Ian poured cold water into cups as he studied the appearance of the two visitors who had come to see him.
‘I don’t see any firearms in particular.’
Their waists, thighs, chests.
Nowhere did he see any space where they might have tucked away a handgun. There were no unnaturally bulging spots either. It was safe to assume there were no visible weapons on them.
But no one could know what was inside the bags they had brought. They could suddenly pull out a gun or a knife from within. They probably wouldn’t do so rashly, but if they became certain of something over the course of the conversation, they would change their attitude at once.
Once that happened, conversation would no longer have any meaning. His first move would be to summon the grimoire and respond.
“…….”
He had never killed a person before, but if necessary, he would not hesitate. He had already run through the simulation in his head several times. It was not a normal way of thinking, but from the moment he set foot into the mystical, it became impossible to survive with a normal mind.
If you don’t want to die, you have to kill.
That applied both to anomalies and to fellow humans. Exceptions were nothing more than a luxury.
Of course, that did not mean he would kill unconditionally.
He had no intention of becoming a murderer. First, he would subdue them; then, after interrogating them, he would deal with them based on his judgment.
If possible, Ian also wanted to avoid killing people. Unless the other side bared their fangs first, killing was a last resort.
“…….”
After organizing his thoughts, he dipped green tea bags into the water he had poured. Ian placed the cups on a tray and approached the two people seated around the table.
“Here is some green tea. I’m sorry, I don’t really have anything proper to offer you.”
“Ah, that’s perfectly fine. We’re the ones who showed up without warning, after all. We should be grateful for whatever you give us.”
Kim Minsu smiled brightly and sipped his tea. Then, noticing the talisman peeking slightly out of Ian’s pocket, he tilted his head.
“That’s a talisman, isn’t it? Are you perhaps Buddhist?”
“Ah. No, I’m not. I just recently went with a friend to a shaman’s house, and they told me something was going to happen soon and that I should buy a talisman, so I figured I might as well and bought one. It wasn’t that expensive.”
“Aha. Do you believe in shamanism?”
“Half and half. Honestly, there are plenty of times when they spout nonsense, aren’t there?”
“Haha, that’s true.”
He laughed once and folded both hands on the table. The woman did not say a word, merely holding her bag against her chest.
Ian remained wary of every one of those movements. He simply did not let it show; he was already prepared to pull out the grimoire and respond at any moment.
Kim Minsu spoke to him.
“Mm. As I said, we’ll just ask a few short questions and be on our way.”
“Yes.”
“According to the convenience store manager, Mr. Shin Ian said that the person who wrecked the convenience store like that was a drunk. Is that true?”
“Ah, yes. She was a rather unusual-looking woman.”
“Mm.”
As if telling him to continue, he leaned his upper body forward slightly. Ian unhesitatingly laid out the story he had prepared in advance in his head.
“Her hair was somewhat long, and her height was ordinary. But from the way she staggered in, anyone could tell at a glance that she was drunk. It was early dawn, too.”
“Yes.”
“She came into the convenience store, but instead of choosing anything, she just stood still and stared at me. Like some kind of ghost. So I got a little intimidated, but then she suddenly swung her arm and wrecked the display shelves.”
“Hmm.”
“I was startled and immediately ran out from behind the counter, telling her she couldn’t do that. But the display shelf I saw up close had been completely smashed. For one woman rampaging alone, it was broken pretty badly.”
Kim Minsu fell silent. The woman showed no change in expression. She did not move her body either.
It was still fine. Thinking that inwardly, Ian continued.
“Suddenly, I had this thought. Is this a ghost? Something like that. It’s a common story, isn’t it? A ghost suddenly barges into a convenience store when you’re alone.”
“That’s the sort of story that often appears on TV programs.”
“Yes. I thought it was one of those too, and I was scared for a moment, but I still mustered up the courage and approached the woman. But when I got close, she suddenly went berserk, broke through the convenience store door, and left.”
“With her bare body?”
“Yes. I don’t really know how that’s possible, but…… anyway, that’s the end of the story.”
Ian stopped there and took a sip of green tea.
“But shouldn’t you be able to find all that out by checking the CCTV? I don’t see why you’d need to come ask me personally……”
“The CCTV broke down at exactly that moment. So we can’t obtain the footage.”
“Ah…… Could it really have been because she was a ghost……”
“Well, that could be the case. What’s certain, however, is that the drunk was a repeat offender we had been pursuing. She probably hasn’t gotten far from the area yet.”
Saying that, Kim Minsu drank all of his green tea. Then he abruptly rose from his seat and bowed his head to Ian.
“Thank you for your cooperation. You must be going through a lot because of this unpleasant incident, and yet you even served us tea. Once we catch the culprit, we’ll be sure to contact you.”
“Ah, yes. I’m glad I could be of help. Though I don’t think I really told you anything significant.”
“We have to look carefully even at trivial things. In any case, we’ll be going now. I hope you have a good day.”
He gave the woman a look. The woman nodded, rose from her seat, and bowed slightly to Ian.
After exchanging light farewells with Ian, the two walked to the front door and put on the shoes they had taken off.
Just as they opened the door and were about to leave, Kim Minsu looked back at Ian and tossed out a remark.
“That talisman. It’s a good item, so keep it with you. It seems to have saved your life once.”
“……Pardon?”
“Haha.”
Instead of answering Ian’s question, he left the studio apartment. Ian stood still in front of the door for a moment, then let out a small laugh and placed the talisman on the table.
‘Good item, my ass.’
It was something he had bought for a few tens of thousands of won from a shaman’s house that was practically falling apart. What was supposed to be so good about it?
Still, since it had deflected the Bureau’s attention once, it had not been an entirely unnecessary expense.
Ian stretched his arms high, then returned to his room and summoned the grimoire.
‘With this, the matter related to the Eight-Foot is over. All that remains is the monkey.’
Unlike the Eight-Foot, which had produced a direct eyewitness, nothing had yet been uncovered about the monkey dream. Since even the Bureau was focusing only on Israel and Christian grimoires, it seemed there was no need to worry for the time being.
For Ian, that was something to welcome with open arms.
Now it seemed best to enjoy a bit of leisure and wait until Lee Seoa handed over information related to the cartel. He did not have much money saved up, but it was enough to live quietly for a few days.
“Let’s get something to eat.”
He put the grimoire in his hand into his bag, bought food from a nearby mart, and began cooking something simple.
The homemade meal he had for the first time in a while was more edible than he had expected.
*
“Senior. Is this really all right?”
Inside the car returning to the Bureau.
The woman holding the steering wheel asked Kim Minsu. He took his eyes off the window he had been staring blankly out of and turned to her.
“What is?”
“Just letting it pass so easily. We didn’t erase his memory, and we only listened to his story and left. I was wondering if that was really the right thing to do.”
“Ah, I thought you meant something serious.”
Kim Minsu let out a small laugh and sucked at the coffee he had bought from a nearby café.
“There was nothing wrong with what he said. His energy is awkwardly strong, so he’s the sort of person who can’t accurately see the form of a Mystery, unlike someone weak or strong. They aren’t common, but people with that kind of constitution do exist from time to time. There are one or two in our Bureau too.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah. And the reason the Eight-Foot probably took damage and ran from there was because of the talisman he had. Even at a glance, it was an exorcism talisman, so it should at least be capable of harming the Eight-Foot. If it had been an ordinary wandering spirit, it probably would have died on the spot.”
“……What about Agent Kim Iseo’s request to check whether he might be a magician?”
Agent Kim Iseo.
She was an agent belonging to Team 3 of the Response Division, the one who had personally beaten the Eight-Foot Ghost to death. She was also the person who had personally witnessed the bleeding that had begun at the convenience store.
Kim Minsu recalled her face and burst into laughter.
“Do you know how much of a headache that request was?”
“…….”
“Let’s say, just as that woman claimed, Shin Ian? That man really was a magician. Then we just walked right into a magician’s residence in the open, and if we’d asked, ‘You’re a magician, aren’t you?’ in there, both of us would have been dead. If we had shown even the slightest sign of suspicion, we would have just died.”
“……Even so.”
“You think I’m lying?”
The woman shut her mouth. Kim Minsu let out a deep sigh and placed his coffee in the cup holder.
“Park Mina, we have to know our place. We survived an anomaly with no abilities whatsoever and entered the Bureau, but we can’t go around prepared to die just because one agent said something, can we? I don’t want to die yet.”
“……Neither do I, to be honest.”
“Right? It’d be one thing if we died following the noble will to protect humanity. But if we’d died there, it would have just been a dog’s death. The Negotiation Division is already short on personnel these days. We can’t afford to die too.”
“That’s true…… The workload these days really is murderous.”
Park Mina shuddered as she thought of the piles of documents stacked up at the Bureau.
Kim Minsu reclined his seat and muttered while staring at the car ceiling.
“And well, he’s probably not a magician. You checked the business card, didn’t you? He knew me as a detective.”
“……That’s true, isn’t it? Even a magician can’t recognize that.”
“This business card is one of the byproducts of a contained anomaly. If someone is aware they’ve encountered the mystical, they can tell it’s a Bureau business card, but if not, it’s an item that just looks like any ordinary business card.”
Kim Minsu turned his head toward the window and continued.
“If he noticed that trick and bluffed his way through it, that would mean he’s a magician operating on a completely insane level…… In which case, we’d already be dead.”
Magicians proficient in magic did not pay much attention to the Bureau. Not only did they feel no need to, but even if they did attract attention, they were confident they could escape.
In fact, all of the magicians currently under investigation were wandering the world without caring about the Bureau’s gaze. They were truly insane people, but the problem was that they possessed enough power to justify it.
‘If Shin Ian had been one of those magicians, Mina’s head and mine would be separated from our bodies right now.’
Thinking that, Kim Minsu took a long pull from his coffee.
“In any case, there’s no need to suspect that he’s a magician. That man is just an ordinary person, an ordinary person. The kind who doesn’t even know what he ran into.”
“That’s a relief. I’ll report separately to Agent Kim Iseo.”
“Do that. Having a capable junior sure makes things convenient.”
“You’re capable too, Senior.”
“Right? Our pair is pretty capable, if I do say so myself. Hahaha.”
“Ehehe.”
Laughter blossomed inside the car returning to the Bureau.