The end of the war.
If this had been an ordinary unit, cheers would surely have rung out from every corner of the base.
There would have been soldiers crying, and others smoking with blank, vacant faces.
But confusion still reigned here.
The guards were watching everyone’s reactions, and the technicians wore troubled expressions.
There were others, too, who seemed just as frantic.
The general and the NIS deputy director, who had come running toward me.
I had no idea why they had rushed to me, but surely they had something else they needed to do first.
“Isn’t this not the time to be here? The troops that were just mustered must be in an uproar, too. Shouldn’t you hurry over there?”
Unlike the deputy director, the general took a moment to understand what she meant.
“General. We need to check on the newly mustered troops!”
“Ah, right. Damn it, I hadn’t even thought of that side!”
At the deputy director’s words, the general’s face went even paler.
He looked desperately pressed for time, but before leaving, he still left me with a threat.
“You do understand that just because the end of the war has been declared, it does not mean you are discharged immediately, yes? Bear in mind that until the Ministry of National Defense issues your discharge order, you remain a soldier!”
This time, it was a fairly plausible threat.
After the two of them hurried off in a fluster, Magreta said,
“Now that the people in our way are gone, may I speak with you?”
I led her to the tent I had been staying in.
“I don’t think it’ll be easy to find anywhere else right now… This seems to be the only place where we can talk.”
She waved her hand as if to say it was fine, but when she looked inside the tent, she frowned.
“It’s not a prison solitary cell, and yet there really is nothing here.”
Just as she said, there was nothing inside the tent.
A field cot, one blanket, and a dining table.
If not for the military-issued daily necessities, even washing my face would have been difficult.
“I don’t understand. If they came running here like that, it means they know Mr. Hyeon is an important asset… And yet they left him like this?”
She sat on the bed and tilted her head.
She probably couldn’t understand, but having experienced the Korean military for over two years, I knew exactly what was going on.
It was a kind of “gaslighting” often committed in the military.
A military-specific brainwashing method of coercing people while alternately pressuring and appeasing them.
It was a tactic of putting someone in a bad environment like this, then gradually loosening things up and beguiling them.
This time, something had happened before they could loosen the reins, so only the bad experience remained, but if there had been more time, I probably would have received different treatment.
[So that’s why those two came running here.]
[I don’t think that’s the only reason. But that was probably part of it.]
“I don’t know what the reason was, but thanks to that, this should be easier to discuss.”
She smiled brightly as she spoke to me.
It was the very smile I had found unpleasant when I first saw her.
Soph also knew that her smile was not sincere.
[A business smile. She hid it well. A beauty who wears masks well has her charms.]
But to him, it wasn’t a problem.
‘A moth to the flame, huh.’
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I asked her,
“What exactly happened?”
From the brief explanation I’d heard, it wasn’t easy to understand what had happened.
Benedict died, so China and the United States ended the war?
How on earth was that connected?
“There isn’t anything particularly more to say.”
She began that way, but the explanation that followed was quite long.
“Though there was another person acting as an intermediary, it was China that recruited Benedict. They had hidden it well until now, but in the end, China caught on too. In truth, the fact that it stayed hidden until now is impressive in itself.”
That much was what I had already heard.
“China was waiting for Benedict to cross over with the relic.
China wanted concrete evidence. Evidence about these ruins, and evidence that the United States launched a preemptive strike on North Korea.
Whether they would have publicized it in the international community, or whether they would have moved their military to seize the ruins, is something we can no longer know.”
She shrugged, and I asked again.
“Then, in the end, the secret was kept, and China gave up everything?”
Magreta raised one finger and wagged it side to side.
“As if. Through this incident, we ended up sharing the secret with China’s leadership. China has formally joined this project.”
I couldn’t understand what she was saying.
“Benedict is dead, and you caught his accomplice too, didn’t you? Yet you’re sharing the secret?”
She smiled and resolved my question.
“Because the secret had already leaked enough for China to recruit those two. The people above realized it would be difficult to keep blocking them.
Besides, rather than having it exposed externally or letting another competitor appear, it’s better to bring them inside under favorable conditions.
Still, because we cut things off properly, we were able to negotiate with China from an advantageous position.”
After hearing her words, I had no choice but to shake my head.
International relations were extremely complicated.
To an ordinary person like me, they were like a complex puzzle that was not easy to understand.
[So magic wasn’t the only problem. Your head itself was simple.]
The mage, who had been listening with me, quietly poked at me.
Was it because this wasn’t about magic?
This one hurt quite a bit.
As I was thinking of a retort, Magreta’s voice reached me.
“Have you asked everything you were curious about? Then may I speak now?”
At her words, I straightened my posture.
Now came the main point.
“What I have to say concerns your future, Mr. Hyeon.”
I knew she was going to bring this up.
She had seen and experienced my abilities, so there was no way she would stay still.
I didn’t know what she had done or how, but she was a woman who had moved the U.S. government and even brought about an armistice agreement.
My future was probably something she could decide easily enough.
I listened closely to her words.
She held up three fingers.
“There are currently three paths available to you, Hyeon.”
Three choices. More than I had expected.
She folded one of the fingers she had raised.
“Leaving out useless talk like giving everything up and living in hiding, first, you can remain in the Korean military.”
The moment I heard it, my expression turned indifferent. The woman saying it did not look much different from me.
“As that Korean general said earlier, just because the war is over doesn’t mean a soldier is discharged immediately.”
“My discharge date has already passed.”
At my reply, Magreta shook her head.
“I know that your discharge date has passed, Hyeon. You’re currently under a wartime service extension, aren’t you?”
Had she been investigating me during the few days since I returned to Earth?
“There’s no way the military will simply let someone like you go. One way or another, they’ll try to keep you attached to the military.
Of course, as time passes, your handling might be transferred to the civilian sector or to public officials, but before this matter is made public, that will be difficult.”
She seemed to believe this matter would not become public.
But something like this couldn’t be kept secret forever, could it?
They had managed to block it well until now, but rumors would spread before a few years had passed.
Leaving me with yet another question, she continued.
“In any case, if you choose the first option, there will not be much that I and my country can do for you.”
From beginning to end, it was all negative.
I wasn’t interested either, but I could tell clearly that she didn’t want it as well.
She folded her second finger.
“The second is becoming an American citizen. Even if not through naturalization, there are ways for you to work under American affiliation.”
This had to be the main point.
I listened more closely.
“If you become affiliated with the United States, you will be able to receive stable work, good protection, and generous compensation.
The Korean government and military will try to stop it, but we can extract you well enough. If you wish, we can also move your family in the South to the United States.”
It was what I had expected her to say when she brought up this topic.
‘Huh? Something feels strange.’
But amusingly enough, it did not seem to be the path she wanted.
“It sounds good enough. What’s the problem?”
At my question, Magreta spoke of the drawbacks as if she had been waiting for it.
“If you become part of the American expedition team, there will be severe restrictions.”
“I expected that much.”
No matter how good my abilities were, I would be a naturalized foreigner.
I would have to be monitored for a while, and I probably would not be able to move around as I pleased.
But she shook her head at my words.
“I don’t mean external matters. There will be severe restrictions on your work as well.
Among your abilities, the one my country wants most is your ability to transport large quantities of supplies during spatial transfer.”
She was right.
What mattered right now was sending supplies to another planet.
On top of that, if the quantity of black stone increased, my importance would rise even further.
“Your excellent spear-throwing skill, your ability to find traps and paths, even your ability as a box carrier—all of it will be difficult to use. All for the sake of safety.
From now on, you will continue living in nice places, then travel back and forth to the spatial transfer ruins at the appointed times.”
So she was saying I would live in places like hotels and only move cargo when the time came?
It was an extremely easy and comfortable job, but…
To be honest, I didn’t like it.
I asked bluntly,
“You’ve filled it with bad points… Is that all?”
Even as I said it, I wondered if I had brought it up for no reason.
But Magreta immediately poured out her true feelings.
“There’s one worst point! There’s absolutely no benefit to me!
After finally catching a wonderful sucker—no, an asset—I wouldn’t even be able to stick a straw into him and would have to hand him over to another department!
It’s not as if I can receive a referral fee, and it won’t raise my seniority here either. I can’t just do something that only benefits other people!”
[That is sincere.]
Even without Soph’s words, I had no choice but to know.
“So I have a third proposal! You enter into an external contract with our department!”
Magreta folded her last finger.
A tightly clenched fist appeared in front of her.
Looking at that fist, I blinked.
Magreta continued to pour out words.
“You don’t need to change your nationality. We can block Korean interference with the power of our department. We’ll also make sure you can work as freely as possible.
I—no, we need all of your abilities, Hyeon. Your ability to explore ruins, your ability to carry boxes, and your combat skills.
If you are with us, you will be able to obtain many adventures and much glory. On top of that, generous compensation as well.”
Her words made me feel as if I were listening to a newspaper advertisement for polar explorers.
Her sudden burst was awkward, but it was just as enticing.
Good pay and magnificent adventure.
They were words that stirred a man’s heart.
However, there was something I had to confirm.
“Then I’d be becoming a mercenary?”
“A kind of freelancer.”
In the end, it meant a service contract. A mercenary.
Now only one thing remained.
“Is that department perhaps something like the CIA?”
“It is an intelligence organization, but a different department.”
She took a business card from inside her clothing.
A business card with “Department of State” written in English.
“The card says State Department, but I belong to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Originally, it was a department that responded to terrorism and natural disasters.”
I could only tilt my head.
It was a department I was hearing of for the first time. Its duties also felt out of nowhere.
I didn’t know about terrorism, but natural disasters?
If it had been something like NASA’s intelligence bureau instead, I would have understood…
“Everything was reorganized recently. The CIA and the NSA were also placed under us. Right now, we are in charge of all American security.”
She raised her head and looked straight at me.
“What do you think? Won’t you join us?”
Her eyes glittered like those of a fox eyeing its prey.
[Cute. Her true self is also to my taste.]
Ignoring the old man’s words.
I liked those eyes too.