The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 229

“…How far did your mind run off to?”

Adela’s summary was reasonably comprehensive, but her conclusion had completely missed the mark.

Watching Han Siha, who seemed momentarily speechless and flustered, Adela realized she might have made a mistake.

‘Did I get it wrong?’

Blinking a few times, Adela hesitantly asked.

“It’s not that, is it?”

“It’s not.”

“Oh.”

A heavy silence fell over the barracks.

“……”

After an awkward pause, Adela glanced around, embarrassed.

She had jumped to a hasty assumption because of how Han Siha described his ‘complicated situation’… Now things felt even more awkward.

Adela coughed lightly, trying to play it off as nothing.

“Well, as long as it’s not that.”

Hmm.

Either way, it was a relief. If he wasn’t willing to explain, and she couldn’t figure it out, she decided to drop it.

Adela’s eyes sparkled as she continued.

“Whatever impressive lie you cooked up to keep me stashed away in the sticks for half a year… if it’s not that, then I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”

Yoon Haul, who had been quietly listening to the conversation while stabbing her fork into an apple, seemed to react subtly, but Adela ignored her, keeping her gaze fixed on Han Siha.

She figured she’d get kicked out if she lingered too long, so she got straight to the point.

“So, transfer me here too. I’m sick of the countryside.”

“That was your conclusion?”

“Yep. I grew up in the capital, so I’m not cut out for rural life.”

“You’re from a mountain village, though.”

“…That’s really insulting, you know?”

“Volunteering to fight in Castica territory isn’t exactly normal either.”

Han Siha smirked, firing back at Adela’s remark.

He had spent six long months desperately trying to avoid this situation.

It seemed he could no longer run.

No matter the reason she had come, he couldn’t send Adela away when she’d come all the way here to find him.

‘I’m the one who’s not okay.’

Han Siha smiled bitterly and bowed his head.

* * *

It had been half a year ago.

The aimless and meaningless war had been dragging on for over two years, yet the Empire was holding up surprisingly well.

Marcel was proving to be a competent ruler, enough to mitigate the impact of Empress Linia’s absence.

It meant that the Empire would not easily fall to Abaddon.

However, even amidst the relatively hopeful situation, there was one cruel truth that couldn’t be ignored.

Abaddon didn’t care if his forces were dying or if he was losing battles.

He had already completed the mechanical heart and was obsessed with finding the Cube.

Ultimately, the war would only end if Abaddon was killed.

As I began to truly understand this, Natalie came rushing into my workshop, out of breath.

“Han Siha, I have urgent news!”

If it were truly critical, she would’ve brought the rest of the council with her, but that day she had come alone, in a rush.

What Natalie told me was perhaps the news I had been waiting for the most.

“We’ve found a way to locate Abaddon.”

The true base of the dark mages, the NGC sector.

We hadn’t yet pinpointed the core where the mechanical heart was likely hidden.

Natalie had come up with an ingenious idea.

She proposed to trace the Cube’s location backward to identify the NGC sector.

“The Cube’s circuitry is designed to condense magic. That’s why the Cube’s power can’t be sensed unless you’re close to it. But…”

Natalie manipulated the circuits a few times before lifting the Cube.

The Cube of Sensation began to glow faintly in the air.

“See how the circuits are trembling?”

It didn’t look like the magic had been amplified just from tinkering with the circuits.

The Cube’s circuits were vibrating as if they couldn’t withstand the magic.

Natalie spoke with a serious expression.

“By tweaking the circuits, we can amplify the magic.”

Ah, I understood what she was saying.

I stared at the Cube, absorbing Natalie’s words.

The Cube of Sensation was vibrating as if resonating.

Still, it wasn’t enough to be noticeable.

Only mages highly sensitive to magic or those using detection spells might pick it up—perhaps someone like Adela.

However, Natalie spread out a complex diagram of the circuitry and continued her explanation.

“This level of magic is sufficient. It might take some time, but we can trace the magic backward to find the Cube’s location.”

The estimated time was at least a month.

The diagram Natalie had drawn up was vast and incomprehensible at first glance, but the confidence in her eyes was unmistakable.

No one understood the Cube better than Natalie.

And she wasn’t alone in her efforts—Yoon Haul’s assistance had been crucial.

“This is Yoon Haul’s work, isn’t it?”

“She made me promise not to tell.”

“It’s obvious, though.”

It seemed the idea of backtracking the Cube’s location had been Natalie’s, but Yoon Haul had made it possible.

I could see the intricacies of Yoon Haul’s design laid out before me.

I couldn’t grasp it all, but some things were clear.

“It’ll be difficult to determine the exact location.”

“Right.”

“So we’re just aiming for a rough location?”

“Yes!”

It was a bit problematic in a world without satellites, but what Yoon Haul had envisioned was a GPS-like system. However, its accuracy wasn’t perfect for pinpointing a precise location.

“This is already impressive, but it’s risky to enter based on rough estimates.”

And there was another issue.

“Isn’t the current state already pushing the magic circuit to its limit? If we’re not handing this Cube over to Abaddon, the existing Cube won’t be enough for accurate tracking.”

Natalie hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up.

That’s when I remembered.

It was Yoon Haul who had lost the Cube on the battlefield.

“You all had this planned, huh?”

I hadn’t realized they’d kept this from me.

And I certainly hadn’t expected that they’d be secretly tracing the Cube’s location so cleverly.

Natalie held up a map, albeit a rough and imprecise one. It was the result of their attempts to trace the NGC sector’s location.

“You can’t just charge in with this kind of vague information… There has to be another way…”

As I slowly processed Natalie’s words, my face grew cold.

It was an impressive result, but this information alone wasn’t enough to recklessly storm in.

So, if we wanted to pinpoint the Cube’s exact location, only one option remained.

No way.

“……”

Magic detection.

Someone would have to infiltrate first.

I found myself staring silently at Natalie.

She remained tight-lipped, cautiously watching my reaction.

That’s when everything suddenly made sense.

The reason why Yoon Haul, who would have normally run to me with such groundbreaking discoveries, had remained silent. The reason Natalie had kept this hidden as well.

The reason she had come to me alone, without the rest of the council.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

Because there was only one person suited for detecting magic.

No one would disagree on who that was.

Someone who could gather the underground magic, sense it, and detect even the faintest magical presence better than anyone else.

Adela, the Earth Mage.

When it came to magic detection, there was no one better.

Where other mages would have missed the faintest traces of magic, Adela could find them with ease.

As long as she was close enough.

The idea of backtracking the Cube’s location was so unconventional that it had never been realized before.

But the moment they pinpointed the approximate area—

This mission became Adela’s burden.

I knew this too well.

If anyone would take on this task, it would be Adela.

That girl, who hated Abaddon more than anyone else…

She would undoubtedly throw herself into this.

I understood exactly what it meant to send her there alone.

I knew the likelihood that she wouldn’t come back alive was high.

Even just attempting to kill Abaddon by storming his lair was an insane mission that involved accepting death.

But this was a senseless death.

“Haul opposed it. She wanted to scrap this plan. She didn’t want it revealed.”

Natalie gritted her teeth and lowered her head.

“But… I don’t.”

The war had claimed countless lives.

Natalie had lost her family.

Natalie didn’t feel any easier bringing this up, but she forced the words out.

“I think Adela deserves to know.”

The choice would ultimately be hers.

Even if we couldn’t force it on her, we couldn’t keep it hidden forever.

There might be a way to end this war.

We couldn’t afford to hesitate with the solution right in front of us.

Natalie looked up at me with sorrowful eyes.

“Han Siha.”

If we lost the last Cube, it would be our downfall.

That was the inevitable conclusion in the academy scenario—the worst possible ending.

As the one who knew this story best, I understood this more than anyone.

Abaddon would come after me a hundred, a thousand times, until he wrested the bound Cube from me.

And the moment he embedded it into the mechanical heart, he would gain infinite magic.

Even if the Cube was weakened, once it fell into Abaddon’s hands, the Ardel Empire would never be able to defeat him.

Yes, the Empire would fall.

Natalie asked me again.

“Han Siha, are you going to tell her?”

It was almost a question with a predetermined answer.

In the original, Lee Han couldn’t locate the Cube and lost everything as he fought, eventually sacrificing himself.

When the time came to discard something, he did so without hesitation.

That was why Lee Han, who should have died long ago, stubbornly survived and fought against Abaddon.

But…

I am not someone used to throwing things away.

Unlike Lee Han, who bled and suffered as he lost his senses and eyesight,

I don’t want to fight Abaddon by tearing myself apart.

I’m selfishly clinging to my people.

I want to protect them, every single one.

I shook my head.

“No.”

Natalie looked up at me, biting her lower lip, as I spoke coldly.

I didn’t care if the whole world condemned me for this unreasonable decision.

“Don’t tell Adela.”

“Han Siha, I understand what you’re saying, but…”

“If this is what you’ve found, I’m not going with you. If you want to fight on your own, I won’t stop you. But one death will turn into many. Let me be clear, Castica will not be involved in this.”

Hiding it wouldn’t solve anything.

I knew what Natalie hadn’t said aloud.

Adela was perceptive and smart.

If Natalie and Yoon Haul could figure this out, Adela would too, eventually.

I feared that day.

That my secrets would become too obvious.

That’s why I avoided Adela and kept her in the most dangerous battlefields, so she wouldn’t have time to think of anything else.

It’s selfish.

It’s the wrong choice.

I will be condemned for it for the rest of my life.

I know all of this, and yet, I have to admit it now.

I don’t want to lose her.