I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 163

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔𝟑

After a short three-week hiatus,

Arietta set off once again to hone her skills in the field, while I finally returned to the Academy.

「𝘼 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙮.」

July and August.

In the storyline of the Exorcism series’ first installment, it marked the beginning of a major turning point.

And that moment was now just around the corner.

「. . .」

The days since the start of my senior year have been an endless blur of activity.

I’ve been working as efficiently as possible to complete my assignments and prepare as much as I can.

To be honest, I’m confident that no one else could have done more in my place.

「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡.」

In spite of that, I still don’t feel like things will go smoothly from here on out.

The challenges ahead will be more difficult than anything we’ve faced before.

“. . .That’s why those things happened. Ha-on got hurt a bit, but she’s fine now.”

Given the circumstances, it was only natural to check on the protagonist, Yoo Ha-on, before I left the Academy, so I asked Seo-ah to keep an eye on her.

Apparently, Yoo Ha-on and her companions had experienced an incident of their own during the three weeks I was gone, and they’d all grown a little stronger as a result.

「𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛.」

The incident that Seo-ah just told me about was mentioned in the original story, so I remembered it.

It must have been quite a challenge, so I’m impressed that they were able to resolve it on their own.

「𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩.」

Yoo Ha-on is, after all, the protagonist of this world.

I’ve been butting in a bit too much lately, but she’s someone who’s capable of accomplishing things that are nearly impossible on her own.

In any case, hearing about Yoo Ha-on’s growth put my mind at ease a little.

After all, if I just keep doing what I’ve been doing, I’m sure I’ll be able to overcome the challenges ahead.

Just as I was about to finish up my business and leave, Seo-ah suddenly remembered something else she wanted to tell me.

“Oh, by the way, Eun-seo came looking for Oppa. She said she had something to tell you.”

“Baek Eun-seo?”

I tried to recall, and something came to mind.

It was an episode that took place just before the start of the second summer vacation. It must have been a story related to the Baek family.

“I see. I’ll contact her and meet up.”

There was no point in delaying the inevitable, so I immediately set out to find Baek Eun-seo.

And she told me exactly what I had expected.

“Oh, it’s nothing much. My family invited everyone over, and Sister So-yul asked if you could come too. . . . . . .”

So-yul must have been referring to Baek So-yul, who had shown interest in me during the Sori-soe incident last time.

Knowing roughly what would happen there, I nodded to Baek Eun-seo after a moment’s thought.

“I’ll go. When is it?”

“We’re leaving after class this Friday, so you have until then to prepare.”

After finishing my business, I parted ways with Baek Eun-seo and headed to the training grounds as usual.

And there, I recalled my memories and thought about what would happen in this episode.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨.」

The exorcist families from Japan and China, who currently have connections to the Baek family,

invited famous exorcists from their countries to participate in an exchange program, and Yoo Ha-on and his companions also took part.

And the problem was that one of the senior members of the Liu family from China died suddenly.

From that moment on, the previously cheerful atmosphere turned sour, and everyone began to suspect and quarrel with each other.

Yoo Ha-on and his companions got caught up in the process, found the culprit, and helped resolve the situation. That was the story.

「𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙. . . . . . .」

But it’s possible that there will be some new challenges added this time around.

Especially since there will be so many senior exorcists gathered in one place, if a real fight breaks out, there could be a lot of casualties.

To be honest, I’d rather just ignore it if possible, but I don’t have the luxury of doing that right now, so it’s probably better to go along with it.

I finished up the tasks I needed to do for the week and joined up with Yoo Ha-on and his companions as promised.

Our destination was the Baekrimjeong, a huge mansion for entertaining guests located in the territory of Baek Un-yong, the fourth elder of the Baek family.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“You can use this room, and Sister So-yul is looking for you, so even if it’s a bother, go and see her. She’s probably passed out drunk in her private room on the third floor.”

“I understand.”

The Baekrimjeong looked like something out of an ancient fortress.

An old-fashioned traditional house was built over an incredibly large space, and it was five stories tall.

To be honest, I was a little surprised by the sight, which was unlike anything I had ever seen in my own time.

「𝘽𝙖𝙚𝙠 𝙎𝙤-𝙮𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙧?」

In order to move freely during the upcoming events, it would be better to take care of any bothersome business beforehand.

I quickly unpacked my things and asked the Baek family servants for directions as I made my way up to Baek So-yul’s private room on the third floor.

It was a bit embarrassing, but to be honest, the building was so big that I almost got lost.

Knock.

Knock knock.

“Is anyone there?”

At first, there was no response, so I thought she might be out, but after waiting a moment, the locked door opened.

The woman who appeared was definitely the same Baek So-yul I had seen last time.

“Oh my, what a pleasant surprise. I’ve been waiting for you.”

That aside, I was a little taken aback by her casual attire and greeted her with a small bow.

Like Baek Eun-seo, she was a direct descendant of a prestigious family, but she had a surprisingly free-spirited personality.

“Come in. We can talk inside.”

I followed her into the room and saw a somewhat messy kitchen and a few empty bottles of alcohol.

For some reason, her face was flushed, so it seemed like she had been drinking alone.

“Oh, are you interested? This is a rather rare sake.”

“Unfortunately, I’m still a minor.”

“That’s no fun. I thought you were the type who didn’t care about such things.”

Perhaps because of the alcohol, she seemed more relaxed than last time.

As I sat down, Baek So-yul brought me some simple tea and finally began to tell me why she had called me here.

“I have some connections on your side, so I’ve heard some rather interesting news?”

“. . . . . . .”

“To be honest, I still find it hard to believe. Han Kang-yoon managed to fight off a S-rank yokai?”

I had guessed the gist of it from her first words, but it seemed that someone had told her about what had happened with the Red Unit.

After taking a sip of her sake and emptying the cup, Baek So-yul looked at me with a strange expression and asked a question.

“What was it like? The S-rank?”

“. . . . . . .”

“It’s ironic, but I’ve never even met a yokai of that level.”

Indeed, in recent years, there have been very few cases of S-rank yokai appearing in the world.

Myudusa’s case was that special and that unlucky.

I recalled my battle with him and gave her a brief answer.

“He was strong. Overwhelmingly so.”

“But you managed to defeat him in the end?”

“I was lucky. It would have been impossible without the help of the other exorcists.”

Baek So-yul looked at me with intense eyes.

“Is that really true?”

“. . . . . . .”

“Shin No-eul told me. She said that Kang-yoon dealt with his movements more accurately than anyone else on the scene. As a special-grade, her eyes wouldn’t be wrong.”

It wasn’t mentioned in the original story, so I didn’t know, but it seemed that Baek So-yul was somewhat acquainted with Shin No-eul.

Well, since they were similar in age and ability, they might have known each other for a long time.

I glanced away from her gaze and took a sip of the tea on the table.

“. . .Even if you say that, I have nothing to say. Honestly, I think it’s an exaggeration.”

“Haha. Well, it doesn’t matter. How you think about yourself isn’t really that important.”

And Baek So-yul finally began to lay out her true intentions before me.

“I’m planning to leave the Baek family soon.”

“What do you. . . . . . .”

“And I have a plan in the works, and I need people who can help me.”

To put it simply, Baek So-yul was asking me to become her subordinate.

This was definitely not something that happened in the original story. I frowned slightly and listened to her.

“Three Great Houses? Honestly, I’m sick of them all now. There’s no excitement in being around them anymore. Kang-yoon, do you know what that feels like?”

“. . .Well, I don’t really know.”

“You’re being cold. It’s so obvious that you’re lying that I can’t even argue.”

In fact, I understand what she’s saying to some extent.

In reality, the Three Great Houses will cause a lot of problems and confusion in the upcoming events.

However, for me, Baek So-yul was a greater danger than any of those prestigious families.

Because in the original story, she had a temperament that was impossible to control, and under the influence of the Hell difficulty, her actions were becoming even more erratic.

「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡?」

I can guess roughly. She’s always been a bit of a hedonist.

Perhaps she had decided to build up her own strength and create her own faction to bring an end to the era of the Three Great Houses.

「𝘽𝙪𝙩. . . . . . .」

That’s problematic.

Even though those three factions will cause a lot of problems in the future, they are also capable of doing a lot of good.

It would be impossible for Baek So-yul to overthrow them with her strength alone, but there’s no telling what kind of butterfly effect her actions might have in the future.

So I answered her firmly.

“I don’t know what your intentions are, but I don’t think I can help you.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s very unfortunate. . . . . . .”

Baek So-yul slowly tipped her sake cup once more and licked her lips before speaking again.

“Kang-yoon, you are definitely the one who will be at the center of the next era. Shin No-eul said so, and my instincts tell me the same.”

“. . . . . . .”

“That’s why I can’t bring myself to give up so easily.”

Suddenly, my vision began to waver for some reason.

I was startled and looked at Baek So-yul’s movements, but there was no sign of her casting any spells.

In that case.

「𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠!!」

I immediately tried to think of a spell that would help, but Baek So-yul grabbed my arm.

“When you wake up, you’ll find yourself in a very interesting situation.”

And with that, I felt my vision fading away and lost consciousness.

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