Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 39

“You’re going to teach me magic right away?”

“Yeah, don’t you remember me saying I’d take you on as a disciple last time? Why are you so surprised?”

“No, it’s just that you seem like a meticulous person, Professor. I didn’t expect you to teach me magic right away like this.”

I thought she would make me run errands before teaching me magic.

Considering her personality, where she gradually increases the amount of work she gives me, I naturally thought she would do that.

I can’t believe she’s teaching me so willingly.

It feels really awkward.

“Should I make you run a few errands before teaching you?”

“Come on, Professor. You don’t really mean that, do you? You know how well I do the tasks you give me.”

“Well, I’ll let it slide this time. But if you do that again, I won’t be joking.”

Her answer felt somehow eerie.

Combined with her unfocused, empty eyes, I couldn’t help but feel goosebumps on my back. I should never say anything that would upset the Professor again.

I might really get into serious trouble.

“Oh, there’s something I need to tell you before we start. Take a look at this.”

While I turned my head and let out a sigh of relief, Nam Hwa-yeon walked to the living room and handed me a piece of paper.

Filled with dense writing, it was clearly a document.

Let’s see.

“Practical Guidance Education? Is this a new curriculum?”

“For first-year students only, to be exact.”

“…I think I understand what you mean.”

A thin sheet of paper.

In contrast to its thinness, the content written there was anything but.

Was there such content in the original work?

Ah, I really should have read it at least once.

I devoured every single word of the document.

Then, a question suddenly arose.

“Professor, I understand that designated teachers will teach students after school, but what about after-school clubs? The timing won’t work out.”

“Club activities are suspended for the time being. They say the first semester will focus on practical activities.”

“The board of directors must have been sharpening their knives.”

Focusing on practical activities is a kind of declaration.

The Academy is an educational institution.

It has the character of a military academy that trains players, but its essence is purely a place to explore knowledge.

It’s not for nothing that there are facilities like the Forbidden Archive.

However, this decision by the board of directors is a decision that reverses the direction of the Academy.

Instead of acquiring knowledge, they want us to hone our wisdom and combat skills.

‘But why are you showing this to me?’

A question suddenly arose as I looked at the document.

The ‘guidance education’ written here is the responsibility of the professors.

So, shouldn’t Nam Hwa-yeon just know about it herself?

Could it be that she’s trying to pass it on to me in exchange for teaching me magic?

“…Professor, don’t tell me. Is that it?”

“What?”

“You’re not going to pass this on to me in exchange for teaching me magic, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m a professor, so I have to do it even if I don’t want to.”

Phew, that’s a relief.

She wasn’t trying to dump it on me──.

“─Instead, I listed your name together.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You’re doing it with me. We don’t have enough people.”

It’s a mess.

She’s passing on the role without even getting my consent.

Well, the position of guidance teacher isn’t bad for interfering with future episodes.

At least for the first semester, I’ll be in the closest position to the students.

“Surely an educator wouldn’t refuse the education policy of the higher-ups, would they?”

“I’m not a professor, just an assistant.”

“What can we do? There are too few professors to teach all the students.”

“What makes you think I’m qualified to teach?”

6,000 students in total.

There were too few professors to educate 2,000 students per grade. That’s why veteran teaching assistants also participate in education.

But I’m not a veteran, am I?

I’m a newbie who’s only been with the company for a month.

There was no reason for the board of directors to specifically designate me as an educator.

“A trace was found at the scene of the last attack.”

My body stiffened at her words.

Not because I was nervous.

Some unknown force was grabbing my ankle.

It forced me to listen to Nam Hwa-yeon’s words.

She continued, saying that I was finally ready to listen.

“Scars.”

The traces of battle are not only left on people.

They are deeply engraved on the surrounding natural environment and terrain.

If you are a master of considerable power, you can get a glimpse of how skilled the subject of the fight was through the traces.

And Nam Hwa-yeon has that much skill and eyes.

“You don’t need to hide your skills so much, do you?”

“…”

“I’m curious as to why someone of your skill is hiding their skills and exiled to a place like this, but it’s more important to increase the number of people in charge of education right now.”

“…If you’ve heard the rumors about me, you wouldn’t say that.”

“Rumors don’t matter.”

Nam Hwa-yeon’s hand grabbed my face.

She lowered my head with her right hand to make eye contact with her.

Still wide and calm like the sea, eerie eyes that don’t feel alive.

“This curriculum is for the students. You never know when an incident like the last attack will happen.”

“Isn’t it more certain for the professors to protect them with all their might than to provide such education?”

“No, you have to protect your own life with your own strength.”

Chilseong is an educational institution, not a shelter or a daycare center.

The professor can’t always protect you.

So, you have to develop the strength to protect yourself.

“So, please suffer a little.”

“Well, if I have to do it, I have to do it…”

“…I wonder if I’m giving too much work to someone who already has a lot of work.”

Well, it’s information that Nam Hwa-yeon would know.

I have a lot of positions and statuses that don’t suit me.

New assistant at the Academy. Head of the Cheonho Baekga. Chairman of the Cheonho Group. A hero who saved students from an attack. A piece of trash surrounded by all sorts of scandals. And even the team leader of [Nine Tails]. And so on.

Originally, it would not be easy to digest even one of these roles.

But I have to do all of these.

Even if some of them are just superficial positions, I must do them all so that I and everyone else can survive.

Adding the role of teacher to this is nothing.

‘It’s not that difficult.’

It’s not that I take the work of a teacher lightly.

It’s just that there are so many things I have to do that it seems relatively easy.

Maybe I’ll have to cut back on my already tight sleep schedule.

From now on, I won’t even dare to think about taking a break (安敢生心) [an gan sheng xin – a Chinese idiom meaning ‘dare not even entertain the thought’].

But I have to endure this much.

If I can survive with this.

If the end of this world ends with a happy ending.

* * *

I unpacked the bundle in the living room.

They were all magic books I had read.

Fortunately, I was able to borrow them all from the library.

“There are more than I thought. How many did you usually read a day?”

“It varies every day, but I read an average of three to four books.”

“You seem to be a fast reader.”

“Rather, I don’t have enough time to read books, so I have no choice but to read them quickly.”

Speed reading is not a good reading method.

It has the advantage of being able to read many books in a short amount of time, but it is difficult to read them in detail.

I have the talent of 「Magic Star」, so I can read without missing any passages with speed reading.

Certainly, the efficiency is worse than when reading carefully.

When you read carefully, you can realize or feel things even in the process of reading the book. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to give up those things and read quickly.

A magic book is not a book that ends with reading.

The realization after reading, and the organization of knowledge.

That is the most important thing.

It takes a lot of time.

Unlike the reclusive scholars who can read books all day long, I do assistant work every day and train magic and skills in the training room.

I’m also worried about the scenarios that will happen in the future, and recently I’ve been suffering from pain every night.

Insomnia was a bonus thanks to my tight schedule.

‘Ah, insomnia actually reduces sleep time, so is it a good thing?’

Anyway, it’s a commendable achievement to read and learn three or four magic books a day, even with a tight schedule.

At least it’s not something you can do with a sane mind.

“…How many hours have you slept recently?”

“Recently?”

“…I’ll ask the question again. When was the last time you slept?”

Nam Hwa-yeon’s sudden question.

She was staring intently at my eyes.

I pondered her question.

When did I sleep?

Well, of course, yesterday… and the day before.

…Huh.

“This week is… rough?”

“Oh, I won’t nag you to get enough sleep. But take good care of your body.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Nam Hwa-yeon, who sighed, immediately reached out to the magic books in the bundle.

She lightly scanned the cover and the contents of the book.

“You’ve only learned curses and spells in a simplified way. Well, it’s an old science.”

She scanned a few pages of the book and put it away.

It seemed like there was no need to read it anymore.

With that alone, Nam Hwa-yeon grasped what and how much I had learned.

“Oh my, you’ve also dabbled in healing. But it’s only one book.”

A hardcover with a green cover.

That’s the book I fought with Seo Ye-rin last time to get.

She said it was a basic book and opened the next book. This time it was a different genre.

She grabbed the book and smiled slightly.

“Telekinesis is an easy science to get into, so there are no difficult books. And, oh my, you’ve also dabbled in language magic.”

Language magic, magic that causes change through words.

Once, it was a magic that was popular all over the continent, along with the magic hierarchy called Circle.

But as the times developed, it declined.

And the person responsible for the decline was right in front of me.

“Why, do you have anything to say?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

There is a reason why Nam Hwa-yeon is called the Demon King.

Most of the magic systems that exist today are all her works.

Her magic was easy and efficient.

Her achievements are great enough to instantly bury the circle and language magic that were popular just a few decades ago.

Perhaps she is on par with Baek Seok-ho, who is a high-ranker.

Of course, she is a scholar and Baek Seok-ho is a martial artist with the alias , so there will be a difference in combat level.

By the way, why is Nam Hwa-yeon smiling when she sees the magic she buried?

‘…I don’t want to know in detail.’

I shook my head and shook off my thoughts.

I don’t want to think anymore.

A curiosity filled the void in my head that was created by getting rid of my thoughts.

“Professor, can I ask you a question?”

“What question?”

“Is there any magic that can make me stronger faster?”

“By trick? Or by the book?”

“Anything is fine. I just need to get stronger.”

Nam Hwa-yeon thought about my answer.

Why is he in such a hurry?

He looks like he’s being chased by something.

It’s not impatience towards enlightenment. Then he must mean that he wants to get stronger quickly.

The combat skills I glimpsed from the scars left throughout the Academy were outstanding.

It was definitely a trace of swordsmanship.

Even among the professors of Chilseong, there are few people who can perform that level of swordsmanship.

“Okay, I understand. Do you have any magic or combat methods that you mainly use?”

Well, that’s why I took him as a disciple.

The head of the Cheonho Baekga, a natural talent for magic, and hidden skills.

Each one is different from the ordinary.

I don’t know what’s urging his impatience.

If you’re a good teacher, you should offer a solution here.

Nam Hwa-yeon cleared her throat and said.

“The magic I mainly use is fire magic. I also use telekinesis or curses.”

“It’s more focused on combat than practicality. It’s also completely specialized in firepower.”

“Yes, I’m very interested in that kind of magic.”

“If it’s fire magic, you can burn your memories or parts of your body as firewood…”

“…”

“Well, you wouldn’t have asked the question because you wanted such a trivial answer.”

Nam Hwa-yeon turned her words around when I answered with a bitter look at the words that I could use my body or memories as fuel for the fire.

No matter how powerful it is, I have no intention of sacrificing my body.

Why am I going through this trouble?

“Then, will you show me your fire?”

“Do I just need to show you the fire?”

“You said you’re interested in combat, right? Then use the maximum power you can.”

I pondered Nam Hwa-yeon’s request.

The maximum power of fire that I can produce.

Then I can only think of combining these two.

[Pyrokinesis]

「Foxfire」

Whirr, a telekinetic flame with physical power and mass blazed.

Several curses intertwined on top of it and turned purple.

Nam Hwa-yeon, who was staring at the purple flame that was spitting out cool embers instead of hot heat, said.

“I think you should start learning incantations.”

“Incantations?”

“Yes, try creating an incantation.”

Incantation (始動語) [Shidougo – Japanese for ‘starting word’].

A type of concept derived from language magic, its efficiency may be lower.

However, it adds absolute power to the power and development of magic.

To give an easy example, cars each have their own unique car keys.

A key designed to fit each car.

With that, we can find the location of the car or start the car.

Things that cannot be done with other car keys.

Like this, an incantation is like a car key that fits your magic perfectly for a magician.

“Incantations should be as simple as possible. For example, the magicians I know use intuitive incantations such as ‘Rise up’ or ‘Bloom’.”

“What about you, Professor?”

“Me? I don’t need that.”

“…”

Is she really the Demon King?

Certainly, an incantation is just one of many means for her, who has mastered magic.

But I’m different.

‘I don’t have time to master several magics.’

I don’t know what an incantation is, but if I can get stronger quickly, it’s better to learn it. I listened to Nam Hwa-yeon’s words to learn.

The theory was simple.

The important thing is that I have to find the best words to unleash the fire.

Words have power, and incantations are magic that actively utilizes this.

Depending on what incantation you utter, the firepower, direction, and range will change.

“Burn. Or spread?”

“If it’s fire magic, you can also say incineration or combustion, or more simply, burn.”

Unlike the theory, the actual process of using it was complicated.

Not only is it difficult to select an incantation, but the bigger problem is that you have to work from the beginning on the process of magic and skills that will be activated according to the incantation.

I expected it to be difficult because it was magic taught by the Demon King.

But when I experienced it, it was much more difficult than I expected.

It wasn’t a job that could be finished overnight.

I’ll have to spend time in the future to study and train steadily.