After the shock of seeing the black monster passed, the base became incredibly noisy.
There were people trying to swallow their fear and examine the black monster, people saying it was horrifying as they went back into the cave, and even people sneaking glances at me, the one who had brought the monster out.
I ignored those gazes and went into the cave with my team members.
Then I reported the matter to David, who had followed us in.
“...That’s how we were able to lure the monster into the ruins and bring it down. It was all thanks to the sandstorm and the earthen dolls guarding the ruins.”
At my explanation, David ran a hand down his face with a troubled expression.
“So it’s a monster we can’t capture on our own.”
I had not told him everything that had happened in the ruins.
I said nothing about the knight Soph had created, nor about how I had taken the monster’s black stone.
Hanna and I had already gotten our stories straight on that.
She had said she trusted me too much, but it was incredibly convenient at times like this.
Because I had shortened the explanation, the terror of the monster had been greatly reduced, but even that was enough.
David took my words seriously.
“I was going to praise you for rescuing the people, but you’ve brought back an even bigger problem again.”
It was true that I had brought back a problem, but once again, it was not because of me.
“It’s not Captain Hyun’s fault. He saved people and even captured that dangerous monster, so for now, just praise him.”
What was more, this time there was someone who would take my side right in front of him.
At Magreta’s words, David raised both hands.
“You’re right. Good work. I’ll add this matter to the report as well. Oh, is there anything the exploration team needs? If there’s something you want, say so.”
Had I received even more recognition than before?
This time, he asked whether there was anything I needed.
I shook my head.
In truth, I had the most supplies of anyone on this base.
Inside my box, there were still plenty of items I had brought from Earth and diverted, the monster’s corpse, and various materials.
If I needed weapons or tools, I could speak directly to Smith the blacksmith, and the exploration team had the highest chance of obtaining relics.
Besides, my backer and superior was not him, but Magreta, so there was no reason for me to hold my hand out to David right now.
“More importantly, I think we need to warn everyone. Another monster like that may appear.”
At my words, David nodded.
I waited for his response, but he said nothing.
Even if not an evacuation, I had thought he would tell us to stand by until we confirmed whether there were more monsters...
Magreta had been right.
David—no, the U.S. government—thought lightly of our lives.
If that was not the case, then it meant there was something far more important than our lives.
It seemed I would have to investigate what that was now.
The situation was moving too urgently for me to wait until Magreta told me.
After finishing the report, I came out of the cave with my team members.
Magreta exchanged greetings with the team members, then stuck close to my side.
She whispered softly into my ear.
“You hid something again this time, didn’t you?”
When I reported to David, Magreta had been listening from the side as well.
And yet she was saying that.
Her trust in her captain had fallen to the ground.
I let out a sigh and said to her,
“I’ll tell you later.”
Since I had hidden so much, it was only natural she would not trust me.
But I could not deny everything to her as I had to David.
Hanna, one of my team members, knew about it too.
It would be difficult to hide it from Magreta, who was both a teammate and my superior.
That did not mean I could tell her right away, either.
Unlike Hanna, who trusted me wholeheartedly, Magreta and I had a relationship built on a transaction.
In the end, I had no choice but to put off answering.
“Hmm. So there is something, as expected. I won’t ask for now. But you have to tell me soon.”
The words she spoke with a smile were quite heavy.
Since I was desperate for a way out, I immediately changed the subject.
“Did your trip to Earth go well?”
At my question, Magreta gave a small laugh and answered,
“If you ask whether it went well, then it did, but... I had baggage clinging to me, so it was extremely annoying.”
I knew who she meant by baggage without having to ask.
“I understand why the researchers came, but the Chinese—those are Chinese people, right? Why did they come?”
At my question, Magreta sighed.
“I told you before. When the war ended, China was brought in. This is the result. For various reasons, this planet became the first place the Chinese would observe. So I had to bring them myself.”
The ruins connected to this planet had been the cause of the war, and the United States surely did not want to show the Chinese any of the other ruins it possessed.
In the end, the place America chose was this planet.
I had not expected it, but after hearing Magreta’s words, I understood.
However, there was still a problem left.
There was one important issue with this base, with the second expedition.
The Koreans here did not know that the war had ended.
The only people who knew were those who had come from Earth: me, Magreta, the special forces members, and David.
And now the researchers and the Chinese had been added to that list.
The American researchers might keep the secret, but there was no knowing whether the Chinese would do the same.
“...Will that be all right?”
At my question, Magreta grinned.
“I’d rather they did tell them. There would be some commotion, but if that happened, I could reduce some of this troublesome baggage.”
Her bright smile was terrifying this time as well.
It was a smile that would have frightened even Soph.
Fortunately, Soph was in no state to concern himself with outside matters.
Right now, he was diligently checking information with the black stone.
What he was looking for was the location of the control entity commanding the scouts.
Soph was tracing backward from the orders the control entity sent from time to time, trying to find where the monster was.
What he was doing was harder than I had expected. That was why I had not heard a word from Soph the entire way back to the base.
At Magreta’s words, I decided not to concern myself with the Chinese. I did not have enough leisure to keep watch on such observers either.
“Because you showed such a splendid sight earlier, the Chinese might bother you. I trust that Captain Hyun will handle the jealousy-filled Chinese well too.”
It seemed the reason the Chinese had glared at me earlier was jealousy.
“I’ll be moving outside for the exploration team’s work, so I doubt I’ll run into them.”
“Will you really?”
Seeing Magreta grinning, it seemed she wanted me to run into the Chinese.
She really was a frightening person. I avoided her gaze.
“Oh, right. Take this. The card broke when I came to this planet, so I brought this instead. There won’t be any use for it here, but it’ll feel good to receive it in advance.”
She handed me a bankbook and a check.
“For now, it’s the first transport fee and the contract payment. I’ll calculate the minor details separately and give them to you once we go to Earth.”
A check for one million dollars and a bankbook with six zeroes stamped in dollars.
Combined, the money in the check and the bankbook amounted to several billion won.
Even looking at the check and the bankbook, it did not feel real.
No—rather, it felt as if Earth, which had suddenly seemed so far away, had come right before my eyes.
“I’ll give you a card when we go to Earth as well. You’ll have many places to use it when you go this time, so you can start with that.”
After seeing the check and the bankbook, Magreta no longer looked frightening.
Right now, she was a beautiful and admirable superior, as well as my client.
A great deal had happened while she had gone to Earth and returned.
The researchers from Earth wanted to go to the ruins at once, but I postponed our departure.
The researchers were dissatisfied, but David followed my decision.
We decided to rest for an entire day.
The next day, everyone scattered to take care of their own business, and I practiced magic in a corner of the base where no one could see.
Pajijijik!
When I flicked my finger, electricity now shot out a considerable distance.
“It’s not like it’s a million volts or anything...”
It was definitely better than before, but it still seemed difficult to use in actual combat.
Still, I was gradually improving.
At this rate, I felt I would be able to release proper lightning after a little while.
Feeling confident, I tried creating another spell.
I recalled the flow of energy from when Soph had controlled the earth.
Another pattern surfaced in my mind.
“Dig... was it?”
I even recited the incantation, but unfortunately, the earth magic still did not form properly.
My magic merely made the once-hard ground cave in like sand.
I wanted to ask Soph for advice, but Soph was still silent.
I could have forced him awake, but I decided to wait a little longer.
After spending such a leisurely day, the next morning, the exploration team left the base again.
Not all three researchers went to the terraforming ruins.
One remained at the base, and only two headed to the ruins with us.
The two researchers who came with us had completely opposite personalities.
One looked like a typical American nerd, as befitted a researcher, but the other looked less like a researcher and more like a professor or bureaucrat.
The researcher who looked like a nerd latched onto Tom on the way and kept chattering.
“John wanted to investigate the black tentacle monster. Since John is in biological research anyway, it would have been better for him to examine that side.”
He talked about his colleague who had not been able to come.
“It’s not that we didn’t think of that, either. If a finished product wasn’t possible, we thought we could bring in the materials and assemble or process them. But it didn’t work out the way we thought. The materials brought outside Earth through the ruins had their properties altered in a strange way. The processing ratio and temperature were different from before too, so most of the synthesis and processing failed.”
He chattered on about engineering matters that were hard to understand.
“What were the ruins like? I heard it’s a terraforming facility, but how large of an area does it purify? Ah, do you not know much about that?”
And he asked Tom about the terraforming ruins.
Tom looked at the team members in horror, but everyone avoided his gaze.
Unlike the talkative researcher, the middle-aged researcher did not say a single word during the trip.
Thanks to that, by sacrificing one person, Tom, we were able to comfortably reach the desert region where the ruins were.
When we arrived before the desert region, the researcher who had been silent opened his mouth.
“You said you needed a guide because of the sandstorm. That was a lie.”
The desert region had no sandstorm, let alone a sand-laden wind.
“Couldn’t the storm have stopped because of the large battle that happened a few days ago? Abnormal phenomena around ruins sometimes disappear when the situation changes.”
“Whatever the reason, there is no sandstorm now. There’s no need for a guide.”
The nerd researcher took our side, but the man’s sharp tone did not change.
‘As expected, he hates me.’
He had disliked me from the moment we first met.
Judging from what he was saying now, he seemed displeased that he could only enter the ruins through me.
Was he being spiteful because he thought the Americans outnumbered us, including himself?
I did not know the reason, but he was mistaken.
Magreta looked troubled, yet drew out her whip, and the team members each checked their weapons.
Even Sergeant Woo, who did not know English well, readjusted his grip on his spear.
It had only been a short time, but the exploration team members here had crossed danger with me many times.
Compared to comrades-in-arms with whom they had risked their lives, people from the same country were nothing more than strangers.
When the atmosphere turned strange, the two researchers’ expressions changed.
The nerd became frightened, and the man who had thrown a fit also flinched backward.
I waved my hand and calmed the atmosphere before it grew hostile.
There was no need to ruin things here for no reason.
It was something that could be resolved by correcting the misunderstanding.
The sandstorm had stopped because we had filled the black stone with energy and modified a new black stone.
However, that was not the reason the sandstorm had not been blowing until now.
It was because Soph had not reactivated the defensive magic.
Whoooosh.
The wind began to blow.
Ruuuumble.
Sand was carried by the wind and rose into the sky.
Kwaaaaang!
More and more sand flew through the sky, and in the end, it covered the heavens completely.
The sandstorm had begun to blow again.
This time as well, the mage barely managed to get the timing right.
[You’re late.]
At my words, Soph replied.
[I found the control entity.]
A line only I could sense stretched long from the spear toward the west.
Past the swampland, all the way to the mountain range covered in clouds that could not be seen from here, the line continued to extend.