Chapter 140
Dolores led the group into an alley near Seoul Station.
The slanted sunlight flooding the alley had allowed yin energy to accumulate there. Invisible, formless currents drifted through the air like mist. Ian stomped on a ghostly palm that had crawled up from between them and looked around.
There wasn't anything particularly unusual about it. Walls on both sides, with only cold air settling heavily over the place. No entrance that seemed to lead anywhere was in sight.
“Heh-heh…….”
But Dolores moved forward without hesitation, as if this really was the right place. Her sunny demeanor somehow inspired even more trust. Better that than being indecisive.
Ian threaded the cigarette he had tucked into his pocket between his fingers and rolled it around, staring at the back of Dolores's head. At the same time, he sorted through the things he needed to buy in his mind.
For now, he had to buy a female goat's heart, thread spun by a virgin, and a plant grown by soaking up virgin blood. Since the godmother had asked him to, it was right to do as much as possible for her. As for the cost, that was fine; he could just bill it later.
The things he personally wanted to buy were cigarettes, first and foremost. He intended to stock up on a few more packs of the purifying cigarettes made by the Alchemist School.
He wasn't exactly short on them right now, but there was no telling when they'd run out.
Normally he smoked one cigarette every two days, or maybe one every three, but... there were plenty of times he smoked more when work stress piled up. It seemed better to stock up while he had the chance.
He also wanted to look at items used in alchemy, such as a prisoner's wrist, a candlestick made of sterling silver, flowing meteorite, and the corpse of a monstrous insect.
If there was anything he needed among them, he figured he'd buy it.
“We've arrived.”
While he was thinking, Dolores stopped in front of an old bookstore. Ian stopped walking and turned his head toward the shop.
It wasn't a very big store. It was a tiny space that would only just feel roomy if all four of them went inside. The wooden bookshelves were packed full of secondhand books, waiting for someone to take them down while giving off that distinctive bookish scent. A faint smell mixed with dust seemed to drift through the air.
But there wasn't a single customer. Only an elderly man who looked like a foreigner was seated at the counter, leafing through a book. He seemed to be the owner.
The reason there were no customers was obvious. The shop's location was rather poor, for one thing, but more than that, the problem was that all the books were written in the “original language.”
Surprisingly, not a single book written in Korean was in the shop, even though it had opened in Korea. Since the owner was a foreigner, it seemed he lacked any Korean sensibility.
“Bonjour, Eric.”
Ding-a-ling.
Dolores opened the shop door and went inside. The man called Eric didn't even look at her as he spoke.
“Get lost, Dolores.”
“Ohohoh, don't be so sharp. Eric. This young lady thinks fellow foreigners ought to get along!”
“You came out on your own, and I came out for work. You damned bitch.”
The two of them spoke in French. Of course, Ian, Ari, and Yuna couldn't take part in the conversation. Instead, they looked around the bookstore until it ended.
Whether that happened or not, Dolores happily smiled as she brushed the dust from the bookshelf with her finger.
“Whatever the reason, we're both outsiders, aren't we? Was there really any need to act like that?”
“Why wouldn't there be? Back when I was staying in the Clock Tower, you insulted me in front of everyone.”
“It was something my family ordered me to do, after all. Anyway, let's leave the past in the past. I want to go into Owl.”
Dolores dragged over a nearby chair and sat down opposite Eric.
“What's the condition for entry this time?”
“......Tch, it's nothing much. You just have to demonstrate magic.”
Clack.
Eric closed the book he was reading and put on the glasses he'd left beside him. His brown eyes flickered faintly. The ceiling light overhead flickered too.
“Proof of magic?”
“You just have to show the spell you use in front of the door. Haven't you done it enough times? It should be the procedure every time you went anywhere in the Clock Tower.”
“Oh, that.”
Dolores replied, tapping her lips with a finger.
“But this young lady doesn't have a mannequin with her. I didn't even bring a doll.”
“You were supposed to bring it with you, you idiot.”
“It was too big. What was I supposed to do?”
“Make a smaller one.”
“That wouldn't be pretty, would it? My mother always said a lady should use only elegant, beautiful tools?”
“What bullshit. Shut up and get ready to prove it. You can use your family's basic magic, can't you?”
Eric said that and then casually looked over the rest of the group wandering around the bookstore.
“Are those all mages too?”
“Yes. They're all this lady's companions.”
“Eastern mages, then. This is the first time I've seen them in person.”
A spark of interest seeped into Eric's eyes.
“The reason Owl was built in this little backwater wasn't for Eastern mages. It was for other mages who come to Korea.”
“I know. It's for someone like me, isn't it?”
“......An incredibly irritating statement, but not a wrong one. Anyway, Eastern mages rarely come here. It's only natural, since they don't belong to the Clock Tower.”
Eric snorted and stood up.
“I should take a look while I have the chance. How skilled are mages born somewhere other than the birthplace of magic?”
“Hearing that from you is kind of hilarious. I don't think that's something a nobody who lost to this lady should be saying!”
“Shut up, you crazy bitch.”
Eric barked at Dolores, then called the rest of the group over.
“Everyone gather. I'll tell you the procedure for entering.”
Fluent Korean flowed from Eric's mouth.
It was absurd that they'd spoken in French even though he knew Korean, but Ian put down the book he was holding and walked over to him. Yuna and Ari followed behind him.
Eric explained the procedure for entering Owl to the three of them.
A demonstration of magic. It wasn't a particularly difficult procedure. Ian nodded and pulled out his grimoire. The pure white grimoire was caught in his grasp.
“Where do I do it?”
“Follow me.”
Eric, sounding completely uninterested in Ian's grimoire, led the way down the passage behind the counter.
Creak......
When he opened the door, a path down to the basement was revealed. Eric took the lead and descended the stairs, with Dolores following behind him. Ian tapped his grimoire with his finger and let out a low hum.
The stairs were dark overall. The owl-shaped torches hanging on the walls gave off light, but it still wasn't enough. Heavy humidity pressed down on their shoulders, and the sound of dripping water rang out clearly.
“Ugh... i-it's really gloomy here...”
Yuna muttered. Before long, she'd pulled out the wand she'd kept in her guitar case. Eric glanced at her wand and let out a short exclamation.
“A wand made from a sacred tree over a hundred years old. Is that a glass bead at the end?”
“U-um... s-sorry, but could you not talk to me like we're close... It's unpleasant...”
Yuna immediately cut off his interest. It was the kind of answer that might sound like “Are you trying to pick a fight?” to anyone else, but Eric just ended the conversation with a casual nod.
“What a crazy bastard. Understood.”
“Y-yes...”
A comfortable silence settled again between the two of them. Eric no longer paid the group any attention and focused only on going down the stairs.
“Three steps left here, then five steps to the right.”
“......”
“Then go back three steps, then forward five again. The door will appear.”
“A ritual spell? That's an awfully strange condition.”
“One of the most basic requirements for Owl. At first I'll tell you, but later, if you ever come back, you'll have to go down the stairs on your own. Right now, at this exact moment, move exactly as I say.”
They did.
Following Eric's instructions, they slowly moved their feet on the stairs, and a new path appeared below the stairway that had been nothing but a dark abyss. When they went down, a long corridor greeted the group. A massive door stood at the end of it.
Eric sent the group ahead first, then stood behind them and spoke.
“Stand in front of the door and use magic. Then it'll open by itself. Keep in mind that you have to go in one person at a time.”
“Then this young lady will go first!”
Dolores stepped forward first. She swept her long hair back with one hand and walked up to the door.
A brick door. The heavy door, with no decorations carved into it, gave a brief shudder and rumbled as Dolores drew near.
[Prove your qualifications.]
A voice that sounded double, as though a man and a woman were speaking at the same time. Dolores covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, then stretched one leg straight out in front of her.
“Ohohoho! Now then, I'll prove my qualifications!”
[Correct.]
“O dignity red as blood! O beauty deeper than dignity! I swear by your name, bestow your grace upon me!”
An incantation recited in English. Dolores's red high heels trembled violently, and she bent and straightened her leg before slamming the door hard.
KWAANG!
A fairly loud boom rang out. But the door was fine. As if the impact had been a lie, it opened as though nothing had happened.
[Proven.]
Crrrreeeak......!
The tightly shut door scraped along the floor as it opened. Dolores turned back to the group with a refreshing smile.
“Phew...! I'll go in first! Everyone else, hurry up and come in!”
Leaving those words behind, she stepped through the open door. Once she was fully inside, the door shut again.
“Then this time I'll...!”
After that, things moved quickly. Ari stood in front of the door and let light burst forth, and Yuna brought her wand to the door and used magic. The two of them passed through without any trouble.
The last one left was Ian. He stretched out his stiff body once, then approached the door with the grimoire in hand.
[Prove your qualifications.]
The same words he'd already heard three times came from the door. Ian made no reply and placed his hand on it.
That was when it happened.
[Hoot? Hoo-hoot? Kkhoot! Hrrrgh-hoot!!!]
“......?”
The door went into convulsions before he had even chanted the spell.
“What the fuck.”
Sensing something was off, Ian stepped back, and Eric approached him with a frown.
“Hey, what are you—”
Krrrk!
Eric's words were swallowed by a tremendous boom. The two of them immediately turned their heads toward the direction the sound had come from.
“......”
“......”
An awkward silence lingered between the two of them.
“......Ah.”
The source of the sound.
The gigantic door that had clearly reached all the way up to the ceiling was lying crumpled and pitiful on the floor.
No, I haven't even used magic yet?