Hermit Wizard

The Master of Vigilance (3)

Instead of immediately answering that the city where the incident took place was Seoul, Simon changed the subject.

“Before that, I also want to ask a question.”

“Yes. Please ask.”

Simon cleared his throat. And while he was looking at Eraser, he felt a sense of incongruity. What was it? He quickly realized why. Until recently, some of the Eraser’s eyes were scattered around the room. However, now all fourteen open eyes were staring at him, Then fifteen. In the meantime, he opened one more eye. Simon felt chills even though he knew that he couldn’t have a peculiar reaction.

“Why do you need this information?”

“…It’s a long story. Can I use brain instead of voice? I don’t speak English very well.”

Simon adamantly refused, as he already knew from his work report and Jeffrey’s request.

“It’s not possible. Please speak by voice instead of telepathy.”

“Hmmmmm, okay. What I’m looking for is the one who called those flying demons into this world.”

Unlike the previous attempts recorded in the report, Eraser gave up his insistence on using telepathy and began explaining it with voice. The deal was effective. Upon hearing his answer, Simon noticed that Eraser used the word “animal” first. Still, after hearing his explanation, he changed the word to “demon.”

“It could be a person on Earth. It may not be an Earthly person. But I know…that person is probably a wizard.”

Simon asked a question, hiding his surprise.

“What does it mean to be called into this world?”

“…The demon probably did not come in the usual way. The world where the demon lives. This world. The two cannot be connected. The world where the demon lives are very high. This world is low. Oh, it’s too hard to explain! I want to speak with the brain.”

“It’s not possible. Please explain slowly, in English, using the words you know.”

“…Do you know the Channel?”

“Yeah.”

“The world where the demon lives, this world, and Channels cannot be connected. One is very high, and one is low.”

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“The dimension from which the creatures originated, and the dimension in which we live is higher… no, level? Are you saying that they can’t connect to the Channel because of the difference in the level?”

“That’s right.”

-Ghrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Eraser laughed and continued.

“Our world’s Finder said, there is such a person in this world. Perhaps a wizard who can connect it. That person can connect to places that cannot be connected. And call. I look for that wizard. I want to talk. I want to ask that person something.”

Simon quickly cleared up his thoughts in his head. Eraser expressed it roughly, but the meaning was understandable. There were raw creatures who originally lived in a dimension where the Channel couldn’t be opened. Such creatures appeared on Earth. No scenes from the Channel were seen. The one who called the creature…was it an individual or a group? An earthling or an alien from another Channel? How could the wizard summon creatures out of where the Channel couldn’t be opened?

In addition to Channels, were there any doors that led to other dimensions?

“Then… what do you want to find and ask the wizard about?”

“Want to learn. Learn how.”

“What is the Finder?”

“I want to talk with the brain…”

“Please explain in words you know.”

But this time, the reaction of the alien race was strong.

“I can’t explain with my voice. It’s very complicated.”

In fact, this was the part that the upper paid the most attention to. It was also the reason why Simon was so excited about the negotiations with Eraser. A mighty entity called the Finder was said to receive offerings and informed him about our world. Simon speculated that the upper had some guesses about the identity of the existence. One of the secrets that couldn’t be accessed on his own level.

Among the races with the civilization and knowledge that could explain the world’s odds, such as the Channel’s principle and the purpose of its creation, the most human-friendly race was the Gramperi that appeared in Hong Kong. However, they interacted with humanity (China) only within restricted areas, with the Chinese government’s external contact. On the other hand, the United States hadn’t yet started a proper exchange of civilization.

For that reason, his boss and uppers seemed to be bothered as America might lag in acquiring knowledge of alien civilizations that could change the world’s fate. Their impatience resulted in flying to foreign jungles, capturing the aliens, and placing them under their own protection. Even though the alien was now somewhat unfaithful to the request for cooperation. Simon gave up and moved on to another question.

“Do you know why the Channel is opening?”

“That question, not the first. So far, six people from Earth have asked me. That’s a difficult question. The answer is complex. I don’t speak English very well. It can be explained with the brain.”

In exchange for the deal, the uppers also wanted to obtain information about the world’s extreme events. However, Eraser didn’t seem to want to tell himself more than why he needed information. Simon tried several more similar questions, but each time a strong rejection returned. Time passed helplessly. He felt like he had hit a wall.

‘Damn it!’

The back of Simon’s shirt began to grow wet with sweat. At the same time, the interview continued sluggishly without having access to the answers the upper wanted. Because he was stressed out, it came to his mind without knowing. What if it were his father? If his father, who was considered one of the company’s best agents, had been here, wouldn’t he have been possible to break through this situation somehow?

Yes, if he were his father, he might have been able to handle the alien race easily. His father was the greatest support and idol in his own life. If he could get advice from the one who had already died…he had a keen desire to rely on his father, who was not by his side anymore.

That was when he thought about it. Strangely his head felt heavier. It felt like the sensations of the whole body gradually became distant. Simon suddenly thought it was weird, but then he forgot the thought. What? Eraser’s Eyes…how many were they supposed to open? Simon was counting one, two, and the rest of Eraser’s eyes. He stopped because it was meaningless. There were no eyes closed. Eraser opened all his 23 eyes and was staring at him with all of them.

How long had it been, Simon had forgotten that thought again. And when he came to his sense, he stood up and said goodbye. His willingness to get an answer he couldn’t hear in any way disappeared. Simon greeted him with a calm heart, convinced that he had achieved enough.

“Thank you for taking the time today.”

The answer came back from beyond the glass wall.

“Goodbye. Nice to meet you, Agent Simon Van de Camp.”

***

Simon came out of the observation room without feeling any discomfort. Jeffrey, who was waiting in the room next to him, came out and asked urgently.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, we didn’t get all the answers we were aiming for, but we’re still making great progress. Now, I think we just need to hand over the recording and the report to our information analysis team.”

“No, that’s not it…but the CCTV footage showed Eraser with all his eyes open. Sometimes he does that without meaning, but there are several cases in which a peculiar reaction occurred in the subject…”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry. I am fine. And, in the first place, I said I don’t have a religion. It’s impossible for a peculiar reaction to occur. Because there is no object to forget.”

“Ah… well, that’s right.”

“Thank you for your support for these two consecutive days. I would like to say hello to the branch manager before returning to headquarters.”

After coming out of Isolation Camp No. 25, saying goodbye to Jeffrey, and walking alone to the branch manager’s office, Simon summarized today’s interview with the alien race. He had also recorded it, but it wasn’t bad to outline the report in advance. Meanwhile, Simon suddenly realized something. The alien race didn’t get an answer to a question from him. Eraser asked where the Channel took place, but instead of saying it was Seoul, he took time and avoided an immediate answer. Even after that, Simon had no memory of answering that question.

-Knock, knock

Upon entering the branch manager’s office, a middle-aged man greeted him.

“Good job, Agent Van de Camp.”

Simon shook hands with the branch manager and smiled.

“Thank you for your support. We had a meaningful achievement.”

“Good! We look forward to hearing from headquarters. Richard would be so happy to see this. You are grown up and doing your part as an agent.”

“…Yeah?”

When Simon asked back with an empty look, the branch manager asked why he was like that.

“What’s wrong with you? Agent Van de Camp?”

“Richard? Which Richard are you talking about?”

“Hahaha. Who else would I mention in this situation? Of course, Richard Van de Camp, your late father.”

Richard… Van de Camp…? Simon Van de Camp silently asked himself in his own mind. Who… is that? Who was…my father?

“…Agent Van de Camp?”

In the branch manager’s eyes, the light of suspicion, conviction, and finally astonishment passed one after another.

“No way… you forgot?”

The branch manager’s voice trembled.

“…Isn’t his power supposed to make people forget the god that a devoutly religious man believed in?”

The branch manager looked back on everything that happened before. Until now, devout believers who have reacted to Eraser and had shown a peculiar reaction forgot the existence of the god they believed in. However, there was no other adverse reaction at all. At that time, a voice could be heard in Simon’s head. The pure meaning was conveyed without borrowing the form of the language of English.

=Get rid of him.=

At the same time as the voice echoed, Simon forgot everything he had thought of before. Simon, whose memories of his father named Richard Van de Camp were erased, trembled again, forgetting that he had forgotten him. Instead, he focused on the warm voice in his head. This person talking to him was his hero. The biggest support and idol. A rock that he could trust and rely on.

“Yes, father.”

With the answer, Simon rushed toward the branch manager at the same speed as the wind. Simon’s two hands grabbed the branch manager’s face before the middle-aged agent, who had retired from the field for over a dozen years, could even pull back.

-Thung!

Having broken the branch manager’s neck, Simon carefully supported his head and back and laid him down slowly without a sound. Then he searched his body and took out his keys. After randomly rummaging through the branch manager’s room, he opened a hidden small safe, took out another heavy master key, and put it in his pocket.

Simon opened the branch manager’s office door and ran at full speed to the observation room. Contrary to his concerns, the armed personnel guarding everywhere had already been killed by the other children of his father and were scattered on the floor. The red-haired male agent, who just shot and killed another agent who couldn’t hear his father, looked at himself with a blank glance. It was a face that had been overlooked outside the quarantine area. On the back of his hand was a tattoo of an emblem representing a certain religion.

Turning his dry gaze behind his back, Simon went into the observation room, pointing to a corner of the wall that the voice told him. A part that looked like a normal wall opened, and a keyhole came out. The emergency master key from the branch manager’s room was inserted and turned. The door opened, and Simon stepped inside. In front of him, he sat cross-legged in a light brown faux leather recliner. Half lying on his back, his father, who opened his eyes, spoke, looking at him.

=Let’s go to the city called Seoul.=