Even after the Master of the Outer Sea had withdrawn, Pygmalion remained in his spot, trembling uncontrollably, unable to do anything. He was still like that even though the twenty-minute safety window had long since passed.
He was in no state to communicate properly.
In the end, Ian had no choice but to leave him behind and come out of the isolation room alone.
“…….”
When he operated the terminal, the isolation room door slid open to the side with a mechanical whirr.
At the same time, a pale white hand shot out from a blind spot and snatched Ian’s wrist.
It was Kim Iseo.
Before he could even react, Ian was pulled along by her grip. A sharp, stinging pain shot up from the end of his wrist, and Kim Iseo’s face filled his entire vision.
“…….”
Ian flinched at the unexpectedly close distance. But Kim Iseo paid him no mind and swept her gaze over his entire body from top to bottom once.
“……Phew.”
After confirming that there was no problem whatsoever, she let out a sigh of relief and released the wrist she had been holding.
“……Are you alright?”
“……Other than my wrist feeling like it’s going to shatter, I’m perfectly fine.”
Above his wrist, which had been hidden beneath his coat sleeve, a small handprint from Kim Iseo was clearly imprinted. A mark with a light far redder than vermilion. It seemed certain to bruise into the exact shape of her hand. The throbbing pain was quite severe as well.
It was a testament to how much strength she had exerted.
No matter how high the Management Bureau agents’ basic specs were said to be, it wasn’t grip strength an ordinary adult woman could produce. It was as if she had been injected with some super-soldier serum; she was nothing short of a monster.
‘It couldn’t be broken.’
He rubbed it just in case, but he didn’t feel any pain beyond that throbbing. His joints moved fine too. Thankfully, it seemed there was no fracture, let alone a crack or a sprain.
That was somewhat of a relief. Ian let out a deep sigh and turned to Kim Iseo.
“What was that for?”
“……I apologize. The safety window had long passed, yet you hadn’t come out, so I was about to enter, concerned that something might have happened,” Kim Iseo said, bowing her head slightly.
“The window was suddenly covered in black, and with the alarm ringing, visibility was completely blocked, making it impossible to assess the interior situation. So I was about to open the door to attempt a rescue when, at that moment, you came out.”
“…….”
“Not knowing what kind of emergency it was, I pulled you immediately, but it seems I was mistaken after all. I apologize.”
“…….”
Instead of answering right away, Ian pondered for a moment.
It seemed the Management Bureau hadn’t even noticed that a fragment of an Outer God had briefly appeared.
It seemed the Master of the Outer Sea had manipulated the situation to prevent things from becoming difficult. If he was going to show such consideration, Ian couldn’t help but think it would have been better if he hadn’t shown up at all.
“……Haa.”
Ian let out a deep sigh and looked at Kim Iseo.
His wrist was still throbbing, but he couldn’t blame her anyway. He had been the one who caused the issue first, and she had used that force not to harm him but to save him, so he had no reason to complain.
No matter how much of a mage he was, it wasn’t right to snap at or vent his irritation on someone who had tried to save him.
He couldn’t say the same for an ordinary mage, but Ian had no doubt that he was a mage of quite excellent character. Thus, there was no need to get angry in this situation.
Instead, he rubbed his wrist and turned on his heel.
“Let’s just keep going.”
“Understood. The infirmary is…….”
“No need. I’ll treat it separately later.”
“Acknowledged.”
Kim Iseo bowed her head and began walking pressed right up against Ian’s side. Ian walked alongside her, gazing at Pygmalion’s isolation room window.
The window looked as though it were smeared with something like black viscous fluid. Fortunately, he didn’t sense any unusual energy, but it didn’t seem like it would be easily wiped away either.
A fragment though it may be, an Outer God was an Outer God. The residue that had appeared with the summoning of that fragment had not disappeared and was continuing to hold its place.
It might naturally dissipate with the passage of time, but that time was certainly not now. There was no telling how much longer it would take.
In any case, it wasn’t something Ian needed to worry about. It wouldn’t cause any real harm to the Management Bureau either, so there was no need to be overly concerned.
‘Thanks to the blocked sight, I was able to hide the fact that it was an Outer God’s grimoire, so it’s right to see this as a gain instead.’
It hadn’t been intentional, but the result was good, so that was enough. Thinking so, Ian went down to Sector 2 with Kim Iseo.
Sector 2 contained several biological-type anomalies positioned in earnest. Among them, the most memorable were “Santa’s Elves.”
Small builds. Overalls. Robin Hood-style hats and long ears, and so on.
They were the typical subordinates of Santa from fairy tales. The reason their appearance differed from ordinary elves was probably because their origins lay in fairy tales.
“Put this over there! This goes here. Eve! Help me wrap!”
“Okay! Ehehe, today too, I have to help Grandpa Santa make presents!”
Their conversation itself was quite wholesome. That is, if you excluded the fact that their hands were stained blood-red and the things they were wrapping were human organs or limbs.
According to Kim Iseo’s explanation, the body parts they wrapped were similar in form to human organs but were incompatible with humans. If transplanted, the recipient would transform into the same kind as them.
They were no different from viruses.
Not even the Management Bureau agents knew where or how they obtained the corpses and organs. Locked inside thick isolation rooms and given nothing, they would still be found wrapping up corpses the next day.
They were literally mysterious beings. Their superior-class entity, “Santa,” was said to be contained in Sector 4, but since Santa appeared as the protagonist in so many urban legends and fairy tales, there were an incredible number of variations.
The Santa contained in Sector 4 was the one that sucked out the brains of crying children.
It was a being of unparalleled grotesqueness. It was said to look like a mosquito, so Ian had no desire to see it.
Sector 3, reached after passing through Sector 2, was more ordinary than he had expected.
The opposite of Sector 2, it was a space swarming with biological-type anomalies with almost no tool-type ones. There were some dangerous ones, but no anomalies existed with the class and strength to break through their isolation rooms and escape.
He had heard there were a few anomalies that were difficult to manage, but that was bad news for the containment team, not something Ian needed to concern himself with. Unless a large-scale escape incident occurred in the containment sector later, he would likely never set foot here again.
After finishing the inspection up to Sector 3, the two took the elevator again and went down to the underground railway. This time, they moved with just a single press, without any particularly complicated operation.
“The Management Bureau’s underground railway is a route created to travel quickly across the entire Republic of Korea.”
Ding.
Kim Iseo spoke, stepping past the arrived elevator. Ian followed, looking at her pink hair.
“It is basically connected to all Management Bureau branches, and doors are prepared to enter several major facilities. The principle lies in Mystery extracts.”
“……Extracts?”
“Yes. There is one anomaly that travels through mirrors. When you smash its head, glass fragments fall out like brain fluid. If you assemble those and create a transparent glass film, when you pass through while breaking it, you can transfer to where another film exists.”
“……I’m more curious about how anyone figured that out.”
“Pygmalion was helpful. The statues he creates are barely any different from actual humans, so they are useful for experiments.”
“…….”
Did that mean they pushed the statues in as test subjects?
He felt like he was getting a sense of the direction of their will to research, utilize, and exterminate Mysteries. It was a completely different method from the Vatican, which tried to suppress them through brute class and strength. The conclusion might be the same, but the process shared no intersection whatsoever.
Seeing that they cooperated whenever necessary, their relationship didn’t seem entirely bad, yet it still felt too ambiguous to call them allies. One need only recall Cecilia’s attitude to understand that much.
“The trains running on the railway are not very large. At each station, a large glass film is installed, and when you break through and pass it, you move to another station. However, there are no trains operating at the moment.”
“Hmm…… Can the trains be used at any time?”
“No. They can only be used in emergencies or when a support request comes in. The glass is a consumable, after all. Since it takes quite a bit of time to produce, it cannot be abused.”
“How long does it take?”
“About half a year per sheet.”
Half a year each.
That was quite a long time. Still, it was better than not being able to make them at all.
Ian asked as he exited the station with Kim Iseo.
“Does that anomaly just stay still while its head gets smashed?”
“No. It goes into a fit every time. It would be dangerous if not suppressed. But because it is valuable, we continue to invest personnel.”
It meant high risk, high return. Since the results were evident, Ian could understand well enough and nodded.
After the underground railway, he was guided through the Management Bureau’s overall facilities.
Perhaps because the work environment was extremely demanding, the Management Bureau’s convenience facilities far surpassed those of most major corporations. It had everything you would find inside a corporate building.
“This is the last stop. The café.”
After touring all the facilities, Ian and Kim Iseo sat in the café prepared on the first floor, sipping their respective orders. Ian drank his americano, taking in the view of the city center visible through the window.
The sky, just before sunset.
The glow of the setting sun passed diagonally through the window, faintly illuminating the seat where he sat. The aroma of coffee and the voices of Management Bureau agents chattering amongst themselves made him think that this place, too, was ultimately somewhere people lived.
“How was it?”
While he was quietly gazing out the window, Kim Iseo asked cautiously. Ian pondered for a moment, then smiled bitterly and closed his eyes.
“It’s good. I think I have a rough idea of what the Management Bureau is like.”
“Then I am glad. I am satisfied simply that you were not left with a negative impression.”
Kim Iseo smiled faintly and undid her tied hair. With a soft rustle, her hair flowed down.
“We will not call you for trivial matters after today. We will contact you only when cooperation is necessary.”
“You?”
“Yes. I have been assigned as your dedicated agent, Mage. If a matter requiring two people arises, you will likely move with me. Even if it goes beyond that, I will not be excluded from the mission,” Kim Iseo spoke carefully.
Ian let out a low hum and nodded.
She was someone he could sufficiently trust. He had already encountered her twice and had never seen her flustered, so at the very least, her mental fortitude would be exceptional. Her marksmanship had been excellent as well.
She would likely pull her own weight no matter where she was placed.
Ian checked the time, downed the rest of his americano, and rose from his seat.
“If my business is finished, may I return now?”
“Ah, yes. I will see you out. By the way, you didn’t formally introduce yourself to the other mages; what would you like to do about that?”
“If there’s no particular need, I’ll pass.”
“Then we shall do so.”
The two left the café and walked toward the main entrance of the Management Bureau.
The lobby was filled with staff busily moving about. After responding to Kim Iseo, who bowed her head, Ian rubbed his wrist and stepped outside.
“…….”
The moment he left the building, the noisy clamor vanished completely. All that could be heard were the sounds of car engines and faint voices.
“……Shall I go back?”
Ian stretched out broadly, put on his earphones, and headed toward the parking lot where he had parked his motorcycle.
The words of the Master of the Outer Sea continued to swirl in his mind.