Ch.564Chapter 21. Blood Pack (24)

“Hand over the Mana Gold.”

“I’ll give it to you. If it’s the golden orb—”

“I don’t need that.”

Tae Jo looked at me with eyes that said, ‘What are you trying to do?’

“There’s no one around here. I’m not Armored Taejo.”

“I wasn’t trying to make a joke.”

“Didn’t you come here because you needed the golden orb?”

“Not the golden orb, I need something else. Mana Gold.”

“…Ah, I see.”

This was Black Taejo’s workshop.

To avoid the reporters keeping vigilant watch in front of Armored Taejo’s house, he was working on something in his private workshop, away from prying eyes.

“Are you repairing the Mana Gold?”

“I have to fix what I broke. Make it bigger and more impressive.”

He was working on Cheok Jun-gyeong’s two-handed greatsword.

Since he was the one who broke it, he must be taking responsibility.

“Oh, by the way. Jun-gyeong, I think he noticed. That I’m you.”

“…I suppose so. But he’s alright. He’s not the type to carelessly tell others.”

“Is he connected to the Syndicate?”

“No. But I know he’s not someone who would talk recklessly.”

Cheok Jun-gyeong is fine.

The real problems would be people like Battle God or the Shaman.

-What?! Black Taejo was actually Taejo?! Everyone—!

The former because his voice is so loud he’d spread it all over town.

-How can I use this information to create a favorable situation for Hwalbindang?

The latter because she would try to use that information for her own benefit.

“I think the Shaman might have noticed something too…”

“The Shaman is fine too. She’ll fall into the trap I’ve set for her on her own. I’ll cover for you, so don’t worry and focus on hiding your identity.”

“Thank you, brother.”

It feels a bit awkward to hear him call me “brother” so intimately.

After all, besides the Syndicate, I rarely meet with men.

“It’s been a while!”

“Ah. Welcome, Sister Ymir.”

Tae Jo looked relieved seeing Ymir coming through the dimensional gate.

“You show your face naturally now.”

“If my brother shows his face, I don’t need to hide mine. Oh my, perhaps you want to see something else?”

“I don’t know what you mean, but I respectfully decline.”

“…If you respond to jokes like that, it makes me look like a weird person.”

Ymir made a sad face toward me.

“Brother. I think I’m going to be misunderstood again.”

“Then you shouldn’t act in ways that cause misunderstandings.”

“Ouch.”

“…So you need Mana Gold for your sister-in-law.”

Tae Jo quickly changed the subject.

“This is perfect timing. I recently made a crafting video on V-Tube…”

Tae Jo froze when he saw the two women following Ymir, especially Baek Seol-hee.

“……”

“Hello. I’ve heard about you. This is our first time meeting in person.”

“…Yes, it is.”

Baek Seol-hee and Tae Jo exchanged glances, then nodded significantly as if reaching some unspoken agreement.

“Do you also need Mana Gold, sister-in-law?”

“Tae Jo, who exactly are you referring to?”

“All of you.”

Is the title “sister-in-law” really that appealing?

The three who followed me through the dimensional gate into Black Taejo’s hideout looked at me with subtle expressions, urging me to do something.

“Here, take this. It’s used Mana Gold.”

“…Hmm?”

I handed the used Mana Gold to Tae Jo, who frowned as soon as he saw it.

“What? Did I use it too roughly?”

“No. Was this its original form? May I touch it?”

“Of course.”

Tae Jo picked up the used Mana Gold with a puzzled expression.

It was shaped like a shriveled heart, but Tae Jo continued to frown as he examined the Mana Gold chunk from various angles.

“This is a bit embarrassing. That was my heart until just half a day ago.”

“……”

Tae Jo immediately put down what had been Hyun Se-rin’s heart.

“It’s okay. What’s embarrassing about entrusting your heart to a doctor? It’s not strange.”

“…Is this really okay?”

“Of course. Right, Manager Do?”

“Nothing wrong with it. In fact, I might need to ask for something even more extreme.”

“Sensitive things…”

“Beyond sensitive, I might need to request something skeletal.”

I displayed a photo.

“I might need you to make this later.”

“…You want me to make bones, not just a skeleton frame?”

The photo I showed was of a skeletal model.

It wasn’t specifically Se-rin’s, but the meaning was conveyed, so no problem.

“If there’s enough Mana Gold, I can make bones, and then just create muscles and flesh with mana when inhabiting it.”

“I don’t understand any of this, but…”

“You’ll understand once you acquire the doppelgänger ability.”

I pointed at Baek Seol-hee.

“I’d also like you to make a doll for Seol-hee’s public appearances when you have time. And while you’re at it, a frame for your executive too.”

“…Does it have to be bones?”

“Is there something else?”

“I think something more impressive than bones, like a heart, would be better. Maybe mix it with jewels and shape it like a heart or something like that?”

Even as Black Taejo, it seems he can’t abandon his sensitivity as an ability user.

“For example…”

“I’d like a mint-colored mana mineral carved into a clover shape.”

“Would an inverted triangle work?”

“I’m glad we understand each other.”

The same goes for Hyun Se-rin.

“Phew, that’s a relief. Manager Do lacks aesthetic sense. He’s trying to make a skeleton for his woman to possess.”

“…Isn’t a skeleton more efficient?”

“Fenrir, who only pursued efficiency, was taken down by a K-assassin over in Northern Europe~”

Hyun Se-rin said this jokingly with a giggle, but the atmosphere immediately sank.

“…What? I can’t even make jokes like this? Someone else makes jokes about their mother in front of people.”

“That’s not a joke but a fact, so it’s fine.”

The atmosphere dropped further.

“Hey, what does that make me when you say that?”

“So when do you need the mint and gold clover treasure by?”

Tae Jo ignored the dampened mood and changed the subject to business.

“The sooner the better. But I’d like all ‘four’ to be made before October, before the World Cup qualifiers begin.”

“If it’s just making them like jewels rather than human bones, there shouldn’t be a problem. By mid-October, no, even early October shouldn’t be an issue…”

Tae Jo turned his attention back to what had been Se-rin’s heart on the table.

“No, brother.”

“What?”

“This, I didn’t transform it… no, holy shit.”

Tae Jo cursed briefly as he picked up the heart.

“Why, no, ha.”

“Oh. This was unexpected.”

Crackle.

The heart transformed as if electricity was running through it, soon changing into a new form.

“Congratulations. You’ve mastered cultural artifacts too.”

“…Did you rob the Baekje Museum?”

“I stole one that had been leaked to Japan. From Osaka.”

“Ah, that time.”

Tae Jo bitterly smiled as he handled the gilt-bronze seated Maitreya Bodhisattva statue in his hand.

“This belongs in a museum before being Mana Gold, so I’ll put it in a museum separately.”

“Why don’t you just keep it?”

“Right. My teacher said that when expensive items come into Korean museums, they swap out the originals and display fakes.”

“Who said that…”

Tae Jo was about to refute Ymir but then pressed his lips shut.

“I understand. I’ll follow your advice, brother. So for now, I just need to make Mana Gold for sister-in-law Se-rin to use?”

“That too, but the purpose of today’s visit is to strengthen your alibi.”

“Alibi…?”

“The most definitive alibi to dispel the theory that Black Taejo and Armored Taejo are the same person.”

I patted Hyun Se-rin and Baek Seol-hee on their shoulders.

“Here, we have an ice-type ability user who can use the doppelgänger ability. And we have a ghost.”

“……”

“And we have someone who can create a core, a heart, and a deus ex machina who can somehow make it all ‘possible.'”

With this many ability users, we can create anything as long as we have enough mana.

“Come up to Seoul with me. And have Armored Taejo urgently travel from Busan to Seoul. With people accompanying him.”

“…Creating an alibi by having two people in different places at the same time? So, I should act as Armored Taejo?”

Tae Jo pointed at Hyun Se-rin.

“Will sister-in-law Se-rin use her ability as Black Taejo…?”

“No, no. I just mentioned her as an example, the real one is someone else. So, are you in?”

“…Since it’s your suggestion, I’ll do it, but who’s the real one? …No way.”

Tae Jo’s expression grew serious.

“…Come on, brother. Is that sister-in-law…”

“Let’s go. Ymir. To our living room.”

“Opening it now.”

Whirr.

Ymir drew a large circle to open a dimensional gate, and I was the first to step through.

The location instantly changed from Tae Jo’s hideout in Busan to my home in Seoul.

[Yeah, don’t care, don’t wanna know. What’s Taejo gonna do, what’s Armored gonna do~]

As soon as we arrived, I heard a familiar childish voice.

The sound was coming from speakers installed throughout the living room in surround sound.

“……”

“Oh, you’re here?”

Yoon Hye-ra, wearing a headset and simultaneously playing multiple videos, waved at Tae Jo to greet him.

“I’ll act with my soul in it. You know method acting, right? I might not be able to pull off Black Taejo, but I think I can somehow act like Armored Taejo.”

“……”

“What? Are you upset that I failed to read you when we first met, or that I’m going to act as you?”

“Couldn’t I just be Armored Taejo instead?”

“No, you can’t.”

Yoon Hye-ra pointed north with her thumb, mocking Tae Jo.

“If Black Taejo needs to use his ability to drive a golden stake into the heart of an S-class vampire that landed in Hwanghae Province, Black Taejo has to go up there himself, right?”

[……]

“Hey, just live as Black Taejo. That way, there’s plausibility to you, as Armored Taejo’s clone, killing the original Armored Taejo.”

Busan.

Create an ice doppelgänger, make a steel cage in Taejo’s shape, and place Mana Gold for the soul to dwell in.

And if Ymir seals it well, the creation of Armored Taejo is complete.

“Don’t worry. Even if I possess a man’s body, I won’t do anything to make a woman cry. So relax.”

“……”

“Oh, by the way, I have a question. Are you still Taejo-rubbingpong? Or Taeji-rubbingpong?”

“First.”

Tae Jo reached behind his back and pulled out a golden staff as if extracting a spine, then said seriously:

“Let’s do a reading first. Brother, a barrier please.”

“Mir.”

“Yes~”