Chapter 110
Chapter 110
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 110
The eve after the storm had arrived.
I stared blankly at my status window, as if gazing at the aftermath of a real storm.
"......A real storm might've been better."
If a genuine storm had hit, we could've just rebuilt as long as no one died. But in my case, it was just a metaphor, so there was no easy fix.
All my prior plans had collapsed into ruins.
Like fertile land turning into barren wasteland.
The storm kicked up by a butterfly's wings had triggered far too many seismic shifts.
[The content of the 'Main Quest: Doom's Egg' has been changed.]
[Adjusting quest... Re-outputting.]
Seeing a quest get adjusted wasn't entirely new.
Like with the [Life Stone] before, this was probably just a tweak from veering off the set path. That's what I figured.
But compared to last time, one thing was different.
[Main Quest: Apocalypse and the City]
[Description: The apocalypse scheduled for the future. At its center lie the egg that births the end and the nest containing it. They wait in the reverse world shrouded in eternal winter, deep within the city, for the moment of hatching.
The egg is an entire world. The creature inside breaking through the shell equates to one world meeting its end. If you wish to avert the world's doom, find the egg and shatter it before the shell cracks on its own.]
[Clear Condition: Destroy the 'Doom's Egg' no matter what.]
[Success: ??? (Unmeasurable)]
[Failure: In 5 years, minimum ??? (Unmeasurable) deaths, maximum extinction of the species.]
The failure penalty had jumped several times over.
I couldn't even guess what the success reward might be anymore.
What the hell had changed it?
'The possible scenarios aren't that numerous.'
Either my memory was off,
or the absent students had caused some major disruption to the scenario,
or something from outside had interfered.
It's escalating. At this scale, shouldn't we be calling in outside help instead of relying on students?
Tamamo said, peeking at the system through my retina.
As she pointed out, if it wasn't just a massacre but a threat to our entire species, we'd need backup no matter what.
Even if it meant revealing I'd stepped out of the novel, I'd do anything to save countless lives.
But the problem was
"It's blocked."
Yeah...... Whoever did it, they're no slouch.
The safety measures for students and supervisors.
The device linking spaces was sealed.
Getting out from inside or in from outside wouldn't be easy.
Of the two, entering was relatively simpler, but that would ruin the kids' midterms.
"If we call for outside aid, we'd have to forfeit the exam. One SOS via the drone cameras, and the chairmanstill fuming from the last raidmight show up."
Can't we bend the rules somehow?
"No dice. No matter how we plead about the massive risk, any outside help means all students auto-fail."
Ridiculous. Unknown enemies can waltz in with zero penalties, but help to stop them gets you punished. Bureaucrats never change, no matter the era.
I agreed.
No matter the era or world, those in power always lacked flexibility. That's why I'd climbed to the top of that power structure to change itbut it hadn't been easy.
Now I just rolled with it.
"Even with the spells you taught me?"
Don't ask when you know the answer. Even channeling my true body, breaking a seal this big is tough. Unless...... we smash the space itself.
"That'd be a problem. Shattering the space would kill not just this world's NPCs and intruders, but the students too."
You and I would survive. No threat to the species either.
Sacrificing a few for the many.
That was Tamamo's angle.
"Don't make me laugh. If I planned to choose that, I wouldn't have come here."
So what's the plan? You know time's short. Pick already.
Since I'm already a dead man anyway.
Choose the many and look away from the few?
Or the few, and risk the many?
It's your call.
Fine then.
"The many and the few. I take both."
Then what do you give up?
"Me."
If I had to sacrifice something to grasp anything, I'd gladly let go of myself in my own hand.
No matter how minor, grades were the students' futures.
I couldn't toss them lightly.
So I'd take the many and the few, sacrificing only myselfcomparatively less valuable.
That was how I'd lived.
The philosophy and reason for Baek Seung-woo's existence.
If victory meant saving more lives, I'd burn my body without hesitation. That was the final lesson from my master's and teacher's deaths.
People's lives and the students' futures.
I'd secure both, no matter what.
* * *
No sooner had I vowed that than
"W-Wait a minute. You're arresting the teacher?!"
"......You're serious?"
"Should I freeze him?"
I faced a crisis.
Because Termiya suddenly declared he'd take me in.
He nodded at the students' words.
"Indeed. I didn't know he was your teacher, but I've clearly heard the bound bandits call him 'captain' multiple times."
Wow, caught like this.
Sure, I was their captain, but I hadn't asked for it.
Normally, I'd bow to a key NPC like him.
"Quit buzzing around, you zealot priest? Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to play along."
"Y-Yes......?"
Right now, I wasn't in the headspace for calm.
With all plans in tatters and my mind a mess, his words boiled my blood.
My mask twitched, letting my hidden personality seep out.
Normally, I'd catch it and readjust, but in my chaos, the mask slipped, dissonance building as my true self emerged.
Tamamo, watching from behind, noticed first.
Oh my, something fun's about to happen.
Instead of warning me, she covered her mouth, fading her presence with glee.
Next, Termiya sensed the shift.
"This is......! What......!"
He scanned around, realizing it came from the fox beastkin.
The suspected captain of these vile bandits.
Beastkin rarely left the southern great forests, yet here one was in the unending northern winter.
Fascinating, but no reason not to arrest him.
Termiya decided to grab ropes from the village and bind him until cleared.
His intent showed in his face, gestures, and stance.
"......Ha!"
It jumped right into my eyes.
Having spent my life observing and hunting creatures, I could read humans like a book if I focused.
Analyzing monsters' alien movements for patterns? Child's play.
Ha, seriously.
I'm pissed.
I scratched my head, dyeing my eyes purple to share the irritation.
In that instant, impossible sights flickered into my colorless world.
"I can see your sins."
"What nonsense......!"
Termiya froze mid-step with the ropes.
Bind me?
You?
To me?
The sinner in my eyes wasn't me.
"You killed your own parents with your hands. Brutally."
"......!!!"
[Skill, 'Demon Eye' analyzes the grudging spirits clinging to the target one by one.]
[Among the grudging spirits on target 'Termiya', two have perfectly matching genetic traits.]
[99.7% probability they are presumed to be 'Termiya's' parents......]
......
Definite.
The two presumed parental spirits were pitch-black, like vengeful ghosts.
The telltale mark of enmity.
Loved ones' spirits don't cling that murkily.
Only if you'd murdered family or inflicted equivalent harm would they stain so darkly.
"You're joking too far. My parents did pass as you say, but I swear I never committed such filial impiety."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Even swearing on your mana and loyalty to your lord?"
"!!!"
Mention of lord and loyalty flipped his reaction.
Haha, thought he was a stoic rock in that armor, but he's got a fun streak.
Useful personality. My thoughts must've leaked subtly, because Termiya's eyes blazed through his visor.
"Eyes like you could kill."
"......They might kill you."
"Ha, haha, go ahead if you can."
"Hah! Bluffing. As you said, I killed my parentsthink I'd hesitate with you?!"
"......No, that's not what I meant."
Termiya brazenly confessed his crime.
But that's not what I wanted to hear.
I just wanted one word of resolve.
"If you're coming for me, at least be prepared to die together."
"What......?"
Mid-sentence, he met my eyes and shut his mouth.
Why the sudden change?
He'd startled earlier, now overly still and composed.
Like witnessing the indescribable.
And he had.
'Those are human eyes......?'
As his lord's knight for seven years, Termiya could read emotions from eyes alone.
Even she, romance-averse, saw the beautiful, alluring face and proportions.
But contrasting: pure, bottomless killing intent.
No malice or goodwill in it.
Calmly declaring death without a flicker of emotionTermiya squinted behind her visor.
Not mad.
Clearly rational.
Yet spouting that so casually meant emotional distortion somewhere.
Well, who isn't twisted in some way?
She thought at first.
"......"
But right after our exchange.
The beautiful fox beastkin stared unblinking, pupils darting to track her every move.
Hand to hand.
Leg to leg.
Full body, then a step back to frame it all.
It was more fanatical than her sworn loyalty to her lord.
'......I think I messed with the wrong lunatic. Should've kept my mouth shut......'
Termiya adjusted her helmet, dodging his gaze.
His eyes dimmed with life, something dark creeping in.
Confront him, and she might fail her viscount lord's direct order. So she walked silently to the village head's house.
"......"
Silently.
"......Hey, by the way."
Annoying.
......Silently.
"......Why are you even here? Idolizing knights so much you cosplayed one in this backwater?"
More annoying.
......Silently.
"......Or did your lord ditch you? Hm, no answer means the first one...... Nah, second's plenty likely."
......Silently.
"......Or are you just an idiot?"
The final blow.
Her brow probably furrowed at his muttering posture. Helmet hid it, of course.
"Hey, you psycho! Say it to my face!!"
Termiya finally broke.
Baek Seung-woo smirked, then hid it.
The guy was way easier to handle than expected.
A silver lining amid the misfortune.