Chapter 18
[Title: The Bureau Sent Someone to My House Today]
[Yeah.]
Negotiations Department or something? He was from some place like that, and he asked me what happened while I was handling Palcheok.
I spun some bullshit and got through it, yeah. He thought I took it out with a talisman.
[Upvotes 5][Downvotes 0]
-How did you fool them? You can tell just by the business card that they’re from the Bureau.
ㄴㅇㅇ: It said detective on the business card, though? I took that and sprinkled in a little MSG, wrote myself a whole novel.
ㄴ?? Detective? Last time I saw it, it just said Bureau, though?
ㄴㅇㅇ: ? I can check both, though?
ㄴTamingMaster: The Bureau's business cards are a kind of anomaly. If your level is too low, it's hard to tell them apart, but once you reach a certain level, you can distinguish the disguise from the real thing.
ㄴAre you saying I'm low-level?
ㄴTamingMaster: (wizard stunned emote)
ㄴTamingMaster: More importantly, haven't you only just become a newbie wizard? How did you tell? I can't even do that.
ㄴㅇㅇ: It just worked?
ㄴTamingMaster: (wizard punch emote)
-Deep-Sea Angler: Didn't kill them?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Why would I kill them?
ㄴDeep-Sea Angler: They found out who you were. You had to kill them.
ㄴㅇㅇ: Read the post. I wasn't exposed.
ㄴDeep-Sea Angler: Ah, right. But if you had been exposed, would you have killed them?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Depending on the situation. I probably would have.
ㄴDeep-Sea Angler: I like that.
ㄴDeep-Sea Angler: (sinking newbie emote)
Ian tucked the phone into his pocket, put in his earphones, and stepped outside. He was thinking of taking a light stroll.
In the past few days, he had encountered anomalies twice.
Both of them had serious physical ability. Palcheok went without saying, and the Monkey's pure physical stats were absurd—if he had rushed in bare-handed without magic, he would have been killed without being able to do anything.
Not every anomaly would be as strong as those guys, but that didn't mean they were weak. There would definitely be plenty of them who fought with even stronger, tougher bodies.
At his current stamina level, it would be hard to deal with them if he ran into one.
So, to build up his stamina, he planned to start exercising lightly from today. The only real exercise he'd ever done in his life was breathing, so it felt a little awkward, but he couldn't just sit still.
He checked the time.
It was still 11 a.m. Since it was Monday, there weren't many people by the river. Only seniors and middle-aged people were doing light exercise. Ian watched them, loosened up a bit, and slowly started jogging along the track.
About twenty minutes later, he collapsed onto a bench, panting.
“It’s…… hard…… huff……!”
It had been so long since he'd moved his body like this that he had no real sense of time. Ian drank the cold water he'd brought in his bag and slowly caught his breath.
He took out his phone and checked how far he'd run.
It was a little over 2 km, give or take. Not bad for a first-day attempt. He nodded in satisfaction and walked back toward home.
“……You’re noisy. I’ll handle dating and whatever else myself. Coming out for a walk right now was your idea in the first place, you know.”
As he walked, a woman with her hood pulled low came from the opposite direction. She had long black hair and a glimpse of mint-colored eyes, making her a very distinctive person.
Maybe she was on the phone with someone, because she muttered to herself and tightened her grip on the coffee in her hand.
“I’ve already compromised a lot. I originally only meant to buy coffee, but now I’m walking all the way to the riverside. When I get home, I’m not leaving the house for a week. Got it?”
As she said that, she suddenly shifted her eyes toward Ian. Their gazes collided in midair.
It was only for a moment. The instant their eyes met, she gave a slight bow in greeting and walked along the track at a quick pace. Ian also looked away from her and headed home.
“……Just making eye contact counts as fate? Keep quiet. If you keep mumbling like that, I’ll secretly leave you in the library.”
Ian couldn't hear her muttering. That was only natural, since he had earphones in.
After returning home, he casually tossed aside the cap he had been wearing, showered, and came out into the living room. The grimoire sitting alone on the bed turned its cover toward him, then flopped face-down onto the bed again.
“……?”
Still puzzled by that strange behavior, Ian quickly towel-dried his hair, took a screenshot of his running stats, and posted it to the community. Of course, he had deleted anything that could reveal his personal information.
[Workout done for the day.]
[Yeah.]
(Photo of a 2 km run)
I'm exercising to prepare for dealing with anomalies. I might even sign up for a gym.
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[Comments]
-StrawberryYogurtSmoothie: 2 km? That's kid stuff, it is. I can run that much too, it is.
ㄴㅇㅇ: Post proof.
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: I don't take orders from people weaker than me, it is.
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: (wizard forehead flick emote)
-Where is this? By the river?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Hehe.
ㄴㅋㅋ ㄲㅂ
-★Godmother: Ah.
ㄴㅇㅇ: ? Why? Something there?
ㄴ★Godmother: ……Nothing. Did you just finish running?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Yeah. Why?
ㄴ★Godmother: No reason. Just curious.
A cryptic question from Godmother. The moment Ian frowned to figure out the intent behind her question, a message arrived from Lee Seoa.
[Lee Seoa: A request just went up on the cartel. Want to check it out?]
It was exactly what he'd been waiting for. Ian sat on the bed and sent an affirmative reply.
A short while later, she sent him a photo.
It was a photo of a bulletin board plastered with papers. Ian let out a low hum and read the contents of the papers on the board one by one.
[Ghoul Hunt.]
[Reward: 6 million.]
[Reclaim the vampires' territory.]
[Reward: 8.5 million.]
[Contract killing of a politician.]
[5.6 million.]
[Hunt the anomalous wizard Eddie.]
[9.5 million.]
[Human trafficking.]
[4 million.]
The requests were extremely varied. From simple anomaly hunts to contract killings, massacres, kidnappings, and more. There were quite a few crime-related ones as well. The rewards varied just as much.
‘……What the hell are these bastards, that they can pull off shit like this?’
This was a world where the Bureau kept its eyes wide open. No matter how covertly they acted, if your tail got too long, you were bound to be stepped on. And that was even more true for guys who arranged requests involving the supernatural and dabbled in all sorts of crime.
“…….”
Seoa had said the cartel could be trusted, but Ian still wasn't sure if that was really okay. The pay was certain, but the requests they put out were equally beyond imagination. He couldn't tell how this was any different from all the illegal stuff on the dark web.
There were normal requests too. In fact, it was true there were several times more of them than the crime-related ones. But the human trafficking and kidnapping requests kept sticking in his mind.
[Me: Is this really trustworthy?]
In the end, Ian couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked. Lee Seoa replied immediately, as if she'd been holding her phone the whole time.
[Lee Seoa: Of course it's trustworthy. Ah, are some of the requests bothering you?]
[Me: Obviously. I’m not desperate enough to go around killing or kidnapping innocent people.]
[Lee Seoa: Most of those are requests that criminal organizations put in under the cartel's name. The cartel will do just about anything as long as they get paid.]
[Lee Seoa: You don't need to worry about them. Just check the ones with the verification mark.]
He did just that.
Ian sorted through the countless requests and checked only those stamped with the cartel's insignia.
Fortunately, these weren't very closely tied to crime. Instead, they had a lot to do with the supernatural.
[Lee Seoa: The cartel is a place that handles supernatural matters for money. They buy and sell materials obtained from hunting anomalies, and usually deal with wizards and Bureau personnel.]
[Me: Even with the Bureau?]
[Lee Seoa: Yeah. The items they use there—aside from the ones they produce in-house—sometimes have to be brought in from outside. That's when the cartel sells them for a fee. So the Bureau doesn't really care what the cartel does. If they pull something major, though, they won't just sit still.]
In simple terms, it meant a cooperative relationship. The Bureau turned a blind eye to the cartel's supernatural requests and distribution, and the cartel handed them useful goods.
From the Bureau's point of view, it wasn't exactly a bad deal either. They could deal with supernatural matters through cartel requests in places they couldn't get involved in, and take the byproducts.
However, one thing still bothered him.
[Me: Is there a chance the cartel passes wizards' information on to the Bureau?]
He had just fooled the Bureau employees right under their noses today. If the cartel couldn't guarantee even a minimum level of trust, there was no reason to use them. Better to find another way.
[Lee Seoa: You don't need to worry about that. Those cartel guys have been living off trust alone since the 17th century. There must have been hundreds, maybe thousands of wizards who used them, and nothing's ever happened because of them.]
Fortunately, it seemed there was nothing to worry about. Ian flopped onto the bed and typed away with the grimoire on his stomach.
[Me: I checked it. So how do I accept a request?]
[Lee Seoa: Just call the number I give you and tell them what job you'll take. This only happens the first time you contact the cartel, so you'll just have to put up with the hassle.]
[Me: The person who answers is trustworthy, right?]
[Lee Seoa: You're surprisingly suspicious, huh? Don't worry, they're trustworthy. If they'd screwed me over, I'd already be in the Bureau's custody.]
She was right. Ian let out a long breath and carefully went through the request details Seoa had sent.
‘...No need to take on hard jobs from the start. It'd be better to handle the relatively easy ones first and get used to the supernatural.’
Ian had only encountered two supernatural beings so far. He didn't have the experience yet to handle requests like [Dealing with the flesh mass trapped in the mountain] or [Retrieving the organs inside Rose General Hospital]. If he carelessly stuck his head in, he also had to keep in mind the possibility of being killed in return.
A wizard wasn't invincible. The power of Recreation was fairly strong, but even that could get him killed if he slipped up. It would be better to get at least a workshop and prepare plenty of items that could only be made there before taking on harder requests.
‘Getting almost ten million from a single request is tempting, but if I die, that's the end of it. Let's move carefully.’
Thinking that, Ian chose one request. Then he entered the number Seoa had sent him and placed the call.
The line rang three times, and the other side answered.
[Hello, wizard. Thank you for using the cartel. May I ask what business you're calling about?]
“Vampire hunt. I’ll take it. I’d like the location, time, and information on the others working with me.”
[Understood. There is one request cooperating with the Bureau and one request involving vampire hunters. Which would you prefer?]
“The hunters.”
[There will be a total of three people joining the request. Understood. Please wait a moment.]
The broker responded immediately after that.
[The location is a club. I've sent the address and time by text. Then I wish you a good hunt.]
Click.
The moment the broker finished speaking, the call cut off. Ian checked the club address that had arrived by text and let out a snort of laughter.
“A club, for vampires.”
For some reason, he felt like he ought to be wearing sunglasses.