## Chapter 127 – 127. Study Group
#127. Study Group
Han Seo-ah, who had been staring at me blankly, contorted her face.
Her deeply furrowed brow indirectly revealed her emotions.
“I’m not so hard up that I need to play a dangerous spy.”
Cash, elixirs, artifacts, secret manuals. These were the rewards Han Seo-ah offered me.
They were certainly attractive rewards, but when I considered them one by one, they were all things I didn’t need.
Money? Thanks to handing over the Minotaur’s byproducts to Grandma Choi Young-ok, my bank account was more flush than ever before.
I did have to endure Grandma Choi Young-ok’s interrogation about where I got them, but if I had sold them to the Hunter Association, it wouldn’t have ended with just an interrogation.
I didn’t really need elixirs either. Of course, it would be nice to have them, but I’d rather give them to Yeo-hwa or So-wol than take them myself.
Most elixirs are used to increase magic power or internal energy. If you have more magic power and internal energy than your level, like me, there’s no need to take elixirs. It would only create an imbalance between the body and the energy.
I was somewhat drawn to artifacts and secret manuals, but artifacts aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, and there was no way she’d give me a high-quality artifact in exchange for simply providing information.
Besides, secret manuals are one of the family’s top secrets. Grandma Choi Young-ok gave me a few as a reward because she knew I was going to be engaged to Choi Hye-na, but otherwise, there was no way.
‘Unless I want to be kicked out of the family, there’s no way I can carelessly hand over a secret manual to an outsider.’
Even if it was a secret manual, it would probably be missing important parts, or it would be just some miscellaneous book that wasn’t even worth calling a secret manual.
“…Then what do you want?”
“Well? Isn’t that something the person in a hurry should figure out?”
“…”
*Grind,* I thought I heard the sound of someone grinding their teeth, but I deliberately ignored it and turned to leave.
“See you tomorrow, then.”
With those words, I left the classroom and headed home.
My head was already complicated enough with the redevelopment issue, and I didn’t have the余裕 to worry about the Tower Master, let alone his younger sister.
I just changed my clothes at home and hurried to the dojang.
Inside the dojang, my master was sitting, tidying up her messy hair as if she had just woken up.
I handed her a neatly packaged shopping bag as she looked at me with a languid expression.
“…What’s this?”
“It’s a gift.”
It was jerky for beastmen that I had bought after stopping by the department store before coming home.
“You seemed to like it quite a bit, so I bought it.”
“…You shouldn’t have.”
Even though she said that, her tail twitched slightly as if she wasn’t in a bad mood. She probably didn’t notice it herself, but I couldn’t be fooled.
“Um, but are you really not going to tell me your name?”
Thinking it was an opportunity, I casually threw out the question, and my master responded by staring at me with cold eyes.
I braced myself, maximizing the senses of my entire body, fearing she might hit me with a wooden sword for acting up as usual.
“…Jeon Seo-ha.”
“Pardon?”
But what came back was an answer I hadn’t expected at all.
Jeon Seo-ha, I quietly savored the name. I felt good about the unexpected gain.
“It’s a pretty name.”
I was happy that I seemed to have gotten a little closer to my master, but that was only for a moment, as an intensely murderous aura that sent shivers down my spine poured out towards me.
Surprised, I looked at my master’s face, and it was slightly flushed.
“…Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Hurry up and grab your sword. We’re going to spar today.”
“?”
*Thwack!*
After throwing out that one word, my master suddenly swung her sword and rushed at me, and I barely managed to block her strike. My hand stung.
“H-How can you suddenly do this?! If I hadn’t blocked that just now, my skull would have been crushed!”
“All training is like real combat. Do you think the enemy will give you a signal that they’re going to attack?”
Even while talking, the continuous strikes flowed like water, and their speed increased more and more. It looked like a quick sword, but it was heavy enough to be considered a greatsword.
The essence of heaviness and quickness were harmonized. The paradoxical strikes were becoming increasingly difficult to block.
“You said we were sparring! Go easy on me!”
“Training is like real combat.”
It was obvious that she was trying to vent her anger, but my master continued to feign ignorance and pressured me.
In the end, I couldn’t even last a minute before my master beat me with her wooden sword.
It hurt like crazy, but ironically, I felt like I had gotten one step, no, half a step closer to that feeling that I had been on the verge of grasping for the past few days.
To continue the feeling I had now, I boldly requested another spar, but all I got were countless bruises.
***
As if they had all made a promise, reporters were camped out in front of the Magic Tower again the next day.
They looked bloodshot, and I thought about giving them a few words of charity, but if you give a reporter one word, they’ll want two.
Besides, my information being spread and news and articles being spread were two completely different things.
Today, I hid my body with magic and leisurely passed through the reporters. All sorts of curses were hurled at me for not showing my face, let alone giving an interview.
But it was none of my business, so I roughly ignored them. They were a bunch that would eventually tire themselves out and disappear in a few days. It’s not like I’m the only news story in this country.
‘Come to think of it, Choi Hye-na isn’t answering her phone.’
I haven’t been able to reach her since yesterday.
Of course, we weren’t the type to contact each other all the time like lovers, but this was the first time her reply had been this late.
I decided to go find her in person if I didn’t hear from her by lunchtime, and headed to the classroom for now.
I spent time mingling with the female students who greeted me again today. Han Seo-ah’s murderous aura was piercing me from time to time, but it wasn’t enough to bother me much.
I spent time listening and not listening, and before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived. But Choi Hye-na still hadn’t contacted me.
After hesitating for a moment, I finally headed to the 4th grade classroom.
“…She hasn’t been here since yesterday?”
“Yeah, but it’s only been two days, it happens sometimes.”
The only information I got from going all the way to Choi Hye-na’s classroom was that she had been absent yesterday and today.
The female upperclassman with the impressive round eyes said it was probably nothing, but I was starting to get a little worried.
‘…She’s not sick, is she?’
Probably not. If she was, Grandma Choi Young-ok would have given me a heads-up.
Judging from the fact that I can’t even reach her, she’s probably engrossed in magic research.
Wizards originally hole themselves up in their workshops for days when they’re immersed in research.
“But, you know.”
“Yes?”
The female upperclassman came closer. Her curious eyes sparkled so much that it was overwhelming.
“Are you really dating Hye-na?”
Besides the upperclassman who was approaching me like a girl in her prime, the gazes and attention of the upperclassmen who remained in the classroom poured out.
“It’s not like that.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
Looking back now, my first meeting with Choi Hye-na was almost the worst.
We didn’t exactly meet because we liked each other. Choi Hye-na was pushed out by her family’s head, Grandma Choi Young-ok, and I was eyeing the prestige of the Seongbuk Choi family rather than Choi Hye-na herself.
The arranged meeting that was arranged in that way was filled with all sorts of rudeness and curses from the first meeting, and ended in the worst possible way imaginable.
If it hadn’t been for the Isolated Gate incident, we would have remained in a relationship where we would never meet again for the rest of our lives.
She’s a typical spoiled rich daughter who’s selfish and even lies about being pregnant, but…
“I’m just chasing after her because I like her one-sidedly.”
I like Choi Hye-na so much that there’s no room for doubt.
The female upperclassman, who had been making a blank expression at my answer, wore a meaningful smile on her lips. I could see signs that it was going to be a hassle, so I quickly left the spot.
I could hear them talking about something behind me, but I deliberately ignored it.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t see the people who were glaring at me like they were going to kill me at the restaurant last time.’
There were a few people who followed Choi Hye-na around like groupies, but they must be in a different class or have already gone to lunch.
***
Seo Ah-yoon watched Kang Hyun-woo’s retreating figure intently before turning her head.
“Shouldn’t you at least reply?”
Only then did Choi Hye-na, who had been hiding behind the door, slowly reveal herself. Her face, which was completely red, looked like it was about to explode.
“…Mind your own business.”
“How prickly. I even lied to your sweetheart for you.”
“Who’s my sweetheart!”
Seo Ah-yoon pretended to cover her ears with both hands at Choi Hye-na’s loud shout.
But a faint smile bloomed on Seo Ah-yoon’s lips.
Choi Hye-na wasn’t originally the type to reveal her emotions as they were.
Meanwhile, there was a commotion in one corner of the classroom.
“Let me go…!!”
Jang Yu-ri, who was tightly bound with magic ropes, was struggling. Her neatly tied pigtails were shaking back and forth.
Her mouth was also blocked, but when did she untie it?
“How dare you, as a man, come to ask about Hye-na-nim’s well-being, and what?! You’re chasing after her one-sidedly?! That’s totally a stalker!!”
The students around her who were stopping her shook their heads. They were all people who claimed to be Choi Hye-na’s followers.
But they weren’t bad kids. At least they knew where to draw the line.
But Jang Yu-ri wasn’t. If she hadn’t been tied up just now, she would have run at Kang Hyun-woo.
“Sigh… Just let her go.”
Jang Yu-ri, who had been freed from the restraints that had been binding her limbs, rushed to Choi Hye-na as if something terrible had happened.
“Hye-na-nim! If you just give me the order, I’ll immediately… Hye-na-nim…?”
Jang Yu-ri looked at Choi Hye-na with a dumbfounded expression.
Seo Ah-yoon, wondering what she had seen, glanced at Choi Hye-na and smiled with a look of understanding.
‘…She’s totally a girl in love.’
At this point, it was hard to tell whether her hair was red or her face was red.
***
I was spending time mindlessly, and before I knew it, the last class was over.
I would have hurried to prepare to go home as usual, but I still had a schedule left today.
All students of the Magic Tower are required to join a study group. You can think of it as a college club.
I headed to the upper floors where only study groups were gathered to apply for the study group I had been looking at in advance.
Basically, study groups are divided into central study groups and individual study groups.
Central study groups can receive various support from the Magic Tower, and since there is a professor in charge, there are many benefits such as getting advice or personal help.
However, individual study groups do not have a professor in charge, and there is not much support, so there are many restrictions on activities.
If you look at it this way, it seems like it would be advantageous to join a central study group, but surprisingly, that’s not the case.
‘There are many restrictions if you join a central study group.’
Like the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” central study groups have to give back as much as they receive.
There were many annoying things, such as helping with unwanted research or being put into external sites where the manpower of wizards was needed.
“Excuse me.”
In the end, the place I chose out of hundreds of study groups was an individual study group called Diabology.
Diabology is an academic term that refers to the study of demons, and it was the perfect study group for me, who was recently looking for a way to increase my demonic energy.
Demonic energy and demons, they may seem different at first glance, but they’re not completely unrelated.
Of course, I didn’t have high expectations because I came here with the feeling of grasping at straws.
‘It’s a bit small.’
The inside of the study group, which seemed to be no more than 20평 at best, was filled with various junk.
Just when I was wondering if there was anyone there, I heard a rustling sound and someone walked out from the inside.
“Who are you… oh?”
“Oh?”
Fluffy hair, goat horns growing on both sides, and a pair of breasts that made my heart swell no matter how many times I saw them.
“W-Why are you here…?”
It was Lumina Hircus.
Her eyes, which were looking at me, were shaking precariously. She seemed to be misunderstanding something.
