Episode 38. Lucy Route Strategy

“Liliana?”

Liliana was enveloped in smoke and then fell silent. Fortunately, the smoke soon disappeared.

“What the, where did she go?”

Did she turn invisible or something?

Hwiik hwiik

Even when I waved my hand where Liliana had been, nothing got caught.

• It’s here! Here!

Liliana’s voice came from below.

A silver chain necklace with a red gem embedded in it lay on the floor.

“Could it be you?”

• Yep-! It’s me, me!

“Oh. That’s cool?”

Transforming into a necklace is amazing, but the design is sleek, so it seems okay to wear.

“But aren’t you a succubus? Don’t you have invisibility or incorporeality or something?”

• I do have them, but if there’s a mage stronger than me, they’ll detect it immediately? This isn’t magic, it’s more like a racial trait, so it won’t be easily detected.

Hmm. I definitely couldn’t replicate that.

I couldn’t feel any mana movement.

• Then it doesn’t matter, right? See?

“It doesn’t matter, but.”

It’ll probably be fine. It might be better for her to be noticed by me than to run into trouble alone.

“Alright. Let’s stick together starting tomorrow then.”

• Okay!

Pung!

After achieving her goal, Liliana returned to her original form.

“Ugh, this is all good, but it’s tiring since I haven’t done it in a while.”

Seeing Liliana yawn and stretch, saying she was tired, suddenly sparked my curiosity.

“I’ve got something I’m curious about, can I ask?”

“Huh? What, are you curious about my breast size too? I got that question over a hundred times during the broadcast earlier. I told them the size, but…”

“No, I don’t need to know that? And don’t tell them that stuff next time.”

This succubus, does she have any common sense or not? If she only had one thing to focus on, I could explain things better.

“Then what is it? Ask away.”

“Just because you brought up breasts, it might be misunderstood, but it’s pure curiosity. You’re a succubus, don’t you eat semen or something?”

“Contractor Lee Hoyeon-ssi. Are you perhaps a crazy bastard?”

“Sorry. It was pure curiosity.”

The timing was bad. Did she perhaps bring up the breast topic on purpose to trick me into looking like a creep?

“Well, actually, many other succubi enjoy semen. My friends all say it’s delicious, but I’ve never been naturally drawn to it. I’ve never even tasted it. Why would I eat something dirty that comes from where you pee?”

“Uh…”

It’s a valid point. A truly valid point, but you can’t say that while wagging your heart-shaped tail, can you? It breaks the narrative consistency.

“Then I’m going to wash up and sleep, so good luck!”

Chong chong chong

Liliana went into the bathroom to wash up.

“I don’t know if I’m living with a succubus or a nun.”

Honestly, I had some expectations when I summoned a succubus, but should I be disappointed? Or not?

“I should go to sleep too.”

I had already showered at the training facility, so I lay down on the living room sofa right away.

Come to think of it, I should order a bed too.

Still, having a source of income makes me feel secure.

Let’s think of her not as a succubus, but as a money-printing machine.

*

• Wow, is this the place called an academy? Why is it so big?

I was heading to the first-year classroom building at the academy with Liliana.

Liliana was surprised seeing the academy, and although it wasn’t a big deal, I felt inexplicably proud.

“You don’t need to be this surprised. This is the smallest school in the world.”

• What? Really? Has the human world developed that much?

“I’m lying.”

• …? That’s absurd, seriously. Hey, you fucking brat, how old are you?

I teased her once out of boredom on the way, and got cursed back immediately.

It would have been funnier if I said, ‘So, how old are you, lady?’ here, but I exercised superhuman patience and held back.

“Sorry. We’re about to go where there are lots of people, so I can’t answer now.”

• Hoyeon-ssi. If you act like this, I can’t help but be uncooperative. You know?

“Alright, alright. Just take a good look at Victoria Academy. If you leak information on the broadcast later, that becomes detail. Those details add up to a perfect crime.”

For example, during the upcoming academy exams, just saying ‘I’m busy because it’s exam period soon~’ would greatly increase the credibility of Liliana being an academy student.

It would be even better if she said things like, ‘The central fountain at our school is pretty~’ or ‘The flowers on the walking path I took today bloomed beautifully~.’

• How is it that a young brat only thinks about scamming? Tsk tsk.

“…”

I had nothing to deny, so I quietly entered the classroom building.

Today is Mana Research class.

It’s the same class where the accident happened last time because of Professor Im Sol. An old professor named Han Jae-young is in charge.

By the time I arrived, the students were already seated.

I glanced around; Lucy and Lumi were in corner seats, and Kim Young-han was sitting with other friends.

There’s no one to sit with.

I didn’t realize my social circle was this small.

I sat in a reasonably available seat.

It was a seat more than one space away from others.

• Why are you sitting alone? Are you a loner?

“…”

I took out my notebook and scribbled in the corner, ‘Shut up, you crazy succubus.’

• Heh heh. What good is a pretty face if you can’t use it?

“Hoo…”

I shouldn’t have brought her. I’m already regretting it.

“Good day. I am Han Jae-young, in charge of the Mana Research class.”

The elderly professor, dressed in a white suit, began the lecture from the podium.

“Today, I will lecture on magic circles.”

The presentation the professor had prepared appeared as a hologram.

“A magic circle is, fundamentally, a tool necessary for using magic. I don’t need to explain basic elements like ‘[Mana must be converted into the form of a magic circle and released for magic to occur],’ do I?”

Ttik ttik ttik

The slides, which someone must have worked hard to create, advanced.

The trendy design looks like the result of a TA’s blood, sweat, and tears. If they’re going to do that, they shouldn’t have asked for it to be made.

“The process of converting mana into a magic circle and releasing it. It’s the basis of magic, but also the most difficult part. Simple magic doesn’t show a magic circle, and the reason higher-level magic does is because it’s too complex to create without visualization.”

Everyone is listening intently, but I already know all this.

So, I was killing time by chatting with the succubus hanging around my neck.

• But why is that male so skinny? Judging by his clothes, he doesn’t look poor.

[Here, being rich doesn’t automatically mean being fat. People even spend money to lose weight.]

• Huh? Why would they do something so inefficient? Who knows when a war might break out and wipe out their accumulated capital?

[Humans aren’t so belligerent that they’ll risk everything they have for war.]

They have games in the Underworld, so why don’t they know about things like that?

Is it because their values are different from those living in the Underworld? I don’t know either.

“…Fortunately, there is the easiest and most standardized method for drawing magic circles. It’s a method that successive generations of mages have consistently researched.”

Perhaps the boring introduction was finally over, as the professor began demonstrating.

Mana materialized from the tips of the professor’s fingers, turning into thin threads to create a magic circle.

“Drawing it out line by line, extracting mana like thread. This is the most standard method. As you advance, you can draw two lines at once, but I recommend drawing one line at a time while increasing speed. It’s more efficient that way.”

• But, the content of the classes at the human world’s school isn’t bad, is it?

[This is the best educational institution in the human world.]

• Aha, but I’ve been feeling a murderous intent from that corner over there. What’s your relationship with that big-breasted girl?

…If you’re talking about a big-breasted girl sending murderous intent my way, there’s only one person who comes to mind.

[She’s not a child; she’s my age. She’s my friend.]

• Doesn’t seem like a friend? I’m telling you, I feel hostility.

[…When I used the skill you told me about, ‘Gaze of Hatred,’ she reacted like that.]

• Aha. That skill is quite effective, isn’t it? It caused a lot of murders back in the day~.

If you knew that, you should have warned me beforehand. What if it got worse and Lucy and I got into an irreversible fight? You damn idiot succubus bitch.

I have to endure. I can’t afford to mess with my source of income. Let’s think of her as a goose that lays golden eggs.

[…From now on, tell me the effects clearly. No, re-organize the effects of the magic I learned too.]

• It’s bothersome, but I’ll do it specially for you.

Sigh. She’s not a child, but why is she acting so childish for being 50 years old?

Anyway, feeling hostility from Lucy… I don’t know whether to like this or dislike it.

I glanced over, but I was too scared of making eye contact, so I just looked straight ahead.

“…This is how you draw magic circles. The higher the level of the mage, the faster this speed becomes. For reference, Professor Im Sol, who holds a professorship at our Victoria Academy, is also one of the world’s top experts. I’ve heard she draws two lines at once at incredible speed, but if an ordinary person tries to imitate it, their brain will overload, so don’t even think about trying.”

• But aren’t you attending the class? Well, you do look like a thug, clearly not someone who studies.

[I’m not listening because I already know all this.]

Hmm, but I do have a question.

Is there really a need to draw it out like thread, extracting mana? Can’t you just stamp it out all at once like a seal?

[Liliana, do you guys use magic like that too?]

• Well, while the specifics differ, if you look at the broad strokes, that method is correct.

[Do you think it’s impossible to stamp out mana in the form of a magic circle all at once?]

• What kind of bullshit are you talking about?

[So, what the professor is saying is to extract mana in the form of thin ‘threads’ and draw the magic circle. Instead of that, I mean remembering the ‘shape’ of the magic circle and manifesting it all at once, skipping the process of drawing it with threads.]

• Ah, uh, um… Would that even work, you fucking idiot? You say you know it all, but you’re terrible at studying.

“…”

Liliana doesn’t know my talent.

She also doesn’t know that no one can beat me when it comes to mana manipulation.

‘Can’t I just try it?’

Since Professor Han Jae-young also told us to try making a magic circle slowly, I should give it a shot.

I slowly drew up my mana.

I gathered the mana flowing through every corner of my body and shaped it above my hand.

In this process, drawing mana like thread to create a magic circle is the basis of magic.

However, I’m going to try creating the magic circle from the start.

• No, Contractor Hoyeon-ssi. Stop doing weird things! If that were possible, all other mages would do it that way. Creatures fundamentally lack that kind of mana control ability.

It’s useless, no matter how much Liliana babbles and tries to interfere.

The mana gradually condenses in my hand according to my will.

I need to gather as much as possible before releasing it from my body. That way, I can form the magic circle all at once.

• Ugh, frustrating, so frustrating. This is why uneducated brats… Huh?

‘It’s all gathered.’

I felt the intuition that enough mana had gathered to form the magic circle.

The mana that burst out of my hand all at once found its place in the air.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

Like a broken puzzle playing in reverse, my mana found its way into every corner of the magic circle, as if this was its original place.

Finally, the magic circle was completed all at once, and soon transformed into a fireball.

Hwa-reureuk-

• No, what… the fuck?

[What do you mean it doesn’t work? You stupid bitch. This is me.]

I fired back at Liliana, who was muttering to herself in disbelief.

I took so many insults, I figured I could say one word back, right?

*

Tuesday afternoon, Lucy, Lumi, and Felix were talking in the club room of the [Let’s Play Club].

“Ooh! Lumi! We’re getting more and more applications for new club members!”

“That’s a relief. Honestly, I was worried because no one kept applying…”

“It’s all because that bastard Lee Hoyeon is gone! I feel so relieved!”

“That’s great, Lucy. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Felix!”

Lucy was smiling as she looked at the new member applications on her smartwatch.

She made the club to meet more people, but just when she was starting to worry because no new members were coming, they began pouring in.

As they came in as if a dam that had been blocked finally burst, her thoughts naturally turned to Lee Hoyeon, whose absence coincided with this timing.

“It really was because of that guy Lee Hoyeon. What kind of rumor spread that not a single person applied?”

“Hmm, well… Actually, I haven’t heard any rumors about Hoyeon-ssi…”

“Well, I haven’t heard them directly either, but I remember overhearing guys gossiping. There must be something going on for them to gossip.”

On the desk where they were talking, there was a pretty vase, and Felix kept fiddling with it throughout the conversation.

“Felix, why do you keep touching that vase?”

“Huh? It’s just because the flowers are pretty. It’s nothing.”

Felix smiled faintly and casually moved the vase to the center of the desk.

“Speaking of which, guys, the midterms are coming up soon, have you studied much?”

“Ugh, don’t talk about that. Studying is my weak point…”

“I’m not particularly good at it either…”

“Then shall we gather here tomorrow and study together? My schedule happens to be free.”

Felix’s voice sounded somehow trustworthy. Lucy felt a sense of stability every time she heard him speak.

“Shall we? I’d love to!”

“I’m okay with that too.”

“Then let’s meet here at this time tomorrow.”

Felix was giving a trustworthy smile.

*

That night, after returning to the dormitory.

“Hehehe. Our club is finally seeing the light.”

Lucy was giggling contentedly after finishing her shower and drying her hair.

“Ah, but what is it? Something feels unsettling in my chest…”

Since the club room earlier, something felt forgotten, a lump in her chest remained.

It was right when Lucy was deeply pondering this unease.

Tiring-

Her smartwatch beeped, and a message arrived.

Felix: Lucy, sorry for the late message. Lumi forgot she has a make-up class tomorrow, so she said she probably can’t study with us. Is it okay if it’s just the two of us?

“Ah, right… I definitely heard Lumi say she had a make-up class tomorrow.”

She definitely said it when the three of them were together, but none of them remembered.

Even if Lucy forgot her own things, she never forgot anything concerning Lumi.

There were even times she forgot her own appointments scheduled for the same time but remembered Lumi’s.

For Lucy, who never forgot Lumi’s matters, to forget Lumi’s schedule made Lucy feel a bit uneasy.

“There are days like this, I guess. You can’t always remember everything.”

Lucy shook off the unnecessary thoughts and typed out a message.

Me: Of course, it’s okay if it’s just the two of us~! See you tomorrow!

Lucy was about to send the reply when Lee Hoyeon’s face suddenly came to mind.

[Just know this. I always thought of you all as good friends, and that hasn’t changed.]

“Seriously.”

That’s ridiculous.

After Lee Hoyeon disappeared, the club gained members, and she also gained a good friend like Felix.

“It’s more beneficial to cut ties with guys like him quickly.”

A useless guy.

As if annoyed that the unpleasant thought had surfaced, Lucy shook her head back and forth and sent the reply to Felix.