Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 121
One person killed makes a murderer, but killing hundreds or thousands under the banner of justice and righteousness turns you into a hero.
One of the utter nonsense people spout.
Murderer.
A being who commits the act of kin-slaying, violating ethical and moral values against one's own kind.
Hero or not, killing a person makes you a murderer.
The karma of slaughter binds eternally to that person's soul.
This is the common belief among those who revere shamanism and mysticism.
I was born and raised in a world where magical beasts and superpowers exist, so I agree with that claim.
I agree.
But that doesn't mean I hesitate to kill.
Forbidding kin-slaying is an utterly inefficient survival strategy.
If killing someone means I live, and my family lives, why hesitate?
Of course, if the target is a utterly useless criminal, I'd get leniency even from myself, but what if that person is good?
Could I kill them?
Opinions on this vary wildly, but they all boil down to simplistic binary choices of yes or no.
And I
Baek Seung-woo
"gladly."
agree without hesitation.
If it protects my people, my world, who cares if these hands get a little dirtier?
Hands already soaked in the metallic stench of blooddirtying them more just means more blood on them, nothing changes.
Even if it means killing them personally.
If it holds commensurate value, I'd dirty not just my hands, but snap their neck myself.
* * *
'My hands feel extra sticky today.'
It was hot enough to sweat inside my gloves and coat.
My body is normally immune to heat or cold due to the "Solar Vein Blockage." Think of it as the disease version of a cold-resistant constitution.
Anyway, my body, numb to temperature changes, is sweating.
The implication was obvious.
"So... hot..."
"Hang in there just a bit longer, Sis. We're almost there."
"No, Knight! Why is it so hot here? This is the same region as that village before, right?!"
"I do sweat occasionally from temperature shifts myself, but you'll adapt quickly."
"For someone who says that, sweat's dripping from your helmet slits?"
Teasing her like that, she whipped her head away.
I could feel her fierce glare through the helmet.
"...Damn fox beastkin. Shut your mouth. How can you be so rude to a lady?"
"Oh? If that's what you want."
I stroked Termiya's chin with my gloved hand.
Just touching her iron helmet, but the key was that I touched her.
That alone exceeded the limit for her self-proclaimed virgin knight mind.
"I'll treat you not as a knight, but as a woman?"
"Wh-what the hell! I'm the bulwark of Termiya, my lord's sword. No one touches this lowly knight!!"
"Who said anything about touching? I politely asked, 'Shall I?' Were you maybe hoping a little?"
"You fox!!"
"Oh my, you only just realized I'm a fox?"
It was hot, but this fun toy kept the march from getting boring.
The students laughed at her unexpected side compared to her first impression, while others like No Yu-ra scowled.
Still, everyone drew strength from the sight.
"Totally different from how she seemed at first."
"Yeah, I thought she was just super strict."
"Eh, doesn't matter. She's hilarious."
Purely enjoying it for energy.
"...Jealous."
"If I were there... that'd be nice."
"...Yu-ra and Sis...? What are you two doing there...?"
"Ye-rin, you don't need to know."
"Huh...?"
Or fueling themselves with jealousy.
Anyway, we diligently reached the city.
Just had to pass the long inspection line.
Or so I thought.
"Sir! Knight Captain Termiya!"
"Good to see you. Your name is...?"
"Leo, sir! But these folks behind you...?"
"My guests, so keep the inspection light. Oh, and I need to see the Viscount right away, so make it quick."
"Yes, sir!"
After saluting the guard, we breezed through with VIP treatment.
As spear-wielding guards raised disciplined salutes wishing us well, Termiya boasted.
"How about that? That's me."
"Impressive."
"...No emotion in your voice."
"A. MAZ. ING."
"You rip-your-face-off fox!! Someday I'll tear that filthy mouth of yours!!!"
"Try it. Your head'll burst in flames first."
Amid their amusing spat.
I, unconcerned, felt the air's temperature with my whole body and asked Termiya.
"By the way, Knight."
"...What?"
"Why's the temperature like this? So warm?"
"Because this is the Frontier."
Seasons are hard to distinguish anyway.
Summer and winter vary by continent position.
And those lines aren't easy to spot.
"But this... it's too distinct. The temperature gap's even bigger than before."
"T-Teacher, what's this phenomenon?"
"Beats me, Zi-ya. No clue here."
Like the cloud boundary between rainy and dry zones, there was a massive temperature difference between the maintained road to the city and the wild forest-mountain traces.
On a hunch, I asked Termiya.
"Is it summer now, by chance?"
"No, autumn. Impressive, right? This is the fruit of the Frontier's magic tower, knight order, and viscount house working together."
"This temperature?"
"Exactly! This barrier that utterly repels northern cold allowed the viscount to receive this land's position from His Great Sun."
"This land's imperial territory, right?"
"A remote corner of the vast empire, but yes, imperial. Why?"
"Just asking."
The land's lord serves the empire.
So her "Great Sun" must be the emperor, and this viscount ruling such land is reward for the climate control.
Headache-inducing.
Just yesterday we crossed snow-capped mountains.
Beyond: a city with early spring temps, winter chill and spring warmth coexisting.
This might be trickier than expected.
'At least to tackle this shadow world and destroy the egg, I need scenario progress over 50%.'
[Progress: 19.9%]
Almost 20%.
Over a quarter done has meaning, but I've spent four days here already.
Midterms last a week.
Need 30%+ in three daysnot easy.
"Teacher, hotter than expected."
"Indeed, not that high, but the difference makes it feel warm, Sis."
"Huh? Duri, since when casual speech?"
"Uh, n-nothing!"
She'd decided to call Isis "Sis" like the other studentsthat dawn talk was secret, so Isis dodged.
Not really hiding, but because of my scars.
Probably guilty over glimpsing me naked yesterday by accident. Good she doesn't feel disgust.
These scars are my medals and proof, but not to others' eyes.
"Let's... not talk about that and sightsee the city...!"
"Changing the subject? I didn't raise our Sis like that."
"Hey, did you raise her? I did."
"Joint custody it is."
"City's pretty, though. Can't stand the subject change, but."
Students laughed and chatted.
They generally praised the city's vibe.
Stark contrast to grim Temil village.
Anyone raised here could see why Termiya abandoned her talents for knighthood.
But.
'To me, this place and that are the same.'
Frozen starving village or temperate city.
No difference when kids' laughter's replaced by adults' hollow steps.
Whether this is rebirth pains of a dead world or the north always starved for food and affectionwho knows.
Either way, this world's doomed.
* * *
"I see... Knight Captain Termiya's report noted. You're otherworlders?"
"Yes, Viscount."
"Hmm... I see."
Soon, we reached the city's heart.
A castle-like metropolis, meeting its lord.
"As otherworlders, you might not know me or my house. Allow introductions. I am Epots ben Frontier, lord of Frontier viscounty."
Epots ben Frontier.
First name, middle, houseclassic medieval.
Viscount Epots introduced his wife and children beside him.
"The lady here is my wife, Anna."
"Oh, dear. Calling me 'lady' in front of guests after yearsreally..."
"My apologies... Wife's so modest, I slipped. Could you overlook it?"
"Of course. Fine couple you are."
I tossed bland praise at the viscount pair.
Clueless why summoned suddenly, my eyes and mind wandered.
Followed Termiya, then a butler appeared saying the viscount called us all.
We'd come seeking Isabel and Temil kids' friends, ended up here unexpectedly.
"Thanks for the praise. Your posture and etiquette are impeccable... Have you studied noble manners?"
"Yes, I'm nobility myself."
Dealing with a medieval viscount.
I let ingrained etiquette take over.
Submitting to form and grace, the watching viscount questioned, then beamed.
Kinship of blue blood.
I don't feel it, but he does.
"Haha, never thought to meet another noble here besides myself. Live long enough, you see it all. And beastkin nobility from the south, no less."
"No other nobles in the northern continent?"
This vast land has more than Frontier.
Never met another noble at his age? Absurd.
Ah, social outcast maybe.
As impious thoughts brewed, he chuckled, stroking his beard tenderly.
"Not sure if southern nobles follow our empire's laws, but here, ruling a domain requires at least baronetearl minimum. That's baseline."
"So..."
"Yes, no nobles here but me. Not above, not below."
So this viscount rules unchecked, unfit otherwise.
Makes sense on harsh land.
But his rank's suspiciously low.
North's vast at a glance.
Too big for one viscount, even barren.
"I see."
"Truly regrettable. Nobles protect the people, but I can't manage this expanse alone. Ah, I've prattled too long. My apologies."
A remarkably mild man.
Considering this world's medieval era akin to ours, his thinking was open-minded.
Termiya, abandoning talent to serve him, likely drawn to that side.
I continued talking, growing surer.
'Don't like this guy.'
Epots Viscounthe rubs me wrong.
As person or noble.
'Mask's thicker than expected. Inside... doesn't seem good.'
I know similarity.
He's playacting the good guy.
Quite skillfully.
Stirring disgust and dissonance, tanking my view of him.
Never seen a good one like that.
It's kinship and kin-loathing alike.
I'm similar.
Good he's skilled; without my "eyes," might've taken longer to spot.