I can feel the eyes of my companions on me as I dash away without a word.
Ahn-Rin seems to scratch the back of her head awkwardly, staring fixedly in the direction I’m headed. Truth is, maybe I’m the one who should feel sorry, but I wish she wouldn’t act like that.
We arrived in front of the building and waited at the parking lot barricade for our target. Helen mentioned she heard that a man enters and exits this house every evening at 8 PM, two days apart.
That’s part of the reason why we hurried here, dragging our tired bodies.
Vroooom—
Just then, I spotted a man driving in.
I infused my gliding cloak with both magic and sense, wrapping my body in it. Then, I ran along with the car and hopped onto the roof.
The magical sensing devices at the entrance and the latest barrier failed to detect me, allowing me to pass through the barricade without a hitch. It was a similar manipulation of senses to when I had interrupted Apex’s “Reconnaissance” ability before.
I don’t know the exact principle behind it. It’s just a trick I learned while messing around with various tests at the White Knight Guild when I had some free time.
Of course, it’s not invincible. If there were a high-level barrier mage or sorcerer around, it might be a different story.
Creeeak—
When the man got out of his car in the parking lot, he had an unexpected appearance.
A dwarf?
The traits of a person with dwarf characteristics weren’t heavily pronounced, but the unique structure of his magic made it easy to guess.
‘He’s not the kind of guy I thought he’d be.’
I had assumed he might either be a spawn or someone to alleviate some of the gloom, but I was way off the mark. Connecting the dwarf with the wealthy hunter who had lost body parts provides a clear picture of what he was doing.
‘He was making artificial arms and legs.’
For a knight, losing a hand—the primary conduit of magic—is a critical injury. It’s widely believed that finding a severed magic conduit is nearly impossible.
However, it’s said that basic physical abilities can be restored up to 80% depending on the blacksmith’s skills, so what about this one?
Step-step—
This man is my guide for today. A smooth operation without interruption.
Of course, the sensing barriers from the parking lot continued to be active, and over there, a low-level sorcerer was lazily using Detect Magic while patrolling with security, doing his job. But there was no major danger.
I followed the man into the elevator. Since it had been replaced with a rune of floating, my footsteps made no sound.
‘The magic is…’
The magic is rapidly depleting. It’s at least three times more than usual stealth. Managing both senses and magic is incredibly demanding.
Clank—
Following the man, we arrived in front of Heo Min-sol’s house. Surprisingly, the front door had no special mechanisms.
As I clung to the ceiling, I swiftly slipped inside when he opened the door.
[Adhesion]
Though my level hasn’t risen even once, the skill [Adhesion] has truly been a handy ability since its early days.
Crawling along the ceiling made me feel a bit like a bug, but as long as I don’t show my embarrassing appearance to anyone else, that’s actually quite satisfying. Of course, I’m not human, but still.
I managed to get inside the house, but there was one issue. In the middle of the living room stood a sorcerer.
‘This wasn’t part of the plan.’
From their attire, they didn’t seem like someone who hung around all day… Could they be a visitor? Just then, Heo Min-sol appeared from the left side in her electric wheelchair.
“Oh, should I be going now?”
“Yeah. Thanks for coming.”
“Why is he acting so weird? What’s to be grateful for? Rest.”
‘Bingo.’
Thankfully, the sorcerer left immediately. They seemed to be about the same age as Heo Min-sol. Unless they were constantly activating detection magic, there would be no way for them to notice me.
By the way, even Heo Min-sol has friends who come to visit her. Like attracts like; I should remember the face of that girl who just left.
The man who entered with me got straight to work. Seeing him pull out various tools from his inventory, it looked like he was going for a major renovation.
‘Has he already made that much?’
The artificial arm he pulled from his inventory looked like an old, gnarled piece of wood at first, but astonishingly, as soon as it touched Heo Min-sol’s arm and leg, it began to merge with her as if it were alive.
‘Wow… I’ve never seen anyone put it on before, but that must be extremely expensive, right? This dwarf doesn’t seem ordinary either. What on earth has Heo Min-sol done to earn that much money?’
I was incredibly curious about that.
Like a dwarf, I needed to carry out my purpose too, but I was momentarily stunned by what I saw.
Of course, just because it fused like that doesn’t mean she could use it immediately like her own hands and feet, and even if she re-trained after getting used to it, reopening a severed magic conduit would likely be a long and arduous process.
But with such substantial support, and with a woman harboring this much venom, there might just be a low chance to break through.
“How do your hands feel?”
“It hurts… Is it supposed to hurt this much?”
“Heh, it’s a device that cuts through flesh and delves in; how could it not hurt? But compared to other clients, you’re handling it surprisingly well.”
“I’ve often heard that I’m quite tough.”
“Heh, good. If you have such a strong will, the work becomes easier. Today, I will focus on improving the synchronization rate. You’ve already taken the painkillers, right?”
“Yes, yes, hurry up. I want to get this over with and rest.”
Watching Heo Min-sol’s artificial arm being made for a moment, I spread my senses and began my main task, quickly discovering the most guarded area in the house.
It was a room located in the middle of the hallway, after turning sharply to the right from the living room. This must be Heo Min-sol’s room.
The pink-painted door was firmly locked. At least she had security for her own room.
If I turned that doorknob without preparation, hunters from a security company would rush in like a pack.
Vroom—
Merging magic and sense into one, I covered my hand with it and placed my hand on the doorknob. As expected, the security mechanism didn’t react, and I cautiously turned the door to enter.
Click—
It must be a nice house, as the sound of the door was very soft and pleasant. I could have turned it again out of curiosity.
Inside the room, like the door, everything was covered in pink. The space was decorated with countless dolls and lovely trinkets.
‘This is bizarre.’
It’s ironic to think she’s out there doing such terrible things while decorating her room like this…
Without hesitation, I approached Heo Min-sol’s bedroom and reached for a drawer right next to the bed. Hmm… It won’t open.
‘Hmm… Do I need to use more magic?’
Depending on the strength of the barrier, the consumption of magic increases. After pouring 70% of my remaining magic into it, the drawer opened.
‘Looks like a considerable investment has been made here.’
As my available magic dropped below 50, it fully recovered due to the power of the high-grade magic circuit. Heh…
Inside the drawer was a small pink box, which also had a barrier much like the drawer.
I was momentarily tense, wondering if opening this box would reveal another box inside, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
‘Phew… That was a bit tense.’
As expected, inside the box was the contract between Heo Min-sol and Apex, clearly having been well agreed upon. Its faint glow indicates that the mutual pact has been set.
Hmm… I can definitely sense Heo Min-sol’s magic. Though she lost her magic conduits, the magic pathways within her body still exist, making the contract usable.
I took a moment to inspect the contract.
It detailed Heo Min-sol’s requests.
「······Cut off all of Baek Ah-rin’s arms, legs, tongue, and ears, alongside a recording of her voice filled with pain and a hundred photographs. And······」
It even stated she would pay extra if the ears symbolizing Ahn-Rin were brought to her.
‘This bitch?!’
I nearly bolted out to the living room in anger. Maybe I should return it as written here.
It’s twisted how the one who made herself into that state ends up blaming Ahn-Rin.
Taking a moment to breathe, I examined the contract fee.
‘3 billion?! What the hell…?!’
The surprising part was the scale of the contract fee. No matter how well hunters do, 3 billion is a lot… While you might accept it thinking that it’s what you pay for killing a promising rookie, it still seems excessive. If I had known she was this rich, I should’ve just extorted money from her instead of going through the fuss of cutting off limbs.
‘Women are terrifying.’
I left the room and headed back to the living room, where the two were still busy working on the artificial arm and leg.
At this point, her fingers were barely twitching. The dwarf next to her had his long tubes connected to the artificial arm and was rapidly writing something down on paper, encouraging Heo Min-sol.
‘…Doesn’t look like there’s any sign of a second awakening.’
Although there are cases where people receive a major shock and have a reawakening, thankfully, the dimming of magic energy since our encounter in the dungeon was a relief. If she doesn’t use it, her magic conduit will soon diminish.
Even if she miraculously regains her magic conduits due to getting used to that artificial arm, how long would it take to recover the strength she once had?
At least two years, I think. By then, we’ll probably be leagues ahead, and Heo Min-sol might face an even greater despair at that point. True revenge might be something like that; it’s the amateurs who kill quickly.
Now that I’ve taken what I need, all that’s left is to leave the house. That open window…
‘Ah, I can go out that way.’
Not wanting to stick around any longer, I cautiously opened the door to the terrace and slipped out. Heo Min-sol and the man were completely focused on their work, so they didn’t notice the slowly opening door.
Honestly, thinking about my abilities, it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but being in someone else’s house made me feel nervous and guilty, so I wanted to get out quickly.
Whoosh- flapping-!
As I leaped out and soared to where our party members were, I felt a little excited, having completed the mission quite cleanly.
There was an empty spot waiting for me on the second floor of the café. Yeon-hee glanced at me and bobbed her head as if she sensed my arrival.
At some point, even in my invisible state, she had started to feel my presence. It was strange that she could do this without any magical act, but this must be the privilege of a summoner.
“Ooh! Shhhh— shhh—”
Bae Joo-ah, seeing Yeon-hee signal my arrival, whispered to me as I just sat down.
“Are we sure about the contents?”
Though I didn’t quite know why, I nodded affirmatively with a small clinking of my teeth in response to her words that sounded like something out of a drug trafficking scene.
“Okay. Let’s check the goods.”
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