Ch 125
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 125
—I'll be in the center, so you go over there and when I raise my hand to signal, inject magic into the magic circle.
I went to the position Luciel pointed to, placed my hand there and waited. She erased part of the magic circle and raised her hand to signal.
I injected my internal energy according to the signal... But what?
It feels like pouring water into a completely bottomless jar.
Not only me, but Luciel also seems to be injecting magic, yet there's still no change in the magic circle.
What kind of magic is this...
I was about to say it was impossible since I'd almost reached my limit, but the magic circle began to glow with a blue light.
It seemed like the magic would activate if I held on just a little longer, so I gritted my teeth and endured, but the magic gathered in the center of the magic circle began to surge violently.
BAAANG!
I stopped the injection and tried to warn her it was dangerous, but the explosion was one step faster.
Dust swirled up with a loud boom.
Fortunately, I immediately let go and raised protective Ganggi to shield myself, so I wasn't hurt.
I wonder if Luciel, who was in the center of the magic circle, is okay?
When I blew away the dust with wind magic, I could see Luciel was fine, but her expression was even paler than before.
"Hey, are you okay?"
—The magic was sufficient, but the theory seems to have been wrong.
"What kind of magic is this anyway?"
Even the most powerful attack magic among the spells I learned from her doesn't consume this much magic.
—I said I'd explain later. I'll call you when it's modified again, so step back and restore your magic.
Anyone listening would think I'd entrusted my magic to her.
When she came out like this, I asked again, saying I wouldn't cooperate if she kept acting this way, but no answer came back.
She didn't even pretend to listen and kept repeating the process of erasing and writing geometric shapes and runic characters on the ground.
I tried to figure it out myself by examining the magic circle, but I couldn't understand it at all.
Although I learned magic from Luciel, I never learned magic that used magic circles like this.
There were runic characters I'd never seen before, and the formulas were quite complex.
I gave up and started circulating my Qi, but less than 10 minutes later, she poked me again.
We tried again, but failed again, failed, failed.
I don't know how many times we failed.
Haah... I feel like I'm going to die.
Each attempt requires injecting my internal energy almost to the limit, and each failure results in an explosion, leaving no room for rest.
After Master left, I became able to freely use even the Formless Sword and advanced one more level from my existing realm, but my internal energy isn't infinite like Luciel's.
Luciel's condition isn't very good either.
While I inject internal energy from the edge, Luciel is in the center of the magic circle, at the epicenter of the explosions.
Moreover, while I at least circulated Qi intermittently, she never rested once and immediately attempted again after each modification was complete.
"Luciel, aren't you tired? Let's take a break."
My internal energy keeps recovering, but I'm mentally at my limit.
Still, they say when your body is tired, your mind becomes clearer, and my head, which had been complicated since Se-jin's confession, feels somewhat lighter.
—I'm fine, so restore your magic instead of talking.
That stubborn girl again, not listening and only staring at the magic circle.
"If you don't rest now, I won't cooperate anymore. You should rest too."
—I said I'm fine.
She was talking without even looking, and since it seemed hopeless, I bent my waist and approached Luciel who was modifying the magic circle.
She seemed so focused that she didn't notice my approach, so I hugged her from behind.
—Wh-what are you doing?
Seeing her body tremble, she seems quite startled.
Still, the fact that she's not pushing me away suggests Luciel is quite exhausted too.
"You're tired too. I don't know what kind of magic this is, but stop it. Don't you see your wings have turned pitch black?"
Although Luciel is the Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree, the Demon Realm Tree doesn't provide magic power to Luciel without any cost.
While Luciel became corrupted when she became the Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree, she hasn't been completely corrupted.
If she were completely corrupted, she'd be the same as demons... No, even worse than demons.
She'd become a being with whom communication is impossible, just an incarnation of slaughter.
The more she draws and uses magic power from the Demon Realm Tree, the more its residue erodes Luciel's body, accelerating her corruption.
Of course, it's not as threatening as the wound left by the Demon King that I treated last time.
But I can't solve the erosion of corruption caused by the Demon Realm Tree.
Although I didn't see the side stories before coming here, ends with a happy ending for now.
I chose this world because the protagonist and everyone around him end happily, but despite being on the protagonist's side, there's exactly one person who ends up unhappy.
That's Luciel.
It was unhappiness that was planned from the beginning.
Luciel falls in love with Kim Do-hyun at first sight.
Every time she meets Do-hyun, she throws herself at him and expresses her affection, but that bastard Do-hyun is single-mindedly devoted to someone else.
Was it the epilogue?
Near the very end, Lee Ji-sung visits Luciel, tells her he defeated the Demon King, and gets thoroughly beaten by Luciel during their sparring match.
Since he can't win with skill, Lee Ji-sung, knowing that Luciel likes Kim Do-hyun, provokes Luciel with the news that Kim Do-hyun will soon get married.
Upon hearing this news, Luciel remains silent for a while, then asks him to call Kim Do-hyun.
Lee Ji-sung feels uncomfortable but eventually calls him when Luciel earnestly asks, saying it's the last time.
Contrary to Lee Ji-sung's concerns, Luciel doesn't desperately cling to Kim Do-hyun.
She congratulates him on his marriage and makes one request of Kim Do-hyun.
To kill her when she becomes completely corrupted.
Of course, the death scene doesn't appear, and this story is mentioned very briefly.
Although they're both protagonists, the real protagonist of the original work is Lee Ji-sung, not Kim Do-hyun.
—Are you worrying about me right now?
"Yes. I don't know what you're pushing yourself so hard for, but the more you overexert yourself, the faster the erosion from the Demon Realm Tree's magic power becomes."
—H-how do you know that...
Luciel looks quite surprised.
"How would I know? Did you forget who treated your wounds last time?"
—Ah, that's right. This much is fine, so let go quickly.
She struggles to break free, but no way.
Instead, I hugged her even tighter.
—Ah... It hurts.
This girl who was fine even after taking a Sword Aura attack is now acting spoiled.
"As if it hurts. Promise you won't overexert yourself. I'll let you go if you promise."
—Why should I make such a promise...
"Because I want to see you for a long time."
—Wh-what does that mean?
What does it mean? If you rush like this and become completely corrupted before the protagonists come looking in two years, there won't be a future.
"Are you stupid? I just said it. I want to see you for a long time."
The previous reason exists too, but the biggest reason is indeed that I want to see you for a long time.
After sending Master away so suddenly, I naturally began looking around at my surroundings.
There are far more times when we bicker than when we're harmonious, and sometimes I think she's annoying, but I've grown quite attached to Luciel.
They say even hateful affection is still affection...
I don't want to send this girl away as futilely as Master.
Of course, Luciel won't ascend to immortality without a word like Master did.
But if a day comes when she suddenly becomes completely corrupted and doesn't recognize me...
That would be really sad.
Well, I might die of old age first though...
—Ah, fine. I'll promise, so let me go.
When I released the hug, she came close and pressed on my shoulder.
"You said you'd promise but you're taking revenge... Ack!"
THUD!
Luciel suddenly kicked my shin.
I completely didn't expect an attack, so I got hit properly and it feels like my bone broke.
I immediately bent my waist to cast healing magic on my shin, but I felt a soft sensation on my forehead.
—You said to promise. You do it quickly too.
She closes her eyes tightly and leans her face forward.
She acts like it's nothing when she does it, but her face is completely red, as if she really hates my lips touching her forehead.
Really, what a funny girl.
FLICK!
I immediately flicked her forehead.
—AHHH! What are you doing?
She grabs her forehead and glares at me.
"You little thing, you hit me first and thought you wouldn't get hit back? And I taught you humans' way of promising last time."
—Last time we did it the heavenly way.
After hitting someone's shin hard enough to shatter bone, she's pouting just from getting flicked once on the forehead.
"That's why we should do it the human way this time."
When I held out my pinky finger, she linked her finger with a displeased expression.
—Then next time we're doing it our way.
"Fine. I've used so much internal energy that my stomach feels like it's sticking to my back. Since we've made a promise, let's go eat."
—You go eat. I'll stay and look at the magic circle.
"Tsk, you just promised and now you're acting like this? I'll even take out a box of chocolate bars, so come along."
I said this while extending my hand.
Perhaps because I said I'd give her chocolate bars, she obediently takes my hand.
—Give me two boxes. Twix and Cool Break.
"Did you place an order?"
***
—When will you come next time?
"About 20 days? It might be a little late, but I'll come within a month anyway."
—Then I'll have the theory completed by then.
"Don't try it alone, just modify the theory."
—I know, so don't nag. I promised, didn't I?
For two days, excluding eating and sleeping time, I helped Luciel with her magic, but we kept failing.
And Luciel still didn't tell me what kind of magic it was.
She said she'd tell me when we succeed, but what kind of magic could it be...
Well, still, helping with her magical research and pushing my internal energy to its limit each time has made my internal energy recovery speed not tremendously fast, but definitely a little faster.
This way of improving internal energy recovery is something I never heard from Master, so it's quite interesting.
For someone at my level, even small progress is tremendously significant.
But I was so focused on helping Luciel that I couldn't decide how to respond to Se-jin's confession.
—Aren't you going?
Well, I'll have to face it somehow and see what happens.
"I'll be back."
As soon as I spoke, I tore the leaf.
It's the familiar bathroom, but there's no one here.
Well, since I spent two days with Luciel, about an hour and a half has passed here too.
There's no way she'd still be in the bathroom after all that time. The ventilation is good, so there's no smell either.
Mother might still be here, so I put my ear to the door.
"Se-jin, can Mom sleep over today?"
As expected, she hasn't left yet.
I can't stay here, so I used Warp magic to move to my car parked in the underground parking garage.
Sitting in the driver's seat, I took out my phone from my pocket.
I was about to turn it off and on to reset the time first, but there were several messages.
[Teacher, where are you?]
[Teacher, are you still at home by any chance?]
[Teacher?]
[Um, Teacher?]
[Why aren't you saying anything?]
[Mother went to sleep. If you're at home, please let me know where you are. I'll help you. Please reply.]
After turning it off and on to reset the time, about 1 hour and 40 minutes had passed.
[Ah, sorry. I escaped using Blink. I was tired from using too much magic and dozed off.]
After sending the reply, I started the engine and was about to leave when she called.
"Uh... Aren't you with Mother?"
—I came outside for a moment, making an excuse about guild work to make a call. How did you get out? I aged ten years because Mom went to the bathroom so quickly I couldn't even stop her.
"Ah, well... I escaped using Blink."
—Doesn't Blink require line of sight to use? Our bathroom doesn't have windows.
Was that so?
"Well, there are ways for everything."
—Teacher, you have so many secrets. Um, about today's matter... Teacher? Are you listening?
"Yeah. I'm listening."
—Could you please pretend nothing happened today?
...It's a subtle feeling that can't be fully explained in words.
If I had to express it, it would be relief mixed with guilt?
I'm not a fool.
I know what kind of feelings Se-jin acted on.
Moreover, while it's been two days for me, it hasn't even been two hours for her...
Just answering that I understand seems too cowardly.
—Teacher?
After thinking for a moment, I carefully opened my mouth.