I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

Chapter 60 : Fiancée (2)

“A fiancée, you say?”

As I unconsciously asked back, Dang Hujeong smiled with her eyes crinkling as if she knew, and then said softly.

“You don’t have to be shy. I was worried because you were a bit stiff today, but at times like this, you have a surprisingly cute side.”

Cute, my foot. I don’t know what she’s talking about right now. I don’t know what she misunderstood, but in my confused state, I didn’t have the capacity to correct it.

‘Zhuge Cheonwu had a fiancée?’

It was a fact that I hadn’t noticed when I had investigated information related to the Zhuge family by word of mouth before.

“Dang Surin, that child seems to like you very much. Shall I lend a hand from my side?”

‘Dang Surin?’

It was a name I seemed to have heard somewhere. Considering the context of a fiancée who could be connected to the Five Great Families and the surname, the family would be the Sichuan Tang family.

“Ah.”

Then, a memory related to Dang Surin suddenly came to mind. She was one of the masters who became a conditional helper after receiving help during Baek Hasin’s trip to Sichuan.

She was a character who was not very memorable because her importance was small compared to her ability, and her capture was also close to impossible.

‘To think she was Zhuge Cheonwu’s fiancée…’

In that case, in the original work, Zhuge Cheonwu was crushed by Baek Hasin at the academy, expelled, and even lost his fiancée.

‘This is completely…’

Although there was no room for sympathy because of his usual scoundrel-like behavior, when I thought about it, it seemed to be a bad fate in many ways.

At first, I thought I had just entered a body that fit the setting. But on reflection, there were more things entangled with the protagonist than I thought.

“What’s wrong?”

As I was silent, Dang Hujeong’s side asked. Since I didn’t want to arouse unnecessary suspicion, I made a quick decision.

“No. It’s nothing. And you don’t have to worry about matters related to Dang Surin. It’s a matter between us.”

“Hoho, you have spirit. I interfered unnecessarily.”

Dang Hujeong stood up from her seat as if satisfied and gave a final glance this way.

“If you have any difficult or helpful matters, come and find me anytime.”

After I answered formally, I looked at her back as she leisurely left the sickroom.

And soon, with the closing door, a sigh escaped.

“This is crazy.”

An arranged marriage for me!

But to the extent that there wasn’t even a rumor, it was highly likely that it was a strategic relationship only between the families that was not revealed to the public.

In other words, it meant that it was difficult to know what kind of private relationship they had with each other. In the end, it meant that I had to continue the conversation by reading the situation, and just imagining it was a headache.

“And on top of that, it’s in two days. The timing is quite difficult.”

I looked at my two legs wrapped in bandages and then gently closed my two eyes. I could only hope that I would recover enough to get on a wheelchair by then.

‘And most of all, I hope I can get through it safely without my true nature being revealed.’

* * *

When the promised date came, I dragged my sick body to a large and beautiful lake on the back mountain of the main house.

Jam-eo Lake, a place with a deep history and belonging to a holy land, to the extent that there was a related legend within the family.

Originally, it was a place that was not easily opened not only to outsiders but also to family members who were not blood relatives, but whether there was an order from Dang Hujeong, this time it was specially set as a meeting place with Dang Surin.

It seemed Dang Surin hadn’t arrived yet. I decided to look around alone.

The wheelchair rolls along a well-paved stone path.

As I was feeling a calm feeling for the first time in a long time, the surrounding scenery felt much more delicate.

The gentle ripples of the lake where the faintly pouring sunlight softly broke. The quiet lakeside reflected beyond it.

And even a metal needle flying at high speed towards the nape of my neck.

Clang!

It would have been dangerous if I hadn’t activated the shield right away and deflected it.

Just as my body was about to react first, I felt a chilling sensation from behind my back.

Clang!

At this, when I swung the dagger I had kept in my bosom, a tingling sensation came back from my fingertips.

“You blocked this? Gaga! So it was true that you got the top student position?!”

A somewhat excited voice. What was there was a beauty with a cat-like face and neatly braided pigtails.

Circumstantially, there was only one person who could call herself by the Central Plains-style pet name of Gaga.

‘Dang Surin.’

She, who was standing with a long needle in her hand, was Zhuge Cheonwu’s fiancée.

“What is this?”

I asked back, gathering my mana.

No matter how I swung it from a sitting position, I had blocked a long needle with a dagger. And that too, very lightly.

“Huh? Isn’t something like this natural between us?”

What kind of crazy relationship was that?

“That’s ridiculous.”

I declared. There was no way Zhuge Cheonwu’s personality would just let something like this pass.

“Did you expect to get away with attacking a blood relative within the Zhuge family?”

I frowned and looked at Dang Surin.

“A woman from the Sichuan Tang family can demand that proof from her son-in-law who is marrying into her family. An assassination attempt is one of those methods. Of course, it’s an old tradition.”

“You’re crazy.”

To attempt an assassination on a fiancée who was tied between families. It was a matter that could have escalated into a war if it had gone wrong.

“Were you trying to kill me?”

“Of course not! It’s a misunderstanding, Gaga! It’s just a sleeping needle.”

She flicked her fingertips and shot a long needle at a toad that was by the lakeside. As its leg was pierced, the toad trembled and collapsed.

Although it was a chilling sight, in contrast, the toad’s breathing was calm.

“See? Huh?”

Dang Surin, whose eyes were sparkling as if seeking confirmation.

Come to think of it, she was a woman who was not in her right mind even when I played as Baek Hasin. She would throw a dagger at a first meeting. She would put poison in food, saying it was good for the body.

“What would you have done if I had been hit by the sleeping needle?”

“Then I would have taken care of you. Of course, I would have stopped before that. But you’re surprisingly kind today? Usually, you would flinch once and then just ignore me and walk away.”

He probably just ran away because he was scared. Considering the level of martial arts that Zhuge Cheonwu had in the past, it would have been a long time before he noticed.

‘This is why Zhuge Cheonwu can’t help but become even stranger.’

If his fiancée had this kind of personality, his already messed-up personality would become much more twisted.

“Phew.”

I let out a small sigh at the complicated feelings. I wanted to call the family’s escorts and have her arrested, but the problem was the relationship of a fiancée.

‘If that was really the meaning, then protesting in this situation would only make me look ridiculous.’

It was an arranged marriage at the level of the Five Great Families. As long as the family level wanted it, a dispute between the parties was not a problem. And most of all, wasn’t there the justification of the tradition of the Sichuan Tang family?

Although it was absurd, it was also the Central Plains where such customary parts played a large role.

‘Protesting with this would not get me, who is in the position of a son-in-law marrying into her family, anything.’

On the contrary, it was highly likely to interfere with my future plans.

‘Still, it’s not right to just let this pass.’

It seemed better to distance myself from Dang Surin on this occasion.

“Is it your side’s etiquette to ambush a patient?”

“Yes! But I didn’t do it to just anyone. It’s because it’s Gaga!”

She who answered with an innocent face. Although it was a behavior that showed goodwill, it was meaningless if the result was an ambush. A misplaced goodwill was sometimes dangerous.

Since there was nothing more to say, I answered with a cold voice.

“I’m going back.”

“…Were you offended?”

Only then did Dang Surin ask, as if checking this side’s mood. The fact that she hadn’t been aware until now was more surprising.

“Yes. If it’s not just once, but several times, it’s enough to get tired of it.”

“Tired of it?”

“…I’m pointing out your mistake.”

“Then, will you accept my apology if I apologize?”

Dang Surin’s voice coming back. At that, I stopped the wheelchair that was about to leave the lakeside. It was for a few reasons, but among them, the idea that suddenly came to mind was a big part of it.

“It depends on your sincerity. First… take out the long needle hidden in your sleeve.”

“Really?!”

A reaction as if she were happy. Dang Surin, who had approached before I knew it, grabbed the handle of the wheelchair right behind me and began to pull it.

‘Perhaps Dang Surin had a setting where she lacked the ability to empathize due to a childhood accident?’

I stopped Dang Surin, who was traversing the lakeside at her own pace, and said.

“If you’re from the Sichuan Tang family, you must know how to handle poison a bit, right?”

“Yes! Even Grandma Tang Man-dok-ui said that my skill in handling poison is top-notch. She said that if I only had the heart and righteousness, I had the aptitude to reach the level of a divine physician.”

Although it didn’t seem like it was all compliments, Dang Surin’s answer was surprising.

‘As expected, she was a disciple of Tang Man-dok-ui.’

Because she was a famous physician known as the Poison Physician and an authority who had mastered poison to the point of being one of the top in the Sichuan Tang family.

Looking at this alone, she met the qualifications, but the problem was reliability.

‘Can I trust her?’

According to the original work, the poison she gave was dangerous, but in the end, it helped with growth. She hardly ever used something like the Demonic Cult’s ancient poison.

But this was reality. A safety device was needed.

“I request a single pledge.”

Then, Dang Surin’s eyes grew round.

“How do you know that?”

“That’s not what’s important. Decide whether to accept it or not first.”

A shameless answer. But it was a matter that was difficult to answer clearly anyway. I couldn’t just say that it was a line that came out when Dang Surin’s favorability rose above a certain level during the play.

‘Strangely, even if I don’t remember the settings well, I remember the unique lines of the characters.’

So I could only hope that it would pass like this.

“…I see. What are the contents?”

For some reason, Dang Surin blushed and nodded her head.

She can’t consider others’ feelings much. That’s why the way she treats others is decided by individual contracts.

Among them, the one promise that Dang Surin had to keep for the person she had decided on in her heart was the single pledge.

“As a price for this rudeness, I demand support up to the realm of being immune to a hundred poisons. Of course, all the poison for resistance that will be given in the future must be done in a way that does not go against my will or harm me.”

If I had my way, I would have wanted to add other conditions, but this was just a proposal. It couldn’t be established if it didn’t suit her taste.

‘In fact, this is also quite an unreasonable request.’

“Okay!”

But Dang Surin accepted it surprisingly obediently.

“Hmm, it might not be bad to fill Gaga with my poison.”

Although the remark that was heard as if she were muttering was unsettling, it couldn’t be helped. At my level, it was difficult to find such a talent anywhere now.

‘It’s about time to start building up my poison resistance. When I was attacked by the Green Forest Eighteen Fortresses before, it was dangerous because there were also poison arrows mixed in.’

If I become an intermediate student as planned, the number of times I will face an opponent who uses poison will also increase. I had to prepare for that as well.

“To what extent is it possible while you are here?”

“Hmm, since it’s less than a week… about one type of poison? If you have the aptitude, you can even become immune to one poison!”

Although she answered brightly to my question, it was not comforting.

‘It’s not easy.’

I knew that poison resistance was not something that could be built up so easily.

I had no choice but to believe in the effect of [Transcendental Growth].

“By the way, why did you come here?”

After discussing the general direction, I asked Dang Surin a question I was curious about.

“I came to see Gaga.”

“Not you, there must be a reason why the family sent a group.”

At my words, Dang Surin pressed her lower lip with her index finger and fell into thought.

“Hmm, it seems there’s something going on in the Sichuan Tang family.”

“What is it?”

When I threw a question, Dang Surin came close to my ear and whispered. A secret footwork that didn’t even make a sound. A sweet scent wafted over.

“Does only Gaga have to know?”

“Yes.”

But the news that I heard after that was chilling.

“A war is going to break out in Sichuan soon.”

“What?”

(End of Chapter)