I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 217

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏𝟕

“First of all, the most important thing to consider is the existence of this village.”

“. . . Sure, it’s strange, but was there anything suspicious?”

“Hmm. I don’t feel any malice from the villagers either?”

Shin No-eul and Sophia pondered over it but still couldn’t figure it out.

However, the reason was actually very simple.

“The population.”

“The population?”

“I roughly checked, and there are just over a hundred people living in the current village. Of course, even that is quite a lot in this difficult labyrinth.”

However, if you think about it from a general perspective, you will soon find something strange.

“Is it possible that those who have settled in this village and continue to accept outsiders have only that many descendants?”

You can tell even if you just watch the related documentaries.

According to the diary, it was over 400 years since this village was first created. Considering the outsiders who have flowed in since then, the number of just a hundred people doesn’t make sense.

“Come to think of it, that’s definitely. . . . . . .”

It is not easy to think of such things because there are so many things to be careful about, but even from the perspective of common sense, it is clearly unnatural.

“So, are the villagers lying to us?”

“That’s not the case. As Sophia said earlier, I don’t feel that kind of thing from them.”

In other words, the conclusion I came to was this.

“This village itself is a gateway prepared by the witch. If you are deceived by the comfort you see and settle down and rest, that’s the end of everything.”

It’s not certain, but perhaps there is some kind of function that eliminates such dropouts at regular intervals.

It meant that if you spend time here with courage and determination, you will soon lose your qualifications completely.

「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. . . . . . .」

There was a high possibility that it would lead to the death of the person concerned. If you think about it that way, the abnormal population of this village is also explained.

“But Oppa, is it possible that the villagers don’t know that fact?”

“Those who have already lost their qualifications may not be strange even if their memories are manipulated by the power of the labyrinth.”

Besides, as I said many times, the name of this labyrinth is「𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣」.

“How many of them do you think you can call real people like us?”

“. . . . . . .”

It could be dismissed as a bit of a stretch, but it wasn’t an impossible story.

What was certain was that there was nothing good about staying in this village for a long time.

As the expressions of the party became heavy, Echinacea Lianqi, who had been listening silently, moved her lips.

“Earlier. You said you found the answer.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Does that mean you figured out anything else?”

That’s right. As I said before, I had already figured out a way to break through this labyrinth to some extent.

「𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙙.」

The second thing to consider is that the diary says that there was no way to break through this labyrinth from the beginning.

It would be like a bolt from the blue for someone who has been unknowingly caught up in the labyrinth, but not for me.

「𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜?」

This labyrinth is a space where the ancient witch left her knowledge and intended to pass it on to someone in the future.

So it doesn’t make sense that there is no way to break through the labyrinth.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤.」

I was able to finally get my hands on the clue by thinking from that perspective.

“The hint was also in the diary.”

It bothered me in many ways from the beginning.

Unlike the detailed content, the names of the writer or his colleagues were nowhere to be found, and it was also strange that the past item, which was only one volume, had been handed down in such a perfect condition.

From there, I was able to come up with one possibility.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙚.」

The countless victims who have visited this place so far must have found despair in its contents and had their hearts broken and been absorbed into the comfort of the village.

However, there was definitely something to look out for in it.

“This is the part.”

『There is no passage leading to the last zone. This place was a false space from the beginning.』

In my opinion, the stage concept of this Blinding Mountain is truth and falsehood.

From the moment we enter this place, our eyes are blinded. So you shouldn’t believe what you see.

The invisible witch’s synthetic monsters and this village, which looks so peaceful, prove it.

“Perhaps the contents of the diary itself are likely to be true.”

The experience of the first gate we went through was the same, and it is said that all those who went to check the second gate so far gave similar testimonies.

So it was okay to think that this part, which seemed to have been written with a pen dipped in a wolf, was true in itself.

“But isn’t it strange?”

Echinacea Lianqi muttered with an interesting face, as if she had realized what I was trying to say.

“Depending on how you interpret it, the meaning can change.”

That was it.

The sentence that there is no passage leading to the last zone and that this place was a false space from the beginning.

In fact, it can be interpreted in various ways, unlike what is seen.

And I judged the true meaning of the content as follows.

“Following the diary to break through the gate was the wrong way from the beginning.”

There is no passage leading to the last zone. But there is definitely a way to get through the labyrinth.

Then there is only one answer, isn’t there?

“This mountain range itself is the last zone. The clue to breaking through the labyrinth is definitely here.”

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Although we can’t say for sure, the party decided to look for the answer in this mountain range first according to my opinion.

And the conclusion was simple.

“If it’s not the top, it must be the bottom?”

“Hmm. Isn’t that right?”

Those who first fell into Blinding Mountain would naturally instinctively head towards the top of the mountain.

After all, there was no way to move towards the bottom from the middle, and it was common sense that if there was anything, it would be at the top.

However, considering the stage concept of this place, it is highly likely that even that was intended.

In the end, what we have to do is not to climb to the top of the mountain, but to go down.

“However, there is something we need to do before that.”

After all, I’m curious about the secret of this village.

I had only made various speculations, but I hadn’t actually confirmed anything.

「𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩. . . . . . .」

The guardian of the village mentioned by the village chief and Halo, there was a high possibility that he was holding the key.

「𝙄𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨.」

I think that the guardian of the village plays that role here.

The opinion that we should check him out once was a good one, so the party nodded and immediately prepared to act.

“Apparently, he said he would respond to punishment when a violent conflict occurs?”

Echinacea Lianqi smiled faintly and began to cast her unique spell on me.

Kwak!

Kwak!

“. . . Azure Sky Wall.”

Kaboom!

Despite the light action, I was barely able to block the attack with the Wall of Heaven and summon Black Yin due to the considerable power contained within it.

Anyway, it was enough to catch the guardian’s attention, and soon a strange-looking monster with its colors faded appeared somewhere in the forest near the village.

「𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙮𝙡𝙚?」

It’s a little different, but to put it simply, it’s a creature of that kind.

Its rock-solid body could sense its defense just by looking at it, and it was a whole head bigger than the manticore I had seen in Black Forest.

I brushed off the dust and checked the information about him with my sensory function.

Ting!

【Wigwald】

▶Level 69

「. . . 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘.」

Surely, if such a guy is standing firm, he won’t be able to cause conflict, even out of fear.

Soon, Halo, who must have heard the noise and figured out the situation, started running towards us with an urgent face.

“What the hell are you doing!”

Halo, who looked at Echinacea Lianqi and me who were facing each other, shouted as if he couldn’t understand it for the time being.

“Stop fighting! If you provoke him, you will both die!”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Why. . . . . . .”

As I turned my gaze towards him, the other party members also took out their respective staffs and entered battle mode.

I opened my mouth softly to the bewildered Halo.

“We will catch him and open the real path of this labyrinth.”

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a word that has already lost its meaning to you.”

Halo said he had been living here for over a decade, helping the village chief.

If that’s true, it means that he has given up everything and lost his qualifications but is still alive and well.

And what that meant was simple.

「𝙃𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝.」

When I noticed that, his expression, which was changing every moment, seemed like nothing more than a well-made clay doll.

I tried to shake off the bitter feeling and turned my gaze back to Wigwald in front of me.

“It seems like it was the right answer.”

A level 69 witch’s synthetic monster. There’s no way he’s just going to pretend to be a gatekeeper to protect the village for no reason.

The purple crystal embedded deep in his heart somehow caught my eye.

「𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩?」

There is no need to be half-hearted.

As I said many times, all the estimates were already in place before I even entered this place.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨.」

The shadow that spread out in all directions gradually entangled the body of Wigwald like a net.

It was Shadow Catching, which I had also used in the previous battle with Emeris.

“Well, for now, you just have to break that!”

Shin No-eul immediately began to chant a mantra, and Echinacea Lianqi briefly looked at Wigwald and composed a binding spell to help me.

He struggled violently, but he didn’t have enough strength to shake off the restraints of two high-ranking exorcists in an instant.

Whoosh!

“Transfer Spiritual Power.”

Seo-ah, who had approached him at close range, immediately cast a spell and planted the stems of spiritual power in the joints of his body.

It is a special spell that has no meaning by itself, but amplifies damage in a chain by receiving the power of other spells.

It was the best judgment in the current situation.

“Now.”

“Yes!”

And towards its center, Shin No-eul’s grand spell was cast down as it was.

“Loan Thunderbolt.”

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