Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 168

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 168

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 168

A Small Afterword (3)

The world I currently live in.

It is a kingdom built upon letters.

I now recognize it as another reality, but immediately after possessing it, I thought it was merely a world within a novel.

Of course, that’s not wrong.

Even if it was within a novel, the people there were alive.

Not something that could be adorned with words like characters, supporting roles, or NPCs [Non-Player Characters, a term from video games referring to characters controlled by the game itself rather than a player].

But literally breathing, thinking, and agonizing.

People no different from me.

The moment I realized that, I vowed to save this world from the impending disasters.

“A world within a novel. But its contents were reality, not just letters.”

“What’s the power level like?”

“The technological development felt a step ahead in that world, probably because of the advancement of magic. The average individual combat strength is also much higher. However, their weapon development was a bit behind.”

“Specifically, how so?”

“The equipment I commissioned from Gu Yaja [likely a renowned craftsman or company] and the equipment openly available in the market were generally two levels below our world’s quality. Of course, it’s not without its advantages. Thanks to the development of magic, quite a few pieces of equipment utilize it.”

Like the equipment I commissioned from Gu Yaja and personally worked on, this world had a variety of magical equipment.

It felt like they were competing with functionality despite the lower quality.

“If you have any more questions related to this, ask away.”

“Then, what about the girls?”

“…The girls, you say.”

Could she be talking about my students?

“If you’re talking about the supporting characters—no, the heroines—they’re all unique kids.”

“Oh, can you tell me more in detail?”

“Of course.”

After that, the conversation flowed warmly.

I was busy praising the children as if I were their parent, and Eve was busy listening to my words.

I don’t know if this is the feeling of being a teacher and a creator, respectively.

We were just catching up after a long time.

It was around the time the story went off on a tangent.

“So, do you actually know that Isabel is weak against alcohol?”

“What do you mean alcohol to a minor? I wouldn’t let her drink it.”

“Puhahaha! Don’t you know that the Academy students are legally treated as quasi-adults? They are exempt from alcohol and tobacco restrictions. It’s not for nothing that they are allowed to carry weapons.”

“…You’ve created a very strange worldview.”

“Oh, wouldn’t you rather praise me for creating a unique and original worldview?”

“Because of that damn uniqueness, my body is about to be torn to shreds. Well, my left arm has already been bitten off for real.”

No, it had already gone off on a tangent.

Before I knew it, the coffee on the desk had been replaced with glasses of alcohol.

The quiet and calm atmosphere of the surroundings had shifted to a moderately atmospheric vibe. In the midst of feeling like we were about to get drunk, we held onto our ironclad resolve and talked.

“Your left arm was torn off; isn’t this the second time? Didn’t you have it torn off once before?”

“Back then, my vitality was still quite strong. And The Holy Mother [likely a powerful healer or artifact] was by my side, so I could quickly stitch it back on.”

“You can’t do it this time?”

“I think it’s floating around in the stomach of the guy who died.”

Ah, I burned his body whole, so it must have turned into a pile of charcoal long ago.

It’s better to stop talking about this around here.

It didn’t seem like it would be good to dwell on it any further.

“Let’s change the subject.”

“You don’t want to talk about your left arm anymore?”

“I can’t say that’s not the intention at all, but you and I have things to do after this conversation.”

It means let’s not waste each other’s mental strength or time with unnecessary conversations any further. Eve nodded as if she understood the words and opened her mouth.

“So, is the next topic about the circumstances of you and me meeting?”

“I didn’t think there was anything to talk about in terms of circumstances.”

“Hey, come on. ‘Author’s Reply’ [a feature in some online novels where the author interacts with readers], it wasn’t given to you for nothing, was it?”

“You’re talking like there’s some huge secret.”

“Secret? Ah, there’s no reason that grand…?”

Then what is it?

I glared at her, and I saw her shaking her shoulders greatly.

“That… actually, there was no need to prepare such a place. In fact, it would have been enough to have a conversation in text… I thought it would be a little fun… Ehe?”

“Just because you end the last sentence with a question mark doesn’t make it a question.”

“Ahaha, what can I do if there’s no big reason like you thought? I know I’ll get scolded a lot if I say it was practically my whim?”

It’s a truly absurd answer.

But that’s what makes it like Eve.

I had a conversation with someone who could reveal her inner thoughts after a long time.

Then, slowly.

“If you have nothing to say, let’s talk about the main topic.”

“Huh? Are you trying to end it already? There’s still plenty of time, isn’t there?”

“It’s not a matter of time. Being with you drains my energy to death.”

I shook my head.

Even when I had the stamina of steel, I got tired easily when I talked to Eve for a long time. What about now that I’m weak?

And—

“—You have a limited number of things you can talk about.”

There were a few topics that couldn’t be brought up.

I mixed sharp questions into the trivial chatter I had with her several times, but only a handful of them received an answer.

Thanks to that, I could tell.

Some conversations can be had without any problems.

There are some topics that Eve can’t bring up.

“I guess the information that you can only tell me if I ask is limited.”

“!!!”

Eve’s surprised expression.

It wasn’t her usual teasing expression, but she genuinely didn’t expect me to realize this already.

Well, how many people would realize that the topic of conversation doesn’t change even after trying to change it several times?

In fact, it would have taken me a long time to realize it if the other person wasn’t a long-time friend like Eve. It’s thanks to my understanding of her usual way of speaking.

“How’s my accurate reasoning?”

“You weren’t just focusing on me while talking to me, but you were focusing on that?”

“……”

I realize this every time I talk to her.

Why does my mind get so confused when I talk to her?

That’s Eve’s charm, but it often breaks the atmosphere in serious situations.

“Hey, why is your reaction so stiff? I was just kidding?”

“I told you. Being with you drains my energy.”

“How can you get drained so easily with just this much? Should I get you some tonic?”

“Stop talking nonsense and ask a question.”

“Okay, ask away.”

I got permission to ask a question.

Among the many questions, I put the most curious and incomprehensible question into my mouth.

“Have I ever read this novel?”

“……”

Eve was silent at my question.

She closed her eyes and began to agonize as if she had a lot to think about.

She looked like a teacher wondering, ‘Where do I start explaining this?’

“That… before I answer, just a moment, how did you come to ask that question?”

“A sense of incongruity.”

“……”

“I felt strange every time I thought about the development of the novel, the opportunities, etc. I remember the conversation with you, but I couldn’t remember how I came to remember that conversation, or what kind of situation happened at the time.”

“…Yeah, that could be the case. Why didn’t I consider that.”

There were parts in my memory that were full of holes.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but when I found several small holes, I felt a sense of incongruity.

“Any other reasons? Is there anything else?”

“The memory is too vivid.”

“……”

“I remember the opportunities and developments of the novel vaguely, but when I think about it, the memory is strangely accurate. Originally, it’s hard to remember old memories completely because you forget parts of them in the middle. But I somehow remember the contents related to the novel.”

There were more reasons than that.

I can’t perfectly remember the development just from the conversation with Eve, but I remember some episodes completely.

There were more than one or two reasons to doubt.

“I can’t explain it. Is that okay?”

“If I only know the answer to the question, I can infer it myself to some extent.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You’ve read my novel.”

“I knew it.”

“Is there anything else you want to ask?”

“Can I ask?”

My finger pointed to the air.

The liquor and glasses disappeared, and the area returned to a pure white space.

The area was slowly collapsing.

Maybe this space is collapsing because Eve answered my question. There was no way I could ask another question in this situation.

From the beginning, the question was probably disposable.

“Well, but if I try, I might be able to do more?”

“That’s enough. I don’t have much information from the conversation anyway, and what I found out from that question is enough.”

“…Seungwoo.”

It’s been a while since she called me by my name.

She hasn’t mentioned my name lately.

“…That, you know.”

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. It seems impossible to stay in this space for a long time.”

As I urged her, Eve looked at me with a look that she had made up her mind.

Her small lips moved.

“You… you like that world, don’t you.”

“Well, it’s not all good, but if you ask me if I like it, I’m on the positive side.”

“Then, depending on the situation, you’re willing to die.”

“Of course.”

The salvation of people.

A better world.

A place where people can live like people.

I can do anything for that.

“Death is not the key.”

“Seungwoo…”

“I was lacking. That’s why I lost my left arm. From now on, I will not be picky about means such as assassination, massacre, and seduction.”

It doesn’t mean I’ve been doing it half-heartedly so far.

It’s just that the life of staying up all night, reducing free time, and devoting myself to research and study was not enough.

I felt my own shortcomings here.

I felt the desperation.

“Even if the end is death, I will accept it willingly.”

Death is the end I’ve been hoping for.

However, suicide and meaningless deaths that do not fit the occasion were not allowed based on precepts and laws. However, it was possible to die in a fierce battle that was worthy of saving people, for myself.

I could accept such a death.

I wouldn’t be ashamed of the people who are waiting for me.

“So, from now on, I will disregard my own life.”

If this world is a novel, the end will surely be magnificent.

The ending of a world.

A climax is usually wild and huge.

“So, watch over me. You’re the only one left who can evaluate what my death will be like.”

“…You’re talking nonsense.”

Eve’s scathing voice that I heard after a long time.

The voice that can only be heard when she is serious goes really well with her pure white appearance, and there was a fascination that made me look at her without realizing it.

“Maybe, you and I won’t be able to meet in the future. If we meet, we’ll be able to meet ‘outside’ this world.”

“Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

“So, I’ll give you the last gift I can give you.”

“…What?”

The last gift I can give you?

If it’s a gift, it’s a gift.

What’s the last gift?

Anxiously.

“You… I don’t know what you’re going to say, but don’t say it.”

“Go to the main house soon. There, a man of a hundred… soldiers… Ah, it’s hard to tell you more than this.”

“Eve!”

“Sorry, it seems like it will be a gift that I couldn’t even wrap properly. But I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“What are you talking about so anxiously since a while ago!”

As if she was sorry somewhere.

I saw Eve smiling sadly for the first time in my life.

Eve was making such a face that I couldn’t even imagine.

“…Seungwoo.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you trust your sister?”

“…Isn’t that usually what a man says to a younger woman?”

“What’s important about that? What’s more important is.”

Hehe, Eve, whose expression clearly showed that she was forcibly raising the corners of her mouth.

She was pretending to be bright right now.

But my eyes can’t be fooled by just that much.

Maybe the person involved knows it well.

“Trust me. Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you. Enough to entrust my heart to you.”

It’s a sudden question, but I answered it without any problems.

Because it was a question that wasn’t even worth thinking about.

“Okay, that’s enough of an answer.”

“Why is that? I can tell you more. For you, I can even pick the moon in the sky…”

“Ugh!!! Stop it, are you trying to kill me with shame?!!”

Hoo hoo, Eve, who was breathing deeply with her face flushed, glared at me.

It was a question of whether she was teasing herself now, but she frowned at my serious expression.

She immediately realized that I had confessed my sincerity.

She was blushing a lot.

But soon she continued to speak in a tone that it was good.

“You said you could entrust your life to me, right?”

“Yes, I can trust you and entrust my heart to you.”

“You…! Don’t say such things with a serious face!! Anyway, if you can entrust your life to me, never die!!”

“Is that all you were going to say…? It’s nothing new, I’m going to prioritize my life unless it’s a very serious situation, so don’t worry.”

I said I would disregard my life, but I didn’t promise to die.

After that, we instinctively sensed that this was the end.

In fact, with those words as the last.

Jjeojeojeojeong───!!!

The pure white space was completely broken.

Like a picture in broken stained glass, I and Eve just stared at each other moving away.

As she said, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be easy to meet in the future.

So, when the sound was barely reaching each other, I murmured quietly.

“…Sorry.”

Your promise.

I don’t think I can listen to it.