Crack (2)

Crack (2)

“It may be hard to believe, but we have confirmed that some of the mental magic spells cast on Espin have been altered.”

The next day, the results of Espin’s examination from yesterday came out.

As I expected, when told that it was confirmed that the Heaven God Cult had done something, Espin had a blank expression as if he couldn’t believe it.

“… Is this not a joke or a lie, but real?”

At those words, the magician who performed the examination looked at Espin with an awkward smile.

Perhaps because it was revealed that Espin was an inspector for the examination, he also seemed very flustered by the results.

I briefly spoke while looking at the two of them in confusion.

“Is there a way to remove the mental magic in question?”

“Since the embedded spell formula is quite complexly entangled… it seems we’ll need quite a lot of time to research it first.”

I simply folded my arms, wondering what to do when told it would take a lot of time.

The examiner, perhaps interpreting my action as ‘anger’, was startled and hastily said to me.

“If, if you could give us two weeks, no, ten days…!”

Hearing those words, I became extremely confused.

I had simply folded my arms without saying anything, so I couldn’t understand why the other person was reacting like that.

I was about to open my mouth to clear up the misunderstanding when I heard those words.

But I had to close my mouth when I saw the people behind the examiner changing their expressions to look like they were about to cry and becoming discouraged.

‘What kind of being was Deren before the possession?’

Let’s think about it, I can kind of see why.

When I first met Sien, despite my behavior being beyond rude and bordering on malicious.

Sien said I had ‘become very kind’, which suggests that Deren must have been acting in ways that deviated from common sense.

With these thoughts in mind, I chuckled inwardly and briefly said while waving my hand.

“I’ll give you two weeks. Find a way within that time.”

At those words, the inspector looked at me with a considerably brighter expression and nodded quickly.

I waved my hand at them, signaling them to leave.

They politely greeted me and then fled from the guest reception room.

“……”

Even after they had all left, Espin was still staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

I’m not sure if it’s because she’s faced with an unbelievable reality or if she has a lot to think about.

As there were many things I needed to tell her, I forcibly brought Espin back to her senses from her deep thoughts.

“Espin.”

At my single word, Espin looked at me with a somewhat dazed expression.

It might be a bit cruel to talk about practical matters in this situation.

But thinking that she could handle it, I presented one suspicion.

“I think the reason the Inspection Department didn’t give you proper work might not be simply because you’re young.”

“… What?”

I slowly continued speaking to the bewildered Espin.

“The very reason they didn’t give you work might be because you’re not compatible with the Heaven God Cult.”

The Heaven God Cult would also try to bring in people who are easy for them to control or those who are favorable to the Heaven God Cult, if possible.

Unlike Espin, those who are not swayed by persuasion and are burning with a sense of justice in many ways would not be preferred by them as they are difficult to manage.

‘Moreover, Espin’s father is a high-ranking administrative official with enough influence to directly affect the Inspection Department, so he’s backing her up.’

From their perspective, it might have been a bit awkward to openly bring her in.

‘So they probably just put a mental magic spell on her and left her alone.’

They likely ignored her usually and planned to use Espin in important situations.

When I explained this conclusion to Espin, she covered her face with her hands and said to me.

“Now… I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

As even the Inspection Department, which she believed to be righteous, entered the realm of suspicion, her mind seemed to be in confusion.

I smiled at her and briefly said.

“Do you need to believe in anything?”

“… Huh?”

“Aren’t you an inspector?”

At those words, “inspector,” Espin blinked and looked at me.

Realizing what I meant to say, she muttered, ‘Right… inspector, I’m an inspector,’ and stood up.

“Thank you.”

I just shrugged my shoulders in response to Espin’s words of gratitude.

Espin then left with a determined expression on her face.

‘It would be better if we could clean up the Inspection Department later.’

Thinking that it would be good to do so to expand Espin’s range of activities, I sipped my coffee and closed my eyes.

* * *

The next day, when I went to the Academy, I received this notice.

[Central Magic Society Field Trip Scheduled]

The moment I saw this, I thought, “Oh, that’s right,” and closed the magic book.

‘A field trip…’

I recalled the events that had happened there, and found myself looking at Rumi, who was now sitting next to me.

In the original novel, it was clearly written that Rumi had received irreversible shock and pain from the Magic Society.

‘Among those, the most detailed description was… indeed about the overwhelming power of the Heaven God Cult forces widely spread throughout the Central Society.’

In addition to enemies that seemed unbeatable even with a lifetime of effort.

There were also numerous powerful figures who could destroy everything she had built with just a flick of a finger.

It was the part where Rumi, realizing that all these people were her ‘enemies,’ collapsed feeling an immense sense of futility.

As I was thinking about this, watching Rumi practicing paper folding next to me.

I soon decided to do whatever it takes to prevent creating a situation where Rumi would break down, and turned my gaze away.

“Deren Deren.”

While I was looking ahead to focus on the lecture, Delia whispers my name softly.

“Want to go around the Magic Society field trip with me?”

At those words, I silently looked at Delia.

Delia continues speaking to me with a bright smile.

“Of course, I plan to go with you even if you refuse.”

Why did she ask if that was the case?

As I tried hard to suppress the urge to flick her forehead, I turned my gaze away, but Delia spoke to me again.

“I’ll prepare a lunchbox, so look forward to it.”

“… Lunchbox?”

“Yeah. I heard my dad saying the other day that there’s nothing better than food to capture a man’s heart.”

“……”

I nodded vaguely, meaning for her to do as she pleased.

Delia spoke to me with a triumphant expression.

“Are you already looking forward to it? Yeah, yeah, you can look forward to it. I’m actually quite good with my hands, so I think I’ll make it well.”

Saying she thinks she’ll make it well means she’s never made it before, right?

I looked at Delia with a strange sense of unease, but she started humming and writing something in her magic book regardless.

“……”

I was deciding that if it tastes bad, I’ll run away and buy food from a nearby restaurant.

Rumi, who was next to us, must have heard our conversation as she spoke to me in a crumpled voice.

“Um, I… I can make muffins…”

I know that since she gave me some last time.

I nodded at her words, and Rumi thought for a moment before her expression brightened slightly as if she had a good idea, and she muttered softly.

“If I make a really big muffin, maybe I won’t have to eat the lunchbox…”

“……”

Hearing this, I pretended not to hear and looked ahead.

One of the professors who was lecturing on magic theory research spoke to me with a smiling face.

“Deren, what do you think about this magic formula?”

Usually, questions were used to warn students who weren’t paying attention.

But perhaps thanks to the bullet points I had written on the test paper before.

The number of professors who genuinely asked about magic formulas increased.

‘I could ignore it, but.’

There’s no need to create unnecessary variables by making each other feel bad.

I gave an answer at the minimum level I could provide.

“From beginning to end, there are excessively inefficient magic formulas. Especially the cooling formula in the middle part, which is completely unnecessary…”

Judging by the professor’s expression brightening a little each time I opened my mouth, it seems he was asking sincerely.

Observing the professor’s demeanor, I decided it would be better to end my response at an appropriate level and continued speaking.

*

After the lecture ended, the professor left the classroom repeating the word “perfect”.

As I was feeling quite burdened by the constant stares and aimlessly opening my magic book.

Rumi, who was next to me, muttered softly with an anxious expression.

“If there’s too much attention… competitors…”

Why does this kid keep talking about competitors since last time?

Feeling I couldn’t stand it anymore, I lightly flicked her forehead.

Rumi made a tearful face, rubbing her head, and said to me.

“… Deren, it hurts.”

“Isn’t it natural that it hurts when I hit you to make it hurt?”

“……”

Rumi, having nothing else to say, nodded her head with a gloomy expression.

I sighed, thinking that she would be quiet for a while in that state.