Ch. 279 - Shadow Cast By The Wind (3)

The first-year students were about to start the strategy phase after carefully completing their Persona analysis, but Lu Deric spoke up, making it impossible to proceed.

"Something’s coming."

Lu Deric and Ban Di-Yeon, who had already finished their analysis, quietly stepped back.

‘My analysis is at about 79%.’

That was a fairly high level of analysis.

Once the analysis rate exceeded 50%, one could start receiving the gate’s ‘guideline messages,’ which dramatically increased the success rate of the strategy.

The second-year students retreated a step back and kept their eyes fixed on the first-years.

Although the wave of magic disturbed most of the analysis, the elite students from Class A continued to split their roles; three students persisted in the analysis while the others stood on guard.

Meanwhile, Lu Deric furrowed his brow.

’What is Baek Yu-Seol doing?’

He wondered if Baek Yu-Seol had even done any analysis since he’d been staring blankly into space since earlier.

“Hey! Look at that...!”

One of the students suddenly yelled, pointing his staff at the sky.

Hiiiiiing...!

A pale blue, translucent ghost crossed the road before disappearing into the distance.

“A ghost...?”

“Is ghost hunting the theme this time?”

“This is insane! What do we do?”

“Get it together! We’ve learned how to deal with ghost-type monsters!”

While students at magic academies were taught how to deal with necromancer summons like undead, skeletons, and zombies, ghost-type monsters were a different story.

The practical training for ghosts was rare because they were difficult to reproduce technically in training simulations.

Ghost-type monsters, which possessed spiritual abilities, were still a mystery.

Even the origin of their existence hasn’t been fully uncovered, making them a natural enemy of mages who rely on precise calculations.

In ancient times, exorcists and shamans hunted spirits, but as ghosts became rarer, so did these practitioners.

Now, if a ghost appeared, it could cause an entire city to be thrown into chaos.

It was no wonder the students were frightened at the sight of a ghost. However, Lu Deric chuckled from the back.

‘Foolish freshmen. That’s not the real threat.’

The students who continued the analysis soon noticed something as well. Their eyes widened in realization.

“Wait! Hold on. This place… Ghost hunting isn’t the theme here...”

Suddenly, the distant sound of a fox's cry echoed through the air.

The students backed away in unison and stared up at the sky.

A giant silver full moon loomed in the middle of the pitch-black sky like a platter.

The silhouette of a nine-tailed fox, a gumiho, howled toward the heavens.

"Holy… I thought it was a wolf..."

"Get a grip! It's a gumiho. It’s way worse than a wolf!"

"How are we supposed to fight a gumiho?"

"I don’t know! But it's classified as a spiritual beast, so focus your mental strength!"

"The howl of a gumiho disrupts your mental concentration. Stay focused!"

The students completed their analysis, stood up and began casting magic circles into the air.

Soon after, a 'guideline message' appeared, finally revealing the true theme of the gate.

[Shadow Cast by the Wind]

[The Pung Empire is woven with countless myths and legends.]

[Some stories are so well-known that everyone is familiar with them.]

[But there are other unknown stories.]

[Here lies one such forgotten, tragic tale.]

[Please uncover the one forgotten story and resolve its grudge.]

The students stared blankly into the air, processing the guideline message with confused expressions.

"A… A myth?"

"Yes, A myth."

For the first time, Hong Bi-Yeon joined the conversation.

"The entire capital of the Pung Empire has turned into a stage for its myths. It seems each area has its own designated legend. That rooftop over there must be the gumiho legend. We need to split up and find the myths ourselves."

"W-Wait. Split up? Isn’t that dangerous?"

"Dangerous? Moving together is more dangerous. The longer we stay here, the more the Persona will devour us. For mages like us, the only solution is to finish this quickly."

Lu Deric nodded in agreement with her.

"She’s right. The city is vast. Moving together would be inefficient. There are twelve of us—let’s split into three groups of four."

However, Hong Bi-Yeon shook her head.

"No. Split into two groups of five. I’ll work with the commoner alone."

"What? Hold on! I know you’re strong, but just two people is dangerous!"

"Yeah. We don’t even know the exact objective yet. At least until we figure out the true ending, we should stay together—"

Before the protesting students could finish, Hong Bi-Yeon’s fiery red eyes silenced them with a single glare. Although her eyes blazed hotter than the sun, they somehow felt colder than ice.

"Fine. Understood.”

“I still can’t tell who the real gumiho is…”

“Shh. They’ll hear you.”

In the end, the students grumbled but followed Hong Bi-Yeon’s instructions and split into three groups.

“Lu Deric, I’ll go with Group 1. Where are you going?”

Ban Di-Yeon asked as she pointed to five students.

Lu Deric glanced between Baek Yu-Seol and the other group of five.

“I’ll follow Baek Yu-Seol’s team from behind. It makes sense to assist the group with fewer members.”

“Alright. See you later.”

Hong Bi-Yeon gave Lu Deric a sharp look, but she didn’t interfere with the second-year’s decision.

Within Stella, the relationship between juniors and seniors was strictly hierarchical.

“So it’s really just the two of you going?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

After being separated from the rest of the group, Baek Yu-Seol wore a slightly worried expression as he glanced at the other students.

It wasn’t that he felt uneasy about being just the two of them—he was more concerned about the other students.

“Will they be alright?”

“Commoner.”

“Huh?”

“They’re not children. You don’t need to protect them all the time. They’re also mage-warrior cadets just like you.”

“Yeah. I know that…”

Without looking at him, Hong Bi-Yeon continued walking, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Those kids, we, even I… We’re not people you need to protect. I hope you can remember that.”

“Uh. Right…”

Baek Yu-Seol was caught off guard by how serious Hong Bi-Yeon sounded. He didn’t respond in his usual lighthearted manner and instead mumbled an awkward reply.

’Is something wrong?’

Because of her demeanor and personality, it was hard for him to gauge Hong Bi-Yeon’s mood.

She always appeared to be in a bad mood.

’Well, she doesn’t seem upset right now…’

After observing her for half a year, Baek Yu-Seol realized that. Oddly enough, she seemed to be in a relatively good mood today.

“I don’t like it.”

“Don’t like what?”

“That senior who’s following us.”

Baek Yu-Seol glanced back at Lu Deric, who was trailing them about thirty steps behind.

“He’s a teaching assistant, after all. It’s his job. Besides, he’s keeping watch on the rear for us. Isn’t that reassuring?”

Lu Deric acted like the capable second-year he was. He had his staff out and was carefully observing the surroundings while concealing his presence.

Baek Yu-Seol appreciated the extra protection, but it seemed Hong Bi-Yeon didn’t share the sentiment.

“It’s just…”

Hong Bi-Yeon was uncharacteristically hesitant. She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something, but suddenly froze, sensing a chill in the air.

"Wait a moment."

Baek Yu-Seol drew Teripon which gleamed with a soft light. The beautiful white blade illuminated their surroundings gently.

To add to it, Hong Bi-Yeon summoned a white flame that floated in midair, but suddenly, a blue flame appeared and devoured her flame whole before vanishing.

"... What was that?"

Hong Bi-Yeon bit her lip as her flame was extinguished.

"It's a fire goblin. It's a monster that feeds on fire itself, making it tricky to deal with. It's better to avoid it."

Hong Bi-Yeon nodded in agreement at his words.

"This way."

They moved off the main road and into an alley. As they walked, translucent, pumpkin-like objects began to float around, casting an eerie orange glow in every direction.

"Those are..."

"Ignore them. There's probably a pumpkin spirit nearby. The small ones don't hurt people, so we can pass by without any trouble."

Baek Yu-Seol took hold of Hong Bi-Yeon’s hand and led her forward.

"Wait... Why are you rushing so much?"

"If the bigger one shows up, it'll be dangerous. Ever heard of the Pumpkin-Headed Killer, 'Wally'?"

"... When I was a kid."

"He goes for your neck with a scythe. If you lose focus for even a second, you could die. It's better to get out of here fast."

As Baek Yu-Seol hurriedly pulled her along, the alley faded away, revealing a dark, shadowed slum.

"Let’s stop here for a moment to figure out which direction to go."

Scanning the surroundings with his spec, Baek Yu-Seol saw that there wasn’t a single area that looked safe.

"Let’s wait here for a bit, and when the myth shifts, we’ll move."

"Hey, Princess?"

"Yeah. I’m listening."

Perhaps because he had grabbed her so suddenly, Hong Bi-Yeon was absentmindedly rubbing her wrist.

"The myth moves?"

"It seems like it. The stories are shifting, moving without crossing into each other's territories. I don’t know exactly what the target legend is, but finding it is going to be tricky."

Baek Yu-Seol spoke casually, squinting as he tried to clear his vision and see further ahead.

Hong Bi-Yeon turned curious and asked.

"... Commoner, have you been here before?"

"Huh? No, of course not."

"Then how do you know so much?"

"I analyzed the phenomena."

"Right..."

Hong Bi-Yeon had also analyzed the phenomena, but her insight wasn’t as sharp as Baek Yu-Seol’s.

’But still, where exactly is this place?’

His Sentient Spec continuously detected the signal from the ‘Soulbound Talisman of the Dead,’ but its precise location remained elusive.

"Let’s move in that direction. There’s a brief opening."

Baek Yu-Seol had already finished analyzing the Persona Gate and had a decent idea of how to proceed, but finding the talisman was his top priority now.

’Without that, I won’t be able to turn Anella back into a human.’

With fewer eyes on them, Baek Yu-Seol moved quickly, taking the shortest route without hesitation.

He skipped over any irrelevant legends, found shortcuts in an instant, and ignored dangerous myths without engaging them.

"Wait. Aren’t you rushing too much?"

"Why?"

"You’re not even checking the stories properly."

"This one’s about the Jang-Hwa and Hong-Ryeon myth. The sisters drowned in a pond, driven by their grudge..."

"...That’s not what I mean."

Hong Bi-Yeon bit her lip slightly. It was as if she was reluctant to say something.

"I mean, can’t we just... Slow down a bit? Move a little more cautiously? We don’t have to rush like this."

Her words gave Baek Yu-Seol an odd feeling.

For someone like Hong Bi-Yeon, who lived and breathed for grades and scores, it would make more sense for her to favor taking the quickest route and reaching the destination as fast as possible.

Clearing the Persona Gate quickly would also mean earning extra points.

Words like ‘caution’ and ‘slowly’ didn’t suit her at all.

So, Baek Yu-Seol was puzzled.

“There’s nothing wrong with rushing. If you trust me, there’s no danger. You know that.”

Baek Yu-Seol had already shown Hong Bi-Yeon a lot, so he no longer felt the need to hide things like his advanced knowledge from his spec.

He trusted her. She only needed to follow his lead, and he was confident that he could help her achieve whatever she wanted.

“... That’s not the reason.”

“What? Then wouldn’t going faster be better?”

“No. You don’t understand anything.”

After saying that, Hong Bi-Yeon’s expression turned cold, a look that was unfamiliar to Baek Yu-Seol.

He couldn’t find the words to respond. She looked deflated, her former confidence nowhere to be seen.

Seeing her so different from the self-assured person she was just moments ago, Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but step closer and say,

“Alright. We’ll go slowly, cautiously.”

“We’ll check the bridge before crossing it, knock on doors before entering.”

At that, Hong Bi-Yeon looked at him with mild exasperation.

“There’s no need to go that far.”

However, her expression lightened considerably, and she appeared much more at ease now, radiating a clearer, brighter aura.

It was a strange thing.

In the past, it had been impossible to read her emotions behind the mask she always wore, but now Baek Yu-Seol found it easier to sense how she was feeling just from the atmosphere around her.

“Let’s go. Slowly and cautiously.”

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