The Headmaster’s brows narrowed as he saw some faint glow appearing in the boy’s eyes.
Are his eyes glowing?
are they something special?
He immediately inspected the boy with his eyes form head to toes.
He kept staring down at the boy.
Then, his tense expression softened, and he smiled slightly.
“You have my deepest gratitude, boy.”
Shinazu blinked in utter confusion.
..What?
He…
he doesn’t know I have Dark Magic?
Shinazu’s thoughts darted briefly toward the silver bracelet on his right wrist but he didn’t look at it.
Is it because the Divine class is a tier below the Celestial class or is he pretending?
Shinazu was still skeptical.
And the headmaster was no different but still he couldn’t read the boy’s internal monologue, so he continued smoothly, “You pointed out a fatal mistake when many of us experienced mages failed completely to notice and I thank you for helping us uncover this catastrophic threat inside this academy.” He placed a heavy, reassuring hand on Shinazu’s shoulder.
Shinazu quickly composed himself, Even he is pretending…
I should keep my calm.
May be he actually doesn’t know!
He looked up and said “It wasn’t really a big deal,” Shinazu said quickly, trying his absolute best to minimize the attention on himself.
“I just had a strange, uncanny feeling, that’s all.”
The Headmaster shook his head firmly.
“And that uncanny feeling of yours saved countless lives tonight, young man.”
“Thanks then, Sometime I get a intuition when something bad is about to happen.” Shinazu scratched his cheek and smiled awkwardly at his acknowledgement, covering up himself.
Around Hana and Minato looked at the boy with newfound respect, the kid’s whining just prevented an absolute tragedy.
I used my Divine Sage Eyes to Appraise him, he doesn’t have any rare artifact or skill on him.
was it all just intuition?
The Headmaster let out a wide smile.
“What is your name, child?”
“Shinazu Tsukuyomi.”
He repeated the name quietly under his breath, as if permanently memorizing it.
“You are not going to tell anyone about tonight, are you?” Headmaster asked, looking down at Shinazu with narrowed, sharp eyes.
“Did something happen tonight?
I don’t remember anything at all,” Shinazu replied instantly, his face a mask of pure innocence.
The Headmaster let out a hearty laugh at the boy’s lightning-fast response, his gaze shifted over toward Minato.
“Surely, Minato you found an exceptional talent.”
Minato bowed slightly with a smile.
Meanwhile, Shinazu was dying internally.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Now the strongest man in the kingdom personally knows my name and my face and my plan for a quiet, peaceful academy life is already ruined before they even started.
With that, the headmaster turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
Is he just afraid or is he…
the headmaster smiled to himself as he walked away.
Shinazu still hadn’t figured out whether tonight had been incredibly lucky, or simply the beginning of a whole new set of dangerous problems.
Minato guided Shinazu out of the ruined space, his hand resting gently on the boy’s shoulder.
“Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?” he warned him again, his tone quiet and laced with genuine care.
Shinazu nodded, casting a final glance back at Room F-520, which was now completely drenched in the foul stench of human blood and burnt ash.
“I won’t.
But what about my room?
When are they going to clean it?”
“Oh, no, we won’t let you live in that cursed room, and we also need to inspect many other things.” Minato explained. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Then where am I supposed to stay now?” Shinazu looked up, his brow furrowing with sudden worry.
Minato looked slightly sheepish.
“Well, all the other incoming students have already been assigned their rooms.
That was actually the very last normal room left on the dorms that I managed to secure for you, so…”
“So?” Shinazu repeated.
Minato looked entirely lost for a second, his mind racing for a solution.
Then, a sudden spark of realization lit up his face.
“Ah!
Don’t worry.
I have just thought of a much better place for you.” He grinned, leaning down slightly.
“It’s even bigger than this one.”
Shinazu blinked, skeptical but curious.
“Really?”
Minato nodded with a reassuring smile.
“Follow me.”
Minato led Shinazu outside to guide him toward his new accommodations.
As they walked through the quiet pathways, Shinazu remained unusually silent.
The horrific image of the blood-filled box refused to leave his mind, burning itself into his memory.
Eventually, he spoke.
“Minato-sensei.”
“Hmm?”
“Are all Dark Mages like that?”
The professor slowed his steps, tilting his head slightly to look down at the boy.
Shinazu lowered his gaze to the stone path.
“Those people…” His voice became quieter, laced with a lingering dread.
“The Headmaster looked like he truly hated them.
The professors too.
The things inside that box…” He hesitated for a brief second before forcing the words out.
“Are all of them so cruel and evil?”
Minato became entirely silent for several moments, only the rustling sound of the wind through the courtyard trees accompanied them.
Then, he let out a long, heavy sigh.
“That question has no easy answer, Shinazu.”
Shinazu looked up, searching his face.
“The world hates Dark Magic,” Minato explained, his expression turning deeply serious.
“And with good reason…
unlike Fire or Lightning, Dark Magic rarely manifests through straightforward destruction.
It is deceptive, insidious, and cunning and excels at concealment, manipulation, forbidden curses, illusions, and corrupting the very minds of others.”
“The greatest tragedies in human history have almost always involved Dark Mages at the core.”
Shinazu quietly listened, his chest tightening with every word.
Minato continued, his voice calm yet grim.
“Entire cities have vanished off the map, Kings have been assassinated, children sacrificed, and families cursed for generations.
Mass poisonings, widespread slavery, horrific torture, genocide, human experiments…
every single horror humanity can possibly imagine has been brought to life by their hands.”
Shinazu felt as if his blood turning to ice.
“And because of that history, people firmly believe that anyone who awakens Dark Magic will eventually be corrupted, believing that they will lose themselves entirely, become insane, and inevitably walk the path of pure evil.”
That’s all just false pretense.
I have seen a lot other element mages being insanely cruel.
They just fear of being weaker than Dark Mages so they uproot them before they even walk a step…
Shinazu thought remembering his own death chase.
Shinazu then looked up, “And you?” he asked, “Do you also believe that everyone with dark magic is evil?”
Minato stopped walking completely. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
He looked up toward the vast sea of stars glittering above them, and a faint, unreadable smile appeared on his lips.
“I have seen quite a number of fire mages who are very hot-headed, while some being very calm and collected.
Some are very kind, healing people without them asking, while others being very selfish, demanding money even for healing a scratch.”
“And I have seen quite a share of every other type of mage around the world.
Same element but different-different personalities.” Minato said, turning his head to look directly at the boy.
“So I firmly believe that people themselves are ultimately responsible for their own choices.
Not their magic elements.”
Shinazu’s eyes filled with inspiration.
“Sensei, you are very wise!” He muttered.
Minato chuckled softly, the heavy tension breaking slightly.
“Though I suppose history has given humanity many valid reasons to be afraid.” He resumed walking down the path, his hands tucked casually into his robes.
“But fear and hatred aren’t always the exact same thing.
And history…” His smile turned slightly bitter.
“…is rarely as simple as the texts make it sound.”
Shinazu quietly followed behind him, his heart heavy, but the realization that Minato was not discriminatory and did not think ‘All Dark Mages are evil’ somehow brought him an overwhelming sense of comfort.
Minato stopped walking.
“Well, here we are.”
Shinazu snapped out of his thoughts, looking around they reached far end corner of the academy ground and no one was visible or heard in distance expect of wind waves.
He saw absolutely nothing nearby, just some trees and bushes.
“Where?
I don’t see anything.”
Suddenly a hand pushed him through the bush.
As Minato pushed him through the dense bushes, Shinazu lost his footing and tumbling hard on the dirt.
Darkness surrounded him completely.
“Why did you push me?” He asked though with calm tone.
After brushing the loose dirt and leaves off his fine clothes, he looked up and froze.
An old wooden shack stood quietly in the deep darkness, looking thoroughly weathered and abandoned under the moonlight.
His movements halted as if struck by a sudden bolt of lightning.
“Minato-sensei…” Shinazu pointed a trembling finger at the dilapidated structure.
“Is this the bigger place you were talking about?”
Silence.
“…Minato-sensei?” Shinazu turned around sharply.
Nothing.
Minato had already completely disappeared into the night with only an old brass key and a small leather pouch remained resting on the grass.
Shinazu’s eye twitched in pure disbelief.
“Dammit!
He totally duped me!” He threw his hands up in the air.
“I shouldn’t have reported that cursed box!
This is completely unfair!”
Unable to contain his annoyance, Shinazu threw himself onto the grass and began rolling around dramatically, throwing a full-blown tantrum like a frustrated child.
After two whole minutes of venting to trees and bushes, he finally accepted his bleak reality as no one was listening to him.
He reached down and picked up the brass key and inspected it closely, noting that this time, it wasn’t a high-grade magical key laced with glowing runes, it was just a completely normal, mundane lock key.
“Guess this is what they call falling from the sky,” he said bitterly.
Then, he picked up the leather pouch.
Clink.
It felt surprisingly heavy in his palm.
Curious, he immediately pulled the strings open and peered inside, his eyes widening.
“Clinks…” he whispered.
“One hundred clinks…
” his jaw dropped.