Chapter 58
Shrine maiden.
In subculture, they appear fairly often, but in real life they're hard to see up close. For one thing, there are basically none in Korea; you'd have to go to Japan just to catch even a glimpse of one. And the people who appear in public and act the part are all shrine maiden cosplayers, not real shrine maidens.
The nature of shrine maidens is a little different from Korean shamans or clergy. If shamans are seen as sincerely following the gods and driving away evil, shrine maidens receive divine oracles and spread them, or enliven the gods' rituals through song and dance. They tend to take on a very wide range of roles.
Of course, Korea doesn't have many real shamans either, but at least the existence of shamans was something you could easily come across on the street. Shrine maidens, on the other hand, only existed at shrines, so they weren't easy to encounter.
And that was the full extent of Ian's knowledge about shrine maidens.
Partly because he hadn't bothered to look them up, but more than that, it was because they were from another country and he simply hadn't paid them any mind.
If shrine maidens were hard to see even in Japan, how could he possibly see one in Korea?
It would have been far more useful to gather information on shamans than to spend time learning about shrine maidens.
“Hmm? A customer? A customer?”
“Ah.”
He'd been too deeply lost in thought. Seeing Miko tilt her head and look up at him, Ian shook off his stray thoughts.
“Is that the bike?”
He asked, pointing at the outline of something covered with a cloth. Miko grinned brightly.
“Yes! A brand-new one alone cost 30 million won! Add self-driving and various options, and that's another 20 million! Altogether, this motorcycle cost a whopping 50 million won!”
“You confirmed the payment, right?”
“Of course. Thanks for the refreshing payment! The cartel really loves customers like you, magician!”
Clack.
Miko moved her prosthetic arm and whisked the cloth off the bike.
Beneath the cloth fluttering away, a sleek black motorcycle was revealed. Ian let out an admiring sigh and stroked the bike's body with his hand.
“Ah, you touched it? No refunds now!”
Miko joked as she watched him. Ian chuckled and gave the bike a quick once-over.
Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any defects anywhere. It started smoothly, the exhaust was very quiet, and it even had autonomous-driving AI built in. There wasn't a single scratch on the body.
That meant it had been exceptionally well cared for. Ian tapped the fuel tank with a finger and smiled with satisfaction.
It was a somewhat hefty 50 million won, but he didn't regret it.
Money could always be earned again. He was earning it to spend it in the first place, so there was no need to hesitate over expenses. Everyone knew the cartel's goods were expensive by default, so it was better to get his sense of money adjusted to that reality from the start.
Of course, that was all bullshit; he was just happy to have gotten a brand-new bike.
Ian glanced down at the motorcycle, which was running yet still fairly quiet, then turned to Miko.
“The paperwork? I'd like to fill it out right away.”
“Here you go. I brought a pen too!”
Miko took a bundle of papers and a ballpoint pen from inside her clothes and handed them to Ian.
He was in a somewhat better mood after getting a bike, but even so, Ian carefully read the contents written on the paper and signed them one by one.
It didn't take long to finish. Miko politely accepted what he handed back and leaned against the wall to check for any mistakes.
Fortunately, there was nothing strange anywhere. She nodded and beamed.
“Great! That bike is yours now, customer! Feel free to ride it however you like!”
“License plate?”
“Ah, the one for here. It's already been registered, so the police won't be able to catch you for it. The insurance is cartel-backed insurance, so it may be a bit expensive, but not at a price that would burden a magician like you.”
The insurance Ian had just signed was from an insurance company created and managed directly by the cartel. It covered front-end repairs, hospital bills, and more. Because it supported so much, the monthly fee wasn't cheap either.
But as Miko said, it wasn't at a level that would be burdensome. He could pay it easily.
“Anything else I need to know?”
“No, no! You can just ride it around comfortably now! Oh, one thing you need to remember! Never let that face get hurt in an accident! That'd be such a waste!”
At Miko's natural flattery and banter, Ian burst out laughing. He took the prepared documents from her and sat down on the bike seat.
As soon as he kicked up the stand, the vehicle began balancing itself automatically. The onboard AI seemed to be quite advanced. It had been worth the money.
“Well then, this has been Miko, an employee of the cartel! It was an honor to serve you, and please use our services again next time!”
Miko bowed politely to him as he prepared to leave.
Just before setting off, Ian looked at her green hair and asked quietly.
“This is a personal question. Why is a Japanese shrine maiden working as a cartel employee in Korea?”
“...Eh? That's a bit too sudden, desuwa.”
“...If you don't want to answer, forget it.”
At Ian's ridiculous tone, as he turned away, Miko straightened up and answered in an unconcerned voice.
“It's nothing much. I was just doing shrine maiden work, then my arm got blown off, so I'm taking a break, letting go of the gods and everything, and I joined the cartel.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. It's a pretty trivial story. So there was no need to hide it.”
Miko shrugged, making her prosthetic arm clatter.
“I don't regret it. My income is higher now, and the stability is absurdly better. Sure, if I run into the occasional 'problem customer,' I could die, but that's just the way it is.”
“As a shrine maiden, can't you do anything about it?”
“I told you, I let it all go. What I have left now is only a meager amount of divine power and spirit eye (靈眼). There's almost nothing I can do with that.”
“I can't use warding bows or talismans like I used to,” Miko added. Then she gazed at Ian with her pink eyes and smiled softly.
“Are you curious about shrine maidens, by any chance?”
“...A little, yes.”
“No, no. If I tell outsiders things like this, divine punishment comes down on me. They took all the power I had left, but left the punishment behind. Isn't my god a little too harsh?”
Watching Miko joke around, Ian gave a wry smile.
Even after losing an arm and being cursed with eternal silence, there wasn't a trace of sadness in her voice or expression. If anything, she seemed completely unburdened.
If he were to abandon his identity as a magician and return to ordinary life with a permanent disability and a curse... he wasn't sure he could behave as freely as she did. If anything, he suspected he probably wouldn't be able to live normally.
It was a pointless hypothetical. Ian had no intention of ever giving up the profession and identity of a magician for the rest of his life.
He said his goodbyes to Miko and rode the bike out of the logistics center himself. He still hadn't bought a helmet or any other gear, and since it hadn't been enchanted yet, he was a little uneasy, but the wind blowing past him felt pretty good.
'The mountain the godmother told me about... this is it.'
Ian handed autonomous driving over to the bike and took out his phone to check the address.
Fortunately, it wasn't very far. He gripped the handlebars again and told the bike the destination himself out loud.
[Destination confirmed. Setting route. For safety, semi-autonomous driving will begin.]
Vroooom!
The bike began making its way toward the destination Ian had set.
*
On a back mountain where people rarely went, a woman in a black hood stood alone atop the pure white ground, where the fallen snow still hadn't fully melted.
Her face wasn't visible at all. Thanks to the mask, sunglasses, and hat she wore, it wasn't even easy to tell whether she was a man or a woman. Her outfit was suspicious enough that you could believe she had come here to dump a body.
[You might as well just advertise that you're a magician.]
In the end, unable to hold back, Lemegeton muttered a remark at her. She wiped the condensation off her sunglasses with a lens cloth and replied.
“How does this make me look like a magician? I'm just an ordinary woman.”
[As I've said again and again, you need to get out and see the world to learn what 'ordinary' means. Stop hanging around on the community board too. Just use SNS instead.]
“If I'm not there, who's going to manage the community? And I did come outside, just like Lord Solomon said. Don't complain.”
[What I meant was at least make some friends... Haa, forget it. I'm not your babysitter. Do whatever you want.]
“How many times have you said that to me by now?”
[If you know, then fix it.]
The woman, Yoo Eun-ha, ignored Lemegeton's words and picked up a twig, then began drawing something on the ground.
It wasn't an ordinary drawing. It was magic meant to protect her in case of any unforeseen situation. Since it was Catholic-style magic, its offensive power wasn't very high, but its defensive ability was excellent.
“Do not harm the one who has received your god's grace; return to whence you came and beg for mercy.”
She laid out a small amount of blood, crushed animal bones, and bread on the magic circle and chanted the spell. The magical materials immediately seeped into the circle and vanished.
A number of similar spells were arrayed around her. Even if someone who came by suddenly turned hostile, she could suppress them with ease.
It wasn't just the quantity that was impressive. The quality of the magic was top-notch as well.
Even Lemegeton, setting aside her personality, held her in extremely high regard when it came to magical skill and talent alone.
It wasn't for nothing that he'd chosen Eun-ha as his master. Choosing her on the other side of the world and ignoring the magicians of the Clock Tower was no coincidence.
He had never dreamed she'd turn out to be such an extreme social recluse and hikikomori.
If she changed just a little—no, a lot... no, if her personality were completely different, there wouldn't be many magicians like her. That damned god was too fair.
[Haa... back in my day, if a magician acted like this, I'd have started by smashing their legs with a club....]
Yoo Eun-ha ignored Lemegeton's old-man grumbling and scooped up the snow on the ground into a ball, then threw it at a tree.
That was when it happened. The exhaust note of a motorcycle began to sound from fairly close by.
It wasn't very loud, but it wasn't quiet either. The sound echoed through the empty mountain.
[They're here.]
“…….”
Eun-ha quietly muttered to herself as she listened to Lemegeton's soliloquy and checked her own condition once.
Mask? Fine.
Sunglasses? Fine.
Hat? Good enough.
Face? Not visible.
Perfect. She nodded in satisfaction, pulled the hood of her padded jacket down low as well, and turned her gaze toward the sound of the motorcycle.
Not long after, a black motorcycle came into view.
On the bike puttering up the slope, she could see the face of a man wearing a black turtleneck and a coat.
He was the same man she'd met a few weeks earlier while taking a walk by the river.
‘So it really was real.’
She'd seen a post claiming he worked out along that familiar riverbank and had suspected as much, but she'd never expected it to be true. She didn't know whether to call it fate or coincidence.
[Eun-ha.]
Just as Eun-ha was thinking that, Lemegeton said in a serious voice.
[Run away.]
A remark entirely out of left field popped out. Eun-ha tilted her head, unable to understand what he meant for a moment.
“...? What?”
[Run.]
Lemegeton shouted sharply.
[That lunatic has two otherworldly grimoires...!]