Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 257

The One With Nothing to Lose (2)

Just how far does this family’s influence extend?

I marveled at Sirius’s information network, which spread out like a spiderweb.

It took less than two hours to find the locations of gardens and flower gardens throughout Europe.

It was unbelievably fast.

The network encompassed not only cities but also information on the inner gardens of wealthy homes and remote rural areas that were difficult to infiltrate.

“Isn’t this almost a surveillance society?”

“That’s harsh. It’s just that there are many groups that cooperate with our family.”

“Cooperating groups? Aren’t those seeds you’ve personally cultivated sprouting everywhere? Well, whatever, I just need the information.”

I was horrified by the frighteningly fast and accurate information network, but it’s not like they’re doing it in our territory.

They’re doing it in their territory, so there’s no justification or reason for me to say anything.

“By the way, there are a lot of gardens and flower gardens.”

“Because the range you requested was all of Europe.”

“Still, who would have thought it would be seven digits?”

I knew there were many gardens and flower gardens, but do you know how much it costs to maintain trees and plants?

Considering that, it would be at least six digits [100,000+ in currency].

I thought it wouldn’t exceed a few hundred thousand.

‘Who would have known it would exceed 7 million?’

Too many gardens and flower gardens.

However, thanks to Valkyrie’s information network thoroughly investigating the 7 million gardens and flower gardens, I was able to quickly weed out those far from my destination.

I checked the photos of the gardens and the planned drawings from when they were designed through the tablet Valkyrie gave me, marking any suspicious places.

Swish! Swish!

I quickly flipped through them, deleting unnecessary photos and drawings.

I saved the slightly suspicious photos separately.

To others, it looked like I was handling electronic devices carelessly, but to Valkyrie, who was also assisting with dynamic visual acuity [the ability to see detail in moving objects] with magic power, even the speed of the latest electronic devices couldn’t keep up with my reaction speed.

‘Her eyes and hands are fast, but more than anything, her judgment is quick. She’s comparing photos and drawings, analyzing whether there’s anything strange. At the same time, she’s deleting photos and doesn’t need much time to scan the next photo. My, how time flies. To think that child would become such a monster already.’

As soon as the photos and drawings appeared, she deleted them and judged the next image.

So much so that the speed was so fast that the time spent deleting the photos was longer than the time spent scanning them. The electronic device gradually became more and more sluggish.

I didn’t care and repeated scanning the photos and drawings and comparing the two. There wasn’t enough time to read them slowly, and there were too many photos.

Even if I looked at one every second, I could only manage 60 per minute.

Even if I invested an hour, it would be 3,600.

‘This won’t work.’

At this rate, I’ll be late.

In the end, I chose an unprecedented plan.

Press.

I pressed the back button on the page where the photos and drawings were saved.

Then the entire screen appeared. The screen with numerous photos and drawings was not visible in detail due to the excessive number of photos.

However, there was no other way to see so many photos at a glance.

In the end, I rolled my eyes diligently, like speed-reading a book in this state.

‘My eyes feel like they’re going to burst. But still, the speed is coming out!’

The process that took at least 10 minutes until just now now takes less than 1 minute. The speed has been shortened by more than 10 times.

Not satisfied with this, I moved my hands and eyes even faster.

I no longer save suspicious photos and drawings separately.

I started deleting all but the suspicious photos.

I increased the speed and reduced the process.

Then I started to judge the photos and drawings even faster.

My eyes were moving so diligently that the blood vessels burst and my vision turned red. The world looked red, but it wasn’t that I couldn’t see the photos yet.

Even in the blurry red, the faint outlines of the garden were clearly visible.

Eventually, my eyeballs became dry, but it was faster to succeed in organizing all the photos than for my eyes to break down.

“Finally… I’m done.”

“By the way. What were you doing? I was concentrating so hard that I couldn’t say anything. It seems like a late question, but do you need any help?”

No, I’m fine.

I desperately wanted to say that, but unfortunately, my stamina was crawling on the floor.

“Then, could I borrow a car and a driver?”

“Is that old man who brought you enough?”

“Well, I’m worried that he might make a mistake while driving because he’s old.”

“He’s a hundred times more energetic than you, so don’t worry.”

Hahaha!

I laughed because it seemed like the right timing to laugh, but Valkyrie was looking at me with strange eyes.

“I’m not kidding, he’s really a hundred times more energetic than you. So don’t worry.”

That’s right.

My body was still weak.

I barely escaped being crippled, but my stamina, strength, and durability were still below the average of the students. Moreover, I overworked my body to get here, and then I overworked myself again to organize the data and find the place suspected of being the destination.

The body that was already crippled became even more crippled.

“…Then I’ll accept your kindness.”

“Ah, that’s right. I won’t charge you for this as a reward for the contract.”

“Then what is it? People like us aren’t the type to do favors for no reason, are we?”

I looked at her.

She also looked at me. The age reflected in each other’s eyes was different, but we had similar aspects.

There is no help in the world without a reason.

Whether it’s to do good when volunteering. Or reluctantly helping because the grades are precarious and volunteer points are needed.

There were various reasons for help.

It was clear that there was also a reason for Valkyrie’s warmth to me based on this logic. It seems like my perspective on the world is slightly twisted.

What can I do?

I’ve lived like this all my life.

“It’s nothing much. Even if you lose in the family power struggle, I saw potential in the magician Baek Seung-woo. I’m just building a bridge.”

“A magician’s potential?”

“Actually, it’s not even potential. With your skills, you can already beat up ordinary rankers [individuals who have achieved a certain level or status], and if the compatibility is right, you can kill even high rankers without difficulty, right? Who are you trying to fool? Do you even know how many human beings I’ve watched from this position until now?”

She inferred my realm without even seeing the magic directly.

Valkyrie’s judgment was valid.

My skills already far exceeded those of an advanced magician.

It was an unbelievable result for only half a year, but it was still a failing grade.

‘I can’t achieve everything with this power alone.’

I had a lot.

Purely in terms of realm, between an advanced magician and a great magician.

I have various skills, and most of them boast fraudulent effects. I have the fraudulent bloodline of a Nine-Tailed Fox, and if I apply their characteristics to magic, I can unleash tremendous firepower.

If I list the abilities I have like this, there will be no end.

I also have knowledge and experience in martial arts, including swordsmanship.

I also have a lot of things I’ve built up on the battlefield.

Knowledge and experience. Wisdom to fill the empty space based on this.

These intangible powers were also abundant in me.

Nevertheless, it was not enough to see the end of this world.

‘I have to get stronger. More.’

I whipped myself.

A middle-aged man driving a huge car arrived before I knew it.

I, who was in the back seat, was lost in deep thought and marked five gardens with specific locations on the map.

Gardens all marked in different countries.

He looked at the navigation and my face in turn, then sighed and grabbed the steering wheel of the car.

Vroom!

The scenery outside the window slowly passed by with the exhaust sound.

The scenery also included Valkyrie, who was still expressionless.

And if my eyes were not mistaken, someone was staring at me intently from the 7th window on the 3rd floor of the palace.

Brilliant blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. But the expression had a somewhat pathetic side to it. The face was now heading towards a beautiful lady rather than a girl, but why does the dark cloud that hung over her expression for a moment linger so intensely in my head?

‘Did I recall and react to the days when my body was good?’

Maybe.

I guess I’m tired.

I took a nap in the car for a while, and only after an hour was I able to reach the first destination. However, as is the case with most methods of finding a destination in a haphazard way because you don’t know where the destination is.

The first destination did not exist.

Only after going through the second and third destinations was I able to completely specify the destination.

“It’s Germany.”

“…I’m sorry, but when you visited the mansion today, didn’t you come up from Germany at the crack of dawn?”

“That’s right. All my travel bags and passports are in Germany. I had to go back anyway, so it worked out well.”

In less than a day, we crossed Europe and returned to where we started. During that day, I had a really sweet time in the back seat of the car, and the middle-aged man’s face gradually became filled with fatigue.

A man who suffered quite a bit.

I wanted to raise his salary, but he wasn’t our family’s driver, so there was no way to commend his hard work.

I’ll appeal to your family for now.

Try to get a bonus.

* * *

A certain underground garden in Germany that is now closed.

The boss is the only one who knows why a garden that should be built in a sunny place is underground, but there was no boss to answer because it was already a ruined garden.

In the first place, the reason for the downfall was that it was built underground where sunlight did not reach, even though it was built large as a garden.

“Did everyone find it?”

“No. I couldn’t find it.”

“But, Believer. Is it really true that the ‘key’ is here? No matter how much I look, it seems like all the metal materials like keys have been sold off.”

And there were several dark shadows in such a garden.

More than 10 shadows were searching every corner of the garden, but the object they were looking for was not visible. It’s been 7 hours since they started looking.

Wasn’t the object they were looking for not there?

That’s what they were thinking.

“No. The key is here.”

“H, how are you so sure?”

“It’s simple.”

A man wearing a black robe, Simon, was confident.

The key they are looking for is here.

“Because the person who knows the location of the key marked this place with coordinates.”

Simon took out an electronic device from his pocket.

It was difficult to recognize whether it was a wireless device because it was disassembled and combined with various devices to prevent location tracking, but several photos appeared on the screen.

This photo was information obtained through hacking.

Of course, this machine will not be able to be used in the future as a price, but such electronic devices can be made again, but not the ‘key’.

It was the only one in the world, and it was a consumable item that could not be used again once it was used. That’s why they were struggling to get the key first.

“Um… shouldn’t we go to the fourth place?”

“No, the fourth place is meaningless anyway. Let’s go straight to the fifth place. You can just leave after taking me there.”

“Then… does that mean I’m off work?”

“You can just go home.”

“I understand! I’ll arrive in an instant! Hold on tight to your seatbelts!”

The driver, exhausted from repeated driving, increased his speed.

It was a speed that made me think that both of us might die if an accident occurred, but he is the driver of the high ranker . This speed was nothing to him.

Even his ability is to make the car body and the objects inside it transparent along with his body, and to be able to penetrate any obstacles.

In that way, the driver rushed straight through all the obstacles to the destination.

I like this speed.

It’s not like I’m having a hard time.

‘I should borrow it often in the future.’

It was the moment when the content to be requested from Valkyrie in the future was decided.