The Madman Notices You
In the center of the dark space that resembled a command bridge, a man in full uniform stood motionless. His face, faintly lit beneath the dim lights, was so pale and his eyes so red that he seemed less human than something wearing a human shape.
"This is Roskal, commander in charge of the 281st Invasion Unit. I am filing my regular report to the commander of the 13th Invasion Legion."
A grotesque being covered in writhing tentacles crossed the open threshold and entered the bridge. Inzuble, commander of the 13th Invasion Legion, spoke at once, without the slightest crease in his brow.
"Report."
"Everything is proceeding smoothly."
"Dismissed."
"Yes!"
The report ended in an instant. As Roskal emerged into the corridor, his tentacles swaying, another malformed creature approached him.
"Adjunct. What is it?"
"We have detected the mana of fate interference from target 990036. It seems their 'qualified one' has appeared."
"Why are you telling me this only now? I just reported to the legion commander that everything was proceeding smoothly."
"It was a report that came in moments ago."
Under the subtle pressure of mana bearing down on him, the adjutant broke into a cold sweat as he answered.
"Can we send in an Invader right away?"
"The dimensional rift has not opened wide enough yet for us to open a gate. Would it not be better to move the Invaders we dispatched to the area long ago?"
"Leave that as a last resort. First, send orders to the local collaborators and make them accelerate the expansion of the dimensional rift. If we cannot land a battle force, then we must at least make it possible to send a handful of Invaders."
"I will carry out your order."
After the adjutant withdrew, Roskal paused by the window. His gaze drifted out toward the pitch-black void spread beyond it.
"Earth, was it...? And the 'qualified one' has already appeared... This is getting interesting."
His mutter vanished into the emptiness.
*
A week passed, and September arrived. The successful solo raid began drawing the attention of hunter society. For a guild that had only just been promoted to Silver Tier to clear an A-rank top-tier raid alone was a first in South Korea.
Hunters and guild personnel alike were focused on it, but the news and broadcasters did not cover it heavily. That was because Hyun-jun had asked Jina to restrain the press, deciding he had no need to expose himself too much to the media. As the youngest daughter of the Jeil Group, she redirected the attention of the major outlets with only a few phone calls.
"Guild Leader. This is Head of Information Jongseo Ha."
"Come in."
The door opened, and Jongseo walked slowly into the office. Hyun-jun was seated in his chair, drinking coffee.
"The settlement for the mana stones looted in this raid has been completed."
"Isn't that the executive chief's job?"
Before being promoted to Gold Tier, which would allow him to officially appoint a vice guild leader, the executive chief generally filled that position. In particular, Tae-min had also been handling some of the secretary office's work to compensate for So-jin's limited grasp of the duties. The report Jongseo had brought today was, under normal circumstances, work Tae-min should have handled.
"The executive chief seems to be busy these days... Is something going on?"
Recently, Hyun-jun had counted the number of times he'd seen Tae-min's face on one hand. If he were busy with work, he would have actually shown up more often, so it seemed there was some other reason.
"Executive Chief Kim Tae-min has been devoting most of his time to sparring with Team Leader Lee Gyu-hwan."
"With Team Leader Lee Gyu-hwan?"
At Jongseo's answer, a pleased smile spread across Hyun-jun's lips. He had assumed Tae-min and Gyu-hwan would not get along, but it seemed that had been a mistake. He had heard Tae-min was training recently, but he had never imagined his sparring partner would be Gyu-hwan.
"Would you like me to request his return to work?"
Jongseo carefully gauged his reaction as he asked, but Hyun-jun shook his head.
"No. No need. If Kim Tae-min becomes stronger, that will ultimately benefit our race, so for the time being I'd like you to suffer a little, Information Head."
"I will do my utmost."
Jongseo answered in a ringing voice. As befit Hyun-jun's right hand, he was showing him limitless trust and loyalty.
"Then... I suppose it's time to look at the settlement statement. Show me."
"I've organized it into an easy-to-read document."
"You worked hard."
Hyun-jun accepted the statement Jongseo handed over and read it.
"There’s more settlement money than I expected."
He had tried not to be surprised, but the scale of the amount was on another level from the start. Since it was in the hundreds of billions, it was only natural that he could not calm himself easily. Of course, perhaps because he had spent a long time training in the room of his previous lives, the change in his emotions did not show much on the surface.
"Even after giving twenty percent to Ace, we've secured three years' worth of our guild's budget."
Jongseo said. Still nearly expressionless, he nevertheless let a faintly excited edge slip into his sharp voice.
"That means money won't be a problem."
"And if we add in Choi Nayoung's gift, our immediate liquidity is at the level of a Platinum Tier guild."
There were only fifty Platinum Tier guilds in South Korea. They were not quite at the level of the Diamond Tier known as the Fifteen Dragons, but they were close to the summit of power in the country. Having liquidity on a similar level was, in itself, an enormous leap forward.
"Good. First, deposit the promised twenty percent to Choi Han-seok and the Ace side."
Since Ace had come running when called, it was now time for Race to keep its promise. Once Hyun-jun gave the order, Jongseo contacted accounting and had the compensation transferred to Ace's account. After that, ten minutes of miscellaneous reports followed. As soon as the reports were over and Jongseo left, So-jin entered carefully.
"Hyun-jun. Choi Han-seok from Ace is here."
"He came without contacting us?"
"Yeah."
Why? He was curious, but since Han-seok had come all this way, he figured he'd learn the reason once they met.
"Should I bring him up?"
At So-jin's question, Hyun-jun nodded and answered.
"Yes. Please do."
"Wait just a moment."
She gently closed the door and left, and not long after, light, almost excited footsteps could be heard approaching. Then the door opened without a knock, and a broad-shouldered man in a green robe stepped inside. It was Choi Han-seok.
"Choi Han-seok. It's been a while."
Hyun-jun extended a hand with a friendly expression. Han-seok strode over and seized his hand with both of his own.
"Would you like to have a drink? I'll buy!"
The mood made it impossible to refuse. It was not even particularly early for drinking, so Hyun-jun set work aside for a while and went with Han-seok to a nearby bar.
"I know a much better place..."
"I don't feel like going all the way to Seoul."
Jongseo was trailing them as an attendant, so there was no need to worry about driving, but for some reason today he didn't feel like going far. Sitting in the back seat had seemed bothersome too.
"Today's on me!"
"Can I drink anything?"
"Of course!"
Despite the quiet atmosphere, Han-seok broke into a hearty laugh. A wicked smile spread across Hyun-jun's lips. He drank one expensive liquor after another, but destroying the wallet of Han-seok, who was the team leader of a wealthy regular raid team, was impossible.
"Looks like you're planning to blow up my wallet! Hahaha!"
It wasn't impossible to dull drunkenness to a certain extent by circulating mana, but even if that made wallet destruction possible, the man in question, unfortunately, was already full.
"I'll buy next time."
At the end of the drinking session, Hyun-jun spoke apologetically as he watched Han-seok take out his card. Han-seok then grinned and spoke.
"I'll hold you to that."
At the inexplicable chill in his tone, the little remaining alcohol in Hyun-jun's system vanished at once.
*
There were many benefits to becoming an S-rank Hunter. So, despite a slight hangover, Hyun-jun hurried to be promoted to S-rank.
"I didn't expect you to come along."
Hyun-jun said. He was riding in a car driven by Jongseo, on the way to the Dungeon Management Bureau in Seoul. Jina was seated beside him, looking at her smartphone, and Seok-hyun was in the passenger seat. It was an unexpected mass move. Fortunately, perhaps because the car was a large sedan, it did not feel cramped.
"You know that to become an S-rank Hunter, you need achievements in addition to mana levels, right?"
As he recalled the memory of hearing that, when requesting a reexamination and setting the schedule, insufficient achievements could cause a promotion to be denied even if mana levels were met.
"I'll be of help."
She put it indirectly, but she meant that she'd make the achievements required for the promotion irrelevant.
"Please do."
The short conversation ended, and silence followed. Before long, the vehicle carrying the two of them came to a stop in front of the Dungeon Management Bureau building. Jongseo and Seok-hyun got out quickly and opened the doors for Hyun-jun and Jina respectively.
Hyun-jun stepped into the building first. A staff member sent by the examination department was waiting for them in the first-floor lobby.
"Mr. Kang Hyun-jun. Right this way!"
No sooner had they entered the lobby than the man in a suit rushed over and bowed.
"The person beside you is...?"
The staff member asked cautiously, sending a glance toward Jina. Seok-hyun and Tae-min had been told to wait in the car.
"I thought companions were allowed."
"Ah, yes. I'll guide you to the examination office."
"Yes. Thank you."
In the examination office, an assessor was already waiting for Hyun-jun. He seemed to be pressed for time, because the moment Hyun-jun arrived and his identity was confirmed, he took out the measuring device.
"I'll begin measuring your mana. Please place your hand here."
Hyun-jun placed his hand on it.
"Please circulate your mana."
At the assessor's request, Hyun-jun raised his mana.
There's more mana left than I expected.
Since Durendal's descent, he'd felt that the efficiency of Sidenmiller's mana cultivation method had increased, and it seemed that had not been imagination.
Let's see how far it can hold.
He poured mana into the measuring device. At that instant, as though by some impossible trick, part of the formula engraved on the device became plainly visible to his eyes.
Would this break if I did it like this?
As blue light leaked from his hand, a sharp metallic sound began to pour from the measuring device. The moment he thought the sound resembled a scream, the machine could no longer bear the mana and with a crack! it shattered.
"T-the measuring device?"
The assessor, who had been worn down by tedious work, jumped to his feet with a face full of shock.
"It was designed to withstand the mana of SSS-rank Hunters...!"
"Wasn't it just used for a long time?"
Jina said. The assessor nodded.
"It m-might have been... but this thing is incredibly expensive."
The assessor was making a pained noise as if he were dying. Looking at the situation, it seemed he planned to shove the blame elsewhere.
Bastard.
The moment Hyun-jun's expression hardened, Jina stepped forward and spoke.
"I'll cover the compensation."
"R-really?"
"Yes. Please contact me at this number."
She handed the assessor her business card, then moved to leave the office first.
"Let's go."
The measuring device was quite expensive. For today, Jina looked sharp, but Hyun-jun said nothing and simply nodded, following after her. And the moment he crossed the office threshold, it happened.
By finding the weakness in the engraved formula and destroying it, you gained enlightenment. Gilles de Rais, the Madman Who Reached the Truth, has begun to take notice of you. If you satisfy the curiosity of this dangerous magus, there will be great rewards.
Someone who looked dangerous had taken an interest in him.