I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 223

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝟑

【Sun Stone】

▶A stone imbued with pure solar essence, it seems like it could be used as a material for excellent items.

【Moon Stone】

▶A stone imbued with pure lunar essence, it seems like it could be used as a material for excellent items.

The raw stones, each imbued with the essence of the sun and moon.

As soon as I saw them, I could guess their true nature.

「𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨?」

Materials that would be useful when trying to craft something. Especially since they were called excellent, their value was probably so great that it was hard to guess.

I quickly picked them up and handed Formless Box to Shin No-eul.

“This is a box where you can put and take out anything you want. It’ll definitely be useful.”

“. . .Can I really accept this?”

“Echinacea Lianqi already has a reward waiting for her, and I got something from the previous labyrinth. It’s most proper for Team Leader to take it.”

Xiao Chen looked dissatisfied to the side, but that was none of my business. After all, without us, she would have been destined to slowly starve to death here.

With that, everything was wrapped up, but I couldn’t easily leave my seat and kept thinking.

The fundamental purpose of me entering this labyrinth, and the questions.

Because they had not been resolved at all.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?」

Seo-ah clearly said that she heard a voice emphasizing that she should come back to the labyrinth.

And I, too, came back to the labyrinth in order to solve the riddle about this Witch’s Echo trait.

But wasn’t the reward I got much different from when I attacked Black Forest?

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚.」

The only labyrinth that hasn’t been attacked in the original work is this Blinding Mountain.

Since it’s the space that decorates the end of the labyrinth, there should have been a reward prepared that the other labyrinths didn’t have.

I looked around the clear room here and there, bustling about amidst the gazes of my party members who had questions.

“Is there anything else?”

“There’s a high chance of that. This can’t be the end.”

However, it wasn’t easy to find any clues. I decided to change my perspective and approach it again.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.」

In that case, what would be needed to uncover the secret of this Blinding Mountain, which corresponds to the endpoint of the four labyrinths?

Thinking about it, it was a very simple story.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝’𝙨 𝙑𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙤,」

Continuing my train of thought to that point, I hurriedly started to recall my memory and think back on the information about the other labyrinths.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝’𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧.」

However, I couldn’t help but frown slightly at that point.

「𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚? 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠.」

As an exception, I knew it through my knowledge of the original work, but logically it didn’t make sense.

For example, what would happen if we cleared one labyrinth and then came here, or if Blinding Mountain was the first labyrinth we attacked?

Of course, there would be no way to know the Witch’s knowledge hidden in other places, so there would be nothing we could do.

At the very least, Verdi wouldn’t have handled things that way either.

「𝙒𝙖𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙤-𝙖𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚?」

It could have just been a simple urging to hurry up and attack the remaining labyrinths, but as far as I know, there was no such thing in the original work.

Ultimately, it meant that there was a possibility that we could overcome this situation with just the abilities we had now.

As I thought about that, one memory struck me hard.

It was the analysis article of Eternal Labyrinth that had been a hot topic in the community for a while when I was over there.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩.」

Leaving aside the details, they said this about the Witch’s knowledge given in Eternal Labyrinth.

They said that the knowledge jewels placed one in each labyrinth were all the same item, and that you would be granted the next level of knowledge depending on how many times you used it.

In reality, no matter which labyrinth you attacked, the order of gaining knowledge itself was fixed.

Since it was natural to progress step by step from the lower levels when learning something, they claim gained quite a bit of credibility.

And if you applied that to this situation, it fit pretty well.

「𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝’𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚.」

And the voodoo that Seo-ah learned through that first knowledge was two types of voodoo: a flying spell and a spell to change inanimate objects into the appearance of living things for a certain amount of time.

If I was right, there was a high chance that would be the key.

「𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙇𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

It was an enormous height, as if it was designed so that you couldn’t reach it with normal means.

No one would try to do something like that, but it didn’t seem easy to climb the wall either.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙡𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙤𝙤.」

Having completely grasped the feeling, I eventually flew up into the sky with Seo-ah’s help and started to examine every nook and cranny of the ceiling in detail.

And soon, I was able to find what I was aiming for.

「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?」

Amidst the beautifully decorated scenery of the ceiling, a stone that was naturally part of it caught my eye.

It was the portrait of the witch Verdi, which had been the only thing missing from Meln’s room.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩.」

Having gained certainty, I conveyed my opinion to Seo-ah as is, and Seo-ah concentrated on maintaining her flying voodoo and started to form another voodoo.

Whoooosh!

Swish!

And as it was completed, the portrait of the witch Verdi, which had been decorated with stone, instantly became a small bird and headed off somewhere in a hurry.

『Chirp, cheep!』

“. . .I’ll follow it.”

The place it arrived at was the small space where we had gotten the clear reward for Blinding Mountain.

『Cheep!』

Zip.

The bird, which had entered a space that was barely large enough for a human hand to fit, instantly disappeared somewhere and started to let out a continuous cry from a considerable distance away.

Then, something surprising happened.

Boom.

Rumble, rumble, rumble─!

One of the walls of the room opened up again, and a hidden space appeared.

“Huh, it really is endless.”

“Uhhh. What else is in here. . . . . . .”

Whether it was because they had gone through so much hardship, the expressions of the party members were half surprise and half fatigue.

That was natural since they had just let their guard down, thinking that everything had ended a little while ago.

Fortunately for them, though, it seemed that the people who could enter this place had already been decided.

“It looks like it’s just the two of us, Oppa.”

“. . . . . . .”

Seo-ah, who had inherited the Witch’s knowledge, and me, who had her mark left on me somehow.

With that, we parted ways with the rest of the party for a moment and headed towards the door in the hidden space.

And the moment I stepped inside, I felt Seo-ah, who had been walking beside me, suddenly disappear.

At the same time, I was greeted by the elegant and charming voice of a woman.

“It’s nice to meet you. I thought I’d run into you sooner.”

“You are. . . . . . .”

I could tell instinctively without even having to ask. The fact that the woman in front of me right now was the witch Verdi, the master of this labyrinth.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she left her thoughts behind rather than actually existing.

“Yes. Just as you’ve guessed. I’ve already met another child.”

“That must have been in Black Forest.”

“I’ve been curious ever since then. How on earth did you manage to pass through the Chamber of Trials so quickly, and what is your true nature?”

Slowly approaching me, Verdi’s expression gave off a strange sense of madness for some reason.

“Now that I’ve met you in my space, that curiosity has only grown.”

Soon, Verdi, who had met my gaze right in front of my nose, started to speak again, caressing my cheek as if she were cherishing something precious.

“Last time, I thought it was because of my mood. To be honest, I only felt its echo from a very far away place.”

Because of those words, I realized that Verdi didn’t know the exact situation inside the labyrinth.

However, that thought only lasted for a moment, and the words that followed stopped my thoughts in their tracks.

“Why do I feel such a familiar and nostalgic sensation from you?”

“. . . . . . .”

To be honest, that kind of remark was completely unexpected. And I couldn’t clearly tell the reason, either.

In this place, Verdi and I had only been on worse terms than others.

Even if I was involved with Eternal Labyrinth and its creation, that was a completely irrelevant story now.

“For me, my parents are incredibly distant existences. I’ve never seen them in my life, and I don’t even know their names or faces. That’s why I can’t understand the emotions between family members.”

However.

“If I had a family, wouldn’t it have felt like this?”

Verdi soon took her hand away from me and stepped back, keeping her mouth shut.

She was the last witch of her time.

I couldn’t easily guess how vast the loneliness she had felt while remaining alone must have been.

Maybe that was why Verdi’s appearance seemed infinitely bitter for some reason.

“Well, leaving that aside. . . . . . .”

Soon, Verdi, who had cleared her throat, changed her expression and looked at me with a serious demeanor as she continued speaking.

“I know very clearly that you’re not an ordinary existence. Perhaps even more so than anyone I’ve ever met before.”

That was obvious.

Starting with my karma value at the limit, I was an abnormal existence in this world in many ways.

Verdi also seemed to be vaguely aware of that fact because of her extreme state.

“First of all, I’ll tell you this. Because of your clearing of this Blinding Mountain, your colleague has officially become my successor.”

If she had only been a candidate before, it meant that it had a slightly different meaning now.

“There are two labyrinths left, so your colleague will have to find them someday and inherit the remaining knowledge.”

“. . .I’ll keep that in mind.”

I said that, but to be honest, I couldn’t guarantee it.

Strictly speaking, the matter of Eternal Labyrinth was something for later generations.

However, even if it wasn’t right away, the successors, like Seo-ah or someone from the next generation, would naturally find the remaining labyrinths someday.

From there, it would no longer be my business but theirs.

“And there’s something I’d like to ask of you, too.”

“What is it?”

Just by looking at her expression, I could guess the weight of it.

Soon, the words that came from Verdi, who had a bitter smile, were much heavier than I had thought.

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