Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 21

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 21

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius 21

Decision (1)

The letter from the family was a headache.

“What? You used the elixir as you pleased and now you want to be paid for it?”

I wonder who’s saying that to whom.

Baek Seol-hee is Baek Seung-woo’s younger sister, and she has a calculating and meticulous personality.

Given her personality, if she’s conveying these words in a letter, it means she’s already laid the groundwork to some extent. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to be harmful to me.

“Why are you charging me for the elixir in the first place?”

The elixir is a panacea.

A potion that can save anyone who isn’t dead.

If mass production were possible, you could become incredibly wealthy, but it’s difficult to create even one, let alone a mass-produced inferior version.

So, the Cheonho Baekga [Thousand Lake Baek Family] kept a few on hand in preparation for emergencies.

What, and now they’re going to charge me for it?

That’s absurd.

The elixir is clearly the property of the Cheonho Baekga.

And I am the head of the Cheonho Baekga.

They’re charging me for using my own property?

This is an act close to treason, far beyond overstepping authority. If Baek Seol-hee really demands the elixir’s value from me, I’ll have no choice but to revolt.

“…I should visit the main family soon.”

Until now, I had no intention of going to the main family.

I was planning to watch the protagonist’s awakening and stand by as the events unfolded. I didn’t want to bother stirring up trouble by going to the main family.

Even if I did go, I was planning to go as late as possible.

But now my mind has changed.

‘I need to reclaim all the stolen rights.’

I intend to take back everything Baek Seung-woo lost myself.

If I can completely conquer the Cheonho Baekga, I’ll have that massive power in my grasp.

Vast wealth and honor, connections to great families, and the force that underlies them.

If I can completely conquer Cheonho Baekga, I can easily get through most episodes. Then, a question suddenly arose.

It’s good that I can easily get through some episodes.

But what does that mean, anyway?

“I’m not the protagonist, after all.”

I can’t do anything.

I tried to save the students, even while preventing the protagonist’s awakening.

So, what benefit was there in that?

Nine students who didn’t need to die died instead.

The protagonist must have felt animosity towards my actions.

And I almost died trying to overturn the episode.

There was no benefit.

It’s obvious when you think about it.

People each have their own roles. My role is that of an extra villain.

My existence is meant to be miserably defeated for the sake of the protagonist.

Was I intoxicated by heroism and vanity without realizing it?

Why did I forget that simple fact?

“…I can’t change anything.”

Sigh, I let out a deep sigh.

I exhaled until my chest ached and throbbed.

I exhaled until there was no breath left in my lungs, and my head spun dizzily.

Oxygen, I needed fresh oxygen. I desperately needed breath to fill this empty heart.

I put magic power into my hand and tore off the restraints.

My blood vessels that carry magic power and the body that holds them haven’t fully healed yet, but I used the medical pole with various IV drips as a cane and went outside.

Step by step, my steps were as slow as my heavy sighs.

* * *

Before long, April was approaching.

It’s the season of full-blown spring.

It’s the time when new students adapt to the academy to some extent and make various friends. It is also the time when many couples spring up like mushrooms after the rain.

I used to hate seeing students flaunting their relationships.

“Now there’s no one here.”

Flower buds bloomed everywhere.

As someone with pollen allergies, my nose itched, but my eyes were happy instead.

Ah, young people would be better suited to enjoying the atmosphere here than an old man like me.

My mental age is in my mid-20s, and my body is only 21 years old, but I’m quite pessimistic.

It was quite sad that no one but me was in the colorful flower-filled park. It’s not like it’s class time now, or that everyone has gone outside.

The professors are hurrying back to the academy to clean up the mess.

The 2nd and 3rd graders are not here because the desert island midterms and guild training have not yet finished. And the last problem is the 1st graders.

“All the 1st graders have PTSD, it’s truly a disgrace to the world’s top 5 academies.”

Hundreds of students are hospitalized in the Chilseong Academy’s [Seven Stars Academy] internal hospital ward. There’s no need to worry, as there are players among the professors who are skilled in treatment, as well as experienced health teachers.

There is no need to worry about injuries. The problem is the mental wounds.

Currently, about 1,000 students, excluding the injured, are complaining of mental stress. It’s even more of a headache because it’s not known which of the injured will show mental problems.

“At this rate, everyone in the academy will be taking antidepressants.”

The mental hospital will be doing good business.

Because 2,000 students will need treatment and medication.

Should I open a mental hospital this time?

I came up with such a trivial thought, and then I realized that the number was wrong.

‘It’s not 2,000 people anymore, it’s 1,991 people now.’

This is an unprecedented number in the history of the academy.

The maximum number of students per grade at Chilseong Academy is 2,000.

This was an absolute number that had never been shaken.

That’s because not a single student had transferred or dropped out in decades. But this time, nine students left their seats.

It is not known whether this vacancy will be filled or left as it is.

Because that kind of content doesn’t appear in the novel.

There is no amount to allocate to an extra who is not a main character and has already died. I felt frustrated by that fact.

Sigh, I was hoping I’d feel a little better if I came outside.

I feel even more frustrated instead.

As I was walking down the street, I saw a bench and sat down.

“When I think about it, I have nothing to do. The professor said he would process my sick leave, so I can’t go to work…”

“That’s right. In my opinion, it seems like you could handle the miscellaneous tasks even if you went to work.”

A voice answering my quiet mutterings.

I’ve heard it before, but it wasn’t a familiar voice.

When I turned my head, I realized whose voice it was.

“…Why are you here?”

“Am I not allowed to come to the park?”

“The academy is turned upside down right now, so you must be busy in many ways.”

“Yeah, I’m taking a 10-minute break for the first time in 29 hours.”

The man who asked me to run errands as soon as I possessed this world.

After that, he burned an unknown hostility towards me and tried not to meet me as much as possible.

I can’t believe he’s coming to find me.

“Teaching Assistant Bang Seok-hoon…”

“Call me Senior Bang Seok-hoon, you rookie. Where do you think you are?”

“Didn’t you get scolded by the professor for doing that? If you’re going to be a *kkondae* [꼰대 – Korean slang for an older person who is condescending or preachy], go to someone else besides me.”

I didn’t really want to talk to Bang Seok-hoon.

I knew him, but we weren’t close enough to talk in a private place. How can I handle that ball of hysteria?

I can’t.

“You gigolo-like bastard, you’re the only junior who talks to a senior like that.”

“If you want to be respected, change your words and actions first. So, what brings you to me?”

“I heard you were hurt. Is your lung okay?”

Goodness.

Bang Seok-hoon, who had been a pain in the ass from the first day, was asking me how I was doing. I was surprised.

But what was even more surprising was the content of his regards.

He’s not asking if I’m okay, he’s asking about my lung. As expected of Bang Seok-hoon, he’s extraordinary in many ways.

“…Why are you making such a dumb expression?”

“No, I was just thinking that you’re the only person in the world who would ask such a question.”

“You rude bastard… I can’t get attached to you at all.”

I agree with that too.

I haven’t taken any actions to become attached to others in the past month, but there are two people who can be called bad relationships among them.

Bang Seok-hoon and Kyle.

It’s entirely my fault about Kyle, and I don’t have any particular feelings for the teaching assistants who ostracize me. However, Bang Seok-hoon is an exception.

“I don’t want to get close to you either, so why don’t you just go your way?”

“…I’ll sit next to you for a moment.”

“No, why are you leaving so many benches and sitting next to me… Ah, you’ve already sat down.”

Bang Seok-hoon sat next to me.

The bench was wide, so the unfortunate event of sticking together didn’t happen, but it was quite unpleasant. I want to swing the medical pole and tell him to get lost, but.

Only the pole would break if I did that.

Although he is a teaching assistant, Bang Seok-hoon is also a wizard studying under Nam Hwa-yeon. I don’t know if it was me when I fought Yuren.

I won’t be able to compete with him now that I’m half crippled.

“By the way, your tail has grown. I’ve heard it’s a Cheonho Baekga trait, but it’s amazing. What’s the principle?”

“…Is that what you came here for?”

“Halfway.”

Well, it’s understandable that it’s amazing.

I’m just amazed by the increased tail.

Having a tail grow is a very strange feeling.

It’s different from having another arm or leg grow. Something foreign is attached near the waist. But the feeling of it moving as you please is indescribable.

“It’s not so much a family trait as it is the result of training.”

“…Training?”

“Yes, training. It’s a similar act to a Buddhist attaining enlightenment and stepping into the realm of Nirvana. Now, I’ve explained it, so please go to work.”

I explained it roughly, but I don’t know if I explained it well.

I don’t know much about training either.

A fox growing a tail is different from simply learning knowledge.

It’s not about increasing force, or waiting patiently for a hundred years.

I can’t deduce the method at all.

Well, that’s why it’s training.

“That’s amazing.”

“Now that you know, please go to work.”

“I’ll have a cigarette before I go.”

“You son of a… !”

Bang Seok-hoon taking out a cigarette from his pocket.

*Chik*, he turned on the lighter and lit the cigarette.

What is he doing now?

“What are you doing in front of a non-smoker? I’m even a patient, are you crazy?”

“You match the rhyme well.”

“Wow, I knew you were crazy, but I didn’t know you were *this* crazy.”

He keeps giving me irrelevant answers from earlier.

I roughly knew from the first day, but I didn’t know he was this crazy.

Bang Seok-hoon handed me a cigarette.

“…Are you telling me to light a cigarette?”

“Have a smoke.”

“I’m a non-smoker.”

“…”

He’s offering a cigarette to a non-smoker. I’m even a patient.

Now that I think about it, he must have asked about my lung health because of cigarettes.

Wow, where can you find a senior like this in the world?

He’s really the worst.

“But I think you used to smoke.”

“…How did you know?”

“Just guessing.”

“…”

What can I ask that person?

My head goes blank when I talk to him.

I stared blankly at the cigarette Bang Seok-hoon handed me.

It’s not that I don’t want to smoke.

I used to smoke because of stress on the battlefield, but I was forced to quit due to a lack of luxury supplies. It’s not that I don’t want to smoke.

But I didn’t want to smoke the cigarette that person was giving me.

Look at that.

A cigarette with no brand written on it.

How can I trust and smoke something like that?

I can’t. I can’t do it.

Bang Seok-hoon watched my appearance intently.

There was no longer the same hostility in his eyes as before. Rather, pity, or rather, a feeling of kinship arose.

I felt a gaze on the back of my head and turned around.

There was Bang Seok-hoon, flicking his fingers and getting rid of the remaining cigarettes.

White powder flowed from the cigarette butt, and soon vaporized into the air.

The sight was like gold dust scattered in the air by an angel.

It was quite a mysterious cigarette.

He straightened his collar and got up from the bench.

“…Don’t do this kind of thing.”

“Yes?”

“Then I’ll be on my way. You get well soon and come back.”

Is he crazy?

Before I could even ask, Bang Seok-hoon left.

Bang Seok-hoon went back the way he came, and someone followed that path. They knew each other, so they greeted each other and parted ways.

I was surprised when I saw his face as the distance got closer.

It was a completely unexpected person.