The Special Response Section Team Three office.

Lee Hyeeun, one of the female operatives, looked surprised to see Sion arrive at work after resting at home.

“Team Leader Sion? You came in? Aren’t you on leave today?”

“Yes, but I have some materials to collect and things to think over.”

Team Leader Park handed her the materials she had requested and spoke with an annoyed expression.

“Having someone come in on their day off makes the rest of us feel awkward. Take your materials and go.”

“Understood. Thank you for the materials.”

That certainly could be the case. Sion nodded.

Then Team Leader Park took out a laptop and showed it to her.

“Never mind. Have a coffee before you go, since you’re here. There was something I wanted to show you when you came in, anyway.”

Hyeeun leaned in beside them, looked at the website on the laptop screen, and asked Team Leader Park a question.

[Mage Net]

“Wow... What a lame name. What is this?”

“A site those magicians and magician hunters like to use.”

Sion’s eyes narrowed.

‘Magician hunters.’

Originally, that nickname had referred to Father Yohan of the Vatican, who had been active during the First and Second World Wars—the owner of the grimoires <The Book of the Angel Raziel>, <The Eighth Book of Moses>, and <The Key of Solomon>, and the terror of the uncanny and magicians alike.

Now, however, the term was also used for hunters who killed magicians for the bounties on their heads or the artifacts they possessed.

Magicians who remembered Father Yohan’s active years mocked those hunters as self-styled magician hunters, though.

With those thoughts in mind, Sion explained to Hyeeun.

“Most of the information discussed here concerns Europe, where the magician population is larger.”

“However, well-known magicians are invited to another site, which is rumored to have been created by a demon, and use that instead. So this isn’t a site where you can obtain particularly significant information.”

[Mage Net] was a site created by lower-tier magicians to share information and conduct trades, where hunters with one foot in the occult and the other in ordinary reality gathered.

Of course, government agencies from various countries also monitored their activities there, picking up minor rumors and information.

... And then Sion saw the information Team Leader Park was showing her, a recent hot topic on the site.

[Owner of the grimoire <Mysteries of the Worm> – Estimated location: Korea, Bounty: three billion won]

Her eyes widened slightly, then narrowed again.

“... Excuse me for a moment.”

She immediately searched the site for other information... Fortunately, nothing about <The Lesser Key of Solomon> or its owner, Yohan, had been leaked.

What she could infer was that, given the release of the information the Special Response Section had discovered about <Mysteries of the Worm>, someone was selling information outside the organization. At least, however, none of the internal personnel with whom Sion had shared Yohan’s information for the sake of cooperation were selling it.

Sion let out a relieved breath.

“Whew...”

It was not certain yet, but it was a relief.

Lee Hyeeun spoke as she read the bounty information.

“The owner of <Mysteries of the Worm>... Isn’t that the man called Kim Yohan whom you suspect is its real owner, Team Leader Sion?”

Team Leader Park answered for her in an indifferent voice.

“Solomon... That name’s too long. He’s been confirmed as the owner of <Lemegeton>, so that rules him out, though.”

Sion nodded slowly.

“... That’s right.”

Apart from a few exceptional cases like Father Yohan of the Vatican, magicians ordinarily possessed one grimoire each.

Grimoires were dangerous magical objects to handle. Besides, top-class grimoires like <The Lesser Key of Solomon> and <Mysteries of the Worm> would never tolerate another grimoire’s presence.

“...”

And yet, for some reason... she recalled what Yohan had shown her inside [Harem Academy].

The sight of him mocking Gremory, the student council president, and unleashing magic to destroy that false world.

Sion’s calm eyes narrowed as she sank into thought.

She had apprehended criminal magicians on several occasions, but Yohan was incomparably more impressive than any magician she had ever seen.

He was only working as a freelance exorcist because there were so few magicians in Korea. Had he been active in Europe, where magical schools and families flourished, one of two things would have happened.

Either they would have tried to kill him immediately, before he could grow any further, or the head of a school would have rushed over in person to take him as a personal disciple and the next head.

A magical family would have lined up its women and told him to pick whichever he liked, adding that a man was fine too—anything to bring him into the family.

Of course, that was an exaggerated joke, but what Yohan had shown her really was that impressive.

‘I shouldn’t be suspicious...’

But wasn’t Yohan the only person in this country whom <Mysteries of the Worm> would choose as its master?

Might he own more than one grimoire, like those few exceptional cases?

... She found herself wondering despite having no evidence at all.

Regardless of those thoughts, however, Sion looked at [Mage Net] and once again felt relieved that Yohan’s information was not circulating on a site crawling with murderous mercenaries.

It was a feeling distinct from her suspicions about his ownership of a grimoire, or the distracting awareness she felt when she saw his face.

“...”

Sion brought a hand to her lips and thought of Yohan.

He insisted that it was work and that there was no reason to thank him, but she remembered how seriously he had taken the task of eliminating the uncanny... although his methods had admittedly been somewhat shocking.

She also remembered the jokes he had casually tossed out now and then.

* * *

<The Books of Moses>

A ten-volume collection chronicling the life of Moses. Volumes One through Five were ordinary books, while Volumes Six through Ten were grimoires.

The rabbis responsible for storing and caring for <The Books of Moses> were currently celebrating.

<The Eighth Book of Moses>, which had disappeared without a trace, had returned of its own accord.

Meanwhile, where the grimoires were kept, the Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Books of Moses glowed as they spoke to the Eighth Book.

The Eighth Book glowed in turn, answering its sibling grimoires.

Translated into human speech, their exchange might have gone something like this.

‘Mo-mo-mo? Mo-mo-mo-mo-mo—mo-mo?’

Hadn’t you said you found someone like our old master and were going to meet him?

‘Ses-ses-ses—ses-ses-ses-ses-ses-ses... ses-ses-ses!’

Raziel suggested we go meet him, so I went. He was a little different. He was attractive, but... get this! That psycho-crazy grimoire, Mysteries of the Worm, was there, so I just came back.

... Meanwhile, at Yohan’s secret workshop, formerly Kim Miryeo’s secret workshop.

On the table, the grimoires <Mysteries of the Worm> / <The Lesser Key of Solomon> stood upright, facing each other.

HUMMM!

FLAP!

They opened simultaneously, slamming their covers together!

THUD!

HUMMM! HUMMM!

<Mysteries of the Worm> vibrated unhappily.

It was sulking because Yohan had recently been spending more time reading <The Lesser Key of Solomon> to memorize the pentacle designs.

It had been chosen first! The two of them had had such fun together!

Before, even the way he threw it had been full of affection. These days, he seemed to toss it carelessly.

Naturally, this was a delusion. Yohan had always thrown both <Mysteries of the Worm> and <The Lesser Key of Solomon> with irritation.

HUMMM!!

Anyway, <Mysteries of the Worm> glared at <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, which had recently stolen its master’s attention.

They were roughly equal in power, so neither could do anything to the other.

Besides, they were both Yohan’s grimoires.

... And then I blinked at the grimoires as they suddenly began flapping their pages and squabbling.

“... What’s going on?”

I picked up <Mysteries of the Worm> and separated them. In my hand, it vibrated contentedly.

HUMMM.

<The Lesser Key of Solomon> looked at <Mysteries of the Worm> as if it were pathetic.

Anyway, I opened <Mysteries of the Worm> in my hands and read it.

I had been focusing exclusively on pentacle magic lately, and now that I had found [Mephisto Market], where I could obtain magical ingredients, I intended to try making one of the artifacts—a magical tool—described in <Mysteries of the Worm>.

Perhaps because <Mysteries of the Worm> had been written by a magician who had been a crusader, quite a few of its spells that did not draw on the Outer Gods were Catholic in nature or came from European folk magic.

The magical tool I would be making this time was a candleholder called the Hand of Glory, used by magicians who had chosen rogue as their subclass.

Lighting its candle would prevent other people from seeing the user.

An invisible magician and an invisible familiar.

A matching set with Grizzly.

One essential ingredient was the hand of a hanged criminal... It had been so damn difficult to source that I had given up, but Mephisto Market sold them, so I decided to give it a try.

“Let’s see, what else do I need? Saltpeter, and... sesame seeds from Lapland?”

Saltpeter was potassium nitrate... But...

I blinked involuntarily.

Lapland? Where was Lapland? Wouldn’t Korean sesame seeds do?

I decided to get help as usual.

‘Help me, Google!’

Fortunately, an internet search readily told me where Lapland was.

It was the name of a region in northern Sweden.

When I checked the grimoire, its explanation read:

[The north is a land where the remnants of Odin, a pagan god of magic, remain strong. Plants that enhance magical effects thrive there, making them highly effective.]

... Well, if that was what it said, what choice did I have? I had to use them.

Fortunately, Mephisto Market sold Swedish sesame seeds as well.

I added the necessary items to my cart and placed the order on Mephisto Market. The package immediately arrived outside the secret workshop’s door.

There was just one problem.

Looking at an actual hand severed at the wrist from a human corpse, still dripping blood, I did not have some sudden realization like:

‘Wow... I really have become your average magician.’

No, it was because Grizzly saw the severed hand and mistook it for a snack.

“Gyaaa~.”

It began circling around me.