-Search
Yu Jaeseon continued.
“However, after analyzing the devices at the scene, it appears the structure of the disturbance wave itself was not complex. It was merely a unique wave rarely found among ordinary mages. The destructive power of the tentacled monster’s attack did not lie in the disturbance wave, but in the tremendous amount of mana behind it.”
“Then what you want to ask me is, why did my magic work, isn’t it?”
I asked bluntly.
“That is both true and not true. In theory, the answer is simple. Mage Oudin’s magic was far more powerful than the tentacled monster’s.”
At Yu Jaeseon’s words, the mages seated around the table let out low groans.
Contrary to my expectations, Yu Jaeseon was not confirming the suspicions about me through his analysis. Instead, he had concluded that I had been able to attack the tentacled monster unlike the other mages because I was strong.
“Remarkable.”
“So that was it. The reason was simple.”
The mages’ murmurs flowed through the conference room.
But I did not think Yu Jaeseon was finished. Nor did I believe he had already reached a conclusion about me and harbored no doubts whatsoever.
Sure enough, Yu Jaeseon threw another question at me.
“There is one thing I would like to ask. Did you, by any chance, use two kinds of mana waves at the scene?”
This must have been the real question the analyst wanted to ask. It meant Yu Jaeseon had analyzed Gil’s wave.
I answered quickly to dispel his suspicion.
“I did. Seeing the other mages helplessly overwhelmed, I felt that the monster possessed a considerable amount of mana. So I extended my waves in two branches.
One branch absorbed the monster’s mana, and the other sealed it off. Of course, both branches converged into freezing magic.”
“I see. Truly impressive. With my magical ability, I cannot even imagine it.”
Yu Jaeseon slowly nodded and voiced his admiration.
But his expression did not look completely convinced.
From the other mages in the conference room came another round of admiring murmurs.
“Not only did you subdue the monster with two branches of mana waves, you extracted the monster’s mana altogether. Even after the ice thawed, the tentacled monster’s mana remained low.”
“That’s fortunate. It means my freezing magic worked properly. The destructive power of freezing magic is greater than you all think.”
This time, I answered a little lightly.
Since the atmosphere in the conference room had already shifted toward admiration for me, I drove the point home by showing a hint of smugness.
That would instead extinguish the subtle suspicion Yu Jaeseon was giving off.
“Well then, since it seems the attack process has now been sorted out, let us discuss who caused this terrorist incident.”
Gang Yonghun took charge of the meeting again and shifted the direction of the discussion. He turned to me and asked.
“Mage Oudin, you said yesterday that you thought this incident was the work of a black mage. Moreover, you said it seemed the black mage who caused the Incheon Port explosion had carried out another terrorist attack. Could you tell us the basis for that?”
The atmosphere was strange. They called it a countermeasure meeting, yet they were only bombarding me with questions.
Questions about the attack process were one thing, but why were they prying even into the mastermind behind the terror?
At this rate, shouldn’t this be called a hearing about me?
On top of that, there was something suspicious about Gang Yonghun’s attitude. He had done the same at the scene yesterday, and now he was asking the same question again.
Produce evidence, state your grounds. The way he kept prying like that somehow felt suspicious.
It made me think he had something that bothered him.
“Well. Do you not think so, Executive Committee Member? Two terrorist attacks occurred within less than a month. So I simply thought perhaps the same black mage had committed them. Is that strange?”
Rather than saying that I had seen Yasin at Incheon Port, and that Yasin had personally come to find me after the tentacled monster terror incident, I glossed over it with a general argument.
In a situation where I did not trust Gang Yonghun one hundred percent, I did not want to readily spill the information I had first.
“Of course, the Hall also views both incidents as terror attacks carried out by a black mage. However, until now, no black mage has ever openly appeared in our country, has there?
We have not found evidence at the scene either. In such a situation, we cannot recklessly spread rumors. Ordinary citizens may say whatever they like, but we cannot do the same.”
It was still an evasive answer. It did not sit well with me.
This time, I asked a question.
“Is the investigation into the Incheon Port explosion finished? You brought the orcs to the Hall of Magic back then, didn’t you? Are you saying you still got nothing from them?”
“Those orcs were not in a normal state. They were not in a mental condition where we could interrogate them and uncover who was behind it. So we, too, suspect there is a black mage behind the orc smuggling incident, but we have not secured definitive evidence.”
I glanced at Yu Jaeseon.
They had brought the orcs to the Hall of Magic, but since it was an orc smuggling incident, it should have been handled by the government from the start.
They found out nothing? Was it merely a matter of incompetence?
Yu Jaeseon had his head lowered and was only looking down at his tablet.
“I was at the scene of the Incheon Port explosion. I had simply gone there for mercenary work. But then an explosion suddenly occurred. At the time, there was another mage at the scene besides me. That mage caused the explosion. He was the black mage.”
I decided to reveal part of the information I possessed. Only then did it seem I might be able to draw even a little information out of them.
As soon as I finished speaking, a stir arose in the conference room.
“He saw the black mage at the scene?”
“Mage Oudin happened to be there! We had no idea and were digging in completely the wrong place, weren’t we?”
“Then where did that black mage go?”
I observed Gang Yonghun’s expression. Rather than surprise, he revealed agitation. But he soon composed his expression and asked me.
“Did you find out who that mage, that is, the black mage, was?”
“I chased after him, but he disappeared without a trace.”
“I see. That is unfortunate.”
Though he said it was unfortunate, a hint of relief flashed across Gang Yonghun’s face.
I looked around at the other mages in the conference room.
On Yu Jaeseon’s and the other mages’ faces, there was only surprise and regret.
There is something about the Incheon Port explosion that bothers Gang Yonghun. That was what I surmised.
“But it is not as though I completely lost him. Traces of a magic circuit remained at the scene of the Incheon Port explosion. It contained a unique shape that could be called the black mage’s fingerprint.”
When I threw out another piece of bait, low exclamations flowed through the conference room.
“Ooh……!”
“What? A fingerprint?”
“Then we might be able to find him with that.”
“By any chance, were those traces of a magic circuit in the shape of layered pentagons?”
Yu Jaeseon asked me.
This time, every gaze in the conference room focused on him. A murmur spread.
I was inwardly surprised. He was called an analyst, and it seemed Yu Jaeseon had indeed discovered something.
‘The traces at Incheon Port vanished almost immediately, so how did he find out? His detection ability is quite good, isn’t it? Or does the government also have detection equipment like Yantu’s?’
I looked at Yu Jaeseon and opened my mouth.
“That’s right. It was the infinite pentagon shape. You detected it? Then did you also find out which black mage or Magic Tower’s symbol it is?”
“In truth, the place where I detected the traces of the infinite pentagon magic circuit was not Incheon Port, but the scene of this tentacled monster incident. So the analysis is not yet complete. I do not know whose it is.”
The conference room stirred.
What Yu Jaeseon’s words ultimately meant was that the black mage who caused the two incidents was the same person. My claim had been proven.
I was impressed in my own way.
Since Yu Jaeseon had picked up on my story and mentioned the infinite pentagon, I naturally thought he was talking about the Incheon Port incident scene.
I guessed he had deliberately worded it that way to make me misunderstand.
In any case, Yu Jaeseon had lessened my burden.
Now I no longer had to say that I had discovered those traces at the tentacled monster scene, nor did I have to talk about Yasin coming to find me.
“I see. In the end, evidence has come out that the black mage who caused the two incidents is the same person.”
As I said this, I looked at Gang Yonghun.
Gang Yonghun slowly nodded with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.
“As I heard, Mage Oudin truly is remarkable. To think you even detected traces of a magic circuit. I did discover that wave at the sinkhole scene yesterday, but I did not think it was the black mage’s fingerprint. I thought it was the shape of the unique wave extended by the tentacled monster.”
Yu Jaeseon praised me again.
The other mages also added their praise with murmurs of admiration.
I threw a question at Gang Yonghun, who was staying silent.
“Executive Committee Member, do you know anything about the infinite pentagon shape?”
“A magic circuit that draws an infinite pentagon shape…… Well. It is not a symbol I have heard of. There is no mage family that uses such a symbol.”
“That would be only natural. It must be a symbol used by a black mage. Does the Hall not have something like a database on our country’s black mages?”
“Of course, the Hall has gathered information on black mages. But in our database, an infinite pentagon? There is no information on such a symbol.”
Either their information gathering was insufficient, or Samir’s Magic Tower had been quietly expanding its power until now.
Or the Hall was not giving me all the information.
But the other mages also each added a word.
“There was no information about such a symbol in the government database either. It was the first time I had seen it.”
Yu Jaeseon said.
“Could it be a black mage who came from overseas? If so, it would not have been in our information.”
“In truth, we need to update information on foreign black mages as well. The information the Hall possesses is sorely lacking.”
“Should we not begin by merging the Hall’s and the government’s databases into one?”
The Hall mages exchanged empty words.
It seemed hopeless to obtain information about Samir or the Magic Tower from them.
I was losing interest in the meeting.
Then Han Dosu, who had been quietly silent for a while, spoke to me.
“Mage Oudin, will you not join the Hall? As you know, the Hall mages suffered heavy losses from yesterday’s terror attack. If another attack occurs, our response may be hindered.”
“I would like to ask you as well. Mage Oudin’s help is absolutely necessary in the current situation. Korea has been a relatively safe zone until now, so we are desperately lacking mages with experience fighting black mages. Please join us.”
Yu Jaeseon joined in as well.
Both Han Dosu and Yu Jaeseon were earnest and grave.
It seemed the Hall of Magic was in a less stable situation than I had thought. The mages sacrificed yesterday alone appeared to have dealt them a great shock.
Then again, the black mages’ terror and calamities had only just begun.
While I was wondering how to answer, the conference room door suddenly burst open and a Hall employee ran in.
“What is it? We are in the middle of a meeting.”
“I’m sorry. But an urgent situation has occurred. You need to see this…….”
The employee fumbled as he operated the remote control he had brought in his hand.
Then, on the large screen installed at the front of the conference room, Yasin’s face appeared.