-High Society
* * *
I stopped by home just to drop off the desk and was about to head straight to the Hall.
But the moment I set the desk down in my rooftop room and tried to catch my breath, the phone rang again. This time it was Cheon Danbi. She said she was waiting for us at a nearby café.
“A nearby café?”
[Yeah. I went there, but nobody was there, so I’ve been waiting nearby while having a cup of coffee.]
“Why did you come?”
[Just bored.]
Here I was swamped with work while someone said they were bored. Was she really my teammate? Should I have given her more to do and run her ragged?
Then I remembered that Cheon Danbi was the owner of an herb shop.
“What about the shop?”
[I left it to a part-timer.]
“A part-timer? Don’t tell me it’s Ren?”
[No. Ren came with me. She’s right next to me now.]
“Then who is the part-timer?”
[A dwarf lady. The restaurant lady we saw before. You know, her restaurant was blown away in that explosion last time, and she said she was struggling to make ends meet. So I hired her part-time.]
“Ah….”
[Anyway, I’ll head to your place right now. Why are we even talking on the phone? We can just talk when we meet.]
With that, Cheon Danbi hung up abruptly.
Without even asking about my schedule.
But since she said she was coming, I couldn't just leave, so I waited a moment.
Soon, Cheon Danbi and Ren came up the stairs.
“Aren’t you free? But is it okay to leave an herb shop to just anyone? Don’t you need to know about herbs to sell them?”
I asked her the first thing that came to mind the moment I saw her, and Cheon Danbi giggled.
“I didn’t know you worried about my shop this much. But don’t worry. I wrote down all the basic explanations about the herbs, and I told her to call me if a customer comes. Honestly, hardly anyone comes these days anyway.”
“Really? Your business is doomed.”
“I have online orders too, so it won’t go under. And I’m on Team Odin now, so what do I have to worry about? I even got raid rewards.”
“Even so, can you just neglect your livelihood like that?”
“Leaving aside my livelihood, it is a bit strange that there are so few customers. It might be because I’m often away, but I don’t think that’s the only reason.”
I had a guess about that.
The magicians who mainly used Cheon Danbi’s herb shop were most likely low-rank magicians.
Trying to boost their magic power with potions or herbs meant they weren't confident in their own magic.
Many low-rank magicians had died in successive terrorist attacks. That was probably why her customers had decreased.
I thought so, but I didn't bother telling Cheon Danbi about the dead magicians.
“By the way, where did you two go? And what’s with that desk? You didn’t go to buy a desk, did you? It doesn’t look like a new desk.”
Since Cheon Danbi asked, I told her about how we’d raided the bio-hacker group this morning.
At that, both Cheon Danbi and Ren listened with sparkling eyes and soon exclaimed in admiration.
“That’s wonderful! More evidence of Banaheim’s crimes has come out, hasn’t it?”
“Oh! Then we can catch the swindlers who colluded with the black magicians. We should sweep them all up now!”
“Exactly. I was actually just about to go to the Hall to catch Gang Yonghun.”
When I said that, Cheon Danbi sprang up from her seat.
“Really? Then I’m going with you.”
“You want to come along?”
“Gang Yonghun is the one who framed the dwarves for terrorism last time. I have a huge grudge against that bastard. What did he say to me? He asked if I was a local resident and said the dwarves had deceived me, didn’t he?”
I remembered. Back then, in that underground village, Cheon Danbi had run into Gang Yonghun.
If I hadn’t stopped her, Cheon Danbi would have charged straight at Gang Yonghun even then.
It was understandable that she was worked up, having been close with the dwarves.
I glanced at Ren.
Ren must have also held special feelings for the dwarves after living in their village. Moreover, that incident itself was something Banaheim had orchestrated with government and Hall swindlers in order to find Ren.
It was something that would evoke strong emotions in Ren as well.
But fortunately, Ren didn’t offer to come along.
“Fine. You can come. But what are you going to do there? Shouldn’t we plan a strategy?”
“Why do we need a strategy? It’s already been revealed that the dwarves weren’t behind it. We just confront him with the facts. ‘You framed them.’ He’ll try to deny it, saying he didn’t know. When that happens, the best thing is to taunt him until he slips up. And I’m an expert at taunting. Let’s go!”
She was being unreasonable, but she wasn’t wrong.
I had King’s testimony as evidence, but even if I shoved it in his face, Gang Yonghun would undoubtedly deny it.
I had been planning to pressure him with force if it came to that, but Cheon Danbi’s idea of taunting him into slipping up wasn’t bad either.
“Gil, wait at home with Ren.”
“Yes. I’ll stay with Ren and think about what clothes you should wear for your television interview, Magician.”
“What?”
“It’s your first television appearance, isn’t it? Or is it not?”
She wasn’t wrong, but I just waved my hand and left the room.
Laughter that sounded like pearls rolling across a plate flowed from behind me.
I hadn’t known Gil had that kind of sense of humor.
Anyway, whenever I was with my teammates, things kept happening that made me laugh. Was this what everyday life was supposed to feel like?
I felt as if the world had no problems, as if peaceful, trivial, and slightly boring days were continuing.
How wonderful would it be if these days kept going.
Suddenly, the scenery from the restaurant we’d gone to yesterday came to mind. The time spent eating and drinking peacefully with my teammates.
It already felt like something from a previous life.
It was a brief moment enjoying everyday pleasures after stopping the massive terror attack in Incheon, but we were only allowed this fleeting respite.
In truth, it was no different from a time when the earth rumbled as a tremendous volcano was about to erupt.
I had to stop the catastrophe. I had to finish off the black magicians and their underlings quickly.
Only then could peaceful everyday life be reclaimed.
* * *
Entering the Hall was no problem.
I was still not a Hall-affiliated magician, but the attitude toward me from the entrance was drastically different from before.
“Magician Odin, welcome.”
Elf guards greeted me with an extremely respectful attitude, as politely as could be, and asked where they should guide me.
When I said I had come to meet Gang Yonghun, they immediately guided me inside while communicating somewhere. It seemed they were notifying those above.
Cheon Danbi, who wasn’t even a magician, was beside me, but she was allowed to enter without any questions asked.
“Wow, being a hero sure is nice.”
After the elf who had guided us to the elevator disappeared, Cheon Danbi whispered with a smile.
Gang Yonghun was in his office on the top floor of the executive building where the Hall’s executives resided.
When we got off the elevator, a secretary immediately guided us to the room.
“How do you do?”
I entered through the open door and greeted him calmly, and Gang Yonghun sprang up from his seat to approach and welcome me.
“Welcome. To what do I owe the honor of the nation’s hero, Magician Odin, coming all the way here to find me?”
His praise, calling me the nation’s hero and whatnot, was disgusting.
He was speaking as if glad to see me with a wide smile, but his eyes shone like a snake’s.
He must be curious why I had come. I hoped he was afraid, too.
“I came because I have something to ask.”
“Please, have a seat over there. But who is this with you……?”
Gang Yonghun didn’t seem to recognize Cheon Danbi at all.
Then Cheon Danbi stepped forward and introduced herself.
“Don’t you remember me? We’ve met before. When the terror attack happened in the Namsan underground dwarf village. I’m Cheon Danbi, a local resident there.”
Even after hearing that, Gang Yonghun tilted his head as if the memory wasn’t coming back immediately, but he finally remembered and nodded.
“Ah! Yes, that’s right. I remember now. But what brings you……?”
Even while asking Cheon Danbi, Gang Yonghun’s gaze quickly turned to me. It seemed he wanted me to explain why I had brought her.
“We have a lot to talk about, so let’s sit down first.”
I went and sat on the sofa first, and Cheon Danbi quickly came to sit beside me, while Gang Yonghun sat across from us.
Only now did a suspicious expression and an air of unease begin to settle on Gang Yonghun’s face.
But befitting a sly old man, he didn’t reveal such feelings to any noticeable degree.
He quickly feigned composure again and asked me.
“There’s no terror attack happening somewhere right this moment, is there? It doesn’t seem you came to request help……. Tell me. What is it you want to ask?”
“If a terror attack had occurred somewhere, wouldn’t you know before I do?”
I asked back, containing a double meaning.
However, Gang Yonghun pretended not to notice and answered according to what he wanted to believe.
“Of course. Information related to magic reaches the Hall of Magic first. It’s quiet today.”
“Have you had no contact from Banaheim?”
The moment I brought up the name Banaheim, Gang Yonghun’s eyes flickered slightly.
It meant something sensitive had been touched at this juncture. I would have to press him from there.
“Aren’t you quite close with Chairman Kim Seonho, Commissioner?”
“That’s right. Naturally, Chairman Kim Seonho and I are well-acquainted. We are both members of high society. You’ll come into contact with it soon too, but there is much to be done through mutual cooperation among the leadership that guides society from above. But why Banaheim? Is there something special that prompts this question?”
Listening to him made me sick.
These swindlers had been secretly cooperating behind the scenes for their own gain, yet he spoke as if it were for the sake of society.
Moreover, expressions like “high society” and “leadership guiding from above” subtly grated on my nerves.
More than anything, his intention to include me in that disgusting crowd by saying “you’ll come into contact with it soon too” was the most galling.
Did gaining some fame as a hero mean I now qualified? Or did he mean to recruit me as a useful talent for them?
“High society? I didn’t know such a thing existed separately. Are the black magicians of the Magic Tower included in it too?”
“What kind of talk is that? Of course not. Are we not the ones fighting against the black magicians of the Magic Tower?”
“Black magicians are a cancerous existence in this society. Is that correct?”
“Why, of course.”
“Then why do you commission acts of terror from such black magicians, Commissioner?”
“What?”
“I’m referring to the leadership you spoke of, who cooperate with one another. Haven’t you been carrying out acts of terror by borrowing the hands of various black magicians out of necessity?”
When I immediately pressed forward with a direct attack, Gang Yonghun’s face began to pale.
His gaze turned toward the office door.