Police vs. Firefighters (5)

The attention on me from the Gwanghwamun brothel incident had finally started to fade.

I couldn’t help letting out a sigh as I watched the report. I’d barely managed to drag the spotlight somewhere else, and now it had come right back around.

Of course, this time the reporters weren’t showing up in person. Hardly anyone knew the Purple Devil was me.

The public opinion on the Purple Devil wasn’t exactly favorable. A few people defended me, but most of the posts were criticism.

Not bad.

Not long ago, I’d knocked a street villain flat as the hunter Typhon. Typhon of the Dio Guild, Purple Devil—same person, different name. I’d done the exact same thing, and yet one side got hailed as a hero while the other got dragged through the mud.

Comedy, pure and simple.

That was why I couldn’t quit hero work. Compared to my previous life, this one was nothing but a chain of endless events, and every day felt strangely alive.

I closed my phone and looked around.

Winter had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠passed, and the weather had turned mild. Forsythia was in full bloom, spilling a bright yellow wave across the landscape. Tourists out for flower-viewing had spread picnic mats everywhere, taking photos and laughing under the sun.

Grandma likes flowers too.

The sight of those happy families made me think of her. But I wasn’t here to sightsee. Before the Police-Fire War, there was something I had to do first.

It should be around here.

I stepped into the center of the vast field blanketed with blooming forsythia and pressed my palm to the ground, pouring mana into it. A large hole opened beneath my hand, the edges dark and unnaturally deep.

There it is.

Like the Mountain Gates I’d occasionally heard about on mountaintops, this was a passage that only opened in places where flowers grew thickest. It was called a Flower Gate.

The Flower Gate had its own peculiar traits, much like a Mountain Gate, but the hole in the ground was already beginning to shrink. If I left it alone, it would disappear.

Better hurry.

I threw myself forward and entered the gate.

A warm spring breeze drifted through the dungeon. Inside, it wasn’t all that different from the outside world—except that all kinds of unfamiliar flowers were blooming across the ground in thick, colorful patches.

“Now that’s a sight.”

A sweet, grassy fragrance brushed past my nose. Just like a flower field on the surface, the dungeon was packed with blossoms. That was the Flower Gate’s first feature.

The second was…

For a moment, I simply enjoyed the peaceful scenery, but then one corner of the flower field began to shift with a soft rustling sound.

I lowered my body and reached for Heoksikdo, watching the movement draw closer as though I were looking at ripples rolling across water. The motion stopped right in front of me. After a brief silence, a small white monster with the face of a rodent poked its head out from between the flowers, staring at me with a blank expression.

Our eyes met.

“……”

That thing was called a Snow Bara.

It was a herbivorous monster that mainly fed on plant roots. Gentle by nature, it was known for never attacking humans.

That was the Flower Gate’s second feature. There were unusually many different monsters here, and most of them didn’t attack people. Compared to other gates, it was far safer.

“What’re you looking at?”

I called out to it casually.

The Snow Bara crept toward me with that same foolish-looking face, its white fur rippling every time it moved. I couldn’t help staring. It looked incredibly soft.

I’ve only seen these in books. This is my first time seeing one in person.

I reached out and gave its back a few tentative strokes, my hand still tense with uncertainty.

“Kyaa.”

The Snow Bara made a strange little cry, then flopped over onto its side as if it had fainted. It even closed its eyes and stuck out its belly, clearly asking for more.

I laughed under my breath.

So this was the wide universe, with its countless gates and endless monsters after all. It was nothing like the creatures that usually came at me with every intention of killing or being killed.

When I rubbed its belly, the flowers around us began to rustle, and one Snow Bara after another lifted its head from the field.

“Kyaa?”

“Kyaaah.”

“Kyaa.”

They waddled toward me at a leisurely pace, puffed up their fur, and rubbed themselves against my legs as if to ask for petting too.

“You lot are way too laid-back.”

As I kept petting the soft little creatures, my mind gradually calmed down. Before I knew it, far too much time had passed.

“Focus.”

I hadn’t come into the Flower Gate to play with Snow Bara.

“Get off me. Geez. Why are you all so heavy?”

After peeling off the ones that had clinged to me like burrs, I headed deeper in and climbed a tree. Settling onto a thick branch, I looked down over the dazzling flower field spread out beneath me.

All right. Let’s begin.

The fifth hero was Bear Man.

As a druid-type hero, Bear Man was naturally attuned to plants and animals. If there was a condition for bringing that ability out into the open, it was this: I had to concentrate mana throughout my entire body with my eyes closed.

A soft warmth spread through my body. A moment later, I felt something brush against my shoulder, as though someone had touched it.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Birds of all kinds had perched on my shoulders.

“Chirp.”

They only chirped noisily, but none of them flew away.

Okay. Success.

With the test done, I moved on to the real job. There was something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside the Flower Gate I absolutely had to secure before the Police-Fire War broke out.

At Gwanghwamun, there would be at least ten thousand people gathering. I couldn’t move around on a car or motorcycle there. If I wanted to be free in that chaos, I needed my own means of transport.

I need something that’s mine.

I pulled out the chain I’d prepared in advance from my waist and looked up.

Several creatures were flying through the sky—some looked like pigeons, some had unusually long beaks, and some had four wings. Flying monsters of every shape and size.

When will it show up?

After waiting a long while, the sky darkened.

A huge creature appeared, large enough to blot out the sun.

There you are.

Bear Man’s Assimilation could work with nothing more than mana being released, but to maximize its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠effect, I had to make direct contact with the target. If I wanted to use the skill properly, I had to touch that thing.

So the only question is how I’m supposed to reach it.

I couldn’t fly. Hell, almost no hunters could.

Like a dog left chasing after a chicken, I just stared up at the sky.

No. I can do this.

I waited patiently, like a fisherman watching for a bite. After a long stretch of stillness, a huge creature swooped lower, its wings flapping loudly as it began to glide near the treetops.

Now.

I spread my arms wide. The birds perched on my shoulders took off, and I focused mana into my legs.

Go.

I kicked off the branch as if it were solid ground and shot straight upward, defying gravity as I rose into the air. The target I wanted came close enough to touch.

Just a little more.

Three meters, two meters, one meter…

“Got you!”

I threw my arms around the creature’s neck.

“KRRRROOOAAAR!!!”

The monster’s breath burst out in a roar laced with the ring of metal. It was only a cry, but the pressure behind it was no joke.

A body covered in hard red scales. Wings and forelimbs armed with sharp claws. Golden eyes as bright and piercing as a lizard’s. A subspecies of dragon.

A wyvern!

Using the chain I’d brought, I quickly looped it around the neck of the red wyvern and climbed onto its back.

“Krrr! KRRROOOAR!!!”

Thrown into chaos by the sudden attack, the wyvern fought wildly and took off in a furious, erratic flight.

“Gh—!”

I clung to the chain with all my strength so I wouldn’t be thrown off, then dared a glance downward. The sight below made my head swim.

If I fall from here…

I needed to finish this quickly. The wyvern was the only monster inside the Flower Gate that was openly hostile to humans.

For the record, unlike ordinary monsters, dragon-type creatures were immune to mind-control magic. No matter that the wyvern was only a dragon subspecies, it still had combat power on par with an A-class hunter. In plain terms, it was a wild horse you could never truly tame.

But still.

I reached out and laid my hand on top of the wyvern’s head, then closed my eyes and concentrated.

The moment the blue window appeared, my vision went dark.

Bear Man’s Assimilation pulled me into the unconscious world the instant I made contact with my target.

...Did it work?

In the pitch-black place surrounding me, someone spoke.

“How dare a mere human try to receive the great dragon race? Insolent.”

For all the dignity in the tone, the voice itself was absurdly cute. Unlike the wyvern in the outside world, the one speaking to me was tiny.

“...That’s kind of cute.”

“What? How dare you! Hah? How do you understand the dragon tongue?”

It was thanks to a fortuitous gift that let me speak with all living things: the magical circle Whisper of the Stars.

“Just what are you?”

I wondered how I should introduce myself.

Choi Yongki, hunter? Or the Purple Devil?

The baby wyvern continued, “Never mind. You’re going to die anyway, so what’s the point of learning your name?”

“I’m not here to fight. I’m here to be friends.”

At my words, the hatchling wyvern smiled a thin, crooked smile.

“What? Friends with a human? Hah! Even a passing Snow Bara would laugh at that!”

The wyvern stepped toward me.

“The dragon race never submits unless the other side is stronger than we are.”

Then it extended its claws and aimed them at my throat.

“Die, human…”

“Sorry. I’m in a hurry.”

I caught the claw lunging toward me and twisted it.

“Agh?”

The wyvern looked completely flustered.

“N-no way. This is… that’s not human strength, is it? What the hell are you? A demon? Some other race?”

Still holding its claw, I asked, “Wyvern. What’s your name?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Telling a human my name would mean I’m agreeing to be friends—agh! It, it hurts! Let go of me!”

The wyvern twisted in panic, sweat beading all over its body.

“You going to stop acting up?”

“How dare you, mere human—agh!”

“Answer me.”

“...Yes.”

With its eyes squeezed shut, the wyvern quickly became docile.

“I’ll name you. From now on, you’re Pippi.”

“Huh? Pippi?”

The wyvern’s pupils shot wide open.

I’d come up with the name on the spot without thinking much about it. It was Pippi because it kept sweating all over the place like a little idiot.

“Can’t it be something else? Maybe something a little more dignified…”

“Pippi.”

“...Okay.”

The dragon race was proud, but it valued trust between companions more than life itself.

“Pippi. You’re friends with me now. Promise.”

“...All right.”

The darkness scattered like mist, and my vision cleared.

With the wind roaring around us, I slipped a leash onto Pippi and flew freely through the sky.

Ah. This is nice.

Flying really was a pleasant thing.

Feeling a rush of exhilaration, I said, “Pippi. Head that way.”

There were only harmless monsters inside the Flower Gate, but hunters still didn’t come here very often for a reason. The entrance was on the flower field’s ground, but the exit only opened in the sky. If you made one wrong move, you could end up trapped here forever.

Pippi snapped its wings and turned. Through the clouds, I could see an oval sphere waiting ahead of us—the gate leading back out.

“Pippi. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yep!”

The hero riding the wyvern was swallowed by the world of light.