TRPM 345

chapter 345

Short version first: the guy who claimed he knew us was arrested by the police.

“Wait?! Why?”
“Why, indeed…”

Although it turned out he actually did know her, that only made the situation more suspicious.

He had a history of harassing Ryoo Ah-young because he liked her in the past, and he’d even been driven off by her before.

What were the chances of running into that kind of guy in another area—not even in our neighborhood?

“He’s not a pervert, sure, but this actually raises stalking suspicions.”

I thought meeting him had been a coincidence, but Ah-young saw it differently. She was convinced he hadn’t come to the hanok village to enjoy the festival by chance—she was sure he’d followed her here.

“If it really is stalking, that means he followed her even two days ago when we went camping, and yesterday at the rose festival….”

If that were true, he must have been watching Ah-young even from a distance, and there’s no way I wouldn’t have sensed the gaze of such an amateur. I considered telling him that to help him out….

‘But then he’d get cocky…’

My instincts said that wouldn’t be a good idea, and even aside from instinct I didn’t want to encourage him. He’s a high schooler now and a bit more level-headed than when he was in middle school, but the reckless things he did back then left a strong impression. Even if I tried to wipe that first impression away and see him in a better light, bias lingered.

“Hmm… but did he really come alone?”

Watching him led Ryu A-min to mutter that.

True. For a high schooler it wouldn’t be strange to come to a festival alone. Still, people usually come with family or friends. So maybe one of his family or friends was nearby?

“…At this point the best way to clear up the stalking misunderstanding would be to find that family or friend. Since they’re not looking, I guess he came alone?” Lee Ha-eun said.

…He’s unlucky, then. Or… could it be he really was stalking?

‘Nah… no way.’

If he really had been stalking, we’d have to lock him up right away. But that was unlikely. If he were truly a stalker, unless he’d planted a bug on Ah-young’s phone, it would be practically impossible for him to find our destination….

‘…Then again, he probably wouldn’t have. Our going to the rose festival yesterday and stopping at the rest stop today could be figured out with a little digging.’

Except for Teacher Son Ji-hye, everyone in our group is a public figure. People who saw us likely posted about it on social media, so tracing our movements wouldn’t be hard. And if he boarded a train around the time we were eating lunch at the rest stop, it wouldn’t be strange for him to end up here—the train wouldn’t have been held up like the highway was due to the accident.

‘He might actually have followed Ah-young here?’

It was only a possibility, but still a possibility.

“…He really was a stalker?”

“Yes…. When we checked that student’s phone, it was full of photos that looked like they were taken of your student secretly.”

So he really was a stalker. I listened as the police officer spoke to Teacher Son Ji-hye, who was in the role of guardian, and thought to myself.

“The dates on the photos were always either Wednesdays or weekends. I think he couldn’t stalk her on weekdays because he attended cram school, but he would find her on Wednesdays and weekends and take photos.”

He probably used an ability specialized in concealing his presence.

“In today’s case, because the festival was crowded, he probably got a bit bolder and that’s when he was caught.”
“Mm….”

Teacher Son turned to look at Ah-young as the officer spoke. Ah-young had heard everything too; her face was drained of color. So she hadn’t known all along—he had been following her and taking photos this whole time.

‘…Good thing I didn’t defend that guy earlier.’

However, one problem had arisen from this incident.

“…Does anyone know how to file a complaint against a stalker?”

Because of what Ah-young had experienced, this wasn’t a mood for enjoying the festival or casually going to collect stream water. Ah-young messaged her acquaintances—i.e., manifestation users around the world she knows—asking what to do in this kind of situation.

‘…That guy’s life is probably ruined now.’

Thanks to Ah-young, he’d been exposed; she’d become his benefactor in a way, and manifestation users around the world who thought she was cute would learn of this? Currently, manifestation users hold high status because a single manifestation user and a transformation user can do work that dozens of wizards would otherwise need to handle. Those users would likely try to ruin the stalker. Unless some high-ranking figure—an Aura Master, an Archmage, or the Association Chair—was backing him, it would be hard to smooth this over.

“Ah, so you mean do civil litigation aside from criminal proceedings? Yes… But how… You want to help personally, sir? Aren’t you busy?”

I stepped back while watching Ah-young talk on the phone with someone who seemed to be a manifestation user. Inside I thought,

‘I really wanted to check out that latest weapons expo and the combat rations sale…’

Teacher Son had also wanted to go to those two places. But she’d restrained herself because this wasn’t the time—her student had been harassed by a stalker, and as the homeroom teacher she couldn’t just go relax and enjoy herself.

‘…Even if they normally fight, they’re twins, so maybe because they’re family, Ryu A-min is staying close to make sure Ah-young isn’t anxious…’

In the end, the only ones who moved away a bit, uncomfortable with the atmosphere, were Ha-eun and me.

“?”
“…Why?”
“I thought you’d stick close to comfort Ah-young.”

Ha-eun was sociable and friendly with many kids at school, but she was especially close to Ah-young. Considering how upset Ah-young was about the stalker, it was surprising Ha-eun hadn’t stayed close.

“Because it’s a chance for just the two of us?”
“…What?”
“You and me, just the two of us.”
“No, don’t. You want to do that in this situation…?”

Interpreting Ha-eun’s words, she was asking me to go on a date—with her—right now.

“But also, staying here isn’t great.”

“That’s true…”

Staying in that room felt awkward to both of us. Rather than stick around, it’d be better to slip out quietly to go on a date.

“…Let’s go.”

Having thought that, I admitted Ha-eun was right. There was nothing to be gained by staying, so leaving was the helpful thing to do.

Ha-eun and I headed to the hall where the latest weapons expo was being held. Despite the minor commotion over the stalker’s arrest, festivals are full of all sorts of incidents, so everything continued as usual.

“Wowww….”

Ha-eun’s eyes lit up as she looked at the new weapons unveiled by a nearby defense contractor.

“Gun-woo, look at that. It’s a sniper staff.”
“Yeah, let me see.”

A staff with an effective range over two kilometers. It wasn’t a gun metaphorically called a staff; it was literally a staff. It had a scope like a sniper rifle, a mana storage cylinder on the handle that looked like a magazine, a trigger to fire, and the whole thing, to any observer, looked more like a sniper rifle than a staff, but it was definitely a staff.

‘Pull the trigger and compressed mana is fired from the muzzle—no, the tip of the staff.’

Of course, for people like Ha-eun and me the 2 km range was far below our reach, making the weapon somewhat useless for us… but it still seemed like a decent weapon. If distributed to the military, it would likely be used to stop advancing monsters.

‘The power would be pure mana, so it might not be super strong, but because it’s pure mana it would affect a monster’s body in some way rather than being a bullet that either fails to penetrate or over-penetrates.’

The mana fired from that staff could accumulate in a monster’s body and have some effect. If the mana were a potent, poisonous-type energy like the Magi of the Near Future, it might not only stop monsters but kill them outright. It’s the sort of item that could be upgraded in various ways, so its uses would be broad—if the military adopted it.

‘But the market for firearms is dominated by the company that makes monster-specific AM rounds, so that staff probably won’t be supplied to the military.’

I moved aside, thinking that through. The weapons shown at the expo included not only that staff, but also small rods that expand into temporary barricades when rolled, auto-aim devices that lock onto only a monster’s mana, and many other pieces of advanced tech.

And I….

‘Ah, I used that barricade a lot. It was sturdier and grew more than I expected, so instead of using it as a barricade I often used it to completely block an enemy’s path. As for the auto-aim… even though it was supposed to target only monsters’ mana, it often ended up targeting awakeners’ mana and was discarded quickly, wasn’t it?’

The equipment stirred memories. I was familiar with these tools. I hadn’t known this company made them; I’d used the gear once it became available without caring who manufactured it.

‘…Should I invest? The staff and barricade seem pretty useful, even if I’d skip the auto-aim.’

While we were looking at the displayed equipment, I noticed something oddly unattended.

“Huh? Why is there no one here?”

Ha-eun noticed it too. Up to now, at least two people had gathered in front of each exhibit to read about it or look, but this particular display had no one.

“…This is….”

Curious, I peered into the display case—and I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“A smooth stone? You throw it in a space a monster might pass through, and it explodes after a while? Isn’t that just a mine?”

Unlike me, Ha-eun read the placard in front of the display and said that. It certainly was a mine. The problem was….

‘How does it explode and how powerful is the blast?’

Before the reset, this mine—nicknamed “Smooth Stone” among those who knew it—was called among friends…

“You hit me, I hit you.”