Chapter 150
Stupidity and laziness weren't actually all that closely related. It would be hard to say they had nothing to do with each other at all, but being stupid didn't automatically mean lazy, and being lazy didn't automatically mean stupid. There were plenty of lazy geniuses in the world.
In that sense, the reason Ian's head was a little off wasn't because he was born stupid. His lethargy had simply started affecting his ability to think, so even thinking had become a hassle. There was nothing particularly wrong with his intelligence.
It was such a severe side effect that it could flatten a mage's intellect outright. For an ordinary person, their brain would have melted into a mushy mess and left them unable to do anything, but Ian hadn't gone that far. If he wanted to think, he could. He had simply stopped thinking, like a perfect organism drifting through space.
Well, if it had been anyone else, they wouldn't even have been able to use magic in the first place. The moment they grabbed the grimoire, their body would have burst like a balloon, so what magic was there to speak of?
Even the flight magic used in the world had its most famous spell lasting only thirty seconds and causing temporary lower-body paralysis as a side effect, so the value of the magic Ian used was quite high. There was a reason mages didn't just fly around and instead used cars, motorcycles, and the like.
Anyway.
“Hm.”
It had already been two hours since he used flight magic. Feeling as if he was slowly returning to his senses, Ian slowly raised his upper body.
Whoooooosh......!
Probably because he was sitting on the Circulator's back as it moved at high speed, the wind blowing past was pretty strong. It was hard even to keep his eyes fully open, and his hair had long since become a mess. Still, he felt pretty good. He had always liked a sense of speed, so a little wind in his face didn't bother him at all.
As for his hair, well...... he wasn't trying to look good for anyone, so it didn't matter. Ian put the grimoire, which had stuck to him, back in place and shifted his seat to match the Circulator's movements as he began to think properly.
‘If Eunha has figured out my location, there’s no need to leave this area. If I go looking for her, I’ll only tangle up our routes for nothing.’
They had confirmed each other's existence through magic, but Ian didn't know the Matriarch's exact location. Only the Matriarch had found his.
He could trace the magic back to find where she was, but that would take far too much time. Reversing magic wasn't an easy task, and even Ian would have to spend a full day on it.
And that was only the time based on ordinary magic. For a mage on Eunha's level, one who possessed the Lemegeton, it would be no trouble at all to muddle the spell so it couldn't be traced. He would probably need at least three or four days to pin down her proper location. If he was going to invest that much time, he'd be better off just staying put.
“Stop for a second.”
Having sorted out his thoughts, Ian patted the Circulator's back and said it. The Circulator, after hearing his voice, stopped its charge like it was drifting, skidding to a halt across the asphalt. With a hiss, smoke and sparks flew.
[Grrr?]
The Circulator tilted its head as if asking why he'd stopped. Ian got down from its back and stretched out.
His stiff joints, sore from lying down for so long, loosened up nicely.
“I'm just going to check roughly where we are, so wait here a moment. If something comes near, you can eat it.”
[Grrr!]
Nod, nod.
Ian gave the Circulator's nodding snout a light tap and looked around casually. He didn't have any grand purpose; he just wanted to confirm whether he had left Incheon yet.
Looking for landmarks was impossible. How could he expect to find a functioning landmark in a ruined world? Most of the infrastructure, including the airport, had already been destroyed, so there was no way something like that would still be standing.
Thanks to that, figuring out his location took quite a bit of effort.
And by effort, he meant grabbing cultists or reptilians wandering nearby and interrogating them.
“Y-you fucking bastard!”
“P-please spare me! There’s no need for this between fellow humans!”
On the exposed asphalt road, Ian dragged the captured reptilian and cultist over to the Circulator. The reptilian had resisted fiercely, so both of its arms had been severed. Being a lizard, it was already showing signs of regenerating, but since he was planning to kill it later anyway, it didn't matter much.
Ian took out a revolver and loaded bullets into the cylinder, tilting his head. The Circulator's growl rumbled low behind him.
“Now then, you two. I'm too lazy to think too hard, so I'll get straight to the point. Do you know exactly where this is?”
“This is where our reptilian stronghold is......! Our compatriots all saw you wandering around and tearing through the place for hours......!”
The reptilian spat. Ian scratched his head and shoved a bullet into the severed stump of the creature's arm. As expected, the firearm and bullets made by the cartel tore through the reptilian's defenses like paper and crushed its muscles.
“Aaaagh?!”
The reptilian, which had been blatantly ignoring the gun, went wide-eyed at the brain-searing pain. Regardless, Ian turned to the cultist this time.
“Do you know where this is?”
“......This is where our order is, of course. It's not too late yet, child of hell! I have seen the light in your heart! Hurry and break free from the demon's sentinel controlling you—AAAAAAH!!”
The cultist, who had been spouting useless nonsense, turned his drivel into a scream when a bullet lodged in his thigh. Ian clicked his tongue and gave the revolver a little flick.
‘Are the guys here all such hard cases that they can still spout nonsense after seeing the Circulator?’
Objectively speaking, the Circulator looked terrifying beyond belief. If an ordinary person saw it, it wouldn't be strange for them to foam at the mouth and pass out on the spot.
But then again, maybe that was because they were apocalypse residents; even if they were a little scared, they still stubbornly said their piece. They really did have a strong sense of self.
I couldn't tell whether to call that admirable or stupid.
Well, either way, it didn't matter. Ian opened his mouth again toward the two people groaning in pain.
“Last chance. Exactly where is this?”
“I-it's Seo-gu, Incheon!”
The cultist answered immediately. Ian's gaze shifted to him.
“Seo-gu?”
“Yes, yes! If you keep going left from here, our temple will appear! And in Namdong District, there's a city occupied by reptilians! It's the district where City Hall is!”
The cultist shouted while drooling spit, mucus, and tears. Ian nodded and sat down on the Circulator's front paw. The Circulator, understanding the hint, retracted its claws.
“Good. So we're still in Incheon.”
“Y-yes! That's right! If you want a guide, I can personally—”
“That's not particularly necessary.”
“Y-yes?”
The cultist asked in return. Ian didn't bother continuing the conversation, pointed the gun at his forehead, and pulled the trigger.
TAAAANG!!!
With a thunderous gunshot, the cultist's head flew clean off. His body, with nothing left above the neck, slumped over, and the reptilian glared at Ian as it felt the hot blood splatter across its face.
“......You kill your own kind so casually? As expected, it would be better for everyone if humans went extinct.”
“Is that so?”
Ian gave a careless reply and put bullets into both of the reptilian's eyes as well. The reptilian tried to block them with its eyelids, but the rounds easily pierced through and crushed its eyes. As if that weren't enough, they even shattered its brain.
The reptilian thus died without any further resistance. Ian put away the gun and stood up, tapping the Circulator's arm.
“You can eat them.”
[Grrr!]
The moment permission was given, the Circulator buried its head in the corpses and began crunching them down. Ian sat on the nearest bench that was still more or less intact and sorted out his thoughts. Now that the side effects had almost completely faded, his thoughts ran without a hitch, aside from a little lingering sluggishness.
‘I’ve confirmed that this is Incheon. Then there’s no need to leave any further. If I move, I should only move within Incheon.’
If the Matriarch came up to Incheon, she'd definitely be able to see the Circulator with her own eyes. It might be difficult if the distance was far, but the Circulator moved at high speed anyway. While roaming around, there was no way she wouldn't witness it at least once.
Even if that didn't happen, if she summoned a demon in Incheon, the demon's unique aura would spread everywhere.
Just tracing that would be enough for him to meet Eunha.
Whatever happened, as long as he didn't leave Incheon, that was all right. With the Circulator, which had already finished eating, helping him, Ian settled onto its back and summoned the grimoire.
He could just wander around in his current state and wait for Eunha and Yuna, but...... that was a little too boring. Until just now, he'd been dead set on lying down and resting comfortably, but not anymore now that the side effects had almost completely faded. If anything, his body itched as though it were rebelling against the lethargy.
‘Should I go to Namdong District and hunt reptilians? Or should I go find the cultists and wipe them out?’
Both options were appealing, but if he had to choose, he was drawn more to hunting reptilians.
Even if they were cultists, they were still ordinary humans...... so killing them didn't really offer any benefit. If it were murder for pleasure, that would be one thing, but Ian wasn't the type of mage who got his kicks from killing. If he was going to go looking for something, it was far better to hunt reptilians he could use as materials.
In fact, if he wanted eyes, tongues, ears, and things like that, killing humans was the right move. But if he was going to go anyway, it made more sense to fill the Circulator's stomach with reptilians first. If he went hunting humans first and the Circulator ate everything up, it would be a real headache.
It didn't matter if reptilians got eaten. Their corpses were difficult to use anyway.
If they were properly prepared, that would be another story, but Ian had never learned how to do that sort of preparation. So it was better to go after reptilians first, since he could brutally harvest materials from them through re-creation magic.
‘I don't know how many are in the reptilian group, but even if there are a lot, that's fine. The Circulator can eat them all by itself anyway.’
Risk? There really wasn't any. Even if there were reptilians on the level of a national power, once the Circulator sank one tooth into them, they wouldn't be able to move an inch.
If he raided the place, turned a few into materials, and threw the rest to the Circulator as food, its belly would be full enough.
No matter how he looked at it, it was nothing but a profitable target. Ian finished sorting out his thoughts and tapped the Circulator's body.
“Let's go, Circulator. To Namdong District. We'll just follow the scent of the reptilians.”
[Grrr!]
The Circulator replied, blood dripping from its mouth.
Then it happened.
“......Oh my, what is that now? Walter didn't say anything about something like that.”
A voice came from behind him. Ian whipped his head around.
“......? There's someone sitting on top of it. Could it be an evolved reptilian? No...... no, that's not it. It's human aura.”
“......”
“Who exactly are you?”
The owner of the voice.
The woman in a black goth-loli dress, holding a parasol, narrowed her eyes and glared at Ian.
Ian frowned, remembering the word 'Walter' she had muttered.