Chapter 40: Flower Garden of Another World
The core of a golem created by Archmage Lee Hayun.
Although it was broken and only half remained, the condition of the remaining portion was excellent, making it possible to discern the magic formula.
As Diesel examined it piece by piece, admiration burst forth inside him.
‘Can a golem magic formula really have such a simple structure?’
After River had shown him a fragment of a golem last time, Diesel had done his own research on golems.
Golem creation, a technique called the flower of sophisticated magic engineering.
Just engraving a golem’s magic formula alone required an enormous amount of time and resources.
Yet his Younger Sister had compressed that complex magic formula into just a few lines.
‘No. This isn’t simply shortening the formula, it’s…….’
“Spatial Overlapping Magic Formula.”
River spoke the very words Diesel had been thinking.
It was a high-grade construction method that folded space multiple times and engraved the formula within it.
“The magic formula of this core is engraved through spatial overlapping. And mages who can engrave overlapping magic formulas are few indeed, even if you consider this land—no, the entire world.”
A magic-engraving technique known to be usable only by mages who had transcended a certain realm.
It was a domain that even Diesel, who possessed the ability called Surreal Awakening, could not yet imitate.
‘And it’s an overlapping magic formula with space folded seven times…….’
It seemed the title of Archmage attached to his Younger Sister was far from mere decoration.
“So, how did you get that core? Don’t tell me you went to Jeju Island?”
“No. It’s still impossible to set foot on that island.”
“Then?”
“If I were to explain even that, the story would become very long. I would appreciate it if you would just understand that I’ve been moving rather diligently all this time.”
River continued with a gentle smile.
“More importantly, the question is why the Dragon Star Group clan was after this. Among golems, it’s a fairly common concrete golem core. A core this damaged wouldn’t fetch a proper price even if you sold it.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“They knew that this magic formula was engraved using the spatial overlapping method. A fact that normally can only be determined through precise measurements using special equipment operated by corporate research labs.”
Information that originally had to be discovered with such difficulty.
Diesel once again realized just how extraordinary his own ability—to grasp such information at a glance—really was.
“So you’re saying the information leaked from somewhere?”
At Diesel’s guess, River nodded.
“That’s correct. The number of people who know that this golem was created by an Archmage is extremely small. So this can only be one of two things. Either someone among the Fixers around me broke the unspoken rules.”
River’s gaze turned toward Diesel.
“Or you, sir, stabbed me in the back.”
She then made a face.
A smile that looked utterly harmless.
“But that would be absurd, wouldn’t it?”
“…….”
To deliberately voice something so absurd.
Diesel could sense an ulterior motive in her actions.
A small warning that while she trusted him, she was also wary.
‘She might have deliberately let it slip to the Fixers around her.’
Bait laid out to weed out a traitor mixed in among them.
If it were River, she would be more than capable of doing exactly that.
“What were the Dragon Star Group planning to do by stealing it?”
“That’s an important question.”
River spoke as she tucked the golem core into her bosom.
“With just this core, it’s possible to reverse-track the location and obtain the exact positional values of where the golem was created. And once you know that, you can do a great many things. Not just marking coordinates on a map…….”
As River trailed off, Diesel continued in her place.
“You could connect spaces to each other.”
Jeju Island, where spatial coordinates had been severely twisted by an enormous abnormal disaster, and—
As if confirming that Diesel was right, River nodded.
“Exactly. In that case, even if direct movement isn’t possible, at the very least, communication would be.”
In other words, with just that core, it would be possible to contact an Archmage who might still be alive.
His Younger Sister, Lee Hayun.
“But this plan can’t be put into action yet. We can only obtain the location information after fully restoring the core.”
“So what do I need to do to retrieve the rest of the core?”
“As expected, it’s nice talking to you, sir. Things move quickly.”
River smiled at Diesel’s words.
“By any chance, are you familiar with the ‘Great Port’ in Incheon?”
The Great Port.
A gigantic harbor constructed by Nordic giants.
Its scale was so vast that separate trains had been built just to move around inside it.
“So I just need to bring back the golem’s core from there?”
“Yes. But to do that…….”
River’s expression hardened.
“You’ll have to kill a giant.”
Nordic giants.
Most of those who had settled in the real world stayed around Northern Europe—such as the Scandinavian Peninsula, Germany, and Poland—but some had spread across the globe.
With overwhelming physical abilities and various miracles they brought from the North, giants sometimes worked as mercenaries, sometimes as craftsmen.
However, the giant profile Diesel had received listed a rather unusual profession.
‘A lawyer from a giant lineage…….’
The world now was one where countless different races—heteromorphic and otherworldly—lived intermixed.
As a result, the emergence of racial discrimination, stereotypes, hatred, and belittlement was an all-too-natural progression.
In such a society, the place that embraced all races most equally was none other than ‘corporations’.
What mattered to corporations was only an individual’s ability; race or origin carried little meaning.
‘Black Container, huh…….’
A corporate lawyer at the mid-sized trading company ‘Black Container’.
His name was Gnar.
An otherworldly race working as a lawyer wasn’t particularly strange.
In the case of the ‘demon’ race that crossed over from the Lower Realm of the Heavenly World, for example, their exceptional intellect and unique eloquence often boasted high win rates in court.
‘Still, a giant lawyer is something new.’
Diesel skimmed through the资料 River had sent him.
‘What the hell. He’s pretty competent?’
Zero lost cases over the past five years.
And every single one had been lawsuits between major corporations whose names anyone would recognize.
[Sir, where are you at the moment?]
[I’m almost there.]
Early in the morning, as Diesel drove along the elevated highway in Incheon, he replied to River.
[We’ll arrive in 20 minutes.]
[It seems you came out a bit early.]
Right now, Diesel was heading to Incheon Airport to make contact with the team member for this operation.
[Are you really okay with this?]
[What do you mean?]
[I’m talking about the personnel. The opponent is a Nordic giant—can just two people really handle it?]
[Of course. With your skills and that person’s abilities, sir, it’s more than enough.]
Even setting aside the target’s race, the place he worked at was an AA-grade mid-sized corporation.
This was an operation to assault the chief lawyer of such a company—could it really be done with just two people?
Diesel looked over another profile River had given him.
‘She said Valkyrie, right.’
Like giants, Valkyries were a valiant race from the otherworld called Nord.
She was to be his partner for this operation.
‘Why is this profile so half-baked?’
Diesel read through the profile, which only had a name and race written plainly.
Even the photo was so blurry it was impossible to make out her face.
The only information worth using was the career record attached at the very bottom.
…….
「Bosnian violent gang, 9 eliminated.」
「Serbian armed terrorist group, 7 eliminated.」
「Kosovo demon-worshipping cult, 19 eliminated.」
…….
A list of activity records conducted solely in Eastern Europe.
Though they were nothing more than brief sentences that barely qualified as information, they were enough to infer her level of skill.
‘The Balkan Peninsula must be practically hell right now. To have operated like this there means…….’
Perhaps River’s calculation that two people would be enough was accurate.
〈Ar. How about it? Does anything come up on this Valkyrie?〉
〈No. I’m still searching, but nothing is showing up.〉
〈Nothing at all?〉
〈Yes. With activity that intense, you’d expect her to appear at least once in combat footage released by certain factions for propaganda purposes.〉
〈Hmm……. You’re not just skimming because you’re distracted by driving, are you?〉
〈……I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t treat the multitasking ability of an Electrosphere Spirit like that of an organic being. If we’re talking about my usual processing power alone, even among commercially available cyberdecks…….〉
〈No. I just said it because you like driving too much.〉
Even though Ar’s manner of speech had changed considerably, her obsession with driving remained the same.
Back when her communication skills were still clumsy, her driving had also been a bit unstable, so Diesel often seized control from her. Now, however, she controlled the motorcycle almost perfectly, leaving him no justification to do so.
〈Sometimes, I want to step on it myself too.〉
〈That’s not allowed. Master’s driving lacks delicacy. Our ‘Rang-i’ is not a simple machine that just moves because you press the accelerator.〉
Ar said this while calling the nickname she had arbitrarily given the motorcycle.
〈Our Rang-i is a very sensitive child. That’s why I must handle her with care.〉
〈Ha……. Fine.〉
[This is an announcement. Due to the currently ongoing corruption purification procedures, entry processes are being delayed. The affected gate numbers are…….]
Incheon Multidimensional Airport, which always ranked within the top three whenever global airport rankings were mentioned.
Not only did it host a wide variety of international aircraft, but it was also a place where countless tourists gathered for permitted tourism to other worlds.
‘It’s my first time at an airport.’
Diesel had never even visited this place back when it was Incheon International Airport, so he didn’t know just how much it had changed.
All he knew was that the whale tailbone displayed in the middle of the airport must have been installed after the world changed.
‘Is this that outer space whale that supposedly fell into the Pacific…….’
Its size was so enormous that he had to crane his neck fully back just to look up to the very top.
Even with only the tail fin remaining, it was this massive—just how large must the whale have been when intact?
‘To think a life-form like this was orbiting Earth…….’
What ushered in the Surreal Era was none other than the fall of those outer space whales.
Tsunamis caused by unidentified giant life-forms crashing into the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
The irreversible event known as the ‘Awaken Wave’.
Although a full hundred years had already passed since then, almost nothing about the whales had been revealed.
Where they came from, why they fell to Earth, and so on.
“Um……. Excuse me…….”
While he was momentarily lost in thought in front of the whale remains—
Someone spoke to Diesel.
“……?”
When he turned around, a young girl was calling out to him.
She was so small that if she bent herself slightly, she looked like she could fit inside the carry-on suitcase she was pulling.
‘Did she get lost?’
Diesel tried to ignore her to avoid potential trouble, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so when he saw her watery eyes looking up at him.
“If you go toward that information center over there, there should be someone who can help you.”
“Ah…….”
Having shifted responsibility elsewhere, he turned around again—
But the girl kept talking to him.
“No, it’s not that, um……. Th-that…….”
“What is it?”
“By any chance…….”
Then she said something completely unexpected.
“Are you…… Diesel-nim……?”