The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 91

The day we returned home.

[Ugh, I never get used to seeing those guardian totems.]

“I feel the same.”

Yomi frowned at the guardian totems standing along the mountain path. Soon, the sight of a lone thatched house atop the hill came into view.

“What brings you here without prior notice?”

“We’re back.”

As expected, Seol Baek-san rushed out to welcome us. Normally, I would send word a day in advance, so it was understandable that he was surprised.

“What brings you here today?”

“Does there need to be a particular reason to visit?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Seol Baek-san circled around me, inspecting me closely.

“By any chance… did you meet an Imugi?”

“Last week. Can you tell?”

“Yes. When I was young, I once saw a Yeouiju with your grandfather.”

Seol Baek-san stroked his beard.

His narrowed eyes were filled with curiosity.

“But… I can sense the energy of the Yeouiju on you. Surely, the last Imugi left in Korea is residing in those distant mountains.”

I quietly nodded.

Last week, I met Do-il, the child of the thousand-year-old Imugi, Dorongi. I couldn’t figure out where to begin explaining the whole story.

“First, let’s…”

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

The rich smell of soybean paste stew wafted from behind the door. Since I had skipped breakfast, my stomach growled in response.

“Let’s eat first!”

* * *

Seol Baek-san quietly waited until I finished my bowl of rice. The soybean paste stew was something he had prepared earlier for lunch, and he had already eaten breakfast.

“I see.”

Of course, we chatted about the events of the past week in between. Seol Baek-san seemed deep in thought, a somber expression never leaving his face.

“That noble Imugi… to meet such an unfortunate end… And you wish to hold a memorial for that Imugi?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Do-il had returned to where he originally lived. Despite deciding not to stress about the ascension and to live freely, he wanted to ensure his mother’s memorial was properly conducted.

By now, Do-il has probably completed the memorial in his own way.

“I’m afraid that’s going to be difficult.”

Seol Baek-san shook his head.

Then he curled his index finger and tapped the floor.

“To put it bluntly, I cannot leave the house.”

“Is it because of… the Rabbit?”

“Yes.”

Last time, the Rabbit was looking for me, saying they needed my strength for their plans. On a simple level, Seol Baek-san, the Head of the Seol family of shamans, would be more helpful than finding me.

“You’ve been hiding to make sure they can’t find you.”

“That’s right. With the other shaman families no longer existing, I can’t handle that yokai alone anymore.”

Seol Baek-san let out a deep sigh.

After a long pause, he added.

“So, I had a lot of reservations about sending you out.”

As they say, if you can’t get the pheasant, you settle for a chicken. The Moon Rabbit had come looking for me instead of Seol Baek-san.

‘I’m preparing as best as I can.’

The Rabbit deemed me useful, which meant they would come for me eventually.

Despite preparing for a confrontation with the Rabbit, the story was unfolding faster than in the original storyline, leaving room for unexpected variables.

“Speaking of which…”

An issue I had long forgotten but needed to resolve suddenly came to mind.

‘What was it that happened to Seol Ha-baek’s family during the break before he became a second-year in the original story?’

When the time came, Seol Ha-baek disappeared completely from the narrative. Additionally, there was the rampage of the Crippled Fox—Yomi, who was sealed in the Seol family’s underground shrine. There were still many unanswered questions.

“I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“Was Yomi’s seal gradually weakening over time?”

At that, Seol Ha-na—Yomi, who had been licking the bottom of her bowl, frowned.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“It’s just a possibility I wanted to consider.”

Yomi, having put down her bowl, scratched her belly indifferently.

“I’ve told you before, I was merely maintaining my form while bound to that shrine. Being tied up for so long drained the spiritual energy I had stored.”

“Yes, I knew that much…”

Seol Baek-san nodded in agreement with Yomi’s words.

“Yes, and there were still plenty of spiritual seals maintaining the confinement. If you hadn’t made a pact with that yokai, it would’ve stayed sealed in that shrine for at least a few hundred more years.”

“Hundreds of years, my foot. Look at how cocky you’ve gotten with a bit of flattery. It’s really pitiful.”

“What did you say, you yokai?”

Seol Baek-san and Yomi stood up, growling at each other. This kind of confrontation had become a routine whenever I returned home, so it didn’t bother me anymore.

‘Then why on earth…’

If Yomi’s seal was that solid, why did everything fall apart?

“Father, do you have any plans to move or anything like that soon?”

“No, as I said, I have no intention of leaving this place.”

There were no plans to relocate, and it was unlikely that Seol Baek-san would have released Yomi into the heart of Seoul willingly. This left just two possibilities.

‘Either Seol Ha-baek released Yomi, or the Rabbit did…’

For some reason, either Seol Ha-baek himself released Yomi in the middle of Seoul, or the Rabbit found Seol Baek-san and did something to Yomi’s seal.

“Ugh…!”

At that moment, a sharp pain suddenly pierced through my eyes.

[Spirit Sight is reacting to memories of the other side.]

It felt as if someone was pulling my body, causing me to react involuntarily.

“What’s happening?”

“Do you have to take a dump or something?”

Seol Baek-san and Yomi seemed oblivious to what was happening, reacting nonchalantly as I stood up.

“It’s nothing. I’ll just go to the bathroom for a moment.”

I endured the intense pain in my eyes as best I could and excused myself. The closer I got to my target, the more the pain increased, so I didn’t need to think about where to go.

“…I can’t believe I’m back here.”

It was the underground passage where Yomi had been imprisoned and where I had fought that ridiculous battle with the Fortune Pig. I had no idea why my Spirit Sight was reacting to this place.

‘What are you trying to show me?’

The second ability of Spirit Sight (S) allows glimpses into the memories of the other side.

But since I didn’t know what these memories of the other side were, I couldn’t easily guess what my eyes were trying to reveal.

[Spirit Sight reveals the memories of the other side.]

With an abrupt sound, the pain in my eyes began to subside. Soon, I recognized a familiar silhouette in the dark passage.

“That’s… me?”

A male student with a small frame and messy black hair. I referred to him as a ‘male student’ because he was wearing Babel’s uniform.

I approached and reached out to what appeared to be a projection of myself. My hand passed through it, confirming it to be an illusion, with my body appearing translucent.

‘The Seol Ha-baek from the original story.’

There was a reason I identified him as the Seol Ha-baek from the original story.

Given that he was wearing Babel’s uniform and had a small frame, it couldn’t be me in the past. I had been working out steadily since enrolling.

“…”

Then the illusion started to move, walking through the passage with its head hung low.

‘What happened?’

His face wasn’t visible, not just because of the darkness in the passage. The Seol Ha-baek from the original story had an extremely somber expression, as if he were on the brink of death.

‘Let’s follow him for now.’

I started trailing the illusion. Judging by the expression alone, it was clear that something significant was happening.

‘Does he have some business at the shrine?’

As Seol Ha-baek approached the shrine, he lifted his head. The now-empty building was overlaid with a new illusion.

“That’s Yomi?”

The apparition looked more like the Crippled Fox than Yomi. A massive fox yokai sprawled across the shrine as if it were its den.

It had a sleek face with three pairs of eyes and nine tails spread out like a fan. Sharp, saw-like teeth peeked through the slit of its long mouth.

“Of course…”

The Crippled Fox growled low at Seol Ha-baek, just as it had done to me when I came alone.

“Where is your father, and why has an unweaned kid come to see me alone?”

Despite the fox’s intimidating roar, Seol Ha-baek wasn’t frightened. Instead, he raised his previously lowered head and looked straight at the fox.

Without saying a word, he rummaged through his clothes. The fox’s face froze upon seeing what he pulled out.

“That… that thing…!”

I was equally stunned. Even knowing it was just a vision, I instinctively took a step back.

“An orb?”

What Seol Ha-baek pulled out was a dark purplish orb. I knew exactly what it was.

‘Why does Seol Ha-baek have that?’

I had first obtained it when we defeated the Crystal Giant during the mock subjugation.

It was an item I received as a quest reward, and its true nature was that of a condensed form of the C-Virus, which encapsulated curses and grudges.

However, the orb in the illusion’s Seol Ha-baek’s hand was much darker, almost black rather than purple.

“You wretch, I’ll tear you to shreds and kill you right now!”

The fox yokai bared its fangs and growled upon recognizing the spiritual energy of the Moon Rabbit emanating from the orb. But it was all bluster.

Knowing now that the fox was losing its spiritual energy even at this time, I noticed it stepping back. Seol Ha-baek’s intended target for the orb wasn’t the Crippled Fox.

“I’m sick of everything.”

There was no emotion in his monotonous voice. The already gaunt face, accentuated by deep dark circles under his eyes, looked even more haggard.

Crack

With the orb in hand, Seol Ha-baek opened his mouth. Without hesitation, he swallowed the orb.

Crack, crack

Immediately, his body began to change. His veins turned a purplish hue, and his skin started to change color as well.

His muscles and height grew, transforming him into a monstrous figure.

“There.”

Seol Ha-baek clasped his hands together in a manner akin to a respectful prayer, and a massive surge of spiritual energy rose from the ground. The posture formed by his hands was a method used to subjugate spirits.

“This isn’t an ordinary spiritual energy.”

Colossal distorted grudges surged from the ground, screaming as they coiled around Seol Ha-baek.

“Damn you, Rabbit!!”

The grudges climbed the shrine walls and began to bind the fox’s body. The fox struggled as much as it could, but it was in vain.

“I will kill you all!!”

The fox’s once-clear blue spiritual energy turned a murky purple, and black tears flowed from its three pairs of eyes.

“That’s a good idea.”

Seol Ha-baek’s lips trembled as he watched the now subdued fox. When Seol Ha-baek raised his hand, the fox slowly stood up. Through Spirit Conjuration, he had completely taken control of the fox.

“Kill them all. Every last one of them.”

With those ominous words, the underground passage in the illusion collapsed.