Chapter 260: Diabology (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 260: Diabology (2)
I shook Ryu Gaeun's hand, trying to hide my unease.
The moment I did, I felt a strange sense of discomfort from her small, soft hand.
Thwack!
I immediately let go. The unsettling feeling that had flashed through my mind vanished as if it had never been there.
‘What was that just now...’
When I looked at Ryu Gaeun, she was staring right back at me.
Her face was hidden by a mask, but it felt like she was smiling.
“Senior!”
Seeing this, Lumina, who had been blocking the door, rushed over to Ryu Gaeun in alarm.
The sight of her lightly thumping Gaeun with her cute little fists was quite memorable.
“I told you to stop playing pranks like that! He's a member we worked so hard to get. What if he runs away again?!”
“To join the historic Diabology Research Club, a simple test is...”
“What test?! You just wanted to mess with him!”
My attention was briefly drawn to this new side of Lumina, but I quickly refocused on the source of the unease I'd felt earlier.
It was a sensation my instincts seemed to reject.
But at the same time, something deep within my dantian seemed to welcome it.
No way.
“...Demonic energy?”
The words had barely left my lips when an intense gaze fixed on me.
Grab.
Ryu Gaeun had approached without me noticing and grabbed my shoulder.
Her eyes, visible through the mask, glinted with an ominous light.
“You know about demonic energy, don't you?”
“Huh?”
Her voice was brimming with excitement. Even with the mask, I could tell she was grinning.
“You pass!”
“?”
“Hyun-woo, was it? Welcome to our research club.”
“...Can't I just leave?”
Ryu Gaeun grabbed my hand. This time, instead of that unsettling feeling, I only felt the soft warmth of her skin.
“Nope.”
I glanced at Lumina, but she deliberately avoided my gaze.
And just like that, I became a member of the Diabology Research Club.
‘Is this really happening?’
After that, I was dragged into a small room inside the clubroom and forced to attend an orientation.
“Our club is one of the Gray Magic Tower's historic research groups, dedicated to studying everything related to the demonic. Our biggest interest, of course, is demons.”
As Ryu Gaeun continued her proud explanation, I swallowed the retort on the tip of my tongue.
To put it nicely, it's a historic club. But in reality, isn't it just a relic of a bygone era that nobody even knows exists?
“Humans use the mana in the atmosphere as their source of power, but demons wield demonic energy, the power of the demonic.”
A black light flickered at her fingertips.
The moment I saw it, the demonic energy in my dantian reacted.
“I have a question.”
“Yes, Student Hyun-woo.”
“Senior Gaeun, how do you handle demonic energy?”
If demonic energy was the power of demons as she said, then she, who wielded it, would be a target for the Church to eliminate.
As if she'd expected my question, a small laugh escaped from behind her mask.
“Hmm, before I explain that, I should probably introduce myself in a bit more detail.”
Ryu Gaeun, who had been standing in front of the chalkboard, walked over and sat down right next to me.
Up close, the mask gave off an unsettling vibe. Apart from that, though, she smelled nice.
“I was born into a family that has hunted demons for generations.”
“?”
Demon hunting?
“Well, the family's fortunes have declined, and we're on the verge of collapse now.”
I was momentarily speechless at how casually she talked about it, as if it were someone else's problem.
Isn't that something you shouldn't say with a smile?
“You asked how I can handle demonic energy, right? It's thanks to this mask. It's a cursed mask my grandfather, who was a famous demon hunter, acquired in his youth.”
“A cursed mask?”
“Yep. I put it on without knowing what it was, but it turned out to be cursed. So I haven't been able to take it off for years.”
“...”
I was at a loss for words at her cheerful reply.
I started to question this woman's sanity.
“Actually, I could have the curse lifted right now if I wanted to, but then my ability to handle demonic energy would disappear.”
“So you're still wearing it for your research?”
“Yep.”
I wasn't particularly surprised by this part.
I just thought she was an eccentric, like other mages.
“Are there any side effects?”
“Hmm... If I had to name one, it'd be that it's hard to maintain smooth relationships with people. Demonic energy naturally makes humans feel repulsed.”
“Ah.”
Then I finally understood the source of the unease I'd felt at first. It was an innate repulsion to raw, unrefined demonic energy.
Unlike the demonic energy settled in my dantian, the energy Ryu Gaeun wielded felt much cruder.
“What's the difference between demonic energy and mana?”
“Good question.”
The black light bloomed at her fingertips again.
It was clearly different from the demonic energy in my dantian. If I had to compare it to something, it seemed similar to the aura the Mad Demon Sword originally had.
The black light flickered for a moment and then disappeared. I waited, thinking she was about to cast some kind of magic using it, but surprisingly, nothing happened.
When I stared at her, Ryu Gaeun quietly avoided my gaze.
“...I don't really know either.”
“What?”
“It was great that I became able to handle demonic energy, but I haven't made any real progress since then.”
Looking embarrassed, Ryu Gaeun just tapped her foot on the innocent floor.
“Even less is known about demonic energy than mana, whose origins are also unclear. It's not for nothing that demon worshipers focus on black magic instead of demonic energy.”
Just as she said, the demon worshiper I met before used black magic, not demonic energy.
This lent weight to the theory that even demon worshipers don't know how to handle demonic energy.
But then again, Cheon Yeo-hwa knew how to wield it. And so did the guys who attacked her, trying to assassinate her.
‘...Could it be that just as Iris's world lacks knowledge of spatial magic, Earth lacks knowledge of demonic energy?’
For a theory I'd come up with on the spot, it was quite plausible.
The history of each world flows differently, and technological development changes accordingly.
Naturally, magic and martial arts would be different too. In fact, there were quite a few differences in the fundamental principles of magic on Earth and in Iris's world.
Martial arts were probably the same.
‘Then that means demonic martial arts are the only way to handle demonic energy...’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
I went to the trouble of joining this club to learn how to handle demonic energy, but this was putting the cart before the horse.
But I couldn't just quit right after joining; I had to consider Lumina. She was the granddaughter of Marna Hircus, a 1st Grade Alchemist.
Networking is always important.
I set aside my disappointment and listened to what Ryu Gaeun had to say next.
Fortunately, a rather substantial topic came up.
“You know that there are a total of 71 known demons, and the list is managed by the Church, right?”
“Are you talking about the ‘Goetia’?”
Goetia.
It was a grimoire said to contain information on demons, and I heard it was strictly managed within the Church.
“But isn't that just an urban legend?”
“No, the Goetia is real.”
A voice full of conviction came from behind the mask.
“Because I have a copy of it.”
*
Time passed, and it was now afternoon.
Professor Shin Minha's class began, but I found it hard to concentrate.
Lying with my head on the desk, I recalled my conversation with Ryu Gaeun in the clubroom.
-...I don't understand.
-What is it?
-Wielding demonic energy, having a copy of the Goetia... aren't these all things that would get you sent to a religious trial if the Church found out?
Considering the personality of that paladin I met at the Church, they might skip the trial and just send an assassin from the Holy See.
-Why are you telling me, someone you just met, all of this?
Every single one of those things was something you couldn't even tell your own family.
Ryu Gaeun's attitude, casually revealing such things to me, a complete stranger, was definitely strange.
-Hmm, because I felt like it would be okay with you?
But she just laughed nonchalantly, as if she'd expected my reaction.
-I have good instincts.
The conversation ended there.
As I left the clubroom with Lumina, I couldn't forget the look in her eyes from behind the mask.
It was a gaze that seemed to pierce right through me.
‘What in the world is she?’
Most mages were eccentrics, but she was on another level.
Personally, I didn't want to get involved with a woman like that. It was bound to be a headache.
However, if it was true that she had a copy of the Goetia, that was a different story.
Since I didn't know when I might run into that demon named Purpur again, I needed to gather information on him.
Of course, I could just be worrying for nothing.
But only those who are at least minimally prepared can afford to be so dismissive.
‘Well, I'll attend for a few more days, and if it's really not for me, I can just become a ghost member.’
Either way, I had nothing to lose.
“Student Kang Hyun-woo.”
“Yes?”
Just then, a voice shattered my thoughts.
I lifted my head and met the eyes of Professor Shin Minha, who was standing right in front of me.
She was looking at me with an expressionless face.
“Is my class that boring?”
Her dry voice cut through the air.
A quick glance at the clock made me realize class was over.
Eyes from all around turned to me.
“Follow me to my workshop.”
Without a word of complaint, I followed Professor Shin Minha to her workshop.
As we walked down the hall, I could hear the other students whispering as they watched me.
Click.
The moment the door clicked shut, Professor Shin Minha suddenly turned and stared at me without a word.
“Um, is there something you wanted to say...?”
Just then, Professor Shin Minha took a step forward and hugged me. The soft feeling of a woman's body and a fresh scent brushed past my nose.
What is this?
“...Professor?”
“Hyun-woo, did you know?”
Even while hugging a man she wasn't related to, Professor Shin Minha looked up at me with her usual expressionless face.
But looking closely, I could see a faint blush on her cheeks.
“When people hug, the body releases a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin reduces anxiety and stress and provides a sense of stability. Moreover, research shows it has an excellent effect on preventing cardiovascular disease.”
Professor Shin Minha hugged me a little tighter.
I could naturally feel the softness of her chest.
“Above all, they say men feel a sense of happiness when hugged by a woman. How is it? Is your heart pounding?”
I slowly nodded.
It was absurd, but there probably wasn't a man alive who wouldn't feel happy being hugged by a beautiful professor.
But I had to say what needed to be said.
“I'm sorry, but this won't make me transfer to the Summoning Department.”
Last time she tried to tempt me by feeding me a cookie, and now it's a hug?
“Besides, you already know, don't you, Professor? That I'm dating Choi Hyena of the Seongbuk Choi family. If I transferred under these circumstances, it would be no different from asking to break up.”
Well, Choi Hyena probably wouldn't care whether I transferred or not.
But getting caught hugging Professor Shin Minha would be a problem.
“...”
Only then did Professor Shin Minha take a step back.
As the warmth I'd felt from her embrace vanished, I felt a slight sense of disappointment.
She walked over to her desk without a word and handed me a few sheets of paper.
“What's this...?”
“Write a letter of apology.”
“...What?”
“Poor classroom attitude is grounds for disciplinary action. Fill it out completely and bring it to me for review by tomorrow.”
“...”
A professor is getting revenge like this?
I was dumbfounded.