-Catching Up
The Magic Tower looked terribly blurred.
Regrettably, I could no longer see the clear shape I’d glimpsed just moments ago.
It might have been because my state of concentration had broken, and the Magic Tower had probably strengthened its protective magic in the meantime as well.
‘Samir, are you watching? How does it feel?’
Right now, Samir was probably looking down at me clearly from up there. Or perhaps he was watching through the broadcast.
Either way, he might have the superior vantage point, but since I had essentially declared war on him, he couldn’t be feeling good.
Thinking that sent a thrill through me. It felt as though adrenaline were surging up.
Even after I’d provoked them this much, the Magic Tower showed no reaction at all.
Samir did not reveal himself, nor did any other black mage come running to capture me right away.
Were they letting their guard down because they firmly believed my claim that I hadn’t been able to discern the full shape of the magical space? Were they brimming with confidence that no one could ever break through the Magic Tower’s protective magic?
Of course, with news cameras rolling, any reaction would amount to revealing their own identity, so perhaps their lack of response was only natural.
‘It’s a relief, at least.’
Today, I had openly declared war on Vanaheim and the Magic Tower.
The fact that they did not immediately counterattack was a relief.
It meant they were not yet prepared enough to bring disaster upon the world without hesitation.
The fact that they were hiding their identities and lying meant there were at least some restrictions on them, which was a positive sign.
It was a relief. I wasn’t fully prepared yet either.
But before long, war would begin.
‘Wait for me. I’ll be coming to catch you soon.’
I clenched my molars.
A fight of catching or being caught, chasing and being chased, was soon to come.
I had already planted a target in my own chest.
Right here. Come to me.
I’m the one who will fight you.
But I had to prepare so that I could be the first to go after them.
Now that I had made the enemy’s existence known to the whole world, the battle lines had been clearly drawn.
It was time for enemies and allies to be divided plainly.
Among the mages, who would come to me and become my allies, and who would stand on the other side and become my enemies?
It was time to gather those who would stand with me.
“Oudin!”
At the sound of someone calling my name without hesitation, I turned and saw Thor some distance away, holding his hammer and waving it.
His hand moved lightly, as if he were waving a balloon.
“Thor!”
“So you were here? I saw you pop up on the news again just now and came looking for you, but you were nowhere to be seen. I didn’t expect you’d be holed up in a corner all by yourself.”
Thor came bounding over in long strides and spoke with a bright smile.
An unmistakable ally. An innocent friend who had been on my side from early on.
Now that the attack on the amoeba masses had been wrapped up to some extent, it seemed he had set out to find me.
“What are you doing here? Anyway, you were incredible today. Dropping one huge exposé after another like that!”
Thor raised one hand and pointed at the large display at the intersection.
On the display, they were still repeatedly showing the line of yellow mist and the amoeba corpses flying off and vanishing into the air.
“What choice did I have when they tried to frame me as a black mage? I had to show them solid proof. The black mage you’re all looking for is over there!”
I answered playfully.
For some reason, I felt like I had to match Thor’s buoyant mood.
“As expected, you’re amazing! Amazing, our Oudin! Your detection ability is seriously impossible to keep up with. Hahaha!”
“So, did they catch the Vanaheim black mage? I haven’t heard anything.”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t dispatched that way. Mage Han Dosu rushed over right away, so I’m sure something happened.”
There was still no news report saying they had caught the black mage.
The scene was still chaotic, and no one had approached me to tell me the result.
“No, but how did you discover there was a magical space hidden over there? I guess we were all too busy dealing with the amoebas. We didn’t even think to look at the surrounding buildings.”
Thor said, gesturing with his chin toward the Eternal Life Building.
It seemed he was more curious about this than about the Vanaheim black mage.
“This time, I was more determined to catch the black mage than to clear the situation. I was looking around the scene, and not only the Vanaheim building but this side looked suspicious too.”
“This is a massive magical space… And the protective magic is far beyond ordinary levels. That’s the Magic Tower, isn’t it?”
Thor asked in a lowered voice.
So he did know to lower his voice when talking about things that needed caution around others.
“Probably.”
“Wow!”
“Is that something to be excited about?”
“No. I’m not excited, I’m surprised. Then does Korea just have to smash the exposed Magic Tower now?”
“It won’t be that simple.”
“True.”
Thor and I fell silent for a moment.
Both of us wordlessly weighed the gravity of smashing the Magic Tower.
A Magic Tower standing brazenly in the middle of Seoul.
Spatial magic so advanced that it had been perfectly hidden, to the point that no one had noticed it all this time.
There was no way fighting it would be simple.
“By the way, have you been well? What happened with the World Competition?”
I broke the silence first and shifted the conversation to a lighter topic.
“What do you mean, what happened? It turned into a complete mess because of the bastards spouting absurd conspiracy theories about Oudin.”
Seeing Thor fume on my behalf made me smile without realizing it.
“When are you going back to Sweden?”
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to go soon. But for some reason, our country has been pretty peaceful lately. So there’s no rush.”
“Really? That’s good. Then how about we meet around tomorrow and talk?”
“Oh! Really? Sounds good. Before we part ways, we should catch up on everything we’ve missed.”
Thor’s face lit up.
We hadn’t known each other for all that long, so I wasn’t sure there was really anything for us to catch up on, but since he seemed happy, that was enough.
Thor would be leaving Korea anyway, but I had a feeling that someday we would end up on the same side, fighting together.
“You need people on your side, right? You declared war all over the place in one go, so now you’re feeling the need for allies, aren’t you?”
Thor said with a wink.
The talk about catching up was just something he’d said; he understood very well what I needed right now.
“That’s right. I need to organize a legion of mages. From now on, I’m going to post an open recruitment notice on the internet and gather mages from all over the world.”
“What? You’re going to recruit mages through an internet notice?”
Thor stared at me with his eyes wide.
Oops. Did he actually think I meant something that stupid seriously?
“I’m joking, joking.”
“Aha! I thought…”
“Go on, then. I’ll contact you tomorrow. Let’s meet separately for the rest.”
“Okay!”
When I patted him on the back, Thor smiled with satisfaction, then turned and walked away.
That huge man really did have something of a big dog about him.
I chuckled and turned to walk away.
I wanted to go home now.
There was probably no danger left at the scene.
By pointing out Vanaheim’s black mage, the raid on the giant amoeba mass was basically over, and while cleanup remained, that was something for the government mages to handle.
As for the hidden magical space in the Eternal Life Building, the Bureau would begin investigating it from now on, but it wasn’t something that could be resolved immediately.
The Magic Tower side wasn’t reacting either.
‘Where are Cheon Danbi and Gil?’
I scanned beyond the control line with my eyes, looking for the two of them.
There were so many gathered onlookers that they didn’t immediately catch my eye.
All the remaining amoebas had been dealt with, so there shouldn’t be anything left to attack or heal…
At that moment, someone quietly called me from behind.
“Mage Oudin.”
It was Yu Jaeseon.
Though I had carried out a joint operation with him today, we had each been focused on our own roles, so only now were we facing each other again.
“Ah! Mage Yu Jaeseon. You were a great help today.”
“You’ve worked hard. Discovering the magical space was truly an unexpected gain. The Bureau still hasn’t even been able to detect it properly, but we intend to investigate it thoroughly from here on.”
“You should.”
“For now, we’re thinking of withdrawing from the scene and holding a meeting. Would you be able to come with us to the Bureau, Mage Oudin?”
“No. Right now, I’d like to go home first.”
To Yu Jaeseon’s serious request, I answered honestly and lightly.
Since I had set off several matters at once, it would be right to go to the Bureau and join the meeting. But at this moment, I wanted to take one step back.
I could neither talk about the Magic Tower there nor avoid talking about it.
I trusted Yu Jaeseon, but I did not trust the other mages.
It seemed I needed to speak with Yu Jaeseon first, and only then cooperate with the Bureau if I was going to.
“Ah! Then please go home and rest first. You must be tired after traveling to the provinces. I was thinking too much from our side’s perspective.”
Yu Jaeseon readily accepted my words.
Which made me feel unnecessarily sorry. With this person, it seemed better to be frank.
“I accepted unlimited authority without hesitation, yet now I’m trying to skip the meeting. Am I being too irresponsible?”
“Not at all. It isn’t an emergency situation where you absolutely have to attend right away.”
“The truth is, I can’t trust all the mages from the Hall or the government. I’d like to discuss that with you first, Mage Yu Jaeseon, and then move together.”
At my words, Yu Jaeseon nodded.
“I understand what you mean. In fact, there are parts I view skeptically as well, so I would like to exchange opinions with you, Mage Oudin.”
In other words, he also did not trust all the mages of the Hall and the government. It was as I had expected.
It seemed my conversation with Yu Jaeseon would go smoothly from here on.
“Have you heard from the Hall mages who rushed to Vanaheim to catch the black mage? What happened?”
“They say the black mage got away. I have not yet received a detailed report. I’ll organize it and inform you later.”
“I see.”
I wasn’t surprised. Kim Seonho must have taken measures somehow.
He wouldn’t have sat still and waited while they climbed that towering Vanaheim building.
“Do you not know who Vanaheim’s black mage is either, Mage Oudin?”
Yu Jaeseon asked, studying me.
It seemed he was hoping I might have known from the beginning.
“I don’t. I had no idea until I came to the scene today.”
“I see.”
“In any case, I’d like the two of us to meet separately around this evening and talk.”
“Understood. I’ll contact you after the Bureau meeting is over.”
At last, Yu Jaeseon turned away.
I quickly walked into the crowd so no one else would follow me.
Now I really had to go home.
Feeling pressed, I lightly extended my detection magic and searched for traces of Gil and Cheon Danbi.