-Danyang
Now that I knew the true nature of the confession drug, I couldn’t keep letting it work on me. I calmly analyzed the mana waves in the red vapor.
Then I generated mana waves inside my body, neutralized the confession drug, and pushed it out. As the poison was cleansed, the paralysis lifted as well.
“So you really were quite an impressive mage. I thought the amount of mana you had was unusual. Fine. I’ll introduce myself. I’m Cheon Danbi. As you can see, I run an herb shop. Who do I work under? Please don’t ask such an insulting question.”
The woman looked flustered for a moment, but soon regained her composure and answered calmly.
“I think you were the one who first asked that insulting question about who I work under. Okay. I’m a freelance mage, and you’re the owner of an herb shop. Now let’s trust each other and talk.”
I released the arm I had wrapped around Cheon Danbi’s neck.
I had only shown a bit of force in response to her using a drug on me; I had no intention of treating her coercively.
More than anything, I had come here in the first place to get information from the owner of the herb shop.
“Are you a druid?”
“You figured it out? That’s right. I’m a druid. A druid who communes with the World Tree. But you came here knowing about me, didn’t you? Who told you about me?”
“A dwarf I know recommended this herb shop. He said you were an expert in that field.”
“Ah, a dwarf……”
As if she had a guess, Cheon Danbi stopped probing further.
“Do you run the shop by yourself?”
“Yeah. It’s not so busy that I need to hire staff. I don’t have any family, and I’m enough on my own.”
Cheon Danbi got up from her chair and threw the window wide open. After watching the red vapor get drawn outside, she closed the window and returned to her seat.
“Why did you suddenly attack when I asked about the Golden Apple?”
I asked another question.
“Because I didn’t know what kind of person you were. Of course I knew you were a mage, but I didn’t know whether you were a black mage or not. At first, I even thought you might be an enforcement team sent by the government.”
“You suspected I was a black mage? Is the Golden Apple connected to black mages?”
Since Cheon Danbi brought up black mages first, I asked as if I didn’t know.
Now that the confession drug had all dispersed, there was no problem.
“There’s a rumor that black mages are going around looking for the Golden Apple. The government took all the Golden Apples, so to be precise, they’re looking for its components.
They’re supposedly asking around to see if anyone has even a dried fragment, or whether they can get leaves or roots from the Golden Apple tree.”
At those words, I fell into thought for a moment.
Weren’t the black mages from the Magic Tower conducting experiments together with Vanaheim Laboratory?
Were there other black mages besides them searching for the Golden Apple?
It was frustrating that I didn’t even know how many black mages there were in our country.
I felt I needed to gather more information.
“You said many of the customers at your herb shop are mages, right? Are there any black mages among them?”
“Ha! What are you talking about? Do I look like the kind of person who would do business with black mages? Don’t say ridiculous things. I absolutely despise black mages.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Is there anyone in the world who likes black mages? And that’s not all. Black mages only get in the way of running an herb shop. If rumors spread that black mages come in and out of my store, do you think the government would just sit still?
They’d turn the whole shop upside down. And I’d end up in cuffs. Even when orders come in online, if it seems like there’s a black mage behind it, I never sell the herbs. How would I know what kind of experiments those bastards would do, and why would I supply materials for that?”
Cheon Danbi reacted far more strongly than I had expected.
From what I had seen so far, she didn’t seem like someone who lived by entirely legal means, but when it came to black mages, she rejected them thoroughly.
“Wait, asking why I avoid black mages sounds suspicious. Then are you saying you’re friendly toward black mages?”
Cheon Danbi asked me, glaring.
“Me? I grind my teeth at the thought of black mages.”
“Really?”
“If you don’t believe me, try using that confession drug again.”
“No, well…… I’ll believe you.”
Only then did Cheon Danbi seem to realize that she had gotten too worked up, and she slowly fanned herself with her hand, gave an awkward smile, and lowered her voice.
“Have you heard anything about black mages? They say Vanaheim Laboratory is making some product related to the Golden Apple. Did it seem like black mages might be involved?”
“That’s actually why I came here.”
At my words, Cheon Danbi’s eyes went round.
“What? So that was it. Vanaheim Laboratory joined hands with black mages, didn’t they? I knew Vanaheim was a company you couldn’t trust. They’re a group with no experimental ethics to begin with.”
“Was Vanaheim that kind of place?”
“You haven’t heard that kind of talk? People whisper about it. Every time Vanaheim develops a new drug, truckloads of people die in their clinical trials.”
Cheon Danbi stared intently at my face. When I showed no particular response, she waved her hand and added,
“It might just be a conspiracy theory. But they already finished clinical trials for a Golden Apple prototype? So what were the side effects? And how are black mages connected?”
“I don’t know the details. I heard many people died during the clinical trials. It must be a pretty serious side effect. But there’s also talk that a black mage saved the people who were dying. I’m trying to investigate what on earth is going on.”
“See! People do die in Vanaheim clinical trials. No, but a black mage revived people who were dying? That’s no ordinary problem.”
Cheon Danbi also focused on the part about a black mage reviving people.
Ironically, more than the fact that people had died in the clinical trials, the part where dying people had been revived was an even more ominous and dangerous sign.
“So that’s why black mages are digging around everywhere, trying to get even the roots of the Golden Apple? Reviving the dead, huh……
But you said you’re a freelance mage, so why are you investigating Vanaheim’s business? They won’t be easy to deal with on your own.”
“Somehow, I got entangled with Vanaheim. Vanaheim commissioned me. It was a request to track a missing person. But while tracking them, I found out the missing person was connected to the Golden Apple experiment.”
I told her only a brief version. I couldn’t tell her everything about Ren in detail. I didn’t fully trust Cheon Danbi yet.
“You’re working under Vanaheim’s commission while trying to dig into Vanaheim’s secrets?”
“Yeah. I don’t like the Golden Apple product either, and above all, black mages are involved. To be honest, digging into Vanaheim isn’t my final goal.
There’s a black mage I’m personally pursuing. It seems that black mage is involved in this, so I’m trying to track them down.”
“That sounds extremely dangerous.”
“It might be.”
“Good. Can I join you?”
“In what?”
“In chasing the black mages connected to the Golden Apple.”
“Why would you?”
“I told you. I absolutely despise black mages. Besides, the Golden Apple? What on earth is happening? The Golden Apple is a sacred fruit gifted by the World Tree. To think they would dare try to imitate it!”
“Normally, if you despise something that much, wouldn’t you try to avoid it……?”
“Not me. Because I despise them, I should find them and eradicate them.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Cheon Danbi.
She was making all kinds of excuses, but it seemed she had another reason.
I had the sense that Cheon Danbi had a personal grudge that made her shudder at the thought of black mages.
“If you’re serious about joining me, I won’t refuse. Let’s work together.”
At my answer, Cheon Danbi smiled brightly and held out her hand. It seemed she wanted a handshake.
I lightly took her hand. Her mana energy waves flowed through.
A druid who communed with the World Tree. She possessed extraordinary abilities.
On top of that, since she ran an herb shop, she could serve as a channel for gathering information about mages and black mages.
The mana waves I sensed from Cheon Danbi felt clear. So clear that I could call them transparent. It didn’t seem like taking her hand would do me any harm.
“Then let’s do well from now on. You seem like quite an impressive mage, but I’m no ordinary druid either. We’re a good combination for fighting black mages. We’re a team now, okay?”
“There are only two of us. What kind of team is that? Anyway, since we’ve decided to work together, let’s lay out all the information each of us knows.”
“Okay!”
For about an hour after that, Cheon Danbi and I talked.
We said we would lay out all the information we each knew, but I doubt either of us revealed one hundred percent. We likely shared only as much as we could afford to.
Still, it was not without results.
Among the things Cheon Danbi told me, there was one that seized all my attention.
It was information about the location of the Magic Tower.
“It’s just a rumor, but they say there’s a black mage’s Magic Tower somewhere in North Chungcheong Province.”
That was all she said. It wasn’t an exact location, and Cheon Danbi hadn’t gone there to confirm it herself.
Even so, it was a major clue to me.
‘It’s Danyang!’
A remote mountain village in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province. The place where I had been imprisoned until I was seventeen in my previous life.
The place where the Samir Cult arose. The place where the kingdom of Samir had stood.
I couldn’t jump to conclusions.
There was no proof that the Magic Tower said to be somewhere in North Chungcheong Province was Samir’s Magic Tower. The name Danyang hadn’t even come up.
Even so, my heart was flopping wildly like a fish out of water.
The threads were slowly connecting. The previous world and this world were becoming linked, and traces of Samir were being found everywhere.
The time for counterattack was gradually drawing near.
“Well then, see you next time.”
Cheon Danbi opened the door of the herb shop and said goodbye.
“Yeah, see you next time. Let’s each gather information in the meantime and share it again.”
I gave a light wave and left the herb shop. Outside, a drizzle was falling.
Maybe it was because too much information had poured in today. My head felt heavy, as if it were packed full.
I decided to walk home. From Namsan to Itaewon, it was a walkable distance. It was raining, but since it was only a drizzle, it was fine to just let myself get wet.
Itaewon had a bustling atmosphere. It was normally a street with many people, but today it felt even more turbulent.
When I focused and looked around, I noticed many foreign mages. The mana waves flowing from them were tangled in a dizzying mess.
The mages who had come to attend the World Mage Conference seemed to be doing nothing but sightseeing instead of holding meetings.
I avoided the noisy street and entered a back road. Once I turned into the back alleys of Bogwang-dong, the number of people dropped sharply.
For some reason, it felt even quieter than usual.
But that lasted only a moment. Soon, I sensed presences from behind. A great many movements rushed in all at once.
“I’m sorry. Coming through!”
“Please move aside for a moment!”
“I’m really sorry. We’re in a hurry.”
When I turned my head, I saw zombies running toward me in a group.
Though their speech was awkward, the fact that they were talking meant they weren’t the bizarrely transformed zombies from last time. And weren’t they politely asking for understanding?
Still, that did not make the situation normal.
Zombies usually existed quietly, like shadows. But now they were running in panic, as if fleeing from something.
‘What’s going on?’
I was curious, but I had no particular desire to get involved, so I was simply about to keep walking.
Then, suddenly, I heard a scream.
“Please save me!”
It was a voice I knew. It was Gil’s scream.