Academy Terror (1)
In a darkened room, four figures sat arranged around a circular table.
Only three candles burned at the table’s center, casting their meager light through the chamber. No other illumination existed. The single window had been smothered behind heavy curtains, a deliberate effort to ensure that not a single ray of outside light could ever touch the room.
“Hyung, what do we do? We’ve been found out, haven’t we? Should we call it off even now?”
A frail-looking man with brown hair spoke across the table to the man opposite him.
The one he called hyung possessed sharp, striking features and the same brown hair. Elbows planted on the table, fingers laced in a deliberate attempt at gravitas, he slowly turned his gaze upon the weaker-looking man.
“So what exactly can we do? Other than invading the academy exactly as planned, what options do we have? And Chaeho—stop calling me hyung. Call me Captain.”
“Come on, I’ve called you hyung for over twenty years. How am I supposed to change that? We’re family! Just drop the stubbornness already.”
“I said don’t call me hyung…!”
“Enough. So what are we doing about this?”
A brown-haired woman who had been listening stepped in to mediate their bickering.
“……We proceed as planned. Preparations are already finished, and it’s far too late to back out now. One little leak isn’t going to derail everything.”
Having spoken, the man turned his eyes toward the gray-haired woman who had remained silent throughout, and opened his mouth again.
“What is your opinion?”
The gray-haired woman rested her chin casually on the hand she had propped atop the table and wore a subtle smile.
“If I said we should stop here, would you actually stop?”
“That… would be no.”
“Then my opinion hardly matters, does it? Do as you please. Still, it would be better if you went through with it. Otherwise my involvement in this affair becomes meaningless.”
Should I tell them monsters are going to invade, or shouldn’t I?
That was the thought occupying my mind as I rode the subway toward the academy.
Somehow, having gone through the trouble of transmigrating, I felt I ought to take more action. What I had done yesterday alone no longer seemed enough.
“Quite the dilemma.”
To spoil or not to spoil.
The terror would happen regardless. The black mages who had come this far for it were not the sort to abandon their plans over a mere few hundred monsters.
So would it be better to tip off at least a handful of people?
The moment I stepped into the classroom, Gabriel flew straight up to me and demanded answers as though conducting an interrogation.
“Ahae, what exactly did you do yesterday?”
“Haha, well now. Whatever might this sudden questioning be about?”
What, she figured it out already? Then I have no choice but to talk. Just not everything—only enough that I won’t look suspicious.
I sat down with perfect nonchalance. This time Kim Gabyul spoke up.
“Did you really kill someone?”
Her face had gone rigid. I realized I needed to clear up her misunderstanding at once.
“I can sense black mana. Not a corpse’s, and not yours either.”
“Ah, I didn’t kill any people or anything of the sort. I merely went up into the mountains.”
“Why’d you go to the mountains?”
“What other reason would a black mage have for going into the mountains? I went to collect spirits, of course.”
“So you didn’t kill anyone, then?”
I nodded.
At that, Kim Gabyul set her phone down. Fortunately I had managed to clear the misunderstanding before she could report me to the police.
I offered a kind smile and continued.
“But do you know what I discovered up there?”
Kim Gabyul leaned her upper body toward me, curiosity plain on her face.
“There were a great many monsters.”
“…Monsters?”
“Yes. It was fortunate they weren’t moving. Had they charged me, I would have been forced into a rather difficult fight.”
Kim Gabyul’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…Monsters? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Ah, no need to worry. I already dealt with every last one of them.”
“So that’s why I sensed other black mana. Then you really didn’t kill any people?”
“I keep telling you I didn’t.”
“You hunted monsters? For real? Where?”
At that moment a green-haired girl cut into the conversation.
Kim Gabyul stared blankly at her for a second before blurting,
“…Who?”
The green-haired, green-eyed girl gave an embarrassed laugh.
“Ahaha, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lee Yeonsul.”
“Haha, a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lee Yeonsul.”
When I returned the greeting, she flinched for some reason.
That stung a little.
“…So what’s this about all of a sudden?”
“Ah! Right. See, I’m an alchemist, and…”
Lee Yeonsul launched into a lengthy explanation. To summarize: she was interested in alchemy that made use of monster byproducts, and since I had just mentioned hunting monsters, she wanted to buy whatever I had taken. As many as possible.
Just how much money does she have?
Well, the Lee family was rolling in it, after all.
But this was a dream that could never come true—in the original story because of the author, and here because of Miho.
“Miss Lee Yeonsul, regrettably I cannot sell you any monsters.”
“Whaaat?! Why? If you’re worried I’ll stiff you, forget it—I’ve got plenty of cash.”
As expected, Lee Yeonsul looked puzzled the moment I said I couldn’t sell.
“That isn’t the issue. Monsters are valuable precisely because they are born saturated with black mana, are they not? The more black mana they hold, the higher their worth—that is common knowledge.”
“True.”
Lee Yeonsul nodded in agreement.
“In that case, the monsters I killed have no value whatsoever.”
Neither Lee Yeonsul nor Kim Gabyul, who had been listening, seemed to understand; both tilted their heads.
“You see, every last drop of black mana from the monsters I killed was absorbed by this little one.”
With that I summoned Miho.
“Kyeng.”
The small black fox appeared atop the desk and barked at the two girls.
Miho had clearly benefited from all that black mana; her reserves were noticeably greater than before, and her black fur gleamed with a healthy sheen.
The three of them reacted in different ways.
“What an adorable little fox.”
Gabriel simply cooed over her cuteness.
“A summon? Is this the thing those people were talking about…?”
Kim Gabyul seemed lost in thought.
“This fox absorbed all the black mana? I can definitely sense a lot of mana inside her, but for such a tiny thing to have that kind of absorption capacity…?”
Lee Yeonsul, meanwhile, was already analyzing.
“Believe me or not—that is your freedom—but I have spoken the truth. This one drained every bit of black mana from the monsters, leaving nothing but empty husks.”
“Really…? That’s a shame. Monsters aren’t common; they’re hard to get hold of…”
“Lee Yeonsul the alchemist… wait, is that Donghan Alchemy Pharmaceuticals?”
At the muttered name, Lee Yeonsul reacted.
“My father does run the company, yeah.”
Kim Gabyul let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“You called it small…? Donghan Alchemy Pharmaceuticals is one of the top three alchemy companies in Korea.”
Lee Yeonsul gave a sheepish smile.
I couldn’t hold back my curiosity.
“Miss Lee Yeonsul, there is something I am curious about.”
“Hm? What?”
“Doesn’t that mean you can obtain monster byproducts whenever you like?”
Lee Yeonsul laughed awkwardly again.
“Well, the company my father runs is a pharmaceutical firm, and personally he doesn’t care much for black mana or black magic either. Monsters aren’t really used in medicine, you know? So naturally we almost never see any.”
“Ah, so that was the reason.”
“That’s why I was trying to get them myself, but… well, can’t be helped. Oh! Since we’ve met like this, wanna exchange contacts? Tell me your Star-gram ID.”
“I don’t do Star-gram.”
“I do have an account.”
Star-gram—this world’s mainstream social network. I had installed it to help myself adapt. I had only created the account; I had neither followed anyone nor been followed by anyone. That was about to change with my first follower.
I gave Lee Yeonsul my ID.
“Here it is—Baek Sejin… huh? You just made the account and left it?”
“I do not usually engage with social media, so that is how it turned out. Come to think of it, you are my very first follower.”
Whether it was my imagination or not, the nape of Lee Yeonsul’s neck looked faintly pink as she left.
When I turned my gaze forward again, Kim Gabyul was staring straight at me.
“Is something the matter?”
“…Nothing.”
With that she straightened her posture and faced the front.
What was that about?
Kim Gabyul frowned, feeling as though her conversation had been interrupted.
Wherever she went, Gabriel always followed. The label “Korea’s youngest divine mage” clung to her constantly. On top of that, her contractor was none other than Gabriel herself. People who felt fear and awe at the name Gabriel treated Kim Gabyul as someone of high station, never as an equal.
Yet Gabriel was always with her. That was not a bad thing. Because of Gabriel, Kim Gabyul was never lonely. Gabriel was parent, sibling, and at the same time a friend with whom she could bare her heart.
Still—wasn’t connecting with other people part of being human?
In that sense, Baek Sejin was someone she had not met in a long while. He carried a specialness no less than her own; those suspicious half-lidded eyes somehow only made him stand out more. Baek Sejin was one of the very few people with whom Kim Gabyul could speak as one human being to another.
He looked shady, and he had contracted with a demon, but…
If that is exactly what lets him treat me so comfortably…
Then she had no reason to refuse, did she?
In any case, Kim Gabyul liked Baek Sejin—even though they had only just met.
And watching him talk with Lee Yeonsul had left her with a strangely unpleasant feeling.
…Maybe I should try Star-gram too.