Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 265

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 265

An Ordinary Day (5)

“What were you doing all night that you’re just crawling out now?”

“All night?”

“Yeah, I’m getting ready for the kids to eat breakfast. Prepare the water and tableware next to me.”

Clatter, clatter.

Dishes moved busily, and a delicious smell wafted from the living room.

It was a violently assaulting smell to me, who had been in the basement all night.

Anyway, all night. I had completely forgotten the sense of time, so I didn’t know how long it had been, but it hasn’t even been a day.

I was secretly worried that maybe a week had passed, but I let out a sigh of relief and said,

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Well, it’s a menu I found on the internet yesterday, so I only know the recipe. Oh, don’t worry about not knowing the menu name. I copied your sense of taste as well.”

“That’s supposed to reassure me, but it makes me even more anxious.”

I enjoy gourmet food, but depending on the situation, I can eat spoiled food, strong odors, and unpleasant things without complaint because of my sense of taste. It’s a unique ability I possess.

I can’t help but worry.

I’m nervous.

“Don’t worry, Dad! I tried it once before it was finished, and it was delicious!”

“Erzsebet, you woke up early. Aren’t you tired?”

“Huh? I slept for 8 hours and I’m full of energy. But are you tired, Dad? It’s 10 o’clock now!”

Erzsebet is now used to the title ‘Dad’.

That appearance was unfamiliar and yet amazing.

No. Maybe I’m the only one who finds this appearance unfamiliar.

“Mom, can I have juice?”

“I prepared soup, but you want to drink juice? It’s not good to fill your stomach with too much liquid.”

“One bottle in the morning is okay, right?”

“Okay, but no grape juice with a lot of sugar. Oh, and tell your dad to get a cup of water and prepare the tableware. What are you doing just standing there looking pathetic?”

Baek Hyeon-ah and Erzsebet.

Even the baby sitting still in a chair with a baby-only belt.

All three of them have adapted to this family. It’s hard to believe that all three are not related by blood.

‘People… when I think about it, there isn’t a single normal person in this place.’

I was a fox with a strong bloodline of the Gumiho [a nine-tailed fox spirit in Korean folklore].

Baek Hyeon-ah, who plays the role of the mother, is a doppelganger [a shapeshifter or duplicate of a living person].

Erzsebet is a quarter vampire who inherited about 1/4 of the vampire’s blood.

The baby was closer to a Yongsaeng Guja (龍生九子) [a mythical creature, one of the nine sons of the dragon king, each with unique powers and characteristics] in the form of a human.

‘There really isn’t a single normal person.’

The more I thought about it, the funnier the sight was.

We were independent beings with no common ground with others.

To think that people who can’t easily belong to society gather in one family and play house. It’s practically a family that I planned and led, but I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

What is this? The mom and dad are a fox and a doppelganger, and the children are vampires and dragons.

What kind of family is this in the world?

The laughter. The smirk wouldn’t stop.

“Puhahaha!”

I laughed out loud.

Then the corners of my mouth drew a curve.

Oh, why am I laughing so much?

Surprised by the facial muscles that moved without my knowing, I touched the corners of my mouth with my hand.

At that moment, I realized that the smile I had was not a smirk.

A very natural and soft smile.

Even if I could make a similar shape of a smile with pretense, I could never express the warmth contained in the smile with lies.

I see.

I realized one thing.

‘I like this family more than I thought.’

It was a strange feeling.

It wasn’t the first time I felt this feeling, but I don’t know how long it’s been since I felt it.

I thought I would never feel this emotion again for the rest of my life, but only after I decided to give up on life, I was able to feel this warm emotion once again.

What kind of harmony is this?

“Do you know why your dad is laughing like that? I told him to prepare the tableware, but I don’t know why he’s doing that.”

“Leave him alone. It’s the first time I’ve seen Dad laugh like that.”

The doppelganger, who joined this family the latest, naturally blended into the atmosphere of the house and faithfully fulfilled the role of the mother.

Erzsebet, who had been sparing of words because of her wounded past, was able to laugh and talk naturally.

What about the baby?

“…Eua?”

It was still a babbling baby.

Still, seeing it reaching out with both hands while looking at me, it seems that a certain degree of attachment has been formed.

It must be recognizing me as a parent.

“Don’t just stand there, go sit down. You have to eat.”

“Dad! I brought the water, spoon, and chopsticks. Let’s go eat!”

“…Okay.”

I naturally sat down at the table.

Baek Hyeon-ah sat next to me, and Erzsebet sat on the opposite side with her younger sibling.

After taking our seats, we picked up our spoons without any special prayer or greeting.

The most awkward time of the past two weeks has come again today without fail.

Until now, I ate according to the nutrients needed for the situation, but now I eat the food served on the table with others, regardless of nutrients or calories.

It’s been a long time since I dipped hard, dry bread in soup together in the barracks.

Now it has become an everyday occurrence.

“This bread is delicious. Did Mom make this too?!”

“No, I bought it from the bakery across the street. Their bread is the most delicious in the morning.”

“Ah… I guess. There’s no way Mom could make bread this delicious.”

“Hey, it’s only been two weeks since Mom started cooking. If you want to complain about the side dishes, don’t eat them.”

“Ah, haha. Ah, Dad, how about you? What’s the most delicious thing this morning?”

The baby obviously can’t speak, and Erzsebet and Baek Hyeon-ah, who were creating a harmonious atmosphere while silently watching the conversation. During their conversation, Erzsebet stepped on a landmine.

In the end, she sent an SOS to me.

“Even if you suddenly ask me, I don’t know because I haven’t eaten all the food yet.”

“I saw it! Dad hasn’t eaten the soup and stir-fried vegetables yet. I’ll feed you. Then you can tell me, right?”

Erzsebet, who put two broccoli florets from the stir-fried vegetables on a spoon, opened her mouth and said.

“Here, ah~.”

“…Ah.”

There were many vegetables in the stir-fried vegetables, including paprika and onions, but Erzsebet brought the broccoli, which she usually picks on, to my mouth.

Something was strange, but if I asked for onions in this situation, it seemed like I would be seen as a picky eater.

I had no choice but to eat the broccoli on the spoon in one bite.

When I ate the broccoli in one bite, a smile appeared on Erzsebet’s mouth, whose broccoli to eat was clearly reduced.

Of course, that smile was broken when Baek Hyeon-ah put the broccoli in her front plate into her daughter’s front plate.

While silently watching the scene.

“Have you decided on a name for her?”

“…Suddenly?”

“I’ve told you so many times to decide quickly.”

“If you’re going to urge me so much, why don’t you decide? I think that would be better.”

“Originally, people with a lot of life experience are better at this kind of thing.”

Suddenly, Baek Hyeon-ah brought up the name of the baby who was quietly eating baby food.

The baby’s name. I’m still thinking about it, but I can’t come up with a good idea.

Since I don’t have a good idea, I hesitate to give her a name right now.

I had no choice.

‘I need to think about the name a little more carefully.’

A name was the most basic first step in forming a bond between people.

I couldn’t just give such a name carelessly.

“I’ll think about it a little more.”

“Decide quickly. That’s how you’ll write the names on their things.”

“…Was that why you were urging me? But is that really necessary?”

It’s true that the child needs a name, but I don’t think it’s needed for that purpose. Isn’t writing names on things a method used when there are two or more children in the first place?

Erzsebet only has this body shape.

Her age was already okay to enter middle school.

“All the baby products that exist in our house are all for that child, so there’s no need to write the name.”

“But… I, I just want to try it.”

“What…?”

Did I hear wrong just now?

What did Baek Hyeon-ah say?

“You. Can you tell me again what you just said?”

“Just! I just want to try it once. Why, can’t I?!”

“No, it’s not that you can’t…”

I was at a loss for words for a moment.

It’s so amazing.

Even if the self-consciousness that arose in the skill, 「Doppelganger」, was due to the budding of an independent ego due to someone’s imitation or reproduction.

But this was almost a perfect person.

No, it’s definitely a person.

How can you not see an existence that has its own tastes and personality and has succeeded in establishing personal preferences based on them as a person?

They say that S-class skills are all amazing.

I realized the reason once again today.

Baek Hyeon-ah, who mistook my surprised expression as an ‘expression of making fun of her’, blushed and nagged with a shy look.

At that sight, I unknowingly burst into laughter.

When I laughed, the baby laughed too. The laughter was transmitted.

The atmosphere brightened in an instant, and Baek Hyeon-ah, who was angry at the shame, stammered and lost her words.

That’s how today’s breakfast flowed peacefully.

…Today’s breakfast ‘too’.

How long can this life continue?

Clang!

Leaving Baek Hyeon-ah and Erzsebet, the mother and daughter who were laughing and washing the dishes, I came into the room alone and took out a silver key from my pocket.

A key with nothing special about its shape.

However, no matter how much force I applied to the key, it would not break or change its shape. The same was true even if I strengthened my strength with magic.

“…How hard is it? It seems to be resistant to heat too, but how did they break this in the original work?”

Ting!

A message appeared in front of my eyes.

「Key to the Orchard」

Grade: C

Description: A key that can open an orchard full of lush greenery. It contains a special metal and has enough durability to not bend even if an elephant steps on it. Maybe even more than that.

There were a few lines of hidden text on the silver key.

Revealing that sentence was the main narrative in the second half of the main story.

After all, the key eventually served as a MacGuffin [a plot device used to drive the story forward], only responsible for delivering information and developing the story, and then disappeared into dust. But as long as the key is in my hands, not anyone else’s.

Whether to leave this as a simple MacGuffin was entirely my choice.

“…I’m worried.”

In fact, at first, I was full of thoughts of breaking the key.

As soon as I got it, I was going to turn it into dust so that no one could use it.

However, the fact that I can reach the final boss directly through the key meant that I could reach the end by skipping all the major episodes and villains at once.

I know that numerous terrorist attacks and casualties occur in most of the main episodes. And depending on the nature of the episode, the nature of the terrorism may be indiscriminate.

And in that case.

‘My children may be within the scope of the terrorism.’

I didn’t want to drive the children into dangerous places.

I wanted to raise them righteously and strongly.

The plan I had set up to create powerful allies had somehow changed into a form of devising ways to protect the children.

As a result, I ended up having something to protect.

If it were me in the past, who had nothing to protect, I would have immediately destroyed the 「Key to the Orchard」 armed with rational thinking and cool judgment.

“Whether I want it or not, the time to choose will come soon.”

I was hoping that the time of that choice.

I hope it comes after I have fully savored this peaceful time.