Hermit Wizard

“Then are we finally going back? Into our world?”

Hwang Soo-rim’s face brightened up. I thought it was her first time smiling after coming to that world. She smiled broadly, ignoring the distortion of her left mouth, stained with her burn scars.

Everyone in the party was mobilized to retrieve more than a thousand pink maggots scattered across the plain. We put everything that couldn’t wriggle properly into a container outside the village. The dragon species, which turned into maggots, were curled up calmly following Maru’s orders. Even after they change their bodies, they were ‘sitting in a position that was possible.

“How long has it been?!”

More than a month had already passed since I came to that world. If Maru didn’t take an active role at the last minute and hadn’t dealt with the entire dragon species at once, the end of that journey might’ve come much later.

“By the way… do you have any idea why? Why the search magic suddenly doesn’t function properly?”

Mrs. Pearl asked with a dark expression. Preventing the resurrection of the Black Hermit was one of the important issues for White Deer.

I shook my head.

“I don’t know.”

I wanted to seek advice from Parvache, but he had already stopped responding to my words. He would remain that way and then moved on to the next self. Even after that, it would take some time in the process of fusion with existing memories.

In conclusion, proper communication wasn’t possible for the time being.

Garam suddenly got involved in the conversation.

“Is your plan now to take all these maggots to Earth and use the search magic again?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I have a suggestion. First of all, how about using the power of the elders in White Deer Village? Those who have lived much longer than I may have some way.”

I thought about it for a while, then nodded.

“Let’s experiment at my house first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll ask for help.”

I opened the Channel and called a Summon to move the container. The faces of the Ramumings who saw the scene were shocked.

Also, the village representative, the old Ramuming, approached me more actively and appealed to me.

“Oh right. I didn’t pay the price.”

The price of the minerals Garam ate.

“@#[email protected]@^!”

“Oh, sorry, but I still can’t understand.”

If I tried to use the translation magic again, I would get a similar result, and it would only exhaust my Mana.

“Well… I can’t teach you magic as you asked for in the first place. I have to go back to our world right now but, if I say this, you won’t understand, right?”

“#@$#%@%@!”

The old Ramuming was crying. Following him, all village residents fell to the ground.

“Then… I’ll at least give you this.”

I thought about it for a while, then I took out a bucket of Go stones from my backpack and handed them out to the old man. The old Ramuming received it with his trembling hands.

“It will help protect your village in the future. Anyway, I will take all the dragons that can fight in this world, but if the baby dragons that cannot fly yet remain in the nest, you might be able to deal with them somehow.”

Confusion arose in Ramuming’s eyes. He didn’t understand.

I noticed that the Ramumings were entities capable of using magic and showed a demonstration in front of him.

“Now, like this.”

I hold some of the Go stones in my hand and rolled them. A fricative sound was heard. In the meantime, I added some Mana to the stones. That was an attack artifact that I carried around for emergency purposes.

It didn’t take much time to make those things anyway, and it cost very little of the ingredients.

“Now, try it.”

As I demonstrated, the old Ramuming followed me and added Mana to the stones.

“Now, like this, throw it out!”

-Hoop!

A big explosion broke out over the horizon, where the maggots had already been collected.

-Bang bang bang!

Vibration and light as if several bombs were exploding at the same time. The intense heat brushed through my cheeks. Suddenly, all Ramumings were frightened and screamed in unison.

“Now, try it.”

The Ramuming, who barely got up from his seat, hesitated and then imitated me in the same way. Even if the Go stones were thrown with moderate force, they could be shot at high speed along the track. Soon, an explosion similar to the one I made occurred.

Currently, that was enough to pay back the mineral price. Hwang Soo-rim and the residents of White Deer would also understand, and I thought I had done enough to just get the dragons out of that world.

So at that moment, I was going to go back no matter what Ramumings’ reaction was. I waved at them once and turned my back.

“@#[email protected]#!”

“Ah, wait for a second!”

Suddenly, Mrs. Pearl stopped me.

“I heard it from Elder Parvache before. It said that necklace was a tool for dragons to make them behave like livestock, right? There may be no proper dragons left in this world anymore, but it’s a pity to keep it that way. At first glance, it’s obviously a magic tool, but it would be difficult to cut it off by themselves.”

She then created a spark in her hand. The palm-sized fire eventually scattered into fine pieces like scarlet grains of sand and danced.

I thought I knew what she was thinking, but she had to stop there.

“Oh, wait a minute. It can be dangerous if you destroy it that way.”

It was a lot of work.

I grumbled inside. The dragons weren’t stupid. Wouldn’t it had something like a self-destruct function if they tried to release it?

Actually, that was the part that I had already confirmed with Parvache.

“Then…”

Mrs. Pearl stared at me, and it wasn’t that difficult, so I had no choice but to cover the whole town with anti-magic spells. I couldn’t leave the scene where all of the Ramumings in that village had their throats exploded by Mrs. Pearl’s actions after saving them as much as possible.

Only after the magic function in the necklace disappeared, I gave a sign to Mrs. Pearl.

As she reached out, the sand of the dancing flame spread through the air, and it flew to all Ramumings one by one and stuck to the necklace. The locally concentrated heat resulted from accurately cutting out only the metal necklace without burning the Ramuming’s hair or skin.

-Clink!

All the necklaces worn by the villagers on their necks fell to the ground, and the sound of metal bumps rang out.

“Ah… ah…!”

The Ramumings cried and exclaimed as if they were thrilled.

“Now, let’s really go now.”

We loaded ourselves into the container only after Garam burst some dreams, saying he was the one who benefited directly from the minerals and that he should pay it himself.

What he embodied in the dream was an imaginary monster and a beast in a nightmare. Following Garam’s instructions, they were scattered around the outskirts of the village. He said that they would protect the village until all the Mana he planted was exhausted.

“Well, that’s very sincere.”

Was it based on compassion?

I didn’t know why they were giving that much. What we got was a few minerals at best, and we dealt with dragons to get them out of slavery, right?

I shut the container door, muttering loudly inside. Outside the door, I heard the Ramumings anxiously shouting, but I ignored it and sent a signal to the pet.

The container then floated in the air. The destination was the Channel that led to the Earth.

It was time to go back.

***

After Yoon Min-joon and his party left, the villagers, whose identification numbers start, remained in chaos for a long time.

“Are there really no dragons in this world?”

“Are we free?”

“So, what are we supposed to do from now on?”

The concept of freedom was so new and awkward for them. Even after the bizarrely dressed party left the village, the residents were immersed in the void without getting anything in their hands.

What was bigger than the void was the uncertainty of how to use the freedom given.

-Knock knock

Identification number ’15-23492,’ The Ramuming boy, whom Hwang Soo-rim saved, stood in front of the village chief’s hut and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

-Creek

The door of the old wooden hut opened, and the boy stepped inside.

“What are you doing?”

The village chief was sitting on a desk in the hut corner, looking at the objects he had placed on it. The boy quickly noticed what it was.

“… The treasure the ‘Saviors’ left behind.”

The chief nodded.

“There were many anxious adults. They were asking if it is okay for our ‘Ramuming’ to have such dangerous items and if this is out of our league.”

When he heard that, the eyes of old Ramuming became fierce.

“Don’t be misled by such stupid things. Information that the dragons are gone will soon spread throughout this world.”

He continued.

“How do you think the rest of the world would react if that happens? Especially for humans?”

As long as the dragons were practically reigning in that world, no other species dared to touch Ramumings since they were strictly the property of the dragon species. They couldn’t touch Ramumings without the willingness to live the wrath of all the dragons in the world at once.

However, the village chief understood. Things had currently changed completely.

“Now, we have to protect ourselves. The fate of the race named Ramumings has returned completely into our hands.”

The village chief looked down at the fearsome weapon in his hand and strengthened his resolve.

A few days ago, he knelt in front of the ‘Saviors,’ and he cried and begged.

He thanked them for saving the Ramumings from the dragons. By all means, he asked them to give them a piece of wisdom and teach them even a little bit of magic. He begged all of them to collect that village as they would devote their loyalty and labor.

Unless they were dragons, they wouldn’t have to kill themselves and use them as a remedy. Furthermore, the chief judged that strong people like them would fully protect Ramumings from other species.

The village chief could easily portray the fate of the Ramumings, who escaped the dragon’s control. Freedom and liberation were obviously what they dreamed about every day. However, the village chief understood that the freedom given in the absence of the strength to defend themselves could attract other predators.

So, the village chief begged the saviors to teach them magic. If it was true that Ramumings could reach that level, the chief intended to risk the village’s fate and cling to it. However, the man, who seemed to have the greatest power among the saviors, left without granting that wish.

“Now, the only way is to walk on our two feet.”

The boy didn’t fully understand the implications of the village chief’s words, but when he saw the flame in the old man’s eyes, he nodded unknowingly.

***

A few days later…

A group looked at the village of Ramumings with the identification number starting with 15 from a distance.

“Great. We got it right.”

It was the woman with light blond hair cut short under her ears that put the telescope in her eyes. She was sitting in a wheelchair, and her belly was swollen to the point where it was impossible to move.

“In terms of the size of the village, the number of Lanyuan (Blue Ape) seems to be two to three hundred. Li-ang?”

“Yes, Remish.”

A young human man who was pushing a wheelchair on which a full-term Gramperi woman was sitting answered.

“Keep it clear to Colonel Qu Enyin. Don’t shoot at the head like last time. Don’t throw away even a single one. If you blow their head, they can’t regenerate and die.”

“I will tell him.”

Shortly after that, an alien woman in her wheelchair and her young man assisting her leaned back to the rear of the military procession. The secretly recruited troops from the 1st group of People’s Liberation Army looked at the alien communities in front and prepared for battle. No, to be precise, they were preparing for hunting.

“I’m very lucky to be on this expedition.”

In a vehicle in the rear far from the battlefield, Remish muttered as she watched the video on a monitor taken by the drone.

“Until now, military units that attempted to reach this location have often gone missing without any trace. There were no signs, no communication records, so I didn’t know why, but this time, we succeeded in entering this deep inland area without such an accident. I think we’re lucky, Li-ang.”

Wang Liang, her Chinese attendant, nodded.

“As we enter so deep in here, we find a large colony like that. Until now, at most, we have only found dozens of them living together.”

Remish said with a happy smile.

“It was about the time to go back to Earth, and at the last moment, this thing happened. I can’t believe we’ve got so many Lanyuan samples. I’m sure it’ll be a great help to study Elixir.”

While they were having such a conversation, the People’s Liberation Army unit was seen advancing on the monitor. That time, it would be possible to capture them without much difficulty as before. Even if it were a variable, they would suppress so violently to damage Lanyuan to the extent that it was impossible to reproduce.

Remish and Wang Liang look at the monitor with peace of mind.

“@#%#@#@@%#!”

The blue-haired monkeys who noticed the attack jump out of the nest, and the People’s Liberation Army began capturing them. It was going smoothly without any unexpected changes.

But…

“… Huh?”

Wang Liang’s face looking at the monitor was distorted. Remish, too, screamed lowly as if she couldn’t believe it.

“My God, Li-ang. What the hell is that?!”

In front of the advancing People’s Liberation Army, enormous figures suddenly appeared as if they tore apart an empty space, and they suddenly attacked the advancing infantry!

“Well, is that… a tiger?!”

No matter how much you looked, it was an animal that resembled a tiger that lived on Earth. The difference was that it was large, as if it was a combination of several large tanks, and its teeth were unusually long and sharp. The Giant tiger didn’t care about the pouring bullets, moving back and forth between the soldiers, slapping them with its claws, and biting.

“Eaaaaarrrrrggh!”

The screaming continued over the monitor.

“The monster next to it…”

Moreover, the creatures slaughtering the People’s Liberation Army next to the tigers didn’t resemble any Earth creature.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Remish’s face turned pale.

-Bang bang bang bang bang!

The monitor was covered in white, and there was a huge explosion.

***

“Passengers, I am the captain.”

I took a nap and finally woke up when I heard the announcement. My God, I had fallen asleep before the plane even took off.

I stretched out and looked around. The flight departing from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport was quiet with few passengers. Was it supposed to be that quiet at that time?

“Hmm…”

As I woke up, I looked around with the Mana circuit and ensured that the party was well hidden. I was the only one who officially bought a flight ticket, and the rest of them hid in the cabin, wearing stealth magic and then sitting in empty seats and resting. Oh, except for Hwang Soo-rim, who couldn’t show her bare face.

She refused to go inside a container full of maggots and then get miniaturized, but it was unavoidable.

To find a place to stay in Shanghai, I needed a record of entry into China anyway, so I decided to take a flight ticket and leave the country formally.

It might be different if I went to another world, but I couldn’t magically fly that long distance when military units monitor their airspace with radar. However, one of the reasons I bought a ticket was that I couldn’t leave the immigration records of the White Deer who didn’t have a proper status or of Hwang Soo-rim, who was known to be at home at that moment.

“We apologize to our passengers. Currently, it is impossible to land normally due to the circumstances of the destination, Gimpo Airport. So, our plane will turn around and land at a nearby airport. We deeply apologize to the passengers and ask for your understanding.”

Ugh? What happened all of a sudden?

Since the cell phone couldn’t be used, it was impossible to search for what had happened at Gimpo Airport. So, if it was a nearby airport, was it Incheon? It was too far from my house.

I grumbled inside.

However, after a while, I realized that my predictions were wrong.

From the in-flight monitor and the scenery that unfolded out of the window, that plane was moving inland rather than on the beachside.

“… Uh, what is it? Was there an airport like this?”

The runway was approaching, and the plane landed without any problem, but I still couldn’t get out of my suspicious thoughts.

“Passengers, our flight has now arrived at Seoul Airport.”

… Seoul Airport?

Not Incheon Airport, not Gimpo Airport, but Seoul Airport? I had never heard of it before.

I looked around quietly. Come to think of it, even if there weren’t many people on the plane, I felt that it was too empty, and when the destination airport suddenly changed, no one expressed their protest.

Then…

I looked carefully at the flight attendants I couldn’t have seen since I fell asleep as soon as I got on the plane.

First, there was no Mana. They weren’t wizards, but was there supposed to be that much male proportion in the job? Why did they have so many calluses on their hands?

I prepared myself and waited for the plane to stop. Unlike the airports I had experienced so far, the plane stopped in the middle of the runway without approaching the gate. I then could see the door of the vehicle waiting outside open from the window.

After a while, the door of the plane opened as if it were ready. There were no safety checks between the crew and no more in-flight broadcasts.

Suddenly, two men and women approached the business seat where I was sitting. One was a middle-aged man in a clean suit and a woman who looked a little younger.

Both impressions were incredibly good. Their body and height were dwarf-like small.

Among them, the male talked to me with a tone and expression that I thought was probably the sweetest thing I had ever experienced in my life.

“Did you have a comfortable flight? Mr. Yoon Min-joon.”

It was a very polite voice. On his collar, a badge in the shape of a Korean flag sparkled.

“I’m sorry to meet you suddenly. I really wanted to see you, so I’m here without any prior notice.”

I glared at him.