Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 301

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 301

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius 301

Magic Stone (1)

‘I definitely took the initiative.’

I was lost in thought, watching the First Elder, who had shrunk back from my radiating aura.

I seized the initiative with this short conversation.

In my heart, I want to use this initiative to purge all the elders and concentrate all power in my hands, but.

‘Those damn factions are the problem.’

Murmur, murmur.

The noisy crowd.

In fact, they are not people to be treated as mere spectators.

They are the heads of collateral families. The power, wealth, and authority each individual possesses are relatively insignificant, but the synergy they create when united is enormous.

They simply can’t participate in the meeting because they don’t have the right to speak.

Their strength is abundant.

‘If I replace the elders, those guys over there will resist.’

Having seized the atmosphere and initiative, the elders were no longer a major problem.

Evidence of their illegal activities was already in my possession.

I even prepared more than enough circumstances regarding their illegal activities, just in case. The elders’ downfall was a predetermined future.

The problem is.

‘The backlash that occurs during the process of their downfall.’

Even on the outside, the Mins are running rampant.

On the inside, the family members are acting up.

‘But I can’t replace all nine elders with them.’

Nine elders representing the collateral lines.

Only those who have the support of the collateral lines can sit in those positions.

I can choose someone loyal to me as an elder.

However, if all nine positions are filled in that way, the heads of the collateral families will no longer trust the elders.

The elders will no longer be able to represent their opinions.

They will create another force.

‘But I can’t not remove the elders either.’

The current elders are already stagnant water.

Just as the saying goes, ‘If the upper stream is clear, the lower stream will be clear,’ at least the elders should be people who don’t commit crimes to manage the overall water quality of the family.

‘This is a dilemma.’

─Actually, haven’t you already decided on a plan?

‘……Halfway?’

Remove all the elders.

This is definitely a decided matter.

There is no place for them in the future I will create.

If the elders rebel with their power, I am prepared to cut them off along with their forces without hesitation. In the process, the size of the family may shrink slightly.

Surely not all nine elders will do that, right?

Even if they do.

‘If I deal with just three elders as an example, the complaints will subside.’

Humans are animals that fixate on the relative.

No matter how successful they are, if their success seems insignificant compared to others, they cannot purely rejoice in their success.

But if that success seems even slightly superior to others, they rejoice purely.

This also applies in reverse.

Failure is sad and painful, but.

If the person next to them experiences greater failure and frustration, their sadness is lessened simply by being relatively better off than that person.

Thus.

People are enthusiastic about the relative.

─I agree with the idea of dealing with the particularly disobedient ones as a shield. But what about the justification?

‘Of course, I’ve prepared it.’

Swish.

I put my hand in my pocket and fiddled with something small.

The elders were watching, so I didn’t bother taking it out.

Just touching it like this was enough to convey what I wanted to say. Tamamo turned her gaze to my pocket.

─This is!

Then she was startled.

─A magic stone?

As soon as I put my hand in my pocket and told her there was a hint there.

Tamamo realized what was in my pocket.

Magic stone. An eco-friendly energy resource that can be obtained by extracting the organs of hunted monsters. In my pocket was a very small fragment of that magic stone.

─But it’s so small. About the size of your thumb, maybe?

A size comparable to a man’s thumb.

It was very small, but the energy felt extraordinary.

So much so that Tamamo was surprised.

The focus was on the fact that she hadn’t noticed the existence of the magic stone until I subtly told her, even though there was a magic stone emitting intense energy so close to her.

It was a truly bizarre magic stone.

While her focus was on why she hadn’t noticed the existence of the magic stone despite the intense energy emanating from it so close by.

My attention was focused on the energy of the magic stone.

It was a magic stone I put in my pocket myself, but honestly.

‘It’s a bit disgusting.’

The Min’s scent was deeply embedded in the magic stone.

That foul and disgusting scent cannot be hidden.

It was like storing a small amount of stinky tofu [fermented soybean curd with a strong odor] in your pocket.

─I know it’s a mysterious magic stone. But how are you going to link this to the justification?

Tap, tap.

Tamamo tapped the inside of the pocket with her translucent finger.

─There’s no connection between the magic stone, the elders, and the justification for ousting their forces.

‘Why isn’t there?’

─……?

‘This magic stone. It’s a fragment of a magic stone that came out of Baek Seok-ho’s corpse.’

Baek Seok-ho’s corpse evaporated.

When his obese arm exploded and blood splattered everywhere.

I evaporated everything to eliminate his corpse and blood at once. I intended to eliminate Baek Seok-ho’s blood and corpse without leaving anything behind.

But the black fragment that Baek Seok-ho swallowed to become a Min.

It was not completely digested in his body, and it popped out of his corpse and lay on the floor.

The magic stone did not disappear even with the blow that evaporated the corpse and blood in an instant.

The problem is that it was taken away.

─W-When did you pick that up? I’m behind you all the time, awake or asleep?

‘When you were exhausted from assisting me. I picked it up then.’

The largest chunk was taken away.

But the fragments remained.

Unless you make an effort to find it, it’s buried in the rubble and too small to be easily found with the naked eye.

This is also a byproduct of Baek Seok-ho’s body.

‘It’s evidence of an unprecedented incident in which an elder was corrupted by a Min. What can they do if I put this forward?’

They were originally no match for force.

If I put forward this fragment of magic stone, I can even obtain the justification for punishing the elders who conspired evil deeds with the Fifth Elder, who was corrupted by a Min.

Moreover, most of the information about the elders’ past actions is in my possession, so it was entirely possible to package the elders’ crimes even worse if I wanted to.

‘……Besides, this is more than just evidence that an elder was corrupted by a Min.’

─The energy felt in the magic stone…… is similar to those horned ones.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

The horned ones.

It doesn’t refer to just Baek Seok-ho, but to many.

The energy felt in the magic stone was not only similar to the general Mins I had met so far, but even more intense.

‘This is not a common magic stone. It is a kind of patent of nobility that contains the authority and name of a high-ranking aristocrat.’

The nobles of the Fallen Paradise.

A group formed by seventy-two nobles.

I and Baek Eun-ho, who came from the outside, know very well what this group was modeled after, no matter what others think.

‘Solomon’s 72 Demons.’

There were plenty of hints.

The names of the nobles and their powers.

Even the expression Fallen Paradise attached to the group’s name and the number seventy-two.

Even if you don’t have expertise in demonology, anyone with a smattering of knowledge about mythology can guess.

But it didn’t seem like the people of this world knew.

‘Everyone seemed to be unaware of its origin.’

─I know that much too? It’s a Western myth, so I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard of a king named Solomon and the seventy-two demons he controlled.

‘Yes, perhaps in your lifetime, when you roamed this land, things about them were widely spread.’

─That’s a meaningful statement.

That’s like.

─If my ears aren’t deceiving me, it sounds like someone intentionally concealed the story of the king and the demons.

‘They wouldn’t have concealed it. People are the kind of people who want to find something more the more someone hides it.’

─Then?

‘Perhaps they made the transmission cut off over time. What someone intentionally hides tends to attract people’s attention, but there are not many people who try to dig up facts that everyone has become interested in and naturally forgotten.’

─Isn’t that too far-fetched for a guess?

Yes, it is too far-fetched and leaping for a guess.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence to support the claim, I spoke confidently as if it were true.

‘I don’t have material evidence, but I have enough circumstantial evidence.’

─Really?

But that confidence, on the contrary.

It came from a plausible conviction.

‘Let’s talk about the details at least after the meeting is over. I don’t think this is something to talk about in this place.’

─Then just tell me one thing.

‘What?’

Tamamo pointed to the pocket with the magic stone with her finger.

─This magic stone. Do you know what name of Min it makes you?

Baek Seok-ho did not reveal what he had become until the moment he died.

Whether he had pride in his life as a human, or whether he did not realize his new name because the magic stone was not 100% digested, there is no way to know.

If you count the lightning of the enhanced Baek Seok-ho and the traces engraved on the magic stone, you can make a guess.

‘「Baal」.’

─Ba…… al? I think I heard about a Western myth a long time ago?

‘Duke 「Baal」. He is a great demon of the 1st hierarchy. The number attached to the hierarchy does not mean his rank, but at least 「Baal」 is number 1.’

Duke or Leader 「Baal」.

His name is not widely known.

Like other nobles.

He also borrowed from the name of a demon.

─If it’s 「Baal」, isn’t it the name of a god before a demon?

‘……You really seem to know.’

─I told you. It’s a Western myth I heard in my lifetime.

I didn’t expect you to really know.

The great demon Baal. Its beginning was as a god of local faith, worshiped by the people of the region as a god of abundance and storms.

Another name is Baalzebub.

It means Baal who dwells in high places.

Considering that Baal originally means king, you can guess what Baal is to the people of that region.

─Baalzebub?

‘Why, have you heard of it?’

─Rather than hearing about it, I have a memory of hearing a similar word.

‘What is it.’

─Beelzebub.

‘That’s right. That also means Baalzebub.’

Baal Sebul, Baal Zebub, Beelzebub.

There are also various pronunciations.

Since it is a foreign word, it is natural to read it in various ways in the process of reading it in one’s native language.

Anyway, I was surprised by Tamamo’s knowledge.

She is an existence who lived a long time ago, so she may know about old myths that are now forgotten.

‘But there are hardly any cases where they even know the origin.’

Especially in this world where so many myths have been buried.

In this world, magic is extremely developed.

Numerous disciplines that explore and study mysteries have developed along with magic, but strangely, mythology has not. Like magic that flourished 1,000 years ago but can now only be seen in the murals of ancient ruins.

Mythology is not passed down unless it is a person who pursues various knowledge like Nam Hwa-yeon.

It has become a field that no one needs to know.

‘I barely made my left arm.’

What I wear on my left arm is a god’s prosthetic.

This silver arm, which wielded fire and light as a sword, is a imitation of something from a god whose name is not even passed down to modern times.

I know the name.

Even 「Gu Yaja」, who revived Gu Yaja’s sword in this world and was well-versed in the weapons in all myths and epics, did not know many myths.

He was truly happy to learn a new myth while making my prosthetic arm together.

‘Of course, he didn’t show it on his face because of his personality.’

But wait a minute.

Doesn’t something seem strange?

Even the blacksmith who reproduces weapons from myths, legends, and history does not know many myths.

This is not because of his lack of knowledge.

It is because the number and amount of myths passed down to modern times are so small.

I emphasize again that myths are not absent. They existed, but they were not propagated or transmitted.

From some point on, the lineage was cut off.

A world where myths are not widely spread.

This could never happen unless someone intentionally suppressed the transmission of myths.