Chapter 109
The meal continued in an atmosphere reminiscent of camping together outdoors. Viktor repeatedly tore at the meat and gulped down vodka, while Jinseong floated finely shredded pieces of meat in the air and occasionally dropped them into his mouth to eat.
Their appearance resembled a large animal and a small animal sharing a meal from one bowl.
"Hey, have a drink of vodka."
"I haven't yet had my coming-of-age ceremony, so I shouldn't drink alcohol."
"Huh, you're not an adult? I said you looked like the blood hadn't dried on your head, but I didn't think it was actually true."
During the meal, Viktor learned about Jinseong's age, and...
"What's the name of this meat?"
"It's called capybara."
He also learned the name of a meat he had never tasted before.
And when the meal was over...
Viktor began to ask questions in earnest, as if the two questions he had asked earlier were mere jabs.
This could be seen positively as him starting to show interest in Jinseong, or negatively as him entering the process of screening whether Jinseong could be useful to him. Therefore, Viktor's questions became close to an interrogation, and even in the much softened atmosphere, it was inevitable that a streak of killing intent stood up like a sharp sword.
"What's your name?"
However, this was close to an interrogation but not quite one.
The questions he was asking were clearly acts of gaining information, not confirming what he already knew.
"Park Jinseong."
Therefore, Jinseong answered his questions without showing any displeasure.
No, rather, he showed an attitude as if inviting more questions with a faint smile.
"How old are you?"
"I have only a few months left until my coming-of-age ceremony."
"Where did you come from?"
"Unified Korea."
Viktor recalled something at Jinseong's answer.
"Ha, hahahahaha! Damn it! My sixth sense has gone to hell!"
Not long ago, when Viktor had ordered an investigation into sorcerers who might be related to human sacrifice, he had thrown away Jinseong's report without even looking at it.
The reason was that there was no way someone from Unified Korea, which had become a barren land for sorcery, who still smelled of milk, could be related to human sacrifice sorcery.
In a way, this could be seen as a reasonable judgment based on common sense, but common sense becomes useless when someone appears who shatters it.
There was a monster in front of his eyes that had completely shattered common sense, so this was clearly a mistake.
Viktor laughed loudly as if in disbelief and continued to ask Jinseong questions.
"Was it you who blocked my attack when the human sacrifice occurred recently?"
"That's right."
"I'm sure the first meeting you're referring to is when we encountered each other at the site of the human sacrifice?"
"That's correct."
"Then..."
Viktor looked at him sharply and asked.
"What exactly were you doing there? Huh?"
At this, Jinseong smiled deeply as if he had been waiting for this question.
"I was interfering with the human sacrifice."
"You interfered with the human sacrifice?"
At Viktor's repeated question, Jinseong again made exaggerated gestures. Like an actor performing in an old theater troupe, or a storyteller telling stories to the masses in the marketplace.
"There was a foolish sorcerer who worshipped Crom Cruach, trying to grasp the path of his fate by offering sacrifices. He preferred to follow the scent of blood rather than walk looking ahead, no different from a leashed dog, and though he lived with a mirror, he projected other things instead of seeing his own face, a pitiful being who didn't even realize he was heading towards destruction."
Jinseong's voice was low. His voice reminded one of a tiger's growl, drawing attention to the nerves, and with the addition of gestures that strangely focused people's gazes, it had the effect of making his words seem to pierce directly into the brain rather than the ears.
"Although one might indifferently pass by a stray dog living its life, if that stray dog bares its teeth at me and tries to bite my family, wouldn't it be right to step forward and punish it?"
"Hmph."
Viktor smirked at Jinseong's metaphor-filled words.
"So in short, you got pissed off?"
He continued to ask questions without waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, a dog baring its teeth needs to be beaten. But you know, this coincidence is quite curious. A sorcerer who just happened to come to Russia got angry and stepped in because someone related to you, maybe family, maybe just an acquaintance, was being messed with. I can understand that. But, you interfered with that and happened to encounter me?"
"That's right."
"You happened to encounter me, and I turned out to be someone born with the fate of a king. Even someone related to you?"
Viktor gulped down vodka and asked fiercely.
"Is this some cheap old play? Does this make any sense?"
Jinseong answered nonchalantly to Viktor's gaze, which looked at him as if he couldn't believe it.
"Of course it makes sense. Isn't that life?"
"It makes sense?"
"Don't doubt it. A king is a person above people, one who leads and rules with people under their feet. The word king has changed with each era, but its essence has remained unchanged. In times when there were only tribes, they were chieftains, when there were kingdoms, they were called kings, and when there were empires, they were called emperors. The leader of the people wielding hammer and sickle was called the General Secretary, in some countries they reigned under the name of Prime Minister, in some countries under the name of living god, and in some countries they stood above people under the name of President."
Even if the words changed, the essence didn't change.
If the essence didn't change, what continued also didn't change.
"You will become king. You wanted it, and it's your destiny. Only, the title will be President, but still."
It was said that kings were appointed by heaven.
It was said that those destined to be king have an innate fate and finally ascend to the throne, and this was called the Mandate of Heaven. Humans had a destiny given to them from birth, and if they lived without being lazy while practicing virtue, they could finally grasp the Mandate of Heaven and become noble beings.
It was said that kings were determined from birth.
It was said that there was a degree of nobility given to people that determined their fate. The nobility flowing in the bloodline became a privilege under the name of blue blood, and this was determined from birth.
This too was no different from a fate bestowed at birth.
This too could be said that the position of king was determined from birth.
"Fate is like a wheel rolling down a hillside. Although it seems to go down without any rules at first glance, it follows an ingeniously created path and gains acceleration. It's like the stars guiding a traveler lost in the desert, and like whispering the way to sailors looking at the sky in the vast ocean. So, if you are destined to become king, it's not strange at all to meet someone who recognizes that you will become king."
"Yeah... Your way with words is impressive."
Viktor stood up.
"If I keep talking without any information, I'll be at a disadvantage."
He muttered as if bewitched and looked down at Jinseong sitting quietly in his seat.
"Alright. I understand that you're willing to help me gain power."
"That's right."
"And like most kingmakers, you probably want something from me too."
"That's correct."
Viktor ran his right hand through his hair and looked at the Ferris wheel.
The Ferris wheel burning like the sun seemed to speak of Viktor's brilliant future, and the power he would spread throughout Russia. But fire was hot, shined brightly, and had the power to seduce people by flickering, heightening people's emotions and preventing them from making proper judgments.
One shouldn't approach things related to the future with emotion.
Endless exaltation and madness were needed in each moment, but for a long journey, cold-settled reason created the right path.
Viktor felt it wasn't right to continue talking here.
Especially, conversation with Jinseong, who seemed to have a talent for seducing people, seemed even more dangerous.
So he decided to postpone to the next time.
To discuss the future more coldly and meticulously.
"Let's end it here for today."
When you felt like you were being unnecessarily seduced, if you cut out what seemed useless and compressed and compressed sentences, only the truth remained.
There was a strange sorcerer named Park Jinseong.
He was willing to help Viktor become President.
He intended to demand something in return.
Viktor kept only this in his mind.
He picked up the empty plate with a hardened face and wrote something on the plate, making his fingertips sharp by covering them with qi.
『 Right to Request 』
He threw the plate engraved with the words "Right to Request" to Jinseong.
"Here, I'll give you a fortune-telling fee before you disappear."
Viktor confirmed that Jinseong received the plate and put it inside his clothes.
"With this, I've paid the price for the fortune-telling. Right?"
"That's right. Right to Request... It's enough."
"And put out that fire. You seem to have lit it to call me anyway, so there's no reason to keep it burning after I leave."
"I will do so."
"I'm not just saying this. Put it out as soon as possible. I can turn a blind eye now, but if it appears on the news, it'll be a headache."
Jinseong didn't immediately try to put out the fire despite Viktor's urging.
"You're thorough."
Viktor smirked and turned his body to walk towards the entrance.
And not long after, loud voices ordering withdrawal along with busy moving sounds and noisy sounds of vehicles moving echoed.
Jinseong only moved after their sounds had completely disappeared.
He approached the altar and picked up the completely burned charcoal, and threw it back at the Ferris wheel while saying.
"Just as firewood that barely maintains its shape..."
The charcoal burst silently when it hit the Ferris wheel, spreading black ash all over the Ferris wheel.
"What burns will eventually go out."
Then the ash moved flutteringly as if devouring the flames, completely eating up the flames attached to the Ferris wheel. And only after eating all the flames did it become sparks floating in the sky, moving here and there like fireflies before completely disappearing.
Thus, the Ferris wheel returned to its bare form.
Along with it, the light that had illuminated the entire amusement park disappeared without a trace, and a cold darkness that felt suffocating settled.
He smiled as if satisfied with the scent of ash lingering around his nose, then took out the plate he had put inside his clothes.
『 Right to Request 』
He stroked the plate still full of grease once, then strongly scratched off the sparks trying to burn his left arm with his fingernails. Only after scratching so deeply that blood came out, as if it had bloomed from inside the muscle, did the sparks completely disappear.
He looked at the stars spread across the sky and asked.
"Has the worm in the lion's body settled in?"
Then the stars answered him.
Instead of words, they spoke to him with light, and conveyed their will through flow to let him know.
They told him that the worm that had acquired resistance to heat in the fire of the mind had survived, and that it had left the cozy nest that was Jinseong's body and settled in another foundation.
Only, they told him that it would miss its old homeland and mother due to attachment.
This was like saying that Viktor's life and death were in Jinseong's hands.
"A bomb in the body and the Right to Request. It's enough for a fortune-telling fee."