The Academy's Deceased Ate It All

I could feel goosebumps rising all over my body.

Without saying a word, I began to take a closer look at the texts between the two.

When I realized it was Nam Hyeon-Hwa, I looked at the texts, and sure enough, the content was a little strange.

[I can see now that the other person is panicking.]

Svengali was right.

–Thank you for your kindness. I would like to repay you somehow.

It started with that message from Choi Hyun-Woo. He then asked her what guild she belonged to, how she trained to become so strong, and how much she admired him.

On the other hand, Nam Hyun-Hwa’s answer was sharper than a knife.

–It’s no big deal, though I appreciate your praise.

As time went on, her answers became shorter and shorter until, in the end, she didn’t respond at all.

Finally, when Choi Hyun-Woo said he would like to meet and thank her. She replied that it was really okay and that she would like him not to contact her anymore.

…What am I supposed to do with this.

I could see Choi Hyun-Woo’s face, who must have been struggling to get the words out, and Nam Hyun-Hwa’s, who must have been panicking and struggling.

As I held onto the phone with a distraught look, Choi Hyun-Woo cautiously asked.

“…Is it not meant to be after all?”

“Huh? Uh, no…Well, I don’t think so.”

When I told him to tell Svengali to remember Nam Hyun-Hwa’s number just in case, he grumbled.

[What do you think I am, your subordinate? Aren’t you and I in a symbiotic relationship? At least make it seem like a favor].

“Wasn’t it supposed to be parasitic?”

Svengali muttered as he retorted.

[What a bitch.]

“Well… Honestly, I don’t think you’ve ever met since that time. She said she had other things on her mind, so that’s probably why she declined.”

“…Is that so?”

Choi Hyun-Woo looked like he had already expected it.

Seeing that the grass had died, I packaged the situation so that he wouldn’t be hurt as much as possible.

“She said she has a lot on her plate, so I’m sure that’s true. Besides, I’m still a student, so it might be hard for her to accept. Maybe she thought of me as a child who didn’t know better. Even I said Lee Hye-Lin was too young for a romantic interest.”

Choi Hyun-woo nodded with a serious expression.

“Well… it’s hard to say this to someone who asked for help, but this one might be too far out of reach.”

“Haa….”

Choi Hyun-woo let out a sigh that was sad enough to make anyone listening feel depressed.

He looked really, really disappointed and muttered.

“…So this is the pain of a heartbreak.”

This is harder than I thought.

As he mumbled helplessly, I unknowingly put my hand on his shoulder and gently patted him.

In the story, Choi Hyun-woo was popular with the opposite sex but had never been in a relationship or had an unrequited love.

Despite the many confessions he received, he felt a responsibility to stay sober to focus on his training to avoid tarnishing his master’s name and to protect his family, Han Soo-Young.

This, coupled with Choi Hyun-woo’s serious personality, was why it turned out like this.

…But imagine having your teacher as your first crush…

Anyways, my job was to help him get over it as quickly as possible.

I merely patted him soothingly without saying a word.

“…What are you guys doing?”

Han Soo-Young was looking at us as if he had seen something strange.

I slowly removed my hand from his shoulder and answered.

“I heard that Ahn Do-Hoon kicked his ass for the first time in a while, so I’m comforting him.”

“Oh?”

Han Soo-Young’s eyes widened, and she moved toward us.

Then she looked at Choi Hyun-Woo and said to him.

“Hyun-Woo, did you lose to him?”

“Yeah… Well, it’s not like he’s a weakling.”

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered that while slightly avoiding her eyes.

Han Soo-Young huffed and clicked her tongue, shook her head, and then punched him in the stomach hard enough to make him yelp.

“Ugh!”

“You’re so annoying. It’s been a long time since we’ve been out together, and you’re not even enjoying it!”

Han Soo-Young shouted as she put her hands on Choi Hyun-woo’s shoulders and back, forcing him to stand up straight.

“Now, straighten your back! Straighten your shoulders! Why didn’t you tell this older sister earlier if you’re so upset? Do you want me to buy you a cup of coffee?”

“What kind of older sister are you? You’re shorter than me… Kuck!”

“My Hyun-Woo, I didn’t know you grew so much…?”

As soon as she heard the word short, Han Soo-Young’s eyes narrowed, and she skillfully grabbed Choi Hyun-Woo’s neck and began to choke him.

It was so neatly executed that Choi Hyun-Woo didn’t even think about getting out of it, and he just lightly tapped Han Soo-Young’s arm.

With a murderous grin on her face, Han Soo-Young, who had been choking Choi Hyun-woo, suddenly shuddered in surprise.

Then she sneaked a glance at me, and when our eyes met, she giggled and laughed awkwardly.

Her hands loosened their grip and dropped Choi Hyun-Woo, who coughed harshly as he clutched his throat.

“Eh, ah…Don’t be like that Hyun-Woo…Ji-hyuk will misunderstand. You were just trying to piss me off, right?”

Han Soo-Young patted Choi Hyun-Woo’s head and looked at me.

She flinched and shuddered for a moment, then quickly covered her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry you saw that Ji-Hyuk. We just got a little carried away. I don’t usually do that.”

“Uh… okay.”

I unconsciously stroked my neck, feeling like I was being strangled for some reason.

Then I felt the texture of the necklace she’d given me vividly on my fingertips.

“Whoa…but where did Ye-Seul go?”

Stroking his neck, Choi Hyun-woo asked, and Han Soo-Young immediately answered.

“Oh, that’s right, she said she had to take care of something alone and asked us to wait for her for about 10 minutes. I was going to tell you, but I got sidetracked.”

She’d left to scar Minerva’s statue.

As it turned out, we were only a short distance from here to the plaza where the statue was placed.

“Why don’t we just sit down and wait for her?”

We sat down and waited for Jin Ye-Seul.

Then Han Soo-Young looked at me and asked.

“By the way, Ji-Hyuk, do you keep in touch with that Lee Ye-Eun senior?”

“Clan Head?”

I repeated, and Han Sooyoung nodded slightly.

“So you call her Clan Head…Anyway, yeah. You two are distant relatives, right?”

At this point, Han Soo-Young snapped her fingers in the air casually.

I felt an intangible membrane form around the three of us.

It was a spell that made it impossible for others to hear or see our conversation.

“This may seem like something strange to say, but…”

I nodded, sneaking a glance at Han Soo-Young.

“Sometimes she treats Ji-Hyuk like a younger brother…”

“I suppose she does.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll have to repay the favor later.”

Only Lee Ye-Eun could know if she considered me a brother or something else.

What I did know was that Lee Ye-Eun was very favorable toward me.

…That’s why she spent 18.2 billion won, and 75 million won and didn’t blink an eye.

If it were me, I would never have been able to say that it was no big deal.

“…Hmm, is that so?”

Han Soo-Young quietly muttered.

S sensing that something had changed in the atmosphere, Choi Hyun-Woo quickly looked around and muttered.

“Doesn’t it seem like the streets are a bit cluttered?”

“Uh, yeah. They really are.”

I quickly agreed with him.

Choi Hyun-Woo scanned the surroundings with deliberate exaggeration and muttered.

“Is there a festival or something? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

At that, Svengali let out a squawking sound.

[You’d better be good to that boy, it’s hard to find anyone willing to risk their life to save another’s.]

I know that without you telling me.

“I guess I kept you waiting?”

Jin Ye-Seul returned with light steps.

She looked at me, closed her eyes for two seconds, and opened them.

It was a success.

“I’m sorry, I have to go to the restroom.”

Minerva’s powers don’t disappear when she’s in statue form, and even if you wound her, she’ll revert to normal after some time.

I couldn’t let her painstaking preparation go to waste, so I had to move quickly.

“Oh, then I’m also…!”

“Hyun-Woo.”

Choi Hyun-Woo, who was trying to get up from his seat, looked at Han Soo-Young in an awkward position.

Han Soo-Young smiled at him.

“Sit down.”

“Huh? No, I need to use the restroom….”

“You lied to me earlier, didn’t you?”

Han Soo-Young was still looking at him with a smile on her face.

“When you lie, your eyes look up to the right and then down to the left. All the while, you pout your lips. Did you know that?”

Why is she outing important information like that?

She muttered quietly.

“Sit down. We need to have a nice, long, private talk.”

I quickly scurried away.

I didn’t want to make Jin Ye-Seul’s work go to waste.

[What a coward… Abandoning the person who saved your life just a moment ago and running away. I will be killed by someone who doesn’t know any better!!!]

I cut off his ramblings and quickly walked into a nearby alleyway.

Immediately, I felt my body melt into the shadows.

I hadn’t used Henir’s Shadow in a long time.

I immediately turned on my Sight and moved toward the statue of Minerva.

Of course, the statue of Minerva was almost a landmark in the area and an important tourist attraction.

Trying to climb on top of it without thinking was a surefire way to attract attention.

But using Henir’s Shadow made sure I wasn’t seen.

I headed for Minerva’s wings.

There was a fist-sized scratch on the tip.

Jin Ye-Seul made it.

[…Huh? She made a scratch on Minerva’s body?]

Not paying attention to Svengali, who was muttering as if he had seen something he shouldn’t, I quickly stretched out my arm and touched the scratch.

Even at this moment, it was slowly mending itself.

What I was trying to do was not to create a larger wound through this scratch.

I planted the seeds of the World Tree, which I had created with my powers, into it.

“…Done.”

The World Tree’s seeds disappeared into the stone statue.

I closed my eyes and began to check to see if it was adequately connected to me and if it could move at my will.

Then Svengali murmured.

[…You’re crazy; you’ve planted a seed with my energy].

True to his words, I mixed his power with the World Tree’s seed and planted it inside Minerva’s body.

I would have done more than one if I could, but it was impossible to do more.

“…Good.”

I could feel the seeds taking root and moving within the stone statue.

It would be impossible to do anything like the roots using them to split the stature, but it would at least give Minerva a different kind of pain when she woke up.

“If I use your energy, I can hurt another of the Seven Evils. I’ve told you about it before.”

[But that doesn’t take away her power].

“Don’t you know who hurt her first before I planted this seed? Ye-Seul has nothing to do with the Seven Evils.”

[No way….]

“Exactly.”

Typically, the World Tree Seed that fell from my body would dry up and die after a few hours or half a day at most.

However, thanks to the combination of my World Tree and Jin Ye-Seul’s abilities, it wouldn’t dry up after a few days.

Not only that, but the seed’s own life force, abilities, and everything else were strengthened.

I smiled as I watched the cracks in its surface.

“Suddenly, plant roots will burst out from the inside of its wings, and with the Aegis pushing against it relentlessly, it will stop moving. At that point, we only have to wound it, even if it’s just a small scratch. Then, her power will be gone.”

[…How are you going to approach her? She can fly with her wings.]

“Did you just forget how I got on top of this statue? Ye-Seul probably could do it even faster.”

[Heh….]

He murmured admiringly.

[You really meant it when you said you would kill Minerva].

“Why would I lie?”

I said, giving him a slight nod.

“Okay. Now that that’s out of the way, time to get back to the kids…?”

I was interrupted by something that flashed in front of my eyes.

The notification pane.

Because there it was, looming in front of me.

And its content was something I’d never seen before