Chapter 189
Time goes by fast.
It was Tuesday.
“As I said before, today’s training can be replaced with self-training.”
After all classes, on the way back to the dormitory.
Adela and Soonchan reconfirmed that there is no training today.
“hmm. I’m really really really good Is that okay?”
“Well, what can I do? I have a prior arrangement.”
“Oh, was it like that?”
Sunchan’s expression brightened at my answer. I didn’t really like the smiley face.
“Big. Too bad. I thought I was finally starting to get used to it. don’t worry. I will train hard even without you.”
It was a face that was sure to make anyone see it.
“Training schedule. Can you digest it properly by yourself?”
“I’m embarrassed.”
“… … .”
I’m dubious.
Seeing my expression, Soonchan snorted.
“What is that expression? don’t you believe me Man, I’m Ji Sun-chan, Ji Sun-chan. A man who does what he does. This is sad.”
He pretends to be confident, but his eyes are slightly trembling.
It is certainly.
It’s grumbling.
I’m not going to train roughly, but I’m not going to squeeze it to the limit.
It seems like it would be nice to have a supervisor.
“Adela. Can I ask Soonchan to supervise?”
“… … .”
Sun-chan’s expression darkened.
It’s not openly revealed, but ‘it’s been messed up.’ It was clear that he was thinking.
I was also thinking of making a fuss.
There’s no way.
Even if the world perishes tomorrow, I can’t stand Soon-chan’s training intensity weakening.
‘Well, even Adela has a weak heart, so she won’t be able to roll hard, but it will still have a self-cleaning effect to some extent.’
No matter what, the training effect would be much better than if Sun-chan trained alone.
While thinking that, I waited for Adela’s answer.
“… … .”
Adela, however, had no answer. She just trudges absentmindedly with a pensive expression on her face.
“Adela?”
“… … yes yes?”
As if he had noticed it now, he replied in surprise.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
“ah. Just some thoughts… … .”
“Well, did you read an interesting paper?”
If there was anything that Adela could think about in such a daze, it would only be the thesis.
“… … yes.”
I knew it.
My prediction was correct.
“Which thesis is it?”
It seems that I read a fairly fresh and interesting paper.
Seeing that you’re so deep in thought that you can’t hear me.
“I’ll show you later. I still want to think about it myself… … .”
Magic thesis is like mathematics, so it is more effective to study it alone than to blindly look at the answer sheet.
So that’s what you say.
If I looked at the paper first, I would think that I would get an answer right away.
‘I always feel, but they really have high expectations of me… … .’
It feels like Adela’s overestimation of me is growing day by day without ever cooling down.
It’s strangely burdensome.
“okay. Then I’ll wait.”
I answered appropriately.
Adela nodded slightly.
“so… … Why did you call me?”
Sunchan, who had been holding his breath quietly at Adela’s words, shook his shoulders.
It seems that he wanted it to pass quietly, but there is no way.
“It’s nothing else, it’s self-training today, right? At that time, please watch over Sunchan to see if he follows my instructions well.”
“… … God.”
Soon-chan looked for God with a despairing expression. His expression is like that of a god wishing for a miracle.
Wouldn’t you like to train like that?
When he actually starts training, he follows along well until he dies.
Are you a tsundere who likes dislikes and dislikes?
No matter what, thinking that Sunchan would go to the limit today made me feel at ease.
“ah. sorry. Today, I have a separate appointment… … .”
“uh?”
“uh?”
Sunchan and I asked at the same time.
It was a re-question with different emotions and meanings.
“A prior promise?”
“yes. Didn’t you tell me beforehand? It’s called self-training today. so… … .”
“Hallelujah!”
Sunchan’s eyes were filled with hope.
“… … .”
I can’t be sure because I don’t have a mirror, but my expression is probably rotten beyond words.
Ah, Sunchan is comfortable with training. It shouldn’t be.
“Kuk-kuk. Don’t worry, friend. I will do my best today and pursue the extreme.”
Soon-chan patted my shoulder with a strangely pissed-off sageuk tone.
I didn’t like the smirk.
“I’ll see you tomorrow… … .”
“joy. Aren’t you scared? I know I can’t increase the training intensity any more than this, but what?”
They’re already pushing the limits, and they seem to be asking if there’s anything more to squeeze out there.
He snorts with a confident expression.
“… … .”
But this was the right thing to say again, so I had nothing to say in return.
The training intensity has already exceeded the limit, so it is impossible to roll more than that on the day.
Training beyond that is not training, it’s just torture.
“Kuk-kuk. won.”
Sunchan clenched his fists and cheered in a muffled voice.
“… … okay. Be happy anyway.”
I looked at Sunchan and smiled.
‘Even if I say that, I’m going to do my best in training.’
Sunchan was born with the inability to play idle.
Although me and Adela would not be able to see the director.
I will do my best.
“But I guess it’s a very important appointment today?”
Sunchan asked me with a smile on his face.
“Why do you think so?”
“No, if I was fooling around like this, I’d break my promise today and go kill you! You can even say that. Are you too innocent?”
“… … why? Will you do that?”
“hey. I don’t think it’s that easy to make a promise. You have to keep what a man once promised.”
Soonchan was straight.
It was truly a huge shift in attitude.
“I’m kidding. As you said, it is also an important promise.”
Today is Tuesday.
It was the day Shadow said he would come back.
It’s not an encounter you can avoid just because you want to avoid it, and you have no intention of avoiding it.
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Ah, uh. Welcome back.”
“… … Have a good trip.”
Lastly, there was something strange about Adela’s expression waving at me.
* * *
Inside a secluded park nearby.
I sat on a bench on the edge surrounded by trees and waited for Shadow.
“Whoa.”
It’s not like we were supposed to meet here.
He just said he was coming today, so he chose a place where he could have a conversation as quietly as possible and was just waiting.
‘I’m nervous.’
In the end, I didn’t tell Charles or my father about Shadow.
I decided to just meet by myself, listen quietly, and then talk to the two of you if necessary.
No matter how you think about it, this is the right thing to do.
Some doubts remain, but that’s literally just a tiny bit.
In fact, it is a minimal suspicion that can be ignored.
That’s why I chose to meet Shadow alone and talk.
beautiful person-!
“why? Do you want more strokes?”
Of course, the horse is alone, not really alone.
No matter how much it is, a person is a person, so it is a law to set up at least a precautionary measure in case of an emergency.
As a precautionary measure, I brought Miho with me.
“kind. nice.”
Miho played tricks in my arms.
“If he’s going to do something weird, I’ll ask you.”
As if Miho had told her to trust me, she cried in a somewhat solemn manner.
Of course, it didn’t look solemn at all. It just looks so cute.
“Oops. cute.”
It was while stroking Miho’s head and cheeks.
Miho’s mood changed.
‘It’s here.’
The lovely atmosphere has disappeared, and the predator’s unique murderous spirit has taken its place.
“It’s still a nice pet.”
Along with Shadow’s unique altered voice, the surroundings were stained with darkness.
Its concentration is much lighter than the barriers spread at the Obelisk Academy.
“I only spread the barrier to the level that it was not recorded on CCTV and my voice did not leak out. If you want to run away, you can always run away.”
As Shadow said.
You should be able to leave the barrier you just opened whenever you want.
The shadows encroaching on the surroundings were so faint.
“You trust me quite a bit. What would you do if I had my father or the blue mage tower lord waiting around me?”
“That’s when.”
“Unexpectedly, there is no countermeasure.”
“There is no solution… … .”
Shadow released the shadow that was covering his body again.
“I will return those words to you.”
The shadow disappeared and the naked face was revealed.
The young man, who only looked like an elementary school student, grinned.
“You seem to believe in me quite a bit. Not at the Obelisk Academy, but at a park on the outskirts like this. What were you thinking if I came with other executives?”
“… … Well, at that time, then.”
What I said earlier was reversed.
“okay. That’s what it is after all.”
Shadow came closer to me step by step.
“In order for dialogue to be established between us, we have to take some risks. You know that, so you must have chosen to wait here.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why I only repaid that trust in my own way.”
light barrier.
A face exposed to the whole world.
Every one of Shadow’s gestures appealed to me that he had no intention of fighting.
“Fortunately, it seems that we do not have different thoughts. Seeing that neither Shin In-hyeok nor other executives showed up.”
“yes. I guess so.”
Shadow came out and came to a distance of about 3 meters.
Then, by moving the shadow as it is, he made a small chair that fits his body type.
“Did you think about my proposal for three days?”
Shadow sat down on a chair and crossed his legs.
“yes. I’ve thought about it dozens or hundreds of times.”
“in conclusion?”
“Isn’t it the answer that I came out defenseless like this?”
Shadow laughed.
“Will you accept my offer?”
“yes.”
Shadow clapped as it was.
match. match. match.
exactly three times.
“As I thought. Very clever.”
“well. Wouldn’t it be more stupid than clever to accept someone like you?”
“no. That’s clever.”
Shadow uncrossed his legs and stared into my eyes with sharp eyes.
“I read the signal I was sending perfectly and that my offer was sincere. A stupidly clever person would never have figured it out.”
Shadow clapped twice again.
“Tell me again. you are clever Probably the second smartest person I’ve ever seen.”
“… … second one It’s a very self-defeating statement. Who is the first?”
“Who do you think it might be?”
“Is it you?”
“Wrong. There is no such thing as narcissism for me.”
Shadow twisted one corner of his mouth.
“The first is the Dark Mage King. His brain is something far beyond the human category. He can’t even compare to you.”
“I can’t even compare… … . It hurts my ego.”
“I was just telling the truth. You may not want to admit it, but it is.”
“If you say that, you are rather misleading. What makes it different, are you so assertive?”
clever. More broadly, human intelligence.
It is very difficult to distinguish between superiority and inferiority. This is because there is no way to determine the subject’s intelligence as an objective indicator.
However, Shadow is convinced that I am lower than the Dark Mage King.
On what basis do you make such a statement?
“It’s because the day I joined the Black Mage Tower, I made the same offer to the Dark Mage King as you did.”
“… … Same offer?”
“okay. As a condition of belonging to the Black Mage Tower, I suggested that you find a way to extinguish my shadow as a condition of doing the job.”
A tinge flowed from Shadow’s eyes.
“What do you think the Dark Mage King would have said to my proposal?”
Shadow grinned.
you can’t even imagine
expression as if to say.
It was a look I was sure I would never be able to match.
but.
“Did you even see through the shadow’s identity?”
Can you not notice
“Or a shadow that absorbs everything in the world. Did you even know that the shadow is consuming your life as well?”
“… … you.”
Shadow’s eyes widened.
It’s a look of genuine surprise.
“Looks right. Certainly, it would have seemed great if he had given such an answer in the first meeting.”
At Shadow’s suggestion, the Black Mage King sees through the shadow’s identity on the spot.
On the other hand, I was riding the ice.
Looking at this right now, it was self-evident that the Dark Mage King was one step ahead.
“… … Did you know?”
“yes. Of course I knew.”
Actually, I didn’t know it at the time, but it might be better to say it like this.
“Your shadow is eating away at your lifespan, of course… … .”
I observed Shadow’s expression.
It’s looking straight at me, but if you look closely, it’s out of focus.
It’s very subtle, but it’s not to the extent that you can’t grasp it if you’re conscious of it.
“To the point that even your five senses are being taken away.”
“… … !”
Shadow stood up from his seat.
It’s a look of bewilderment in the world.
I could tell from that reaction.
“That reaction. It seems that the Dark Mage King did not even know that you were losing your five senses.”
The Dark Mage King only knew that Shadow’s shadow absorbs the target’s life force.
“but. I was using shadows to replace sight and hearing, so it’s only natural that I wouldn’t know if I didn’t tell them.”
“you you… … What is this shadow… … Do you know?”
Shadow’s eyes and lips trembled. It was a subtle expression of anticipation mixed with anxiety.
“I think I answered you a little while ago. I know very well.”
Shadow pressed his face at me in that state.
“How you shadow was born. what name is it called and… … .”
I responded by making eye contact with him.
“Everything, even how to get it off. I know everything.”
“… … !”
I looked at the startled Shadow and put my hand on his shoulder.
Then he pressed it lightly and sat back in the chair.
“Now, if you know, let’s start trading in earnest.”
Shadow at a loss for words.
I looked at him and slowly crossed my legs.
“Let’s start by listening to the information about the Black Mage Tower that you suggested.”
“… … .”
It was the moment when A and B of this transaction were decided.
