episode_0258

The black cat looked around the car with a faint smile on its face. Looking at that beautiful smile only made me feel more ominous.

After a while, she turned her head to look at me and opened her mouth in a subtle tone.

“You know, can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

And the mischievous smile on his lips grew even deeper as if he had been waiting.

“By any chance… Which of the three is your girlfriend?”

“… !”

This crazy woman insisted on throwing a bomb.

I sighed inwardly. The interior of the car, which had already been cold, was heating up as if it had never been that hot. Even without looking in that direction, I could tell very clearly that something was happening.

“Questions about personal life seem like an overstep of authority, even if you are the inspector general.”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a question that is an extension of the work. You are currently under my command, and it is a natural duty as a commander to understand the interpersonal relationships of your subordinates that can affect the mission.”

“What nonsense…!”

“Oh my, if you have any complaints, follow the management guidelines. So who?”

My belated attempt to clean things up ended before it even began.

“Junior… Hyun-i is currently dating me.”

The first person to open the door was compassionate. She sat quietly, placed her hand on her chest, and spoke. As if it were so obvious. In a confident voice without an ounce of doubt.

And the backlash was immediate.

Yeon-i opened her mouth and glared at Yeon-min-ha, who was sitting across from her.

It was exactly the same expression I had when I looked at girls who used to talk to me when I was little.

“Pity. What are you trying to do now?”

“What?”

Yeonmin-ha blinked her eyes a couple of times as if she didn’t understand English. It was a movement that seemed to be intentionally intended to tease the other person.

“There’s nothing I can do. The inspector is asking me that. In this situation, shouldn’t we apply an exception to the agreement? Actually, that’s not wrong… ”

“I wonder if anyone would say that he is from a lowly communist background… Anyway, I can’t find even a speck of faith. It was my fault for believing in him.”

“Ha, you mean? Who’s looking at whom right now… ”

Before I knew it, the inside of the car was filled with the sounds of the passing days. Only then did the black cat nod with a broad smile on his face as if he was satisfied.

“Oh my… Everyone’s in good spirits, huh? I guess youth is the best.”

Then she turned her head and looked at Jin Ye-seo. She was rolling her eyes like a bean worm, her body curled up in the middle of the loud voices.

The black cat that saw him blinked its eyes as if it had found prey.

“Hey… Your name was Jin Ye-seo, right? What are you doing? If the seats are uncomfortable, come over here?”

“Oh, no…! I’m comfortable here… ”

“Hey, don’t be like that. Aren’t you friends with the master of the Black Lotus? Don’t just sit there and come and talk to him. You look bored the whole time. Oh… Or… ”

The black cat, with its finger on its lips, tilted its head as if it really didn’t know.

“Are you not that close…? Come to think of it, I think there was a rumor that the two of you fought fiercely in a duel… ”

“Wh, what are you talking about! We’re close!! That’s really close!!”

Jin Ye-seo, who had fallen for the black cat’s inducement, shook her head and screamed.

“We’ve already made up in the past! These days, we practice sparring together every day, sit next to each other and talk, and even wipe sweat with a towel… Huh.”

And Jin Ye-seo, who had been talking nonstop, closed her mouth belatedly as if she realized something. This was because two pairs of cold eyes were staring at her as if they were going to kill her.

“… Hehe.”

In the end, Jin Ye-seo, unable to bear the pressure, shrank back again without saying a word. Has he ever looked so pitiful as he did today?

“Mhhihi… ”

Beyond the shrunken Jinyeseo, the sound of voices began to echo again. The black cat, who was smiling in satisfaction, soon turned its gaze to me, who was sitting in the front seat.

“This is really amazing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, I wonder what on earth is inside those masks that makes those great ladies die and can’t live like this.”

Then he muttered with a strange expression on his face, his chin resting on his hand.

“Then I’m really curious. Should I take it off when I sleep?”

“Let’s stop there. Aren’t you the one occupying the highest seat in the guard? What on earth is someone like that doing to students?”

“Oh my, I don’t know.”

She raised her finger as if to cover my mouth and wiggled it from side to side.

“I intentionally loosened it because the angle was too tight.”

“You’re saying that now… ”

“You’re being hasty. Would you like to hear something?”

The black cat shamelessly lost her temper. She hurriedly continued speaking before I could express my discontent further.

“Do you know that magic is closely related to the mind? Especially, the higher the talent of a magician, the more the burden on the brain increases exponentially.”

“I know. It’s the sentence written on the very first page of Introduction to Magic… ”

“Have you ever seen a dissected brain of a wizard? No? If not, apply for a tour of the lab later. It will be a very meaningful experience.”

“… ”

“If you look at a wizard’s brain, you’ll see that there’s a distorted lack of space allocated to tasks other than magic. We use most of our available power to calculate magical formulas.”

She said, patting her little head.

“The other tasks here are all the things we do consciously or unconsciously. From small actions like breathing, walking, and eating, to high-level actions like rational thinking or expressing emotions. And, needless to say, the latter is what puts the most strain on the brain.”

“What does that have to do with what you’re saying now?”

“The higher the level of the wizard, the more likely he is to experience a great mental shock from even a slight emotional ups and downs. Of course, that’s natural. It’s only natural that he would be overloaded if he had to deal with the emotions that were rushing into a small space.”

“… ”

“That’s why composure is important to a wizard. That’s why meditation is included in the required subjects of the cradle major. You’ve probably heard about it here and there, right? Right?”

I hate to admit it, but I couldn’t help but nod my head slightly. That was something the headmaster and my older sisters kept repeating until the day I left for the cradle.

“Well, it’s ironic that even among mature wizards, there are many who are extremely aggressive… ”

She turned her head and stared at the other side of the vehicle where the murderous words were still being exchanged.

“Those kids. Because the flow was stagnant, a considerable burden was being placed on their brains. They must have been under several times more stress than they appeared on the outside. The cause is… Hmm. ”

The black cat looked back at me with a knowing expression. Then it shrugged its shoulders slightly.

“Well, it’s a bit heavy for a love fight.”

“… ”

Perhaps it is not simply a matter of passion. Rather, it is more likely that my fear of death is playing a bigger part.

Anyway, it’s clear that the cause is my fault. It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

“So what’s the conclusion? Is deliberately picking fights a way to relieve overload?”

“That’s correct.”

As if she had been waiting, the woman made a pair of tongs with both hands and aimed them at me like a gun.

“If I had gone into battle like that, my brain would have accumulated irreversible shock. I don’t know for sure, but the ending would not have been good. I needed to relieve the stress beforehand, to the point of mild irritation.”

“Mild annoyance… ”

I turned my head after thinking over Black Cat’s words.

“But it’s a bit strange to call a woman you’ve never kissed a lover. No matter how you look at it, it was an appropriate decision, right?”

“Hey! I told you not to cross the line!”

“… ”

Yeon Min-ha, who continues to spout harsh words, is spreading frost under Yeon-i’s feet… Jin Ye-seo is laughing in a proud manner, but she can’t figure out the meaning.

The transport compartment was already a scene of chaos.

“… Is that a mild annoyance?”

“Haha. Well, it varies from person to person.”

The black cat responded with a laugh as if it was nothing.

“Just resolving it to that extent will be of great help to those kids. Well, it will only be a temporary solution unless the root cause is resolved… ”

“… ”

The root cause. That’s really difficult.

“But you said earlier that the flow was stagnant? How did you know that? Unique magic?”

“That’s right. The ‘backside’ of our Hocheon maximizes particle sensitivity only for eyesight. Thanks to this, we can also detect the flow of particles inside other people’s bodies to some extent.”

The black cat said, tapping his own eyes.

“It’s not as good as Black Lotus’s prediction, but it’s still pretty useful. It’s especially useful in situations like this where you can gather information about your opponent in a superficial way. You can see the particle’s fluctuation pattern and figure out their psychological state or current condition… ”

“I don’t think it’s anything usable… ”

“It has both pros and cons. But… ”

Suddenly, the black cat gave me a strange look.

“From what I’ve seen, your condition here is the most serious.”

“I… am I right?”

“Yeah. I was really surprised when I first saw it. I wondered how someone could carry such heavy emotions.”

“… ”

“How can a child act like he’s experienced everything in the world? His personality is obvious. He’s a gloomy person who doesn’t talk much, and he gets angry and excited easily… He’ll be a nuisance and all, and he’ll just suffer alone without saying anything to others… ”

Words that stabbed my lungs continued one after another. I couldn’t think of anything to say in rebuttal.

“They are the worst temperaments for a wizard. Do you know that particles react extremely negatively to negative emotions? You will die early if you do that?”

“… ”