Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 148

Chapter 148

School Competition (6)

Baek Yu-seol and Zeliel moved to a quieter, more secluded private space where they could concentrate.

Between them was a table made of high-quality wood, and on it lay a Soul Chess board crafted from expensive crystal.

As the ultimate intellectual sport in the magical world, Soul Chess often appeared as a gimmick in many dungeons and was used in various situations to test each other’s skills.

So, wagering a game of Soul Chess for a bet wasn’t unusual…

‘But playing Soul Chess against me?’

Zeliel fiddled with the chess pieces, her expression a bit more relaxed than earlier.

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Of course, even ‘relaxed’ meant she was still expressionless.

‘Does he know nothing about me?’

Zeliel, the daughter of the president of the Starcloud Trading Company, granted the title of high elf in her teens, and the top student at Starflower Tree Magic School.

And…

‘A Grandmaster of Soul Chess.’

She was at the pinnacle of Soul Chess, holding a rank that was almost the highest level.

Of course, even among Grandmasters, there were different tiers based on win rates and experience, and Zeliel, being young, was on the lower end. Still, she was far beyond what an ordinary student could challenge.

Thinking logically, she would win.

She had to win.

She was a Grandmaster, after all.

However, she wasn’t overconfident.

She considered the 0.1% possibility.

‘Why did he propose a game of Soul Chess against me?’
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It made no sense that Baek Yu-seol wouldn’t know her chess skills.

Him not having heard of ‘Grandmaster Zeliel’ and then coincidentally wagering a game of Soul Chess?

Especially with such high stakes?

‘No, absolutely not.’

He must have some kind of agenda.

Despite that, she accepted the bet because she was confident.

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The magic contract was absolute.

And this contract had no rules other than Soul Chess.

Wordplay was impossible.

Soul Chess was purely a game of skill, with no room for trickery.

That left only one possibility.

‘Baek Yu-seol might be better at chess than I am.’

She had heard a bit about his chess skills. She knew he had once defeated ‘Edmund Atalek,’ Stella’s top Soul Chess player.

Given Edmund’s skill, which was at least semi-professional, his overwhelming victory suggested Baek Yu-seol was certainly at a professional level.

‘At my level, or even higher.’

She took a deep breath in and then out.

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She mustn’t let her guard down.

No matter how confident he was in his chess skills, she had trampled all her competitors with overwhelming skill in the professional world, earning the title of Grandmaster.

If she played as usual, maintaining the skills she had honed for years to play Soul Chess with the ancient spirit of Carmenset, she would surely win.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind. Are you scared?”

Baek Yu-seol playfully rolled the Orb of Souls between his fingers.

This Orb of Souls, found inside the pendant, was proof of the schemes she had been plotting until now.

“…No, I’m fine.”

The game would be single set.
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A single round would decide their fate.

“Shall we begin?”

* * *

“Hoo…”

As Baek Yu-seol and Zeliel started their Soul Chess game, Anella stepped outside, leaning against the wall. She was drenched in sweat from moving quickly to prepare for him.

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‘Making me prepare for Soul Chess too, isn’t that too much…?’

Recently, after Baek Yu-seol discovered her identity, Anella had been obeying his orders as much as possible.

It was not because he had discovered her ability and had the power to kill her.

‘The ability… it still doesn’t activate.’

Since she failed to use [Rebirth of Nightmare] on Baek Yu-seol, her ability had completely disappeared for some reason. It was a strange feeling.

It felt like half of ‘herself’ had disappeared.

‘Was this ability really that important to me…?’

Well, probably.

She would have had a hard time completing most of her missions without this ability. Thanks to its unique, almost fraudulent trait of penetrating the opponent’s mind, she managed to scrape by in Aether World despite her lacking skills.

‘Ugh, what has happened…?’

Now that her ability had completely disappeared, going back would only result in being treated coldly. Actually, she was already treated coldly and might now be outright expelled…

Knowing what happens to a Dark Mage wandering the streets without affiliation, she quickly dismissed the horrifying thought.

‘If I’m expelled… will I have to resort to cannibalism…’

Dark Mages survive by absorbing the blood of mages. However, Anella had never directly killed a person or consumed a corpse.

She had barely survived on transfusion packs given after completing missions.

No money in hand, barely maintaining nutrition with the transfusion packs, enduring nights in ruins…

That had been her life for 20 years, and now she had nothing left. If expelled… she’d be wandering the wilderness, waiting to be hunted down.

“Sigh. In that case, living here as an actual errand girl wouldn’t be so bad…”

Of course, staying with Baek Yu-seol wasn’t solely for that reason.

‘Don’t you want to become a human again?’

The very enticing words he once said.

If anyone else had said it, she would have laughed it off. There was no way to turn a Dark Mage back into a human.

Other Dark Mages would have laughed. No Dark Mage wanted to return to being a human.

But this case was special.
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Baek Yu-seol was truly capable of anything, and Anella really did want to become human again.

‘It won’t be easy. You are a complete Dark Mage, and to reverse that would require a great deal of effort and suffering.’

But.

If you just do that.

‘You can go back as you are, relive your teenage years, and start your life anew.’

It was a tantalizing proposition.

Baek Yu-seol didn’t provide any evidence. He didn’t even make the simple claim that he had once turned a Dark Mage back into a human.
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He just said it was possible.

That he could do it.

‘Instead… you will be my eyes and ears. Will you accept?’

Anella thought she had nodded without realizing it.

She didn’t know why she did it.

Maybe because there was nothing she could do even if she left his side anyway.

‘If I really start a new life here…’

Could she really be happy?

“Sigh.”

Anella patted her stiff shoulders. Despite becoming a Dark Mage, her inherently weak body hadn’t improved.

Well, maybe it was slightly better. During her human days, when she was dying of illness, she couldn’t even walk.

Anella, who couldn’t use magic properly and had a frail body, now even had her ability sealed. If she got on the wrong side of a passing Stella student, she’d die a miserable death.

‘Well… there’s no one who can figure out my identity anyway.’

Thinking that, she turned to get a little rest.

Suddenly!

“You.”

Someone grabbed her shoulder.

“Ugh…!”

There were hardly any people here who would talk to her. Anella instinctively leaped backward and clenched her fists.

If necessary, she would release the seal on her dark mana…

‘…Wait, I don’t know how to do that, do I?’

How do you release sealed dark mana?

“Hey, there’s no need to be so wary.”

“…What?”

Seeing Anella’s guarded expression, her opponent raised his hands in a playful gesture of surrender and took two steps back.

The man had slicked-back hair and red eyes, and the energy swirling in his pupils seemed familiar.

‘A Dark Mage…’

“Yes, we are of the same kind, aren’t we? It’s disheartening you recognized me so late. What’s your affiliation? If you’ve infiltrated Stella, you must have quite a position.”

Anella considered for a moment, then spoke.

“…By the order of Blackkingdon, the Black Knight, I am here undercover. Do not interfere with my mission unless you wish to invade the Dark Mage King’s domain.”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I have no such intentions. I’m in a similar situation to you.”

He tapped the name tag hanging around his neck. ‘Kavaren’ was written there.

Whether it was his real name or an alias was uncertain.

“You see this? I’m a management staff member for the school competition. I have access to many places. Is there any place you’d like to see? I can show you around.”

“No, I’m busy.”

“Really? That’s too bad… I wanted to show you something really interesting.”

“Something… interesting…?”

“Yeah! Since we’re the same kind, I’ll show you something special. In the Magic Survival, something very, very, very fun is going to happen!”

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Anella twisted her lips.

Honestly, she wasn’t interested at all.

Just because they were both Dark Mages didn’t mean they shared the same interests. Acts committed by Dark Mages of different affiliations… were just distant stories to her.

However.

If something were to happen at Stella Academy involving Dark Mages, it was obvious.

‘Terrorism.’

What kind of terrorism?

Dark Mage terror acts weren’t the same as in the past. They were more intelligent, aiming to engulf the magical world in chaos at once.

‘Baek Yu-seol wouldn’t know this…’

This was an opportunity.

A chance to gain Baek Yu-seol’s trust.

She was tired of the life of a Dark Mage, where she had to absorb someone’s pain and drink their blood daily just to survive.

Resolutely, she looked Kavaren straight in the eye and twisted her lips into a mischievous smile.

“Lead the way. Something interesting, huh? I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Great, great! I’ve been wanting to show someone this! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Following Kavaren, who led the way with an awkward, excited gait, Anella vowed silently.

‘I will return.’

To that time when small things made her happy.

* * *

“Ah…”

Zeliel stared blankly at the chessboard. The unbelievable result unfolded before her eyes.

‘The king has fallen.’

By Baek Yu-seol’s move, my king.

Had fallen.

‘How…’

It was hard to accept the result.

She had given her all, using all the experience and strategies she had accumulated to thoroughly attack her opponent.

But… she could do nothing.

It felt like she had been stripped naked and thrown aside. The opponent seemed to know all her moves, weaknesses, and secrets.

This was more humiliating than being stripped of clothes.

For someone like Zeliel, who had almost no sexual awareness and was purely intellectually driven, having all her thoughts read was so embarrassing she felt like biting her tongue.

She had to acknowledge it.

That he possessed better strategies and tactics than she did.

But…

For Zeliel, who had always believed she was the smartest, standing above everyone else and controlling them like pieces, this was a fact she couldn’t accept.

‘…It’s just a game of chess. Calm down, Zeliel.’

She tried to compose herself, but her pupils still trembled uncontrollably.

“I won.”

Baek Yu-seol, calm and composed as if he hadn’t just played a fierce game of chess, said.

“Then, you will keep your promise? Well… I’ll keep your secret too. If you just keep this promise, I can overlook this whole scheming thing. Oh, and I’ll keep this as a gift.”

He put the Orb of Souls back into the pendant and stood up. It was a useful item he could use anytime. He could even use it as a ticket to meet the Elf King later.
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“I’ll be going now. The Magic Survival is about to start. Are you participating too? Don’t worry and do your best. I won’t interfere there. And, here’s a gift.”

Baek Yu-seol left a suspicious-looking piece of stone on the table.

“It might become a precious item for you, so keep it in mind.”

After Baek Yu-seol finally left, Zeliel, feeling empty inside, leaned back in her chair.

She had lost.

She had to fulfill the terms written in the magic contract.

Though absurd, it was a promise that wounded Zeliel deeply.

[First: Do not love your father.]

[Second: If the first clause is impossible, do not meet your father for three years.]

[Third: If even the second clause is impossible… love someone else.]

One cannot easily change human emotions.

Especially love.

Thus, the first clause was impossible, so she had to fulfill the second one…

‘Not meeting my father for three years…?’

With trembling hands, Zeliel stroked the magic contract.

Both the first and second clauses were impossible.

And the third one…

How could she possibly love someone else?

Her entire life had been dedicated to her father. How could she now replace him with someone else?

‘What should I do…’

She bit her lip and struggled to hold back the tears that were about to fall. She normally had no emotions, but for some reason, today her head felt cluttered, and her heart pounded loudly.

Baek Yu-seol.

He had given her the most severe punishment and left.

End of Chapter