Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 76
I put the students in taxis and sent them off to the academy.
The girls sat in their seats, clutching the gear we'd salvaged from the warehouse, thrilled on one hand but unable to hide their exhaustion on the other.
Seo Ye-rin let out a massive yawn, her mouth opening wide like a cavern, but when she noticed me watching, she quickly covered it with her hand and flushed red.
It was such a typical move for a girl her age that a smile crept onto my lips.
'These kids don't even flinch at having killed some demonkin.'
I swallowed my smile while scrutinizing each of them closely.
To me, demonkin were no better than beasts or vermin, but they must have been human once, before falling to corruption. Some of my comrades had felt guilt over that fact and thrown themselves into battle like suicides during the war.
Fortunately, there wasn't even a hint of that in these girls.
Truly fortunate.
"Uh, sir. We've arrived."
While lost in such thoughts, the taxi pulled up to our destination.
"Thanks for the ride."
"Yes, that'll be 42,500 won."
I paid with the remaining balance on my black card and got out.
Hmm. Coming home after just a few days, why does it feel so strangely unfamiliar?
I checked my watchit was 3 a.m.
Well, at this hour, it's no wonder.
I strolled through the impeccably manicured garden, waving casually to the guards at the front gate and main building.
Even at this dawn hour, they're all wide awake and on the job.
"...Hm?"
What's with all the commotion?
Even though it was well past midnight, servants and elders were moving about with military precision.
What, did they come out to greet their family head?
But nothey were all rushing toward an annex far from me.
Of course.
Nobody in this house gives a damn about me.
For a family head, it was pathetic treatment. It hit me anew today why Baek Seung-woo was branded a wastrel.
Maybe the guy just craved attention from peoplefrom his familyand veered onto the wrong path as a kid. I mulled it over idly.
Wishing for a diary or something, I headed to my room in the deepest part of the estate. As the family head's quarters, it was packed with a bed and all sorts of ancient family tomes.
I had something to look for there, so I planned to crash for the night. I made my way to my room unnoticed and opened the door.
Creeeakthe hinges, un-oiled, let out a familiar groan as I entered my cozy space.
But there was a shadow of a person inside my room.
"Who are you."
"...".
Under the dawn moonlight, a silhouette with snow-white hair scattering reflected light stood there. Everyone in this household except 'Baek Seung-woo' had white hair and fur, so I was briefly confused, but the feminine curves narrowed it down to two suspects.
Baek Seung-woo's older sister or younger sister.
"Brother."
It was the younger one.
She approached me at the door.
'Baek Seung-woo's' younger sister, who looked just like 'me'.
Baek Seol-hee spoke. Her voice was weary and somber.
"...Do you know what's going on outside right now? Everyone's up at this hour because of some incident tied to you, brother."
"Hm? The rumors have spread that far already?"
"Yes! The news and articles are blowing up. The elders and even my sister jumped out of bed to assess the situation!"
"...Aren't the elders just light sleepers because they're old, and don't even need sleep at night?"
I shot back curtly at her words.
Was it my fault the demonkin attacked the auction house?
Actually, hadn't I boosted the family's reputation? The retort rose to my throat, but then it hit me.
These people are gunning for my seat.
Of course they'd be hypersensitive to my exploits.
Sure, plenty of people trash me now, but if support for me grew later, the ones with headaches would be the elders and the sister in front of me.
Once my thoughts reached that point, a cold voice emerged from my mouth.
It was stiff, utterly devoid of any familial warmth.
"I see."
"Yes, and you spent a ton of money today. Do you even know whose money that was?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"That was your entire fortune."
"...My entire fortune?"
"Yes, your entire fortune."
No wonder it seemed like a lot.
Not just allowance or salaryit was my whole fortune.
"You think the elders will let that kind of spending slide? They'll hound you for it."
"And?"
"...What?"
"So what."
I made necessary purchases.
No regrets, even if the amounts were absurdly large.
The Killing Stone in my pocket would bolster my power, the Thousand Guns Fate Sword a sharp dagger to pierce the elders' hearts, and the Arachne's Thread armor to protect my body. Nothing was wasted.
All to safeguard myself.
I had no idea why the girl in front of me resented it, but I had zero desire to explain myself in detail to Baek Seol-hee.
She seemed worried about me, but I had no intention of accepting it.
"...Since there's a misunderstanding, I'll say this once."
I hated this damn house.
The place where a guy named 'Baek Seung-woo'with my name and facegrew up, still thick with his traces. Staying here let strange thoughts creep into my head and heart unbidden.
Those uncanny sentiments.
They were like the nostalgia of an old man lost in homesickness.
That's why it pissed me off.
"My reign as family head won't end as a wastrel's."
I continued in a tone I'd never use normally, my face a mask of blankness.
"As family head, I'll personally slaughter the pack of wolves eyeing my throne. At the same time, I'll descend among them myself, dismantle their pack, devour it, and subjugate them."
This seat.
The family head's position will be mine forever.
So if you truly want to usurp it, go ahead and try.
"If you want my throne too, don't waste time pretending to worry and currying favor. Build your own wolf pack and scheme to tear this fox apart."
If you truly care about me, and I'm trampling your goodwill right now.
"Get out of my room right now."
Try taking this room from me.
Let the chaser become the chased.
Let it be you, not me. Me, not you.
"This is the family head's room. You can't just barge in."
Then a hero will be born, rising against the wastrel family head.
The Queen of the Black Snowfields, Baek Seol-ha.
She'll mock me, comparing the filthy metrampled and dirtied with black furto the black snow piled on a defiled floor.
Even then, you'll shine purely white, like fresh snow fallen from a winter sky, untouched by a speck of dust.
I'm waiting for that you.
"...".
Fighting Do Ru-do today, I realized it as a few bones cracked.
A novel world without a protagonist.
Raising a few side characters and extras wouldn't cut it.
So become a hero yourself.
For you, and for this world's happy ending.
Crunch. Baek Seol-hee ground her teeth in front of me.
Looks like I've buttoned this up tight from the start.
* * *
Quite some time had passed since I kicked Baek Seol-hee out of the room.
Now I had one dilemma.
Not because of my sister.
"Haha, if I'd known it'd be like this, I wouldn't have taken this ring..."
Haaah. I let out a deep sigh and flopped onto the bed.
The mattress's plush comfort dwarfed any dorm bed, but I had no bandwidth to appreciate it.
As my sister said, the news was flooded with stories about me.
[Breaking! Demonkin attackthis time, not minions, but the big shots themselves!]
[Terror in Jongnowhat's the reason?]
[Terror site littered with 100 demonkin corpses. Who stopped the attack?]
[Humanities giant David Elbridge's statement on the scene: Five students and one man. One of them the Heavenly Fox Baek Family head, Baek Seung-woo?]
It's dawnwhy aren't these people sleeping?
And who the hell leaked this?
Suspectsno, groups of suspectsflashed in my mind.
"...Those old geezers, huh."
The underground auction was an illegal, off-the-books operation, so not the manager or attendants.
High chance it was those grandpa types who shook my hand.
They offered help, but I didn't expect this kind.
They must have connections in the media. Impressive stamina for folks probably riddled with age-related ailments.
"Looks like they're trying to bury my notoriety and scandals under a wave of positive press to flip perceptions. Won't make much difference, though."
Haha. I let out a hollow laugh.
The public's view of me was pretty much locked as 'wastrel'.
If a couple articles could overturn that, I wouldn't have endured the glares all this time.
[Wastrel Baek Seung-woodid he really stop the terror? 99.2% match to academy attack traces.]
[... (excerpt) Following the academy raid, Baek Seung-woo even conquered Aphnel's Garden. This time, he protected citizens from beasts. Even if he's no saint, shouldn't we objectively evaluate his recent actions?]
[Terror site was an underground auctionturns out it was illegal. Tracking customer lists, but no ledgers left, stalling the investigation...]
Yeah, just a line or two in articles.
They had their limits.
But what if there were hundreds, thousands?
[Pandemonium attack hits even the moneyed elite. Danger for anyone.]
[Jongno citizens need a hero who protects ordinary folk over nice guys.]
[Breaking! Magic Tower on-site investigation discovers new magic realm. Protagonist: Baek Seung-woo?! Considering invitation if true...]
Ha, haha, hahahaha.
Hollow laughs kept spilling from my mouth.
A maid, startled by the noise, flung open the door, saw me cackling like a madman, yelped, slammed it shut, and fled.
I didn't even glance at her amid the bang.
Even if a few rich folks' influence couldn't fully reverse my image, it was starting to veer off-course bit by bit.
A capable wastrel. Does awful things, but protects civilians with a sense of duty as family head.
That was Baek Seung-woo's current standing.
How could public perception shift so fast?
Is this power?
Is this wealth?
Is this manpower?
The force that could casually flip opinions made the estate around me stand out. Heavenly Fox Baek FamilyKorea's top clan.
Vast wealth, immense power, armed with cutting-edge medical tech as part of the Nine Heavenly Clans.
Right now, I could almost understand why the elders coveted my seat so badly. My mind was filled with visions of reclaiming full authority as Baek Seung-woo.
As a clear reason and goal to become family head crystallized in my head, the ghost clinging to the ring spoke up.
You look troubled. Got something on your mind? Spill it.
"...Why the hell would I confide in you?"
Because we're bound by fate, darling?
Bound by fate, my ass.
Just a ghost hitched to a ring parasitizing my finger.
[You've met the ring's hidden condition!]
[The 'Jade Ring' reveals its true nature and summons the bound spirit.]
[The ring announces its true name!]
Tamamo's Ring()
Rank: Legend
Description: A treasured item favored in life by Tamamo-no-Mae, the White-Faced Golden-Furred Nine-Tails Fox. Tamamo was famed for her porcelain-white face, incorporated into her name as 'white-faced golden-furred,' though some claim 'white-faced' also means 'hundred faces.'
This symbolizes her hundred forms, and interpretations vary on whether she's the same as Daji of the Shang, Bao Si of the Zhou, Lady Huayang of Magadha, Wakamo, Izuna, etc.
Regardless, the ring embodies the original legend itself. Thus, it is revered as legend incarnate.
Currently spiritually linked to your tails. Most abilities are sealed, with usage restrictions!
*Wu Zetian's Backing Spirit
The spirit of Wu Zetian, the continent's greatest heroine and empress, resides in the ring. Whether it's truly her or a fox's disguise is unknown.
However, the ring's spirit boldly claims to be one of Wu Zetian's hundred forms.
*White Face, Golden Fur
A face white as jade, body adorned in goldsymbol of beauty and wealth across history. The ring transforms the wearer's appearance into ethereal jade beauty. It also lends any attire an air of antique nobility, as if draped in golden fur.
*Fox's Gluttony
A fox's belly is a void, its greed to fill it mountainous. Though spiritual, the fox's mouth exerts physical force on reality, devouring anything.
The size of its maw determines if it consumes small objects or entire spaces.
*Ancestor's Curse()
She is the origin of curses. Her ancient, forgotten mysteries enable anything, tied deeply to her hundred forms.
The ring's master can wield the ancestor's curses at corresponding cost.
The ghost bound to the ring.
It was the spirit of who you'd expect.
But her titles were myriad.
Daji of Shang, Bao Si of Zhou, Lady Huayang of India, Wakamo, Izuna, and nearly a hundred more.
The ring called her 'Wu Zetian's Backing Spirit.'
But the most likely name in my mind was.
"Tamamo."
Why call my true name out of the blue?
"Just trying it out."
Not impressed. You know you shouldn't call a lady's name in such a sultry voice? Seems my contractor lacks experience with women.
Light brown, beautiful hair and eyesunlike my sisters' and elders' snow-white or my jet-black fur.
Nine light-brown tails rising from her back, a bewitching sway and smile meant to enchant me.
Based on the ring's name and her lore, I called her Tamamo.
A response came in a honeyed tone that could melt ears and brain.
If you're calling me anyway, how about infusing love and awe into each syllable? 'Lady Tamamo-no-Mae'? Tamamo's too plain.
"No thanks. -No-Mae's just a honorific. You think I don't know that?"
But I wasn't one to fall for it easily.
Treating women like treasures was the first mindset drilled into me as a swordsmansweet voices and subtle gestures were just cute flirtations.
You really won't? Just once? Pretty please?
...Maybe not just cute.
Even as a spirit, Tamamo could physically touch me through the ring, and I couldn't control her movements.
She unleashed every seduction to soften me up, and I was holding out. Anyway.
"Who said I'm your contractor?"
Who? You signed the contract, contractor.
"...Huh?"
When?
I had no memory of that.
Was slipping the ring on my finger the contract? No way to know details.
Either way, the contract was sealed, making her my trailing backing spirit.
Cost? As if.
I was stuck with a chatty ghost for free.
If you hadn't jammed your long finger into the hole so roughly, this wouldn't have happened. Boo-hoo... So cruel. To you, I was just that, huh.
Tamamo sniffled with fake tears.
She claimed it was a scam contract.
Her phrasing was off too. Who describes a ring hole like that?
If a medium or shaman who could see spirits was here, they'd look at me like trash for sure.
Even for the infamous seductress archetype of nine-tails foxes, this was too much. Not meshe was the problem.
Wow, no, seriously.
This is so unfair.