A Close Conversation
"Once again, I must thank you for assisting with my operation today. By any chance, had you been suspicious of Banaheim from before?"
I asked, looking straight into Yu Jaeseon's eyes.
"I had. There were dubious aspects in the development process of the new product Banaheim was preparing to launch."
It was about the Golden Apple.
It occurred to me that perhaps Yu Jaeseon knew far more than I had thought.
As a mage belonging to the Administration Bureau of the central government, he must have had access to various pieces of information. And it meant he was making clear judgments.
"I must ask this as well, Mage Yu Jaeseon. What is your position in the Administration Bureau? With bad rumors spreading about me, it couldn't have been easy to grant me unlimited authority?"
"I will tell you this trusting in Mage Odin. My nominal position is team leader, but in truth, I work directly under the Bureau Director. I'm not something like a secret agent, but it is kept secret externally. So I have quite a bit of real power."
"Ah, I see."
I nodded and paused briefly.
Even though I was asking outright, Yu Jaeseon didn't seem the least bit offended. He even shared secret information without hesitation.
It was proof that he truly trusted me.
Of course, if he hadn't trusted me, he wouldn't have granted me unlimited authority in the first place.
"I felt we would see eye to eye, Mage Yu Jaeseon, so I wanted to talk with you. About there being those among the government and Hall mages who have colluded with black mages."
As soon as I brought it up, Yu Jaeseon answered immediately.
"I, too, wanted to discuss this with you. The terror response has become a mess. We cannot go on like this. If we leave the mages who have colluded with black mages alone, a great calamity will befall us.
The reason I granted Mage Odin unlimited authority was to ask for your strength. I trusted you because you stand at the forefront of the offensive more than anyone, yet belong to no organization whatsoever."
"I am grateful for that. With my room to maneuver narrowed due to rumors, it was a great strength to have even one person in the Administration Bureau who believed in me."
"It truly is a relief that you have cleared your name now."
"Perhaps. If we cannot catch all those who have colluded with black mages, the rumors can be reproduced at any time."
"That's right. In today's meeting as well, there were mages who went beyond siding with Banaheim to question Mage Odin's reliability and attempt a counterattack."
I see. Well, I exposed both Banaheim and the Magic Tower at the same time, so they would have to go all-out too.
I had to flip the board completely.
To catch the black mage infiltrators, I ultimately had to start with a numbers game.
"That's why I believe now is the time to rally our allies. It has become a critical point to clearly distinguish between our side and the enemy."
"I think so too."
"Then shall we speak more concretely?"
From then on, we shared many stories.
It was no longer vague conversation grasping at clouds, but rather a discussion of compiling names specifically enough to write a roster, distinguishing between suspicious mages and trustworthy people by mentioning real names.
First and foremost, Gang Yonghun was singled out as someone we both suspected.
There was no room for doubt about Gang Yonghun. He had acted suspiciously on numerous occasions, but pinning the terror attack on Namsan Dwarf Village on the dwarves was decisive.
Yu Jaeseon also brought up several Hall mages and several government mages as objects of suspicion.
Among them, the Hall mages were people from Gang Yonghun's faction, and on the government side, they were from the faction of Han Huiyeong, a department head in the Administration Bureau.
In the Administration Bureau, I Sangmin, the terror response team leader, was said to be actively causing problems at the forefront.
"So everyone has factions?"
"Mages are the people most sensitive to power. It is rather rare to find someone standing alone, away from organizations and factions. That is what makes Mage Odin special."
Was I the only one without a faction?
Come to think of it, judging by what he had said earlier, Yu Jaeseon must be from the Bureau Director's faction.
Fortunately, Bak Hongguk, the Director of the Administration Bureau, was said to be an upright person.
On the Hall of Magic's side, things had become quite troublesome since a high-ranking executive like Gang Yonghun had colluded with black mages, but on the government side, since the head of the Administration Bureau was not like that, there was room to move.
"You will have to exert your strength on the Administration Bureau side from now on, Mage Yu Jaeseon."
"I intend to. I'll start by taking on the department heads."
We had said we would share the information each of us knew, but in truth, I didn't have much certain information about the mages.
I told him that Loki had definitely joined hands with black mages, or perhaps had even become a black mage himself.
And I said Thor was a trustworthy friend.
But both were foreign mages.
Loki seemed to have deeper ties with Korea and was still deeply involved in Korean affairs—but in bringing calamity upon Korea, that is.
"I don't have many mages I'm close to, so I don't have much information. I've kept my distance from the Hall, you see."
"You've lived that way for quite a long time. It's fine. I have a good grasp of information on mages. I hadn't paid deep attention to Loki, but now I know."
"Ah! What do you think of Mage Han Dosu? I believe he can be placed in the category of an ally."
Han Dosu was an instructor I had trusted during my Hall days, but right now, I couldn't judge him with certainty.
It was because although Han Dosu clearly had an upright character, there had also been questionable aspects when he moved with the Hall recently.
"Mage Han Dosu is a man of principles, so he would never join hands with black mages. However, as someone who always places the organization at the center, he must have followed Gang Yonghun's orders, which would have made him appear suspicious."
"I see. Then it would be best to contact him separately."
As expected of the Administration Bureau. Yu Jaeseon definitely seemed to have a better grasp of the mages than I did.
Now, the only cards I could play were my team members.
I told Yu Jaeseon about Gil and Cheon Danbi. I even told him the truth that Gil was an unregistered mage.
"So that's the team you mentioned before."
"That's right. They are the people I trust most right now. I may not have a mage faction, but I have my team."
"A team is nice. I already knew that the boy named Gil was a mage. I found out while analyzing the magical circuits remaining in Daejeon."
"I see."
"I hope that now I too can be counted among those you trust."
"Of course."
For a moment, we found ourselves looking at each other without realizing it.
A faint smile graced Yu Jaeseon's face. I suppose the same was true for mine.
It was a joyous thing to have the number of trustworthy allies increase.
But as of yet, that list was short, while the enemies' list was long.
As such, we had to cherish our side all the more.
Now, I ought to give a gift to Yu Jaeseon, who had become a certain ally.
"Actually, I know who the black mage at Banaheim is. I only found out this afternoon."
"Is that true? Who is it?"
"A researcher named An Seokju."
"Ah! So he was hiding in the Strategic Research Lab after all."
While explaining how I learned the black mage's identity, I also told him about Ren.
Since Yu Jaeseon already harbored doubts about Banaheim's Golden Apple experiment, it was easy to talk about.
"So that was why you put up a bounty. Revealing that there is a black mage at Banaheim today was truly a divine move. Now we can properly pressure Banaheim."
While I was at it, I told him everything about the relationship between Gim Seonho and Yasin, as well as the test subjects in the basement of Chairman Gim Seonho's mansion.
However, I added a request.
"Please don't forget that I signed a confidentiality clause when I wrote the contract with Banaheim. It's tightly sealed, so there won't be a problem immediately. And I will resolve it as well. So for now, please pretend you don't know about that part."
"I understand. But Banaheim was carrying out far more dangerous things than I had thought. If it weren't for Mage Odin, it could have been a disaster."
"The real trouble starts now. I've declared war on both Banaheim and the Magic Tower, so war will break out before long."
I fell short of Yu Jaeseon when it came to information about mages, but I definitely had more information regarding the enemies.
"The magic space hidden inside the Eternal Life Building is the Magic Tower, right?"
"That's right."
"No matter what I did, I couldn't detect it with my abilities. I wish I could see it with my own eyes...."
"It's hidden by extremely powerful protective and barrier magic. At first, even I had trouble seeing it with my own eyes. I eventually did, though."
"Truly impressive."
"Though difficult, it shouldn't be impossible, so please continue to devote efforts to uncovering the Magic Tower's identity from the Administration Bureau as well."
"Of course. We should start by approaching the Eternal Life company."
"If the Magic Tower carries out terror attacks, I will take charge of the offensive. Let's divide roles and pressure the Magic Tower on all fronts."
There was much work to be done, from investigating the Magic Tower to attacking terror and preventing calamity.
We agreed that in order to accomplish those tasks, the foremost priority was to rally allies and build strength.
"We don't need to gather everyone right now to show off our forces, but let's prepare so that we can cooperate at any time. I will gather more trustworthy mages from the Administration Bureau."
"Yes. I will speak with my team members and Ren, and meet separately with Mage Han Dosu and Thor as well."
"Very good. And we should be able to gather mages from Mage Han Dosu's faction as well."
It was about time to wrap up this close conversation with Yu Jaeseon. There was still much, much left to say, but the night was growing late.
By tomorrow morning, the Magic Tower might respond.
Rather than talking through the night, we needed to return to our respective positions so that we could prepare for whatever might happen.
Yu Jaeseon also showed signs of wrapping things up in that same atmosphere.
Then it suddenly struck me that I had forgotten one very important ally.
"Ah! One more thing. Do you happen to know much about Holy Mages?"
"Holy Mages? I read the report about the being who produced white light in Neo Forest. You were the one who discovered it, correct? But that's all. Within the scope of what I know, there is no further revealed information about Holy Mages."
"I see. Actually, I encountered it once more in Danyang. I didn't meet the mage directly; it was the white light."
"Danyang? At the site of the seismic disturbance? Then, by any chance, was it a Holy Mage who caused the seismic disturbance?"
"No. Just as in Neo Forest, I mean that in Danyang as well, a Holy Mage stopped a black mage's terror with white light."
"Please tell me in detail."
It seemed the conversation would stretch a little longer.