< 114. Shock and Terror (12) >
***
Minjun went to the hospital early after hearing the news that Choi Seon-ah had woken up in the middle of the night. Today, he did not bring Jeong-pal, and only brought Yumtus, who was hiding, in case of an emergency.
Rep. Choi Pan-seok, who had stayed until dawn, was away. It seemed that he had a parliamentary schedule. However, he readily agreed to the agent’s request to meet with Choi Seon-ah again. It was natural, since she was his daughter’s benefactor.
The frying pan spoke to Minjun.
=Agent, as I said, if you want to read deeper than the verbalized surface consciousness, it is better to make contact with the other person.=
She said that all the information she had extracted from Cassie’s head happened while she was holding the guy in her hands and cooking him.
‘Surely I’m not going to have to shove it down my throat again?’
=If you don’t have useless thoughts like that guy at that time, just holding it in your hand is enough.=
When she woke up from fainting, Choi Seon-ah was startled by an agent who suddenly came to her with a frying pan and asked her to hold it. However, since he was the main character who saved her from being kidnapped, she didn’t seem to have any excuse to refuse, so she hesitated and held it in her hand.
In that state, Minjun asked a question. It was not much different from the question he had asked before, and the answer he received was similar. This time, he wanted to go beyond a simple answer and read what kind of image was drawn in his head when he was talking like that.
Time passed like that.
Woof! Woof!
When the frying pan began to hum, signaling that it was finished, Choi Seon-ah was startled. Up until now, the frying pan had never shown any sign of having a sense of self, and had never even spoken to her.
Minjun asked after receiving it back.
‘how is it?’
=Well, first of all, I have not lied about any of the questions you have asked so far.=
Minjun felt his spirits draining.
‘Are you saying that all your memories have really been erased?’
=There are clear signs of someone’s intervention. It’s too clean. I’ve cut it all out. About the sensitive parts that the agent wants to know about.=
Most importantly, there was no trace of how he obtained the Ego Sword. He had no memory of killing Kwak Do-chul and the woman he had an affair with, and his whereabouts just before he went missing were also unknown.
The frying pan that was explaining suddenly trailed off.
=But···.=
‘hmm?’
=Apart from the agent’s interrogation, there was one thing that was being hidden.=
‘What is it?’
The answer he got back was something he didn’t expect.
=This person has supernatural powers, right?=
‘······?!’
Minjun clearly remembers what Jeongpal briefed him on. Choi Seonah clearly never reported her ability to the state.
What that means is…
‘Unregistered Ability User?!’
=Isn’t that a duty in this world? Anyway, I’ve never revealed it publicly. It’s a secret known only to a few people, including my adoptive father.=
‘What ability is it?’
=This is the Yeji series. Even from a universal perspective, it is very excellent.=
The Prophetic Attribute is a talent that everyone desires, but unfortunately, there is no known way to completely control the ability. In the case of Earth, the only practical use of this ability is weather prediction. It is limited to predicting the weather that everyone in the world will know after a day.
The more information is recognized by only a few people, rather than being treated as public goods in the future, the more difficult it is to predict. In addition, the act of predicting itself can change the future, killing the vitality of the prediction. That is also why weather predictions are the most accurate. Just because you predicted it in advance, it doesn’t mean that rain that was going to come won’t come.
Despite these limitations, the committee has never lost interest in them. How great is that interest?
-46. Discover a way to completely control the abilities of the prophetic character and provide a turn-key solution up to the commercialization stage: 530,000 talents
Minjun was lost in thought.
‘Did Choi Pan-seok know this fact in advance and adopt him?’
Why would an orc take a human as his adopted daughter, not a child but an adolescent of a certain age by the standards of the time?
The reason why he made that choice despite being criticized by both orcs and humans, and despite threats of death.
Maybe it’s because I knew this ability in advance?
‘The reason for our continued success up until now may be due to that.’
I remembered the relief and excitement he had felt when his daughter woke up, and the sadness on his face when she lost consciousness again.
What if it wasn’t pure love for a daughter, a love that was an end in itself and not a means?
What if she was not a precious treasure just because she was a daughter, but was obsessed with her function?
‘I wonder why Blade showed interest in Choi Seon-ah…’
Minjun’s thoughts deepened.
***
Although he knew Choi Seon-ah’s secret, he still didn’t know where the sword was. Instead of reporting it to the police as an unregistered person with supernatural powers, Min-jun decided to keep the information in his head.
‘I wonder if Blade knew that fact in advance, and if so, how he knew it. It seems like almost no one knows except Choi Pan-seok.’
Minjun, who returned to the office after doing some deductions, found two huge packages in front of the front door. Judging from the magical power left on them like fingerprints, he could quickly identify the sender.
‘It’s Dell.’
My ex-wife, who stopped by last night and left, sent me something less than 24 hours later.
Minjun carefully unsealed the seal. It was covered with a powerful magic that no one but him could open or move.
After much thought, Minjun brought it into the room. He inspected it several times with a serious expression like a professional explosives technician before opening the package. He opened the large one first.
“······.”
Minjun’s eyebrows furrowed.
‘What is this?’
The box was about the size of a 30-inch suitcase, but the contents were almost overpackaged.
No, it wasn’t so much close as it was overhyped.
It was filled with bright red rose petals. And in the center of it all was a frying pan that was shining with a beautiful silver color.
Yes, it was a frying pan.
‘Why did you send this?’
Only then did I recall what Dell had said yesterday. He looked at the frying pan he was holding and said:
-If you’re going to do it, why don’t you carry something else? It doesn’t feel right. Should I make you one? As long as it’s shaped like a frying pan, is that okay?
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‘I thought it was just empty words···.’
Minjun picked up the postcard that was on the frying pan. It had a strong scent of the perfume she used to love to wear during her Ashtal days.
The message was concise.
This would be much better for blunt use. -Del-
Minjun, who had roughly tossed the postcard and then picked up the frying pan, was surprised again. The silver frying pan was shining brightly under the office lights.
‘Isn’t this an orichalcon?’
It is also a super-strong metal that has been specially polished in the Endellion style. It is an item that cannot be found or traded on Earth.
‘No, how on earth do I use this…’
It is more suitable for a weapon master than a warlock. It is clear that it will show amazing performance the moment the surface is covered with an aura. Of course, this is assuming that there is a person with the ability who has learned to fight with a frying pan instead of a sword.
Minjun imagined himself wearing this. He projected a virtual picture in his head. An immigration agent, holding a silver orichalcon frying pan in one hand and a pitch-black dark iron frying pan in the other, glaring at the enemy.
It was an embarrassing sight no matter where I showed it.
‘Where should I sell it?’
Minjun’s decision was quick. He decided to dispose of it.
I glanced at the handle, but fortunately there was no special writing engraved on it, except for the passionate red ribbon tied around it.
I thought about it for a moment. Who on Earth has such bizarre tastes that they would pay for something like this, while also having their cash rot away?
One person immediately comes to mind.
‘Lord, I guess I can sell it to that guy.’
The dragon, who was soon to return to work after his maternity leave, had a hobby. A hobby of collecting expensive, pretty, but useless things. Considering his friendship with him, he would pay a reasonable price.
After making up his mind, Minjun threw the frying pan and the postcard into the corner and opened the next box. This time, it was about the size of an album. When he opened it, it was full of documents. The contents were…
‘You’ve investigated up to here in the meantime?’
Minjun sticks out his tongue.
It was the material that Dell had researched on Blade. It was a compilation of murders committed without regard to borders.
Minjun’s expression becomes serious as he flips through the documents one by one. Photos of the victims who had died are lined up. Corpses are strewn across the bloody scene.
‘They killed a lot of people.’
It was impossible to conclude that Blade was the culprit who killed all of these people. I had only selected the cases that were most likely committed by him among the numerous cases.
‘Everyone, their throats were blown off. And they were cleanly cut off.’
The suspects’ descriptions were all different and random, and no weapons were found at the scene, but they had one thing in common: a sharp cutting edge. It was clear that they had taken their lives with a single stab.
‘I have a very strong taste.’
I have never had a knife placed on my chest or abdomen.
That’s a lot of stubbornness.
His actions were as sharp as the marks his sword had left. He had never failed. No one who had been attacked by him survived. He was a thorough contractor who would take a life without exception once he drew his sword.
‘······!’
At that moment, a bright spark flew in Minjun’s head.
‘Wait a minute, there are no exceptions?’
No, there is.
It wasn’t in the file Dell had just handed over, but Minjun knew of an exception.
Minjun was about to call Jeongpal right away, but he changed the subject. He checked the business card he had received a while ago. He took out his cell phone and dialed the number.
The other person answered the phone right away.
-Yes, teacher! Hello.
“Mr. Kim, let me ask you something.”
He contacted the wizard, Kim Cheol-su, and for a moment, he reverted to his old way of speaking.
There was something I had to confirm directly with the senior officials of the police magic investigation unit.
“I’m talking about the scene where Choi Seon-ah murdered Kwak Do-chul.”
– I didn’t go out myself, but I got the report. Please wait a moment… Oh, yes. I found it. Please speak, sir.
“Then let’s check together if what I’m saying is true. The order of events that I heard happened was as follows. Choi Seon-ah suddenly appeared holding a half-elf’s head, and this time she decapitated Kwak Do-chul. Then all the bones in his body were broken and he fell down.”
I could hear the sound of papers being shuffled over the phone.
-Yes, everything you said is correct.
“Then the sword was left abandoned for a while. It needed magical inspection. Then a police wizard came.”
-Oh, sir. To be exact, I am not a police officer by profession, but an agent contracted by the National Police Agency.
It means that, just like Minjun, he is an exclusive contract worker.
Although he suffered a penetrating wound, it is said that his life was not in danger as it did not affect any major organs and he was discharged from the hospital very quickly.
“The wizard confirmed it. He said that the sword is not cursed, and has no soul. It’s just a cheap ego sword.”
Kim Cheol-su agreed.
What happened immediately after that was…
“The forensics team, who believed those words and picked up the sword, were immediately mentally controlled and stabbed the magician.”
-Yes, that’s right. I was shot in the abdomen.
“Yes, that’s the part. I stabbed him. Instead of cutting his neck.”
-······?
“Why would that be?”
On the other end of the phone, Kim Cheol-su thought about it for a while before answering.
-The forensic team that held that sword was an ordinary person. They didn’t have a trained body either. In that state, in order to escape, they must have decided to subdue the magician first. That cursed sword was so controlled…
“Then wouldn’t it be more certain to kill him by cutting off his head? That’s the iron rule when a Weapon Master deals with a magician. Even if his stomach is pierced, if he has the will, he can recite the spell. It would be better to stick a blade in his throat or cut off his throat. But why did he stab him in the stomach?”
Minjun had guessed the identity of the hunter named Blade.
A hunter wearing a thousand masks. Even in the contracting organization, there are few who know his true identity and appearance.
Why did he have to manipulate someone else in Korea to kill the congressman and Kwak Do-chul instead of doing it himself?
The reason is that Blade is not a person.
It’s the ego sword that Minjun is chasing.
It’s not that the killer uses the sword, it’s that the killer is the sword.
After explaining this conjecture, Minjun also talked about Blade’s method. A clean method that cuts off a head with just one swing of the sword.
“Half-elf entertainers died like that. Kwak Do-chul was the same, and the body of the congressman found in his home was the same. They all had their throats cut off. Naturally, there were no survivors.”
But just one person.
Only one person survived after allowing flesh and blood to enter the sword.
“Why didn’t the Ego Sword kill that wizard? Maybe it was because it was necessary.”
The act of the sword changing hosts on its own is dangerous. If the host becomes incapacitated and the sword is left lying on the ground, it will be useless unless someone picks it up. The risk is too great.
But what if there was someone who could help the sword?
“How did the troll get the sword? And how did it disappear?”
No knife found at the scene of the death of the troll who murdered the congressman.
Someone must have moved it, but there was no trace on the CCTV. I searched the entire surrounding area, but it was the same.
“In the troll’s memory, I saw an orc with a sword. I fought with a sword. But no trace of that orc’s DNA was detected near the tobacco shop. Why would they work so hard to erase the traces of an orc they don’t even know?”
What if it wasn’t erased by cleaning it very thoroughly, but what if there was no such orc in the first place?
What if even the ghost’s memories were manipulated?
-Teacher, what are you talking about now···.
“We have been stuck in the fixed idea that we can control the mind by holding the handle of the ego sword. But the ability may not end there.”
He thought about the frying pan. Even without touching the frying pan, Cathy and Ha Eun-seong had 100% trust in it.
Maybe that sword has similar abilities.
Even if you don’t touch it, what if you can inflict a somewhat weakened mental control over it by wounding it?
For example, it would be impossible to dance a sword dance beyond the limits of the flesh or to run away quickly, but what if the sword could move as desired for a while?
In this way, the sword’s assistant is born.
A suitable person who can retrieve the sword at the desired time and place it near the next host. A worker who does not have to move around too much, so there is no need to worry about breaking bones and becoming incapacitated.
And for the ability to move without being caught on CCTV, there is no one better suited to a wizard.
‘If the forensics team hid the sword somewhere before coming to their senses, and the discharged wizard goes to that place later to retrieve it, the point of contact can be hidden.’
Minjun asked.
“Where is that wizard now?”
< 114. Shock and Terror (12) > End
