Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 281

Chapter 281

Shadow Cast by the Wind (2)

***

Meanwhile, Ryuh Deric, who was chasing after Baek Yu-seol and Hong Bi-yeon, had disappeared from sight and couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

“How is he so fast?”

If they were ordinary first-year students, they would normally encounter monsters or beasts within the Persona and get caught up in extra stories along the way, wasting time.

However, Baek Yu-seol was either clearing all the myths and legends he encountered in the shortest time possible or finding shortcuts to ignore them altogether.

The speed was so fast that if he didn’t chase with all his might, he would lose them.

‘He’s definitely a madman, as the rumors say.’

He had heard that Baek Yu-seol was an exceptionally outstanding first-year student.

But this was beyond his expectations.

Only after seeing it in person did he realize just how insane Baek Yu-seol’s record was.

Ryuh Deric had intended to offer “a little help” as a senior if Baek Yu-seol showed any openings, but he was quite displeased that there was no need for it at all.

‘No. It’s still okay.’

He stared into the void and looked at the guide line message.

[The Story of a Certain Goblin]

It was certain.

Baek Yu-seol hadn’t even come close to that story yet.

He doubted if Baek Yu-seol had even properly analyzed the situation.

‘The myths and legends that occur here are related to the location.’

For example, let’s say there’s an urban legend about someone wearing a red mask and wandering around the city.

Could such a legend move to a forest or the countryside?

It couldn’t.

Most stories, except for a few that aren’t bound by location, are tied to specific places.

In other words, for Baek Yu-seol to find the myth needed to clear the Persona Gate, he had to search for a “slum,” not a downtown area like this.

‘This story… is presumed to have occurred in the countryside.’

Ryuh Deric slowly read the forgotten story written in the guide line message.

[The villagers saw the falling leaves and called it the season when flames bloom. It was a [some]what peculiar saying to [someone] who heard it. This was because the season of falling leaves, autumn, was far too chilly for flames to bloom.]

Although a few letters were missing because he hadn’t fully interpreted it yet, it didn’t hinder his reading.

‘Baek Yu-seol. You couldn’t have interpreted this far, could you?’

There’s no way he could have.

Ryuh Deric’s family was the successor to the Ryuh family, who had conquered a 9-risk Persona Gate over 20 years in the past.

They were experts in Persona interpretation, so even if Baek Yu-seol was exceptional, he couldn’t possibly have a better calculation formula than Ryuh Deric.

While even the renowned geniuses Hong Bi-yeon and Bandiyun hadn’t even brought out their guide line messages, he had already grasped the ending perfectly.

‘Keep wandering, Baek Yu-seol.’

So that this senior can help you.

‘Hmm, but why is he slowing down all of a sudden?’

Baek Yu-seol, who had been rushing earlier, had somehow slowed down and was now walking alongside Hong Bi-yeon, leisurely making his way through the gate.

No, it wasn’t even leisurely.

Before, it felt like he was forcing his way through the stories precariously, but now it felt like he was using the most stable and perfect method to conquer them.

‘…He’s certainly impressive.’

Perhaps it was because Ryuh Deric was a cautious scholar that Baek Yu-seol seemed even more frightening now.

‘But waiting is boring.’

Seeing them huddled together, discussing something, made him feel a bit twisted inside.

The reason was probably because Princess Hong Bi-yeon was quite a beauty.

‘Waiting is boring…’

Ryuh Deric forced his gaze away from Baek Yu-seol and continued reading the guide line message.

He hadn’t been able to read it all while chasing Baek Yu-seol, but now that he had some free time, he could finish it.

[In the season when flames bloom, there was a child in that village.]

[That child, who had a horrifying appearance that made it impossible to tell if they were human or monster, was in the village…]

…When Anella opened her eyes again, she was in a forest with a cold wind blowing.

To be precise, she wasn’t just lying in the forest.

Her bed was a pile of planks that someone had tried to make into a hut but had completely failed.

“Ugh.”

Anella, holding her head, looked at the pile of planks with a bewildered look.

“They call this a house…?”

This shack, which looked like it had been sloppily assembled by a child, seemed so precarious that she thought it would be a miracle if it could even block the wind.

But what was even more peculiar was that the shack was filled with daily necessities and trash.

In other words, whoever lived here had been living in this garbage house for quite some time.

“Who would live in a place like this…”

As she said that, Anella realized that her situation wasn’t much different from the owner of this shack.

After all, Anella was living in the ruins of a fallen country, using a leaky ceiling that barely shielded her from the rain as her shelter.

‘That’s enough… Where am I?’

She tried to recall her last memory.

The sky that had turned pitch black.

The Witch King.

The stolen amulet.

‘And… did I jump?’

After that, her mind became hazy, and she couldn’t remember anything.

Slowly getting up, Anella walked along the forest path.

The pitch-black sky seemed like a lie, as it was now bright and clear.

They say the autumn sky is high, and she felt like she could finally understand what the adults meant when she was a child.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

The forest path was rough, and there were hardly any traces of people having walked on it, so it took a long time to descend.

She genuinely wondered who would think of building a shack and living in such a place.

After walking for about two hours.

Anella came across a unpaved gravel road in the countryside and followed it with a joyful expression.

A stream flowed beside it, and rice plants bowed their heads in the rice paddies.

It was a peaceful village.

The chirping of sparrows sounded like a song.

“Huh?”

There was a person nearby.

An old woman seemed to have dropped some fruit and was picking them up and putting them in a basket.

Anella couldn’t just pass by and rushed over to help.

“Grandma, let me help you.”

As she reached to put the fruit in the basket, the old woman suddenly threw a potato at her head.

Thud!

“Ack!”

“Y-you, you goblin, what are you doing here?!”

“Wha, what…?”

“Get lost right now!”

Then, she stomped on the fruit Anella had picked up with her shoes.

“It’s tainted! It’s tainted!”

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

She wasn’t stepping on Anella, but she was crushing all the fruit Anella had touched, and for some reason, Anella felt like her heart was being crushed like those fruits.

“Why, why…”

“You’re not even human, how dare you act like one! Get out!!!”

As the old woman shouted, villagers started to gather from all directions, each carrying hoes and shovels, and ran towards her.

“The goblin is here!!”

“Chase her out!”

“W-wait! I’m not a goblin…!”

Anella tried to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat.

‘Am I not?’

Really?

Anella was not a human but a Dark Mage.

The word goblin… wasn’t entirely accurate, but it wasn’t entirely wrong either.

She couldn’t deny it.

“Get lost! Now!”

“Get out of the village!”

Thud!

Thwack!

Being hit by pebbles, potatoes, fruit, and eggs, Anella ran away from the place without looking back.

Even when she could no longer hear the shouts of the villagers, she didn’t stop.

She ran for a long time.

When she, who possessed superhuman physical abilities, was completely exhausted, out of breath, and the world seemed to spin.

Due to her physical limitations, she had no choice but to stop.

Thud!

Anella fell to the ground, twisted her body with difficulty, and lay on her back, looking up at the sky.

“Hehehe…”

A causeless laugh escaped her lips.

“It’s… pretty…”

Stars twinkled in the sky.

She had run for a long time.

She covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head from side to side.

‘Right, I’m not human.’

With the help of Dark Mana Control, she had hidden the fact that she was a Dark Mage and had integrated well into human society.

Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to get close to humans.

This was normal.

Being despised and feared by humans, a disgusting existence.

“Haa…”

There was no need to be discouraged now.

She didn’t know why her Dark Mana Suppression had been released, but hadn’t she been living with this in mind?

“Sigh, let’s go back.”

Anyway, the mission was over.

She had learned about the Witch’s movements and had even survived, so this mission could be considered a success.

Thinking this, Anella got up and trudged along the gravel road.

Walking, and walking.

And when the sun rose again.

“…Huh?”

When she came to her senses, she was back in that village.

“Mo, monster…”

About ten villagers were looking at me.

For a moment, they looked like teenage students wearing Stella uniforms, but then they reverted to their appearance as farmers in their 30s and 40s.

Flinch.

As Anella took a step back, the farmers started talking among themselves in confusion.

“Wh-what is that? It’s a monster.”

“What should we do? Kill it?”

“It’s so hideous… Do, do we have to fight?”

“This is definitely the forgotten myth…”

“I, I don’t know! Attack it for now!”

The farmers suddenly pointed their hoes and sickles at Anella like wands and shot flames and ice shards at her.

Whoosh!!

Boom!!

Why were magic spells coming out of farming tools?

Anella no longer had the capacity to question such things.

Although she was hated by humans, she didn’t want to harm them, so Anella just turned around and ran away, and the villagers chased after her.

“Hey! The monster is running away!”

“Chase it and kill it!”

“Damn it! It’s too fast!”

“No!”

Using her physical abilities that far surpassed humans, Anella ran with all her might and arrived at a spring in a forest, where she collapsed.

“Haa, haa…”

With her face buried in the sand, Anella struggled to catch her breath.

What was she so afraid of that she ran away?

Yes, Anella was afraid.

Was she afraid of the humans’ attacks?

Ridiculous.

That was just a tickle.

Dark Mages don’t die from being hit by farming tools.

However.

She was so afraid of being hated.

To the point where her legs trembled.

To the point where tears welled up.

To the point where her heart felt like it would burst.

——.

Anella wasn’t so weak that she would be injured from a fall, but for some reason, she was afraid to get up again.

Even though she knew that if she didn’t get up now, she might never be able to, she couldn’t muster any strength in her body.

‘I, I, why…’

Why did she have to go through this?

‘Because… I’m a Dark Mage?’

Anella laughed self-deprecatingly.

‘Ah, right.’

It’s natural for me to be hated.

Because I’m not human.

Because I can’t be human.

‘This is… ultimately, my fate.’

Feeling the unusually chilly night wind that seemed to freeze even her soul, Anella closed her eyes tightly.

The starlight was no longer visible.
End of Chapter