Busan (6)
Busan (6)
'I'm setting out on a journey to find myself.'
It was said that those were the words written on the note Park Gwang left before stealing a fishing boat and heading out into the Pacific Ocean.
Park Gwang, who went missing after leaving just that single line behind.
Since he was quite a promising talent, both the Association and guilds launched an investigation into his whereabouts, but by then, he had already taken a few oil drums, stolen a fishing boat, and set out to sea.
They couldn't possibly search the vast ocean in its entirety, so the Association and the guilds anxiously waited, praying he wouldn't cause any accidents. Park Gwang returned roughly a month later.
They say when Park Gwang returned after a little over a month, he came back at least twice as strong as he was before heading out to sea.
"Twice as strong?"
"Yes. His already considerable magic power became even greater, and his techniques became so refined it was as if he had skipped several stages."
"That's suspicious as hell, suddenly getting that much stronger. Doesn't it look fishy no matter how you look at it?"
A month isn't a short time for a human, but it's also not a long enough time to become more than twice as strong.
Following a reasonable line of reasoning, doubt arose, and Baek Yeon nodded at my suspicion.
"Actually, back then, he was suspected of possibly having joined hands with another country, like Japan or China. That's why the Association monitored him over time, similar to this spy hunt, but..."
"No point of contact was ever found?"
"Years passed, but no contact with another country was discovered, and the suspicions gradually faded away."
"Didn't anyone ask Park Gwang how he got so strong?"
"Of course they did. More than just one or two people. And every time, Park Gwang answered that it was thanks to the reward he received for clearing a certain Gate."
"That's a ridiculous excuse."
It wasn't just a simple increase in magic power.
According to Baek Yeon, the amount of magic power, its quality, his manipulation ability, even new techniques he'd never seen before.
In every aspect, Park Gwang had grown by several levels.
And that was all just from the reward for clearing a single Gate?
I don't know if such a Gate even exists, but even if it did, it wouldn't be at a level Park Gwang could clear alone.
"But truly, no point of contact with any country was visible, and humanity knew too little about Gates."
In the end, the suspicions about Park Gwang were quietly swept under the rug.
Baek Yeon finished her explanation that way.
Since it seemed there was nothing more to hear from her, I turned my head instead to look at Shin Su-ah.
She noticed my gaze, came close so the others wouldn't hear, and whispered in my ear.
'Aside from the fact that he went missing while blocking a Monster Wave and there was no point of contact, I don't know anything either.'
"Tsk. No matter how I think about it, he's suspicious..."
"Your suspicion is justified, Nidhogg-nim, but he's still someone who takes the lead in fieldwork more than anyone."
"If you put it that way."
I briefly wondered if he might be connected to the mastermind behind this terrorist attack, but probably not.
The genuine fatigue and hostility towards spies I saw in him earlier were real.
Besides, if Baek Yeon is vouching for him this much, it means his usual conduct isn't bad either.
Still, a sense of unease lingered, so I decided to just keep it in mind for now.
While listening to the story about Park Gwang, we had already arrived at the house where we would be staying for a while.
The original destination was a hotel, but considering the parking lot terrorist attack that just happened, it was safe to assume our party's destinations had all been compromised. So, instead of heading to the reserved hotel, we came to a safe house secretly operated by the Association.
We parked the car and all went inside the house.
Perhaps because the Association had been consistently managing it, the interior of the house was clean, and there were no more furnishings than necessary.
As soon as we entered the house, we finished assigning rooms and gathered in the living room.
We originally had luggage like clothes and cosmetics, but all of that burned up during the terrorist attack.
Instead, it was arranged that the Association would bring us anything we needed if we told them.
"So, what do we do now?"
"According to the plan, we were going to start the investigation from tonight, but..."
"Since we're already compromised, time isn't that important now, right?"
Shin Su-ah was right.
The plan has already leaked, so are we going to operate at night now?
A meaningless action.
So now, we need to move in a way the opponent doesn't expect.
Everyone knew that fact well, and Linnea stepped forward to give her opinion.
"Let's just move right now. Didn't we already decide on the investigation targets?"
"A good idea. But before that, we need to decide how to split up."
On our way down to Busan, Section Chief Choi Soo-young of the Information Department gave us a list of suspected individuals.
First, the Association.
Despite being informed that a spy had already infiltrated the Seoul Branch, the entire Information Department personnel, who hadn't managed to properly catch a single spy in the days that followed, were placed under suspicion.
Second, the guild.
There's only one large guild based in Busan.
It's a guild named 'Gaon', and its guild master is an Awakened ranked within the top ten in South Korea.
The reason the Gaon Guild came under suspicion is because, according to Choi Soo-young's investigation, they had frequent meetings with the Busan Branch Information Department personnel.
Lastly, the investigation targets are the city council.
Specifically, Councilors Lee Seong-han and Kim Mu-seok.
The reason these two came under suspicion is because they had many points of contact with the Gaon Guild.
The Association's Information Department, the Gaon Guild, and the two councilors.
These three groups had a tangled relationship, and combining their powers, there was nothing they couldn't do in Busan.
No wonder the conclusion was that we might have to confront the entirety of Busan.
Anyway, as per Baek Yeon's suggestion, we decided to split into three teams to proceed with the investigation.
"Does anyone have a preferred target?"
"As long as it's not the Gaon Guild, I'm fine."
"Why? Considering you're a former guild master of a large guild, wouldn't it be better for you to take the Gaon Guild?"
"Former guild master. That's exactly why it's a problem."
To be honest, Baek Yeon refusing the Gaon Guild was quite surprising.
A guild. And a former guild master of a large guild at that. I didn't expect Baek Yeon to specifically refuse to investigate a guild.
"As you know, the guild I was in before was a bit...they'd see monsters and go berserk, right?"
"Ah, that's right. But does that matter now?"
"And the Gaon Guild is famously a Gate preservation faction, even among large guilds."
"Gate preservation faction?"
"It's a faction that advocates not completely clearing Gates but controlling the monster population to extract rare resources from inside the Gates to the maximum limit."
"Ah."
If what Baek Yeon says is true, then the Sungcheon Guild and the Gaon Guild would be a relationship that could never get along.
After all, the Sungcheon Guild was the type that believed in slaughtering every monster they saw.
"That would definitely be awkward. So where do you want to go then?"
"If it's okay, I'd like to take the councilors' side."
"Reason?"
"Politicians, by nature, are a breed that live with lies on their tongues. Wouldn't it be better for me, who can distinguish lies, to go?"
"Right. Then you take the councilors' side."
Baek Yeon, with her ability to distinguish truth from lies, would be helpful whichever side she went to, but since she expressed a desire to go to the councilors' side, I decided to send her there.
Just as I thought one place was settled, Shin Su-ah chimed in.
"Ah! Can I go with her too?"
"You too? Wouldn't it be better to split into three?"
"Hey, Nidhogg-nim can take one side, right?"
"I'm too conspicuous."
"Wow, you're trying to take a break alone?"
"Alone, what nonsense. I have to look after Haeryeong while you guys work."
"That's the same thing!"
Tsk!
Unless the worst situation unfolds, the three of them seemed sufficient, so I planned to send each to one place and laze around until the outline was clear, but...
Now that it's come to this, I guess I have to give up on my plan for a staycation with Haeryeong.
"We even split our time to nurse you when you were sick last time. Nidhogg-nim, don't just think about resting, take one and handle it."
"Fine, fine, I get it, stop looking at me like that."
Since the councilors' side was already decided, I was pondering which of the remaining two would be easier for me when Linnea made the first move.
"Then I'll take the Association side. The guild side has too many targets to monitor; I think it would take me too long to handle."
"Then am I okay? Monitoring each of them one by one will waste an insane amount of my magic power, you know?"
"That just means you can do it, doesn't it? No matter how I think about it, monitoring all of them simultaneously is impossible for me."
"Damn it."
I ended up losing even my principal by arguing for no reason.
In the end, it was decided that Shin Su-ah and Baek Yeon would take the councilors.
Linnea would take the Association Information Department staff.
And I would take the Gaon Guild.
Since we decided to move quickly before the mastermind could do anything, we checked if there were any surveillance entities around and slipped out of the house.
And we hurriedly moved towards our respective assigned targets.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
On an artificial island secretly built over the sea located between Korea and Japan.
Inside a secret space within the island that one can only enter after passing through several security stages, Kohaku Mei was sitting and receiving a report.
The pupils of Mei, who was receiving the report, were trembling as if there was an earthquake, and the Fiend standing before her and reporting was dripping with cold sweat despite the cool room.
"Wh-what did you say? Say it again."
"Umm... a terrorist attack occurred targeting the investigation team."
"No, I must have misheard, right? R-really, a t-terrorist attack against that Dragon happened?"
"Y-yes. It's true."
"Who."
"Huh?"
"Who committed such an act. A Fiend from another branch? Or the Busan guild coalition? If not, a third party we don't know about?"
Kohaku Mei stared piercingly at her subordinate and spoke in a serious, flat tone, forgetting even her usual stuttering.
In contrast to her gaze, which held no hint of trembling, her voice contained a desperate plea, as if begging them to say it wasn't so.
Of course, it was only natural to desperately hope the culprit wasn't from her own forces, given that the Prophet had prohibited attacks on the Dragon less than a month ago, and a terrorist attack significant enough to make breaking news had occurred.
But words that betrayed her desperation came from the mouth of the subordinate Fiend.
"...I'm sorry. The ringleader of this terrorist attack is none other than the brainwashed individuals we had prepared."
"Aaahh..."
Feeling her vision go dark, Kohaku Mei grabbed her forehead and collapsed to the floor.