Chapter 341: Into the Abnormal (1)
Chapter 341: Into the Abnormal (1)
I received a bit of an excessive celebratory hazing the moment I returned to the Geneva Branch, but honestly, I didn't feel all that bad.
I suppose you could say it made me feel that, even in a situation like this, a mage is still a mage.
Of course, that didn't mean I had any intention of forgiving the person who attacked me. It felt a bit spiteful watching them soar into the far reaches of the sky only to descend slowly with low-velocity fall magic, so I threw a rock at them from about five meters up to bring them down.
Thanks to that, they landed headfirst, but they didn't die.
Even at a glance, it was obvious they weren't a mage from a civilian background, but a former Hero.
Naturally, their body was much sturdier.
I mean, they were currently face-planted in the ground and still screaming "Crimson★Hammeeeerrrrr!" in a fit of rage, weren't they?
I don't know why they were acting like that, though.
I was the victim, and the mage was the perpetrator.
Why on earth were they screaming my name with such fury?
I’m sure they’ll hold a grudge later and try to hold another burning ceremony or an expulsion or something.
As someone who lives an honest life, I find this method of internalizing grudges utterly incomprehensible.
Anyway, leaving that "victim" act behind, I left a short message for my disciples and went looking for the others.
My targets were The Council-level mages.
Seeing as the mages were carrying on with their daily lives, those guys were probably holed up in their labs doing their own thing.
In other words, it meant I could find them if I went to the Research Institute.
Praising myself for this perfect plan, I headed toward the laboratory.
* * *
"I'm sorry. The Professor is currently away..."
My perfect plan!
That bastard Magic Weaver ruined everything!
This guy is never helpful in my life.
"Sigh... Then do you know when he'll be back?"
"I'm sorry. I'm not sure about that either..."
This is driving me crazy.
"Then, since when has he been away?"
"Ever since the Public Enemy Designation was issued..."
Well, Magic Weaver being gone was one thing.
Left with no choice, I began talking to the first person who approached me among those conducting research in the masterless lab.
"Hey."
Suddenly, one of the mages who had been staring at us intently cut into the conversation and dragged away the researcher I was talking to.
They didn't show any reaction to my bewilderment at this sudden situation.
The researcher and the one who dragged him away huddled in a corner and began whispering to each other.
Hmm. Let's have a listen.
The air was thick with the scent of someone trying to hide something, but they couldn't fool my ears.
'Why are you doing this all of a sudden?'
'You know. That Magical Girl is an outsider.'
'So what?'
'She's an outsider. Don't you get it yet?'
'...Ah, I see. An outsider.'
Strange dialogue drifted into my ears.
The mage who had reacted as if he didn't understand what was being said...
His tone gradually became odd.
By The End, his voice had turned so cold it sent a shiver down my spine.
With that, the mage I had been talking to slowly returned to me.
The other one went to a different desk and began writing something down, immersing himself in research once more.
Amidst that bizarre atmosphere.
"I'm sorry. We don't know either."
The man who returned answered me with an aura completely different from just a moment ago.
"...Didn't you just mention something about the Public Enemy Designation?"
"Hmm. Did I say such a thing? My apologies."
The mood changed way too fast.
Is this the power of the tentacles?
Then... what are they eating?
I stared intently at the mage before me.
As expected of one of Magic Weaver’s researchers, he seemed quite skilled.
He looked back at me with a face as expressionless as a solid iron door.
Feeling a sense of total rejection radiating from him, I considered stopping the conversation and looking for someone else.
But I couldn't just leave.
I had to squeeze some information out of them somehow.
Just as I was about to thicken my skin and throw out another question...
A now-familiar sensation descended upon my mind.
The sense of an enemy.
I immediately turned my head.
The entity was easy to find.
There was a small door in the corner of the lab.
That door had a small glass window showing a dark room where the lights were off, and beyond it, there was a tentacle staring at me, swaying its terminal end.
"Excuse me. Just passing through..."
The moment I tried to push past the mage blocking my way.
"Public Enemy! It's a tentacle! Capture it!"
The man turned his head in the same direction I was looking.
Then he screamed.
His voice was loud, echoing throughout the entire lab.
A rapid response followed.
With that single shout...
Every single mage in the lab...
Even a mage who had been sleeping on a folding bed, presumably exhausted from research, sprang up with incredible speed and began to charge.
Before I, in my bewilderment, could even react, they threw the door open and lunged into the room.
And from the room I hadn't even entered yet, countless mages began to vent massive amounts of heat, smoke, and light out into the hallway.
"...What the fuck."
Why are these guys so proactive?
The group of six I met earlier said they'd never even seen a tentacle.
These guys are going absolutely ballistic the moment they see one.
Anyway, about thirty seconds passed while I stood there dazed by the intense reaction.
The explosions, roars, and flashes—so violent I worried the room might collapse—finally stopped.
To check the situation inside, I slowly walked to the door and peeked into the room.
A disastrous sight unfolded before me.
I had no way of knowing what the room originally looked like.
But now, the concrete walls were crumbled, exposing rebar and drainage pipes.
Scraps of paper and ash, presumably research data, fluttered in the air.
Fragments of metal, wood, and glass—once furniture or research equipment—were scattered everywhere.
To top it off, several mages were lying there, groaning or unconscious, likely hit by friendly fire.
What on earth is this?
I can understand going all out to catch a Public Enemy.
But for several mages to cram into that narrow space and fire off magic like madmen without caring about friendly fire... no matter how I thought about it, it was weird.
Anyway.
"...Did you manage to catch the tentacle?"
Hoping to get even a tiny bit of information, I tossed the question to the mage.
The mage who had been talking to me earlier was standing in the middle of the room.
He whipped his head toward me at my question and opened his mouth.
"Tentacle? I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"You screamed 'tentacle' and jumped in just a second ago."
Do you have short-term amnesia?
I wanted to snark at him like that.
But the atmosphere they were radiating prevented me from doing so.
"Ah, I was referring to a cockroach. I saw one, so we were just cleaning up."
What kind of crazy bullshit is that?
What kind of lunatic in this world totalizes a room just because a single cockroach appeared?
"Do you really think that makes sense?"
Eventually, my anger flared, and I dropped the polite tone, snapping at the arrogant Young Man.
"We believe it makes sense."
He replied, his face covered in soot.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a ridiculous situation and an absurd excuse.
But they seemed dead serious.
I honestly don't know what's wrong with these bastards anymore.
Whatever they say, I just have to ignore it and push through.
"Cut the crap and tell me everything—what happened to the tentacle that just appeared, and what you know about them. This is a Public Enemy Designation. You're not mages doing research under a vow of secrecy until publication anymore."
A more direct and clear question, laced with hostility and anger.
"We have never seen a tentacle, and we know nothing about them. We were simply conducting pest control to eliminate a cockroach."
They spat out an absurd excuse that was obviously a lie to anyone's ears, all with serious faces.
"I told you to cut the crap. If you don't all want to die, spill everything you know. The reason why you had to dive in and capture it without a thought for friendly fire the moment you saw it. That's what a Public Enemy Designation is. It's a public mission for everyone to join forces and strike down The Enemy."
Thus, with a voice even more filled with rage, I took a step forward and barked at them.
Perhaps because of that...
Two mages who looked weak fainted on the spot.
A slight vibration from my footstep rippled through the room.
But those who remained looked at me without blinking and spoke.
"We have not seen any tentacles. And, if I may say one thing..."
Their faces twisted slightly.
As if they were smiling.
"To resolve the Public Enemy Designation, our method is the correct one. Outsider. Lee Ha-ram."
With those final words...
The mages hoisted their unconscious comrades onto their shoulders and walked past me, leaving the room.
And I was left alone inside the ruined room.
* * *
"Who's an 'outsider'..."
Thinking about it again made me angry all over again.
So, to vent that anger...
I mashed the macaroni in the Mac and Cheese set before me with a fork.
I could have just eaten it normally, but that wouldn't soothe my rage.
And so, this Mac and Cheese, loaded with cheese, was my lunch.
Right now, it looked more like a pile of flour dough than macaroni, but that didn't change the name of the dish.
Anyway, I was currently in the Dining Hall.
Having had two encounters with the cold-hearted mage collective...
I had worried the cafeteria staff might be the same, but fortunately, the Dining Hall was as peaceful as ever.
A peaceful sanctuary for mages, where countless individuals received the food they wanted and chatted with one another.
Memories of being purged as the sole evil in this sanctuary flickered in my mind.
But it should be fine this time.
The cafeteria staff were still kind.
The mages who saw me did recoil and move away, but they didn't suddenly turn hostile or gather in a group to denounce me.
I'll just wait in the Dining Hall as I said in my message.
I don't know when my disciples will see the message, but I can wait.
There was no sign of the Dining Hall closing, either.
Just in case they ran out of food, I asked a staff member.
The employee gave a wry smile, saying other mages had asked the same thing.
Then they told me that Management Bureau branches originally stocked enough food to last for decades or even centuries.
They said that as time passed, some fresh ingredients might run out and the menu might become monotonous, but there would be no problem with basic survival.
Hmm.
Honestly, being that confident felt a bit ominous.
What if, in an extreme case, the Public Enemy accelerated the time of everything except living beings and made all the ingredients rot?
But putting aside such exceptional circumstances for now...
Knowing there wouldn't be any major issues for a short while...
I quietly shoveled the Mac and Cheese into my mouth.
As I ate the Mac and Cheese with a dull sense of taste that registered nothing but a bit of saltiness, my mind went blank.
"Ah! There he is! Si-hyun! I found him!"
A familiar voice reached my ears.
Along with the sound of rapid footsteps.
"Master!"
"Gack."
Having been lost in thought, I took the full force of a heavy tackle.
Leaving only the Mac and Cheese on the table, I went rolling down the long hallway along with my fork.
"Which bastard was that!"
Holding the fork like a weapon, I took a stance and glared at the person who attacked me.
"Master! It's me! Si-hyun!"
There stood a dorky Wild Boar, looking at me with total confidence as she let out a roar of victory.
Beside her was Han A-bin, shaking her head with Un-ho perched on her shoulder.
Once I realized the identity of my assailant, my anger dissipated instantly.
"Oh. I guess you got the message already."
I quietly lowered the raised fork and sat back down at the table.
At the same time, my two disciples sat across from me.
"First... from your perspective, it's been a while, right? Let's save the greetings for later. First, I want to hear information about the internal situation..."
In the urgent situation of a Public Enemy Designation, I pushed aside the joy of reunion and opened my mouth to get the necessary information.
"Master! More importantly, there's something I want to show you!"
Suddenly, Baek Si-hyun raised her hand and cut me off.
Si-hyun cutting me off to express an opinion... that was quite a rare occurrence.
Did that mean there was something that important?
"What is it? Tell me."
I quietly withdrew my words and waited for Baek Si-hyun to speak.
"Hehe, just a second."
Having received my permission, Baek Si-hyun placed her outstretched arm on the table. Then she stopped moving.
About ten seconds passed.
What? Nothing's happening.
I tilted my head and waited another ten seconds.
Since nothing was happening...
"Si-hyun, what on earth are you..."
The moment I opened my mouth to press her.
"Ah. Just a moment, it'll come out soon."
Si-hyun looked at me, placing her index finger on her lips as if telling me to be quiet.
Left with no choice but to wait a bit longer...
Wriggle.
Si-hyun’s sleeve twitched slightly.
And then, from inside the baggy sleeve of her ordinary civilian clothes—not her Magical Girl outfit—it popped out.
An entity with purple skin and oil-colored patterns.
A single tentacle, much smaller than the ones I had seen before—probably about the length and thickness of a pencil.
It emerged from the sleeve, tilted its terminal end, and looked at me.
'Kyu?'
With a bizarre gesture that almost made me hallucinate that it had made such a sound.