The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 200

For now, forget about the cube and everything else; I really needed to handle this bombshell of a prediction.

No marriage luck, but plenty of children’s luck?

Is this really my life?

“Cough… cough.”

The tea I was drinking went down the wrong way, and I started coughing.

No, I almost choked just now.

Wait, did I really hear that right…?

What the heck is going on?

With a bitter expression, I asked again.

“I don’t have marriage luck…?”

“Yeah, every time you try, it falls apart. It already fell apart once, right?”

“Oh… yeah, that’s true…”

She’s already got everything right, so now I’m really nervous about what she’ll say next!

I hesitantly opened my mouth, trying to think positively.

You know, I’d heard somewhere that big fortunes like these have lots of interpretations.

“I work in a profession where I raise things. Maybe that’s also considered part of the children’s luck?”

“Oh, you mean that reptile-looking thing next to you?”

“Yes, yes.”

“That counts as children’s luck too.”

Phew…

Only then did I feel a bit of relief.

The old woman tilted her head, looking at me like she didn’t see what the problem was. Meanwhile, I was on the verge of exploding inside.

Couldn’t she have said that from the start? She scared the hell out of me!

“Basilus counts as children’s luck too?”

“So your marriage luck is really nonexistent?”

“Oh… hang in there…”

Yoon Haul looked at me with pity, while Adela clicked her tongue and casually threw in her usual sharp remarks.

Okay, so the children’s luck thing is somewhat resolved.

But what’s up with my marriage luck?!

“I really have none?”

“Not even a bit.”

“That can’t be right. Am I going to die young or something?”

“…You want to know about your lifespan now? That’s an extra charge.”

“Ah, it’s fine, just tell me.”

Jingle-jingle.

The old woman shook a rattle and then paused with a serious look.

If my marriage luck is already in the dumps, what else could I possibly lose? But dying young… that’s a big problem.

I anxiously waited for her words.

Finally, in her rough voice, she spoke.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die young.”

“…Really?”

“You’ll probably live a few hundred years.”

“What?”

“You’re going to live disgustingly long.”

Cough.

I choked on air again.

Yoon Haul turned to me, looking completely bewildered, but I was just as shocked.

Even adding up my past lives, a few hundred years didn’t quite make sense.

“Wait, what are you talking about…?”

“It’s done. Next person.”

How can a human live for hundreds of years?

No, more importantly—

“Are you saying I’ll be single for hundreds of years? That’s impossible.”

“For you, it’s possible.”

“…What’s wrong with me!”

In the end, Adela dragged me outside by my arm.

Since Yoon Haul was up next, I couldn’t even ask further questions.

Adela, looking exasperated, asked.

“Are you a dragon?”

“I’m human!”

“You’re going to live hundreds of years. Are you a turtle?”

“Who lives that long? Do I look like I can? It makes no sense.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

From start to finish, she was way too accurate, and it was genuinely unsettling.

But at the end of the day, she’s just a scammer.

She just threw out plausible words that sounded good, and I’d just have to rationalize it that way.

Come on, it’s not like a small-town fortune teller could predict the distant future better than Yoon Haul, who couldn’t even see it!

Usually, you just keep the good stuff and ignore the bad.

Sighing, I calmed my nerves with some cold water.

“It’s all nonsense.”

Except for one thing.

“No way I’m going to be unlucky in love.”

I’m not spending hundreds of years alone!

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the merchant guild, Elisa chuckled as she returned from dropping off Han Siha’s group at the fortune-teller’s shop.

“I practically spoon-fed them. The kid should be able to pick up on it, right?”

Elisa didn’t know that Yoon Haul was a promising young prophet; she just thought the fiery red-haired girl was a spirited and unique kid.

Didn’t she say she liked the young man who came with her?

“He’s a bit older, but my girl’s too good for him.”

But since she wanted it, Elisa decided to push her toward it. She had recommended seeing their compatibility along with their love fortunes.

Little did she know that they’d actually just sit there and seriously get their fortunes read.

Elisa then turned her attention to checking the delivery inventory list.

This task was usually handled by the Freed Merchant Guild, but Elisa, being thorough, preferred to see things with her own eyes.

The food supplies had already been delivered in the morning.

“Wheat stocks are in order… let’s see.”

The most important item was still missing.

The reason Elisa was there, the product that required the most manpower from the Freed Merchant Guild.

She checked the last entry on the delivery list—high-value, heavy minerals—and her face darkened.

“What?”

Something was wrong.

She frowned and double-checked the list.

“What the hell?”

Every Friday.

The day they received weekly deliveries.

The items that were supposed to be there were missing.

“What is going on?”

Without realizing it, Elisa let out a near-hysterical scream.

Even after seeing it once, no, even after seeing it several times,

It was clear that it hadn’t gone through.

“Aaaah! It’s ruined!”

Elisa jumped up with a crumpled face and stormed out.

* * *

The Odryse Mountain Range, far from the capital of the Ardel Empire.

Unlike the places he had lived before, this desolate village didn’t particularly appeal to him, but it was a rather good place to live quietly on his own.

The villagers showed no interest in their neighbors.

Perhaps because of the busy work of the merchants, they simply minded their own business.

No one ever approached the outsider to strike up a conversation.

Lonely, but comfortable.

Han Si-hyuk was looking out the window of his secluded mansion.

Then it happened.

Tap, tap.

Sepia, with her long hair, walked toward him in heels.

A cheerful voice tickled Han Si-hyuk’s ears.

“How’s your health?”

Always smiling brightly, radiating confidence.

She had appeared like a noble benefactor, providing him with a mansion to rest in.

Without much explanation, just saying that he was going away for recuperation, Sepia treated him sincerely as if it were her own matter.

And since coming here, Han Si-hyuk has gone berserk twice more.

The moment he realized his condition was deteriorating, he crawled into the forest, luckily resolving the issue without Sepia finding out.

He had made some excuse about having a cold, and perhaps remembering that, Sepia brought back a stock of medicine every time she went to the market.

Sepia shook a cloudy potion in her hand and handed it to Han Si-hyuk.

“Take it three times a day, after meals. You’re not at the age where I have to feed you, right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Thud.

Han Si-hyuk carefully took the potion Sepia tossed to him and nodded.

He had expected to be wanted as a dark mage the moment he left the Empire.

But it seemed Han-taesu thought his goal was accomplished just by Han Si-hyuk’s disappearance.

The fact that Han Si-hyuk was a dark mage had not yet been made public.

It was evident in the way Sepia looked at him without prejudice.

It was a relief.

She was such a good person; he didn’t want to see her get hurt.

She even took care of a total stranger like him with such sincerity…

‘This potion is useless anyway.’

It was a fake illness; whatever effect it had was meaningless.

Han Si-hyuk, about to pretend to take the potion and spill it, hesitated at Sepia’s cheerful remark.

“Take it here.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a feeling you’ll spill it all once I leave, right?”

“….”

“Quite perceptive, aren’t I?”

“Your foresight is better than that of a prophet. I didn’t expect this much.”

It wasn’t a joke, but Sepia smiled bashfully.

Han Si-hyuk glanced down at the potion in his hand with a reluctant expression.

Han Si-hyuk, who meticulously managed his surroundings almost obsessively, was equally serious about his own health.

He was deliberating whether it was okay to take this potion when he wasn’t even sick.

Sepia urged him.

“It’s not just for colds; it’s also good for muscle pain. Mages carry it around to replenish their strength… anyway, it’s expensive, you know?”

“I have no use for magic, so… oh.”

Grumbling as he spoke, Han Si-hyuk swallowed his words.

After his recent outburst, he had unwittingly depleted all the magic power within him, resulting in days of muscle pain.

He had a fragile constitution, and there was a moment when he wondered if he might faint from it.

He wasn’t a mage, but if Sepia’s words were true, this potion might indeed help.

Sepia added with a bright smile.

“This potion also provides immunity against curses.”

“You should just advertise it as a panacea.”

“Pretty close! So if you drink it….”

Han Si-hyuk reluctantly nodded and opened the potion’s lid.

The potion gave off a subtle fruity scent.

“It should also help with the hallucinations.”

“Yes, thank you….”

Han Si-hyuk’s hand, which was about to drink the potion, froze in place.

The typically indifferent Han Si-hyuk’s expression stiffened slightly.

“What?”

“It should help with your hallucinations, too.”

“No, how do you know I see hallucinations?”

Han Si-hyuk immediately set the potion down.

Sepia looked up at him with a faint smile on her lips.

It was the same smile as before, but Han Si-hyuk read a different meaning in it.

With a face gone cold, Han Si-hyuk met her gaze.

“No wonder.”

“What kind of prophet is so oblivious?”

A mage like Sepia would certainly know about the berserk incidents that had occurred nearby.

There was no way she hadn’t noticed his clumsy excuses that had repeated twice.

He had wondered why she had said nothing.

Han Si-hyuk looked at Sepia as if incredulous.

“…Who are you?”

Sepia shrugged her shoulders and smiled bashfully.

“Does anyone like what you think?”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“Oh dear, I was being serious.”

“Did you quit the Magic Bureau out of some conscience?”

“No way, I don’t have any conscience!”

Bold to a fault.

Han Si-hyuk let out a hollow laugh and spoke.

What could a mage like Sepia be missing out on?

She was the former head of the Magic Bureau, who could have had power and wealth in her grasp.

It was a situation that could only make him scoff.

“Isn’t the Empire completely rotten?”

“I think it’s a better change.”

There was not a hint of hesitation in her expression.

She was always cracking jokes with a mischievous smile, but those words held her conviction.

And, as always, Han Si-hyuk knew the future of those who lived with such convictions.

Perhaps because of the potion’s taste, a bitter flavor lingered on his lips.

Han Si-hyuk grabbed the potion on the table and gulped it down.

An action uncharacteristic of Han Si-hyuk, who valued decorum.

Sepia watched him intently, as if she found him fascinating.

And then,

“Oh! I need to check on something for a delivery nearby. I’ll be back!”

She dashed out with a bright smile, as she always did.