261. Hunter
“… ….”
Late at sunset.
All the assistants have left work, and Erica, who is left standing alone in the lab, looks at the Deius doll placed in the corner.
Although it was a strange feeling, it really did look the same.
The perfume that Professor Per Petra sprayed during his explanation has not yet worn off, and there is a faint scent that can be smelled in his laboratory.
But it was different.
Only the appearance is the same.
It was like seeing the real Deius back in his original body.
The heavy atmosphere he carries.
A feeling of intimidation, as if you shouldn’t open your mouth in front of others.
A truly empty doll with everything gone.
As Erica felt the invisible difference in her eyes, she realized again that she was truly in love with the man.
Appearance alone is not enough.
She really wants that guy.
Tuk.
Put your forehead on the doll’s chest. An item that was unpleasant when Professor Per Petra first gave it to him.
I am not satisfied at all.
I want to see the real Deius.
A great sense of loss that comes after a moment of satisfaction. The pathetic sadness that comes from it.
She slowly lifts her forehead and turns her body.
“I’ll have to tell you to clean it up tomorrow.”
The moment when Erica was about to leave the lab, thinking that she should ask the teaching assistants for a favor, even if it was a bit mischievous.
Rock!
The lab door opened roughly and two girls came in.
At Lovern Academy, besides Erica Bright, Aria Rias and Eleanor Luden Griffin were waiting silently for him.
“… ….”
“… ….”
The two people who urgently came to see where they heard the news froze the moment they saw Deius’ doll.
Gulp.
Only the sound of spit falling echoed in the laboratory.
* * *
The Han Empire was definitely different from the Griffin Kingdom in many ways.
This is true even in the case of security maintenance units.
The room where they were interrogating me while I was tied up with a rope was lined with various torture tools.
Axes, saws, buckets of water, irons placed on an unlit furnace, dismantling knives, etc.
There were a lot of ugly things just by looking at them.
‘I didn’t use it.’
When I looked at it from the outside, I couldn’t see any traces of use, perhaps because it had never been used.
Isn’t it probably some kind of psychological device placed in the interrogation room to put pressure on the interrogator?
Thump.
The door opens roughly.
The man who came inside was the man who came to arrest me earlier.
I heard that it is not a security maintenance unit, but an inspector directly under the imperial family.
I felt like an unlucky killer who caught the eye of the inspector who came out to inspect.
The guy staring at me with a grim expression slams the desk in front of him and asks.
“Six citizens and two maintenance staff were killed.”
This is said quite boldly. It seemed like he thought he was putting pressure on himself.
I kept my mouth shut and was considering something else.
‘You don’t know that I noticed.’
I was a bit skeptical earlier, but now I am confident.
Now, he doesn’t know that I have discovered his identity. This makes the story somewhat easier.
“… ….”
When I kept my mouth shut and pretended that I was not pushed back by the force, the guy immediately clenched his teeth and shouted.
If I had seen it from afar, I might not have noticed it, but seeing it as the subject of murder from this close, I vaguely felt that it was acting.
“Do you know how many people are suffering because of you? “You ask why I killed him!”
“I didn’t kill him.”
Give minimal answers in short sentences. He sighs as he looks at me, who is as firm as an old tree and unwavering.
Then he finally pretended that he couldn’t stand it anymore and gestured towards one wall.
The interrogation room lights go out.
In the darkness that came with the silence, only the man’s brown eyes turned toward me with an eerie light.
This is probably the way they do it when they turn off the recording in the interrogation room and conduct a rather violent interrogation, which is something we’ve seen in detective movies.
On the contrary, the inspector general is finally softening his voice.
“Are you surprised?”
The guy’s cheerful smile can be seen even in the dark. He intentionally made it seem like the interrogation was not progressing properly so that he could have a private conversation with me.
Now the inspector spoke to me in a rather polite tone.
“I am Unyeop, the inspector directly under the Imperial Household.”
“… ….”
“He is also a hunter.”
Hunter?
It was obvious that it was not just the meaning of the words.
As I listen to what he says with an expressionless expression, he continues to explain.
“I saw you gathering the city’s monsters and destroying them. It was truly impressive. “He must be a warlock, right?”
“Yes.”
He smiled and pointed to himself with his thumb, as if he had caught a glimpse of the possibility in my answer.
“The ancient dragon you saw. “We are the ones who killed it.”
“… ….”
“Thanks to you gathering the monsters, I was able to finish it much more easily.”
There was no need to show a surprised reaction. I just assume it is like that and move on.
I was a little curious about how the ancient dragon was killed.
He probably found out what he was protecting and attacked it.
That wasn’t the important thing.
In the first place, I was not interested in guardian spirits who were already dead.
“You said Kim Shin-woo, right? “It’s a somewhat unique name, though.”
“… ….”
“Come join us.”
Woonyeop pretends to hold out his hand. The calluses on his hands showed that he was no ordinary warrior.
“The sight of monsters being destroyed. It was quite impressive. “You too can become a hunter and let your talent bloom.”
“What if I refuse?”
I know what he’s going to say, but he takes a stab at it first.
Unyeop answered by shrugging his shoulders so obviously.
“He murdered six people and even tampered with the security forces. “I don’t know where you’re from, but the Empire won’t just kill you.”
The death penalty is confirmed.
This guy scans the torture tools scattered around him with his eyes, as if foreshadowing the pain to come.
I was wondering why they put such a ridiculous accusation on me. I wonder if it was one of the ingredients for negotiations.
It wasn’t a very bad method.
But it is only a temporary solution.
If you really want to tie me up, you know that this isn’t enough.
My question naturally continues as if he also knows.
“And if you’re a warlock, aren’t you also a being who pursues power?”
In general, the perception of warlocks seemed to be like that. It’s just that Griffin tends to reject people a bit too much.
“We are killing the guardian spirit and uncovering the secret of its power.”
“… ….”
From my perspective, I couldn’t help but have doubts.
Who on earth would simply desire power? Everyone takes action because they have their own story and reason.
This man, who referred to himself as a hunter, and the group he belongs to also have a reason, to kill the guardian spirits and extort their power.
When I responded that I wasn’t very interested, Unyeop tried to stop me a bit and pretended to be calm, but spoke a little faster.
“But it doesn’t end there. “I am not satisfied with just being a guardian deity.”
“Then what?”
When I secretly threw the rice cake, he thought it was an opportunity and immediately asked.
“The guardian spirit is just a staircase. “Our ultimate goal is different.”
Why does this man go to such lengths to reveal various circumstances to me?
I understand that it comes from overwhelming confidence. But I still thought it was excessive.
From the words that followed, I was able to understand why he thought I would cooperate unconditionally.
“You know that the soul contains mana, right?”
“You can’t not know.”
It makes no sense for me, a necromancer, to not know that. Unyeop says that his words speak well, flicks his tongue, and whispers a secret.
“The man who took all the souls piled up on the continent three months ago.”
“… ….”
“Following his voice that echoed across the continent, all souls left. “Everyone could see it for themselves.”
A spell that allows souls to take form was also cast to enlighten those who remained on the continent.
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“As a warlock, we know very well what kind of situation you are in right now. “The souls are gone so I can’t use magic properly.”
Are you identifying me as a necromancer because you saw me annihilate monsters with blue flames?
Unlike Griffin, he was not ignorant about black magic.
“If I say this, you’ll probably have noticed.”
With a grin, Unyeop boldly declares.
“Our goal is the mana contained in hundreds of millions of souls.”
“… ….”
“It’s owner, Deius Verdida, the envoy of the Griffin Kingdom.”
Yes.
This is why he was confident that I would cooperate.
For the necromancers of the continent, Deius is the source of all evil that suddenly took away all the souls they were dealing with.
Because there is no warlock who would miss the opportunity to get revenge on him.
He was confident that I would cooperate with them and poured out various information.
I was worried for a while.
The guy secretly confessing that he was going to kill me in front of me was a bit funny.
I haven’t heard the story clearly yet.
‘Why are you targeting the mana contained in souls?’
Killing the guardian spirit was to gain the power to kill myself.
The reason to kill me was to steal the countless mana contained in the souls I took.
Then.
What do they want after getting it?
Doubts increase.
I realized that the issue I was trying to ignore was surprisingly directly related to my problem.
Funny enough, I held his hand.
“I will cooperate.”
Good.
Let’s work hard together.
Let’s kill Deius Verdi.