Into the Creations 951

Chapter 951 – 951. Savior Of The Academy

The shattered body of Amo was darkness itself.

It was only natural. It was a spirit of darkness, after all. Its essence was darkness itself.

“Kuuuooooh!”

Moka let out a roar. From his body, bright blue lightning was released, sweeping through the darkness. I shook off the darkness clinging to my body and stood up. As Amo died, the darkness was gradually disappearing.

Kales approached me. I deliberately staggered, and she quickly grabbed my shoulder to support me. My arm subtly brushed against her chest.

“Something… feels different than usual. Why is Moka acting like that?”

“It seems he’s realized something from this battle.”

Crackling. Fizz. Crackling.

Lightning was constantly being released from Moka’s body. Moka burned all the surrounding darkness with lightning and then soared into the sky. Moka’s body was flashing so brightly that it could be seen from afar.

“Do spirits also gain enlightenment?”

“Spirits also have egos, you know.”

“Is Moka becoming a high-grade spirit now?”

“I can’t say for sure. But… I think Moka has accumulated enough power to become a high-grade spirit. The reason he flew into the sky now is probably because he needs his own time. Believe in Moka and wait for him.”

“Yeah, well. It’s not like our contract is broken, so he’ll be back soon.”

I shared Moka’s vision through the spirit eye. Right now, Moka was flying through the clouds. The presence of lightning could be felt around Moka. Moka was constantly getting stronger. Even if I didn’t pay attention, he would reach the level of a high-grade spirit.

Kales looked at the place where Amo had been with a complex expression. She must have felt a sense of emptiness since the high-grade spirit of darkness she had been with had vanished like this.

“Kales, teacher….”

That was that. Now was a good opportunity to comfort her and win her over. I slowly approached her.

“Don’t be too disheartened. How vast is this world? If you look, there will be other high-grade spirits of darkness.”

“Disheartened? It’s not that. I felt something strange. The Amo I knew wasn’t originally like this. Perhaps the new contractor influenced Amo. And Amo’s new contractor is dangerous. I want to find out their identity if possible, but….”

“Is there a way?”

“No. That’s the biggest problem.”

Kales sighed. She stood in place for a moment, seemingly pondering, then said to me.

“There’s nothing we can do here. Let’s go back. I’ll get an earful from the headmaster….”

“Go back right away? We came all the way here, let’s play around for a bit? We’re not particularly hurt, are we?”

Go back right away? No way. Now that I’m alone with Kales outside the academy, it’s the perfect opportunity to win her over.

“Originally, we were planning to do some sightseeing before returning, but… an accident happened. It seems better to return to the academy right away.”

Kales was firm. I knew instinctively. No matter what I said to persuade her, she wouldn’t easily change her mind.

“T-Teacher Kales. Can I go take care of something for a moment?”

“Take care of something? Ah…. I’ll wait here, so take your time.”

I bought some time. I moved away from Kales. I stopped at a distance where my voice and even my presence couldn’t be felt.

“Machina.”

Machina was summoned with a face full of complaints. There were vegetable pieces on her puffed-up cheeks, and red sauce on her lips.

“Why is your face like that?”

“Do you even need to ask? It’s lunchtime right now. I was eating chicken salad and rose tteokbokki… I couldn’t even finish it because of you!”

“Why are you so greedy for a spirit?”

“Don’t look down on spirits!”

“Where’s Mom?”

“She was with me until just now. Send me back quickly! If I go back too late, Auntie will eat all the tteokbokki!”

“There’s something you need to do. If you do that, I’ll send you back right away.”

“Does it have to be now? Can’t I do it after eating?”

“Don’t you want to eat?”

“Ah, okay. I’ll do it.”

I raised my finger and pointed in one direction.

“If you fly in this direction, you’ll find a car. Break the car so it can’t run. Don’t break it artificially, make it look like it broke down very naturally. Can you do that?”

Machina narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

“I can do it, but…. What kind of scheme are you up to this time?”

“You don’t need to know. Oh, and don’t tell Mom either. If she asks, just make something up.”

“Okay. If I do that, you have to send me back right away.”

Machina quickly flew through the trees. I shared my vision with Machina through the spirit eye. In less than a minute, she found a car parked on the side of the road. It was the rental car that Kales and I had come in.

-Is this the car?

‘Yes. Break it.’

-Just make it so it doesn’t run, right?

‘Yeah. Naturally.’

Machina picked up a nearby leaf and put it inside the engine.

-It’s done. Send me back. I have to eat rose tteokbokki!

‘You just put a leaf in it. Are you kidding me?’

-You wanted it to break down as naturally as possible. This is enough.

Even though Machina looks like that, she’s a machine spirit. She knows more about machines than I do, so I decided to trust her for now. And if the car doesn’t break down and moves, I can just summon Machina again and scold her.

I reverse-summoned Machina and approached Kales.

“I’m sorry, teacher. Did you wait long?”

“Wait long? What are you talking about. Let’s go down.”

Kales took the lead. Being an elf, she easily found her way through the mountains. I found the car. It looked perfectly fine on the outside.

We got into the car, and she started the engine. The engine started and then suddenly died.

“Huh?”

Kales, flustered, tried to start the engine again. It was the same this time. The engine started and then died. She tried that about three more times, and soon the engine completely gave out.

Kales was flustered.

“W-Why is it like this?”

“I, I don’t know much about cars either…. Are we going to be stranded here?”

“Stranded? What are you talking about in this day and age.”

Kales, who had been flustered, quickly regained her composure. It wasn’t like anyone was hurt, it was just that the car had broken down. She contacted the rental car company with her smartphone.

‘Right. This was Hyundai.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly. The infrastructure of South Korea was too good for a romantic incident to happen in the mountains where we were stranded.

“The rental car company said they’ll send someone. They said it’ll take about three hours… Hmm. It might be faster to walk to the nearby village.”

“Walk? Is there a village nearby?”

“I saw it when we were coming. It’s about an hour away. It’s a small village, but… there might be a taxi? If not, we could ask someone else to borrow their car.”

I racked my brain. Either way, the result was the same. Then wouldn’t it be better to just wait in the car? Because that would give us three hours of free time.

“……Teacher Kales, what do you think is the better option?”

“I think it’s better to move than to stay here. Are you perhaps unable to walk? Should I call someone? If I ask the headmaster, we could get a helicopter.”

“No. Is there really a need for that? It’s not that urgent, and we’re not hurt. Let’s walk.”

We got out of the car as it was. We abandoned the car and walked on the road. It was such a remote area even in South Korea that there were no cars passing by on the road.

I racked my brain. There must be a way…. There must be a way I haven’t thought of.

“Walking like this isn’t so bad either. Right?”

“Yes. It’s good exercise. But teacher, I have a question.”

“A question? Don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Earlier, Amo said that if he ate me, he would get stronger. Do spirits originally get stronger by eating people?”

“You know very well that that’s not the case.”

“I do, but just in case.”

As far as I knew, there was nothing absolute in this world.

“…Normal spirits don’t get stronger by eating living things. They get stronger by absorbing the energy of nature. And the energy of nature naturally accumulates…. The reason Amo made this mountain his territory was to slowly absorb the mountain’s energy and get stronger. If he could get stronger by eating people, he would have already tried to eat hundreds or thousands of people.”

“But Amo was convinced that he would get stronger if he ate me.”

“That bothers me too. Perhaps Amo’s other contractor did something….”

Kales trailed off. Her face was truly complex.

The atmosphere became stiff. I changed the subject to lighten the mood. As the mood lightened, the conversation flowed more smoothly.

We arrived at the village. It was a small village. The population wouldn’t even be 500 people. But it had most of the necessities. Old people working in the fields could be seen. There were no young people.

“First, let’s talk to the village chief and borrow a car.”

In small villages like this, it was usually faster to talk directly to the village chief.

‘……Is there no way? To just take a car and go to the train station and return to the academy…. We came all the way out of the academy together… This good opportunity….’

As I was walking through the village, I noticed a guesthouse. Compared to motels in the city, it was run-down and small. But the guesthouse, with its wide yard and quiet rural scenery, had its own charm.

I swallowed hard. After some lewd thoughts, a good idea came to mind.

“Teacher Kales.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Shouldn’t we stay here tonight and return tomorrow?”

Kales tilted her head. She didn’t seem to understand what I meant. If it were another woman, she might have gotten angry right away, but she was calm.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

I shouldn’t say that my body was not feeling well due to the aftermath of the battle. Kales, who had a sense of responsibility as a teacher, would immediately request helicopter support from the academy headmaster if she knew that my body was not feeling well. And then Sung Hari would be contacted. Given Sung Hari’s personality, she might even pressure the Hero Association, so the time Kales and I would have together would be even shorter.

“It’s because of Moka. Moka is near here. As Moka’s contractor, I want to check Moka’s growth here. And maybe if I’m not here, Moka will follow me….”

“The thunder owl might not be able to reach the high-grade level…?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never heard of that, but… it’s not entirely impossible. Spirits are sensitive. It’s not uncommon for a mid-grade spirit to rise to a high-grade spirit….”

Kales crossed her arms and stroked her chin. After being deep in thought, she opened her mouth again.

“First… let’s report to the headmaster. We need the headmaster’s permission to stay out overnight.”

“Yes, teacher.”

If it was Kang Ji-young, she would allow it. She wouldn’t refuse an opportunity for an academy student to get stronger just because their return was delayed.

And as I predicted, Kang Ji-young gave her permission. Kales and I ended up staying at the guesthouse. Of course, we had separate rooms. There were no beds and no computers. But there was a wide yard and a wooden floor. Kales was satisfied.

I went to the village supermarket and bought a lot of food and came back. We ate dinner at sunset. Samgyeopsal was delicious no matter where you ate it.

Kales and I sat side by side on the wooden floor. We poured small glasses of alcohol. The clear soju shimmered.

“Do you know that drinking alcohol is prohibited for academy students?”

“Come on. This isn’t the academy, is it? The academy’s rules don’t apply here.”

“It’s a fallacy, but I’ll acknowledge it. It’s a secret that we drank together.”

Kales raised her glass. Cheers! The glasses clinked, making a clear sound.

The alcohol went down. The heat that passed through my throat warmed my body. She and I talked while drinking. As the alcohol disappeared, the distance between her and me gradually narrowed.

The stars in the night sky twinkled, and the sound of insects chirping could be heard. A cool breeze blew, tickling us pleasantly.

The atmosphere was created, and the time had come. I placed my hand on Kales’s shoulder. Her slightly loosened eyes met mine.

“Kales.”

“……Yujin.”