-Hunt
The news coming from the radio in the car suddenly seized my attention.
“This next report is information that should perk the ears of freelance mages. It concerns a bounty for tracking down a missing person. Vanaheim is searching for the daughter of one of its employees.”
My eyebrows shot up on their own. My nerves went taut.
I turned up the volume on the car stereo.
“A woman by the name of Ren is said to have gone missing. This woman is from a small nation in Thailand, and her race is reportedly lizardman. For further details, please refer to Vanaheim’s website. A reward will be given not only to the person who finds Ren, but also to anyone who provides information, so we ask for your interest.”
After hearing the news, my mind went blank.
Putting a bounty on Ren’s head was no different from urging mages to hurry up and hunt her down.
‘So this was their new method of tracking.’
My mouth turned bitter and unpleasant, as though I had bitten into an unripe persimmon.
Ren was not currently living in the form of a lizardman, and naturally, she was not using the name Ren either.
Vanaheim, which knew full well about her polymorph trait, should have been able to guess that much.
Even so, the fact that they had put up a bounty meant they intended to draw the mages’ attention and cast a wide net to catch her.
They were calculating that if her time in hiding grew longer, Ren would not be able to remain completely alone forever. Or perhaps they were hoping for the lucky chance that Ren had accidentally revealed something about herself to someone.
And more than anything, by moving a large number of mages, they must have been hoping Ren would feel fear at being hunted and make a mistake.
I sensed ill omen in another aspect as well.
‘They’re telling mages to go bounty hunting right now? When a black mage’s terror attacks are in progress?’
Even if there was a brief lull, Yasin’s terror warning was still valid.
In the last battle against the tentacle monster, more than a few mages from the Hall had been sacrificed, so there was already a shortage of mages to respond to terrorism.
And yet they were diverting the attention of freelance mages toward bounty hunting?
Now even the intentions of Vanaheim, who had commissioned me for work, seemed suspicious.
‘Don’t tell me that putting me on security duty at the chairman’s residence isn’t to stop Yasin, but to keep me away from Yasin’s terror attacks?’
While I was lost in various thoughts, another news report came from the radio.
It was news that would put even greater pressure on Ren and Yantu.
“Next report. I’m sure everyone remembers the swarm of monstrous rats that appeared near Neo Forest when the blackout occurred across Seoul a few days ago. The joint investigation team from the government and the Hall of Magic has reportedly completed its investigation into the outbreak of the rat swarm. The results are somewhat surprising.”
My heart pounded. For some reason, I had a bad feeling.
And bad feelings were never wrong.
“The monstrous rats are said to have arisen through natural mutation. However, there was a factor that caused the mutation. According to the joint investigation team’s analysis, the point where the swarm of rats first appeared was the dwarf village near Neo Forest.”
I could hardly believe my ears.
The rat swarm had arisen through natural mutation? It was a truly absurd analysis result.
According to what I detected back then, the monstrous rats had definitely contained mana. It had not been a natural mutation, but the work of black mages.
And what did they mean the point where the rat swarm appeared was the dwarf village?
Why was that place being mentioned?
“From the outside, this building appears to be an ordinary restaurant, but if you go down into its basement, you will find an underground base resembling a cave. Such an illegally constructed dwarf village existed near Neo Forest. The monstrous rat swarm is said to have arisen from this very underground base.”
It was so ridiculous that I felt my blood run cold.
They intended to pin the outbreak of the monstrous rat swarm on the dwarves. They were throwing out another pretext for a hunt.
I pulled the car over to the side of the road for a moment.
I had to contact Cheon Danbi at once. If this news was being broadcast, it meant the investigation team had already visited the dwarf village.
I recalled the dwarf woman who had smiled as she handed me the bolba fruit.
“The dwarves are presumed to have conducted various experiments in their underground base for some time. As stated earlier, the monstrous rats are a natural mutation, but it appears that harmful substances released underground by the dwarves during their experiments caused the rats to mutate.”
I immediately called Cheon Danbi, but even after the dial tone rang several times, she did not answer.
“The monstrous rat swarm was completely eradicated when it was discovered a few days ago, but there are concerns that some other mutated monsters may be living deep underground. The mutated cats and pigeons, which were initially believed to be the work of biohackers, are also being reinvestigated for possible connections to the dwarves.”
The more I listened to the news, the more my anger boiled over.
They had failed to catch the ones who had carried out the terror attack and were absurdly dumping all the blame on the dwarves instead.
It seemed they were trying to redirect public anxiety into racial conflict and scatter people’s attention.
“Today, mages from the Hall of Magic are reportedly planning a large-scale search operation of the dwarves’ underground base. In addition, searches are expected to be conducted in other dwarf districts as well.”
Cheon Danbi still did not answer. I ended the call I was making and called Yantu.
This was no longer a situation where I could worry about Vanaheim’s surveillance.
Because the police and mages were about to go straight to the dwarf districts and conduct searches.
‘Suspicious. Very suspicious. Right after they put a bounty on Ren’s head, now they’re searching the dwarf districts? Could this be something Vanaheim set up?’
Vanaheim knew that I had gone to the Wolmido dwarf district.
But because they did not have definite proof that Ren was there, they could not recklessly search the dwarf districts.
Not until a suitable pretext was provided, like now.
A corporation on Vanaheim’s level had enough power to influence the government or the Hall of Magic.
Just as suspicion was branching out in my head, Yantu’s gruff voice came through the phone.
[Well, now! Isn’t this Mage Oudin? It’s been a while.]
* * *
The dwarf district of Wolmido was currently in complete chaos.
Before the news had aired, word had already come from the dwarf village near Neo Forest. They had tipped them off to prepare in advance because a police search would soon be coming.
So now the dwarves were busy running in every direction, checking security.
“Check if the anti-magic device in the central square is working properly!”
“It’s working just fine.”
“Check it again anyway!”
“Notify every house! Tell them to set aside important items separately!”
“Tell them to check the hotel’s guest register too.”
“Check the security device at the village entrance!”
“Yes, yes!”
The atmosphere was so disordered that it was enough to make one’s soul leave their body, but Yantu had to keep his head on straight. There was someone he had to look after.
The news had finally aired just moments ago.
It was absurd enough that they were trying to pin the outbreak of the rat swarm on the dwarves and search every dwarf district, but on top of that, news had even come out that a bounty had been placed on Ren’s head.
“Unbelievable, just unbelievable… Their intentions are plain as day.”
Yantu was not overly worried.
First of all, he trusted the security devices in the dwarf village, and as for Ren, the villagers did not know who she was, so there was no worry of word leaking out.
Furthermore, Ren did not look like a lizardman at all on the outside, so even if mages swarmed in, there was little chance she would be discovered right away.
“Listen, there’s nothing to worry about. No one is going to report you, and even if you’re discovered, there’s a secret underground passage connected from my house, so you can escape through there.”
Yantu reassured Ren.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ren answered calmly.
Seeing her composure put Yantu at ease as well.
Even so, he could not say his mind was completely calm when the police were about to come here and search at any moment.
“Stay quietly hidden in my house. Even if the police or mages come and find you, I’ll tell them you’re my relative, so don’t say anything.”
“Yes.”
Ren smiled and nodded.
Just as he had taken Ren home and was catching his breath, his phone rang noisily.
When he checked the caller, it was Mage Oudin.
“Well, now! Isn’t this Mage Oudin? It’s been a while.”
Yantu deliberately answered cheerfully. It was because he thought his call with Mage Oudin might be wiretapped.
Then a reluctant voice answered from the other end of the phone.
[Mm. Is everything all right? Did you hear the news? I just heard on the radio…]
Afraid that this tactless mage might say it outright, Yantu quickly cut him off.
“The news? You mean that damned news about how they’re going to search all the dwarf districts? Of course I heard it. Television works just fine in dwarf villages too, you know. Honestly, I’m dumbfounded. What, are they saying all dwarves are criminals now? Do they know how faithfully we live while obeying the law? And how diligently we pay our taxes, too!”
Yantu put on an appropriately exaggerated act. With this, Mage Oudin would get a rough sense of the atmosphere.
Sure enough, Oudin also responded in the same lighthearted manner.
[You’re right. Maybe the mages are just making excuses because they want to look at the dwarves’ equipment. If the mages come by, why don’t you take the chance to sell them some equipment at a high price?]
“That’s a good idea. Let’s see, what new equipment do we have? Though I don’t know if they’ll just seize it all in the name of a search.”
[Come on, surely the high and mighty wouldn’t do something like that. It’s a legal search conducted by the government, so how could they commit such a barbaric crime?]
Their banter matched perfectly.
They were riding the rhythm so well that it made one wonder whether they had always been this in sync.
But they could not go on spouting nonsense forever.
[So when are they supposed to come search? Are you getting ready to receive them?]
Oudin got to the point.
Yantu knew what he wanted to ask, but he could not ask directly either.
“How would we know? Does the government announce when it’s coming before storming in? If they come, they come. Anyway, there’s been no word yet. We’re preparing, of course. The esteemed officials are coming, after all. We figured they might like things clean, so we’re tidying up the houses and the village from top to bottom.”
He thought Oudin would understand if he said it like this.
Yantu spoke while even winking one eye, though he knew perfectly well Oudin on the other side of the phone could not see him.
He was telling him not to worry about Ren.
[All right. In any case, it’s good that you know. Then I hope the search goes well. I’ll stop by sometime soon too. There’s a new piece of equipment I need.]
“Drop by anytime. You should become a regular now too, Mage.”
After muddling through appropriately, he ended the call.
Only then did a sigh escape him. It seemed he had been tense without realizing it.
He had just put down the phone and turned around when Yantu felt goosebumps rise all over his body at a strange premonition.
Something was happening.