Chapter 96 - Wild Hunt (4)

The reason I'd cast a spell to break free from restraints before entering the Anomaly World was partly to prepare for the Anomalies, but also...

It was to prepare for Special Operations Division agents who might be standing by to capture me when I came out of the Anomaly World.

Fortunately, there was no attack from Special Operations Division personnel.

Si-on picked up Ji-ye, who had fainted and fallen asleep.

"You must be tired, so I'll carry her."

We went into a nearby cafe.

The Anomaly Incident was over, but... there was still the matter of how I'd be treated to discuss.

Well, I had things to ask Si-on too.

While Si-on laid Ji-ye down on a wide sofa seat,

I sent Ellie a text saying I'd found Ji-ye and had her with me.

Then I slipped the phone back in and realized something.

"........"

It was cold out and there was an unconscious kid, so we'd naturally moved to a cafe, but....

Come to think of it, I had no money right now.

My pupils trembled slightly.

Si-on tilted her head a little and looked at me.

"Yo-han-ssi? What's wrong?"

"The thing is... I don't have any money on me right now."

Hiding it wouldn't solve anything, so I told her straight, even if it was awkward.

"Sorry, but could you cover the coffee for me?"

"-Heh, hehe."

And Si-on laughed without thinking.

At the unexpected words coming from the mouth of a man who had been crushing all sorts of dangerous Anomalies.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that it was so unexpected, seeing you nervously ask me to pay for coffee, Yo-han-ssi."

Her cold, expressionless face naturally softened into gentle, smiling eyes and a warm smile.

"It was so cute, I couldn't help myself."

"........"

My eyes sank low with a sulky look.

Si-on was just smiling innocently, but... somehow my mind conjured an image of her looking down at me with a mocking grin.

'Can't even buy a coffee... how cute.'

Damn it... coffee's been expensive lately.

Order anything with a slightly long name and it's over five thousand won easy.

Well, since I had no money at all right now, it didn't matter whether coffee was cheap or expensive; I couldn't buy it anyway.

In any case.

"I was planning to treat you from the start, so don't worry about it."

Si-on said in a calm yet gentle voice.

"It looks like they sell sandwiches here too. Shall we have a simple dinner here?"

"Then sandwiches it is."

Since it had come to this, I'd just let her treat me.

"Understood. Please wait a moment."

A short while later, Si-on brought back coffee and simple sandwiches with ham and vegetables between slices of toasted bread.

"Thanks, I'll enjoy this."

Munch, munch~.

Si-on and I ate our sandwiches in quiet for a while.

After taking a sip of coffee, I brought up the main topic.

"...So am I going to be hunted by the Special Operations Division as a Criminal Wizard now?"

Si-on set down the coffee cup she'd been drinking from and spoke.

"Not yet."

'...Not yet, huh?'

Well, if an arrest order had already been issued, Si-on wouldn't be sitting here casually drinking coffee with me like this.

"Currently, the fact that you're the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis> is known only to a few, and the Bureau is deliberating on how to handle your situation, Yo-han-ssi."

I looked at Si-on as she spoke in that composed tone.

"What about you?"

"I...."

Si-on gazed down at her coffee cup for a moment, then raised her head and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Even if it was an accident, people died, so it can't simply be overlooked. And the attempt to frame Kim Mi-ryeo as a Criminal Wizard can't be ignored either."

I met Si-on's gaze and looked straight back at her.

...Right, that did happen.

Thinking back, that was when I went to the ranch on the weekend and ended up meeting Si-on.

And I had tried to disguise the corpse of Kim Mi-ryeo, a Cannibalistic Wizard who happened to have attended the same university, as the owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis> to throw off the Special Operations Division's investigation.

In the end, I got caught anyway.

Should I have killed Si-on back then, even if it meant pushing things?

But Si-on's father was the Director of the Bureau, so killing her would have only drawn more suspicion to me.

I lifted my coffee cup and took a sip.

And I wouldn't have gotten free coffee and sandwiches like this either.

Si-on continued.

"...However, there are people who are alive because of you, Yo-han-ssi."

Smith and his granddaughter Emily, who had been toyed with by the Boogeyman and nearly killed.

The people trapped and suffering in the Anomaly dating sim world.

And the young girl kidnapped by the Clown Anomaly.

"I'm not saying the lives taken can be offset by the number of lives saved."

Si-on looked down at Ji-ye sleeping on the sofa.

"Still, I believe your power is needed to protect civilians from the increasing number of Anomaly Incidents, Yo-han-ssi."

She turned her head and looked at me again.

"I'd like you to help eliminate Anomalies as a collaborator with the Special Operations Division."

Si-on's calm, dark eyes trembled faintly with anxiety, yet she held my gaze steadily.

"...That is my opinion."

A collaboration on thin ice that could shatter at any moment, depending on my future actions or the whims of the Special Operations Division's higher-ups.

But for now, it wasn't a bad deal.

I was surrounded by other mercenaries, wizards, and vampires all targeting the Grimoire.

On top of that, things were quiet for the moment, but Raziel and Gremory were surely lurking somewhere in Seoul, watching for their chance to come after me.

There was no need to turn the Special Operations Division into a full-blown enemy on top of everything else.

Not a complete ally, but not a complete enemy either.

That much was good enough.

...If the collaboration fell apart, I'd deal with it when the time came.

I felt like I'd said something similar to Si-on before, but I said it again.

"As long as it's not unpaid... fine."

After the campsite zombie incident, Si-on had made me a Civilian Collaborator for the Special Operations Division up on the auditorium rooftop.

If there was anything different from back then,

it was that we'd been feeling each other out and playing mind games then, whereas now we both knew what there was to know, and this was sincere.

At my acceptance, Si-on's eyes widened for an instant before she let out a breath of relief and smiled faintly.

"...Thank you."

And at that very moment.

Jingle~.

The cafe door opened and Ellie walked in.

I'd sent the cafe's location along with the text, so it seemed she'd found her way here.

"Yo-han-ssi, let's stop our conversation here. And as I mentioned before, the Bureau hasn't decided on your treatment yet, so we can't openly provide you with protection."

Si-on spoke quietly after spotting Ellie's face.

"For the time being, I think it would be best if you stayed at that nun's Cathedral, as you've been doing."

"...I'll handle that on my own."

Ellie glanced around for a moment before spotting me.

"Yo-han-ssi!"

She walked toward my seat, then paused when she noticed Si-on.

"Ji-ye is... oh, who is this? The Special Operations Division official I saw at the campsite?"

They'd seen each other's faces during the zombie campsite incident, so they recognized one another.

"Yes, I'm Shin Si-on of the Special Operations Division."

Si-on stood, greeted her, and put together a suitable story.

That the Special Operations Division had been chasing an Anomaly Incident and had requested my cooperation as a civilian exorcist... a Ghostbuster.

And that through that, we'd been able to rescue Ji-ye, who had gotten caught up in the Anomaly Incident.

Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

After that, Si-on and I exchanged words about continuing our talk later, and I left the cafe.

On the way back to the Cathedral.

Ji-ye sleep-talked while cradled in Ellie's arms.

"Mmm... Ellie unnie...."

"Shh... it's okay now."

Ellie soothed Ji-ye and rubbed her back.

Then she turned to look at me and said,

"Yo-han-ssi, thank you. You helped us again."

"The Special Operations Division would have handled it on their own even if I hadn't stepped in."

In reality, if the Clown Anomaly had appeared in the United States or Europe, where coulrophobia is more prevalent, it would have been much stronger.

Since it appeared in Korea, it wasn't all that powerful of an Anomaly.

That was the weakness of an Anomaly that feeds on fear. It's easily influenced by people's emotions.

But thinking about it in reverse... it meant the Anomaly had shown up somewhere that wasn't even its usual territory.

According to Si-on, she'd called it a Wild Hunt?

All sorts of Anomaly Incidents seemed to be happening.

Well, not every Anomaly Incident involved people dying; some were apparently no worse than pranks, but....

I'd need to be careful regardless.

While I was lost in these thoughts,

"Still, I'm really grateful."

Ellie's soft voice rang out.

"Oh! Since you did this as a Ghostbuster, I should pay you a commission fee."

I looked down at Ellie as she walked carrying Ji-ye.

"Then let me borrow the guest room a bit longer until I've got a place sorted out."

It was true that she'd helped me last night when I was wandering around.

I'd at least work enough to repay what I'd received. I didn't want to owe more than I had to.

Framing it as a transaction like this would also make things cleaner when the time came to move out.

Ellie looked taken aback for a moment.

"Huh? You're welcome to use the room anyway... alright."

Then she smiled brightly and said,

"Please make yourself at home for as long as you'd like."

And as if making sure I could hear, Ellie added with a grin,

"You're quite kind, Yo-han-ssi."

"-What?"

My brow furrowed on one side at that utter nonsense.

Anyway, after walking for a bit,

we hailed a taxi together and headed back to the Cathedral.

***

The guest room at Ellie's Cathedral.

However.

In the guest room where Ellie had happily affixed a nameplate,

[Yo-han-ssi's Room!]

If you said it with a bit of emphasis it sounded like that, but in what had become a small room, [TL: 요한 씨 방 (Yo-han-ssi's room) sounds like 요한 씨방 (Yo-han's internet cafe cubicle), a joke about the tiny room]

I lay on the bed resting.

A knock came at the door, and Soo-ah's voice rang out.

"Mister, I'm coming in."

Soo-ah walked in wearing comfortable clothes, carrying a laptop.

"While you were out, the laptop arrived, so I went ahead and set it up for you."

"Right, thanks."

I sat down at the desk and checked the laptop.

And immediately, I blinked.

"...Why is the laptop wallpaper a selfie of you?"

Soo-ah scrunched up her face as if I'd said something bizarre.

"Huh? It's an adorable wallpaper. You got a problem with it?"

"...You're driving me crazy."

Still, having a laptop was helpful.