I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 85

The market in Sky Flower Cradle was not much different from a market in a human city. There were slight differences in the items being sold, but for the most part, it was more or less the same. Yet, unlike the sprawling, web-like alleyways found in most markets, Sky Flower Cradle’s paths stretched out like slender vines, weaving vertically and horizontally. 

Upon entering, rows of elf weavers displayed handmade blankets and clothes, their delicate craftsmanship evident in every stitch. Across from them, a bustling food alley tempted visitors with savory snacks… rice cakes and fish cakes.

Hyejin Macaron, the deputy leader of the 13th Extermination Squad, didn't find any charm in the scene.

"Ugh, it's hot and humid. Squad Leader, can we just leave?"

“Seriously, what’s so fascinating about the fish market? Why are you staring at them like that?”

Her complaints poured out, but Kaen, her squad leader, remained silent, watching the fish swim in their tanks with unshakable focus.

"Ugh..."

Resigned, Hyejin planted her hands on her hips and glanced around. Once Kaen got like this, there was no snapping him out of it anytime soon.

"This place is so annoying, seriously."

She disliked elves. More precisely, she disliked all pointy-eared fairy folk.

Lingering in their market felt both suffocating and irritating, but duty bound her to endure it.

"Why did Tower Master send us here when it's not even certain that Professor Maizen is here?"

Their mission was to track Maizen, a professor suspected of falling into the clutches of dark magic. Rumors claimed she had secluded herself in Sky Flower Cradle, where first-year students were currently undergoing field training. It didn’t make sense, though. Maizen had reportedly cut off all external activities and was acting under orders from Stella Academy. So how had she managed to slip away and end up here?

"I just can't understand it."

Leaving Kaen, who was absentmindedly observing the fishes, Hyejin walked through the market streets alone. There was little to buy and even less to see, but boredom drove her forward.

"Huh? Wait… that kid looks familiar.”

While leisurely strolling through the streets, she unexpectedly came across a familiar face. It was the co-author from Stella who appeared during the presentation of the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique.

“Baek Yu-Seol, wasn’t it?”

She didn’t recall his name because of his academic achievements. No, he’d just struck her as an amusing, somewhat endearing character. Most Stella students came to Sky Flower Cradle for the high-end attractions, yet here he was, poking around the marketplace like a commoner.

"Oh my, student. Take a look at these."

As she was thinking, an old woman wearing worn-out clothes grabbed the hem of Baek Yu-Seol’s coat. Her wares, vegetables and greens, were spread out on a worn mat, and beside her sat a frail little girl with hollow cheeks, the unmistakable look of hunger haunting her eyes.

"Sure."

Baek Yu-Seol crouched down and began inspecting the vegetables with deliberate care. Hyejin’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Students from Stella Academy, whether common-born or noble, tended to carry themselves with an air of superiority. After all, Stella admitted only those with the most extraordinary talents, and arrogance often came with the territory.

‘Guess not all of them are insufferable brats.’

Hyejin never graduated from an academy. Her disdain for academy-trained mages stemmed from their overinflated egos and relentless boasting about their so-called talents.

"Hm..."

Curiosity piqued, she stepped closer to Baek Yu-Seol and glanced over the vegetables spread out before him.

Even if they were elven vegetables, the wares weren’t anything special.  It reminded her of the roadside stalls in human towns… ordinary and unremarkable.

There were a lot left. It seemed like business hadn’t been going well.

Yet, something caught her eye.

"Huh? Is that...?"

Among the heaps of wilted greens and vegetables, there it was… a fairy spinach. Despite its humble name, the herb was anything but ordinary. In the world of alchemy, it rivaled the value of a 100-year-old wild ginseng… or perhaps even rarer specimens like a 500-year-old root.

‘I have to get it.’

Hyejin gulped and waited.  Baek Yu-Seol had already picked it up, turning it over in his hands as if inspecting it.

But it was fine.

Identifying fairy spinach wasn’t something just anyone could do. It required the ability to sense mana, sharp observational skills, and extensive botanical knowledge. A 17-year-old student like him couldn’t possibly recognize it for what it was. In fact, she was confident no one in this entire market would.

It would sit there, overlooked and neglected.

‘If I buy it at a low price and sell it at a high price...’

Hyejin’s mind was filled with a bundle of swirling fantasies, but at that moment... 

“Where did you find this, ma’am?”

“Hm? Oh, I dug it up from my garden. It looked unusual, so I brought it here.”

"Please don’t sell this."

"Hmm?"

"It's an incredibly valuable herb. You would need an appraiser to determine its true worth, but..."

Reaching into his pocket, Baek Yu-Seol pulled out a sheet of paper. He quickly scrawled something on it and set it beside the fairy spinach.

Hyejin’s eyes widened, her heartbeat quickening.

’What is this? Could it be...?’

Confirming Hyejin’s anticipation, Baek Yu-Seol took out a magic stamp from his pocket and stamped it.

“This is a certificate of alchemical quality assurance. If you take this to the Alchemical Sky Flower branch - it should be up above - they’ll evaluate it properly. With this, you won’t have to worry about food for quite some time.”

"Oh my... Are you serious?”

"Yes."

Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket again and pulled out a candy. Offering it to the little girl along with the fairy spinach, he bent down and smiled.

"Kid, no matter who asks for it, you must never give it away. Soon, alchemists will come looking for it, and if you sell it to them, you can buy as many toys as you want."

“Really? Can I even buy rice?”

"Huh? Yeah... You’d be able to eat rice too."

"Wow..."

"Enjoy the candy."

"Okay."

"I'll buy some other vegetables."

With that, Baek Yu-Seol picked up a few vegetables that he wouldn't use, put them in a bag, paid a few coins, and disappeared. 

Hyejin stood there, staring after him with an expression caught somewhere between disbelief and irritation.

‘What's with him...?’

A quality assurance certificate. There was no way it would be attached to ordinary spinach, so Baek Yu-Sell must have recognized it as fairy spinach without a doubt.

‘But how?’

Sure, an herb enthusiast might have heard of fairy spinach. But even then, identifying it was no simple feat. Not without special tools or an in-depth inspection.

After all, there was a reason behind the existence of Alchemical Sky Flower, the magical herb identification office.

Unless someone possessed rare abilities like Hyejin herself, combined with years of study and experience, distinguishing fairy spinach by sight alone was practically impossible.

‘So… he’s even stranger than I thought?’

She already knew there was something unusual about him. After all, he was the co-author of that groundbreaking paper on the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique. But she’d assumed that was the extent of it.

Now, though, it felt like there was more… something deeper, something hidden.

‘Still... wasn’t that just plain stupid? Giving it away like that?’

He could’ve bought the fairy spinach for next to nothing and sold it for an astronomical price.

‘Hmph, I can buy it before they go to Alchemical Sky Flower anyway.’

As Baek Yu-Seol disappeared into the distance, Hyejin sat down in front of the child with a cheerful smile to buy fairy spinach at a low price.

However, her hand suddenly stopped.

"Grandma, can we have rice today?"

"Huhuh, of course. Your grandma will definitely buy it for you."

"Wow, really?"

"Of course, of course."

Their words made her hand freeze.

The innocent hope in their voices - so simple, so sincere - stabbed at her conscience like a dagger.

‘Damn it!’

‘Why did that damn Stella kid have to say something like that?’

If Baek Yu-Seol had just kept quiet, tricked the old woman, and bought it himself, she wouldn’t have hesitated to outmaneuver him. Heck, she might’ve even snatched it right out of his hands.

"Ugh..."

"What's the matter?"

“Huh? Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! I was just admiring how fresh these cabbage leaves are! They must’ve soaked up all kinds of good nutrients!”

"Uh huh."

In the end, without even touching the fairy spinach, Hyejin ended up buying useless cabbage.

"Ugh... I'm really unlucky!"

Holding a black bag close to her chest, Hyejin was in deep thought when Kaen approached her and asked, "Hyejin, what's that?"

"Oh, it's a souvenir."

“A souvenir? Your taste has become... unique. We’re moving out immediately. I sensed a disturbance nearby.”

"Huh? A disturbance?" 

Kaen’s expression stiffened as he pulled out his staff.

"It's a mission."

The shift in tone snapped Hyejin out of her idle thoughts. She quickly pulled out her staff, her expression sharpening.

Though she had been quietly enjoying the market scene just moments ago, duty now demanded her full attention. Carefully, she set the cabbage bag aside in a corner and gripped her staff firmly.

Suddenly, a shimmering staircase appeared in the air, lifting Kaen and Hyejin high up into the sky.

People called it the ‘White Castle,’ referring to the elf king's palace.

Built entirely from alabaster trees, the castle gleamed with an ethereal glow. The trees’ pure white bark was said to be harder than stone and yet lighter than air. Even the smallest branch of an alabaster tree was worth a fortune, making the palace’s construction seem almost fantastical.

To scholars of magic, the White Castle was a marvel… an architectural and magical masterpiece only elves could have conceived. Practical-minded mages often lamented the inefficiency of using such precious materials for decoration, yet anyone who beheld the White Castle would understand its undeniable grandeur.

Its spires pierced the heavens, resembling crystalline towers. At night, it shimmered like a celestial star, as if it belonged not to the earth but to the heavens themselves.

On the day of the World Tree’s Birth, the elf king emerged from the White Castle and made a ceremonial descent. Spiraling down the world tree’s stem, she would pass through the Sky Flower Cradle until reaching the Eternal Waterfall, before ascending once more.

The spectacle could be witnessed from anywhere in the city, as the king’s procession followed the massive stem of the world tree that stood at the heart of Sky Flower Cradle.

"Long time no see..."

Emerging from the White Castle, Elf King Florin carefully raised her head, ensuring her mask remained in place.

"The king has revealed herself!"

Following someone's exclamation, overwhelming gazes that seemed capable of piercing through the tightly wrapped dress could be felt. Many fairies, humans, dwarves, elves, spirits, and other races had gathered in the Sky Flower Cradle to witness the World Tree’s Birth festival. There were more individuals present than usual. It was almost suffocating, but she managed to endure it.

Because she was the king. Because it was her duty.

Step by step, as she walked toward the stem, daffodils bloomed in her footsteps as if announcing the arrival of spring. With each step she took, different flowers bloomed, as if keeping watch over her steps.

This was the day when the king conveyed the will of the fairies to the world tree on their behalf.

Whoosh…

The wind blew.

Suddenly, heads turned upward as a vast shadow stretched across the sky.

"What is this?!"

"Ugh..."

Golden branches unfurled above them, spreading out like an endless canopy embracing the heavens. It was the world tree’s response to the elven king’s presence.

Florin did nothing but walk… gracefully descending in a spiral along the world tree’s trunk.

That was enough. Her mere steps conveyed the collective prayers and wishes of elves, fairies, spirits, and druids to the world tree. 

As Florin slowly started to walk, it felt as if someone plucked a star from the sky and the sun was clutched in her hand, scattering into a brilliant display of iridescent colors as they fell into the world. The elves kneeled and prayed upon witnessing this spectacle, hoping that their wishes would reach the world tree.

The other races could do nothing but watch. Enchanted by Florin’s movements which looked graceful as if she were walking on clouds, they looked on with bated breath.

It was in moments like this that language, no matter how refined, felt woefully inadequate.

Intelligent beings often prided themselves on their ability to describe the world around them, yet faced with something so wondrous, their words crumbled into insignificance. Perhaps everyone present shared that same humbling realization.

Boom! Thud!

As the iridescent blossoms bloomed throughout the world tree, changes began to unfold in the entire city of Sky Flower Cradle. It started with tiny buildings hanging like fruits from the branches and flowers that bloomed in all directions. Far away, an amusement park sprouted in a garden as tall towers were erected, bridges were built, and roofs were adorned. According to the whims of the elves, the world tree nurtured its territory.

Florin walked down for a long time until she reached the Eternal Waterfall located at the very bottom. Having come this far, she had already completed half of her journey.

The rest was simply retracing the path she originally took.

With that thought in mind, she crossed the bridge connecting to the Eternal Waterfall and gracefully stepped on the upward-spiraling trunk.

'This is...'

Suddenly, she detected a faint sinister energy. It was, without a doubt, dark magic. Florin turned her head slightly to look at the elite elven warriors accompanying her for protection. They possessed excellent magical abilities, but unfortunately, they seemed unable to detect this dark magic. She couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, realizing that she was possibly the only one there who could sense the dark magic.

During the World Tree's Birth, the elven king could not utter a word.

At that moment, the elven king had to be the bridge that connected the world tree and its people. If she were to intervene and express her intentions, everything would fall apart.

Yet, it was not acceptable to simply let the intruder, the dark mage, invade Sky Flower Cradle. A powerful dark mage would have been noticed long ago, but this dark magic was mysteriously discreet, and no one had detected it.

‘An extraordinary dark mage has infiltrated our territory.’

She needed to inform someone about this fact. But how?

‘It’s impossible. At least until the end of the festival.’

Bound by duty, her only choice was to endure the rest of the ritual and investigate afterward.

But even as she resumed her steps, her heart pounded with quiet urgency.