Necromancer Survival

‘What did the two gain from pretending to be in a relationship?’

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     No way, was this a part of the plan to betray Seo Dawon?

     However, after yawning for a while, Jung Garam made eye contact with me and said, “I thought Ryu Hyerin didn’t like Bae Jaemin all that much.”

     “R-Really?”

     “Whenever I criticized Bae Jaemin, she would help out.”

     All I knew about Ryu Hyerin was that she was a famous, beautiful ranker that was Seo Dawon’s past fiancée… Desperate for even scraps of information, I urged Jung Garam with my eyes.

      But, surprisingly, Woo Ragi was the one to intervene in this conversation.
“Didn’t she neither like nor dislike people?”

      “She was close with Ragi-hyung too, right?”

      “We weren’t close.
We just didn’t fight.”

      Considering Woo Ragi’s personality, wasn’t even that an amazing feat? Perhaps Jung Garam also had that same thought; the young Assassin began to giggle when we exchanged looks.

     Kim Olim, who listened to our conversation quietly, suddenly shut her mouth as if she thought of something.
After steeling her resolve, she opened her mouth, “To be honest, Ryu Hyerin is… She was the most ideal person.
She never got agitated at anything and didn’t dislike others easily.
Her title, [Opera] guild’s deputy guildmaster, may seem flashy on the outside, but she dealt with many things in the background.
Ryu Hyerin always did a good job.
She must have been tired, but, if something needed to be done, she’d do it.”

     “……”

     “It’s honestly not that easy to fulfill all the duties that are expected of your position.
I learned a lot from her in that area.
We were friends, but I also admired her.”

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     “……” I was shocked that Kim Olim would use the word ‘admire.’

     Soon though, Kim Olim opened her closed eyes, something blue shining within her blood red eyes, and continued, “So, I’m looking forward to slitting her throat.
I’ve never seen her be so frivolously startled or seen her make a fuss in all her life.
I’ll probably see some of her sincere expressions before she dies.”

     “Mm… Then, will noona personally take care of Ryu Hyerin? You made an agreement with Dawon-hyung?”

     “That’s right.” Kim Olim nodded.
She turned towards my slightly intimidated self.
“And, in all honesty, I was still in doubt until we dealt with Park Hoseok.
I wasn’t sure if we could accomplish anything.”

     “……”

     “However, Choi Lee-kyung, you succeeded in resolving Jung Garam’s resentment.
I trust you now.
Someday, you’ll be able to drag Ryu Hyerin right before me.
That hope’s been nurtured.”

     “I-Is that so… Actually, I don’t think I did all that much.” I flapped my hands, flustered by such a serious conversation.

     Kim Olim denied my words seriously, “We exist because you exist.
If it weren’t for you, we would’ve had to accept our destruction or resign ourselves to a miserable fate.
Thanks to you, I was able to retain my rationality.”

     “……”

     “Maybe it’s ridiculous for me to say this, but…I feel like I’m alive right now.
I had thought that only the living were blessed with the ability to enjoy themselves as they imagined their future.” As she said that, Kim Olim showed us a hitherto unseen smile.
Deep dimples… A real smile that harmonized nicely with her warm gaze.

     I felt a bit embarrassed; my toes curled.
However, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Kim Olim’s face.
She was always so stern and serious, but I realized that this innocent smile far suited her actual age.
For a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of how she had sparkled during her lifetime.

     ‘How could Ryu Hyerin kill someone like this?’

     Ryu Hyerin must have been familiar with the Kim Olim that could make this kind of expression.

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     However, her smile disappeared within a minute; She soon returned to her usual stern face and began nagging at me.
“So, from now on, work harder in training your physical stamina and take precious care of your body until our revenge succeeds.
Also, don’t be too angry about Ryu Hyerin’s business.
It’s not time yet… Are you listening? Necromancer?”

     “Ah, Mmhm!”

     “Your cheeks are red again.
Are you feverish again?”

     “No, no…! I’m fine!”

     I quickly came to my senses after hearing those words…I suddenly made eye contact with Seo Dawon, who was observing my expressions.
The Mage smiled brightly, but, for some reason, only his face was smiling.
I wondered why he seemed to be in such a poor mood.

     In any case, our conversation ended there; Kim Olim handed me a piece of paper meant for tomorrow’s investigation appointment.
The expected questions were written there.
Underneath those were the answers I should give.

     “This QnA was created by a lawyer.
Koo Hui-seo said that he’d provide a lawyer, but we refused because that might raise some suspicions.
Read these answers, memorize them, and then practice answering while giving an appropriate performance.”

     “There’re more answers than I had imagined…”

     “You don’t necessarily need to memorize everything.
The key questions have been marked separately, so it’s okay to look only at those.”

“”

     “Mhmm……” I slowly turned a few pages of the A4-sized packets, reading the questions highlighted in red.

     In the afternoon, I ate brunch at XX cafe; the rest of the time, I was supposed to have read books at the villa.
I didn’t have much of a schedule, so I thought it’d be easier to memorize than I had first imagined.

     “Acting…” Seo Dawon said, his words taking on a strange nuance as he watched me eagerly reading the script.
Somehow his gaze was gloomy.

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     Jung Garam turned towards us, “What?”

     “Lee-kyung-ie is super bad at acting.”

     “What?” I asked.

     “Pfft hahaha.
What are you good at?” Jung Garam laughed.

     My temper flared for a moment.
However, I remembered how we had confronted Kim Sangyoon in the past, and my mouth closed shut.

     At that time, I decided to match Seo Dawon’s bad cop act and acted to ‘convince’ the Mage to let the Warrior’s transgressions slide, but I answered everything stiffly like a robot… Fortunately, Kim Sangyoon was a little out of his mind at the time.
If he was in his right senses, however, he definitely would have noticed something strange.

      “W-What should we do? What if I–What if they do something because I’m acting suspiciously…”

     “How many times have I said you’re not a suspect in the first place? On the surface, your ability isn’t at a level where you can kill Park Hoseok.
Even if you confessed, you’d only be hit with the crime of obstructing the progression of the official investigation.”

      “Haah…”

      Afterwards, Kim Olim soothed me for about an hour, noticing how I had frozen, so my racing heart calmed down a little.
But, strangely, my eyes could read none of the words on the paper… Eventually, I stayed up all night, eyes open.

* * *

     The next day.

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     With faraway eyes, I arrived at the ‘Hunter Association’ branch near the plaza with the servants.

     The exterior felt like just another district governmental office building, but the interior was designed to have something like bank teller windows.
A wide space in the middle was allocated to receiving civil complaints.
Should I say that the scent of civil servants was strong here?

     “E-Excuse me… I’m here because of this [Attendance Summons]…”

     “Ah, Please wait a minute.
The person in charge will be here soon.”

      The way I was handed a numbered ticket so that I could wait was so similar to other governmental offices.
I felt my anxiety subside as I waited for the person in charge.

     The other servants were leisurely enough to freely chatter, unmoved by our situation; I gradually regained my calm.

[Clack Clack!]

    And, Lackey was within my arms…

    When I arrived at a crowded place with Lackey, the skeleton would be unnerved by its surroundings, turning its small head here and there and ferociously observing the environment.
Its actions were so cute that I couldn’t help but stroke its smooth head.
Though the skull was cold and firm, my mood improved whenever I touched it.

    “The lead investigator has arrived.
I’ll guide you; this way please.”

    When my heart finally calmed, the person in charge arrived, and I was able to be comfortably guided to the reception room.

     The reception room was a small room not far from the civil complaint counter; inside I could see a whiteboard, a long table, and a laptop computer on top of that table.
Rather than an interrogation, the atmosphere felt more like a meeting room; I released the deep breath I held and sat in a random seat.

    As soon as I sat down, I heard a click and the sound of the door opening.
I turned to look at the person who entered.

     “Hello.
I’m the investigator, Moon Issak.”