As the tension among the people at the base had eased, the command barracks also seemed more relaxed than before.
There were fewer communications soldiers and officers outside the barracks, and no one was angry or shouting.
Everyone seemed to be going about their routine duties, but the moment Maxwell and I appeared, the atmosphere changed completely.
Some people recognized Maxwell and me as we headed toward the barracks, and the gazes of others followed theirs.
The soldiers nearby widened their eyes when they saw me, and the soldiers in the corners whispered among themselves.
“Isn’t he the one who wiped out the Northern Theater Command headquarters?”
“Yeah. He’s the mage.”
It seemed rumors had spread through the command even though I hadn’t separately announced that I had dealt with the Chinese rebel leadership.
It didn’t matter. I had expected it to become known.
I ignored their gazes and headed for the barracks.
The soldiers guarding the container barracks snapped to a salute reflexively when I approached.
I nodded in response to their greeting and went inside.
Perhaps because of the sound of the salutes, everyone inside the barracks looked over as I entered.
There were fewer of them than before, but the barracks were still full of stars.
Among those stars, I saw the commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces and Deputy Director Samuel, and in one corner was an NIS agent I knew.
Fortunately, everyone I needed to meet was there.
Seeing me, the combined forces commander said,
“The mage has returned.”
It wasn’t only the soldiers who called me a mage.
It seemed to be a nickname the commander, or someone in this barracks, had given me.
As I approached, the commander said to the others in the barracks,
“Would everyone step out for a moment?”
At his words, the generals and officers rose from their seats and headed outside.
Last time, we had gone out to talk, but this time the commander sent his staff officers and generals out.
That was probably because the war had entered a lull.
People slipped outside while stealing glances at me.
After the soldiers, when the government agents were heading out, I stopped one of them.
“Korea should know the situation too, so Agent Han Seongjae should stay.”
At my words, one agent halted awkwardly.
With a troubled expression, he looked at a man in a suit who seemed to be his superior.
“You know the president’s top-priority directive. Do as he says.”
Leaving those words behind, the man in the suit went outside with the others.
Agent Han hesitated, then returned to the seat where he had been.
Once everyone had left, the door closed, and five people remained inside the barracks: the combined forces commander, Deputy Director Samuel, Agent Han, Maxwell, and me.
When only the necessary personnel were left, Samuel asked me,
“It’s soundproofed too, right?”
“Yes. I already put it up.”
From the moment I entered, a shield that ordinary people could not see had been spread throughout the inside of the barracks.
It was the shield Sop had put up—a shield that blocked physical attacks as well as sound and communications.
When he heard that sound had been blocked with magic, Commander John looked around as if fascinated.
“Magic truly is amazing.”
“It isn’t magic that’s amazing. It’s Captain Hyeon. Soundproofing magic still isn’t possible for other mages or artifacts.”
For someone who said it was amazing, he knew a great deal about me.
I could tell just from his mention of soundproofing magic.
At Samuel’s words, Commander John shook his head.
“The very fact that magic can be used on Earth is what makes it special.”
“That is the most remarkable thing, yes.”
Samuel agreed with him.
After a brief bit of small talk, Commander John asked Maxwell,
“So what happened? Did you confirm the Antarctic ruins?”
It was an official setting, but Maxwell was still his nephew. Even so, the commander’s tone was much stiffer than it had been with Margretta.
Maxwell’s reply was the same.
“That ruin was a terraforming ruin. He said spatial movement was possible to other ruins on Earth, but it was not connected to any other star.”
He finished speaking while looking at me.
After hearing him, the commander and Samuel did not ask me to confirm it again.
Instead, Samuel looked disappointed.
“As expected, it was a terraforming ruin.”
Unlike Maxwell, Samuel had known that ruin was a terraforming ruin.
I asked him,
“You knew?”
“I thought there was a high probability. If there was a ruin beneath Antarctica where carbon dioxide and methane were being emitted, there was a high chance it was a terraforming ruin.”
It was a conclusion reached only through conjecture, but the conjecture itself was extremely reasonable.
“Then why?”
“If there was even the slightest possibility that it was connected to another star, we had to confirm it. Since there was someone who could check it immediately, we couldn’t afford to waste time.”
The reason they had sent Maxwell and me to Antarctica was reasonable as well.
The biggest reason they had sent us there was probably for America’s benefit, but since it had helped me too, there was no need to argue over it.
“Still, you said it was connected to other ruins… Don’t tell me you came here by spatial movement?”
“Yes.”
At my answer, Samuel let out a sigh.
“This is the first I’m hearing of that too. Don’t tell me Captain Han can go to any ruin?”
“Within the same star system, yes.”
In truth, if I used my ability to switch paths midway, it was possible to go to stars outside the star system as well.
But I intended to keep that ability hidden.
If people found out that I could travel between Nakwon, Taepyeong, and Trappist without passing through Earth, things were sure to become troublesome.
I wouldn’t simply hide everything like before, but I had no intention of revealing something that wouldn’t benefit me.
“So that was why you were able to move around freely on Trappist. It will certainly be useful on Earth as well, since you can travel between ruins… but it’s a shame. If you could move between stars, you would have been of great help even after Earth’s destruction.”
As expected, Samuel’s thoughts went that far.
If I had told him, it would have become troublesome.
While we were talking about the Antarctic ruins, there was one person who could not follow the conversation.
Agent Han was rolling his eyes with a troubled expression while we spoke.
Seeing that, I separately explained the situation to him.
[……So that is how I ended up going to Antarctica. It was an abandoned ruin that can’t be used now, so it wasn’t of any help.]
It was magic that transmitted a message through the floor while I conversed with the others.
Though I was not in direct contact with him, by doing it this way, I could transmit magic through a medium even without my hand touching him.
“Through a medium, huh……”
While I was explaining things to him, I felt as if something was about to come to mind, a tickling sensation in my head.
If I thought about it more, it felt like something would surface, but by the time I finished telling him everything, nothing had changed.
I couldn’t cling to something that wouldn’t come to mind right away.
I scattered the tickling thought and focused on the conversation again.
“The units that had been advancing toward this place have withdrawn beyond Shenyang. The units heading for Beijing have also stopped, and the units attacking the Tibet ruins have ceased their assault as well. Sporadic fighting is still continuing, but since lower-level units are surrendering one after another, the rebellion will likely end soon.”
While I was explaining the situation to Agent Han, the commander told us about the circumstances of the Chinese rebels.
If what he said was true, it seemed we no longer had to worry about the rebels.
That was a relief.
It would have been troublesome if the fighting had continued after I had gone through the effort of cleaning up the rebel leadership.
This time, I had been able to come to Earth before it was too late, but there was no guarantee I would be able to do so again in the future.
At the very least, this Baekdusan ruin had to be maintained.
If something happened to this Baekdusan ruin, I could go to another ruin, but I did not want to.
After all, I was Korean.
When Commander John finished speaking, Samuel added,
“The annihilation of the leadership had a great effect, but burying the nuclear missiles at the nuclear base was also a tremendous help. Because of the nuclear missiles the rebels had, we hadn’t been able to engage in proper combat until now.”
That was also why America had tried to deal with the nuclear base first.
Just as countries with nuclear weapons find it difficult to fight one another, because of the nuclear missiles held by the rebels, neither the Chinese government nor the U.S. forces had been able to fight properly until now.
Since there were no longer any intercontinental ballistic missiles loaded with nuclear warheads, and the leadership had been annihilated as well, it seemed I could return to Trappist without worry.
As I was thinking that, Samuel cautiously added,
“However, the number of nuclear missiles at the base does not add up. The Chinese nuclear technician said the count was correct, but according to our information, there were several more hydrogen-warhead ballistic missiles there.”
Hearing him, I understood why he was watching my reaction.
It seemed the U.S. intelligence agencies had cross-checked the information after the special forces returned.
I had expected it. There was no way U.S. intelligence would miss information like that.
I had known I would be found out anyway.
The only reason I had been grateful for Chen Ming’s lie was because it had allowed me to avoid trouble on-site.
There was no longer any need to hide it.
I told them the truth.
“I have the hydrogen bombs. They’re in the box inside my backpack.”
I pointed to the backpack on my back.
At my words, everyone’s expressions changed.
Samuel seemed surprised that I admitted it immediately, but the others were surprised because of the hydrogen bombs.
The people whose faces had changed color hurriedly backed away.
“!!!”
Maxwell retreated all the way to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and stared at me with an absurd expression.
“What? Nukes?”
Agent Han, who had fled to the corner of the barracks, looked back and forth between me and the bag with a deathly pale face.
Fortunately, Commander John held his ground, but his expression was no different from the others’.
“That backpack was a nuclear backpack?”
At the commander’s words, I couldn’t immediately think of a rebuttal.
The circumstances were very different from a nuclear backpack that referred to a bomb backpack containing a nuclear device, but in the end, my backpack was a nuclear backpack too.
Since they seemed far more surprised than I had expected, I explained the situation to them.
“There’s no need to worry. The hydrogen bombs are inside a spatial expansion box, so they aren’t dangerous. I already confirmed it with other nuclear bombs.”
Even after my explanation, their expressions did not change.
If anything, they stared at me with even more appalled expressions.
Then I heard Sop clicking his tongue.
[There’s no way that would be an explanation for people who know little about magic.]
Well, it was true. Saying there was no need to worry because the space itself was severed was something that only worked on people who understood magic.
I gave up on explaining further.
Instead, I brought up what I had intended to say.
“Samuel, you may already know this, but I can move ordinary people to Trappist. It won’t be a large number, but if I transfer people to Trappist, it should reduce the dissatisfaction of other countries.”
Since he had seen Margretta bring ordinary people to the Baekdusan base, he must have realized that I could move ordinary people to Trappist.
As expected, he was not surprised by my words.
And at the part about reducing the dissatisfaction of other countries, his expression turned troubled, as if I had struck at the core of the issue.
Before he could cut in, I made it clear.
“I will be the one to decide which ordinary people go to Trappist. It’s a dangerous star, so I can’t let just anyone in.”
Danger was one reason, but more than that, I intended to admit only the people I needed.
Having power or a lot of money meant nothing to me.
“In order to accept ordinary people on Trappist, I have to defeat the Demon King. That is what the hydrogen bombs are for.”
To make Trappist a new refuge and defeat the Demon King, I could not be satisfied with mere tacit approval from America.
I intended to make America and the other countries acknowledge me.
As a mage equal to their nations.
I intended to make America and the other countries acknowledge my personal possession of the hydrogen bombs.
Lossless Carrier