

There is a famous saying on the battlefield.

‘Sleep when you’re dead.’

Struggling can only be done while alive.

But you can sleep forever after you die.

─Whoever said that doesn’t know anything about death. Do you think you just sleep forever when you die?

‘Then what is it like? You’ve been dead for a long time, so you should know?’

Tamamo asked an interesting question.

Then she smiled.

She doesn’t just laugh and move on. The contract between her and me is not so easy. Beyond the heart and ring finger, the bond of soul and soul.

Therefore, she answered me without any lies.

─Well, I can’t say for sure. My spirit is bound to the ring after death. But what is certain is… there is definitely an afterlife.

‘There’s an afterlife?’

Afterlife, that is the teaching of Buddhism.

As one of the three realms [desire realm, form realm, and formless realm], it was an extremely Buddhist concept based on reincarnation, meaning the next life.

But that’s true?

─No, it’s different from what those monks say.

‘Then what the hell is it?’

─I can tell you, but, hehe… you know what? You’re making a different expression than usual?

At Tamamo’s words, I was touching my face before I knew it.

The muscles in my face were tense.

But the expression remained static.

Like a doll that doesn’t waver with any emotion.

I was so excited that I didn’t even realize my ‘mask’ had come off.

─Really, I’m glad I made such a deep contract with you. It’s already so much fun?

Hehe, she kept letting out elegant laughter and wiped away the tears that flowed from her eyes. She seemed genuinely happy.

I remained expressionless despite her reaction.

Maybe it’s because the mask came off once.

It wasn’t easy to put it back on.

─When I hear your thoughts and feelings, it seems like you’re taking a detached attitude towards death, but you’re so obsessed with what happens after death.

“…….”

─Can you tell me why?

She raised her left ring finger.

The red thread wrapped around her ring finger.

It was connected to my ring finger with a sinister color like a blood vessel connected to the heart, rather than the meaning of love and affection.

The proof of the contract.

“…….”

─I’ll give you the option not to answer if you don’t want to.

I can avoid answering her question, but I can’t lie.

That is the oath of the contract.

“It’s nothing special.”

However, it is possible to extract only the main points and answer simply.

I flipped my hair back and continued.

“I want to see my teacher and master again… and save them if I can.”

─Your master is… that girl with the alias ?

“No, she’s not my master, she’s my teacher.”

As if it were nothing special, I opened the notebook and immediately began to record and organize the information I had obtained in the past.

The first piece of information came from the girl.

─You said your friends disappeared earlier?

─Huh? They didn’t disappear. They went to the city.

─Yes, you said a lot of people went to the city. Did only the children go? Or did their moms and dads go with them?

─Both! Some friends went alone. Some friends went with their moms and dads.

The situation was in trouble again.

If only the children had disappeared, I would have considered the possibility of child trafficking, but if there were cases where parents also disappeared, the possibility of trafficking decreases.

I can’t help it.

I needed another witness.

─Amy, is there a child here who was particularly close to the friends who went to the city?

─Yes, there is.

─Who is it?

─Yuri.

Amy pointed to a girl eating rice weakly with her small fingers.

She was a girl with golden blonde hair that was rare in this small village, but she also felt somewhat dry. It was like looking at a withered flower.

─Can you tell me who Yuri was friends with?

─Uh-uh, my dad said I shouldn’t sell my friends…

─Here, I’ll give you two more chocolates.

─Yuri was very close to Charles.

Amy added.

─She even promised that Charles would ride a white horse and marry her when he became a knight.

A childhood marriage promise.

Suddenly, someone who wasn’t here came to mind.

Isabel, her absence was felt quite a bit now.

So was the unique atmosphere she led.

Especially in combat situations, Isabel’s absence as the head made the students’ movements quite chaotic.

Her absence alone caused problems with the cooperation that meshed like gears.

Ah, I miss her.

The existence of a leader to lead the students was desperately needed right now.

─Engagement… It’s pure and nice because it’s that age.

─Engagement…? Age…? I don’t know difficult words.

─Age means people who are the same age or similar.

─Aha! Then what is engagement?

─A person who has promised to marry. You promise to live together like your mom and dad when you grow up.

─Then will Charles scratch his legs while drinking alcohol later, and Yuri will hit Charles on the back of the head?

─…….

Mom and Dad.

What the hell are you doing at home?

No, it’s a world with a medieval background.

I guess so, but this doesn’t seem right.

After that, I was able to hear various stories about the missing children from the same children.

Judging from the fact that these children don’t call me the leader or anything, it seems that they haven’t heard enough about me from the adults.

But… strangely, is it related to the fact that adults hate me?

No adults said the same thing as the children.

For two days, along with the short time I spent there, even when I left the place.

I memorized all the words of the children, which were close to dozens of pages, and now I am writing them down in my notebook without missing a single word.

Suddenly, the relationship between the children Charles and Yuri caught my eye.

Engagement… I have one too.

She’s my ‘ex’ fiancee.

“…Isabel.”

What is she doing and where is she now?

I realized that I was worried as a teacher, even if not as an ex-fiancee.

* * *

The center of the North.

Frontier, the only land full of life where plants and trees bloom in a continent where the cold has not disappeared.

There, numerous citizens and knights.

And one magic tower was built.

A magician walks leisurely out of the magic tower.

There were few people passing by because it was late at night, but if there were, they wouldn’t know the magician’s gender.

Although the curves unique to women are revealed beyond the robe, the robe is so large and thick that it cannot be distinguished from the folds of the clothes.

The magician walked through the empty city with her whole body covered.

Toc, toc.

The sound of shoes spread through the quiet city.

The sound of footsteps wandering aimlessly somewhere.

The sound stopped in front of a wide flower bed.

Because there were two types of plants that the magician was familiar with.

It is not a material used for magical research.

One was a red rose, and the other was.

“…What is this? In the end, what you taught me is useless.”

Young Dragon Grass.

The grass that Seungwoo said would help with detoxification and satiety.

As she, who was given the role of a magician after struggling to teach for the past week, it became knowledge that was not very important.

Haa, Isabel took out a handkerchief from her pocket while lamenting while looking at the floor.

The purpose of the handkerchief was not to sit on a bench covered in dirt, nor was it to wipe away tears while lamenting her situation.

Most of the items she brought were changed to fit the role of a guard magician protecting the Zazak family.

The school uniform became a robe, and the daggers and hidden weapons she had put in her arms for emergencies became equipment unique to a pedantic medieval magician.

Even in the midst of that, only this blood-stained handkerchief remained unchanged.

─Seungwoo, you like roses, right? I made a flower crown by weaving them!

─Wait, what…? Hey, you’re getting stabbed by thorns and bleeding from your hands!

─Huh? This much is okay!

─It’s not okay, you idiot. Give me your hand. I’ll disinfect it and stop the bleeding quickly.

In Isabel’s old memories, a boy who was only ten years old took the rose flower crown from the girl’s hand.

It’s not like he’s Christ.

What was he doing making a crown of thorns?

Looking back on that day’s memories, Isabel burst into a small laugh at her own ridiculousness and innocence.

─The strength of the flowing water. How’s this?

─Wow, Seungwoo can already use magic? Elemental magic?

─No… it’s just a stream of water based on the sacred art of the Druids [ancient Celtic priests]. I’ve washed the affected area, so now I’ll disinfect it. Don’t take your hand away even if it stings. Just cry instead.

─Affected area…? What does that mean? And Druids weren’t uncles who turn into animals…! Ugh, ah, it hurts!!

─Then why did you pick roses and make a flower crown? You can just make a flower crown with wildflowers.

Right then, the young girl tried to take her hand away.

Then the boy grabbed her hand tighter so as not to let go.

How much strength does a child have? Her hand didn’t hurt, but strangely, the girl felt a stabbing pain in her chest.

─B, but… you like roses. Especially white roses.

─You should have just asked the gardener to remove the thorns.

─Hehe… Seungwoo likes flower crowns. So I wanted to make one for you myself.

─…….

─Are you angry? S, sorry… I won’t do it again.

─Yeah, don’t do this again.

After disinfecting, the boy took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and immediately pressed down hard on her hand.

That’s it.

He hugged the girl, who stroked her head as a sign that she had endured well, and sat in front of the garden.

Maybe it’s because the two were similar in height.

Or maybe it’s because the girl was still young and taller.

The boy peeked his head out next to the girl and said while looking at the garden.

─Flowers are beautiful when you look at them without picking them. If you pick them, they will wither someday, but if you don’t pick them, they will sprout new buds next year even if all the petals fall someday.

─…Seungwoo, you sounded like my grandma just now.

─Yeah, I’m an old man.

─What is an old man?

─An old man? An old man.

─Then what is an old man?

─Well, someone like me.

─Phew, what is that? It’s weird.

Trivial chatter.

But it was the happiest moment for young Isabel.

Even if you look at Isabel’s 17 years of life, there was no time when she felt that much happiness. Although she had lived a short life, she thought that she was not inferior to others in terms of the ups and downs of life.

Because the following year.

The small rose garden where they promised to come and see the flowers next year without picking the roses.

That place was completely burned down by Baek Seungwoo’s flames before the flower buds could even form.

Even though they made a promise with their fingers to go see it together.

In the end, Isabel ended up seeing the flowers alone that year.

The following year too.

And the year after that too.

“…I miss you.”

I want to see you.

I want to see the flowers with you.

I wanted to do one of the two things, whatever it was.

But she, a coward and a loner, couldn’t do it.