I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 108

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝟖

I went back to the academy and spent my days as usual.

The exams were over and the field trip was also finished. In fact, I could finish the semester by taking classes moderately and focusing on my self-development.

However, my surroundings were never quiet during that time.

“Junior, look at this. Do you want to do it with me?”

Arietta, who came to me today as well, looked at a notice in a thesis and asked for my participation while sticking next to me.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Junior is smart, you know.”

“I’m not confident in that area, so I’m sorry.”

It was annoying, but when I took a quick look, it was full of content that I couldn’t understand at all.

No, do you mean that you just have to write in a refined style and you don’t have to study that deeply?

“. . .That’s a pity.”

“In the first place, if you’re a senior, you’ll have more than enough people who want to work with you, even if they’re not students at the academy.”

“I don’t like researchers who are too evil. There are a lot of weird people.”

Come to think of it, there must be a lot of people who are after her position for their own benefit.

Since it wouldn’t have happened once or twice, it must have been annoying for her.

“And if grandma hangs around with junior. . .”

“I’ve heard that story more than ten times. In the first place, that doesn’t mean that I should stick to you like this without any reason, right?”

“Junior, that’s harsh. We even shared snacks yesterday.”

It was just that I ate it because she gave it to me, but it seemed like it was a pretty meaningful action for Arietta.

Well, I thought to myself, why would someone who eats ten desserts by herself share everything she eats?

“If you keep eating like that, you’ll gain weight. Especially if you don’t break the habit until later.”

“. . .That’s something you shouldn’t say carelessly.”

“I won’t tell anyone except senior, so don’t worry.”

A few days ago, because it was too annoying, I tried to pass her off to Sophia, who I’m somewhat close to, but somehow the three of us ended up hanging out together, which doubled the annoyance.

However, on the other hand, I carefully observed her atmosphere.

「. . .𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢?」

In the original story, Arietta appears as a story boss when the protagonist, Yoo Ha-on, is in her second year.

In other words, it’s next year.

「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙜-𝙮𝙪𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣.」

With the end of the second semester approaching, it might be closer than I thought.

I looked at Arietta with a serious expression that was filled with anxiety for no reason and asked her a question.

“By any chance, has anything happened around you lately that’s been bothering you?”

“Something that’s bothering me?”

Arietta, who had been contemplating with her characteristic expressionless face, suddenly summoned something by clapping her hands together and forming a seal.

It was White Yang, the twin shikigami of my Black Yin.

Fwoosh.

Swish.

Thud.

Arietta picked up White Yang, who had landed on her shoulder after circling in the air once, and brought it in front of me with a deliberately serious expression.

“Junior, don’t you think the fox you gave me has gained weight?”

“. . . . . .”

It seems like nothing’s wrong. Well, if there were any strange signs around her, she would be the first to notice.

It was pointless for me to worry and think about it in advance.

“Don’t you think it’s gained weight?”

“It doesn’t eat much. Even if it did, senior would gain weight instead.”

“. . . . . .”

Arietta pouted her lips subtly as she looked at me, who was now throwing straight balls at her while showing her the minimum amount of respect.

It also seemed like a hint of discontent appeared on that indifferent face for a moment.

“Junior, you said you had nothing to do today.”

“Yes?”

“Then follow me.”

The place I was suddenly dragged to by Arietta was the exclusive training ground for Class A, Training Ground 4.

Arietta spoke to me, who was looking at her with a questioning gaze.

“. . .Since it gained weight, let’s digest it.”

In the end, I had no choice but to face her without knowing what was going on and roll around on the floor several times.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The next day, Cheong Juhwa called me as I was heading to the training ground after finishing class like usual.

Then, she started walking next to me with a rather smug attitude.

“There’s something I want to show you.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll know when you see it.”

I returned to Training Ground 4, which I had visited just yesterday, and for some reason, I hung my head in a cold sweat.

Cheong Juhwa looked at me like that and rummaged through her arms to take something out.

It was a mysterious-looking talisman with a dark blue color.

“Do you know what this is?”

“. . .I’m not sure.”

I thought about it carefully, but I didn’t remember anything in particular. She never brought something like this in the original story, so it seemed like something happened that I didn’t know about.

“Then I’ll show you.”

Crash!

Cheong Juhwa got up from her seat with an excited look and threw the talisman at a wall of the training ground.

It wasn’t a new talisman, but a ready-made one that she always used.

And using that as a target, she started to infuse spiritual power into the blue talisman.

Screech!

“Rending Wave.”

Woosh!

Rumble─!

I opened my eyes wide as I watched that. And instinctively, I started to analyze its power.

「. . .𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠-𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡?」

Rending Wave was definitely a basic attack-type spell with considerable power, but even so, it couldn’t show such clear attack power.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙥.」

Certainly, if it’s this level, it’s much more powerful than the original Rending Wave. It might be comparable to its higher level technique, Hundred Flower Heat Wave.

“How is it?”

“. . .What did you do?”

This wasn’t the Rending Wave that I knew. When I looked at the place where the attack had hit, the wall of Training Ground 4, which was supposed to be a top-class facility, was noticeably dented.

It wasn’t just a matter of using a spell with more power than usual.

To my question, Cheong Juhwa looked around for a moment and took out the Azure Dragon embedded in the Blue Heart Jade necklace.

Poof!

『I thought you might know, but I guess I was wrong. That’s a talisman made in the style of Cheong-woon.』

“A talisman from Cheong-woon?”

『Yes. Although time has passed, I haven’t seen anyone who has reached the peak of spellcraft like that guy. Perhaps there is no one in the modern era who can make a talisman better than this.』

No, there wasn’t anything like that, even as an item in the game.

“Azure Dragon-nim taught me. Isn’t it pretty useful at this level?”

“It’s not just useful. This is amazing.”

I thought it was just a powerful shikigami, but it turned out to be a living treasure trove. I looked at Azure Dragon with a look of surprise.

『It looks like you’ve realized my greatness a little bit. But I’m not going to show off. I’ve taught this to quite a few contractors, but she’s the only one who has properly recreated it.

“. . .I see.”

『It seems like she’s letting you use it, so make sure to receive it with gratitude.』

That was really good news.

Honestly, it’s so shocking that I’m speechless because it’s a result I never expected.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩.」

In the future conflict with the Cheong family, the existence of this talisman seemed like it could be used in many ways.

It’s like I got a new card.

Cheong Juhwa seemed satisfied with my reaction and shrugged her shoulders as she mentioned what happened last time.

“Then I’ll give you this, so please break twelve of them.”

“Break them? Ah.”

She must be referring to the time when I lost one bet after another when we went out to play.

I nodded my head readily and accepted it.

“That’s nothing. You can just act like it never happened.”

“Yes. But you know I still have one wish left, right?”

“. . .I know.”

I don’t know why she’s so fixated on making me do something, but now I’m getting anxious for some reason.

Cheong Juhwa handed me five blue talismans and warned me as if she almost forgot.

“Be careful when you use this because technique control is harder than you think. Even I still struggle with intermediate level and above.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

And so, I left the training ground with Cheong Juhwa and headed to the dormitory. And there, I met Han Seo-ah, who seemed to have something to tell me.

“Oppa.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We have guests. For the two of us.”

“. . .Guests?”

It seemed like I still had things to do before I could rest.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The person I met after that had a very welcome face.

It was none other than the 2nd-grade exorcist Jang Han-soo, whom I had met in the Eternal Labyrinth, who had come to see us.

“Long time no see.”

“Have you finished everything you needed to do?”

“Thanks to you.”

Jang Han-soo’s face now had a relaxed smile on it, rather than the coldness that used to be there.

Fortunately, it seemed like he was able to properly communicate with the people around him, including his family.

“But are you really okay?”

Since most of Yoo Tae-jin’s party had been reported missing, they inevitably had to let the world know what had happened to them.

That’s why I had told my party to keep quiet about me and Han Seo-ah before I went outside.

“This is an unprecedented discovery. You’ll probably become quite famous.”

“It’s fine. It’s more beneficial for us to do that.”

I don’t want the world to know that I cleared one of the Eternal Labyrinths.

I had to be very careful in that regard because I didn’t know what kind of effect it would have in the future.

Jang Han-soo nodded his head at my words and started to tell us information about the other party members, one by one.

From what I heard, it seemed like they had all returned to their families and were enjoying their current lives to the fullest.

“Do you plan on returning to the executive branch, Mr. Han-soo?”

“No, I’ve completely washed my hands of it this time. Even for the sake of the country, I’m sick of fighting for the time being.”

That makes sense. After all, he spent seven whole years just trying to survive in the labyrinth.

“I heard that you’re attending the academy, so I thought I’d come visit you since I could see you if I wanted to.”

He didn’t seem like it from the inside, but it seemed like he was the affectionate type.

I didn’t hate that in my heart, so Han Seo-ah and I happily chatted with Jang Han-soo for a while.

And just before we parted ways, Jang Han-soo gave us a meaningful piece of information as if he had forgotten.

“Come to think of it, this place isn’t far from where the rumor started.”

“A rumor?”

“Yeah, it’s a strange rumor that’s been spreading quietly among the executors at headquarters.”

Jang Han-soo contemplated for a moment and then nodded his head before speaking again.

“Well, since you’ve experienced something like that, it’s not like this would be a lie. I’ll tell you just in case.”

“Yes. I’m curious about it.”

“Recently in this area, it seems that the wraith of the past is appearing.”

“. . . . . . .”

“Specifically, it’s the wraith of a high-ranking exorcist who lost his life during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons incident.”

Jang Han-soo left after saying that, promising to meet again, and left the academy.

And I just sat there for a while, contemplating it with a meaningful expression.

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