TRPM 186

The van that had me and Yeon Mirae inside pulled straight up to our apartment complex.

Luckily, our building wasn’t crowded like an airport.

Of course, standing around in front of other people’s homes would be a crime, so that was expected.

“Go on in.”

When I got out of the van, Yeon Mirae said that.

I asked her in response.

“Aren’t you getting off work?”

“The guild’s operations are paralyzed. Do you think I can just head home and be at ease?”

Fair point.

She’s an Aura Master-type talent and is often sent into the field, but that doesn’t mean she can’t do office work. If anything, she’s far more capable than ordinary employees. If she helps the other staff, their workload will be lighter.

‘…Or maybe if Yeon Mirae, an executive of the Iron-Blood Guild, starts working alongside them it’ll just be a burden?’

I thought that internally, and Yeon Mirae spoke up.

“Don’t worry too much. Even though operations are paralyzed, it’s mostly because of pointless inquiries.”

She said she planned to leave at the guild’s normal closing time. The inquiries were not urgent tasks that had to be done immediately, so not just her but all non-duty staff would be leaving on time….

“That’s good then.”

Looks like the Iron-Blood Guild had some measures in place. It might just look like they’re postponing today’s work until tomorrow, but whatever.

“Alright, I’ll go then. Go on in.”

Yeon Mirae said that as she closed the van door.

I watched the van carrying Yeon Mirae leave the complex and then headed for my apartment.

“I’m back.”

I said that as I opened our door. Nobody was home.

‘My mother would still be at work.’

By the way, school would be in session right now.

‘Oh, right. I should contact Chloe.’

I remembered that Chloe had told me to be sure to contact her when she arrived in Korea from Egypt, so I sent her a message. Glad I remembered this time.

With that thought, I went into my room. I’d been gone for only two days, but a fair amount of mana had gathered in my room. As usual, I did my breath-cultivation to absorb that mana and convert it into inner energy, then headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Ding-dong~.

“?”

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

My mother wouldn’t be home yet. Yeon Mirae wouldn’t be off work for a while.

‘…Tch.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly when I figured out who’d pressed the bell. I walked to the front door and, opening it, spoke in English.

“(State your purpose before I count to three. Otherwise I’ll let you say your goodbyes to your body.)”

“(What? Wait—!)”

“(One… two….)”

“(I came to report on the current situation of the people your Oracle agents found and to brief you on an operation our Albatross PMC will conduct!)”

A staff member from Albatross PMC started babbling out the report in a cold sweat when I emitted a murderous aura.

“(You could’ve said that over the phone.)”

“(Our PMC phones are security-conscious, but there’s still a chance of wiretapping… Artist-nim doesn’t take any precautions against hacking at all, so that’s strange!)”

I use inner energy that others can’t detect. First, you need to detect a signal to wiretap it. If you can’t even sense the signal to begin with, there’s no way it can be tapped.

“(Besides, even if you have information that must be delivered in person, that doesn’t mean you can come barging into someone’s home uninvited.)”

“(W-well… actually we planned to approach under the pretense of coincidence and then deliver the information, but because of what Artist-nim has done over the past two days, genuine coincidences are now practically impossible….)”

Hmm.

I accepted that explanation. I’d already been drawing a lot of attention as the youngest Aura Master. Now that it had been revealed I’m the Artist, people would scrutinize my every move. In that situation, anyone approaching me—maliciously or accidentally—would be noticed. Trying to pass information secretly while under public scrutiny would be a bad idea.

‘Unless it was someone like Maurice Reynolds, leader of Albatross PMC, or a senior officer, this low-ranking guy doesn’t have the ability to pass something to me without being spotted.’

Still, to have the nerve to ring someone’s doorbell….

“(…May I continue?)”

“Sigh… fine. Report.”

My head throbbed as I said that. The guy began his report about Oracle’s status and the operation Albatross PMC planned to carry out. I wondered why they were telling me the latter at all—whether this nervous subordinate had blurted internal PMC secrets, or Maurice Reynolds himself had ordered this to be disclosed….

I listened nonetheless.

First, the Oracle.

According to the report, Oracle is still at its headquarters on Mars, pondering how to inflict damage on people on Earth. I don’t know what their ultimate goal is—why they don’t just live quietly on Mars instead of making moves on Earth….

“(And according to the spy, most Oracle branches in Europe and North America have been neutralized—many of their operatives were captured by the Awakened Association. At first we thought Oracle had given reckless orders and their operatives got caught, but later it turned out Oracle intended from the start to cull worthless operatives.)”

Oracle’s lower-level operatives knew almost nothing. Not just the foot soldiers—maybe even branch heads weren’t all informed. The Oracle Japan branch head I had rummaged through memories of also didn’t have anything truly crucial. So it makes sense that Oracle wouldn’t lose much if those people were all captured.

“(Oh, and one more thing.)”

“(?)”

“(This is just the spy’s subjective opinion, but Oracle seems jittery these days.)”

“(Jittery? Oracle?)”

Oracle is a time-space ability user with prophetic powers. I don’t know if her ability is limited to prophecy or if she can also interfere with time-space like I can to some extent….

‘A prophet being anxious…’

Even if it’s the spy’s subjective take, it’s not easy to dismiss.

‘Has the future she knows been disrupted?’

That’s possible. Didn’t an Oracle operative I met in Sydney say something similar?

[(Oracle said it: our Sydney terror attack will fail halfway. And the reason she can’t observe.)]

Back then, Oracle only prophesied that the Sydney attack would be an incomplete failure; she couldn’t determine the cause. That was probably because my Harmony Technique can interfere with time-space. And my Harmony Technique has been steadily improving.

‘It could be my influence that’s lowering Oracle’s prediction accuracy.’

My Harmony Technique, now more developed than before, might be disrupting Oracle. However….

[(We have waited a long time—for someone to break Oracle’s prophecies. Even for Oracle herself.)]

The Oracle operative in Sydney had said that. If that was true, shouldn’t Oracle be glad rather than anxious? The one she’d been waiting for had appeared and her prophecies were failing. Has Oracle’s attitude shifted over time? Has she become frightened realizing her power is slipping?

‘…Only Oracle herself would know.’

It was a pointless topic to ponder, so I focused on the Albatross PMC staffer barking his report in front of me. Oracle-related briefings were over; now came the part about the operation Albatross PMC planned to carry out.

“(Our PMC’s next target is the Prison Island.)”

“(Those bastards?)”

Hearing that, I swore before I realized it and grabbed the guy by the collar.

“(Huh…? Why—suddenly—…)”

“(Did you really think I’d just sit still after hearing you plan to attack the Prison Island?)”

Given who was imprisoned there, of course I had to oppose it.

[Prison Island holds people guilty of at least serial murder-level unforgivable crimes.]

[It’s a prison built on the shoals southwest of Jeju Island—based on the reef Ieo-do—and they make prisoners fight the monsters that come from the black fog toward Korea.]

[Unethical as it is, after Prison Island was established the number of monsters appearing in the East and Yellow Seas decreased, they say.]

Aside from the crimes, the people imprisoned on Prison Island are all strong. Well, someone not strong can be imprisoned there, but they won’t last long; they’ll die. So those who survive on Prison Island have to be strong. And as far as I know, there’s currently an arch-mage-level psychic imprisoned on Korea’s Prison Island—a psychic who’d been in prison since before I was born. He’s confined deep underground, wearing all sorts of restraints across his body so he can’t use his powers properly.

“(W-well… our goal is to extract that psychic and a few other prisoners and recruit them into our PMC….)”

“(Are you insane…?)”

I could only stare in disbelief at Albatross PMC’s insane plan. They must have investigated what that psychic did before he was imprisoned. Are they under the illusion they can persuade him to join them?

“(Ah…oh, and there was something our boss told me to say if Artist-nim got angry… what was it….)”

Ah, right….

“(He said they’re framed! The boss said so!)”

“(Framed…?)”

To my knowledge, the psychic imprisoned on Prison Island was said to have kidnapped and murdered numerous children under the pretense of strengthening his powers. And now they say it’s a frame?

“(More precisely, that psychic was also a victim! He was a victim of experiments carried out by the Taeguk Guild before Artist-nim was even born!)”

“(…Taeguk Guild.)”

Hearing that, I loosened my grip on the guy’s collar. The Taeguk Guild—though disbanded now—was utterly despicable.

“(Whew… and the other prisoners we aim to rescue are either people who were framed or those who were abandoned after being used in black ops and locked up to be silenced.)”

He didn’t present concrete evidence. But at least this subordinate truly believed it. He believed they were going to rescue people who had been framed or discarded.

‘…Maurice, you bastard… so that’s why you didn’t come in person and sent a low-ranking guy to deliver the message.’

It’s unlikely a low-ranking subordinate would know all the facts. In other words, from what the subordinate said alone, it’s hard to tell truth from falsehood. And sending a subordinate like that suggests Maurice was telling me, in effect:

‘If you want proof, come to Prison Island yourself.’