By the time he returned home, it was already evening. Ian ordered a simple delivery meal for dinner, then dumped the contents of his bag onto his desk. He set down the fragile items carefully.
The [Dying Eyeball], which he had made with considerable focus, and various other odds and ends piled up on the desk. Ian stared down at them for a moment and let out a low hum.
“……Should I buy a safe or something to store these in?”
He did not think a thief would break into his home, but if one really did and took his creations, it would cause a serious disaster. Leaving them just anywhere did not seem like a good idea.
Who knew? A Santa anomaly might suddenly smash through the window—not to give him presents, but to take everything in the house and run off with it.
The problem was that he could not dismiss such delusions as mere delusions. He had not known before his awakening, but now he knew that mystery was alive and breathing in this world.
And Christmas was coming up soon, too. If something related to Santa was going to appear, now would be the perfect time.
‘I should buy a storage box for now.’
Santa was not the only thing he had to be careful of. In case the Bureau ever barged into his home, it was only right to hide any evidence that was out in the open.
“Phew.”
Ian pushed aside his idle thoughts for the moment, took a shower, and put his creations into a drawer. He planned to leave them there for a while until he got a proper storage box.
It was not completely safe, but it was enough for temporary storage.
After organizing his things, he lay down on his bed and took out his phone.
There were no particular messages piled up. Only a few ads had come in.
He deleted them all and opened the community. The phrase Solomon is opening the book appeared and vanished, and at the same time, he connected to the community.
[Workout done.]
[Has anyone seen a vampire noble? Are they bald like regular vampires too? Asking because I want to feel a sense of kinship.]
[An Arab mage I know suddenly started searching for grimoires that disappeared from Israel? Did something happen?]
Amid the usual shitposts, he found one title that caught his interest. Ian turned off the living room light and clicked the post.
[Title: An Arab mage I know told me they suddenly started searching for grimoires that disappeared from Israel? Did something happen?]
[It’sHot]
Title says it all.
Apparently, they’re combing the entire country to check whether any stored grimoires have gone missing.
From what I heard, it’s because of a request from the Korean Bureau. Anyone know anything?
[Upvotes 0][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-A Bureau request? Why are they looking for grimoires? It’s not like they’re the Clock Tower.
ㄴIt’sHot: Exactly. Ah, now I’m suddenly fucking pissed? Why are these bastards trying to set foot in the domain of mages?
ㄴㅇㅁ: Dohwang suddenly flying off the handle is fucking badass too.
-They’re probably looking because something happened involving a grimoire. It’s related to mystery anyway. What, did they find the Eighth Book of Moses somewhere? There must have been a recent flood caused by mystery.
ㄴIt’sHot: Is that it? Now that I think about it, didn’t these bastards search for grimoires last time something happened too?
ㄴDuring the spontaneous human combustion incident, yeah.
ㄴIt’sHot: Ah, right. Back then some crazy mage pulled some shit. Thinking about that, searching for a grimoire isn’t that strange.
ㄴㅇㅁ: Dohwang’s attitude shift is seriously fucking badass.
ㄴIt’sHot: Fuck off already.
Spontaneous human combustion.
It was an incident Ian had never even heard of. It seemed the Bureau had covered up the information.
‘More importantly, they’re looking for grimoires.’
Ian let out a low hum and recalled the recent events in Korea.
His encounter with the Eight-Foot Ghost was probably unrelated to a grimoire. It was a fairly strong anomaly, but if one had to classify it, it was closer to a wandering spirit. It was not a serious enough incident for the Bureau to get directly involved over.
“……Then it really must be the Monkey Dream.”
If he were to discuss possibilities, that one had the most credibility. Something even more serious might have occurred elsewhere, but for now, Ian thought about it with himself at the center.
If the Bureau was a competent organization, they would surely have realized that the Monkey Dream was not an ordinary strange phenomenon. The fact that someone was behind it was obvious enough for anyone involved in mystery to notice.
The person standing behind it was most likely a mage, or another force capable of handling anomalies. It was not for nothing that the Bureau had requested the tracking of grimoires.
And that was the first assumption.
The second was much simpler.
‘The people who survived the subway gave testimony related to me. Since I went around spouting Christian terminology, it wouldn’t be strange for them to search for missing grimoires in Israel, which is practically the holy land.’
The disguise he had originally wanted was that of a simple priest, but it seemed carrying a grimoire around had become the source of trouble. From an ordinary person’s perspective, it might not be a big problem either way, but the Bureau would be different.
In any case, both were good news for Ian.
Whether they had requested the investigation to identify another mage, or to find the owner of a Christian grimoire.
Ian, who belonged to neither category, was effectively outside the scope of the investigation. Lee Seo-a’s magic had even knocked out the CCTV, so it seemed he would not need to worry for the time being.
Now, the only things he had to be careful of were resisting whatever detection methods the Bureau might use, and the female agent he had seen at the convenience store.
‘When will they come?’
The incident had happened just two days ago. Perhaps because it was not such a huge commotion, they were rather late in coming.
What did they plan to do if he went around spreading rumors everywhere that he had met the Eight-Foot Ghost?
“……No, no one would believe me even if I told them.”
Even if he sincerely told people what had happened that day, there was no way they would easily believe him. They would surely suggest, cautiously, that he should perhaps visit a mental hospital.
Also, if he went around personally talking about having encountered mystery, there was a chance he would draw the Bureau’s attention as well. Perhaps that was exactly what they were aiming for.
It might be paranoia. He might have become too excessively cautious and developed a persecution complex.
But he did not think of that as purely bad.
The more cautious he was, the more options he could choose from, and the more means he would have to respond.
Now that he had become a mage, he could not slow down his thoughts. It might be different once he became accustomed to a mage’s life, but at least not now.
“…….”
Ian lay on his bed, stretched out once, wrote a post on the community, and closed his eyes.
[Title: I’m going to sleep now. Post goodnight emotes.]
[Yeah]
(Turn off the lights emote)
Even if his head was complicated, he still had to do what had to be done.
*
Knock, knock, knock.
“Is anyone home?”
“……Nngh.”
At the voice he heard, Ian opened his eyes. He checked the clock unconsciously and sat up in bed.
8 a.m.
It was not a good time for someone to suddenly visit.
They were certainly not ordinary visitors.
“…….”
He rubbed his face dry for a moment, gulped down some cold water, and looked around.
The grimoire that should have been on his desk was, at some point, sitting right beside his pillow. The other items were all inside the drawer. The only mysterious object visible to the naked eye was the grimoire.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Is anyone home?”
Once again, along with the sound of knocking, a bright male voice rang out. Ian sprang to his feet and put the grimoire into the boiler room for now.
Click.
He locked the door from the inside. The key went on the bathroom shelf.
It was a spot difficult to find unless someone reached in and rummaged around.
Ian looked in the bathroom mirror, tousled his hair, steadied his breathing, and tightly gripped the talisman he had carelessly tossed onto the desk. Then, as if he were a man soaked in fatigue, he scowled fiercely and trudged toward the door.
“…….”
Perhaps they heard his footsteps, because the people outside the door no longer knocked. Ian glanced through the peephole on the front door and checked the visitors’ faces.
‘One man and one woman. They’re wearing suits, and I don’t see the person I saw at the convenience store.’
But the atmosphere around them was similar to hers.
Which meant they were Bureau agents.
He had wondered if it might be the case, but he had not expected it to really be true.
Ian clicked his tongue inwardly, put the chain on the front door, and opened it irritably, glaring at the visitors.
“……Who are you? If it’s a package, just leave it out front and go.”
“Ah, excuse us. We aren’t delivery workers. We’re people who do this sort of work.”
The man among the pair spoke. With a beaming smile, he took a business card out of his breast pocket.
[Gyeonggi Suwon Police Station]
[Criminal Division: Kim Minsu]
It was an ordinary business card. The very fact that a detective had suddenly come to visit might pressure ordinary people, but other than that, there was nothing strange about it.
However, in Ian’s eyes, the business card’s true appearance was clear.
[Mystery Management Bureau]
[Negotiation Department]
[Employee Kim Minsu]
The true face of the business card, visible only to those who had encountered mystery.
If he had been an ordinary person, he would have immediately spoken the Bureau’s name, but Ian was not. He immediately realized that this was no different from a leading interrogation.
A business card that showed its true appearance only to those who had encountered mystery. Uttering the word “Bureau” was practically solid proof that one had encountered mystery.
‘It’s a trial, or a test, aimed at targets whose contact with mystery has not yet been confirmed. Through this, they determine for certain whether the other party has come into contact with mystery and respond accordingly.’
Now that he had grasped their intention, there was no reason to fall for it.
He looked up at the man calmly, with a slightly blank expression.
“Why would a detective suddenly…….”
At the word detective, the man’s face softened for an instant.
Only for a moment. He immediately fixed his expression again, tucked away his business card as if it were nothing, and politely folded both hands together.
“We have a few questions about the incident that occurred recently while you were working your part-time job. We need your testimony, so would you have a moment?”
“Ah…… yes. Come in. My place is a little small, though.”
“Hahaha, that’s fine. A short moment will be enough.”
Continuing to act sleepy, Ian carefully opened the door.
“Then excuse us.”
“We’ll be intruding.”
The two agents from the Bureau crossed the threshold and entered. The man calmly took off his shoes and walked into the living room, while the woman gave Ian a slight bow and followed him.
“…….”
Ian stared coldly at the backs of their heads and closed the front door again.
Creeeak.
Click.
The gazes of the outside and the inside were cut off.