Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 203

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 203

Masquerade (3)

I put on the mask and left the house.

I promised Erzebet that I would buy something delicious on the way back.

I really felt like I had a daughter.

Erzebet put the mask on me herself.

The very same mask I used when rescuing her.

“─Is it okay to wear the mask as it is? Someone might recognize you.”

That’s an unnecessary worry.

There was no need to worry about someone recognizing me.

“It’s okay. No one will recognize me.”

“─You sound pretty confident.”

“Because I am.”

Class A Villain, Maegu.

He was a villain who suddenly appeared like a comet in the industry.

Unlike the Mains, who have titles, and the Players, who have ranks and high-ranks.

The maximum grade indicating the strength and danger of a villain was S-class.

That’s why it’s not easy to climb to a higher grade.

In some ways, it’s more difficult than for Players.

In reality, the grading of villains is based on pure skill.

But suddenly, a strange masked guy became an A-class villain?

Most people wouldn’t believe it.

A-class isn’t common, either.

Becoming A-class with just one incident.

It’s hard to know unless you’re involved in the industry.

Moreover, after Maegu was designated as an A-class villain, fraudulent accounting occurred in a well-known company, pushing Maegu to the back burner.

‘I did it considering that, but even I think it’s too unknown.’

The fraudulent accounting was also in the original work.

It wasn’t a particularly important part, but thanks to vaguely remembering it, I was able to cover the issue with another issue. But the fallout from the fraudulent accounting was bigger than I thought, so Maegu’s name and face became excessively unknown.

This was a bit unexpected.

“…Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah, can you watch the house by yourself?”

“…Yes.”

Erzebet nodded.

She fiddled with the mask I was wearing.

She looked anxious.

It’s strange for a 15-year-old to not be able to watch the house alone, but considering the special circumstances of Erzebet’s upbringing, there was a possibility that she couldn’t.

I am not her biological parent.

I’m volunteering as her adoptive father.

As Baek Eun-ho said, I haven’t submitted the documents yet because I’m mindful of the elders.

“Should I wait until you fall asleep before leaving?”

“…No, but promise me you’ll come back.”

“You…”

“…Can you promise me?”

It’s not like I’m going to war.

I reassured her that there was no need to worry too much, and I promised, making a fingerprint with my finger. A pinky promise.

There was definitely a childlike innocence.

I left Erzebet behind and took a taxi.

The tail was hidden with magic or tucked into the suit.

Thanks to wearing a suit that was bigger than my frame on purpose, it didn’t show that I had tucked in my tail, and it had the effect of making my frame look bigger.

With that enlarged body, I came to the place written on the invitation.

The end of the South Sea, a cliff.

When I got off there, the taxi driver was horrified at first, thinking I was going to commit suicide, but he was sent back with a dazed expression by the guards who came to greet me.

“Indeed, they were managing it this way.”

The guards were dressed like people dispatched from the government.

It was as if they were protecting the minerals and resources of the South Sea from outsiders.

But what they actually do is the opposite.

They are private soldiers protecting the Choi family.

It seems that this place is much more unusual than I thought.

Escorted by the guards, I came face to face with a huge mansion.

Several people were having their invitations checked at the entrance.

They were all wearing dresses or suits and masks.

And surprisingly.

‘Why are those kids here?’

─Oh my, those kids came here too? This is getting interesting.

‘……This is driving me crazy.’

For reference, there were several familiar faces from the entrance.

My connections are narrow, but it wasn’t Baek Eun-ho or the professor.

‘There are more students than I thought.’

From the students I taught to the students in other classes.

Among them, there were several promising students.

I thought that most of the promising students in the 1st and 2nd grades, except for the graduating 3rd graders, would come.

‘If you think about it, it might be a good opportunity for promising kids.’

All the social gatherings that the higher-ups usually talk about are like that, but this is especially where people with something gather.

Wealth, power, force. And the talents of promising students were also a kind of power.

‘An opportunity to appeal themselves to such powerful people. How many students can miss it.’

It might not matter to the children of high-ranking families like Seo Yerin or Isabel, but there were several students who weren’t.

The 1st graders, called the golden generation, had less weight.

Among the 2nd grade promising students, there were already many who were running around trying to make connections.

The connections made here will have a positive impact when they become 3rd graders in the future.

From when external activities gradually increase under the pretext of being a graduating class, to when they decide where to go after graduation.

If they’re lucky, even after they settle down.

They can make good connections where they can join hands.

From the perspective of the masked adults, they will think positively about the fact that they can make connections with promising students from the world’s top 5 academies.

Of course, if they don’t achieve more than the positive results they expect, they will be mercilessly abandoned, but isn’t that how society is originally?

Until they settle down, they have to constantly prove themselves.

‘Fortunately, most of my students are children who are guaranteed success, but everyone came here.’

The children gathered together.

They covered their bodies with fancy masks and dresses, but they couldn’t even hide their unique atmosphere. From the beginning, five of them were sticking together.

It was as if we were telling the world that we were in the same group.

It was impossible not to be obvious.

‘But why are there only five of them?’

However, just one person.

The only male student, Lee Ji.

Only that child was not there.

* * *

While Seungwoo was wandering around at the entrance.

The mansion was filled with masked people wearing dresses and suits.

Hiding each other’s identities and focusing solely on conversation, this place was the best place to build friendships.

But the atmosphere was not completely ripe yet.

The current time is 9 p.m.

Considering the schedule of the masquerade that continues past midnight until dawn, it’s only in the warm-up stage. In terms of cooking, it’s still just an appetizer.

A lively taste that moderately stimulates the appetite.

It was an appropriate expression to describe the current lively masquerade.

“It’s much more serious than I thought.”

“This is my first time with something like this! I should thank Teaching Assistant Bang Seok-hoon!”

“There’s no need to thank that person. Originally, promising students have many social opportunities like this. We contributed to attacking the reverse side of the world as students, so it’s a natural thing.”

“That’s right. Look around. It’s hard to see because of the masks, but there are several familiar silhouettes, right? I bet they’re all our academy students.”

Isabel and the other students surveyed the atmosphere of the ball.

They generally seemed satisfied with the more antique atmosphere than they had expected.

One disadvantage was the entrance examination.

Since the theme of the social gathering was a masquerade, the only things that could prove their identities were the masks and invitations.

However, it was revealed that one crazy guy forged an invitation and tried to sneak in, so the screening became more difficult than expected.

For reference, they were able to enter easily.

Not only the presence of the invitation, but also the existence of the person who recommended this place to her, and the atmosphere that could not be hidden even with a mask played a big role.

Teaching Assistant Bang Seok-hoon easily found them.

“Ah! You guys came. Wearing masks, you can’t hide your unique atmosphere.”

“Oh my, Teaching Assistant.”

“Hello.”

“Would you like to come here too?”

Bang Seok-hoon was savoring a drink in a small glass.

Next to him was a blonde woman in a dress.

Instead of savoring the alcohol or the atmosphere, she was concentrating on her meal, filling her plate with food.

Bang Seok-hoon said to the blonde girl who was breaking the atmosphere.

“You’re eating well, Leona. Do you like the banquet food?”

“!!!!”

Leona Leonhardt.

She is the daughter of the brave golden lion with the heart of a lion.

Her force, accompanied by the blessing of the sun, is considered the best among the first graders.

However, there were so many fierce competitors that she wasn’t very noticeable.

She was a promising prospect of the golden generation.

At the same time.

“Yes, it suits me well. It’s definitely different in quality from the food that Sirius, that idiot family, used to bring out. Well, if you think about it, it might be rude to compare it to that infamous British food.”

“You… you just said that for me to hear, didn’t you?”

“Oh my, I didn’t mean it that way. However, I was just criticizing British food, but I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss.”

“There are no eyes watching outside the academy, right…?”

Sirius’s eternal rival.

Like the eldest daughter Isabel, she was the eldest daughter, so they had been bumping into each other since childhood.

It was a bad relationship in a different sense from Baek Seungwoo.

“Hehe, it could sound like that. If you usually think that way.”

“Who’s saying that.”

The two didn’t have any personal animosity.

However, the conflict between the families that had been going on for generations divided the two before they even met. Two girls born with a destiny that they can never be close to.

That was the current state of Sirius and Leonhardt.

‘Should I have not come?’

Isabel already knew that Leona was coming because she had heard it from Bang Seok-hoon.

Seeing her face again made her feel an unbearable hostility.

This is the feeling that the Sirius family has instilled in her for a long time.

It was an old family feud.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have brought Lee Ji with me.’

There were four friends by Isabel’s side right now.

All of Baek Seungwoo’s students except Lee Ji gathered.

At first, everyone was going to come together, but Lee Ji dropped out because he had personal reasons. It was a real shame.

If he was there, he would have argued and not paid attention to Leona.

Or Baek Seungwoo is good too.

I hate him, but it’s fun to see his face.

Ah, it’s a masquerade, so I can’t see his face even if I come with him.

I felt the absence of the mood maker Lee Ji keenly.

Isabel recalled the day Lee Ji refused Bang Seok-hoon’s invitation.

It was a week ago.

“Ah, sorry. I have a part-time job that day too.”

“Next weekend too? You skipped the auction house like that before.”

“Haha, sorry. I have to make money.”

He has to make money.

It didn’t seem like he was trying to buy equipment or participate in his favorite celebrity’s concert.

His expression, which was smiling but somehow sad, was quite pitiful.

When it became impossible to ask any further.

The students scratched their heads with awkward expressions.

It felt like they had stepped on a landmine.

Maybe it’s because they’re all young.

They didn’t know how to get through this situation.

The students who broke up in such a vague way eventually met again at the ball.

“Guests, this is champagne to liven up the atmosphere. We have prepared non-alcoholic champagne for those who may not know. Would you like regular champagne if you want?”

“You… Lee Ji? Are you Lee Ji?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m a raccoon mask. If you want champagne with alcohol, please tell our staff in uniform. Then goodbye.”

Not a teammate, classmate, or friend.

A staff member wearing a raccoon mask and a noble lady wearing an elegant wolf mask.

Why is someone who shouldn’t be here working as a staff member?

‘Something is happening in this mansion.’

Isabel instinctively sensed it.

It was similar to the feeling she had when she faced the giant snake last time.