Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: A Light Stroll
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‘How did that duck snatch the dullahan’s head and run off…….’
Seonnal recalled the recent incident as if it were nothing.
Hadn’t there been a dullahan whose head was stolen by a cat under someone’s spell when he’d gone for the interview?
‘Did it happen again?’
Seonnal pulled out his smartphone and started filming a video first.
He had some grievances to bring up with the Magic Association anyway, and catching a duck was child’s play.
Just as he figured he’d gotten enough footage and was about to cast a spell, Seonnal’s lips curved up slightly at the sight of Dodo sprinting toward him.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
Spirit beasts wielded nature’s power differently from goblins. He was dying to know just how much power Dodo had.
“Eek!”
By the time Dodo passed Seonnal, it shot him a furious glare.
‘Fast runner.’
Seonnal ignored the expression and was thoroughly impressed by how quickly it had closed the distance.
Tap tap.
As it ran, Dodo urgently tapped one front paw twice on the ground.
Flowers bloomed in front of Dodo, and a sudden gust scattered their petals toward the duck.
“Help me.”
At Dodo’s words, the petals flying over the water surface swirled in a circle, sending up splashes.
Bubble bubble.
The water churned, startling the duck into dropping the head from its beak.
‘…Can’t let that happen.’
Seonnal couldn’t just watch as the head plunged fully into the water.
He used magic to levitate it in midair, and Dodo’s jaw dropped.
“Wow…….”
But Seonnal didn’t stop there.
How many times was this creature planning to torment animals?
He carefully lifted the flapping duck as well.
“Dodo.”
At the sound of its name, Dodo backed away, fur bristling, keeping a safe distance.
Seonnal got that it was flustered, but this level of wariness felt over the top.
For a split second, it had stared at him like he was a thief come to steal something, leaving him oddly dejected.
“…How do you know Dodo?”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ha Seonnal, from the Complaints Department.”
Seonnal doffed his hat, revealing hair that gleamed even whiter in the sunlight.
As if it had never backed away, Dodo came bounding over, tail wagging furiously.
Its eyes sparkled in the sun.
“Ah! Dodo remembers! Dodo knows! Back then, your hair sparkled like glitter dust—shiny and bright! It’s shining now too! Your dye is so cool.”
“It’s not dyed. Anyway, glad you remember. So, Dodo.”
Sparkle sparkle.
If anything, the light seemed to be coming from Dodo’s eyes.
“Explanation later—want to return this gentleman’s head first?”
He deliberately skipped asking if it could manage.
Its eyes were already saying it could, even before its own request was done.
“Yesss!”
Dodo replied with gusto, pounding the ground excitedly with its front paws like a drum.
Flowers bloomed near Dodo, their petals swirling to gently cradle the levitated dullahan’s head. It almost looked like hands made of petals.
‘Did the same with petals earlier, and now again?’
Only after the head settled onto the petals did Seonnal finally look at the dullahan.
He looked young, but gave off the vibe of an old gentleman.
A familiar face.
‘Where have I seen him……?’
As he watched Dodo carefully carry the head away, a flicker of recognition lit Seonnal’s drowsy eyes before fading.
‘…Ah. The complainer who told me about the seductive magic spreading in Mestus Hospital.’
It had happened this week, so it was fresh in his mind.
Seonnal set aside his thoughts and cast a spell.
[Scan.]
Whoosh.
One eye ignited, clearly revealing the mana he’d infused in the duck.
Someone had definitely cast magic on it.
‘…A spell to stimulate mana and heighten aggression.’
Pathetic.
It seemed from the same vein as the one used on the cat before.
‘…And cast recently, too.’
Good.
Different perp from last time, but copycat or not, this worked in his favor.
‘I can track this.’
Magic-related mischief, no less.
[Mark.]
Seonnal extracted the embedded mana from the duck and marked it on the spot.
Whoever it was, he was more convinced than ever that he needed to catch them.
Magic was dangerous, so typically, scarecrows were used to test spells. Not real scarecrows, but mannequin-like constructs designed for it.
They combined your own mana with sturdy materials like stones or metal for stability, and infusing your mana made it easy to gauge the flow.
Of course, this world had them too.
Unlike when he was Rinell, there were no artisans specializing solely in scarecrows, so finer details were harder to discern, but even with their tech level, they could make decent ones. Doing this instead was baffling.
‘Yeah. I get it, not completely.’
Scarecrows were unresponsive and monotonous. But you could just add sound or shaking spells to fix that.
The Magic Association would never condone spells on animals. Not even them could ignore public opinion.
Anyway, judging by this sloppiness, the caster wasn’t skilled.
‘Which makes it more dangerous. Gotta find them.’
Amateurs were riskier than pros.
[Track.]
Seonnal released the duck and used tracking magic on the marked mana.
His vision shifted to grayscale, following the vivid blue smoke trail.
The smoke traced the path along the riverbank, in the same direction Dodo had run carrying the dullahan’s head. Seonnal couldn’t help a wry thought.
Criminals always returned to the scene.
It was instinctual curiosity about the aftermath.
Confirming the trail’s end was nearby, Seonnal headed toward Dodo and the dullahan who’d received his head.
Suddenly, the smoke shifted.
‘Watching me?’
It veered back toward him.
Coincidentally or not, the dullahan’s spot had exercise equipment nearby.
‘They’ll come this way soon.’
Perfect for the perp to pretend to work out and approach casually.
Seonnal feigned ignorance and called out to the dullahan.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, thank you. That was a close call.”
The dullahan, head back in place, bowed gratefully to Seonnal.
“Mind telling me what happened?”
Seonnal’s gaze flicked to Dodo.
Dullahan heads came off easily, sure, but a duck stealing one was too weird.
“Dodo woke up and saw a duck by the river.”
‘Woke up and saw a duck? …Slept outside?’
Seonnal sensed something off from the start.
‣Mostly lives near mountains or rivers.
He knew the spirit beast traits, but it still felt alien.
No real home, huh.
“That duck had just snatched this gentleman’s head and was bullying other ducks. Dodo was telling it to stop when this one came over asking what was wrong.”
“Indeed. I was out for a stroll when the spirit beast shouted toward the river. Thought something big was happening.”
The dullahan chuckled good-naturedly.
“Dodo wasn’t in trouble. Why’s talking to the river a big deal?”
Dodo tilted its head.
“…Well, in the old days, spirit beasts wailing at nature could trigger terrifying phenomena. Of course, that doesn’t happen now, but I thought maybe something else was up.”
He clearly hailed from the pre-species war era, so Seonnal knew his words carried weight.
“But how’d it steal your head?”
At Seonnal’s question, the dullahan looked troubled, idly rubbing his brow with a finger after removing the hand propping up his face.
“Well…….”
“Dodo called the duck over.”
‣Animals obey them readily.
Recalling the spirit beast trait, Seonnal paid closer attention to Dodo.
“This gentleman put his head down by the river to help the duck and reached out with both hands. That’s when the mean duck grabbed it out of spite!”
Dodo scratched the ground angrily with its tiny claws.
‘Similar to the interview incident.’
Seonnal dropped the casual thought as footsteps approached, subtly turning his eyes.
Someone jogging up casually, then gripping an exercise bar—Seonnal barely suppressed a laugh.
Blue smoke writhed in his vision.
‘That’s the one.’
Deciding how to handle it, Seonnal spoke nonchalantly.
“The duck that took your head wasn’t just any duck.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was enchanted.”
“Enchanted?”
Dodo retracted its claws, ears twitching.
“Yeah. Someone cast a spell on the duck today, like with that cat during the interview.”
“Ah! Dodo remembers. Same person as then?”
“No, different. But we should report it. Magic on animals is illegal.”
Seonnal pretended to mull it over while sidelong-glancing at the “exercising” mage.
Even from the back, the tension was visible.
“…So the duck taking my head was all coincidence?”
The dullahan’s expression made Seonnal pause—why the relief now?
Seonnal sniffed and nodded.
“Exactly. There was magic on the animal, but nothing beyond that.”
“Dodo will report it. Better to do it quick.”
Dodo wagged its tail after replying.
Wondering what it was up to, Seonnal watched as the tail grabbed something and gently set it down.
A smartphone.
Dodo hunkered down before it, carefully prodding with clawed toes.
“Good idea.”
Even as he spoke, Seonnal pondered upgrading Dodo’s phone.
It’d start work next week, so helping was natural. Second time seeing it, but no strangeness—just a desire to assist.
‘Gotta tweak the smartwatch.’
As he watched Dodo make the call, urgent footsteps fled from the fake-exerciser.
Seonnal’s lips curved slyly.
“Know what?”
“What?”
The busy Dodo aside, the dullahan replied.
“That criminals always return to the scene.”
Seonnal spoke while striding toward the fleeing perp, lightly tapping his shoulder. Human, by looks.
“Isn’t that right?”
“…Wh-what are you talking about?”
The man recoiled in shock.
“Why make work for me on a weekend? Annoying.”
No body cam, so Seonnal vented what he’d always wanted to say.
“So what’s this about? What are you even saying?”
The man sounded exhausted, starting to retort, then stepped back at Seonnal’s tilted head.
The mirth gone, he seemed downright scary.
“What’s this about? You know better than me.”
“Are you threatening me? Threatening me right now?”
“Threat? You’re the mage here.”
Just talking, and it’s a threat? Ridiculous.
Seonnal pointed at the man’s bare ear, noting the missing red earring that had bugged him.
“Mages get in deep trouble without their red earrings, but you’re piling on the crimes yourself.”
“What bullshit is this? Me? A mage?”
Outwardly, mages and normals were indistinguishable.
Everyone had mana, so it wasn’t a reliable tell.
That’s why the government mandated red earrings to identify mages. The man’s brazenness was survival tactics.
But so what? The fallout was all his.
“Tampering with animals beyond scarecrows, ditching the earring, denying you’re a mage—on top of the charges, the Association will slap restrictions on you and boot you out.”
Seonnal reconsidered.
‘…Nah, why bother going? Let them handle the legwork from now on.’
He knew the easiest way to get the Magic Association moving.
Seonnal pulled out his phone and searched contacts.
Cusman Rall.
Straight to the reporter.
“Yes, hello. Sorry to call on a weekend.”
[No, it’s fine. You helped me out before. Got a great story out of it.]
In the end, the Hanul Construction piece had published.
Without naming Hanul, focusing on worker conditions, so the company-specific bits were diluted.
Agreed upon since Hanul promised full cooperation in the probe.
Even toned down, its straight transcription style stood out against articles hiding social issues, earning praise.
“Nothing major—just a hot scoop I wanted to tip you off about.”
In this situation, how would Cusman—and the man—take that?
[A scoop?]
Cusman’s voice brimmed with interest, unlike the man’s twisted face. Seonnal’s lips curved up.