-Vanaheim
Ren’s name had come up. No—Han Da-in had deliberately let Ren’s name slip.
Which meant Han Da-in coming to find me was no coincidence. It meant she had already figured out that I knew Ren.
‘How?’
To understand the situation, I would probably have to jump into this game.
Without reacting at all to Ren’s name, I stared quietly at Han Da-in.
Han Da-in was still wearing an awkward smile.
“Well. It’s not as if I’m terribly busy these days, but I do have something I’m handling personally, so I’ll have to think about whether I should take this job.”
“Please, I’m asking you. As for the commission fee, we’ll make sure it’s worthy of your reputation, Mage.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. You absolutely won’t feel shortchanged.”
We were both playing a game. We were acting as though the commission fee was the most important factor in whether I accepted the job.
How should I approach this to uncover why she wanted to entrust this request to me?
“But if an adult disappeared of her own will, isn’t that running away rather than going missing? I’m not sure why the company has to step in and find her. Is it because of the illegal-stay issue?”
I probed indirectly.
“We’re not certain she disappeared of her own will. She may have gotten involved in a crime. And there is the illegal-stay issue as well, but
Ren’s father asked the company to find his daughter no matter what. The company is helping as part of its employee welfare.”
Han Da-in deflected it skillfully.
In a situation like this, a direct approach was useless. To find out what Vanaheim’s intentions were, I needed to circle in from the outskirts.
‘She said Ren’s father is an employee at the Vanaheim Research Institute. They hired a lizard human? And he isn’t even Korean, yet they went out of their way to?’
That was where it began to smell suspicious.
I figured it was one of two things.
Either Ren’s father was truly someone who played an important role at Vanaheim, or he was an indispensable subject for the research being conducted at the institute.
A bio-company research institute based on magicology.
A lizard human there might not be the agent conducting experiments, but the object of them.
“I see. As expected of a major corporation representing Korea, Vanaheim’s employee welfare is excellent. You said there are mages from the Hall at the research institute too, didn’t you? If I ever get the chance, I’d like to work there myself.”
I praised Vanaheim in a light tone.
“It would be our honor to have someone as outstanding as Mage Oudin. If you ever come, the company will welcome you with open arms.”
Han Da-in readily played along.
The ping-pong continued.
“By the way, what kind of research does the Vanaheim Research Institute mainly conduct? I’m a complete layman in that field, you see. Since it’s a bio-company, do they research things like biological modification?”
“As you know, Vanaheim isn’t a small company. There are various research projects underway. Of course, biological modification is one of them.”
“Is that so? When I think of Vanaheim, that commercial comes to mind. ‘Ttiring! The dream of life extension—Vanaheim Pharmaceuticals is with you. Just trust us and follow along. Vanaheim leads the way.’ That one.”
I spoke while comically imitating an old TV commercial in Oudin’s memories. Han Da-in responded with a bright laugh.
“Haha. You still remember that commercial. It was a bit corny, wasn’t it? Back then, Vanaheim was a small pharmaceutical company. Though now it has become one of the world’s leading giant corporations.”
As Han Da-in said, Vanaheim had started as a pharmaceutical company, then rapidly grown after developing biological modification technology using mana particles. Since then, it had become a major corporation leading South Korea’s bio-industry.
All of a sudden, the phrase “life extension” from the advertising copy I had mimicked struck me in a new way.
“Eternal life,” the goal of the Samir Order, flashed through my mind.
“Biological modification, life extension—those are all incredible things. Vanaheim doesn’t seem like the kind of place I’d be able to work at.”
“What are you saying? Who knows magicology better than mages like you, who handle mana?”
“Well. I’m more of a mage specialized in combat than research.”
“You’re as skilled in detection magic as you are in combat. In any case, let’s discuss the scouting matter again later. You’ll accept the commission, won’t you?”
The smile that had lingered on Han Da-in’s face until now disappeared. Her serious expression seemed more like her real self, which made me feel more at ease.
I stared quietly at that face for a moment, then nodded.
“Very well. I’ll trust you, Team Leader, and take the job.”
“Thank you.”
“Then please tell me the details regarding the disappearance.”
“I’ve organized the basic materials here. If you look through them, you should be able to grasp the overall situation. I also packed some of the missing person’s belongings that might help with tracking.”
Han Da-in took a large document envelope from her bag and handed it to me.
Inside the envelope were several photographs of Ren, passport and visa documents, and hair and clothing sealed in plastic.
There were also materials briefly summarizing her movements before she disappeared, along with a memo presumed to have been written by Ren’s father.
It was a description of Ren’s physical features.
“The circumstances at the time of her disappearance are vague.”
I asked after quickly skimming the materials.
“Yes. After she left the company dormitory, contact was lost. There are no signs she was abducted, but she didn’t leave a note or anything either, so it’s ambiguous to call it a runaway case.
However, it seems she had some conflict with her father. So it does appear she vanished voluntarily.”
“She had conflict with her father?”
“I heard it wasn’t a major issue. Families usually have little things like that, don’t they? But Ren is a foreigner, so if she simply disappears in Korea, it becomes a problem.”
Han Da-in was choosing her words appropriately.
She said it could be a problem because Ren was a foreigner, but she did not mention the matter of her being a lizard human.
Even though that might very well be the key reason for tracking her down.
“Before I begin tracking her, would it be possible to meet the missing person’s father? Hearing from him directly might make the circumstances clearer.”
When I asked, Han Da-in refused swiftly and firmly.
“No. I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. He cannot leave the research institute at present. He’s in the middle of important research.”
“What if I visit the company, then?”
“Given the nature of the research, that would be difficult. If you write down any necessary questions, I can deliver them to him.”
It smelled suspicious after all.
My guess leaned even further toward Ren’s father being not the one conducting important research, but a subject needed for that research.
“I see. Understood.”
“If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to tell me. We’ll provide as much support as you require. Of course, we believe in your abilities, Mage Oudin. And this is…”
Han Da-in took another document envelope from her bag.
“The commission fee. For now, this is the upfront payment. The success fee will be paid separately once the job is finished.”
Even without opening it, I could tell it was no small amount of money.
The mere fact that she had put it together without any negotiation over the fee meant it had to be far higher than the usual compensation.
“Then please begin tracking her right away. I’ll contact you again.”
Han Da-in bowed neatly and left first.
I slowly finished the rest of my coffee, then picked up the two document envelopes and left the café.
* * *
I climbed the hill road in Bogwang-dong again. The sun was beginning to tilt.
First, I intended to stop by the Hall of Magic as I had planned before meeting Han Da-in.
There was no urgency to tracking Ren. I knew very well that Ren’s disappearance wasn’t due to something like being kidnapped.
The reason I had accepted the job was simply to find out Vanaheim’s true motive in coming to me.
Of course, I still had to find Ren. Only then would I be able to properly understand the circumstances surrounding her.
‘I’ll start tracking her tomorrow morning. For now, let’s go to the Hall of Magic. Let’s see what the mages have found out about the Incheon Port explosion.’
Even though Oudin’s memories were lodged in my mind, the closer I drew to the Hall of Magic, the stronger the sense of incongruity became.
In the previous world, this place had been a blackened ruin like a symbol of a destroyed world. Now, it stood tall as a building so gaudy it was almost ridiculous.
The building’s exterior was far from imposing. It looked like a theme park. Perhaps that had been the purpose of its architecture.
‘The Hall mages are the privileged class of this world, yet it seems they tried to hide that image. Were they trying to appear friendly to the public?’
No one stopped me as I passed through the gate decorated with beautiful sculptures and entered the garden.
The fact that security did not appear strict, as if anyone could come and go with ease, also seemed to be part of an image strategy.
Of course, not just anyone wandered in and out of the Hall of Magic as they pleased.
There were few people bold enough to loiter carelessly in a place filled with the greatest mages.
And in truth, security was thorough. Slender young elves were strolling leisurely here and there throughout the garden.
They were the guards of the Hall of Magic.
The very fact that elves were being used as guards showed that the Hall of Magic was a place with tremendous privilege.
I was crossing the garden toward the building when someone called me from behind.
“Oudin!”
When I turned my head toward the voice, a man approached me with a bright smile.
A memory like déjà vu abruptly surfaced.
It was Loki. A friend Oudin had been close to when he was studying at the Hall of Magic Academy.
Loki was American, and he had come to Korea’s Hall of Magic through an exchange mage program, spent several years there, and then returned to the United States.
“Wow! How long has it been?”
Loki strode over and embraced me, delighted to see me.
“Loki, it’s been a while. I thought you were in the U.S.”
“I was. I was dying from missing Korea.”
“When did you come to Korea?”
“A few days ago. The Mage World Congress is next week, isn’t it?”
The Mage World Congress? That must have been the conference the Hall employees who came to see me had asked me to attend.
“I see. So you came to attend the congress. Have you been well?”
“Of course I’ve been well. It’s really great to be back in Korea. I get to meet friends like this, too. What about you? How have you been? What on earth are you doing after leaving the Hall of Magic?”
The smile never left Loki’s face.
He had always been a cheerful friend. A talented fellow who loved pranks and jokes, and an emotional young man.
But something was strange.
From the moment I faced Loki, my golden field of vision had been wavering. As if it had been stimulated by something.
Or as if it were an omen that something was about to happen.
“I’ve just been getting by, doing this and that.”
I gave Loki’s question a suitable answer and was discreetly looking around when it happened.
As if it had been waiting, a rumbling sound shook the ground. It came from outside.
‘What is it?’
I felt a vibration beneath my feet, as though an earthquake had struck.