Chapter 60 - The Great One (4)

After finishing her sushi, Namgung Soo-ah left.

I got on the computer and went to Mephisto Market.

I purchased appropriately sized metal circular plates needed to make metal Pentacles.

It was obvious when I thought about it, but unfortunately,

the Pentacles I'd made inside the Dating Sim anomaly world had all vanished when I came out, so I had to make them again.

For now it was Saturday-only, but it was currently my sole wide-area destruction beam. The closest thing I had to real magic.

The Second Pentacle of Saturn was essential.

...Next would be that one.

I picked up <The Lesser Key of Solomon>.

Whoosh.

The book fell open to the page with the spell I'd been eyeing before.

The Sixth Pentacle of Mars.

The spell's effect was a truly rare defensive-type magic that, once placed, protected the caster from fatal wounds.

Since this one also naturally required planetary power, I'd need to use it on a Tuesday.

Apparently, once cast, it stayed active until the spell was broken.

The catch was that I'd have to keep the Pentacle of Mars on me at all times.

And there was no way to know exactly how well it would block attacks aimed at my body.

Still, it had to be better than taking hits completely unprotected.

For a wizard... well, this was probably true for anyone, but

surprise attacks were dangerous, so defensive magic to protect the body was a must.

...With that, my review of needed supplies and spells was done.

I opened <De Vermis Mysteriis> and read.

It would probably fizzle out, but...

Still, since I'd agreed to tutor her in magic, I needed to study what I'd be teaching. Well, it was what I always did anyway.

Of course, anything related to outer gods or pagan systems was off the table; I was only looking at safe Catholic-lineage spells.

"Hmm..."

The basics first, things that were essential and safe.

...More precisely, things that wouldn't cause accidents.

Getting caught up in something and having someone get hurt, or having to clean up the mess afterward, was the last thing I wanted.

And I needed to be able to put her to work.

Making Holy Water and magical incense was a must.

I figured I could pick a few of the everyday spells from <De Vermis Mysteriis> and teach those.

Things like how to make health socks.

Magical item: health socks. Wear them and your legs get less tired even after long walks.

I moved my pen.

Scratch, scratch.

I reviewed the basics I'd teach Soo-ah and organized them in my notebook.

But what Yo-han didn't realize was this:

It was only knowledge of the wizarding world that he lacked.

Yo-han was already a wizard of considerable skill.

Hummm...

The words written with purpose etched faint traces of mana into what had been an empty, ordinary notebook.

***

One of those who sought the grimoire <De Vermis Mysteriis>.

A white-haired, composed-looking middle-aged man.

Namgung Soo furrowed his brow ever so slightly as he read the prepared documents while listening to his secretary's report.

The contents detailed information that someone had placed a bounty on the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis>.

Estimated location: Seoul, South Korea.

A wanted poster utterly barren of information, containing nothing beyond the fact that <De Vermis Mysteriis> had a new owner and a three-billion-won bounty.

The attitude was practically telling people to go find the treasure buried in the sand themselves.

...And a three-billion-won bounty.

A large sum, but given how insufficient the information was, it was an awkward amount, not quite enough to attract the interest of any wizard of repute.

Was the one who spread this information planning to gather a suitable collection of mercenaries and wizards, using them as hunting dogs to track down and exhaust the grimoire's owner?

Namgung Soo murmured quietly.

"...This is not good."

For Namgung Soo, who was after the Time Reversal Technique contained in <De Vermis Mysteriis>, this kind of information leak was unwelcome.

Namgung Soo's objective was solely the magic within <De Vermis Mysteriis>, not <De Vermis Mysteriis> itself.

For that reason, his plan was first to locate the grimoire's owner and negotiate a deal.

Of course, since it was magic he absolutely had to obtain...

If negotiations fell through, he would seize the grimoire by force.

Even if it wrecked his body, he was prepared to forcibly cast the spell.

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

As Namgung Soo remained silent, the secretary continued the report.

"For now, we've used the mercenaries in our employ to shape public opinion that the information is false. The mercenaries themselves were already skeptical of it to begin with."

"Well done."

Namgung Soo nodded, and the secretary spoke carefully.

"Chairman Kim's side has invited Miss Soo-ah to a dinner gathering. What should we do?"

"...No need to worry about it."

He didn't know the exact nature of the event, but,

"According to Special Operations Division intelligence, an investigation into Chairman Kim has begun."

He knew it was no proper dinner gathering, and that the gathering itself would become a noose around Chairman Kim's own neck.

"The reason he tried to invite Soo-ah this time is to pull her in, hoping to use my help to delay the investigation.

If Director Shin Do-ryong of the Bureau for Abnormal Phenomena Countermeasures has made his move, then Chairman Kim is finished. There's nothing to worry about."

Namgung Soo turned his head and gazed at an old family photograph.

He looked at his dead wife's face.

"...What matters now is finding the whereabouts of <De Vermis Mysteriis>. Focus more effort on that."

His weary, clouded eyes drifted into the past.

***

Another one who sought the grimoire <De Vermis Mysteriis>.

The owner of the grimoire <Cultes des Goules>.

Chairman Kim twisted the wrinkles on his face and ground his teeth like a beast.

"Grrr... Those damn Special Operations Division bastards...!"

He slammed his fist on the wooden desk, and it shattered and split apart on impact.

CRASH!

"Kim Mi-ryeo... that damn woman! I spent good money raising her, sent her to a prestigious university, and she gets caught by the Special Operations Division and lets things blow up like this!"

It was Chairman Kim himself who had manipulated and used his children, directing them like puppets to begin with, but...

To Chairman Kim, that sort of thing didn't matter.

And the one who'd been off having his fun and had now returned,

the golden-haired vampire Yoannis, watched the scene and smiled faintly.

"So what are you going to do now? Want my help?"

"Forget it!"

Chairman Kim's face contorted as he shouted, then he let the tension drain from his body and slumped back in his chair.

"...If I just had more connections and capital, I could buy time."

"So you're going to kidnap that Namgung Soo fellow's daughter and force her into becoming a cooperator through threats?"

Yoannis scoffed at his disciple's plan.

"This isn't some trashy soap opera."

Just then, a clattering noise came from outside the room. Chairman Kim merely frowned, but

Yoannis showed interest and stood up.

"Hmm~"

"Haah..."

When Chairman Kim reluctantly followed him out,

the familiar scene he'd expected unfolded before them.

He couldn't remember the name. One of his many talentless sons, spawned without care, was forcibly gripping a female housekeeper's wrist.

Judging by the swelling on the housekeeper's cheek, he'd hit her once already.

It wasn't worth his attention.

But the annoying part was that Yoannis had taken an interest.

Yoannis's blue eyes curved into a smiling crescent.

"Is that some kind of play? If not, that's not very Platonic of him."

The sudden appearance of a blond foreigner making such a remark made Chairman Kim's son scowl.

In this household, no one other than his father, Chairman Kim, was supposed to talk back to him.

"...Who the hell are you? What are you saying? Want me to have you thrown to the pigs as feed?"

"It seems you didn't understand, so let me say it again."

Yoannis repeated himself in a soft voice.

"What you're doing right now is not Platonic at all."

Then Chairman Kim cut in.

"You don't say a word about cannibalism, but you draw the line at assault?"

"It's not a matter of morality. It's a matter of my mood. It's similar to picking up ugly orphans from the colonies."

Chairman Kim sighed and addressed his nameless son.

"That's enough. Stop it and get out of here."

"F-Father?"

The man was flustered to see Chairman Kim, who had transcended humanity, acting deferential toward what looked like just a handsome blond man.

When the son didn't leave immediately and instead sneaked a glance back at the housekeeper, Chairman Kim felt his irritation spike.

He'd known the boy had no talent, but he hadn't expected him to lack even the basic animal instinct for sensing danger.

Just as the thought crossed his mind that the boy was completely useless,

he realized there was, in fact, one use for him.

"Actually, don't go. Follow me."

"Huh?"

Chairman Kim brought his son into the room and addressed Yoannis.

"Yoannis, if you would."

Yoannis gave a resigned smile and obliged his disciple's request.

Shhk.

He sliced his palm open with a dagger, poured the flowing blood into a glass, and imbued it with magic.

Chairman Kim stared at the glass with a complicated expression, then handed it to his son.

"Don't leave a single drop. Drink it all."

Seeing the glass filled with crimson blood, the man finally sensed that something was wrong, but

he'd spent his life doing whatever he pleased as long as he faithfully obeyed Chairman Kim's orders.

So once again, he drank the blood as Chairman Kim commanded.

And then...

"Uurgh, GAAAAAGH..."

Crack. Crack crack.

The man's teeth were the first to go, forced out of his gums raw, clattering to the floor in a shower of blood.

Sharp new fangs filled the gaps, but they grew wildly, unevenly, in all directions.

His body was forcibly reshaped and twisted, and the man screamed in agony.

"AAAAAAAGH, HRRK!"

Crash. Thud.

Unable to withstand Yoannis's blood, the man's body vomited blood and collapsed dead.

Chairman Kim looked at the fallen corpse and frowned.

"You said if the parent can't become a vampire, there's a high chance the children can't either. ...And vice versa."

"Hehe~ Same as last time, then. The blood compatibility must be poor."

That's right. This wasn't the first time.

Chairman Kim periodically selected one of his children, fed them Yoannis's blood, and experimented to see if they'd turn into a vampire.

He'd been too afraid of the rejection reaction destroying his own body, so he used his children as test subjects.

The result was always the same.

"You give them food and a place to sleep, and when you need them, you take their lives. You're not raising children. You're raising pigs."

"Shut up!"

Chairman Kim grumbled.

Yoannis gazed at old Chairman Kim's face.

Honestly, Chairman Kim had no need to resort to something as low-tier as becoming a vampire through a vampire's blood.

After all, he had the grimoire <Cultes des Goules>. He could simply use the grimoire to become a vampire.

There were generally three ways to become a vampire.

The first: being born a vampire from the start. Either born between vampire parents, or the case where a stillborn baby born still wrapped in its amniotic sac becomes a vampire. This fell into that category.

The second: becoming a vampire through a vampire's blood. The most well-known and straightforward method. However, if the blood compatibility was poor, the drinker's body would rupture.

The third: a wizard becoming a vampire through magic. Whether they needed more time, didn't want to die of old age, or needed a stronger body, there were various reasons for abandoning humanity.

Yoannis had been the third kind. He'd become a vampire through his own research.

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

Yoannis's blue eyes studied the wrinkled, aged face of Chairman Kim.

Unmistakably old.

The magic of <Cultes des Goules> was immortality through cannibalism.

Chairman Kim had achieved longevity, but he had not obtained the agelessness of youth.

He was stuck, unable to take that one step further as a wizard.

'...I thought he had the potential, but I suppose not.'

Perhaps that was why he was so obsessed with that ridiculous dinner gathering called "The Table of the Great Ones".

He wanted to devour more through the ritual, to climb higher still.

In Yoannis's view, it was a meaningless endeavor.

If anything, perhaps he'd gotten too fat.

And then...

With this latest vampire aptitude test also ending in failure,

Chairman Kim ordered his subordinates to throw the useless son's corpse to the ghouls as feed.

He then drew up the guest list for the dinner gathering and ordered surveillance on Namgung Soo-ah.