April 8th, 10:00 AM.
As soon as the promised day arrived, Ian left the house with Amelia. Mariang had already departed earlier, so no one remained at home.
For transportation, he chose the train instead of his bike. Riding the bike would take far too long, and driving for hours with someone on the back was physically exhausting. So he booked KTX tickets instead.
'The temple... is located thirty minutes by taxi from the station, and then a twenty-minute walk? That's farther than I thought.'
Ian stood in the entryway in front of the house and exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke. The screen of the phone in his hand also lit up.
BugInYourEar. The address sent by the community user with the ridiculous nickname pinpointed a nameless mountain in Gyeongsangbuk-do.
To the locals, it was simply called the mountain behind the village.
It wasn't a famous spot for hikers, either. They said it wasn't even particularly high.
'A temple in a place like this...'
Ian let out a low hum and pocketed his phone.
Since they had reached out first, the address they gave probably wasn't fake. If he went into the mountains, he would almost certainly meet BugInYourEar. But he couldn't be sure that the person he met would be a paragon of integrity, some outstandingly upstanding individual.
A mage always had to keep every possibility in mind.
BugInYourEar and SweetOldMan could be working together to lure and hunt mages, so going to meet them believing it was just a simple social gathering without any preparation was practically suicide. So, until he felt certain it was safe, he intended to maintain a healthy level of tension.
"Hoo."
Ian tapped off the burnt cigarette and put the butt into a portable ashtray. At the same time, the front door creaked open, and Amelia walked out with all her luggage packed.
"Oppa, I'm all ready!"
"The grimoire?"
"Of course I brought it!"
She spun around with a proud expression. Ian chuckled and patted her head.
"Keep it on you at all times just in case. If a dangerous situation arises, it might save your life once."
"Got it! I won't lose it, I promise!"
Amelia hugged the bag slung at her side tightly and put on a determined expression.
The two took a taxi together and headed to the train station.
As always, the station was packed with people. Citizens of all kinds bumped into each other as they moved, and Ian held Amelia's hand as they walked toward the platform where the train would arrive.
There was still about five minutes until the KTX they had booked would arrive. In the meantime, Ian bought some jelly snacks from a convenience store and shared them with Amelia. Lately, Amelia had come to carry a Cecilia in her belly; she beamed and gobbled up the jellies.
"Mmm, I think cheap snacks like this taste better than macarons or donuts after all."
"Expensive doesn't always mean good. Don't become the kind of adult who's blinded by luxury brands."
"But magic ingredients are better the more expensive they are, right?"
"That's the exception."
Whooooosh...!
A train pulled into the opposite track. A strong wind battered their faces, and citizens hurried to board. Watching the scene, Amelia kicked her legs back and forth.
"But oppa, why are you taking me with you? You said it could be dangerous."
It was a random question. But it wasn't one she couldn't ask, so after a brief silence, Ian answered.
"Because protecting just you is more than possible. And because you said you wanted to meet other mages besides me."
The taste of lemon jelly subtly filled his mouth. Ian roughly crumpled the empty jelly wrapper and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
"If the mage we meet this time is someone we can more or less talk to, it'll definitely be a good opportunity for you too."
"Is that because the magic you use is different from normal magic?"
"Something like that."
Ian gave a wry smile.
What was there to hide?
He had roughly summarized to Amelia that his magic was quite different from ordinary magic. He couldn't leave out the topic of Outer Gods either, so he had taught her some of it, if not everything.
Fortunately, perhaps because she had studied hard since her time in France, Amelia already knew that Outer Gods actually existed and that they occasionally sent grimoires to Earth. Still, separate from that, she had been a little surprised.
It was only natural. Who wouldn't be surprised to learn their master had been chosen by an Outer God?
Even Ian himself—if he had a master, and that person was connected to an Outer God—would have immediately done a backflip right then and there and slit their throat.
Leaving them alone wasn't an option. What if something happened because of that? If there was a bomb next to you, the best course of action was to defuse it on the spot or throw it far away.
But Amelia hadn't tried to slit Ian's throat. She had only been slightly surprised, without making much of a fuss. By now, she didn't even really care.
Whether by olden standards or modern ones, she was truly an excellent disciple.
"It's not that I can't use ordinary magic myself, but I'm not exactly an expert at it. So asking actual experts this time wouldn't be a bad idea. They might have some know-how."
"I wish I could use the same magic as you, oppa..."
"You'd die. Don't even think about it."
Ian stated firmly. Amelia nodded with a disappointed expression.
Then, as if something had suddenly come to mind, she whipped around to face Ian, her eyes sparkling.
"Ah. Then, oppa. If the goal is to get advice from mages, wouldn't it be good for me to join that community you visit all the time? You said it's a place only mages visit!"
"Ptui! Why would you crawl into a cesspool of your own accord! It's an abyss! You're not ready for it yet!"
Ian answered immediately. He glared down at Amelia, trying to pop his eyes out. Amelia pouted and grumbled.
"You do it every day. Every day, grinning at your phone by yourself. Every day, repeating the word 'upvote' instead of studying in the library..."
"Your slander is truly top-tier, Amelia. You have a talent for fabrication."
Ian laughed like an immortal sage and gazed at the KTX beginning to approach in the distance. Amelia muttered toward the back of his head.
"Old fogey...."
Fortunately, her voice was buried under the roar of the KTX and didn't reach Ian's ears.
*
They arrived in Gyeongsangbuk-do around 12:30 PM. It was lunchtime, but instead of stopping elsewhere, Ian and Amelia headed straight for the mountain with the temple.
After a thirty-minute taxi ride from in front of the station, a small village came into view. At best, it was the countryside; at worst, it was a closed-off village tucked in a mountain valley. The residents all stared at the taxi Ian was in with haughty eyes.
"I-It's a little scary."
"You'll have to get used to it. There's much scarier stuff out in the field. Vampire Nazis pop up sometimes, too."
"Eeeek..."
Ignoring Amelia as her shoulders trembled, Ian propped his chin on his hand and stared out the window.
The village was small. To begin with, it was questionable whether it could even be called a village. It was just a row of old houses; there wasn't a single village hall or mart to be found. The residents were all elderly couples. No young people were in sight.
Well, the village wasn't the important thing anyway, so it didn't really matter. Ian stopped sightseeing and took out his phone to double-check the address.
'Center of the mountain. The temple is in a hollow, and if it's hard to find the path, follow where the Buddha statues point... How considerate of them to write that down.'
Ian chuckled and spoke to the taxi driver.
"Please stop at the end there."
"Understood."
Screech.
The taxi stopped near the back exit of the village. Ian paid the driver and got out of the taxi with Amelia.
Vrooom.
The taxi left. Ian stared in the direction it disappeared for a moment, then took Amelia's hand and slowly began walking toward the mountain where the temple was.
Before long, an untended, verdant mountain came into view. A mountain whose densely grown grass darkened the interior. Ian looked around the area and discovered a small Buddha statue hanging from a tree like a doll, slightly narrowing his brows.
The wooden statue was pointing exactly toward the interior of the mountain with its arm.
Ian immediately realized this was the statue BugInYourEar had mentioned and let out a hollow laugh.
'I thought they'd hidden it covertly. Guess not.'
He gripped Amelia's hand tightly and put on a gentle smile.
"Let's go, Amelia. Start getting tense."
"A-I've been tense since earlier...!"
Her voice trembled like a goat's. Ian let out a small laugh and led her into the mountain.
Rustle.
Once they passed the entrance of the mountain, parting the grass, a few more Buddha statues were revealed. The two slowly moved in the direction the statues pointed.
Before long, a well-maintained path appeared plainly before them.
It wasn't a hiking trail. There were hardly any footprints to begin with. At most, three or four. Evidence that many people hadn't passed through.
"......."
The Buddha statues placed on both sides of the path pointed their arms toward where the footprints led. And at the far end, the outline of a building that looked like a temple was faintly visible.
It seemed they had found their way properly.
"Amelia, let's get ready."
"A-ah, yes."
At Ian's words, Amelia immediately rummaged through her bag and took out a small handgun.
She slipped the grimoire into the inner pocket of her coat. Like Ian's coat, she had also had the inner pocket of her coat tailored, so the grimoire slid in lightly.
Ian took out a lantern from his bag, filled it to the brim with oil, and fastened it to his belt. He also checked the grimoire's condition.
As always, the grimoire was in peak condition.
"Hoo... shall we?"
"Y-yes."
Amelia swallowed hard and reached out her hand. Ian gently took her small hand and slowly began walking toward the temple.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of footsteps formed as grass and dirt were trampled. Amelia glanced back for no reason, gripping Ian's hand tightly. Of course, no one was following behind them.
Instead, voices came from ahead.
"No, I mean. The fact that necromancy is, at best, only slightly greater than handling bugs is written in the Goguryeo Subakdo too, you know? Why do you keep arguing?"
"To hell with the Goguryeo Subakdo. How are the souls of dead bastards greater than living bugs? Does that make sense? And where else can you find a creature as perfect and beautiful as a bug? Huh? Tell me."
As the temple drew near, a familiar female voice and a male voice he was hearing for the first time reached Ian's ears. Amelia let out a hiccup, and Ian furrowed his brows.
'This is...'
It couldn't be a mistake.
An ordinary person might not know, but just in case, Ian had memorized at least one characteristic of every mysterious person he'd met so far. Naturally, voices were included among them.
Thanks to that, he could immediately realize who the owner of the familiar voice was.
"...Lee Seo-ah?"
"Huh?"
The username SeriousMagicAddict. She had been talking with a man in Kamen Rider cosplay wearing an insect mask, but turned her head when she heard Ian's voice.
"...Oh!"
Her sullen expression instantly brightened. She donned a radiant smile, as if she had met someone from her hometown in a distant land, and ran toward Ian.
"Long time no see, Ian! How've you been? Did you get invited here too? I sure did! Ah, and I finished moving. Come visit sometime later. I'll treat you properly."
She spat out words like a machine gun and stood right in front of Ian. Then she discovered Amelia holding Ian's hand tightly and tilted her head.
"Who's this?"
"...Should I answer what you said earlier, or the question you just asked?"
Holding a wry smile, Ian kept walking.
[Taehyeollyunsa]
The Chinese characters written on the temple's main gate glowed eerily.