Chapter 98
Ian took quite a while to sever Eddie's head.
Then he set it on the table and stared at it closely.
It wasn't because he'd suddenly found a human head beautiful.
It was because he was wondering how to use it.
“First, soak the brain in the vessel of the soul.”
He couldn't crack open the skull and pull the brain out right here and now, but deciding it in his mind was enough for the moment. The important thing was the rest of the facial features.
He'd already burst the eyes, so there was nothing to be done about that. Too bad, but he'd just have to wait for another chance.
By contrast, the nose, ears, and tongue were in excellent condition. There were no severed parts, and there was almost no damage. The nose had been slightly crushed, but that was no problem.
Ian tugged at Eddie's perfectly intact ear with his finger and thought it over.
Then he suddenly remembered one of the alchemy series he'd seen in the grimoire.
The Dying Facial Features Series.
Unlike eyeballs and tongues, which are similar in structure across most living things, noses and ears often differ in shape depending on the species. So unlike the Dying Eyeball and Dying Tongue series, which could use any eyeball or tongue brought in, noses and ears could only be made from human ones.
He'd half given up on them, so now that an opportunity had fallen into his lap, there was no need to hesitate.
He didn't bother with moral qualms. It was absurd to hold a moral standard up against a bastard who had come to kill him. Once it was in his hands, using it to the fullest was the right thing to do.
“What a dutiful son you are.”
Ian patted Eddie's dead head with his palm, then stood up. After that, he slowly looked around.
A magician's residence. Even if it was a hotel and he hadn't stayed here long, there seemed to be plenty to take. Ian started by rummaging through Eddie's personal backpack on the table.
Inside were several daggers, a few sheets of spell notes, and a pile of human brain fragments.
Beneath that was a detailed spell formula for handling the Brain in a Jar.
“…….”
He'd probably intended to use the brain fragments to operate the Brain in a Jar.
If he'd had a little more time, the outcome of this battle might have been impossible to predict. He had no clue how to deal with a Brain in a Jar at all…….
If it were a mental-type attack, he could ignore it, but it didn't really seem to be one.
Still, since he was already dead, there was no need to think about it any further. Ian transferred the brain fragments in the glass jar into his bag and took all the materials Eddie had been researching as well. There was no reason to leave the spoils behind.
“So your name was Eddie?”
Eddie's passport was in the bag too. Thanks to that, Ian was able to confirm his name.
Eddie Howard.
A name he recognized.
The strange sorcerer from Laplace whom Dolores had mentioned. It seemed Laplace really was involved in this after all.
He'd suspected as much, but now that it had turned out to be true, the back of his head hurt for no reason.
He couldn't even begin to guess what kind of butterfly effect being targeted by a massive criminal organization would cause. There probably wouldn't be much good to come of it.
“……Tch.”
Ian clicked his tongue, shrank the passport down to the size of a fingernail, and casually tossed it away.
The suitcase beside the backpack contained about 10 million won in cash. Ian decided to take that too and glared at the map hanging on the wall.
At a glance it looked like an ordinary map, but when he stared at it closely, he could make out minute changes.
A pin, as if symbolizing something, was crawling minutely across the map, moving somewhere.
A clear supernatural phenomenon. Without hesitation, Ian grabbed the map and compressed it into a round sphere.
He also found plenty of tool-type Mysteries, such as Chekhov's Gun, daggers, mirrors, and more.
It was nothing short of a gold mine. Ian silently thanked Eddie and turned all of it into materials, taking it with him.
By then, the bag had become quite heavy.
A bag containing human brain fragments and a head.
If he ran into a surprise inspection, it wouldn't be strange if he were arrested on the spot.
At that thought, the broken front door opened and a man and a woman in suits came in.
“……Phew, what a mess.”
“……Haaah…….”
They were Bureau staff. But they weren't familiar faces.
He'd contacted Kim Yiseo, so he'd expected her to come in person, but apparently she had urgent business too. Ian readjusted his bag and spoke to the two people who'd come into the room.
“Any witnesses?”
“Almost none. The few people who did see it are in the middle of having their memories erased right now.”
“The CCTV?”
“Deleted, of course. The one at the magician's house too.”
Their work was extremely satisfying. Ian nodded and stood up. Only then did the Bureau agents bow and greet him in return.
“Negotiation Division 6, Park Hiyul.”
“N-Negotiation Division 6, Kim Junil.”
Park Hiyul, who seemed to have plenty of similar experience, introduced himself without any tension, but the man who looked like a rookie was obviously nervous at a glance. It seemed to be his first time seeing a magician.
That was fine with him. Ian pointed his chin at Eddie's headless corpse and loosened his stiff body.
“This is the corpse of a magician from Laplace. Do whatever you want with it. I'm taking the head.”
“……Laplace, you say?”
“If you don't believe me, run a DNA test or something. He's a magician named Eddie.”
“Ah, Eddie.”
As if he'd heard of the name before, Park Hiyul let out a short groan. Ian rubbed his own broken left hand and tilted his head.
“Do you know the name?”
“……He is a famous one. Every Mystery he handles is dangerous and murderous, so he's the kind of person you'd rather not even run into. But for such a guy to have been caught by you, magician…….”
“I was lucky.”
Ian didn't bother telling them the means he had used against Eddie. There was no reason or need to. Fortunately, the Bureau agents nodded without showing any curiosity.
“Understood. Then we'll handle the scene cleanup ourselves. What about the bounty?”
“The bounty?”
“I understand there's quite a bit of money on Eddie's head. If we certify it with the cartel, you should be able to collect it.”
“Oh.”
“Looks like you didn't know. Then we'll collect the bounty ourselves and deposit it for you. Rest assured, we won't play any tricks.”
It was an unexpected offer. There was no need to refuse.
“If you'll do that, I'd appreciate it. More importantly, isn't that supposed to be your job?”
“Right now we can spare the effort to accommodate a magician. But when we're busy, it'll be difficult. In that case, please use the cartel's service.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
Ian patted Park Hiyul on the shoulder and left the hotel room. He retraced his steps and went home the way he'd come.
It was early morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise. Ian looked at the spreading dawn light, set down his heavy bag, and sat on the bed to catch his breath.
Perhaps because he'd fought right after waking up, his body was rather tired.
Pain kept surging from his crushed left hand. If he left it alone, it would probably fester or get infected and rot. He needed to give it first aid before that happened.
Fortunately, he still had some cartel-made ointment left that he'd bought in advance. It was the ointment he had used when the cruise captain tore open his cheek. Ian squeezed out plenty and spread it over his hand, then wrapped it in bandages. If he left it like that for a few days, it would probably heal completely.
He'd heard that there were potion-like things made through alchemy too, but unfortunately, potion-making was not something Ian could do. Strictly speaking, the alchemy he dealt with was closer to item crafting than to pharmaceuticals.
“I wonder if I could make potions too if I knew the recipes.”
Ian continued those thoughts and finished tying the bandage. It was a little inconvenient, but manageable.
He took off his coat and rummaged through the bag to pull out Eddie's head.
No blood dripped out. He'd already sealed the cut surface with magic, so the bag and the floor weren't getting dirty. It looked a bit gruesome, but if he thought of it as magical material, it was somewhat acceptable.
“Maybe I should keep it in the fridge for now…….”
The image was a little strange, but that seemed better than leaving it out in the open. Ian immediately wrapped Eddie's head up roughly and put it in the refrigerator.
For some reason, doing that made him feel like a psychopathic criminal. It wasn't exactly pleasant. He figured it would be better for his mental health to use it quickly and get it out of the way.
“Phew…….”
After finishing the cleanup, Ian lay down on the bed and took out his phone. He logged into the community right away.
Since it was still early morning, there weren't many posts. Even the ones that were there mostly had titles like [Baby Mage Early-Bird Wakeup].
If it were a normal day, Ian would have posted meaningless crap like the rest of them. But today was different. He wriggled under the blanket and quickly tapped away at his phone keyboard.
[Fuck! Don't go acting up+++! I said stop+!]
[Yeah.]
Today a magician suddenly attacked me, taught me about the wonders of the human body, and then ripped my head off.
I'm so scared I'm planning to have gukbap for breakfast.
(magician freak-out meme)
[Upvotes 2][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-Iron gut, S-tier.
ㄴWasn't this your first kill?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Yep. The material just rolled right in.
ㄴLOL, I'm insanely jealous.
-Honestly, that's amazing. You were attacked not long after becoming a magician, and you even turned it around and won? You're a total talent monster.
ㄴTake away the talent and he's just a corpse lol.
ㄴWhy the hell would you take that away, asshole? If they rip out your brain too, you're a corpse too.
-Honestly, impressive. You haven't even been a magician for half a year yet, right? But you killed the attacker instead? That's not something you can explain just by saying the grimoire is amazing.
ㄴExactly. I want to see your face once. For all that insane talent, your face must be ugly as hell lol.
ㄴDeepSeaAngler: lol
ㄴ?
-Serious Magic Addict: An ambush, huh. That's not a very pleasant sound. Are you okay?
ㄴㅇㅇ: I got a little hurt, but I'm fine.
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: That's a relief. Still, be careful. You should consider moving too.
ㄴㅇㅇ: I was planning to, anyway.
ㄴSerious Magic Addict: I'll be up soon, so let's meet and let me see your face.
-Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Eek, an ambush is scary. But when are you going to contact me about the vampire thing?
ㄴㅇㅇ: (magician waiting meme)
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: (magician dance meme)
-★Godmother: Who was the attacker?
At the end of the flurry of comments, Godmother casually asked the question. Ian ordered the gukbap he'd eat for breakfast, then answered.
ㄴㅇㅇ: Eddie.
ㄴ★Godmother: Huh?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Eddie, the magician from Laplace.
ㄴ★Godmother: No, you caught and killed that Eddie? Seriously?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Yes.
ㄴ★Godmother: ……You're even more impressive than I thought.
Godmother let out a genuinely admiring exclamation. Ian narrowed his eyes and gave a low hum, wondering if it was really that impressive. No matter how he looked at it, Eddie didn't seem like the kind of magician who'd deserve that sort of admiration.
“Well, I guess everyone sees things differently.”