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Chapter 170
Chapter 170
Chapter 170
Disguise as a volunteer from the Pilgrimage Church and infiltrate the Antonio Rehabilitation Hospital—an overly simple plan, but the most efficient. It was what Se-Hoon had decided to do after weighing all the factors.
They wouldn't arouse as much suspicion from the enemy since civilian volunteers from the Pilgrimage Church were common, and it was simply just an excellent cover identity.
Disguises are like a daily routine for the members of the Pilgrimage Church.
Due to the nature of divine mana, the antithesis of demonic aura, demons assassinated members of the Pilgrimage Church more often than typical heroes. As a result, talented members either stayed hidden within the Church or used assumed identities to make it difficult to track them.
Still, the Pilgrimage Church’s presence here likely already sent the Demon Force into hiding.
If he wanted to shorten the upcoming plan, it would come down to whether Se-Hoon could find those deeply hidden traces of the Demon Force within two days. Determined to make it so, he sharpened all his senses.
“Please take care of this as well,” a nurse requested Se-Hoon.
“Oh, got it.”
In the empty lot behind the hospital, Se-Hoon was swinging his hammer tirelessly, repairing the various items brought by the nurses. From crutches, wheelchairs, and rehabilitation equipment to tables and household goods, he fixed them all.
At first, he wondered why a large rehabilitation hospital had so many items broken items, but he soon learned the reason for it.
BOOM!
“Ha... Where did that come from?”
“According to the patient directory... it should be from Mr. Jackson’s room.”
“Ah, but if it's melted, we'll have to throw it away...”
Exhausted, the nurses sighed at the loud noise from the building. Having listened in on their conversation, Se-Hoon reevaluated the rehabilitation hospital.
It must be a hassle since all of their patients are previous high-ranking heroes.
Because of that, even a small misstep during their rehabilitation could result in a plethora of broken items.
“Mr. James... can you also repair molten items?”
Looking toward the nurse, who had been looking at her phone, Se-Hoon nodded calmly in response to her hesitant question.
“As long as it's not unrecognizable, it’s doable.”
“Oh! Then I'll bring it right away!”
Pleased by his answer, the nurse quickly went back inside the hospital, leaving behind Se-Hoon with the pile of junk stacked in front of him.
“They took measures to prevent the buildings and important items from breaking, but they didn’t even put simple enchantments on everyday items, huh? Well, I guess this is also a part of the rehabilitation training.”
By placing easily breakable items by the patients, the hospital was basically forcing them to practice consciously controlling their strength even during daily life. It was a subtle but effective method, and luckily, Se-Hoon could also use it to find traces of the involvement of the Pleasure District.
These items should be sufficient for gathering enough traces.
Since these items were more or less unconsciously broken, the remnants of skills and mana were still left on them. Thus, they were, in a way, unvarnished. They would serve as great minor signposts that would partially clue him in on the patients’ conditions.
“Mr. James, I brought it!”
The nurse came back a few moments later with a desk that looked like a massive claw of fire had scratched it. Examining its condition, Se-Hoon confirmed that it was fixable.
“This looks doable...”
Boom!!
Once again, a loud noise resounded from the hospital, hardening both the nurse's and Se-Hoon's faces. A second later, the nurse checked the message on her phone and looked at him awkwardly.
“Can you also repair desks and chairs that are compressed like balls...?”
“...Just bring them here.”
Unless he needed to find more traces of the Pleasure District here, it was definitely not a place he wanted to return to.
***
“Phew...”
After repairing items all morning, Se-Hoon finally stood up around lunchtime to stretch lightly.
It feels like I've fixed over a hundred items, yet there's still a lot left...
He wondered how many desks and chairs the hospital actually had. Feeling like the amount was a bit ridiculous, he entered the hospital to have lunch.
Unlike the pathetic household items he had been fixing, the interior was clean and luxurious due to the hospital being well-funded since most of the patients were retired high-ranking heroes.
They probably get funding from the guilds these people belonged to.... It might be a tough job here, but the profitability isn't bad.
After all, they were dealing with individuals that typical hospitals would avoid.
For a while, Se-Hoon walked around to observe the rehabilitation hospital's interior before eventually entering a break room.
“Oh, you’re here,” Jane warmly greeted, recognizing him immediately.
Across from her, the disguised Luize stared blankly at her sandwich, chewing absentmindedly. Smiling at her half-dazed state, Se-Hoon approached the two.
“Where is everyone else?” Se-Hoon asked.
“They went for a walk after having lunch. You can speak freely for now.” Preparing in advance, Jane had already cleared out unrelated individuals and set up anti-eavesdropping measures in the room.
“Thank you,” Se-Hoon replied, impressed with her thorough work.
“It was no trouble at all. Oh, you can choose between a sandwich and a salad for your lunch.”
“Then...”
Picking up a packaged sandwich, Se-Hoon sat next to Luize.
“Huh? Oh...”
Reflexively reacting, Luize, who had been absentmindedly chewing her sandwich, turned to look at him. She stared at his disguised face for a moment before her eyes lit up with recognition.
“You... you son of a?”
“Shhh. There are people around,” Se-Hoon reminded her.
“Ugh...”
Noticing Jane, Luize, who had been about to curse, took a deep breath while trembling with frustration. She then glared coldly at Se-Hoon.
“You told me it would be an easy job, where all I had to do was walk around in disguise...!” she muttered, her every word frigid cold.
“And it was, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean it was?! Do you know how much trouble I’ve had with those cranky old folks today?!”
“Hey, you're crushing your sandwich. Relax.”
Placating her, Se-Hoon turned to Jane to ask, “Was it really that hard?”
“Well, people do get very sensitive during rehabilitation. They tend to react strongly even to minor issues,” Jane explained.
“They’re not just sensitive; they’re mad! One almost had a fit, saying they nearly died because the noise from me drinking water disturbed their concentration...”
Gritting her teeth, venting about her encounters with the patients. Listening to it all, Se-Hoon raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Wow... she held all of that in.
If it had been the Blast Dog, she would have already blown up the hospital to pieces. So since there had been no such commotion, Luize must have restrained herself.
At the sight of her venting, which only occurred in front of him, Se-Hoon offered genuine sympathy.
“Seems like you’ve had a tough time because of me. Thanks for holding it in.”
“...”
Stopping her venting at his words, Luize, who had been scowling, just opened and closed her mouth. Unable to continue speaking, she ended up just closing her eyes and sighing deeply.
“You always slip away like that when I’m about to curse you out.... You sneaky bastard...” she muttered, looking aggrieved.
But while she was still dissatisfied, she was slightly calmer as she resumed eating her sandwich.
Seeing the relief on Se-Hoon’s face, Jane, who had been watching, chuckled softly.
“I thought this when I first saw you two, but you two really get along well.”
“Ugh! Sunbae, what are you saying...”
“You endured your anger for him, and he brought you here because he trusted you would do just that.”
Looking at the two sitting side-by-side, Jane smiled gently.
“If this isn’t getting along, then what is?”
“...”
Turning red, Luize averted her gaze, while Se-Hoon showed his agreement.
“That is true.... I would never bring someone I don’t trust here.”
“Ugh, you’re making me feel sick. Stop it, damn it...!” Luize growled. Embarrassed, she began chewing her sandwich roughly.
Laughing at the scene, Jane changed the topic.
“By the way, did you find anything useful this morning?”
At her question, Se-Hoon swallowed his bite of sandwich and nodded.
“Yes. A fist fighter with a problem in the left eye, a spearman with a spinal issue, and someone who can use gravity magic. These three patients seem to be worth focusing on.”
“That is awfully specific.”
Noticing Jane’s surprise, Se-Hoon calmly launched into an explanation.
“Since items broken by magic can erode over time, I tried to repair the older ones first. That way, I can track recent changes in the patients.”
“You identified these individuals from those small traces...?”
“Yes. And I also took into account who has been breaking items most frequently.”
The items broke so often because the patients here often couldn't treat their prosthetics like their natural bodies, resulting in excess strength. They couldn’t easily adapt to the artificial limb’s sense of dissonance, despite the device’s fine muscle replication and complex mana circuits.
“The more often they fail to control their strength, the messier the traces should be... yet, the three people I mentioned were stabilizing over time.”
Though they could just be adapting to their prosthetics, the frequency of failing to control their strength and breaking items had still been increasing. That meant only one thing.
“The performance of their prosthetics is being enhanced in real-time...?” Jane cautiously proposed.
“That’s likely the case.”
Ordinarily, the performance features of prosthetics were fixed to prevent any confusion during the adaptation period. So the fact that those features were dynamically changing, and specifically only for three individuals, certainly warranted suspicion.
“If that's really the case... we can't just let this slide,” Jane gravely said.
She had initially just helped as a courtesy upon finalizing the contract, thinking there would be no issues. But now that suspicious circumstances had been discovered, it was a different matter.
“How do you plan to proceed with the investigation?”
“First, we need to locate these three individuals. Then, Luize and I will secretly make contact with them at night.”
Given that the targets could go into hiding at any moment, it was best to act swiftly once they were identified. Moving too hastily could backfire if they got caught, but Se-Hoon was confident.
As long as I’m with Luize, we should be able to handle it.
Before the regression, the Blast Dog was infamous for blowing up numerous buildings as acts of terrorism with her covert techniques. Those covert skills would have declined somewhat, but with Se-Hoon's support, they should be able to recreate those tactics.
“Hmm. Then I'll try to divert the enemy's attention and provide backup as needed. That’s likely the best approach in our current situation,” Jane added.
“That will be more than enough.”
Given that she would be under constant watch as an archbishop, it was safer for her to avoid suspicious movements.
Quietly listening to Se-Hoon and Jane quickly finalizing their plans, Luize softly mumbled, “I'm basically a slave...”
Summoned only when needed, ordered around, and given mere token gratitude when the task was done—no matter how much she owed him, this seemed a bit much.
Yet Se-Hoon dismissed her complaints outright.
“What nonsense are you talking about? I am making these plans because I believe you and I can handle them together.”
“...Ahem.”
“If I really thought of you as a slave, I wouldn’t have you by my side as we discuss the plan. So if you have any ideas, speak up. I trust your opinions more than anyone else’s.”
“Alright, alright. Stop with the sweet talk... wait.”
Not wanting to hear more, Luize was about to forget about it and move on as usual, but this time, she suddenly realized something and narrowed her eyes.
“Now that I think about it, every time you made me do something, you sweet-talked me with trust and belief...”
Faced with Luize’s sharp inquiry, Se-Hoon averted his gaze.
“That... would just be a coincidence.”
“...”
“Shall we move on to the next topic?” Se-Hoon said. He turned to Jane, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
Seeing him like that, Luize shoved the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth, clenched her fist, and swung it at Se-Hoon.
***
In a small workshop where dozens of prosthetic limbs hung like butchered meat, a young man wearing goggles moved a magic welder tirelessly, soldering the inside of a right-arm prosthetic. Each time, sparks flew, and waves of mana spread throughout the workshop.
For a while, the only sounds were those of metal until a sinister voice echoed from the man's shadow.
“The Pilgrimage Church has appeared at the test site. Do you have any ideas why?”
“The Pilgrimage Church?”
Stopping his welding, the young man lifted his goggles and looked down at his shadow with a frown.
“Why did they suddenly show up?”
“They seem to have come for volunteer work. They haven’t made any moves yet, but we’re on alert since the archbishop and some disguised individuals have arrived.”
“Hmm...”
Pondering the reason why, the young man scratched his messy hair. A moment later, he seemed to have come up with something.
“By the way, those parts you gave me had no demonic aura or anything like that in them, right?”
“Correct. So even if the Pilgrimage Church investigates them, they won’t find anything.”
“Good. Then let's try to get them to infuse some divine mana into those parts.”
“...What?”
Hearing the shadow’s confusion, the young man nonchalantly explained, “Didn’t you say that our three test subjects are showing results? Divine mana directly affects the body, so it’ll be good reference material.”
“But Madam has ordered us to stay vigilant for a while...”
“You said there’s no risk of being caught. And if we play it too safe, our new clients might start to distrust us. Sometimes in life, you have to be bold.”
A brief silence ensued before the shadow spoke again in a detached voice.
“And you'll be responsible for this?”
“Of course.”
With that, the shadow went silent, and the young man turned his attention back to the right arm prosthetic.
“How long will I have to keep doing their chores...?” he muttered.
If it were up to him, he would have rushed to Babel immediately, but there was no way for now.
Frustrated, Allen Morgan, the chief researcher at Marionette Factory, put his goggles back on and continued his work.
Woong-
His right arm glowed faintly, bathed in the light of Dawn.