-Inside and Outside
A heavy silence settled over us.
I deliberately left Gil alone in that silence.
The truth was, there was nothing more for me to hear from him.
I already knew what the situation had been like from Cheon Danbi and Ren, and I had also learned that Gil remembered it, however vaguely.
It was no surprise that, while he had been running wild, his mind had felt as though it had been peeled away to some extent. That was what it meant to go berserk.
But the fact that he had not completely lost his mind was important.
It meant that Gil’s rampage had been intentional.
Fortunately, it also meant that he had not entrusted his mind entirely to the energy of evil. But at the same time, because it had been his own intention, it meant the responsibility lay wholly with Gil.
‘What should I do with Gil? I’ve already talked to him enough that he should understand, and yet he went and caused something like this again. Now all that’s left is for him to take responsibility, isn’t it?’
I said nothing on purpose, so that he would feel the weight of that responsibility himself.
What mattered was that Gil no longer spoke easily, saying he was sorry or promising he would never do it again.
Gil understood, too, that excuses were unnecessary.
How long had we stayed like that? As I sat quietly in the silence, my heart naturally grew peaceful, as if I were training, and a bright energy filled my body.
Gil was probably the same. This was the power of the magical energy contained within the magic space.
As always, the magic space was endlessly peaceful. It was a place that embraced anyone who entered with light.
Simply being here like this would undoubtedly help Gil.
Rampaging energy was neither permitted nor usable in this place. That was the feeling I got.
I thought again that bringing him in here had been the right decision.
However, it seemed that Gil and I sitting silently across from each other made Cheon Danbi and Ren feel a little uneasy.
The two of them approached and spoke to me.
“This mansion is really incredible, isn’t it? I never even dreamed there could be such a wonderful magic space in the world. Did Oudine make all of this?”
“It truly is a mysterious place. But would it be all right if we went out to the garden? The mansion is amazing, of course, but I’m curious about the space outside as well.”
“Right. I want to go out to the garden. From the looks of it, it seems like the space continues even beyond the garden. Is that true? Just how big is this place?”
For the two of them, who knew how to handle life force in an extraordinary way, the nature outside would be even more intriguing than the inside of the mansion.
If anything, I found it more surprising that they had not gone out yet and had come to ask me first.
“Of course you can go out. The space continues beyond the garden too, so take your time looking around. Just being here will fill you with life force.”
“It definitely seems that way. This place is incredibly abundant in both mana and life force.”
“We’re the only ones in here, right? If there aren’t any other people, I’d like to try polymorphing.”
“That’s right. It’s just us. You can polymorph as much as you like.”
At my answer, Ren’s face brightened.
Come to think of it, I had briefly forgotten that polymorphing was Ren’s ability.
It was not a shackle, but an ability.
Just as mages wanted to train in magic, Ren must have wanted to train in polymorphing, but I had failed to think of that.
“Um… can Gil go out to the garden with us too? Or does he have to stay sitting here like this?”
Cheon Danbi asked carefully, gauging my reaction.
While we had been talking, Gil had only been watching quietly.
Looking at him, Gil had calmed down a great deal. He looked far more stable than before.
Above all, while he was inside this space, there was nothing to be uneasy about. Everyone was safe and at peace.
I thought it might be good to give Gil a brief moment of comfort.
“Sure. Gil, go out and look around with them. I have to step outside for a little while, so until then, all of you can explore the magic space together.”
I had needed to go back outside anyway.
Whenever I entered the magic space, it was always so peaceful that I often forgot the outside world entirely, but that was an old story for me now.
Now, I was no longer simply bewitched by good feelings like peace and happiness. I had not forgotten the things I needed to do.
The Gwanghwamun site, the investigation team meeting, the matter of distributing samples of the golden apples. The unresolved issues drifted through my mind.
“You’re going outside?”
Cheon Danbi tilted her head and asked.
Perhaps she had already become completely steeped in the comfort of this place, because she looked as though she could not understand the idea of going outside.
“We suddenly disappeared from the scene, so everyone must be wondering what happened. Besides, I left in the middle of a Bureau meeting to go there.”
“Ah, right. Everyone must be worried. Got it. Hurry back.”
Cheon Danbi even waved her hand as if telling me not to worry and to go.
I nodded to Cheon Danbi and glanced at Gil.
Even without saying it aloud, Cheon Danbi would understand what I meant. I was asking her to keep a close eye on Gil, just in case.
“Have a safe trip.”
“See you when you get back. I’ll behave myself in here.”
Ren and Gil said goodbye as well. Gil, too, understood in advance what I wanted to tell him.
“Good. Don’t go anywhere else, and make sure you only wander around inside the magic space. Oh! And if you get hungry, the kitchen fridge should be packed with food, so find something and eat. There should be all sorts of delicacies prepared.”
“Oh! Really? That’s great. We rushed out without even eating breakfast, so I was hungry anyway.”
“If you go out to the garden, there should be fruit on the trees too.”
“Then let’s go out to the garden first.”
The team members headed for the garden, and I headed for the portal.
As soon as I stepped through the portal, the crows swooped in front of me.
[Huh? You were in there?]
[When did you go in? We were definitely guarding this place.]
Only after hearing the crows did I belatedly realize that I had opened a portal elsewhere and entered the magic space from there.
Come to think of it, that was possible.
I could enter the magic space without rubbing the pattern on the magic book in my room to open the portal.
“I opened a movement portal somewhere else and went in.”
I answered the crows calmly, but they made a fuss on my behalf.
[That works?]
[Oh! That’s amazing.]
[You really have become a master of space magic, haven’t you?]
[Now you’re completely the owner of that space!]
The truth was, I still did not know everything about the magic space, and I was curious too, but now was not the time to discuss that with the crows.
I had left only my team members inside. I had to take care of business quickly and go back.
“That’s good. You guys go into the magic space. My team members are in there right now. Stay there, and if anything happens, come find me and let me know.”
The crows knew how to go in and out of the magic space, so I could leave them in charge of acting as messengers.
[Really? Your team members are inside?]
[Got it. We’ll go in and keep a good watch, so don’t worry. But where are you going by yourself?]
“I have something to do, so I need to go out.”
[Then go and come back.]
With that, the crows flew through the portal without even looking back.
For some reason, I let out a small laugh, but I also felt relieved.
Now it was my turn to move. When I thought about going to get the car, I realized the car was at the Bureau.
So I opened another movement portal and returned to the Bureau.
I considered whether I should go to the Gwanghwamun site, but I did not think I needed to.
The site was probably being handled by the police.
Everyone must have already gone back, and even if there were people curious about the vanished mages, there was no need for me to return to the scene and explain.
When I entered the conference room, the same people from earlier were still seated there.
“I’m back.”
“Ah! Mage, you’re here at last. But I heard you suddenly disappeared from the Gwanghwamun site. Where did you go?”
Yu Jaeseon asked. It seemed he had already heard the general story from the police officers at the scene.
“I moved using a movement portal. I went home for a bit.”
“Home? Why would you go home…?”
“Let’s sort out the situation first. It looked like the Gwanghwamun site was cleaned up without any problems. Is that correct?”
Before bringing up Gil, I asked first in order to find out how much they knew.
“We should be asking you about the situation at Gwanghwamun, Mage. Even the police didn’t know exactly what happened. In any case, the scene was cleaned up well. The zombie protesters and the counter-protesters have all left.”
“I see. What about the number of injured?”
“There seem to have been many zombies who were injured, but they’re fine now. Zombies have such strong regenerative abilities that they heal in no time. They say no one was seriously hurt by the sound magic. It seems the magic was controlled precisely enough to stop people without injuring them.”
The ones who had precisely controlled the magic had not been Gil, the mage, but Cheon Danbi and Ren, who had tried to stop Gil from running wild. But I did not bother bringing that up.
“Who was the mage who used sound magic?”
Yu Jaeseon asked, looking at me.
From the look in his eyes, it seemed he had a rough guess as to who it was.
Even so, he was giving me a chance to say it myself.
“Even according to the statements from the police officers at the scene, no one knew. They said the magic was activated from the middle of the zombie crowd, so they didn’t even see the mage.”
But judging from what he added, it seemed he was even giving me a chance not to say it.
Still, I could not leave it unsaid. Gil had to take responsibility.
“The mage who used the sound magic was my team member, Gil.”
Everyone gathered in the conference room looked at me.
But unexpectedly, there was no dramatic reaction. Everyone was quiet.
Only Yu Jaeseon nodded and replied.
“So it was him after all. Mage Gil has always cared especially about zombies.”
“That’s right. He went to the scene because he was worried about the zombies, and when he saw the counter-protesters using violence against them indiscriminately, it seems he was shocked and activated the magic.”
“And you guessed as much, Mage, so you rushed to the scene and suppressed the magic?”
“That’s right.”
At that moment, Director Park Hongguk, who had been quiet until now, opened his mouth.
“Then let’s leave it as resolved.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s been resolved, hasn’t it? No one died, and no one was injured, so let’s conclude it this way. A mage who happened to be passing near the Gwanghwamun site used sound magic to quickly bring the chaotic scene under control.”
Director Park was saying that he would let Gil off.
Based only on the results they had been told, they might be able to think that way. They had not personally seen Gil running wild.
But I could not let this pass without making it clear.
“A mage isn’t allowed to use magic against ordinary civilians, is he?”
“No, he isn’t. Magic must not be used against innocent civilians. But in this case, the targets were not innocent civilians, but people committing violent acts. In a situation where a crime is taking place, the use of magic is permitted.”
Park Hongguk looked at me and smiled.
It was clear he was trying to be lenient because it was something my team member had done, but his logic was not unreasonable.
Even under the original regulations, the use of magic was permitted in exceptional circumstances.
He was saying we should settle it that way.
“Then there won’t be any disciplinary action?”
“There’s no need for disciplinary action. Thanks to him, the protest situation came to an end, and you went there and wrapped things up well, Mage.”
Only then did a sigh of relief escape me.