< 114. Shock and Terror (12) >
Upon hearing that Choi Seon-a had woken up in the middle of the night, Min-jun headed to the hospital early. Today, he didn't bring Jeong-pal along and only had the hidden Yom-tus with him as a precaution.
Choi Pan-seok, who had stayed until dawn, was absent, apparently due to a council schedule. However, he readily agreed to the agent's request for another interview with Choi Seon-a. After all, she was his daughter's benefactor.
The frying pan spoke to Min-jun.
=Agent, as I mentioned, it's better to have contact with the subject if you want to read deeper than just surface-level consciousness.=
It was said that the information extracted from Cassie's mind was obtained while she was cooking and holding the object in question.
'Don't tell me I have to shove it down her throat again?'
=As long as you don't let unnecessary thoughts flood in like before, simply holding it is sufficient.=
When Choi Seon-a woke up and found herself suddenly requested by an agent holding a frying pan, she was bewildered. However, since the agent was the one who had saved her from being kidnapped, she had no real excuse to refuse and hesitantly took it in her hand.
In that state, Min-jun began asking questions. They weren't much different from those he had asked before, and the responses were similar. This time, however, he intended to go beyond simple answers and delve into the mental imagery that arose when discussing those topics.
As time passed,
The frying pan began to hum with a signal that everything was done, startling Choi Seon-a. Until now, the frying pan had not shown any signs of self-awareness and had not spoken to her.
Receiving the frying pan back, Min-jun asked,
'How was it?'
=Well, there were no lies in the responses to the questions you asked so far.=
Min-jun felt a sense of deflation.
'So, the memory really has been completely erased?'
=There are clear signs of someone intervening. It's excessively clean. It's been completely scraped off. As for the sensitive parts you want to know about.=
Even the most crucial part about how the Ego Sword was obtained had no traces. There was no memory of the murder of Gwak Do-chul and his mistress, nor any clue about the activities during the period of disappearance right before it.
As the frying pan was explaining, it suddenly trailed off.
=However…=
'Hmm?'
=Aside from your interrogation, there was one hidden detail.=
'What is it?'
The returned answer was something he hadn't anticipated.
=This person is an ability user, isn't she?=
'······?!'
Min-jun distinctly remembered the briefing provided by Jeong-pal. Choi Seon-a had never reported her abilities to the state.
This meant…
'An unregistered ability user?!'
=In this world, it's a requirement, isn't it? Anyway, it has never been publicly revealed. Only a very small number of people, including her stepfather, know about it.=
'What kind of ability?'
=It's a precognitive ability. It's exceptionally good even by interdimensional standards.=
Precognitive individuals are highly sought after, but unfortunately, a method to fully control this ability hasn't been discovered. On Earth, the practical use of this ability is limited to predicting weather forecasts. It's limited to predicting weather conditions that everyone will know about the next day.
The more public and widely known the information is from a future standpoint, the harder it is to predict. Additionally, the act of prediction itself can change the future, thus nullifying the prediction's validity. This is why weather predictions are highly accurate—once it's predicted, rain won't fail to come.
Despite these limitations, the committee never lost interest in such individuals. Just how great was this interest?
-46. Discovering a method to perfectly control the abilities of precognitive individuals and providing a turnkey solution up to the commercialization stage: 530,000 dalant.
Min-jun pondered.
'Did Pan-seok adopt her knowing this fact in advance?'
Why would an orc choose a human, and not just any human but a teenage girl by the standards of that time, as an adopted daughter?
Why did he make such a choice despite facing condemnation from both orcs and humans and risking murder threats?
Perhaps it was because he was aware of such abilities in advance?
'The reason for his continued success might be due to this.'
He recalled the relief and joy he saw when his daughter woke up and the sorrowful expression when she lost consciousness again.
If it wasn't pure affection for his daughter, or love as an end in itself rather than a means, but rather an obsession with the function?
'Is it possible that Blade's interest in Seon-a is related to this?'
Min-jun's thoughts grew deeper.
Even though he learned about Seon-a's secret, the whereabouts of the sword remained unknown. Instead of reporting an unregistered ability user to the police, Min-jun decided to keep the information to himself for now.
'I wonder if Blade knew about this in advance, and if so, how did he know? It seems like almost no one other than Pan-seok knows about it.'
Returning to his office after these speculations, Min-jun found two large packages left in front of the door. The magical aura on them revealed their sender's identity quickly.
'It's Del.'
His ex-wife, who had stopped by and left the day before, had sent something less than 24 hours later.
Min-jun cautiously unsealed the packages. They were sealed with such powerful magic that no one else could open or move them.
After considerable thought, he brought them into the room. Then, with a serious expression akin to a bomb disposal expert, he thoroughly inspected them before unwrapping them. He started with the larger package.
"······."
Min-jun's eyebrows furrowed.
'What is this?'
The box was as large as a 30-inch travel bag, but its contents were excessively over-packaged.
No, rather than being close to over-packaged, it was over-packaged.
Inside were bright red rose petals. At the center was a shimmering silver frying pan.
Yes, it was a frying pan.
'Why did she send this?'
It was then that Min-jun remembered what Del had said the day before. Looking at the frying pan she held, she had said:
-If you're going to carry something, can't it be something else? This one feels all wrong. Should I make one for you? As long as it's a frying pan shape, is that okay?
'So it wasn't just empty talk…'
Min-jun picked up the postcard lying on top of the frying pan. It was heavily scented with the perfume she used during the Ashtal era.
The message was brief.
"For blunt weapon purposes, this would be much better. -Del-"
After tossing the postcard aside, Min-jun picked up the frying pan and was once again surprised. Under the office lights, the silver frying pan gleamed brightly.
'This is orihalcon, isn't it?'
It was specially forged high-strength metal in the Endellion style. It was something that couldn't be found or traded on Earth.
'No, what am I supposed to do with this…'
It was more suitable for a weapon master than a dark wizard. Once enchanted with aura, it would certainly display extraordinary performance. Of course, this was assuming that there was an ability user who had mastered the art of fighting with a frying pan instead of a sword.
Min-jun imagined himself using this. He visualized a scene in his mind: a government agent aiming at an enemy, holding a silver orihalcon frying pan in one hand and a pitch-black shadow-iron frying pan in the other.
It was a sight that would be embarrassing no matter where it was shown.
'What should I do with this?'
Min-jun made a quick decision. He decided to dispose of it.
He glanced at the handle, but fortunately, there were no inscriptions on the red ribbon tied around it.
He pondered for a moment. Who on Earth would have such an eccentric taste to pay money for something like this, and who would have enough cash to burn?
A name quickly popped into his mind.
'Lord, he would be a perfect buyer.'
The dragon, who would soon be returning from his vacation, had a hobby. He collected expensive and beautiful, yet useless items. Considering their acquaintance, Min-jun would offer a reasonable price.
With this decision made, Min-jun threw the frying pan, along with the postcard, into a corner and opened the next box. This one was about the size of an album. Inside, he found it was filled with documents. The contents were…
'They've investigated all this?'
Min-jun was taken aback.
The documents were about Del's investigation into Blade. They summarized the murders committed across borders.
As Min-jun flipped through the papers, his expression grew serious. The pages were filled with photos of victims, their bodies sprawled in bloody crime scenes.
'He killed an enormous number of people.'
It couldn't be definitively concluded that Blade was the perpetrator of all these murders. The documents filtered out cases with a high probability that he was responsible.
'All the victims had their necks severed. And very cleanly at that.'
Although the suspects' descriptions varied and no weapon was found at the scenes, there was a commonality. Sharp, clean cuts. The necks were clearly severed in one stroke.
'He has a very distinctive preference.'
No marks were found on the chest or abdomen.
It was an impressive obsession.
Just like the traces left by his sword, his method of operation was equally precise. He had never failed. No one who was attacked by him survived. A meticulous hitman who, without exception, ended lives with one swing of his sword…
'······!'
At that moment, a bright spark ignited in Min-jun's mind.
'Wait a minute, no exceptions?'
No, there was one.
Although the file Del provided didn't include it, Min-jun knew of an exception.
He was about to call Jeong-pal but changed his mind. He checked a business card he had received recently. He took out his phone and dialed the number.
The other party answered quickly.
-Yes, sir! How are you?
"Kim, I need to ask you something."
Min-jun reverted to his old way of speaking for just a moment when contacting the magician, Kim Cheol-soo.
He had a matter to confirm directly with a senior member of the police magical investigation team.
"I want to confirm something about the scene where Choi Seon-a killed Gwak Do-chul."
-I didn't go there in person, but I did receive the report. Please hold on for a moment… Ah, yes. I found it. Please go ahead, sir.
"Let's check if my understanding is correct. According to what I heard, the sequence of events is as follows: Choi Seon-a suddenly appeared holding a half-elf's head and then severed Gwak Do-chul's head. After that, she collapsed with all her bones shattered."
Sounds of papers being shuffled could be heard through the phone.
-Yes, what you said is completely correct.
"And then the sword was left unattended for a while. It needed magical inspection. After that, a police mage came."
-Oh, sir. To be precise, they were not police but an agent contracted by the police department.
So, they were on a contractual basis, like Min-jun.
Although he suffered a piercing wound, he avoided major organs and recovered very quickly.
"That mage checked the sword and confirmed that there was no curse on it and no soul was bound to it. It was just a cheap Ego Sword."
Kim Cheol-soo confirmed this.
What happened right after that was…
"The forensic team, believing that, picked up the sword and was immediately possessed, causing them to attack the mage."
Yes, that's correct. He was pierced through the abdomen.
"Exactly, that's the part I'm talking about. He was stabbed, instead of having his head severed."
-······?
"Why do you think that is?"
Kim Cheol-soo pondered for a moment before responding.
The forensic team that handled the sword was composed of ordinary people, not physically trained individuals. Perhaps they believed they needed to neutralize the mage first to escape? The cursed sword must have controlled them...
"Wouldn't it be more certain to kill by severing the neck? The principle for a Weapon Master facing a mage is that even if the abdomen is pierced, if there is willpower, they can still cast spells. It's crucial to either shove a blade into the throat or cut the vocal cords. So why stab the abdomen?"
Min-jun was starting to piece together Blade's true nature.
A hunter with a thousand masks. Almost no one even within the organization knew his true identity and appearance.
Why did he need to control someone else to kill a National Assembly member in Korea and Gwak Do-chul, rather than taking direct action himself?
The reason is that Blade is not a human.
It's the Ego Sword Min-jun is pursuing.
The killer isn't using the sword; the killer is the sword itself.
After explaining this hypothesis, Min-jun also spoke about Blade's method. A clean approach, severing necks with a single swing of the sword.
"The half-elf celebrity was killed the same way. Gwak Do-chul was too, and so was the National Assembly member found at home. All had their necks severed. Naturally, there were no survivors."
Except for one person.
Only one person survived after allowing the sword to taste flesh and blood.
"Why didn't the Ego Sword kill that mage? It must have been needed."
Switching hosts while the sword was active involves risks. If the host becomes incapacitated and the sword is left discarded, it becomes useless unless someone picks it up. The risk is too great.
But, what if there was someone helping the sword?
"How did the troll obtain the sword? And how did it disappear?"
The sword was not found at the scene where the troll, who murdered the National Assembly member, was killed.
Someone must have moved it, but no traces were captured on CCTV. It wasn't found despite searching the entire area.
"The troll's memory showed an orc wielding the sword. A combatant. But no orc DNA was detected near the cigarette shop. Why would there be a need to erase traces of an unknown orc so thoroughly?"
What if it wasn't that the area was cleaned very thoroughly, but rather that such an orc never existed in the first place?
What if even the memory of the ghost was manipulated?
Sir, what are you implying?
"We've been trapped in the fixed notion that the Ego Sword's handle must be held to control the mind. But its ability might not end there."
He thought about the frying pan. Even though neither Cathy nor Ha Eun-seong touched the frying pan, they showed 100% trust in it.
Perhaps the sword has a similar ability.
What if it could impose some degree of mind control by causing injury, even if not touched directly?
For instance, it might be impossible to perform sword dances beyond physical limits or escape quickly, but if the sword could make the host move as desired for a while?
Thus, an assistant to the sword could be created.
A suitable person who could retrieve the sword at the desired time and place it near the next host. An operative who doesn't need to move violently, thus not risking broken bones and incapacitation.
And with the ability to move undetected by CCTV, no one is more suitable than a mage.
'If the forensic team hid the sword somewhere before regaining consciousness, and the discharged mage later goes to retrieve it from that location, the contact point could be concealed.'
Min-jun asked.
"Where is that mage now?"
< 114. Shock and Terror (12) > End