Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Just Charge Right In
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“If it was really just some small, personal incident inside, we wouldn’t have come all the way here. Especially not with such a precious trip.”
Seonal tossed the manager’s words right back at him without hesitation.
For a moment, the dark, smoky haze flickering in the manager’s eye sockets grew even murkier, but Seonal paid it no mind.
‘What are you gonna do, get mad?’
It was just because he’d been treated like crap first.
But Irang’s expression was different. His eyes widened slightly, looking a bit flustered.
He spoke up with an awkward look on his face.
“We’re from the Special Division for Resolving Other-Race Complaint Consultations.”
“…Ah, from the Complaint Division?”
Seonal had one thought at the manager’s slightly softened tone.
‘Looks like the staff tipped him off that some lowly civil servants showed up.’
If they’d been regular civil servants, he might’ve seen them as meddlers in his business, but since it was the Complaint Division, the manager seemed to be viewing it differently.
“I’m the overall site manager here, Sindel.”
The manager pulled a business card from the inner pocket of his suit.
Gaunt bones peeked out from beyond his sleeve.
But Seonal’s gaze briefly shifted to the clothes the manager was wearing. No safety gear at all, despite it being a construction site. Not even a trace of any.
“Looks like site managers these days don’t follow safety protocols.”
Seonal took the card while snarking right away, but Sindel kept jawboning enthusiastically, as if to show off his good temperament.
“Ah. I was at another site and rushed over after getting the call, so I didn’t have time to grab safety gear. Please overlook it with your broad understanding.”
“Sure, that happens.”
Hanul Construction Co.
Headquarters Deputy Manager. Sindel.
‘Sent from HQ, huh.’
As Seonal stepped back while glancing at the card, Irang caught his eye and spoke up.
“We received a complaint that discrimination against other races occurred here.”
“No way.”
Sindel shot back with a sly grin, immediately denying Irang’s words.
“We follow the Other-Race Discrimination Prohibition Act more strictly than anyone. I know where that complaint came from, sure. But take a quick look around, and you’ll see it’s not true.”
At that response, Seonal shot Irang a weary glance.
Told you. They’ll deny this situation however they can.
Seonal covered his mouth and let out a scoffing laugh. Then he turned to Sindel.
“So you’re saying we should just take a quick look around and leave?”
“What kind of ungrateful talk is that? I never said anything like it.”
“Good to hear. We need to figure out why this happened to resolve the complaint, so please cooperate.”
Seonal’s eyes curved into a smile.
While Sindel hesitated, Seonal kept rattling on.
“First, gather the people in charge here. We’ve got quite a few complaints, and over four specific individuals already.”
“Um...”
“We’ve got evidence, and it’s so detailed we have no choice but to investigate. Hand over yesterday’s CCTV footage of the incident, and let us meet the staff. Set it up.”
“Hey.”
“Yes. Do you have something to say?”
“Listening to you keeps getting weirder. Why should I play along with you?”
Sindel’s gaze dropped to Seonal’s civil servant ID.
“So...”
Lifting his eyes again, Sindel spread his jawbone slightly toward Seonal.
“Seonal.”
Hanul, one of the top megacorps.
A deputy manager from its construction subsidiary HQ.
A skeleton, one of the races with sky-high unemployment rates alongside slimes, who’d climbed that far—must be pretty proud.
Seonal had to admit that part was impressive.
“Seonal. And Irang. It’s great to do your jobs diligently and all. But let’s not blow this incident out of proportion—just handle it quietly and nicely. That’d be best for everyone, right?”
Sindel scratched at his brow ridge, finally showing his true colors.
Seonal found it utterly ridiculous.
How can someone be this stupid?
“That’s why you’re stuck here, huh.”
“…Seonal?”
Irang reached for his phone but froze. Anyone could see this was turning into a fight.
“He’s just got a foul mouth and doesn’t know any better. We’re civil servants in front of a citizen—we have to hold back.”
For a split second, Seonal nearly burst out laughing. It sounded like a roundabout diss, but also like he was trying to rein Seonal in.
But Seonal had no intention of holding back.
“No idea who gave you that deputy title, but seeing you—a guy from HQ—playing manager here, isn’t it obvious?”
You got demoted, didn’t you?
Seonal’s jab made Sindel tremble.
“What the hell does that mean?”
The smoke in his eye sockets grew more turbulent. With no eyeballs, just bones, that smoke was one way to read their emotions.
“Sorry. Let me apologize.”
“Hmm. Not sure why you should. Pretty sure Sindel was the one who started with the rude mouth.”
Irang’s apology contrasted with Seonal’s smugness, making Sindel clench his bony fingers tight.
“…Fine. I admit my words weren’t polite. But digging into this won’t do you any favors either. I’m trying to help you out.”
“There sure are a lot of odd mages around here.”
Seonal brushed his hair behind his ear to shut down the bullshit, revealing a red earring that made the smoke in Sindel’s eyes flicker.
“What I want to say to you, Sindel, is simple. Please cooperate.”
At Seonal’s request-slash-threat, Sindel slowly unclenched his finger bones.
“Ah. Too bad. Almost had me wavering there. Guess the effect was too weak.”
Mages were a dime a dozen here anyway.
A civil servant being a mage was a bit surprising, sure, but so what?
Even if this blew up, he’d be the one at a disadvantage.
“I have no intention of cooperating. It’s an internal matter, so handle it by internal rules.”
“Seonal.”
Irang let out a sigh and waved his phone.
“Yeah. Looks like we’re on the same page.”
Seonal greeted it warmly, and Irang nodded.
“Teamwork’s improving. Anyway, since you won’t cooperate, I’ll call the team leader and say we need to head to HQ ourselves.”
“Let’s go.”
Seonal stood up without hesitation.
He’d planned to go to HQ anyway.
“…Hold on. HQ?”
Sindel shot up too.
A bit unexpected, but no way he’d ignore that.
“Oh, right. You asked why you have to play along?”
Seonal kindly explained for the dimwit who still hadn’t caught on.
“The Special Division for Resolving Other-Race Complaint Consultations has investigative authority, and citizens are obligated to cooperate. This isn’t a suggestion—it’s a polite request based on the law.”
“And breaking the law in the process.”
Irang stood too, eyed Sindel, and headed for the door first.
Seonal bowed politely, then smirked quietly at Sindel’s frozen expression instead of laughing outright.
“We’ll get formal permission from HQ then. You’ll have to cooperate when we come back.”
He pulled out the crumpled business card, glanced at it, and named him.
“So... Sindel.”
Seonal’s smile stretched as Sindel’s finger bones began to tremble.
“Seonal, this won’t end well for you. I’m warning you plainly.”
Seonal ignored the nonsense and headed out.
“…This is insane!”
Just as the door closed, something like a scream from Sindel echoed out.
He was probably racking his brain right now on how to report this to his boss.
‘Whatever he does, he can’t stop it.’
“…Ah, yes, team leader.”
Seonal glanced around while watching Irang already on the phone with Edinal.
The guy rubbed him the wrong way, so he felt an itch to grab any excuse.
Doubtful that Other-Race Discrimination Prohibition Act was properly enforced under a creep like that.
If he could catch something now, maybe they wouldn’t even need to go to HQ.
‘Let’s do one thing before we leave.’
Sindel would definitely try to tamper with the CCTV if he saw it.
Seonal told Irang “hold on a sec” and grabbed a passing worker.
“Excuse me.”
He fiddled with his ID to make it visible.
“…Yes?”
Looked like a werewolf at first, but no—smell, eyes, just human.
“Do you know where the CCTV control room is?”
“Over there...”
“Sorry, could you show me?”
“…No.”
The man glanced around nervously, spotted something, and startled slightly.
“Sorry, I have work.”
He bowed quickly and dashed off. Seonal turned to where he’d looked.
‘CCTV...?’
Why?
Seonal walked slowly, scanning the surroundings again.
People were moving, but the flow felt off.
Some rushed, some sauntered—creating a bizarre, mismatched vibe.
Seonal headed toward the CCTV area and cast a spell on himself.
[Fade into obscurity.]
A spell to briefly erase his presence, down to the level of a tree or rock on the street—perfect for observation.
He felt gazes on him vanishing one by one.
Seonal just walked, just turned his eyes, delving into the site.
“…Hey, you bastard. How many times have I told you to clear this shit?”
A human-looking man smacked the side of a giant race member while cursing.
The giant was two or three times his size, making the slap look comically mismatched.
But Seonal knew why it happened.
“What’s your giant ass worth? Don’t wanna earn? They’re putting up with your bulk elsewhere? Huh? What’ll you do if you screw up here? Can you even ride the elevator properly?”
Pfft.
Clear mockery toward the giant spilled from a passing snake-man.
Soon others joined in laughing, but no one helped.
The giant, used to it, just responded stoically, owning up.
“I’ll do better.”
Rough count: giants were a minority here. Best efficiency for heavy labor, but that was it.
‘Better to use multiple humans than a giant’—that’s how inefficient they were seen.
Main reasons: too big, not detail-oriented.
‘For that giant, this is his only job. Classic hazing.’
Seonal didn’t intervene.
If jumping in fixed it, he’d have done it in a heartbeat.
But it wouldn’t. Had to root out the enablers, or it’d repeat.
Seonal turned slightly toward the scene.
His body cam was recording it all.
All races are equal.
First line of the Other-Race Discrimination Prohibition Act.
Seonal kept his hands behind his back out of body cam view, cast a spell, and stepped forward.
[Arise, wind.]
He’d thought not to interfere, but he didn’t like the sight either.
Seonal whipped up wind around the harassing human.
Occasional gusts happen, right?
Nature’s mysterious like that.
He giggled quietly amid the panicked yells, eyeing the CCTV recording spot.
Obviously a modded container—felt like storage, and thick mana confirmed it.
‘Requested cooperation, got denied—what can ya do.’
Seonal just wanted to secure the CCTV.
‘The guard... bailed?’
Gust scared the manager out; door was open, empty inside.
‘Nice.’
He saw the security spell but left it, planning to overlay his own.
Crackle.
Sparks flew as he manipulated the CCTV, pressing his mana-charged hand to it.
The magic circle appeared, and Seonal twitched an eyebrow.
Critical security spell, yet the circle was barely his upper body size.
Contents so sloppy—mess it up, and it’d vanish. Nothing to say.
[Seal this magic circle.]
Seonal’s spell activated.
A mana box, transparent and sized to enclose the circle, snapped shut around it.
Click.
As it closed, Seonal flicked his fingers.
[Only my hand can open it.]
He slapped a lock on the mana box.
Common lock spell back when he was Rinell, but rarely used here.
In the Mestus Hospital case, he’d cracked others’ circles easily because no locks.
Unlock it, or you can’t see the circle or spells inside—essential for any mage.
‘Done. Can’t unlock without me.’
To dispel, you’d need to touch the circle—but locked, impossible. Seonal was satisfied.
He slipped out before any mage or manager returned.
“…What were you doing?”
Irang, off the phone, asked immediately.
“Blocked them from wiping the CCTV.”
Irang’s mind blanked at the casual remark.
‘Someone guards that, right? And earlier... a gust?’
Putting it together, Irang asked hesitantly.
No random gusts.
“How... did you?”
As Irang’s gaze shook, Seonal answered matter-of-factly.
“Used magic to seal it.”
“You didn’t... cause trouble, right? I saw the gust.”
“Oh, that?”
Seonal’s lip curled, making Irang gulp hard.
“H-how bad are the injuries?”
“No one’s hurt. That guy doesn’t go easy on people? Don’t worry.”
“I can handle up to here. D-don’t panic.”
‘Who’s panicking? Obviously you. Hmm, wonder how much to spill—keep watching?’
Seonal snorted.
“What’d the team leader say?”
But Seonal slowed his voice a bit and walked ahead. Irang shook off his thoughts and followed.
“Knew it’d happen—head to HQ now, he said.”
“How far up does it go?”
“How far...? You mean team leader or section chief level?”
“Yeah. Higher rank’s easier to deal with.”
“I’m uncomfortable. High-ups make my heart race—social... phobia thing.”
“What now? Might get a bit big.”
He figured it depended on Hanul Construction—whether it ended at a branch like the Mage Association or not.