The Threshold of the Bureau
"Cleanup crew, over here."
Under Lee Yerim's command, agents in yellow hard hats began securing the scene with mechanical precision.
"The head is missing, so we can't identify them!"
"Section Chief Park. Summon a shaman to determine their identities."
"Captain! Civilians passing nearby witnessed the battle."
"Bring in the cleanup crew. We'll erase their memories."
"Yes, Captain! Right away!"
The agents offered a crisp, metallic salute, bowing deeply to Lee Yerim, who was far smaller in stature than any of them. With a dry, unreadable expression, she gave a curt nod and coldly turned away.
Her gaze landed on Section Chief Oh Suhyeok, his shoulders trembling with grief over his lost subordinates.
She approached him with poised, measured steps.
"Do not be so disheartened."
"Captain..."
"We should be grateful the casualties were limited to this."
To an outsider, her words would have sounded incredibly cold—the detached, clinical tone of a cold-blooded pragmatist who viewed human lives as mere statistics.
Listening from the side, Siwoo expected Section Chief Oh Suhyeok to snap.
He had seen the anguish on the man's face as his subordinates were dragged away, and his righteous determination to stay behind and evacuate everyone else to prevent further casualties. To Siwoo, Oh Suhyeok was a leader who cared for his people more than anyone else.
"You are entirely correct, Captain..."
Yet, there was no resentment in his voice.
He simply nodded, quietly accepting her words.
In the brief silence that followed, Siwoo realized exactly why Oh Suhyeok hadn't taken offense.
"..."
Lee Yerim's eyes were fixed on the black body bags being loaded into the transport vehicles. She watched with unwavering intensity, not looking away for even a fraction of a second until the last zipper was pulled shut and the vehicle doors were locked.
Ah, I see.
Her expressionless face and flat, monotonous voice made her seem cold. But looking into her deeply sorrowful eyes, it was obvious just how much she cared for her subordinates.
Section Chief Oh Suhyeok had worked under Lee Yerim far longer than Siwoo had known her. That was why he hadn't reacted with anger.
"..."
He knew better than anyone that the person suppressing the fiercest, most burning rage in this place was none other than her.
Watching Oh Suhyeok clasp his hands and close his eyes in silent prayer, Siwoo thought to himself:
He really is a good man.
He was a man carrying a heavier burden of responsibility than anyone Siwoo had ever met.
Once, Siwoo had also dreamed of working under a boss like that. During his years of grueling manual labor, he had encountered all walks of life, but three foremen stood out in his memory.
An ethnic Korean-Chinese foreman, a former Somali pirate turned foreman, and a mainland Chinese foreman.
Naturally, working under them had been an absolute nightmare.
By Siwoo's standards, Oh Suhyeok was practically a saint.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting."
As Lee Yerim approached him, Siwoo sensed a similar kind of heavy sincerity radiating from her.
"Have you made your decision?"
A nod.
Siwoo gave a brief nod in response.
Lee Yerim had invited him to the Management Bureau under the guise of offering a reward. Of course, Siwoo wasn't naive. He knew she was inviting him because of the Lantern, not out of any personal interest in him.
Even so, he decided to accept.
There was a chance, however slim, that the Management Bureau held a cure for his sister's illness.
"How long will it take to get there?"
"A single second. Bring the door."
"Yes, Captain!"
At her command, several agents appeared, carrying a massive door frame on their shoulders.
It was an antique door made of dark brown wood, weathered with age.
As they set the door upright on the ground, a faint ripple of mana swept through the air, expanding outward.
Having expanded his horizons by witnessing domains and barriers firsthand, Siwoo immediately recognized the ripple as a precursor to forcibly stitching two spaces together.
"What is that?"
"A door."
"A gateway connecting spaces?"
"Ah... Yes, precisely. Just beyond this threshold lies the interior of the Management Bureau."
As she turned the handle and pushed it open, a blinding, pristine white light spilled through the gap.
Before stepping through, Lee Yerim stole a glance at Siwoo, who was calmly observing the interior. She struggled to suppress her own astonishment.
To recognize a special-grade magical artifact at a single glance... He truly is the master of the Lantern.
This spatial-transit artifact used by the combat division was protected by a powerful mana-shielding barrier; even high-ranking mages usually couldn't distinguish it from an ordinary door. To perceive its true nature required senses so acute they could detect the microscopic traces of mana leaking from it.
"Let's go."
"Yes, right this way."
Just then—
"Wait!"
Siwoo and Lee Yerim paused at the threshold, turning simultaneously toward the source of the voice.
"Wh-What about me?"
"Does a mage of a prestigious family intend to follow us all the way to the Management Bureau Headquarters?"
"But..."
Ju Harin stood there, fidgeting nervously as she clutched her broom tightly to her chest.
Though brief, they had survived a life-or-death situation together. Siwoo knew exactly what she wanted.
"It was good meeting you. See you around."
"Th-Thank you so much for saving me! I'll definitely repay this debt of gratitude someday!!"
The moment Siwoo bid her farewell, her face lit up with a bright, rosy flush.
Long after Siwoo and Lee Yerim vanished beyond the threshold, Ju Harin's eyes remained fixed on the spot where he had stood.
The young witch, Ju Harin. She would never, for as long as she lived, forget the salvation he had granted her today.
"Whoa."
A soft exclamation escaped his lips.
"It's completely empty."
There was absolutely nothing here.
"The Management Bureau suffers from a chronic staffing shortage. Besides, this sector is strictly off-limits to all but a select few authorized personnel."
I followed behind her, scanning our surroundings.
The ceiling and floor were a sterile, blinding white, clean to the point of obsession. In the distance, a single black door stood in stark contrast to the void.
"Let us head inside—"
Lee Yerim reached toward the security keypad to open the door, only to freeze and look back at me.
Her brow furrowed sharply, her voice rising an octave.
"Wait a moment. Are you planning to carry that grimoire around completely exposed like that?"
She reached into her coat, pulled out a smooth, white cloth, and thrust it toward me.
"You had better wrap it in this. Just beyond this door are civilian office workers, not field agents. If any of them catch so much as a glimpse of that grimoire, they will suffer instant mental pollution."
I complied without argument, wrapping the white cloth tightly around the Golden Book until not a single inch of its cover was visible. Bundled up like a mummy, the Grimoire let out a muffled, vibrating humph of protest.
"You're a good boss," I murmured casually.
Lee Yerim snapped her head around to stare at me.
"This is merely standard protocol—eep!"
At that exact moment, the Lantern, which had been resting quietly in my palm, suddenly floated up and lunged directly in front of her face.
Lee Yerim's face drained of all color, beads of cold sweat breaking out across her forehead.
"Stop flying off on your own," I scolded, snatching the Lantern's handle and dragging it back down.
"Sorry about that. It's got a mind of its own."
"...Let us just go inside."
Shaking off her momentary panic, she quickly unlocked the door. The interior was a massive, open-plan office filled with countless employees in sharp business suits, all glued to their desks and staring intently at their monitors as they worked.
"Oh? Captain? You're back early."
"Who's that guy next to her?"
A few employees cast curious glances our way. Lee Yerim offered nothing more than a microscopic nod in response to their greetings, quickening her pace. I naturally fell into step beside her, matching her stride.
"I've been meaning to ask."
"What is it?"
"Why are you so terrified of this Lantern?"
Click. The sharp clacking of her heels abruptly stopped.
"...Are you asking because you genuinely don't know?"
"Yeah."
"...Sigh. I don't even know where to begin."
She shook her head in sheer disbelief, staring at me.
"We interrogated the necromancer and received a full report on what transpired inside the illusion world created by the grimoire. I know you obtained that Lantern from that mirror dimension."
"Right."
"But that Lantern is something that should never have existed there in the first place."
I remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate.
She cast a wary glance around the bustling office, then resumed walking, lowering her voice to a whisper.
"There are too many ears here. Be patient. You'll understand once we reach our destination."
"Is that so?"
Well, I can wait.
"Let's pick up the pace, then."
I kept stride with her, continuing our conversation.
"I heard you eliminated a Calamity-Class anomaly and even sealed an angel. A powerhouse of your caliber should naturally be registered in the Management Bureau's database, yet we couldn't find so much as a name. Are you perhaps a collateral descendant of one of the prestigious families?"
"No, nothing like that. Probably."
"Then have you been operating abroad?"
"No. Actually, I only found out about magic quite recently."
"What?!"
Lee Yerim's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated shock.
"Have you... have you at least awakened your innate magic?"
"No, not yet."
"...You were chosen by the Lantern without even manifesting your innate magic?"
Her expression hardened, and she fell into a deep, troubled silence, seemingly lost in profound contemplation.
Just then, a group of people who had been watching us with hostile eyes stepped forward, blocking our path. With weapons strapped to their backs, they were clearly not ordinary office workers.
"Hey, you! How dare you speak so casually to the Captain?!"
The leader of the group, a reasonably handsome man, jabbed a finger right in front of my face and barked.
"You're a rookie, aren't you? I've never seen your face around here, yet you don't even have the decency to greet your seniors?"
Taking his cue, the rest of the group behind him began to jeer, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Tsk. Look at him. What a pretty boy."
"Probably trying to seduce the Captain with that pretty face of his to secure an easy life. Not on our watch!"
"Careful, he's a mage."
"So what if he's a mage? The Captain's a mage too."
"Well, as long as he doesn't belong to one of the prestigious families, it's fine."
"As if some highborn young master would ever set foot in a dump like this."
"You bastard! I won't tolerate you hitting on the Captain just because you're a fellow mage!"
Dumbfounded, I turned to look at Lee Yerim.
"...This can only be described as an anomaly of sheer talent..."
She was still completely lost in her own world, muttering to herself.
Has she seriously not noticed the circus happening right in front of her?
Talk about being blissfully oblivious.
Honestly, I really needed her to step in and handle this.
Vrrrrr—
Before the Lantern decided to take matters into its own hands, that is.