TRPM 334

chapter 334

“…So? Why did you want to meet me again? And from the police headquarters, no less.”

I was briefly taken aback by the new information that the necromancer I knew had once been a police officer before gaining notoriety. Then I glared at the Grand Sorcerer.

If he had business with me, he could have handled everything yesterday. Why was he coming to meet me today and being a nuisance?

“Hehe… Just like yesterday. The reading indicated that meeting you, the artist, today would be mutually beneficial, just as it was yesterday.”

“……”

It didn’t seem like a lie.

Right now, he was under a spell he had cast on himself yesterday, promising not to betray anyone, which in other words meant he had no intention of betraying me.

‘…Is accepting this the right move?’

If I accepted the Grand Sorcerer’s proposal, I could receive great assistance in rooting out awakened human supremacists.

And in return, the Grand Sorcerer would…

‘…take the necromancer Oracle told him to bring and return to China.’

…Not a bad deal.

It’s painful to let a talented awakened individual fall under Oracle’s influence, but if I can gain the Grand Sorcerer’s support for this task, it’s actually advantageous.

‘Among the countless ways to find someone hiding among others, there’s no method as efficient and reliable as sorcery.’

If the Grand Sorcerer desired, he could probably create a full list of awakened human supremacists in Korea.

Not that he’d go that far, probably.

Thinking that, I looked at the police commissioner and Sophia.

“……”

“……”

They probably understood that with the Grand Sorcerer’s support, eliminating awakened human supremacists wouldn’t be difficult.

Yet, they seemed to hesitate slightly.

They didn’t know exactly who the Grand Sorcerer intended to take with him.

“Hehe… You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Seeing their confusion, the Grand Sorcerer spoke.

“I do not intend to receive any compensation from you for this matter. If I cooperate, that person will naturally be inspired by me and follow me. And even if I don’t cooperate, it will only take some time; there are many ways to inspire them.”

In other words, even if I rejected his offer, it wouldn’t really harm me.

“Hehe… I just need to enjoy a bit more of Korean sightseeing before taking that person along.”

“……”

“……”

What the Grand Sorcerer said was likely true.

If the necromancer—currently a police officer—saw the Grand Sorcerer, and the Grand Sorcerer offered to personally teach him sorcery, he would almost certainly follow him.

Opportunities to learn from someone like the Grand Sorcerer are extremely rare.

‘It’s like being taught directly by Richard, the chairman of the World Awakener Association, or Director Shin Hanji of the Seoul Awakener Academy, or by me or Sir Sergey in Russia if we were knights with aura abilities.’

Any serious sorcerer would drop everything to follow the Grand Sorcerer for that education.

Moreover…

‘He’s not just offering to teach—he seems confident that the necromancer will willingly follow him.’

Oracle must have thoroughly investigated the necromancer using her abilities.

So even if this deal with the Grand Sorcerer falls through, it wouldn’t matter.

In the end, the necromancer would still follow him back to China.

“He’s made his point clear. Let’s just accept his help.”

At my words, the two seemed resigned.

They were acknowledging that they could only watch Oracle’s influence grow.

Unless they were going to capture or kill the Grand Sorcerer, this was probably the best option.

“While things progress, we might still keep the Grand Sorcerer under our watch.”

“Hehe…”

The Grand Sorcerer showed no sign of displeasure at my remark.

He probably knew we wouldn’t fully trust him.

“Then this old man won’t worry and will focus on planning.”

He said that, sitting down on one side of the sofa, positioned so as not to disturb our conversation.

“…Leave.”

Some of what we needed to discuss shouldn’t be heard by outsiders.

Even if he was helping us, I couldn’t let him know everything.

So I told him to leave.

“Hehe. That’s harsh on the old man.”

He muttered that and left the commissioner’s office.

After seeing him go, the police commissioner asked me,

“Is it okay to let him go? Once we have a plan, we’ll need to inform the Grand Sorcerer…”

“If he’s in Korea, locating him isn’t difficult. He might hide if he really wanted, but he won’t. I’ll deliver the operation details myself.”

Only after the Grand Sorcerer left could we get to the main point.

“This is the material I mentioned earlier. The details are in the documents, but in summary, the departments within the police that might contain awakened human supremacists are…”

“This is a bit ambiguous… Do you mean there are multiple supremacists in this department, not just one?”

“It’s speculation, but yes. The evidence is on this page…”

Even though it was the main topic, there wasn’t much for me to do.

I had read the materials, but I didn’t know them better than Sophia.

So Sophia explained, and the commissioner asked questions while I observed silently.

After a while…

“Hmm… I can’t tell if this is a lot or a little.”

The commissioner muttered after reviewing all the materials.

I quietly agreed with his words.

‘There are certainly not few suspected awakened supremacists among current police officers…’

But compared to the past, it’s not that many either.

Before I became active, when crimes by awakened individuals were common, every non-awakened police officer was considered a supremacist.

‘…Or maybe that period was abnormal.’

Anyway.

“The plan is to gather teams with no charges and conduct internal inspections. Of course, having no charges now doesn’t guarantee they aren’t supremacists, so I’ll personally verify the inspection team.”

The commissioner would handle awakened supremacists within the police.

What remained were external supremacists connected to them.

Originally, the plan was to purge internal supremacists first and extract information to track the rest, but…

“If the Grand Sorcerer helps, we can skip that process.”

If he could provide a list, there was no need for tracking.

We could simply raid and arrest them.

The charges? As with supremacy ideology, discrimination against awakened individuals alone is enough for arrest.

‘Unless they commit insane acts like terrorism, they’d be sent to correction facilities as before.’

I decided not to think further about their punishment.

Unless they resisted to the point of needing on-site elimination, punishing them wasn’t my responsibility.

About two hours later, I headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace to meet the Grand Sorcerer.

…It wasn’t that we agreed to meet there; it was simply where he was located.

I had tasks to relay to him regarding this matter.

Upon reaching the Grand Sorcerer’s location at the palace…

‘…He’s disguised using reverse sorcery.’

It was the same Grand Sorcerer, but with a different face.

“Gyeongbokgung Palace was burned during the Japanese invasions of 1592 and later reconstructed by Heungseon Daewongun. Afterward, it suffered damage again around the Japanese colonial period, and restoration only began in modern times.”

…Why was I hearing the history of Gyeongbokgung from a non-Korean Grand Sorcerer?

Even so, I didn’t interrupt him.

If his long-winded talk itself contained sorcery, interrupting him could have unknown consequences.

‘I’m not scared, but it could be troublesome.’

So I let him speak.

“There’s something unique about Gyeongbokgung: it was burned not by the Japanese army but by the people themselves during the Imjin War.”

Of course, some believe it was the Japanese, but the theory that it was the people has more support.

“When Heungseon Daewongun rebuilt it, he imposed heavy taxes—yes, the people’s blood taxes. And even then, the reconstructed palace suffered damage again…”

From a sorcerous perspective, Gyeongbokgung would be a place where resentment and evil spirits could easily gather.

“Hmm…”

From that perspective, it’s difficult to view the palace positively.

Of course, this was because the Grand Sorcerer chose to see it that way; it could be interpreted differently.

“Why look at it that way?”

I asked him why he only viewed it in that light.

“Hehe…! Awakened human supremacists are also people. And the people hate them—the ones equivalent to the yangban in Joseon who happen to be awakened…!”

As always, the Grand Sorcerer chuckled quietly, not in amusement.

His sharp voice grated on me.

But I didn’t stop him.

I had figured out what he was doing.

‘Ah, I see. He’s putting himself in a state similar to a grudge spirit, intending to summon spirits that would recognize him as an ally.’

It wasn’t actual spirit summoning.

Still, it was sorcery based on the assumption of grudge spirits.

“This guy’s crazy about sorcery…”

Such sorcery inevitably causes physical aftereffects.

The Grand Sorcerer conducted it as if it were normal.

He could probably heal the effects, but…

‘Considering his personality, he might just leave them as part of the magic.’

Anyway.

Whatever he intended to do with the spirits, it was certainly not good magic.

So I set up a simple magical barrier.

Just enough to prevent people from approaching.

‘Technically illegal in a tourist site…’

Still, it’s better than letting civilians walk in and get caught in sorcery.