“How did you come to know that woman?”
“What’s the situation over there?”
After Magreta waved and left first, the deputy director and the general continued with their questions.
I looked at the altar and let their voices wash past me.
Because I was hearing something more important.
[They patched it up in a curious way. Since they can’t use magic, they moved the ruins like this, did they? Hm, at this rate, I don’t think it’ll last very long...]
It was Sof, examining the ruins and the altar through my eyes.
[Does it look like it’ll break down soon?]
If it broke after only a few uses, that would be a big problem.
If the ruins failed and we were stranded on that star, then even Fifteen Boys Adrift would seem enviable.
[It won’t last half a century. To think they altered something made to operate semi-permanently like this. Truly wretched people.]
Half a century...
Sof wasn’t wrong.
These were ruins that had endured for tens of thousands of years or more while still maintaining their function.
If they had modified such ruins so they would not even last a hundred years, that was no different from breaking them.
However, fifty years was long enough for us.
At least, it would break after I was dead.
In that case, it was a problem for scientists or our descendants to worry about.
While I was talking with Sof about the ruins, the general and the deputy director stopped asking questions.
The two of them also looked around and figured out on their own why I wasn’t answering.
“Let’s go. It seems difficult to answer here.”
“Seems that way. Let’s get out.”
I went up to the surface with the two of them.
The American soldiers did not stop us.
However, the soldiers escorting us did not stop keeping watch.
I didn’t know whether they were watching the surroundings or watching me, but I was able to come up to the surface under strict protection.
When I came out of the tent where the elevator had been installed, only then did I feel that I had returned to Earth.
The military camp hadn’t changed much. The number of tents was the same, and there was no difference in the number of people coming and going.
‘Why is it the same?’
The people who had been training here were all on that distant star.
It hadn’t even been ten days yet, but there was no need to keep the facilities in place.
Sof showed more interest in what lay beyond the barracks than in the military tents.
The blue sky and clouds, even Baekdu Mountain visible in the distance.
Unlike before, Baekdu Mountain was without snow, but it still looked down on us with the majesty befitting the sacred mountain of the nation.
[So this is Earth’s nature.]
I proudly showed him the surroundings, but Sof’s reaction was different from what I expected.
[The air is bad. Visibility is short. And for early autumn, the temperature seems high.]
At his unexpected words, a rebuttal immediately sprang out of me.
[Your star was in worse shape. I didn’t travel around much, but there was nothing there but wasteland.]
Sof’s words weren’t wrong. But pointing out the truth like that was foul play.
Especially coming from someone who had lived on a ruined star.
[Before I died, it was a clean and beautiful star. The air was clear, nature was abundant, and it was a healthy, well-tended star.]
If he said it had been that way in the past, I had nothing to say.
It wasn’t as if I was going to argue by shoving the current reality in his face.
“This place is relatively fine. Since there’s a war going on, the only problem is the fine dust blowing over from China.”
I couldn’t afford to worry about environmental issues too.
There was no reason for me to agonize over a problem everyone else had given up on.
Sof did not bring up the matter again either.
The general and the deputy director took me to the barracks they were using.
Before, it had been a tent, but now it had turned into a container barracks.
The inside of the barracks was more comfortable than I expected.
It was furnished like an office, with a sofa and a desk, and there was even an air conditioner running on the wall.
When we went inside, the two of them seated me on the sofa.
It was a courteous reception unlike before, but I couldn’t feel that I was being treated courteously.
Because of the two guards standing behind me with guns.
It seemed he noticed my discomfort.
The NIS deputy director asked for my understanding.
“Please understand. Some of those who returned to Earth have caused disturbances, so this is a precaution.”
“Disturbances?”
When I tilted my head, he explained in a little more detail.
“When people who used to wield power like superhumans lose that power, they can’t help but become anxious. And when that happens, they make mistakes. This is to prevent such mistakes.”
After the deputy director’s kind explanation, the general followed with a half-threat.
“There is no dark energy on Earth, so you’d best restrain yourself too. Here, you’re nothing more than an ordinary person.”
I hadn’t been an ordinary person even before I left.
On top of that, even now I was no different from when I was on that star.
My strengthened power and senses remained the same.
Dark energy was flowing inside my body.
[That is thanks to me.]
Sof immediately boasted.
This time, I couldn’t refute him.
Because it was true.
“More importantly, I’ll ask the earlier question again. What is the situation on that star?”
Two soldiers were behind me with guns, and in front of me, two men in power were staring at me.
This time, I couldn’t pretend not to hear.
“It was a desolate star. Food was scarce, and so were daily necessities, so we had to hunt monsters starting the next day.”
I laid out what I had experienced.
Not the things that had happened to me, but the sorts of things an ordinary member of the follow-up group might have seen and heard.
The harsh conditions, and the hardships we endured to obtain black stones and food.
As I spoke, I couldn’t avoid bringing up the casualties.
“There were wounded and dead while hunting monsters.”
At my words, the two of them asked with grave expressions.
“How many wounded are unable to move, and how many dead?”
From what I’d heard from Sergeant An, it seemed one more person had died among the follow-up group while I was exploring the ruins and returning.
There had been wounded then as well.
“I’m not sure about the advance party, but in the follow-up group, there were two deaths. Fortunately, the wounded were able to move.”
“Two in ten days... That’s not bad.”
The two did not ask who had died.
Not their names, ages, or genders.
I had experienced it during war and during operations too, but at times like this, it made me feel sick.
There was one more person whose mood had turned foul.
[Dim-witted trash. Even if they didn’t mean it, they could at least offer a few words of consolation.]
They were fellow Koreans, but I couldn’t think of anything to say in their defense.
In truth, I didn’t even feel like defending them.
Because I thought the same.
After that, the two asked many more questions.
About the environment around the base, the facilities at the forward base, and even the amount of black stones acquired.
Sometimes I answered vaguely, and sometimes I dodged the questions.
“What about the advance party? Are they united? You seemed close to the American member who came with you. How did you come to know her?”
There were Koreans included in the advance party, but the two of them seemed unable to obtain information about it.
Even if it couldn’t be helped for the general, for the NIS deputy director not to know the situation?
‘Are all the Koreans in the advance party managed by the United States too?’
If they couldn’t get information about the other star, or the ruins, or even lay a hand on the Korean members, then why on earth was Korea doing this?
I wasn’t certain, but this war, too, was something the United States had started.
A war waged to seize these ruins.
They had allowed a war like that, yet obtained no information and no benefits?
There was no way.
I didn’t know about the country called Korea, but there was no way the people in power in this country were such pushovers.
There had to be some benefit for them.
I just couldn’t tell what that was right now.
‘For now, I’ll keep it in mind.’
I would find out as time passed.
“I don’t know much about the advance party. I came to know that woman because we ended up coming to Earth together.”
I didn’t tell them about Magreta, about the exploration team, or about the fact that I was the one who carried the box.
If someone from the follow-up group came to Earth, it would be revealed, but there was no telling when that would be.
[For the time being, they won’t put another follow-up member in that spot instead of you.]
Of the two seats that allowed people to come to Earth, one was my place as the porter.
As I continued pretending not to know and answered ambiguously, disappointment appeared on their faces.
After confirming that there was nothing more to hear from me, the general spoke with a solemn expression.
“Then, until you depart again, stay quietly on the base.
Don’t wander around the base for no reason, and don’t talk to other people. If possible, it would be best if you stayed quietly inside your quarters and then returned.”
The general’s words were no different from saying they would confine me to my quarters.
It was absurd.
I had come to Earth, and they were telling me to shut myself away in my quarters.
I knew this was something that had to be kept secret. But why did only I have to do that?
I stared hard at the two men as they spoke.
‘Should I go at them?’
I weighed my chances.
Contrary to what they said, my strong body remained, and I had a magician by my side.
On top of that, I knew a lot of information they didn’t.
If I released just a little of it, my treatment would change.
‘Not yet.’
It was not yet time to overturn the table. Nor was it time to reveal my secrets or abilities and negotiate.
I was annoyed, but I could still endure it for now.
—I’ll bring you a wonderful present!
Besides, Magreta’s promise still remained.
I didn’t know what kind of gift it would be, but thinking of her expression, I doubted I would be disappointed.
“Understood. Then I’ll be leaving.”
“You still haven’t left? Go.”
At my words, the deputy director waved his hand without even looking at me.
Then the general ordered the guards.
“You men guide him to an empty lodging. After that, take turns protecting him well.”
He meant not protection, but surveillance.
And so I ended up confined in a separate tent.
One guard stood in front of the tent and watched me.
The only time I went outside the tent was to use the bathroom. Even then, the guard followed me.
The guards brought me meals, and inside the tent, I couldn’t use my phone, let alone watch TV or listen to the radio.
Even so, I wasn’t suffering or lonely.
I was busy talking with the staff I had brought, which had turned invisible.
“How did you do it?”
[What do you mean, how? I did it with magic.]
Sof answered my question as if boasting.
Ridiculously enough, at that moment, the staff glowed faintly.
‘Don’t tell me the staff just showed off?’
I dearly hoped that wasn’t the case.
I knew he had used magic.
If he hadn’t, he would not have been able to hide his form or speak with me.
But magic could not be used on Earth.
“There’s no dark energy on Earth, though?”
At my words, he lit up the staff once more.
The light gradually moved upward, and then the black stone embedded at the tip of the staff began to glow.
[That is why we brought this black stone, isn’t it?]
Sof continued explaining in an excited voice.
[Instead of the dark energy that doesn’t exist on Earth, I’m using this black stone. I draw out the energy inside the black stone, process it through your body, and then use it again myself.]
The explanation wasn’t long.
Nor was it hard to understand.
Since there was no dark energy on Earth, he was using the energy in the black stone, and thanks to that, Sof could use magic and I could use energy as well.
There was some strange talk about “processing” in the middle, but I decided to think about that later.
“Then does that mean both you and I can use our power on Earth without restrictions?”
[As if there would be no restrictions. Naturally, you can’t exceed the amount of energy you originally had, and when the energy in the black stone runs out, that is the end of it.]
“How long will it last?”
[If we use it like this without fighting, about a week.]
That was good enough.
I would return in a few days anyway.
After that, I continued learning magic and methods of utilizing energy from Sof inside the tent.
[If only your head were even one-tenth as good as your body...]
Just as he said, I learned quite a lot over the next few days about how to use energy.
Though my magic did not improve at all.
A few days later, while I continued my lessons under Sof’s lamentations,
It became noisy outside the tent.
I went outside.
The guard should have stopped me, but he did not.
He looked even more out of it than I was.
I was about to ask him what had happened, but before I could, I saw two people running this way.
The general and the NIS deputy director.
The two men who had shut me up in the tent.
The two ran up in front of me and, gasping for breath, said to me,
“You’ve had a hard time in such a remote place. We’ll move your quarters right away.”
“Has there been any difficulty? If there’s anything you need, please tell us immediately.”
Both the general and the deputy director were treating me differently from a few days ago.
I had no idea what on earth was going on.
“Could you tell me what happened?”
At my question, the two looked at each other.
My answer came from somewhere else.
Screech.
A Humvee stopped in front of the lodging, and someone got out.
“I’ll explain that. I know the situation best.”
A clear voice came through the automatic translator.
The person who got out of the car was Magreta.
The radio was playing from the Humvee she had stepped out of.
[Today, negotiations between the two countries concluded in Hawaii. As a result, starting today...]
With the announcer’s voice in the background, she spoke.
“Thanks to capturing Benedict, we were able to settle things well with China behind the scenes. We gave what needed to be given, took what needed to be taken, and in the end, we were able to finish the negotiations today.”
[...As of twelve o’clock today, it has been decided that both sides will end hostilities.]
She checked the time and made a V with her fingers.
“The war ended just now!”
Looking at her beaming smile, I had no choice but to let out a hollow laugh.
Her gift had far surpassed my expectations.