Hermit Wizard

When I asked him to stop, the vehicle was in the middle of the border. A plain filled with unknown types of blue crops. A white wind generator spins the propeller slowly. Sirin blue and intense grass meet on the horizon and faintly clump.

A taxi driver who drove less than 100 kilometers from Budapest to nearby Komaromshi () asked with a blunt face.

“Get out of here? ”

I was afraid I wouldn't understand. There are no city entrances yet, and all you can see is a small town.

“Really?”

At the hotel in the capital, he started from the fare negotiations without even a surprising or delightful expression when I spoke in fluent Hungarian, an Oriental. So I thought I was the type who only cared about what to do, but I didn't know it either. He kept his limp, uninteresting eyes, saying a lot of words and asking a lot of questions while he came here.

The first thing I asked after the car left was, why are you going to this city?

“Business? A few years ago, after the Nokia factory was shut down, they said they only flew flies in the neighborhood. My cousin lives there. Thousands of people have become unemployed and the local game is not good. Now that Nokia is out of position, a Chinese company, whether it's a facsimile or a piccone, has increased its factory size, and they've picked 1-200 more. Are you Chinese, too? ”

He didn't stop asking me questions, even with a look on his face that didn't seem interested at all. I just said, I'm going to see a friend.

And I asked you to stop the car before entering the destination, Komarom City. The location that the summoner had sent in advance was nearby.

“It won't take a few hours, so please wait here. I'll pay you what I promised. ”

“Oh, well, good. ”

I walk quietly under the warm sun out of the cab. The target may fly in hiding, but if it approaches too abruptly, the target misunderstands the attack and may flee.

A narrow path for the passage of people came out as we moved a little further off the road. And a little town in front of you. It's called a city a few kilometers from here, but it looks like a no-good thug. When I saw an old donkey walking with a cart next to an old man, I wondered if this was really the 21st century landscape.

South Korea's stock market has been closed for weeks, and the president of the United States is suspected of being alive, and news of unusual signs of a Chinese Grampery residence is pouring out little by little despite the Communist Party's strong intelligence controls. The current state of affairs around the world has been the most chaotic since the channel was first opened.

However, this small town in Hungary, adjacent to the Slovak border, was as quiet and peaceful as it was far from such an outside affair.

It penetrates the town, ignoring the eyes of the villagers sent to the Gentiles. Then I stopped walking in front of a small house outside. There are traces of people living there, but there are broken and torn traces of how they urgently repaired an empty house.

As I approach this house, the residents' gaze becomes more focused. I didn't have to knock. The opponent has already noticed my visit. Beyond the door, I feel a fluctuation of magical power.

The old gate opens with a roar, and I watch the red-headed man standing before me. In his face, a complex expression was brought to mind, mixed with a slight surprise, delight, and doubt.

I greeted him.

“Long time no see, McQuaid. ”

* * *

I sat in front of the living room table and received a cup of tea from him. Both kept silent for a while, and the English news came out of the TV he played.

Today, two weeks have passed since U.S. President Benjamin Greenwood appeared on the official statue. Despite the continuing interrogation of Parliament and the media, the House has not taken a clear position, thus creating a situation in which confusion is weighted · · ·.

Elongation was one of the news that is making the world buzz these days. The government is taking a break, but the rumors have already come to light about the disappearance of the President of the United States. I listened for a moment, but there was no update. Looking at McQuaid, I opened my mouth first.

“When I came to this house, the villagers looked at me strangely. ”

“A stranger who came to see a stranger. They're still on my guard. It didn't work in the first place. ”

I raise my head.

“You said you originally lived in this area. Has the time passed and the language changed? ”

“Humans who used to settle around here in the old days are not that people. The blood vessels and the linguistic system are completely different. ”

Don't you think? I shrugged my shoulders without knowing the history of this province. McQuaid looks at me like that and says,

“I had no idea you were coming. How did you know I was in this town? ”

Upon arriving in Hungary, I summoned Shockmim males to find McQuaid. He took an egg from his world, and the only female that came out of it ate the corpse of the traffickers I had taken and was called asexually.

I unleashed them all over this country. He communicates with males and pheromones from a distance, and they spread out in a transparent way that no one could see. This little flying creature that eats magical substances is very sensitive to the smell of prey.

I confront him.

“I remember the magic pattern. I also heard that you are going to Hungary. ”

“Yes, I did. ”

“So, I called the guys who could search the area that wide. ”

I pointed to my chest with that story. He nods convincingly.

“Did you call it a xenophobic thing? ”

“Kind of.”

Before I left New York, I called Yodmo and picked out the memory of the torturer. To find out what had happened in this organization since the Hun Leung crisis.

“You seem to know all the constellations of stars. ”

I didn't deny any positivity. Instead, I ask questions.

“Exactly this place? It's where the old transcendental humans came together to work the tribe. ”

“That's right. It wasn't the only group on this continent, but it was quite a force. ”

“I looked around while I was coming, and there was no visible sign of him. Externally, magically. ”

Shockmim had already made that decision, and while I was in the cab, I was wondering if I could detect it myself, but nothing was caught outside of McQuaid's house.

“Too long a time has passed. Even if there was one trace left, the traffickers would have broken it thoroughly and concealed it. Deleting us from history was one of the things they do. ”

I nod, but I don't fully understand it with my head. There are no people who know themselves, no traces of land to reflect their memories. Why come back here? Nor is it appropriate to go into hiding. Is it enough to have the land of your home, the sky, the wind and the sun of your home?

“By the way, I wouldn't have come to ask my regards. ”

“I have a favor to ask you. ”

McQuaid is silent as he urges his next words. He owes me. I don't want to deny it.

“But I'll give you the good news first. I don't think we're on the news yet, but the director of GIBW is missing. ”

McQuaid's eyebrows twitched as he understood the meaning of the word.

“· · · What?! ”

“And many of his men died. ”

McQuaid shakes his head.

“I can't believe it. Did you really succeed? Are you alone? · · · What the hell are you? ”

McQuaid did not want to continue the fight against the torturers. After escaping, he decided to hide from them for the rest of his life. Just like before the dragon died.

I have to show you.

The floor that received my signal crawled out of my closet. I came out with a twitch and opened my backpack and pulled out a black pottery.

“· · · bottles containing souls? ”

I'll find out soon enough. It was an artifact that sealed the souls of the McQuaid people for many years.

“It's closed. Did you seal someone's soul? ”

I poured a little magic into the bottle while keeping the seal. Then, as the surface of the bottle became transparent, there was a slight glimpse of what was in it. This is one of the features of the artifact.

Being trapped in a bottle was a mass of red fog. It was constantly fluctuating as it twisted its shape. Occasionally it agglomerates once and reveals the shape of a human face.

The moment he noticed its identity, McQuaid's face was bruised and quickly painted with intense heat of color.

“Hahahaha! Hahahaha! ”

McQuaid laughs with a choking sound. With a happier expression than ever before, I burst into light without resting.

“Hahaha! Arghhhh! This, hahahahahahahaha! ”

Smile all over your body, twitching like a convulsion, and reach out in close proximity. I left it to myself. Grab the bottle with both hands and look down at Eugene's painful soul. McQuaid's expression even seemed ecstatic.

“Ah, Eugene. Eugene!

He gasps and says.

“Who would have imagined it! That arrogant leech who named himself" The Noble One "! The leader of those who were chased by the human transcendents and blasphemed in the dark, who carried the power of the Savior and persecuted us! You are now sealed there, who mocked the souls of the sealed people and enslaved me with Billy. Hahaha! This, this is so unimaginable! Hahahaha! Hahahaha! ”

McQuaid bursts into tears. I gave him time to calm down. He laughed at Eugene a few times afterwards and uttered a profanity (he was a very distant Celtic), and said his regards to the people who had already returned to the Ring of Yun, looking at me.

“Well! Yes, the unknown wizard. Whether it's a different kind of world, or a human being, or a perverted evildoer, or something else, no! It doesn't matter now. So, what do you want from me? ”

I turned to the whitening McQuaid, revealing the white teeth.

“It's not much. ”

This is the purpose of the visit.

“I want you to draw some blood. ”

“Hardly?”

McQuaid speaks with a single face.

“Yes! I'll give you as much blood as I can. How many liters do you need? On a line that does not break regeneration, it can be pulled semi-permanently. ”

I scratch my cheeks.

“No, I'm not saying I'm going to plug the faucet in semi-permanently. Just give me a container. ”

After the fight in the Han River, I first acquired the memory of a trafficker classified as' Eugene's Child ’. In the past, they kidnapped transcendent humans and used them as food that never dried up.

It would be unpleasant because of that memory, but McQuaid answered easily.

“All right, I'll give it to you. But it's gonna take some time. How many days? To extract that much. ”

When I give the signal with my eyes, the floor pulls out a few bottles of Elixir from the bag.

“This will shorten your time. ”

Only then did McQuaid's face cast a very slight shadow.

* * *

After saying goodbye to McQuaid, I took a standby taxi on one side of the road.

“Please go straight to the airport. ”

“All right, all right. ”

I start the car, and then I snore.

“Hmm? I feel like a freak. ”

“Oh, really? ”

I can't feel it because my nose is numb. The article asked me a few more words, but I said to Parvash in my mind.

‘Is this amount enough? ’

[Yes, I think it will be fine. By the way, we need to expand the place a little.]

‘It's a pity the artifact is buried in the backlog. ’

[Can't help it. So where did you say next?]

‘Norway.’

It was neither Norwegian mainland, nor an island in the Near East to the Arctic Ocean. I read the information I found on my landline with my internet browser turned on. Svalbard International Seed Depot, a 860,000 species seed repository entrusted to countries around the world in case of a catastrophe that humanity will suffer.

Our next destination.

# 227