The Special Response Section Team Three office.

With the grimoire owner Kim Yohan assigned to Team Three as a civilian collaborator, team operative Lee Hyeeun had been studying grimoires to learn more about them. A question occurred to her, and she asked Sion.

“How does someone become a grimoire’s owner? Is it bloodline, after all? Talent?”

Now that the owner of <Lemegeton>, the world’s most famous grimoire, had appeared, the subject was on her mind.

“Well... surprisingly, bloodline isn’t an important factor.”

Sion pressed her index finger to her lips and thought for a moment before speaking.

“A grimoire may take an interest in its previous owner’s child, but that’s all it is—interest. If the child isn’t to its taste, it leaves.

“Even King Solomon’s son Rehoboam only received <The Key of Solomon>, the grimoire Solomon made for him. Neither <The Book of the Angel Raziel> nor <Lemegeton> chose him as its owner.”

Sion continued her explanation in a calm voice. She had already known something about the subject, but after becoming Yohan’s liaison, she had sought out and read more records about grimoires.

“Magical talent matters too, but they seem to place more importance on their preferences. Isaac Newton, once Britain’s greatest magician, wasn’t a grimoire owner either.”

Hyeeun was startled for an entirely different reason.

“What? Newton? He was a magician?!”

“He’s called the first modern man, but he’s also called the last magician of the Middle Ages.”

Returning to the subject of Yohan’s grimoire, Hyeeun leaned forward until her chest rested against the desk, stretched her arms far out in front of her, and sighed.

“... This Kim Yohan fellow was chosen by King Solomon’s grimoire, so he won’t cause trouble, right? ... I don’t want more work.”

“I’m not so sure about that. King Solomon himself wasn’t a perfectly good man to begin with.”

“What? But he’s even in children’s stories!”

“Those mostly take only the good parts.”

Solomon, son of David—an essential figure in the mysteries of magic.

He was by no means an evil man or an incompetent king. But was he an entirely virtuous, kindhearted man...? Not that, either.

‘He whom God loves.’

Blessed with great wisdom and love by God, he became the owner of <The Book of the Angel Raziel>, developed magic of his own, and used its power to subjugate seventy-two demons: the kings, grand dukes, generals, and nobles of Hell.

He ruled his people with wisdom and brought prosperity to the kingdom of Israel.

... And he was arrogant.

A genius magician-king who deceived even Heaven itself.

For short: enter Solomon, the Heavenly Magician!

Despite enjoying God’s favor, he took countless beautiful foreign concubines who worshipped other gods, and spent his accumulated wealth freely on his own pleasures.

‘I don’t even listen to my own mom and dad!’

Though he wielded God’s power and authority, he disobeyed and ignored His words.

“Oh no...”

Seeing Hyeeun’s dejected expression, Sion added,

“Still, having gone on a mission with Mr. Yohan, I don’t believe he’s the sort to cause trouble. Don’t worry too much.”

Yohan always tried to act rationally. And...

Sion recalled him shattering the demon’s false world with the light of a pentacle.

He had truly looked the part of the owner of <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, a grimoire crafted by Solomon himself.

After all, <Lemegeton> was a grimoire for ruling and subjugating demons, not worshipping their power.

“...”

Still... that didn’t mean he wouldn’t cause trouble.

He didn’t cause trouble recklessly, but if he set his mind to it, he could cause all the trouble he wanted. Especially if Sion’s wild speculation was right, and he also owned <Mysteries of the Worm>.

“Shall we take a moment for some coffee?”

In any case, Sion soothed Hyeeun with reassuring words, then checked the mission documents in front of her for the upcoming operation.

‘Table of the Great Ones.’

The documents concerned Chairman Kim, now confirmed to be a cannibal magician.

* * *

The streets were chilly on that winter night.

As we headed toward the bus stop, Sua chattered to me in a bright voice.

“Mister, when are you going to have dinner with Sister Ellie?”

I gave her a casual answer.

“Sister Ellie only offered to buy me a meal to be polite. She’d be put on the spot if I actually called.”

“Hmm~ I don’t think she was just being polite. Sometimes she enters your number into her phone, then stops herself before calling.”

“Really?”

Ellie had offered to buy me a meal after the camp incident was over. Had she really meant it?

TAP, TAP.

As she walked, Sua glanced down at the bottle of holy water in her hand.

“I know it’s a little late to ask... but does magical power—the power you use to perform magic—really exist?”

Since this was a question about her magic lessons, I gave my answer some thought.

“This might not be the right analogy, but to borrow Newton’s words on gravity—”

‘I do not know what causes gravity. But it is certain that some cause produces that force. And gravity truly exists and acts according to laws, which is enough.’

“I don’t know why magic happens. But it does happen. So magical power exists.”

Sua looked up at my face and blinked.

“Newton? Were you a science student, mister? I thought you studied humanities.”

“... I did. And humanities students know who Newton is too.”

After all, Newton was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, philosopher, alchemist, and more—a versatile genius with multiple specialties who had a hand in everything.

At that point, he ought to have come across as insufferable, too.

But when his cat had kittens, he went and made another little door for them beside their mother’s cat flap, even though they could have used the same one. That gave him a charmingly clueless side.

Then he invested his entire fortune in South Sea stock and lost it all, howling his eyes out on the docks with the dead eyes of a frozen fish.

‘My entire fortune! You bastards! This is bullshit!!’

Even a genius was helpless against the irrationality of the stock market. He’d managed to acquire a human touch as well.

‘Isaac Newton! Are you the strongest even when it comes to being relatable?!’

Modern philosophers were so weak, while the philosophers of old were far too multitalented.

... Well, back then, if philosophy was genuinely all you could do, you’d simply starve to death. You had to be good at fighting or have some other skill.

Every philosopher whose name lived on... was a survivor.

Anyway.

Sua walked in thoughtful silence for a while, then spoke in a voice that sounded deliberately bright.

“I feel like I’ve barely learned one thing so far... A week won’t be nearly enough.”

“Mister, couldn’t you keep teaching me magic?”

She tilted her head slightly and looked up at me, perhaps deliberately doing that as well. Her black hair slipped smoothly down with the tilt.

For a moment, I thought, ‘She has nice hair.’

“Pay up.”

My answer was simple.

“If you want to learn more than this, doing a little assistant work won’t cover it.”

“Haha, I guess you’re right~.”

Sua laughed lightly, then murmured,

“I don’t think Dad would give me money if I said I was learning something weird like magic. ... No, maybe he wouldn’t care, since he isn’t interested.”

She took a few light steps ahead, stopped, and turned to look at me.

“Then, mister, would you like to have me?”

My eyes immediately narrowed. I assessed the situation in an instant.

‘Fuck. Is this bitch trying to ruin me?’

My eyes darted around, scanning our surroundings.

No one nearby was filming. What about Sua’s phone? Was it recording?

At my reaction, Sua continued with an incredulous expression.

“I didn’t mean it in a weird way. You know... in fairy tales, people sometimes offer their children as servants to an evil magician to get what they want.”

But perhaps she realized how strange that sounded herself, because she averted her eyes slightly.

“... That’s what I meant.”

I let out a small sigh.

“If anyone else heard that, they could easily get the wrong idea and think I’m scum.”

“All right, I’m sorry. ... So what do you think?”

I stared quietly at Sua standing in front of me.

“...”

I didn’t know the details, but I could roughly guess from what she’d said so far.

I didn’t know what had happened between Sua and her father, nor did I care. But he was neglecting her.

He gave her the money she needed, but no attention.

She probably hated spending her father’s money under those circumstances, even if she didn’t show it.

My eyes narrowed into a frown on their own.

... Even so, this annoyed me.

I didn’t have to do this, but I was her magic teacher right now, so I looked her squarely in the face and spoke seriously.

“I’m saying this because it annoys me. Don’t say things like that so casually.”

I valued myself above all else. The first person anyone ought to look after was themselves.

That was why seeing someone who didn’t value themselves upset me. It pissed me off.

“Value your own body, and try to take a more positive approach to life—”

VROOOM—CRASH!!

Then a black car charged onto the sidewalk and hit Yohan.

CRASH!!

The impact sent Yohan flying through a convenience store window, shattering it before he landed facedown.

Sua’s eyes widened in a daze.

“... M-Mister? Mister!”

Sua tried to run to Yohan, but Manager Kim, Chairman Kim’s subordinate, stepped straight out of the black car and seized her.

“The chairman has invited you. Come with us.”

“Let go!”

The two bodyguards following behind rushed over.

“Miss!”

Manager Kim drew a pistol fitted with a suppressor from inside his jacket and pulled the trigger twice.

BANG! BANG!

Neither bodyguard had expected him to fire a gun in the middle of the street. Just like that, both were dead.

One of Manager Kim’s men spoke hesitantly. There might not be many people around right now, but still...

“Uh, sir, this...”

“Of course it’s not okay.”

Manager Kim gritted his teeth and scowled.

“But Chairman Kim—that bastard’s completely lost his mind.”

“...”

“We’ll deal with the fallout later. If we don’t bring her in, we die.”

Manager Kim radioed the van following them and ordered its occupants to collect the bodies. Then he put Sua in the car and drove away as she stared in shock at Yohan and the fallen bodyguards.

SCREECH.

As soon as the black car left, two of Manager Kim’s men in black suits got out of the van and collected the bodies lying in the street.

They shoved the bodyguards’ corpses into the van, then approached Yohan.

The convenience store clerk, who had been crouching behind the counter in panic, cautiously emerged and asked,

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“What do you think? Taking him to the hospital.”

Manager Kim’s men gave that perfunctory answer and lifted Yohan’s body.

One of them noticed something strange.

‘... No injuries?’

He’d been hit by a car, yet somehow he looked fine.

But the man didn’t dwell on it. His coat must be hiding them, or his insides must be a mess.

They quickly loaded Yohan into the van as well. Then the two men took the driver’s and passenger’s seats and set off to dispose of the bodies.

“... Huh?”

... The driver’s eyes widened in surprise and horror.

“...”

In the rearview mirror, he saw Yohan—the man in the white coat they’d loaded in with the corpses—calmly open his eyes.

In his hand was a grotesque book with a black iron cover that hadn’t been there before.

THUD.

The van suddenly grew heavier and swayed.

“Wh-what? A-Aaagh?!”

The moment the man in the passenger seat cried out in surprise, a crushing sound rang out, and his head burst as though something had gripped it with tremendous force.

CRUNCH!

Blood spattered throughout the van. The driver was just about to scream.

“E-eek! Hah! Aah—”

“Don’t stop. Keep driving.”

A low, cold voice rang out.

In the rearview mirror, he could see black eyes burning with icy fury.

“But we’re not going to the hospital.”

Then came the growl of a beast that sounded angry.

“Graaah...”

The driver felt something close around his head and hold it.

Yet although something was definitely covering the front of his face... he could still see.

‘Transparent? Glass? Transparent?’