Hermit Wizard

Wizard’s Name (2)

Kim Kyung-hwan thought with a blank head. What was that all of a sudden?

“We already know the real alien who has been verified to have come from another world beyond the Channel. I mean the Kaifu.”

He nodded slowly. Hwang Soo-rim said without looking forward.

“The experience of talking with Kaifu at the training center and the experience of talking with Eraser. Compare it well. We mostly talk with him in the dreams, but the dreams become vivid like reality after Eraser appears. So, you can easily recall them.”

It was true. The moment he appeared, the dream turned into a lucid dream where he didn’t wake up. It was rare to be dimmed or not as well remembered as other dreams.

Kim Kyung-hwan recalled the conversation he had with Eraser. Twenty-three eyes were looking at him, and a small mouth. A mysterious voice that was in a dream but heard vividly as if it were reality. As he remembered, he soon realized what Hwang Soo-rim was trying to say.

“… It can’t be?”

“Yeah. What was the biggest difference between Kaifu and Eraser? Aside from teaching methods, think about when the conversation got longer. Focus on the reaction you heard and think about them.”

He covered his face with his hands and said, groaning.

“Yeah, it was completely different. Oh, my God.”

Kaifu and Eraser—the biggest difference between the two was…

Hwang Soo-rim said in a cold voice.

“It’s been a little over a year since the Channel first opened. Even the aliens have limitations in learning languages. It’s not just a matter of words or grammar. Cultural background in one sentence, and knowledge of the world called Earth… For a smooth conversation, these things have to be supported.”

She continued her words.

“When I talk to Kaifu Instructors, I always pay attention to my words. Kaifu uses telepathy, so we had no problem understanding it, but the opposite direction was a problem. We spoke by voice, and Kaifu had to study and understand the language. Actually, I think it’s more like a genius to learn that much in a short time.”

The young man nodded helplessly.

“No, by human standards, it’s a genius. As Kaifus were originally wizards, it would’ve been possible since their heads rolled well, and because they were nobles, they would’ve been used to learning and studying something.”

Hwang Soo-rim shrugged.

“No matter how genius they are, there is an absolute limit of time. So, I avoided saying anything they couldn’t understand. Rather, there was no problem with the technical terms related to magic, but when talking about other topics, you had to select the words properly to communicate.”

“… Yeah. That’s right.”

When speaking Korean to foreigners, I had to choose simple words to make it easier for the Kaifu to understood. Otherwise, it would be hard for them.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but one of the most frequent problems, when the training center was first opened, was related to idioms. When the trainees said ‘what a headache’ like a habit during class, the Kaifu instructors freaked out and took it very seriously.”

Kim Kyung-hwan entered the training center late and hadn’t experienced it in person, but it was a case he had heard of.

“In their civilizations, when they say that their head hurts, it doesn’t mean they’re struggling to understand difficult concepts. They only mean they’re feeling real physical pain. Do you know what the most common example of such a Kaifu having a headache without trauma is? It’s a case of infection by a larva of a fly-like creature called ‘Salimycenia.’ The larva enters the body through the ears and then scours the inside of the skull. Yeah, it’s like a maggot that eats brains.”

The larva appeared to be the subject of great fear and vigilance for the Kaifu.

“The Kaifu instructors were shocked and turned upside down when they first heard about the students having a headache.”

It seemed to be highly contagious. Hwang Soo-rim continued to explain in a calm voice.

“… A misunderstanding and trouble arose from such a small thing. It’s not just because the nationalities are different, but because the races are different.”

Kim Kyung-hwan already understood what she was trying to say.

“However…”

Hwang Soo-rim asked as if she confirmed the unspoken.

“When talking to Eraser, have you ever felt so uncomfortable even once? Has Eraser ever asked you a concept as if he didn’t understand what you’re saying?”

No, he hadn’t. Not even once.

Kim Kyung-hwan’s face was distorted.

“At first, I doubted that he was reading my thoughts. But as time passed, I found out. Reading someone’s mind isn’t that simple. And even more against an opponent who learned magic like us who’s strengthened our mental barrier.”

She tilted her head and added while her gaze turned to the air.

“So next, I thought it was probably because it was a special environment called a dream. I wondered if my thoughts were leaking out without my knowledge since the magic that appears in someone else’s dream itself is something that I cannot grasp the principle.”

“…”

“The day Hun-neung was attacked, I had a conversation with Eraser in real life for the first time. The place was no longer in a dream. At that time, after all, this felt a little weird. I couldn’t hold back my doubts anymore.”

She continued.

“It was the same after escaping the barrier of Hun-neung. I felt it again and again. Eraser’s language skills were perfect. To understand what I’m saying, to speak directly. Either way.”

Her eyes shone.

“It’s not just that there are no errors in what he said. Well, the pronunciation was a bit unclear and clumsy. His voice is also peculiar so that you wouldn’t have noticed it easily. However, don’t be fooled by dull pronunciation or unique voice. Just think of the sentence itself, and you’ll realize it’s incredibly smooth.”

He had no choice but to understand her words.

“Is that all? You saw that day, didn’t you? Talking fox and bear.”

“… I did.”

“The two talked in an old way. Eraser didn’t have any trouble even talking to them. I’ll say it again. It’s only been over a year since the Channel opened.”

“…”

“If you think about the period, it’s impossible. After all, it means that he had lived in this world even before the Channel opened.”

Hwang Soo-rim said.

“Perhaps he has lived in this country for a long time, not for a year.”

“…”

It wasn’t that Kim Kyung-hwan overlooked the facts she pointed out.

During the time he was taught by Eraser, he just thought there would be some way. Even though he was an alien, he had no obstacles with communicating with himself since he was a foreign entity superior to the Kaifu. Eraser was Eraser, after all.

He had never thought about that deeply. He might’ve just avoided thinking about the parts he didn’t want to think about.

Hwang Soo-rim said with confidence, “I finally came to this conclusion. At least, it’s a lie that he was from another world.”

She nodded and gave strength to her own words.

“Like the fox or the bear who we saw that day, I wondered if it was a spirit rooted in this world. That fox had nine tails, right? Why isn’t there a nine-tailed fox in that place with an alien race? I vaguely speculated that the Eraser might be something similar, but it became clear when I heard you today. If the jellyfish were true, he’s a human being.”

Kim Kyung-hwan covered his face with both hands, and he muttered sadly.

“… I’m such an idiot!”

What Eraser said lingered in his ears. Did he say that the alien’s goal was to spread magic to other worlds? The mission of the alien?

Eraser already lied to himself. It was also absurd to thought about it that time that there was only Kim Kyung-hwan in the world who learned his magic. Hwang Soo-rim, sitting right next to him, was the evidence.

No. Since he thought about it, in the first place, if the purpose was to spread magic, what was the need to pass it on to only one person? What if that only person died or something went wrong?

He had already lied openly, but there was no reason he couldn’t tell another lie, like, for example, something like Eraser’s own identity.

“Aaaah!”

He was upset since he was so pathetic. He was so angry that his eyes went dark. His body heated up and sweated. His wet shirt clung to his back.

Kim Kyung-hwan crushed his face with his palm and mumbled something difficult to understand. He then suddenly raised his head and said.

“… But it’s weird. How can humans use such magic? As you said, it’s only been more than a year since the Channel opened. I don’t know which alien he learned magic from, but he’s been like that for only a year!”

“Magic origins are not from another dimension, you idiot. This ‘human,’ called Eraser, knew how to use magic even before the Channel opened, maybe.”

It was a possibility Kim Kyung-hwan had never imagined.

“Probably… there must’ve been a backside of the Earth that we don’t know. Even before the Channel opened, there must’ve been a society where the fox and the bear lived. I think Eraser somehow got involved with the back of the world. Maybe he learned magic from them… long before the Channel opened.”

“Nonsense. It’s so absurd.”

“Anyway, everything in this world is absurd.”

“If he’s with a fox or a bear, isn’t Eraser like a spirit after all? It looks weird, anyway. Why did Carraderina call Eraser a human being?”

Hwang Soo-rim mentioned once more the fact that Kim Kyung-hwan didn’t know.

“The appearance must’ve been transformed with magic, and I think Eraser isn’t the same group as the animals in the first place. It’s kind of a partnership.”

Hwang Soo-rim had been in contact with a crane named Song Hyun for a while and drank the poison she got from it. It was to create a situation where the government had no choice but to terminate her contract and let her go.

After the escape from Hun-neung, Eraser wanted Hwang Soo-rim to leave the government. Hwang Soo-rim was speculating that Eraser had thought that Kim Kyung-hwan was enough to spy on the government’s movements for the long term.

Whenever she met Song Hyun, Hwang Soo-rim asked something like that. The crane often avoided clear answers, but there wasn’t much information that it unknowingly shed. Song Hyun had talked several times about the relationship between their people and Eraser, which was interpreted as not the same team.

Kim Kyung-hwan, who was clearing up his confusing mind, suddenly said.

“If he’s a human being, the what the hell? What is the purpose? What if I ask Eraser directly?”

“What for?”

Hwang Soo-rim said with a frown.

“Are you going to dig in? Are you crazy? Didn’t you see what that monster did to Hun-neung? Honestly, I’m more scared of Eraser than the mad killers who raided the training camp that day. It doesn’t matter whether he’s human or not. I don’t know what kind of crazy spell aftermath he did there that day, but you saw it, too!”

Kim Kyung-hwan trembled. What Eraser did at the Hun-neung Training Center that day was close to collapsing the huge space itself, literally a few kilometers in radius. The world has collapsed. The unidentified armed group, which violated the training center with overwhelming force, was also devastated like a rat in front of Eraser.

“I don’t have to offend him. I’m sure you’re the same, but I signed a contract with Eraser, and the magical bond has not yet been broken. If I achieve my desired purpose through him, that’s it. Honestly, I don’t know who he is or what his real purpose is, but I do believe that even he must obey this contract. There would’ve been a much easier way to control us at his will.”

Kim Kyung-hwan didn’t disagree with her opinion. There would’ve been many easy options using force other than that complicated and troublesome method to use in the long-term. At least, from the perspective of Eraser himself. He didn’t know why, but he felt like Eraser was trying to follow the contract as much as possible.

“I’ll say it again. It doesn’t matter who he is, but you need to pass on the information you learned today.”

“Hmm?”

“That jellyfish is looking for a human with a Channel opened on the chest. You need to inform Eraser. It’s shameless, after all. If you keep it a secret for no reason and notice him late, you’ll be more afraid of the aftermath… maybe he’s not taking you out of the government to prepare you for this situation in the first place? Is that too much of a leap?”

She only guessed so, but she didn’t know the exact reason.

“Anyway, is there any way to contact Eraser?”

She quietly nodded.

“I will tell him as you said.”

“… Okay.”

“By the way, Kim Kyung-hwan. Let me ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Hwang Soo-rim asked him with a dark look as if she had complicated thoughts.

“I have something I want, so I’ve signed a contract, and I continue helping Eraser… No, to be exact, I’m being called on. Anyway…”

She shrugged.

“What the hell did you sign with Eraser?”

“… You go first.”

Kim Kyung-hwan didn’t open his mouth easily. Hwang Soo-rim responded without changing her eyes.

“There are jerks that don’t mind to kill, but I can’t find them on my own. Instead of helping me and teaching me magic, I’m on a condition that I perform some of the missions that Eraser directs.”

There were precisely two more missions left, and after telling such a detailed story from her mouth, Hwang Soo-rim turned the question around.

“How about you?”

Kim Kyung-hwan replied.

“… It’s similar to you. Eraser is supposed to teach me magic. To the point where my limits permit.”

There was no teaching those days since there was a unilaterally advantageous clause to one side that the number and frequency of classes could be adjusted according to Eraser’s circumstances.

“Then what is the price? What kind of mission do you have to do?”

“… None.”

“What?”

“There is no such clause like you… I just need to keep a good secret about Eraser.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

Hwang Soo-rim shouted dumbfounded.

“Oh, fuck, it’s so unfair! I have to roll like a dog the way Eraser tells me. Why are you so comfortable? It’s like being taught for free!”

Hwang Soo-rim felt a swell in her chest. It was the same as saying “two mission” remained, and to be precise, “two orders” remained. That was an important difference in meaning.

In fact, the boundaries defining one mission were very blurry. Even if she were forced to do something, a procedure that amounted to a few pages of the contract when Eraser was giving an order, it was counted as a ‘one mission.’ Again, it was an unfair contract that was unilaterally advantageous to Eraser.

She had no choice but to lament in her heart. That was too much discrimination. Why did Eraser do such kind of favor to that guy?!

“Hmm?”

Hwang Soo-rim was puzzled and raised her eyebrows. From the point of view of Kim Kyung-hwan, he heard the good news that he signed a contract with better terms than others, but his face was still pale.

“… I guess I wasn’t very useful in the first place. He didn’t have to think about using me to do a mission or something.”

Hearing that, Hwang Soo-rim made an ambiguous expression that was not easy to tell whether she was angry or not.

Oh, that guy, he’s hopeless. Instead of spitting out the words in her mind, Hwang Soo-rim comforted Kim Kyung-hwan in her own way.

“… It’s enough. How can you guess what such a man is thinking about? Maybe he’s a human, but he must be a monstrous old man who has lived for over a few hundred years, right? What if his real name turns out to be Merlin? Maybe he has lived so long that he has almost lost his humanity. It’s understandable to have that much power.”

Kim Kyung-hwan responded with a bitter smile.

“Yeah. That’s possible, too. At least he’s not the same age as us.”

Hwang Soo-rim promised again that she would deliver Kim Kyung-hwan’s words to Eraser. She then unwrapped the barriers surrounding them. In the bodyguards’ eyes, the two seemed to sit side by side without saying a word.

To avoid unnecessary suspicion, Kim Kyung-hwan acted as if he had barely dared to speak out. A few words scattered into the atmosphere. Hwang Soo-rim, whom the barrier could no longer disguise, bowed her head and trembled like a frightened and daunted person. In that state, she sat still without responding properly to Kim Kyung-hwan’s words.

The two sat side by side for a few more minutes until Kim Kyung-hwan, tired of non-response, finally gave up and said goodbye. Kim Kyung-hwan lived in the government’s safe house, and Hwang Soo-rim moved to the house where she lived before admission. Each bodyguard guarded the surroundings. Neither of them looked back.