Chapter 420 – But Why Didn’t You Tell Me

The 81st floor of the Black Tower.

“Follow me quickly!”

“Yes!”

Iona arrived at the hideout of the Faceless Great Thief Rune, bringing her slave… no, the 8th Vice President, Chad.

“Hmm. I can feel traces of high-level illusion magic here.”

Iona spoke while looking at the core of the illusion magic circle that Cuengi had shattered with force.

And,

“Chad, do you know what is installed here?”

Approaching the entrance of the building, Iona asked Chad.

“Yes?! Ahem. A teleportation magic circle with multiple registered coordinates is installed here.”

Chad answered in a tense voice while scanning Iona’s expression. Fortunately, his skill was good, as if he hadn’t become the 8th Vice President for nothing.

“That’s right. A teleportation magic circle that sends people one by one in order to five designated locations is installed.”

Although he was slightly lacking in detailed aspects.

“Cancel.”

After releasing the teleportation magic cast at the entrance, Iona went straight to the laboratory.

Thus arriving at the laboratory, Iona,

“Kyut!”

Was greatly surprised upon seeing the vast research materials and enormous amount of reagents in the laboratory.

What kind of research materials are these?

Pluck.

Iona picked up one research document that had fallen on the floor and read it quickly.

“This is?!”

The research document was about high-level transformation magic.

Pluck.

Iona picked up a few more research documents and examined them.

Most of them were about transformation magic, but here and there, there were contents analyzing and breaking magic patterns.

“Excellent.”

The understanding of magic by the person who wrote the research documents was extremely high.

They are a high-level talent!

If someone with such a high level of magic understanding were to write the reports for the Mage Association…

“Kyut-kyut-kyut.”

Iona smiled while having a pleasant imagination.

However,

“What is this?”

Soon, looking at Chad, who was wearing a blank expression while reading the research documents, she frowned.

“Kyu—kyu—you don’t even know this?!”

“Heck! My apologies!”

As Iona’s anger gauge rose, Chad first lowered his head flat on the ground.

“Kyu—”

Looking at Chad like that, Iona decided that she must somehow make the Faceless Great Thief Rune work under her.

I want to make him the 0th Vice President!

Instead of prison, she could have him serve his sentence in the Mage Association, and the compensation to be paid to the victims could be paid off with the salary of the Mage Association’s Vice President.

Then…

The time to spend together with Theo-nim will increase!

Imagining hanging onto Theo’s tail and being together with Theo, Iona’s mood improved again.

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Power of space. Grant me a new space. Subspatial Creation.”

Packing the entire laboratory into a new subspace, she moved to the 75th floor of the tower.

It was to find out the exact amount of Rune’s bounty to give to Theo, and to coordinate with the other association presidents so that she could hire Rune afterwards.

***

Se-jun’s subspatial warehouse.

“Hmm… what is it this time?”

Regaining consciousness, Rune quietly assessed his body’s condition.

Although for others, it would be normal to first figure out where this place was,

“It’s a blue-furred baboon.”

For Rune, assessing his own body condition was more important. This was because he had to know which entity he had transformed into so he could move without getting hurt.

Since it was a blue-furred baboon… it was strong, agile, and had strong teeth, so… its combat power was upper-middle.

Quickly recalling the characteristics of the blue-furred baboon, Rune stood up.

Clink.

A gold coin fell from Rune’s back. It was the gold coin Se-jun had placed on Rune’s body when he turned into a cicada to prevent him from escaping.

“Where is this?”

Rune, who got up from his seat, looked around.

The surroundings were filled with the treasures that were in his treasure warehouse, and some crops were also visible.

Crunch. Crunch.

Rune was hungry, so he first picked up a raw sweet potato and ate it in a hurry.

However,

‘What is this? Why is it so delicious?’

Before he knew it, the thought of eating only one had long turned into eating to his fill.

“I should pack a few.”

Eventually, going beyond filling his stomach, Rune gathered sweet potatoes and other crops and stuffed them into his vest.

Only then did he check if there was a way to get out,

“A subspatial warehouse?”

He realized that the place he was locked in was a subspace that was completely cut off from the outside, which he could not leave unless the owner of the space opened it.

“A subspatial warehouse is nothing if I just have a few pieces of equipment…”

Rune took out a cube-shaped magic device from his vest.

Rune could not use magic. Every time his body changed, he had to move his mana differently, but just when he was about to get used to it, he would transform into another body.

So, he created his own magic equipment that he could use even if his body changed.

Click.

As Rune pressed the coin-shaped button in the middle of the device,

Hum.

The device emitted green light toward the surroundings and began to scan the subspatial warehouse. It was to find the magic pattern.

In space magic, magic patterns that are the source exist, and even if only a part of that pattern is broken, a gap sufficient for a body to slip in and out can easily be made.

Rune learned all of this through self-study.

Rune was a genius with such outstanding magic understanding that even Iona recognized it. The problem was that he used it for theft.

Hum.

Rune’s magic device spent 1 hour analyzing the pattern of the subspatial magic.

“What is it?”

Rune was flustered. The magic device, which was supposed to find and break the pattern in 10 minutes, was still searching for the pattern.

No magic pattern? That can’t be…

Rune felt a massive wall for the first time in his life.

It was natural. Because Se-jun’s subspatial warehouse had been completely newly created by Kaiser, Kellion, Ramta, and Tier joining forces.

The great dragons who used magic as naturally as breathing. To them, such things as patterns used by mages did not exist.

Because they implemented magic with their will at each moment.

When 10 hours passed without any progress like that,

Clank.

The door of the subspatial warehouse opened.

‘Now is the chance! I will subdue the opponent by force and escape!’

Rune hurriedly rushed to subdue the being opening the door.

And,

“Huh?! A monkey?”

Se-jun, who opened the subspatial warehouse door to take out the egg fruit to eat for breakfast, discovered Rune.

‘What a relief.’

Rune, who did not want to hurt the opponent, felt relieved when he saw Se-jun, whom he could easily knock unconscious.

However,

“Hiss!”

His face stiffened upon seeing Theo, who was clinging to Se-jun’s knees and hissing, and

Cuengi?

[Are you picking a fight, yo?]

Cuengi, who stood in front of Se-jun, holding his front paws high and making himself look big.

In his head, Theo and Cuengi, who had plucked his tail feathers when he transformed into the Blue Phoenix and grabbed him by the collar, came to mind, and

Thud.

Rune naturally knelt in front of Cuengi, as if that was what he originally intended to do.

Kking?! Kking!

[Hey! Are you challenging us?! The Great Kkamang-i-nim will teach you a lesson!]

Of course Kkamang-i also barked diligently toward Rune to protect Se-jun, but his presence was weak.

After a while,

“Puhuhut. The tuna Churu made with Chairman Park’s devotion is delicious, meow!”

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. It’s delicious, yo!]

Kkihihit. Kking!

[Heh. It’s delicious!]

Theo, Cuengi, and Kkamang-i were eating the breakfast Se-jun made deliciously.

And today, one more person was sitting at the table.

“Is it edible?”

“Yes? Yes! It is extremely delicious!”

At Se-jun’s question, Rune, who was devouring the egg scramble with ketchup and potato soup in a hurry, answered in a bright voice.

Not to mention the taste of the food, it was a long time since he had shared a meal with someone in such a happy and comfortable atmosphere…

Because everyone was reluctant to be near him, looking at him as if he were a monster due to his changing appearance, Rune did not have a single friend to eat with.

He was so happy.

“There’s plenty, so eat a lot.”

“Yes!”

“Ah. By the way, if you want to eat a lot, you must eat quickly.”

Se-jun spoke while looking at Cuengi. The food in front of Cuengi was disappearing rapidly.

“Ah. Yes!”

Understanding Se-jun’s words, Rune ate the food in a hurry, and fortunately, he was able to fetch and eat food once more.

Once breakfast ended like that,

[You have fed 1 member of the blue baboon race to their fill.]

[Due to the effect of , all stats increase by 0.2.]

The message appeared in front of Se-jun.

‘He finished eating.’

Se-jun confirmed that Rune had eaten to his fill,

“Rune, you said your ability to transform cannot be controlled, right?”

And asked Rune. Se-jun had briefly heard about Rune’s situation before eating breakfast.

“Yes…”

Rune answered in a gloomy voice at Se-jun’s question.

“Don’t worry. Your worries are over now. Because I know an amazing expert.”

“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! You just have to trust Chairman Park, meow! Rune’s worries are over now, meow!”

Cuengi!

[If Papa says it’s over, it’s over, yo!]

Theo and Cuengi chimed in at Se-jun’s words, clinging to Se-jun’s knees and side.

Kking…

[The…]

Kkirorong.

Kkamang-i could not overcome his food coma and fell asleep. Ah, comfortable.

“But Vice President Theo, aren’t you going to work today?”

“…I’m not going, meow! I’m going to rest today, meow!”

Theo rubbed his forehead against Se-jun’s knees and refused to go to work.

“Alright.”

Knowing Theo’s feelings whose pride was hurt by the no-bid auction yesterday, Se-jun stroked Theo’s head.

“Puhuhut.”

After stroking Theo sufficiently like that,

“Follow me.”

Se-jun took Rune and visited the dragons who were having a drinking party at the fountain.

However,

– Se-jun, that would be difficult.

Even the dragons could not cure Rune’s symptom.

“Yes? Why?!”

Is there something the great dragons cannot do?!

When Se-jun looked at the dragons with disappointed eyes,

‘Plenty! We can’t farm, and we can’t cook either! That’s why we buy liquor from you!’

The dragons wanted to answer like that, but out of the pride of great dragons, they could not say such words.

– Ahem. Se-jun, this is a side effect that occurred while trying to transform into a very high-class existence.

– To put it simply, it is the same as a cherry tomato trying to turn into a watermelon.

– Right. What would a cherry tomato have to do to turn into a watermelon? It would have to decrease its density as much as possible to increase its volume, right?

– Then, the cherry tomato would lose its own characteristics. It’s similar to that.

Therefore, they explained to Se-jun in detail the reason why they could not cure it.

In short, it meant that Rune’s soul had lost its original form while trying to transform into a high-class existence.

However,

“Ah. So why can’t it be cured?”

Se-jun did not fully understand.

– If his soul does not remember his own body, we cannot find his original body either.

– Right. If we forcefully use magic to find his original appearance here, it will only cause more side effects.

– First, it is necessary for the soul to recall the original appearance.

“Ah. So…”

Only after the dragons explained in detail once again could Se-jun understand.

“Sorry. I made you anticipate in vain.”

Se-jun apologized to Rune as he came down from the fountain.

However,

“Ah… what did you say?”

Rune was not in his right mind to answer properly.

Although they were not their main bodies, he had faced four heads of the great dragon families, so it would be strange if his mind were clear.

Honestly, he couldn’t remember a single thing the dragons had said just a moment ago.

Se-jun and his companions who came down to the ground like that.

“Then this is the last resort. Vice President Theo, find what attracts you!”

Se-jun, holding Theo’s two front paws and placing one of them against Rune’s body, shouted out of hope.

“Meow? Meow! Chairman Park, there is an attraction, meow!”

“Oh! Really?! Where is it?”

As expected of Vice President Theo!

“Here, meow!”

Theo proudly pointed to the bundle he was carrying on his back.

“Huh? Vice President Theo’s bundle?”

“Yes, meow!”

“Since when did you feel attracted?”

“I’ve been attracted to it since I met Rune, meow!”

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

As Se-jun looked at Theo with absurdity,

“Puhuhut. Didn’t I, Vice President Theo, say that everything will be fine if you just trust Chairman Park, meow?!”

Theo spoke loudly, showing off to Rune with a gaze that said, ‘Isn’t our Chairman Park amazing?’

What was this?