The Vice Branch Manager's Request
Negin, the girl claiming to be the vice branch manager, appeared under the bridge. Serpina stared at her for a long moment before shifting her gaze to Ayoung.
"For real?"
"...Who knows?"
Even Ayoung had no idea whether Negin was actually the vice branch manager. Negin let out a heavy sigh.
"Well, I suppose. Everyone only remembers the branch manager. Not many people bother remembering the vice branch manager too. Here. This should convince you, right?"
Negin held out her association registration card. Beside the clear "Rank 2 Mage" designation, the title "Shinsi Branch Vice Branch Manager" stood out in bold print. Only then did the two of them look convinced.
"You're thorough. Anyway, I called you because I have something to discuss. It's related to you two as well."
"Us?"
"Yeah. There was a bit of a commotion yesterday, wasn't there? It's about that."
If it was yesterday's incident, she had to be talking about the werewolf attack. At the mention of it, Serpina's interest was piqued. She'd already suspected there was more to the story. As for Ayoung, she had neither the will nor the means to refuse someone who held the position of vice branch manager.
"Fine. I'll listen."
"Thanks. Shall we move somewhere else? We're blocking the walkway here."
Neither Serpina nor Ayoung objected. They followed Negin to a nearby reception room. Listening to their footsteps behind her, Negin gave a bitter smile.
The Great Witch was right. Really.
When Hexennacht had issued a warning to all witches not to provoke the dragon, Negin had honestly found it a little strange. She knew Serpina was extremely skilled, but she hadn't thought it was to that extent. Now, face to face, she understood. This was a being that must never be made an enemy. That single fact was all that mattered. Any other flowery descriptions would only diminish her power.
She couldn't help but wonder where something like this had suddenly appeared from. The atmosphere suggested Serpina might answer if asked, but Negin was too afraid of offending her to try.
And Serpina was reading Negin's thoughts almost perfectly. The wariness and awe one felt when facing an overwhelming existence. Seeing that reaction from Negin, Serpina felt... deeply satisfied.
Yeah. That's the proper reaction when facing a dragon. The others are so weak they can't even properly sense what I am.
Until now, the only one who had even slightly felt Serpina's power was Yoo Cheol. He had remained on guard throughout their entire encounter. But he had been too devoted to his duty as captain of the guard to show any reverence. In contrast, this witch named Negin had noticed Serpina's strength yet was desperately trying to hide her fear. Instead of blindly submitting to that fear, she was trying to approach with goodwill. As a dragon, Serpina found it very pleasing.
Come to think of it, she was the one who offered to handle the cleanup for free. Good. I'll remember that.
Completely unaware of Serpina's thoughts, Negin's mind was burning with anxiety.
Why... why isn't she saying anything? Is this just her personality? Don't tell me I did something to offend her...
Fortunately, they reached the reception room quickly. Negin silently praised herself for choosing the nearest room over a fancier but more distant one.
"Ahem... ahem, cough."
She cleared her throat to fix her strangely tense pronunciation, then got straight to the point.
"I'll cut to the chase. Could you take a look at this?"
Negin placed her smartphone on the table. The screen showed a middle-aged woman surrounded by several giant cats.
"Cropa Kest... usually called 'Cat Mom.' I'd like you to deal with her."
"Why her?"
"As you can see, Cat Mom tames and keeps magic beasts that are cats. She doesn't manage them properly either—just lets them roam free. It's a real headache."
"So you want her dead because she's a nuisance?"
"Of course that's not the only reason. This photo was taken yesterday."
Negin showed another picture. Ayoung's face twisted in horror and she looked away.
"W-what is this?"
The image showed a pile of bones covered in chunks of flesh. Patches of bright red meat that hadn't fully dried yet made the sight even more grotesque.
"A corpse. The cleanup crew reported it while they were erasing traces yesterday. They found it while following the bloodstains. Given the circumstances, it's probably the body of the one who attacked you."
"That's..."
Ayoung's face went pale. This was the person who had pointed a knife at her, trying to kill her. She'd even seen Serpina impale the attacker with several massive icicles. She'd wondered if they were dead, but never imagined it would be this horrific. She still wasn't used to death and corpses.
Negin continued while watching Ayoung with a mix of concern and nostalgia.
"The important thing isn't that the guy died. Look here."
Negin zoomed in on part of the bone pile. Among the broken and shattered bones, this one had kept its shape.
"See the tooth marks? That means a beast tore into the corpse. Our analysis showed the marks belong to a cat-type magic beast."
"Ugh..."
Ayoung gagged at the mental image. Serpina patted her back lightly and asked,
"Could it just be a wild magic beast?"
"No. You'd need far more than one or two beasts to strip a person down to nothing but bones. If a pack that large had been roaming around, they would've been exterminated long ago. It has to be Cat Mom's doing."
Negin pulled a sheet of paper from her file folder—an official request form she'd printed out specifically for Serpina, who didn't have a smartphone. Serpina read the top line.
"Eliminate Cropa Kest."
"She's been wanted for a while, but she wasn't high priority. Even though the cat magic beasts are a nuisance, it seemed Cat Mom at least fed them, so it wasn't that big of a problem. But the situation's different now, isn't it? It's been proven that those beasts eat people."
Serpina leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
"I get that. But why bring this request to me?"
"Cat Mom goes crazy for cat magic beasts. You two are raising a kitten magic beast, right? Then she'll definitely target you. She's even stolen cat magic beasts that were living as pets in ordinary households before."
"Hmm."
After listening to Negin, Serpina stared at the request form for a moment, then pushed it away.
"I don't need a request. You said she's after Heemang, right? Anyone who tries to take what's mine without knowing their place—I'll handle it myself."
Negin was taken aback. She hadn't expected Serpina to refuse the request.
"What? No, wait. Weren't you two at the association today to take on a request? You were heading toward the request board in the lobby earlier. If you're going to take a job anyway, isn't this the best one?"
"If I take money for it, it'll feel like I'm only doing it for the money. It's something that needs to be done anyway."
With those words, Serpina left the reception room. Her attitude made it clear there was nothing more to discuss. Negin stared blankly at her retreating back before turning to Ayoung.
"...So. You really don't need it? The money."
"We probably do need it, but... if my senior doesn't want it, what can I do?"
"Haa... Got it."
Negin tucked the request form back into the file.
"Since you said you won't accept the request, I'll raise the bounty a little instead. If you end up dealing with it, you can come collect it later."
"Y-yes! Thank you very much!"
Ayoung bowed deeply in gratitude, then hurried after Serpina.
"Senior. What are you going to do? They said Heemang is being targeted."
"Who knows. How should I handle it? Come to think of it, the one who attacked Heemang isn't all that different from you."
"H-huh?"
She had a point. Even though Ayoung had collapsed in one hit and started calling her "senior" and following her around, their first meeting hadn't been all that different. Serpina smirked at Ayoung, whose eyes were darting around nervously. Teasing this girl was fun.
"I'm joking. Back then, you thought Heemang was a wild magic beast, right? That's different from someone who targets a beast that already has an owner."
"Phew... Right? You really scared me!"
Serpina decided she'd teased her enough.
"Let's head back for today. Heemang might be targeted again tonight."
"Okay!"
Ayoung was just as worried about Heemang. If they didn't take on any requests today, money would be a little tight again, but they could dip into the savings she'd set aside for a new electric scooter. Three days... no, I might need to save for another week... It was disappointing, but—
"...Huh?"
They passed through the portal and emerged from Shinsi into a back alley of the city. Just as they were leaving the alley and reaching the main road, Serpina felt an unpleasant sensation. Someone had tampered with the alarm magic she'd set up under the bridge. They'd tried to disable it without triggering it. Of course, it was futile—the gap in their magical ability was simply too vast. The intruder probably thought they'd cleverly dismantled the alarm, but it had already done its job.
At this timing, there was only one person who could trigger the alarm magic. Even if it wasn't who she suspected, the mere fact that someone had broken into her home while she was away was enough to irritate her.
"Ayoung. I'm going to carry you for a bit."
"Huh?"
Serpina slung Ayoung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"S-Senior? What are you— Guh!"
Before Ayoung could even process what was happening, Serpina shot forward. All that remained where she'd stood were shallow footprints and scattered fragments of asphalt.