I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 46.2

“We came on an errand from the Baek family. We heard there were medicinal herbs that we had to pick up.”

At that, the old man made an unnaturally blank expression for a moment, and then after a while, he started talking again.

“. . .Oh, right. Medicinal herbs. That’s right. Please wait a moment.”

The others looked a little puzzled at his behavior, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it and just looked around at the various medicinal herbs stored everywhere.

“All the medicinal herbs I saw at the academy are here. It’s more authentic than I thought.”

“Oh, there’s lotus root too. An older sister from my family told me that it’s good for beauty. . . . . . .”

“. . .I don’t know much about it because I didn’t take herbal medicine classes. Oppa, do you?”

I just shrugged my shoulders at Seo-ah’s sudden question.

Actually, I only found out after coming to this house, but the medicinal herbs in this world are no different from the ones I saw in the game.

Because of that, I naturally remembered the names and effects of all the medicinal herbs, having memorized various combinations in order to make elixirs.

「𝙇𝙤𝙩𝙪𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙩, 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙖, 𝙚𝙪𝙤𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙪𝙨, 𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙠.」

It felt strange to be experiencing the knowledge I had learned in the game like this.

And based on that knowledge, I was able to catch a suspicious action in the old man’s gestures.

I also became somewhat convinced of it.

As expected, this village definitely fell into Sori-soe’s clutches before we arrived.

I, who had been observing the situation for a while, took a step forward and stared at the old man, who was silently gathering medicinal herbs without any change in his expression, and opened my mouth.

“Excuse me.”

“. . . . . . .”

“Isn’t one of the medicinal herbs mixed in wrong?”

At that, the old man looked at me with a strange expression, and then he began to let out a kind smile.

“Oh, now that I look at it again, that’s right. I’m sorry. My eyes are getting dim as I get older. . . . . . .”

However, I didn’t stop there and took a step forward.

By now, the exorcists from headquarters would have reached the outskirts of the village anyway, so there’s no need to pretend I don’t know.

“Acanthopanax is used as a medicinal herb in many combinations, but it can also turn into a poisonous herb if mixed with certain ingredients.”

“. . . . . . .”

“Among them, if it comes into contact with the combination of thorny passion flower, tangkue, and trifoliate orange, it gradually transforms into a deadly poison that eats away at the user’s spiritual power.”

At my sudden questioning, the others began to hurriedly glance between me and the old man as if trying to mediate.

The old man also took advantage of the atmosphere and spoke with a look of embarrassment.

“Well, I know that. That’s why it was a mistake. . . . . . .”

“Are you sure it was really a mistake?”

There’s no way.

For a high-level pharmacist, it is essential to keep the ingredients systematically separated and stored, so it would be safe to say that such a combination would not happen by chance.

“In fact, in this room, isn’t the shelf where the acanthopanax is stored four whole shelves away from the other medicinal herbs?”

Only then did Yoo Ha-on ask me with a meaningful expression, as if she had sensed something strange.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know why, but it means that you intentionally tried to mix poisonous herbs and give them to us.”

“Hey, old man. Is that true?”

It was an explanation that was too logical to be a mistake, so Baek Eun-seo immediately began to suspect and be wary of the other person.

And the old man, who was the target of that wariness, remained silent without even making any excuses.

In the midst of the tense atmosphere, the old man opened his mouth again with a blank expression.

“. . .You’re quite knowledgeable.”

His tone of voice and intonation are different from before. The others were surprised by that, and Sori-soe, who had finally revealed its true colors, spoke to me through the old man’s body.

“Of course, a rookie wouldn’t have known.”

That’s right. Not many people would have knowledge of such a nonsensical combination.

Even I wouldn’t have tried this combination if it hadn’t been for the game, where ingredients are easily obtainable.

“As expected, I can’t trust the knowledge of the humans around here.”

The voice is so calm that it doesn’t suit this situation, but at the same time, it speaks very fluently.

「. . . . . . .」

It is clearly different from the Cow Headed Demon we encountered during the Defense Corps incident.

Even the Cow Headed Demon, who had devoured several humans, could only imitate speech awkwardly, but I can’t find any such feeling in Sori-soe.

In effect, this meant that it had already eaten a significant number of humans.

The old man, who had been staring at us with such emotionless eyes, picked up the pruning knife on the shelf and slit his own throat.

Screech!

Gasp!

“Ugh! What, what is it!”

“What! Why. . . . . . .”

Baek Eun-seo, who was standing at the forefront with me, was startled, and Yoo Ha-on and Han Seo-ah also covered their mouths in shock.

I frowned as well, but I wasn’t that shocked since I knew the truth. I deliberately blocked the others’ view and stepped forward to check the old man’s pulse.

Thump.

“He’s dead.”

After a brief silence, Seo-ah, who had calmed down a bit, asked Baek Eun-seo.

“. . .Do you have any idea what happened?”

“I-I don’t know. Maybe someone threatened or bribed him. . . . . . .”

“First, we need to inform the villagers and report it to the police.”

We left the old man’s house, briefly explained the situation to the villagers, and tried to contact the police.

However.

Beep.

Click.

“. . .The signal isn’t going through?”

As if on cue, the communication network suddenly became useless, and our only means of contact was gone.

Baek Eun-seo kept pressing the call button on her smartphone in frustration.

And at that exact moment, the exorcists from headquarters who appeared in the original story arrived in village.

Thud.

“. . .Can you please explain what’s going on?”

𝙖𝚠𝕖ʙ𝔰𝙩𝐨𝔯𝔦𝔢𝙨.𝚌𝔬𝚖

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