Chapter 117 - Wizard May Cry (3)

I quickly schooled my expression and turned off the TV with a calm face.

"Not great for kids to watch."

At the very least, it was certain that this incident was bad news for me.

Nom nom~.

I finished the rest of my meal as fast as I could without giving myself indigestion, cleared my plate, and went into my room.

And, call it good timing?

Bzzzz~!

My phone buzzed with a call from 'Shin Si-on'.

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

An incident resembling the ○○ University case, and now a call from the Special Operations Division.

I froze for a split second... but in this situation, it would have been stranger not to get a call.

Besides, dodging the phone could invite needless suspicion.

And I needed information on the case too.

I pressed the call button and spoke.

"It's me."

Si-on's voice came through, calm but quick.

[Yo-han, I know this is rude, but given the situation, I'll ask you point-blank.]

There was no point dragging things out, so I answered point-blank before Si-on could even ask.

"I saw the news. I don't know if the Special Operations Division will believe it, but it wasn't me."

[Yes, that's what I believe as well. It's just....]

Si-on spoke carefully.

[Um... Yo-han, there's also the possibility that your Familiar, the Invisible Vampire, snuck out and ate someone.]

My eyes slid sideways.

"...Hold on."

I pulled the phone away from my ear for a moment and looked at Grizzly, curled up in the corner of the room.

"Grizzly, did you sneak outside and have a person... snack while I wasn't looking?"

"Gyaa?"

Grizzly tilted its head, then shook it side to side.

"Gya-gya-gya~."

I patted Grizzly's head, then put the phone back to my ear and gave Si-on my confirmation.

"It says no."

[I-I see....]

With that confirmed, Si-on said in a calm voice.

[Then, Yo-han, I'm heading your way. Please grab only the equipment you need and get out of the Cathedral quickly.]

And with that, the call ended.

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

I turned things over in my head for a moment.

...What if this was a trap by the Special Operations Division?

What if they had already pegged me as the culprit, or as their prime suspect, and planned to strike the moment I stepped out of the Cathedral?

My eyes narrowed.

Then I quickly changed clothes, threw on my coat, and gathered my magic tools.

I trusted Si-on.

Not for emotional reasons, of course.

Whether it was an act or genuine, only Si-on would ever truly know....

But just as Si-on believed I wouldn't have committed such a pointless string of murders in the current situation, I likewise believed she wouldn't be hatching some irrational plan to lure me into a trap and kill me right now.

I trusted the actions Si-on had shown me.

The Special Operations Division wanted this case solved, and so did I. Our goals were the same.

The alliance might have been stained with a touch of suspicion, but it still held.

'Still, if it did turn out to be a trap, well....'

Then I'd kill and run, whatever it took to survive.

Trusting someone didn't mean not doubting them. Doubt was insurance, a way to minimize the risk that came with trust.

It might go without saying, but at the end of the day, the only one truly on my side was me.

Which was exactly why I liked myself.

In any case, I gathered the tools I needed and stepped outside the Cathedral.

As if it had been lying in wait.

Vroom- screeech-!

A sleek yet unassuming black sedan drifted roughly to a stop right in front of me.

My eyes went wide reflexively at the unexpected sight.

".........!"

The passenger door swung open at once.

Clunk-.

From the driver's seat, Si-on looked me dead in the eye and shouted urgently, in that characteristically calm voice of hers.

"Yo-han, I'll explain the details on the way. Please, get in."

My eyes narrowed instantly.

"—!"

'A car drifting to a stylish stop right in front of me.'

'Details on the way.'

Granted, from the moment I'd walked out of the Cathedral, I had already planned to follow Si-on's lead for now....

But this was also, personally speaking, a ride I wanted to take!

I climbed in without hesitation, shut the door, and shouted with gusto, without even knowing where we were headed.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!"

Si-on hit the gas without hesitation either.

Vroom-!

The engine's roar and recoil thrummed through the car as the black sedan shot forward.

I glanced in the rearview mirror.

Special Operations Division agents had come running, too late, staring dumbfounded at Si-on's receding car.

Judging by their reactions, this had been an impulsive move on Si-on's part.

I buckled my seatbelt and said.

"This is fun, like something out of an action movie. But what's going on?"

"With this incident, the Bureau's upper ranks started debating what to do with you."

Fortunately, the Special Operations Division didn't seem interested in a car chase, and Si-on answered as she merged onto the main road and settled into a safe speed.

"There was talk of placing you under temporary custody and having Special Operations Division personnel keep you under surveillance...."

Si-on furrowed her brow and let out a small sigh.

"...So I made the first move."

At the unexpected answer, I stared at Si-on's profile as she drove, my mouth falling slightly open.

Si-on continued, as if making excuses.

"You're my responsibility to begin with, and obviously, I'm Special Operations Division too. If I take you along to assist with the investigation, we're still traveling together, so nominally it counts as surveillance. There shouldn't be a problem."

"Well~ sure, it sounds plausible on paper. Does the Bureau Director know about this?"

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

Si-on kept her eyes fixed straight ahead as she drove, gripping the steering wheel tight.

"...As I said earlier, act first, report later."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha! That's good. I like it."

Of course, it wasn't as if Si-on had acted without a safety net.

The organization the Special Operations Division belonged to.

The Director of the Bureau for Abnormal Phenomena Countermeasures, Shin Do-ryong, was Shin Si-on's dad.

Normally she valued the rules and didn't care for this sort of thing.

But when the situation demanded it, she'd decided to lean on parental power.

Well, not bad.

In an emergency, it was best to play whatever cards were available.

And in the end, it worked out in my favor.

I stole a glance at Si-on's profile as she drove.

Black hair tied up neatly, a cute face with the calm, seemingly brusque look of a classic beauty.

Back when I was hiding the fact that I was the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis>, Si-on had been the biggest threat.

Now that we both knew everything we needed to know about each other, she was my greatest ally within the Special Operations Division.

There was something ironic about it, and a faint smile crossed my face.

"What a corrupt civil servant. I wish my dad were a Director too."

"...Please don't tease me too much."

"Haha, sorry. Thank you."

I said quietly.

"You really helped me out."

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

Si-on kept her eyes forward, focused on driving, but a faint blush crept over her pale face.

At any rate, thanks to Si-on's mediation... or rather, her barging in, the immediate risk of butting heads with the Special Operations Division over my custody was gone.

"Mind if I recline the seat?"

"Oh, yes. Go ahead."

I leaned back comfortably and said.

"So we're heading to the crime scene now?"

"That's right. If we find or catch the culprit behind the Invisible Murder Case, the upper ranks' suspicions about you will clear as well."

Vroom-.

The black sedan pressed on toward its destination.

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

Si-on's eyes narrowed as she drove.

Making the first move while the internal meeting was still underway and safely joining up with Yo-han was all well and good.

'But why would Great-Aunt... pass me the information that the upper ranks might try to detain Yo-han?'

That's right, the reason Si-on had been able to move a step ahead was that Shin Se-hee, the great elder of the Shin Clan and Si-on's great-aunt, had given her the information.

But as far as Si-on could tell, there was no connection whatsoever between Shin Se-hee and Yo-han.

'...Why would she care about Yo-han?'

Solving the Invisible Murder Case came first, of course.

But this, too, weighed plenty on Si-on's mind.

***

Director Shin Do-ryong's office at the Bureau for Abnormal Phenomena Countermeasures.

A beautiful woman with a graceful, dignified air, looking younger than her actual age thanks to her Breathing Technique.

Shin Se-hee, the great elder of the Shin Clan of Exorcists, read the message on her phone from a clan member saying that Si-on had joined up with Yo-han.

"Whew...."

She let out a small sigh.

Nothing had been decided yet regarding Yo-han's treatment, but she couldn't carelessly let that child fall into danger.

'That child', of course, meant Yo-han.

Of course, Shin Se-hee had no reason whatsoever to feel any fondness for Yo-han, and yet....

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

Shin Se-hee quietly turned her head and studied Shin Do-ryong, who was placidly sipping his tea.

If it was nothing more than a resemblance... then she'd simply made a fool of herself, and that would be that....

But having grown up alongside Shin Do-ryong, having raised him herself since he was small, when she looked at Yo-han... how to put it? It nagged at her.

And Shin Do-ryong, catching Shin Se-hee stealing glances at him, narrowed his eyes.

'Seems like she's up to some nonsense again?'

Shin Do-ryong thought back to the past.

When Shin Do-ryong was eighteen and Shin Se-hee was twenty-four.

Some girl had confessed to him, and having no reason to refuse, he'd dated her casually.

Shin Se-hee had immediately called the girl over, handed her money, and made her break it off.

"Our family is not one you can endure with an ordinary mindset. Are you prepared to stand by Do-ryong even when your life is threatened? If not, take this and break up with him."

Since it had only been a casual fling, the girl had, naturally, taken the money and skipped off happily.

The problem was that the rumor spread like wildfire through the school he'd briefly been attending undercover for a monster-extermination job.

"Hey! If you date Do-ryong from the class next door, his aunt pays you money!"

"What? Fuck! Where's my boyfriend right now!"

It wasn't like they were some Scythian horse tribe that kidnapped men, but he'd been bombarded with confession attacks in a whole different sense.