episode_0148

“Ugh… What is this… ”

Jin Ye-seo got off at the tram stop and frowned.

The smoke was so pungent that even wizards with strong bodies would have a sore throat.

The city glows an eerie orange, its streetlights scattered through the smog.

The streetscape was not even clearly visible. All that could be seen were a few large chimneys belching black smoke in the distance.

The headlights of the tram that had just dropped them off also disappeared into the dark fog in an instant.

-Phew…!

The whistle of the tram echoed in her ears like a trumpet heralding some kind of ominous event. She could immediately tell where the pollution that had covered the northern part of the capital was coming from.

A dull orange city without dreams or hope. That was Jin Ye-seo’s first impression of the First City.

“… ”

The man in the group reacted more indifferently than she did.

The appearance of the man wearing a gas mask and covered in shabby outerwear blended well with the cityscape.

Instead, he opened the gas mask’s canister and shook his upper body as if taking a deep breath.

And then he stopped moving as if something was strange.

“… What is it? Why are you suddenly like that?”

“… It’s a feeling I’ve felt before.”

“What?”

“But… I don’t know. The smoke is so mixed that I can’t tell. What the heck is it?”

After thinking for a moment, he closed the dustbin again and took the lead and walked out into the alley.

“… Let’s get moving.”

It was a bewildering feeling as if he had landed on an unfamiliar planet. Jinyeseo followed him closely.

“Wait a minute. Where are you going? Do you have any plans? Or have you been here before?”

“None. I’ve never even planned on coming.”

“?”

Jin Ye-seo tilted her head with a bewildered expression, but he did not stop walking unhesitatingly.

He looked around the alley filled with pungent smoke and nodded when he found something.

“I’ll start making plans from now on.”

The place he pointed to was in front of a restaurant with an old neon sign that was flickering.

“Restaurant…? Why here… Wait…!”

He went down the stairs without even listening to Jin Ye-seo’s words.

Jin Ye-seo hurriedly followed him.

The dark ceiling was filled with cigarette smoke as pungent as smog. Dirty furniture was strewn everywhere, and only the laughter of men echoed loudly.

There is only one woman here. Jin Ye-seo.

All eyes are instantly focused on her appearance.

Jin Ye-seo felt the unpleasant gazes that were stickily scanning her body and crumpled her brows.

‘How dare the lower class people…’

She had to carefully resist the urge to burn down the entire store.

The man in her party led her to an empty table in the corner.

And then I left my order, saying something to the employee.

“Why on earth did you come to such a dirty and smelly place?”

“Nutritional supplements.”

When Jin Ye-seo, sitting across from him, grumbled and asked, he answered immediately.

“Nutritional supplements? In a place like this?”

“Oh. I should put something in it when I have free time.”

“I think it’s worse than not eating it… ”

Jin Ye-seo looked around at the tables around her and made a reluctant expression.

“And information gathering.”

“Information collection?”

“The people in this restaurant right now. Judging from their attire, they are mostly local lower-class workers. They are the people who are closest to the everyday lives of the industrial city’s bottom.”

“But?”

“Most conspiracies start at the bottom and in the sewers. If there’s any suspicious activity in this city that we’re looking for, they’ll most likely be the first to notice.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Even if you knew something, I don’t think you’d carelessly tell us, outsiders.”

“There’s no need to ask. This is a restaurant and bar combined. The workers of industrial cities enjoy getting drunk and ending the day, and people tend to become light-mouthed when they drink. We just have to pick up the useful parts of what they say.”

He said, glancing sideways at the old man wiping a glass at the counter.

“If you can’t find anything, you can try bribing the store owner. The owners of these places usually have too much information compared to their small living standards.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a waiter brought them something on a tray.

Strong liquor in a weathered glass, pieces of meat that were twisted and browned, and something that looked like a gray, sticky porridge.

“Ugh… ”

Jin Ye-seo groaned as if she truly felt disgusted when she saw him. It was something she had never seen before, and it was doubtful whether it was even food.

No matter how hungry I was, I never felt like putting something like that in my mouth.

But the man skillfully unlocked the gas mask, lifted only the lower part, and began to push in alcohol and food.

Even in the midst of all this, the sight of him thoroughly hiding his face was admirable.

‘… Can’t you just take it off and eat it? I’m not crazy… Are you really that ugly?’

Looking back on his past actions, it could be said that it was a suspicion close to certainty.

“I… can’t eat this. How can I… ”

“It would be good to eat. In physiology class, nutritional supplements and physical vitality are deeply related to the smooth manifestation of magic… ”

“Who would think that they don’t know that and are doing this?”

Jin Ye-seo, who was in a state of pain, quickly shot out a reply.

“Really? I won’t force you. Then at least keep your ears open.”

After speaking, the man drank the wine from his large glass in one gulp.

His subsequent skill rather made Jin Ye-seo feel strangely unfamiliar.

He is the second child of the Heukryeon family, a prestigious family that must have grown up in a wealthy family like himself.

No matter how much he had experienced the great events of the South and communism, he could not help but show an innate aversion to life at the bottom like this.

But now, he was blending in so naturally with the scenery as if it were something natural.

Jin Ye-seo had no idea why.

“You said the reason you came all the way to the first city was because of the decorations?”

“That’s right. The dead man said he received it from a local when he went on a business trip to this city. Thanks to you, I found out that it’s a symbol of a heretical cult called the Gate of Heaven.”

“Then you went to see that nun too…?”

“He was most likely a key figure in this case. He may have even been a member of the cult you mentioned. It’s unknown now, but… ”

“… He didn’t look like a fanatic in the pictures.”

Jin Ye-seo recalled the brightly smiling face in the photo the man showed her.

“I think so too… but I don’t know. Now that we’re on the subject, is there any more information on that?”

“Umm… ”

Jin Ye-seo slightly lowered her head and became lost in thought.

“… After we subjugated that secret church, we caught a few similar guys in other districts of the capital.”

“And?”

“I’m not sure, but it might have something to do with the demons. There were traces of animals at the scene.”

“They’re demons… ”

The man who heard Jin Ye-seo’s words clenched his fist that was on the table.

“They do all sorts of things on the topic of beasts. If it’s the secret church of the Demon Tribe, then that could explain the fanaticism of the believers. What else?”

“Hmm.”

Jin Ye-seo shook her head.

“It wasn’t long ago that I first became aware of its existence. However, its scale may be larger than I imagined. They said that traces were found even in the southernmost part of the capital. Perhaps they secretly organized the organization through the sewers… ”

“Sewer, sewer… ”

It was in the middle of a conversation.

The man suddenly cut off what he was saying when he sensed someone approaching.

Immediately afterwards, with the sound of something rushing in, a group of heavily drunken men suddenly surrounded the table they were sitting at.

I could tell who it was right away without even having to look back.

It was a group of people who would often glance at the table where Jinyeseo and the man were sitting and whisper to each other.

They all had sinister smiles on their faces, as if they were determined to pick a fight.

“What kind of guy is this? This is the first time I’ve seen someone wear a gas mask and eat like that, dude.”

The leader of the group, who appeared to be a tough guy, pointed at the man wearing a gas mask.

He showed no reaction and was still busy chewing the tough meat.

“I think my head’s spinning a little? Huh? Is it because I breathed in too much bad air?”

“He brings along a woman who is quite half and half… ”

“Puhhihi… ”

‘ha…’

Jin Ye-seo sighed at the giggling ridicule.

‘Do I really have to walk around with soot all over my face?’

This was the second time this had happened today. Jin Ye-seo, who was getting irritated, clenched her fingers to vent her anger.

‘Yeah. It turned out well.’

Roasting bugs whole might be a good way to relieve stress. Jin Ye-seo decided to think so.

The prickly punk who had been giving me a disgusting look the whole time turned his head and stuck out his tongue.

As he tried to sneakily put his hand on Jin Ye-seo’s shoulder, she began to manipulate the particle array hidden under her long sleeves and draw a magic formula.

And just before the bastard’s hand touched her shoulder, Jin Ye-seo was about to burn him with the prepared flame.

-Bang!

“Kwak… Aaaah… !”

A man suddenly got up from his seat, grabbed the back of Ppakkaki’s head, and slammed him onto the table.

***

-Wow!

The sound of shattering glasses and bowls of gray porridge resonates loudly.

At the loud noise that resounded, Jinye looked ahead with a bewildered expression.

“Hot, hot… Aah… !”

The pack member who had his face touched by the flowing porridge screamed. The man who was nearly twice his size flailed his arms and legs, but the hand holding his head did not move.

He put strength into his hands and rubbed the boy’s face against the table for a long time.

“Kyaaak… !”

-Bang! BANG! BANG!

Then he grabbed the back of his head, lifted it up, and slammed it against the table repeatedly.

-Bang! Bam!

“Ugh… Ugh… Ugh… ”

A nose that suddenly breaks, teeth that snap out, and a table that cannot withstand the impact cracking all resonate loudly in succession.

And when even the screams that were at their peak could not be heard.

Only then did the man pick up the gangster’s neck and throw him to the ground.

-Koosh!

He was still, foaming at the mouth, with his egg whites turned over.

The man who had turned his hand forgot what he was saying and muttered in a low voice to the crowd surrounding him.

“Take me out.”

“Hic… ”

The panicked mob dragged their leader, who was either unconscious or dead, out of the restaurant.

“Are you okay?”

Jin Ye-seo was blankly staring at the sight.

And only when he asked how I was doing did I come to my senses.

She snapped back at me bluntly, her pride slightly hurt.

“Who asked you to help me? I can handle that much on my own.”

“That won’t do.”

The man in the gas mask answered.

“We are not wizards now, we are asymptomatic. And asymptomatic women can never beat men in brute force. If we were wizards, it would be the opposite.”

Then he asked Jin Ye-seo instead.

“And you. You were going to use magic. Didn’t I tell you clearly when I came here? I told you not to show off that you’re a magician if possible. That might attract unnecessary attention. ”

“… Ugh. The flies are so annoying… Without realizing it… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who had nothing to say, avoided eye contact as if embarrassed.

“Who is helping whom… It’s just a nuisance… Should I have just left it?”

Jin Ye-seo, who was moved to tears as she watched him sighing, protested.

“From now on, you just have to be really careful…!”

“Please, do me a favor. And… I don’t think I need to stay here any longer.”

The man stopped talking and looked around.

“In this kind of atmosphere, I’ll probably say what I was about to say again. If I ever meet such annoying guys… I’ll go somewhere else… ”

He motioned for Jin Ye-seo to go out.

Jin Ye-seo followed him without even being able to shake off the dirt on her clothes.

The old man at the counter, who appeared to be the owner of the restaurant, was watching the commotion they were causing the whole time.

“I’m sorry. The compensation is… ”

“No, no. Enough with that boring talk.”

“Yes?”

But the old man waved his hand before the man could finish speaking.

“Actually, I was having a hard time because of them too. You keep causing trouble all day. But thanks to you, I won’t be coming near here for a while. Think of it as the price of extermination.”

For some reason, a faint smile appeared on the old man’s lips as he looked at the man.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something so interesting. And… ”

“?”

“That young guy is quite energetic, huh? It reminds me of when I was young. At first, I thought he was a really weird guy… ”

Soon, the old man’s pleased gaze turned to Jin Ye-seo, who was standing behind him.

“Are you newlyweds?”

“What…!”

“That’s right. This is my wife.”

Jin Ye-seo was about to immediately refute that nonsense.

The man suddenly placed one hand on Jin Ye-seo’s thin waist and gently pulled her towards him.

Could it be because we have already allowed too much contact through repeated training?

It was clearly a man’s hand that should be filled with discomfort, but I couldn’t feel anything other than a slight warmth.

In an instant, she found herself completely wrapped in his arms.

As if they were a really good newlywed couple.

“Oh my… ”

Jinyeseo let out a sharp groan without realizing it.