Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 272

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 272

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius 272

Bite the Bait (2)

“What did you say? Say it again.”

“Yes, Elder. Rumors of an elixir of immortality are spreading like wildfire from the bottom of the industry.”

In a cozy room, an old man frowned.

The old man, adorned in expensive clothes, questioned the butler kneeling before him. Could what he had just heard really be true?

“Was it verified?”

“Not yet, but I have pinpointed the source of the rumor.”

“Where is it? The place that spread such nonsense about an elixir of immortality.”

“Chilseong.”

“…Chilseong spread such nonsense?”

Even in this world filled with mysteries,
there might be ways to slow down aging.

But immortality was impossible. Transcending lifespan was a concept beyond even magic, so even after thousands of years of research, there was no progress.

But suddenly, immortality.

It was truly unexpected news.

However, if the source of the rumor was Chilseong, it was worth paying attention to.

“If it’s Chilseong, that’s where Young Master… no, the Clan Head is.”

“Do you think the Clan Head might have started the rumor?”

“Maybe, maybe not. He’s been like a toothless tiger for the past few years, but we know the Clan Head’s true nature.”

8th Elder. At her words, the butler nodded.

“A cunning and sly fox. More suited to be a Gumiho [a nine-tailed fox spirit] than anyone else in the world. But now he has lost his sharpness.”

A young genius who would lead the family.

Although he was born with ominous jet-black fur, his genius far surpassed the past geniuses produced by the Cheonhobaekga [a prestigious clan].

The insight to see through people’s hearts, the intellect to thoroughly dissect mysteries, including magic, so that they couldn’t even live up to their names, and the cunning to trip up even the wisest elders.

A perfect person with nothing lacking. That was Baek Seungwoo. Their master.

But the current him was different from the past.

Incompetent and ignorant.

“That’s not necessarily true.”

“Yes?”

The Elder corrected the butler’s assessment.

Incompetent and ignorant. Not the treatment a person once called a genius should receive. A genius can never be dull.

Even if they neglect and waste their talents, it is rare for that talent to plummet to the bottom.

“What if we think the opposite way?”

“The opposite…? What do you mean?”

The 8th Elder smiled at the butler, who didn’t understand her point.

“Hehe, exactly as I said.”

If he wasn’t ignorant and incompetent.

If he had been a genius all along.

“He, the Clan Head, might have wanted to create the current situation.”

“…Are you saying he deliberately lived a dissolute life and feigned incompetence?”

“You understand well. You are indeed my grandson.”

The 8th Elder, praising the butler, leaned back in her chair and reminisced about the past.

The Clan Head, who was like a giant mountain. After the death of his son, the Young Master whom she had served all her life, the 8th Elder welcomed the 3rd Clan Head in her generation.

The day of the Clan Head’s inauguration.

She could never forget the boy who ascended to the highest and most noble position. The boy wearing the crown on his head did not cling to his position. He simply sat on the throne with calm eyes, looking down at the people beneath him.

‘The pressure I felt at that time was enormous.’

At the same time as his inauguration, Seungwoo lightly pressured and looked down on the nine elders.

Perhaps the Clan Head was not a villain.

That was what the elders had always thought. But none of them voiced their thoughts. They feared the Clan Head.

Ordinary people cannot understand a genius, and Seungwoo was a more monstrous being than any other genius.

The epitome of the incomprehensible.

That was Seungwoo.

Ignorance is fear, so the elders intentionally spread the Clan Head’s misdeeds widely. They intended to ruin him so that he could not recover.

In fact, they were able to see the effects for several years.

Over the past few years, the Clan Head had personally shown what rise and fall were, and he had even left the family and was exiled to Chilseong Academy.

‘We celebrated too early and overlooked his talent. We shouldn’t have done that from the beginning.’

Making him unable to recover because he is incomprehensible?

That was even more unacceptable. They realized it later.

What the man who had nothing more to lose had accomplished in just half a year.

“Perhaps this is the Clan Head’s call. If so, as a subject, I cannot help but move.”

Elixir of immortality.

There is no way to know whether it is a rumor or a fact, but Clan Head.

If you are looking for me, the elders who are crazy about power and longevity, then God himself will come to greet you.

Creak.

The 8th Elder, getting off the wooden chair, left the place, carefully supporting her aging waist.

* * *

Two weeks since the start of the research.

Now we were no longer just researching in the lab.

From the point where some results were achieved, we worked on paperwork in parallel.

“Did you write all the documents?”

“Yes, I have organized the research results based on the formula you created.”

“Good job, assistant.”

“You’re welcome.”

While they were talking, Seungwoo, feeling something strange, said.

“By the way, you know, haven’t our tones changed with each other?”

“Hmm? That’s right. Only up to the 1st week, I was blurting out informal language, but now I’m using polite language. To be honest, I didn’t realize it at all.”

Seungwoo from polite to casual.

Emilia from casual to polite.

Their tones changed in just one week.

“Well, 1 week. 168 hours is enough time for a person’s thoughts to change.”

“We’re the same age. 100 hours is enough time for a person to awaken from ignorance and be enlightened in the right direction.”

“Still, you seem to have changed too much from your first impression.”

It wasn’t just the tone that changed.

Seungwoo’s actions didn’t change, but Emilia’s actions became polite.

Each of her actions. The heart to respect Seungwoo began to permeate. If Nam Hwayeon were here, she would have clapped her hands, asking if she had been brainwashed.

“That’s how people are. If someone younger than you is your boss, you resist, but if they are outstanding, you acknowledge them regardless of age.”

“So, you mean you ignored me at first, but now you acknowledge me?”

“Of course. How can a magician not acknowledge someone who creates groundbreaking formulas in 1 hour while sitting down?”

You can know the truth by looking at the eyes.

Emilia’s words were sincere.

In her eyes, there was sincere respect and admiration.

Well, since she’s a magician, she can look at a higher-dimensional magician than herself.

‘Isn’t this too much of a change in attitude?’

Seungwoo, who vividly remembered Emilia from two weeks ago.

He was embarrassed by her attitude, which had suddenly changed in the meantime.

“When we first met, you… You got angry at me first.”

“Ah… that’s right. It’s a shameful past.”

“It hasn’t even been a month yet.”

“It’s already like a distant past to me. To think I didn’t recognize such a great and outstanding archmage. I feel ashamed of my past self, but I am also newly moved by the fact that I am standing with the archmage in the center of the field where the history of magic is developing.”

Ah, okay. I understand.

This kid was a bit sick in the head too.

Certainly, a person who gets sincerely angry at someone they meet for the first time couldn’t be normal. Perhaps the attitude that changed like the back of her hand is perfectly natural from her point of view.

“Okay, then don’t do that in the future.”

“Yes! I understand!”

I wonder if I’m being suspected of using brainwashing or something?

Seungwoo, who hadn’t done anything at all, but felt a corner of his heart pricked without his knowledge, realized that his back pocket was vibrating.

The vibration of the phone.

It doesn’t seem to be a call because it’s irregular, but what’s ringing so much.

“Did you get a call?”

“No, it’s all emails.”

“Is the vibration that long?”

“Something has been coming in since earlier.”

The email installed on the phone.

The number of unread emails next to it was increasing.

97… 165… 344… 999… 999+.

Emails exceeding the maximum number that can be displayed, 999, were coming in. As if that wasn’t enough, the phone was still vibrating.

Eventually, he turned off both the vibration and sound of the phone and changed the email settings.

The phone that had finally calmed down.

“…What was that just now?”

“I don’t know. How would I know?”

“Maybe someone is playing a prank? That’s because you’re a very famous celebrity.”

Seungwoo was a celebrity.

He hasn’t revealed the fact that he has reached the Archmage, but it is recorded in the system as a Ranker, and everyone knows that he has formidable combat abilities.

Before that, genius, rogue, famous fashion magazine model, etc.

Because he was widely known in various fields and under various names, there may have been people who knew his contact information and attacked him.

“…This email is not for that purpose.”

“Then?”

“Business email. I deliberately took measures to prevent ordinary people from sending anything, but the fact that it’s burning up like this is obvious.”

The details are obvious even without opening the email.

These are emails sent by various companies asking to collaborate.

“Huh? That’s really true. Companies and celebrities that I’ve heard of at least once want to be supplied with the elixir of immortality. They sent me a message saying they want to collaborate on the elixir of immortality.”

“…What?”

Immortality… immortality?

What kind of medicine is that?

Wasn’t the rumor about what we’re researching spreading widely?

Wondering what was going on, I carefully examined the email.

By capturing the other person’s intention hidden in the long message, I was able to know how things were going.

“It seems that there are several guys in the Chilseong board of directors who leaked information.”

“False information?”

It doesn’t seem to be false information in the circumstances.

It wasn’t an honest advertisement either.

“It seems like they’ve done a lot of exaggeration. Drugs that can replace prosthetics or organs have been disguised as drugs for immortality and panacea [a cure-all].”

“What we researched wasn’t that?!”

“In fact, it’s not that wrong. If you can replace damaged limbs and organs, you can live like the ‘Ship of Theseus’ [a philosophical paradox about identity and change] even if it’s not your whole self.”

Replace all damaged organs with artificial ones to achieve longevity.

Soon, immortality takes off.

Seungwoo immediately understood the psychology of the people who sent him the email.

But maybe it’s because he’s a person who doesn’t have much attachment to life. None of their proposals felt very attractive.

However, the latest email.

A smile was naturally drawn on the logo with the symbol of a white fox with nine tails. Wow, I didn’t expect these guys to come out like this.

“The Ninetails Guild wants the medicine?”

Then I have to provide it!

I didn’t do anything, but an unexpected big shot was caught.

Originally, I was going to catch tuna, but a whale was caught on the tuna bait.

Normally, you would cut the fishing line.

“How can I give this up.”