Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 42



Only Krnovel

＃Returner’s Notepad Episode 42

Stepping stones (1)

Saturday morning. A suite at Parascal’s only 4-star hotel. Asilen, the person in charge, is reporting to the association.

“… … Nothing special happened. “Except Dispel.”

There are only two participants in a video conference conducted on a laptop.

One is the person in charge,

—Dispel. Since it is an unpredictable magical phenomenon, I will exclude it.

The other is ‘Theia Itsil’, who was an external advisor to the College Board this year and was dispatched as a supervisor to resolve the situation.

Some magical phenomenon occurred during the College Board meeting, and a one-on-one interview was scheduled for no reason.

-but. They say a monster has been found.

“To be exact, it’s a trace.”

Asilen shrugged his shoulders and responded.

“When we found it, most of the bodies had been eaten by bears.”

—The monster was attacked by a bear. Because of the special situation called dispel. That’s convincing.

The drivers and investigators who were dispatched also assumed that, and in fact, in an environment where magical power cannot be used at all, the bear turns into an apex predator.

—Why the monster was there-

“He ran away. “I heard from an underworld representative, but I can’t pay for the surgery.”

It’s common. Those who have undergone cosmetic surgery in the underworld mistakenly believe that they will enjoy some kind of wealth and fame when they come to the surface.

I, the tough guy in the underworld, am the strongest on the continent?! What a rosy delusion.

Quite the contrary.

Monsters who come to the upper world, that is, the continent, are regarded as violating the gentleman’s agreement and are killed without questioning.

-okay. Contact person Asylene. We will not hold you responsible for the monitoring and management duties of the person in charge. The failure to detect foreign objects invading the assignment area was largely due to the university association’s omission.

That was when Theia had a very difficult time saying, ‘It’s not your fault, it’s the association’s fault.’

Ppakkaerong-!

The smartphone rang. Asilen was startled and turned off the smartphone on her desk. She gulped – she swallowed and looked at her monitor.

—… … .

Theia’s eyes were already cold.

X is done.

I touched the disgust of a young old man.

—Reporting. I’m also at work. Silence your cell phone. It would be basic.

“… … sorry. I’m an investigator, right? so… … “An important request has arrived.”

Asilen is an active knight of the third rank and an investigator for the University Association.

The University Association is too large to be simply an ‘association’, so it has its own organizations for various purposes, and the Congress also tolerates it, and Asylene is part of the Investigation Department.

—It must be a very important arrangement. That’s how it should be. certainly.

Amid the young man’s panic, Asilen carefully checked the text message.

Fortunately, it was quite, no, incredibly important news.

“‘Noah Lucille’… … “It says so.”

Noah Lucille.

A serial killer who killed as many as 77 people, and a top-class violent criminal who escaped from Lecordak XIII a year ago.

It was a message from an underworld representative who had heard the sighting.

—It’s worth it.

Fortunately, it is a big name that even Theia Itsil recognizes. Well, it is the ‘Ghost of Mirinae’ that once caused an uproar throughout the world.

Asilen sighed.

“Then can I go grade it?”

—Go and see. Enough about the interview.

Tolong-

Theia cut off communication first.

“… … Ugh, old man. “He always hung up first, telling me to go.”

Asilen shook her head and listened to the report. He scribbled 22 wads of paper.

“It must have been difficult~”

As expected, it was a total mess. Most teams decided that the mana attribute was ‘water’, and the reason was also unclear.

“What kind of goblin are you talking about?”

One team even wrote a bullshit story about goblins being discovered in this mountain.

Whoosh- whoosh-

While Asylene was grading with a red pen, a name suddenly caught her eye.

“uh? “Is this them?”

Zion Askal. He received discretionary points from the paper bird observation, and actually came alone in this team play.

Asilen opened the report with an interested face.

[◆ Mana

: The concentration of mana in the air of Foggy Mountain is more than three times the average on the continent, and it is estimated that mana contains spiritual energy… … .

(syncopation)

… … Therefore, this fog is not a phenomenon made of moisture. Magic power imbued with spirit. In other words, the spores emitted by the mushroom are a byproduct of mixing with the mana in the air.]

“Omg~ I thought about it right away?”

Foggy Mountain was the most difficult exploration area. Finding out the property of ‘spirit’ is difficult, but the killing point is linking that property with fungi.

[However, all the beasts and monsters in the Foggy Mountain eat mushrooms as their staple food. They may already be infected with mushroom spores.]

It even caught spore infections.

It is almost similar to the content surveyed by professional association personnel. No, how does a guy with a D- GPA do so well on the College Board? What a strange character.

[◆ Dispel]

There was even a ‘dispel’ section in the report. Dispel was a phenomenon unrelated to exploration, so there was no need to analyze it.

I read Asylene first.

[First of all, fungi have a spirit will. It is no different from ‘consciousness.’ It is possible to think and act like a human.]

Scrap- I turned the page.

[I saw the scene of Dispel. Natural mana formed a special magic power, and spores were mixed in it. In other words, the fungus of Mist Mountain was clearly involved and was able to participate in the magic phenomenon called Dispel.]

I read the following with interest.

[But why didn’t they stop Dispel? Why did it become an axis of nature and cause a dispel?]

[That’s because they are alive, I guess.]

Asilen’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

[Fungi made the mountain ecology their own. But their consciousness was not satisfied at that point. They wanted to become more prolific, and to do so they released spores. So that your spores can go outside the mountain and coil up in another area… … .]

[However, the mana concentration outside the foggy mountain was infinitely lower than that of the foggy mountain. Because of this, the spores withered the moment they left the mountain, and instead of being able to go out, they became fog and became trapped in the mountain. This is why the fog has become thick on this mountain.]

As to why Mist Mountain became Mist Mountain, Sion Askal guessed the cause in his own way.

Quite convincingly.

[The conscious colony may have realized then. That they have no choice but to be trapped here forever. That their world is limited to this narrow mountain. As time passes and this acid becomes saturated, there is no choice but to wait for suffocation.]

Hmm – Asilen read the text with a small sigh.

[Therefore, they destroyed themselves before facing such a slow death.]

This was now the last page of the report.

[Therefore, Dispel was not simply a phenomenon created by natural coincidence.]

[It was the method of suicide they attempted themselves.]

[Rather than die slowly, they tried to let the world know that they existed. Ironically, they proved their consciousness and right to self-determination through a self-destructive magical phenomenon called dispel… … .]

“… … “It’s suicide.”

Asilen muttered quietly. It was a very interesting report. It’s a senior topic and gives people in charge something to think about.

“Good job.”

This time, it deserves to be selected as a top-notch model answer. Why, it is a teaching aid that is released by private education companies when solving College Board past questions.

“congrats.”

Asylene drew large circles all over the report.

It meant a perfect score.

* * *

Saturday. A precious weekend where you can lie in bed and relax.

I am suffering from growing pains.

My joints feel like they’re twisted 360 degrees, and my skin feels like it’s going to tear. Won’t your organs get ripped off like this?

Tiring-

Then a text message came. He stretched out his creaky arm and picked up the smartphone.

[I sent you a draft, please check it]

“What kind of rough draft is this?”

After narrowing it down, I realized it was a number I didn’t know.

Tiring-

[It has to be announced next Tuesday, so make sure you are familiar with it.]

But I think I can tell who it is just by looking at the way they speak.

Elisene.

“This crazy woman is banging on the pole and suddenly…” … .”

I’m dying from pain. I threw away my smartphone and buried myself in bed again.

Then the door opened.

“hey. Are you okay?”

It was old man Veltos. The old man was holding a pole in one hand.

“… … “What is that?”

“It’s a painkiller.”

“oh?”

Painkillers. Was old Beltos a person who expressed his emotions so honestly?

“how did you know? “I’m sick.”

Of course it won’t help. Because it’s not a pain that can be endured with painkillers.

In fact, if this growing pain had not occurred before the regression, I would have already passed out. You endure it with your mental strength.

“The whining sound of a lost dog can be heard all the way to the basement.”

“… … okay?”

I scratched the back of my neck and looked at the painkillers. It was ordinary tarinlenol.

Tiring-

[Are you familiar with it? Why aren’t you replying after reading it?]

It was Elise again. I just ignored it.

Old Man Beltos asked.

“Do you plan to live here for the rest of your life?”

“what… … . “Until you get caught?”

If I get discovered by the school, then I will find a monthly rental house. Even the monthly rent is a waste now.

“But what about here? “Didn’t you make it well?”

My room has a bit of a winter lodge style. It’s made of recycled wood, so the color isn’t pretty, but it has everything you need, including a bed, table, chairs, and fireplace.

“… … “It’s better than the basement.”

Old Man Beltos turned around pointedly. I smiled and took the painkiller.

Well, I don’t know how much it will help.

Tiring-

[EasyCash. The rider has set off to collect the goods!]

[After 1 hour and 37 minutes, you will arrive at the designated location.]

It’s a dark web alert saying they’re coming to get Mandragora.

Then you can’t sit like this.

I blew Perion on Tarinlenol tablets. To ‘amplify’ the analgesic effect of painkillers.

“It feels a little uncomfortable, but… … .”

Using Perion indirectly like this will have far fewer side effects than using it directly on the body.

Wagjag-

After chewing two eggs, I got up.

“… … let’s go.”

It hurt like hell until I got dressed to go out, but the medicine took effect quickly. After about 10 minutes, he was able to walk reasonably well.

Tiring-

[hello? I asked you if you understood it, right?]

I read Elise’s message.

* * *

Cadillac Hills, a wealthy neighborhood about 40 minutes by bus from Endex.

I’m sitting on a park bench in that wealthy town, quietly catching my breath.

With his hands in his pockets and his hood pulled over, he waits while watching the rich people walking their dogs or jogging.

[Rider is nearby!]

At the same time as that notification, I-

stump.

People pretending to approach by stepping on the ground.

I clung to the bench, pretending like nothing was wrong. He pointed to the triple vacuum box containing the mandragora. Someone quietly approached me, sat down next to me, and put it in a paper bag.

It’s literally a paper bag. Why a bag the size of a sandwich?

The triple vacuum box fit into it.

After all, this is a dark web rider.

He played with his smartphone and quietly disappeared.

Tiring-

[Rider has collected the items!]

As such, the core of the dark web is anonymity, honesty, and system. Anonymity and honesty seem to be in opposition to each other, but they can be combined in a system.

The dark web application itself is an underground ‘system’ that connects anonymity and honesty. In just 5 to 6 years, it will quickly emerge as a huge black company.

In that respect, I am also a bit of a pioneer. As of 2013, the app was released only two years ago.

[hey]

Then a text message came. This time it was Elise again.

[How many times did you ask me if I understood it?]

[You’re not replying?]

I’ve been reading it for about three hours. Elise is the type of person who hates reading more than not reading, so she does things she hates on purpose.

I was trying to put my smartphone back.

[I asked if you understood it!!!!!!!]

There were quite a few exclamation marks. I think you’re angry.

I chuckled and replied.

[Why do I have to follow your script?]

Tiring-

The answer came right away.

[You reply very quickly. Then why don’t you make it? Who knows what you want to do with a child?]

This time I answered sharply too.

[ㅗ]

“You’re not crazy!”

“… … ?”

At the same time, an evil voice echoed from somewhere in the park.

I looked over there. There was Elise in training clothes.

She wheezed and played with her fingers.

Tiring-

[Are you crazy? Don’t you know that if you don’t cooperate, only you will suffer? Kariv Board You should at least take good care of culture on such a simple topic… … ]

I picked up a light piece of rock. Swish I threw it there. Drawing a parabola, tap-.

It landed gently on the top of Elise’s head.

“… … huh?”

Elise lifted her head up. I hesitate and look up here and there at the bare trees and clear sky.

He threw another rock at her.

Talk-

“Ugh, what is it… … ?”

I glanced around with a blank face, and found this place a little later.

“uh. “Here.”

I waved my hand and took off my hood.

“Let’s do it right away since we met. “What do you need me to know?”

At that moment, Elise’s face became as ferocious as a demon.