The Ordinary Daily Life Of A Black Mage (2)

While the work was in progress, there were quite a few living monsters, but they were in a state where pressure had been applied enough that they were handled during the process of pulling up other corpses.

The work continued smoothly, and when almost all the entities were pulled up and loaded onto the prepared truck, Go Yu-jin approached and asked.

“What are we going to eat?”

“There’s no way to avoid getting dirty even after squeezing them like that, is there?”

Go Yu-jin laughed lightly after hearing my words. Then, when I emitted mana, she shouted urgently.

“Don’t do it! I’ll do it!”

“It’s simple with Clean magic, so why?”

“Sigh… I know how to use that much magic too. It’s just that I’m not proficient!”

“Then isn’t it a simple matter if I do it for you?”

“No? Not at all!”

I wondered why she was like this. However, because she strongly refused, I had no choice but to withdraw the mana, and after finishing the remaining work and leaving the site, there were people looking at us with surprised expressions.

“Did they give up?”

Jeong Sang-hu and others were coordinating with government officials regarding the gate.

At this, Go Yu-jin glared at Jeong Sang-hu and replied.

“We handled everything; you buried most of the monsters and didn’t even hunt them. Since we basically caught them all, you should be ashamed.”

“Ha, what kind of nonsensical bullshit is that?”

Jeong Sang-hu expressed his displeasure with an absurd expression, and since some of the team members with him were showing hostility toward us, I stepped in slightly and spoke.

“If you don’t have the ability, how about being in charge of a small gate?”

“What… you punk?”

“I don’t think we’re in a relationship where I should hear the word ‘punk’ from you, so wouldn’t it be better to be polite?”

Jeong Sang-hu growled without avoiding my gaze, and it was then.

“Let’s go. And if you look at the state of the corpses, you’ll be able to tell what they died of, so the government will judge that on its own. Won’t they?”

“Go Yu-jin, are you going to think you’re a great Awakener forever?”

“For my whole life, because I’ll be so strong that you won’t even reach my toes?”

Jeong Sang-hu rushed in as soon as the words ended.

There was an evaluation that an Awakener was like a bomb with powerful force.

Cases of causing great social trouble because they get excited easily and cannot control their emotions properly were a daily occurrence.

However, if a first-generation class Awakener got excited and ran wild, it was not a matter to be thought of simply.

I raised my hand, and quickly completed the pattern of momentarily emitted mana to use a curse toward Jeong Sang-hu.

“Deep Paralyze.”

The instantly molded magic covered Jeong Sang-hu, and it was a curse that very simply pierced Jeong Sang-hu’s resistance and dug into his body.

His movement slowed down in an instant, and then he quickly stiffened up.

“Kuh… ugh!”

I saw him unable to even open his mouth, and Jeong Sang-hu’s lackeys were colored with embarrassment at the situation where he was subdued so easily.

“If the rest of you want to get beaten up too, come on. I’ll play with you.”

Hearing my words, they only flinched and watched the mood. Just then, Go Yu-jin said.

“Stop it. There are many eyes watching.”

Black magic caused repulsion in many people because of the ‘black mana.’ In fact, because the damage caused to civilians by some black mages treated as ‘villains’ was significant, it was general to look at a black mage like looking at a bug or a disease when seeing one nearby.

Even now, countless gazes were pouring down.

I wanted to tell them it was a misunderstanding, but in fact, cases where damage caused by black magic spread to the surroundings were common.

It was just regrettable that damage of a magnitude that could not be covered up even with the excuse that it couldn’t be helped occurred occasionally.

I snapped my fingers, and Deep Paralyze was quickly dispelled, and mana began to be pulled out from Jeong Sang-hu’s body.

However, during that process, the intense pain Jeong Sang-hu had to feel would not be small.

“Kuuu… Da- damn black mages…”

“If you show courtesy, we also have no reason to be at odds with people like you. Since you are also respected only when you respect the opponent, try to be polite. Especially if you are the head of an organization.”

When I gave him a piece of my mind in a condescending tone, Jeong Sang-hu’s face distorted sharply.

If I had harbored ill will, Jeong Sang-hu would have died the moment he was subdued.

“Ho- how about stopping there?”

Jeong Sang-hu stepped back at the remark of a government official who was watching the mood, and I also stepped back a step at Go Yu-jin’s dissuasion and spoke to Go Yu-jin.

“Since I said I’d buy a drink today, let’s go.”

“Wasn’t it a suggestion to have a drink together?”

“It was. But I’ll pay. Because I’ve gotten into a good mood.”

Go Yu-jin showed an awkward smile while looking at me smiling broadly. Afterward, leaving behind those who were glaring as if to kill us, we finally left the place.

“You didn’t use mana excessively, did you?”

“Deep Paralyze is a magic that I’ve memorized, so the mana consumption is low.”

“I’m sorry. Ill-fated relationships from the past just have to continue…”

Go Yu-jin let out a sigh.

As a first-generation black magic Awakener, Go Yu-jin performed remarkably on the battlefield.

If she hadn’t stepped back from the front lines, she had performed so tremendously that it was clear most of those currently called heroes would have been treated as chaff, and even those currently called heroes knew Go Yu-jin, and there was not a single person who ignored her achievements and strength.

However, the reason the treatment was bad was that they bullied her because of the fact that she cowardly ran away from the battlefield.

“Why do you endure it?”

“I have to endure it. It’s not like I can beat them all to death, is it?”

After thinking for a moment, I spoke.

“If they are worse than beasts, they deserve to die, don’t they?”

“Seong-chan, don’t you also feel that you’ve changed after awakening black magic?”

“I know I’ve become impulsive and hot-tempered. Moreover, it’s the same that the repulsion toward killing disappeared, but isn’t this a phenomenon that continues for most people who have awakened?”

It would be correct to say emotions became dulled.

It was to the extent that it would be fine to think all emotions were biased toward ‘joy and pleasure’ among the four traditional emotions.

However, there were cases where emotions intensified even to ‘anger,’ and I thought that perhaps Jeong Sang-hu was of that type.

He was easily excited and emotional. It was the reason he rushed in just a moment ago without being able to distinguish front from back.

‘Was he a moth seeking a place to die?’

There were stories that a prepared mage was no different from a disaster, and it was to the extent that one should properly praise the guts and courage to rush at a black mage, who belonged to an even more dangerous group than such mages, but we called that reckless.

“I hated those emotions of losing myself like that so much. The sensation of massacring monsters while wandering the battlefield was clearly no different from a monopoly on immense pleasure, and I felt the ups and downs of great emotions to the point where it felt like I would lose myself—no, to the point where I thought it would be fine to forget myself.”

“But that wouldn’t be the reason you left the battlefield, would it?”

The reason Go Yu-jin avoided the battlefield wouldn’t be a simple emotional impulse.

And after hearing my words, she looked at me seriously and asked.

“Then tell me the reason Seong-chan left the battlefield.”

“Hmm…”

I thought about it for a moment. The reason I left the battlefield, it was a very trivial and petty reason.

“Because I couldn’t live with my mana being so low.”

“Pardon…?”

She had an absurd expression. So I spoke calmly.

“How can I be active on the battlefield when I can’t even use a wide-area magic five times?”

“That is…”

Go Yu-jin looked at me with an awkward expression, and she let out a sigh at the question of why she was looking at me with that kind of face.

“I think only Seong-chan doesn’t know. How many black mages do you think there are who can use wide-area magic five times?”

“…I’ve seen many, though?”

“Only those humans who received all support on the front lines and were covered in mana amplification artifacts use it five or six times, but there is no one who can use that much without any help like you, Seong-chan!”

“You’re flattering me too much again. Anyway, I left the battlefield because of that. I couldn’t handle it.”

Go Yu-jin looked like she would stop talking.

“Will you tell me now?”

Go Yu-jin looked at me, gave a grin, and said.

“It’s a secret.”

“…Should I say so?”

The smiling Go Yu-jin moved her steps forward, and I followed behind her and tried to urge her to tell the secret, but she was unmoving.

Afterward, we returned to the office and I asked An So-mi, who was in the middle of working.

“We’re going to have a drink, do you want to go?”

“I’m busy. Later. You two go on a date.”

An So-mi, who was typing hard and writing documents, worked only without even glancing at us.

So, we inevitably left the office with Go Yu-jin and soon looked for a nearby bar.

We took a seat in a suitable place, and while watching the news flowing from the TV, Go Yu-jin spoke.

“It feels like the gates have decreased significantly lately.”

“Certainly, large-scale gates have decreased. Thanks to that, the sound of those Awakener punks whining about their livelihoods being cut off can be heard all the way here.”

It was in a state of having settled as a social issue.

Large-scale businesses related to gates began to develop, and now monster by-products have become the mainstream of the world and exert high influence on daily life.

So the world felt anxiety at the phenomenon of gates decreasing.

“That’s the sound of our livelihoods being cut off too.”

“Even if our livelihoods are cut off, don’t you have enough money to use for a lifetime?”

The money earned while traveling the battlefield was immense.

In fact, because we could be recognized for the rights to the monster by-products we hunted, first and second-generation Awakeners earned an amount they couldn’t spend even if they used it for a lifetime.

In comparison, from the third generation, the government took a breather and gradually tightened the Awakeners, and thanks to that, they reached a point where they couldn’t enjoy most of the benefits we received.

That didn’t mean Awakeners couldn’t earn money.

Literally, there was even a joke that the moment you set foot on the battlefield, you could earn enough money to use for a lifetime…

Just then, the alcohol and snacks came out, and after looking down at the dish made of monster meat, I spoke.

“Now, seeing pork or beef is like picking stars from the sky.”

“There’s nothing we can do. Since meat that can be used for food is everywhere. The need to raise them has disappeared. Just like our usefulness.”

If one wanted to find beef and pork, they could sufficiently find it, but the preference had lowered a lot.

It was probably because there were many among monster meats where the taste and flesh quality itself were far superior.

With no side effects and nutritionally superior, it was a trend of naturally disappearing.

“Cheers!”

I saw Go Yu-jin, who had poured the drink so quickly I didn’t know when she poured it, and spoke to her carefully.

“You’re only drinking exactly half a bottle, okay?”

“Why? Are you afraid I’ll get drunk again?”

“No, I’m afraid you’ll pass out.”

“I’m not that much of a lightweight, you know?”

Go Yu-jin was indeed a lightweight. A chronic lightweight, even. Moreover, people who have awakened usually can’t get drunk on alcohol.

So there were even people who said Go Yu-jin was blessed because she could get drunk with a small amount of alcohol.

What’s more, it was the same for me. Even if I poured alcohol in by the jar, I would only be full and couldn’t get drunk.

“Cheers!”

It was Go Yu-jin, tilting her glass with a bright expression, and I tilted my glass along with her bright and clear appearance.

The feeling of having a drink after finishing work, I used to enjoy it quite a bit.