Chapter 79 (1/2)
Cho Hong didn't return to Carpe Diem's office immediately. No, it'd be far more correct to say she couldn't.
Seol Ji-Hu turned around in a trance and left after the explanations came to an end. He didn't even suggest going back together. As a matter of fact, he didn't say anything. Cho Hong felt this heavy pressure from his back silently growing further away from her.
”Eiii, G.o.d d*mn it.” (Cho Hong)
Cho Hong found herself pacing up and down the vicinity of the office for a long while, before finally taking large strides up the steps to the side of the building.
She breathed in deeply and swung the door open, only to find Seol Ji-Hu had already finished getting ready to leave. She stood there and vacantly stared at him neatly fill his bag up.
”You…..” (Cho Hong)
”……”
”Hey, you. What are you doing?” (Cho Hong)
”I've a place I need to go to.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu didn't even bother to turn around as he answered. Cho Hong nearly jumped up in fright before a wry chuckle leaked out of her lips.
”No way. It's not that, right?” (Cho Hong)
”What's not it?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”You're angry and just want to let me know about it, right? Okay, okay. I got it. Hey, let's all calm down and have a seat so we can talk like adults. Right? Let's talk for a second. Ng?” (Cho Hong)
Seol Ji-Hu snorted derisively.
”What are you even on about? You think I'd rush into the enemy camp all alone?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
If not, that sure would be a big relief. Even then, Cho Hong's face was full of complicated, mixed-up emotions. However, Seol Ji-Hu completely disregarded that, slung the bag over his shoulder, and finally, picked up his spear. One wouldn't normally dress like that unless he was planning to leave the safety of the city for a while.
”Where are you thinking of going, then?” (Cho Hong)
”No need to worry about it.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”What was that?” (Cho Hong)
”I'll take care of this by myself. I also want to do it with my own strength, you see.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu walked right past Cho Hong. She squeezed her eyes shut and quickly grabbed his arm.
”Are you really gonna be like this?” (Cho Hong)
”What do you mean, be like this?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Hey, you!! Okay, wait. Fine. I'm sorry about not telling you anything, but….” (Cho Hong)
”No, that's not it.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu abruptly stopped walking and made a curt reply.
”You did tell me something, alright. The problem is with you lying, that's all.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Cho Hong faltered a little, then. His eyes were as icy and hard as the air permeating within the office. She gritted her teeth and shouted out.
”B-but, you, you also did that, too!” (Cho Hong)
”……”
”I know I made you worry, but even you….!!” (Cho Hong)
”At the very least, I told you beforehand, didn't I?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
He cut her words off like a sharp blade.
”And also, I never lied to you.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Cho Hong's face paled gradually. Seol Ji-Hu yanked his arm loose and stepped outside the door.
”W-where are you going?!” (Cho Hong)
He wordlessly climbed down the steps.
”Hey, Seol!! Heeeey!” (Cho Hong)
Her pleading voice echoed in the air but his figure soon disappeared from her sight.
Seol Ji-Hu got on a carriage. Its driver was hesitant at first after hearing the request of getting to the destination as quickly as possible and to wait until the youth was done with what he wanted to do there. But when a Silver coin was presented, there was an immediate change in the glint of the driver's eyes. The distance wasn't too far and there seemingly wasn't a good enough reason to refuse.
Thanks to that, Seol Ji-Hu got to reduce the travel time by at least eight hours, but it was already dawn when he arrived in Ramman village. But then again, every second counted, so he ran as if he wanted to fly and pounded on a certain familiar door.
”Village head! Village head!” (Seol Ji-Hu)
That was just like a sheer lightning bolt out of the blue; the village head had been deeply immersed in solving that riddle the whole day before barely managing to fall asleep. Now rudely awakened by this ruckus, he hurriedly yanked the door open in fright. After discovering a completely unexpected guest, though, his expression first became rather dumbfounded before rapidly s.h.i.+fting into one of annoyance.
”Fella, where did you forget your manners this time?!” (Village head)
”Village head….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Save it! You have any idea what time it is?!” (Village head)
”I, uh, I'm sorry.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu quickly bowed his head and apologised.
”However….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
He couldn't finish the rest of the sentence, though. The village head quickly read the urgency in the youth, and he calmed some of his irritation.
”….Looks like you're facing a bit of problem.” (Village head)
”Yes, you're correct.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”And so, you came back to collect the debt, am I right?” (Village head)
”Rather than that…. I truly need your help, village head.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
The old man arched up one of his brows. The young man before him was an Earthling who had uncovered his true ident.i.ty. Compared to how he calmly a.n.a.lysed every single point back then, his current atmosphere seemed rather different somehow. He must've had his reasons.
”Do come in. And please, I beg of you. Lower your voice.” (Village head)
”I understand. Thank you.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Have a seat over here. And, take a deep breath. Now, explain what happened in detail. Even if the problem is urgent, trying to solve it too quickly won't ever result in a satisfying enough answer.” (Village head)
Seol Ji-Hu settled down on the chair the village head pointed at. He caught his heavy breathing and proceeded to explain what happened.
”What a stupid plan that was.” (Village head)
Those were the first words muttered out by the village head upon hearing the explanation.
”Let's forget about not being able to mobilise the army for a second here. Even then, to blindly infiltrate with only a small number of elites and destroy their facility? If you say they weren't underestimating the Parasites, then all I can say is that your friends are stupid fools.” (Village head)
His criticism of their actions was savage, to say the least.
”Doing enough reconnaissance work beforehand is a must if you want to succeed in your infiltration. However, they blindly rushed in with no information at hand. It's only obvious they would fail. Tsk, tsk.” (Village head)
Seol Ji-Hu was about to vociferously voice his opposition but had to suppress his anger. Because, the old man didn't say anything wrong just now.
”Well, still…. The appearance of these mutated Orcs sure is an unpleasant surprise. It's somewhat understandable why your people ended up making the wrong move in their haste.” (Village head)
Hmm, the old man coughed to clear his throat and continued on.
”In any case, I'm guessing the reason why you came to see me is because of my rudium, right?” (Village head)
”Yes.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu urgently spoke up.
”I beg of you. I know it's a precious treasure, but….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”No, not really?” (Village head)
”….Excuse me?”
”If we are talking about the original ore, sure. But the raw material has been processed already to create rudium so it has no value anymore. And with my experimental Nest gone, it's completely useless to me now.” (Village head)
Seol Ji-Hu blinked his eyes.
”What I'm saying is, you can have the rudium.” (Village head)
”Thank you very much!” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu hurriedly bowed his head.
”Well, just think of it as me paying off the debt. Besides, it's still too early for you to thank me. Wouldn't you agree?” (Village head)
The old man suddenly formed a wide-open smile.
”Alright, so. Say you take the rudium with you. What will you do next?” (Village head)
”That is….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Right at that moment, Seol Ji-Hu didn't know what to say.
”Listen, young man. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. How about slowing down a bit?” (Village head)
The old man studied the youth with wizened eyes for a little while before stating his observation.
”Although you try to look calm and collected, I can tell that you're burning up inside right now.” (Village head)
”I'm just….” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”You think I can't tell? Fella, you can't fool my eyes. You pretend it's not, yet I can see that your actions are hasty and disorganised.” (Village head)
The moment he heard the word ‘hasty', Seol Ji-Hu felt an impact akin to a hammer striking his head. He instantly realised what the village head was telling him. The youth closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts.
”You made the right choice to come and see me, even though you must be feeling quite urgent right now. However, don't you think there is something else you could get from me besides the rudium?” (Village head)
When the old man gave out a free hint, the cogs finally clicked in Seol Ji-Hu's head. That helped his nerves to settle down.
”Now that you mention it… Village head, you were once a sorcerer of Delpinion Duchy, weren't you?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Fufufu.” (Village head)
”And you worked in the royal laboratory, too.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”I worked there many, many years. I know that place like the back of my hand.” (Village head)
The old man grinned and stood up from his chair.
”Now our conversation is finally going somewhere.” (Village head)
The village head turned around to fetch the small box from the last time, along with a fairly large piece of paper.
”First of all, let's break down in detail the current situation.” (Village head)
The old man was, once upon a time, a highly reputed sorcerer. His body may have aged, but that didn't mean his experiences and knowledge base would dissipate overnight.
”You need to consider that you no longer have any chance in infiltrating the enemy camp the old fas.h.i.+oned way. No, maybe I should revise and say that you never had a chance, to begin with. There is simply no way that Parasites wouldn't have prepared for an eventuality like this.” (Village head)
The old man's pen continued scribbling over the paper as he spoke.
”In any case… the first operation has failed, so the security should have been tightened up several times higher by now. So, the same tactic will not work anymore. If you want to succeed, you need to hit the Parasites from where they least expect it.” (Village head)
”But, is there a way to take them by surprise as you say?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Of course, with this rudium.” (Village head)
Click, the old man opened the small box. There it was, a murky, black-coloured stone the size of a child's clenched fist.
”I told you that this thing is a consumable, right?” (Village head)
”Yes.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Originally, it wasn't this small. When I was making my escape with it from the laboratory, it was as big as a boulder.” (Village head)
The old man spread open his arms wide.
”With that in mind, have you ever thought about this point before?” (Village head)
”What point?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Look at me. I'm an old, decrepit man. And my physical strength is pretty poor, too. So, how could I have stolen a big rudium and safely escaped from the strict security of the Empire and the Duchy?” (Village head)
Now that sounded strange. Even if the order to shut the project down was given, the value of rudium ores still would have been rather considerable. Meaning, every single one would have been strictly guarded, so how did this old man steal one away?
”The correct answer is magic. Indeed, magic is always superior to everything.” (Village head)
”When you say magic….?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Fella, have you ever heard of a transfer magic circle?” (Village head)
Seol Ji-Hu's eyes opened up super-wide.
”What if there is a way to cross the border region without risking your life and limb, and enter the laboratory straight away?” (Village head)
”Something like that is possible?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Well, yeah. I have used that to escape, haven't I? So? Don't you think you can hit them from where they least expect it now?” (Village head)
Seol Ji-Hu tightly clenched his fist. If what the old man said was all true, then…
Meanwhile, the old man finally finished jotting down with his pen and spoke up.
”Let me explain what I think. Now, look at this.” (Village head)
The paper was already chock-full of texts and drawings. Even at a casual glance, it looked like the floor plan of the laboratory.
”The royal laboratory has two underground floors and two above ground for a total of four floors.” (Village head)
The old man's artistic skill was rather excellent. Seol Ji-Hu expressed his admiration and focused on the village head's words.
”I'm not some incredible Sorcerer capable of using spells like Warp or Teleport, but when it comes to pre-installed magic circles, my story changes quite dramatically. Way back in the past, I used research as an excuse to come and visit Haramark so I could get myself a hideout deep within the mountains. That's where I installed the transfer circle.” (Village head)
”If I use that magic circle, I can enter the laboratory's interior.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Correct. That is, a.s.suming the hideout and the magic circle are still intact, obviously. And, when you use the transfer magic circle….” (Village head)
The old man drew a circle on a certain spot on the floor plan.
”You'll be transferred to the first hidden s.p.a.ce over here on the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor.” (Village head)
”The first one?” (Seol Ji-Hu)