Among the people who had come to Earth with us, Catherine left first.
“I’ll try to prepare as many artifacts related to magic as I can. Since they’ll only be for viewing, I should be able to bring most of the artifacts on Earth.”
After saying she would contact me once the artifacts were ready, she disappeared into the yellow dust.
Next was the female student who had come with us.
Soldiers came and took her away.
She was extremely startled that soldiers carrying guns were taking her with them, but there was no helping it if the secret was to be kept.
After the female student was led away like that, Margretta and I headed to the lodging.
Someone I knew was waiting for us at her quarters.
It was Jeong Ilsu, the CIA Korean agent who had taken me to Seoul not long ago.
When we entered the container lodging, he shot up from where he had been sitting at the desk.
“You’re here. I’ve been waiting.”
He looked at Margretta and broke into a broad smile.
It seemed he still liked Margretta.
“I heard downstairs. They said you’ve been stationed here permanently?”
At Margretta’s question, he scratched his head.
“Yes, that’s what happened after your last visit. It’s nice because the work has gotten easier, but I’m not sure whether this is a demotion or a promotion.”
At his words, Margretta declared firmly.
“It’s a promotion.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Jeong Ilsu laughed in good spirits, and Margretta stared at him intently.
When Margretta kept staring, he hurriedly rummaged through the desk drawer and took out two cell phones.
“The cell phones you left behind are here.”
She picked up one phone, then handed the other to me.
“It’s Hyun’s.”
It was the cell phone she had given me, the one I had left behind because I couldn’t take it to Trappist.
“Rest for a bit. I have to report in first.”
She pointed upward with her finger.
While she called her superiors, I sat down on the sofa and turned on the cell phone.
Perhaps they had kept charging it even while I was gone, because there was plenty of battery.
Unlike before, it had a signal too.
Now I could call other people without having to borrow a satellite phone.
“As expected, Korean companies work fast. Once the HS Group people entered the base, they had a wireless communications network set up in no time. You can use the internet comfortably now too.”
When I checked the cell phone, Jeong Ilsu started chattering beside me.
Perhaps he had been bored all this time, because he did not stop there.
“Mr. Myeonghan’s family is all doing fine. Your older brother went to America and is working at a new job. His workplace has an excellent reputation. And your father is still farming. The harvest has been poor lately, so…”
“No. I don’t need to hear that.”
I had intended not to cut him off if I could help it, but I did not particularly want to hear that last part.
My father was the kind of person who would go out to work the fields even if Earth were ending tomorrow.
Farming mattered more to him than his family, so there was no need to care what the harvest was like.
Once he grew quiet, I opened the banking app.
It was to check how much money had accumulated.
I had no immediate use for it, but with the world changing like this, I couldn’t leave this money sitting in a bank.
My clever older brother would be able to find a way.
I checked the number on the screen.
“Hmm…”
There was far more than I had expected.
I had thought it would be in the tens of billions of won, but there was another zero attached.
And this number did not even include the money I had earned from this return.
The number was so large that I couldn’t grasp just how much money it was.
Even so, I could at least tell that with an amount like this, I really did need to entrust its management to someone else.
And with this much money, it was obvious a simple transfer would be impossible.
I asked someone who seemed likely to know.
At my question, Jeong Ilsu answered as if he had been waiting for it.
“We can support you with other matters. However, you’ll probably have to visit the bank’s head office in Seoul at least once. With this amount of money, it would be difficult for us to handle everything on your behalf.”
In the end, if I wanted to entrust the money to my brother, I had to go to Seoul.
“In that case, I’ll have to go this time.”
This wasn’t something I could put off.
Just then, it seemed Margretta had finished her call as well.
She hung up and let out a sigh.
“Um, Margretta?”
“What is it?”
At my call, she pouted.
I could sense Jeong Ilsu feeling envious beside us, but I pretended not to notice and spoke to her.
“I think I’ll have to go to Seoul. They say the amount is too large, so the person concerned has to go to the bank.”
When I explained while showing her the banking app, Margretta nodded.
“That works out well. Then I’ll see you in Seoul in a few days.”
It was an answer different from what I had expected.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“I have to return to my home country right away because of someone. Even if it’s a secure call, it’s difficult to explain something like this over the phone.”
Even Jeong Ilsu beside us would be able to tell that the “someone” was me.
Feeling apologetic, I tried speaking up.
“Then should I go with you? If you need to explain, I think that would be better.”
Rather than going to Seoul, I thought it would be better to help Margretta right now.
Margretta shook her head.
“No. I’ll go alone. Hyun, don’t leave this country. To be honest, I wish you wouldn’t even go to Seoul, but going out over the high seas is truly dangerous. The world is harsher than you know.”
Margretta knew that I could use magic even on Earth.
Seeing her say that, it seemed everyone was fighting fiercely in places I did not know about.
‘Do they hijack planes, or blow them up?’
I was confident I could survive even in such a situation, but there was no need to reveal my magic pointlessly on Earth.
I decided to follow her advice.
“Then I’ll go next time.”
Margretta narrowed her eyes.
“I told you, no planes or ships.”
“Those aren’t the only methods.”
She tilted her head, then widened her eyes.
She had realized what I meant.
“That… works on Earth too?”
“I’ll have to check a little more, but it probably will.”
On Earth, there were other ruins besides Baekdu Mountain.
Ruins connected to Paradise.
There might be other ruins as well, but at the very least, those ruins were certain to have a place connected to America.
If planes and ships were no good, I simply had to use those ruins for spatial movement.
I had not yet found the connected path, but if my skill improved a little more, I should be able to find it.
Even if I could not find it, there was still a way.
Since I had found a path connected to another planet, I could go to that planet and search for another route from there.
[That really is a brute-force method.]
I had nothing to say to Soph’s remark.
Even I thought it was crude.
In any case, there were many methods.
Jeong Ilsu did not understand what we were talking about.
Like an agent, he pretended he had not heard, and when the conversation ended, he said to me,
“It looks like I’ll be escorting you again this time.”
“Will we be taking that car from before?”
His driving hadn’t been bad, but it had taken far too long to get to Seoul.
On top of that, we had even run into a strange incident along the way…
It would be nice if there were a more comfortable method.
“Please don’t worry. This time, you should be able to go by helicopter.”
“Has the no-fly zone already been lifted?”
“No. Special permission was granted for you, Mr. Myeonghan. A special directive came down from headquarters. It’s something usually only possible for someone of general rank, so it seems they consider you extremely important.”
That was a relief.
This time, I wouldn’t have to waste time on the road.
When Jeong Ilsu stuck out his thumb as if impressed, Margretta gave a small laugh.
“Why make such a fuss over one helicopter? Next time, escort fighters will be attached.”
Jeong Ilsu thought Margretta was joking and laughed loudly.
“It’s already amazing as it is, but escort fighters? Hahaha, if that happens, that really would be incredib…”
He laughed for a while, then looked at us and lowered his voice.
“You weren’t joking?”
Her words were not a joke.
If I brought back the “Flower of the Magician,” escort fighters really might be attached, just as she had said.
“You’ll be able to confirm it the next time you come to Earth.”
With that, I parted ways with Margretta.
She took a helicopter first and headed to Pyongyang.
From Pyongyang, Margretta would transfer to a plane and fly to the United States.
“I’m going to make sure I’m thoroughly compensated for all the trouble.”
She left after trying hard to intimidate me.
Those words did not particularly frighten me, but I still felt I ought to repay her somehow.
After that, I kept thinking of things I might be able to give her as a gift.
Once she left, I went with Jeong Ilsu to board the helicopter.
Through the yellow dust, a man in a suit blocked our way.
“Mr. Hyeon Myeonghan!”
The man was panting, as if he had come running in a hurry.
It was Lee Jaeyun, the third-generation chaebol I had seen last time.
Back then, the deputy director of the National Intelligence Service had introduced him as a manager at HS Trading.
Unlike before, the expensive suit he was wearing was covered in dust. It was probably because of the yellow dust.
The suit was not the only thing that had changed. His attitude toward me had changed as well.
“Thank goodness you’re still here.”
“I was just about to go to Seoul.”
He welcomed my words.
“You’re going to Seoul? That works out well. How about taking our car? I’ll escort you myself.”
He looked as though he would carry me on his back if a car wouldn’t do, but unfortunately, I couldn’t go with him.
“We’re going by helicopter.”
“Ah…”
At my words, he looked as though he had been struck.
It was an amusing situation in its own way, but I couldn’t keep the helicopter waiting, so I immediately started walking.
“Then.”
“Wait a moment.”
But he blocked me again.
“There is someone who wishes to meet you, Mr. Myeonghan.”
This time, he immediately stated the reason for stopping me.
It was an obvious reason, no different from what I had expected.
I let out a small sigh.
“I don’t know. I don’t have time.”
This was not empty talk.
I was absolutely short on time.
I was about to leave, but for his sake, I added one piece of advice.
“And unless the person who wants to meet me is in a truly high position, meeting them will be meaningless.”
“Pardon?”
At my words, his eyebrows twitched.
He had been lowering his posture all this time, but it seemed this was not something he could simply accept.
He seemed offended, but I decided to finish what I had been saying anyway.
“At the very least, they need to be someone who can access the secret. Only then will a meeting be useful. If you tell your superiors that, someone will understand.”
With those words, I ended the conversation.
Perhaps he really was angry, because he no longer stopped me.
He did not ask for my phone number either, but that did not matter.
If he truly needed it, he would be able to obtain my number easily enough.
After him, no one else blocked my path.
I climbed into the waiting helicopter.
Jeong Ilsu sat beside me, and the helicopter rose into the sky.
As we flew toward Seoul, the ground was not visible.
Like a glimpse of Earth’s future, the murky yellow dust covered the land.
Bank Consultation