Chapter 16
Clunk.
The man's hand touched the gate.
I felt the movement through it.
If the gate opened like this, he'd spot me hiding behind it immediately.
What came next was obvious.
He was the man who'd followed me home at night.
He wasn't even a neighbor, yet he'd come all the way to my front gate and was reaching for it. No matter how much I needed to make sure, was there any point in watching longer?
He was likely a criminal.
There was no other way to see it.
Even in a country where people were dangerously careless about safety, this was enough to make anyone suspicious.
‘I don’t want to, but I have no choice.’
I was ready.
If he opened the gate and tried to grab me when we came face-to-face, I'd blast him away.
All right, open up.
Come on, open!
I’ll have the police lock you up!
Rattle, rattle.
‘……Huh?’
But the gate didn't open.
I could feel his hand on it, but it only rattled, firmly shut.
‘What?’
Did he know I was hiding behind it?
Why was he just shaking it instead of opening it?
He wasn't just rattling it, either.
If anything, it felt like he was holding the gate steady to keep it from moving while doing something else.
Was he not planning to break in?
Then what was he trying to do?
I held my breath and focused on the sound.
Creak, creak.
I couldn't tell what the sound was.
I couldn't tell whether it was the gate rubbing as it shook or something else he was doing.
Wait.
Could he be installing something?
Like a hidden camera, for example.
I'd seen it on the news sometimes.
People who install hidden cameras to secretly film others.
And you never knew what further crimes might follow when someone picked a target and secretly filmed them like this.
If that was what he was doing...
‘What kind of crime are you planning to commit?!’
I had to take him down.
Not just for my sake, but to protect any future victims, I couldn't let this slide. First, once he finished installing it, I needed to check for a camera, then sneak up on him and deliver a crushing blow.
Tap.
Had he just finished?
The rattling stopped, and I heard the man take two steps back. He stared at the gate for a moment, then turned and walked away.
Clomp, clomp.
His footsteps gradually faded.
“Did he leave?”
I cracked the gate open and peered out.
Once I confirmed he'd gone a decent distance, I flung the gate wide open and dashed out.
I turned around and checked.
What on earth had he done?
As expected, had he installed a camera?
“Huh…?”
I froze for a moment.
The man's misdeed hit me like a hammer to the back of the head.
[Be careful at night. Don’t let children wander around alone at dawn.]
“Uh, wh-what…”
A single sheet of paper was stuck to the gate.
A message telling people not to let children wander around alone.
There wasn't a camera or anything. It was just a note expressing concern.
A warning, as if he was worried about me.
Stunned~
I stood there blankly for about ten seconds.
I'd been sure he was a criminal.
“Was it really just the tip of the iceberg…?”
He'd followed me all the way here just to stick up a piece of paper and leave?
That was the only reason he'd tailed me this far?
No, why would he do that?
“I-is he a good person?”
I didn't know.
Why did he watch people every night?
Why go to the trouble of following me to put up a warning note?
I had no idea what kind of person he was.
“Hmm.”
In the end, nothing happened.
I stared at the note blankly, then carefully peeled it off and went inside.
*
I thought about it while showering.
The man probably wasn't a bad person.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. He must've been worried about me wandering around alone at dawn.
I'd just overreacted.
Well, it wasn't a bad thing.
I felt much more at ease.
Plop!
Thanks to that, I finished showering and sat at the table with a clear head.
“Now, what should I carve this time~”
Mana stone processing time.
Now that the thing bothering me was settled, I could focus in peace.
[Generates repulsive force.]
Plip.
I started processing mana stones right away.
Since I'd been studying consistently, I could carve mana stones faster than last time.
Quality was what mattered.
Even experienced mana stone processors usually only got a handful of good stones out of a hundred.
Even the slightest deviation disrupted the pattern and reduced their efficiency.
But.
“I managed to carve them all pretty much the same!”
Ten mana stones in total.
Most were similar in size and shape, and their color was so good they gleamed.
They seemed better carved than before.
Naturally!
The mana stone studies I'd worked on every day without a break.
The processing method I'd learned firsthand in Yeoulrim.
My transcendent power, using World Power.
It would've been strange if I hadn't improved. I'd worked so hard.
But then.
“What should I do with these?”
On the table.
I looked over the tiny fragments left over from processing.
Since mana stones all had different sizes and shapes, carving them to the same specs inevitably left some waste.
Those scraps were what I'd gathered up.
What should I do with these bits?
“It feels like a waste to throw them out, but I don't think they'd have any market value if I carved them.”
Should I throw them away or not?
Should I carve them or not?
Tap, tap.
I drummed my fingers on the table and thought for about five seconds.
“What the heck, I’ll do them all! I can start replenishing my World Power little by little now, too.”
There was nothing to fear.
I had Little Squirmy!
The World Power offered by the Little Squirmy army had reached the hundreds, so in a little while, carving mana stones wouldn't be a major expense.
Snip, snip.
I picked up the small mana stone fragments one by one and carved away the impurities by feel.
“Huh?”
Then I suddenly realized something.
I was haphazardly carving and ruining more than ten fragments...
“Why are these stuck together?”
I looked at the two well-carved fragments.
Five centimeters long.
One centimeter at their widest.
Long, diamond-shaped octahedrons.
They were sharp crystals, joined along one face to form a V.
“Do mana stones attract each other or something?”
Pop.
When I applied force, the mana stones separated easily.
The sensation and sound were pretty satisfying.
Pop, click, pop, click.
I repeatedly stuck the mana stones together and pulled them apart.
It seemed the two stones were small enough to stick together. Or maybe there was a problem with the way I'd carved them.
“Hmm~”
Pop, click.
It felt kind of nice.
What was this addictive sensation?
No, no, let's put that aside.
First, let's investigate.
Research mode: activate!
I stuck and separated the mana stones as I examined them, and when necessary, carved mana stones in Yeoulrim and used my microscopic perspective to check their properties.
And this is what I learned.
1. Mana stones carved to a small size with few impurities weakly stick to each other.
2. Larger mana stones don't attract one another, and their weight would keep them from sticking together anyway.
3. A faint blue light leaked out when I pulled apart the joined stones. It seemed to be related to the way I carved them.
4. If I joined eight small mana stone fragments, I could make a hollow crystal.
This was a huge discovery.
I had no idea mana stones had this property.
But.
“What’s good about this…?”
Aside from the satisfying sound when I stuck them together and pulled them apart, I couldn't see what was useful about it.
I wasn't an expert.
I wished someone could confirm it for me.
“Ugh~ This is exhausting.”
That was enough research for now.
My body was starting to ache.
I had plenty of samples, so I could get them appraised and continue researching afterward.
*
The next day.
[On my way to your place now!]
A text from Nari came in.
Today was the day we'd agreed to discuss various things about the mana stone business.
[Come over anytime.]
I was already ready.
The house was clean.
The processed mana stones were perfectly carved.
All that remained was to relax, have a meal with her, and talk.
But before that.
Tap.
I turned on my phone.
I figured I'd kill time on it until Nari arrived.
“Maybe I’ll watch the news.”
I didn't have much of a social life, but I did keep up with the news about what was happening in society.
Lately, since I'd started taking care of Yeoulrim, I hadn't watched much news.
I might as well catch up a little.
The news could be surprisingly interesting.
“Unexplained disappearances have been occurring in our neighborhood… Another one?”
According to the local news, children had been disappearing for no reason lately.
Even after extensive investigations, no traces or cause had been found, and they were asking people to pay special attention to their children.
Had they been kidnapped?
And the culprit still hadn't been caught?
This should be getting more attention from the public.
“I feel kind of bad about that man now.”
I suddenly remembered the man who'd followed me all the way to the gate.
He'd scared me quite a bit at the time, but I'd been deflated when I saw the warning note.
Then who was the culprit?
Or were they really just simple disappearances?
“Yeoul~”
“Come on in.”
As I looked into it a little, Nari arrived at my house carrying drinks.
I was curious about the missing-person news, but this was more important.
Setting aside the little things...
“How are the business preparations going?”
“Of course~ I finished all the business registration paperwork, and I even sold a few of the mana stones you gave me on my own.”
We began discussing the business in earnest.
Last time, all we'd done was plan to go into business together under the name Yeoul Workshop.
“I’ve prepared mana stones, too.”
Clack!
I set the mana stones on the table.
This time, we planned to sell them for real.
Once I handed them over to Nari, she'd get them appraised and find buyers.
In other words...
“Please sell them all!”
Yeoul Workshop was officially open for business!