-The Cat Runs Away
Having decided to exchange help with Yu Jaeseon, I revealed a little more of the information I knew.
“Yasin isn’t the only black mage in Korea. The black mage who carried out the jellyfish terror attack in Daejeon was someone else. And now that I’ve come to Chungcheongbuk-do, there are rumors of black mage sightings as well. There must be more underlings.”
[So that was the case. When I investigated the area where the mother jellyfish had appeared, the magical circuit’s fingerprint was different from Yasin’s, so I thought as much.]
Yu Jaeseon already knew.
Since Yu Jaeseon had analyzed the infinite pentagon form, I wondered if perhaps he also knew of the existence of the Magic Tower and Samir.
But I did not want to talk that far yet. It would not be too late to share that information after I found the Magic Tower.
Instead, I brought up what I had intended to say.
“You know very well that Yasin alone is no easy opponent. But if the other black mages appear all at once, I may not be able to handle them alone. I’d like to form a team. Would you entrust the team formation entirely to me?”
[A team? Of course. Do as you wish. But are there mages who could join you as a team for the operation?]
Yu Jaeseon brightened at the mention of a team. It seemed it had not been an empty statement when he said they lacked magical forces.
I had said it with Cheon Danbi and Gil, the team members I already had, in mind, but I did not want to explain them at length over the phone, so I answered vaguely.
“It’s a bit difficult to say who they are just yet. I only wanted to confirm in advance that I had the authority to form a team.”
[I see. Understood. As I said, you have unlimited authority. Mage Oudin, your team members will face no restrictions in their activities.]
At this point, it seemed fair to say he was placing unlimited trust in me.
The terms and attitude were satisfactory.
[I will give you the special delegation ID when we meet in person. However, your authority takes effect immediately from now on. If you need proof of anything, please call me. And be especially careful of Yasin. He is the one who killed all the guards at Chairman Kim Seonho’s estate, as well as every mage who was dispatched.]
“I’m well aware.”
Yu Jaeseon said we should meet soon, then ended the call.
I sensed a nuance that he had many things he wanted to discuss with me in person. That meant he, too, was harboring various suspicions.
I wondered whether Yu Jaeseon also knew about Vanaheim and Kim Seonho, and whether he was drawing a line with them. I decided to resolve that question when I met him in person.
When I returned to the restaurant, the owner was nowhere to be seen, and Cheon Danbi and Gil were talking to each other.
“That call took a while, huh? We already finished eating. You should hurry and eat too, Mage.”
“You must be hungry. Please eat some meat.”
When I sat down, Cheon Danbi and Gil competed to place meat on my plate.
I was indeed hungry, so I readily ate the meat as they gave it to me.
“Where’s the owner?”
“He went into the kitchen. Didn’t you finish talking to him earlier?”
“I did.”
I had heard everything worth hearing from the owner. All that remained was for us to find the rest with our own feet.
By the time I finished my meal, the owner came out of the kitchen.
“Did you enjoy the food?”
“Yes. Thank you for the meal.”
When I approached to pay, the owner waved his hands.
“Oh, no, put that away. This meal is on me. You mages came all the way down here from Seoul and are going through so much. We may not be able to do much else, but we should at least treat you to a meal.”
“It’s all right. This is your livelihood, so you should accept the money.”
I offered the money again, but the owner firmly refused.
“No, please. If you do this, I’ll be disappointed. Hurry and go take care of your work. Please, go and get rid of those black mages. I beg you.”
The man even pushed me out. Was this what they called countryside generosity?
At first, I thought he was doing it because he was overwhelmed by the authority of a mage, but on closer look, I could feel his sincere desire for us to get rid of the black mages.
In the end, I put the money back and left the restaurant.
“Well, since we even got a free meal, we really have to get rid of the black mages now.”
Cheon Danbi said it like a joke.
“We do.”
But it was not merely a joke. We were sincere as well. Cheon Danbi was smiling, but there was a resolute gleam in her eyes.
After getting into the car, I searched for Danyang on the navigation system.
If we followed the waterway of Lake Chungju, we would reach Danyang, but we were not going by boat.
Danyang was not that far. If we went straight there, it would take a little over an hour.
We did not have a set destination, so there was no need to hurry. Since we would pass through Jecheon on the way, we planned to look around slowly as we headed toward Danyang.
“We’re leaving now.”
“Okay!”
As I drove along the national road, I brought up my conversation with Yu Jaeseon.
“That call earlier was from a mage named Yu Jaeseon from the central government’s Administration Bureau. And he says he’ll give me unlimited authority.”
“Unlimited authority? What kind of authority?”
“Authority over operations against black mages, investigations, and so on. He says he’ll give it to me through a special delegation.”
“Oh! Really? Special delegation and unlimited authority? That’s awesome!”
When Cheon Danbi exclaimed in admiration, Gil was delighted as well.
“I don’t really know what that means, but it’s a good thing, right? Unlimited authority sounds really amazing.”
The three of us laughed together for a moment.
But we all knew full well that authority granted for the purpose of eliminating black mages could not simply be a happy thing.
“But why did they suddenly give you that kind of authority? Didn’t government and Hall mages originally refuse to even sit at the same table as freelance mages?”
“It seems a lot of mages died at Kim Seonho’s estate this time. It was the same during the tentacle monster incident last time. Since the number of mages has dropped so much one way or another, they must be desperate for even one more.”
“When it was peaceful, they enjoyed every privilege imaginable, but now that black mage terrorism is actually happening, they can’t do a thing and are dying one after another? I guess the abilities of mages were greatly exaggerated all this time.”
Cheon Danbi spoke critically.
I had never heard her talk about mages this way before, but it seemed she had been quietly critical of them.
I recalled Oudin’s memories of his days at the Hall of Magic Academy.
The training had not been bad. Although not every cadet had been as outstanding as Oudin, most had managed to keep up.
And yet, the fact that they were this helpless in actual combat was proof not only that Yasin’s magical ability was excellent, but also that the leadership of the government and the Hall was failing to respond properly.
Thinking back to the academy days suddenly made me think of Loki.
Back then, he had been good friends with Oudin, and his skills had been quite decent. Yet now, for some reason, Loki went around giving off a gray aura and had even spread false rumors about me.
For now it was only a guess, but I was almost certain. Loki had to be the source of the rumors.
“Ah! I’m not doubting Mage Oudin’s magical ability! Our team leader is worth a hundred men.”
Cheon Danbi suddenly overdid it and praised me.
Since I had been lost in thought and silent, she must have thought I had taken offense at her words.
“What’s that? You don’t have to say that out of nowhere. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”
When I answered, Cheon Danbi immediately stopped praising me and began admiring the scenery outside the window.
“Then okay. Ahh, this is nice! I’m full, the scenery is beautiful, and the weather is great.”
Indeed, the scenery along the national road was beautiful and peaceful.
It was hard to imagine that a Magic Tower could be in such a quiet, secluded countryside.
Even Lake Chungju, where we had been fighting a tentacle monster just a short while ago, looked nothing but peaceful from a distance.
“It really feels like we’re traveling. Riding around in a car and eating delicious food. I never thought a day like this would come for me.”
Gil said with a bright smile.
It felt like a lot had been skipped over in the middle. In Daejeon and at Lake Chungju, we had not exactly been playing around; we had been working hard to remove mental magic, monsters, and corpses that black mages had scattered around.
The way she spoke, as if the operation were the bonus and the trip were the real purpose, was both a little surprising and amusing.
In any case, I was glad that Cheon Danbi and Gil were enjoying themselves.
I, too, felt relaxed as if I were on a trip, but that did not mean I let down my guard.
As I drove slowly, I went over the contents of my call with Yu Jaeseon.
Then Yantu suddenly came to mind. Like Yu Jaeseon, Yantu had called me last time, but I had not been able to answer.
I thought I should call him.
“Cheon Danbi, could you make a call for me on my phone? If you look in the contacts, there should be someone named Yantu.”
“Yantu? That dwarf who lives on Wolmido?”
“Yeah. Call him and put it on speakerphone.”
“Got it.”
The signal rang a few times, and soon Yantu’s rough voice flowed from the speakerphone.
[Well, well, if it isn’t our mage. You’re finally contacting me.]
“I missed your call last time, didn’t I? I’ve been a bit busy lately. How are things over there? Nothing happened, right?”
Since Yantu answered the phone in his usual manner, I replied casually as well.
[Us? Well, we’re doing fine as always. The police keep coming by and turning the village upside down, but we’re still perfectly fine. But our cat Lily ran away from home.]
I had been listening absentmindedly, but at Yantu’s last words, I instantly stiffened.
‘Lily ran away?’
Lily was the alias Ren had used. Yantu had always been suspicious of phone security. That must be why he was speaking in a roundabout way.
But even if I replaced Lily with Ren, it still made no sense.
Why would Ren run away? She left the house?
“The cat left home? Why did she leave? Cats don’t even go on walks normally.”
I picked up on it and asked indirectly as well.
[Exactly. Who could know what goes on inside that head? Maybe she realized the police were coming to search the village and got out of the way ahead of time. Cats are spiritual creatures, after all.]
Yantu sighed.
If she disappeared before the police came to search, that meant several days had already passed.
“No one took her away?”
[Doesn’t seem like it. She was always so shy around strangers, you know. Since unfamiliar people have been coming and going from the village, maybe she’s gone and hidden in a cave somewhere.]
There was a bounty on Ren. Freelance mages and hunters must have been frantically searching for her.
But judging from the way Yantu spoke, it seemed Ren had hidden herself. If hunters had captured her, Yantu would have phrased it differently.
There was a note of apology in Yantu’s voice. He had said he would protect Ren, and now she had disappeared, so I understood why he felt that way, but it was not something he needed to apologize to me for.
I was the one who had left her entirely to Yantu and then paid her no attention.
In truth, Yantu must already have had his hands full with the problems of the dwarf village alone.
In any case, Ren had disappeared. Out of Yantu’s sight, and out of the dwarf village.
Where on earth had she gone? What was she thinking?