Morning.
Ian slowly pushed himself up on the bed, shaking out his disheveled hair.
His condition was… not bad. It seemed that obtaining a second grimoire didn’t immediately make one’s mind snap. The Hand of Re-creation had said he wouldn’t go mad because his compatibility was high, but the Deep Sea Travelogue hadn’t contained anything like that.
He might find something if he flipped through the pages, but today was going to be busy from the morning onward. He gulped down cold water to shake off his drowsiness, took a shower, and left the house.
Taking out his phone, he checked the address of the animal hospital he had looked up yesterday.
It wasn’t physically close, but among the locations nearby, it was the closest. Ian hailed a taxi and headed to the animal hospital.
Before long, he arrived.
The hospital, which was not as large as he had expected, looked busy preparing to open. Through the window, he could clearly see nurses preparing something and a doctor stretching as he put on his gown.
“Ahem.”
Ian cleared his throat once, then flung open the hospital door.
“Huh?”
At the jingling sound of the bell, the employees’ gazes turned toward Ian. One nurse, who had been setting out feed for the animals, stared at him with a troubled expression.
“Ah, sir. We’re not open yet. Could you come back in about thirty minutes?”
Instead of answering her, Ian held out the Cartel app.
In that instant, all expression vanished from the nurse’s face. She bowed at the waist and spoke politely.
“My apologies. I will guide you inside. Please follow me.”
“Looks like the entire hospital is staffed by Cartel employees.”
“That is correct. It is hardly anything special.”
He followed her as she walked ahead, entering the hospital’s interior. The employees did not so much as glance at him.
She opened a door leading underground, and they descended the stairs into the basement.
A basement where blue light flickered. Safes filled every side, and bizarre-looking animals held their breath inside cages. The nurse guided Ian to a sofa, brewed a cup of black tea, and smoothly set it before him.
“May I ask which request you completed?”
“The Abandoned Library. A mage-exclusive request.”
“Confirmed. Please show me the rulebook you wrote.”
He did so.
The nurse quickly checked the rulebook Ian handed her and nodded.
“A total of fifteen rules. A base payment of one hundred million, with an additional one hundred fifty million. Two hundred fifty million in total. Quite a large sum.”
“Is that considered a lot of compensation even from the Cartel’s perspective?”
“For those who are not mages, yes. Of course, when sending a mage into an unknown location, it is only right to offer this much. However, this is the first time I’ve seen someone write this many rules. What’s more, the rules don’t seem easy either. How did you do it?”
Ian smiled and drank his tea.
“It just ended up that way. I’ll take the payment by account transfer.”
“Understood. Shall I send it to an account under your name, Mage-nim? Or to a Cartel account?”
“There’s such a thing as a Cartel account?”
Ian asked as he set down his teacup. The nurse nodded.
“It is an account that leaves no transaction history when used, and applies discounts whenever you use the Cartel shop. If you have not opened one, I would recommend doing so today. A card will be provided as well.”
“If it leaves no history, I suppose that means there’s no way to track it.”
“That is correct. That is why many people use them.”
“What’s the opening fee?”
“One hundred million in total, including the card and account. In addition, Indemnis can be used free of charge for three months from the opening of the account.”
The terms were better than he had expected. Paying the enormous sum of one hundred million did sting a little, but just having access to a free safe transport service could cut the cost of completing requests by about half.
The unlimited discounts were tempting in their own way, and above all, the fact that he could avoid being tracked was appealing.
It was a world where anything and everything could be recorded in digital information and easily traced. Thanks to Godmother, he could feel at ease about his phone, but it was too early to feel at ease about other things.
Ian knew full well that this was an excess of self-consciousness. He was also aware that there was a high chance he was just shadowboxing alone when the Bureau was not particularly interested in him at all.
Still, there was nothing to lose by being careful. He looked at the nurse and nodded.
“I’ll open one. Deposit the money there right away.”
“Understood. Congratulations on opening your account. When purchasing Cartel goods with the card connected to that account, a discount of approximately ten percent will be applied, and upon spending more than twenty million won, you may take one item worth five million won or less as a complimentary service. This benefit can only be used once.”
“Nice. Anything I should be careful about?”
“You must spend at least five million won every month. If you fail to do so, we will remove an organ of equivalent value from your body.”
“…Shouldn’t you have mentioned that first?”
“I apologize. I am still new here. If you do not wish to proceed, I will cancel the opening. What would you like to do?”
The nurse bowed her head as she spoke. Ian thought for a moment, then answered.
“No, just open it as planned.”
He would have to spend five million won a month, but he couldn’t give up the other benefits over something like that.
In the past, he might have been horrified, but not now that he had a source of income. It had only been a little over a month since he became a mage, and already he had close to two hundred million won in his account.
Assuming he continued working, five million a month was not an unbearable amount. He could pay it.
‘If it comes down to it, I can just buy refined products made from anomalies.’
Mystical byproducts that easily cost several million each. Buying those alone would be enough to meet the condition.
“Understood. Then I will open it. Opening the account will take a total of three hours, and the card will be delivered to your residence. Alternatively, you may receive it here in person.”
“I’ll receive it in person. I’ll be spending time nearby, so contact me when it’s done.”
“Understood. Shall I contact you through the app?”
“Yeah.”
“Confirmed. The exit is through the rear door. I will see you in two hours.”
Ian nodded to her, climbed the stairs, and went out through the rear door. At the smoking area beside the parking lot, he lit a cigarette and took out his phone.
‘What’s nearby?’
Because three hours was such an awkward amount of time, it would be difficult to spend it at home or at the workshop. Solving a request in the leftover time was impossible too. It seemed he would just have to rest for a while at a nearby café or PC café.
Fortunately, there was a PC café close to the hospital. Ian tossed his cigarette butt into the ashtray and walked over to enter the PC café. It had been a long time since he’d come to one, but the atmosphere felt quite familiar.
He signed up and logged in with practiced ease, put on a random video, and browsed the community on his phone.
[Hey, but how long have you guys been mages? I’m at 3 years, for now.]
[UnicornLoveDog]
What about you guys?
[Upvotes 0][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-SeriousMagicAddict: I am at 8 years. It has been quite some time.
-StrawberryYogurtSmoothie: I’m still at 6 months, I am. Ekyung.
ㄴUnicornLoveDog: So you were a fucking newbie. And you talked like that?
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: Hehe, fuuuck you, I am! I’ll blow you up, I am!
-★Godmother: I’m at 10 years.
ㄴUnicornLoveDog: Bitch lololol
ㄴ★Godmother: ?
ㄴㅇㅇ(112.415): Ah, fuck, I’m sorry. Please unblock me.
ㄴ★Godmother: (mage thumbs-up sticker)
[How.cute,bragging.about,experience.is!]
[SweetGrandpa]
I’m,already,on,my,40th,year!
[Upvotes 3][Downvotes 3]
[Comments]
-Grandpa, isn’t it about time you died?
ㄴSweetGrandpa: I’m,still,in,my,prime,you,brat!
ㄴMakes me wanna abandon you on a mountain.
ㄴSweetGrandpa: You,rascal!! You’re,my,disciple,aren’t,you!
ㄴOops.
As always, shitposts were running rampant, and among them, a few information posts could be seen. Ian sat quietly and looked through them, then wrote a new post.
[Guys, I picked up another grimoire.]
[ㅇㅇ]
One suddenly appeared and forcibly chose me.
Are there any more magebros like me? Or have there been historical cases like this?
After leaving the post, he browsed the internet for a while until comments appeared. He was looking into used bikes or cars.
Although he had received a free pass for Indemnis, he couldn’t use public transportation every time he went on a request. If the distance was absurdly far, he would take a plane or train, but otherwise, it would be much better to drive himself. Taxi fares were not something to ignore either.
Of course, they weren’t enough to be a huge burden. Still, now that he had money, it seemed better to get a vehicle of his own.
“Hmm.”
He did not bother touching anything too expensive.
Though he now had hundreds of millions in his account, money would quickly disappear once maintenance fees, rent, living expenses, magic supplies, and so on were included. For now, leaving his studio apartment and finding another place came first, so he couldn’t pour a huge amount of money into transportation.
‘Personally, I think a bike would be better. I don’t have anything to carry around, and I can move quickly.’
However, considering how dangerous bikes were, a car was better after all. If there were magic that let him ride safely, that would be one thing. Otherwise, a car was safer than a motorcycle.
In the end, each had its pros and cons. Ian tapped the table and let out a low hum.
After a long while, the ramen he had ordered for lunch arrived.
As he soothed his moderately hungry stomach with ramen, he checked the comments on the post he had written.
[Comments]
-You have 2 grimoires? What the fuck, you insane bastard.
-It’s not like there have never been mages with 2 grimoires, but it’s extremely rare. As far as I know, the current master of the Clock Tower has 2.
-Fuck this shit! I couldn’t find one no matter how hard I looked, so why only you!!!!
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: Grimoires judge by looks too, they do. Kekeke, they do.
ㄴWhere do you live, you fucking bitch?
-DeepSeaAnglerfish: 2 grimoires? Perfect way to become a target for other mages.
-TamingMaster: Don’t spread that kind of information carelessly. From the past until now, there haven’t even been three mages who possessed more than one grimoire.
-The Clock Tower master said the power struggles between grimoires are insane. If you can’t endure that, you’ll die instead, you know? Nice Boat ending, yup.
ㄴ(Let’s share sticker)
-ZIzonSuperStrong: In the modern era, only the master of the Clock Tower possesses two grimoires. It’s not particularly dangerous just to have them, but you need to mediate the relationship between the grimoires. Like the comment above says, if you can’t control their power struggle, you die.
ㄴZIzonSuperStrong: It’s true that a grimoire is a mage’s eternal friend and treasure. But that doesn’t mean it’s a saint who cares for humans. If it feels like its master is being taken away, it’ll just go into “you die and I die too” mode.
ㄴ(You thought you were dealing with a saint? sticker)
ㄴNo, isn’t this basically a yandere menhera? Were all grimoires landmine pretty girls all along?
ㄴZIzonSuperStrong: Your eyes have opened. Come to the bookfucker board.
“……”
After reading the comments, Ian stared at the bag he had placed on the seat beside him.
As if they were fighting inside the bag, he could clearly feel the energy of the two grimoires continuously vibrating.
Rather than being murderous, it was an utterly childish fight. It did not feel particularly threatening, and seemed like nothing more than a quarrel mixed with the whining of children. And these things could kill him?
“…Tsk.”
Ian quietly opened the bag and gently stroked the two grimoires pressed tightly against each other. Then the grimoires calmed down and rubbed themselves against his hand.
“…No matter how I look at it, I don’t think so.”
He let out a hollow laugh and gently scratched the covers of the grimoires.
[Wooong…….]
[Woooong…….]
The two contrasting books vibrated as if in pleasure.