Chapter 135
A few days had passed since Ian wrapped up his schedule in Busan.
Mid-March. Weather that could now be called full-on spring blanketed the streets of Seoul. The cherry trees were in full bloom, and flowers of all kinds had bloomed everywhere. Sunlight that wasn't too hot fell from the sky.
Still, spring didn't bring only good things. Pollen drifted thickly through the falling petals, and fine dust painted the view a hazy white. Maybe it was different in the provinces, but Seoul got hit directly by the yellow dust too, so there was no way to keep the windows open.
Of course, that didn't affect Ian much. He'd been holed up in the workshop every day since the day he got the grimoire, so that was only natural. Even if air got in, the workshop's air purifier was running at full power, filtering out impurities, so there was no problem. The workshop environment was always kept in peak condition.
It was the same now.
The workshop living room was filled with cool circulating air.
Ian sat in a chair and adjusted his lensless glasses. With a clatter, the glasses jostled slightly.
“Hmm.”
In his hands was [Blue Shackles and the Book of Contracts]. The blue grimoire, with its chains clanking annoyingly, vibrated as if delighted by Ian's touch.
[Wung, wung...! Uuung...!]
Blue Shackles and the Book of Contracts had slightly shorter intervals between its vibrations than the other grimoires. The duration of each vibration, however, was almost the same. The problem was that it trembled in little bursts each time it vibrated; aside from that, the actual time it spent 'talking' was basically the same as the other grimoires.
Well, it wasn't exactly an important issue. It was enough to know that things were peaceful enough for him to notice differences in grimoire vibrations.
“Contract magic, huh…….”
Ian leaned back against the chair and quietly skimmed the contract magic written in the grimoire. It was extremely complicated, but in summary, it came down to this.
First, the contract's target made no distinction between organic and inorganic matter.
It was possible to grab any passing human and contract with them, and it was even possible to contract with something as ordinary as a pencil. The basic cost of casting the magic was naturally higher for an intelligent life form, but the important thing was that it could contract with inorganic objects too.
Second, the contracted target's memories are manipulated.
That was the ability commonly called perception alteration. A watered-down version of it would be a hypnosis app.
The target Ian wanted to contract with would undergo a simple memory rewrite exactly as he wished. If he wanted to plant affection, he'd forcibly cram in the memory that they'd been dating for a few days; if he wanted to plant resentment, he'd jam in the memory that they were the murderer who killed their parents.
Whether it was true or false didn't matter. Manipulation wrought by magic wormed into the mind at a speed impossible to perceive and rewrote the personality itself.
Just hearing this much made it sound like a ridiculously absurd ability, and it really was, but memory manipulation still had clear limits. It was impossible to implant complex memories, and it was impossible to implant two or more memories.
If that were possible too, controlling people however he wanted wouldn't have been all that difficult.
A pity, but this was still enough to satisfy him. If the magic's power had been any greater to begin with, humans wouldn't have been able to use it. Just like the Hand of Re-Creation, this was probably tightening its own restrictions too.
'If the restrictions are lifted, maybe it could manipulate every memory the way it did at school.'
What was there to hide?
The instinctive chill he first felt at school had all been caused by this grimoire too. The school ghost story wasn't really related. It just created a setting and backdrop that made memory manipulation convenient; everything else was the result of Blue Shackles and the Book of Contracts going berserk on its own.
Well, he didn't really care. People went inside because of the grimoire, got their memories manipulated, and became part of the ghost story?
Could be.
That was just how the grimoires of foreign gods were. It had only just been born, so there was still room for leniency.
Really, what would a newborn know?
“Mm.”
Ian shook the clattering chains on the grimoire from side to side as he skimmed the final terms of the contract.
The maximum number of contracts it could maintain was two. To go beyond that, you had to dispose of an existing contractor or unilaterally break the contract. If it was broken, all of the contract's burden would fall on the other party.
Hecate's death at the end had all been because of this burden. She'd built up power over a long contract, so the backlash was huge too. If the contract were broken right after it was made, I felt like it would end with no more than losing an arm or a leg.
“This is a really good spell.”
Ian took off his glasses and carelessly set them on the desk, muttering.
“There's no risk to me at all, and I don't have to shoulder any risk even after the contract ends... This is literally an unfair contract.”
Of course, the conditions for using the magic were rather strict.
The person he wanted to contract with had to be bleeding, had to make physical contact, and had to have lost consciousness too... Unlike the Hand of Re-Creation or the Deep-Sea Chronicle, which were easy to use, there were quite a few steps to go through. It even required a sacrifice.
However, beings summoned through the grimoire were the exception: spirits, demons, and certain cosmic mysteries recorded in the grimoire. Those beings could be wielded however he wanted, without any conditions, so long as he contracted with them within ten minutes.
In other words, once ten minutes passed, it became a situation where he had no choice but to crush them by force, contract or no contract. Unlike contract magic, summoning seemed to come with its own risks after all.
'You could call it a balance patch, I guess.'
Ian closed the grimoire and, staring into space, let out a long breath.
Faint aquarium light seeped into the dark workshop. The fish swimming sluggishly near the surface stirred up tiny currents.
“…….”
He casually checked the time on his phone.
7 p.m. Late if it was late, early if it was early.
Still, if he got any later, dinner would get awkward, so he put on his coat and left the workshop to buy something to eat.
The area around the officetel had a fairly developed commercial district, so there were plenty of restaurants and convenience stores. After debating where to go, Ian went into a convenience store and bought triangle kimbap and ramen.
He'd made enough money that he didn't really need to eat like this, but a good thing was a good thing, wasn't it? It wasn't like he was forcing himself to eat something tasteless, so he didn't really mind.
“I'm paying.”
“Yes. That'll be 3,000 won. Oh, would you like cigarettes too? You buy them every time you come in.”
As he gathered up his purchases, the part-timer asked while scanning the barcode. Ian shook his head without a trace of hesitation.
“That's fine. I'm trying to quit.”
“Ah, I see. What a shame. You were our convenience store's top contributor to sales...”
The part-timer winked as they said that, then slipped him a free chocolate milk. Ian gave a bitter smile, thanked them, and left. He didn't forget to get hot water for the ramen.
Creak.
Sitting in the convenience store chair, he tore open the triangle kimbap wrapper. When he bit into it, he felt that distinctive texture—dry, yet mushy. He'd been a little worried after eating a lot of expensive food lately, but apparently his palate was still the same.
Spring nights were quite chilly, unlike the daytime. You couldn't see his breath, but the wind blowing in through his coat made the cold a little noticeable.
It was cold enough to bear. Ian waited until the ramen was cooked just right, then split the chopsticks apart and stirred the noodles. Years of solo living didn't go to waste, and he nailed the water amount and noodle doneness perfectly. Ian nodded in satisfaction and took out his phone to look for a video worth watching.
Then he suddenly remembered that the mage named Mika, whom he'd run into at the Administration, was a VTuber, and searched her name online.
She was streaming live. The number of viewers was roughly 3,000. He couldn't tell whether that was a lot or a little, but the absolute number was fairly high, so he figured it was probably a lot. He wasn't familiar with this field, so it was hard to say for sure.
[Aaaah! H-Hngh...! This game is way too scary...!]
Mika was playing a horror game. It was a fairly horror- and gore-heavy game, so ordinary people might have found it frightening, but she was a mage.
That meant she was used to fear. So those reactions were probably all acting. More than anything, there was no way a mage who'd lived in Japan would be afraid of ghosts.
'There's not a single person I can trust.'
Ian shook his head and set his phone on the table.
And so, after listening to Mika's fake screams, he finished his meal.
After throwing away all the trash, he spent a moment checking the community right there.
He could have gone straight back, but since he was already out, he figured he'd get a little fresh air before heading back. Of course, that air was full of dust and pollen, so it wasn't exactly pleasant to breathe, but taking a brief breather outside like this was much better for his brain than staying cooped up in his room.
Ziiip.
He opened the chocolate milk he'd gotten for free, stuck in the straw, and looked over the community posts. Maybe because he hadn't been active properly for a few days, there were quite a lot of interesting topics.
[Newbie, please leave a comment if you see this post.]
[Bug in Your Ear]
(screenshot with a hotel photo and its address)
Is this really the place where Eddie was killed? I came all the way up from the provinces, and my hands and feet are shaking for real.
[Comments]
-Why are you looking for the place Eddie died?
ㄴBug in Your Ear: Because wherever a mage dies, monster bugs inevitably show up.
ㄴOh? Collecting?
ㄴBug in Your Ear: Yeah.
The post had already been up for more than a week. It was too late to reply now, so Ian just moved on without leaving a comment.
[The mirror world has opened in the mirror in my house right now. But apparently I can't go in by myself.]
[★Godmother]
(photo of a broken mirror)
It looks like we need at least two people. If anyone's interested, please contact me.
[Comments]
-Can anyone go?
ㄴ★Godmother: No, I mean only people I'm on friendly terms with.
ㄴThen why the fuck did you write it like that?
ㄴ★Godmother: (wizard dance emote)
ㄴArgh.
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Aka.
ㄴDeep-Sea Anglerfish: Murasaki.
ㄴWhat the hell are these bastards?
-Yup: What's the mirror world?
[We're asking our crude mage boys with zero dating experience.]
[Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie]
You were definitely someone who felt nothing at all, but if something suddenly gives you a reason to care, what are you supposed to do?
Ah, of course, I'm not talking about myself.
[Comments]
-lol
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Quit messing around and answer me. What am I supposed to do?
ㄴhahahahahahaha
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: You fucking bastard.
-You'd probably get dumped because of your character concept, to be honest, lol.
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: I said it wasn't my story, you really are illiterate, huh?
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: ...But was that seriously what you meant?
ㄴhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
-Yup: That could be the case.
After reading through all the posts written by familiar nicknames.
Ian stood up, leaving a few appropriate comments, and got ready to head back.
Then it happened.
A new post had just been uploaded to the board that wasn't even supposed to be updated. Ian idly skimmed the title, then his eyes went wide.
[Uh... is this the community mages use? Dolores told me about it... Ah, I'm the person who found something called a grimoire a month ago. I think it's the Book of Moses...]
“A legit newbie...!”
Ian muttered unconsciously, the corners of his mouth twitching.