Chapter 181: Different Species, But
Ramin Solost Muel had seen Garudas a few times before.
The age of exploration was that kind of time. In the past, if one thought they couldn't make a name for themselves in their homeland and had given up in frustration, there was always a chance to become famous in this land of opportunity. Even if it wasn’t for killing monsters during exploration or discovering ancient ruins, if one established a reclaimed land, made a bond with an unfamiliar tribe, cultivated rare plants, or even succeeded in digging wells, they would be considered heroes. Ramin was no different.
Garudas were tall and quick, so they were a good species to gain fame as adventurers. Ramin had also witnessed Garudas retiring and returning to their homeland or settling down in this place. Regardless of species, young Garudas were considered almost universally attractive—Well, Frogmen and Deep Ones often found them threatening for some reason. Elderly Garudas, on the other hand, were a different story. It was sad to see their feathers fallen off, their visible wrinkles, and the tips of their beaks broken. Although they lived longer than smaller species, they didn't live exceptionally long lives compared to Humans.
‘But this legendary Wizard...seems to have even deceived time.’
Certainly, this Wizard hadn’t maintained his youthful appearance. If he had, Ramin would have thought this Garuda was a Vampire. His once dark brown feathers had now turned a pale gray. However, his neck feathers swelled larger than ever, and the gray feathers on his eyebrows and under their eyes contrasted close to white. His beak remained black. He was tall even for a Garuda, as he was two meters and forty centimeters, and due to his broad shoulders, he could stand his ground even if he was to face a Troll.
“Let’s save our greetings for later. I should deal with those pests.”
“Yes, sir.”
This Wizard was one of Night Sky’s priests and third apostle of the Pantheon, and was also known as the Extraordinary One, the Great Wizard, and Staff of the Returner. Although the Garudas hadn't completely broken their curse of not being able to fly, Mazdari had overcome it to some extent. After building the Wizard Tower, Mazdari had gathered ancient knowledge from across the continent and taught future Wizards. And because he used that ancient knowledge to actively fulfill Night Sky’s will, he instilled terror in all his enemies.
But Mazdari also had a bad reputation. According to rumors, in Danly, he was called the Feathered Nightmare, and although he had little to do with Crows, he was also known as the Corpse Crow. Just as crows would perch on branches and wait before a battle, battlefields where Mazdari was seen became terrifying for the enemy.
Mazdari slightly nodded, accepted Gorgota Falu's salute, and then stared at Ramin. Ramin was taken aback.
‘Huh? Does he know me?’
However, Mazdari closed his mouth and walked past Ramin without a word.
Mazdari then said to Gorgota, “Agent.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mazdari began to draw something on the ground with his staff.
"Do you know everyone in the intelligence agency?"
"Yes, I do."
"Could you recognize them from a distance by their silhouettes?"
"Well..."
"I hope you can. Fortunately, this isn’t too difficult."
After completing his drawing of a magic circle, Mazdari tapped the center of it with his staff. Then the magic circle divided into quadrants, rose into the air, and glowed red. In an instant, all the noises, gunshots, screams inside and around the intelligence agency building as well as the voices buried in between vanished.
Ramin was bewildered.
‘Did he just block out all the sounds?’
Gorgota looked down from the rooftop and said, “There is no one there. What just happened?”
Mazdari pointed to the sky.
"Don’t look down, look up, agent. Check if there are any members from the intelligence agency. Right now, except for you two and me, everyone in this immediate area has been teleported one kilometer up."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, everyone."
Gorgota and Ramin looked up at the sky.
The sound of screams began to ring. At first, they thought it was the stars moving, but it was actually people falling.
Mazdari said, "Those wearing masks and black clothes would be the Danly agents. I'll catch the rest, but if I miss anyone, point them out with your finger and let me know."
"...Yes, sir! I understand."
Mazdari scanned the sky and reached out into the empty space. Then, those who weren't wearing masks and black clothes—the intelligence agency personnel—floated like falling leaves and slowly began to descend, while the Fang agents slammed to the ground.
Crack!
Several screams became closer before stopping abruptly with the sound of bones breaking. In between, Gorgota pointed out the ones Mazdari had missed with their finger. About fifty Fang agents flattened when they fell to the ground, and the area fell silent again.
Then the intelligence members, who had become weightless and were swaying back and forth, landed safely on the ground. A crowd gathered and chatted while looking at the rooftop, and as Mazdari raised and lowered his hand, Ramin belatedly realized that those people had saluted to Mazdari. Then they scattered and began pointing at the fallen bodies on the ground or helping the injured.
Ramin observed her surroundings.
Some of the Fang agents had fallen onto the rooftop, splattering the floor with patches of dark red and littered it with dead bodies.
Then Mazdari explained as if making excuses, "Killing each one individually would take too long, and others might suffer during that time. It’s not like I could just erase all of them, so I sorted them out for easier classification. Fortunately, it seems to have worked out well… Oh, agent."
"Yes?"
"Did you think it would have been a good idea to leave some for interrogation? With my magic, I could temporarily bring the dead back to life to make them speak."
Gorgota shook their head.
“No, Honorable Apostle. According to our information, most Fang agents in Vaseniol are of low rank. None of them would have a direct connection to the mission director.”
"Well, that's probably true."
Since Gorgota, who was an agent of the intelligence agency, knew that Mazdari was needed on the eastern front, Fang would likely have thought the same and never considered a scenario where Mazdari suddenly showed up.
‘So they probably thought that inferior agents would be enough.’
The evidence of this was that none of the Fang agents had survived. None of them were equipped with magic blocker that could block specific types of magic once or twice; they would have possessed one if they were senior agents even though it was expensive.
Considering the relationship between the apostles and the intelligence agency, the surrounding situation would fall under Mazdari's control once he gave the words. The intelligence agency received orders from the emperor, and the emperor sought to follow the will of the gods. Of course, the gods made their intentions clear for small matters, but they remained silent about the big picture.
On the other hand, the apostles could communicate directly with the gods. While they also refrained from discussing the big picture, they could give direct orders to the emperor and intelligence agency. From the intelligence agency's perspective, this was more comfortable than waiting for the revelation of a high priest of the Pantheon.
However, contrary to Gorgota's thoughts, Mazdari walked in the opposite direction instead of going down to meet with the intelligence agency's officials.
Ramin was puzzled as Mazdari approached her.
“Um, what’s going on?"
"You look alike."
"Pardon? With whom?"
Mazdari was about to say something, but instead closed his beak and made a clack.
"Never mind." Mazdari said, "Both of you, come to the western gate at dawn."
Gorgota asked, "Both of us?"
"Yes. You, you were a soldier, right? Didn’t you fight on the eastern front?"
"How did you know?"
“Haven’t we met before?"
Gorgota then replied as if that was unexpected to hear, “Yes, that's right. When our unit was stranded on the island, you came to us, Honorable Apostle. I thought you might not remember since you just passed by."
"You seemed quite skilled with a gun and have good eyesight. Thanks to that, I was able to spare those I shouldn't have killed today. I probably would’ve missed at least two."
"...I’m honored."
"I need a capable agent."
"I'll do as you wish."
Ramin then said, “Wait. I have to go to school though.”
"Do what you need to do."
"What do you mean by that? There are only a few hours left until sunrise."
"I have to go to the Wizard Tower right now."
"Hey!"
Gorgota wanted to admonish her for her rudeness, but upon more consideration, he realized that Ramin was roughly the same age as Mazdari. Suddenly, Gorgota was hit with a bewildering feeling.
Mazdari ignored Ramin as if she was annoying him and walked toward the railing.
"Excuse me? I've been living a good life, you know?"
Mazdari turned around on the railing and looked at Gorgota.
Then he pointed at Ramin and said, "Agent, you are responsible for bringing her there. She’s the reason we’re setting out on this trip."
Gorgota then made a sharp salute.
“Yes, sir!”
Ramin looked back and forth between the two of them with an incredulous expression.
As Mazdari leaped into the sky and flew away, even that became challenging.
***
Many things had happened by dawn.
Since Mazdari left without any follow-up, Gorgota had to explain what kind of magic Mazdari had used and what commands needed to be given. And in the early hours, to deal with matters of Ramin taking time off school and the travel procedures for Vampires that were set by the Parallel Nation, both of them had to visit the homes of professors, university staff, and assessment officials of the Parallel Nation, waking them up one by one to give them intelligence agency notebooks. After finishing all that, the sun was beginning to rise.
Then the two of them hurriedly got into a car and headed to the western gate. Gorgota hoped that nothing like this would happen, but Mazdari was already waiting at the gate. There was also another person next to Mazdari, but their hood covered their face.
As the car came to a stop, Mazdari said, "You're late."
"We apologize."
"It doesn't matter. You brought the car, which is good. Drive us to the airport."
"Pardon?"
With that, Mazdari and the other person got into the backseat of the car. Gorgota seemed taken aback, but started driving right away. The arcane-powered vehicle began to move slowly.
"Are we getting on an airship?"
"Yes."
"...It's not a secret we can’t know about until the end, is it?"
Mazdari replied, "I planned to explain after boarding the airship, but I guess it doesn't matter. We're going to the western continent."
"Pardon?"
Here, ‘Western continent’ typically referred to Orazen, and the name had become widely accepted due to the southern continent. To the players, however, the western continent typically referred to the continent dominated by Danly, which was the second continent.
"Then we'll head north and take a ship to the mainland..."
"No. We're going south."
"...South?"
"You should know that this land is round, right? If we head south from the southern continent, we'll eventually reach the northern part of the western continent."
"Ah, I do know that, but...isn’t there a problem?"
"What problem are you talking about?"
When Gorgota hesitated, Ramin interrupted and said, "We have to cross the frontlines!"
"That’s right. We're crossing the battlefield."
"What do you mean by..."
Mazdari furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm not sure what you're trying to say. It's the shortest route. The whole empire is a battlefield on all sides anyway. No matter where we go, we’ll have to cross a battlefield."
"No, before that, why do I have to go to Danly?"
Mazdari's companion, who had remained silent until now, said, "Noonim[1]."
"...Noonim?"
"We're going to meet Hwee-Kyung. She's my ancestor, and she would be your parent."
Ramin then asked one of the three questions she was most confused about, “Hold on, why am I your noonim?”
Mazdari's companion removed their hood, revealing a young Human man. However, what stood out about him were the antlers above his forehead.
"My name is Hwee Juran Muel. Since we share a name, aren't we family?"
1. Noonim is a term in Korean used by males to call or refer to females older than themselves ☜
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