Who Are You? (1)
From the day after the terrorist attack, Warna Academy shut down for several days of emergency leave.
And the academy that had been attacked took a beating in the court of public opinion.
The police were torn apart for arriving late. The principal and academy officials were torn apart for letting a terrorist attack happen under their noses in the first place. Still, they had caught the person who was clearly the ringleader—Gamigin's contractor—and there had been no casualties. Factoring those points in, they were getting roasted a little less thoroughly than they had in the original story.
Of course, they were still getting roasted.
As a result, the academy and the police—already at the boiling point—went into a frenzy to hunt down the black mages behind the incident, and innocent holy magic users found themselves worked to the bone.
The holy magic students who had already pushed themselves past their limits stopping the attack were at least allowed to rest. There was one exception.
Kim Gabyul, contractor of the Archangel Gabriel—one of the Three Great Angels. There was no way she was sitting this out.
And somehow, I had ended up participating too.
Yes. Even though the academy was on leave, I was currently at the academy… working.
"Um… are you sure it's all right for me to be involved in this? As you know, I'm a demon contractor myself. People might think a black mage showed up just to cover for other black mages—tamper with evidence, that sort of thing, don't you think?"
Kim Gabyul, who had been examining the traces left by the dead monsters, turned her head to look at me.
"You said you were sorry. You said you got it. You said you'd help. And I already told everyone, so it's fine."
…Yeah. Ignoring more than ten of her calls was a bit much.
How things had ended up this way was simple. Once Kim Gabyul found out my phone had been on silent the whole time, she got so furious she dragged me into working on this precious holiday like some kind of water ghost latching onto a drowning man.
Still, being at the academy with my favorite character wasn't the worst feeling in the world. The fact that the mission was tracking black mages rather than cleaning up monster corpses was another point in its favor.
Ugh, how long is it going to take to clean all those monsters up…
But not being able to enjoy a hard-earned holiday still makes me mad…!
"Even so… is there anything more soul-crushing than going to the academy on a day when you don't have to go to the academy?"
I said it in a thoroughly deflated voice. Kim Gabyul answered bluntly.
"Then go clean monsters with the people over there."
"That's a cruel thing to say…!"
I turned my head and looked around.
People washing away the remains of monsters with water. Holy magic users purifying the spots where the monsters had been cleared. Investigators examining monster traces, or combing over the places on the athletic field where the creatures had been summoned. All sorts of people were hard at work erasing every last sign of the monsters and hunting for the black mages.
And among all those people, the only academy students were the two of us.
Just then, someone approached me.
No—it wasn't a person.
It was something like a blue slime that had taken human form: soft and pliant, yet shaped like a person, dressed in a suit as it called out to me. Honestly, it looked like a mannequin painted blue and stuffed into formal wear.
"Mr. Baek Sejin. A message from Principal Lee Seon-hee. She would be grateful if you would visit the principal's office at once."
The blue mannequin, whose enunciation was better than most actual people's, told me to come to the principal's office.
I looked at Kim Gabyul.
"…Go."
"Haha. Well then, I'll be right back."
I had already explained yesterday's dormitory incident to Kim Gabyul. Of course, I hadn't mentioned going underground—I'd simply said I'd gone to the dorms in case anyone was still inside and run into the principal there.
I really should have told the protagonist about this too.
At the time I figured he'd find out soon enough, so I just glossed over it. Looking back, though… that "soon enough" is still months away.
Maybe that was a little harsh of me.
Besides, we already caught Kang Ye-eun. The next attack might not even happen. And even if it does, the underground beneath the dorms might never come to light.
The first terrorist attack had flooded the academy with countless monsters. The second had focused on blowing up the buildings themselves. At a glance the two incidents seemed completely different in nature—but if you connected them through the keyword Philosopher's Stone, a common thread emerged.
In the first attack, Kang Ye-eun had come to see the Philosopher's Stone with her own eyes. In the second, the dormitory was destroyed so that the Philosopher's Stone would be exposed to the public.
Hmm… still feels like I'm short on clues. I need to think this through a little more.
Stopping the second attack before it happened would be ideal. Buildings collapsing meant real casualties—especially among students in fields like alchemy and magitech engineering. With the whole academy thrown into chaos, preventing that second attack was the best way to protect my peaceful life.
All right. My new goal is stopping the second terrorist attack.
I followed the blue mannequin's guidance toward the principal's office.
—Caw.
—Caw.
Outside the window, a whole flock of crows had gathered on the athletic field.
There sure have been a lot of crows around lately…
"We've arrived. You may go straight in."
I glanced at the nameplate reading Principal's Office and opened the door.
The office inside was quite spacious. A sofa and table sat in the center, and the left wall was lined with photographs of successive principals. Even the first principal, Kim Dong-hyuk, was among them.
Every principal's photograph seemed to have magic cast on it—the scenery and figures inside moved as if alive, just like the moving pictures in Harry Potter. The people in the photos didn't speak the way the portraits in Harry Potter did, but it was still a fascinating sight.
"Baek Sejin, first-year. Sit thyself down."
A voice suddenly came from the sofa. At some point the principal had appeared there, sipping coffee. Long navy-blue hair coiled around her body, she regarded me with eyes that shone darkly.
I sat on the sofa and faced her.
"Coffee? Wilt thou have some?"
"I'll gratefully accept."
Principal Lee Seon-hee.
A spirit user whose skill was more than enough to call her the representative spirit user of Korea—which also meant she was the strongest spirit user in the country. As if to prove it, she still maintained her youth well past the age of sixty.
She was also famous for her clone techniques, and that fame came from a very particular kind of cloning. A clone art she had developed herself by applying spirit techniques—Lee Seon-hee's alone, usable by no one else in the world.
Clone techniques were rare enough that few people worldwide could use them at all. In that sense, hers was clearly one of her greatest strengths.
But even that clone art had a drawback: the more power she siphoned off to her clones, the weaker she herself became. Destroying the clones returned the power, of course—but the more clones she created, the more her strength was divided.
That was exactly what had happened yesterday. She had made too many clones, and as a result she couldn't subdue Kang Ye-eun and had been forced to stall for time.
"First, I shall apologize once more for misunderstanding thee. At the time I was in such a fluster that I made a hasty judgment."
Apparently yesterday still weighed on her; Lee Seon-hee apologized to me again.
"Not at all. I understand completely. Though I will admit it stung a little."
"…Indeed. Without thee, the secret would not have been kept. Is there aught thou desirest? I would compensate thee personally."
Ah. So that's what she really wanted to say.
"Nothing for now. Would it be all right if I mentioned something later, should the need arise?"
"It matters not."
"Understood. Then I'll take my leave first."
"……How many months has it been? How many months…?"
A black-haired woman sat in a chair, gazing out the window as she muttered to herself.
"One month… two months… three months… Only three months? That can't be right. It felt like years…"
Her crimson eyes, fixed on the blue sky, flashed sharply.
—Caw.
A crow pacing around the room watched her and croaked in dissatisfaction.
—Knock, knock.
The moment a knock sounded at the door, she hurriedly switched her laptop screen from the YouTube video she'd been watching back to its original display.
"Enter."
At her permission, the door opened and a brown-haired woman stepped inside. Once she had drawn close enough, she began her report.
"Reporting. The academy has completely suppressed the monsters."
I already know that. The crows showed me.
"And?"
"After Mr. Baek Sejin entered the dormitory, new monster summons became extremely sparse. Afterward, when the police arrived, a person presumed to be one of the principal's clones handed over an unconscious gray short-haired woman from the dormitory to the authorities. Based on the circumstances, she is believed to have been the one orchestrating the monster summons."
I already know that too.
"And?"
"There is nothing further to report at this time."
"Is that so? Then you may go."
The brown-haired woman bowed and left the room once more.
"Haa……"
—Caw.
—Caw.
Outside the window, a crow flew in and cried toward her.