Chapter 40 - Shadow and Light (3)

Chapter 40: Shadow and Light (3)TL: SHW

Is this what they mean by ‘blowing your nose without using your hands’?

Park Seo-hyun came up with the most perfect solution. It was so unbelievably kind to me that I felt like the whole world was mocking me.

It was something I had thought about, but couldn’t bring myself to say.

I looked at Park Seo-hyun.

An eighteen-year-old girl was speaking with a deadly serious expression. I managed my expression as an adult should and confirmed Park Seo-hyun’s intentions once more.

“Are you saying you’ll teach all your grandfather’s magic?”

“Yes.”

Park Seo-hyun answered without hesitation.

“I don’t want my grandfather’s magic to disappear, but I also don’t want to teach it to just anyone.”

“Is Choi Jin-woo okay?”

It’s something that can be left alone if she’s determined to do it anyway… It’s better not to do it at all than to back out later.

If her mind could be changed with a few words, then that’s the extent of it.

“If you think about it, you haven’t known Choi Jin-woo for that long. Isn’t he ‘just anyone’?” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“I know. But the principal brought him here…”

“As I said earlier.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t leave the decision to others. This is my decision.”

Park Seo-hyun interrupted me and spoke firmly.

“If it’s Jin-woo, it’s okay.”

“Well… if the person involved says it’s okay, who am I to say otherwise?”

Still, just in case, I asked again.

“Are you really okay with this? Even if you say it’s okay now, you might feel differently when you actually see him using the magic.”

This time, Park Seo-hyun hesitated a little.

But her wavering eyes were only for a moment. She still didn’t avoid my gaze.

“Rather, seeing someone else use it might make it easier for me to truly let go.”

“…Then that’s settled.”

I adjusted my assessment of Park Seo-hyun a little. Her mental fortitude wasn’t as low as I thought.

Maybe it’s because she’s still young and has good resilience. Or maybe she grew in that short span of a few hours.

Or perhaps I had a hidden talent for counseling that I didn’t even know about.

Just a bit of praise made her change 180 degrees, so how did the old man handle her? Did he just leave her completely alone?

Anyway, Park Seo-hyun looked quite relieved, and as her teacher, I decided to support my student. It was a good thing for Choi Jin-woo.

Of course, knowing unique magic doesn’t mean everyone can become an Archmage. But to become an Archmage, you need to be able to use unique magic. And above all, isn’t the revival of unique magic, thought to be lost, a good omen?

* * *

“What? No, I don’t want to.”

Choi Jin-woo answered with a grimace.

“What?”

It was the adults surrounding Choi Jin-woo who were rather taken aback.

“No, it’s not that I’m disregarding Seo-hyun or anything. I just don’t want to be her student.”

“What’s so bad about it?”

Kim Chae-min asked Choi Jin-woo with a face that couldn’t understand at all.

“Why don’t you want to?!”

If Choi Jin-woo weren’t a student, she might have grabbed him by the collar and shaken him. Her fingers were actually twitching. I understand her feelings.

In fact, the only reason I’m standing here so calmly is because Kim Chae-min is too agitated. When someone beside you is jumping around, it can help you regain your composure.

“……”

Kim Chae-min took a deep breath and exhaled. I’m not sure how much it helped her mental stability, but her voice was noticeably calmer.

“Listen, Jin-woo. You don’t seem to understand what this means…”

“No, I do. I might just be a mage in name, but I roughly know what this is about.”

If he really knew, he wouldn’t be able to say he didn’t want to so easily.

“I know it’s a good opportunity.”

But this isn’t just a simple good opportunity… Doesn’t he understand how great an opportunity this is? Is that why he can casually say no?

Because Kim Chae-min was emitting such an unusual aura, Choi Jin-woo pretended to think a little more.

“But still… I don’t want to do it.”

He was only pretending.

His answer didn’t change.

“…Why? Let’s hear your reason.”

“Well, it’s just that…”

Choi Jin-woo scratched his head with an embarrassed face.

“No matter what, it’s a bit too much to have a friend as a teacher.”

“……”

“……”

Is that really the reason?

He’s refusing this? When he’s being offered the unique magic of an Archmage for free?

He’s being too full of himself!

While here I am! Already have so much to do that I could go crazy, and yet I’m stuck in this school doing nothing! Just watching over these kids!

I understand the importance of nurturing future talent. But, damn it. Honestly, how much more could I achieve by running away from here instead of taking care of these chicklings that might take years to grow?

I could immediately raid the Bangi-dong Dungeon, analyze where the one who burned Seoul crawled out from, track what those Ark bastards are up to, or figure out where and what the young me is doing…

There are twenty years left until Seoul is destroyed.

Of course, I have no intention of spending all that time here.

I’m raising these kids and gathering people because it’s the only thing I can do right now. I can’t run away from here if I want to keep Hong Seok-young as an ally.

Yeah, well. Preparing for the future? That’s good.

But nothing has even started yet. When I can still handle it all by myself.

Wouldn’t it be best to nip it in the bud at such a time?

But right now, I can’t do anything. This situation where I have to wait helplessly for the information thrown by Hong Seok-young or Lee Mi-seon is incredibly frustrating.

Moreover… It’s not that these kids did anything wrong, but seeing the people who should have died or will die later smiling without a care in the world makes me suffocate. It feels like walking among corpses.

No.

Calm down. Get a grip.

Let’s just focus on reality. Focus on what’s in front of you. Don’t think beyond that. Don’t recall the woman coughing up blood in the searing heat.

‘Make it out alive.’

I tightly closed my eyes and opened them again.

My vision cleared, and I saw Choi Jin-woo standing awkwardly with a sheepish face.

“…Is that really the reason?”

What was I like at his age?

I remember laughing dryly whenever the old man talked about those times… It’s strange. I was a well-behaved and obedient child. Probably.

I looked at Choi Jin-woo again.

If there are obedient kids like me, there can also be stubborn kids who don’t listen. Of course.

It’s an extremely sensitive age. His pride might be hurt to have a peer as his teacher…

…What pride does a mage have?!

He’s being offered unique magic, and he should be groveling in gratitude!

“Well…”

For the first time, Choi Jin-woo avoided my gaze.

“I know, okay? I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. But…”

Choi Jin-woo paused to organize his thoughts before continuing.

“It’s just that this magic is as important to Seo-hyun as it is a great opportunity for me. And she’s willing to teach it to me without any compensation.”

Calm eyes. A voice that doesn’t tremble.

Most mages awaken at a young age. Some awaken as soon as they start to walk.

Awakening at eighteen, Choi Jin-woo was extremely late for a mage.

“Besides, I don’t think I’m smart enough to learn it all.”

Maybe because of that, Choi Jin-woo has a naive way of thinking for a mage.

To put it nicely, he’s a model student type. To put it bluntly, he’s a small-minded conformist. If he weren’t a mage, he’d be living a typical life.

And people like this limit their own potential early on, whether it’s their real limit or not.

It wasn’t simply out of pride that Choi Jin-woo rejected Park Seo-hyun’s proposal. Choi Jin-woo had his own reasons for it. Kim Chae-min knew this and quietly listened to what Choi Jin-woo had to say.

“I don’t want Seo-hyun to feel disappointed in me while teaching me, or for her to blame herself if she thinks she didn’t teach well. I also don’t want to get exhausted trying to keep up with Seo-hyun. And more than anything, I don’t want our relationship to become awkward.”

The irritation that had been rising until now subsided as I listened to Choi Jin-woo’s calm words. His way of thinking, which is unlike a typical mage, showed itself in this manner.

It might seem like an ordinary mindset, but it’s rare among mages who spend their childhood in a closed society. There’s a reason Yoo Ji-eun values communication skills highly when recruiting new members for the raid team. How many guilds have fallen apart due to one wrong mage?

I raised my evaluation of Choi Jin-woo a bit.

Where did Hong Seok-young find such a kid? Did he fall from the sky?

“So that’s why I don’t want to do it. Honestly, I don’t have much ambition for being an Archmage or learning unique magic…”

If Park Seo-hyun heard this, she’d probably hide behind her bangs again.

Fortunately, Park Seo-hyun wasn’t here right now.

“So, it’s okay. I just want to be an ordinary mage. That suits me just fine.”

What should I do?

Since he didn’t simply refuse to learn from a peer, I can’t just force him. After all, whether it’s studying or magic, the individual’s will is crucial.

Besides, I don’t know Choi Jin-woo well. The kid who died in Myeong-dong isn’t even recorded in the Agency’s records. Whether his magic talent is mediocre as he claims, or if he has unexpected potential to be an Archmage, I don’t know.

So, I nudged the Archmage next to me with my elbow.

“Yes?”

“Just a moment…”

I left Choi Jin-woo and stepped aside with Kim Chae-min.

“What do you think about Choi Jin-woo?”

Kim Chae-min tilted her head.

“What about him?”

“Does he really have no talent, as he says?”

“Ah. Well. You see… magic talent is extremely ambiguous.”

Kim Chae-min tilted her head to the other side.

“It’s hard to explain this to someone who isn’t a mage… But for basic and common magic, with enough effort, anyone can reach a certain level, even if it takes time.”

She tilted her head to the other side again.

“But unique magic doesn’t work like that. Simply put, it’s luck… And if you say luck is also a skill, then I have nothing more to say.”

Kim Chae-min began to nod her head side to side.

“Someone who can’t even use basic magic could suddenly have an epiphany and become an Archmage, throwing unique magic left and right. Conversely, someone who can use all other magic with their eyes closed might never be able to use unique magic their entire life.”

“So, what about Jin-woo?”

“We won’t know until we see.”

Kim Chae-min stopped nodding her head.

“But setting his own limits like that isn’t good. People’s imagination is limited, so they can’t envision beyond that.”

“So you’re saying he might have the talent to become an Archmage?”

“We won’t know until we see.”

It’s frustrating not having a definite answer. Kim Chae-min glanced inside the classroom.

“Listening to him, I can understand Jin-woo’s feelings. Learning the magical formula left by a friend’s deceased grandfather? That’s a lot of pressure.”

“Didn’t you also learn unique magic using your grandfather’s formulas?”

“Is that the same? I was family. Plus, neither my grandmother nor my mother were Awakened, so I had a lot more freedom compared to other mage families. They would have been okay even if I chose not to be a mage.”

So that’s how Kim Chae-min, with her personality, grew up and ended up dying a pointless death.

“Still, it’s a waste to let such an opportunity go.”

“If he’s so unwilling, forcing him might not be the best… Does it have to be Jin-woo for Seo-hyun?”

On that point, Park Seo-hyun was clear. When I nodded, Kim Chae-min also sank into thought.

“Park No-kyung’s unique magic is very useful in many ways, so it would be a waste for it to be buried like this.”

That’s exactly my point.

How can I persuade Choi Jin-woo… As I was pondering, I saw Park Seo-hyun sitting under the parasol. She was practicing runes in that short time. She’s diligent, indeed.

I stroked my chin.

Let’s think of Choi Jin-woo not as a mage but as a non-Awakened person. Just a high school student of that age.

There’s no need to use complicated methods. Sometimes, the most straightforward approach works best for kids that age.

This comes from experience.