Imposing on You
"I'm imposing on you." "Uh, come on in."
Go Yu-jin greeted me with a shy face. The reason was simple. My house had burned to the ground, and I'd taken a few days' leave to track the culprit by reading memories. An eye for an eye. I planned to incinerate them alive, reducing every limb and organ to a pile of ash. But when Go Yu-jin heard I had nowhere to stay for a while, she insisted I come to her place with all its empty rooms instead of wasting money on a hotel.
It felt awkward barging into a lone woman's home, but damn if her house wasn't massive. Plus, the Doomsday Cult bastards might target her too. An So-mi lived separately, so I had no reason to babysit her, but Go Yu-jin couldn't wield standard black magic properly, making her a handful in all sorts of ways.
I gave the house another once-over as I stepped inside and asked her, "You've set up private defensive wards?"
"Yeah. Living alone as a woman with a bunch of grudges tends to make you paranoid."
How many black mages went through life without enemies? Even if we hadn't directly wronged them, just being known as one drew stray sparks. Go Yu-jin was a famous 1st-gen Awakener, and her home had been featured in plenty of media shoots, making it well-known. Protests begging for more black mages sometimes popped up right in front of it. Some locals saw her as a thorn in their side, but in disasters, no one was as reliable as a black mage. Since Go Yu-jin generally lacked aptitude for black magic except handling golems, the neighbors mostly tolerated her.
"Do the protesters still show up?"
"These days, more people know me as a Golem Meister than a black mage, so not as often."
Even among black mages, Go Yu-jin was treated like an oddball. If not for her absurd strength, the black magic faction might've excommunicated her long ago.
"I'll be in your care."
I quickly released some mana to inspect the mansion's inscribed magic circles. Sloppy work, but solid enough for up to 5th-circle spells. Still...
Having pegged the arsonist as at least a 6th-circle master, I had no intention of letting it slide. Since I'd be freeloading here awhile, the least I could do was earn my keep.
I opened my subspace and pulled out a few high-grade mana stones. "Mind if I reinforce the wards a bit?"
"You don't have to... At this hour?"
"The ones who torched my place won't care if it's day or night. Plus, I've got to hunt the culprit tomorrow, so I want to wrap this up quick and rest."
Go Yu-jin nodded awkwardly, and I got to work infusing mana into the stones, etching various patterns.
Defensive magic circles were ranked by "hierarchy." Higher tiers reacted to stronger spells. Offensive magic could mix elements or just brute-force with mana, scaling exponentially in power. Defenses, though, offered fixed protection—so hierarchies gave them an edge.
To block 6th-circle or higher, it'll need about 5th hierarchy. Ideally, I'd etch patterns for 7th-circle defense.
I worked the inscriptions, placing multiples around the mansion, then headed to the basement where the magic core sat—the heart of the defenses. There, I tweaked the existing patterns and linked them to my added mana stones.
"This is amazing. Feels like it'd take a month of work... You can just tweak it like that?"
"I'm not rebuilding from scratch. Adding, modifying, linking—it's not that hard."
She tilted her head, puzzled. "Think on it later."
"Ah, right... What about dinner?"
"Haven't eaten. Grabbed a convenience store lunch box on the way, but this takes priority."
She recoiled in horror. "I'll whip something up, so finish quick and come to the dining room. Got it?"
"...Don't know the layout."
She gave an awkward smile. "How long?"
"Thirty minutes."
"Okay. I'll come get you."
She hurried out of the basement. I couldn't fathom living alone in such a huge place, but I knew she'd lost her family in the Great Cataclysm, so I pushed aside her personal baggage and focused.
After finishing the intricate work and dusting off my hands, Go Yu-jin descended. "Follow me. No allergies or stuff you hate?"
"None. I eat whatever's served."
"Let's go."
A twinge of unease hit me, but the dining room was elegantly appointed, with three plates on the table. I chuckled at the sight.
"Just grilled meat?"
"It was the only thing I could cook right now."
One plate had grilled pork, another light salad and tofu, the last some roughly flaked smoked salmon.
"This your usual?"
"I love salmon, but the rest is for dieting..." She smiled awkwardly.
I thought of a light wine pairing and pulled a bottle from my subspace. She blinked curiously. "Want glasses?"
"Just one light drink tonight. Watching my house go up in flames wasn't exactly cheerful."
"That... must hurt."
"It does. But revenge fixes that. I'll burn them the same."
"Doomsday Cult?"
"High-level magic traces. Gotta be."
My modest home had been warded for 6th-circle spells, yet it burned bright. Obvious answer. A mage did it. Trace the mana signature, find the bastard. It was practically a declaration of war—raiding the Mage Tower afterward wouldn't faze them. They already saw me as a 7th-circle master equivalent, a disaster they couldn't handle. Black magic circles ran a tier higher than standard, so countering a 7th-circle black mage needed an 8th-circle user. Korea had 8th-circle beginners, but no full users—lost in the Northeast Asia War pushing against China and Japan.
Currently, Korea's top mage was the long-vanished former Mage Tower lord.
"Why target your house with magic specifically?"
"Two possibilities." I explained patiently to her puzzled look. "First: Use a magic scroll to frame the Mage Tower, spark a feud."
"That'd fail. You can trace mana."
"Hence two. If they underestimated me as 'just' a black mage unable to track signatures, easy pickings. If not... the Tower's really gunning for me."
"...Why would the Tower suddenly target you?"
I couldn't answer. Our relations were bad—blood feud bad. If they thought arson would rattle me, huge mistake. Otherwise, a third party: Doomsday Cult. Maybe even a cultist mage. Tracing the magic would reveal all soon enough.
We ate with light drinks amid her burdensome stare, somehow finishing the meal.
She showed me to my room—next to hers, well-kept for guests. "Thanks for the hospitality."
"You know the bathroom and shower. Figure out the rest later."
After repeated thanks, she left. Alone, I scanned the room and clicked my tongue. A third of my entire house. Doesn't a place this big just amplify the loneliness?
Lots to ponder, but for now, it was home. Time to settle in.
Phew, Seong-chan in the room next to mine... Ugh, what am I thinking? There are plenty of guest rooms!
Back in her room after showing him around, Go Yu-jin couldn't calm her racing heart. She'd never thought her feelings ran this deep. But after spending a day together and giving herself to him, her emotions had tilted hard, leaving her flustered lately.
As a Necronomicon user, Geum Seong-chan had paid a price: his emotions. She knew that much, so she'd figured "love" was off the table. But he hadn't rejected her, showed no ill will or disdain—making her heart pound harder.
When he'd first shown up saying he wanted to join the company, her heart had dropped. In black magic circles, he was urban legend territory. A 2nd-gen monster who made top-ten powerhouses yield, wielding impossible black magic—even 1st-gens bowed to him.
Battlefields he'd graced still haunted survivors. But Go Yu-jin had only met him three times.
The first: His debut deployment. As a veteran black mage in the same unit, they'd fought together. His first real battlefield. Always monsters before, first time against people...
Back then, Geum Seong-chan wasn't the emotionless man now. He'd cheered victories with everyone, full of joy.
His exploits earned rapid promotion; they parted. Three months later, another front—she saw him again. Gradually numbing, losing expression...