#282
Advance into Europe (1)
Whooooong—
The loud roar of engines reverberated heavily, and from all directions came the bustling murmur of people moving busily about.
As if this place alone belonged to another world, it was a sight not easily seen in modern society, where terrorism had become rampant.
‘Which also means its defenses are that thorough.’
To one side of that space.
Heinz II, who had been standing quietly with his arms folded as he watched countless people come and go, glanced around and gave a light nod.
It was only natural. This place was one of the nation’s most critical strategic facilities.
Incheon International Airport.
‘…Right. Normally, the best way to leave the country was to take a plane.’
He had forgotten because he had been traveling from place to place so easily until now, but long-distance travel on Earth was not particularly simple.
To use “Hero’s Footsteps,” he first had to have visited the location at least once, and there were limits to using Hans’s spatial movement service as well.
‘If it were somewhere close like Japan or China, that’d be one thing, but flying all the way there myself just to get coordinates is a bit much.’
No matter how fast Hans’s movement speed was, rivaling that of an airplane, he couldn’t exactly travel that way to somewhere near the opposite side of the globe.
At that point, it would be better to simply sneak onto a plane.
—Attention, please. Ariana Airlines flight OG501 to Paris will be departing shortly. Passengers who have not yet boarded…
Just then, the announcement he had been waiting for began to play.
And Heinz, who had been leaning against the wall as he calmly looked around, proceeded to carry out what he had already decided.
He truly attempted to infiltrate the airport, piercing through its ironclad security.
‘Even if I do have a forged identity, the inspection process is more troublesome than I expected. Rather than leaving unnecessary traces, it’s more convenient to do it this way.’
Numerous Awakeners, magic tools, barriers, and the like had been stationed throughout the airport, but none of them could detect “Existence Denial” when he, who possessed a rank overwhelming them all, exerted it with all his might.
No matter how vital this location was, there was no way one of the few transcendent-grade powerhouses in the country would be camping here all day.
‘I should take this opportunity to visit other regions in advance too. So I can move there with “Hero’s Footsteps” whenever I need to.’
And so, after concealing his presence and infiltrating from the vicinity of the airport, he ultimately succeeded in slipping like a ghost onto the plane bound for France—.
—Ladies and gentlemen, we will be taking off shortly. Please check once again that your seat belts are fastened…
After that, he was able to begin the long-distance flight to Europe without any particular issue.
‘My first time riding a plane in my life, and I’m stowing away.’
That was a little regrettable, but there would be plenty of opportunities later, wouldn’t there?
Heinz brushed past an Awakener patrolling the cabin, sat down in an empty seat with his legs crossed, and leisurely closed his eyes.
About thirteen hours remained until arrival.
It was the countdown to the European landing of the Vampire King who had ruled an entire world.
***
A cool breeze and clouds drifting slowly by.
On a day with weather perfect for traveling somewhere…
“Sad premonitions never miss.”
Kang Taesan, a rookie agent in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ability Management Bureau, looked up at the sky and muttered as if complaining to himself.
The worries he had voiced in conversation with his friend not long ago had become reality.
“What are you grumbling about by yourself this time?”
“Ah, senior! Isn’t this too much? Why are we again… No, more importantly, the White Knight isn’t even a criminal, is he?”
The team he belonged to had been mobilized for another tracking mission following Hahoe Mask.
“White Knight” was the code name the Ability Management Bureau had arbitrarily assigned to the paladin who had played an active role in the hospital terrorist incident.
To begin with, there were more than a few paladins active in Korea, so using such a common noun to refer to one specific individual was obviously inappropriate.
Thus, the name chosen was White Knight, derived from the pure white armor that seemed to symbolize him.
“It can’t be helped. In any case, it’s true that he hasn’t registered as a Returnee.”
For the time being, that was what the law stated, so they had sufficient justification.
Of course, he was a hero who had stopped a dangerous terrorist attack and protected civilians, so they weren’t truly treating him like a criminal.
Even if a terrorist had died in the process, the circumstances were more than enough to warrant extenuation.
However, that did not mean they could simply sit back and do nothing…
“Think about it. We’re a national agency in name and fact, yet does it make sense that we know nothing about such a famous person? Honestly, our reputation is already in shambles because of Hahoe Mask.”
Strictly speaking, the number of people who had not voluntarily reported themselves until now was by no means small.
But those people did their utmost to hide themselves and avoid the public eye.
Their cases were different from the White Knight’s, who had received massive media coverage this time and even attracted global attention.
“…Ugh, that’s true.”
At that, Kang Taesan had no choice but to agree and scratch the back of his head.
He was still dissatisfied that he was only doing irrelevant tasks instead of chasing actual criminals, but what power did a mere office worker… and a low-ranking civil servant at that, have?
He had no choice but to do as he was told from above.
“But still, accommodating Pantheon this much is a bit… It’s not like we’re their guides.”
Of course, that did not mean he completely accepted the current situation.
If they were the ones asking for cooperation with the investigation, that would be one thing, but the current state of affairs did not seem to be at that level.
Kang Taesan turned his gaze toward the group of foreigners wandering around the hospital inside the police line.
They were not clergy from Pantheon’s Korean branch, but people dispatched from the main headquarters in the United States.
The senior who glanced that way following his gaze let out a light breath and shook his head.
“…I’m not too pleased about that either, but what can we do? If we get on their bad side, it’ll be a headache. We’ve also received quite a lot of help from them.”
Due to its nature, Pantheon had extremely weak cohesion, but the fact that it was still a group representing the interests of the clergy did not change.
For the sake of their rights and interests, they maintained fairly close relationships with national agencies, and among Ability Management Bureau agents who were frequently caught up in dangerous work, there were no small number of cases where they had survived thanks to that.
‘Of course, those welfare benefits don’t extend to their families.’
That was why Kang Taesan’s grandmother had been forced to be hospitalized.
Expecting that much was unreasonable when the supply was far too small compared to the demand.
Considering the status of such clergy, this level of matter was probably not a big deal.
“&$#%&@!”
“@$^#@#.”
Just then, the foreigners who had been examining the scene exchanged words with the Korean clergy beside them.
Then, after each nodding, they all began walking toward this side at once.
“Oh, looks like they’re done?”
Thinking that, Kang Taesan straightened his posture along with his senior, but their investigation was not yet completely over.
“Huh, yes?”
When he instinctively asked back in confusion at the sudden question, the Korean clergyman opened his mouth again in a gentle voice.
“I heard you were present there at the time.”
“Ah… yes. But I was knocked unconscious immediately by the first attack, so I don’t know anything. I was just caught in the explosion, sent flying, and lost consciousness. That’s all.”
It was something he had already said to the point of exhaustion after returning from his leave.
He smiled awkwardly and waved his hands.
“I was told the reason you were at the hospital at that moment was because of your grandmother’s discharge.”
“Yes, it was bad luck. The accident happened right when we were standing at the main entrance.”
At those words, the clergyman nodded seriously.
He already knew that much, having received a certain amount of shared information.
What mattered was what came next.
“According to the medical chart, I heard your grandmother began to recover rapidly from a certain point onward.”
“…That’s right. Since she’s elderly, it wasn’t a complete recovery, though.”
He looked over the clergy accompanying him, then turned his gaze back to Kang Taesan and slowly spoke.
“Would it be possible for us to meet her once?”
***
As expected, thinking about it now, he had been fortunate to obtain “Xenoglossy” from the VIP Market’s “Random Miscellaneous Skill Acquisition (500,000).”
Heinz II, who had slipped out of the plane as stealthily as he had boarded it, had that thought as he looked around Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
“Are you sure the luggage was checked in properly? Why is it taking so…”
“We’ll escort you to your lodging first. This way…”
“Oh! Agnès, you made it back safely! Come home quickly…”
He could naturally understand the foreign languages coming from every direction, and he could easily read the words on the signs placed here and there in an instant.
He had felt it once in China as well, but now that he had come to such a distant foreign land, he could feel the performance of the skill even more keenly.
‘It’s nice that I don’t have to repeat the cumbersome process from when I first went to Japan.’
Just as he had at Incheon International Airport, Heinz nodded while dodging the security devices placed throughout the area.
Since he had no intention of simply staying in France and then returning, being able to immediately understand the languages of various parts of Europe was an excellent advantage.
Whether he acted directly or gathered information, language was the greatest barrier.
‘Hm?’
In the midst of that thought, he caught sight of a blonde woman sitting on a bench in the middle of the airport, playing a game on her phone, subtly glancing in his direction.
She lightly furrowed her brow and tilted her head almost imperceptibly, then lowered her gaze again and resumed tapping on her smartphone.
‘Impressive.’
But Heinz could tell.
Though she appeared to be simply absorbed in her game, she was still watching his direction closely with her nerves sharpened to the utmost.
He gathered himself after having relaxed for a moment and moved slowly while using “Existence Denial” at full power.
Naturally, the watcher could not detect his movement at all.
‘Her level seems to be somewhere in the middle of the Ultimate realm. Is she specialized in detection?’
If compared to a vampire, she was roughly at the tail end of level seven.
However, the mere fact that she had sensed even a faint sense of incongruity from his stealth, which could be called level nine, was enough for him to guess the level of her detection ability.
For a talent of that caliber to be standing airport guard in a place like this.
‘Is it that the overall level here is that high, or is there some reason they have no choice but to do this?’
Either way, it was an interesting fact.
In a situation where no one could perceive him, Heinz left the airport with ghostlike steps, then slipped a hand into his coat and took out a pure white mask.
A white opera mask without any special pattern, covering from the forehead down to the nose.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t the original Phantom of the Opera a French work?’
For some reason, he felt amused.
After gazing at it for a moment, he slowly brought it to his face.
It was a mask he had worn all this time, but wearing it in a new place made him feel strangely elated.
As if he had become a true Phantom.
‘Then where might my Christine be?’
Wearing the mask, he drew in a deep breath, and his gaze turned in one direction.
Following the guidance of “Bloodline Craving,” which had been violently stirring ever since he had drawn close to European soil several hours earlier.
Immediately after.
His figure vanished from that spot.
Of course, even that went unnoticed by everyone.
The place where he next revealed himself was an alley in a certain urban area, more than ten kilometers away from the airport.
Now no longer using “Existence Denial” and fully revealing himself, he adjusted his clothing and strode forward confidently.
Step, step—
A black fedora and fine suit, polished shoes contrasting with the white mask on his face.
Heinz, a refined gentleman no matter how one looked at him, approached a young man at the end of the alley who was frowning and wary of him.
Then, in his usual cold voice, he offered a single line.
“Are you my Christine?”
“…What the hell is this lunatic?”
Faced with the other party’s dumbfounded expression following his unintended slip of the tongue, Heinz finally realized that he had not simply been a little excited.
‘Damn. I kept filtering it through “Mind Hub,” so I was late to notice.’
The original cynical and composed Heinz II would never have made such a mistake.
It seemed the influence “Bloodline Craving” had on an individual was greater than he had thought.
“My apologies. I am Phantom. Or you may call me Erik.”
“…You spouting nonsense because you want to die…!”
The Parisian vampire youth, who had contorted his face and was about to burst into anger—
“Sorry, but.”
Froze rigidly at the voice that suddenly came from behind him.
In front of him, where a person had been standing just a moment ago, there was only empty space.
He had not even been able to perceive when the other party had moved behind him.
‘What the hell is going on all of a sudden…!’
While he was cursing inwardly, a cold hand seized the back of his neck.
Sharp nails dug into flesh and muscle, tightening around his throat.
“We’ll talk later.”
After you’ve become a little more obedient.