The community's reaction had been incredible. Ian grinned from ear to ear as he replied to comments, but when the comments came in even faster, he set his phone down on the table.
"Phew, that was fun."
Using the community not to obtain information but for pure pleasure inevitably fell under the category of wasting time.
But so what? As long as it was fun, that was enough.
A person would go mad quickly if they lived an honest and monotonous life.
A life of waking up early to exercise, going to work on time, exercising again after work, and going straight to bed after a shower....
If this wasn't a crazy person, then what the hell was a lunatic? An alien? No, perhaps a being infected by a mystery.
"No, isn't that just a diligent person...."
He ignored Cecilia's outcry from beside him.
It was an ironclad rule that one must never discuss life with a priest. Since talk of faith preceded rational deduction, they were unsuitable partners for serious conversation.
Of course, this was not disparagement. In a world where faith truly existed, one could hardly say it was wrong to cry out in faith.
It was simply that Ian, as a mage, personally did not like faith very much. It was the typical mindset of a mage who believed everything in the world could be controlled through nothing but spells and formulas.
Anyway.
"You've worked hard today. You passed the magic on the house safely, right?"
Ian spoke as he leaned back in his chair. Cecilia let out a deep sigh and untied her twin-tailed hair.
"Yeah. Fortunately, it didn't activate."
The magic Ian had laid on his home was mostly remotely activated defensive magic. For example, if an intruder entered, a blade white as snow would fall like a guillotine, or a harpoon would fly and pierce their body. In addition, there were traps that filled the knees with water, or randomly distorted the five senses.
They were all magics installed with considerable effort, so dispelling them would not have been easy.
He had given Cecilia advance notice, and since she followed the proper procedure of entering the door's passcode, the magic hadn't activated. If it had activated, she would have been covered in blood long ago. Mariang would have croaked with blood spurting from her seven orifices.
Ian's main magic was not deeply related to defense or fortress construction, so it was inevitably weaker than that of experts, but even so, decorating a mage's residence in a manner befitting a mage was perfectly possible. He could easily intercept a stray assassin with magic.
The opponent being a mage would be an exception, but he had no intention of selling his address to outsiders anyway, so it was a meaningless assumption. Ian nodded and looked at Mariang, who was still sleeping soundly.
The regeneration of her arm had already progressed to the elbow. Her leg had grown to the knee as well. The sight of flesh and bone bubbling up and regenerating in real-time was not exactly a pleasant scene, to say the least, but it was still quite interesting.
After all, it was a nonsensical phenomenon called human self-regeneration. If it were a superpower, it would be understandable, but for severed limbs to regenerate like a lizard's without it being one was an amazing sight even from a mage's perspective.
Ian poked her bubbling bones with his finger and asked Cecilia.
"Cecilia, do you know what bone this is? She said she gained regenerative abilities after transplanting some kind of bone."
"Hmm, let me see."
Cecilia scurried over and stood beside him. She stared intently at Mariang's bones before clicking her tongue.
"It's werewolf bone. In Korean, it's called a 'wolf-human.'"
"Ah...."
"But it's not pureblood; it's a hybrid's bone. I think she chose this because if you transplant pureblood bone, your brain turns beast-like. Even though the regenerative ability is inferior, as long as the bone remains attached, the flesh grows back on its own."
Cecilia plopped down on the sofa, sorting through memories of fighting werewolves before coming to Korea. Perhaps because she was short, her feet didn't touch the floor.
"They're rare specimens in Korea. This place has plenty of yokai and ghosts, but hardly any crossbreeds like werewolves."
"Mm. That's true."
"Unlike vampires, werewolves barely have any reason. Their thought process is limited to 'kill,' 'hungry,' 'tired.' They're basically no different from beasts. But when you actually fight them, they're really tricky."
Cecilia swung her legs and set the ribbon she'd been using to tie her hair on the table.
"If their teeth or claws get you, the bleeding basically won't stop. You have no choice but to keep bleeding out, and of course, you'd die from excessive blood loss, right?"
"...."
"Because of that, the orthodox method is to not allow even a single blow and kill them outright. But since this girl has regenerative abilities too, killing her isn't easy. So...."
"You'd use silver. Since that's its weakness."
"Right. Usually, you just blast away with a shotgun loaded with silver bullets."
Cecilia made 'bang bang' sounds with her mouth and mimed pulling a trigger in the air. Then she turned to Mariang and pulled out the silver knife she'd brought.
"If this mage were struck with a silver weapon, it would probably be a fatal wound to the bone as well."
"However, since her outward appearance is no different from an ordinary human, most people wouldn't bother using silver bullets on her."
"Yeah. She probably counted on that too."
Most popular ghost stories had weaknesses. For example, ghosts moved on when struck with salt or red beans, vampires were weak to silver or stakes, Charon quietly retreated if you scattered some coins, and demons became easier to deal with if you learned their true name.
Naturally, there was nothing good about revealing such weaknesses, so they were usually hidden. Mariang was no exception.
Bones didn't normally burst through the skin and proclaim 'I am bone!' to assert their presence. Choosing bone as the transplant site could be considered a reasonably rational choice.
Of course, weaknesses held little meaning for Ian. With just a touch of his hand, he could kill instantly with a snap. It didn't matter if there was a weakness or not.
"More importantly, how long are you going to let her sleep? Let's wake her up."
While he was lost in thought, Cecilia spoke. Ian stopped his musings and nodded. He got up from his seat and tapped the sleeping Mariang's cheek.
"Wake up."
"Mmh...."
Mariang reacted immediately. But she didn't get up. She just tossed and turned, waving her missing arm. Ian considered slapping her cheek for a moment, but since she wasn't resisting, he refrained from harsh measures and adjusted to merely pinching her cheek.
"I told you to wake up."
Pinch.
He twisted and pulled the pinched cheek. Mariang's eyes shot open.
"Ee, eeeeh! Mashter...! It hurtss...!"
"Don't exaggerate. You didn't feel anything when your limbs flew off, but this hurts?"
"B-Both hurt. Buth...!"
Mariang waved her missing limbs. Thanks to her young appearance, the sight was somewhat convincing, but since the contents inside were around Eddy's age, he felt an odd sensation. Eddy had definitely said he was in his forties or fifties, so Mariang must be too....
"Hmm."
Ian stopped thinking and let go. Mariang rubbed her tingling cheek with an arm that only went up to the elbow.
"Uugh...."
"If you've slept enough, it's time to work. Just answer what I ask."
He sat on the sofa opposite Mariang and spoke. Mariang nodded, then glanced sideways at Cecilia sitting nearby and narrowed her eyes.
"But Master. Is it okay for her to listen too? What if she takes the information to the Vatican...."
"Don't worry and just speak. It's not something you need to concern yourself with."
At Ian's firm voice, Mariang pouted her lips.
"Yesh...."
She was far more childish than before the contract was formed. A phenomenon caused by the spell that made her think she was stupid. While the total amount of her intelligence hadn't changed, her personality had been created from a slightly twisted perception. It could practically be considered a different person.
The problem was that seeing her personality change so drastically might make past connections suspicious. If she were meeting someone for the first time, it might be fine, but using her as a spy to extract Laplace's information was somewhat difficult.
Therefore, prior education was necessary. Ian leaned his upper body forward slightly and spoke in a cold voice.
"First, let me make one thing clear. No matter when or where, maintain a clear distinction between how you treat me and how you treat others. You can speak comfortably to me, but treat others as you did before."
"Hmm... Before... Does that mean before I met Master? Before I was saved by you?"
"...Yes. Give it a try."
"Ah, yes."
Mariang cleared her throat and stared at Ian with an expressionless face.
"What are you staring at so hard? Avert those filthy eyeballs. Before I pluck them out and crush them."
"Oh."
"What's with the 'oh'? Shut up and tell me why you brought me here. If it's a pathetic reason, prepare to have one of your limbs blown off."
Not a hint of life could be felt in Mariang's eyes. They were similar to the eyes she had when Ian first encountered her.
He nodded.
"Good, that's enough."
"Yesh... *hoo*. Ugh, even though I know it's acting, it feels awful to be so cold to Master. I'm sorry...."
Her face softened again. Ian crossed his arms and looked at her.
"I watched well. I think it'll work if you do as you said."
"Got it. It's not even hard. I just have to act as usual."
He tilted his head as he quietly watched the relieved Mariang.
"Then let's get to the main topic. I have a lot to ask, but let's start with this. Why did you come to Korea? Why were you in the Mirror World?"
"Ah, that."
Mariang scratched her cheek and answered.
"Mmm... The reason I came to Korea was to recover Eddy's corpse. A mage's corpse has high value as material. I was going to recover it and use it."
"...So Laplace knew of Eddy's death? Who gave you that information?"
"No. Those affiliated with Laplace are provided with something like a bead that breaks when they die. I noticed Eddy's death by seeing that."
"Ah... You must have one too, then."
"Yes, I do. It's just an object that only lets you know if someone is alive or dead, so it's not that great."
Mariang shifted slightly, pressing her hips against the backrest as she continued.
"The reason I was in the Mirror World was to recover my body. I was being chased by the Management Bureau."
"The Management Bureau?"
An unexpected organization name popped out. Mariang nodded.
"Yes. While wandering around, I ran into an insect sorcerer and fought him once. I don't really remember where or why we fought, but... I was wounded in the process, and since the Management Bureau jumped me too, I had no choice but to enter the Mirror World. Since it was a place Walter made, entering was easy."
Walter. The name of Laplace's leader.
'So the Mirror World was also a Mystery that had passed through his hands.'
Perhaps because he possessed a grimoire capable of creating Mysteries, he seemed to have made all sorts of outlandish things. Ian clicked his tongue and leaned back.
"Walter's current location?"
"I don't know. His residence changes every day to begin with, so his location doesn't mean much."
"Mm... Was trying to recover Eddy's corpse your own decision born from sentiment? Or Walter's order?"
"There was no such thing as affection. The fact that we were lovers was all an act, as I mentioned earlier. The corpse was simply for use as material, nothing more, nothing less. Walter didn't get involved either."
"Good. I'm tired too, so this is my last question."
Ian took his phone out of his pocket and checked the messages he had received earlier.
Among them, the one from Kim Iseo.
The painting of the Laplace-affiliated mage that had been discovered at the Optical Museum.
He asked Mariang for the name of the mage who had painted it.
"Irene. What kind of bastard is she?"
At Ian's question, Mariang's face twisted slightly. She answered without the slightest hesitation.
"She's a crazy bitch."
"No, you're the same. Something else."
"Hnng."