#090. The Disappearing Children (4)
—
Swish— Swish—
A hand holding a pen moved busily over a large map on the table, marking dots.
“If we mark the places where the children disappeared, it looks like this. We can’t determine the exact locations, but if we divide the area by numbered units of distance…”
At Philip’s words, Veronica responded with the face of a skilled and experienced investigator.
“Looking at it this way, it’s clear that the disappearance sites are concentrated in the north. I think we can narrow down where the next disappearance might happen.”
“That makes sense. Hmm. What if a ghost took them?”
At the mention of ghosts, Veronica flinched.
The skilled and experienced investigator firmly stated,
“Philip, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“Why not? It’s possible. Magic exists, so why not ghosts?”
“I’ve never met anyone who has actually seen a ghost.”
“Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
“If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. That’s what I believe.”
“But mana is invisible too.”
“…….”
“Yet it undeniably exists.”
Veronica thought to herself.
Beating Philip in an argument might be impossible in this lifetime.
The verbal skills she had honed against the tough shopkeepers in the marketplace were not enough to surpass the thick and towering wall for this former bookstore heir.
‘But ghosts really don’t exist. They shouldn’t exist.’
Ghosts.
The very thought of such terrifying and dreadful entities lurking nearby sent chills down her spine.
Moreover, a skilled and experienced investigator could not afford to lose in a battle of logic.
“……!”
A sudden realization struck her.
The investigator played her trump card.
“Mana! Ray can see it!”
“Uh…”
“And the existence of mana is proven through magic. But ghosts—there’s no way to prove they exist.”
“Well, about that…”
The debate continued fiercely, but none of it reached Ray’s ears.
He was too deep in thought.
[“We’ll take over the investigation into the disappearances. You guys focus on gathering information.”]
Those were the words he had spoken to Melom and Dranine in the clearing.
It was a matter of efficiency.
If the children’s disappearances were related to magic, ordinary people would have a hard time finding clues or leads.
‘It’s better if we investigate instead. We’ll reassign everyone searching for the missing children to information-gathering.’
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he had taken over the investigation.
[“A red light. I think I saw a red glow in front of Tommy.”]
A red light.
There was a possibility that it, too, was connected to Murcred.
According to Graham, Murcred was an organization that engaged in all kinds of crimes, including human trafficking.
‘For now, we’ll focus our investigation on the northern streets…’
As Ray was setting the direction for their investigation—
“Ray, do ghosts exist in this world?”
“Ray, what do you think about ghosts?”
Philip and Veronica turned to him at the same time and asked.
“Ghosts?”
“Yes! Ghosts! You don’t think they exist, right? Right?”
“Hey, that’s leading to the answer.”
The first thing that came to mind was the nickname he had in Sector 50.
Ghost Ray. It was given to him because he moved without a trace and showed little change in expression.
The dictionary definition he had later looked up read as follows:
**[Ghost]**
*”The soul of a deceased person, wandering without passing on due to lingering attachments, grudges, or other reasons.”*
The answer to their question was simple—”Ghosts don’t exist.”
Because he had never once seen a ghost or a soul in his life.
Ray was the type to trust only what he had personally experienced.
‘…A deceased person.’
But why?
He found himself thinking that it would be nice if ghosts did exist.
Ray opened his mouth and gave his answer.
—
—
–
That evening.
Melom and Dranine watched Ray’s actions with confused expressions.
Ray was repeatedly placing his palm on and lifting it from the backs of the boys in the two gangs.
‘What is he doing?’
‘No idea. It almost looks like he’s stamping them with his hand. Is he ranking them?’
In reality, Ray was casting a binding spell on each of them.
However, as Melom and Dranine couldn’t sense mana, they had no way of knowing.
Wooong—
When the final binding spell was completed, Ray could distinctly feel the presence of about thirty boys.
It was as if invisible threads now connected them to him.
Within a certain range, he would be able to detect their locations.
“You can spread out now. Just move around the streets as you normally would.”
The boys paired up and dispersed in perfect order.
“Ray, will this really help us find clues about where the kids are disappearing?”
Dranine asked hesitantly.
They had no reason to refuse Ray’s help in searching for the missing children.
Besides the fact that they lacked the power to reject his orders, they genuinely wanted to find their missing members.
However, not knowing the exact method made them skeptical.
“One of the kids who just spread out will disappear. There’s a high probability of it happening.”
Ray looked up at the sky, where a dim moon hung.
From the testimonies of both gang leaders, all the disappearances had occurred in the evening.
Additionally, they happened every two to three days.
Today was the third day since the last disappearance.
‘Today. A red light will appear somewhere in the northern streets.’
Though not many had seen it, there were still multiple witnesses.
It wasn’t just a hallucination—it was something real.
‘If the red light is magic…’
He should be able to track its activation and movement.
Veronica had commented on this.
[“Tracking magic itself…? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Once magic is cast, its elemental components are tightly bound together, making them as hard to detect as the mana in the air. In my knowledge, it’s impossible… No, wait. If it’s you, Ray, maybe it is.”]
In the end, magic was just a mass of mana and a combination of elements.
If the components retained even a fraction of their original form, tracking them wouldn’t be too difficult for Ray.
“Just trust me and wait. At the very least, I’ll find a clue faster than you guys could.”
Hearing Ray’s confident words, Melom and Dranine visibly relaxed.
Though they hadn’t outwardly expressed it, they had been deeply worried about their missing subordinates.
Ray left the alley and exited the clearing that had served as their gathering place.
He sat on a bench in front of the fountain in the city square and spoke.
“Make sure no one touches me. I need to focus.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Melom and Dranine took up positions on either side of the bench, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.
Ray closed his eyes.
This square was in the very center of the northern sector.
If an incident occurred, he would be able to reach any location quickly.
As he focused, the sounds of people talking and footsteps grew faint, and his bodily senses dulled.
“…….”
Gulp.
It felt like sinking into deep water, his body becoming heavier.
In contrast, his mental perception sharpened to an extreme degree.
He sensed the countless tangled elements around him over a vast area.
The locations and forms of each element.
Their concentrations and flows.
And the children spreading through the streets.
He could clearly feel it all, and his detection range expanded further.
It was like a radar net.
If any magic was cast within range, the ripple of mana would reach him immediately.
Tick.
Time ceased to have meaning.
Tick.
Seconds, minutes, or even hours—
Tick.
He had no awareness of their passage, only the singular focus on detecting mana disturbances.
Then, at last—
“……!”
Ray’s eyes snapped open as he sensed a ripple of mana from a specific point in the city.
“D-Did you find it?”
“Did one of the kids disappear?”
The first thing he saw was the startled faces of Melom and Dranine.
Philip and Veronica had also returned after confirming that the boys had reached their designated positions.
However, there was no time for a long explanation.
“District 18-2.”
Leaving only that brief statement, Ray shot forward in a sprint.
His leg muscles, expanded to their limits by reinforcement magic, propelled him forward at an almost beast-like speed.
Through alleys. Across a bridge.
Cutting through someone’s yard.
He could still feel the pulsing disturbance of mana, and the distance between him and the source was closing rapidly.
But—
‘It’s moving.’
The disturbance wasn’t stationary.
Though not particularly fast, it was steadily approaching one of the boys who had been marked with the binding spell.
‘Petro. Near the alley.’
The boy’s name.
And the terrain of the location he had memorized from the map—the very place the disturbance was heading.
With lungs burning and body straining, Ray ran as if his life depended on it.
Then, the moment before the disturbance reached Petro—
Thud! Screeeech—!
Ray skidded to a halt just outside an alley.
Petro was nowhere in sight.
Instead, a crimson mass, roughly the size of a human, rippled ominously in the air.
Wuuuuuung—
Before Ray could take any action, the red light suddenly collapsed inward to a single point and vanished without a trace.
‘Petro’s presence is gone.’
But almost immediately, Ray detected another anomaly.
The mana lingering in the air was dispersing—flowing rapidly in a straight line toward a specific direction.
As if something invisible was forcefully carving through the mana itself.
Instinctively, Ray knew.
‘The light is moving.’
Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and took off in pursuit.
“Ray, wait—! Ahh, damn it!”
The boys who had been trailing behind him gasped for breath as they scrambled to follow.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
The pounding of footsteps echoed through the streets.
Above the buildings, the disturbance in the mana streaked across the sky, refusing to be caught.
‘Running alone won’t be enough.’
His eyes landed on a bicycle parked by the roadside.
Without a second thought, he hopped on and pedaled hard.
Clatter! Creak! Screeech!
“H-Hey! That’s my bike! Thief!”
A shout rang out behind him, but Ray had no time to care.
His leg strength, now channeled into the bike’s pedals, doubled his speed in an instant.
Screech! Screech! Screeeech!
The distance between him and the disturbance narrowed.
A chase that lasted several minutes—
Screech! Thud!
The bicycle skidded to a stop.
Before him stood a towering estate, enclosed by a high, rust-red wall.
Thorny vines clung to the walls, and the mansion itself was shrouded in darkness, exuding an eerie atmosphere.
“……”
Silence.
This was the outskirts of the city, far from the bustling streets.
There were no passersby.
And inside the mansion’s walls, the disturbance had stopped moving.
Petro’s presence had returned.
As if the crimson light had swallowed him whole—then spat him back out.
‘He’s not moving. Did he lose consciousness?’
There weren’t many clues to piece together the situation.
The only certainty was that Petro was now inside that mansion.
Ray circled the perimeter, scanning for any signs of people or lingering mana.
Other than one discovery, there were no indications of recent activity.
‘There’s less dust on the door handle compared to the rest. Someone comes and goes.’
Most likely the owner or caretaker of the mansion.
But whoever they were, they weren’t here right now.
“……”
Ray assessed the situation.
What actions he could take.
What risks he could afford.
Having made his decision, he stepped toward the mansion’s heavy iron gate.
And, pressing his hand against the lock, he infused it with mana.
