Chapter 60
Fortunately, the line the Godmother had drawn disappeared as soon as the magic was complete. Ian let out a sigh of relief and stroked the bike's clean body again.
“Thank you.”
“No need. The magic was applied properly, and for the next year it’ll keep you riding safely without any accidents, no matter how you use it. But if you deliberately try to cause an accident—by driving the wrong way, crashing into a truck, or going over a cliff—the magic won’t react, so be careful.”
The Godmother straightened up and said.
“Like I said, this isn’t an original spell; I modified it myself. There are still a few unstable parts.”
“So riding it normally or even speeding won’t be a problem?”
“Yes. But don’t speed too much. You’ll get caught by the police.”
The Godmother added that she’d experienced that a few times herself. Ian let out a small snort and nodded.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you again.”
“No need. I don’t like seeing the number of community members decrease, either. We already have very few, so we should at least take good care of one another.”
I didn’t know exactly how many mages there were in Korea, but it was clear there couldn’t be more than a hundred. There would be at least twice as many psychics, and shamans would be several times more than that.
A psychic who was only good at one thing might excel in that field, but they weren’t as versatile as a mage.
There was a reason cartels and other organizations ranked mages above psychics.
‘Because every mage uses different magic. The more mages there are, the better.’
Even the Godmother herself could accomplish a great deal through demonic power. Lee Seoa was the same, and Han Yuna was a little ambiguous, but there was no denying that her magical level was excellent.
She had only been a mage for half a year, and yet she was already a rising star. In terms of potential alone, she was clearly superior to most other mages.
Even the mages who didn’t belong to the Clock Tower were this impressive, so what kind of people were hiding in the British headquarters of mages?
Of course he was curious, but he still hoped he wouldn’t have to meet them.
He had no intention of getting too deeply involved with unpredictable beings.
It was a kind of aversion to his own kind. If the Godmother hadn’t created the community, Ian wouldn’t be going around meeting other mages like this now.
People often say you shouldn’t get attached to a community, but if it’s very small and only gathers similar people, there’s no need to just build walls.
“There are villains and good people in the community.”
As he did so, the Godmother suddenly spoke. He couldn’t see her face, so he couldn’t read her expression, but he could tell the deep mint-green eyes faintly visible behind her sunglasses were gazing up at the sky.
“Of course, if you just look at the numbers, good people are more common. As for villains... most of them weren’t like that at first and changed later.”
“…….”
“One thing, though. I don’t care whether they’re villains or good people, but you mustn’t show indiscriminate malice toward fellow community members for no reason. This community was made so everyone could get along. We have to stop anything that goes against its purpose.”
“So that’s why, when members want to meet up, you also figure out the other person’s disposition?”
“That’s right. It’s better to stop what can be stopped. When the community had just been created and there were no rules, it was chaos.”
That was a time Ian knew nothing about.
Something that had happened at least a few years earlier.
“They’d threaten each other with murder, describe the crimes they’d committed in detail, post photos and comments without any filters... back then, there really was no worse hardship than that. Once rules were introduced and the people who resisted were dealt with, it became the scene we have now.”
Dealt with, huh.
Ian leaned back against the bike’s bodywork, mulling over the word she had used.
There’s a saying that all safety rules are written in blood. It doesn’t apply in every case, but at least in the mage community, something similar seems to have happened. Ian let out a low hum and looked back at her.
“Are there any mages still around from back then?”
“A few. Not many. Most are new members. They were invited by people already here. Aren’t you one of those too?”
“That’s right. That was several months ago already.”
“Time really does fly, doesn’t it?”
Eunha gave a faint smile and brushed the snow off her shoes.
“These days villains don’t run wild like they used to, but they’re not completely gone. Sometimes someone who was neutral until just a few years ago suddenly becomes a criminal.”
“Mm.”
“Anyway, what I want to say is this.”
Eunha turned her head slightly and looked up at Ian.
“I hope that tendency of yours doesn’t change. I’m asking you not to become a villain. And don’t fall into that alien energy, either.”
At her words, Ian’s eyes slowly turned toward Eunha.
‘……Did she notice?’
It was fine to tell him not to become a villain. But telling him not to fall into alien energy was extremely broad in meaning.
It might simply have been used to mean not to go mad, but it was also entirely possible she had noticed the nature of the two grimoires Ian possessed and was speaking about that. Since he was the owner of the Lemegeton, she might have picked up on it long ago.
But unless she brought up the word ‘Foreign God’ first, there was no need to make a rash move. If she wasn’t trying to threaten him, there was no need to react.
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Sorry if that felt meddlesome. That wasn’t my intention.”
“It’s fine. I don’t really mind.”
Ian smiled faintly and took her words in stride. Then he loosened his wrists and got onto the bike.
“Then I’ll be heading back now. I’ll definitely repay you for today later.”
“Ah, yes. Go on in first. And... um, as for the debt, I’ll tell you later if there’s something I need. Please repay me then.”
The Godmother replied with a slight bow of her head.
Even as a courtesy, she didn’t offer the empty words, ‘You don’t need to repay it,’ which was very mage-like indeed. Ian let out a small laugh and kicked up the bike’s stand.
“Understood. Then I’ll see you then.”
“Yes.”
Ian left the Godmother’s reply behind, started the bike, and twisted the throttle. With a modest rumble, the bike began to move forward.
Soon, his figure disappeared from the Godmother’s view. At the same time, Lemegeton, which had been holding its breath until then, spoke in a bewildered voice.
[……This is absurd. That’s the mage who has two grimoires of the Foreign God? He’s alarmingly normal.]
“Are you sure you weren’t mistaken?”
[Impossible. I’ve fought against grimoires of the Foreign God myself. It was in the past, but I’m not stupid enough to forget that vivid memory.]
As the Godmother talked with Lemegeton, she wiped away the spell she had drawn on the ground with her foot.
[But... it’s also true that, for someone who has the Foreign God’s grimoires, he’s extremely alien. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. If he was going to go mad, he should have done it long ago. He’s too normal.]
“If you practice magic, you can control the madness, right? I’m sure there was something like that.”
[That isn’t control. It’s obedience. Think about it—aren’t those words ridiculous? How can you escape the Foreign God’s dominion while mastering its magic? If anything, you sink deeper into it. And then you gradually become an obedient slave.]
“……That’s scary.”
[Exactly. That’s why everyone avoids grimoires of the Foreign God. If you own one, the ending is always either death or being treated like a plaything. But that mage... he was too normal.]
Solomon said that and, just in case, added one more thing.
[Is it because there are two volumes? He went mad with one, then went mad again with the other and ended up normal instead...?]
“Is that even possible?”
At Eunha’s sincere question, Solomon didn’t answer.
Because even he thought it was nonsense.
*
On the way home, Ian bought gloves and a helmet at a nearby bike gear shop. They weren’t exactly necessary unless there was an accident, but it was still better to have them than not. Besides, not wearing a helmet was illegal to begin with.
“Thank you, come again!”
He stepped outside after being seen off by the shop owner.
He put on the gloves, sat on the parked bike, and checked the helmet’s visor.
Fortunately, there were no scratches or broken parts. A full-face helmet that didn’t even reflect his face. As far as bikes went, this was the perfect fit.
Just as Ian was thinking that and was about to put the helmet on,
“Excuse me.”
Suddenly, someone spoke beside him.
A deep male voice. The thick accent wasn’t Korean. Ian set the helmet down and turned toward the voice’s owner.
What came into view was a middle-aged man with snow-white hair and a beard. His suit was stylish, and he was tall enough to have quite an imposing air.
He somehow gave off the impression of a wealthy European. As if he had no intention of hiding his upper-class status, he fiddled with a watch worth several thousand and continued speaking.
“Sorry, my Korean is still a bit clumsy. I wanted to ask for directions.”
His expression didn’t change at all, but his tone was quite polite. Ian hid the inexplicable unease rising inside him and smiled faintly, pretending to be friendly.
“Ah, yes. Where are you headed?”
“This hotel right here. It wasn’t on the map.”
“Ah, it’s nearby. Go straight that way, and when you come to the futsal court, turn left. It should be right there.”
“Um... is it possible to translate that into English? Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Just a moment.”
Ian repeated the exact same words into the phone the man had handed him. The man checked the translated sentence and nodded.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Well then, I’ll be off too.”
Ian left the man behind after returning his thanks and pulled his helmet on snugly. The man also bowed slightly and began walking toward the place Ian had pointed out,
Beyond the slightly blurred field of vision.
The name on the business card that poked slightly out of the man’s back pocket came faintly into view.
He couldn’t make out the title or company name, but he could read the name printed in large English letters.
[Eddy]
Eddy.
That was definitely the name.
There was no particular need to memorize it.
Without much interest, Ian started the bike and twisted the throttle.