Chapter 135 - Grimoire Harem (6)

Before Yo-han confronted Pierre.

After leaving the hotel, Se-geon had originally planned to stop by a convenience store for some drinks and snacks.

'Since Yo-han's here too, maybe I should get some donuts for us to eat together?'

Now that Yo-han was here as well, Se-geon headed toward a donut shop, thinking they could all share them.

Then an unexpected sight unfolded before his eyes.

"......?"

A delicate-looking black-haired beauty in a knee-length red party dress, with a shawl draped over her shoulders, came running toward Se-geon.

"Hah! Hah!"

She was being chased by men in black suits.

Well, of course, getting caught up in a crazed wizard's ritual and becoming the owner of a grimoire bestowed by an Outer God was already surprising enough.

So was meeting Yo-han, a wizard who had entered the world of magic before him, and becoming roommates with the old Murim Practitioner Lee Mun-ryong.

But this was still a pretty unusual sight too.

Like something straight out of a movie or comic book.

'What the hell is going on?'

Of course, judging by appearances alone, the men chasing a pretty girl looked like the bad guys, but it wasn't good to jump to conclusions.

Maybe the girl was actually a criminal, and those men were undercover detectives.

Still....

Just then, the girl's shoe caught on the ground and she nearly fell.

Thump-.

"Ah!?"

Se-geon closed the distance in an instant and caught the falling girl in his arms.

Ever since forming a contract with Sylph, the air elemental,

his senses, including his hearing and sight, as well as his reflexes, had improved.

Anyway.

Realizing that he'd instinctively gotten himself involved, Se-geon sighed inwardly.

'Haa....'

...But she really could be in danger, and he couldn't simply ignore that.

Se-geon looked down at the girl staring up at him in surprise.

She had waist-length black hair and doll-like features.

"Uh... well."

Looking a little troubled, Se-geon gave her a gentle, good-natured smile.

"Do you need help?"

And the girl who had been running away from her mother's subordinates.

"Ah... well...."

She was the daughter of Chairman Kim, the cannibal wizard Yo-han had killed, and Han Se-yeong, the woman who had abandoned Se-geon.

Kim Seol-a stared blankly up at Se-geon, the man who had caught her when she nearly fell, and began to speak.

"...Thank you."

Then she suddenly snapped back to her senses.

"—!"

Seol-a pulled away from Se-geon's arm and took a step back.

"...Thank you for helping me."

She glanced over her shoulder at the men in black suits, who were hanging back for the moment and watching the situation.

"But you don't need to concern yourself with this."

Se-geon and Seol-a.

By some twist of fate, the maternal half-siblings with different fathers had met.

Or perhaps the supernatural was simply drawn to its own kind.

Screeeech-.

A glossy black limousine pulled up at the roadside beside Se-geon and Seol-a.

Click-.

The car door opened, and Se-geon's eyes widened at the chilling presence he felt from within.

"—!"

Instinctively, he summoned the grimoire <The King in Yellow> into his hand.

The limousine door opened all the way.

In one black silk-gloved hand was a book with a dark crimson cover.

Han Se-yeong, a beautiful woman dressed in black, stepped out with elegant movements.

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

Se-geon and Han Se-yeong looked at each other at the same time.

It was an inevitable meeting between two grimoire owners.

Han Se-yeong immediately smiled with her eyes.

"Sorry for startling you."

Then Han Se-yeong turned her gaze toward Seol-a and spoke in a gentle voice.

"If you didn't want to go to the party, you should've just said so. Jumping out of the car like that is dangerous."

Han Se-yeong's eyes flashed for an instant.

"...Besides, people watching might get the wrong idea."

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

Seol-a glared at Han Se-yeong for a moment, then glanced at Se-geon and spoke meekly.

"Thank you for helping me, but... this is a family matter, so I'm fine. I'm sorry for causing a misunderstanding."

At those words, Han Se-yeong smiled in satisfaction.

"Hoho~."

Seol-a gave Se-geon a slight bow, then followed Han Se-yeong into the limousine.

Vroooom-.

Se-geon stared after the departing limousine, frozen in shock.

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

Despite the years that had passed, her face was still young and beautiful.

Han Se-yeong.

It was the face of his mother, the one he'd seen in the photograph he'd secretly kept ever since she abandoned him as a child so that he would never forget her.

Inside the moving limousine.

Han Se-yeong scoffed at her daughter's brief escape attempt.

"Running off on your own just because you don't like something... You're not a child anymore."

"...That's because I didn't know you'd turned into that kind of monster too."

Seol-a crossed her arms and turned her head away, her brow furrowed.

She had always thought her mother was cold-blooded, but she'd never imagined she would go so far as to stop being human altogether.

Han Se-yeong snorted.

"Hoho~ I've obtained eternal beauty and power."

Her sharp vampire fangs showed.

Having become a Higher Vampire through Yoannis's magic, Han Se-yeong stroked the cover of the grimoire <Cultes des Goules>.

"I don't have to depend on anyone anymore."

"You just switched the person you're leeching off to a vampire named Yoannis."

Han Se-yeong's eye twitched at Seol-a's sharp retort, and her brow tightened.

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

Then Han Se-yeong rose slightly, leaned toward Seol-a, and reached out.

Snap-.

She grabbed Seol-a by the chin as the girl sat across from her with her face turned away, forcing her head back around.

Seol-a frowned and glared at Han Se-yeong.

"Ugh...!"

"I went to the trouble of giving birth to such a pretty girl. How about you just keep your mouth shut?"

Han Se-yeong looked down at her with icy eyes as she spoke.

"It's not exactly difficult."

Once she finished, Han Se-yeong released Seol-a's chin and settled comfortably back into her seat.

Seol-a turned her head and stared out the window.

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

Her monster of a father had died, and now her mother had become a monster.

'...Perfect.'

She was a monster's child through and through.

Self-mockery clouded Seol-a's eyes as she watched the scenery pass outside.

From the beginning, Han Se-yeong had treated Seol-a as little more than justification and proof for claiming Chairman Kim's fortune.

There had never been any real affection between mother and daughter.

Still, family was family, so it came as a shock.

Inside the chilly limousine.

Seol-a suddenly remembered the man she'd happened to meet earlier.

He had looked flustered and unsure of what to do, yet he'd still been kind enough to try to help her.

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

...Seol-a tightened her crossed arms, wrapping them around herself as though in an embrace.

And among the familiars Pierre had scattered across Seoul in his search for the <Shanhaijing>.

"Caw~ Caw~ Kahahaha~."

Hedley Kow, a fairy transformed into a crow, sensed the Mystery and followed the limousine as it flew overhead.

It sent a signal to the other familiars.

***

A reception hall that looked like something out of a Western movie.

Namgung Soo-ah, wearing a navy minidress that reached her knees and a white shawl over her shoulders, leaned against a wall and stared listlessly down at her fingernails.

'...I'm bored.'

"Haa...."

She exhaled and pushed herself away from the wall.

She had only come because she'd accompanied her father, Namgung Soo, in the first place. She didn't particularly like gatherings like this.

'Maybe I'll just walk around for a bit?'

Then Soo-ah noticed Kim Seol-a, a doll-like black-haired beauty sitting alone away from the crowd, just as she had been.

Their eyes met, and Seol-a looked back at Soo-ah.

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

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

...They did know each other, technically.

They weren't particularly close, but they occasionally ran into each other at social gatherings like this.

After all, they attended the same school and were even in the same class.

There were also rumors that Seol-a was the illegitimate daughter of some company chairman or something, so she was fairly well known at school.

Not that Soo-ah cared about any of that.

Anyway, their eyes had simply happened to meet.

Soo-ah and Seol-a.

Neither of them was the type to start a conversation with someone they weren't close to just because they'd run into each other at a gathering like this, so they both turned their heads away.

Soo-ah went on her way.

Into the landscaped garden outside the reception hall.

Wondering whether Yo-han had seen the message she'd sent asking if he was coming to the party,

Soo-ah took out her phone and checked, but there was still no reply.

"Tch~."

Her face naturally fell into a pout.

'If someone as fucking adorable as me texts you, you're supposed to check it right away.'

Then Yu Geom spoke from behind Soo-ah.

"Miss, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

"You scared me!"

Soo-ah turned in surprise toward Yu Geom, the woman wearing her usual serious, expressionless face.

"...How long have you been there?"

"I'm your bodyguard. I've been following you since you left the reception hall."

Yu Geom answered calmly as she took a bottle of Tylenol, stomach medicine, digestive tablets, and other basic medication from her pouch.

"I have some basic medicine with me, so if anything hurts or you start feeling unwell, please tell me at any time."

"...All right. I'm fine right now."

As Soo-ah spoke, she noticed the bag slung over one of Yu Geom's shoulders.

"Oh, can I have the bag I gave you earlier? I'll kill some time reading."

It was the bag containing the books Soo-ah had taken from Namgung Soo's study.

"Here you are."

Soo-ah took the bag from Yu Geom and moved a short distance away.

She sat down on a nearby bench and looked inside the bag.

"...Huh?"

Then she tilted her head in confusion.

There was a book inside that she hadn't put there.

It had indeed been in Namgung Soo's study.

But she hadn't been interested in it, so she hadn't put it in the bag.

Soo-ah frowned and pulled out the <Shanhaijing>.

"When did this old book get in here?"

Shanhaijing!?

And the <Shanhaijing>, offended by the impudent little wizard who had failed to recognize its true worth, floated into the air and furiously flapped its pages.

"Eh?"

Shanhaijing-!

Caught off guard by the <Shanhaijing>'s unexpected attack, Soo-ah clenched both hands into fists and swung at the book as it fluttered around and smacked her over the head.

"Aaah~ What the hell is with this crazy book!?"

Flap-flap~ Smack-smack~!

A book was moving around on its own. It was an absurdly unbelievable sight.

But after following Yo-han around and going through all sorts of things, Soo-ah didn't completely freak out.

Besides, she had a rough idea of what the book really was.

"Haa... haa...."

Shanhaijing....

Soo-ah and the <Shanhaijing> paused for a moment to catch their breath, and Soo-ah stared at the <Shanhaijing> floating in midair.

'This must be one of those weird books Mister carries around... a grimoire, right?'

...Then, while catching her breath, Soo-ah noticed a crow staring directly at her.

".........?"

The crow's eyes widened as it stared at the <Shanhaijing>.

It was the crow that had followed Han Se-yeong to the party after sensing the Mystery of the grimoire <Cultes des Goules>.

Hedley Kow, the shapeshifting fairy, burst into loud laughter upon discovering the real <Shanhaijing>.

"Caw~ Kahahaha~."

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

Soo-ah stepped backward in alarm at the creepy laughter that mimicked a crow's cry.

Hedley Kow immediately flew upward and transformed into a gigantic pair of scissors.

Clang-!

The sharp blades snapped together threateningly as it flew toward Soo-ah.

And then.

Yu Geom, who had been secretly keeping watch over Soo-ah from behind, immediately sprang forward, drew her sword, and knocked Hedley Kow away.

Clang-!

Sent flying, Hedley Kow transformed back into a crow and soared upward.

"Found it~ Found it~ I found the Shanhaijiiing!!"

It circled the mansion hosting the gathering and shouted at the top of its lungs.

The situation had erupted into chaos so suddenly that Soo-ah was confused, but she at least knew what she needed to do first.

Soo-ah immediately grabbed her phone and called Yo-han.

***

I looked at Pierre, the wizard known as the Ghost Merchant and by various other nicknames, and asked again.

"So you're saying I should team up with you and kill Yoannis?"

Pierre answered in his languid voice.

"You're hostile toward Yoannis as well, Yo-han-nim, so I don't believe it's a bad proposition."

"Really? Sounds to me like you want to use me to get rid of Yoannis."

Pierre gave an easy shrug.

"That's how deals work, isn't it? We use each other to accomplish our goals. All you have to do is use me as well, Yo-han-nim."

"I don't like how reasonable that sounds. Makes you sound like a con man."

"Haha~ How rational of you. I don't dislike reasons like that."

"I'm trying to live rationally."

Just then, my phone vibrated.

Vmmm-!

Pierre held out a hand, gesturing for me to answer it.

But Pierre's phone started ringing at the exact same time.

".........?"

Pierre and I answered our calls simultaneously.

Soo-ah's urgent voice came through my phone.

[Ah, Mister! A grimoire called the <Shanhaijing> suddenly showed up, and some crow Anomaly attacked me while shouting that it found the Shanhaijing!]

She'd spoken quickly in her panic, but she'd given me all the information I needed.

A grimoire called the <Shanhaijing> had appeared, and an Anomaly searching for it had attacked her.

Pierre's eyes widened as he listened to his call.

"You found it? Namgung Soo? That rich guy who collects occult artifacts? It's his daughter... Namgung Soo-ah?"

Pierre's eyes shifted toward Yo-han.

Pierre had investigated Namgung Soo because he could potentially become a customer for the Anomalies he sold, and he'd also run a background check on Yo-han, so he had a rough idea of the relationship between Yo-han and Namgung Soo-ah.

And when Soo-ah's name came out of Pierre's mouth, I studied Pierre in turn.

'That can't be a coincidence.'

Pierre ended his call with a smile in his eyes.

I spoke calmly to Soo-ah before hanging up.

"Run as far as you can. The guy looking for the Shanhaijing is standing right in front of me. I'll call you later."

Pierre and I stared at each other.

And then.

The wind stirred as Mage Slayer, who had been concealing any sign of a presence, went for Yo-han's throat.

The Invisible Vampire, Grizzly, threw a punch at Pierre's heart.

In less than the blink of an eye, each side calmly went for the other's life.

The city at night was the stage.

The battle had begun.

****

TL Note: With this mass release, we’ve caught up with the latest raw chapters released by the author. Since the author’s release schedule is inconsistent, I’ll post a new chapter either the same day or the next day whenever a new raw chapter is released. If there is a delay, feel free to ping me on Discord.