Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Chapter 230

Start of the Semester (4)

If you head south along the great river running through the Haoya Plains, you’ll find the villages of the Black Cat Tribe and the Yoowa Tribe.

Since ancient times, there have been frequent clashes between the frog-like Yoowa Tribe and the land-dwelling Black Cat Tribe, leading to a longstanding enmity between the two. However, the explorer ‘Kaila’ knows of an incredible secret that exists between these two tribes.

And that is…

“Kihyaa, this is the taste!”

If you mix musk coffee grown by the Black Cat Tribe with black berries cultivated by the Yoowa Tribe to brew alcohol, you get an absolutely exquisite vodka.

“What a peculiar human.”

“Does that even taste good?”

The Black Cat Tribe villagers clicked their tongues as they watched Kaila, sprawled on the ground in broad daylight, drinking the muskberry vodka.

“Keh, it’s sad that you don’t appreciate this taste.”

Wanderer.

Or vagabond.

Or explorer.

Or homeless.

Or… time traveler.

She enjoyed wandering the world without a destination, but for some reason, she had been stuck in the Karakorun Mountain Range for a long time and couldn’t escape.

It had been decades since she last had a drink from another land.

Thanks to meeting some special girls with unique destinies, she was finally able to complete her ‘business’ in Karakorun, and she returned to the world, wandering the Haoya Plains and indulging in whatever alcohol she could find.

The Haoya Plains had an unusually high concentration of diverse tribes, and with so much alcohol culture developed amongst them, there were as many types of drinks as there were tribes, making it one of her favorite places.

‘Hmm, something feels a bit different from the last time I was here.’

There was a strange feeling that the cultures of the different tribes had almost merged into one. It was as if a powerful ruler had emerged and tied them all together into one group, but that didn’t really matter much to her.
T h i s w a s c o p i ed fr om k i ng m t l . or g

“As long as the booze tastes good, who cares!”

Returning to Haoya, Kaila wandered from place to place, enjoying strong, potent drinks all night long. She mainly frequented places that were known for their famous liquors or where she could brew her own.

With her bronze skin and cheerful demeanor, she would approach anyone first, throw around some lighthearted jokes, and easily make friends with the tribes, which was her unique method to enjoy free drinks without spending a penny in foreign lands.

About a week later.

T h i s w a s c o pi e d f r o m k i ng m tl .o r g
“Kehuh… ugh?”

As usual, after passing out drunk, Kaila woke up in the middle of the street, wiping the drool from her cheek as she sat up.

“Ugh, hangover.”

The pain felt like someone was hammering her skull. Kaila retched as she tried to stand up, only to realize that the place was totally unfamiliar to her.

It was a place she didn’t like at all.

She had the [Eyes that See the Past], allowing her to always see the ‘history that occurred in the past’ simultaneously.

Because of that, she tended to avoid places where bad incidents had occurred long ago.

In battlefields, countless scenes of death would unfold before her eyes, and in places where disasters had struck, the screams of people would echo in her ears. No one could endure such things with a clear mind.

“…Damn. I’m out of booze too.”

Whether her stomach was twisted from the hangover or not, she wanted to quickly get drunk again to maintain a hazy state.

She struggled to her feet and looked around.

It was a cold, deserted ruin with no sign of life. She wondered how she ended up here, even though she’d been drunk.

The city had been destroyed about half a year ago. Until then, it had been a lively place filled with joy and laughter.

Suddenly, one day.

The moment when the Mana Power Plant collapsed.

The scene of the power plant, which supplied magical energy to the city, exploding was vividly imprinted in Kaila’s eyes.

Even if she didn’t want to see it.

Even if she turned her head.

Even if she closed her eyes.

The remnants of the past kept tormenting Kaila.

“…Sigh.”

Kaila slumped back down, frowning at the nausea swirling in her head.
T h i s w a s c opi ed f r om ki ng mt l . o r g

‘The concentration of mana crystals in the air is thick… Is this place contaminated by a mana reactor?’

Mana emits beneficial energy to all living things when it exists in an intangible state.

But the moment it crystallizes, it instantly turns into a deadly wave that robs life.

‘It’s been about fifty years, yet the concentration is still like this…’

A regular human would have likely succumbed to mana poisoning just by entering this place, collapsing as they bled from every orifice.

If it’s this bad now, how horrifying must it have been back then?
T h i s w a s co p i e d f r om ki n g mt l . o r g

Kaila quickly walked through the ruins. She didn’t want to stay in such an unpleasant place any longer.
T hi s w a s c o p ie d f r o m k i ng mt l .or g

T h is was co p i e d f r o m ki ng m tl. o r g
However.

She had no choice but to stop when she saw the silhouette of someone blocking her path.

A man with gray hair tied back in a ponytail was staring at the ruins with indifferent eyes.

“It was a dreadful tragedy.”

Kaila instinctively pulled out a staff from her side and pointed it at him.

From the end of her staff, a silver chain dangled, and a pocket watch swayed back and forth.

The gray-haired man turned his empty gaze toward Kaila.

“A fragment of Silver Age November… Still wasting your time.”

His voice was heavy and cold, as if devoid of any soul.

Kaila swallowed dryly as she met his gray eyes. The pain of her hangover had long since vanished.

“Ha, time is always on my side. Is there really a need for someone as grand as one of the Twelve Divine Moons to supervise a mere fragment like me?”

The Twelve Divine Moons, Grey Sky October.

The man who could manipulate the spaces of the world… was perhaps the most alien being in existence.

Fear began to creep up, but Kaila boldly snapped at him.

“I heard you left Aether World, so what brings you back? Missed the mages, did you?”

“…A fragment of Silver Age November.”

“Why don’t you just call me Kaila?”

“Fine, Kaila.”

His gray eyes stared at Kaila, or rather, beyond her, at something else.

“What scene are you witnessing here?”

“What…”

Kaila frowned.

This man knew about her abilities.

So why was he asking such questions?

“Just… a horrifying scene.”

“You must be witnessing the tragedy from fifty years ago.”

“Is there anything else to see?”

When Kaila intentionally responded in an annoyed tone, Grey Sky October lowered his voice, as if chanting a spell.

“The tragedy from fifty years ago isn’t the only past. The moment you stumbled into this place drunk last night is also the past, and even the moment when a single weed struggles to take root in the cracks of this ruin is the past.”

“Why are you twisting simple facts into something so complicated?”
This wa s c o p i e d f r o m k i n gm t l . or g

“One hundred years ago.”

Kaila’s eyebrows twitched. She wondered what had happened one hundred years ago, aside from the tragedy fifty years ago, and tried to peer into that day’s scene.

“Two hundred years ago.”

“Five hundred years ago, and a thousand years ago.”

Grey Sky October stared into Kaila’s silver eyes as if piercing through them.

“The limit of the past you can witness is precisely up to that point.”

“Uh…”

He was right.
T h i s wa s c o p ie d f r o m ki n g m t l. o rg

Come to think of it, since inheriting the [Eyes that See the Past] from Silver Age November, she had never once tried to look into the past from a thousand years ago.

Because.

It was impossible.

But unwilling to be outdone by Grey Sky October, Kaila gritted her teeth and shouted.

“Of course, it’s obvious! The Twelve Divine Moons were born that day!”

“No. It’s not obvious. Even though you can manipulate time, why is there a limit… Have you never questioned that?”

I haven’t. I’ve never been happy about receiving this power, so I never thought deeply about it.

“That’s not all that important.”

“It is important. The fact that the limit of the past that Silver Age November can see is exactly nine hundred and ninety years ago.”

“Nine hundred and ninety years…”

“Yes.”

He was precisely accurate. The exact limit of Kaila’s vision into the past was indeed nine hundred and ninety years.

But…

Why was it nine hundred and ninety years, not an even thousand?

“What are you trying to say?”

As he kept inscribing thoughts she didn’t want to know into her mind, it started to become increasingly bothersome.

Such things, I could live without knowing.

I just want to find my happiness by drinking every day.

“Destiny has started to circulate. You should find your rightful place as well.”

“…You know that’s basically telling me to die, right?”

“Death is not the end.”

“This is ridiculous. It’s easy for you to say since you’re not the one dying.”

“You need to return to your rightful place.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere around Grey Sky October shifted drastically, and the bright blue sky and clouds were dyed entirely in gray, suffocating Kaila.

“Ugh…!”

“But this time… destiny doesn’t seem to comply easily.”

Grey Sky October approached Kaila, tilting his head as if her actions were truly displeasing or incomprehensible.

“What is it that drives you so?”

“W-What…!”

He looked up at the sky and quickly realized his mistake, retracting the grayness. Instantly, the weather returned to clear skies, but Kaila was already in no condition to recover.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s fortunate that Silver Age November is a coward. He even split his memories into fragments, hiding them so well that they can’t be found.”

T h i s w a s c o pi e d f r o m k i n g m tl . o r g
“Kuhuk, kuck!”

As Grey Sky October withdrew his power, Kaila collapsed powerlessly to the ground and coughed as she knelt.

Tears welled up, and her whole body trembled.

It was fear, beyond mere fear.

This… this was the sensation of prey facing imminent death.

‘Ah, is this the end for me?’

Kaila closed her eyes.

She thought she had finally escaped from the Karakorun Mountain Range and would now be free to travel, but…

She never expected to be stopped like this, right here.

‘Return to your rightful place and do what you are meant to do.’

As Grey Sky October clenched his fist in the air, Kaila’s body was sucked into the other side of space, disappearing completely.

Swish!!

He stared blankly at the spot where she had vanished, swallowing his parting words.

-…As it has always been.

Step!

Grey Sky October turned and began to slowly walk through the ruins.

Because of the foolish Silver Age November, he had always gone through such hardships, but he had always failed.

However, knowing he would fail, Grey Sky October repeated the same effort this time as well.

It was his duty and mission.

Having completed his task here perfectly, Grey Sky October crossed the boundary of space and thought to himself.

He had returned the fragment of Silver Age November to its original place, so now it was up to Silver Age November to find it and absorb it according to destiny.

…But, he was unaware.

T h i s wa s c op i e d f r om k i n g m t l . o r g
“Hmm, playing Go alone is no fun.”

That Silver Age November was acting completely contrary to Grey Sky October’s expectations.

Or more precisely.

“Seems like I should go play poker instead.”

Grey Sky October had no idea that Silver Age November was doing absolutely nothing at all.

Destiny is being twisted.

Little by little, gradually, but… dramatically, by some small existence.

End of Chapter