Ian spent a fair amount of time cutting off Eddie’s head. Then he placed it on the table and stared at it intently.
It wasn’t that he suddenly found beauty in a human head. He was simply pondering how to use it.
‘First, I’ll soak the brain in the soul vessel.’
He set aside the ingredient whose purpose he’d already decided on. He couldn’t open the skull and extract the brain right here and now, but he could at least decide in his mind. What mattered were the remaining features.
The eyes had burst, so nothing could be done about them. It was a shame, but he’d have to aim for the next opportunity.
On the other hand, the nose, ears, and tongue were in excellent condition. None of them appeared severed, and there was almost no damage. The nose was slightly crushed, but that hardly mattered.
Ian toyed with Eddie’s intact ear, pulling it with his fingers as he racked his brain.
Then a certain alchemy series he’d seen in the grimoire came to mind.
The Dying Features series.
Unlike eyeballs or tongues—which have similar structures across most living things—noses and ears often vary greatly from creature to creature. Thus, unlike the Dying Eyeball and Dying Tongue which could be crafted from any eyeball or tongue, the nose and ears could only be made from human ones.
He had half given up on them, but now that an opportunity had rolled in, there was no need to hesitate.
He didn’t bother with moral qualms. It would be laughable to apply moral standards to someone who’d come to kill him. Now that they were in his hands, making thorough use of them was the right thing to do.
‘Quite the devoted benefactor, truly.’
Ian tapped the severed head of Eddie with his palm as he rose to his feet. Then he slowly looked around the room.
A magician’s residence. Although it was a hotel and he hadn’t stayed here long, there seemed to be plenty to obtain. Ian first rummaged through Eddie’s personal backpack on the table.
Inside were several daggers, a few papers summarizing spells, and a pile of finely chopped human brain fragments.
Below them, a detailed spell formula for handling a tongsok brain was written out.
“…….”
He must have intended to use the brain fragments to manipulate a tongsok brain.
If Eddie had been given just a bit more time, the outcome of this battle might have been uncertain. Ian had no idea how to even deal with a tongsok brain…
If it were a psychic attack, he could ignore it, but it hadn’t seemed like one.
Well, now that the man was dead, there was no need to ponder further. Ian transferred the brain fragments from the glass jar into his own bag and gathered all the research materials Eddie had been working on. They were spoils—no reason to leave them behind.
“So his name was Eddie, huh?”
He also found Eddie’s passport in the bag. Thanks to that, Ian could confirm his name.
Eddie Howard.
A name he remembered.
The strange sorcerer belonging to Laplace that Dolores had mentioned. It seemed certain now that Laplace was involved in this matter.
He’d had his suspicions, but now that they were confirmed, he got a prickling sensation at the back of his head.
He couldn’t even begin to guess what butterfly effects being targeted by a massive criminal syndicate would trigger. Likely none of them would be good.
“……Tch.”
Ian clicked his tongue, shrank the passport to the size of a fingernail, and tossed it aside.
Inside a suitcase next to the backpack was roughly ten million won in cash. Ian decided to take that as well, then fixed his gaze on the map hanging on the wall.
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary map, but upon closer scrutiny, he noticed a subtle change.
A pin that seemed to symbolize something was crawling minutely across the map’s surface, moving toward a certain spot.
An unmistakable supernatural phenomenon. Without hesitation, Ian grabbed the map and compressed it into a round spherical shape.
There were also Chekhov’s guns, daggers, and mirrors. He found numerous tool-type mysteries.
It was an absolute goldmine. Ian silently expressed his gratitude to Eddie and turned all of it into ingredients, packing them away.
By the time he was done, his bag had become quite heavy.
A bag containing human brain fragments and a head.
If he were to be stopped for a random inspection, it wouldn’t be strange to be arrested on the spot.
The moment he thought that, the broken front door opened and a man and woman in suits entered.
“……Whew, it’s an absolute mess in here.”
“……Hyaaah……”
They were from the Management Bureau. Though not familiar faces.
He’d contacted Kim Yi-seo, so he’d expected her to come herself, but it seemed she, too, had urgent business. Ian adjusted his bag and spoke to the two who had entered the room.
“Witnesses?”
“Almost none. We’ve just finished erasing the memories of the few who did witness it.”
“CCTV?”
“Erased, of course. Including the ones at your residence, Magician.”
The handling was very satisfactory. Ian nodded and rose to his feet. Only then did the Bureau agents bow and introduce themselves.
“Park Hui-yul, Negotiations Team 6.”
“Ki-Kim Jun-il, Negotiations Team 6.”
Park Hui-yul, who seemed well-experienced, introduced herself without any tension, but the man who looked like a rookie was visibly nervous. Apparently, it was his first time seeing a magician.
That was all for the better. Ian gestured with his chin toward Eddie’s headless corpse as he stretched his stiff body.
“That’s the corpse of a magician from Laplace. Do whatever you want with him. But I’m taking the head.”
“……Did you say Laplace?”
“Run a DNA test if you don’t believe me. He’s a magician named Eddie.”
“Ah, Eddie.”
As if recognizing the name, Park Hui-yul let out a short groan. Ian rubbed his crushed left hand and tilted his head.
“A name you know?”
“……He’s quite notorious. Every mystery he handles is dangerous and homicidal, so even encountering him is something people want to avoid. But for a man like that to be taken down by you, Magician……”
“I was lucky.”
Ian didn’t disclose the means he’d used against Eddie. There was no reason or need to. Fortunately, the Bureau agents didn’t pry, just nodded.
“Understood. Then we’ll take care of the scene. What would you like done with the bounty?”
“Bounty?”
“I understand there’s a considerable sum on Eddie’s head. If you authenticate it with the Cartel, you should be able to claim it.”
“Ah.”
“It seems you weren’t aware. Then we’ll receive the bounty on your behalf and deposit it to you. Rest assured, we won’t play any tricks.”
It was an unexpected offer. No need to refuse.
“I’d appreciate that. But isn’t that sort of thing not usually your responsibility?”
“We can extend you this convenience now while we have the bandwidth. Though when we’re busy, it’ll be difficult. At that time, please make use of the Cartel’s services.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Ian patted Park Hui-yul on the shoulder and left the hotel room. He retraced his steps back home.
It was early morning, the sun just beginning to rise. Ian gazed at the spreading twilight, then set down his heavy bag and sat on the bed to catch his breath.
Fighting right after waking up had left his body fairly exhausted.
Pain kept rising from his crushed left hand. Left alone, it would likely fester or get infected and rot. He needed to apply first aid before that.
Fortunately, there was some Cartel-made ointment left from before. The ointment he’d used when Captain Cruz had torn his cheek. Ian squeezed out a generous amount, spread it over his hand, and wrapped it in a bandage. In a few days, it would probably be fully healed.
He’d heard there were potions made via alchemy, but unfortunately, potions weren’t something Ian could produce. The alchemy he practiced was, strictly speaking, closer to crafting objects than to pharmacy.
‘I wonder if I could make potions if I knew the recipes.’
Ian continued his idle thoughts as he finished tying the bandage. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he could manage.
He took off his coat, rummaged through his bag, and pulled out Eddie’s head.
No blood dripped from it. He’d already sealed the cut surface with magic, so there was no mess on the bag or floor. It looked a bit grotesque, but if he thought of it as material for magic, it was bearable.
“Should I store it in the fridge for now……?”
The image was a little strange, but that was probably better than leaving it out in the open. Ian promptly wrapped the head roughly and placed it inside the fridge.
Doing so made him feel like some kind of psychopathic criminal. Not particularly pleasant. It would be better for his mental health to use it up and get rid of it quickly.
“Hoo……”
After finishing organizing, Ian lay down on the bed and pulled out his phone. He connected to the community right away.
Perhaps because it was still early morning, there were only a few posts. Most of them had titles like [Baby Magi Newbie Early Bird Wake-Up].
Normally, Ian would have also posted some meaningless drivel like them. But today was different. He fidgeted under the blanket and quickly typed on his phone keyboard.
[Fu!ck!ing! He came at me all squirmy! Telling me he would+ make me dry+ up and wither!]
[Yeah]
A magician suddenly attacked today, taught me about the wonders of human anatomy, then I ripped his head off.
So scary, I’m gonna go have some gukbap for breakfast.
(Magician Deed Done Con)
[Upvotes 2][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-Stomach of steel lol
ㄴNot your first kill?
ㄴOP: Yeah, the materials just rolled right in.
ㄴlol so shameless.
-You haven’t even been a magician that long, got attacked, and you won? Crazy talent monster.
ㄴTake away his talent and he’d be a corpse lol
ㄴWhy take it away, you dumbass. Take out your brain and you’d be a corpse too.
-Honestly amazing. Hasn’t it been less than half a year since you became a magician? And you killed the attacker? That’s hard to explain just by having a great grimoire.
ㄴFor real. I kinda wanna see his face. With that insane talent, he’s probably ugly as sin lol
ㄴDeepSeaAngler: lol
ㄴ?
-SeriousMagicAddict: An attack, huh. That doesn’t sound pleasant. Are you okay, physically?
ㄴOP: Got a little hurt, but I’m fine.
ㄴSeriousMagicAddict: Glad to hear it. Still, be careful. Consider moving.
ㄴOP: Already planning to. Yeah.
ㄴSeriousMagicAddict: I’ll come up soon, so let’s at least see each other’s faces.
-StrawberryYogurtSmoothie: Eeek, an attack, how terrifying! But when are you going to get in touch about the vampire thing?
ㄴOP: (Magician waiting con)
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: (Magician dance con)
-★DaeMo: Who was the attacker?
At the end of the comments that had piled up in an instant, DaeMo casually asked a question. Ian, having ordered gukbap for breakfast, replied.
ㄴOP: Eddie.
ㄴ★DaeMo: Excuse me?
ㄴOP: Eddie, a magician from Laplace.
ㄴ★DaeMo: Wait, you caught and killed that Eddie? For real?
ㄴOP: Yes.
ㄴ★DaeMo: ……You’re even more incredible than I thought.
DaeMo let out a pure exclamation of admiration. Ian narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was really that big a deal, and hummed softly. No matter how he thought about it, Eddie didn’t seem like a magician so remarkable as to warrant such admiration.
‘Well, everyone’s impression is different, I suppose.’
Shrugging it off, Ian put down his phone and summoned the grimoire, opening it up.
He was done showing off. Now it was time to focus on alchemy again. He slowly turned the pages, looking for items he could make with the materials he’d obtained.