Chapter 94 - Wild Hunt (2)
12 min read ·
Shin Se-hee approached Shin Do-ryong without a word and reached out her hand.
".........."
With slender, pretty fingers, she fiddled with Shin Do-ryong's face, pinching and tugging at his cheeks.
Squish~ squish~ smoosh smoosh~.
Baffled by the situation, Shin Do-ryong blinked and stared at Shin Se-hee.
"No, seriously, what is it?"
"...It's nothing."
Shin Se-hee pulled her hand away and stepped back as she spoke.
"I wanted to touch you, so I did. Is there a problem?"
Before Shin Do-ryong could say anything, Shin Se-hee turned around and gathered the file containing Yo-han's information.
"Can I take this with me to look over?"
Shin Do-ryong thought for a moment.
He had intended to share the information in the first place, and since it was Shin Se-hee, it should be fine.
"I don't mind, but he's a dangerous one, so don't do anything unnecessary."
"Understood."
Shin Se-hee left the Director's office.
".........."
She showed Yo-han's photo to one of the Shin Clan's aides who had been waiting and gave a discreet order.
"Never approach him recklessly on your own, don't provoke him, and observe him carefully."
Shin Se-hee narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke with caution.
"...If you do make contact, convey with courtesy that I'd like to have a conversation. If he refuses, just back off."
It might just be needless worry, but it was weighing on her mind.
"You must not harm him under any circumstances."
Contrary to her composed face, Shin Se-hee's eyelashes trembled faintly.
In any case, after Shin Se-hee left.
Under Shin Do-ryong's orders, Team Leader Park, who had been surveilling the area around the church to determine Yo-han's location, entered the Director's office.
"I watched until morning. After he entered the church, there was no notable movement."
"Is that so?"
Shin Do-ryong tapped the desk with his index finger, then spoke about how to handle Yo-han.
"...Killing him is doable."
Regardless of his total mana, killing him was a different matter.
Especially if his body was human.
Approach at extreme speed from a blind spot and stab or slash a vital point.
Or completely suppress all killing intent and presence, close in, and finish him quickly.
It sounded like theoretical speculation, but Shin Do-ryong was capable of it.
He had actually killed a foreign wizard who possessed a grimoire using those very methods.
"The problem, though, is what happens if it fails."
Doable didn't mean a hundred percent success rate.
On top of that, killing was truly a last resort.
"The moment you try to kill someone, that completely shuts the door on any dialogue. Think about it, you try to kill them and fail, and then you go, 'Hehe~ guess you won't die. How about we call it a draw and cooperate?' Who's going to sit down and talk after that?"
Team Leader Park looked at Shin Do-ryong with a surprised expression.
"So you see Yo-han, the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis>... as someone worth negotiating with."
"I didn't tell Si-on this, but I don't care whether this Yo-han kid killed someone in an accident at university or went on a shooting spree."
Shin Do-ryong narrowed his eyes for a moment and spoke.
"...No, wait, actually a shooting spree would bother me. Did that bastard go on a shooting spree?"
Team Leader Park skimmed through the file on Yo-han that Si-on had compiled.
"Uh... he did against zombies, but not against people."
"Good. Don't give a damn, then."
Shin Do-ryong nodded and continued.
"Now that I know he's the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis>, the past cases look different. It seems like he made some pocket money doing exorcist work, but he's never used magic for personal gain."
There were surely details not written in the reports, but at least based on what was on record.
In most cases, Yo-han had gotten caught up in something and used magic to protect himself in the process.
"He doesn't strike me as some psycho who kills people for fun and can't be reasoned with, or someone who wants society to collapse."
He had massacred the ranch workers in Kim Mi-ryeo's underground workshop, but those weren't civilians; they were underlings of the man-eating wizard Kim Mi-ryeo, so it could be chalked up to a dispute between wizards.
"The Bureau's job isn't playing righteous crusader. It's maintaining public safety against paranormal incidents."
And what currently threatened public safety the most.
It was the paranormal incidents caused by the Wild Hunt phenomenon and the vampires lurking in the shadows.
Yoannis, the leader of the Vampire Clan, had caused havoc in Seoul targeting Yo-han.
To draw out the well-hidden Yoannis, Yo-han made excellent bait.
The kind of bait that, if things went well, could even devour the fish.
'...Though the fisherman could get eaten too.'
Shin Do-ryong's eyes narrowed briefly before relaxing again.
"Depending on the situation, I'm more than willing to negotiate and deal with him."
Team Leader Park nodded and said,
"...Then should we follow Si-on's suggestion and bring Yo-han to the Bureau for protective custody?"
"No. I may see him as a potential negotiating partner, but he's still a criminal wizard."
Shin Do-ryong said flatly.
"I won't actively pursue him, but I won't protect him either."
His calm, dark eyes looked down at Yo-han's photo.
"If he dies, he dies."
In fact, that would be less of a headache.
***
Special Operations Division, Team 3 office.
[Yo-han-ssi - Missed Call]
Si-on stared for a moment at the phone screen filled with missed call records, then put it away.
She wanted to talk to him directly, but... approaching carelessly from her side might make him run, so she had to be cautious.
Si-on quietly let out a breath.
"Whew...."
She focused on the work at hand, the paranormal case that needed to be dealt with.
The case assigned to Team 3 was the amusement park clown anomaly.
"This is a paranormal case with casualties. We had been tracking it for some time, but a survivor's report led to us officially taking over the investigation."
The female agent Lee Hye-eun looked at the file and grimaced.
"...This one's unsettling."
Attached to the file was a photo of a clown standing in a dark alley, wearing a disturbing getup with a red mouth split open all the way to the ears.
It was an anomaly that had manifested based on the coulrophobia well-known in Western countries.
"This photo was taken on a phone found dropped at the scene."
Naturally, the victim who had taken the photo had gone missing.
"All individuals presumed to be victims so far have been minors, including teenagers and young children."
Among the teenagers, many of them had been runaways.
"Also, please take a look at this."
Si-on pulled out a red envelope with a clown sticker on it that was comical yet somehow eerie.
Written on the envelope was:
[We invite those who don't want to go home to a dream amusement park!]
And the condition was that the target had to harbor a feeling of not wanting to go home.
"This was recovered by the Special Operations Division from a child's locker at an elementary school."
Si-on also produced an envelope that had already been opened.
"And this one was in the possession of a survivor who opened the envelope and was pulled into the subspace amusement park created by the clown anomaly before managing to return."
The Special Operations Division agents read the file on the survivor.
According to the survivor, the moment they opened the envelope, they found themselves in the middle of an amusement park plaza where a sparkling parade was in full swing.
At first, they were dazed and thought it might be a dream.
But the more they looked, the more they noticed the unsettling decorations that set it apart from any normal amusement park. Realizing the place was dangerous, the survivor became frightened and ran around trying to escape.
(When questioned further about the amusement park, the survivor had a panic attack, making it impossible to obtain detailed information.)
After desperately fleeing from the clown that chased them, the survivor stumbled upon an exit from the amusement park by chance and walked through it.
They found themselves standing blankly back where they had started, holding the torn-open envelope.
"Based on the survivor's testimony, it appears that aside from appearing in person, the anomaly also uses these invitation letters to drag victims into its subspace."
Si-on's eyes narrowed.
Looking at what the victims had in common.
What the clown anomaly targeted were not adults, but young children and adolescents who hadn't fully grown.
And the condition for abduction was that, with no parents or adults nearby, they harbored a feeling of not wanting to go home, as written on the letter...
Or that they were a child who wished they could go somewhere far away to have fun.
‧
‧
‧
Han Ji-ye, an orphan living at Ellie's Church.
She stuck out her small lips in a pout and grumbled as she walked.
She had been excited to go home today and play with the other kids using the "Captain's Treasure Map Set" that Soo-ah unnie had gotten for her.
But while playing outside with a classmate, the other girl had bragged about going to an amusement park with her family.
She wasn't a bad kid, really. They usually got along well and were close.
The girl might have just been talking about having fun on her trip, but....
"I wanna go to an amusement park with a mom and dad too."
And as if those words were some kind of summoning spell.
Clunk-!
"Huh?"
A manhole cover in the street rattled.
Clunk- clunk- clunk-!
Creeeak....
The manhole cover lifted and slid aside, and a hand wearing a colorful outfit and pristine white gloves emerged and waved cheerfully.
"Uh...."
Sensing something was deeply wrong, Ji-ye felt fear and stumbled backward.
Soon, from the manhole, a clown appeared, baring pointed teeth beneath a disturbing face painted with a red mouth split all the way to the ears.
And then, in an instant, the clown grabbed Ji-ye and dragged her down into the sewer, a scene witnessed by...
"H-hieee...."
The gnome, who was so startled its eyes went wide.
Yo-han had assigned gnomes to keep watch over the kids when they went outside, just in case.
What if one of the kids decided to play a prank and called in a tip saying, "There's a weird man at our church"?
.
.
.
Even setting that part aside as a joke.
I had wanted to avoid the hassle of those mercenaries who'd been rampaging last night grabbing one of the kids for a hostage situation.
I never expected a clown anomaly to show up out of nowhere, though.
So there I was, lying on the bed in the guest room resting.
When the gnome appeared in a panic and babbled about the situation above, I got up from the bed.
"Haah...."
A clown that kidnaps kids when they're alone? What was this, some bogeyman in a clown skin?
Well, the way it appeared out of nowhere without any real buildup was exactly the kind of urban legend that scared kids.
As people got older, their taste in scary stories shifted toward things more complex and believable.
I threw on my white coat, gathered my magic tools, and stepped out of the room.
Ellie was clutching her phone, speaking in a slightly trembling voice.
"Yes... they already parted ways, she said. No, it's because Ji-ye is past the time she was supposed to be back."
I glanced at Ellie, then turned my head and said,
"I'm going to step out for a bit."
"Ah! Yes! Take care! Yo-han-ssi, and...."
"Ji-ye? If I find her, I'll bring her back."
I left the church.
Yes, I was going to kill the clown bastard and find Ji-ye.
I had to mooch off this place at least through today, and dinner only tasted good when the mood was right. Hard for a freeloader to eat well in a good atmosphere.
Who's going to serve you dinner if a kid dies and the place turns into a funeral?
Ah, wait, it's a funeral, so maybe I could at least get some yukgaejang? Though since it's a church, I'm not sure how that works. [TL: Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) is traditionally served at Korean funerals.]
In any case, once a decision was made, I didn't hesitate.
I pulled out my phone and tapped Si-on's contact.
If they had checked the CCTV, they should have been able to tell I was at the church.
Yet the Special Operations Division hadn't made any particular moves.
At most, Si-on had just called me a lot.
'...At least they're not treating me as a full enemy like other wizards would.'
And besides, this was an anomaly case, wasn't it? Do your job, Special Operations Division.
Buzzz-.
The moment the phone rang, Si-on picked up quickly.
Given the urgency of the situation, I got straight to the point.
"A kid got caught up in an anomaly case. Let's save the talk about me for later... I need information. Let's meet and discuss this in person."
***
Si-on used her breathing technique to rush over as fast as she could.
"Haa- haa-."
Catching her breath, she spotted Yo-han at the location where the child had been taken by the clown anomaly, waiting for her.
".........."
Yo-han was down on one knee with the hem of his white coat trailing on the ground, touching the surface and examining something.
Watching his back, Si-on placed a hand on her chest and exhaled.
It felt as though he might vanish before her eyes again at any moment.
Si-on carefully softened her footsteps so as not to startle Yo-han as she approached.
Though Si-on resembled her mother on the outside, she had inherited her talent from Shin Do-ryong.
And since she had no killing intent toward Yo-han to begin with, her presence was completely concealed.
"...Yo-han-ssi."
Unintentionally, she had taken his blind spot, right behind him.
She hadn't had time to fix her appearance after rushing over.
But Si-on tried to maintain a calm expression and a gentle smile to show she had no hostile intentions.
However, separate from these efforts....
"It's been a while."
At the voice that suddenly came from behind, I quickly twisted around and looked up at Si-on.
'She got behind me?'
"...!"
The cold smile on Si-on's face as she gazed down at me made my body stiffen for an instant.