Chapter 111 - Ghostbuster 2 (1)

Yoannis's Alchemy Workshop, equipped with intricate glass tubes, flasks, distillers, and a massive furnace.

Mia trailed behind Yoannis, speaking carefully.

"Master, there was a large-scale Mana reaction. What should we do?"

"Just as I expected, some fool must have caused trouble using the supernatural power of the Wild Hunt."

Yoannis brushed it off like it was nothing.

"I couldn't care less... The Special Operations Division and beings like Raziel have probably already gone to deal with it. I have no desire to get involved."

"...Was it really alright to bring that woman, Han Se-yeong, in as an ally?"

At Mia's follow-up question, Yoannis smiled gently.

"More of a business relationship than an alliance."

He opened the furnace door and pulled out the counterfeit gold he had finished crafting through Alchemy.

"Compositionally, it's indistinguishable from real gold, but demons can tell it's alchemical fake gold and lowball the price. If I want to turn a profit, I need connections who can safely convert this into cash."

Yoannis shrugged as he spoke.

"Originally I was going to leave that to Chairman Kim, but since he went and died, what can we do."

Mia gazed down at the gleaming gold bars.

The Vatican's wizard hunter.

The reason Yoannis had been able to build a massive vampire clan in America even after his organization was annihilated by Priest John.

It wasn't merely his own combat prowess. It was because he was a true Alchemist, one who could create gold.

Well, to Yoannis, the gold was nothing more than a byproduct of his magic.

Yoannis picked up a gold bar and stared down at it.

".........."

The reason alchemists obsessed over gold was not simply because it was a precious and expensive metal.

It was because gold was immutable. A metal that did not change.

The true goal of alchemists was immortality.

To transcend imperfect humanity and become a perfect god.

According to a certain famous manga about Alchemy, there was a saying that Alchemy followed the law of equivalent exchange.

But in the occult, Alchemy was no such fair discipline.

What was fair about turning iron into gold?

How could it be equivalent exchange for a mortal human, born to die, to defy death and pursue immortality?

The wizard's method of becoming a vampire had itself been a byproduct born from the research into immortality.

And so, while these days the nickname "gay Nazi vampire" was more widely known,

the wizards who knew Yoannis compared him to vitriol, the symbol of the alchemist that dissolved all manner of metals.

They called him the Alchemist of Constantinople, the Green Lion That Devours the Sun.

***

Late at night. Shin Do-ryong's private residence.

Shin Do-ryong had given Si-on time off, telling her to stop by the family home for once and have dinner together since she had resolved several Anomaly cases in a row. In name, it was a family meal. In truth, it was an order to rest.

But then an unusual Mana reaction was detected and Special Operations Division agents were dispatched to the theater. Si-on hadn't been called in since she was on leave, but

she got ready to go out anyway, intending to head to the Special Operations Division office and at least help organize the field reports, even if she was late.

And from behind Si-on came a gentle woman's voice.

"Leaving already?"

Si-on turned around.

A woman with long black hair and a calm, pretty face was gazing at her warmly.

On Si-on's fifth birthday,

she had made a childish wish for a kind mother and a cute little sister. In response, Shin Do-ryong had suddenly brought home a new wife: Lee Seo-yun.

"Yes, something came up."

"I see. Ri-a will be disappointed when she finds out. She was so excited to play with her unnie after such a long time."

Shin Ri-a, Si-on's half-sister, five years her junior. She took after Lee Seo-yun with a mature, composed appearance beyond her years,

but her personality was bright and affectionate. She adored Si-on, always acting cute and clinging to her.

She had grown taller than Si-on at some point, but she was still a cute little sister.

Si-on smiled faintly.

"I'll contact her separately, but please tell Ri-a I'm sorry when she wakes up."

"Hehe, alright. Be careful out there."

Lee Seo-yun saw Si-on off warmly.

This was unmistakably genuine.

Even if the girl was the daughter of the woman who had appeared out of nowhere and stolen the man she loved, the concern was real.

After all, she was the beloved daughter of the man Lee Seo-yun loved: Shin Do-ryong.

".........."

...And one must live life with a positive outlook.

In the end, the one at Shin Do-ryong's side now was herself.

***

Morning at Ellie's Church.

I sat on the sofa in a daze, eating salad and toast.

Munch, munch....

That was when a kid who looked about six years old came over and held out a jar of strawberry jam.

Her name was Min-hee, if I remembered right.

"Pancake mister...."

"You want me to open it?"

I twisted open the strawberry jam lid and handed it back. The kid beamed and scampered off.

"Hehe~ Thank you, strawberry jam mister."

One thing I'd learned from living here: watch what you say.

I didn't want to carelessly drop a swear word and end up being called "shit mister".

Meanwhile, Soo-ah was eating toast beside me, staring at me pointedly.

"You're surprisingly good with kids, mister. Do you like children?"

"I don't particularly like them, and I don't dislike them either. I grew up in an orphanage, so I'm just used to being around kids."

"Ohhh, you're from an orphanage. That must've been tough."

"Not really. You've gotta live life with a positive outlook. There are perks to being an orphan, you know. They say orphans never get cavities."

Soo-ah blinked.

"What does that mean?"

"Cavity-causing bacteria are usually transmitted mouth-to-mouth. Orphans never get kissed, so they don't catch it. It's just a joke, obviously."

I laughed lightly.

I glanced over at the girls clinging to Ellie while they ate.

"Plus, the kids here don't act out or anything. They're all well-behaved. Easy to be around."

Ellie's foster mother and the head nun of the church... Sister Sophia, was it?

Considering this was a church directly under the Vatican,

it was possible Sister Sophia had handpicked only the children she deemed suitable to raise as nuns.

Anyway, I'd finished eating, so I headed back to my room.

Last night, I'd managed to recruit the owner of <The King in Yellow> as a potential trump card, which was good.

But the ten million won I'd given Lee Mun-ryong to cover Se-geon's living expenses and training costs stung.

...And I turned to look at Soo-ah, who had naturally followed me in.

"Why are you coming in?"

"No reason. Why? Are you busy?"

"Well... I'm about to find out."

I turned on my laptop and checked my email.

".........."

"...You haven't gotten a single job."

Soo-ah's voice came from behind me, where she'd been reading over my shoulder.

Right. Not a single Ghostbuster job had come in.

Money was going out, but nothing was coming in.

Then Soo-ah looked at me and said,

"Mister, if you need money, want to try investing in stocks with me?"

"What?"

I stared at Soo-ah in disbelief.

"Out of nowhere? Do you even know how to trade stocks?"

"Mister, I may not look it, but I'm Namgung Soo-ah. I've been around this stuff since I was little."

That was... actually a fair point.

If you were just looking at character select screens,

'Kim Yo-han: a young man who knows magic but nothing about stocks.'

'Namgung Soo-ah: a self-proclaimed adorably cute high school girl from a chaebol family.'

Anyone would bet on Soo-ah being better at stocks.

"I'm tired of just getting an allowance from my dad too... so I figured I'd try making some money."

I listened to Soo-ah while looking at the stock charts.

Well, normally I wouldn't bother, but maybe I'd give it a shot?

I invested everything except Grizzly's food budget and the Gnomes' snack fund.

Soo-ah's eyes flashed- bright with excitement.

"This is the one!"

She picked a chart without hesitation and bought in.

"Buy when it drops! Sell when it rises! That's the basics of stocks!"

A few moments later~.

And a short while after that.

Soo-ah and I stood in the church garden in the cold winter wind, staring down at the fountain.

Watching the water trickle by was more soothing than I'd expected.

"Haah...."

Soo-ah quietly reached over and took hold of my hand with her fingertips.

Squeeze....

"Mister... when my allowance comes in next month, I'll pay back your investment."

I wasn't sure whether to be glad or feel pathetic that my entire investment could be covered by a chaebol heiress's allowance, but.

"Forget it. We invested together."

I took her hand in return.

"Let's just... agree to stay away from stocks for a while."

"...Yeah."

Well, if this had been money I'd earned through a month of hard labor, I'd obviously be crying tears of blood, but....

Of course, it wasn't like I hadn't worked hard for it, but since I'd earned it all at once from Anomaly extermination jobs, the shock wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Or maybe becoming a wizard had shifted my perspective on material wealth to something like: as long as it keeps life comfortable, that's enough.

In any case, for the time being, I needed to buckle down and focus on honest Exorcist work.

And at that same moment, in Elsea's hotel room.

Click~ click~

Elsea was buying and selling stocks as Raziel directed, beaming happily.

"Raziel-nim! Stocks are amazing! Every time I click the mouse, the money multiplies!"

[Elsea, let's stop here for today. It's fine to ride the current and take some profit, but one must never use the power of foresight to control the current itself.]

Anyway.

Having come back inside from the cold, Soo-ah and I were just sitting there zoning out when

Ellie came over and spoke to us.

"Soo-ah, Yo-han-ssi, Min-hee's been begging to go run an errand, so I'm going to let her. Could you two follow behind and make sure she gets back safely?"

I had nothing else to do, and as someone mooching off their hospitality, I had no reason to refuse.

So we walked along, trailing behind Min-hee as she toddled back from buying what she'd been sent for.

Soo-ah pointed at something.

"Mister, look over there!"

It was a shop selling deep-fried ice cream.

Deep-fried ice cream? What kind of combination was that? But... both things were delicious on their own, so it probably tasted fine.

"I'm a little hungry. Let's buy some."

"I don't have any money."

"Me neither. But she does."

Soo-ah's eyes slid meaningfully toward Min-hee.

A moment later.

"Waaaaah~ give it baaack!"

"Who said I'm not giving it back? I'll use it and return it!"

Soo-ah had snatched the snack fund card Ellie had given Min-hee and held it up high.

"Waaah~ Strawberry jam mister! Help meee!"

"That's how it is. I'll buy you some too."

"Waaah!"

The deep-fried ice cream we ended up buying tasted exactly how you'd imagine.

Vanilla ice cream coated in batter and flash-fried.

Crispy shell with ice cream melting into cool cream inside. Perfectly decent.

Of course, I'd only bought it out of curiosity.

It was definitely not healthy, so I wasn't going to make a habit of it.

Munch munch~!

Min-hee's face broke into a huge grin when we put the deep-fried ice cream in her hands, and she ate it happily.

Soo-ah ate hers and said,

"We went ahead and ate, but... is this going to be okay?"

I gave a light shrug.

"We blew through the snack fund. Who are a bunch of orphans going to tell on us to? Their parents?"

Our eyes met, and we both burst out laughing at the same time.

"Pffahahahahaha~."

And naturally, Min-hee told on us to Ellie.

"You can't just take the kids' snack money and spend it on yourselves!"

Ellie scolded us with a face that said 'Even someone as gentle as me is angry!' Soo-ah and I knelt on the floor with cardboard signs around our necks that Ellie had made, reading [We embezzled the snack fund], getting lectured.

Then my phone rang.

"Oh, Yo-han-ssi, go ahead and answer that."

"Thanks."

I pulled out my phone and checked who was calling. My eyes narrowed.

[Rich Painter Smith]

The painter who had given me my first Exorcist job, and who had essentially made me the business card that got me known as the Ghostbuster.

It was a call from Smith.

'What does he want? ...There shouldn't be any reason for him to be calling.'

"Sorry, it's a work call."

"That's fine."

Ellie took back the cardboard sign from around my neck, and as I stood up,

Soo-ah's eyes shot wide open as she cried out.

"This is so unfair! We ate together! Why am I the only one getting punished!"

"That's not it."

I looked down at Soo-ah and said,

"I'm going to go earn back the snack money I embezzled. So you need to serve my share of the punishment."

"Hmm~ that actually makes sense."

Soo-ah stroked her chin and said,

"Okay. Go make lots of money."

"Sure."

I went into my room and answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Kim Yo-han. Smith...."

[Y-Yo-han-ssi....]

An unexpected girl's voice came through.

[...Please help me.]

It was the voice of the blonde girl who had once been possessed by the Boogeyman.

Smith's granddaughter, Emily.