- Gil
There was something unusual about the boy.
The magical energy flowing from him did not take on a precise form like when composing magic circuits; instead, it emanated around the boy like concentric circles spreading across a calm lake.
*He’s not a mage…… Could he be in a pre-Awakening stage?*
The boy’s clothes were filthy, and he looked terrified, his eyes wide as he glanced around us.
His frame was small and his build thin, making him appear frail, yet not entirely defenseless.
While I was focused on the boy, several people emerged from the Hall of Magic and approached us.
It seemed they had finally received word about the commotion in the alley in front of the Hall and come out to assess the situation.
It was Handosu, the director of the Hall’s Academy training center; a man who appeared to be a staff member; and two young elf guards who had been on duty.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
Handosu asked as he approached.
Both Odin and Loki were graduates of the Hall’s Academy, so they were well acquainted with Director Handosu.
He was one of the mages representing the Hall of Magic.
“Zombies this time. A pack of bizarrely mutated zombies was running rampant, so we captured them. They were probably transformed by a virus. Must be the work of a black magician.”
Loki stepped forward and explained. It was interesting that he said they had captured the zombies instead of admitting they had tried to incinerate them.
I kept silent while Loki explained the situation.
After asking Loki a few more questions and grasping the general situation, Handosu turned his gaze to me and spoke.
“Odin, it’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Well, thank you.”
“You said you live around here? I know Hall staff have visited you several times……. Have you given thought to returning to the Hall?”
“I’m considering it. However, I do intend to attend the World Mages’ Tournament.”
I said.
Odin had personal reasons for leaving the Hall of Magic, but I intended to maintain a suitable relationship with the Hall for the sake of what I needed to do going forward.
Just because I had scoured Odin’s memories didn’t mean I shared his sentiments exactly.
For me, hunting down Samir and taking revenge was far more urgent and important than finding my mother.
The World Mages’ Tournament, where mages from across the world gathered, would be a good opportunity to gather information on the black magician.
“You’ll attend the tournament? Good thinking. That’s excellent.”
Handosu visibly brightened.
When Odin had been an Academy cadet, Handosu was an instructor who had favored him.
He had a rigid, by-the-book personality and wasn’t one to show his feelings, but in Odin’s memories, the goodwill Handosu had shown was recorded vividly.
Handosu still seemed to hope that Odin would return.
“Let’s clean up the situation here first, then continue our conversation.”
Handosu quickly ordered the Hall staff and elf guards to take the zombies inside the Hall of Magic.
Then he looked at the boy who had been standing blankly beside us and asked.
“Who is this child? Why is he here?”
“A child who got caught up in the zombie pack’s rampage and was freed.”
“Is that so? Then we should take this child to the Hall as well.”
At Handosu’s words, I glanced back at the boy and saw him flustered. Fear welled up in his eyes.
I quickly said to Handosu.
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary. He just happened to get caught up in this while passing by.”
“Still, given the nature of the incident, we need to keep things quiet…….”
“I’ll keep him quiet. I know this kid. He lives in this neighborhood.”
Before I knew it, I had stepped in to block the boy from being taken to the Hall. I even went so far as to lie that I knew him.
Loki tilted his head at me in confusion but said nothing.
Handosu nodded and spoke.
“Very well. Do as you please. Then won’t you come into the Hall with us now?”
“Do I need to be investigated too?”
“No, rather than an investigation, I thought we could share a conversation.”
“I’ll visit you soon. Right now, I should take this kid home first. He seems shaken by the zombies. If you have any questions about the incident, please ask Loki. Loki and I were both at the scene from the beginning.”
“Understood. Let’s meet soon. Please come to the Hall. There aren’t any staff members left willing to visit your home anymore, after all.”
As he said those last words, Handosu’s facial muscles moved slightly. It seemed he was attempting a joke and a smile in his own way.
I supposed the staff who had visited my home last time and gotten an earful must have complained.
I answered obediently.
“Yes. I’ll come to the Hall.”
Once the elf guards had taken all the zombies inside, Handosu turned to leave.
Loki slowly followed after him. As he passed by my side, he asked quietly.
“What about your visit to the Hall earlier? Didn’t you leave before taking care of your business?”
“It wasn’t urgent. I was just going to get a feel for things.”
I had been trying to get information on the black magician behind the Incheon Port explosion, but according to Loki, the Hall didn’t know much either, so there was no need to go back.
More than that, I felt protecting the boy was more important.
“I didn’t know he was a kid you knew.”
Loki gestured with his chin toward the boy and whispered.
Instead of answering, I said goodbye.
“See you later.”
“Sure. I’ll be in touch.”
Once Loki and everyone else had left, only the boy and I remained in the alley.
As I stared at him, wondering what to do with him now, the boy suddenly opened his mouth.
“I’m Gil.”
“Huh?”
“My name. Not the Gil that means road. The Gil that means auspicious. It means good fortune.”
The boy told me his name before I even asked. He gave only his given name without a family name.
“Gil, is it.”
“Magician, thank you. But why did you say you knew me earlier?”
“You seemed like you didn’t want to go to the Hall to be investigated. Was I wrong?”
“You’re right. Thank you.”
Gil smiled brightly, thanking me repeatedly. It was a pure smile, like a child’s.
Despite his shabby, dirty appearance, he was polite and pure.
“Where’s your home? I’ll take you there.”
I had said it as an excuse to Handosu, but since my desire to protect the boy was genuine, I thought I should take responsibility and asked.
But an unexpected answer came back.
“I don’t have a home. I used to live on the streets with the zombies. That is, until they suddenly went strange.”
Sudden sadness clouded Gil’s eyes.
“You lived with the zombies?”
“Yes. Those zombies from earlier were people I lived with under the overpass. They were originally fine and kind.
We were all going to get free meals as usual, but while climbing the hill, the ground rumbled beneath our feet and suddenly the zombies went strange.”
Now that I looked, Gil hadn’t accidentally gotten caught up in the zombie pack. He had been moving with them.
Had I known that, perhaps it would have been right to send Gil with Handosu to be investigated.
At least he was someone who knew about the zombie pack.
But I had no intention of sending Gil to the Hall now.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
His small frame and skinny build had made me think he was around thirteen or fourteen, but he was older than I thought.
Father Bruno suddenly came to mind. When he first met me, I had been just like Gil.
I had been a boy living on the streets. It was Father Bruno who had transformed me from something like a wounded wild beast back into a human.
Coincidentally, Gil was the same age I had been then.
“But when was the last time you showered? You smell almost as bad as the zombies.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go. My house is close by, so go take a shower at least.”
“……Yes.”
Gil’s eyes went wide.
I immediately turned around and started walking home.
* * *
While Gil showered and ate the food I had delivered, I was lost in thought.
*What had I been thinking, bringing this kid here?*
I had felt an urge to protect Gil without knowing why, but I wasn’t in a position to take in a dependent.
I had things I needed to do. Hunting a black magician would be rough and dangerous.
I wasn’t someone who could give Gil an ordinary, comfortable life.
But then I thought I was worrying too much. It wasn’t like I had said I would take him in and raise him, yet here I was worrying ahead of time.
*I just need to help him as much as I can.*
Seventeen wasn’t a child anymore. It was an age where he could survive just fine on his own, and Gil had been living alone all this time anyway.
Father Bruno hadn’t taken me in to raise me either.
He found me a place to sleep and a job, and watched over me as I lived as a member of society.
Of course, that was no small thing. Back then, I was a wild beast suddenly thrown into human society.
Compared to me back then, Gil seemed much more well-adjusted.
Despite living on the streets, he wasn’t rough or sly. He was polite and seemed to have a pure heart.
“Magician, can I really eat all of this by myself? I’m sorry to eat alone……. There’s a lot too.”
Gil said, looking down at the sweet and sour pork.
I had ordered jajangmyeon, jjamppong, and sweet and sour pork from a Chinese restaurant. It was a considerable amount, but a starving seventeen-year-old youth could easily finish it alone.
“Eat it all. I’m not hungry.”
“Then I’ll really eat it all.”
“Drink some cola with it too. You’ll get stomachache.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Gil thanked me readily and had decency. Freed from the tense situation, he was good-natured and unhesitant in conversation.
I had thought earlier he was simply afraid of the zombies, but as it turned out, he was worried about the strangely mutated zombies.
Gil looked unexpectedly solid as he ate in silence.
*Now that I think about it, a mana wave was flowing from him earlier.*
Perhaps the reason I had unconsciously kept feeling that I needed to protect Gil was because of his unique mana wave.
I would have to find out about that now. I quietly extended my detection magic.