The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

― The seal....

Jin Ye-Jeong muttered quietly in Yoo Ji-Hyuk's pocket.

She could feel the constraints that had been tightening on Jin Ye-Seul being lifted.

She could barely contain herself from wanting to go outside right now to check on Jin Ye-Seul's condition.

[Haaa....]

Svengali just let out a long sigh.

It was because he could see right in front of his eyes what kind of changes Jin Ye-Seul's mind was going through.

So, as if admiring, he tried to hide his surprise and just stared at the two of them.

“…….”

Laune, as always, was staring at Yoo Ji-Hyuk in silence.

He didn't know anything else, but at least he could tell that he was bleeding from a major wound on the nape of his neck.

Laune began to check how many roots he had left that he could tear off.

It was raining.

It was raining so hard that even the sounds of the surroundings were melting away.

“… I'll do anything for you."

In it, Jin Ye-Seul whispered quietly, stroking Yoo Ji-Hyuk's cheek.

Then she gently lowered her hand, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him toward her.

“I'll really do anything you say.”

I can do these things, too.

She grabbed Yoo Ji-Hyuk's hand and pulled it toward her face.

Her rain-soaked face, and his hand touched.

After a while, when she took his hand off, Yoo Ji-Hyuk couldn't help but be startled and surprised.

Jin-Ye-Seul's face had turned into Han Soo-Young's.

He immediately knew what had happened.

The Shadow Walker's Legacy.

Bird's Tongue.

A technique that can copy another person's voice, face, and later, even body.

It was clearly that.

But copying a face before I know it....

"Look."

Jin Ye-Seul, with Han Soo-Young's face, whispered in Han Soo-Young's voice.

She brought Yoo Ji-Hyuk's hand to her once more.

Next was Lee Ye-Eun's face.

Then Lee Yu-Na.

Then Alice Blesbuck.

A member of the Thunder Lord's Hammer, Horie Yuzuki.

Lee Myung-Joon's younger sister, Lee Hye-Rin.

Nam Hyun-Hwa in her young form.

Evangeline Lohengrin, called the Great Witch of the Ten Strongest.

Laura Hartmann, praised as the Paladin....

She kept changing her face.

Some of those faces were those of people he knew, and also those of celebrities he had seen on television as if passing by.

In the end, Jin Ye-Seul looked up at him with the face of a woman who he didn't even know who it was, but was dazzlingly beautiful.

“… Ji-Hyuk, what kind of look do you like?”

I'll be by your side in the way you want me to look.

With a little more effort, not just face, I can change everything.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk muttered quietly at her words that she said as if hanging on.

“I like your original look.”

At those words, Jin Ye-Seul gave a blank expression for a moment.

Then she smiled brightly and nodded, returning to her original appearance.

"Yes, yes… then I'll be like this.”

Meanwhile, she could see blood flowing down his neck.

It was a wound caused by her biting.

"Ah….”

Seeing that, Ye Seul hesitated, then quickly reached out and covered the area.

What should I do? What should I do?

It was when she muttered like that.

“… Sister."

Jin Ye-Jun, who barely found the two, carefully caught his breath and called out to Jin Ye-Seul.

With her hands covering Yoo Ji-Hyuk's bleeding neck, Jin Ye-Seul, who was soaked in rain, turned her head to look at her brother.

Jin Ye-Jun said as he opened the umbrella he had in his other hand and handed it to Yoo Ji-Hyuk and Jin Ye-Seul.

“Father is back.”

So let's talk when we get home first.

The boy, with a depressed look in his eyes, muttered quietly and worriedly.

“You'll catch a cold.”

* * *

Jin Ye-Seul and I decided to take a shower first.

Both of us were soaked in rain, but in my case, it was because my clothes were dirty with blood from the wound on my neck.

As I was taking off my clothes in the changing room, Jin Ye-Jun, the self-appointed guide, hesitated and held out something in his hand.

It was a potion.

“Brother, this… Apply it to your neck.”

"Thank you."

When I took it and thanked him, he gave me a complicated look.

“No problem. I'm sure that wound is....”

Jin Ye-Jun hesitated, then opened the door and went out, saying that he would wait outside.

It was when I was about to take a small amount of the potion he gave me and apply it to my neck.

― You have to clean the affected area first and then apply it. There is a risk of infection if you just apply it.

Jin Ye-Jeong's voice came out, a little muffled.

When I looked in my pocket, thinking oops, I found Laune and a water-soaked, half-damaged paper crane beside him.

“…….”

Laune shook his head as if it was hopeless.

The water-soaked paper crane exhaled a small breath.

― I wrote it down in a letter to Ye-Jun in advance. The documents in my safe... tell him to take them out and give them to you.

“What is in the documents?”

― What I found out. I'd be grateful if you could pass it on to Jelly. Of course, it doesn't matter if you see it, too, Yoo Ji-Hyuk-ssi. Because Yoo Ji-Hyuk-ssi is also involved.

I nodded at her words.

She spoke lightly, but it was the information she had obtained at the cost of her life.

“… I'll make sure to give them to her."

― Thank you. Um… and.

Jin Ye-Jeong paused for a moment and said to me.

— … and thank you for keeping the secret until the end.

“It's no problem. More than that, really, is it okay not to tell your family?”

— Yes. And I'm asking you one more time.

Please never tell my family.

Jin-Ye-Jeong answered firmly.

And hesitated for a moment and said in a small voice.

— It's about time for the ceremony. And I also have to rearrange my body for a while....

“Oh, yes… that's right.”

― It will be difficult to contact you for a while.

Jin Ye-Jeong paused for a moment.

― Um, if possible, could you fold a paper crane next time, too?

Jin Ye-Jeong said so and added cautiously.

― To be honest, I'm not quite sure what Ye-Seul's condition will be like in the future... If possible, I want to check it with my own eyes for a while.

“As much as you want. I'll fold it more sturdily next time."

At my answer, she sounded relieved and left after saying these words.

― Thank you. I will definitely repay this favor.

Soon, no subtle mana was felt from the paper crane.

Laune tapped it and looked at me once.

Then he tapped the back of his neck.

For some reason, I thought the guy was making a stern expression.

“…….”

"Yes, I understand, so relax your expression."

I wiped off the neck first, as advised by Jin Ye-Jeong and Laune, then carefully spread the potion.

As soon as I applied it, the skin bitten by Jin Ye-Seul began to heal quickly.

“Huu….”

After taking a shower, I picked up the gauze that was lying next to the potion.

It was because all the wounds had healed, but there were still minute scars.

It was when I had almost changed into the clothes that had been placed there after putting the gauze on.

knock, knock.

“Yes, come in.”

I thought the person who knocked was Jin Ye-Jun, or Jin Ye-Seul.

However, when I saw the man in a straight posture who opened the door and entered, I had no choice but to furrow my brow for a moment.

Purple pupils that fell coldly, as if they were evaluating me.

And a middle-aged man with visible traces of Jin Ye-Jeong, Jin Ye-Seul, and Jin Ye-Jun's faces.

A somewhat ominous and gloomy atmosphere.

“It’s nice to meet you like this.”

He held out his hand towards me.

I carefully took his outstretched hand.

“My name is Jin Jun-Hyung. The head of this family."

“… I'm Yoo Ji-Hyuk. Please take care of me."

He smiled briefly.

Then he pulled a chair and sat on it, staring at me.

“If it’s okay with you, can we have a little chat here?"

“We could talk with everyone together, why go out of the way….”

"It is because I have something to say only to you, Yoo Ji-Hyuk?"

At his words, I pulled out one of the remaining chairs and placed it across from him.

Then he nodded slightly, as if thanking me.

"Actually, my wife's condition is not good, and although a valuable guest has come, it is difficult to treat them separately because of the situation. You understand, don't you?"

“Yes, of course. Even though I have been invited, I feel sorry for coming thoughtlessly under such circumstances."

"You are very thoughtful for a young person these days."

Jin Jun-Hyung was still smiling as he said this.

Tidying his hair neatly back, he stared at me and added quietly.

“Actually, I’m sorry, but it's time to spend some time with the family. So, excuse me, but... I've come to ask if you could leave now."

“If the owner of the house is uncomfortable, I must leave at any time."

At my words, he waved his hand as if it were a misunderstanding.

"Oh, it sounded like I was urging you. Of course, I'm not asking you to leave right now. I heard my son called Yoo Ji-Hyuk? From what I heard, my daughter's will mentioned Ji-Hyuk....”

As I nodded, he said, I mean that I want you to finish your business here as soon as possible and leave, and added, please understand.

When I replied back to him, saying, I can fully understand your feelings, he began to stare at me in silence.

“I originally don't like children.”

He exhaled quietly and continued.

"Strangely, I like Ji-Hyuk. So if it's okay with you, may I give you some of the so-called... what I like to think of as Kkondae's advice?" [1]

I nodded.

He said, then… and continued.

“Do you know why I married my wife?”

“… I don't know. Because you love her?”

He grinned at my answer.

“It’s the other way around.”

"Yes?"

"I married her because I thought she was a woman I wouldn't fall in love with until the end, even while I live together with her, relying on her and believing in her."

He muttered quietly.

“Because I thought that if I ever loved her, something wouldn't be caught in my ankle later on because of her. Of course, she was also a person who was smart and wise enough to take on the role of the hostess of this mansion.”

His eyes moved and stared at me.

It was a movement that reminded me of Jin Ye-Seul.

"In short… it means that human emotions are a very annoying thing. They can't be controlled at will, and they affect important decisions and moments… Very, very unpleasantly.”

“…….”

“Especially, my second daughter, Ye-Seul, is particularly extreme in that regard."

His gaze was on my neck, precisely the gauze part.

"She's often tried to put something in her mouth since she was a baby, but… I never thought she would do that after she is all grown up."

He let out a small sigh and said to me.

"Looking at it, it seems that child has rationally… kept Ji-Hyuk in mind. That child is interested in the opposite sex, it's really surprising... Anyway, since it turned out like this, let me give you one piece of advice. I'm saying this because I really like Ji-Hyuk, so I hope you listen carefully."

“… what do you mean?”

“It would be better not to get deeply involved with that child. If possible, it would be better to separate yourself from her immediately.”

He asserted.

At those words, I couldn't help but stare at him.

Why?

Looking at him reminded me of the human who was my father.

Even though they had not a single thing in common.

“I know. That child is someone who keeps the other person locked up in a prison that even she can't get out of and calls it love. She is the child who makes the people around her get involved and eventually destroys everything."

“… Ye-Seul, isn't she your daughter?"

He gave a small laugh.

It was an attitude as if he had heard a funny joke.

"I'm saying this because she's my daughter. Because if a child causes any problems, only the parents are responsible for it."

“…….”

I looked at him without saying a word.

He leisurely parried such a gaze of mine.

Without realizing it, I let out a forced laugh.

"Yes. Well… I understand what you mean."

I nodded and got up from my seat.

Then I stared straight at him and answered.

"By the way, I really appreciate the advice you gave me, but maybe because I'm so ignorant and have lived a bit of a rough life… I'm a bit stubborn.”

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. So I tend to make decisions based on my intuition after experiencing it myself, rather than just listening to someone else. I have no thought of changing this personality.”

He shook his head slightly at my words.

“… this, contrary to my intention, seems to have only instilled hostility. I really said it out of favor, though."

"Yes. That’s why I'm saying this politely like this."

After saying that, I bowed my head slightly to him.

Then I immediately opened the door.

On the other side of the door, Jin Ye-Jun, who was holding something in his hand, and Jin Ye-Seul, who was staring at this side with cold, downcast eyes, were standing side by side.

"My daughter, you're pretty good."

Jin Jun-Hyung muttered like that, crossing his legs.

He was staring at Jin Ye-Seul with his characteristic smile of unknown intention.

"I thought you'd never find anyone other than Ye-Jeong in your lifetime.”

“…….”

Jin Ye-Seul didn't say anything.

As I walked out, Jin Ye-Jun, who was looking at my expression next to her, handed me something.

It was a tightly sealed envelope.

“It was written in Oldest Sister's letter. It said to give you the envelope in her safe....”

"Thank you."

"No….”

Jin Ye-Jun muttered weakly.

“These are the only things I can do.”

It was when I took the envelope from him.

Suddenly, Jin Ye-Seul moved as if blocking my body.

Her two eyes were directed solely at her own father, Jin Jun-Hyung.

“If anyone sees it, they'll think I'm trying to eat him.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“… I intend to do the cremation as soon as Ye-Jeong's ceremony is over. Because that’s what that child wanted.”

He added, muttering quietly.

No matter what, as a father, I don't want to see my daughter like that for long.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Ji-Hyuk. I hope we can meet later when things are better."

Getting up from his seat, he let out a strangely tired sigh.

“It's time for me to mourn my daughter's death by myself, too. Excuse me first.”

After saying those words, he walked past us.

Although he and Jin Ye-Seul were conscious of each other, they did not exchange a single word of greeting.

After he disappeared like that, I opened my mouth quietly.

“Ye-Seul.”

When I called her, she immediately turned to me.

I looked at her eyes, which were clearly different from a few days ago, and gave a small sigh.

"Let's go."

With those words, I held out my hand.

Then, for some reason, she looked at my outstretched hand with a very bewildered expression.

“… ah, huu.”

She took a deep breath and suddenly wiped her hand on her back.

And then, she cautiously held my hand with hers, which was shaking to the point that it could be seen from the outside.

“Let’s get out of here together.”

At my words, she nodded and answered quietly.

“… yes."

She nodded again and again.

"Yes, yes."

I'll follow you anywhere.

She looked at me and muttered.

“If you're by my side, Ji-Hyuk, I'll follow you anywhere.”