Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 75: 75-That Is Ominous

Read chapter 75 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

“Yes. We’re on our way. He’s fine. You’re welcome.” Kang Do-Won ended his call then, refocusing his attention completely on the road. At least for a few seconds. “That was your headmaster,” he said a short moment later. “I see…” Merlin replied dryly, his head resting on the side window of the car as he gazed at the people walking down the sidewalks, the bright lights of the streets, and how lively everything seemed, making him realize how listless he felt deep down. Maybe talking about what was bothering him would help. He really couldn’t keep feeling this way. “I have something to say,” he began. Kang Do-Won glanced his way. “Is it important?” “Depends on what you consider as important,” Merlin replied. “It’s something I left out of the report.” Kang Do-Won was silent. “All right. What is it?” Merlin was surprised that he was not instantly scolded for leaving something out of a report. But, even if he had, he wouldn’t have felt sorry. He had left it out because he was trying not to involve Janeth in his problems, and mentioning it would only have made her curious, which would then cause her to prod him for answers, and, well, involve herself. She had her own problems to deal with. He was confused, though, about if he should tell Nora or not. But it seemed he would have to leave that for later. If she did not kill him for not telling her that he’d scheduled a date with Janeth first. His plan had been for it to be a surprise—him and Janeth dating. But everything had come crashing down. The classic case of if something could go wrong, then it would go wrong. “The Dungeon portal…I think someone opened it,” Merlin began. “I know this might seem like a reach from me, considering I’m a Deficient Mage and can’t sense the exact fluctuation of mana in an area. But the way that portal sprung to life was weird.” “You’re right. Not even considering that the Consortium did not pick up on the mana fluctuation in the area too, it takes at least thirty minutes to an hour before a Dungeon Break occurs. So your line of reasoning isn’t weird,” replied Kang Do-Won immediately. “However, that doesn’t mean that someone was the cause of the portal’s sudden appearance. First of all, Dungeon Breaks have been occurring extremely frequently for a while now, so this could have just come about as one of the results of the abnormality the Dungeons have been showing. Secondly, it’s unheard of for anyone to be able to gather so much mana that it’s enough to open a portal. The simple result of that would be the person exploding.” He paused. “But you’re well an anomaly already, so I won’t put the possibility of such a person existing past anyone. However, I’ll need something far more tangible to latch onto than a simple guess. Is there another reason why you think the portal was activated by someone?” Merlin took a deep breath and exhaled as he recalled how his body had frozen when the mysterious lady had crept up behind him and uttered those uncanny words of hers. He wouldn’t lie, he was afraid. “Someone else was there.” Those words of his caused Kang Do-Won to take a longer glance his way than should be required of someone handling the wheels of a car. “Someone else?” he asked. “A lady,” Merlin explained. “I didn’t see her face, but as soon as the Ice Wyverns lost their minds, she came up behind me. She said…” Merlin turned away from the window and towards Kang Do-Won… “My presence ruined everything.” The Consortium Mage frowned, though just slightly. He was not as shocked as Merlin had thought he would be. Merlin boiled that down to the difference in years between both of them. After all, Mages in their twenties and above had lived through the Cataclysm. There was barely anything that could frighten them as much as that. “I see…” Kang Do-Won said a moment later. “That is ominous. Was that all she said?” Merlin shook his head with a sigh and leaned back on his seat. “No. There was more. She said she was going to tell someone about me—I have no idea who that