Mastore 121 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 121

The Final Squirrel Thunder of Two-Year-Old Thor the Squirrel (2)

If asked whether pigeons flying in and hitting the convenience store window happens often, I'd say that's not exactly the case. City pigeons hardly fly to begin with. Their wings are just decoration.

That’s why, until just now, I thought it wasn’t a pigeon but a rock that had flown in and shattered the store’s display window. That was until the thing that had flown in didn't just shatter the glass but also knocked over a few shelves and burst some milk cartons in the dairy section.

I was sure it was a pigeon after hearing its chirping.

―Coo. Coo-coo.

“Hey, Lee Chan! Are you okay!"

While I was staring blankly at the exploded milk cartons, Noona’s voice came from behind. Turning toward the entrance, I saw her hastily walking in, sweeping back her disheveled hair.

I wondered why Noona had come, but first answered her question.

"I'm fine, but two milk cartons are seriously damaged."

“This isn’t the time for jokes! I told you to close the front door—”

“No, how am I supposed to close something that doesn’t exist?”

At my reply, she looked dumbfoundedly toward the front door and then glanced between two soot-covered floor tiles, asking again,

“What happened to the front door and floor?”

“A lightning-shooting squirrel broke them.”

"What the hell are you on about, and you seem weirdly calm right now."

It’s not that I’m calm; it’s that I’m too exhausted to even feel disbelief. It's not like I've lived a wicked life, yet why do these trials keep happening to me…

Even if I had closed the front door like Noona said, I’m not sure what would’ve changed. Since I had calmed down, I thought it would be better to at least snap Noona back to her senses since she was more agitated than me.

“How did you end up here, Noona? Were you chasing that pigeon?"

“…Ah. Right, good question.”

As if regaining her own composure, she unclasped her interlocked hands and pointed at the pigeon.

"Let's catch that first."

“How? What can I do to help?”

“Not yet. Just take a good look at that pigeon first.”

She told me to take a good look, so I did. The pigeon was now fluttering its wings and crawling out of the dairy section, and its condition was just as strange as what I'd seen today.

―Coo-coo-coo―

―Chirp.

Actually, the weirdest thing was that the pigeon's entire body was made of metal. I don't know what kind of metal it was, but it was perfectly smooth.

"Why are its wings like that? Is it some kind of implant?"

“Implants, my foot. It’s just a guess, but I think it messed with something inside a gate and ended up like that. Maybe because it faced less resistance, it's incredibly fast."

"You're saying this pigeon went into the gate and came out like this?"

“I said it’s a guess. Anyway, we need to immobilize it somehow… huh?”

She slightly widened her eyes as if found out something. I followed her gaze.

The pigeon was covered in milk after crashing into the dairy section, but since its wings were metal instead of feathers, they weren’t wet.

But for some reason, one wing was half torn off. Why would a fully metal pigeon have wings like that…?

"Are you alright, Boss?"

Following the elder's voice from behind, a sound like multiple spoons falling to the ground rang out. When I checked, it wasn’t spoons but a handful of steel feathers.

“Elder, why are you holding those?”

“I plucked them from that pigeon. I tried to catch it when it flew in, but I happened to be holding a lighter…”

The elder was touching his suit's sleeve cuff as if frustrated he couldn't catch it. I’m amazed he even managed to reach the pigeon’s wings.

And this is the first time Noona and the elder have met. I was a little curious how they’d react to each other, but Noona looked down at the steel feathers on the floor and asked the elder.

“Sir. What is your name?”

“It’s a wolf.”

“Yes, Elder Wolf. May I use the feather you just plucked?”

“Of course.”

How professional. He picked up a handful of fallen feathers and lifted them up and down repeatedly.

"...This is about the right weight."

Noona uses weight manipulation magic. I remember when she helped me catch a robber-turned ATM to get licensed, and she made a dagger heavier and used it to break the ATM.

It seemed like she was planning to use the same spell this time, but the process felt different, so I couldn’t quite picture it. As I watched quietly, she suddenly dropped the feathers onto the floor.

Then she turned to me.

“Hey, Lee Chan.”

“Yeah.”

"A pigeon's wings would be symmetrical, right?"

“Maybe? Human arms are symmetrical too.”

“Right. So their weight should be the same too.”

Her last statement seemed more rhetorical than an actual question. She stretched her hand towards the pigeon, slowly closing her fist as if crushing an apple.

At the same time, the intact wing slammed into the floor. Specifically, just the tip of the wing opposite where the elder had plucked the feathers.

―Coo. Coo-coo-coo.

“Good. Now it’s your turn. Go, Lee Chaenmon.”

“You want me to touch that?”

"Yeah. Think you can?"

Approaching the iron-pigeon bare-handed isn't exactly appealing, but fine, I'll give it a shot. I've already taken lightning to the forehead, so this is nothing.

I approached slowly so as not to startle the pigeon and gently pressed down on the heavier wing with my palm.

As I pressed, the metal covering the pigeon’s body instantly turned back into ordinary feathers. Shortly after, maybe because Noona released the magic, the pigeon jumped up and flapped its wings vigorously.

―Coo-coo-coo...

It seemed too panicked to even coo properly and just waddled away awkwardly. I didn't really feel sorry for it, though. The store window deserved far more sympathy.

“Yoonha Noona, what did you do just now?”

“My weight manipulation magic, you know, can increase the weight of something else of similar mass even from a distance. Took me years of headaches to master it.”

I guess she was weighing the feathers by lifting and dropping them. The reason only the tip of the opposite wing became heavier was likely because she could only match the weight of the feathers Elder Wolf had plucked.

“I can do other things too. Can't use magic now since the situation’s over, but I’ll show you next time.”

"Um... can I just not see it? I think I won't be able to sleep."

“Quit whining. But seriously, why are you so calm today? This must be your first time doing something like this with an expert."

“I did some mental training before Noona got here.”

Flying squirrel thunder, super cricket, 6-octave roe deer. I explained everything. Noona furrowed her brows for a moment before relaxing.

"That deer, well, some other guy will take care of it...."

Seems there’s another hunter nearby besides Noona. She trailed off, turning to look at the elder.

Noona bowed her head first, and the elder also took off his hat and bowed. Afterward, they exchanged a few words.

"I see the lady is a hunter. You're doing good work."

“Good work? It’s just magic-based contractor. Thanks for taking care of this kid, Elder. I was really worried.”

Noona extended her hand first, and the elder accepted it. They shook hands.

"I'm Seo Yoonha, Elder Wolf. A-class."

“Oh? You’re so young, yet you’ve already reached that level…?”

“I’ve been doing this since I was young, so I have years of experience stacked up. What about you, Elder Wolf? You seem far from ordinary.”

“I’m a knight. A designated knight.”

“Aha. A knight... Huh? A designated knight?”

"That's right. A designated driver."

Her reaction was exactly like mine back then. Deciding to leave them to their conversation, I took out my phone and began fixing things that had broken around the store.

First, the front door. I was concerned about that since it was damaged the most. Next, I fixed the display window to keep bugs out, then the shelves.

Finally, I fixed the tiles that were shattered by lightning, but got stuck there. Items that fell could just be put back in place, but completely destroyed ones posed an issue.

For example, the exploded milk cartons. Even if I turned back time to restore them, it didn’t feel right to scoop up the spilled milk and sell it again…

“Lee Chan. Don’t bother fixing that. Unnie probably has insurance for the store.”

It seemed their conversation had ended, as Noona suddenly appeared and placed a hand on my shoulder. I asked her right away.

"Does insurance cover milk cartons burst by pigeons too?"

"Yes, it does. It's gate-related."

“Gate? What kind of gate now?"

“I’ll explain that too, but let’s clean this up first. It reeks of spoiled milk.”

So I mopped up the milk while Noona collected pieces of milk cartons. Elder Wolf offered help, but I declined. I’d already gotten ten years’ worth of help from him today alone.

After mopping the area with a wet mop a couple more times, I sat down at the table with Noona and the Elder. Every time this happens, I find it amazing how a few taps of fingers can fix shattered things.

“Elder Wolf. I’d like to talk with this kid for a bit, if you don’t mind?”

“It’s fine with me… but is it the kind of story I’m allowed to hear?”

"As long as you don't mention it elsewhere. You helped us, and it's information that would be good for you to know."

“Then... I will be listening from the side.”

After saying that, the elder straightened his posture, and I started to feel uneasy. What kind of situations has she experienced to speak so professionally like this?

“You said you saw a cricket, a squirrel, and a deer today. And you just saw a turtle dove.”

“That was a turtle dove?”

“Yeah. Don’t you notice something in common with these four?”

"I do. They all make you feel like crap when you see them at a convenience store."

“No, are you asking to get smacked?”

Seeing Noona raising her hand toward my back, I quickly blurted out another answer that came to mind. Cricket, deer, turtle dove, squirrel. They're all things you can see in the mountains.

“Remember what I told you yesterday? A gate near the forest park might or might not have opened.”

"Ah..."

"It opened. All over the place, throughout today."

It was the kind of statement that made you crave a shot of soju. Noona also continued with a face that suggested she was dying for some cigarette, then resumed speaking.

“I got a call from the office this morning and went out. That bear bastard, seriously... if he said he'd give me a day off, he shouldn't have contacted me..."

Bear bastard. She’s probably talking about that kobold bear who came by earlier and handed me a business card. That same guy who personally came asking for reimbursement after Noona’s corporate card hit zero during my license exam… No.

“If they told you to rest, shouldn’t they let you rest? Why are they making someone who pulled five all-nighters work?"

“Because they’re short-staffed, dummy. I understand too. Anyway, I've been searching for gates all day long..."

She explained how she went around looking for gates, and it all boiled down to one sentence in my head: It’s like searching for cigarette butts in the mountains.

"I found and reported about three micro-gates, and for the D-class one that people could enter—"

"Wait. What's a micro-gate? Is it small in size?"

“Yeah. About the size of a baseball. It’s too small to enter, so I just noted the location and reported it. After finishing my reports, I closed one D-rank gate, waited for further orders, and was finally told to go home.”

On her way home, she got another call. Another D-class gate had opened. I was curious about how dangerous this D-class was, but I kept quiet for now since I didn't want to interrupt her.

After being told, ‘Just come and we'll decide later if you go in or not,’ she cursed a few times and was about to head back toward the Forest Park when.

“Another report came from a spot two kilometers from here, saying they suspected a gate had opened.”

She turned around to check it out, and lo and behold, she came face to face with an iron turtle dove inside. As soon as their eyes met, it flew up, crashed into and destroyed a nearby traffic light, then fled.

“That gate was connected to the one in the Forest Park. The turtle dove or squirrel entered through the Forest Park gate and came out through the gate in this area..."

“Taking a quick dip inside and picking up some pretty-looking magic stones along the way.”

“Right. That’s roughly what happened earlier.”

After speaking, Noona swallowed as if her throat was dry. Among everything she'd said, I chose the detail that seemed most important to confirm again.

“You said a gate opened 2 km away.”

"...Yeah. Actually, I deliberately talked at length to get to this point."

As she spoke, she pulled a pen from her jacket pocket.

“The Forest Park gate was connected to the Academy District, and this time, the squirrel and turtle dove used the gate as a passageway to pop out. Got it so far?”

“Yeah.”

"Usually, when gates resonance excessively like this, what we typically suspect is this: There’s a core gate somewhere that connects all these gates.”

It sounded like there’s a gate that acts as a hub for the other gates. Typically, its location is deduced by compiling the information about all the other discovered gates to pinpoint the center.

"Now I need to bring up what we talked about yesterday. That child said something strange happened at the city park.”

She’s talking about Mongmong. The Black Wind Gang had become so violent they couldn't be reasoned with.

From this point, Noona started placing dots on the table with her pen. She drew a triangle, with dots at the top, bottom left, and bottom right.

Then she pointed at each vertex of the triangle while reciting,

"Think of this table as a map substitute. The top dot is the Academy District, the bottom left is the Forest Park, and the bottom right is the City Park.”

After that, she started making dots one after another, all positioned inside the triangle. She marked about fifteen dots, then tapped one dot with emphasis.

“This is the gate that opened 2 km away.”

Finally, she drew a small circle and said,

“If I were to guess, the core gate might soon appear somewhere inside this circle…”

“I see.”

"This convenience store is included within this circle."

After hearing this, I thought for a few seconds before asking again.

“This circle. So it’s nearby?”

"Yeah. I'm saying a core gate will likely open nearby."

After concluding like this, she added a moment later, as if feeling overwhelmed.

“Or maybe it’s already open....”



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