Indemnis’s van arrived exactly three minutes later in front of Ian. With a screech, a man wearing a crow mask exited from the passenger seat of the stopped vehicle.
The man quickly looked around, spotted the two people sitting on a rock, and immediately lowered his head.
“Pleasure to meet you. I am a staff member of Indemnis, Crow. Might you be the ones who called through Cartel services?”
“That’s right.”
Sizzle.
Ian stubbed his cigarette out against the rock. Crow nodded as if he understood and opened the van door.
“Will you be boarding immediately? Or would you prefer to settle other business first?”
“We’ll go right now. The destination should be somewhere with convenient transportation, but not many people.”
“Understood. Then we shall depart immediately.”
As Ian approached the vehicle, flicking away the ash of the extinguished cigarette, Crow held out his hand as if asking for the butt.
Ian handed it over, and Crow took a portable ashtray from his pocket and placed the butt inside.
“A smoker?”
“No. It’s simply that I frequently meet clients who smoke, so I keep one on hand.”
“I see.”
Ian nodded and boarded the limousine. Yuna followed him in, and Crow grabbed his terminal from the passenger seat, moving to sit with them in the back.
Soon, the van turned and began descending the mountain. Ian gazed out the window briefly before turning to Crow.
“Your arrival was incredibly fast. Are you using some kind of special means?”
“That is confidential. You would know if you joined Cartel.”
“Strict. Let’s just talk about the commission, then.”
Ian smiled and glanced at Yuna. Yuna understood his meaning, took out the Manager’s heart that had been placed inside the guitar case, and set it down on the table.
A lump of flesh, pinkish in color and still beating. Yuna’s magic had been dispelled long ago, so there was no need to worry about it being crushed.
Ian poked the heart with his fingers and spoke.
“This is the Manager’s heart from the commission.”
“Hm. May I inspect it?”
“Go ahead.”
The moment permission was granted, Crow donned a monocle and began examining the heart.
Paying no mind to the thick blood spurting from its vessels, he carefully inspected the heart, then nodded lowly.
“The Manager’s heart, confirmed. The quality is remarkable. It seems you extracted it while it was still alive.”
“…….”
“At this level, we should be able to provide the reward without issue.”
“I have something to say about that reward.”
“Ah, yes. Please speak.”
Ian leaned his upper body slightly toward Crow and quietly intoned.
“The reward is too small compared to the difficulty of the commission. We’ll need additional payment.”
The theme park’s clear difficulty was far higher than expected. It was packed with attractions at a level where ordinary people couldn’t escape at all, and dangerous sections where breaking even a single rule meant death were everywhere.
Moreover, to extract the Manager’s heart, they had inevitably had to kill it. After breaking the rules like that, they had to attempt an escape.
Even for mages, the difficulty was insane to resolve alone.
Receiving a mere 15 million won wasn’t worth the cost.
At least, that’s what Ian thought. Yuna must have felt similarly, as she didn’t try to stop him.
“Hmm.”
Light reflected off Crow’s jet-black pupils. The voice echoing inside the hard beak had grown considerably subdued.
Ian paid no heed. He held his grimoire in his hand as if to show it and continued.
“Is Cartel aware of exactly what kind of place that theme park is?”
“Yes. We conducted separate investigations on our end. Otherwise, there would be no way to know the information that one is forcibly transferred a week after possessing the ticket.”
“And yet it was 15 million won? It seems you don’t know what the clear difficulty is like.”
“That… is a fair point. When we tested it with death row inmates, they all died before getting very far. However, we ascertained that the Manager’s heart holds considerable value, which is why we posted the commission. We are not the Management Bureau, and we have no duty to eliminate the phenomenon. We simply mobilize when there is money to be made.”
“So? You set the amount based solely on that value?”
“It was an amount set by additionally considering the theme park’s atmosphere and disaster-grade assessment. But the words of a mage who actually entered the theme park are worth hearing. Cartel is not a rigid organization. Please speak comfortably. We are listening.”
Crow straightened his posture. Ian sorted through his memories and explained, one by one, the situation inside the theme park, the characteristics of the attractions, the rules, and so on.
Crow, who had been listening quietly at first, began to nod more and more frequently as Ian’s story continued.
When all was said and done, he stroked the beak of his mask and opened his mouth.
“The difficulty assessment was certainly wrong. My apologies; it seems there was an error at headquarters. I will contact them right now to begin verification, so please wait a moment.”
Crow pressed a button beside him firmly. At the same time, a partition formed between the two mages and Crow.
A thick barrier that wouldn’t break even under a considerable explosion. Ian took a sip of the cold water provided on the table and leaned back against the seat.
‘My head hurts…’
The side effects of the magic hadn’t left his body yet. Smoking made it somewhat bearable, but when he didn’t, the pain throbbed constantly in his head as if a second heart were attached to it.
It was a side effect that would subside after a night’s sleep, so it wasn’t terribly serious, but the discomfort right now was unavoidable.
Ian let out a deep sigh and took out the grimoire that had been vibrating incessantly, opening it.
[Subway. Club. Theme park. I’ve endured three times. There won’t be a next.]
The moment he opened it, a rather menacing phrase greeted him. He closed the grimoire again with a sullen expression.
…It seemed it had not liked how it was treated in the theme park. He supposed he should be grateful it had endured three times.
If he used the grimoire as a shield or a blunt weapon one more time in this state… the outcome wouldn’t be good.
There was no need to test it. Curiosity should be kept in check; charging in recklessly was no different from a moth to a flame.
Thinking so, Ian placed the unlit cigarette between his fingers and rolled it.
“The discussion is finished.”
Shortly after, Crow withdrew the barrier and spoke.
“After real-time cross-verification, the opinion has returned that the mage’s statements are valid. Therefore, we will be increasing the commission’s reward.”
“…….”
“A drastic increase from 15 million won per person to 70 million won. Additionally, we have confirmed that the heart’s value is far greater than expected, so an additional 10 percent reward is being added.”
“……! Th-then it’s 77 million won…?”
Yuna asked in a trembling voice.
Crow nodded.
“That is correct.”
“Yahoo! Aw-awesome! I’ve never seen anyone negotiate with Cartel like this…! Wh-when I get home, I’m gonna eat malatang, and tteokbokki, and everything…!”
Leaving the chattering Yuna behind, Ian tilted his head slightly to the side.
“Real-time cross-verification? Did someone just enter that theme park or something?”
“The entrance is not only found here. Moreover, theme parks are not only in Korea. They are anomalous phenomena occurring simultaneously across the world.”
“…Ah.”
“The connected interiors are all identical, so obtaining and verifying information through other theme parks is not difficult. Is your curiosity satisfied?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Then let us discuss the settlement. How would you like to receive the compensation? Cash? Or transfer?”
Ian chose a bank transfer without hesitation. Yuna did the same. Crow nodded, manipulated the terminal, and sent the fortune into the two mages’ accounts.
“We have deposited the amount after deducting the safe transit service fee. Please understand.”
That much was understandable. Ian confirmed the deposit completion with Crow and put his phone in his pocket.
‘So I have roughly 80 million won now.’
It was sufficient money to acquire a workshop. Ian wore a faint smile as he gazed out the window.
The winter sky, low as it was this season, was filled with blue light.
*
The van stopped beside a small subway station on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do. Since people were still around, Crow could not get out, and simply bowed his head to the two mages.
“Take care on your way in. Thank you for using Cartel services.”
“Sure. If I need to use you again, I’ll look you up.”
“We will be waiting.”
“O-okay, bye….”
Ian and Yuna exited the van. The vehicle sped down the road and disappeared somewhere the moment the two stepped out.
Ian loosened his stiff body, staring after the car, then turned to Yuna and spoke.
“Want to grab a bite before we split? Consider it a little celebration.”
“Y-yeah. What do you want to eat…?”
“I’m craving some gukbap….”
“Then let’s go…!”
The two entered a nearby gukbap restaurant, ate a simple meal, and then used the subway to head to their respective homes.
As had become his habit, Ian exchanged numbers with her as well. Now, his contact list clearly held the names of I Seoa, the two vampire hunters, and Han Yuna.
He hadn’t immersed himself in this world for long, yet he had already formed four connections.
As time passed, he would probably encounter even more people.
He didn’t expect all those encounters to be as positive as the ones now. He merely hoped.
It was only natural to hope that positive things outnumbered negative ones.
Thinking so, Ian accessed the community.
A familiar nickname was stamped on the latest post that had just gone up.
[Title: I solved a commission with the newbie today.]
[StrawberryYogurtSmoothie]
That theme park bastard lol
If you called us, you should treat us right. Who’s it to act cocky, yo. Deserved to die, yo.
(Then die lol)
[Upvotes 0][Downvotes 0]
It was a post with no comments yet. Ian chuckled softly and tapped on his phone keyboard.
[Comments]
-Anon: You’ve really committed to the concept.
-StrawberryYogurtSmoothie: Shut up, yo. You’re dead, yo.