-Shall We Play?
“Did you even look?”
I asked Yantu again.
[I searched every corner of the village. But I can’t find her. Looks like she went outside the village, but I couldn’t search that far. The police keep prowling around, so it’s chaos. You know how the dwarves who lived in the Namsan underground village escaped? The police keep coming by and bothering us, thinking they might have fled to our village.]
As expected, the dwarves had their hands full with dwarf problems alone.
The one relief, judging from Yantu’s words, was that the police still hadn’t found the dwarves who had escaped from Namsan.
Had the dwarves who dug the tunnel from beneath the herb shop made it safely back to their underground village?
In any case, Ren’s whereabouts were unclear. But I wasn’t too worried.
Ren had the Polymorph trait, so she wouldn’t be caught by hunters that easily.
Still, I was worried about the loneliness of Ren’s situation, always living as a fugitive.
[Master Mage, what is wrong with the world these days? Out of nowhere, they’re branding dwarves as terrorists, and now the police are turning peaceful dwarf villages upside down.
The black mage is out there somewhere committing terror attacks, but people are busy with ridiculous bounty hunting and dwarf roundups. It’s a complete mess. But we’re doing fine, so don’t worry.]
Yantu grumbled.
As I listened quietly, the contrast between all his complaints and that last remark made me chuckle despite myself.
“Yeah. Whatever happens, you need to stay well. I’ll stop by Wolmido once I’m done with things here, so I’ll see you then.”
[Yes, yes. Come anytime. I hope Lily comes home before you visit, Master Mage…….]
“Don’t worry too much. Like you said, Yantu, cats are spiritual creatures.”
After exchanging a few more words with Yantu, I ended the call.
The moment I hung up, Cheon Danbi pounced with a question.
“Who’s Lily?”
“He means Ren. It’s the alias Ren used in the dwarf village.”
“Ren? That Ren?”
Cheon Danbi’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. That Ren.”
“But what do you mean she ran away from home? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Yantu was talking around it in case the call was being tapped. I don’t know the details either, but I think Ren probably left on her own. If the police were going to search the dwarf village, she must’ve done it so the villagers wouldn’t get hurt because of her.”
“Ah…… so that’s what happened. But really, they’re harassing dwarves everywhere. Anyway, I wonder if the dwarves in our neighborhood managed to dig their tunnel and get back safely.”
Hearing about the dwarf village must have reminded Cheon Danbi of the dwarves beneath the herb shop, because she muttered that.
Then she took out her phone and started fiddling with it. It looked like she was searching the news.
“That’s a relief. There’s no news saying they caught the escaped dwarves.”
“Really? That’s good. They must’ve made it back safely. It would’ve been terrible if those biohacker bastards had captured them.”
Gil said.
Come to think of it, the first time Gil had ever used magic on his own was when he rescued the dwarves from the biohackers.
He hadn’t said anything, but it seemed he had been worrying about what happened afterward too.
“We can only hope they got back safely. But the dwarf problem seems to be getting more and more serious.”
“Why?”
“It’s not just that the police are searching dwarf districts here and there. Apparently, they’ve been stopping random dwarves on the street and questioning them, saying they’re looking for the escaped Namsan dwarves. So the dwarves are getting more and more dissatisfied, and they even held a protest.”
“The dwarves went as far as protesting?”
I asked.
Cheon Danbi answered with her nose still buried in her phone.
“Yeah. Looks like they’re protesting, saying innocent dwarves are being framed as terrorists and that it’s racial discrimination.”
“They would. That whole Namsan underground base story was nonsense from the start, and the one committing terrorism was the black mage, while the dwarves were being framed.”
“Exactly. And because of Vanaheim’s bounty, bounty hunters looking for Ren have apparently been grabbing random people and dragging them off to Vanaheim. Meanwhile, the mages aren’t even thinking about fighting the black mage.”
Cheon Danbi snorted.
“Bounty hunters aren’t proper mages so much as attention seekers who swarm around whatever issue is trending.”
“Anyway, it seems like Seoul’s atmosphere is a complete disaster. A lot of Hall mages died, the dwarves are angry, fear of the black mage keeps growing, and there are no mages actually fighting properly…….”
Cheon Danbi recited it like she was rapping.
“In the few days we’ve been away from Seoul, the city’s fallen even deeper into chaos. Cheon Danbi, do you want to go back to Seoul?”
I asked.
“To Seoul? No. Why?”
“I wondered if you wanted to go quickly because you were worried about the dwarves.”
“They’ll manage on their own. It’s not like I could help much by going now. I actually like being away from hectic Seoul for a while.”
“What about you, Gil?”
This time, I asked Gil.
“I’m fine too. I am worried about the dwarves, but we have something to do here.”
Gil answered reliably.
In truth, the dwarf issue was an excuse. The reason I had asked the two of them whether they wanted to return to Seoul was because the battle ahead seemed like it wouldn’t be easy, and I wondered if I should remove them from it.
“Yasin is coming to find me. And there was another black mage watching us yesterday. Before long, a fairly dangerous battle is going to break out.”
When I said that, the two of them answered at the same time.
“That’s all the more reason we should be with you.”
“Obviously I know that. I came here to fight the black mage too.”
Then the two of them looked at each other and laughed.
It seemed the two of them were even more resolute than I had thought. They didn’t look like they had any intention of backing out just because it was dangerous.
“Master Mage, you don’t need to keep trying so hard to protect us. We’re a team. A team that decided to fight together.”
“That’s right. We know very well that fighting the black mage is dangerous. But it’s not like we can choose not to fight.”
Cheon Danbi and Gil said.
I glanced at them through the rearview mirror.
‘There are plenty of people who don’t fight. People who run away, people who stand by, and even mages who join hands with the black mage outright. Not everyone jumps in even though they know it’s dangerous.’
But Cheon Danbi and Gil were different. The two of them weren’t trying to avoid danger. Instead, they wanted to face it together.
As if they were people who knew an even greater disaster was approaching. As if they felt in their bones that we had to stop it.
I had my own goal: to find and kill Samir. But what goal did these two have?
On the faces of the two who spoke as though it were only natural, there was not so much resolve as a natural smile.
“Yeah. It really is reassuring to have a team. Let’s start paying attention now. If you see anything strange, say so right away. A place that might be the magic tower, traces of the black mage, anything.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Got it.”
The car fell silent for a while. Everyone focused on extending their detection in their own way and examining the surroundings.
That was when we were driving along the national road.
Suddenly, I sensed something foreign in the air. When I refined my detection, I picked up a suspicious mana presence following us from behind.
“There’s something there.”
“Someone’s following us from behind!”
Cheon Danbi and Gil seemed to have sensed it at the same time.
The mana wasn’t being detected that strongly, but the sense of otherness must have been enough that none of us missed it.
Soon, the identity of what was pursuing us was revealed. It was a truck. More than its mana, its reckless driving made its presence known.
“It’s a truck!”
“Looks like the black mage found us. Are they planning to ram us with a truck? I’ll try to shake them off for now, so both of you get ready.”
I increased the car’s speed. But since we were driving along a winding national road, I couldn’t go that fast.
“Who could it be? Yasin?”
Cheon Danbi said, looking behind us through the side mirror.
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re masking their mana, because I don’t sense it strongly.”
I replied as I turned the steering wheel this way and that.
Somehow, it didn’t feel like Yasin. I thought it was probably the unfamiliar black mage who had been watching us at the hotel last night. By now, the sleep magic would have worn off completely.
‘But why a truck?’
It was a large box truck, like a moving truck. I wondered what was loaded inside the cargo compartment. It looked quite heavy.
A fork in the road appeared ahead. I quickly checked the signs. One road seemed to lead into downtown Jecheon, and the other seemed to be a bypass around the outskirts.
I chose the bypass. I had to avoid a battle breaking out in the city.
“They’re following us like maniacs.”
Gil had twisted his body around and was looking straight behind us.
Since the large truck was driving recklessly at high speed, it looked extremely fast, but it still wasn’t as fast as the SUV we were in.
If things went well, it seemed like we might be able to lose the truck.
As we followed the road around the outskirts and came upon an uphill slope, I increased the car’s speed even further. The truck wouldn’t be able to make good speed on the hill.
We crested the hill quickly and rounded the bend.
That was when I saw a car up ahead, blocking the road.
I slammed on the brakes and gripped the steering wheel tight.
Screeeeeech!
The sound of tires scraping against the ground rang out loudly as the car we were in barely managed to stop.
“Ah! What is that car? Why is it stopped in the middle of the road?”
“It looks like it’s blocking the road on purpose. Are they with the truck?”
Gil and Cheon Danbi said, clutching at their startled hearts.
The moment I stopped the car, I quickly extended my detection.
An ominous ash-gray aura was pouring out from the car blocking our way. Unlike the truck, this side had no intention of hiding itself at all and wasn’t using mana masking.
“It’s a black mage. Prepare for battle. We’re blocked front and back, so we’ll have no choice but to face them here.”
“Yes.”
“Does this mean we’re surrounded?”
Behind us, I heard the truck come to a stop. The truck doors opened, and two men jumped out. I could sense weak mana from them.
On the other hand, from the car in front, the ash-gray aura was spreading more and more powerfully.
“Lady Nasan Haegyeong!”
“We’re ready!”
The men who got out of the truck shouted toward the front.
Then the door of the car opened, and a woman slowly got out. She wore sunglasses, her long black hair hanging down.
The woman stood beside the car and simply stared at us for a moment.
A very distinct ash-gray aura. Powerful mana flowed toward us like smoke.
‘Nasan Haegyeong? Is that the black mage’s name?’
The ash-gray aura surrounding the woman was giving off intense anger. It was an anger that seeped into the skin like acrid smoke.
‘Why? Have we met before? Is that woman the one who watched us at the hotel? She might be angry because she was caught by my sleep magic…….’
I slowly drew up my mana and observed my opponent. The woman didn’t approach. She remained standing there, preparing her mana.
“All right. Shall we play?”
At last, the woman spoke.