I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 93.2

As I had mentioned before, I decided to pay attention to the untold backstories of the world that weren’t covered in the game, and I began to sort out the questions that were worth investigating by spending time on them.

And in fact, surprisingly, the epitome of a mystery filled with such gaps existed right nearby.

It was none other than the sophomore class president, Sophia Charlotte.

「𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.」

Of course, there were occasional references to her interacting with the main character Yoo Ha-on and her group and that she was active here and there, but her own story was not revealed at all in the main story.

So I decided to investigate Sophia a little bit first.

“Sophia, you mean? I heard that she was adopted into the Charlotte family.”

“Really?”

“Originally, she was from the streets, so she doesn’t even know her parents’ faces properly.”

Surprisingly, just by asking around to the students, unknown information kept popping up.

「𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧?」

What the heck is wrong with this world? Including me, there are already four people around me with similar circumstances.

Knowing that Yoo Ha-on’s past and even my own origins were shrouded in secrecy, I was already very sensitive to this kind of inside information.

「. . .𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙤?」

To be honest, with two such people already existing, there’s no way it could stop at three.

I felt my curiosity growing and became even more eager to search for information about her.

“Junior, are you curious about Sophie?”

“Yes. I think it would be helpful if you could just tell me what you know.”

“If it’s you, junior, it’ll be fine. I’ll cheer you on.”

“. . .It’s not really like that.”

I found Arietta, who had frequent interactions with Sophia as the top student in each grade, and asked her about Sophia’s first year, which was not well-known in the original work or to me now.

“Sophie last year, she was definitely quieter than she is now.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. I should say she didn’t have much energy. At least, she wasn’t that bright.”

This is the first time I’m hearing this.

In my memory, Sophia was always bright and cheerful.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢.」

As expected, there are quite a few inside stories in this world that can’t be learned just by reciting the original work.

At this rate, it seemed like it wouldn’t hurt to find out a little more information.

Seeing me lost in thought, Arietta gave me another piece of advice.

“If you want to talk about Sophie, it’s best to go to Grace.”

“Grace?”

“Yeah. It’s not certain, but I heard that they’ve been together since they were on the streets.”

“. . .Thank you for telling me.”

I knew that Grace was Sophia’s best friend, but I had no idea that their connection dated back to the streets.

「𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙?」

That’s possible, or it could simply mean that’s when they first became friends.

It was clear that I wouldn’t be able to get any more information by searching around, so I decided to go and see Grace myself without delay.

“Sophie’s past?”

“Oh. I thought you might know. You don’t have to tell me the sensitive parts.”

Hearing my words, Grace made a troubled expression and let out a deep sigh.

“It’s not that I can’t. . . . . . . . Isn’t there something you need to do first?”

“Something I need to do?”

“What, you really didn’t know? It’s about Sophie, who you’re curious about right now.”

Is she saying that something happened to Sophia? There was no such event in the original work?

Panicking, I was led by her hand and started to move somewhere.

And during that time, Grace calmly explained what I was curious about.

“Sophie is great, of course, but surprisingly, she’s also ordinary. She’s always been that way.”

The image of Sophia that I heard from Grace’s mouth was quite different from what I had known.

Stories about how she would sometimes cry like a baby, throw tantrums, and get angry were all to be expected.

However, it was still an expression that I could hardly imagine.

“Do you know why Sophie’s been acting strange ever since the exam last time?”

“. . .Now that you mention it, she didn’t seem like her usual self.”

“It got worse and now she’s completely digging her own grave. It’s partly because of you.”

“Me?”

Apparently, Sophia couldn’t get over the fact that she had been tricked by me twice without even getting a proper fight.

A while later, we arrived at a small detached house near the academy grounds.

According to her explanation, it was a place where Sophia would go when she wanted to relax.

“Here.”

“. . .You want me to go in alone?”

“At a time like this, shock therapy is necessary.”

Click.

Click click click click.

Ding-a-ling.

Grace, who had entered the door lock’s password in an instant and let me in, closed the door behind her.

As I stood there, not knowing what to do, Sophia’s sleepy voice could be heard from the living room.

“Grace. . . . . . . . I told you I was going to sleep all day today. Geez.”

I didn’t know she was this type of person. Grace can be quite shameless too.

For the time being, I had to avoid the worst-case scenario, so I cleared my throat and told Sophia that I was here.

“I-I came on an errand.”

“. . . . . . . . Huh?”

Sophia paused for a moment, and then she spoke to me in a voice that I couldn’t explain, as if she was crawling.

“W-Why is Kang Yoon here? Isn’t this my house? No, it is my house. . . . . . ?”

Sophia, who had been sleepwalking for a while, soon realized reality and got up noisily, speaking to me from an unseen place.

“T-That. Wait a moment. I’m in my pajamas right now.”

“. . . . . . . . .”

After about 10 minutes, I was finally able to face Sophia, who had fully regained her senses.

“Oh, really. Grace, geez. . . . . .! I said she’s shameless.”

Sophia muttered, seemingly quite angry, and kept mumbling Grace’s name.

Even so, the way she quickly made a cup of coffee for each of us and made space showed that she was indeed Sophia.

I took the coffee and sipped it, and opened the conversation, referring to what Grace had said.

“I heard you’ve been having a lot on your mind lately.”

“It’s not like that. I just suddenly lost some energy. . . . . . .”

“Because of the exam?”

“Ummmm. That too. And other things as well?”

Although she usually seemed so bright, Sophia must have been worrying about all sorts of things in her heart as well.

Sophia took a sip of her coffee and let out a sigh before moving her lips again.

What came out of Sophia’s mouth was, to be honest, a completely unexpected statement.

“I wonder if it’s right for me to keep attending the academy.”

Translator’s Blog

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