Chapter 82
Even after the Lord of the Outer Sea withdrew, Pygmalion just stood there trembling, unable to do anything. The twenty-minute safe period had long since passed.
He was completely unable to communicate properly.
In the end, Ian had no choice but to leave him behind and exit the quarantine room alone.
“…….”
When he operated the device, the quarantine room door slid open sideways with a whirring sound.
At the same time, a pure white hand shot out from a blind spot and roughly seized Ian's wrist.
It was Kim Yiseo.
Before he could react, Ian was dragged along by her hand. A sharp pain shot up from his wrist, and Kim Yiseo's face filled his vision.
“…….”
Ian flinched at how much closer she was than expected. But Kim Yiseo paid him no mind and swept her gaze over his whole body from top to bottom once.
“……Hoo.”
After confirming that he was fine, she let out a relieved sigh and released the wrist she had been holding.
“……Are you all right?”
“……Aside from my wrist feeling like it's about to break, I'm fine.”
Over the wrist hidden by his coat sleeve, Kim Yiseo's tiny handprint was still clearly etched. It was a mark far redder than crimson, and it looked as though it would bruise in exactly that shape. The throbbing pain was fairly severe, too.
It showed just how much force she had used.
Even if Bureau agents were generally top-tier by default, that still wasn't the grip strength an ordinary adult woman could produce. If she'd been injected with some kind of super-soldier serum, she was practically a monster.
‘It wasn't broken, was it.’
He pressed and rubbed it just in case, but he didn't feel any pain beyond the throbbing. The joint moved fine, too. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be fractured, cracked, or even sprained.
That was at least some good news. Ian let out a long sigh and turned back to Kim Yiseo.
“What the hell was that all about?”
“……I apologize. Since you still hadn't come out even after the safe time had passed, I was about to go in just in case something had happened.”
Kim Yiseo said, lowering her head slightly.
“Suddenly, the window was covered in black, and with the warning alarm blocking my view, it became impossible to check the situation inside. So I was about to open the door just to rescue you, and then you came out at just the right time.”
“…….”
“I didn't know what kind of emergency it was, so I pulled you right away, but it seems that was my mistake. I'm sorry.”
“…….”
Ian didn't answer right away and spent a moment thinking.
It seemed the Bureau hadn't noticed that a fragment of an Outer God had appeared for a moment.
The Lord of the Outer Sea seemed to have adjusted the situation so that no troublesome incident would occur. But if he was going to be this accommodating, wouldn't it have been better if he just hadn't appeared?
“……Haa.”
Ian let out a long sigh and turned back to Kim Yiseo.
His wrist was still throbbing a little, but in any case he couldn't blame her. She had caused the situation first, and she had used her strength not to do him harm but to save him, so there was no reason to say anything.
No matter how much of a magician he was, it wouldn't be right to scold or snap at someone who had tried to save him.
A normal magician might be one thing, but Ian had no doubt that he himself was a rather excellent magician. So there was no need to get angry over this.
Instead, he rubbed his wrist and turned his toes around.
“Let's keep going.”
“Understood. The infirmary…….”
“No need to go there. I'll have it treated separately later.”
“Understood.”
Kim Yiseo bowed her head politely, then started walking right beside Ian. As he walked with her, Ian stared at the window of Pygmalion's quarantine room.
The window looked as though black, sticky sludge had clung to it. Fortunately, he couldn't sense anything like an unusual presence, but it didn't seem like something that could be wiped away easily.
Even if it was only a fragment, an Outer God was still an Outer God. The residue that had appeared along with that summoned fragment remained there, refusing to disappear.
It might naturally vanish as time passed, but at least that time wasn't now. He had no idea how long it would take.
Whatever it was, it wasn't something Ian needed to worry about. It wouldn't do the Bureau much harm either, so there was no need to be overly concerned.
‘Thanks to blocking my view, it hid the fact that it was the grimoire of an Outer God. That should actually count as a gain.’
Although it hadn't been intentional, the result was good, so that was that. Thinking that, Ian went down to Zone 2 with Kim Yiseo.
Zone 2 was where several biological aberrations were stationed in earnest. The most memorable among them was the 'Santa's Elves.'
Tiny bodies. Suspenders. Robin Hood-style hats and pointed ears, and so on.
They were the classic helpers of Santa Claus from fairy tales. The reason they looked different from ordinary elves was probably because their origin lay in fairy tales.
“Put this over there! This one here. Eve! Help with the wrapping!”
“Yes! Ehehe, today too we need to help Grandpa Santa make presents!”
Their conversation itself was quite wholesome. That is, if you ignored the fact that their hands were dyed blood-red and that the things they were wrapping were human organs and limbs.
According to Kim Yiseo, the body parts they wrapped were similar in shape to human ones, but they didn't fit human bodies. If you implanted them, you'd turn into one of their kind.
They were no different from viruses.
Even the Bureau agents didn't know where or how they were getting the corpses and organs. Even after locking them in a thick quarantine room and giving them nothing, they apparently spent the next day kneading and wrapping corpses.
They were literally mysterious creatures. Their higher-order entity, 'Santa,' was quarantined in Zone 4, but Santa appeared so often as the star of ghost stories and fairy tales that there were countless variations.
The Santa quarantined in Zone 4 was the one that sucked the brains out of crying children.
It was grotesque beyond words. Since its appearance was said to resemble a mosquito, he had no desire to see it.
Zone 3, which they reached after passing through Zone 2, was more ordinary than he'd expected.
Compared to Zone 2, there were almost no tool-type Mysteries there, just a space swarming with biological Mysteries. There were a few dangerous ones, but none powerful enough to smash through a quarantine room and burst out.
He had been told there were a few troublesome aberrations to manage, but that was bad news for the quarantine team, not something Ian needed to care about. Unless there was a massive breakout in the quarantine zone later, he'd never have to set foot here again.
After finishing their tour of Zone 3, the two of them took the elevator back down to the underground railway. This time, they only had to press one button to move.
“The Bureau's underground railway is a route built to let us move quickly across the entire Republic of Korea.”
Ding.
Stepping out of the arriving elevator, Kim Yiseo said that. Ian looked at her pink hair and followed after her.
“Basically, it's connected to all Bureau branches, and there are gates installed that lead into some major facilities. The principle is Mystery extract.”
“……extract?”
“Yes. There's an aberration that travels through mirrors, and when you smash its head, glass shards fall out together with brain matter. If you assemble them to make a transparent glass membrane, then breaking it while moving allows you to transfer to another membrane.”
“……I'm more curious how you figured that out.”
“Pygmalion helped. Since the statues he makes are practically no different from real humans, they're convenient for experiments.”
“…….”
So that meant they had shoved the statues in as test subjects.
He felt like he was getting a rough idea of the direction their will was taking when it came to researching, using, and exterminating Mysteries. It was a completely different approach from the Vatican, which simply tried to crush everything by brute force. The end result might be the same, but there was no overlap in the process.
Seeing how they cooperated when necessary, they didn't seem to be on terrible terms, but it still felt awkward to call them allies. Cecilia's attitude alone made that obvious.
“The trains on the railway aren't very large. Each station has a massive glass membrane installed, and if you break through it, you can move to another station. However, there are no trains running right now.”
“Hmm…… can the trains be used whenever?”
“No. They're only available in emergencies or when support is requested. Glass is a consumable, after all. Since it takes quite some time to make, we can't afford to use it carelessly.”
“How long does it take?”
“About half a year each.”
Half a year per piece.
That was quite a long time. Still, better than not being able to make it at all.
Ian asked as he left the station with Kim Yiseo.
“Does that Mystery just sit there and let its head be smashed?”
“No. It goes into convulsions every time. It's dangerous if you don't restrain it. But because it's valuable, we keep assigning manpower to it.”
In other words, high risk, high return. The effect was enough to make sense, so Ian nodded.
After the underground railway, they were given a tour of the Bureau's overall facilities.
Maybe because the work environment was so demanding, the Bureau's amenities were far better than those of most large corporations. It had everything you'd expect to find inside a company building.
“This is the last stop. The cafe.”
After touring all the facilities, Ian and Kim Yiseo sat in the first-floor cafe and sipped their drinks. Ian drank an americano while taking in the city view through the window.
The sky was just before sunset.
Sunset light slanted through the window, faintly illuminating the seat he was sitting in. The smell of coffee and the murmuring voices of Bureau agents chatting made him feel like this was, after all, a place where people lived.
“How was it?”
As he quietly stared out the window, Kim Yiseo asked. Ian thought for a moment, then gave a wry smile and closed his eyes.
“Good. I think I have a rough idea of what kind of place the Bureau is.”
“Then I'm glad. I'm satisfied as long as I didn't leave you with a bad impression.”
Kim Yiseo gave a faint smile and undid the tie holding her hair up. With a rustle, her hair flowed down.
“From today on, I won't be calling you in for minor matters. I'll contact you only when cooperation is needed.”
“You?”
“Yes. I was assigned as your dedicated agent. If anything comes up that requires two people, I'll probably move with you. Even if it goes beyond that, I won't be removed from the assignment.”
Kim Yiseo said carefully. Ian let out a low hum and nodded.
Someone like her was trustworthy enough. Even after meeting her twice, he had never seen her lose her composure, so at the very least her mental fortitude was excellent. Her shooting skills were outstanding, too.
Wherever she was thrown, she'd probably do more than her share.
Ian checked the time, then gulped down the rest of his americano and stood up.
“If we're done here, can I head back now?”
“Ah, yes. I'll escort you out. By the way, you didn't really introduce yourself to the other magicians, so what would you like to do about that?”
“If it's not necessary, I'll skip it.”
“Then I'll handle it that way.”
The two of them left the cafe and walked toward the Bureau's main gate.
The lobby was full of employees bustling about. After answering Kim Yiseo, who had bowed her head, Ian rubbed his wrist and stepped outside.
“…….”
The moment he left the building, the noisy racket vanished all at once. All he could hear were the sounds of car engines and faint voices.
“……Maybe I should head back.”
Ian stretched, put in his earphones, and headed for the parking lot where he'd parked his motorcycle.
The Lord of the Outer Sea's words kept echoing in his mind.