Two of the three infamous black magicians who once ruled the northern part of the Empire had already been captured.
One of them was the very bastard who had once used Karon. When we found him, he was living up to his reputation, scamming people left and right. I made sure to deliver a solid flick to his forehead on Karon’s behalf.
The second one had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack on the Emperor, enraged by the crackdown on black magic. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t been caught by us—but by April. His end was miserable. Just thinking about that day made my body tremble.
That left only one.
And now, our mission was to capture the last one standing.
‘This wasn’t in the original novel.’
The original didn’t have any plotlines involving battles against black magicians. There wasn’t even a mention of external deployment.
The only combat in the novel had been against monsters, and even then, the monsters only existed to serve as power-measuring devices for the male leads.
But now, the Empire was pouring resources into wiping out black magicians.
From what the senior soldiers said, the Black Magic Investigation Unit had previously existed in name only, not actually doing anything.
Yet now, reforms were being made within the unit, and our squad had been given orders to hunt down black magicians.
With the Empire suddenly going all-in on exterminating them, black magicians, in turn, were growing more desperate to survive, stirring up more chaos.
‘What kind of mess is today’s target going to be involved in?’
One had been a scam artist, another an attempted terrorist. That left one more. What kind of crime would the last one have committed? The anticipation was almost thrilling.
“Each unit will surround the village and approach carefully. Capture the target immediately upon discovery.”
The company commander’s orders were issued, and we had no choice but to begin the operation.
In border defense operations like this, our teams were assigned in groups of two or three soldiers. Today, however, the operation required three-man teams, but since we had an extra person, one team had to be a four-man unit.
I volunteered for that four-man team.
“Hey, Patty, Matty, come on.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Patty and Matty worked best together as a pair. They were never to be separated. That left only one more slot...
“Dalin? What are you standing around for? Get over here.”
“Ha-ha... Salvia, the thing is...”
“What? Do you not want to work with me?”
“No! Of course, I absolutely admire and respect you, Salvia! It’s just... you don’t seem to be in a great mood today...”
“Get over here. Now.”
“Yes, ma’am...”
In the end, Dalin reluctantly joined the team, looking glum. With that, our search began.
As soldiers in full uniform combed through the village, the locals stared at us with wide, anxious eyes. We ignored them and continued our search. Entering houses unannounced would only lead to civilian complaints, and we’d end up getting chewed out, so we had to be cautious.
Following the guidelines we had been given, we proceeded with the questioning.
“Excuse me, but do you feel an overwhelming urge to use black magic right now?”
“...What?”
“Do you experience trembling hands, anxiety, or a sense of loss when you don’t use black magic? Would you say that black magic is your most treasured possession? Do you use black magic for more than four hours a day? Do you feel the need to use black magic even when going to the bathroom? And do you experience distress if someone forbids you from using black magic?”
“...No?”
“This one’s clean. Let’s move on.”
According to the manual, this was how we were supposed to identify black magicians.
It was, without a doubt, an utterly useless method. But orders were orders. If they told us to do it, we had no choice.
Just as we were going through these pointless interrogations, a drop of water landed on the bridge of my nose.
“...Oh.”
Looking up, I saw that the sky had filled with dark clouds. A sudden downpour was beginning.
“Rain, at a time like this?”
Of course, just because it was raining didn’t mean our mission was over. We were expected to continue, rain or shine.
‘This method isn’t going to yield any results anyway. If only we could find a good excuse to slack off somewhere.’
But unfortunately, there was no place for us to hide and waste time.
“Salvia!”
“Hm?”
Dalin called out from behind me. Turning around, I saw her standing in front of what looked like an abandoned house.
“It looks empty. How about we take shelter here?”
“Are you sure no one lives there?”
As we’d moved deeper into the village, the houses had become sparser. This place seemed to be the only building in sight. Judging by its dilapidated state, it certainly looked abandoned.
“I’ll check!”
Before I could stop her, Dalin swung the door open with enthusiasm.
‘If someone’s still living there, we’re screwed. Civilians have all the power in complaints like this.’
Unaware of my inner monologue, Dalin poked her head inside and called out confidently.
“Nobody’s home!”
“...Hmph.”
“We can take a break in here.”
The fact that Dalin had just barged in like that was a huge problem, but if the place really was abandoned, taking shelter wasn’t the worst idea. Better than standing in the rain asking useless questions.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
But before I could even finish speaking, Patty and Matty had already rushed inside after Dalin.
Those little—! Just wait till we get back.
The inside of the abandoned house was unexpectedly well-maintained. From the outside, it looked like it was on the verge of collapse, but inside, there were comfortable sofas and even a fireplace.
“...Are you absolutely sure no one lives here?”
“There aren’t any shoes, clothes, or food. No essentials at all!”
“Well... that does make it seem abandoned.”
Still, something felt off. The interior was far too well-kept compared to the outside.
Shrugging off the strange feeling, I plopped down on one of the sofas in the living room. Patty, Matty, and Dalin immediately made themselves at home, roaming around and settling in like they owned the place.
“...Screw these damn black magicians.”
If not for them, we wouldn't have been sent on this godforsaken external deployment—
Screeeeech—!
At that moment, a spine-chilling sound echoed from somewhere nearby. It was like nails dragging across a chalkboard, or perhaps a person screaming.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Yes, definitely!"
"Heard it!"
"I heard it too!"
I gestured for everyone to be quiet, and as we held still, the sound came again—this time, even clearer.
Screeeeeeech—!
“...What the hell is that?”
The eerie noise sent a shiver down my spine. My body tensed instinctively as I furrowed my brow and scanned the surroundings.
Rumble—! BOOM—!
To make things worse, thunder rumbled outside, followed by a crack of lightning. It was the perfect setting to be scared out of my mind, but strangely, the three troublemakers in front of me weren’t fazed at all.
“The sound is definitely coming from somewhere inside this house!”
Rather than being frightened, their eyes lit up with excitement as they immediately started searching for the source.
For some reason, a wave of unease settled over me.
‘Something feels wrong. Really wrong.’
Of course, if some criminal was hiding in here, I could easily take them down. Even if a monster suddenly jumped out, I could handle it.
But something about this whole situation just felt wrong.
I tried to steady myself, pushing away the anxiety and thinking rationally. Just then, Patty and Matty called out to me.
“Salvia! Over here! Look at this!”
“There’s a passageway!”
“...What?”
They were crouched down on the living room floor, pointing at something. The rug had been pulled back, revealing a dark, gaping hole in the wooden floor.
A stairway descended into an abyss of utter blackness.
“The sound must be coming from down there!”
At that moment, all I wanted to do was get the hell out of this house.
But Dalin, in her usual clueless optimism, pointed at the hole excitedly, as if she had just discovered treasure. She looked like she was about to head down without a second thought. And Patty, taking it even further, leaned toward the opening and casually called out—
“Hey, Jason? Are you in there?”
“Wait, what the hell? Why are you suddenly looking for ‘Jason’—”
And that was when I realized exactly why this situation felt so damn ominous.
“STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU CRAZY BASTARDS!!”
This—this was every horror movie cliché ever!
Yeah, thinking back, we’d been doomed from the moment we stepped into this house.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.
Taking shelter in a creepy abandoned building just because it started raining?
Finding that the interior was strangely cozy and deciding to stay?
Hearing an obviously bad noise and then choosing to investigate?
Spotting a clearly suspicious hidden passage and then volunteering to go inside?
Even casually calling out, “Jason? Jason, is that you? Quit messing around~” like an absolute moron?
This was horror movie behavior, through and through.
“STOP. NOBODY MOVE, YOU IDIOTS!”
“S-Salvia?! What’s wrong?!”
I slowly turned to look at the three fools standing in front of me.
Dalin, staring at me with wide, innocent eyes.
Patty and Matty, still giggling among themselves, completely unfazed.
‘They’re gonna die. They’re absolutely gonna die.’
If this were a horror movie, they’d be the first to go.
‘...Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a romance fantasy world?’
Then again, this world had already thrown in apocalypses and all sorts of other random genres. Who cared whether it was romance or not? Right now, the only thing that mattered was that we had just fallen into the worst horror scenario possible.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to think rationally. The smartest thing to do here would be to get the hell out.
‘But then again... what exactly is down there?’
There was no way an actual ghost was lurking in the basement. This world wasn’t some paranormal horror setting.
‘If ghosts were real, the Emperor would’ve already been cursed to death by every dead Arkon spirit out there.’
So what were the possible options?
One: A criminal. Maybe some deranged serial killer lurking down there, holding a saw.
...But honestly, if it came to a fight, I’d win. Hell, even Patty and Matty together could probably take down any normal Imperial citizen.
The second—and far more likely—possibility: A black magician.
After all, we were in the middle of a mission specifically to track one down.
If a black magician really was hiding in that basement, then the smartest move would be to go down there and capture them immediately.
Because...
“They said if we catch a black magician, we get to skip a week of border patrol duty.”
Unfortunately, this damn Border Defense Army didn’t have anything as nice as actual vacation days, but getting out of border patrol duty? That was basically half a vacation.
The moment I mentioned the potential reward, Dalin tilted her head in confusion.
“But... wouldn’t that only benefit you? We don’t even do border patrol yet...”
“...Listen, you dumbasses. If I get a break from border duty, my stress levels will go down. I’ll be less pissed off.”
“Wow!”
Suddenly, Patty, Matty, and Dalin’s eyes sparkled with excitement.