Teach Me, Seonho (3)
Yoon Selena had disappeared along with Kim Isabel, claiming she was taking her to the Magic Department training grounds.
I waited until the two of them were out of sight, then immediately pulled out my smartphone and called Cha Eunju.
—Rrrring… click.
“S-Seonho! Wh-what is it?!”
She snatched up the call before it had even rung once. I supposed it made sense—she was the heroine whose training had progressed the furthest, and I liked how quick on the uptake she was. I'd have to give her proper praise again during tomorrow's session.
“Ah, Eunju. Are you at the Magic Department training grounds right now?”
“Huh? Ah, y-yeah! I-I've been practicing with that dark magic textbook you gave me! Why? Should I come see you? Where do I go?”
“I heard there was a mana collision accident in the Magic Department a little while ago, so I got worried and called.”
“Ah, th-that so?! I-I'm fine…. S-so something like that happened….”
“Hm? You didn't know? They said the professors are evacuating the students from the training grounds right now because of the accident.”
“Wh-what…? I-I never heard anything like that…. Do-do I need to leave…?”
When I deliberately relayed, playing dumb, the very information I'd heard from Yoon Selena, Cha Eunju's flustered voice came back through the receiver.
It was only natural, of course—the excuse had been fabricated from the ground up for the sole purpose of flushing Kim Isabel out. Besides, once I actually succeeded in abducting—rescuing—Kim Isabel, whether I'd lied or not wouldn't matter much anyway.
But even though I already knew the truth, that wasn't the only reason I'd called Cha Eunju.
With my current specs, facing off against Jeong Seok-hoon would leave me dead on the floor in under a minute. I needed at least one or two party members who could actually hold the line for me.
“Eunju, could you come to the park in front of the academy student cafeteria? I've got a bad feeling about something.”
“Ah, o-okay! I'm on my way! Five minutes…. N-no, three minutes!”
“Take your time.”
Among my current heroines, Cha Eunju was the only one I could summon anywhere, anytime with nothing more than a convenient excuse.
Han Sora and Choi Mari would come running if I called too, but when it came to deploying full combat force with zero situation briefing, Eunju was still the only choice.
'If I have Cha Eunju take on the executive fight that Han Sora handled in the original story, and I handle the rank-and-file grunts myself….'
Then I'd need someone capable of facing Jeong Seok-hoon—the man the original Seo Woojin fought. And as it happened, I had a plan in mind for that part.
Fortunately, I'd built up enough of a connection with one particular guy that if I called him with some suitable excuse, he'd materialize like a ghost.
“Ah, Lee Seonho!! What is it?!!”
“Cheonho, this is still just my gut, but I think something suspicious is happening at the academy. Could you maybe help me out with—”
“UOOOOOOH!!! SO THE SUSPICIOUS FORCES OF EVIL ARE FINALLY MAKING THEIR MOVE ON THE ACADEMY!!! SAY NO MORE!!! I'LL HELP RIGHT NOW!!!”
“Yes, well, then come to the park in front of the academy student cafete—”
Really, this simple-minded nature of his was perfect for moments like this.
I'd been lugging this loud, dim-witted guy around purely on the merit of being Park Hana's twin brother—it was high time I collected on that investment.
“Hahh, huff, S-Seonho…. I-I'm here….”
“Lee Seonho!!! What in the world is this suspicious incident!!! Have those terrorist bastards from before finally shown their faces again?!!!”
“Hhiiik?!”
Cha Eunju, who had been trudging toward me with an exhausted expression, stumbled backward in shock at the sudden thunderous voice.
While naturally catching her as she swayed, I started by calming down Park Cheonho, who was shouting like a man who'd boiled and eaten a locomotive whistle for breakfast.
“If you go around yelling 'suspicious incident' at the top of your lungs, we'll get caught. Quiet voice, Cheonho.”
“S-sorry. You, you said suspicious incident, so I just….”
“Suspicious incident…? Wh-what does that mean, Seonho…?”
“…I'll explain on the way. Just in case.”
One of them had come out simply because I told her to; the other probably couldn't have understood an explanation even if I'd given one.
Each had their own glaring flaws, but that was precisely what made them optimal for combat purposes. At the very least, these two would move exactly as ordered if I told them to.
Still, if I meant to use them in a fight, they needed at least a minimum of basic information, so I briefed them both on what had just happened—strictly limited, of course, to what I myself had seen and heard, with all the novel knowledge from my previous life carefully excluded.
“A little while ago, a Recovery Department student named Selena took Isabel and left. She said the Magic Department training grounds had a patient in critical condition and that Isabel's holy power was needed.”
“What, is that true?! Could suspicious forces have conspired to attack the Magic Department training grounds—”
“…Let me finish. Anyway, hearing that made me worry, so I contacted Eunju, and according to her, there was no such accident at the Magic Department training grounds at all.”
“Is that true, Cha Eunju?!”
“Y-yeah…. B-but I haven't really gone into the other training grounds either, so I can't say for certain….”
“When Isabel was being led away by Selena, I offered to follow along just in case, but she refused me. She said the patient's condition was so critical that anyone channeling mana other than holy power couldn't be allowed anywhere near them.”
“Th-that serious…?”
“J-just how badly hurt are they…?”
“No, that's not the important part. Here's the real question: if the injury were so severe that even my approach would put the patient at risk, then why was our Eunju—basically a walking mass of living mana—not evacuated from the training grounds, and why did she stay there the whole time?”
“……Oh.”
“…N-now that I hear it, that IS weird!! Wh-what the hell is going on, Lee Seonho?!!”
Since even that much failed to land with Park Cheonho, I graciously spoon-fed him the final truth as well. Unlike Cha Eunju, who seemed to have mostly caught on, this guy's body was so busy being smart that his brain had neglected its duties—apparently he needed the full walkthrough.
“Wh-why would she do that…?”
“I don't know that part either. But I've got a feeling it's something shady, so I called you too. I figured that if anyone, you'd come running without a second's hesitation no matter what I summoned you for.”
“Well, of course I would!!! Yes—when it comes to defending justice like this, I'll help any time, Lee Seonho!!!”
“…Right. Thanks.”
It would be even nicer if you could shut that noisy mouth of yours while you were at it, though.
My heart wanted to call Park Hana instead, but we weren't close enough yet for me to summon her out of nowhere like this, so—oh well.
Realistically, against Jeong Seok-hoon, Park Hana would be a slightly better pick, since she had proper offensive techniques where her brother didn't. Though as far as simply stalling for time went, they were roughly equivalent.
“I-I can come running whenever Seonho calls me too, you know….”
“I know. That's exactly why I contacted you first, Eunju.”
“O-oh…. R-right….”
Why on earth was she suddenly burning with competitive spirit—not even against another girl, but against Park Cheonho of all people? Well, that too was part of her charm, admittedly.
While we were trading banter like that, the three of us arrived in front of the 'Magic Department training grounds' before I'd even noticed the walk go by.
Of course, it only looked like the Magic Department training grounds on the surface; in reality we were somewhere else entirely, so there was no way Cha Eunju—the top student of the Magic Department itself—could fail to notice.
“So this is the Magic Department training grounds!! Pretty far out on the edge of the academy, huh….”
“…No. It isn't.”
“Hm?”
“Th-this isn't the Magic Department training grounds. But how is there a building that looks exactly like—huh….”
As the person who used the training grounds more than anyone, she couldn't quite hide her confusion, edging carefully closer to the building.
“This looks like an illusion spell….”
Without so much as a hint from me, Cha Eunju saw through Jin Soo-rin's illusion magic just by letting a trickle of her mana slip out to probe it.
Granted, since the illusion had been draped over a building that was not the Magic Department building, she would have sensed something off even without the spellcraft—but all the same.
“An illusion spell, you say?”
“…Yeah. I'm not sure about the details, but it seems like someone's laid an illusion over a different building to make it look like the training grounds. I can't tell why, though….”
“SUSPICIOUS! THIS IS SUSPICIOUS!! THIS time it's finally the smell of a suspicious incident just like Lee Seonho said—”
“Yes, yes, I get it—let's go inside first. If Isabel went in there with Selena, she could be in danger.”
“O-okay!”
“UOOOOOAH…!! Wait, then—”
“Cheonho, keep your mouth shut from now on. If we really do run into terrorists like last time, you'll get us all killed.”
“…Mm. O-okay.”
Part of me wanted to just drop a Suggestion on him and seal his lips, but appearances aside, the guy had a surprisingly high mental barrier when it came to that sort of thing.
So instead, as I cast my usual 'potion of courage' buff on the Eunju beside me and the three of us moved to enter the fake Magic Department training grounds—
“Ah, student. The training grounds are off-limits to outsiders right now.”
“…….”
It was mildly absurd, watching a Black Moon member block the entrance like he belonged there, but I answered with perfect composure.
“I'm sorry? Isn't this the Magic Department training grounds?”
“…It is. An accident occurred at the training grounds just now, so no one but Recovery Department personnel may enter.”
“Then could you at least tell me whether my friend is inside? She suddenly rushed off a while ago, saying something urgent had come up….”
“No idea. Don't know, so go away.”
“…….”
Well—there was no need to waste time on a background extra at this point anyway.
The circumstantial evidence was already more than sufficient. Without hesitation, I reached out and placed my hand on the crown of his head, letting my mana flow.
Suggestion: Sleep Deprivation
※ Target: Moon Ji-hwi
“Wait, what are you—”
—Thud.
For all that he'd been staring at me with wary, distrustful eyes, Black Moon's doorkeeper went down with almost comical ease from a single Suggestion.
Truth be told, this outcome was sealed the moment he let me close the distance. A villain extra of all people couldn't possibly have a high mental barrier.
“Hyaah?!”
“…Wh-what are you doing, Seonho?! Th-that man was just an academy staff member….”
“He claimed this was the Magic Department training grounds when it isn't, and he refused to tell me whether my friend was inside before trying to chase me off. Isn't that suspicious enough for you?”
“…I-I see! As expected, you're amaz—”
“Lower your voice.”
“…As expected, you're amazing. Yes—you've taught me that people who talk nonsense are suspicious.”
By that standard, he was the most suspicious one here, though I doubted he realized it.
I rifled through the pockets of the Sleep Deprivation–struck underling, and out came a portable pistol, along with an accessory bearing the insignia that marked its owner as a member of Black Moon.
“This is the same mark those terrorists were carrying back at Neverland.”
“What?! Is that true, Lee Seonho?!”
“Yeah. I heard about it when I was talking with Chief Eun Soyeon, too. They're organized in cell structures, so apparently they carry marks like this on their bodies so they can tell each other apart.”
Everything except the part about hearing it from Chief Eun Soyeon was, regardless, true. After all, I'd known from the very beginning that Black Moon was behind this.
“The s-same mark as the terrorists…. Th-then that means….”
“Yeah. Isabel might be in danger.”
“Th-then we must hurry and save her!! We'll search the first floor top to bottom first and somehow—”
“…Which is exactly why I keep telling you to lower your voice.”
…If I'd only recruited Park Hana, I wouldn't have had to come with this guy at all.
After repeatedly silencing Park Cheonho's mouth—the mouth that was unknowingly pulling his own sister's training schedule forward by days—the three of us finally entered the fake Magic Department training grounds.