Chapter 61
Below the house where Ian lived was a small parking lot.
Fortunately, one space was open, so he parked the bike he had ridden in on and cut the engine.
[Shutting down. Thank you.]
As soon as he pressed the button, the AI murmured and all the lights, including the dashboard, went out. Ian got off the bike and shrank the helmet down small with re-creation magic, then stuffed it into his pocket.
It was a new way of using magic he'd learned, and thanks to it, he could now carry even large objects around.
However, changing only the size while keeping the form fixed was still difficult, so he would need to build up more skill to use it perfectly.
It was a problem time would solve. There was no need to rush.
“Mm.”
He adjusted his bag and checked the time.
5:30 p.m.
He had definitely left home early this morning, yet so much time had already passed. He let out a low groan and shoved his hands into his coat pockets, then climbed the stairs.
He had thought about buying something for dinner, but today it seemed better to just make do with delivery. After so long, he was craving something greasy and spicy, and maybe because he'd been driving for ages, he didn't particularly feel like cooking.
Foodwise, chicken stew plus a bowl of rice would probably be enough. Thinking that, Ian opened the delivery app and walked toward the door of his one-room apartment.
“Ah.”
“……They’re here.”
At that moment, a voice that sounded vaguely familiar came from somewhere. Ian stopped dead in his tracks and lifted his head toward where it had come from.
“…….”
At the front door of his one-room apartment, two people in suits stood there all by themselves.
Faces he recognized.
The agents who had been part of the Bureau's group when he escaped the hospital. He didn't know their names, but he knew for certain that they were from the Bureau.
He had expected the Bureau to send someone. He'd even prepared thoroughly, not knowing when that would be.
But seeing them face-to-face like this, his mind began turning fiercely on its own.
“…….”
So far, Ian had tangled with the Bureau a total of two times.
The first was at the theme park. The Bureau agents there had rained bullets down on him and swung knives at him without hesitation. It was a clear act of hostility. If Ian hadn't been in a hurry, he would have dealt with them, but there had been no need to go that far, so he'd focused only on escaping.
Fortunately, they hadn't seen his face then, so there had been no aftermath connected to them.
But the second time was different.
A transfer that happened without any preparation. A Bureau reconnaissance team he had happened to encounter. And the response team and agents who came to rescue him. He got tangled up with all of them, and they even saw his face. But there was no battle with them. If anything, cooperation went smoothly.
It would have been nice if that had been the end of it, but unfortunately, there was aftermath this time.
Apparently, that was happening now.
“……Phew.”
Ian put his phone away and rested a hand on his bag strap.
He didn't know exactly how the Bureau treated mages, but he knew they didn't view them in a purely favorable light. According to Park Hee-soo, many had grown to hate mages because of the human spontaneous-combustion incident, so if you went by proportions alone, there were probably more agents who disliked mages.
Which side, I wonder, were those two agents on?
He had no way of knowing.
It didn't especially matter, either.
He had no intention of bowing his head just because his opponent was the Bureau. He didn't plan to end his life pointlessly, but he also didn't want to live meekly with someone else holding his leash.
So, be firm.
At the very least, he would show enough that he wouldn't look ridiculous. He wouldn't reveal everything he had, but when it was time to use his skills, he'd do it.
Thinking that, he opened his mouth with a chilly expression.
“You're from the Bureau, right?”
“That's right. I'm Kim Yiseo, of Bureau Response Division Team 3.”
“I'm Park Mina, of Bureau Response Division Team 3.”
The two of them reacted to Ian's words. He etched their names into memory and walked toward the front door.
That single movement made Park Mina flinch. Kim Yiseo naturally stepped aside.
Ding-dong.
With practiced ease, he entered the front-door code and opened the door.
A shoe cabinet with only a few pairs of shoes came into view, and Ian, clutching his bag, looked back at the two of them.
“If you're here to talk, come in. If not, go back.”
“…….”
A suggestion to blatantly walk into a mage's home. A sane person would never set foot inside, but after a brief silence, Kim Yiseo nodded.
“I'll come in.”
“……Ugh.”
At her decision, Park Mina let out a groan, but she didn't voice any objection. The two of them soon followed Ian inside, took off their shoes, and closed the front door.
Click.
With that, the outside and inside were cut off from each other.
A 'door' carries a hugely important ritual meaning. All the more so if it belongs to a mage's residence.
If Ian didn't want the two of them to leave, then from now until the day they died, they would never be able to get out of here. Crossing the threshold by their own will meant exactly that.
Ian wasn't skilled in ritual magic, so he didn't know whether even that was possible, but in any case, he was already an experienced mage. Whether he wanted it or not, this space would respond to his will and tighten around the two of them.
“…….”
“…….”
Kim Yiseo and Park Mina felt the presence of the gear they'd brought with them as they entered the living room.
For a room belonging to a mage, it looked incredibly ordinary. That only made the tension even greater.
Ian casually took off his coat and threw it on the coat rack, but the two of them could only stand there helplessly, drenched in cold sweat.
The pressure was no joke. The feeling that some unknown something was looking down on them, the sensation of a hand full of killing intent clutching the backs of their necks—it took over their minds. Their fingers trembled on their own.
“Sit down.”
“……Yes.”
“…….”
Kim Yiseo and Park Mina swallowed hard as they followed Ian's invitation to sit.
Ian looked down at the two of them sitting on the floor, then sat on the edge of the bed and reached out into the air.
Answering his will, Deep Sea Chronicle settled precisely into his grasp.
Even before it was opened, the grimoire was scattering an eerie atmosphere in all directions according to Ian's demand.
That alone made Kim Yiseo and Park Mina's vision turn slightly hazy. The edges darkened, and beyond them, fragments of crimson eyes seemed to flash by.
“What do you want to talk about?”
His voice was blurred, as though heard underwater. A thick smell of blood and brine spread through her nose, and the flow of water could be felt over her skin. It was as if something nearby were swimming. It was unsettling, and at the same time, horrifying.
“……Haa.”
Breathing wasn't normal either.
Was she scared? No, that wasn't it. From the moment he took out the grimoire, she had been short of oxygen, as though something had gone wrong with her respiratory system. When she opened her mouth, she had the illusion that bubbles were rising up.
All of these sensations were being produced by that mage's hand. The power of the grimoire. And the ether that had permeated the space must be responding to his will.
Kim Yiseo was physically realizing why people said you should never carelessly enter a mage's residence or workshop, and she forced out her words with difficulty.
“We came to make a proposal.”
“What proposal.”
“The Bureau wants to establish a close cooperative relationship with you. Phew…… Please hear us out.”
A story she had more or less expected spilled from her lips.
She had also prepared fallback measures in case they tried forced detention or assassination at worst, but fortunately it looked like she wouldn't need them.
At the very least, there was no need to carry out hostile actions before reverse targeting was triggered.
Ian tapped the cover of the grimoire with his finger and jerked his chin as if telling them to go on.
Arrogant behavior, but neither of them pointed it out. Kim Yiseo swallowed and turned to Park Mina. Park Mina took the stack of papers from the briefcase she had brought and carefully placed it on the table.
“This is the contract we use for ordinary mages, and this one is a new contract we drafted specifically for you. We'd appreciate it if you could read them at your leisure.”
Kim Yiseo explained, pointing at each sheet in turn. Ian let out a low breath at her blatant attitude.
“Sounds to me like you're openly saying you'll give me special treatment.”
“I won't deny it. The upper ranks judged that your magic would be very useful to our Bureau. So the branch chief instructed us to make things as convenient for you as possible.”
The branch chief's orders.
Then it wasn't incomprehensible.
Ian nodded and leaned his upper body forward slightly to check the paperwork.
It wasn't unfair treatment, and if they were openly offering special treatment, there was no need to refuse. He rubbed his lips with his fingertips and slowly began scanning the documents.
[1. Party A (hereinafter, the mage), as a collaborator of Party B (hereinafter, the Bureau), Party B swears that it will not impose any restraint or disadvantage on Party A.]
Right from the start, the wording showed they were bowing their heads quite a bit.
By the part where they referred to him as Party A and the Bureau as Party B, he could roughly tell how low they were bowing.
Honestly, it felt excessive. But if they were lowering their heads of their own accord, there was no reason to refuse.
Ian stroked the cover of Deep Sea Chronicle and calmly began reading the contents below.
[Humm!]
[……Humm.]
Deep Sea Chronicle vibrated pleasantly at his touch. The Hand of Re-Creation in the bag trembled as if jealous.
To Ian, they felt like light expressions of affection and movements that seemed like jealousy, but Kim Yiseo and Park Mina got the impression that two enormous beings were roaring.
Cold sweat streamed down both of their spines like crazy.