御书房文学网

Chapter 186

"Ugh...!"

My body started to feel weak, and my stomach churned. The barrier of light absorbed the fog and the little remaining strength that I had to support me.

I urgently released the spell array. It stopped functioning and turned into ashes.

Finally, the feeling of losing strength disappeared. I took a deep breath and barely managed to stand in place. Both my legs trembled. The surroundings turned pitch black and then flashed white, making me dizzy.

It was a strangely familiar feeling. I had definitely experienced this phenomenon before.

"The box..."

When I tried to peek inside the box buried in Eiden Hill with Granbwa\'s power, I coughed out blood just like today. Back then, I thought it was simply because my abilities had fallen short. I had thought that I was unable to peek inside the box because I had failed to fully control Granbwa’s power.

Now, I could clearly see that that wasn’t the case. An unknown force had been protecting the box and Yu-Hyun. Something with a conscious will was using a mysterious power to intentionally interfere with me. I didn’t know what or who it was.

"Damn it..."

At first, I was taken aback because my spells didn\'t work. Later, I couldn’t believe what was happening.

Not only could he see through others with his ridiculously overpowered eyes, but Yu-Hyun could also utilize someone else\'s divine power as if it were his, and even my spells didn\'t work on him. I thought this was too unreasonable and unfair.

Now, I felt powerless. If spells didn’t work on him, there was no way to forcibly extract information from him. I couldn’t use memory annihilation to erase his memories and make it as if today\'s events were nonexistent.

Memory annihilation quite literally shattered memories. I couldn’t selectively erase only the memories that I wanted gone. When using memory annihilation, all the information in his head, along with the ones he made today, would be erased. I doubted if the memory annihilation spell would even work in the first place.

There were so many things that I wasn’t sure about, especially what the unknown power protecting him was and what he meant when he said that there were many competitors. Why was he hoping that I wouldn’t get caught? And what did he know about the underground prison and the Holy War?

I didn\'t have the ability to judge what information was useful or not. I didn\'t know anything, and I couldn\'t do anything. I was powerless.

Meanwhile, Yu-Hyun regained consciousness.

"Ugh... What the hell? Why was I sleeping?"

I sat in front and looked down at him.

"Let\'s continue with the negotiation."

"...Ah, right. We were in the middle of that conversation. Go ahead."

"I want to know what kind of information you can give me."

Although I called it negotiation, in reality, I was in a position where I had no choice but to keep Yu-Hyun alive. The risks I had to take, whether to kill him or save him, were the same. However, I could clearly gain something if I let him live.

But there was no need to reveal that fact. I had to lead the conversation with the nuance that I was making an effort for negotiation, as I was telling him that we weren’t in an equal position right now and could kill him anytime I wanted.

"What are you most curious about right now? As far as I know, roughly speaking... I can give you some sneak peeks."

"The underground prison," I answered Yu-Hyun\'s question without hesitation.

Meeting my mother, who was imprisoned in the underground prison, was the sole reason why I had tried to enter Florence Academy.

Yu-Hyun was about to say something but then hesitated. "You should tell me exactly what you\'re curious about in the underground prison and which underground prison you\'re talking about."

"Tell me everything you know about the underground prison of the Holy See Headquarters."

Yu-Hyun pondered with a frowning face for a while and then said, "No, well... Ah, I guess I should have said this first."

"There are quite a few underground prisons in the Holy See Headquarters. Just from the ones that I know... about seven of them."

"..."

"There are also various types. Do you want me to tell you about them?"

Instead of answering his question, I quietly drew Dawn\'s Blade.

"Hey, hey! Ha, fuck, I was going to tell you about them. What did I do?!"

Slash.

I cut the knot that bound his hand and released him. Yu-Hyun stared at his hand in astonishment for a while, then belatedly raised his head and looked at me.

I turned Dawn\'s Blade into Voodoo magic.

"As a sign of accepting the negotiation, I’ll release your hand for now. Your feet and neck will be freed later."

"...Later? No, if you\'re accepting the negotiation, you should release me right away..."

"I said I would spare you, but I didn\'t say I would release you," I said casually. "I will release you someday. Probably... after I obtain enough information to satisfy me and a system is established to monitor you. It might start to arouse suspicion if I keep you confined like this."

"..."

"Stay here until then. I\'ll bring you food. It might not taste great, though."

With that, I left the room, locking the door from the outside. I could hear Yu-Hyun shouting something from inside the room. I ignored him and picked up my phone.

***

"Hmm, I see. Should I send it to the dormitory where you\'re staying?" Joseph was answering Sun-Woo\'s call that had come out of the blue.

As usual, Sun-Woo calmly asked for some items. The items he wanted were a GPS tracker, a bugging device, and a small terminal that could manage both devices simultaneously.

Joseph raised an eyebrow and replied, "...Well, I can send them to you quickly. It\'s not a difficult request, I suppose. But I\'m curious about what you\'re planning to use them for."

Sun-Woo didn\'t answer. There was silence on the other end of the phone. Joseph waited for a response and eventually nodded. Seeing that Sun-Woo seemed to have no intention of responding, Joseph ended the conversation.

"Well, I guess I\'ll believe that you\'ll use them well. I\'ll end the call now."

It was unsettling that Sun-Woo didn\'t mention the purpose of the GPS tracker and bug device. However, Joseph didn\'t bother to ask. More precisely, he didn\'t need to ask.

Soon enough, he would reveal what Sun-Woo, who, on the surface, appeared to be an exemplary F.A. student, was up to behind the scenes through Jin-Seo. There was no need to rush, and now was the time to deal with something more important than Sun-Woo.

"Sorry for interrupting the conversation. Ye-Jin, can you continue where we left off?"

"Yes... but where did we leave off, exactly?" Ye-Jin weakly replied while lying in the hospital bed.

Joseph looked at her intently. He had a good memory, so he could vividly remember the impressions of people who passed by in a flash.

He recalled Ye-Jin\'s face that he briefly saw in the teacher\'s office when he visited F.A. for an investigation. Back then, Ye-Jin had a very different impression. It seemed like she had become a completely different person. It wasn’t just because she had lost weight and looked thinner. Joseph noticed that the light in Ye-Jin\'s eyes had changed significantly.

"I heard that you lost consciousness after meeting a girl named Jin-Seo," Joseph replied without mentioning the change he noticed.

Ye-Jin briefly closed her mouth and got lost in thought.

Joseph waited until she felt like answering. Ye-Jin opened her mouth, looking determined and resigned, as she stared into the empty space.

"...To be precise, I didn\'t lose consciousness. It was more like a dream," she said.

"A dream? Can you explain further?" Joseph raised his eyebrows, showing interest.

Jin-Seo clearly stated that she had lost consciousness and had no memory afterward. However, Ye-Jin was saying that she had dreamt, which could mean that she had memories after losing consciousness.

There was a possibility that Jin-Seo had lied or that their statements differed because Ye-Jin and Jin-Seo had been affected differently by black magic. Either way, this was good news for Joseph. He had also fallen victim to the same demon’s black magic and dreamed like Ye-Jin had.

It felt like he had taken a step closer to repentance. Joseph anxiously concealed his excitement and waited for Ye-Jin\'s answer. She seemed hesitant to talk about her dream, pursing her lips and hesitating to answer.

"If you don\'t want to talk about the content of your dreams, you don\'t have to. Just tell me what you want to share. I\'m just grateful that you’re cooperating."

"...Thank you. When I make up my mind... I will tell you about what happened in my dream."

"Alright, then, we’ll stay in touch. Oh, by the way, I forgot to give you my business card. I\'m sorry, I\'ve been distracted lately," Joseph said.

He then handed his business card to Ye-Jin.

Ye-Jin accepted it politely with a bow.

"Yes, I will contact you soon using the number on the business card, urgh."

Ye-Jin started dry-heaving. Tears welled up in her eyes as she desperately tried to hold back the vomit. Her face turned pale, and cold sweat streamed down her face.

Surprised, Joseph tried to hand her a handkerchief but realized he didn\'t have one and quickly pulled out a tissue.

"Are you okay? Why is this happening? Could it be that you still have lingering effects from the black magic?"

"No... I\'m sorry. It\'s just sudden nausea... I\'m fine now."

Ye-Jin wiped away the cold sweat with her tissue and dried the tears in her eyes. Her sudden discomfort seemed to subside slightly, but her complexion remained pale. Ye-Jin took a deep breath to calm herself. When her breathing gradually stabilized, she looked up at Joseph.

"By any chance, did you visit the specimen research lab today?"

She was referring to the Demon Specimen Research Lab located in the western part of Seoul. It was a place dedicated to studying the flesh and body parts of demonic beasts and demons collected during battles. It was also a place where they created mock demons and imitation demonic beasts for training sessions.

Joseph had stopped by the place before visiting Ye-Jin\'s hospital room. He had to check something for a thorough investigation of the demons that had appeared in this incident.

"I just came back from there because I had something to investigate. How did you know?"

Joseph was taken aback for the first time in a long time. He had never told Ye-Jin about this fact. More precisely, he had never even mentioned the Specimen Research Lab. How did Ye-Jin find out about it? Was there blood from the demon sample on his clothes? No, he had definitely changed his clothes before coming...

"Um, excuse me, but there\'s a bit of a smell. Oh, no, never mind. Please forget it," Ye-Jin said.

"Ah, so there was a smell... coming from me?” Joseph asked.

"Ah, it\'s coming from your body and also from your business card... No, it\'s not to the point... that I’m bothered by it..."

Joseph sniffed his business card and then sniffed himself, just to be sure. However, there was no pungent and smelly scent characterized by the Demon Specimen Research Lab. At least, that was what Joseph felt.

Even if there was a smell, it would be extremely faint. Even if someone had managed to smell it somehow, it would be rare for someone to accurately identify it as the smell coming from the Demon Specimen Research Lab.

No, it was not just a rare case.

This level of smell was comparable to the detection dogs used to find drugs or uncover the Satanists\' hideouts.

"I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I’ll be back after I wash up and change my clothes."

"No, it\'s not that I was uncomfortable..."

"Before that, I want to ask for your cooperation in the Satanist Identification Project. It\'s at the discretion of an inquisitor."

She would definitely be useful.

Joseph\'s eyes gleamed with madness as he stared at Ye-Jin after shouting out loud for her cooperation.