#115
After that, it took four days to leave the island. Riyekan had to use magic to tame the baby sea serpent. Riyekan said he was fine and wanted to finish quickly and return, but Jin-ha asked whether that meant he was completely fine or if using magic would make it worse but he could handle it. Then Riyekan became obedient.
Legas, unable to hide his excitement, watched the scene and then started to serve Jin-ha even more carefully, which made the other wizards’ attitudes even more awkward. Even Bennis, whom Jin-ha thought he had become a little closer to, was overly polite in front of Legas, which made Jin-ha feel a bit gloomy.
“Then, we will depart.”
When they came to the island, there were five carriages, but on the way back, there was only one. Jin-ha looked at the island getting farther away from the carriage running on the sea and was immersed in a strange feeling.
It was a sudden trip, but many things happened. He regained his childhood memories and found out that he and Riyekan had been close in those memories…
Above all, he and Riyekan had become serious.
Even when they were in the tower, he couldn’t have imagined that they would become like this.
As Jin-ha glanced, Riyekan, who had been sitting arrogantly, leaned towards him. Jin-ha covered Riyekan’s mouth with his palm.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you suddenly doing?”
“What’s sudden about kissing my own? We’re alone here, aren’t we?”
It was a question asking if it was okay to kiss as promised. No matter what, wasn’t there something called timing? Trying to kiss just because their eyes met…
“You seem to prefer the sick version a little more.”
At those words, Riyekan twisted the corner of his mouth.
“Are you jealous of me?”
“Maybe.”
What could he do if he was jealous of himself? It wasn’t the first time if he thought about when he was jealous of Riri. Jin-ha shook his head and pushed Riyekan away. Riyekan, lost in thought, obediently stepped back and tilted his head with a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know how to get sick.”
“…Nonsense again…”
“I think I have to be sick to receive affection from Jin-ha.”
“Please grow up a bit.”
Jin-ha glared at Riyekan with disgust. How could this man shamelessly say such childish and embarrassing things? It seemed that he was becoming more and more childish as days went by. When he first came to the tower, he was a bit unpleasant but had the dignity of a master of the magic tower.
“If you kiss me.”
“Yes?”
“If you kiss me, I’ll try to grow up a little.”
Riyekan pleaded with a smirk.
It was a clumsy trick, but Jin-ha didn’t push him away any further, shaking his head. He didn’t want to admit it, but he didn’t dislike that trick.
Jin-ha had no choice but to hold Riyekan’s cheek and overlap his lips.
—
“What did you say?”
Jin-ha was just about to confess to Seo Ji-seop that he had started dating Riyekan. It was a bit difficult to confess that he had become that kind of relationship with Riyekan as Seo Ji-seop had predicted, but he couldn’t not say it.
Their relationship could be a factor that increased the instability of the exchange between Earth and this other world, so even if the children didn’t know, Seo Ji-seop, who came as a bodyguard, had to know.
However, before he could even open his mouth, Seo Ji-seop delivered shocking news first.
“The Deputy Director of the Anomaly Management Agency is dead.”
“What… why would he die?”
The Deputy Director was the most cautious person Jin-ha had ever seen. It was peculiar that such a person had taken the position of Deputy Director of the Anomaly Management Agency, which had to take on dangerous tasks. If the Director hadn’t been someone who enjoyed wandering around so much, it would have been impossible. The Director was excessively bold, so the Deputy Director had to be someone who could operate the organization stably to balance it.
Such a person, who was trying every means to become the Director, suddenly died?
“A hunter team that was conquering a dungeon in the Suncheon area found a corpse and brought it out, and when the agency checked the fingerprints, it turned out to be the Deputy Director.”
“…There’s no way the Deputy Director would enter a dungeon on his own.”
“Everyone is saying that, but…”
“Didn’t they find any evidence to identify the culprit?”
“Yes, there’s nothing. It’s so suspicious that there’s nothing that they can’t think of anything other than that someone killed him and abandoned him. Moreover, it seems like they even poured an expensive potion on the corpse right after killing him, so there’s not a single wound. They can’t even specify when he died.”
“Oh my god…”
Jin-ha sighed. He had thought something was strange when he heard that the disappearance was getting longer, but he didn’t think he would be dead.
“Anyway, the culprit is definitely a hunter.”
“Yes, abandoning the corpse in the dungeon and using an expensive potion to destroy the evidence, it must be.”
Seo Ji-seop sighed as if troubled and continued.
“Our work won’t receive proper instructions for a while, so we have to proceed with on-site judgment.”
“I see…”
“I’m practically an outsourcer, so that’s fine, but Jin-ha, your shoulders have become heavy. I’ll help as much as I can.”
The exchange with the other world was a project directly handled by the Deputy Director. Naturally, all work was carried out according to the Deputy Director’s orders, and even after the Deputy Director went missing, they had been moving according to the guidelines the Deputy Director had given in advance. However, now that he was dead, if a problem arose while moving blindly according to those guidelines, the responsibility would clearly fall on Jin-ha.
For the time being, Jin-ha had become the person in charge of this project as the decision-maker. To be responsible for a project without a budget or anything… Jin-ha’s head started to ache. It was fortunate that he had a card he received before, but he didn’t know what would happen if the word changed from above.
Moreover, it was unclear when this ambiguous situation would end. The only clear thing was that it would remain like this until a new Deputy Director was appointed or the Director returned and appointed a new person in charge of the project.
“Fortunately, there’s good news. They’ve confirmed where the Director is.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he said he went to Ulleungdo because he felt something strange while inspecting, and then he couldn’t return because a unicorn whale appeared in the East Sea.”
“No, how did he go to Ulleungdo?”
“By running.”
“…Yes?”
“By running on the water. Maybe he learned how to do water striding. He’s like a crazy old man…”
Water striding…? It was an unbelievable answer, but it wasn’t entirely unbelievable. The Director was a truly strong S-rank hunter, but he was a weirdo who called magic internal energy and techniques martial arts.
Jin-ha, who had been silent for a moment, decided to ignore minor problems.
“Anyway, it’s fortunate that the Director is safe. The new guidelines will come down soon.”
Having lived half as a public official, it was common for the person in charge to change or the guidelines to change in the middle. As Jin-ha sighed in relief, Seo Ji-seop waved his hand.
“No, no, they’ve confirmed it, but he hasn’t come ashore yet. They don’t know when he’ll be able to come. So, for the time being, Jin-ha, you’re still the project manager.”
“What… why…”
“By chance, the signal reached and they were able to contact him, but he said it’s still impossible to escape. So, I’ll be in your care from now on, Manager.”
The sight of him bowing his waist and greeting playfully, saying he had nothing to do with it, was detestable. Jin-ha glared at him irritably and blurted out.
“I decided to date Riyekan.”
“…What?”
“And as the person in charge, the first rule is not to be curious about my love life from now on.”
Jin-ha left Seo Ji-seop, who was dumbfounded, and went into his bedroom. Behind him, Seo Ji-seop shouted pitifully.
“No, Jin-ha! If you go like that, what am I supposed to do out of curiosity…! At least tell me this! Who confessed first, Jin-ha or the Master? Jin-ha, please!”
—
The room, which had been empty for several weeks, smelled of desolate dust.
It wasn’t a hard trip, but it was a trip where all sorts of things happened, so as soon as he thought he was back, fatigue rushed in. However, Jin-ha, who had planned to organize his luggage and rest right away, sat in front of the desk as if possessed when he saw the documents piled up on the desk.
“The kids… did well.”
Perhaps because they helped each other write, the reports from the wizards belonging to the agency were not bad to read. The problem was Seo Ji-seop’s report. It felt like he had put in effort, but sentences that were harder to understand than the report written by the youngest minor continued.
He had heard that Seo Ji-seop’s magic learning ability was third, but why couldn’t he get used to writing reports while learning that difficult magic?
Jin-ha shook his head, thinking, ‘That’s why S-rank hunters…’.
It didn’t take long to go through the documents. It was a matter of reading all the reports uploaded on the same date and simulating the training process in his head, then separately noting down the parts that raised doubts.
The problem was the suspicion that didn’t leave his mind even after it became late at night.
‘I have a hunch that Section Chief Nam is involved in the Deputy Director’s case.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
