TRPM 149

chapter 149

I looked at the assassin I had just subdued and thought.

Could he really have thought that simply diving into the sea would allow him to evade pursuit?

Of course, his scent would have been masked by the smell of the sea, making it impossible to track him that way.

But the problem was the fish living in the ocean.

“Since he moved, the fish nearby scattered as if trying to get away from him.”

There weren’t that many fish, but it was enough to notice something was off.

No, even if there had been no fish, tracking him wouldn’t have been a problem. From the beginning, I hadn’t lost track of his presence, and even if I had, moving along the coastline would have allowed me to find him quickly.

“More than that, a submarine…”

It seemed he had prepared a submarine for escape, but considering the presence of the Black Mist, using a normal submarine was insane.

Of course, judging by his muttering, it seemed he had prepared it as a last resort if things went wrong. He must have thought that even if the chance of success was lower than being captured, escaping by submarine was preferable.

“The exact location of the submarine will be determined by the Association after interrogation…”

All I had to do was hand over this last assassin to the Association.

With that thought, I carried the unconscious assassin and headed back to where I had been just moments ago—right in front of the columnar basalt.

“Hmm? Looks like the Association people have already arrived.”

No… it wasn’t just the Association members.

The Cleaner Guild members I had seen yesterday and again on the bus today were also dispatched.

“…Ah. So the assassins who clashed with the Cleaner Guild and damaged the roads are the ones behind this incident.”

Otherwise, there would be no reason for the Cleaner Guild to rush here, unless it was just the Association staff.

[It seems a criminal was active nearby and ended up clashing with the Cleaner Guild.]

Thinking about it, the Cleaner Guild is specialized in dungeon raids. Even if they aren’t skilled at handling criminals, the guild consists only of elites. It wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary criminal to escape from them.

But since the assassins were wearing reinforced suits, their successful escape was somewhat understandable.

“That’s not my concern.”

I decided to hand the bound assassin over to one of the Association staff.

“Here you go. This is the assassin who tried to escape through the water.”
“Oh, right. I heard about that. But… do you know where he went?”
“I don’t know the place.”

I didn’t live in Jeju. I only knew it was somewhere along the coast, and since there were no houses, roads, or signs nearby, it was difficult to specify exactly where I had caught the assassin.

“Hmm… I see?”
“But he was heading along the coastline in that direction.”
“Really? Then we’ll focus our search there.”

From the way they reacted, it seemed the Association staff had learned about the submarine from the captured assassins. They asked where I had caught him because they didn’t know the exact location of the submarine.

“The elf… is with the others.”

The awakened Association staff and the Cleaner Guild members were standing around her and her guards as if to surround them.

Although the elf was also a victim, since she had come to Korea, it was she who indirectly caused the assassins to attempt an operation in Korea, so it was hard to see her in a purely positive light. Of course, they wouldn’t treat her as a criminal.

Anyway, as I looked around, I realized our homeroom teacher was waiting nearby at the scene.

“Welcome back, Geonwoo.”

The teacher greeted me warmly, and I asked:

“What about the others?”
“Since an incident occurred, we couldn’t continue the field trip here… so everyone is on the bus now.”

Ah…

They had wanted to see not only the columnar basalt but also waterfalls and animals, but it seemed that wouldn’t be possible this time.

“I’ll have to take them to the zoo personally later.”

It wasn’t exactly my responsibility, but I felt this much compensation was fair.

“By the way, Geonwoo… can you help me for a moment…?”
“Huh?”

I looked down at what the teacher was pointing to. There, a puppy-shaped creature, Sarang, was panting heavily. I petted Sarang’s head and looked at the teacher. Why did Sarang panting matter so much?

“Um… Geonwoo? Unlike you, I’m scared of Sarang…”

If I touched him wrong, the teacher said, it could be dangerous. That was when I realized—the teacher was afraid of Sarang.

“Sarang’s smart. He won’t bite me or Haeun if we don’t provoke him.”
“I know, but… Sarang kept the assassins in his stomach just a moment ago. Thinking about that is a bit…”

So even if the teacher knew Sarang wouldn’t bite, it was still frightening. I called Sarang for the teacher, and the puppy jumped into my arms, away from the teacher.

“Phew…”

Finally, the teacher exhaled in relief.

“Let’s go, Geonwoo. The bus is probably just waiting for us.”
“Yes.”

And so, the teacher and I headed to the bus.

Chloe Greenwood, harassed by the Jeju Awakener Association staff and Cleaner Guild members, spotted Geonwoo and widened her eyes.

Seeing her reaction, those around her asked:

“Why the sudden reaction?”
“I feel like I didn’t properly express my gratitude to him.”

Chloe had thanked Geonwoo earlier, but she didn’t want to stop there. He had saved her life, so she felt she owed him something. Geonwoo hadn’t saved her expecting anything in return, but Chloe wanted to somehow repay his kindness.

“But even if I want to repay him… what should I give?”

Money? Even as a child, Geonwoo was an Aura Master. By the time one is old enough to enter a dungeon solo, earning more money than her would be easy.

Elixirs? How useful would an elixir be for an Aura Master? He would have outgrown such things long ago.

“Why are you thinking so hard?”
“I was wondering what kind of gift would be appropriate for him.”

At Chloe’s words, her guards, the Association staff who had asked her questions, and the Cleaner Guild members began seriously discussing ideas.

“Gifts… boys this age usually want smartphones or computers. They’re serious about games, like my son.”
“Would an Aura Master care about games? What about sneakers instead?”
“Sneakers are fine, but he’ll soon enter dungeons himself. Maybe a weapon as a gift would be better…”

Listening to their discussion, Chloe thought:

“A weapon…”

Indeed, giving him a weapon wasn’t a bad idea. When Geonwoo had subdued the assassins earlier, he had only used stones lying around and his bare hands, even though he was an Aura Master skilled with a sword.

“He must not have had his sword.”

That was a misunderstanding. Geonwoo owned the Harmonized Divine Sword, but it was stored in his artifact doll at the moment, so he couldn’t draw it.

“…Alright. I’ll gift him a fine sword. It might be a bit expensive from my earnings as an actress, but it’ll be suitable even for an Aura Master.”

My main body had gone on a school trip to Jeju, cleared the Orc Lord Dungeon, and the next day prevented the assassination of a famous actress known as the Elf. Around the same time, my doll went to the Awakener Association headquarters worldwide, helped Albatross PMC, got acquainted with President Richard of the Association, and returned to Korea.

A year had passed since then.

“…I’m a high school student now, huh.”

I thought as I looked at the entrance exam for our local Awakener-specialized high school.

The exam wasn’t difficult. It only asked about what we had learned in middle school.

“Honestly, as long as the questions aren’t absurdly hard, passing is guaranteed.”

With that in mind, I lightly marked the OMR card. The practical tests at the Awakener-specialized high school didn’t use awakened abilities, to ensure fairness between students who trained in middle school versus those who became Awakeners later.

“Finished checking, finished marking… should I do some Qi cultivation?”

After finishing quickly, I closed my eyes. Like the elementary and middle schools I attended, this high school also had rich mana in the air, making Qi cultivation very effective. As I cultivated, my thoughts wandered.

“I also need to decide about the alliance with Albatross PMC…”

For now, I postponed the alliance with Albatross PMC and President Richard. Albatross PMC wasn’t exactly a clean organization. Not because they carried out dirty work for the Association…

“…They spared no means to bring down Oracle.”

The hostage incident at a local dessert shop. The fake Oracle behind it was part of Albatross PMC.

“They wanted to create the image that Oracle was involved in lowly crimes while making civilians aware of Oracle’s name.”

Even though the operation aimed at Oracle, it could have harmed civilians. Upon investigating, it turned out they had carried out similar operations before, rationalizing that civilian harm was unavoidable.

“But I can’t just abandon all civilians… so I postponed it.”

Another major matter was the sword at my waist.

“I saved her, but I never expected her to give me such a fine sword.”

The beautiful silver sword gifted by the Elf I saved during the school trip. Though it looked ceremonial, it was a rare and fine sword. Compared to the Harmonized Divine Sword, it wasn’t as good, but that sword was already exposed through my doll’s activities. So I decided to use the sword gifted by the Elf while my doll continued to use the Harmonized Divine Sword.

…Not to hide my identity, but to protect the Elf. Carrying her gift at my waist would deter anyone from harming her, no matter how high-ranking, because of fear of retaliation from an Aura Master.