Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: The Traitor
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Ian hadn't exchanged numbers with Grandmother yet. Thanks to that, their conversation took place via community messages. The drawings were a bit odd, but communication itself proceeded smoothly.
[★Grandmother: Is all of that true?]
Ian had told Grandmother about his experiences in as much detail as possible. He hid what needed to be hidden and boldly revealed what needed to be shown. He wrote everything without filtering about why Eddie had attacked him and the existence of the mage behind it.
[Me: Yes, it's true. I confirmed it with magic, so it should be accurate.]
[★Grandmother: ......For now.]
[★Grandmother: I really, truly think it's regrettable. I'm so sorry and apologetic that something like this happened in the community I manage. I want to offer my deepest apologies.]
The moment he read the incoming reply, Ian's eyes widened in surprise.
Grandmother had an incredibly fast typing speed. It had taken less than ten seconds to write that long sentence. She even added onomatopoeic expressions like '......' as if to depict the appropriate silence in the conversation's context. It was truly an peculiar trait.
But that wasn't the only reason Ian was surprised.
The administrator of the community—essentially the leader of Korean mages—had straightforwardly offered an apology, and he let out a small burst of admiration inside.
Honestly, she had no reason to apologize. It wasn't as if someone from an organization had committed a wrongdoing, or that anyone needed to take responsibility. It was a simple matter that could be resolved by dealing with just one mage.
Even if Grandmother had asked, 'Why is that my fault? Whatever, who did it?' Ian wouldn't have felt bad. Because that was the truth, wasn't it?
Yet she had conveyed a message of apology in a very polite tone. It was proof that she possessed several times the average mage's level of character. He'd felt it from their first meeting, but she seemed to be an utter outlier among outliers among mages.
'In fact, maybe the mages' average is maintained at this level entirely thanks to Grandmother.'
The thought crossed his mind, but it was unrelated to the current situation, so he dismissed it immediately. Instead, he stubbed out his finished cigarette in the portable ashtray and tapped on his phone.
[Me: There's no need for you to apologize, Grandmother. I don't have any bad feelings toward you.]
[★Grandmother: That's a relief then. Can I feel a bit less guilty?]
[Me: Yes.]
[★Grandmother: Thank you.]
[★Grandmother: Now, before we get to the main point, could you tell me what I should call you? Should I call you Newbie like everyone else?]
In the following message, Ian thought for a moment before giving her a slightly altered version of his real name. It was sufficient as a temporary nickname.
[Me: You can call me Ain.]
[★Grandmother: Yes, Ain. One moment please.]
Grandmother paused after that, then soon sent a long message.
[★Grandmother: I've heard your claim well, Ain. 'A mage in the community provided information, allowing Eddie to arrive in Korea. The target was me.' You even said you confirmed it with magic, so this claim is probably true. But I can't just go slashing through the community based on your word alone. We need cross-verification. This isn't about distrusting you; it's just following proper procedure, so I hope you understand.]
As he read the text while descending the stairs, the gukbap he'd ordered arrived at his door. Ian grabbed the bag, returned home, and composed a reply.
[Me: I understand. What do I need to do?]
He didn't show any resistance to Grandmother's words. It was a reasonable point, and there was no reason to be uncooperative when proving his own righteousness. Better to expedite the process.
Rustle.
He checked the arriving messages while unpacking the delivery bag.
[★Grandmother: Normally, in cases like this, we'd take blood from both sides and render judgment via the scales. But right now, we don't know the other party's identity, and even if we did, we couldn't just approach them recklessly. They might flee. So we need another method.]
Grandmother sent that reply and then fell silent for a long time. The "typing..." indicator stayed on, but no messages arrived. She seemed to be pondering something.
Perfect timing, as his food had arrived too. Ian left a message saying to let him know casually and began his breakfast. He added shrimp jeotgal to the red broth, stirred in the rice lightly, and ate it slowly with a spoon.
He usually handled breakfast with homemade salad or toast, but today, with the major incident, he'd just gone for delivery. Fortunately, gukbap was decent enough for morning.
A short while later, after finishing his meal, Ian rinsed the disposable container, put it back in the bag, roughly cleared the table, and wiped it with a wet wipe. At that moment, a reply finally came from Grandmother.
[★Grandmother: The important thing first is verifying the truth of what you said, so for now, just you being here is fine. But determining the meaning, truth, and lies in the other party's words remotely is impossible for mages as strong as you. Even with blood, it's tough. Lemegeton says it's impossible for someone of your level too.]
[★Grandmother: But this incident is extremely important. If mishandled, it could expose everyone's personal info in the community. I haven't revealed my face, name, gender, age, etc., but some people have openly done so. So to prevent info leaks, I need to confirm your words are true and respond accordingly.]
[★Grandmother: But as I said, remote magic use is impossible. Unless I summon the true form of the demon I control, even with a one-sided contract, summoning without any sacrifice is difficult. And finding sacrifices isn't easy either. Many are rare, and the Cartel doesn't always have stock.]
[★Grandmother: So using magic remotely via a demon seems unfeasible.]
[Me: What are you trying to say?]
[★Grandmother: Ah.]
[★Grandmother: What I mean is.]
Unable to hold back, she sent the message, and Grandmother replied after a long pause.
[★Grandmother: I'm really not like this.]
[★Grandmother: I'm absolutely not promiscuous, lewd, loose, or anything like thatㅣ.]
[★Grandmother: Could you come to my house?]
“......Ah.”
Ian's face twisted subtly upon confirming the reply.
*
[Galaxy, no matter how I think about it, this seems wrong.]
Lemegeton said. The grimoire, covered in an ordinary book jacket and wedged into the bookshelf, vibrated briefly and pushed away the books beside it.
[Inviting a mage who possesses an Outer God's grimoire into this space is insane.]
“......But there's no other way, is there?”
[Just ignore it!]
“As a mage who's joined the community, I can't ignore it. They're still a colleague.”
[You're probably the only one who thinks that......]
“Does that matter?”
Galaxy replied while personally brewing tea for her guest. It was just putting a tea bag into a kettle of boiled water, but what mattered was the mindset toward the guest.
She wanted to use loose tea leaves if possible, but she wasn't familiar enough yet to attempt it. She'd be fine with it for herself, but this was different. Better to stick with tea bags than show off unnecessarily.
'He should be arriving soon.'
She let out a groan while staring at the clock on the wall.
It was nearing noon. In about thirty more minutes, he would arrive here.
“......”
Thinking that made her unnecessarily tense. It wasn't the tension between man and woman, but simply from the fact that another person was entering her private space, making her heart race. It was natural, since she'd never let anyone into her personal space before.
She didn't regret her choice now. To expel the traitor from the community, she had to ascertain the truth in his words no matter what. That was necessary for tracking them down.
She felt no aversion to dealing with the traitor. She'd done it several times in the past. Things had quieted down recently, but just a few years ago, there were countless mages selling out their fellows' information. Where those people were now could be known once their heads were separated from their necks.
“......Hoo.”
She exhaled, placed the kettle on the electric stove, and brought it to a boil. Gentle steam rose from the kettle's spout and rim, and after playing some random classical music through the speaker, she took a break.
The sounds of violin, piano, cello, and other instruments slowly filled the room. She narrowed her eyes and took in the magic circles engraved on the ceiling and floor.
Most spells in Lemegeton were ritual magic, unusable without magic circles. They were reliably powerful, but without prior preparation, one was practically a normal person.
Galaxy was safe due to her contracts with a few demons, but other ritual mages sometimes wandered unprotected and dropped dead. That's why most avoided leaving their own spaces. Plenty felt secure only with magic circles everywhere.
Galaxy wasn't at that level yet, but seeing the magic circles still put her at ease.
Right now was like that. After confirming the circles were functioning normally, she sat in the rocking chair and quietly passed the time. She gradually eased her tension with deep breaths.
As she did, Lemegeton spoke up slyly.
[......Since you haven't contracted with Amdusias yet, don't lose your virginity.]
“Solomon.”
Galaxy's voice cut coldly through the classical music.
At that moment, her doorbell rang ding-dong. She got up to check, and a familiar face was clearly visible on the intercom.
“Ah.”
Had thirty minutes already passed?
Galaxy cleared her throat once, walked to the entrance, and slowly opened the door. She greeted Ian, who stood there.
“......You've arrived.”
She looked up at him and spoke in an awkward voice. Ian replied calmly.
“Ah, yes. May I come in?”
“Yes, yes. Please come in.”
“Then, if you'll excuse me.”
Ian bowed his head slightly and entered Galaxy's home. She swallowed hard and closed the front door.
The first outsider she'd ever let in.
Praying earnestly that he would leave without a single scratch, she followed behind him.