The First Day

"Kku-ing, Master! We're almost there, right?"

"Listen to the GPS. It just said twenty minutes."

Karen and Samsaek were on their way to Ellinia, nestled deep in what had once been Korea's Jirisan range.

Samsaek had been bouncing in the passenger seat for a while now, too excited to sit still, chattering without a pause.

"Kku-ing, fresh air! The air is so clean! How long has it been since I felt this?"

"You're really coming into the gate with me?"

"Obviously! Sightseeing includes the gate! Were you planning to go in alone?"

I have to go in anyway — the Mandrake is the whole reason I'm here. This cat already has nothing but tourism rattling around in his head.

"Inside the gate, Chaerin can handle one cat just fine. But how are you planning to walk around out here with all these people?"

Coming all this way just to sit in a car and a hotel wouldn't be much of a trip.

"Kku-ing, I'll just ride on your shoulder!"

"No."

"Kku-ing?"

Unlike dogs, cats ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were territorial animals. You almost never saw one out for a walk. Even a cat on a leash would draw stares — and perched on a shoulder? Every eye on the street would lock onto them in a heartbeat.

"Get in the carrier in the back seat."

"That thing is stuffy!"

"Then we turn around. I'll flip the car right now."

Samsaek had figured they were too far along for Karen to actually go back, so he threw a tantrum. Fat chance. The moment Karen made a show of turning the wheel, Samsaek shrank into his seat.

"Kku-ing, fine..."

"That's a good cat. Or rather, a good Spiritual Beast. We're almost there."

They wound up the mountain road, switchback after switchback, until a sign carved with the city's name came into view.

"Whoa, the city's named Ellinia too — same as the gate."

Not long after they passed the sign, Ellinia itself appeared in the distance and drew steadily closer.

"Welcome."

After a brief inspection, they rolled through the entrance.

"The exit over there has a lot more people than the way in, though."

"Hmm..."

Following Samsaek's observation, Karen glanced toward the outgoing side. The inspection on the way out looked stricter — there was a line. The number of guards and the atmosphere around them were on a completely different level from the entrance.

The air was wonderfully clean, but just as Chaerin and Jeong-hyeon had said, something about Ellinia — a city under the Musashi Guild's thumb — smelled rotten.

"I know a saying for this!"

"What?"

"You can come in whenever you want, but you can't leave whenever you want."

"That's the most sensible thing you've ever said."

"Whoa! Master, this place is amazing."

Samsaek stood up on his hind legs in the passenger seat, front paws pressed to the glass, and gazed outside in awe.

"Kku-ing, humans are incredible."

"Weren't you just clicking your tongue and saying all humans are the same...?"

"Master, you can't judge humans by just one side of them."

...This guy's getting more articulate by the day. Is it because of all the TV?

Even so, Karen had to agree with the "incredible" part. A city — small, but a city — built into a mountain range this rugged. Well-paved roads, glittering signs, crowds of people walking between them: it was enough to make you forget you'd been driving through dense forest only minutes ago.

"Let's head to the place Chaerin reserved first."

As a city that lived on tourism, Ellinia had no shortage of hotels. Karen drove to the one Chaerin had booked.

"Mr. Karen. Your reservation has been confirmed."

Thanks to Chaerin handling everything in advance, check-in flowed like water. Karen and Samsaek left their luggage at the lobby and headed straight back outside to start sightseeing and get some air.

"Where should we go?"

Unable to speak outside, Samsaek sent a message to Karen's watch. Even from inside the carrier, his excitement at being out in the world again came through loud and clear.

"All right, all right. Let's check it out."

The market was a riot of goods, from big storefronts down to individual stalls.

"Handsome young man! Come take a look at this!"

From merchants hawking their wares to people putting on little street performances, it lived up to its reputation as a landmark. As expected of a city tied to a gate, there were plenty of rare and fascinating items.

"These herbs are all ones I used to see in Belial, though."

According to the merchants, everything had come out of Ellinia. Do gates only open against a Belial backdrop? This is my first time seeing one, so I wouldn't know yet.

Following Samsaek's nose down a side alley, they found a stall sitting in a gloomy spot that felt a world apart from the bright market.

"Monster pet food? What's that supposed to be?"

"Welcome!"

A man with messy hair and oversized glasses greeted them warmly as they approached. The stall's awning was fairly high, but his head nearly brushed it — he was huge.

A customer! How long has it been since anyone came by?

The stall owner was genuinely moved at the sight of customers approaching from a distance. Market stalls were a matter of connections and money. He'd had neither, so he'd been stuck with a corner spot, and of course customers rarely came.

"Hhk — it's so good to see you!"

How long had it been since his last customer that he was actually tearing up?

"Aigoo, you keep a cat! I've got just the thing. Want to try a sample? I guarantee the flavor!"

This guy talked a lot. The sample looked like jerky — not bad at a glance. Karen fed it to Samsaek through the mesh of the carrier.

"Guess the taste really is as good as he says."

A talking cat had said so, so it was trustworthy. Samsaek's thrashing, transmitted up Karen's wrist, made it abundantly clear just how good it was.

"Give me every snack you've got."

"Pardon?"

"Everything from here to there. If you've got stock in the back, I'll take that too."

"Yes, sir!"

Color flooded back into the owner's face as he started packing at speed. At the far end of the stall, though, some familiar herbs and bottles caught Karen's eye.

"Oh? Isn't this a potion?"

Karen picked up a glass bottle and gave it a gentle shake. Blue liquid sloshed inside. At this concentration... about twenty-four percent?

"Haha, it's embarrassing. I'm just a novice alchemist."

"You're an alchemist? Then why are you selling cat snacks instead of potions?"

"I don't have the money. It's a B-Rank twenty-four percent potion, but it can't compete with the factory-made ones that hit thirty percent or higher."

"That so? Then why'd you make it?"

"You start by making things and learning as you go, right? Someday I'll make a hundred-percent potion for sure."

The owner clenched his fist as he said it. Some people might have called it a big dream for someone making potions like this, but what Karen felt was a little different.

I had days like that too.

Wandering off to pick herbs without knowing a thing, nearly getting killed by a monster, botching a potion and going temporarily blind in one eye... He'd done every stupid thing imaginable. It was like looking at his old self.

"That's everything. Thank you so much."

"Yeah. Something's coming."

Sure enough, two rough-looking men in sleeveless shirts, tattoos on full display, were heading their way.

"Hey! You! Didn't I tell you not to do business here?"

The line was so textbook, the swagger so by-the-book, that Karen half-wondered if they'd gone to some kind of thug academy.

"Sir. I may not look it, but I'm a C-Rank awakened. I'll hold them off, so please go somewhere else..."

So the bulk wasn't just for show — he was an awakened. That tracked. Even in Belial, alchemists were rarely ordinary civilians. You had to be strong to survive.

"Don't bother. Just watch this. I'm borrowing these gloves."

He'd been about to just knock them down and leave, but a wave of old nostalgia sparked a whim.

"Huh?"

"Mix this herb with this one, then... what's the blood base on this?"

"Uh... Forest Wolf."

Forest Wolves had a grandiose name, but they were just oversized, unusually intelligent wolves that lived in the woods.

"Twenty-four percent, so about this much should do it."

Karen shaped a small cup out of Shield Magic. He dripped in a few drops of potion and added the two herbs, then formed a mortar-shaped shield and pounded them into powder in seconds.

"You little shits! You dare ignore us?"

The preparation was already done. As the thugs raised their fists, Karen set the powder on the glove and blew.

"Huh? What did you just— ughhh. What is this. It itches!"

"Do it this way and you get a powder that causes itching. They won't be able to move for a day."

The men clawed at every patch of skin the powder had touched, screaming, half-rolling across the ground as they fled in an ugly scramble.

"Good luck. I'm heading out."

He turned to leave — and a desperate voice from behind made him pause.

"W-wait! Just a moment!"

"Hm?"

What's with this guy's face? His eyes are sparkling like stars.

"Combining them like that produces that kind of effect? No — who on earth are you...?"

"An alchemist."

"An alchemist! You're a sunbae-nim, then! No one's ever shown me something like that. The ones who said they'd teach me just worked me like a dog, made me call them Master, used me as a lab rat. Hhk, hhk."

The stall owner launched into a sudden, tearful complaint, as if some old grievance had just burst open.

Samsaek sent the text while chewing on jerky.

No, you're the weirdest one here.

The owner looked at Karen carefully and ventured,

"Um... perhaps as my master..."

"No."

"I figured as much..."

He wilted for a moment, then seemed to wrestle with something before speaking again.

"Then, as thanks for showing me that formula, may I serve as your guide? I've lived in Ellinia a long time. I know the place well. Good restaurants, for instance..."

Having met a proper senior for the first time, the stall owner wanted to repay Karen however he could.

"I'm fi—"

"Uh... I think you're getting a call."

The watch kept chiming like a phone ringing. Karen gave the carrier a light tap, but the alerts just kept coming.

"This fat cat, I swear... Fine. Show us around a bit tomorrow. I'll pay you."

"Aigoo, no payment needed. It's an honor. I'm Han Minjae. Twenty-four years old."

Twenty-four? Even setting aside the massive build, his face looks well over thirty.

"...You've had it rough."

"Kku-ing..."

Karen gave Han Minjae's forearm a gentle pat by way of encouragement. The guy's shoulders were too high to reach.

They exchanged watch numbers and parted ways. Behind them, Han Minjae kept waving, radiating joy.

"Take care, sunbae-nim!"

Sunbae... now there was an unfamiliar word.

Unlike mages, alchemists had no schools, and in Belial Karen's ability had been proportional to his infamy. He'd never heard anyone call him that.

"Let's head back."

Driving had worn him out, so that was enough sightseeing for today. They still had time before they were supposed to meet Chaerin's party, so there'd be plenty of chances to look around.

"Master, about that 'master' thing the human mentioned. You don't do that kind of stuff, right?"

To a creature who got his information from the internet, the word "master" might well be unfamiliar.

"Depends on the person. I'm not interested."

His reputation had kept anyone from wanting to become his disciple, and he'd never felt the need to take one anyway.

"I heard you can make them do anything? Work them like crazy."

"...That's not the concept of a disciple I know."

Where did this guy even get his information? Sometimes Karen wondered if the internet was corrupting Spiritual Beasts.

"He said they make you wash the car, work at night, no days off."

"Wherever you heard that, it's nonsense. Even slaves don't get treated like that."

There had actually been countries in Belial with slavery. The types varied, but slaves were generally bought for labor, so managing them properly was essential.

"Slaves are property, so they actually live pretty regularly. In some countries people even said slaves had it better than poor free citizens."

It varied by owner, of course, but wealthy people usually bought them and managed them systematically.

"Kku-ing? So it's different from the disciples I know."

"Different how?"

"I heard that in the modern world, disciples are called graduate students."

"Huh? I don't know much about that side of things either. Well, even if that's true, it'd only be some of them. No way it's that bad."

What job in this day and age would treat people like that? Karen figured Samsaek had just picked up more nonsense from somewhere.

"Welcome back. Did you enjoy your sightseeing in Ellinia?"

They'd talked their way back to the hotel. A hotelier who recognized Karen addressed them. It was a luxury hotel — the manners were impeccable, the uniform spotless.

"Everything's fine except the public safety."

"Public... safety?"

The hotelier looked puzzled. Unless you wandered into a back alley, that sort of thing was rare.

"It was nothing."

"Ah! That's a relief. Is there anything you need?"

"Send some food up. Anything's fine."

Where Karen lived, there weren't even restaurants nearby, let alone same-day delivery. So he'd buy lunch boxes, shove them in the freezer, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just thaw them out.

I don't really obsess over food anyway.

To Karen, food was nice if it tasted good and whatever if it didn't. Fuel for the car, basically.

"Understood. Our hotel's head chef will do his utmost."

"Is there a surcharge?"

"None. Ms. Lee Chaerin requested the very finest treatment. Here is the VVIP pamphlet."

In principle the hotel didn't accept post-payment, but this was a guest an S-Rank Hunter had personally called about. No deposit, no nothing required.

"That's a lot of stuff."

"You need only enjoy the amenities, Mr. Karen. Ms. Lee Chaerin's card is already on file."

"Just take me to the room for now. I want to rest."

"Of course. Should anything be inconvenient, the phone in your room connects directly to me, the general manager, at any time."

No wonder he'd seemed a bit too composed and unhurried for a regular staff member. There it was.

The moment the elevator doors opened, the hotelier escorted Karen to the room.

"It's an honor to serve you. Ms. Lee Chaerin has reserved this entire floor for you."

Chaerin really did things on a grand scale. Even a special floor had several rooms, but only the door to the largest suite in the center stood open.

"I'll be stationed on this floor at all times, so please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns."

After seeing Karen to the door, the hotelier returned to his duty room at the end of the hall. A special floor like this was called a hotel within a hotel for a reason — the service was airtight.

"Hup!"

"Kku-ing, the bed is as soft as a cloud!"

While Karen and Samsaek were lying on the bed for a brief rest, the bell rang — the food they'd ordered had arrived.

"It's an honor to serve you, Mr. Karen. I am this hotel's executive chef. Would you like an explanation of the dishes?"

"No. I'll eat on my own."

"Understood. We've prepared a salmon dish exclusively for your companion cat, along with apple for dessert."

He hadn't even ordered it, but there were little plates more carefully prepared than most restaurant meals for humans.

"That's all right. The cat's been putting on belly fat lately—"

"Kku-iiiing!"

"Or not?"

He glanced at Samsaek, half teasing, half paying him back for the usual nonsense. The cat couldn't speak with people around, and he was looking at Karen with a desperation Karen had never seen before.

That's even more desperate than when we first met.

And back then, his life had actually been on the line.

"Guess he really wants it. Leave it."

"Understood. Please enjoy your meal."

The moment everyone left, Samsaek pounced on his dish the way a cat pounces on a mouse.

"I-it's delicious!"

"Yeah, it is pretty good."

Karen took a bite of his own food and had to agree.

Come to think of it... was I just uninterested in food because Belial's cuisine never suited me?

Even the food in the royal palace had been overly rich and heavily salted.

Samsaek demolished his meal in seconds, then spoke in a grave voice.

"Master."

"You just ate something delicious. Why do you sound like that?"

"You need to make things work with Lee Chaerin."

"...More nonsense. We could do this ourselves, you know."

"No! Even if you have money, you never spend it like this! You eat ramen and thawed frozen food every day!"

It wasn't a joke. On the worst days, even the animal-only food Samsaek ate had looked more appetizing.

"It's not like you're the one eating it. Why do you care?"

"It's still pretty bad. You need Lee Chaerin."

"You're just selling me out because you want more good food, aren't you?"

"...Meow?"

"Don't even try that fake cat act. Cut the crap and let's watch a drama. Hook that up."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Samsaek synced the watch to the TV and resumed the drama they'd been watching.

A drama that had aired in 2010, averaging a thirty percent viewership rating.

"Master, so in your world, if you became a disciple, was it like that? Did they run away from their masters like the servants in this show?"

Watching the slave-catchers chase runaway servants on screen, Samsaek thought of Han Minjae and asked.

"Nothing like that. Well — actually, there was."

Disciples under nasty masters had slipped away in the night, sure. What was it his mage friends used to say?

But he'd known some of those mages since their own disciple days, and they'd been exactly the same back then. The ones who used to complain every day about how hard it was.

"See! Then Korea's graduate students are the real deal!"

"Even where I was, that kind of thing was rare."

Right on cue, an enraged nobleman whose property had just fled was bellowing from the TV.

That kind of thing only happens in dramas.

And so the first day in Ellinia drew to a close. Tomorrow, they'd do some real sightseeing.