Chapter 159
As Eunha had said, unlike when they'd entered the mirror world, going back was possible without any real trouble. Ian straightened his rumpled clothes while breathing in the familiar scent of Eunha's room.
“…….”
It was still bright outside the window. When he casually checked the clock on the wall, not much time had passed compared to when they had entered the mirror. That was only natural, since the flow of physical time was different.
However, the body's sense of time was very honest regardless of the world's time, so the accumulated fatigue was still pressing down on his shoulders. He couldn't help it, having used two fairly large-scale spells.
If it were up to him, he'd have wanted to flop onto a bed right then and there, but unfortunately this wasn't Ian's house. If he'd built a close relationship with Eunha, that would be one thing, but he hadn't, so he couldn't shamelessly declare, 'I'm going to sleep here for a bit.'
And well, he still had more things to do anyway.
It wasn't time to rest easy yet.
“Ah, you arrived safely.”
While he was thinking, Eunha emerged from the mirror Ian had gone through, looking perfectly normal. Ian turned to her and nodded.
“Yes, fortunately I wasn't summoned out of nowhere in the sky like last time.”
“...You were summoned in the sky?”
“Yes. I did a little high five with the birds over Incheon.”
“How are you even alive...”
Eunha muttered in disbelief. That was only natural, since most magicians didn't know how to use flight magic. Modern magicians didn't learn acrobatic broom flying like the kind you see in movies.
Even those who could use it were only capable of short flights. If some sort of magic-powered flight race were ever held, the racers would probably all die with their blood vessels twisted before they even reached the finals. It wasn't classified as advanced magic for nothing.
Compared to that, Ian's flight magic was fairly low-risk. At worst, his head just went all 'ddu-dya-dya,' didn't it? Compared to other flight magic that left bodies snapped and broken apart, it was a godsend.
Of course, that didn't mean he could abuse it.
“Will you stay for lunch, or are you just going to leave right away?”
Eunha asked casually. Ian thought for a moment, loosening his stiff wrist, then answered.
“I'll decide once Yuna comes back. I am a bit hungry.”
“Then let's decide on the menu first. Do you have a favorite food?”
“Hmm... jeyuk?”
“Got it. I'll look into it.”
Eunha gave a faint smile, took out her phone, and moved to the living room. Ian left her behind and quietly waited until Yuna, the last one, returned.
‘Strangely, the questions you're asking are excluding Yuna's existence.’
It was a question that suddenly occurred to him.
Asking whether they'd stay for a meal and asking what menu to pick. Those were both questions that should include Yuna's opinion too. If only Ian and Eunha had gone to the mirror world, it would have been fine, but that wasn't the case.
“...It seems she doesn't like you much, Yuna.”
Ian shook his head with a bitter smile. Hearing his voice only faintly, Eunha poked her head through the gap in the door.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“Nothing. I'm just talking to myself.”
“Ah... okay.”
Eunha obediently stepped back, and Ian took off his coat and waited until Yuna returned.
A few seconds later, Yuna emerged awkwardly from the mirror, staff in hand. Then the broken mirror shattered completely into pieces and evaporated like dust. The entrance into the mirror world had been destroyed.
It had stayed perfectly fine when demons were coming and going, but the moment a human went in and came out, the entrance broke. He didn't know whether to call that malicious toward humans or simply friendly.
From a normal person's perspective, the dangerous passage disappearing would be a good thing, while for magicians it would be bad, since a safe hideout had vanished.
But it was a place that no longer existed, so it was a pointless thought. Ian grinned at Yuna, who had made it across safely, and pushed himself off the wall.
“You're here.”
“U-uh, y-yeah... a-and the, uh, godmother...?”
“She's in the living room. You're okay, right? Not dizzy or hurt anywhere?”
“Uh, no. I'm fine... hehe...”
Yuna gave an awkward smile and brushed the dust off her legs. But the dirt already stuck to her clothes like stains didn't budge. Her brow furrowed in annoyance, but that didn't make the dust disappear.
“Ugh...!”
“It's fine. Just do laundry and take a shower when you get home later. More importantly, Eunha asked whether you were going to stay for lunch. What do you want to do?”
Ian asked as he took out the grimoire he'd kept in his inner coat pocket. Yuna pouted her lips and thought for a moment before looking up at him and answering.
“Y-yeah, I'll do whatever you want. A-are we eating...?”
“Uh... probably? I'm hungry anyway. Rather than going out to eat, it's probably better to just eat here and get it over with.”
“T-then I'll eat too.”
Fumble, fumble.
Yuna put the staff into the guitar case she'd brought it in. Inserted at an angle, the staff settled quietly inside the case without anything sticking out.
“W-what's the menu?”
“Probably jeyuk.”
“J-jeyuk... not bad... sounds tasty... ehehe...”
“Someone will probably pay. Though maybe Eunha will... hmm.”
Ian, in the middle of speaking, didn't finish the sentence and just stared at Yuna. Under his unblinking gaze, her cheeks turned slightly red.
“W-why are you looking at me like that...?”
Yuna fidgeted with her fingers, avoiding Ian's gaze. She looked unmistakably embarrassed, but Ian opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“Come to think of it, you didn't really do anything in this whole incident, did you?”
“Eh.”
At the unexpected remark, a dumb sound slipped from her mouth. Ian continued speaking without caring.
“I dealt with the cultists and the reptilians, and Eunha brought you all the way to Incheon and even made a contract with a demon. What did you do?”
“T-this is an unfair accusation! We were only supposed to make the contract and come back out in the first place! I-I didn't need to do anything!”
Yuna protested. Ian closed his eyes and let out a thoughtful hum.
“But you didn't do anything, did you? There, you're trash.”
“Ugh.”
“So you pay for the meal. You have money anyway.”
Ian said that and tapped Yuna's shoulder twice.
“I'll eat well. Thanks.”
“...Hiiing.”
In the end, Yuna pouted and looked up at Ian with a pitiful expression. Then she let out a chuckle and tilted her head.
“O-okay. I'll pay for the meal. I did get treated to gukbap last time, after all...”
He was referring to their first meeting, that after-party they had gone to after escaping the amusement park. That was already several months ago. Time really did fly, Ian thought.
And the teasing wasn't serious anyway. If he had really been criticizing her, she'd have gotten angrier. Yuna would have fought back too. A joke at this level was perfectly fine between friends.
Of course, the part about paying for the meal was sincere.
Anyway.
The two of them gathered their things and left the dressing room. Eunha, who had been sitting in the living room, spotted Ian and Yuna and got to her feet.
“You're back. Yuna, did you talk about the meal?”
“Y-yes. We decided to eat here...”
“Hmm, I see. We've decided on jeyuk for the menu. That's okay, right?”
“Y-yes...”
Yuna answered in a wilted tone. Inside the mirror world she'd at least managed to raise her voice, but back in reality she'd gone back to being the weakest at communicating.
It couldn't be helped.
After all, wasn't Yuna the kind of person who thought stirring up trouble in communities was one of life's pleasures?
By contrast, Eunha, as that community's moderator, could sever Yuna's neck at any time. If her IP were blocked, all Yuna could do would be to wail toward the four winds.
Fortunately, none of that applied to Ian. He didn't think of himself as an anonymous troublemaker, nor as a ghost haunting the community.
Of course.
What could he do if that was the objective truth?
“I ordered it. It'll take about 30 minutes...”
While he was thinking, Yuna finished placing the order. Ian nodded and hung the coat he had taken off on a nearby coat rack.
He took the Book of Contract out of the bag. The blue grimoire came into his hand, and one of the chains attached to the lower corner clinked as it kept swinging its tip toward somewhere.
It was pointing toward where Mariang was. Brushing back his tousled hair, he took out his phone.
There was only one person to contact.
*
An alley in Incheon.
Between damp buildings where even sunlight couldn't seep in, Mariang dragged herself across the ground with difficulty. Her partially regenerated limbs were a little scraped, but that could be healed quickly enough, so it wasn't a problem. The important thing was to meet her master as soon as possible.
‘He asked where I was, but he didn't tell me where he was. How am I supposed to get there...’
She leaned against the wall and exhaled. Her hair, covered with mud, dust, and stone powder, was terribly itchy, but with no hand to scratch it, there was nothing she could do. It would take three more days before even her fingers fully regenerated.
“Phew... I'd like to wash up.”
The moment she said that, footsteps suddenly came from the end of the alley.
“......”
Mariang's expression instantly turned sharp.
She had not forgotten her current situation.
She had fought the insect sorcerer and fled all the way to Incheon, but the Bureau was still on her tail. She couldn't quite remember how she had ended up fighting the insect sorcerer, but that was irrelevant anyway. The important thing was that she needed to lie low for the time being.
‘Even if it's a civilian, I'll have to kill them to keep them quiet. The attack I can use right now is... using my tongue like a harpoon—’
“Ah, there really is one.”
The moment she thought that, a faint voice, distinctly feminine, reached her ears. But the reaction was too calm for an ordinary person. No civilian could possibly stay calm after seeing a human with their limbs blown off.
Then who was it?
Mariang glared at the owner of the voice with cold eyes.
The first thing that caught her eye was the blond hair. Bright blonde twin-tails swayed in the wind, and amethyst-like eyes sparkled clearly even in the darkness.
She wasn't very large. Her appearance suited "girl" more than "woman." A gold-decorated rosary hung around her neck.
The instant Mariang confirmed that, she recognized who the woman was.
“Vatican?”
“You're speaking French. Can you speak Italian?”
Cecilia Capone.
She walked toward Mariang without hesitation and opened her mouth. Mariang was silent for a moment before answering.
“...A little.”
“Ah, good. It'd be a little awkward for two Europeans to use Korean.”
“How did you know to come here?”
Mariang adjusted her position to make it easier to lash out with her tongue. Seeming unfamiliar with twin-tails, Cecilia answered while holding the hair that kept slapping her cheeks in place with both hands.
“At your master's request. You mean Ian, right?”
“...What did you say?”
Mariang's eyes widened. Cecilia let out a long sigh and held out the sack she had brought.
“I'm supposed to pick you up and take you to his place. So let's go.”
“......”
“Get in.”
Cecilia fluttered the sack in her hand. Mariang's face creased slightly.
But in the end, as if resigned, she crawled along the ground and climbed into the sack.
Swoosh.