Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Even if not wanting to

Seo I-hyeon looked down at the two men fallen on the floor with regrettable eyes.

The two people died.

It's a truly regrettable thing.

"Ha. I have to receive coins."

From the start he had no thought of killing. Although it hurt being hit by the gun, that if receiving coins one can forgive as much as one wants.

But they died.

Not that Seo I-hyeon killed, but these guys used too much rune magic and died.

Seo I-hyeon first took what to take.

The guns these were using, and also rummaged the bosom and took the phones. Just in case, right. They might have memoed information on the phones.

What to take was only that.

Seo I-hyeon stood still and looked down at the two corpses.

"Um..."

While worrying for a moment he stroked his chin with his finger.

"Using rune magic means anyway there is talent, right?"

Ordinary people no matter how plastering the whole body with rune characters are no more no less than patterns. There has to be talent to finally activate magic with rune characters.

Seo I-hyeon worried like that then first also took the corpses.

Just in case later if more subordinates are needed, one can use as material. Well, not needed right now though.

"Let's go."

Seo I-hyeon put Black and White into the shadow and left the place.

It's better to avoid before the support the two dead guys called arrives.

In fact he worried for a moment. Whether to handle all including the support.

But he decided not to particularly do so. He doesn't know what kind of guy will come as support. If an opponent almost impossible to deal with comes it becomes troublesome.

So at times like this being careful is right.

Now returning is the problem. The time is late, and there won't be taxis wandering either.

As expected a car is needed.

Seo I-hyeon resolved to buy a car right away as soon as returning.

'Ah, shall I confirm?'

Anyway leaving this village today is impossible. Calling a taxi now is too eye-catching. Maybe the taxi won't come.

So hiding in an appropriate place is the best.

Hiding and monitoring the house where the skinwalker was with the shadow eye one can confirm the support, right.

Seo I-hyeon hurried his steps with a slightly excited expression. First he has to find a safe place. A place not exceeding a radius of 100 meters from that house earlier.

What Seo I-hyeon is aiming for was an empty house.

In such countryside there are more empty houses than expected. Like that not long after he found a just appropriate house.

No one, and a house that seemed not long since people lived.

Maybe the original living person is there but briefly went somewhere and emptied.

Seo I-hyeon quickly entered that house and caught a seat in the main room and lay down.

He had no thought of sleeping. Just lying appropriately and resting then when day breaks right away calling a taxi and riding and returning.

Anyway lying he examined that house earlier with the shadow eye.

In fact from when leaving he left the shadow eye.

Fortunately the moment Seo I-hyeon lay in the main room, people appeared.

'Five.'

Coming was good. Since five one might not even be able to run and get caught.

Even if an immortal body what. If caught it's the end.

'Ha. One has to prepare for such times though.'

He doesn't want to.

Seo I-hyeon thinking that continued examining the five guys who newly appeared.

Basically the equipment was similar to the two guys earlier.

Wearing guns with silencers at the waist, wearing clothes with rune characters drawn.

But among the five one was a bit peculiar.

He had much more rune characters than other people. Even just the clothes other people have only one, there were a full five characters.

The equipment was also a bit different.

Other people wore thick bracelets on the wrists, but this person wore vambraces on both forearms.

Of course on the vambraces also rune characters were embossed. Two each.

Besides the gun he also has other weapons. Carrying a large hammer on the back. Of course on the hammer also rune characters are engraved. One on the head part one on the handle.

Seo I-hyeon who confirmed that nodded.

'Coming out was good.'

He retrieved the shadow eye. No need to examine more. Just confirming whether those are coming this way is enough. Seo I-hyeon scattered one each of the ten shadow eyes on every path coming to the house he is staying now.

Now resting until day breaks is enough. Seo I-hyeon tightly closed his eyes.

* * *

The man who saw the skinwalker fallen in the kitchen frowned.

"Mercenary or fixer work."

If not those two there would be no reason to particularly cut and take the fingers and deformed skin. Things whose value as material converges to 0.

Rather the material one can extract from the skinwalker is the remaining skin. This can be used when using transformation or illusion series magic, or when summoning existences related to that.

"The guys who sent the signal?"

"None. There are traces of fighting, but nothing else remains."

"Did they get hit?"

"The possibility is high. Probably they took them to interrogate, right?"

The man at that talk also nodded only the head without particular expression change.

Anyway those guys don't know much. Just managing here.

The guys together now are also the same. They don't know what the organization's real purpose is. No, they don't even know the organization name.

"Take the skinwalker. Erase the remaining traces."

"Yes. But... how shall we track?"

The man at that question went out to the yard and carefully looked around then said.

"Enough. The traces of moving itself didn't remain. It seems they used something that blocks tracking."

At those words everyone agreed and scattered to do the work.

The man looked around the yard once more.

The traces of fighting remained clearly.

The opponent was also two, but just looking at the traces it was almost one-sided fighting.

"Not ordinary guys. At this level one can quickly know who moved?"

Probably the Management Bureau's subordinate company put the request through a broker.

If digging that side one can find out who received the request, but in fact it's not easy.

The companies under the Management Bureau have security thorough beyond expectation.

If particularly wanting to find out one can find out, but the effort that goes in is too big.

Rather than such things one has to look carefully at the Management Bureau side.

'Well, that side is not my charge.'

There the person in charge will do on their own. He just has to do his own work well.

"Also cleanly erase the traces of fighting. So even if the Management Bureau investigates nothing comes out."

"Yes."

The four answered at the same time and moved more swiftly. Seeing their hands becoming busy the man went outside.

"For no reason only lost sleep."

The man who muttered quietly moved his steps.

* * *

Day broke.

Seo I-hyeon got up from the seat and used the shadow eye to examine the surroundings and confirmed the house where the skinwalker was yesterday again.

"Oh, cleaned very cleanly."

Well, guys trying to do some suspicious work. There's no way such guys left traces.

Taking the skinwalker corpse was natural, and also cleaned all the traces of fighting.

Even cleanly cleaned the traces made because of bullets.

Probably unless someone has suspicion and examines very carefully, even finding out the fact that something happened there will be difficult.

Seo I-hyeon thoroughly confirmed up to the limit of the shadow eye's radius of 100 meters. If by any chance the guys seen yesterday are inside that he had no thought of going out rashly.

"Seems they went."

Not visible inside the radius of 100 meters. So he left the house. The village has long woken. People are wandering here and there and doing their own work.

Going outside and heading toward the main road he continuously used the shadow eye and confirmed the surroundings.

Just in case being careful was natural.

Without particular problems he came out to the main road side. Now it's time to return home.

'By the way should I tell this, or not.'

Just handing over only the evidence of catching the skinwalker to Lee Yeong-su is enough. In fact coldly calculating that's right.

Handling such guys is work the Management Bureau has to do on their own, right. For no reason getting involved there only becomes bothersome.

But if doing so and Lee Yeong-su gets involved and an accident happens it becomes more bothersome.

In Seo I-hyeon's view Lee Yeong-su is a fairly decent broker. One shouldn't expect other brokers to be similar to Lee Yeong-su.

Seo I-hyeon thinking that first called a taxi.

While taking the taxi and going up to Seoul he sent a text to Lee Yeong-su. That he finished the work.

Of course Lee Yeong-su was startled. Now is morning. The request talk was yesterday.

So meaning finishing the request in only one night how wouldn't one be surprised.

Seo I-hyeon roughly scanned Lee Yeong-su's text expressing surprise and set an appointment. Because he has to hand over the evidence of finishing the mission.

In heart he wants to meet today and hand over, but Lee Yeong-su also has a schedule so decided to meet tomorrow.

So today he decided to rest fully and enjoy the leisure after a long time.

Seo I-hyeon as soon as arriving home washed cleanly and changed clothes first.

After changing into neat clothes, he went outside and ate and drank coffee and sat in an appropriate place and spent time while also looking at people passing by.

Literally idled.

Spending a day like that somehow the feeling of the chest filling up fully arose.

No, he wanted to spend comfortably like this every day.

'But one can't, right. Now.'

Once setting foot in the hidden world, now a peaceful and ordinary life has gone.

No, one possibility is open. If rising high to a degree no one in the world can approach.

Not saying status. Saying power.

Literally if obtaining power like a god, then couldn't one live whatever life one wants?

'There's no way that will be though.'

Seo I-hyeon chuckled and shook off the thoughts. And headed home.

Resting a day well was enough.

Seo I-hyeon who returned home stuck the injection needle in the forearm and fell asleep while drawing blood.

Right before falling asleep, thinking today was a fairly decent day he slightly smiled.

* * *

The place decided to meet Lee Yeong-su was a place a bit away from home.

Meeting someone near home or such was a bit reluctant.

If possible he wanted to hide the house location.

Well, honestly if investigating a bit it all comes out, but just a mood problem.

Seo I-hyeon entered the largest coffee shop in the busy area that is today's meeting place.

People were packed. To the degree few empty seats, and the space was also wide and seats many so the murmuring sound was filling the coffee shop tightly.

As soon as entering inside glancing around Lee Yeong-su was sitting in a corner seat.

He occupied such a seat well.

A seat that doesn't stand out in the eyes yet can put the entire space in the field of view.

Seo I-hyeon sat in front of Lee Yeong-su.

"You even ordered in advance."

Seo I-hyeon sucked and drank the iced Americano ordered for his share.

Drinking to the bottom in one go and putting down the cup with only ice left on the table he asked.

"But is it okay to talk about work in a place like this? If someone hears it seems troublesome."

Before one could talk vaguely but now one has to hand over evidence too, and standing out in people's eyes is not good.

Especially if leaking hidden world matters outside the Management Bureau imposes sanctions so one has to be careful, right.

"Of course one has to be careful. And places like this are safer than quiet places with no people."

Lee Yeong-su said such words and placed the smartphone on the table.

"This looks like a phone, but in fact not a phone but equipment."

"What equipment?"

"Equipment that distorts the words we say and delivers. Now the talk done here if heard outside is heard as completely different content."

Seo I-hyeon examined the phone on the table in detail with curious eyes. Really just a smartphone. If pressing the button next to it the screen seems to turn on right away.

But even pressing the screen doesn't turn on. Instead the equipment operates.

"Alright, let's confirm the evidence first."

Seo I-hyeon took out the evidence wrapped with a handkerchief from the bosom and placed it on the table.

Lee Yeong-su slightly lifted the handkerchief, confirmed the inside and nodded. And took that and put it in his own bag.

"Alright, the request ended like this, and handing over this today and confirming the money will enter around tomorrow."

The request fee is really not much. Only 100 coins. Of course not small money, but having played with too big units it felt relatively small.

"Even this if accumulating becomes quite a bit. These days anomaly extermination requests are pouring so if wanting I can also gather them all cleanly. How is it? Do you have thoughts?"

Seo I-hyeon shook his head.

"Rather than doing several small ones doing one big one is better. There are such ones, right?"

"There are. But that needs some verification. Also if possible they try to entrust to ability users. Or entrust to well-organized teams."

That would be so. Changing positions even if Seo I-hyeon is the requester he would do that.

"So for a while catching the strand toward anomaly extermination is better. I am diligently introducing. Ah, the code name I did as timid black mage, is it okay?"

Seo I-hyeon briefly paused.

"Can't it just be black mage?"

"That there's a person using separately so one has to attach something."

Seo I-hyeon had nothing more to say. So he just nodded. Honestly what importance is the code name.

"I'll catch well among anomaly extermination the thick ones. Then even without doing a few times the name value will rise a bit. Big ones let's talk again then."

"Let's do that."

Lee Yeong-su who talked up to there briefly paused and refreshed the atmosphere then took out words.

"I looked into the Etherix side a bit?"

At those words Seo I-hyeon's expression hardened completely.

"At Etherix I have one ex-girlfriend. So I slightly looked into."

The hardened Seo I-hyeon's expression unfolded completely. And he looked at Lee Yeong-su with a speechless expression.

"Is there another ex-girlfriend?"

Lee Yeong-su grinned.

"You also do some dating. Ex-girlfriends the more the better. Occasionally meeting and enjoying stress is also relieved and how okay. If treating well they also give high-quality information like this promptly."

Seo I-hyeon at Lee Yeong-su's words he couldn't understand with his own common sense at all shook his head repeatedly.

Lee Yeong-su looking at such Seo I-hyeon grinned and continued.

"Anyway Etherix was noisy for a while, right? They were stirring saying they would catch someone, but suddenly the atmosphere died completely?"

"The atmosphere died?"

"Yeah. It became quiet as if not looking anymore."

"What is the reason?"

"That I also don't know. However it doesn't seem they completely gave up. There's an organization called Geomuhwe that Etherix entrusted dirty work to, those are still moving actively. Besides those guys they put requests to several organizations they said?"

Seo I-hyeon slightly frowned.

'Bothersome.'

The possibility of them finding Seo I-hyeon is very low. Because he cleanly erased the traces.

But they are people of the hidden world. There might be some extraordinary method.

"Anyway understood. Thank you for looking into."

"If there's more news I'll inform. I also asked which organizations they put requests to so answers will come soon."

Lee Yeong-su said up to there and saying he has busy work stood up. He even boasted that the busy work is meeting a woman and went.

Seo I-hyeon sat alone in the coffee shop for a moment looking out the window and resting then stood up from the seat.

"Haa... Even if not wanting to one has to do, right?"

One has to prepare about one method to escape from unknown dangerous situations.

The situation Seo I-hyeon most avoids is being captured.

There should be about one card to use then, right.

"Haa. Etherix bastards."

This is all because of Etherix.

Seo I-hyeon grumbled and headed home.

© Kim Kang-hyeon #12i09