Chapter 94
The villagers’ immortality was severed with the Buddha’s death.
Their bodies, which had been writhing nonstop, suddenly went limp without warning like puppets with their strings cut. All that remained was a pitiful lump of flesh.
“It’ll be hard to recover them.”
Because of that, the plan to take them back and investigate immortality was scrapped entirely.
Naturally, that made sense. Corpses that had lost their immortality were nothing more than ordinary corpses. Taking them away wouldn’t turn up anything. At best, they’d only end up analyzing their blood type or DNA.
No matter what, it wasn’t worth doing.
“…….”
Ian came out of the hanok and told the Bureau agents about everything that had been inside it as well. Of course, he kept the Hand of Re-creation secret, and since there was no need to hide that the Monkey’s Hand was a wizard’s work, he told them calmly and without exaggeration.
“A mystic...? A wizard native to Korea?”
Lee Minsu muttered as he took the limp Monkey’s Hand.
The hand that had been stabbed through by the magic circle was smeared with blood.
Its fingers were bent at bizarre angles, and each finger was a very different length. The ring finger was the shortest, the pinky the longest, and the middle and index fingers were a complete jumble, as if their positions had been swapped. It couldn’t have looked more grotesque.
“Is it possible to create a Mystery with magic?”
“Impossible. If that were possible, wizards would have been wiped out long ago.”
Kim Yul answered Kim Miryeo’s question.
She was in the middle of splinting her fingers with Kim Iseo’s help. Blood was seeping from her backward-bent joints, but Kim Yul spoke on with complete composure.
“Mystics are the ones who use spells to command and control Mysteries that already exist. Directly creating one would probably only be possible with an Outer God’s grimoire. You know, [Mystic Apocalypse]. That’s a grimoire that’s been recorded in the archives.”
“Ah... then could the owner of the grimoire written by an Outer God have intervened in this incident?”
“No idea. How would I know?”
Kim Yul said indifferently as she tightened the bandage.
“If it’s a rare Mystery, then that might be the case, but Monkey’s Hand is famous enough, isn’t it? The owner of the grimoire probably didn’t get involved. You think so too, right?”
She asked, turning to Ian. Ian, who was collecting the spell he’d activated, nodded.
“If the cause had been an Outer God’s grimoire, the situation wouldn’t have been this easy. There should’ve been far more casualties than this.”
“……I see.”
“Of course, we’d have to take on that much risk too, but in any case, this incident is practically a small-scale terrorist attack. It’s better to think of it as some ordinary terrorist wizard using his power.”
“If it’s a terrorist wizard, it’d be those Laplace bastards, right?”
Kim Iseo muttered. Kim Yul, standing beside her, gave a small shake of her head as she answered.
“Ew, I hate those bastards.”
Laplace.
To Ian, it was the first time he’d heard the name of that organization. If the Bureau knew about them and Kim Yul did too, then they must be pretty famous. He hadn’t known because they hadn’t been mentioned on the forum or anywhere else.
But he didn’t bother showing it right then.
It’d be better to ask about it on the forum after getting home. There was no reason to reveal how ignorant he was.
Anyway.
The cleanup at the scene was done quickly. Kim Yul and Ian stepped to the back to rest, while Bureau agents took photos of the scene and collected the corpses and Monkey’s Hand.
They couldn’t tell where the Buddha had gone, but when Ian said it had melted away and disappeared the moment he dealt with the Monkey’s Hand, they let it slide.
He wasn’t sure if they really believed him. It wasn’t something that mattered much, so he didn’t pay it much mind.
The Bureau agents’ corpses were piled in a heap inside the container they had found when they first came into the village, along with the other bodies.
All of them had been stripped of their skin. Whether they had eaten human flesh or not, several of the corpses even had clear bite marks left on them.
“…….”
“……Tsk.”
The three of them silently and carefully gathered up the agents who had been skinned. Judging by the respect in their actions, they didn’t seem to be feeling very comfortable either.
Naturally enough, that was only to be expected. Even if they were strangers, how easy could it be to collect the corpses of coworkers?
From a wizard’s perspective, it was nothing particularly moving, but from a fellow human’s perspective, it was completely understandable.
Kim Yul seemed to lean more toward the wizard side of things. She hummed to herself while massaging the hand with the splint, looking utterly unconcerned about the dead agents.
The one singing suddenly turned to Ian, who was drenched to the bone, and gave him a cheeky smile.
“But for this mission, wasn’t it basically the newbie who did everything alone? We didn’t seem to be much help.”
“...You’re not wrong.”
Ian didn’t bother denying her words. Honestly, she was right.
Objectively speaking, the spectacular mental-attack combo of the Laughing Buddha and Monkey’s Hand was tricky enough to break through just about any mental barrier. If Ian had been hit too, everyone standing here would’ve ended up as one of the corpses in that container.
There was a reason the Bureau called it a difficult mission. This time Ian had gotten lucky and joined in, but for similar missions later on, if he wasn’t there, total annihilation was practically a foregone conclusion.
Thinking about it that way made him feel a little like he was a big deal himself. Kim Yul seemed to feel something similar, too, and she bounced her legs as she went on.
“I owe you one this time. If you need my help with anything next time, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll help for free.”
“Perfect. I’m planning to go vampire hunting soon. Join me.”
“Vampires? Hmm... Sure. Send me the date and I’ll go right away. As long as it’s not overseas, I don’t mind.”
Kim Yul accepted Ian’s invitation without hesitation. As expected of a wizard who specialized in water magic, she had a wonderfully straightforward personality. It was rather likable.
A short while later, the Bureau agents who had finished tidying up the scene returned. They hoisted the bags containing the corpses onto their backs and tucked only the necessary evidence into their backpacks.
“Let’s head back.”
The group immediately descended the mountain and headed for the parking lot where they’d left the car. The sun had already fully risen, flooding the streets with light, but fortunately there wasn’t a single person passing by. It seemed they’d planned that route from the start.
The Bureau agents loaded the corpses into the trunk and carefully set the evidence items in the empty spaces. Then they began calling someone.
“...Ah, yes. This is the Bureau’s Daegu branch, right? I’ll send you the address, so please come and do a bit of scene cleanup. Yes. Ah, yes, it’s the Monkey’s Hand. An assignment dispatched from the capital region. Yes, thank you.”
When the call ended, Kim Iseo turned to Ian and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, wizard. Thanks to you, we were able to finish the mission without any casualties. It’s not much of a reward, but I’ll add an extra incentive on top of the base cooperation fee and transfer it to you.”
“That’s enough.”
“I appreciate your generosity. By any chance, the after-party...
She asked cautiously. Ian immediately shook his head.
“No, I’m tired, so I want to head back right away. You guys go to the after-party without me.”
“Ah, I’m glad. There are wizards who like after-parties, so I asked just in case. Then we’ll head back right away too.”
“Why aren’t you asking me?”
Kim Yul tilted her head and cut in. Kim Iseo answered casually.
“Kim Yul, you don’t like after-parties either, do you?”
“That’s true, but still, ask me.”
“...W-would you like to come to the after-party—”
“No, I’m not going. I’m going home to rest.”
Kim Yul laughed brightly and got on the vehicle first.
Kim Iseo quietly stared at the back of her head, then let out a deep sigh. The other two seemed used to it, and casually greeted Ian before climbing into the driver’s seat and the passenger seat. Kim Iseo also shook her head, then turned to Ian and held out her hand.
“We’ll be heading back now. Please stay healthy until we meet again.”
“Yeah, you too.”
The two shook hands and turned to go their separate ways. A little later, the vehicle carrying Kim Iseo as well started down the mountain road.
“See you next time, Newbieee!”
Kim Yul stuck her upper body out through the rear window and shouted. Ian smiled and waved until she disappeared from view, then headed toward where he’d parked the bike.
The bike had been waiting there from before dawn until sunrise.
He unhooked the helmet from its mount, pulled it on snugly, put on his gloves, and started the engine.
[Welcome, Mr. Shin Ian. Please set your destination.]
The AI’s voice came through the helmet. Ian climbed onto the bike seat and answered.
“Let’s go to the nearest convenience store first. I need to buy cigarettes.”
[Convenience store confirmed. The nearest convenience store in this area is 2 km away. Would you like to activate autonomous driving?]
“Yeah.”
[Autonomous driving will begin. Please enjoy your ride.]
Vroooom!
The bike handled the throttle and clutch on its own and started down the mountain road. Ian just kept his balance and waited until it reached the convenience store.
A little later, he bought a carton of cigarettes at the convenience store he reached. He tore one pack open and smoked from it right there.
He lit one cigarette, slipped the cigarette pack into his coat’s inner pocket, and got back on the bike.
“Let’s go home.”
[Destination: home. Would you like to use autonomous driving again this time?]
“Semi-autonomous. I think I should handle some of it myself too.”
[Confirmed. Starting semi-autonomous driving.]
Click.
Ian pulled the helmet back down and lowered the visor. He set off for home in first gear.
The estimated arrival time was about four hours.
It was a long time, but not so long that he couldn’t endure it. He let the AI handle the gears and raced along the national road with only the throttle and brake.
By the time he’d raced all that way and arrived home, it was already approaching late afternoon.