Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Interrogation
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Fortunately, the only eyewitnesses, the middle-aged women, finished whispering among themselves and left. As soon as the onlookers were gone, Eun-ha and Ian headed straight to the outer wall of Park Seokhyeon’s house to check for any CCTV cameras nearby.
“Do you think there aren’t any?”
“Yes. It’s on the outskirts. A perfect blind spot.”
In areas with rows of these old houses, CCTV cameras were often mounted on utility poles. But around Park Seokhyeon’s house, no cameras were visible.
They had probably chosen this spot on purpose.
There was no better place to avoid prying eyes. The saying went that to hide a tree, put it in a forest, and to hide a person, put them in a city—but for committing the perfect crime, a sparsely populated area was best. That’s why people buried bodies in the mountains.
This place was a well-known shantytown even within Yongsan.
Of course, Yongsan itself had more shantytowns and villa villages than the city center. New and old buildings coexisted here. The infrastructure was a mess, but it was more than sufficient—perfect, even—for a mage’s hideout.
“There’s a dried bloodstain on the wall.”
At Eun-ha’s voice, Ian snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head.
The gray outer wall was mostly cracked. Near the bottom, a faint bloodstain lingered, long since dried. It might look like splattered paint at a glance, but to a mage’s eyes, it was unmistakably blood.
Eun-ha scraped at the bloodstain with the tip of her shoe and spoke.
“Judging by how the blood is only on the lower part, they probably dragged a body or a live person along the ground.”
“Hm.”
“But it’s ironic that a mage who handles blood would leave a stain like this. They must not be capable of very precise manipulation.”
It was a reasonable deduction. Ian nodded and reached into his coat.
“That’s good news for us.”
“Yes. Then let’s head inside before it gets any later.”
Eun-ha stepped toward the house’s front door. Seeing the bloodstain had diluted her embarrassment quite a bit.
Ian matched her pace.
Frost clung to the sturdy closed iron door. It was locked from the inside, making it nearly impossible to open from outside. But Ian placed his hand on it without hesitation.
“Be reborn anew.”
He chanted the spell directly, shrinking the lock to the size of a cotton swab. As the bolt caught in the latch shortened in an instant, the tightly shut door swung open on its own.
It wasn’t too noisy. And there were no onlookers. Park Seokhyeon’s house was isolated even within the shantytown, so neighbors spying wasn’t easy.
Good for Park Seokhyeon—and good for Ian too. He carefully stepped past the entrance, matching Eun-ha’s steps.
Just beyond the entrance was a small yard greeting them.
A chair for sitting and a jar sat in the yard. But they had no intention of sitting or opening it. They weren’t idiots who’d create unnecessary variables themselves.
“This way.”
Ian led Eun-ha slowly toward the back of the house.
All the windows they passed were curtained off. No signs of life.
The back wall of the house was splattered with dead bugs and pristine white bird droppings. Ian glanced back at Eun-ha and nodded. She nodded back, pulling out her grimoire. Ian fully drew the Hand of Recreation, which he’d only been touching before, and placed his empty hand on the relatively clean part of the wall.
“Be reborn anew.”
He activated the magic directly, boring a hole in the wall big enough for a person to pass through. For a spell cast without any magic circle, the power was impressively strong—Eun-ha’s eyes widened in surprise.
“……That’s incredibly effective for a ritual spell. Collapsing a wall without any conditions…….”
“Grandmother.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry. Not the time to admire it.”
At Ian’s call, Eun-ha pulled herself together and advanced toward the hole in the wall. Ian followed slightly behind, using recreation magic on the hole again.
Woodduk.
With a fairly gruesome sound, the wall restored itself.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same as before. It was a bit distorted, with some uneven dents. But for now, this was sufficient. He turned from the wall, taking in the dim hallway ahead.
As expected of an old house, the interior was extremely cramped. Aside from the hallway connected to the entrance, the first floor only had a living room and bathroom. A thick stench of blood wafted from the bathroom.
“…….”
“…….”
The two hadn’t spoken since entering the house. Instead, they exchanged opinions with glances. Eun-ha’s mint eyes, which didn’t lose their glow in the dark, met Ian’s black ones several times as they gripped their weapons and slowly advanced to the living room.
‘Nothing here.’
The narrow living room held only a TV, dining table, and a few jars. No sign of Park Seokhyeon.
A magic circle drawn in blood was etched into the ceiling, but thanks to the scarf, it didn’t activate. Even pacing nearby elicited no reaction.
‘It’s reliable.’
Ian nodded inwardly and moved to the bathroom. Peering through the open door, he saw a woman’s corpse submerged in the bathtub.
She didn’t look that old. Not much time had passed since death—no signs of decay. Insulation tape was wrapped multiple layers around her mouth, and to prevent escape, her upper and lower body were bound inside the water-filled tub.
But her head was above water. Probably inflicted wounds on purpose, submerged her, and let her bleed out slowly.
“…….”
Too many unnecessary steps if it was just for extracting blood. It could be essential for the magic, but to Ian’s eyes, it looked like murder purely for amusement.
‘Crazy bastard.’
Ian cursed Park Seokhyeon inwardly and left the bathroom. Eun-ha’s expression wasn’t great either.
[Shall we go to the second floor?]
She wrote on Ian’s palm with a cold face. Ian was about to nod when he spotted an awkwardly bulging section in the middle of the living room and furrowed his brow. Eun-ha followed his gaze.
[Basement?]
She asked. Ian nodded.
[Let’s check.]
They returned to the living room and sliced the sheet covering the awkward bulge with a knife.
Buuuk.
Pulling it away revealed a door leading underground. Ian chuckled dryly and compressed the doorknob into a small cube, tossing it aside. The door opened silently.
The path down was stairs. Not too deep, but the blood smell grew thicker. Now it assaulted the senses without trying, mingled faintly with the rot of corpses.
[Shall we?]
Ian asked. Eun-ha nodded and stepped toward the stairs first.
The stone stairs didn’t creak. They descended into the basement in quiet silence.
With each step down, the blood stench intensified. Eun-ha’s face twisted, and Ian gripped his pistol in his empty hand, scanning coldly.
Moments later, their feet touched the basement floor.
Magic circles were vividly etched in various spots of the dark basement. No attempt to hide them. Charging in without the scarf would’ve unleashed quite the barrage.
“…….”
In the corner, living humans hung upside down. Blindfolded, mouths bound tight with duct tape, they trembled, bleeding out. Blood from shallow and deep wounds all over their bodies dripped into buckets below.
‘Victims, huh.’
Park Seokhyeon had probably caught them to use as blood bags.
Pitiful, but they couldn’t be saved right now. If their presence got out, it’d be a huge hassle. They had to leave them until after handling everything and calling the Cartel or Management Bureau. It was best for them and for Ian.
As Ian thought that, Eun-ha tapped his shoulder and pointed to a sofa in the basement. Ian followed her gesture.
The blood-soaked basement.
In the center, atop a black sofa, lay a man with a thick beard.
His eyes were closed. His steadily rising chest clearly showed he was asleep.
“……He’s sleeping?”
Eun-ha murmured softly. At the unexpected sight, Ian let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
“……The magic is densely laid out. Even if an intruder comes, the spells handle it, so sleeping soundly makes sense. It’s his house, after all—napping isn’t weird.”
“True. But…… it doesn’t suit the place.”
Ian agreed.
People hung upside down bleeding out, buckets, flasks, bowls, baskets everywhere filled with blood. A normal person couldn’t even stand properly here, let alone sleep.
“……Keurk.”
Yet the man snored away indifferently. No matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t sane.
Well, he made this space. Ian shrugged it off and turned to Eun-ha.
“What shall we do? Just kill him?”
“Hmm…… Not a bad idea, but let’s extract more info just in case. He might’ve sold out other users besides you.”
“Got it. Shall we start with this?”
Ian asked, lifting a thick iron stake nearby. Eun-ha nodded and stepped back.
“No unnecessary stuff. If we take too long, those hanging people might die.”
“Yes. Let’s begin.”
Ian gripped the stake tightly and smashed it down on Park Seokhyeon’s thigh without hesitation.
“……!? Kraaa— Uwup?!”
He snapped his eyes open and screamed at the sudden pain. But with the gun barrel shoved in his mouth, he could only writhe. Ian pressed the gun firm and unwound the scarf from his neck.
“Deactivate all the basement magic right now. Unless you want a highway built on the back of your head.”
“Kek!”
His eyes trembled violently.