Chapter 123
Chapter 123
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 123
Viscount Eptz's private office.
Normally, this was a room where he would be alone, but now it was packed with people.
However, upon closer inspection, there were devil horns sprouting from their heads.
How could beings with those on their heads possibly be human?
Because of that, the office was divided into two factions based on an invisible line.
"Um... Viscount, who exactly are they?"
"Knight Commander, you're a day later than scheduled, so the introductions were delayed. But let me introduce them now. These are the partners we acquired two days ago."
"Partners, you say?"
Partners meant those in the same business.
Those conducting the same kind of trade.
But could they truly be called the same as us?
"It seems the Viscount's Knight Commander is quite confused. I understand. In this land where knowledge of demons is so lacking, it's only natural."
"Oh my, Simon, you do have a way with words."
"...A mad bitch and a mad bastard. They match disgustingly well. I'm going insane just from this revolting livestock stench."
The black-haired priest.
The woman wearing a cotinga mask, her long forehead horn adorned with jewels and gold.
The red-haired man radiating utter boredom and irritation.
The three shared the same aura.
A sticky, dark energy.
It resembled the aura of monsters threatening the masses, and the moment Termiya faced them, an unbearable disgust washed over her. Just as she reached for her shield and sword...
Viscount Eptz raised his hand to restrain her, and Termiya halted.
Repulsive, yesbut not to the point of being uncontrollable.
More than that, her loyalty to Viscount Eptz, who had raised her since childhood, burned stronger.
Termiya's Loyalty to Lord and Country was no empty phrase.
For her lord and her nation, she could do anything.
That was a knight's virtueand the very creed of their Knight Commander.
"Now you seem ready to listen. Thank you, Viscount."
"It's nothing. We're comrades in the same boat now, aren't we?"
Comrades in the same boat.
Whether they both truly thought that way of each other, no one knew.
But one thing was clear: the land's lord had joined hands with powerful demons.
Of course.
"Oh my, what a cute little bug."
"What are you doing?"
"There was this plump purple bug, so I just touched it. Hmm, feels like I've seen it somewhere before?"
"You lot! The Viscount is speaking! What manners are these?!"
Not everyone saw it that way.
Behind Simon, the two demons showed little interest in the conversation.
Their goals were amusement and slaughter.
And awakening fellow nobles of their kind.
Everything else was left to Simon.
That entitled attitude naturally didn't sit well with Termiya, the Viscount's Knight Commander.
"Filthy female livestock... What did you just say? Manners?"
"That's right! Mind your manners! The one before you is Viscount Eptz, who received full authority over the North from the Empire's great sun!"
"Still just livestock nobility. We, truly chosen by the world, are on a different level."
"You...!"
The war of words soon escalated into a staring contest between Termiya and the demons.
Mana and demonic energy clashed in the air as they probed each other's realms and reaction speeds.
The oppressive force threatened to collapse the ceiling or punch through the roof at any momentright then.
"!!!"
"...What was that just now?"
The cotinga-masked woman and the red-haired man shot to their feet.
The man tried to scan for what had happened, but the woman felt terror the instant she stood.
This... how long had it been since she last felt fear?
A chilling, sharp prickling at her throat.
It was a daily emotion back when she lived as an untouchable pariah of the human race.
But after rebirth armed with demonic energy, horns, tough skin, wisdom, and schemes, she could count the times on one hand.
"B-Bai... has he come?!"
"Don't speak his name. You couldn't pronounce it anyway, and the guy under the heaviest system sanctions and interferencehow could he wake up already?"
"R-Right... A duke couldn't possibly awaken so soon."
"What an idiot. The answer's obvious if you think for a second. This is why you shouldn't deal with birdbrains."
The Viscount scowled at their private exchange.
What were they talking about, chattering just between themselves with him right there?
The garbled pronunciation grated on him too.
And it didn't sit well at all.
It was an aura from a realm humans like him couldn't sense.
"What exactly are you discussing?"
"No need for lowly scum like you to know."
The demon's curt reply made the Viscount tense for a moment, while the cotinga woman finally began to relax.
Right, how could a duke descend here in person?
Even they had only awakened from their graves thanks to a human named Simonand it wasn't a fully refreshed awakening.
'Sleepiness' still lingered in their bodies.
The sleep and seals on all noble demons were shackles imposed by the system. Even with Simon breaking those chains, the system's traces lingered like brands, tormenting them.
If half-awakened ones like them were like this...
How could a dukewith greater power and thus greater restraints
Let alone one whose seal wasn't even half-undonebe here?
The very moment the cotinga woman relaxed.
"These insolent fools in my territory...!"
"!!!!!"
"This aura... from lowly scum...?"
Kicking off his ornate chair, the Viscount rose.
He could tolerate no more rudeness.
They were getting cocky because he'd indulged them, assuming they held all the power.
In truth, the red-haired demon snorted dismissively, and the cotinga-masked one ignored the Viscount entirely.
p>They saw no value in his untrained, soft flesh.
But in that instant, both revised their assessment of him.
"Th-This... from a human...? I-Impossible..."
"Hey... Eptz, was it? Even born livestock, there's a reason you're nobility."
The fragments of aura emanating from him were at least that of a fully intact viscount-level demon.
If this wasn't his limit, it rivaled a city-destroying earl demon or ranker. Perhaps even a marquess.
Terrified prematurely, the woman slumped, hands trembling, while the man shook his chosen-one indoctrinated head side to side before admitting it.
The zealot livestock named Simon partnering equally with this guy had its reasons.
And this aura was part of those reasons.
No matter how much he treated humans as livestock, he couldn't deny the evidence before his eyes. He wasn't foolish enough to blindly reject reality.
If he were, he wouldn't even hold a baron's title.
He despised and looked down on thembut never ignored them.
'Livestock is livestock, but this one's different. I have to acknowledge him. Clearly stronger than me right now.'
No matter how he chewed it over, he fell short of Viscount Eptz.
But still.
Is it true that the overwhelming pressure he and the mad bitch felt came from this human?
"I could've sworn I sensed another livestock's presence..."
Trailing off as he scanned everywhere, nothing came.
Only two humans and a half-beast monster on the distant ceiling entered his sight.
Definitely a different kind of aura.
So, was it truly my imagination?
"...Seems like after my long sleep with no rehab, my senses have rusted."
"Then, care for some rehab?"
"Ho, lay it out. If it's a good idea, I'll play along with your schemes myself."
"Schemes? You're too harsh. But sure, if you'll help, I'll gladly share."
Simon and the red-haired man continued their scheming banter.
And their conversation.
Chirp!
Was being eavesdropped by a small purple bug, transmitting the intel outward.
* * *
"..."
The purple bug stolen from the female demon named Yumarra.
Its power: plundering human vitality and linking external senses to the owner's five senses.
As long as the original owner isn't killed, the power persists.
Can't you tell me what those horned things are talking about?
"...You can't hear it?"
It's your five senses linked externally. Why would I hear it?
"Just scheming."
Can't you at least tell me?
I have to answer her per the contract.
But for that question, this suffices.
"Is there any need? It's just typically demonic chatter."
The demons' endgame is always human slaughter.
They are humanity's enemies by existence alone.
So their goal is...
Then, massacre... or sacrifices. Using every soul tied to this land as offerings?
"You catch on quick. But clues are scarce now. Their talk via the bug could be lies."
But the most likely thing for them to do right now is killing people...
"No disagreement there. Process aside, those demons will kill the Viscount they're working with and all other humans. That's certain."
No matter what, the Viscount and his house's suspiciousness is blatant fact.
So if the demons kill them, one headache less.
Isn't that good?
"Hardly."
But the world's logic is equivalent exchange.
What goes must come back.
"The Viscount and his house can't die. Without knowing this world's ending, outsiders twisting the scenario too much spells disaster."
And?
That's not all.
"The Viscount knows the most about the outside world here. As nobility, naturally. To see this world's end and achieve our goal, we must capture him."
Then?
"Torture and interrogation."
No thought to saving people?
Tamamo questioned the man bearing the grand cause of saving people, but...
Seeing Seung-woo's face, she realized.
"...Who knows."
You... don't tell me.
"They're already dead anyway. Dying again changes nothingthis is just replaying ancient history."
A deeply displeased expression.
No mask could hide it: his hands trembled at the thought of ten thousand souls perishing.
Seung-woo's pupils shook desperately.
...You okay?
"Who knows."
Guilt.
He was feeling guilt right now.
Tamamo was confusedthis man was utterly distant from such emotions. So what... Ah, right.
It wasn't guilt.
Just mimicking guilt.
Then that emotion is...
...What?
Seung-woo was cowardly at times, bold at others.
Cruel, merciful, distant.
Even shewith a hundred faces, identities, historiescouldn't fully grasp him. But judging by millennia of experience, their overlap existed.
Masks.
Hiding true feelings, donning lies, layering deceptionsit resembled her own.
The slight difference: Tamamo's base mask was 'arrogant woman,' consistent, while Seung-woo's presumed masks were an excessive rainbow of varieties.
"I've forgotten what face to make in a situation like this."
Like the ravings of a madman.
Utterly defensive, twisted masks.