ALL NOVEL Chapter 156
I can feel my head heating up.
The thing hanging around Yeonjeongmun’s neck, and what the widow handed over.
And this ornament the woman just gave me.
No matter how I look at it, it’s the exact same thing.
With the cross ornament in my hand, I gazed again at the woman in front of me.
Just looking at her makes me feel purified. She truly feels like a model of a devout believer. Plus, there’s still that unidentifiable sense of familiarity…
Her face was still covered by a veil, so I couldn’t read her expression. However, I could definitely tell she was maintaining calm emotions.
“…”
Considering her words as if she had mastered some doctrine, and the way she treated me like a little lamb… she can’t be just a simple low-ranking fanatic.
At least a mid-level officer. Perhaps even more…
But why on earth would someone like her willingly reveal her tail?
Honestly, I felt a bit deflated.
“It’s a perfect symbol that connects us as one. Always carry it with you. Then surely, the miracle that came last night will never leave you…”
As I pondered my answer and slightly nodded, the woman clasped her hands together in satisfaction and continued speaking.
“Today, there will be a dawn service at A38. You must attend as well. Well then…”
The woman, who had spoken so demurely, turned and vanished into the shadows.
“…”
Today, it feels like the children are absent, leaving only silence and stillness around me.
I turned my head and stared into the distance.
The toxic mist, previously pushed away by the breeze, was now rushing back like a fierce wave.
As if it would completely engulf this tranquility.
*
“What? A heretic?”
At the Security Bureau branch in City No. 1.
The branch chief leaned back in his chair, puffing on a cigarette and responding with a displeased expression.
In front of him stood a tall man, dressed shabbily and wearing a gas mask, clearly a lower-class individual who had come up from the countryside seeking a job.
“You just crawled in here with some nonsense… Get lost. I’m already busy enough…”
He waved his hands as if trying to shoo away a bothersome fly. The man, wearing an emblem signifying he was a wizard, treated the branch chief with the attitude of someone looking at an untouchable.
However, as soon as the branch chief’s arrogant demeanor flipped dramatically when the gas mask-wearing man presented his cradle student ID and a purple identification card symbolizing top-tier citizenship.
“Oh my… What brings the noble offspring of the Heukryeon family to such a humble place…”
He shot up from his chair as if bouncing off of it, bowing his head nearly to the floor.
Words that flip like a palm depending on who they are facing.
Lee Hyun recalled the arrogant security chief from the pioneer village where he previously lived.
‘The so-called chief of the Security Bureau…’
With heretics, warlocks, and demon kind proliferating like cancer, isn’t it quite possible that their share of the pie is significant as they do nothing?
“…I just mentioned that.”
Lee Hyun had to suppress the urge to knock the chief’s chin. But he tried hard not to show that feeling, squeezing it down. Although it was quite difficult and made him feel smug, he needed his cooperation right now.
And Lee Hyun only wished for one thing from him. Just to do his job.
Lee Hyun roughly explained the outline of what had happened so far.
“So, by the way, where exactly is this place called A38?”
“A38, A38… So that would be…”
The sweating branch chief glanced at the residential area map and wore a puzzled expression.
“A38 is… the sewage treatment plant?”
“…Sewage treatment plant?”
“Yes. It’s old and no longer in use.”
*
“An old, unused sewage treatment plant. Just the perfect place for people to meet without drawing attention.”
As the orange mist enveloped the alley, Jin Yeseo, who was following Lee Hyun, muttered.
“It’s fitting for some shady characters. Still, better than the guys I caught before. That was a pigsty… the smell… ugh.”
As she recalled the scene, Jin Yeseo grimaced as if she had a headache.
“But I never imagined that the woman without eyes would be there.”
“Right?”
Jin Yeseo’s dazed reaction was not much different from Lee Hyun’s.
“Why not capture her on the spot?”
“Considering she invited me to the service, she probably has a substantial power base already.”
Lee Hyun replied as he walked briskly through the smog.
“Now that we’ve got a lead, we need to catch all of them at once. I’m on my way to ask for cooperation from the Security Bureau here.”
“A lure, huh… It sounds about right, but it feels a bit strange.”
Jin Yeseo tilted her head in confusion.
“What makes you trust her enough to give you something like that?”
In her hand was the heretical symbol Lee Hyun had given her earlier.
“How can someone you’ve just met for a day be so sure that you’re on their side? Especially with such a suspicious look.”
“…”
Jin Yeseo’s gaze turned to the gas mask covering Lee Hyun’s face.
Small wonder, Lee Hyun shared the same kind of doubts.
He hadn’t done anything particularly brainwashing like. The only odd thing that happened was a creepy dream he had last night.
Yet, that woman had treated him like he was already in her grasp.
“…Really just an ordinary ornament, you said?”
“There’s no response to the disassembly magic, so it’s certain.”
Jin Yeseo nodded.
“There’s completely no particle trace. It’s just standard metal. It doesn’t contain stellite or have any circuits like a magical tool…”
“…”
—”It’s a perfect symbol that connects us as one. Always carry it with you. Then surely, the miracle that came last night will never leave you…”
‘But why did that woman say something like that earlier…?’
Despite pondering, no clear answer emerged.
There is only one person who could answer this question.
“…We’ll find out if we capture her.”
“What?”
“Never mind. By the way, the area around the sewage treatment plant might be filled with flammable toxic substances. I won’t be able to use your unique magic, Black Flame. I’ll go in alone, and you should wait outside with the officers.”
“What? No way.”
Jin Yeseo instantly made an upset expression at Lee Hyun’s words.
“Did you not hear? I said you can’t use Black Flame. But what can you do going in there? If any demons or mutated beings pop out…”
“I’ll just fight with something other than the Black Flame.”
“Something else?”
“…Uh.”
Jin Yeseo hesitated a bit before answering. A small metallic sound kept clinking around her, following Lee Hyun.
Only then did Lee Hyun realize what it was.
“Blade?”
“I… prepared something before coming. Just something decent… to get some practical experience…”
Jin Yeseo stammered out, looking slightly embarrassed. Perhaps she worried he might refuse, as she seemed a bit anxious.
“…”
Lee Hyun looked at her with a somewhat incredulous expression.
“I promise, I won’t hold you back…!”
Desperately, Jin Yeseo exclaimed.
“You did the same last time… said I was growing really fast… that I had talent…!”
“Don’t say it like that…”
“Anyway…!”
She had honestly answered when asked about it before. There was no way to lie about that. But he never expected her to use it like this.
However, it wasn’t a completely incomprehensible feeling.
Waiting for the first real battle made him feel the same way too.
“…Fine, just do what you want.”
In the end, Lee Hyun let out a light sigh and turned back around.
Her response, which was almost like an acceptance, couldn’t hide the joy Jin Yeseo felt.
“…Yes!”
In fact, the man’s worries were overly unfounded.
Jin Yeseo had already faced believers before. Most were ordinary people, unable to use magic, with just a few mutants mixed in.
Even if she were holding a stick instead of a blade, she could easily overpower those guys with one hand.
The officers from the Security Bureau were being mobilized, and how could someone as valuable as her not be of help? So he probably thought it was okay to give in.
Jin Yeseo had something even more important on her mind.
‘…Finally, an end to this suffocating city…!’
Even though she felt a bit deflated at the sudden emergence of a tail, it was still a good thing.
Capturing the entire gang was practically a given. More than that, she was delighted to finally be able to escape this city.
Jin Yeseo recalled the humiliating days of the past.
Out of nowhere, she had shared a bedroom with a strange man for two days. One day even found herself cuddled up in his arms.
And she had to whisper sweet words to soothe him like a lover.
Not to mention from the first day, she was misled into thinking like a wife while washing. She was even told to roam the streets dirty-faced like a lower-class person…
‘Of course, I volunteered for it… But still… no matter how you look at it…!’
Shameful humiliations she couldn’t tell anyone about.
While recalling it all, Jin Yeseo was glaring at his back.
“…?”
Jin Yeseo tilted her head in confusion as if she found it strange.
She should be celebrating this liberation… she needed to…
Yet somehow, it felt overwhelmingly filled with sadness and disappointment.