Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 117
"Dawn's breaking. Time to head out."
"...Why are you acting like you're the leader of this group?"
"What's wrong with me being the center? Fine, Sir Knight. If you think you'd do better, let's see it."
"...My apologies. That was out of line."
The knight, Termiya, had joined our group.
The city we were heading to was Frontier.
There was no better guide to lead us there.
He'd finished all his business in the village anyway, so I asked if he'd travel back with us.
And just like that, he accepted readily.
Perfect.
This is going great.
Readily? Heh... Yesterday, anyone could see he was clearly reluctant.
Tamamo remembered.
She recalled how Seung-woo had barged into Termiya's room, grabbed his shoulders as he hastily donned his helmet and armor, and spoke in a threatening tone.
Her contractor probably hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment.
All those cloths and restraints adjusting his build.
Anyway, her contractor was overflowing with feminine wiles in all sorts of ways.
Or... maybe he knew and was just pretending not to.
He was a man with more secrets than she gave him credit for.
'That's as ready as it gets. You saw how he recoiled next to the village chief last time.'
Fair enough.
'Right, so let's drop it. Time to get moving.'
There was no carriage or anything.
Frontier lay beyond treacherous mountains and forestsno wheeled vehicle could make that trip.
At least it was a relief that we could reach it in two days of nonstop marching.
"Alright, let's get going."
"C-Can't we at least say goodbye to the kids?"
"Come to think of it, Iji. You've been playing with them a lot, huh?"
She fidgeted, staring at the ground and twiddling her fingers. It was clear she was attached. Well, once we parted today, she'd never see them again.
Even knowing they were NPCs from a perished world, her nature wouldn't let her leave without a word.
Poor kid.
"It's only 5 a.m. anyway. The kids aren't up yet."
"R-Right...?"
"Besides, you think the parents in this village would let us near their children? You've felt it these past two days. This place is stingy and closed-off to outsiders."
Isolated villages like this were often harsh to strangers.
I'd experienced it firsthand many times, but for a first-timer like Iji, it must have hit differently.
I stroked her head gently.
"Don't get too attached. This land is already a perished world. Their deaths are set in stone."
"B-But... isn't there something we can do...!"
"No."
I understood her heart.
The pain of knowing innocent people would die, yet having to keep walking anyway. No one knew it better than me.
But anyone who truly wielded a sword had to see not just with the heart, but with reality.
"The Backside World is just another branch of the dungeon. You heard it from the guide. A dungeon is..."
"A fragment of a perished world. Like starlight twinkling from beyond the cosmos right now, but really long dead and turned to dust, and what we see is just ancient light... I know."
She looked so wronged.
Even growing up in this closed-off village, the kids had smiled brightly at strangers like us. It must have stung that their future was sealed.
Though their smiles did come with chocolate bribes.
This world was beyond saving.
'It perished long ago. Not like your world, where I could do something.'
Oh ho, 'your world'...?
'You already guessed. Don't act like you struck gold.'
I answered nonchalantly.
By contract, I had to answer Tamamo's questions anyway. We'd both collared each other, after all.
Hiding info forever wasn't smart, so I was upfront, but she held back, saying she savored treats slowly.
Instead, she changed the subject.
As if I'd fall for such an obvious ploy...
Oh my, isn't that little Amy?
"Where?"
I looked where she pointed.
No need for skills or [Ten-Li Eye].
The girl was running straight toward us.
"O-Onii-chan! Wait before you go!"
"Teacher."
"Let's hold off departing a bit. That's fine with you, Sir Knight?"
"...If it's for a child, I don't mind. But weren't you planning to leave soon anyway, no matter what I said?"
"Obviously."
"...Annoying fox."
I bantered lightly with Termiya and walked toward the girl following Iji.
Soon, as Iji met the girl...
"Amy, you came to see me! Want a snack or...?"
"Onii-chan!"
Whoosh!
The girl blew past Iji and threw herself at my legs.
Worried she'd hurt herself, I picked her up. She seemed fine.
Grinning ear to ear, she handed me a crumpled envelope stuffed full.
Pretty thick.
"What's this?"
"A letter. Me and my friends wrote it together."
That explained the bulk.
"But why?"
"You're heading to the city, right, onii-chan? Can you deliver it to my friends for me?"
"..."
She ticked off names on her fingers: "Charles, Mary, Ailia..." and more. But with all I'd learned from the village and the sealed mine below the graveyard, I couldn't respond.
All I could do was...
"Sure, I'll deliver it."
And stroke her head.
Her face flushed red.
No Yu-ra eyed it enviously, while Iji glared up at me with murder in her eyes.
I handed the girl back to her rushing parents.
Even then, their eyes brimmed with distrust, fear, and disgust toward me. No, I didn't make those bandits, I swear.
They kept it up.
The sour mood lingered in silence throughout the march.
Termiya finally broke it.
"You never take night watch, do you?"
"Nope. I'm here as a chaperone and teacher, not a substitute."
"Tch... All talk. You look like you hate it anyway..."
I didn't stand watch.
No intention of helping students that far.
Experiencing exhaustion without proper sleep in harsh conditions was valuable for them.
Sleep was a hard urge to control.
Overcoming it took real effort.
Termiya, oblivious, grumbled behind me.
I could hear every word, dude.
"Wanna fight? I can take the injury risk and still win. Throw down if you dareI'll even let you go first."
"...I said nothing."
"I heard you."
"What gives you the right to badmouth our teacher, mister?"
Anyone else, and they'd brush it off. But since it was Termiya, who'd tried dragging me off, the students fired back sharply.
They could trash-talk me, but not himthat mindset.
Damn, almost touched for a sec.
Anyway, it escalated into a trust issue with him.
"I heard you're the captain of the... Fr-Frontier? Knights or whatever. Can a knight captain really be that petty?"
"...The young lady has a point. Nothing to say there."
"Honestly, I don't trust you. We only heard about your rank from villagers. We haven't verified it ourselves. You might not even be a knight."
"This armor and sword bear the Frontier baron's crest."
"Exactly. How are outsiders like us supposed to know or trust that?"
No Yu-ra pressed gently but firmly.
She had a point.
Especially...
"How can we build trust with someone hiding their face?"
"...No, that's fair."
"Then take it off. We have to travel together two full days. How can we trust someone who won't even show their face?"
Termiya flinched at Iji's words, face trembling.
Then nodded.
"You're right. Like it or not, we're traveling togethertrust matters. I'll gladly remove it."
He shed the ornate pieces, doffing his pauldrons and helmet.
Revealing what lay beneath.
Silence fell all around.
Tamamo and I were no exceptions.
This is shocking.
The Backside World, huh? To think a being from legends and folklore back home actually exists. What fortune.
'Agreed.'
The face under the helmet was unmistakably feminine.
Now it clicked.
Her helmet wasn't just defensiveit concealed her gender and identity.
Probably had a [Voice Modulation] spell inside too.
But that wasn't the point now.
"Horns...?"
"Not curved like a devil or goat. Straight like a deer or Rudolph."
"Leaves on the horns too... No way it's what I think."
The helmet had looked intimidatingly spiky.
Never imagined she wore it to hide this.
But it made sense.
This was beyond my knowledge.
"Her skin's kinda unique, right? Unnaturally pale?"
"Horns on the head are whatever. Our teacher's got fox ears and three tails."
"Sniff sniff. Smells like nature!"
"Nature's scent? Yeah, kinda refreshing."
Termiya's unexpected appearance.
I'd vaguely sensed she was a woman.
Seen plenty of cross-dressing women on battlefieldshow could I miss it?
But this? No clue.
"Forest fairy. Dryad, right?"
"Dr-Dryad...!?"
"What's that?"
Dryad.
Tree-dwelling forest spirit.
Termiya was a descendant carrying that blood.
More precisely...
"Looks like rare, ancient, even transcendent strains mixed in."
"Rare species...?"
"H-How do you know that...!?"
My eyes and accumulated knowledge dissected her thoroughly.
The conclusion was staggering.
[Skill Demon Eye meshes with [Ten-Li Eye], analyzing all in sight flawlessly.]
[Genes defining species are heavily mixed.]
[Overheat during info scan and classification.]
[Caution: Shock imminent!]
Thudlike my brain was stirred.
Heat flushed my face; vision blurred briefly.
"Teacher! Blood from your eyes!"
"I'm fine. Not dying."
So shocking, blood streamed from my eyes.
Truly mind-blowing.
[Subject is a hybrid of 5 species total.]
[Detailed species list output.]
[Iron spirit from earth, forest dryad, deer beastkin from apple groves, wood elf under bo tree, ogre.]
I double-checked the messages.
What a mess of mixes?
Not a chimera or anything.
"This... not just any mutt. A total mongrel."
"Hey! 'Mongrel' is crude. 'Mixed blood' is politer."
"Give me a break. Fairies and spirits are close enough. Even elf makes sense. Beastkin... dubious, but okay."
This? No.
Tap tap. I knocked on her armor.
The solid ring inside suggested packed, bulging muscle.
"Ogre's a stretch."
"H-How...? Only the baron knew that secret."
"Plain as day."
Dude, that muscle could rip logs with a pinky.
Honestly... a bit envious.
With that physique, I could solo most episodes and main quests.
She misinterpreted my envious gaze, covering herself.
Nothing to see, and you're armored anyway.
Already covered head to toewhat's to hide? A naive kid playing knight... hilarious.
To me, Termiya was just a maiden lost in knight cosplay.
"Wh-What are you staring at...?!"
"Your body."
"...What?"
"Teacher has those tastes? Lemme see... Notes app, got it. Teacher likes... muscular types and stiff talk."
"Don't make me sound like a freak."
I denied it firmly.
What 'tastes'? Castrated of base lusts, I had no preferences. Closest to ideal was... my first love, my mentor.
"Don't misunderstand. I just scanned her muscle density."
"Muscle density?"
Species in her blood.
Ogrez were strength incarnate.
If dragons ruled magic,
ogres ruled aura and ki.
Born with ki flowing through veins, blood, heartogres boasted regen eclipsing trolls and strength rivaling dragon roars.
"Teacher, so her blood mixes species, right? Elf, beastkin, ogre, spirit, dryad."
"Yeah. Thickest is dryad, thinnest ogre. Ogre's distant ancestor, dryad within three generations."
"...Why do you know my unspoken family history so well?"
"Then Teacher! Factoring racial traits, she's gotta be centuries old! Granny! Granny!"
"Hey, what'd you call her?"
Termiya bristled at "centuries."
Forgot her prim speech.
I knew via [Ten-Li Eye] status peek she was in her twenties, but mixed fairy/spirit blood usually screamed ancient.
Too harsh for a twenty-something maiden, but
no reason for me to intervene.
And I regretted it immediately.
"I...! I'm...!!"
"Man, climbing mountains all day is brutal. Thirsty no matter how much I drink. One more sip."
"I-I'm still a virgin...!!!"
"Pfft!!!"
Iji spat her water at the sudden confession.
The spray toward Isis hit her chill aura and froze midair, shattering on the ground.
I was in the path.
Almost hit.
Ew, gross.