Chapter 88
Chapter 88
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 88
Hiding her face flushed red like a persimmon, Seo Ye-rin walked two steps ahead of me, and I followed behind.
We were heading to the training grounds now.
Since we'd left with plenty of time to spare, there was still quite a bit left until work started.
Even if I clocked in early, it wouldn't improve my image, and it'd just mean more work piled on, so I figured this was the perfect time to check on the performance evaluation assignment and gauge her proficiency.
We're going to the training grounds, huh. Do students usually train in places like that?
"Most of them, yeah? Why, you wanna train there too?"
As if. I was just thinking it might be nice to teach her those thirty spells there, as payment.
Oh, right.
That was a thing too.
I'd forgotten about it for a moment amid everything else on my mind.
Especially because of that love letter.
"Guess we can train spells there from now on too."
As payment for shoving me deep into the recesses of my inner mind, I'd wrangled a month of one free lesson a day from her.
While I'm teaching her in the training room anyway, I can learn them myself.
By the way, that Seo Ye-rin girl. Such a pretty and lovely name, and she lives up to it. Not quite on your level, but she has that fresh vibe from your academy days.
"Well, she's the heroine."
Hee-row-in...? What's that, some foreign word?
"Nah, nothing important."
Not worth explaining.
I was about to cut off Tamamo's question and move on to the next topic when...
Come to think of it, Contractor.
Tamamo beat me to it.
She was looking at me with eyes full of curiosity and utter bewilderment.
Why the sudden weird look?
Maybe something urgent she needed to ask.
This might be a bit embarrassing to bring up...
"What is it? Spit it out, don't worry about it."
I urged her on, curious what trivial thing she wanted to ask.
And I immediately regretted it.
Why don't you react at all?
"...Huh?"
Tamamo's question omitted the subject.
And at the same time, her gaze dropped to my lower abdomen.
What the hell?
What reaction is missing?
And where the hell is she looking?
All these stunningly beautiful women around you. Especially at your age, just having me nearby should make you hyper-aware, but you show no reaction whatsoever.
...Huh?
Is it because she's a gumiho? The question feels off somehow.
Or maybe a generational gap.
Feeling a headache coming on, I grabbed my head with my right hand and answered.
"I'm healthy. Don't worry."
Even with my firm reply, her suspicious reaction didn't stop.
If anything, it seemed to confirm her doubts.
Are you impotent by any chance?
"...You've finally lost it."
There are things you say to a guy and things you don't.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Tamamo.
Looking embarrassed, she turned her head and scratched it.
As Tamamo turned away, I let out a small sigh inaudible to anyone and brushed off the chill that had run down my spine.
That was close. Almost got found out.
"...She's not entirely wrong, though."
My sexual function is normal.
So I'm not impotent.
If I were, would I have done what I did in 'Efnel's Garden'? I'm not some pervert who spreads my pain to others.
It's just that even with beautiful girls around, I feel nothing.
Maybe it's PTSD from killing my first love with my own hands.
That's the cautious hypothesis I'm considering.
The time spent with hermy masterremained vivid in my mind even after years, unmarred and unfaded, floating there ethereally.
I remember it clearly even now.
Which makes it all the more tormenting.
* * *
"Master."
On land scorched black, a pair of man and woman were investigating the soila barren wasteland where not even a blade of grass could grow.
Such barren lands teemed with all sorts of demonic beasts, making them incredibly dangerous.
In fact, they'd encountered packs of them multiple times during the investigation.
Slash!
Of course, they had more than enough power to protect themselves.
The boy, Baek Seung-woo, who was wielding his sword to guard the woman conducting the survey, spoke up. Was he just hitting puberty?
His stocky build proved he was still very much a young boy.
Yet his hair was as white as an old man'snot dyed, which hinted at how harsh his life had been.
"Master, what have you been doing since earlier?"
Master.
As the word implied, we were in a master-disciple relationship.
We both had longswords of similar length at our waists, wore leather gloves to keep a firm grip on our swords, wiped sweat with our left hands, and so on.
In many ways, we were spitting images of each other as master and disciple.
Though not in appearance.
If I was a boy with hair as white as an old man's...
...my master was a woman with fiery red hair, as if passion itself had taken human form.
"You followed me without knowing?"
"Of course I have to follow when you go somewhere, as your guard."
"You're not supposed to say that when you've got the S-rank promotion battle coming up soon. At this rate, you'll follow me even on the day of the battle if I've got work."
What a given.
If Master moved, I'd follow even on promotion battle day.
"You... your eyes look weird. You're not really planning to, right?"
"Come on, even I wouldn't go that far. An S-rank promotion isn't something that comes easywhy risk it on the day?"
"I just think you might, knowing you."
I just went along with Master's words half-heartedly.
Honestly, from my perspective, A-rank or S-rank didn't matter much.
In the militaristic nation we belonged to, ranks were divided more by skill and achievements than player grades.
And I had already satisfied those two conditions long ago.
"Seung-woo, you should get a command position soon too. How long are you gonna lead just the detachment?"
"Leading a hundred in the White Sword Unit is plenty for me. Anything more, and it'd be a disaster."
"That won't last. Everyone hesitates now because you're young, but once they see your command skills, the top brass won't let your talent rot in a detachment."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. We'll talk about that later. Master, you've been dodgingwhat exactly are you doing?"
Cutting off Master's words, I got back to the point.
I couldn't understand why someone like Master was investigating barren soil here.
To my question, Master kindly explained.
"Obviously, I'm checking the changes in the land I burned. Ah, this is why you have to control the power of flames properly."
I tilted my head at her words.
I'd thought the once-green land had turned to barren waste recently, and it was Master's doing.
That explained the horrific sight.
But even if it was Master's handiwork, grunt work like soil and geology surveys didn't need her personal attention.
She was one of the eight at the pinnacle of the nation. She could just point, and it was done.
Why do simple labor like this herself, even on a precious day off?
A mere child like me couldn't comprehend.
"It's completely burned up. No chance of soil recovery at all."
"I heard your flames are still raging like karmic fire to the northwest. What the hell were you fighting to mess up the firepower control this badly?"
She's my superior and all, but I couldn't stop chiding her.
Food was the most vital thing in war.
With the front lines dragging on, we'd selected this area for easy farming.
And she'd scorched dozens of kilometers of it.
With zero recovery chance, no less.
"Th-then, can Eve's fix it somehow?"
As if she hadn't expected this much damage, Master spoke in a flustered tone, forgetting her dignity.
"No way. You know better than anyone what kind of flame is."
"B-but...! Ah, fine, if Eve's can't, then your [Star Cluster]..."
"No."
Eve's ability, , which defied the laws of the material world.
My ability, [Star Cluster], which wielded the mysteries of the stars.
Not even those could cover for Master's also known as sulfur fire or karmic fire.
Once lit, it never went out, burning with the intent to consume all of the saha world in glorious blaze. Its power was indescribable; once unleashed, cleanup was a nightmare.
And the problem wasn't just this one barren patch from .
"That's why I told you to use in moderationhow many times now? This is already the third incident this year alone."
"Ahaha, has it been that many?"
"Yeah, be more careful."
I scolded Master for burning all our farmland.
Sometimes I couldn't tell who was master and who was disciple.
She even seemed younger than me at times.
But that thought didn't last.
Unlike me, stuck at just over 150 cm at the ripe age of fifteen when boys should be growing...
...Master was in the late 170s, tall even for a woman.
No matter how you looked at it, she seemed older.
"Sigh, when the hell am I gonna grow?"
I placed my hand on top of my head.
For a boy hitting secondary growth, it was pretty stumpy.
The teacher said I'd grow later, no worries, but fellow boy soldiers Wei and Seok-jun were 10 cm taller than me.
Sigh, nothing but sighs.
When I vented this frustration to Master, she always responded with fond eyes and hugslike handling a typical kid.
"You wanna grow tall? But no, Seung-woo is cutest like this."
"Being cute doesn't help swinging a sword on the battlefield. Especially against long-range or agile demonic beastsit's a pain."
Being short was inconvenient in many ways.
Especially in combat.
Sword mastery and higher realms reduced the importance of limb length, but short limbs still had limits.
Master didn't get it.
So I puffed my cheeks and turned away sharply.
"Then I'll just have to keep our Seung-woo hugged tight wherever we go. Can't fight if you're this small, right?"
Poofshe pulled me into her embrace, teasing the height difference.
The cozy hug highlighted our small stature gap.
I should've been thrilled to be held by the master I admired and loved, but as a kid, I felt my head throb before my heart did.
Her words annoyed me.
And I blurted out something I shouldn't have.
"Ugh, stop. I've even gotten the title Sword Lord instead of Sword Dragon this time...!"
Sword Lordmaster of the sword.
An overgenerous title for a mere sixteen-year-old, but I had the skills and achievements to back it.
Above all, innate talent.
"Sword Lord...?"
"...Ah."
The issue was that Sword Lord was one of the "Lord" titles limited to 100 holders at a time. Any nickname with "Lord" after it outranked most medals in the nation.
It symbolized and boosted army morale.
The top brass had notified me first, planning to officially bestow the title along with a medal for past deeds soon.
Of course, it was all classified.
"You... who gave you that?"
And I'd spilled it in front of her.
"Uh, well... that is."
"Tell me. Now."
Master demanded reproachfully.
I had no choice but to confess everything, and she learned the top brass planned to use me strategically and for PR.
A boy with sharp features and classic pretty-boy looks.
No better poster child for national PR. The Sword Lord title had those political undertones.
Obviously, I'd seen through the top brass's intentions.
I was young, but not immature in thinking or judgment.
Everything was calculated.
But Master hated me getting tangled in politics.
She wanted me to stay a pure boy forever.
But my skills were too outstanding for that.
A needle in a bagmy sword was too sharp to stay hidden in Master's pouch.
Two months ago, a demonic beast had infiltrated a village.
4th Hierarchy threat.
Capable of destroying a city alone. Before adulthood, I'd soloed it, proving my prowess.
Official player rank still A, due to procedures.
But now I rivaled S-rank.
Notop S-rank level.
The Sword Lord moniker from citizens and the nation backed my skills and deeds. Political or not, achievements didn't fade.
But even those feats...
...were fireflies boasting before Master's sulfur fire.
She was the nation's living legend.
In the flesh.
"...Do you have to take that title?"
"Yes, no matter what."
"Even if it means you can't stay a kid anymore?"
"I'm not a kid anymore, so it's fine."
Among later-generation sword wielders, Sword Dragon was the highest and strongest title I'd held proudly for yearsbut it meant my skills were stuck at that level. I wanted out ASAP.
Sword Lord proved I was recognized as a true hero. Not boy or later-gen.
A full-fledged soldier reborn.
But back then, I didn't know.
Becoming an adult meant giving up so much.
With plenty around me who were adults.
No one told me about the pain of loss.
Back then, just gazing at Master's face made me happy. Her smile was beautiful and radiant enough to eclipse the battlefield's horrors.
I often spent time with her.
Even those small moments of respite and joy...
...became rare after becoming a full soldier and hero, not boy or later-gen.
After taking army commander and field officer roles.
Master's and my [Star Cluster] were the nation's top strategic weapons in raw destructive power among all abilities.
Our operational radii and fronts had to be separate.
After finishing the soil survey, receiving Sword Lord, surviving countless battles and trials, and reaching a position laden with duties...
...Master told me:
"Your heart is still a child's, but the burdens on those shoulders scream 'adult' to anyone. You're stronger than me now."
Then or now.
The night sky with her was always full of stars.
"So."
Master leaned her head on my shoulder and continued.
"If I must die, or go mad, please kill me with your hands. My beloved... disciple."
A cowardly testament preempting her end.
Even now, her request felt underhanded.
And indeed.
As per her will, I killed her with my own hands.
Adding another unbearable burden for a boy not yet adult.
I stared blankly at the star-filled night sky.
Astrologythey say in the West, it's reading stars and heavens to predict fates.
Then are all those star clusters in the sky the intertwined fates of us struggling fiercely on this harsh land?
Gazing at the colorful fates woven in the stars, I lamented.
I hate fate.
The fate I never wanted.
Solely because it was fate.
Led me to hell's end.
Hell's end blazed with sulfur fire.
And that hell hasn't ended even now.
Back then.
And this moment.
Master's never went out.
It burrowed into my chest, burning my heart to ashes unsatisfied, and I was trapped in it, as always.
Forevermore.