Chapter 327: Political Maneuvering (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 327: Political Maneuvering (6)
Contrary to his clearly intrigued expression, his words were a firm refusal.
I was momentarily stunned by the contradiction between his words and actions.
“Since you’ve spoken so frankly, Hunter Kim Do-jin, I will also be frank.”
He continued.
“To be honest, it’s no loss to me if one of your girlfriends is released from her Purity Vow. To be even more honest… if I could form an amicable relationship with you just by releasing her, what could be more profitable than that?”
The ‘amicable relationship’ he and I were talking about wasn’t simply about being friendly; it was a relationship of mutual benefit.
And in such a relationship, I would be the one getting the short end of the stick.
After all, besides breaking the Purity Vow, there was no other support I could possibly receive from Priest Joo Kyung-tae.
His connections?
Those wouldn’t be much help either.
The people saved in my smartphone had at least two or three times more clout, so why would I bother?
In other words, strictly speaking, there was no reason for him to refuse my offer.
Judging by the nuance of his candid confession, he knew this as well.
Yet, there was only one reason he had to turn down a relationship that would be nothing but beneficial to him.
“Yes. If only I could break that Purity Vow, that is.”
Right.
It must be because he didn’t know how to break the Purity Vow.
“Hmm.”
A flicker of irritation rose in me.
“So you have no idea how to break the Purity Vow.”
Joo Kyung-tae nodded, his expression mournful.
“Regrettably, yes.”
A sense of disappointment lingered.
If he had said so during our first meeting, things wouldn’t have escalated this far.
The rising irritation and anger were directed not at Priest Joo Kyung-tae, but at myself.
I was the one who had spewed sharp words without considering his feelings first.
My animosity toward the Purity Cult, the smoldering embers of excitement left after the flames had died down without truly burning bright.
These emotions, which wouldn’t easily subside, had made me incredibly sharp-edged.
If my emotions hadn’t gotten the better of me back then, things wouldn’t have progressed this way.
“Hmph.”
Enough with the regrets.
Now was the time to find the next solution.
I asked him, as he wore an expression just as regretful as mine.
“Is there anyone among your cult connections who might know?”
“Well…”
He murmured in an uncertain voice, lost in thought, before shaking his head.
“The Cardinal or the Saintess might know, but they are both so devout.”
In other words, the people I could sink my teeth into didn’t know how, and the people who might know how had faith so strong that I couldn’t sink my teeth into them.
“Is that so.”
The situation had become more complicated than I expected. I scratched my head and fell into deep thought.
What am I supposed to do now?
Meeting figures like the Saintess or a Cardinal of the Purity Cult wouldn’t be easy.
And even if I could meet them, it was unlikely they would agree to break the vow…
I knew one thing for sure.
There was no reason to stay here any longer, nor any reason to return in the future.
“If there’s no way, then there’s nothing to be done.”
As I said this and stood up without any lingering attachment, Joo Kyung-tae rose from his seat as well.
A deep sense of regret was evident on his face as he glanced my way.
He looked like he wanted to make me sit back down, but I wasn’t so sure.
Was there any need to listen further to someone who possessed nothing I wanted?
“I apologize for the imposition during this short time.”
I bowed my head lightly in farewell.
It was only right to properly apologize for the wrongs I had committed.
And offer appropriate compensation.
“Before I go, it’s only right that I offer something in return for my rudeness.”
“In return…?”
He looked up at me with eyes full of expectation.
As it happened, wasn’t there something the church needed right now?
“I’ll turn this church into an impregnable fortress that will never be breached again.”
The installation of a defensive magic circle.
I immediately went outside the church and placed my hand on the building’s exterior wall.
From that position, I released the mana dormant in my core through my palm, enveloping the entire building.
First, I hardened the building itself to protect it from physical impact.
Then, I wove the mana into a convex, embossed shape to form a new barrier for absorbing magical shocks.
On top of that, I added a reflective magic circle that would absorb any impact and return it in full…
Finally, as a trigger to emit a loud noise upon impact, I inscribed a signal magic circle.
「Wall of Lament.」
An original defense system that only I could install or dismantle was now complete.
After confirming that the magic circle had permeated the entire building, I removed my palm.
“It’s done. You’ll just need to periodically replenish the mana using mana stones.”
“Thank you.”
For someone saying thank you, his expression was utterly lukewarm.
I could understand why.
Although I had installed a magic circle, nothing had changed on the outside.
Besides, wasn’t I the one who had erased the original magic circle?
In his eyes, my actions must look like I was giving the disease and then the medicine.
He had no idea how incredible the magic circle now spread across the building was. Tsk.
Well, it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t as if I had painstakingly inscribed the magic circle hoping for his recognition.
The defense system I inscribed here wasn’t designed for the church in the first place.
Its real purpose was to protect Jeong-hee’s building, where I was a tenant.
The building was in such a secluded location that I worried every time I left the house.
In other words, what I inscribed here was a prototype of sorts.
Magic, after all, has a better chance of developing when it’s implemented in reality, not just in one’s head.
“…I think I get the gist of it now.”
Having inscribed it once, I understood.
I could see how to inscribe it to increase its efficiency and enhance its effects.
I’ll go home and inscribe a modified version.
“Since my business is done, I’ll be on my way. I don’t know if we’ll see each other again, but in my heart, I’ll pray for the continued prosperity of the Purity Cult.”
“Ah, yes. I hope you, too, continue to strive forward, Hunter Kim Do-jin…”
We exchanged empty pleasantries as a final farewell and I turned away.
A thick sense of regret clung to my every step.
In the end, I couldn’t find a way to break Elena’s Purity Vow. What should I do?
“This has become a pain.”
I felt helpless.
But if you were to ask if I would give up, the answer was absolutely not.
Just as I’ve always done, I just need to find a way.
Someone might even say it.
Why not give up on the front and just go for the back?
“That’s ridiculous.”
That… is the kind of thought someone who walks a heretical path, not the righteous one, would have.
The back is a secondary pleasure that comes along eventually once you have the front. To choose it first?
Of course, my desire for a hole I’ve never experienced is immense, but to make a woman’s first time be from the back is truly…
“It might be… novel, in its own way?”
No.
That’s not it.
I almost fell for it again.
The second-best option should be saved for the very last moment.
As I said, I will find a way.
A vow made by cowardly coercing a cold and starving child with the promise of food.
If the cult can’t break it, then I have no choice but to break it myself.
“Hmph.”
Before leaving the church completely, I took a deep breath.
An unpleasant sensation filled the air that entered deep into my lungs.
“As I thought.”
No matter how many times I think about it, my mind doesn’t change.
At this point, I should see it not as an impulse, but as my true feelings.
As I thought, I…
“I hate the Purity Cult.”
Yep, I really don’t get along with these guys.
Standing on this land, an inexplicable sense of repulsion wells up from the depths of my heart.
This repulsion simultaneously allows me to foresee the future.
That someday, somehow, I am destined to clash with them.
Of course, I have no intention of acting rashly based on a single gut feeling, but…
Wouldn’t it be alright to clip their wings a bit, just to prepare for a what-if scenario?
* * *
At the top of the Magic Tower, overlooking all of Gangnam.
The densely packed buildings and the mana surging throughout the city.
She was curious.
“I wonder what it looks like.”
How did this city appear to the eyes of Kim Do-jin, who could see mana?
Just as a sharp sensation, like swallowing mustard, lingered in her mouth from the thoughtless question, an old-sounding voice from the pre-connected call echoed through the space.
-It’s been a while, Hunter Han Ju-hee.
The caller was Jo Myung-woon, the chairman of the Myungwoon Group, which had recently shown remarkable growth and risen to the ranks of a major corporation.
They weren’t close, but they had met several times for business.
“Hello, Chairman Jo. Have you been well?”
She greeted him with a surprisingly warm voice, her expression impassive as she looked down at Gangnam.
-Haha! Well, I’m always busy. Though not as busy as you, Hunter Han Ju-hee, I’m sure.
The voice on the other end of the line grew even brighter.
It seemed her friendly tone had put him at ease.
She paid it no mind.
Her gaze, which had been sweeping over Gangnam, settled on a specific area.
An administrative district.
And a little above it, a wide garden and a spire.
“Chairman.”
-Hmm?
“You recently put pressure on the Association, didn’t you? To teach an arrogant brat the bitter taste of life.”
A surprised voice came from over the receiver.
-What? How did you know about that…?
The startled, excited voice was laced with deep bewilderment.
And for good reason. The only people who knew were Joo Kyung-tae, who had instigated it, and himself, who had accepted.
And the Association executive who had agreed to handle it.
Her eyes completely captivated by the church building, she left a quiet warning for the person on the other end of the line in an empty voice.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do that again.”
The flow of mana surrounding the buildings of Gangnam might look different on the surface, but if you looked deeper, their foundation was the same.
The reason was that when Gangnam was designed, the entire magic circle that formed the basis of the buildings’ defense systems was created according to a manual painstakingly developed by her and the executives of the Magic Tower.
“That child… he’s one I sponsor.”
But there was one place.
The wavelength emanating from that church was distinctly different from the other buildings.
No, to say it was different was an understatement; it was fundamentally alien.
Just as her optic nerves and her entire mind were captivated by the bizarre, almost mystical pattern…
-I-I’m sorry. I had no idea he was a child you sponsored. R-Really!
A frantic voice poured out from the receiver like a waterfall, as if he were being chased.
‘Physical impact absorption, mana absorption, reflection, alarm…’
Each and every piece of magic inscribed on the building’s walls far surpassed the Magic Tower’s manual.
It was overwhelming not only in terms of efficiency but also in performance.
At that level, assuming the mana charge was at 100%, couldn’t it even block a spell cast with her full power?
‘I don’t know.’
There was a limit to what she could grasp with her senses alone.
What form and structure did the wall of mana hidden inside the bricks and cement take?
Just how did one have to construct a magic circle to achieve such efficiency and performance?
Looking at the magic he had designed made her own efficiency and performance, honed over decades, feel like a sports car that was all flash and no substance.
A lemon that guzzled an absurd amount of fuel yet had mediocre speed.
“If you didn’t know, I suppose it can’t be helped.”
-Th-Thank you for understanding.
Her emotionless words brought immense relief to the man on the other end.
But she wasn’t finished.
“But not knowing doesn’t make the mistake disappear.”
It wasn’t sharp like a blade, nor was it crushing like a bone-shattering club.
Just an impassive tone.
That was why Jo Myung-woon felt even more terrified.
It was as if she were subtly pressuring him, implying she could destroy his entire foundation whenever she wished.
-What… what should I do?
In the end, he was the first to wave the white flag.
Then, she continued.
“I don’t know. I’d just like for this to never happen again. Ever.”
Jo Myung-woon quickly understood her meaning.
-I understand. I’ll take care of it on my end so that you don’t have to worry about it, Hunter Han Ju-hee.
“Let’s talk about something more pleasant next time we call.”
-O-Of course.
After ending the call on a reasonable note, she murmured quietly.
“This should be enough.”
She had called him solely because of Kim Do-jin’s request.
He had asked her to apply some pressure without getting into specifics, so this should be sufficient.
What was important to her right now wasn’t the phone call.
It was the defense system before her eyes that was setting her nerves on edge.
The appearance of a defense system that surpassed the manual created with the utmost care by her, the Tower Lord, and her executives.
Considering the amount of money the Magic Tower earned each year from installing defensive magic circles, this was a life-or-death crisis.
So what could she do?
“Looks like there’s another thing I have to learn.”
She had no choice but to learn from him.
“…He won’t refuse.”
He wouldn’t refuse to teach her.
He showed a strange obsession with the questions he got in return for teaching someone something.
Wouldn’t he be thrilled that there was more to teach?
That’s why she was curious.
“Why is he so curious, anyway?”
Why was he so interested in things like her private life?
It would be one thing if he could speak of it to others, but that wasn’t the case, was it?
Then it meant his actions were ultimately based on his own interest.
“Could it be…”
For a moment, a preposterous thought occurred to her.
The thought that Kim Do-jin, who was only twenty-one, might have feelings for her.
“…No, that can’t be it.”
She dismissed the idea, shaking her head, thinking it was impossible.
Then, lost in the mystical wavelength emanating from the church building, she began to rearrange her schedule.
So she could meet him in her lab a day sooner.