Under the Bridge (5)
Serpina pondered beneath the bridge. What had brought her here again? She had come to warn the one who dared target Heemang, the creature she had taken under her wing. Anyone foolish enough to covet a dragon’s possession deserved far worse than a mere warning. Normally she would have skipped the pleasantries and left them in a sorry state, but things were a bit more complicated this time.
She had agreed to look after Heemang, yet the kitten’s true owner was Heerin, not her. Besides, the culprit probably never imagined that the cat they had their eyes on was under Serpina’s protection. So she had decided to be generous and settle for a warning. A good beating that left them unconscious ought to teach them to mind their own business.
Yet the moment she found the man who had targeted Heemang, he had passed out in the most ridiculous fashion—before she could even deliver her warning. It was all because this guy was pathetically weak. She never expected him to faint from something so minor.
As she grumbled to herself, Ayoung spoke up with a faintly irreverent expression.
“No… I think it’s more that you were just too strong, sunbae… Anyway, did you really bring me along just for that?”
“What do you mean, ‘that’?”
“The warning! I thought you wanted me to guide you so you could negotiate a price for the cat!”
“A price for the cat? You think I’d sell Heemang? That would make me a thief, selling something that isn’t even mine. I’d never stoop to something so petty.”
“I just assumed the cat belonged to you, sunbae… Now that I think about it, it was strange you didn’t bring the cat with you…”
Serpina and Ayoung began to chat, their voices breaking the silence that had settled over the lobby. Gradually, the space grew lively again.
— Did you see that? The way it shot straight up and then dropped?
— Forget that, the floor is what’s shocking. I’ve never seen those tiles crack before.
— Whoa, whoa. Bread…
The man and woman who had come with Ayoung to deliver the warning finally regained their senses.
“W-what is this… Ayoung, who on earth did you bring here?”
“Huh? Oh, right. I thought she was the cat’s owner, so I brought her, but apparently not. Sunbae, how should I introduce you?”
“Serpina.”
“Ah, so your name is Serpina! Did you hear that, Eun-ah? This is Serpina-nim!”
“Serpina? Never heard the name before… Wait, that’s not the important part right now. Why do you only lose your wits at times like this when you’re usually so sharp?”
Go-eun, Ayoung’s circle colleague, clutched her chest in frustration. Ayoung’s magic skills might have been lacking, but her personality was genuinely good—except for that occasional talent for driving people insane.
A shrill whistle cut through the air. A group of uniformed people pushed through the crowd gathered in the lobby. At their head was a man who surveyed the scene, then approached Serpina without hesitation.
“I’m Yoo-cheol, captain of the security detail for the Wolha Association building. Are you the one who destroyed the lobby floor?”
“Wasn’t me. That big guy over there smashed it with his head.”
“I see. Let me rephrase. Did the broken tiles result from a fight between you and this man?”
“If you can call what happened earlier a fight, then yes.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
Yoo-cheol, who had introduced himself as the security captain, ignored Serpina’s added remark and issued orders to his subordinates. They immediately began examining the damage to the floor.
“Five tiles are completely destroyed and beyond repair. Three others are cracked but appear capable of self-regeneration.”
After receiving the report, Yoo-cheol pulled out his smartphone, tapped on it briefly, and showed the screen to Serpina.
“That comes to six million won, including construction and labor costs for the five broken tiles. Please settle the fine.”
Ayoung’s voice rang out in shock at the amount.
“Six million won?! For just five tiles? What’s so expensive about them?!”
She counted on her fingers. Six million won… That was more than ten times the reward she would earn from completing requests like the cat-capture job she had failed today.
“The lobby tiles are made of a specially reinforced material. Even the manufacturing process requires a Rank 3 artificer for material processing and a Rank 2 artificer for the final stage. Naturally, the price reflects that.”
Yoo-cheol answered smoothly, as if accustomed to such questions. Several onlookers who had been eavesdropping glanced down at the tiles beneath their feet, murmuring in surprise. A few even tried to pry one up before catching the sharp gazes of the security team and hastily suppressing their mana.
Flustered, Ayoung grabbed at Serpina’s collar—then thought better of it and lightly touched her arm instead. Serpina’s clothes looked so old and loose that tugging too hard might expose something.
“W-what do we do, Serpina-sunbae? Do you… have any money?”
“Of course I do.”
Ayoung blinked at the confident reply, which seemed at odds with Serpina’s ragged appearance. Without further explanation, Serpina rifled through the pockets of the still-unconscious man and pulled out his wallet. He had threatened her first, and she had merely retaliated. To her, the wallet was legitimate spoils of war.
She held the entire wallet out to Yoo-cheol.
“Here. This should cover it.”
Ayoung and her colleagues stared, eyes wide at the natural gesture. Yoo-cheol, however, accepted the wallet without batting an eye. He extracted several cards and swiped them through a terminal.
“All Wolgwang Points, I see.”
“Wolgwang Points? What’s that? Is there a problem?”
“Wolgwang Points are the loyalty currency used by Wolgwang Corporation… but they’re acceptable for paying fines. There is a small conversion fee, however. Will that be all right?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
With a single short beep, six million won vanished. Since it wasn’t Serpina’s money to begin with, she felt no regret.
Ayoung, who had been gaping since Serpina first searched the man’s pockets, asked in a fluster.
“Are you sure this is okay? Just paying the fine like this?”
“It’s fine. My job is simply to collect the fine from whoever broke the tiles. Who pays and how much is between the parties involved.”
Yoo-cheol’s words contained no mention of punishment for the fight itself. The issue was the damaged tiles, not the fight.
“Now, moving on. Could you show me your Association registration card or provide your registration number?”
“Ah, that’s—!”
Ayoung tried to interject, but Serpina answered first.
“I don’t have one.”
“…Did you forget to bring it, or perhaps you don’t remember the number? In that case—”
“No. I’ve never registered.”
“……!”
Tension rippled through the security team at Serpina’s reply. One particularly hasty member even reached into his coat. Their reaction was relatively restrained, all things considered. Among the spectators, a few panicked and bolted for the exits.
Yoo-cheol raised a hand to calm his subordinates.
“In that case, how about we complete your registration today? I’ll assist you personally.”
Ayoung quickly chimed in.
“That’s right! There are lots of benefits to registering with the Association. Especially for someone as strong as you, sunbae!”
“……”
The moment she heard Yoo-cheol’s offer, Serpina had felt a mischievous urge to refuse. His words promised help, but the intent to keep her under watch was obvious. Yet Ayoung’s earnest plea changed her mind. It wasn’t so much that she trusted Ayoung as that she trusted Ayoung’s incompetence. If someone as hapless as her was pushing this hard, there had to be a good reason.
“Fine. I’ll register.”
At Serpina’s nod, the tension among the guards eased slightly—though it had only just barely avoided exploding into violence.
“Thank you. I’ll escort you.”
Serpina followed Yoo-cheol as he turned and walked ahead. Ayoung glanced around furtively before hurrying after her. Left behind in the lobby were the unconscious man on the floor and Ayoung’s colleagues, Dong-seok and Go-eun.
“…Huh? Wait, are we supposed to deal with this?”
Go-eun pointed at the fallen man. No answer came.
—
“Association President. The investigation results are in. It concerns the massive mana wave observed in Korea one month ago.”
“Report.”
“Yes. The results indicate that this mana is distinct from solar, lunar, or stellar mana, and does not match any previously recorded instance of Chaos Magic. It is an entirely new type of mana.”
“…No. It won’t be the first.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. I’ll review the details in the written report later. You may go.”
“Understood.”
……
“Finally. You’ve come at last. I’ve waited so, so long. Our… benefactor.”