Efforts Against The Calamity… (2)

Even as the world fell into chaos, Korea was relaxed.

There were several reasons, and among them, the first reason people felt the most relaxed was literally because it was an incident happening far too far away.

The next reason was that the country’s domestic combat power was overwhelmingly stronger than expected.

Its physical Awakeners were also extremely outstanding, and its magical forces had many powerhouses who would rank among the best no matter where one looked in the world.

Lastly, the fact that it possessed the world’s only 8th Circle black mage was also exerting war deterrence against China and Japan, and that too was a reason the people could feel relieved in the current situation.

“The Black Magic Academy is not the charitable organization you all imagine it to be. It is a kind of educational institution that helps black mages settle and advance stably in this society through proper legal procedures. And we will not stop with this Black Magic Academy alone. We will purchase several nearby sites and gradually devote our efforts to cultivating various Awakeners.”

As Han Sang-gil’s speech continued, Go Yu-jin, who was watching it with me, asked.

“I thought that even if you weren’t going to be the principal, you would at least take charge of education. Why did you push everything off?”

“I like a quiet life. How charming is it to live leisurely and carefree?”

Go Yu-jin laughed lightly. Then she quietly asked something she was curious about.

“Then why do you go to work at the company?”

“Because I think that’s where I should be.”

Go Yu-jin smiled brightly.

While Han Sang-gil’s speech was still going on, many prominent figures began entering the opening ceremony venue, and attention gathered at their sudden entrance.

Han Sang-gil, who had been continuing his speech, also stopped speaking and watched their appearance. The reason was simple.

‘What brings Kim Dae-san here?’

There was no particular reason for him to come all the way here.

If there was one, it was a political move to look good in front of voters. After all, black mages were beings with powerful strength.

Especially from the position of Kim Dae-san, who claimed that powerful strength was a calamity if it was not controlled, the current situation could not help but be displeasing.

And yet, should I say it was just the right time?

Kim Dae-san slightly frowned when he saw the event stop, and soon spoke with enough force for everyone to hear.

“It seems I have committed a discourtesy. I hope you will continue the event.”

It was an extremely gentlemanly tone, and Kim Dae-san moved without overdoing it and sat in the VIP seats.

But at that moment, Tae Young-su hurriedly ran over to find me and asked.

“Did you invite him?”

“If I had, I would have told you in advance. He’s an uninvited guest.”

“Hoo…. He brought an enormous number of reporters too. What in the world is he thinking….”

“There are probably several reasons, but the most obvious one is that he wants to use us politically. From Kim Dae-san’s position, showing off his ties with a group as strong as us would be effective no matter what he does.”

He might have come spontaneously.

The international situation was unusual, and the world had become one where it would not be strange for anything to happen at any time.

Now that people were in such confusion that they were saying a second Daegyeokbyeon had occurred, perhaps the government had chosen to hold even one more card in its hand.

“It is unbelievably rude, but… it is not a loss for us either, so for now, I permitted him to enter….”

Stopping the president from entering the venue would also be utterly ridiculous.

There was no need to deliberately incur the people’s antipathy, so Tae Young-su’s judgment could be considered appropriate. In Han Sang-gil’s speech, which resumed once again, he handled it properly by expressing gratitude regarding the president despite the sudden visit, and then continued the rest of his speech.

Then, when I turned my head at the gaze I felt, the president’s aide was approaching.

‘Was I the objective?’

If not, I thought it might have been something along the way, and I faced the aide. He sighed and asked.

“I heard you refused the request for cooperation.”

“There were so many requests I refused, you see.”

“I am speaking about the matter formally requested by the National Magic Research Institute.”

There had been a cooperation document from a place like that.

A letter had arrived with a request for samples of byproducts and something else they wished to discuss.

“The rights to the byproducts all belong to me, so wouldn’t it be troublesome if you caused a scene at someone else’s event like this just because I refused?”

“It is an urgent matter for us as well. A problem occurred in the laboratory that was used in the previous Magic Tower.”

It was an unexpected story.

It did not seem like something to discuss here, so after asking Tae Young-su for understanding, I left the venue.

Then we went to a suitable place, and I asked.

“So what kind of problem is it?”

“It seems there was a secret laboratory.”

‘So they finally found it?’

Thinking that it had taken quite a long time, I answered as if it was no big deal.

“A secret place inside another secret place. What an amusing setting.”

“This is not something to think of simply. It is a hidden space discovered on the last ruined floor, in the place where they experimented on Bak Hyeok, Wang Sun, and the others. But they say there is a problem entering it.”

“Don’t you have several 8th Circle mages?”

There were quite a few people managed by the government. In fact, as far as I knew, the National Magic Research Institute also had an 8th Circle user as its director.

But the fact that they had come looking for me meant it was right to assume that they could not handle it with those people, or that those people had opened the secret laboratory and were not providing information.

I thought perhaps it might be the latter situation.

“So what benefit do I get?”

“…Sharing the materials inside.”

“I refuse. There must definitely be experiments conducted in secret, and eating up materials like that will only give me indigestion.”

“…Then what do you want?”

I curled my fingers into a circle and showed him. At that, the aide turned pale.

“Would something else not do?”

“Do you know what I realized after living in this country for a long time?”

“…What is it?”

“Money does not betray.”

The aide let out deep sighs. So I lightly patted his shoulder and spoke.

“You don’t know what information will be there, and if some situation occurred and the mages are playing tricks, wouldn’t the government be in trouble too?”

I thought this was the reason Kim Dae-san had sent the aide to me.

On top of that, considering that he had not first brought up the matter of the secret laboratory, I could feel that the National Magic Research Institute also had many shady corners under the circumstances.

“They say a person in need digs the well. Try hard.”

The aide returned dispirited, and just then, it seemed the event had also ended, as people were seen leaving the venue.

In the middle of that, I saw Kim Dae-san surrounded by reporters and making remarks, but I deliberately ignored him and approached Han Sang-gil.

“Did it wrap up well?”

“Well enough that there is no need to worry. But it seems that friend Kim Dae-san has quite a fire under his feet.”

“I think the same.”

“You moved elsewhere with the aide. What did you talk about?”

When I spoke of the conversation from a moment ago as if it were nothing, Han Sang-gil looked at me like he was looking at a madman.

“Do you not think you are taking too much of the nation’s money?”

“They say the nation’s money belongs to whoever grabs it. I quite like that saying.”

Han Sang-gil shook his head.

Even now, in reality, we were receiving an enormous amount of support funds, and we planned to draw in even more national funds in the future.

Perhaps because I had thought of increasing the amount even more here?

Han Sang-gil looked at me and asked.

“Before the backlash grows stronger, it would be right to purchase the surrounding sites and expand educational facilities for other Awakeners as well, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, that would be better in various ways if we want to spend money without worrying about people’s eyes. Moreover, public opinion will be focused on us, so what better excuse could there be to openly brag that we have connections?”

“It seems you really hate the government….”

I planned to vent all the various sorrows I had suffered so far all at once.

And even if our connections with the government were revealed, there would be nothing problematic. That was because we had resolved incidents suitable for that.

All we had to do was disclose the details of the transaction and wait for the judgment of public sentiment.

The Black Magic Academy’s capacity was quickly filled, and the purchase of land around the academy also proceeded smoothly. When Han Sang-gil tried to make the officially declared move, the entire country stirred.

The reason was simple.

It was the point that it was trying to advance not as a facility only for black mages, but as a facility for everyone.

Until now, there had been no such facility.

If there had to be one, the only things were facilities run modestly by guilds to educate those who would eventually become guild members.

But people called masters had formed a massive organization and created facilities with the will to devote their efforts to nurturing younger talents, so many Awakeners began complaining and grumbling about what the masters of their own fields were doing.

Dissatisfaction piled up, and when the black mage organization announced that it intended to take on even the roles of other masters, the entire industry stirred.

“So… you are asking me to come to that facility as a professor?”

It was Tae Young-su, who had come to find someone called a “master” among physical Awakeners.

“That is correct. We originally wanted an organization simply for black mages, but the representative who established the academy wants it to be reborn as an Awakener Academy for everyone by expanding it without limiting its scope.”

“…You mean The Worst, that person.”

Tae Young-su lightly nodded.

“It does not matter if you refuse. There are many masters we can recruit. We are simply visiting and inviting those with strong reputations in the industry first, so if you feel burdened, you may refuse.”

At Tae Young-su’s clever wording, the physical Awakener master Bak Jun-u accepted the proposal without needing anything more said.

In reality, this kind of situation was taking place everywhere.

Black mages had recently become famous through the war and the Red Gate incident, and the Black Magic Academy, said to have been created by such people gathering as a group, was a fairly interesting subject. On top of that, since its purpose was to establish additional academies by inviting masters with other characteristics for the qualitative improvement not only of black mages, but of all Awakeners, a great deal of attention had gathered on it.

In such a situation, it was not possible for him to take lightly the proposal of a black mage who had come to find him, and one who was a famous master at that. Moreover, Tae Young-su had so skillfully scratched the itchy spot that he could not even recognize the trap hidden in his words, so he had no choice but to accept the proposal. Even if they regretted it later, all they could do was wait for the legal time to pass and regain their freedom.

However, there would be no master who thought this was bad.

That was because if their country’s Awakeners became stronger to that extent, their own standing would also rise in various ways by that much.

The master who had raised so-and-so—that reputation was not something to think of lightly.

Because they did not fail to understand this, they would instead struggle all the more passionately on the stage that had been prepared for them.

Unlike the chaotic world, Korea entered a time of preparing for various leaps in many ways.