I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝟑

𝔞ẇ̇ė̇𝐛𝘴ᴛ𝚘ʀ𝐢𝚎ṡ.ᴄȯ̇ṁ

“You. How many people have you killed?”

It was a terribly disconcerting thing to say.

On the other hand, though, her words gave me some insight into the misunderstanding she was currently under.

「𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙄 𝙚𝙭𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙂𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙨𝙖𝙢-𝙮𝙞?」

One of her traits, Discernment, granted her the ability to discern the nature of a being she encountered directly to some extent.

Shin So-ra must have noticed the presence of the hundreds of thousands of vengeful spirits clinging to me with her Discernment trait.

“Hold on a second, you need to calm down.”

“What is there to misunderstand? You’re covered in vengeful spirits, clinging to you like flies to honey!”

“Yes, I do have vengeful spirits with me, but it’s not what you think.”

I tried desperately to argue my case, but she was far from convinced.

So I began hurriedly explaining, citing various reasons.

“So, how many vengeful spirits do you see?”

“. . . I’m not sure exactly, but probably over a hundred thousand, at least.”

“Think about it logically from there. How could I have possibly taken the lives of over a hundred thousand people in the first place? If that were true, I’d be an international fugitive by now.”

Hektel was a case in point.

After gathering the hearts of ten thousand people and unleashing a grand spell that threw an entire state in the United States into chaos, he had been on the wanted list ever since.

Hearing my words, Shin So-ra seemed to think I had a point, nodding slightly.

“That’s true. Then, what exactly are these vengeful spirits?”

As her hostility waned somewhat, I slowly explained the events that had transpired at the Defense Corps, telling her the origins of the vengeful spirits.

In the end, I even called forth Ggong-sam-yi as proof, allowing her to confirm it for herself.

“Huh, so this is the Fire Demon. . . . . . . I thought it would be bigger?”

“. . . Don’t burn it.”

Shin So-ra kept petting Ggong-sam-yi on the head, annoying her so much that the training ground nearly turned into an inferno, but thankfully, the misunderstanding was finally cleared up.

Only then did Shin So-ra lower her guard and begin conversing with me properly.

“You seem pretty close with Haram. That was unexpected, honestly.”

“We’re not particularly close. We don’t hang out when we don’t have to,”

“That’s close enough. Haram has quite the personality, you know. In fact, she doesn’t really have any other friends besides me.”

She made a rather sharp observation, considering we were supposed to be friends. Somehow, I felt like I knew why Cheong Haram was weak to Shin So-ra.

While we were talking, a sudden curiosity struck me, and I asked Shin So-ra a question.

“So, when you used that ability, what did I look like?”

I was definitely not in a normal state.

When I urged her with my gaze, Shin So-ra glanced at me briefly before answering.

“Well, you were covered in this dark aura, so much so that I could barely see your original form.”

“. . . . . . .”

Her words made me avert my gaze reflexively. If that was the case, then it must have been the combined effect of the vengeful spirits and my karma value reaching its limit.

“Since it was the first time I’d seen anything like it, I was suspicious, to be honest. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Don’t worry about it. I would have thought the same thing.”

Thanks to Shin So-ra, I learned something new. When you used a trait similar to Discernment, that was how I appeared to others.

「. . . 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」

I had been using it without revealing my hand up until now, but the truth was, people’s perceptions of sorcery could vary greatly depending on its contents.

In particular, the use of spells deemed dangerous by Exorcism HQ was strictly prohibited. Just look at the Yoo Hye-yeon family, who were the masterminds behind the recent raid.

「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙮. . . . . . .」

But Exorcism HQ wouldn’t necessarily take all that into account.

That’s why it would be troublesome if I gave them a reason to pick on me.

It seemed like I would have to be extra careful from now on about using traits that had similar effects to Appraisal.

“Let me buy you dinner sometime as an apology. Well then, see you later.”

And so, after our conversation, we left the training ground and parted ways.

I had gained a new concern, but on the other hand, it wasn’t all bad, considering that I had cleared up the misunderstanding in advance.

「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙡.」

It hadn’t occurred to me before, but Shin So-ra’s trait could be useful in various ways, depending on the situation.

Perhaps even in the festival event that was about to begin soon.

「. . . . . . .」

As I contemplated the various possibilities, I watched Shin So-ra’s retreating figure, carefully concealing my complicated emotions.