Chapter 127: Research Club
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127: Research Club
The blank look on Han Seoah's face contorted as she stared at me.
Her deeply furrowed brow was a clear sign of her feelings.
“I'm not so desperate that I need to play the part of a dangerous spy.”
Cash, elixirs, artifacts, and secret manuals. These were the rewards Han Seoah had offered me.
They were certainly attractive, but when I considered them one by one, they were all things I didn't need.
Money? Thanks to handing over the minotaur byproducts to Grandma Choi Young-ok, my bank account was fuller than it had ever been.
I did have to endure her questioning about where I got them, but if I'd sold them to the Hunter Association, it wouldn't have ended with just a few questions.
I didn't really need elixirs either. Of course, it would be nice to have them, but it would be enough to give them to Yeo-hwa or Sowol rather than taking them myself.
Most elixirs are used to enhance magic or internal energy. For someone like me, who already has an abundance of magic and internal energy for my level, there's no need to take elixirs. In fact, it would only create an imbalance between my body and my energy.
The artifacts and secret manuals were somewhat tempting, but artifacts weren't a dime a dozen. She wouldn't give me a high-quality artifact just for bringing her some information.
Besides, secret manuals are one of a family's top secrets. Grandma Choi Young-ok only gave me a few as a reward because she knew I was going to be engaged to Choi Hyena. Otherwise, it would have been out of the question.
'Unless she wants to be kicked out of her family, she wouldn't carelessly hand over a secret manual to an outsider.'
Even if she called it a secret manual, it was bound to be some miscellaneous book with important parts missing, something that could hardly be called a real manual.
“...Then what is it you want?”
“Who knows? Shouldn't the one in a hurry be the one to figure that out?”
“...”
Grit. I thought I heard the sound of teeth grinding somewhere, but I forced myself to ignore it and turned to leave.
“See you tomorrow.”
With that, I left the classroom and headed home.
My head was already spinning just thinking about the redevelopment project; I had no mental space to spare for the Tower Lord's little sister.
I quickly changed at home and hurried to the dojo.
Inside, my master was sitting up, tidying her messy hair as if she'd just woken up.
I handed a neatly wrapped shopping bag to my master, who was looking at me with a languid expression.
“...What's this?”
“A gift.”
It was beast-kin jerky I'd bought at a department store on my way home.
“I bought it since you seemed to like it.”
“...You shouldn't have.”
She said that, but her tail twitched slightly, a sign she wasn't actually displeased. She didn't seem to notice it herself, but she couldn't fool my eyes.
“Um, are you really not going to tell me your name?”
Sensing an opportunity, I casually threw out the question. My master responded by staring at me with cold eyes.
Fearing she would hit me with her wooden sword and tell me to stop messing around like usual, I heightened all my senses and got into a ready stance.
“...Jeon Seoha.”
“Huh?”
But the answer that came back was completely unexpected.
Jeon Seoha. I quietly savored the name. I felt a surge of pleasure at this unexpected gain.
“It's a pretty name.”
My good mood from feeling a little closer to my master was short-lived. A wave of killing intent so intense it gave me goosebumps washed over me.
Startled, I looked up to see a faint blush on my master's face.
“...Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Now grab your sword. Today, we're sparring.”
“?”
Clang!
After that one comment, she suddenly swung her sword and charged. I barely managed to block her strike. My hand stung.
“Wh-what's with the sudden attack?! If I hadn't blocked that, my skull would've been cracked!”
“All training should be like real combat. Do you think your enemy will signal before they attack?”
Even as we spoke, her fluid, consecutive strikes grew faster and faster. It looked like a swift sword technique, but each strike was heavy enough to be considered a heavy sword style.
The principles of heavy and swift were in perfect harmony. Her paradoxical sword strikes were becoming too much for me to even block.
“You said this was sparring! Go easy on me!”
“Training is like real combat.”
It was obvious to anyone that she was just venting her frustration, but my master kept up the pretense and pressed her attack.
In the end, I couldn't even last a minute before she beat me to a pulp with her wooden sword.
It hurt like hell, but ironically, I felt like I'd gotten one step—no, half a step—closer to that elusive feeling I'd been chasing for the past few days.
Eager to build on that feeling, I boldly requested another match, but all I got for my trouble were countless bruises.
*
As if by agreement, the reporters were camped out in front of the Magic Tower again the next day.
Seeing their bloodshot eyes, I considered throwing them a few words like charity, but give a reporter an inch and they'll take a mile.
Besides, my information getting out and it being broadcast on the news and spread through articles were two completely different things.
Once again, I used magic to hide myself and slipped through the crowd of reporters. A torrent of curses flew my way for not even showing my face, let alone giving an interview.
Whether they did or not was none of my business, so I just ignored them. They were a pack that would eventually get tired and disperse after a few days. It wasn't like I was the only newsworthy person in the country.
'Still, Choi Hyena isn't answering.'
She hadn't been responding since yesterday.
Of course, we were the type to meet in person rather than text back and forth constantly like a couple.
But this was the first time her reply had been this late.
I decided to go find her myself if I still hadn't heard from her by lunch, and for now, I headed to my classroom.
I spent the time mingling with the female students who greeted me as usual. The sting of Han Seoah's killing intent directed at me from time to time was noticeable, but not enough to bother me.
I spent the time half-listening, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. But there was still no word from Choi Hyena.
After a moment's thought, I finally headed to the 4th-year classrooms.
“...She's been out since yesterday?”
“Yeah, but it's only been two days. It happens from time to time.”
The only information I got from visiting Choi Hyena's classroom was that she had been absent yesterday and today.
The upperclassman with the striking, round eyes said it was probably nothing, but I was starting to get a little worried.
'...She's not sick, is she?'
Probably not. If she were, Grandma Choi Young-ok would have given me a heads-up.
Given that she wasn't even responding to messages, she was probably just engrossed in magic research.
It's typical for mages to lock themselves in their workshops for days when they're absorbed in their research.
“Hey, by the way.”
“Yes?”
The upperclassman leaned in close. Her eyes, sparkling with an almost burdensome curiosity, twinkled.
“Are you really dating Hyena?”
It wasn't just the upperclassman approaching me like a curious young girl; the gazes and attention of all the other seniors left in the classroom were focused on me.
“It's not like that.”
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
Looking back now, my first meeting with Choi Hyena was about as bad as it could get.
It wasn't as if we met because we liked each other. Choi Hyena was pushed into it by her grandmother, the family head, and I was more interested in the prestige of the Seongbuk Choi family than in Hyena herself.
The arranged meeting that followed was filled with rudeness and insults from the very beginning, and it ended in the worst way imaginable.
If it hadn't been for the isolated gate incident, we probably would have remained strangers who would never see each other again.
She's the stereotypical, arrogant rich girl who's selfish and even lied about being pregnant, but...
“I'm the one who likes her and is chasing after her.”
I like Choi Hyena. There's no room for doubt.
A meaningful smile played on the upperclassman's lips as she stared at me blankly. Sensing trouble brewing, I quickly excused myself.
I could hear them talking about something behind me, but I did my best to ignore it.
'Come to think of it, I don't see the people who were glaring daggers at me in the cafeteria the other day.'
There were a few people who followed Choi Hyena around like groupies. They were probably in a different class or had already gone to lunch.
*
Seo Ayoon watched Kang Hyun-woo's retreating back intently before turning her head.
“Shouldn't you at least text him back?”
Only then did Choi Hyena, who had been hiding behind the door, slowly reveal herself. Her face was so red it looked like it was about to explode.
“...Mind your own business.”
“So prickly. And after I even lied to your dear husband for you.”
“Who's your dear husband?!”
At Choi Hyena's shriek, Seo Ayoon pretended to cover her ears with both hands.
But a faint smile bloomed on her lips.
Choi Hyena wasn't usually the type to show her emotions so openly.
Meanwhile, a commotion erupted in a corner of the classroom.
“Untie me...!!”
Jang Yuri, who was tied up tightly with magic ropes, was struggling. Her neatly tied pigtails whipped back and forth.
Her mouth had been gagged too. When did she get it off?
“How dare a mere man come asking after Lady Hyena, and what's this?! He's chasing her one-sidedly?! That's a total stalker!!”
The students around her who had been holding her back shook their heads. Every one of them was a self-proclaimed follower of Choi Hyena.
They weren't bad kids, though. At least they knew when to get involved and when not to.
But Jang Yuri was different. If she hadn't been tied up just now, she would have definitely lunged at Kang Hyun-woo.
“Sigh... Just let her go.”
Freed from her bonds, Jang Yuri rushed to Choi Hyena as if it were a major crisis.
“Lady Hyena! Just give me the word, and I'll take care of that male in heat... Lady Hyena...?”
Jang Yuri stared at Choi Hyena with a look of utter bewilderment.
Wondering what she had seen, Seo Ayoon glanced at Choi Hyena and chuckled with understanding.
'...She looks just like a girl who's completely fallen in love.'
At this point, it was hard to tell if her hair was red or if her face was.
*
Time flew by in a blur, and before I knew it, the last class was over.
Normally, I would have been getting ready to go home, but I still had something on my schedule today.
All students of the Magic Tower are required to join a research club. You can think of it as something like a university club.
I headed to the upper floors, where the research clubs were located, to apply for one I had already picked out.
Basically, research clubs are divided into central research clubs and private research clubs.
Central research clubs receive various forms of support from the Magic Tower, and since they have an advising professor, there are many advantages, like being able to ask for advice or receive personal help.
Private research clubs, however, have no advising professor and don't receive much support, so their activities are often limited.
At first glance, it seems like joining a central research club is the obvious choice, but surprisingly, that's not the case.
'There are a lot of restrictions if you join a central research club.'
Just as there are no rights without responsibilities, you have to give back as much as you receive in a central research club.
There were countless hassles, like having to assist with unwanted research or being dispatched to external sites that needed a mage's manpower.
“Excuse me.”
In the end, out of the hundreds of research clubs, the one I chose was a private one called Diabology.
Diabology is the academic term for the study and exploration of demons, making it the perfect research club for me, as I was currently looking for a way to increase my demonic energy.
Demonic energy and demons. They might seem different at first glance, but they couldn't be completely unrelated.
Of course, I was just grasping at straws, so I didn't have high expectations.
'It's a bit small.'
The club room couldn't have been more than 700 square feet, and even that space was cluttered with all sorts of junk.
Just as I was thinking no one was here, I heard a rustling sound, and someone emerged from the back.
“Who is... huh?”
“Huh?”
Fluffy hair, goat horns growing from the sides of her head, and that magnificent rack that never failed to leave me in awe.
“Wh-what are you doing here...?”
It was Lumina Hircus.
Her eyes, looking at me, were trembling precariously. It seemed she was seriously misunderstanding something.