Chapter 80 - Power-Up! (3)

The Special Response Section operatives were astonished to hear that Shin Doryong had defeated the Greatest Under Heaven among China's martial artists, but he spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Well, Lee Munryong and I are both unofficial holders of the title, so neither of us has ever gotten anything out of it.”

Team Leader Park's astonishment gave way to disbelief as he looked at Shin Doryong.

“Wait... If you're the Greatest Under Heaven, you're the Greatest Under Heaven. What's this official and unofficial business?”

“It sounds ridiculous, but there really is a distinction. The families that practice breathing techniques in China's martial arts world get together to choose the official Greatest Under Heaven.”

Greatest Under Heaven—a title bestowed upon the strongest martial artist among practitioners of breathing techniques.

Contrary to its name, however, it wasn't decided entirely by martial prowess. The political influence of the warrior's family or school also played a part.

Of course, since the title was Greatest Under Heaven, the recipient did need to possess considerable skill. They were something like the representative of the Martial Alliance, the coalition to which China's martial artists belonged.

But one day, years ago, a spearman who had come over from Taiwan and begun making quite a name for himself barged into the gathering convened to select the Greatest Under Heaven.

It was Lee Munryong in his youth.

With a single spear, he defeated the representatives of every school and family, then successfully escaped their martial artists' pursuit. He had forced everyone assembled there to recognize the existence of a new Greatest Under Heaven.

Naturally, the martial schools and families refused to recognize Lee Munryong as the Greatest Under Heaven and put a bounty on him. He didn't care, and martial artists naturally began distinguishing between the official and unofficial holders.

Thus the unofficial title of Greatest Under Heaven came into being—a title taken through fighting alone, regardless of one's family or school.

Looking at Lee Munryong's photograph on the presentation screen, Shin Doryong continued.

“Besides, Lee Munryong acts on his whims and causes so much trouble that he's better known as the Wild Loose Cannon than as the Greatest Under Heaven. He's blacklisted in China's martial arts world.”

The tension eased from Team Leader Park's face as he spoke.

“... That nickname sounds like it should end with ‘Dazed and Confused.’”

“His skill is real. He's particularly good at hit-and-run tactics, so even someone stronger won't beat him easily.”

Shin Doryong narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

The epithet Wild Loose Cannon was funny, but this was someone who concerned Shin Doryong, effectively the strongest person in the Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena Countermeasures. Team Leader Park asked another question.

“Is there anything else we should be careful about?”

“It doesn't matter if you're going to fight him anyway, but if you're going to talk things out...”

Shin Doryong thought for a moment before speaking.

“Don't call him Chinese. His parents were beaten to death by Red Guards, so he hates China.”

“I see. ... But how do you know all this?”

“We had a drink together after our fight.”

Shin Doryong answered casually, leaving Team Leader Park looking incredulous.

“... Seriously, is this some martial arts novel?”

In any case, plenty of magicians had entered Korea illegally. The presentation moved on, and the meeting resumed.

Once the Special Response Section meeting ended, Shin Sion, the leader of Team Three—a black-haired woman with a composed, beautiful face—finished checking the people flagged for special attention. She rose from her seat and checked a message that had arrived on her phone during the meeting.

When she saw who had sent it, her calm gaze wavered slightly.

[Yohan: Do you have a minute? There's something I'd like to discuss with you.]

'Yohan wants to discuss something? Has something happened to him?'

Perhaps it was a problem involving the magicians who had recently entered Korea illegally. After all, Yohan was the master of <The Lesser Key of Solomon - Lemegeton>, the most famous grimoire in the magical world.

Matters concerning Yohan, a grimoire master and civilian collaborator with the Special Response Section, were Team Three's responsibility—and effectively Sion's own.

“...”

... And quite apart from that responsibility, she found herself thinking about him.

Sion called Yohan immediately.

BRRR...

After a brief ring, his calm voice came over the phone.

[“... Hey, do you have a minute? I had a few things to ask.”]

“Yes, Yohan. I do. Please give me a moment. I'll move somewhere else.”

[“No, it's not really important enough for you to move.”]

“It's no trouble.”

Yohan seemed to be all right. Sion breathed a sigh of relief, gathered the meeting materials, and left the Special Response Section's conference room.

* * *

I stood in front of a building and sighed.

“Haa...”

It looked ordinary from the outside, but inside...

Sion emerged from the building wearing the Special Response Section's black suit.

“You're here, Yohan. Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

... It was a training facility belonging to the Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena Countermeasures.

“Your directions were good. I had no trouble.”

I might be walking straight into the tiger's den... but I didn't let it show as I followed Sion inside.

“... Thanks for doing me this favor.”

“Not at all. Now that I think about it, this is something I should have done for you already. I'm sorry it took so long.”

Sion handed the paperwork she had prepared to a staff member, then gave me an access pass.

“Please wear this around your neck. Even with a pass, though, you should stay close to me whenever possible. If you need to use the restroom, I'll wait outside, so please don't hesitate to tell me.”

I obediently nodded as I listened to her safety instructions. Following her farther inside brought us to an indoor shooting range.

“...”

I wasn't sure this was the right thing to do... No, it was definitely necessary.

Sion's calm voice rang out in the shooting range.

“Yohan, please put on your protective equipment first.”

Yes, I had come here as a civilian collaborator with the Special Response Section to receive handgun training from Sion.

To briefly explain how I had ended up here...

A few days ago, while doing the health exercises from my newly acquired grimoire, <Baopuzi>, and learning breathing techniques from Lee Munryong, I had brought up the idea of learning spear fighting from him too. Since I was already learning from him, why not?

Grizzly was strong, and pentacle magic was excellent, but my greatest weakness at present was that I myself was weak and fragile. I wasn't aiming to become the strongest fighter on earth, but if I could improve my own combat abilities somewhat, I wanted to.

“Old man, your spear skills looked pretty useful. Could you teach me the basics? Things like parrying, pushing aside, and thrusting.”

Those were the fundamentals: rotating the spear, pushing away, and thrusting.

Lee Munryong blinked and looked at Yohan.

“Parrying, pushing aside, and thrusting? Been reading martial arts novels, kid?”

He offered his own sort of advice.

“If it's for self-defense, don't waste your time. Get some shooting practice instead. Guns are convenient and effective. I use them too.”

And so my dream of becoming a fantasy spellspear fighter was shattered.

... Well, I was joking. It was certainly the sensible choice. I'd used a gun to keep Alphonse in check during our fight, after all.

Since I didn't have any magic I could ordinarily use without preparation, a gun wasn't a bad choice for a backup weapon.

Lee Munryong did ask a baffling question along the way.

“Just in case, let me ask you something. What's your father's name?”

“I'm the kid of some cum-and-run bastard. Never mind his name—I don't even know his face.”

It wasn't important.

Anyway, that was why I had called Sion and asked whether I could receive shooting lessons. I ended up getting training as a civilian collaborator with the Special Response Section.

As I aimed at the paper target and took up a shooting stance, Sion spoke.

“Excuse me for a moment, Yohan.”

She watched from beside me and corrected my posture.

It wasn't intentional, but she pressed close against me, ending up in a position like she was hugging me from behind. We were both wearing protective gear, though, so I couldn't feel her body or anything.

“Yohan, your arms a little more...”

I aimed the handgun at the target as Sion had shown me and pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I checked the target. Well, the shots had all landed on the paper, but...

... The grouping was scattered all over the place.

“...”

“... Hehe.”

I glanced beside me and saw Sion smiling faintly. When I looked at her, she spoke with a gentle smile.

“Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I somehow thought of you as someone who was good at everything. This surprised me.”

I returned her faint smile.

“If I'm bad at something, I'm bad at it. That's why I'm learning.”

“... You're right. I'll do my best to teach you.”

Sion quietly stole a look at Yohan's profile as he earnestly practiced shooting.

“...”

Her calm black eyes narrowed slightly.

A man who might be the master of both <Mysteries of the Worm> and <Lemegeton>.

And a man she couldn't help thinking about, for some reason.

He had also saved people in the uncanny world at her request. ... Had he done it to dispel her suspicions? She didn't know.

But with magicians gathering here now, her concern for Yohan was genuine. That was why she put her heart into teaching him to shoot.

Gunshots rang out through the range.

* * *

On a street near the building where Paimon had been summoned, where the tremendous surge of magical power had been felt, a taxi pulled over and a beautiful silver-haired girl stepped out.

Her shimmering silver hair, fair, delicate skin, doll-like elegance, and holy air drew the eyes of passersby for a moment.

Then she spoke.

“So this is Seoul, the capital of Hwanguk, once a great empire.”

With sparkling eyes, Elsie, saint of the Order of the Holy Maidens, flung her arms wide, holding the beautifully white-covered grimoire <The Book of the Angel Raziel>, and shouted to the people around her.

“This is now a battlefield for magicians! Battle City! All you civilians, evacuate this instant!”

Elsie and <The Book of the Angel Raziel> had finally arrived in Korea.