Instead of continuing their conversation, the two of them quickly headed for the hospital room where Kim Soyeon had been admitted.
Even as they rode the elevator up and opened the door to the ward, they could not let go of the last thread of tension, wondering if they might be transferred again. Fortunately, no such thing happened. Relieved, the two stepped inside.
The four-person ward held two elderly patients, one young man, and one child, each lying in their own bed. Ian and Cecilia walked straight toward the child.
“……Huh? Who are you, unni and oppa?”
On the bed with a nameplate that read Kim Soyeon, Kim Soyeon, her arms and legs in casts, asked while looking slightly wary of the two. Ian handed her the snacks, chocolate, drinks, and other things he had bought on the way, smiling gently.
“The sister sent us. You’re Soyeon, right?”
Cecilia looked momentarily dazed at Ian’s words and actions, which were completely different from the way he had treated her, but he paid her no mind.
“Here, these are gifts. I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought a bit of everything. Go ahead and eat.”
“Wow……! These are my favorite snacks and drinks! Can I really eat them? The sister told me not to eat food from strangers!”
“Our Soyeon was taught well, huh? Then should I call the sister for you?”
“Um…… no, it’s okay!”
Kim Soyeon smiled bashfully and opened a bag of potato chips.
“I’ll believe you, oppa! You don’t look like someone who’d do bad things!”
At the child’s innocent remark, Ian burst out laughing. He stroked Kim Soyeon’s hair, then sat in a nearby chair and waited until the doctor arrived. Cecilia hesitated for a moment as well, but then pulled out the guardian’s bed and sat on it.
“But who are you, unni?”
“Ah…… I’m Cecilia. I’m a nun…….”
Soyeon asked while munching on potato chips, and Cecilia answered awkwardly. Her stiff voice made it painfully obvious that she was clumsy when dealing with children. Ian stared at the two of them for a moment, then took out his phone and checked the time.
3 p.m.
Considering it had been 2 o’clock when they first entered the hospital, not as much time had passed as he had expected.
It was proof that the concept of time within spatial-type Mysteries was ambiguous. Whether it was the theme park or the hospital, time flowed terribly slowly compared to reality.
On the other hand, the library seemed to have been a little faster. Considering that it had been night when he came out despite not having spent all that long inside, it seemed that not all spatial-type Mysteries were slow. Ian let out a low hum and put his phone back in his pocket.
‘If time flows extremely fast or slow compared to reality, things could become seriously troublesome.’
There was a reason so many requests related to spatial-type Mysteries remained with the Cartel. Putting aside the difficulty of the Mystery itself, even a little messing around with time made things more than a little tricky…… No matter how much of a mage one was, time was not something one could just interfere with.
‘Though I can.’
The alchemy recorded in the Touch of Re-Creation, [Pocket Watch of Eons].
It was a one-use regression device that returned one to the point in time to which it was wound, but the materials required were just as outrageous as its fraudulent ability. Flesh of a Great One, like the [Finger of God], which made it possible to manipulate reality at will, was only the bare minimum; he also had to put in many other alchemical creations, including fragments of time and a golden hourglass.
It was an item he could not be certain he would be able to make, not now, and not even later.
The grimoires of the Outer Gods were excellent in every way, but the problem was that they had too many incredible items that were like pies in the sky.
The Touch of Re-Creation was like that, and so was the Records of the Deep Sea. There were items and summons that blatantly screamed, “I’m amazing!” but he could not actually use them. The alchemy was impossible to create, and as for the summons, he could not control the aftermath that would come when they were summoned…….
They were truly useless treasures. Ian let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the chair.
A few minutes later, the doctor came by and told them about Soyeon’s condition.
“There shouldn’t be any particular aftereffects, and I think we can observe her for just one more week before deciding whether to discharge her.”
“I see. Thank you.”
The doctor bowed his head politely to Ian, chatted with Soyeon about various things, then left.
Ian relayed the doctor’s report to the sister and waited until she arrived. Cecilia, perhaps tired, had fallen asleep at some point.
Ian was just as tired, but since he had not moved his body as violently as Cecilia had, he could manage well enough.
Coughing from the stinging pain in his throat, he stared blankly out the window. He answered Soyeon whenever she occasionally spoke to him, and fiddled with the pack of cigarettes he had put in his pocket. By the time evening had nearly arrived, the sister returned.
She carefully entered the ward, then wore a warm smile when she saw Cecilia sleeping peacefully. Soyeon had also fallen asleep before long, so Ian was the only one to greet her.
“Ah, Sister. Did the event end well?”
“Yes, all thanks to you, Ian. Thank you.”
The sister pressed three 50,000 won bills firmly into Ian’s hand as she spoke. Ian smiled awkwardly and tried to return the money.
“I don’t need this.”
“Take it. I’m doing this so my own heart can be at ease. If you don’t accept it, I may have to go make confession.”
“…….”
At her threat that was not quite a threat, Ian ultimately surrendered. He smiled bitterly and tucked the neatly folded bills into his pocket.
To Ian, who already had more than enough money left in his account, it was not a particularly large sum, but the giver’s feelings mattered. There was no need to make a show of refusing.
“Then I’ll accept it. Thank you.”
“Yes, yes. You’ve worked hard. More importantly, what do you plan to do now?”
“I think I’ll head home. I’m a bit tired.”
At Ian’s answer, the sister nodded.
“I see. Then let’s meet again next time. Thank you for today.”
“Not at all. If you need anything, please call me again.”
With those words, Ian chatted with the sister about various things, then left the ward. The sight of Cecilia sleeping soundly briefly entered his field of vision, but he soon turned his head and left the hospital.
Night had fallen.
Ian entered the dimly lit smoking room of the hospital and expertly put a cigarette between his lips.
Chk.
When he lit the tip with his lighter, a faint glow rose. He sat in a chair, exhaled smoke into the air, and organized his thoughts.
‘That goal Cecilia mentioned at the motel—what was it?’
He had missed the timing, so it had become something he could no longer hear for now, but there would still be another chance. Cecilia was not dead, so he thought he would probably be able to talk to her sometime soon.
If possible, he wanted to avoid getting involved with the Vatican, but he was already deeply entangled with them. To unravel it, he had to meet her face-to-face and talk.
And the Administration Bureau.
Until now, he had managed to avoid them well, but not this time. Though he had not intended it, his face had become known to the Administration Bureau.
“…….”
He had expected that something like this would happen someday. The longer the tail, the more likely it was to be stepped on. Long or short, being discovered was only a matter of time. He did not know what other mages would be like, but there was no need to adjust his situation by comparing himself to them.
“Phew…….”
He tilted his head back and exhaled smoke.
The grimoires of the Outer Gods were as conspicuous as they were dangerous. There had been a reason Yu Hana was so shocked when she first saw one. Unless they were blind, they would have already realized that the summoning technique he used in the hospital was not ordinary summoning magic.
‘What matters is their reaction. They weren’t hostile in the hospital, but reality is another matter.’
He had openly summoned a monster on the level of the hospital director right before their eyes. In one sense, it was an incredible act, and in another, it was a bold act that blatantly revealed him to be a dangerous element.
Well, in the end, they had escaped thanks to that, so he had no regrets. He would just have to endure the aftermath.
Chiiik.
He rubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and threw it away.
When he stepped outside, the cold winter wind wrapped around his entire body and scattered. Ian zipped his outerwear all the way up and brushed the dried blood from the edge of his coat.
He could simply throw away his other clothes if necessary, but not this coat. He had already placed far too many spells on it. It would be a waste to discard it so easily.
“Haa…….”
Exhaling white breath into the air, he moved his feet. The pale smoke rose against gravity before scattering in front of the moonlight.
Seeing that there were no Administration Bureau agents where he had escaped, it seemed he had awakened at the place where he had first entered the hospital. Thanks to that, he had been given time to prepare.
He did not know when the Administration Bureau agents would come looking for him, but it probably would not take very long.
In case they became hostile, it seemed best to make alchemical items in advance. The defensive spells on his coat were still intact, so he could easily block an ambush or two. The reverse targeting he had placed on the coat could also be used a few more times.
At the very least, he did not need to worry about dying on the streets. Ian wrapped his arms around himself against the bone-piercing chill, took a taxi, and returned home.
*
The Administration Bureau agents had no sooner submitted their report that the mission had been completed safely than they received an emergency summons from the branch director. The members of Response Team 3 who had participated in the mission, along with Park Heesu, immediately went up to the branch director’s office.
“Branch Director.”
“Come in.”
She had merely been called by title, yet permission was granted. Yeoul swallowed dryly and opened the door to the branch director’s office before stepping inside. The rest of the group followed her.
The branch director was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for them. She smiled and gestured with her hand toward the seats across from her.
“Please sit. We have a lot to discuss. Ah, you like cake and tea, don’t you?”
“……Yes, I do. Thank you.”
Yeoul answered awkwardly, unable to hide her tension. The others were much the same.
It was only natural.
A psychic ability user of the mental type, of whom there were few even within the Administration Bureau. Someone who had slaughtered a spatial-type Mystery alone, and possessed an insane career that spanned office work, support, reconnaissance, and even response.
The branch director of the Administration Bureau’s Capital and Gyeonggi Branch, Kim Bom.
There was a reason she was the branch director of the Capital Branch, the most important branch in Korea. It was because she possessed a career and skills considered異 even on a global scale that she could sit in her current position.
The branch directors of the other branches were not weaker than she was, but there was no one among them who could fight her and win. To begin with, the concept of force itself did not hold much meaning before her.
Because she was a person capable of erasing the word combat from one’s mind. That was why some called her a click-spammer, Gandhi, a pacifist, and so on. They were all nicknames the other branch directors had given her.
However, contrary to those nicknames, her temperament was not quite so peaceful.
Normally she was gentle and soft-spoken, but once something went awry, she would run wild without end—a two-sided personality.
Because of that, many Administration Bureau agents tended not to welcome private meetings with her. Kim Bom was generous toward Administration Bureau agents, but she was still a ticking time bomb all the same. They simply did not want to scratch at something and make trouble for themselves.
Yeoul was the same, but when she was summoned directly like this, there was nothing she could do. Somehow calming her trembling hands, she took a sip of the tea that had been prepared in advance.
“So, you met a mage?”
Kim Bom asked her. Park Heesu was the one who answered.
“Yes. We met one seriously insane bastard.”
“O-oppa!”
“The magic he primarily used seemed to be summoning.”
Ignoring Park Mina’s horrified reaction, Park Heesu continued.
“As you read in the report, he controlled the situation with a summon he had personally called forth, keeping the hospital director pinned down. Thanks to that, we were able to escape as well.”
“…….”
“I don’t know exactly what the summon was. However, I’m certain it wasn’t an ordinary summon such as a demon, fairy, or spirit.”
“……Could it have been an Outer God?”
“An Outer God…… I’ve never actually encountered such an existence, so I can’t say for certain. However, when the summon first appeared, I felt as if my very existence were twisting.”
“I understand for now.”
After listening attentively to Park Heesu, she let out a deep sigh and folded her hands together.
“You don’t know that mage’s name, do you?”
“No. But we do know his face.”
“Good. From now on, I’ll place information on that mage under Database Level One. And as for how to handle him……”
“Assassination is worth considering.”
Yeoul picked up Kim Bom’s words. With a serious face, she recalled the scene she had witnessed then and parted her lips.
“He’s a mage capable of facing the master of a Mystery head-on. If we leave him alone and he ends up going down some strange path or losing his mind, there will be no turning back.”
“What about the risk if we fail?”
“We must not fail. The moment we fail, the Administration Bureau will have to enter an all-out war as well. If we assume failure, then it’s right not to attempt it in the first place. Assassinating a mage is no easy task, so it will require an extremely cautious decision.”
Yeoul paused for a moment, then lowered her head slightly.
“Assassination is one method, but its chance of success likely won’t be very high. It would be right to use it as a last resort.”
“Hmm…… Does anyone have another plan in mind?”
At Kim Bom’s question, Kim Iseo opened her mouth as if she had been waiting. Her pink hair swayed with the motion of her head.
“I think we should conciliate him.”
“Conciliate him?”
“Yes. If we keep a force of that level as an ally or cooperative partner of the Administration Bureau, we’ll be able to make ample use of him in future matters. We may even be able to eliminate Mysteries we haven’t been able to conquer until now.”
“To cooperate with a mage of that caliber, we would have to lower our heads quite a bit.”
“I think that is a loss worth accepting.”
It was an opinion completely opposite to Yeoul’s. However, Yeoul did not scold her.
It was always the case that different agents had different thoughts. There was no need to turn it into an emotional fight simply because their opinions differed.
To begin with, their opinions were different, not wrong. As long as there was a superior present to reach a conclusion, there was no reason for the two of them to argue.
“Does anyone else have another opinion?”
“…….”
“It seems not. Good. Those were the two options that happened to come to my mind as well. And among them, the method that will be helpful to the Administration Bureau and humanity……”
Kim Bom fell silent for a moment as if organizing her thoughts one last time, then spoke in a grave voice.
“It’s this one, after all.”