The Management Bureau (2)
The Management Bureau went by many names.
Some called it the Anomaly Management Bureau, while others referred to it as the Peace Management Bureau.
This lack of a unified name wasn't because the Bureau was shrouded in secrecy.
It was simply because it didn't actually have a name.
It had been centuries since the 9th-class mage who founded the Bureau left it nameless.
Since the founder was still alive and had yet to bestow a name, who would dare be presumptuous enough to coin one?
Thus, for hundreds of years, the massive organization remained known simply by the vague proper noun: the Management Bureau.
And the proud, centuries-old history of this Bureau had unfolded entirely within a single, colossal building.
Flicker, flicker.
"Huh? What's wrong with the lights?"
Right now, a strange anomaly was being detected inside that very building.
"Is it a malfunction?"
"There's no way that would happen in this building."
An employee mapping out last year's disaster distribution stopped his pen, looking utterly bewildered by this unprecedented phenomenon.
"Why is it doing this...?"
"Senior, is this really okay?"
"Well, the alarm system is quiet for now. Let's just wait and see."
The employees reacted sensitively to even a minor change in the lighting. They had no choice. Sealed in the deepest basement of this very building were highly dangerous entities. They had to treat even the smallest anomaly with extreme caution.
"I-is that so?"
The rookie employee fidgeted anxiously, catching the tense vibe from the seniors.
"There's no need to worry so much. I'm sure it's nothing."
A heavily bearded, middle-aged man—the longest-serving employee in the room—reassured the rookies.
"C-could an anomaly have escaped?"
"Highly unlikely."
A thick beard was the ultimate symbol of a veteran. Normally, they would have readily accepted the reassuring words of an experienced superior, but the location itself bred paranoia.
"B-but then why are the lights flickering? Isn't there a problem with the Bureau's building?!"
"Stop making a fuss. The lack of alarms means it's nothing."
A buzz-cut punk. When he barked at them, the rookies shut their mouths, but their lingering anxiety refused to die down.
Just then, a pot-bellied man squeezed his way through the trembling rookies.
"Miss Seolah, you must be terrified, aren't you? Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll put my life on the line to protect you."
He rudely shoved aside the people in his path with his protruding gut, heading toward a woman with neatly kept long hair.
She stood there with a blank expression, her eyes fixed solely on her phone screen, completely ignoring the commotion around her. A beautiful woman who seemed entirely unaware that her indifferent attitude only fueled men's desire to conquer her.
Without looking up from her phone, Lee Seolah cast a brief, sidelong glance at the pot-bellied, middle-aged man offering his greasy goodwill.
"...Thank you."
It wasn't the first time this man, notoriously dubbed the department's "Young Forty," had made advances toward her.
"Haha, it's nothing. By the way, what are you looking at so intently?"
But he had never been this blatant and persistent. He was likely trying to exploit the fear of this abnormal situation to score some points with her.
"It's nothing."
Seolah quickly slipped her phone into her pocket, coldly stepping back to distance herself from him as he tried to press too close.
"I have work to finish, so I'll be going now."
She slipped away from the whispering crowd and returned to her desk. Among all the fear-stricken rookies, she was the first to return to work.
The lights showed no further signs of trouble, and no alarms rang. The rookies, who had still been trembling with anxiety, finally began returning to their desks once an official notice was issued confirming that nothing was wrong.
"...Is it really nothing?"
"We have to trust what the seniors say."
"Sigh... I want to go back to before I joined the company."
The rookies' fragile display made one wonder how they could possibly handle such grueling work with that level of courage, but no one laughed at them. The seniors had all gone through the exact same phase.
It was a primal, survival-driven fear felt by powerless humans confronting the reality of the supernatural—beyond-comprehension anomalies, madness-addled mages, and the ugly underbelly of the world.
If anything, Lee Seolah, who showed absolutely no fear, was the anomaly. In truth, she was the ace who had achieved overwhelming scores among her peers. Combined with her outstanding practical skills and cold aura, she had instantly risen to become the central figure of the department.
Why isn't he answering?
While pretending to focus on her work, she couldn't stop her eyes from drifting toward the phone lying face-down on her desk. On the dimly lit screen, a chat window was open.
No matter how many hundreds of times she checked, the merciless "Unread" status refused to disappear. This happened occasionally. He would be away from home for days due to grueling field work, or he would lose contact entirely after collapsing into a deep, dead sleep the moment his shift ended.
"...I'm worried."
A tiny crack formed in her ice-cold composure, allowing her true emotions to seep through.
"...He didn't get hurt, did he?"
It was a deep, agonizing worry.
"Mmm..."
She always tried her best to avoid using her phone at work, but life rarely went according to plan.
Especially when it came to family.
"Stay."
Vrrrrrr—!
Like an owner holding back a fiercely barking dog, I pulled tightly on the Lantern's handle as if it were a leash, trying to calm it down.
But this crazy mutt was blinded by rage, completely incapable of listening to reason.
Vrrrr—!
Shadows crawling out from beneath the Lantern began to blanket the surroundings.
"Uh-oh."
I appreciated that it was throwing a tantrum on my behalf, but it would only make things difficult for me if it acted out like this at the drop of a hat.
I had to stop it, and fast.
Fortunately, I knew an excellent method for times like this.
Borrowing the wisdom of the ancients.
"Listen to me."
Thwack!
With my free hand, I mercilessly smacked the body of the Lantern.
Vrrr...
As if finally snapped back to its senses, the bizarre shadows that had been spreading in all directions instantly retreated back under the Lantern.
The old saying that a good beating is the best medicine was absolutely spot on.
"What on earth is that...!"
"Is it a magic tool? Does it have an ego?"
"Does that mean it's at least a Grade 4 magic tool?"
"You idiot! If it can affect this entire building, it has to be Calamity-Class!"
"...What is going on here?"
Just then, Lee Yerim, having composed herself, approached me.
I was about to explain the situation to her, but the handsome-looking guy who had been picking a fight with me beat me to the punch.
"Captain! Are you seriously walking side-by-side with a mere rookie? Why on earth are you letting him speak to you so informally?!"
"...Is that any of your business?"
Lee Yerim's brow furrowed coldly.
"You idiot! Of all things to ask, you ask that?! You should be asking who he is!"
"How could he be a rookie? We obviously misunderstood!"
Hearing the whispers around her, Lee Yerim quickly cleared up the situation.
"I see what's going on. This person is not a rookie in our unit. He is a guest whom I personally invited with the utmost respect."
"I knew it..."
"We got it all wrong."
Most of them backed away, looking convinced, but one man refused to drop his venomous gaze.
"Then that makes even less sense! Why is that guy speaking to you informally, Captain?"
"...I have never forced any of you to use formal language with me. Furthermore, how others choose to address me is my decision to make. Not yours."
Lee Yerim cut him off coldly, then turned her head toward me.
"My apologies. I was distracted by something else. But that Lantern..."
"I stopped it before things got out of hand."
"I felt a massive wave of energy radiating from it. It might have even affected the entire building."
Flushed with humiliation from being ignored, the man's face turned a mottled red. He huffed and forced his way between us.
"I still can't let this slide! The Captain is not someone to be treated with such disrespect!"
"And?"
A sharp chill settled into Lee Yerim's voice. But the oblivious man pushed forward, spewing nonsense.
"I will defend the Captain's honor! You! Duel me! Let's settle this!"
"What kind of rudeness is this to an honored guest?"
"Captain! Please, wait! This is a matter of a man's pride!"
He glared at me, completely undeterred by Lee Yerim's fierce reprimand.
"No thanks."
But all I had to do was refuse. Naturally, I had no reason to accept his challenge. There was no way I'd fall for such a cheap provocation.
Yet, it seemed he had anticipated this reaction. A smirk curled his lips into a crescent. Smiling, he reached into his coat and pulled something out.
"Can you still refuse after seeing this?"
The moment the surrounding agents saw what he held, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
"That's...!"
"Is he seriously putting that up as a wager?"
"Something that precious...!"
"He's dead serious."
"If you beat me, I'll give you this!"
The man laughed triumphantly, utterly confident in his victory. I casually nudged Lee Yerim beside me.
"Is that any good?"
"Yes. It's the Bandage of Purification. It's a rare relic awarded only to the top scorer of the Management Bureau's promotion exam."
"What does it do?"
"It nullifies all curses and status ailments inflicted on whatever area it wraps."
That's pretty good. Satisfied with the useful information, I decided to ask about something that had been bothering me.
"Oh, by the way, is it really weird that I speak to you informally? I just figured we were around the same age, so I spoke comfortably."
"I don't mind at all."
Her expression was resolute.
"Then why don't you speak informally to me too?"
"No, thank you. I prefer speaking like this."
I see. Shifting my gaze away from Lee Yerim, I looked back at the smugly grinning man.
"Alright. Let's do this."
I decided to accept his challenge.
To an outsider, it might look like a reckless move—accepting a fight without knowing a single thing about my opponent.
But I was absolutely certain. There was no way I would lose.
He wasn't a powerhouse like the necromancer, Ju Gihyeok, or Lee Yerim.
It was easy to tell. I couldn't feel even a trace of that distinct, subtle aura that naturally radiated from truly powerful mages.
"Sigh... I suppose it can't be helped. This way, then."
Lee Yerim led me to the training room.
"This is incredible."
It was a massive space—so vast that it was hard to believe it was indoors.
I found out later that this was actually Lee Yerim's personal training room.
"Isn't this way too reckless? Look at the item that guy is holding! It's a magic tool!"
"And he's a mage! Are you really going to fight him when you don't even know what his innate magic is?"
Hearing a commotion behind me, I turned around. The handsome-looking guy's colleagues had gathered around him, looking deeply worried.
"Don't worry. Trust me. As long as you guys are standing behind me, I will never lose."
The guy spoke with the face of a shonen manga protagonist.
"...Tsk. I guess we have no choice."
"Hah, just this once."
"Heh, then we have no choice but to believe in you."
And the dramatic reactions that followed.
"They're a funny bunch. Are they your subordinates?"
"...Embarrassingly enough, yes, they are my direct subordinates."
Lee Yerim squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, as if she couldn't bear to watch. Her surprisingly human reaction coaxed a small chuckle out of me. She seemed quite different from the sharp, hostile person I had first met.
"Um, do you plan on using that Lantern?"
"Don't worry. I had no intention of doing so."
I securely fastened the Lantern to my waist. Secured like this, it wouldn't be able to act out on its own.
However, with both the Lantern and the Grimoire sealed away, I didn't have an immediate means to subdue my opponent. It wasn't like I could just whip out the Forbidden Book here.
But I still had the tools I had relied on long before I ever acquired the Lantern and the Grimoire.
"Do you happen to have any spare talismans?"
"You can have mine."
What Lee Yerim handed over was a yellow paper talisman, its surface vividly inscribed with red cinnabar ink.
"But what do you plan to do with that...? Didn't you say you haven't awakened your innate magic yet?"
I fluttered the talisman between my fingers, meeting her gaze.
"This is more than enough."
"...He is known as the greatest genius in the Management Bureau after myself. Overconfidence can lead to disaster."
I offered a faint smile at her worried warning.
"We'll see."
I cast my eyes over to the man, who was laughing and celebrating an easy victory with his friends.
"But from where I'm standing, he doesn't look like much."
The thought of getting a free item put a genuine spring in my step.