“Already to that extent, I’m very pleased.”
“Wow, exciting. How thrilling.”
At my response, Park Gwangrim fell silent for a moment, then spoke as though aggrieved.
“What are you worried about? You have permanent residency, after all.”
Park Gwangrim’s complaint is just theatrics. He agreed knowing exactly what this plan implies.
The huge fee I pay him includes hazard pay.
I too would be sad to lose a high-level NPC like Park Gwangrim for nothing.
“I don’t want that situation either. I’ll come up with a plan. This time, move toward Jeolla Province.”
“Yes?”
“What’s nothing?”
“What? My voice sounds different?”
“Hmm, alright. If there’s a problem, call me again.”
“Ah, yes yes. I trust you, I trust you. Let’s make a lot of money and get rich together.”
The call ended like that.
“Hmm, a statement?”
Originally, I was supposed to receive the statement first and then make the deposit. But he sent the money first and said he’d give the statement later?
Just in case, I checked the transfer record, and as I expected, the exact amount was deposited.
“What’s so exact about it?”
My Intelligence stat dredged up how much he could earn from the quest he completed the day before yesterday.
“He skimmed almost half?”
I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind later.
‘Well, he is doing almost half again in work, so maybe I’ll let it slide for now.’
The more money I give, the lower Park Gwangrim’s betrayal chance becomes. The problem is, his betrayal chance never falls to zero.
“Hmm, there aren’t many NPCs who work proactively and give me peace of mind like Park Gwangrim does.”
Not that there are none, but those NPCs who offer both performance and reliability often require complicated prerequisite quests.
I’m too lazy to do those quests now. Sigh.
My phone rings again.
“Ugh, why are you calling me Destruction Demon?”
It’s Yeom Geumja.
There was a brief period when he was amicable, but the moment he realized I had nothing to do with Cheon Geumdang, he reverted to this tone.
“But don’t you have other names you could call me by?”
Yeom Geumja bit back a curse as usual, then spoke slowly.
“So you’re flaunting the fact that you’re calling the Destruction Demon right now?”
“Now that the display’s over, can I hang up? I’m a bit tired.”
“What is it? As I said before, Cheon Geumdang is beyond my control.”
Actually, I do have an invite, so I could bring him along. But why should I do that troublesome favor?
Yeom Geumja repeated “please” several times, then said:
“Oh, those?”
I handed out mana-stone bombs to attack the Gourmet Expedition Corps that had taken over the Samneung area in Paju.
“I see~ Purchase?”
Yeom Geumja hadn’t used all the bombs I’d given him. He must have tried the ones he skimmed off and liked them.
“How many do you need?”
I reached out, levitated the leftover flawed mana stones.
Pagagagagagak-
At my hand’s movement, they were processed at incredible speed.
In an instant, they transformed into mana-stone bombs.
“But even if I give you these, they’re just high-performance grenades. Over in Incheon, you can buy grenades for thirty thousand won each, right?”
I’ve never provided anything to the Samduhoe. I have no idea what rumors are circulating.
“Miss, I—”
Pavababababak-
A strange noise made me glance aside.
The levitated notebook and grimoire.
Oh right, I’d left them floating. The notebook’s even writing on its own. It’s set to record my thoughts and ideas, so it’s been documenting this call.
And now it’s writing...
A schematic that popped into my mind at Yeom Geumja’s mention, unconsciously.
“Miss, one moment.”
I moved mana according to the design in my mind.
Kikigigigigi-
The mana-stone bomb’s shape changed again. Wings sprouted, and ritual formulas to amplify the explosion were added...
A completely different form of mana-stone bomb flew around me in spirals.
At the same time, complex formulas were added to the notebook.
‘With this, the effective range should exceed five hundred meters. I could even grant limited guidance.’
I could add elemental attributes or a stun function to give it a nonlethal option.
“Hmm... Miss, I need to think over the price. Can I call you back later?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. Of course.”
The call ended.
Hmm~ When Yeom Geumja’s power grows, he usually moves into the Waste Alley territory, right?
If Bong Ilcheonpa starts coming and going there, the third head of the Samduhoe, the Black King, will take offense.
And in my notebook, the following is recorded.
[The Cheongho faction and the Red Tusk faction are still fighting. The Black King is reaping the benefits from the sidelines. If left alone, the two will be devoured by the Black King. Provoking Bong Ilcheonpa to fight the Black King is not a bad strategy.]
It’s faithfully writing my thoughts.
“Right, I agree. But enough wasting paper—”
I waved my hand to clear the notebook.
Parallax-
The grimoire and notebook flew back to the bookshelf like flapping wings—
“Wait, wait. Come here.”
I pointed to and pulled one of the eight notebooks. The rest flew onto the shelf, neatly arranged.
‘I saw something strange.’
I held the notebook in midair and flipped through the pages. Yes, here it is.
[Get some sleep.]
“.......”
It’s not my handwriting.
Among other sentences appears this unfamiliar script.
Even as I stare at the notebook, new content is added in the margins. It records what I’m thinking.
[Could this be another personality writing? Wasn’t multiple personalities resolved along with the blood phobia? Get some sleep. Ugh, what is this again? Damn, I’ve come up with another one. Why did I create that without sleeping? Do I need sleep? Or is it suggesting a conversation in a dream? Come to think of it, why did I make འདྲ་གཟུགས modeled after myself without sleeping? འདྲ་གཟུགས is Tibetan for puppet, a human-formed likeness, or—]
is Tibetan for puppet, a human-shaped simulacrum, or—
“Ah, damn it!”
Clang-
I swept away the notebooks and everything else.
“Ah, my head hurts.”
The phone rings again.
What the hell? Why so many calls today?
This time it’s Tudor.
“Playing.”
Damn, I should have said I was busy.
“When did you ever look at my face?”
“Oh, you already found it? I didn’t think it would be easy.”
“No, I trusted you, so I commissioned it.”
Seocheonseul said there was another [Banquet Offering] hiding from the dog in the [Round Room]. I have an idea where it might be, but it’s not a place I can easily enter and check.
So I asked Tudor for information on that location.
I haven’t slept for twenty-three hours—almost twenty-four. But somehow, if I sleep now... I feel like I’ll have to hear something I really don’t want to.
Because of that resistance, I made my decision.
“I’ll get ready and head out immediately.”
It might be a bad decision, but...
As soon as I hung up, I waved my hand to tidy the basement.
Foodddeuk-wararararak-
Objects moved on their own, flying back to their places. I left that spectacle behind and climbed the stairs.
A quiet living room.
I sensed Heo Sanghyun’s presence coming from the kitchen.
And from the living room, someone approaching with their body bent over... Jang Hyundeok?
“Wizard, wizard.”
“Why?”
His expression was very serious. He leaned forward, glanced at the kitchen, and spoke quietly.
“Heo Sanghyun, you know.”
“Huh? Why Heo Sanghyun?”
“Shh, shh! Something seems off.”
Off?
I followed Jang Hyundeok’s gaze toward the kitchen.
Knock knock knock-
The sound of chopping. He must be cooking. I extended my perception to check Heo Sanghyun’s condition. Nothing unusual.
I even used the summon bond linked to Heo Sanghyun, but there was nothing special.
“What is it, what’s wrong?”
Jang Hyundeok is a fool, but not a normal fool.
As a powerful medium, he might be sensing something I cannot.
“It doesn’t seem to be a living person.”
“Ah—”
He must have noticed because of his medium affinity, but it’s not surprising to me.
Well, it’ll be shocking information for him.
“Do you think I’m lying?”
“No, I was just startled.”
“Gasp—Wizard didn’t know either!?”
“That’s right. I didn’t know.”
“Uh— I see. What should we do? A ghost? Maybe some spirit possessed him.”
“Hmm, I was about to head out anyway. Bring some talismans.”
“Leave without me? Take me with you!”
“Take you? When you don’t even have a carriage.”
Jang Hyundeok’s buggy still isn’t repaired.
“Just stay in the room. Didn’t I do something like this before?”
I reached out and left a glowing trail for him.
“What is this?”
“Protection talisman—? Anyway, unless you permit it, no trivial specter will be able to approach you. Is that enough?”
“No, but...”
“Just hold out in the room until I buy talismans.”
“All right.”
Jang Hyundeok trudged up the stairs to wait in that posture.
“And be careful with the stairs more than useless ghosts...”
Before I finished speaking, I heard a crash on the stairs.
“Hmm. Sanghyun?”
Heo Sanghyun walked out from the kitchen wearing an apron. He ran his hand through his completely slicked-back hair and said:
“Yes, I’ve been found out.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be easy to hide completely. You are medium-affinity after all.”
“It may be because of the medium affinity, but I think it was whispered by my aunt last night.”
Ah, I understand the situation. No wonder he spoke more foolishly than usual—it seems the specter’s influence gave him mild paranoia and suspicion.
“I can’t leave her be any longer.”
“Yes. No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find where she was hiding. Next time I find her, I’ll have to drive her out completely.”
Heo ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Sanghyun’s aunt was once a disciple of Heo Ju in this mansion. After she died, Heo Sanghyun inherited this estate.
Because of that, she has stronger power than other specters and bears considerable grudge.
“I’ve cast another protective spell on Jang Hyundeok, so he should be fine.”
“I see.”
“Actually, for now it might be better for you to watch out for Jang Hyundeok. Don’t go up to the second floor until I return.”
I cast the spell quite strongly. There could have been a mishap where Heo Sanghyun’s exorcism backfires.
“I understand.”
“Hmm, then I’ll head out now.”
“Safe travels.”
Just before stepping out the front door.
I felt a vague unease in the house—but maybe I’m just tired? I didn’t want to think about it deeply.
‘Nothing will happen.’
I slowly walked outside the mansion.
thud.
Behind me came the heavy sound of the mansion’s front door closing, as if hungry.
