The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 192

Han Taesu had given Han Si-hyuk a week.

It was a short time, but considering Han Taesu’s position, it was the most lenient he could be.

At the very least, it allowed Han Si-hyuk to put his affairs in order and say his goodbyes.

Clang—

The doorbell chimed as Han Siha peeked his head in.

At that moment, Han Si-hyuk was carefully packing his few belongings into a large wooden box.

Normally, Han Siha would be here to prepare for his administrative assistant duties over the break, but today, he was about to deliver some unpleasant news.

“What’s going on?”

Han Siha asked with a puzzled look on his face, but Han Si-hyuk found it hard to answer.

They might never see each other again.

He had called Han Siha here because it didn’t feel right to leave without saying anything, but now that they were face to face, the words wouldn’t come out.

Where should he even begin?

“….”

Han Si-hyuk stared at Han Siha with a hardened expression.

Unable to decipher the look on his face, Han Siha scowled in annoyance.

“What’s with that creepy, wistful expression?”

“…It’s nothing.”

With a sigh, Han Si-hyuk resumed packing his belongings.

Anyone could see he was preparing to leave.

Han Siha, watching from the side with his hands in his pockets, spoke up.

“Did your thesis get rejected again?”

Tsk.

Han Siha clicked his tongue when he didn’t get a response.

“Or did your girlfriend dump you? Oh wait, you never had one. Sorry.”

Bastard.

Han Si-hyuk nearly cursed at him but held back.

“If not that… Did you get fired from your professor job?”

“….”

“No way, did you actually get fired?”

“It’s none of that. I’m going away for research. I’ve been assigned to a special dispatch under the Ministry of Magic.”

Han Si-hyuk sighed, his words trailing off.

“I’ll be gone for… quite some time.”

It would be the last time seeing this annoying brat, but that didn’t bring him any comfort.

Perhaps the old saying that fighting breeds affection wasn’t completely wrong.

He had once hated Han Siha enough to want to kill him, but not anymore.

Han Si-hyuk recalled the words Han Taesu had told him.

‘I never thought of you as my son, but maybe… you were.’

He thought the same about Han Siha.

He had never truly considered him a brother, but maybe… he was.

So, he had decided to say goodbye.

Even though they wouldn’t see each other for a long time.

They had spent years resenting each other, so maybe they would cross paths again, someday.

Han Si-hyuk shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

He then spoke more curtly, most of it sounding like nagging from a professor.

“Just because I’m gone, don’t think you can skip classes all the time.”

“Ha.”

“And treat my administrative assistant well. There’s no one as smart and diligent as that kid.”

He couldn’t help but give a special mention to Adela, the assistant who had grown on him.

Also,

“The Smartphone was impressive. You actually do have some talent.”

“I’ve heard more often that there’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Stop being so arrogant. That’s why you keep failing.”

Han Siha frowned at Han Si-hyuk’s words.

He looked like he wanted to say something back, but since Han Si-hyuk would be leaving for a while, he held back.

“Can’t you ever say anything nice?”

“Be grateful I’m not cursing you out.”

Han Siha grumbled.

“Fine, whatever. But if you’re going, make sure you leave your office neat and tidy.”

“I will.”

“And don’t leave any traces.”

“I’m better at this than you. You don’t need to spell it out.”

It was hard to say how long he’d be gone, so perhaps he was being so carefree because he wasn’t fully aware of the situation.

But it was this normalcy that made Han Si-hyuk feel reassured.

If they exchanged grand, sentimental farewells, it would feel too final.

For some reason, Han Siha’s nagging didn’t bother him this time.

“Got it!”

“I said, I got it!”

Even as he finished packing, Han Siha’s nagging continued, and Han Si-hyuk, as always, countered every word.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Han Siha finally left, saying he was heading back to the dorm.

The day grew darker.

Han Si-hyuk was finally left alone in the investigation office.

“Hoo…”

Looking up at the setting sun, Han Si-hyuk pulled out his resignation letter from his coat.

The time he spent at the Academy had been relatively peaceful, but now it was time to say goodbye to those days.

Han Si-hyuk murmured to himself without realizing it.

“I’ll miss this.”

He would miss many people.

As he thought of the students he had taught, he whispered their names to himself.

Adela, the sharp-witted and diligent assistant.

Yoon Haul, the genius prophet who played a significant role in the creation of the Smartphone.

Won, Lee Han, Seymour, who had been close to Han Siha. And the others.

Their faces flashed through his mind, each leaving him with a lingering sense of attachment.

Staying any longer would be dangerous.

He might never be able to leave.

Han Si-hyuk resolved to leave while he was still determined.

Just as he finished his preparations to leave, he suddenly remembered.

The sight of Han Siha’s back as he left the investigation office.

And the words he had said, almost like a scolding.

‘If you’re going, make sure you leave your office neat and tidy.’

Han Si-hyuk paused, replaying Han Siha’s words in his mind.

“Leave the office… tidy.”

What kind of expression had Han Siha had when he said that?

And what was the next thing he said?

‘And don’t leave any traces.’

Han Si-hyuk’s face twisted as he realized.

“Oh.”

Could it be?

Could it be that those words he brushed off as nothing had a deeper meaning?

Han Si-hyuk took a deep breath, his voice shaking as he finally spoke.

“…He knew.”

He wasn’t the only one who knew everything and chose to let him go.

* * *

Three days later, Han Si-hyuk quietly submitted his resignation and left through the Academy gates.

Not wanting to leave with any fanfare, he informed only Dean Ernest before quietly departing from the Academy.

The sudden decision seemed to have caught the Academy by surprise, but thankfully, he had a plausible excuse.

The cover was that he was being dispatched to a distant location related to an investigation.

Since his position was only a temporary professorship to begin with, it wasn’t a big deal.

The only thing that truly troubled Han Si-hyuk was his heart.

Feeling an inexplicable emptiness, he pulled his coat tighter around himself.

Though it wasn’t cold—it was actually stiflingly hot—the early morning air felt strangely chilly.

Dragging his few belongings, Han Si-hyuk walked on.

It was a quiet, pre-dawn hour when all the students of Ardel Academy were still asleep and the streets were deserted.

Step, step.

Han Si-hyuk looked up at the main gate of Ardel Academy one last time and then walked forward without hesitation.

He had no idea where he was going.

But Han Si-hyuk intended to keep walking forward endlessly.

It wouldn’t be easy, but just as he had done in the past, he was about to embark on another journey of running away….

And then—

“Han Si-hyuk.”

“…!”

Suddenly.

A cold hand grabbed Han Si-hyuk’s arm.

Startled, he reflexively shook off the touch and turned his head.

“Who’s… oh?”

Han Si-hyuk froze, his face filled with shock.

On the empty streets of the early morning, where he thought no one would be—

A familiar face stood beneath the streetlamp.

A face that had no reason to be here.

Han Si-hyuk’s voice rose unconsciously, loud enough to wake the students inside the Academy.

“How… why are you here…?”

Shh—

The woman pressed her index finger to her lips and lowered her voice.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

The soft glow of the streetlamp illuminated her face.

A bright smile graced her lips.

Han Si-hyuk found her expression to be strangely enigmatic.

But her following words were irresistibly sweet.

“Will you come with me?”

* * *

The next day, Ardel Academy was abuzz from early morning.

Han Si-hyuk had disappeared.

The professor who had been teaching classes just yesterday had abruptly resigned and vanished.

And it had happened urgently, just the day before the last class of the semester.

Click, clack.

During the [Magical Manufacturing] class, a different professor appeared instead of Han Si-hyuk, drawing sighs from the students.

“What happened?”

“Who’s that professor?”

A woman with frizzy curls and bright red horn-rimmed glasses.

It was Professor Anita, who usually taught fourth-year students in Manufacturing.

She stood straight and smiled as she addressed the class.

With her graying hair, Professor Anita spoke in a strict voice.

“Professor Han Si-hyuk has decided to resign from his teaching position. Today would have been the last class of the semester, but due to urgent circumstances, he couldn’t finish and has asked for your understanding.”

Professor Anita adjusted her glasses and shrugged.

“So, I will be taking over to finish this semester and will also teach Magical Manufacturing in the second semester.”

“…Oh.”

Students sighed from all around.

Han Si-hyuk, who had practically rolled in from outside with no connections, wasn’t well-liked among the faculty, but things were different with the students.

Some had disliked his stern personality, similar to Professor Grint’s, but now that he was gone, their faces looked downcast.

“I heard she’s really strict.”

“Where did Professor Han Si-hyuk go all of a sudden?”

“Ugh… maybe I won’t take Magical Manufacturing next semester.”

Thump.

Adela grabbed my shoulder.

“Han Siha!”

It wasn’t just the other students who were shocked. Adela, who sat next to me, also turned to me with a grave expression.

She had planned to apply for the assistant role over the break, but now the supervising professor, Han Si-hyuk, had suddenly vanished.

“What’s going on? Do you know anything?”

“No idea.”

“Yoon Haul, did you know?”

“No. I found out today.”

Adela checked with Yoon Haul, who was sitting to her left.

Yoon Haul shook his head as well.

Normally, Yoon Haul would have been complaining about how boring the class was and dozing off by now, but today he was visibly tense.

Adela spoke again, her face filled with concern.

“I get him not telling me, but Han Siha, you really didn’t know?”

I knew he was leaving.

So I answered with what I knew on the surface.

“He said he was being sent on a distant assignment.”

“He’s your brother. Did he really just leave it at that?”

Adela asked, and I slowly nodded.

“Did he say when he’d be back?”

“No.”

“Did he say where he was being sent?”

“…No, he didn’t mention that either.”

Adela bit her lower lip and furrowed her brow.

She seemed worried that I might be hurt.

“He might not be family in the strictest sense, but he could’ve at least told you. I mean, you’re family.”

“….”

“Technically… I know you’re not really family, but still….”

Adela trailed off, lowering her head.

“It’s too much.”

Too much.

Yeah, it’s really too much.

Where did he go, when would he come back, or even if he could come back—

I hadn’t been told anything.

But even if he had told me, I knew it wouldn’t have made a difference.

I had a feeling why Han Si-hyuk had urgently left Ardel….

That trace of dark mana back then—was it Han Si-hyuk’s?

I had found it strange from the beginning.

The overwhelming power Han Si-hyuk displayed when he defeated Archant.

It hadn’t taken long to realize it was dark magic.

In truth, I had known for a long time and turned a blind eye.

Han Si-hyuk using dark magic, his loss of control, and his attempts to hide it.

I may not have been able to read mana traces, but I could read Han Si-hyuk’s emotions.

It was impossible not to notice when it was so blatant.

A face filled with regret and guilt for having dabbled in forbidden power.

But that expression had been absent when he was packing his things.

Though he was fleeing as if being chased, he seemed utterly relieved.

I didn’t know where he was headed, but—

I could only hope that paradise awaited him there.

I spoke softly.

“It’s better this way.”

I remembered something Yoon Haul had once said to me and turned my head.

Adela frowned, not understanding what I meant, but Yoon Haul seemed to get it.

Yoon Haul, who had been sitting silently, lifted his head with sad eyes.

“…He wouldn’t have met a good end if he stayed.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“What? Did you guys know something? What’s with those looks? Am… am I the only one who didn’t know?”

“That’s not it.”

Yoon Haul responded to Adela, his voice tinged with sadness.

“I just… saw the future.”