Chapter 31
Indemnis's van pulled up in front of Ian exactly three minutes later. With a squeal, a man wearing a raven mask got out of the stopped vehicle's front passenger seat.
The man glanced around, spotted the two people sitting on a rock, and immediately bowed his head.
“Nice to meet you. I’m a staff member of Indemnis, Raven. You’re the one who called through the Cartel service, correct?”
“That’s right.”
Sizzle.
Ian stubbed his cigarette out on the rock. Raven nodded as if he understood and opened the van door for him.
“Would you like to get in right away, or would you like to take care of something else first?”
“We’ll go right away. As for the destination, somewhere with convenient transportation but not much foot traffic.”
“Understood. Then we’ll set off right away.”
Ian walked toward the vehicle, tapping ash from the cigarette he’d put out. Raven held out his hand as if asking for the butt.
When Ian handed it over, Raven took a portable ashtray from his pocket and dropped the butt inside.
“Are you a smoker?”
“No. I just meet smoker clients often, so I keep one on hand separately.”
“I see.”
Ian nodded and got into the van. Yuna followed after him, and Raven retrieved a terminal from the front passenger seat and sat in the back with them.
Soon the van turned and began descending the mountain. Ian stared out the window for a moment, then turned to Raven.
“You got here awfully fast. Are you using some kind of special method?”
“That’s confidential. You’ll know once you join the Cartel.”
“How troublesome. Let’s talk about the request.”
Smiling, Ian turned his gaze to Yuna. Understanding what he meant, Yuna took the manager’s heart out of the guitar case and placed it on the table.
A pale pink lump of flesh, still beating. Since Yuna had already dispelled her magic, there was no need to worry about it being crushed.
Ian poked the heart with his finger and said.
“This is the manager’s heart from the request.”
“Hmm. Would it be all right if I checked it?”
“Sure.”
The moment he was given permission, Raven put on a monocle and began examining the heart.
Ignoring the thick blood spurting from its vessels, he carefully inspected it and gave a quiet nod.
“Manager’s heart confirmed. The quality is quite impressive. Looks like you extracted it while it was still alive.”
“……”
“At this level, I should be able to pay you without any errors.”
“I have something to say about that payment.”
“Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”
Ian leaned slightly toward Raven and murmured quietly.
“The pay is far too low for the difficulty of the request. I’m going to need to charge extra.”
The difficulty of conquering the theme park was far greater than expected. It was packed with attractions that ordinary people couldn’t possibly escape from, and danger zones that could kill you the moment you broke even one rule were everywhere.
And to extract the manager’s heart, he had no choice but to kill him. After that, he’d still have to break the rules and make his escape.
Even for a mage, handling it alone was insane.
It just didn’t make financial sense to take only 15 million won.
At least, that was what Ian thought. Yuna seemed to think the same, since she didn’t try to stop him.
“Hmm.”
Light reflected in Raven’s jet-black eyes. The voice rumbling from inside that hard beak was noticeably subdued.
Unfazed, Ian held the grimoire in his hand as if to make a point and continued.
“Does the Cartel know exactly what kind of place the theme park is?”
“Yes. We conducted our own investigation as well. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known that if you carry the ticket, you’re forcibly transferred a week later.”
“And even so, only 15 million won? You don’t seem to know how hard it is to clear.”
“That is…… true. When we tested it with death row inmates, they all died before long. Still, we discovered that the manager’s heart has considerable value, so we posted the request. We aren’t the Bureau, and we have no duty to eliminate anomalies. We just move when there’s money to be made.”
“So you priced it based on that value alone?”
“Along with the theme park’s atmosphere and the calamity rating. But hearing the story from a mage who actually went into the theme park would be worth it. The Cartel isn’t a rigid organization. Please speak freely. I’m listening.”
Raven straightened his posture. Ian searched his memory and explained the situation inside the theme park, the features of the attractions, and the rules one by one.
At first, Raven listened quietly, but as Ian went on, he nodded more and more often.
When the story finally came to an end, he stroked his beak with his hand and spoke.
“Indeed, the difficulty rating was wrong. I’m sorry; it seems there was an error at headquarters. I’ll contact them right away and carry out verification, so please wait a moment.”
Raven pressed the button beside him. At the same time, a barrier sprang up between him and the two of them.
A thick wall that even a sizable explosion couldn’t get through. Ian took a sip of the cold water set on the table and leaned back in his seat.
'My head hurts…….'
The side effects of the magic still hadn’t left his body. Smoking made it a little better, but when he wasn’t smoking, the pain kept throbbing as if he had a heart pounding inside his head.
Even if it was a side effect that would clear up after a night’s sleep and wasn’t all that serious, the discomfort right now couldn’t be helped.
Ian let out a long sigh and opened the grimoire, which had been vibrating nonstop since earlier.
[Subway. Club. Theme park. I put up with it three times. There won’t be a next time.]
As soon as he opened it, a rather menacing message greeted Ian. With a sour expression, he closed the grimoire again.
……It seemed it wasn’t happy with how it had been treated at the theme park. He should be grateful it had tolerated it three times already.
If he used the grimoire as a shield or a club one more time in this state…… nothing good would come of it.
There was no need to test it. Curiosity had to be kept in check; if you rushed in headfirst without thinking, you were no different from a moth flying into a flame.
Ian rolled the unlit cigarette between his fingers.
“The discussion is over.”
A little later, Raven withdrew the barrier and spoke.
“After real-time cross-verification, word came back that the mage’s statements were valid. Accordingly, the reward for the request will be raised.”
“……”
“Per person, it will be raised dramatically from 15 million won to 70 million won. In addition, we’ve confirmed that the heart’s value is far greater than expected, so an extra 10 percent will be added.”
“……! T-then it’s 77 million won……?”
Yuna asked in a trembling voice.
Raven nodded.
“That is correct.”
“Yay! Th-th-that's amazing! This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Cartel bargain like this……! W-when I get home, I’m going to eat malatang, tteokbokki, and all kinds of other things……!”
Leaving the chuckling, muttering Yuna behind him, Ian tilted his head slightly to the side.
“Real-time cross-verification? Are you saying you actually went into that theme park just now?”
“This isn’t the only entrance. Also, the theme park isn’t only in Korea. It’s an anomalous phenomenon that has appeared simultaneously in countries all over the world.”
“……Ah.”
“All of the subsequent locations are the same, so gathering information and verifying it through other theme parks isn’t difficult. Has that satisfied your curiosity?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Then let’s settle up. How would you like to receive your compensation? Cash? Or a transfer?”
Ian chose a bank transfer without hesitation. Yuna did the same. Raven nodded and operated the terminal, depositing a large sum into both of their accounts.
“We deducted the cost of the safe transport service before making the deposit. I hope you understand.”
That much was understandable enough. Ian confirmed to Raven that the deposit had gone through, then put his phone in his pocket.
'So I’ve got about 80 million won, then.'
It was enough to secure a workshop. Ian wore a faint smile and gazed out the window.
The low winter sky was filled with blue.
*
The van stopped beside a tiny subway station on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. Since there were still people around, Raven couldn’t get out, and only bowed his head to the two mages.
“Please go in safely. Thank you for using Cartel service.”
“Yeah. If we have another chance to use it, we’ll see each other then.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Ah, bye…….”
Ian and Yuna got out of the van. As soon as the two of them were out, the vehicle sped down the road and disappeared somewhere.
Ian stretched his stiff body, stared at the back of the car, then turned to Yuna and said.
“Want to grab a bite before we part ways? As a little after-party.”
“S-sure. What do you feel like eating……?”
“I’m craving gukbap…….”
“Then let’s gooo……!”
The two of them went into a nearby gukbap restaurant, had a simple meal, and then took the subway home separately.
As before, Ian exchanged numbers with her this time too. Now his contacts clearly included Lee Seoah, the two vampire hunters, and Han Yuna.
He had only just gotten involved in this world, and yet he already had four connections.
As time went on, he would probably meet even more people than that.
He didn’t expect every one of those meetings to be positive. He could only hope.
It was only natural to hope for more good things than bad.
Ian thought that and logged into the community.
The latest post that had just gone up had a familiar nickname on it.
[Title: Today I cleared a request with newbie-chan.]
[Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie]
Theme park, you pathetic little bastard lol
If you called us here, you’d better treat us properly—who do you think you’re acting tough with? You deserve to die, okay.
(Then go die, okay.)
[Recommend 0][Dislike 0]
It was a post with no comments yet. Ian gave a small laugh and tapped on his phone keyboard.
[Comment]
-ㅇㅇ: Your concept is really solid.
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Keep quiet, okay? You’re dead.