I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 259

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟗

She asked me with an air of resignation as if I had hit the nail right on the head about something she had been hiding all this time.

“How did you know?”

“I have encountered a similar situation before. And it’s not common for a perfect transformation into a yokai to occur as it did in your case.”

“. . . .I had heard rumors, but as expected, you are truly a great master.”

After a moment of organizing her thoughts, she began to tell me the story she had been hiding.

“Yes. As you guessed, I know the cause of this phenomenon. I know what yokai made me this way, and why.”

“Then why. . .?”

“There’s no point in talking about it. Rather, it would only put everyone in my family at risk.”

Her eyes were filled with utter desperation.

She did not ask for help from her family or the taoists who had been commissioned despite knowing everything. The meaning of that fact was simple.

It meant that the being behind this was overwhelmingly powerful.

“Although my level was not that high, I was trained in sorcery under a master. That’s why I was able to figure it out.”

One day in the past, a yokai visited her.

She said that it had a power that could be called absolute.

“I could just tell. I knew that no matter how many great taoists we gathered, we would not be able to stand up to it. . . .”

When I heard that, I thought for a moment that it might be Polar Night, but on second thought, that didn’t seem likely.

However, one thing was for sure.

That guy was also likely to be one of the representative great yokai of this era.

“The being took my family hostage and unilaterally demanded a contract from me. And I. . . .had no choice but to accept it.”

“Is the transformation into a yokai an effect of that?”

“Yes. I’m not sure, but it seemed like it was trying to regain consciousness through me after I had transformed into a yokai. And even now, somewhere, it must be waiting for the moment when I completely become a yokai.”

Pyeong-eun-ha gave me some advice with a self-deprecating smile.

“You should forget about it, sir taoist. Be satisfied with the payment you received in advance, and just let things slide. . . .”

“Is the yokai that powerful?”

In response to my question, she paused for a long time before opening her mouth.

“Its name is Taotie. It calls itself a great yokai descended from the blood of the celestial dragon. That is the true identity of the yokai I made a contract with.”

As soon as I heard that, I sensed a strange energy coming from the other side of the house, and soon it approached Pyeong-eun-ha’s room and broke the barrier.

“. . .I don’t know what it is, but I’ll go this far. I have no intention of fighting you, but protecting this young lady is also part of my job. This is a very difficult situation for me right now.”

“Yes. I was about to withdraw anyway. I apologize for my rudeness.”

With that, I left the house, leaving Seo Cheon-ye to clean up the mess, and at the same time, I fell into deep thought.

「𝙏𝙖𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙚, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙝𝙖, 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙨.」

However, at the same time, it is mentioned as one of the Four Fiends in ancient Chinese mythology and is a yokai with a higher profile than other Nine Children of the Dragons.

「𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙝𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

In other words, judging from Pyeong-eun-ha’s testimony, it was reasonable to assume that Taotie was much more powerful than Gonha we had met before.

In addition, as I thought about it, another memory suddenly came to mind.

However, let me warn you. Such great power will lead you to death. . . . You have already become a target.

A warning from Gonha just before she died.

Perhaps that too was related to the existence of Taotie.

Something was starting to come together, but there was still not enough information.

「𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩?. . . .」

Of course, this was a bit off topic from my original purpose. In fact, from my point of view, it wouldn’t be a big problem to just ignore it.

However, overcoming crises and growing was also one of my main goals, and it felt strange to just ignore it.

「𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚?」

It was just a pure intuition.

We still don’t know much about this era, and we never know when a clue we never imagined will come from.

Even if it’s just a one-in-a-million chance, it’s not a bad choice to poke around here and there right now.

When I combine the information I gather with my colleagues I will meet later, I may be able to see the outline of a secret I never knew before.

With that thought in mind, I quietly moved on.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“. . .This is too much. I got scolded by my master for nothing.”

When I returned to the agreed-upon rendezvous point, Shin Pyo-eul was there, looking strangely angry.

“Thanks to you, we finished the job well. Thank you.”

“. . .Is it all over with just a word? I was beaten up while listening to all sorts of abuse from my great master for fooling around with an outsider in front of him.”

She had already been given a rough explanation, so she understood, but it seemed that she had suffered a lot while trying to hold Seo Cheon-ye back.

I replied to Shin Pyo-eul with some regret.

“I don’t know if this is a proper thanks, but if there is a spell you need, I will teach you something useful as far as I know.”

“I-Is that okay?”

“Yes. It’s not knowledge that I have to keep to myself.”

Apparently, sharing spells with each other was very rare in this era, so Shin Pyo-eul nodded her head with a softened expression, greatly delighted.

And then she got down to business and asked me another question.

“So, did you get the answers you needed?”

“Yes. As I thought, the young lady realized the cause of her transformation into a yokai on her own.”

When I told her that, Shin Pyo-eul’s expression hardened and she reacted with a shudder.

“T-Taotie? Does such a legendary yokai really exist?”

“I have already met a similar being. It probably exists.”

“That can’t be. . . .”

Now this was a problem.

We knew the cause, but from here on out, we had to be careful about our actions.

“If we go after it rashly, there is a possibility that the young lady will be harmed.”

“. . .You’re right.”

In fact, at first, I had intended to tell Seo Cheon-ye everything and ask for her help.

Her skills were such that even I could not measure them, and it was likely that she would not be inferior to the great yokai of this era, though I was not sure.

However, something felt off.

Did Seo Cheon-ye really not know anything about the contract that had been planted in Pyeong-eun-ha?

『It’s possible that she really didn’t know, but the opposite is also possible.』

「𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙤𝙤.」

That’s why I couldn’t drag her into this right away.

For some reason, I had a feeling that Seo Cheon-ye was also hiding something.

At least until we had more information, we couldn’t move rashly.

“Anyway, she still has quite a bit of time before she becomes a complete yokai. It’s definitely true because I heard it from her own mouth.”

“You mean there’s no need to rush things?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m going to try to find some reliable colleagues first.”

Even our country had no intention of attacking the great yokai that were the mainstays of this era.

Considering that the yokai who escaped from the Scapula Chamber had lost a considerable amount of their original power, it is likely that the great yokai of this era possessed a power stronger than that of Bi-gang or Cheonho.

To face them alone would be nothing short of suicide.

“Do you have any colleagues who might be willing to join us?”

“No, well, I usually work alone. . . .”

In a nutshell, she didn’t know anyone in particular.

I looked at Shin Pyo-eul as she blushed in embarrassment and continued speaking.

“I’m separated from them right now, but I have colleagues with great skills. So first, I’m going to find them and increase our strength.”

“Ah. . . .yes. I agree with that. If we’re dealing with a great yokai like Taotie, the more strength we have, the better.”

Although it was only temporary, Shin Pyo-eul was a colleague who could be of great help on our journey.

I ended up using her against her will, but since our goals were the same, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

“Well then, do you have a specific destination in mind?”

“Yes.”

While I was looking at the geography of the area, I happened to find a location that had also appeared in the original work.

It was none other than Yeocheon, the city of revelry and entertainment.

“We’re going to Yeocheon.”

I had a feeling that somehow, I would get what I wanted there.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Although I said it as if I knew what I was talking about, it took a whopping ten days and four days to get to Yeocheon from Hubaek.

Of course, we couldn’t just go there blindly, so we decided to make a deal with the merchants who were leaving for the capital and act as their escorts in exchange for their guidance.

“I’m getting used to this after doing it so many times. At first, it wasn’t easy to sleep outside in the forest or on the plains, but. . . .”

“How long have you been a taoist?”

“About four years? I studied under my master until then.”

Since we were on a long journey together, we maintained a relaxed atmosphere as we talked about various things and continued our journey.

In addition, since we didn’t want to waste time during that process, I decided to teach her the spell I had promised her during this journey.

“Kang Yoon-nim’s sorcery is amazing. . . .I pride myself on having witnessed a lot of sorcery, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Of course, that’s to be expected. These were all spells brought from the distant future.

Whether she knew it or not, Shin Pyo-eul simply accepted the new knowledge with joy.

She was definitely a genius to have reached such a level at such a young age. Compared to the talented students of the Academy, it was an incredibly fast achievement.

In the end, she awakened the spell she wanted in just two days and looked at me with a slightly regretful expression, as if she wanted more.

“You really are a mysterious person. . . .If I had met Kang Yoon-nim before I met my master, I might have asked you to take me as your disciple.”

And as I looked at her, I made a suggestion that I had been thinking about for a long time.

“Then why don’t you make a deal with me?”

“. . .Yes? A deal?”

“Yes. If Miss Shin Pyo-eul teaches me the Eight Trigrams and Celestial Heavens Art, I am willing to pass on other spells to you during our travels.”

At that, Shin Pyo-eul’s eyes widened.

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