The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 214

A garden far from Ardel Academy.

They had expected to return to the academy, so being suddenly dragged to a flower field was confusing.

Yoon Haul blinked at Han Siha and asked.

“Where are we?”

He said they were going to mess things up.

Said he was going to screw them over big time.

So why were they in the middle of a flower field?

Han Siha calmly answered Yoon Haul’s questioning gaze.

He never thought he’d set foot on this land.

“This is their private property.”

“What?”

“Here?”

This land belonged to those bastards.

The vast, seemingly endless garden was Abaddon’s.

“What… what did you say?”

A black magician tending a flower garden.

The statement was so shocking that Adela couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

“Honestly, it doesn’t suit his image at all.”

He killed people over the slightest offense, yet he treated flowers with such care.

All the flowers were poisonous, so they were far from ornamental, but Abaddon cultivated them carefully to make poisons.

He even had the twisted hobby of making floral arrangements with toxic plants.

Does he want to make bouquets here?

“So, this place belongs to Abaddon?”

“This… this place is really that dangerous?”

A quiet garden with no guards in sight.

Adela, finding the neatly maintained garden oddly suspicious, asked.

“There’s no one guarding it at all.”

“Of course not. There’s no need for guards. Step in the wrong spot, and it’s a one-way trip to the afterlife, so be careful.”

“…!”

“Don’t even think about taking out your staff. One slip of magic, and it’s over. Unless you want to end up as fertilizer for these flowers, be careful.”

The setup wasn’t much different from the magic circle installed at the academy.

Despite appearances, countless magic circuits were intricately laid beneath the ground, making it a dangerous place to wander carelessly.

“Well, it’s not some big secret. That lunatic’s hobby of cultivating poisonous plants is pretty well-known.”

Of course, that was a lie.

Only Abaddon and a few of his subordinates would know about this place.

But Adela and Yoon Haul, unfamiliar with the ways of the world, believed Han Siha’s words without question.

“Finding the location was a bit of a pain, but it was much easier than stealing the Cube, so we came here.”

“That may be true, but…”

Even though no one was around, the fact that this was Abaddon’s garden made them feel on edge.

Yoon Haul was even wary of stepping on the ground.

“This is… Abaddon’s land…”

Finding their private property had been difficult, but it was satisfying.

Coming here to hold them accountable for the riot and to mess them up was also good.

After thinking it over, Adela asked with a puzzled expression.

“But why did we come here?”

Snap.

Adela watched as Han Siha strolled through the garden, casually picking flowers.

She wondered what he was up to—he’d been doing this since they arrived.

“Wow, there are so many flowers.”

Now he’d even settled down, crouching in a corner, searching for four-leaf clovers with an unbothered expression.

“Why are they all three leaves?”

“Han… Han Siha…?”

Han Siha, who had his head buried in the ground, picked some clover and asked Adela.

“Want me to make you a flower ring?”

“They’re poisonous, aren’t they?”

Adela shrieked, horrified, while Yoon Haul jumped in eagerly.

“I’d love one!”

“Are you crazy? They’re poisonous.”

One person wanted to make a flower ring in a black magician’s garden, and another was willing to accept it.

Adela couldn’t decide which of them was crazier.

The only certainty was that neither was in their right mind.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to pick ones without poison. Don’t you trust Siha?”

“Sure, I’ll make it for you. As long as you don’t eat it, it’s not poisonous. If you have a hobby of eating rings, then maybe reconsider.”

“See? Siha said it’s not poisonous.”

“What?”

“You just don’t trust him. No trust at all.”

Is this really where the conversation is going?

“How does that even make sense?”

“It’s because of a lack of trust. A severe lack!”

“Yoon Haul!”

“…!”

As Adela’s expression turned icy, Yoon Haul sheepishly smiled and said, “Oh, it’s nothing.”

But seriously.

Of all things, was the revenge plan just to pick flowers and make a flower ring in someone else’s garden?

Something was wrong.

Really wrong.

Just as Adela was about to point out the absurdity, Han Siha spoke first.

“As much as I’d love to use magic to destroy this place, that’s a one-way ticket to disaster.”

“So that’s why you’re making a flower ring?”

“No way. You think I’d come here without a plan?”

Abaddon was obsessive about even a scratch on his property, so he had set up defenses against any possible magician attacks.

But there was one thing Abaddon didn’t realize.

Old magicians.

They think only magic exists in the world.

They think if they block magic, nothing can be done.

“I told you. I came here to screw him over.”

Han Siha chuckled to himself.

“There are plenty of maniacs who stab, kill, and burn things even without magic.”

Who says you need magic to turn this place upside down?

There are always ways.

Han Siha suddenly stood up and dragged out a canister of gasoline from somewhere.

“Han… Han Siha! What are you doing?”

Gush.

Yoon Haul cried out in shock as he watched Han Siha pour gasoline all over the garden.

Even if magic was completely blocked.

There were still ways to mess with things ‘physically.’

Thunk.

The gas can roll to the side with a dull sound.

“Are you planning to set a fire?”

“Yeah, you got it.”

“W-wait! The whole place?”

“Yep.”

Han Siha stepped back a few paces after thoroughly dousing the garden with gasoline.

Even if I couldn’t steal the Cube back right away, I could still turn one of Abaddon’s valuable assets—his garden—into ashes.

It was a meager form of revenge that could never atone for the deaths Abaddon had caused, but at least this brought some small measure of comfort.

It was a bit regrettable that Abaddon wouldn’t witness this scene firsthand.

“Hoo…”

Han Siha raised his middle finger to the air and muttered.

“Eat shit.”

Click.

Whoosh-.

Han Siha flicked on a lighter and, without hesitation, tossed it onto the ground.

* * *

“Eat shit.”

“Ha… Haha. Hahahaha….”

Han Siha thought Abaddon wouldn’t see it, but his arson was recorded by the magical circuits embedded in the ground.

‘Eat shi…’

“This little lunatic…”

Abaddon watched the scene unfold, his face twisted in anger.

The calm, murderous look in his eyes and Han Siha’s mocking gesture incited him further.

“So, Han Taesu’s kid has grown up.”

Abaddon let out a mad, bitter laugh.

It was a twisted fate.

Having narrowly escaped death at Han Taesu’s hands several times, Abaddon remembered his face vividly.

And now, after all these years, it was the son who was making a fool of him.

He had aimed to provoke, and it was working.

Abaddon was furious to his core.

“You damn vermin. You little rat. How dare you… how dare you burn down my garden?”

He dared to touch his precious garden.

The garden, crucial for researching poisons and curses, meticulously cultivated over years, was now nothing but ashes.

He admitted it. He had been careless—far too careless.

And who wouldn’t be? Almost no one knew of the garden’s existence.

“How did that brat know?”

He wasn’t supposed to know, couldn’t have known.

Abaddon was deeply curious about where that information had come from.

His eyes, filled with murderous intent, scanned his subordinates.

He had disguised the garden as a simple flower field to avoid imperial surveillance, and he hadn’t informed almost anyone.

He was sure that no one would know.

Han Siha had shattered that certainty.

Now everyone was under suspicion.

Abaddon clenched his fists tightly and spoke.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? A garden known by only a select few was discovered and burned by a mere academy kid.”

And it wasn’t just that.

Han Siha had cleverly avoided the magical circuits hidden beneath the garden as if he knew about them.

Was that just a coincidence?

Too many things didn’t add up.

Magical circuits…

“Let’s see…”

As Abaddon mulled over those words, he suddenly remembered.

Yes, there was only one other person besides himself who knew about them.

Abaddon’s eyes turned cold and deadly.

“Summon Lupine.”

Abaddon ordered with a chilling expression, and within minutes, an elderly man with long, white hair appeared before him, bowing his head.

Lupine, one of the senior magicians, had been loyally assisting Abaddon for a long time.

“Yes, you called for me?”

Instead of responding, Abaddon stared at Lupine.

Greed, something previously unseen, seemed to taint the wrinkles on Lupine’s face.

Lupine, whom he had trusted deeply, had apparently sold information to that academy brat from Castica.

“But… Why did you call me?”

Abaddon, suppressing his displeasure, spoke.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Oh, oh. Thank you.”

“If you’ve gone senile, you can rest now.”

“…Pardon?”

That was the last chance he had to respond.

Bang!

With a flick of Abaddon’s hand, a sharp, piercing sound rang out.

“Gah…!”

Lupine couldn’t even scream as he fell to his fate, a blade lodged in his throat.

Abaddon had infused his magic into a blade that struck Lupine’s neck.

“Ah….”

Thud.

Sepia, who witnessed Lupine collapse instantly, covered her mouth in shock.

No one else dared to speak.

Abaddon remained seated, unfazed, not a drop of blood on his hands.

His voice was cold as he continued.

“It seems there was a rat hiding among us.”

“…”

“Let’s resume the meeting. Sepia?”

“Yes?”

Sepia had a different agenda than Abaddon.

Strictly speaking, her goals diverged significantly from his.

She had been secretly building her own power base, and witnessing Lupine’s sudden execution sent chills down her spine.

‘I must not get caught.’

Abaddon, oblivious to Sepia’s inner turmoil, asked calmly.

“Do you have any information on Han Siha?”

“Y-yes.”

She had attempted to deal with Han Siha multiple times but failed.

Of course, part of the reason was that Abaddon hadn’t gone all out.

But he could no longer afford to sit idly by and watch that defiant brat.

Sepia, sensing Abaddon’s discomfort, spoke carefully.

Her confident and composed voice echoed through the meeting room.

“We have captured his brother. Although they’re not related by blood, they seem very close.”

“Han Si-hyuk, the Seer?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Abaddon stroked his chin, scrutinizing Sepia.

His gaze felt like it was piercing right through her, and she swallowed nervously.

“Han Si-hyuk… Han Si-hyuk…”

How should he deal with Han Siha?

What kind of bait would lure him in?

“Alright.”

After a long contemplation, Abaddon spoke in a monotonous voice.

“We’ll use his brother.”