Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 305

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 305

Mana Stone (5)

It had been a while since I last visited the library.

Normally, I would have gone to the lab.

But doing research would clearly be a waste of time. Depending on the case, I might even lose track of time and be late for class.

I came to the library to prevent that from happening.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen him reading a book.”

“He used to teach in the first semester and was always in the library, but he hasn’t been around since the second semester.”

Various noises filled the library, which should have been quiet.

Well, it’s more helpful for students to discuss the contents of books, even if it’s not proper library etiquette, than to just read quietly.

I can understand that much.

But this is not it.

“He’s definitely looking here, right?”

“The assistant’s eyes are so charming.”

“Doesn’t it feel like he’s glaring at us?”

“Nah, no way. There’s no way the assistant would even look at guys like us.”

“…No matter how I look at it, it seems like he’s telling us to shut up.”

I gave them a cold glare, telling them to shut up.

Most people would have flinched at that gaze.

But for some reason, the students were going wild for the cold glare.

Especially the female students.

There were occasionally male students too, but strangely, they were only the ones with manicured nails. Some of them even seemed to be wearing lipstick.

…Did I see that wrong?

My eyes felt dry, so I rubbed them.

But nothing changed.

Eventually, I gave up glaring at the students and closed my book. I was going to leave the library.

It was almost time for class anyway, so I closed the book.

‘I’m definitely not running away.’

─Who are you saying that to?

‘To myself.’

─Ah.

I left the library and instinctively checked behind me.

I spread my senses wide, thinking of checking if the students from the library were following me, but I sensed nothing.

“…I guess it was an overreaction.”

I left the library because I felt a sudden ominous feeling.

But now that I think about it, I think I overreacted.

─Are you going back to the library then?

‘No. I’m not going back in after returning the book I was reading.’

─Are you going to the lecture hall now? There’s still plenty of time left.

There were still 30 minutes left until the lecture started.

It’s good to prepare in advance, but classes haven’t ended in all the lecture halls yet. The same goes for the lecture hall where I’ll be teaching today.

What can I do besides disturb the class if I go now?

Considering the 10-minute break, there are still a whopping 20 minutes left until the class ends. I should kill some time.

Step, step.

I wandered around the academy, looking at the surrounding scenery.

Small mountains and valleys. All sorts of environments, including cliffs and deserts, greeted me.

I really can’t get used to this no matter how many times I see it.

“It’s such a strange idea.”

─Creating all sorts of environments on this scale so that students can adapt to various environments. It’s a great idea for an educational institution for children.

“Except for the fact that the annual maintenance costs are ridiculous.”

─You can handle it with the donations that come in from time to time.

“This is a matter of efficiency.”

Chilseong Academy was built far away from the city.

Of course, it was within running distance for a superhuman.

‘But the distance between the center of the academy and the city is so far that even students can’t go easily.’

Chilseong Academy is that huge.

There are really many lecture halls and huge dormitories and infrastructure compared to the number of students, but that alone was not enough to fill the site.

What filled these huge gaps were the many environments.

Frankly, from my point of view, it was a waste of money.

Environmental manipulation and climate change can be easily controlled by the power of a magician alone. Of course, that would require a grand mage, of which there are fewer than 10 in the world.

─That’s the same as saying you can’t do it, logically speaking.

‘But there are two grand mages in Chilseong [Chilseong Academy].’

─……Ah!

If there were no grand mages, I wouldn’t have expressed any particular dissatisfaction with creating various environments on a large site.

But now there were me and my teacher in Chilseong Academy.

“If you gave each of us 1/10 of the maintenance cost, we wouldn’t have to waste space like this.”

Of course, neither of us is short on money.

And even if you gave us half of the maintenance cost, I don’t know if we would do it because we are people who don’t get involved unless it’s necessary or interesting.

Anyway, as a magician who pursues reason and truth, this inefficient use of space was not to my liking.

─Sorry to interrupt you while you’re talking. You weren’t around when this academy was first built.

“To be exact, I wasn’t even born back then.”

─……Ah, right.

What I’m saying doesn’t make sense.

The academy was built more than 20 years ago.

Back then, the original owner of my body wasn’t even born yet, and even if Nam Hwa-yeon was born, it was around the time she had just started magic.

In fact, everything I’ve said so far has been meaningless.

We’re just talking.

Instead of exchanging opinions based on certain information and truth, we just talked without any particular thought.

Tamamo felt his appearance somewhat unfamiliar.

─You seem a little tired right now.

“I slept well, though?”

─That’s not what I meant. And you only sleep three hours a day, so don’t tell me you slept well.

Tamamo scratched her head with her translucent hand.

Then she followed my gaze.

Even while I was talking to her, I was constantly distracted by a small flower garden. A small rose garden with clear signs of hard work.

But because of the time of year, the roses were almost dead.

“…What month is it now?”

I opened my mouth without realizing it.

It’s impossible not to know the date for systematic research and planning, but this was not a conscious statement.

It just popped out.

─Now? It’s October.

“Ah, right. That’s right.”

Since the midterm exams are over, it’s obvious that it’s October.

The blowing wind, the red autumn leaves that immediately catch my eye, and the gradually dying flowers are all facts that I can see.

When this fall passes.

The roses will be completely dead.

And new roses will bloom next year.

─What about the conversation we had earlier? Are you okay?

“No, I just think I’ve become a little sentimental.”

Some people are particularly sentimental in the fall.

However, unlike them, I was a person who had no connection with sentimentality.

What fall? My tendency is to pursue reason rather than sentimentality all year round.

She, who had been watching me closely, naturally knew that.

That’s why I could have dismissed it as a joke and moved on.

─Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard that.

“…….”

Tamamo responded as if she had learned a new fact.

I wondered why she gave that answer.

At first, I thought she was trying to tease me. When I thought about it carefully, her tone didn’t seem like she was teasing me.

It was really a tone of voice that I had heard for the first time.

Come to think of it, we.

‘It’s been less than a year since we’ve been together.’

I forgot because we were souls intertwined with the ring I was wearing, so we never fell apart, but we haven’t been together for very long.

It was only half a year since we had been together.

‘Then it’s possible that she doesn’t know.’

Now that I think about it again, that’s right.

Why did I assume that she would know so much about me?

Half a year is enough to become close friends, but it’s an absurdly short amount of time to delve into each other’s secrets.

But our time was different from others.

One was a crazy guy who was so busy studying and researching that he didn’t even want to waste time sleeping. The other was already dead, so she didn’t need to sleep unless she was bored or recovering her tired soul.

Our time was longer than other people’s.

─……? Why are you looking at me like that?

“Why would I look at you?”

─Really? That’s strange. I definitely felt your gaze.

We are connected by a ring.

We can read each other’s thoughts that appear on the surface of each other’s consciousness.

But we can’t read thoughts that pass by very quickly or are deeply embedded in consciousness. I hid all the thoughts that came to my mind while looking at her deep in my consciousness.

It’s not like I’m embarrassed.

I just didn’t want to talk about this topic.

What’s the point of time in a relationship that will break up soon anyway?

─Hey, you’re spacing out for a long time, unlike usual.

“……Ah.”

─Time’s up. Let’s go.

Thanks to the fact that I locked up every thought in the depths of my consciousness, Tamamo mistook me for spacing out.

I didn’t refute that misunderstanding and just nodded.

And headed to the lecture hall.

Step, step, I checked my neatly dressed shoes and suit and entered the lecture hall. The place I entered was a large lecture hall. It was break time, but it was full of students without a single seat missing.

“There are still 6 minutes left of break time, but everyone’s here.”

Today’s lecture was for all freshmen.

I thought that most of the students would not be in their seats since it was break time, but all the freshmen were seated 6 minutes early.

There are 4 minutes left of break time.

Did everyone already go to the bathroom and sit down in that time?

“I think everyone knows, but today’s lecture will last for 2 hours and 30 minutes. If you don’t know, go to the bathroom now.”

I was going to tell them to go to the bathroom since there were still 6 minutes left of break time.

But no one raised their hand.

What, did everyone really go to the bathroom in that short amount of time?

“Everyone, I think you all know, but today’s lecture will last for 2 hours and 30 minutes. If you don’t know, go to the bathroom now.”

Only then did the students raise their hands and go to the bathroom.

But the number was very small. It wasn’t even 10 people.

Most of them seem to have gone to the bathroom already.

Everyone is so passionate.

─That means they have high expectations for your lecture.

‘I know.’

Perhaps it is only the lectures of Nam Hwa-yeon, who is called the best professor in the academy, that students are crowded and passionate enough to have already gone to the bathroom.

Judging from this atmosphere.

My lecture is also as good as Nam Hwa-yeon’s lecture. No, it was receiving more expectations than her.

─Congratulations. Unlike at the beginning of the semester, you are now fully recognized by the students.

‘It’s a natural sight due to the nature of the lecture in the first place.’

Nam Hwa-yeon’s lecture is excellent, but since she has to teach the contents written in the regular curriculum, the overall focus of the lecture is biased towards ‘knowledge’.

On the other hand, I am not even a professor, and I teach students irregularly, so what I should focus on in my lecture is not knowledge but brilliant ‘enlightenment’.

Knowledge is the foundation.

Enlightenment is the tower.

In order to build a tower, you must build a solid foundation, but after building the tower, the tower is more noticeable than the foundation.

─Of course, the foundation is also important. But no matter how strong the foundation is, if the tower you build on top is flimsy, the strong foundation becomes meaningless.

Slap.

She pointed at the students with her translucent finger.

─Look at those faces burning with academic enthusiasm. Does that look like the faces of students who came to listen to a teacher’s lecture that builds a flimsy tower?

At the end of the finger were several students I had personally taught and students I didn’t remember. I shook my head without realizing it at the academic enthusiasm that appeared in their eyes.