Police cars, ambulances, and reporters were already in front of Rep. Kang Cheol-woo’s home. When Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon arrived, a waiting staff of the management headquarters guided them inside.
“Tae-heon-ah.”
Lee Joo-ha, who had arrived earlier than Ha Tae-heon, looked back. Next to her were Hong Si-ah and Kim Na-yul, the Jayna guild deputy master.
“Uung? What’s going on? Were you two together?”
When Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon entered side by side, Hong Si-ah put on a surprised expression. Cheon Sa-yeon, ignoring the question neatly, looked around the cluttered house.
“Where is Head Center Choi Mi-jin?”
“I’m here.”
Choi Mi-jin, who walked out with the staff from the back room with a tired face, put her short hair behind her ear and said.
“Everyone must be busy, but I’m sorry for calling you all the way here. There was a lot of pressure from above and we had no choice but to do it.”
Pressure. When high-ranking officials learned that a politician had been horribly murdered, they must have managed the guild management headquarters to catch the criminal somehow. It was obvious stuff.
Hong Si-ah replied with the meaning that she understood.
“No matter how busy we are, it’s not busier than Head Center? What happened to him? Murder case all of sudden.”
“It would be quicker to explain it in person. Please come over here.”
The place Choi Mi-jin headed towards was the largest study on the second floor. The disgusting smell of blood already permeated the interior of the study.
“Ugh, that’s amazing.”
Kim Na-yul was disgusted when she saw the dead body of Kang Cheol-woo, lying on the floor under the bookshelf, and covering her mouth and nose. Cheon Sa-yeon, who looked at the body slowly, frowned.
“This…”
Not only Cheon Sa-yeon, but also those who had seen many corpses in and out of the gate noticed something strange at once. Lee Joo-ha, who looked at the body with a serious expression, opened her mouth in a low voice.
“What kind of power did they have to make his body look like this? To be honest, if it’s not a talented person…”
“I think he was attacked by a monster.”
Hong Si-ah continued the words that Lee Joo-ha couldn’t finish. Ha Tae-heon quietly agreed with Hong Si-ah’s opinion.
The condition of the body was disastrous. The flesh, which was torn all over the body from being stabbed by something thick and sharp, and his face, heart, and thighs showed blatant piercing marks from the fangs of a gigantic beast.
Cheon Sa-yeon folded his arms and tilted his head slowly.
‘…it looks like he poured out his anger against Rep. Kang Cheol-woo.’
Those were the rough marks. In many ways, this wasn’t an ordinary case. Could it be that this was also the work of the Praus Cult?
“I thought the same thing, but there were no traces of the monster left.”
Choi Mi-jin handed over the documents that she was holding to Cheon Sa-yeon. Cheon Sa-yeon, who quickly turned the paper over and looked at the contents, handed it over to Lee Joo-ha.
“Surely, it is.”
There was no monster’s energy detected in this vicinity. Above all, it must have been quite large enough to leave such a big scar, and if it did, the people around him would have noticed before they even broke in.
“Umm, it’s complicated. According to the documents, it’s not something a monster did.”
As Hong Si-ah read the document and tilted her head, Kim Na-yul, who was next to her, said with a worried expression.
“Isn’t it possible that he has the ability to transform his body?”
“Well, there’s a possibility. What is certain is that it will be faster for a person with a forensic ability to visit the scene.”
“They have already been here. The results haven’t come out yet…”
Choi Mi-jin, who briefly rubbed her dark circled eyes, answered with a tired voice.
“If the expected range of the criminal’s ability is narrowed, it’s a difficult situation. It’s because you don’t know what absurd orders the terrified superiors will give you.”
It meant that someone with a similar ability to the criminal could be forcibly summoned to investigate, or the guild that protected such a person could be at a disadvantage.
“Annoying politicians. It’s only when such a problem arises that interest explodes, ha.”
Hong Si-ah, who understood what it meant at once without any additional explanation, spat out swear words and hardened the face of moving staff.
Originally, the guild management headquarters would have been a shield to some extent by coordinating between them, but now that the building collapsed and many casualties occurred in the terrorist attack, it was difficult to do so.
‘Too many things have been lost in one attack by the Praus Cult.’
They were busy just rebuilding the management headquarters, but they had to sit and ran political errands. Choi Mi-jin swallowed her anger in her frustrated heart and chewed her lips.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who stood quietly and stared at Choi Mi-jin, turned his head and checked the body once more. Cheon Sa-yeon’s figure was reflected faintly on the dark red blood that had puddled on the floor of the study.
‘…I’m missing something.’
This uneasy feeling that he felt before. Cheon Sa-yeon looked back at recent events one by one.
A new gate had appeared in the D45 Area. There, the bombing caused by Abel’s attack first broke out. Not long after that, there was a second attack at the guild management headquarters.
“There’s no need to glare so scarily. I have no intention of fighting this time.”
The time he met Samael was as clear as yesterday. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had thought of Samael shrugging his shoulders and throwing off his dirty gloves, soon realized something about him.
“My good brother always didn’t trust me. It’s so sad.”
In the first place, what did the Praus Cult aim to destroy the guild management headquarters?
To make their existence known to the world in the loudest way and to spread drugs more easily.
‘Then…’
Chilling goosebumps ran down his spine. It was at that moment when Cheon Sa-yeon, who had become slightly pale, breathed out a small trembling breath.
“Center Head, a person with a forensic ability has sent the results.”
Headquarters staff rushed over and handed documents to Choi Mi-jin. Choi Mi-jin, who immediately accepted and read the contents, frowned and was greatly bewildered.
“What the, how this…”
“Center Head Choi Mi-jin? What’s the matter?”
“The results of on-site fingerprint identification came out, but… this…”
“Are there any suspects?”
“That…”
Choi Mi-jin, who was hesitant to answer Hong Si-ah’s question, soon lowered her voice and opened her mouth.
“Talented Kang Seung-geon.”
“What?”
“The fingerprints of the Talented Kang Seung-geon have been found.”
It was the name Cheon Sa-yeon had expected.
* * *
It had been three hours since Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon left for the house of Rep. Kang Cheol-woo. As I looked out the window waiting for Cheon Sa-yeon, who hadn’t yet returned, a sweet scent from somewhere brushed the tip of my nose.
Piiik!
Fox, who was curling up next to me, raised his head and cried for a long time.
“Han Yi-gyeol, drink this.”
Kim Woo-jin held out a mug of chocolate milk. As the sun went down, I looked away from the sky filled with scarlet light and received the mug.
“Thanks.”
“Wash up and rest comfortably, why are you doing this?”
“A bit later. I still have work to do.”
At that moment, the cell phone I had left next to me vibrated. It was a call from Woo Seo-hyuk.
“Yes, Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”
[Master has returned.]
I asked Woo Seo-hyuk to contact me as soon as Cheon Sa-yeon returned.
‘Honestly, I didn't expect him to be so obedient…’
Considering Woo Seo-hyuk’s personality, I thought that he would refuse because it would be difficult to tell me about Cheon Sa-yeon secretly, so it was a little surprising. Well… I’m not comfortable.
“If you tell me where he is, I will find him myself.”
[…Han Yi-gyeol-ssi. I’m sorry, but how about you meet him later?]
"What's wrong?”
[Master is not in a good condition. Even if you meet now, the conversation may not work properly.]
Not in a good condition? At Woo Seo-hyuk’s words, I slowly remembered Cheon Sa-yeon’s image I had seen today.
‘He looked upset at the meeting earlier.’
It seemed that something more happened at Rep. Kang Cheol-woo’s house.
“If there really is a problem, we should meet more.”
[……]
“It’s all right, so please tell me. Master Cheon Sa-yeon, where is he?”
When asked again with a firm voice, Woo Seo-hyuk answered with a short sigh.
[He went up to the rooftop garden.]
“Thank you, Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”
After finishing the call, I headed straight to the living room balcony window. Kim Woo-jin, who followed me, asked with a worried face.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just meet tomorrow?”
Kim Woo-jin, who heard the call with his A-rank hearing, held my hand, but I shook my head.
“I’ll drink chocolate milk after I get back. See you later.”
When I used my energy to create wind, my body floated. As I climbed to the top of the guild building, a wide rooftop with a garden unfolded.
Cheon Sa-yeon was standing near the roof railing under the sky where the sun had completely set and turned dark blue.
Dark hair fluttered lightly in the wind. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was staring at the far side of the sky with an expressionless face immersed in thought, immediately took something out of his arms.
‘Cigarette?’
This was the second time I saw Cheon Sa-yeon take out a cigarette since the first meeting, it was new for me.
What brought you to smoke? As expected, something must have happened.
I reduced the force of the wind and quickly moved down. As I stood with my feet on the railing, Cheon Sa-yeon’s gaze, who had just put a cigarette in his mouth, turned to me.
“…Han Yi-gyeol?”
“Oh.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who normally would have known of my existence earlier, was in such a dazed state… don’t tell me he was sick or something?
“Cheon Sa-yeon. Are you okay?”
As I watched Cheon Sa-yeon, who couldn’t come to his senses, I remembered the moment I had met him in a dream before. It was just like now.
‘It was the time when the D45 Area and the guild management headquarters were attacked by the Praus Cult.’
I was concerned about many things. Cheon Sa-yeon, who smiled and put the cigarette back in, answered my question calmly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about all of a sudden.”
“It doesn’t matter if you smoke.”
“It’s okay. What else are you going to say?”
The reason I felt bad was that he wouldn’t tell me even if he died.
Suppressing the rising irritation, I brought out my original purpose.
“Did you deliver the antidote? What happened to Rep. Kang Cheol-woo?”
“I delivered it to Choi Mi-jin. Rather, I noticed that there was something wrong with Kang Cheol-woo’s body.”
“Right. The timing is just too weird.”
As I sat down on the railing and spoke, Cheon Sa-yeon slowly blinked his eyes and opened his mouth.
“It’s certain that he was murdered. The scars left on the corpse are like traces bitten by a monster.”
It wasn’t that there were no cases of death by monsters in the real world other than in the gate. There were monsters that escaped the gate explosion and couldn’t be handled or monsters that wriggled on their own even after they became materials.
However, that was only for ordinary people who didn’t have bodyguards. There was no way Rep Kang Cheol-woo could have died so easily.
“On the relief decoration that Rep. Kang Cheol-woo left in his study right before his death, Kang Seung-geon’s fingerprints came out.”
“Kang Seung-geon? The one who was taken away when the management headquarters was attacked?”
“Yeah. The only fingerprints from the decoration are Rep. Kang Cheol-woo and Kang Seung-geon.”
If this was true, did that mean that Kang Seung-geon killed his parent with his own hands? Kang Seung-geon would have lost all his abilities due to the explosion, but how…
As I thought about it, the nape of my neck became cold. The traces were left on Kang Cheol-woo’s body and Kang Seung-geon, who was taken away by the Praus Cult. Monster wings that were attached to Choi Ga-young’s back.
‘He has fused a monster into Kang Seung-geon’s body.’
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