Chapter 229: All That Jazz (10)

Yeomyeong opened his eyes. Whether it was because of the dream, his mind was remarkably clear.

Looking around, everything was covered in darkness, indicating it was night, and the softness of his back told him he was in bed.

As Yeomyeong tried to get up from the bed, he realized someone was leaning against the bed’s railing, and he stopped.

Who could it be? Narrowing his eyes, he peered into the darkness and saw white hair and a well-built upper body.

The Saintess, who must have been very tired, was even snoring.

The Blood Tears illusion that had covered her face had faded, and for the first time, Yeomyeong was able to see her eyes.

…Her eyelashes are also white.

If he woke her now, he could see the eyes she tried to hide, but… Yeomyeong quietly got up and covered her with a blanket.

After opening the door and leaving, a crow that had been hanging from the hallway railing turned her head toward him.

“Did you sleep well? How is your body feeling?”

Yeomyeong answered while stretching slightly.

“I think I slept well for the first time in a while.”

“The Saintess must have had a hard time.”

“Had a hard time?”

“The healing blessing. She cried and made a big fuss when she saw you faint in front of her.”

Corvus glanced over at the door. Yeomyeong gave a wry smile and closed the door.

“I’ll have to thank her when she wakes up.”

Yeomyeong said that and started walking down the stairs, his throat dry, so he was planning to get something to drink.

Corvus followed him and spoke.

“My dear apprentice seems truly innocent.”

“Innocent…?”

Innocent? That was probably the word that least suited him in the world. Corvus nodded, then added.

“There’s the unguarded Saintess right in front of you, and yet, you just covered her with a blanket and left. If that’s not innocent, then who can be called innocent?”

“…”

It was a joke, but it still hit a nerve. Yeomyeong responded with a slight smile.

“Corvus… Actually, I used to be a janitor in the back alleys.”

A janitor? Corvus, who only knew Yeomyeong as a mercenary from Manchuria, turned her head almost 90 degrees.

“…With that face?”

“…”

Surprised by the unexpected reaction, Yeomyeong cleared his throat and continued with what he was originally saying.

“I was the youngest in a janitor team and cleaned the back alleys for over ten years. I also cleaned the entertainment districts often. Innocent? Not really.”

It meant he knew everything there was to know. No, it was more than that.

He had cleaned the back alleys where sweaty men worked, so he knew more filthy(?) stories than most men.

Corvus snapped her beak and said.

“So, was the flirting game up until now calculated? To make the Saintess anxious first? Haha, Apprentice, I didn’t expect this. You exceeded imagination.”

“…”

Did it end up that way? Feeling like he had gotten nothing out of it, Yeomyeong went silent, and Corvus continued to tease him.

Anyway, when they arrived at the kitchen, Yeomyeong opened the fridge, took out a cola, and continued chatting with Corvus.

As the cola dwindled, the night deepened, and by the time Neti, who had been sleeping on the living room sofa, slowly opened her eyes…

Corvus suddenly fell silent.

“…Corvus?”

Sensing something was off, Yeomyeong barely had time to call her name before Corvus turned to glare outside the window.

“Someone is approaching this place.”

That meant someone had triggered the magic circle she had set up overnight. Yeomyeong slowly got up from his seat.

“Where are they?”

“About 150 meters from the house. They’re carrying a magic item and heading this way.”

Yeomyeong immediately walked to the living room window and peeked outside. Sure enough, in the distance, someone in shabby clothing was glancing around nervously.

“…Should I take care of them before they get here?”

Corvus shook her head.

“It doesn’t seem like they’ve pinpointed our location yet. It could be a decoy, so wait and see if they pass by.”

Yeomyeong nodded and retrieved his sword from his inventory. If things went south, he planned to jump out the window and ambush them.

When Neti groggily asked, ‘Brother-in-law, what’s going on?’ Yeomyeong put a finger to his lips, signaling her to stay quiet.

Soon, the figure reached the front of the house and, as if having found something, alternated their gaze between the magic item and the house.

Yeomyeong and Corvus exchanged glances almost simultaneously. ‘We’ve been discovered.’

The next moment, Yeomyeong flung open the window, and the two of them leaped outside at once.

Corvus immediately soared high into the air to survey the surroundings, while Yeomyeong rushed toward the intruder with his sword.

Just as the blade gleamed under the streetlight—

“W-Wait!”

The figure fell backwards onto their rear, and Yeomyeong’s sword stopped mid-swing.

“Apprentice?”

Watching from above, Corvus tilted her head in confusion, but Yeomyeong sighed deeply and lowered his sword. The intruder’s face was all too familiar.

“…Wollard. Why are you here? Not only that, you also brought a magic item with you?”

As Yeomyeong retrieved his sword, Wollard shouted back indignantly.

“Why am I here? Are you seriously asking me that?”

“…Why are you suddenly so angry?”

As Yeomyeong tilted his head in confusion, Wollard suddenly remembered who he was dealing with.

The guy who had nearly broken his neck twice—at Incheon and the academy.

Swallowing nervously, Wollard responded with a slightly aggrieved voice.

“Look, they left me tied up in an abandoned building without my wallet! What was I supposed to do…?!”

“…What?”

“The Saintess and that girl! They just dumped me there and left! I—I only got here by tracking my wallet… The Blue Rat cut off my funding, so I don’t even have a card! At the very least, you should’ve given me travel money!”

His voice carried the sheer misery of being broken. Yeomyeong instinctively massaged his temples. No wonder only the Saintess and Neti had come back alone.

Letting out a small sigh, Yeomyeong extended a hand to the fallen Wollard.

“…My bad. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“…”

“You probably haven’t eaten either. I’ll get your wallet back, so at least have a meal before you go.”

Returning to the house and hearing Wollard’s situation, Corvus snapped her beak shut with a loud clack as if in disbelief.

Then, watching Wollard wolfing down the can of soup Yeomyeong had heated for him, Corvus spoke with a hint of pity.

“…What a pitiful guy. Apprentice, give him some leftover rice, at least.”

Yeomyeong, without hesitation, fried some cold rice with various ingredients and gave it to Wollard, who devoured the fried rice completely.

“…I’m sorry.”

Neti, who had been watching the scene from the living room, apologized in a small voice, and Wollard waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. If it’s an urgent situation, it’s understandable.”

Now that his stomach was full, maybe he was feeling a bit more relaxed. Neti gave a wry smile and hid behind the sofa.

She couldn’t bring herself to mention that the Saintess had left him behind to hit her father with a motorcycle.

“What’s this? Are you eating a late-night snack?”

Meanwhile, the Saintess and Seti, who had woken up from the sound of cooking, came downstairs.

By now, the Saintess, wearing the blindfold back, saw the disheveled Wollard and made an ‘eek’ sound, then scampered over to the living room sofa where Neti was.

In contrast, Seti, who didn’t seem to have much to worry about, sat next to Yeomyeong at the dining table and snatched the coffee he was drinking.

In this awkward situation where everyone had gathered, Wollard spoke first.

“So, how did it go with the things you were doing?”

“…It went alright.”

Yeomyeong began to explain the fact that he had killed Vladimir and met the Saintess’ father, though he carefully edited out the parts about the hit-and-run and the matter of him being successor.

Hearing only that, Wollard looked at him with a surprised expression.

“…You killed Vladimir? You?”

The answer came from Seti. She pulled out a sickle and a hammer-shaped Holy Relic from her pocket and placed them on the table.

Looking down at the Holy Relic for a moment, Wollard blinked in disbelief before examining it closely.

As if looking for something, he fiddled with the Holy Relic, and then suddenly furrowed his brow.

“This… it’s literally broken. How could this happen?”

“Why? Is it something that shouldn’t be broken?”

Yeomyeong asked, having already shattered the Holy Relics that had been on Vladimir’s body. Wollard shook his head.

“This is something made by humans, so it can naturally break. But for it to collapse from the inside like this, unless Stalin, that butcher, comes back to life, it shouldn’t be possible…”

Yeomyeong, of all people, would understand those words.

When Yeomyeong pretended not to know, Wollard tilted his head but placed the Holy Relic back on the table.

By then, Seti, having finished her coffee, asked.

“What exactly is that Holy Relic? It was absorbing mana so much that it almost drained Yeomyeong.”

Wollard’s expression became strange at the mention of the mana absorption. He alternated his gaze between Yeomyeong and Seti before answering the question.

“This is an artificial Holy Relic created at the Kremlin during the Soviet Union era.”

“…Just as I expected. So what can this Holy Relic do?”

“Hmm… What can it do…? Since it’s already broken, not much, I’d say.”

“What if we get another relic?”

“Well, that depends on the authority, of course.”

“…Authority?”

Wollard licked his lips before continuing.

“The authority granted by the Party. The genuine Holy Relics of the gods are distributed by the Five Gods themselves, granting power according to faith or identifying traitors. But this one doesn’t work that way. Instead, ranks are assigned based on loyalty to the Party, with privileges granted accordingly.”

“…”

It was strangely practical talk.

However, to think they would limit such powerful items for the Party’s power—what kind of country was the Soviet Union at its peak?

As Yeomyeong pondered this, Wollard continued his explanation.

“The abilities of the Holy Relic… they’re divided into four major categories depending on the authority. The lowest level authority can generate a half-mana field, and the next level allows you to inject a monster’s flesh into your body to enhance your physical strength…”

At that moment, the Saintess suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

“What? So, the tentacles were actually the tail of a monster?!”

“…”

Following her voice full of disappointment, everyone turned to look at her. The Saintess, realizing her slip-up, made an ‘oops’ face and quickly hid behind the sofa again.

It was a sight that made one sigh involuntarily, but it helped lighten the mood a little.

Wollard, smiling, continued his explanation.

“The third authority is the ability to communicate without detection. It’s impressive, but the most important one is the fourth authority. That’s why Vladimir came to LA.”

Having said that, Wollard paused for a moment, then spoke in a meaningful voice.

“The fourth authority of the Holy Relic is… the red Dimensional Portal. What that means is…”

“You don’t need to explain that. I already know what it is.”

Yeomyeong interrupted him, and Wollard’s expression slightly stiffened.

“You know? How? The red Dimensional Portal is classified as high-level even on our side.”

“…By accident?”

Wollard let out a sigh as if realizing he had slipped up.

“When I saw you in Incheon, you were just a greenhorn… but now you’ve become a big shot…”

“…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you know. Anyway, that’s the end of the explanation! I’ve got my wallet and my belly’s full, so I’ll be heading out now. Oh, and thanks for the meal.”

As Wollard stood up and headed for the front door, Seti’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“You need to explain why Vladimir came to LA.”

“…Sometimes, it’s better not to know, Miss.”

“You’ve explained everything up to this point, and now you’re saying this? You should at least pay for your meal.”

“No, the meal wasn’t from you, it was from Cheon Yeomyeong…”

“Wollard? Sit down.”

When Seti spoke with a low voice, Wollard, who knew who she was, grumbled but sat back at the table.

After a brief moment of hesitation with a reluctant look, Wollard began speaking again as Seti clenched her fist.

“Ssssppp… Like all Dimensional Portals, the red Dimensional Portal consumes an unimaginable amount of mana. A normal superhuman can barely maintain a Dimensional Portal the size of their body for 5 seconds. Of course, it’s enough for personal escapes or movements, but the old-timers wanted something more…”

“More than that?”

“A larger, longer-lasting Dimensional Portal. To achieve that, they needed something that could supply more mana, such as… the Corruption Stone from the Church of the Apocalypse.”

At the mention of the Corruption Stone and the Dimensional Portal, Yeomyeong and Seti, both with unpleasant memories tied to these things, narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

“…So, the Church of the Apocalypse is in LA? Even though there’s a Dimensional Portal here?”

“If anything, it works because we’re right in front of the Dimensional Portal. Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘To hide a tree, you must hide it in a forest’? This city has more mana users than anywhere else. There are even necromancers here.”

“…”

Necromancers were no longer around, but Yeomyeong chose not to point that out.

“Well, that only applies if you keep your head down and live quietly. Once you cross the line, monsters like the FBI or the Big Three will come knocking right away… Anyway, Vladimir intended to either buy the Corruption Stone from the Church or seize it by force.”

“What was he planning to do with the Dimensional Portal?”

“Terrorism, smuggling, blackmail, robbery… Anything he could do. He was probably planning to expand his influence, ignoring the Dimensional Portal Expansion Prohibition Treaty.”

After explaining that, everyone, including Seti, fell into thought. Especially Yeomyeong, who had faced Stalin, continued to ponder as he fiddled with the Holy Relic.

Before that pondering could drag on too long, Yeomyeong asked.

“Wollard, is there any chance this relic…”

Could it be connected to Stalin? Yeomyeong swallowed the words that almost came out.

“Can it be repaired?”

“Well, unless the disappeared Siberian First Research Institute magically returns, it would be quicker to extract another relic from the old-timers’ bodies.”

Having said that, Wollard raised an eyebrow and stood up, seemingly ready to leave for real this time…

[Wollard.]

This time, a voice coming from the Holy Relic stopped his feet.

It was the voice of a middle-aged woman, stiff and cold. This voice was familiar to Yeomyeong, the Saintess, and Wollard.

[Wollard, do you hear me? If you do, grab the Holy Relic.]

“…Mom?”

“Noonim?!”

The two rushed to the table and grabbed the Holy Relic. As they did, the voice from the Holy Relic became slightly more distinct.

[I don’t know how you’ve managed to grab the Holy Relic, but it must be a divine miracle… or perhaps my husband is involved.]

“Noonim? Can you hear me?”

Wollard called her anxiously, but the communication seemed one-way as Moryne continued speaking alone.

[Don’t worry about me. The old-timers are just locking me up. What I’m worried about is you all. I’m afraid of what the old-timers are doing to the Blue Rat…]

“No, Noonim. Your life is a hundred, a thousand times more important than ours.”

[Wollard, I can guess what kind of expression you’re making right now. Don’t cry, and listen closely to me. Got it?]

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

[With the authority of the Blue Rat’s President, I’m initiating Operation Number 1917. From this moment on, all rats will escape their rat holes.]

“…What?”

[I’ll repeat. I’m initiating Operation Number 1917. From this moment on, all rats will escape their rat holes.]

Despite knowing he wouldn’t get a reply, Wollard asked again in a dazed voice.

“Noonim? What about you then?”

As expected, there was no answer. Wollard held the Holy Relic with a blank expression for a moment.

The Saintess forcefully infused mana into the Holy Relic, and a faint voice was heard from the other side.

[The location I’m in… send the coordinates… to my husband…]

The voice was intermittently cut off as if coming from a broken radio.

At the same time, a faint light from the Holy Relic illuminated a number on the table.

41.891708…

It was undoubtedly a set of coordinates. Everyone around the table focused on the number, but because the Holy Relic malfunctioned, the number disappeared in less than a second.

“Oh no!”

Wollard screamed, but the coordinates had already vanished.

As everyone scrambled to recall the number they had seen, Neti spoke up.

“…Tsk, tsk, such barbarians.”

With her arrogant tone, Yeomyeong turned to look at her, seeing Neti shaking her smartphone back and forth.

On the screen of her phone was a picture with the coordinates clearly marked.

“Brother-in-law, what do you think? How’s my quick thinking?”

Yeomyeong chuckled and clapped. Wollard also approached Neti with a face mixed with admiration and relief, checking the coordinates in the photo.

“41.891708,-87.604267…”

As an executive from an information company, Wollard quickly calculated the coordinates.

After finishing the calculation, his face turned to one of confusion.

“Navy Pier…?”

“Why? Where’s that? Russia? Siberia? Or South America?”

The Saintess asked about the unfamiliar name, and instead of answering, Wollard recalculated the coordinates.

However, even after recalculating, the same result appeared. He stared blankly at Yeomyeong and the Saintess, then spoke.

“…It’s a tourist spot in Chicago. That’s where Noonim is.”