Circulating qi did more than increase internal energy.
It cleared away the waste that naturally built up in the body and calmed the mind. And in a state of such deep concentration, all five senses were heightened to their limits.
What’s that…?
Step. Step.
Someone’s footsteps sounded like thunder.
Before long, I realized who the uninvited guest pacing outside the door was and brought my internal energy under control.
Chime.
The System notification announcing the end of my qi circulation had barely sounded when the doorknob turned behind me.
Click.
A rich scent drifted through the gap as the door eased open. I let out a long breath, bringing everything to a close, and spoke.
“I thought I told everyone to stay out until I came out on my own… Is it because you’re a monster that you can’t understand human speech? Or do you just not want to?”
The uninvited guest hesitated, then cleared his throat. It was the Skeleton King.
“Ahem. How did you know it was this body?”
“Your presence.”
“My presence?”
“Yeah. You don’t breathe. Probably because you’re already dead.”
“…That makes a strange amount of sense, but I don’t like it.”
“I’m not trying to make you happy.”
I pulled on the tracksuit I had tossed aside nearby and turned around. The Skeleton King stood there like a butler, holding a gleaming silver tray.
“So why are you here?”
Normally, he would have been sulking by now, his lips sticking out a good five feet.
But today was different. He kept stealing glances at me as he lowered the tray to the floor.
“Eat. This body brought it here personally for you.”
“I told you not to bring me food.”
“But you haven’t eaten in over three days.”
Over three days?
I looked around. The room was sealed on all sides, without so much as a window. I had come in without my smartphone, and whether it was that or the fact that I’d had no mind to care, I’d lost track of time.
Has it been that long already?
Humans were strange. The moment I realized how many days had passed, hunger caught up with me.
But…
Did I even have the right to feel hungry?
Thousands had died. Tens of thousands had been injured. I didn’t know what kind of lives they’d led, but most of them must have done nothing wrong.
Those people had suffered because of what I’d done. They’d died, been hurt, lost family and friends they loved.
People who had hailed me as a hero only a short while ago had begun turning against me, one by one. Their condemnation had reached the people around me, too.
All because they were close to me.
What went wrong? Where did it start?
I’d shut myself in this room to answer the question that wouldn’t leave my mind. I’d spent each day without food or sleep, circulating qi and turning it over in my thoughts.
At last, I’d found an answer.
Not one that would put everything right. Just an insight that let me forget for a little while.
“Smells good.”
“Huh?”
“Not you. The food.”
The Skeleton King seemed to buffer for a moment before answering.
“Uh, yeah. It’s doenjang jjigae1 and braised short ribs.”
I could tell who had made it just from the smell. Picturing my mother anxiously preparing meals for me these past few days, I lifted the lid from the tray.
Click.
I stared blankly at the food as steam rose from it. Then I scooped up a spoonful of doenjang jjigae1, something I had not seen in a long time.
The moment I put it in my mouth, I spat it right back out.
Ptooey.
“Wh—what? Why?”
What the hell was this?
I looked back and forth between the flustered Skeleton King and the doenjang jjigae1 before opening my mouth hesitantly.
“Who made this?”
“Your younger sister.”
“…Ah. Right.”
“Is something wrong?”
Was something wrong? Yes. Seriously wrong.
But instead of answering, I let out a quiet laugh. I didn’t know why. I just did.
“I’ll eat before I go.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll eat this, then go. I need a shower, too.”
The Skeleton King blinked at me for a while, as if he hadn’t understood. Then he nodded hurriedly.
“Oh? Oh, all right. Then this body will…”
“Yeah. See you later.”
He eased the door shut and slipped away like a thief. Another inexplicable laugh escaped me.
I set down my spoon, picked up a piece of braised short rib, and took a big bite.
Thankfully, my mother had made the ribs.
“There were vicious dogs going around biting people, so I beat them senseless. Now two mad dogs have shown up.”
Those were my first words to Team Leader Choi in days. His lips moved as though he had been about to say something, but he nodded instead.
“That’s right. And those two mad dogs bit even more people.”
“Do you think it’s my fault too, Team Leader Choi?”
“Mad dogs are mad dogs. The timing and the excuse may change, but they would have bared their teeth at people sooner or later.”
“But I’m the one who gave them the opportunity.”
“If you insist on blaming yourself, say we. You didn’t do it alone.”
“That’s right. This body also achieved a great feat in the desert.”
At the Skeleton King’s sudden interruption, Team Leader Choi shrugged.
“So he says.”
“I’m not blaming myself. I just think I need to be clear about that much.”
Every incident had a cause and an effect. With so many people dead or injured, I couldn’t pretend I had no part in the cause.
I had no intention of trying.
“I understand why people condemn me. And I’m grateful to the ones who support me.”
“Is that all?”
“No. The most important part is still left.”
I went on calmly.
“No matter what the world says, I’m going to catch those mad dogs.”
The Skeleton King’s eyes gleamed. A faint smile appeared on Team Leader Choi’s face.
“You found your own answer.”
“It’s not a complete answer. But it’s enough of a reason to keep going, isn’t it?”
“It is. Then I can give you a few pieces of news with a lighter heart.”
“A few pieces of news…?”
“I’d been gathering information on Michael Silbert and Odin Guild since before this happened. I received the results recently.”
Team Leader Choi had been watching the other major Guilds since before the Mana Cultivation Method was released. Given how thorough he was, of course he had.
“What did you find? Good news, I hope.”
“Unfortunately, some of it is bad. Which would you like first?”
“How much worse could things get? Give me the bad news.”
Team Leader Choi gave a short laugh and took a thick stack of documents from a drawer.
“I did my best to organize it, but there’s still an enormous amount.”
“What’s this?”
“Information on Odin Guild’s assets and businesses. Much of it isn’t publicly known.”
“They’re held under other names?”
“Yes. On paper, they have no connection to Odin Guild. In practice, they’re run much like its subsidiaries. Other major Guilds and corporations do the same thing, but Odin’s scale is in another league.”
I knew next to nothing about this sort of thing, but the thickness of the stack told me plenty. I skimmed pages full of words and sentences I could barely understand, searching for a comparison.
“Bigger than Ares Guild?”
“You would have to combine Ares Guild and Peace Guild, then add three or four major Guilds on top of that.”
“Holy shit.”
“Count just the Gates Odin Guild controls this way, and there are more than two hundred worldwide. They hold permanent leases, so they effectively own them. Those Gates produce an enormous quantity of Magic Gems.”
Even if a considerable number of those holdings were controlled through unofficial channels, having control of around two hundred Gates put Odin Guild on the level of a small country.
No. Given the strength of its Hunters, it might be more powerful than one.
I wish he were just a mad dog.
Michael Silbert wasn’t merely a mad dog. He was a Tosa mastiff among fighting dogs, and he was clever to boot.
But he was also a bastard I absolutely had to beat to death.
That thought brought another to mind.
“Then is it possible that the Magic Gems from those Gates were used in this terrorist attack without being refined?”
“No. At least, not according to the documents.”
“According to the documents?”
“As you know, Michael Silbert is an extremely thorough person. He had no reason to take the risk of smuggling Magic Gems, and even if he had, he would not have left any gaps in the records. The Magic Gems used in the terrorist attacks most likely came out of the Middle East or Africa.”
That made sense.
The Middle East and Africa had been hotbeds of terrorism and civil war since before the Great Cataclysm. Even now, there were people somewhere in those regions fighting bloody battles.
No one knew exactly how many Magic Gems came out of Gates held by terrorists and rebels, or how many of those Gems remained unrefined.
Besides, Michael Silbert wasn’t alone. He had a reliable accomplice who was every bit as much a mad dog.
“The Prophet.”
At the name that slipped from my mouth, Team Leader Choi nodded with a grim expression.
“I searched thoroughly for information on the Prophet as well.”
“What kind of bastard is the Prophet?”
I genuinely wanted to know who this madman was—the one who had beheaded the leaders of two major terrorist organizations, united their scattered followers, and shaken the world.
Team Leader Choi’s answer was nothing like what I’d hoped to hear.
“We don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No. Even allowing for the circumstances, there’s no information about the Prophet at all. He vanished completely after that declaration.”
“Wait. Even the United States doesn’t know?”
“Not just the United States. Even with the entire world searching, the situation is still the same.”
I blinked and thought.
How is that possible?
The madman calling himself the Prophet had thrown the United States and the rest of the world into turmoil. How could he vanish right under everyone’s noses?
“You’re not hiding what you know to protect classified information, are you?”
“I spoke with Chuck Hagel recently. He swore to God he didn’t know where the Prophet was.”
Chuck Hagel had been with us in the desert. He was also the United States Secretary of Defense, not just an S-rank Hunter.
Unless he was lying, if even the Secretary of Defense did not know, then the Prophet really must have shot straight up into the sky.
Who the hell is he?
I frowned. Team Leader Choi went on.
“And there’s one more thing. Mr. Johnson contacted us. He said he had found someone among the other Grand Mages who was likely to have been in contact with Michael Silbert. He said we would probably be able to learn more vital information through that person.”
This, at least, was good news.
I hadn’t heard the Grand Mage’s name yet, but he must know something about Michael Silbert’s true nature. He had personally created Ares Guild’s Area A and knew about Cheon Taemin’s condition.
One of only three Grand Mages in the world. He would give us a new lead.
Or so I thought.
Then, not long afterward, Team Leader Choi’s phone rang. I heard Magic Johnson’s voice.
“Damn it. He’s dead.”
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