Public Enemy (7)

Public Enemy (7)

“Do you know her?”

“Yes. So there’s nothing to worry about.”

A boy’s puzzled question, and a smiling answer to it. Han Eun-seo couldn’t stop the child passing by her.

“How…”

“No way!? How!? It can’t be, right? The information couldn’t have leaked, right!?”

Lulu, who was above her head, had an even bigger fit than she did.

Aria grabbed Lulu and gave her a light knock on the head. Only then did Lulu quiet down.

“Calm down. She probably hasn’t figured it out. It’s just… that girl has been bothering me for a while.”

Aria watched Lee Jin-ah’s retreating figure. In principle, it’s impossible to recognize a magical girl who has undone her transformation.

Even Takilas Lee Jin-ah, the demon lord from another world, only noticed Aria when she was emitting magical power during her recovery from an injury.

So Han Eun-seo didn’t think her identity had been easily discovered either.

“…Let’s go back for now.”

She just ended her activities there. After all, she couldn’t stay transformed all the time and had to live her daily life too.

“Yeah. Nothing serious will happen for now.”

“I should contact the facility. Come to think of it, she seemed to have a close friend.

Lulu comforted Han Eun-seo, who was reluctant to leave due to her personality.

Nodding her head, she picked up the phone. She planned to put the Mammoth case aside for a moment and briefly look into another matter that had just come up.

“…?”

“Who is it?”

In the facility’s break room, Kim Su-jung picked up her vibrating phone. Hong Su-young, who was nearby, showed interest.

“It’s an unknown number. The message…”

Kim Su-jung, who was in a daze, read the message without thinking. Then her eyes widened and her hands trembled.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“No, it’s not that.”

Kim Su-jung shook her head at Kang Jin-soo’s startled words and shared the content of the text message.

The message was about Lee Jin-ah, and its source was Han Eun-seo, who had obtained Kim Su-jung’s number from a facility staff member.

“It’s from the high school senior I met before. She says she ran into Jin-ah in the busy district today and asked if I knew about it… that’s what the message says.”

“Why would a high schooler care about her? Well, we do know about it anyway.”

Hong Su-young snorted upon hearing the content. It wasn’t wrong.

All three of them knew where Jin-ah was and what she was doing today.

“Park Tae-jun is a snake. He’s always one step behind when problems arise, but he’s definitely not clean.”

“I agree. Jin-ah is being used by him too.”

“Well, I’m not sure if she’s being used…”

Kang Jin-soo, who had been badmouthing Park Tae-jun, averted his eyes slightly at Hong Su-young’s words.

During ‘that incident’ today, Hong Su-young, who had been thrown across the classroom, didn’t know, but at least Kang Jin-soo could see.

That’s why he could think that the relationship between Jin-ah and Park Tae-jun might not be the usual trophy and owner relationship they had seen before.

“Anyway! Jin-ah is in danger. She texted me saying she’s just hanging out with other people, but we don’t know what might happen to her.”

Kim Su-jung exclaimed, slamming her hand on the desk. Even Kang Jin-soo, who had flinched, nodded in agreement to this.

“Jin-ah may be an unusual girl, but in the end, she’s still a fragile girl.”

“But still… didn’t she cling to Park Tae-jun because she likes him? Is it possible for us to forcibly separate them?”

“Absolutely not!”

When Hong Su-young expressed a somewhat skeptical view, Kim Su-jung shouted loudly. It was enough to intimidate Hong Su-young.

In those eyes, where a glimpse of madness could be seen, darkness flickered for a moment.

“Jin-ah would never do that. She wouldn’t do that to me…”

“No, calm down a bit. I, I made a mistake.”

Surprised, Hong Su-young nodded and apologized first.

In the end, led by Kim Su-jung, the trio concluded to catch Jin-ah when she returns today and have a serious talk with her.

“…Guys! L-let’s hurry to the shelter inside the facility!”

However, that night, before Jin-ah arrived, that incident occurred.

*

“Let’s just focus on having fun for now.”

“Okay.”

Park Tae-jun guided me to the room. Honestly, I was a bit nervous. It wasn’t just about having fun, but this kind of mischief was completely new to me.

But my mood started to go down gradually. First, I was annoyed by the increasing number of evil spirits that were becoming more entangled.

“Hey, long time no see, Tae-jun. Is this the one?”

“Yes, hyung. I wanted to introduce you.”

When a guy who looked like an adult, probably over thirty, but surprisingly still a high school student, approached us and acted familiar.

I saw the shadow flickering in his eyes. I felt a faint magical power. It was exactly the same as the guy who was causing trouble this afternoon.

An evil spirit had openly possessed him. You never know when he might flip out and reveal his true nature.

The problem was that there were more than just one or two of these guys. Even for a low-quality trash den, it seemed like they were falling prey to evil spirits too easily.

“Feeling a bit pressured? Because no one knows.”

Misunderstanding something from my expression, Park Tae-jun smiled slightly and held my hand.

Dumbfounded, I just smiled back at him. It seemed unlikely that we would part normally tonight.

“Possessing evil spirits maximize the dark side of their victims, right? Like the guy who caused trouble today. Right?”

“That’s right. They cut off reason and turn them into beasts that move on instinct.”

“Oh really? To me, that sounds like it’s revealing human nature.”

While Park Tae-jun briefly left to bring another drink, I sat in my seat and perked up my ears. I expanded my senses to take in the information happening around this entertainment district.

“Hey, those people are fighting.”

“What guts did that woman have to talk back like that? She’s getting beaten badly. But hey, what if she dies?”

A few people in the room gathered by the window, giggling. My ears could hear everything they were watching.

A drunk young woman picked a fight with a man. I didn’t know the full story since I only heard from the middle, but the man was a soldier on leave, and the woman seemed to have some complaint against him.

It seems words like “house dog” and “military vacation” were exchanged. They were insulting words, but sincere enough to come from a drunk person’s mouth.

The problem was that the other party was not in a normal state right now.

“Hey, is she really… dead?”

“You idiot! How could she be alive after her face was ground into the asphalt! This is intense, quick, film it!”

Along with the sound of sirens, a commotion spread.

The man who heard the insulting words didn’t hold back. In modern society, there are laws, order, and implicit rules that protect people.

Would someone possessed by an evil spirit care about such things? Especially in a state of rage?

The man indiscriminately beat the woman with overwhelming physical strength.

“Hmm, not bad?”

I downed the drink in my hand as I watched Park Tae-jun hurriedly approaching.

It’s bitter. The alcohol that suddenly boiled up spread through my body thrillingly, but since it wasn’t the time to get drunk, I used my magic power to remove the intoxication.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“You know why people these days only have big mouths? Because they don’t worry about getting their heads cracked open for showing off. They know the other person will endure it. But… now there are people who don’t want to endure anymore.”

I explained to the bewildered Park Tae-jun.

At the same time, the door was smashed open and someone covered in blood was thrown into the room, writhing.

“Yeongseong hyung…”

Park Tae-jun stepped back. The one who threw the bloodied victim was that delinquent high school student we had just encountered.

“Cutting in line! I said I’m going first! I’ll eat you up!”

The madman shouted at the top of his lungs, raising his fist dripping with blood.

“Aaargh!”

“You son of a bitch! Pay back the money! I said!”

The grand festival of evil spirits had begun. The possessed people, with their control mechanisms broken, started pouring out their inner anger and desires uncontrollably.

I ducked my head to avoid a table thrown by a woman with rolled-back eyes.

My eyes caught glimpse of broken glasses on the floor. This crazy world seemed determined to screw me over till the end.

“Q-quickly, let’s get out of here.”

“Director…!”

The big guy who had been chasing us since school. He barged in and ran towards us.

“This way! Both of you!”

He quickly pinned down a rampaging possessed person and led us out of the room.

The corridor was also a mess. No, the entire building was in chaos.

“This can’t be…”

“People have gone mad. For now, this way.”

Of course, the streets crowded with people were even worse.

Along with the screams and shouts of people running amok, the thick smell of blood wafted through the air.

Stupid humans, how much must they have been scratching others in their daily lives for their heads to crack open as soon as control is released?

[Is this the world that the monster Mammoth wants? A world where heads are smashed at the slightest provocation?]

“Y-yes. Madness, chaos, disorder. That is the source of its power.”

[What? This is just like an ordinary Demon Realm?]

I snickered at Ren’s words as I followed behind the manager and Park Tae-jun.

Chaos? Madness? Is this all? To be honest, it was below my expectations.

[I told you I won’t get involved. I just want to see its face for once]

I didn’t plan on getting involved anyway, but now I wanted to even less. It could at least show its true form, but just sending out evil spirits it controls didn’t sit well with me.