Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 181

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 181

The Theory of Innate Evil (1)

I left the main family residence without a sound.

When I first came here, I only felt the unpleasant gazes of people, but this time, the situation was slightly different.

“…Especially the expressions of those elders were quite a sight.”

“Yes, yes…?!”

“I wasn’t talking to you, so shut your mouth and just drive.”

“Ah… yes!”

The driver reacted to my mumbling.

Thinking about it, his reaction has changed a lot too.

‘I don’t remember exactly how he acted towards me before, but he was probably impudent. I don’t even need to see it to know.’

Both him and the elders.

I liked that their reactions had changed so much from before.

And surely, my tail played a big role in that change.

Heroic tales in the news or newspapers couldn’t win the elders’ favor.

Nor could they give them a sense of crisis that they might lose their rice bowl.

To them, the press and public opinion were just trends that could be manipulated with enough money. So they downplayed or underestimated my achievements.

Subjugation of a demon?

It was probably a low-quality demon of C or B grade.

Hurt while saving students?

It seems like they’re trying to beautifully package their lack of skill.

It was like that.

But the moment they saw the number of my tails.

They all understood the articles and rumors, and at the same time, began to be wary of me.

Not only the Cheonho Baekga [Thousand-Tailed White Fox Clan], but also the Gucheon Se-ga [Nine Heavens Noble Families], each race has traits that match them.

These are for external display.

It holds the meaning of showing off and threatening.

A typical example is the Sirius family, where the power of a werewolf’s bloodline can be predicted by the hazy pupils that fill up like a full moon.

In the case of my family, it’s just the number of tails.

‘Five is a lot.’

We strive to become a Cheonho, a fox with ten tails.

The realm I have reached.

The Omiho [Five-Tailed Fox], who only resembles half of their ancestors, has only reached the middle of the goal, but in reality, there are less than ten people above me with more tails than that.

Right now, my status has risen to the point where some elders are helpless.

….

Now that I think about it, should I just kill those I can kill?

‘Even if it’s not my left arm… if I sacrifice just my pinky finger, I can kill four out of nine for sure.’

The selection of elders is not solely based on the logic of power.

Of course, martial prowess and the number of tails that support it are important, but the most important thing was a sense.

A sense of politics and practical affairs.

In addition, it’s good to have the ability to suck up to existing forces.

Of course, after becoming an elder, they don’t easily suck up, claiming to maintain their dignity. They are all arrogant bastards.

“…Tails. Three with four tails. One with five tails.”

Those with fewer or the same number of tails as me.

Including my younger sister, there are five people.

If I were determined, I could physically do something to these five people.

The problem was their wealth and reputation.

Instead of being weak in power, they built up connections, and the truly difficult thing about those who have accumulated wealth is not their own martial power.

The power of the strong that can be borrowed through connections and wealth.

‘If I’m determined, I can kill them through a surprise attack, before they hire bodyguards stronger than me with their connections and wealth.’

If I kill a few of them, the power of the council of elders will be weakened even a little.

However, a great chaos will come to the power structure of the family, and jackals aiming for our family’s wealth and power will not miss the opportunity.

‘And if elders with six or more tails become wary of me.’

My future is obvious.

“I don’t even want to imagine it. There will definitely be several setbacks in the plan.”

“Th-that… Clan Lord. We have arrived at the destination you mentioned.”

The driver, who kept his mouth shut as I told him to, looked at me with an expression asking me to get out quickly.

I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Okay, good work.”

“Thank you. I hope to see you again next time.”

I ignored the driver’s greeting from behind and strolled through the alleyway. I walked aimlessly for about 10 minutes.

There was no tail or pursuit.

I can just go in.

I changed the direction of my walk and headed towards a building with few people.

Opening the old but sturdy and solid door.

Dling-dong!

Two bells collided, notifying the inside that an outsider had arrived.

“…It’s hot.”

The stuffy heat felt as I entered the building.

The heat, which surpasses an ordinary sauna, warms the air and makes even people with low body temperatures sweat.

“Oh, you’ve come.”

“It’s been a while. Nice to see you.”

“I’m not happy at all.”

The old blacksmith was sweating.

He had a towel soaked around his neck.

It seems like he was hammering until just now.

“Please ventilate a bit. Even if there’s smoke outside, there are many workshops in this area, so outsiders won’t notice.”

“Hey, you. What if I lose my concentration if I even open a window? And it would be a disaster if someone threw trash through the window.”

“Ah, you were that kind of person.”

For his work.

A perfectionist blacksmith who doesn’t tolerate even the slightest error.

[pseudonym of the blacksmith] pointed to my left arm and continued the conversation.

“A cursed left arm. I read in the newspaper that it was cut off.”

“…Can you even see that?”

“Of course. How many demon swords and cursed blades have I made? I can easily recognize a cursed body.”

He didn’t ask any more questions.

I don’t know if it’s because he’s no longer interested or if he’s being considerate of me, but I secretly hoped it was the latter. We changed the subject and continued the conversation.

“Oh, right. Here’s your gift.”

“Is the work already done? That’s fast.”

“That’s not it. I finished making the commissioned item a long time ago, so I was bored and even finished the packaging.”

“Then…”

What is the gift, then?

When Gu Yaja brought the so-called gift, my eyes widened.

“This is… a fox mask.”

“I forged the large pieces into weapons, and made the mask by collecting the remaining powder and dust.”

Small fragments and powder of the Killing Stone [a legendary stone said to kill anyone who touches it].

It seems that things that couldn’t even be made into daggers were made into dyes or melted down.

The result was this mask.

「Mask of the White-Faced Golden-Haired Fox」

Grade: Epic

Description: A mask made as a hobby by the master craftsman, , who is almost regaining his old skills. It is based on the Baek-Myeon Geum-Mo Gumiho [White-Faced Golden-Haired Fox], one of Japan’s three great demons among the Gumiho transmitted from various countries in the East. As the name Baek-Myeon suggests, the mask, which is white and decorated with gold, evokes admiration from those who see it. Whatever the ability, it has overflowing aesthetic appeal, so if you have this mask at a masquerade ball, you will surely be the main character.

*Uncanny valley

If no one wears it, it’s just a beautiful mask, but when ‘Baek Seung-woo’ wears it and infuses it with magic, it creates physiological fear and disgust in the viewer.

When linked with the characteristic, 「Femme Fatale」 and the skill, 「Charm」, the fear and disgust felt by the target are charmed, causing confusion in the cognitive system.

*Evil spirit (凶神惡煞) [xiōng shén è shà: Chinese idiom for fierce and evil spirit]

As an ability born from the origin of an evil spirit, it allows you to handle evil yokai energy (妖氣) [yōki: Japanese term for demon energy] while wearing the mask.

Yokai energy is a resource completely different from magic power and demonic energy, and it boasts greater power when used to activate spells, and can directly shock the opponent’s mind. However, the durability of the mask is not very high, so it cannot be used for a long time.

*Killing Stone Eyes (殺生石眼)

When magic power is concentrated on the empty eye area of the mask, powerful poison gas (毒氣) [dú qì: Chinese term for poison gas] is emitted from the black eye rims. Because it is made with dyes processed from the Killing Stone (殺生石) [Sessho-seki: Japanese term for Killing Stone], a rock said to have been made from the White-Faced Golden-Haired Fox, it has the same poison as the original. The more you use it, the faster the durability of the mask wears out.

A mask with a fox drawn on it.

The moment I saw it, I couldn’t stand the headache.

“…Are you out of your mind?”

A mask made as a hobby is ‘Epic’ grade?

The weapons I commissioned with money are S+ grade?

“What kind of drugs do you have to take to make masterpieces as a hobby? Just tell me. I’ll find the drugs myself.”

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Do you think I’d do drugs at my age?!”

“If not, it doesn’t make sense logically. To this extent, it’s practically—.”

—Aren’t you close to your prime?

That’s what I was about to ask.

If my eyes hadn’t seen the old man’s face, I would have said that for sure.

“Don’t make a fuss.”

The old man’s eyes were not filled with nostalgia as if reminiscing about something.

It was just calm.

I felt a desire rising from within that calmness.

“I’m just a blacksmith who became famous by luck. The alias , which became more famous than my real name, and the resulting works are all thanks to imitating the works of predecessors who are not related by blood.”

The weapons I commissioned.

The white mask in my hand is not something that imitates someone else’s, but a thing born directly from the old man’s hands.

A weapon born without borrowing the name of . The story surrounding it.

He is not regaining his skills from his prime, but walking a different path and heading towards a higher place.

Instead of the paved road of Gu Yaja’s name.

He was enduring the rough uncharted path and growing.

‘What I wanted was a sword made by . If this goes on, a work completely different from what I wanted will be born.’

It’s different from what I expected.

But in some ways.

I trust him even more than before.

“By the way, you seem busy these days. There’s not a day I don’t see your face in the newspaper.”

“Until now, I’ve been in the hospital, so I haven’t been particularly busy. Perhaps it’s because of the articles that the media is writing to attract public attention by using me that you have such a misunderstanding.”

Look at him now.

His expression is definitely brighter than before.

It’s difficult to accept variables that deviate from my expectations, but I can accept this level of variable with a smile.

“You… your expression is filthy.”

“What kind of manners is it to say ‘filthy’ to someone’s face?”

“Look in the mirror. Young people may go crazy for it, but to the eyes of an old man like me, it only looks like the expression of a rascal with ulterior motives.”

“You’re too much.”

“So.”

, who treated me like a mere rascal, stared intently at my face.

Even his sitting posture changed, and it seemed like he wanted to get to the point.

“What do you want to say?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t joke around. A guy with a brain like you can’t not know how useful this time is when the media is paying attention to you. If you came to see me at such an important time, you must want something.”

“Ha, Elder.”

Your insight is good.

Is this what they call an adult’s experience?

“It’s not a big request. Ah, maybe it’s a big request.”

I took out an item stored in the subspace.

It was a snake’s bone.

It was also from a very large snake, 「Jormungandr」[a giant sea serpent in Norse mythology].

It was so big that even though I only took out a little, there was no gap in the ceiling of the smithy.

“Damn it, that’s disgustingly big.”

“And one more thing.”

“You have one more request besides this damn big thing?”

“Yes, actually, I was only commissioning armor with an exoskeleton made of this bone, but I unintentionally received an interesting call.”

I shook my cell phone.

What was visible on the screen was the text history.

I showed him the long message sent by a person marked as ‘Teacher’.

“It seems like there will be a time when I will call you outside soon.”

, who slowly read the text from his teacher, Nam Hwa-yeon, hardened his face. Then he nodded.

It was a sign of acceptance.