Misalignment
There's a very famous opening line from a certain novel.
I'm fucked. That is the conclusion I reached after careful deliberation.
I can't exactly drop that line myself, what with my closest buddy Ttolttoli having vanished, but I'm feeling something pretty similar right now.
"We're fucked."
The words came out on purpose. No chance this was an accident. I meant every syllable.
Honestly, I was in a foul mood. I'd laid out every last honey pot of knowledge for them, and they'd gone and blown the whole thing.
And then watching them sweat bullets while admitting they couldn't even figure out how the leak happened only pissed me off more.
"No idea how it happened, no plan for dealing with it… nothing at all? What is this?"
And yet nobody flinched or tried to rein me in. Both the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs just squeezed their eyes shut with grim expressions.
Their exclusive monopoly on magic. Their status as the leading nation of a magical revolution that would make the Fourth Industrial Revolution look like a joke.
All of those titles had gone up in smoke over a single security failure…
"Do you have a solution?"
"…"
He shook his head weakly.
"Tsk."
That attitude of total surrender made me click my tongue. Not even the bare minimum of resolve to do something.
"There is a way, you know."
At those words, hope seemed to flicker across both their faces for a moment.
But too bad. My solution wasn't going to benefit Korea.
"Just open-source all the applied research answer sheets I gave you."
"What—!"
President Jeong Tae-san shot up from his seat, his voice spiking at the solution I'd offered with a little smile… but—
"…No. Never mind. Hah."
He knew full well they weren't in any position to get angry. I could see him hastily reining in his emotions.
I did everything for them, right? Losing the opportunity I spoon-fed them wasn't my fault, was it?
Now that the other countries already knew about the foul play, the only way for Korea to gain international magical cooperation was this one path.
Essentially forcing them to take a hit. But if you actually opened the lid, all they were giving up was preferential treatment—and more importantly, I was still staying on as the head of a national agency in Korea.
After a long silence, Jeong Tae-san finally spoke with difficulty. Whatever he'd been wrestling with, his expression now held conviction.
"About that, Lady Yuria. I have a solution of my own in mind."
"What is it?"
"Though this will absolutely require your active cooperation…"
A way for Korea to maintain its international standing without handing over every last clue and answer key to advanced magic-based technology to other countries? I wanted to hear it.
"Explain."
The shadow on his face lightened a little as he carefully began.
"No matter what third countries do, we still hold the technological edge in magic. Because Lady Yuria, who possesses all the core knowledge, is right here."
"Go on."
"In other words, even if an international organization for magical research is established, what could it possibly accomplish without the Republic of Korea and Lady Yuria?"
Summarizing the President's continued explanation was simple.
Let us make the Republic of Korea the undisputed leading nation in magic.
And for that: a pledge of overwhelming support, the creation of a supra-legal agency, and the transfer of all its authority.
"Well? Wouldn't this make for a decent solution?"
"Haha… hahaha!"
After hearing him out, I burst into laughter.
"Ahahaha!"
"Hah, huh-huh!"
President Jeong Tae-san joined in laughing along with me, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs sitting between us awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth.
After laughing for a good while, I decided to throw the President a question.
"But, Mr. President. I have one question."
"Hah-hah! What might that be?"
My bright smile vanished in an instant as I opened my mouth.
"Why should I help only the Republic of Korea?"
"…Pardon?"
I aimed the words at the President, whose laughing face had frozen solid.
"How much value does this country even hold for me? The house you bought me is nice, the citizenship is nice, the money is nice. All of it's nice."
I decided to drop the bomb right there.
"But can't other countries offer all of that too?"
"…"
"Looking at this mess, I don't feel like doing a single thing for you. You get gifts handed to you and lose every last one of them, and even the stuff locked in the vault gets cleaned out by thieves… How much further do you expect me to go?"
I clicked my tongue and stood up from my seat.
"I'll give you homework. The first assignment for repairing your relationship with me."
"…Please speak."
The President, who had been clenching his jaw, finally managed a reply.
"Uncover the cause of every information leak that's happened so far. And make sure every citizen knows about it."
"…"
"Exactly three days. You'll have to get it done by then."
That was the end of the conversation. Without so much as a goodbye, I walked out of the reception room.
Aaaaaargh!! You worthless bastards! How the hell do you work!!
Leaving the President's roar and the sounds of things shattering behind me, I headed straight home.
Vrooom.
Inside the car, it felt like nothing but the engine noise existed.
Every time Secretary Serin's gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, an indescribable feeling settled over me—and it wasn't a good one.
Specifically, the gold ornament hanging from Serin's bag. I could sense unnecessary electrical signals coming from it.
And that wasn't all. The rearview mirror reflecting the interior wasn't an ordinary mirror—it had been swapped for a one-way mirror, and I could see the transmitted light shifting irregularly.
Identical vehicles had been tailing the official car I was in for dozens of minutes. They weren't security vehicles. I'd never been assigned any in the first place, since my body didn't need protection.
Yeah.
I'd expected this. How the government would treat me once our relationship soured. Specifically, when it wasn't me who'd messed up but the government that had failed and left me disappointed.
Was I disappointed? It was a slightly different emotion.
It reminded me of my days as a Hero in the previous world… scrambling to cover for the blunders of incompetent superiors, clashing with the watchers sent by the Human Alliance.
"Haa."
Even though they were the ones at fault, even though they should be the ones walking on eggshells around me, they were pulling stunts like this.
Did they think I wouldn't notice?
Without showing any sign, I tossed a question at Serin.
"Did you get some kind of contact from above?"
"…I'm sorry. That's something I can't answer."
"Then a different question. Have they caught the culprit behind the core project leak?"
"…No. It's under investigation."
The sound of the engine.
The smell of the leather seats.
Fingers fidgeting restlessly.
The vibrating diaphragm of a microphone resonating with the highs and lows of sound waves.
A hidden black box camera watching the interior.
Just as I was about to ask what these devices that hadn't been there yesterday were, the car body shuddered hard.
That tremor traveled to the tip of my tongue…
"Do you know the word distrust?"
It began to open a small crack.
"…What do you mean?"
Instead of answering Serin's casually posed question, I extended mana toward the bag on the passenger seat.
"Move."
Tuk.
The small black handbag. The metal ornament at its center popped free with a soft click and floated gently over to the back seat.
"…!"
Serin's eyes went wide as she caught a glimpse of it.
Lurch.
The car body swayed left and right for an instant, but Serin quickly turned the wheel and stabilized the vehicle.
"You can hear my voice clearly, right?"
I calmly shared my thoughts with the people listening through the microphone.
"Disappointed. That pretty much sums up what I'm feeling right now."
The fact that they'd held the critical keys of me and magic and still accomplished nothing.
The fact that they'd gotten greedy and ended up with nothing.
The way they'd tried to prop up their pride only to break themselves.
And now even going so far as to put me under surveillance out of wariness.
"I'm truly disappointed."
Maybe I'd been expecting too much.
"Was it a mistake to say that foreign countries would give me the same treatment? I gave the President homework, and he responds by packing me full of surprise gifts."
Crunch.
I crushed the floating microphone by clenching my fist, then leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes.
Not to sleep, of course. To map out the surrounding moving vehicles and landmarks with mana.
Did they really think I'd just waltz into the house the country provided after confronting them like this?
Tsshh-pahht.
A long, straight stretch of highway.
The mana extending from my whole body became lines unobstructed by objects and began binding the tailing vehicles.
"Fix. Move. Levitate."
Including the car I was in, all the vehicles that had been following us began to rise off the ground.
Vehicles that had lost contact with the ground could only rev their engines uselessly, unable to control acceleration or deceleration, and gradually slowed under my guidance.
Serin whipped around in a panic.
"W-what are you—! Stop this at once!"
I smiled at her as her hand slipped toward her inner pocket.
"I've been thinking, and doesn't this seem odd?"
The President, who'd spent the whole day with me at the meeting. Someone who knew full well I'd completely washed my hands of them.
Would a person like that really order me tailed and bugged?
And Serin, reacting as if she already knew about the tailing and wiretapping.
"Why would the intelligence agencies try to surveil me independent of the President's will? For what purpose?"
I had little hard evidence, and no real grasp of the circumstances, so I couldn't guess their goal.
But enabling them to do whatever they wanted wasn't exactly my hobby.
"Float here for about an hour. As for finding me—"
Click.
A handgun. The only time I'd seen one in person was when the soldiers were carrying them as I landed on the runway.
"Cease using magic immediately."
"And if I don't?"
She hooked her index finger around the trigger and repeated the order.
"Stop right n—"
"Come to think of it, I've never actually been shot before."
Looking at the muzzle that had come right up to my face in the cramped car, I swayed my body left and right. Dodging would be difficult.
Truly the ideal environment.
"Like this—you aim for the head if you want a one-shot kill, right?"
"I told you to stop!"
I smiled at Serin as she shouted, then hardened my expression again.
Then I hurriedly looked around before facing forward and stammering.
As Serin stared at me strangely for acting like an idiot, I connected a thread of mana to her finger.
"And to pull the trigger… Mana Control."
As I moved the mana thread hooked around her finger, the finger on the trigger began to bend.
"Ugh, nngh! Wait—!"
"No microphones nearby, a vehicle interior where it's hard to dodge a bullet, just the interior camera running—what do you think people will conclude?"
Having said that much, I closed my eyes and opened my mouth.
"Spatial Domination. Fragmentation. Teleport."
"No!"
BANG!