"A smell?"
Greta muttered. She leaned forward slightly, careful not to let the hem of her suit coat touch the floor. Then, like Haneul, she sniffed.
"Hmm... I don't smell anything strange. Isn't it just the smell of water and grass? There's no trace of that person Ian, at all. Actually, there's no human smell here at all..."
"You might not know, but I can tell. Because it's the scent I've missed so much."
"...Didn't you break up with that person almost ten years ago? That means he went through puberty. How can a man's scent after puberty be the same as when he was a brat ten years ago? Aren't you mistaken?"
"No way. I never mistake anything related to Ian."
Haneul tugged down the corners of her lips that kept trying to rise, fidgeting with her hands.
"Of course it's not exactly the same. But the base is the same."
"What, a widower's smell?"
"Ian doesn't have that kind of smell. Don't act like you know."
"Making a fool of herself. Sigh. That's how love-blind women are."
"What would an asexual psychopath know?"
"It's not wrong, but it's not something I want to hear from an antisocial psychopath. Anyway, Jonas."
Greta turned to Jonas.
"From what she's saying, it seems the owner of this house is someone she knows. What do you want to do? Keep going? Or find a different target?"
"...Hmm."
Instead of answering immediately, Jonas hummed in thought.
His goal wasn't murder. The best way to steal a mage's grimoire was to kill the mage and then restrain the book before it fled, but right now the owner of the grimoire wasn't home. Even if they were, the grimoire would be sitting there alone.
So there was no need for murder. How could he commit murder when there was no one to kill?
'Thankfully, there won't be a situation where I directly harm Haneul's acquaintance... but still, it's a family friend. Is it right to mess with them here?'
Jonas had lost his parents, wife, and daughter to a mage. They were brutally murdered, their skins hanging on a laundry line, and the rest couldn't even be found.
Later, he realized it was a mage's doing and killed him, but by then too much time had passed. Turned into spell components, his family greeted him with only their fingers, eyes, and kidneys left.
After building a grave with their meager remains, Jonas swore before it. Never again would he let his family or their acquaintances suffer such a miserable fate.
Even though one of his current family was an asexual addicted to dopamine and gambling, and the other was a psychopath who only cared about her first love, Jonas still considered them family. And a family's first love was included among the acquaintances he swore to protect.
"..."
Mages are detestable. There is no error in this proposition. All mages in the world are like a cancer on society, and the powerless can only tremble under their tyranny, unable to do anything.
But if that mage is a family friend.
At least they could have a conversation, couldn't they?
"Hm."
It was a long thought. Jonas let out a long breath, turned around, and stepped back the way they came.
"Let's go back."
"Eh. I knew you'd say that, but hearing it is so disappointing..."
"It's Haneul's acquaintance. We can't ruin a reunion she's waited so long for. Solving the request is for money, but restoring a relationship can't be bought with money."
"No way! Money can do anything!"
"Maybe for a brief recovery. But a meeting built on money will eventually fall apart because of money. It might be hard for a gambling addict like you to understand."
"I can't argue with that..."
Greta grumbled and followed behind Jonas. Then she jabbed his side with her elbow.
"More importantly, what's with the wise saying? Is this because you were a philosophy major?"
"It's not a wise saying. It's an obvious fact. Can't you even tell the difference?"
"You're always so cold to me! Give me even half of what you give Haneul!"
"Think about your usual behavior before you spout. More importantly, Haneul."
Jonas turned to look at Haneul, who was staring blankly at the house. Haneul's black eyes instantly turned to him.
"I know you want a reunion, but now is not a good time. Don't even think about going in alone or doing something weird. That will only make you unlikable."
"Ian doesn't dislike me."
"You can't know that. But if it were me, I'd be creeped out if my lover came into my house without telling me and waited for me."
"..."
"Let's go. For now, get some good rest today and we'll move from tomorrow. Since things have turned out this way, it can't be helped. Still, we've found the location, so you can make the reunion moment yourself later. I'll give you a paid day off for that day."
Jonas chuckled and turned his head.
"I heard Korean fried chicken is famous. Let's buy some on the way back."
He didn't look back. He deftly avoided the traps set by Kim Yul and went out the front gate. Greta sang "chicken chicken" as she followed him, and Haneul brought her fist to her chest and let out a breath.
"...Ian."
All sorts of thoughts swirled in her head.
'You're living well. That's a relief.'
'You've earned a lot of money. Not that it matters much since I have a lot. Fortunately, we can raise our child well.'
'Your taste in women hasn't changed, right? I kept my hair the way you like and dyed it your favorite color. I hope you like it.'
'What should I say when we meet? Asking "how have you been" might be too cliché.'
'Ian, you picked up a grimoire. So does that make you a mage? Hmm, nice. The intellectual Ian would be really cool too.'
'Wait. If you picked up a grimoire, that means you're entangled with mysteries, right? Then is there any reason for me to stay far away from Ian? I left to give him a peaceful life without being involved in mysteries...'
"...? Haneul, come out quickly."
Jonas called her. Haneul turned to him with her lips stretched wide. Jonas trembled for a moment, and Haneul touched her lips and walked on.
'No, there's no need for that. I can stand before Ian without any problem. There's no need to hide my identity. So why shouldn't I live in Korea?'
Thud, thud. The sound of footsteps echoed faintly in the quiet midday. A creature with candle-wax hair, who had been peeking out from an alley, checked Haneul's face and without hesitation hid back into the alley. Greta sighed deeply, and Jonas clicked his tongue.
Regardless, Haneul gently stroked the ring she was wearing, a gentle smile on her face again.
"There's no problem with me staying by your side. Fate made us that way."
"No, I don't think so at all. Haneul, tell me what you're thinking. If you mess up without knowing, you'll just end up unliked."
"Jonas, let's settle in Korea after our work is done. I don't think there's a need to live anywhere else. Let's stop traveling around the world too."
"Haneul. Before that, tell me what you're thinking—"
"Dad."
Haneul cut Jonas off. She smiled brightly and clasped her hands behind her back.
"Please."
"...Damn it. You only use that title when you want something. Sometimes I forget that I formally adopted you."
"Dad."
"Got it. Fine. But you have to tell me everything you're thinking later. And don't call me that. Or keep calling me that from now on. Pick one."
"Okay."
"Haa..."
Jonas sighed deeply, grabbed Haneul's nape and forcibly pulled her along. Haneul didn't resist and followed his hand.
"I'll wear proper clothes for the date. I can't meet him in this suit."
"You figure that out."
"Yeah."
Haneul answered, placing her hands on both cheeks. In her mind, various images of a grown-up Ian bloomed and vanished repeatedly.
But she didn't know that this wasn't Ian's house but Kim Yul's, nor that the reason she only sensed Ian's scent was because Kim Yul was odorless.
She didn't particularly try to find out. Humming a tune, she slid her hands into her coat pockets.
"See you later, Ian."
*
"O you with closed eyes. You with fog permeating your mind. You with a stopped heart. I shall grant you enlightenment; do not reject my grace and His knowledge."
Swish. Ian used the blood on his fingertip to draw a magic circle on Kim Yul's forehead. Kim Yul just pouted her lips, not resisting separately.
In the first place, if she showed any sign of resistance, Ian would push the axe blade a little, so it was impossible to thrash about wildly. The most resistance she could manage was a slight glare.
Thanks to that, Ian's work progressed smoothly. He finished the last stroke of the magic circle, flicked the blood off his fingertip, and spoke.
"Open."
At his command, Kim Yul spread her legs. Ian put away the axe and raised his face.
"I said open your mouth."
"...You could have said it that way."
"No, from the context it's the mouth... Hoo, whatever. Just open."
"..."
Kim Yul frowned as if displeased and opened her mouth. Ian dripped his blood into it.
"Your soul touches reason. Know that I am your master."
Keeeeeeng!!! As soon as the incantation ended, the magic circle on Kim Yul's forehead glowed. Her hazy eyes snapped open, and blood streamed from her nose.
"Kugh...!!! Kyaaa— ugh?!"
Just as she was about to scream from the terrible pain, Ian grabbed her jaw and lips together to seal her voice. He used the grimoire's chains to fix her limbs.
"Hoo..."
He exhaled and stepped back. Trickle— blood dripped from his nose as well.
Magic that can reshape another's mind as desired.
It was a supplementary spell written in his grimoire that didn't require much cost or consent, but since he shared the mental pain the target felt, Ian's head was throbbing considerably.
This was why he rarely used this spell. In the first place, he couldn't just approach and draw a magic circle on someone's forehead.
"Ugh."
Ian groaned and staggered. The pain was no joke.
It felt like an awl was scraping through the folds of his brain. Since it was hard to endure sober, he chewed on a painkiller he kept with him without water and flopped onto the sofa.
"Mmgh! Mghggh!"
With not just her limbs but even her mouth wrapped in chains, she flopped like a freshly caught fish. It was comical, but her bloodshot eyes from the pain made the situation not funny at all. The burst capillaries stained the whites of her eyes slightly red.
How much time passed like that?
"..."
The thrashing stopped, and life slowly returned to Kim Yul's eyes. She scanned her surroundings, blood flowing like tears.
Then she spotted Ian and fixed her gaze on him.
"Mm-mm."
She couldn't speak, but she waved her bound legs as if asking to be untied. Ian released her bonds without much suspicion.
It was natural for a mage not to doubt his own magic. He didn't even consider failure. If it had been a difficult spell, maybe, but it wasn't.
"Are you in your right mind?"
Ian asked, holding his grimoire in one hand and the axe in the other.
Kim Yul stared at him for a moment, then smiled lightly and moved her lips.
"My head hurts, newbie."
"Karma."
Ian struck the top of her head with his fist. With quite a bit of force, she yelped.
"Owwww...! Don't you think you hit too hard...?!"
"Because of you, my head hurts too. Why'd you get possessed by an Outer God and make things troublesome."
"You're probably the only one who can attach 'mere' to Outer God..."
Kim Yul grumbled and roughly wiped the blood off her face.
Then she spat out the blood pooled in her mouth and spoke to Ian.
"I think I get the situation. The grimoire did some crazy thing and transferred us to a space inside it or some other mystical world, right?"
"Exactly."
"Hmm... It's hazy, but it seems like some memories forcibly implanted by the Outer God remain vaguely."
"..."
"This is the home of Dagon. In other words, a nest, or it'd be right to call it a paradise for believers. You saw the people outside? They all follow Dagon of their own free will. Hardly any are brainwashed."
"So there are some."
"Right. There are, but it's too late to save them anyway. Unlike me, those people have been brainwashed for a long time. There's no self left to come back. So it doesn't matter if we kill them. No, rather, killing them would be doing them a favor."
"Hmm."
Ian hummed and stared out the window.
Not much time had passed, but before he knew it, the sunset was slanting at the edge of the horizon.
A sunset too beautiful to be created by an Outer God.
It was so beautiful that it made him wonder if, having been born from Earth, they might long for and yearn for the universe more than anyone.
Well, whatever the case, it didn't matter. Ian stored the grimoire he was holding and looked at the clock before speaking.
"We kill Dagon. Not a projection or an avatar, but the main body, we tear it apart. Then we'll find an exit or something like an exit."
"A guess?"
"Certainty. That you can escape by killing the master of a space is even in the Bureau's manual. Most just ignore it because there's no way to do it."
Ian tilted his head.
"I can do it."
"..."
"So let's go kill a god together."
"...Huh, as a mage, that's a hard title to refuse. Godslayer."
Kim Yul smirked slyly. Ian also grinned and looked back at the sea.
Splash. In the depths of the crashing waves. A faintly visible figure of an anglerfish glared and then vanished in an instant.