-Respite
There were posts on the board announcing dispatches, yet the alarm on my communication device hadn’t gone off.
I checked my communication device again. As expected, nothing.
Come to think of it, the alarm hadn’t sounded a single time since I’d left Daejeon.
I’d assumed it was because no major incidents had occurred, but now I saw that the Hall had been excluding me.
‘So that’s how it is? They won’t come out and openly condemn me, but behind the scenes, they’ve been quietly cutting me off.’
Setting the Hall aside, I grew curious about the government’s position.
Yu Jaeseon had given me unlimited authority. As a mage with special delegation from the central government.
Was that the government’s official stance? Had Yu Jaeseon’s position toward me remained unchanged?
Since I’d thought of it, I decided to give him a call.
Yu Jaeseon answered immediately.
“Are you still in Daejeon?”
[Yes, that’s right. Where are you, Mage-nim?]
“I’m still in Danyang. Didn’t you receive a call earlier? When I was leaving the scene, the police blocked me and were verifying my identity.”
[That’s right. I verified it for you. You must have been upset. The officers’ attitudes were unpleasant, weren’t they? It’s because all sorts of rumors are floating around online, so they’re overreacting for no reason.]
Perhaps because my tone had been quite bitter, Yu Jaeseon quickly read the room and spoke as if to console me.
That meant Yu Jaeseon’s position toward me hadn’t changed, and my unlimited authority still stood.
So I didn’t ask about that separately.
“Seoul seems quite chaotic; what’s the atmosphere in Daejeon like?”
[It’s not good here either. People are confused. Above all, Daejeon’s problem is the people who Awakened and then regressed. They’re exhibiting mana again. It seems they might be re-Awakening.]
“Re-Awakening?”
[We still need to wait and see. It’s not to the extent that they could be called mages. But the bigger problem is that they’re going around inciting people. Saying that Mage Odin stripped them of all their mana.]
It seemed Daejeon was cursing me out in its own way.
In Seoul, they cursed me as the principal culprit behind the terrorism, driven by greed to become a hero; in Daejeon, they cursed me for stealing the Awakened ones’ mana.
I was beginning to wonder if there had ever been such an unprecedented villain.
I had merely stopped the Black Wizards’ terror to prevent a catastrophe, yet people were hostile to me based solely on rumors.
Before I knew it, every direction had become a minefield.
“Is that so? I’ve been cursed at so much from all sides that I feel like I could be full without eating.”
It was a situation that made me sigh involuntarily, but I replied lightly, as if joking. Then I asked about something that concerned me more.
“But are those people really exhibiting mana again?”
[Some of them are going around using magic. As you already saw before, it’s nothing impressive…… but whether it’s a temporary phenomenon or a re-Awakening, we don’t know yet.]
Yu Jaeseon was an excellent analyst. If he said he didn’t know, then the situation was definitely still unclear.
It was something to wait and see on, but it nagged at me considerably.
Had I failed to properly dispel their euphoric state back then? They had definitely lost so much mana that they’d lost consciousness and collapsed.
I wondered if this phenomenon of them exhibiting mana again was merely a yo-yo effect, or if something new was happening.
Either way, I had a bad feeling about it.
“By the way, it seems another terror incident occurred in Seoul. Do you know what that monstrous creature that appeared at Samseong Station is?”
[I received a report on it a short while ago, but no mage has approached the scene, so we haven’t been able to ascertain its exact nature. Information should come up soon.
I’m planning to head up to Seoul now. Daejeon is Daejeon, but the situation in Seoul seems more serious. What will you do, Mage-nim?]
Come to think of it, this had all happened while both Yu Jaeseon and I were away from Seoul.
The Hall’s mages would be dispatched to the scene, but I wasn’t sure if I could obtain accurate information even after going up later.
My trust in the Hall had fallen that much.
‘I wish Thor would go to the scene.’
Thor came to mind first, rather than our country’s mages.
Well, it was only natural, since it had been Thor—not our country’s mages—who had defended me at the World Tournament.
“I’m planning to go up to Seoul tomorrow morning. There’s no way to get there now. I left the car I came in at the scene earlier. There are no trains or buses running at this hour here either.”
[Ah! I see. Then shall I stop by Danyang and bring you up?]
“No. There’s no need for that. I’ll rest tonight and go up tomorrow. Don’t take a detour for no reason; go straight to Seoul.”
[Understood. But you haven’t filed a report on the Danyang terror incident yet; what exactly happened there?]
Yu Jaeseon finally asked about the earlier incident.
Come to think of it, I’d been talking about everything else without making my report.
“There are many ambiguous aspects to this incident. A Black Wizard didn’t appear either. The scene appeared to be a place operated by Black Wizards, yet a Black Wizard destroyed it. I think they did it to leave no evidence since we’d discovered the place. Anyway, I’d like to discuss the details in person when we meet in Seoul.”
I hadn’t fully grasped the situation myself yet. Moreover, it was a scene where various things were entangled—not just Black Wizards, but also a pure white light.
I wanted to speak of it only to someone I could trust.
I did trust Yu Jaeseon, but I wanted to confirm that trust once more, face to face.
[Then let’s do that. I’ll see you in Seoul tomorrow. Please contact me when you arrive.]
After finishing the call with Yu Jaeseon, I turned my head to see Cheon Danbi and Gil waving me over as if they’d been waiting.
“Mage-nim, hurry over here! Let’s eat.”
“Hurry up. There’s lots of delicious food.”
A delicious smell was wafting over.
I quickly approached the dining table.
The table was laden with quite impressive-looking dishes.
I’d clearly bought only canned goods, calling them emergency rations, so what was this?
Canned ham and tuna, canned corn and fruit cocktail, kimchi and pickled radish—and from these came such dishes?
“Oh! What is all this?”
“Cheon Danbi’s special late-night dishes!”
“Did you survive eating nothing but late-night snacks every day? It seems like you have cooking skills specialized in midnight snacks.”
“You’re saying it looks delicious, right? I’ll take it as a compliment. Hurry up and eat.”
“I tasted a bit, and it’s really delicious! Please eat quickly.”
We sat around and began to eat.
Perhaps because we had food before us, anger and worry disappeared, and laughter flowed out naturally.
“This is unexpectedly delicious?”
“What? It looked delicious from the start! What’s so unexpected?”
“Danbi-noona’s cooking skills are incredible. They were common ingredients, yet they produce such a special flavor.”
“Yeah. I’ll admit it. It’s very delicious.”
So I’d be full without eating because I got cursed at so much? Not a chance.
I would live on delicious food, not curses.
The whole world was denouncing me with one voice, and terror had struck Seoul again, yet here we sat in a resort room in this distant place, sharing food.
It was amazing and wondrous that we could enjoy a happy moment regardless of how the world turned.
It felt as though even catastrophe couldn’t squeeze through this gap.
To avoid ruining this simple, humble moment of happiness, I didn’t mention the news of Seoul’s terror until I finished eating.
What would be the point of rushing to find out? It wasn’t like I was going up to Seoul immediately.
Truthfully, I didn’t really feel like hurrying back either.
When people were pushing me as the main culprit who caused the terror out of greed to become a hero, what need was there for me to appear at the terror scene?
‘It might be better not to go at all. Let them handle it themselves. It’s not like I’m the only mage in this country.’
On the contrary, if I didn’t appear, rumors that I was the one causing the terror might die down.
But even if I didn’t appear, they’d make rumors somehow if they wanted to. After all, rumors needed neither logic nor evidence.
It was better to go and clearly show that I wasn’t a terrorist.
‘How can I definitively suppress the rumors?’
I’d have to think of a way.
Either way, there was no need to rush.
Let’s eat well, sleep well, and go up to Seoul when tomorrow’s sun rises.
I hadn’t yet found the Magic Tower, but for now, it was right to head to Seoul.
To fight Samir and the Black Wizards of the Magic Tower, our side needed to consolidate its strength clearly as well.
I needed to sweep away the rumors surrounding me and draw the battle lines clearly.
Until then, I’d decided to enjoy the brief respite given to me.
Because it was a respite I didn’t know when I’d be given again.
* * *
Nasan Haegyeong woke up with his body trembling violently.
It was cold. Though it wasn’t the cold season, he felt a chill he couldn’t endure.
‘I must have lost consciousness. Where is this? Ah, right. The forest.’
He didn’t know if the temperature had dropped because it was a forest at night, or if it was because his stamina was depleted.
Either way, he was terribly cold, and his body shook.
Nasan Haegyeong ignited flames at his fingertips with mana. As warm flames flared up, the surrounding cold soon dissipated.
But even as he warmed himself by the fire, his body continued to tremble.
He was consuming his life force along with his mana in order to create the fire.
It was all because of that damned bastard. And those bastard mages.
They had wrung Nasan Haegyeong’s mana down to the very dregs. To the point where even his ashen aura had completely drained away.
As time passed, his mana fortunately recovered bit by bit, and through breathing exercises, he circulated it inside his body and gathered it together. Once enough mana had gathered to shatter the shackles binding him.
When heaven and earth shook, he had barely managed to escape the car. Then, riding the surging ashen aura all around him, he had soared through the air.
No, “soared” was far too gentle an expression.
He had shot up, been tangled, thrown and bounced around, tumbled wildly, then whipped up again before crashing down.
When he came to his senses, he was in the forests of Sobaeksan.
Below, he could see the ground writhing like a dragon and turning into mush.
‘Oh! Lord Samir! You have saved me from death.’
Thanking Samir, Nasan Haegyeong fled from the vibrations that were turning the ground below into mush.
He went upward unconditionally. He ran using mana, and if he fell, he crawled up on all fours.
For an instant, a blinding white light flashed.
Nasan Haegyeong was once again flung up and tumbled wildly, losing consciousness.
And when he came to his senses, he’d been reduced to such a miserable state. His mana nearly depleted once more.
Anger surged. At that damned Odin. And at himself for ending up like this after losing to him.
As anger billowed, the magical flames grew larger. The ashen aura also began to swirl.
“Odin! You rotting bastard! I will never let you go! I will definitely seize you with my own hands and cast you into the hell of the demon realm!”
As he vented his anger, the flames grew even larger.
Indeed, nothing was better than anger for overcoming the cold.