Episode 21. It Was You? (2)
“You want me to save you?”
When I looked at Professor Jade with eyes filled with question, he nodded with a calm expression.
“That’s right. I know where the magical Seven-Star Grass mainly grows, so it shouldn’t be too hard to obtain.”
“Where do they mainly grow?”
“here.”
Professor Jade’s fingertips pointed to a clump of dust rolling around on the lab floor.
Well, of course, it’s not like it would grow naturally in a laboratory that’s no different from a garbage dump.
“… Are you talking about school?”
“Yes. Even if you search the entire continent, there is probably no place where you can obtain the magical Seven-Star Herb as easily as here.”
Even if you search the entire continent, there is no place where you can obtain the magical Seven-Star Herb as easily as here.
I had a vague idea as to why.
“Is it because of the seal?”
“Hoo.”
Professor Jade’s eyes sparkle with interest.
“You seem to know a lot, considering you got the lowest grade in your first-year history class.”
“Why did you look up my first-year grades?”
“Shouldn’t I know in advance what level of academic performance the candidate who will become my teaching assistant after graduation is?”
“no.”
I’m not going into your lab.
“Kekekekeke. Well, anyway. This is an answer that I can give 80 points out of 100. To be exact, it’s not because of the seal, but because of the veins connected to the seal.”
“…spur?”
Now that I think about it, I remember hearing something from Senior Sophia before.
It is said that beneath the Hero School, there flows a vein containing an enormous amount of magical power.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s just explain it briefly and move on.”
Professor Jade continued speaking with a somewhat excited look.
“500 years ago, the five great heroes succeeded in sealing the demon after a fierce battle.”
“Is it suddenly history class?”
“Stop talking and just listen.”
Professor Jade continues the class(?) by speaking firmly.
“After sealing the demon, Raynald established this ‘Hero School’ right on top of it.”
It was something I learned in my first year history class.
“Do you know why Raynald founded the school in such a dangerous land?”
“Weren’t you trying to build some kind of fortress? To protect the seal of the Demon God?”
Historians have differing opinions on why Raynald founded a school on this land where the demon was sealed, despite the fierce opposition at the time.
The currently accepted theory is that the school was built to prevent the Mines from approaching the seal and that heroes from all over the continent were gathered there.
‘That actually happened.’
At first, many countries opposed it, saying how could they send promising hero candidates to a land where the spirit of the god was sealed?
When Raynald threatened that they would not be able to work as ‘heroes’ until they graduated from the school and obtained official qualifications, the candidates had no choice but to send them to the school in tears.
‘Now, 500 years later, no one really cares.’
Now, there are heroes who don’t even know that there is a demon sealed under the hero school unless they are in a history class.
of course.
‘… Soon, even if you don’t want to know, you won’t be able to not know.’
Knowing that the seal of the demon is gradually weakening.
There probably aren’t many people like me who have experienced the future that will unfold.
“It’s a fortress… There must have been a reason for that.”
“Is there another reason?”
“Do you remember the vein I mentioned earlier? Raynald… ah, to be exact, my ancestor, the ‘Great Sage’ Julius Bastian, connected this vein to the seal in order to make the seal of the Demon God stronger.”
“You connected the seal and the vein?”
“okay.”
Professor Jade continued, sweeping his white beard down his face.
“It’s like connecting a chain called a vein to a lock called a seal to tightly bind the demon.”
“Um… That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”
“Of course. This is a record that has been passed down through generations only to the Bastian family.”
aha.
So, I hadn’t heard of it in my past life either.
“Anyway, this school is a kind of giant sealing tool that was created to allow the power of those veins to gather.”
The school itself is a giant sealing device.
‘Then the reason why the Demon God’s seal was weakened in my previous life…’
It is most likely connected to this school.
‘One more reason to stay in school.’
I had no intention of leaving school before graduation, even if it was just to meet my old colleagues again.
In addition, there was an additional task of finding out why the seal of the demon had weakened.
‘First of all, this isn’t something you can figure out right away just by looking into it.’
For now, I think it would be right to prioritize what I can do.
“So, you’re saying that because of the influence of that vein, a lot of magically-powered Seven-Star Grasses grow around here?”
“That’s correct.”
Professor Jade nodded with a somewhat proud smile.
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He picked up the coffee cup on the table, took a sip, and chuckled.
“Looking at it like this, it kind of reminds me of the old days when I was taking classes.”
Professor Jade looks up at the ceiling of the lab with a hazy look in her eyes.
In the past, he was a professor who diligently taught the candidates, but after the incident two years ago, he stopped teaching the candidates separately.
‘Disciple killer, Ra.’
However, as someone who had been studying with Professor Jade for several days, I couldn’t easily understand why he was given such an ominous nickname.
‘He may have a quirky personality, but he’s definitely not the type of person to kill his disciples.’
But I was starting to get curious about what kind of past he had.
‘This isn’t important right now.’
There was just too much to do right now.
“Well, anyway. If you could just get me the magical Seven-Star Herb, I could complete the stigmata enhancer.”
“But if you know where it grows, you can go there yourself….”
“Oh, you want me to dig up some grass myself, old man?”
“… … .”
You’re an old man.
‘If you consider the longevity, I’ve lived dozens of times longer than you, you rascal.’
Of course, I couldn’t say those words out loud.
The shamelessness of asking me to procure the materials myself after swallowing a huge sum of money, 1 million gold, was enough to make my neck burn.
“Kkeu keu. And if I go to pick the Chilseongcho myself, I might get into trouble with Seongguk.”
“What’s the problem… ah.”
Professor Jade is an authority on stigmata research, a subject that is taboo in the Holy Land.
‘But what if a professor like that goes around collecting chrysanthemums in Seongguk?’
There is bound to be trouble.
“Okay. Okay, I understand.”
It was a waste of time, but it seemed like there was no other way.
“Kkul kkul. I’ll send you the location via Hero Watch, so you can just search around here.”
The location that was sent that way was the outdoor training ground where I had recently taken a demon tracking class.
“…Isn’t the outdoor training ground a restricted area outside of class?”
“For that part, a permit can be issued for research purposes.”
“Hmm. Okay. Let’s go right away.”
Besides this, there are mountains of things to do.
‘What can I do?’
The young(?) guy with still some blood on his head can’t move, so I have to move him myself.
* * *
“If you look at the map, it’s somewhere around here… .”
Hours of moving along the map floating above the Hero Watch.
As expected in the forest, the sun began to set earlier than usual and darkness gradually fell.
‘If we delay any longer, we’ll have to camp here.’
I was used to camping, but I didn’t want to sleep on the dirt floor in a yard without an iris.
“I need to find it quickly… okay?”
at that time.
A crevice in the rocks was visible through the thick undergrowth.
A crevice between rocks just big enough for a person to squeeze through.
I felt a very faint magical power seeping out between them.
‘Is this it?’
As I tilted my head and squeezed my body between the rocks, I saw a cave that was wider than I thought.
“Let’s see.”
When you look around with your head up.
A few white flowers could be seen growing between the sharp stalactites.
‘Chilseongcho.’
I pulled out a seven-star plant growing among the stalactites and examined it, and I felt that there was magical power within it.
“Still, you managed to avoid camping.”
I raised the corners of my mouth and put the seven-star plants growing between the stalactites into my bag.
I roughly picked all the seven-star flowers I could see and put them in my bag. I was able to get about two handfuls of flowers.
If you have this much Chilseongcho, you should have no problem making the stigmata enhancer.
‘Let’s look into it a little more, just in case.’
The entrance was narrow, but the inside of the cave was quite large, so I haven’t been able to see all the way inside yet.
When we entered the cave along that winding path.
“… … ?”
A faint light coming from far away.
‘A light?’
Why is there a light here?
“… … .”
I moved slowly towards the place where the light was leaking out, keeping my footsteps quiet.
‘… That’s.’
The light coming from deep within the cave was a portable lantern often used for exploration.
And that means there’s a portable lantern here.
‘There is someone else.’
Is there anyone else other than me at the outdoor training ground at this time?
‘I thought there was no outdoor training scheduled for today.’
That was information I had already confirmed when I received the permit from Professor Jade.
‘You can’t enter without a permit, so you can’t be a candidate.’
However, there was no way the professor would be out in the outdoor training ground alone at this time.
‘If you are neither a professor nor a candidate.’
Who on earth would be in such an inconspicuous cave at this late hour?
“… … .”
When you hide behind a stalactite, holding your breath.
“Hey man… You always make me do chores like this, just me.”
A grumbling sound was heard inside the cave.
A man with black hair and wearing a shabby robe.
Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be well over 30 years old, so he was definitely not a candidate.
“Oh my. If only I could become a priest, I wouldn’t have to do such dirty work….”
The man muttered and grumbled as he hammered a black nail, shaped like a stake, into one wall of the cave.
and.
-Wooooooooooo!
A black glow flowed from the man’s left chest, flowing into the cave wall through the black nails driven into the wall.
A black halo that is somewhat gloomy, sticky, and unpleasant.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out what it was.
‘Magi.’
A magical energy that can only be used by those who have received the blessing of the god of magic and bear his stigmata.
The fact that the unknown man possessed magic was the only proof.
Demon.
Along with the demons, they are the greatest threat to humanity and the top priority target for subjugation by heroes.
Cannot be compromised, nor should it be compromised.
Enemy of humanity.
‘Why is Mine here?’
I couldn’t guess why though.
‘Well, I guess you can just ask him directly.’
He lowered his posture, concentrating his magical power on his legs.
and.
jump.
“Hey… Why is it taking so long today… Ugh!”
I quickly approached Mine from behind, gathered magical power in my fingers, and stabbed the back of his neck.
The body of Mine, who had been stabbed in the back of the neck, froze stiffly and fell down like a scarecrow.
Acupuncture.
It was a technique that I learned from Berold in the past, to paralyze the body by stabbing the blood vessels through which magical power flows.
“What…! Who, who are you!”
“You don’t know who I am. Just answer the questions I ask you. What is your purpose in hiding in the school?”
“Ugh! Why isn’t my body moving…?”
“Well, yeah. I don’t think he’d answer that obediently.”
The fact that Mine’s mouth is heavy is something I have felt keenly since my previous life.
“One first.”
He grabbed the fallen mine by the hair, lifted it up, and slapped its face without mercy.
Bam!
Mine’s face turned around with a sound like leather being whipped.
“Ugh! Huh! Hey, wait a minute!”
“I know, I know, you punk. There’s no way you’d open your mouth like this.”
“No! Wait… .”
“Two.”
Crash! Crash! Crash!
As the clear sound continued to resonate, Mine’s face gradually swelled to the point where its original shape was unrecognizable.
I think I was in my thirties or so.
“Ah… uh.”
“Hey, it’s so poisonous. Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Ugh, uh, ahhh…!”
Mine shook his head urgently, his broken teeth dripping from between his lips.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
If you can’t do it with your hands, you have no choice but to use a knife.
Sling.
He drew his sword and held it close to the man’s face.
“Two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth. Of these, the only things I need are one ear and one mouth…”
I pulled the man’s hair and smiled brightly.
“What do you need?”
