## Chapter 134 – 134. Rejection
Riyal, having abruptly delivered his threat, quickly averted his gaze as if his business was concluded.
His considerate demeanor of saying only what he wanted and ending the conversation was truly a sight to behold.
So much so that I wanted to smash the back of his head in.
If he hadn’t been Shin Min-ha’s summon, I would have punched him without a second thought.
I even considered snitching to Shin Min-ha, but a better idea flashed through my mind.
“Professor.”
I approached Shin Min-ha, who was walking ahead.
She, who had been expressionlessly surveying her surroundings, tilted her head.
“What is it?”
“Actually, I have a question about summon magic. Would you mind?”
“…About what specifically?”
Her face remained unchanged, but her voice subtly rose.
“Earlier, Riyal’s speed seemed abnormally fast. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like the output someone of your level could produce.”
Let’s say a 1st Circle summoner made a contract with a summon on par with an S-Rank magic beast.
Of course, it’s questionable whether such incredible luck could ever exist, but even then, the mage wouldn’t be able to summon the beast.
Everything from the summon’s breathing to its movements consumes the summoner’s own mana.
Naturally, maintaining the summon would also consume mana, so there’s no way a 1st Circle mage could handle a monster of S-Rank level.
Shin Min-ha is a 4th Circle mage, so her ability is probably what allows her to maintain a high-level summon like Riyal for extended periods.
Normally, she probably keeps his physical body in the spirit realm to minimize mana consumption.
But that alone doesn’t explain how I missed Riyal’s movements earlier.
To move at that speed, Shin Min-ha would have had to expend a considerable amount of mana, but she didn’t seem tired at all.
“Do you have a lot of mana, Professor?”
“…No, objectively, I have relatively little mana.”
Only for a brief moment, Shin Min-ha’s brow furrowed.
“Typically, support magic can only be used on oneself, but summons are an exception. Since they’re connected to the summoner by soul, they can be targeted by support magic.”
“Ah, so…”
“Yes, I cast a speed-related support spell on Riyal. It consumes a bit of mana, but it’s better than Riyal exerting his full power.”
Shin Min-ha enthusiastically answered my question while subtly touting the advantages of summon magic.
I was slightly taken aback by her uncharacteristic reaction, but considering she had suddenly offered me a teaching assistant position and a transfer to the Summoning Department, it wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.
However, regardless of that, the fact that support magic could be cast on summons was somewhat fascinating.
I was planning to summon Noel soon, so I decided to test it out then. I deliberately stuck close to Shin Min-ha, asking her about various things.
Shin Min-ha didn’t seem to think of me as a man at all, as she didn’t react even to the overly close distance. I thought she would at least blush or something.
I was slightly disappointed, but I was satisfied since I had already achieved my initial goal.
-Human, do you have a death wish?
“Ah, I see… Summon magic really is amazing.”
“Ahem, ahem…”
Shin Min-ha’s lips twitched slightly, as if she was pleased by my continued flattery.
-Get away from her immediately. If you ignore this warning again, I will separate your upper and lower body.
“You were classmates with Professor Lee Chae-won, weren’t you? No wonder you seemed close.”
“…I don’t particularly like her, though.”
-…I’m giving you three seconds. 3, 2…
“Oh? You have something on your shoulder. Let me get it for you.”
The moment my hand touched Shin Min-ha’s shoulder, an intense killing intent surged forth.
But her mistake was that she couldn’t control her killing intent because her emotions were too agitated.
Shin Min-ha’s gaze shifted towards Riyal.
“Riyal?”
Shin Min-ha looked at Riyal with a strange expression, as if sensing something was wrong, and Riyal, whose face couldn’t be seen at all, occasionally glared at me as if he was clearly flustered.
So what? What can you do about it?
“What’s wrong, Professor?”
I grabbed Shin Min-ha’s shoulder.
Riyal flinched at the sight, but he didn’t show any hostility or emit any killing intent like before.
It was obvious that he was watching Shin Min-ha’s reaction.
“…It’s nothing.”
Shin Min-ha, who quickly calmed her emotions, glanced at Riyal with indifferent eyes before averting her gaze.
As soon as she did, Riyal’s head turned back towards me.
-…I will make you regret this.
I was so dumbfounded by the voice echoing in my head that I couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘This guy still hasn’t learned his lesson.’
I was originally going to end it here.
A summon might not know human etiquette.
But I was displeased by his insolent attitude, still not knowing his place and refusing to yield.
“Professor.”
Daring to threaten me when he’s just a summon?
I subtly turned my head so only Riyal could see and gave him a bitter smile.
“What is it?”
“Would it be alright if I held your hand?”
The moment I spoke, Riyal’s hand reached for the daggers hanging from his waist, but that was all he did.
“Hold my hand…?”
Doubt flickered beyond Shin Min-ha’s emotionless gaze as she looked at me.
“I’ve been feeling unwell near the gate ever since the accident last time. To be honest, I’m still nervous…”
I put on a difficult act, wearing a bitter smile.
I know it’s despicable to lie, but Shin Min-ha told me to tell her anytime if I was having a hard time, and she was also responsible for not managing her summon properly.
“…Alright.”
Contrary to my expectations, Shin Min-ha readily offered me her hand.
It was a long, slender, and beautiful hand, like that of a pianist.
I gently intertwined our fingers, holding it. Unlike her cold impression, it was smaller, warmer, and softer than I thought.
-?!!
The moment we held hands, Riyal’s sharp eyes, like daggers plunged straight in, widened in disbelief.
“Hmm…”
On the other hand, Shin Min-ha’s reaction was really nothing, even though she was holding hands with a strange man. She simply alternated between looking at me and our hands with a strange expression, like a mage conducting magical research.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, I just… I think it’s big and sturdy.”
“That’s how men’s hands are.”
“…This is the first time I’ve held a man’s hand.”
“Ah.”
Have I stolen the first of another virgin?
-Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.
Please keep the local broadcasts down.
“It’s nothing special, right?”
“…I guess not.”
“…”
Shouldn’t you be blushing silently at a time like this?
***
Quite some time had passed since then, but we still hadn’t let go of each other’s hands.
We strolled leisurely through the forest, hand in hand like lovers on a date, collecting sap from the Ent’s corpse and herbs from the colony.
Riyal’s gaze, glaring at me, seemed to be reaching its limit, but I didn’t care.
I heightened my senses to the maximum in preparation for any possible situation. With the speed I saw when dealing with the Ent, I could more than handle it.
“Shall we head back now?”
Shin Min-ha, who had filled her water bottle with sap and her bag with herbs, took out a compass.
It was a magical tool that located the exit of the gate. The compass needle spun wildly before fixing on a certain direction.
I silently followed Shin Min-ha’s lead.
-…If you let go of my hand now, I can pretend this never happened.
It definitely felt like my lungs were being cleansed as I entered the gate.
Since it was a place untouched by humans, there was no way there would be any environmental pollution.
-If you want, I can introduce you to a female human-type spirit beast from the spirit realm. They’re reasonably skilled, so they’ll be helpful in many ways if you make a contract with them.
Ah, but what should I eat for dinner tonight?
Unlike before, when I survived on a single pack of ramen for a week, I didn’t have to worry about how much I spent on food.
Of course, I didn’t have time to go to fancy fine dining or omakase restaurants that were hard to book, but it would be nice to go sometimes.
-Don’t ignore me!!
‘Ugh, seriously.’
-?!
I was starting to get annoyed. How could he talk non-stop for almost an hour?
‘Turn off the local broadcasts. How long are you going to keep making offers that won’t work? If you’re so upset, then come at me.’
-…I didn’t think you were a mage capable of using telepathy.
‘It’s called telekinesis, you bitch.’
I had learned the technique from Chun Yeo-hwa at some point, but it was difficult, so I hadn’t used it.
But thanks to this crazy woman who kept sending me telepathic messages that made my head ring all the time, I was able to figure out the trick.
-If we can communicate, then this will be faster. Let go of that filthy hand right now.
‘Why would I?’
-…
Creak, it sounded like someone was grinding their teeth somewhere.
-Haa… How long do you think I’ll put up with that arrogant attitude?
‘What can you do if you don’t put up with it?’
-I could plunge a dagger into your neck while you’re asleep.
I chuckled at his nonchalant threat.
‘Try coming to my house. But be warned, the moment you cross my doorstep, I’ll fuck you like a dog, so be prepared.’
-…What?
Riyal made a blank expression, as if he was shocked by the insult he had never heard before.
-Y-You vulgar bastard…!!
‘If you know now, then don’t act up. Unless you want to watch your mistress get railed.’
I had a magical onahole that would grant me anything.
I didn’t have any ill feelings towards Shin Min-ha, but just like how a pet owner has to pay for medical bills and settlements if their pet bites someone, the pet’s fault was no different from the owner’s fault.
Perhaps judging that he couldn’t win against me, who was threatening him in return, Riyal finally shut his mouth.
Of course, he still glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, but I could ignore that much without any problem.
After walking like that for a while, my hands started to get sweaty. But Shin Min-ha didn’t show any signs of displeasure.
She simply walked silently, holding my hand.
She was the type to not easily show her emotions, except in cases where things didn’t go as she expected.
Had it been about 30 minutes? The exit of the gate came into view.
There would be an association employee standing there when we left, and I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary scandals or strange rumors, so I let go of her hand.
“Ah…”
“?”
I thought I heard a sigh from somewhere, but no matter how much I looked around, there was no one here who could have made such a sound.
“First, we need to show it to the association employee, so please take out your ID…”
“Professor.”
It was something that could be considered rude, but I cut her off in the hopes that Shin Min-ha would lose interest in me even a little bit.
“I’m really sorry, but I have no intention of transferring.”
Suddenly bringing me to the gate, actively showing me Riyal’s combat abilities, and enthusiastically answering my questions.
It was safe to say that everything from start to finish was a place to appeal to me about the advantages of summon magic.
Thanks to that, I could tell that Shin Min-ha’s heart was sincere, not just a half-hearted suggestion.
But what’s not, isn’t.
“The terms of the contract with Riyal, it’s that you can’t contract with other summons, right?”
“…”
If she really intended to show me the advantages of summon magic and induce me to transfer, she would have summoned various summons to emphasize the versatility of summon magic.
But she never summoned any summons other than Riyal.
As expected, summon magic was a magic with clear disadvantages to use as a main force.
That’s why it’s always pushed back by spirit magic.
“Today was a really good experience. I’ll see you in the next class.”
I gave a light bow and left the gate as it was.
***
Shin Min-ha, who had been blankly watching Kang Hyun-woo’s back as he left through the gate, squatted down on the spot.
“M-Mistress?!”
Riyal, who was flustered by her burying her face between her knees, rarely let out a voice in person and ran over.
But Shin Min-ha lightly spread her palm, indicating that it was nothing.
‘…My face is too hot.’
Kang Hyun-woo had nonchalantly rejected her, even though she had personally brought him to the gate.
Even before she had made the offer.
It was a clearly insulting remark that anyone could see.
It was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange for her to be angry.
But more than that, her face was too hot, and she couldn’t lift her head.
Even though her palms were soaked with sweat, it wasn’t unpleasantly strange.
Shin Min-ha had no choice but to frown at the unknown emotion.
