29. Princess Run (4)
***
Minjun had several beliefs, and one of the most representative ones was this.
“Chief Secretary, I only do what I can.”
The elf bowed his head in an unusually polite manner.
“Agent, please. There is no one else I can trust right now.”
She bent her waist almost at a right angle. It was a completely different look from her usual one. It was an attitude that clearly showed how much of a shit rope she had.
It seemed as though there was no time to hide or hide the situation at this point. It was obvious that Jenkins would have been harassed after reporting the warehouse being robbed.
‘Come to think of it, that guy’s temper is really bad. You can’t beat time, they say.’
Both the elf and the fairy in front of me look fine, at least in their limbs.
However, Elf seemed desperate, as if he had an intuition that things could get really dangerous if things went any further than they were now. The two were arguing, not really arguing, about whether Minjun could step forward to solve this incident that seemed to involve the Human Rights Solidarity.
“······.”
Minjun crossed his arms without answering right away. Blair froze, not straightening her back, as if waiting for him to answer. Larissa flapped her wings with a restless expression beside her.
Minjun frowned at the sight.
“These are the guys that the Elder Dragons couldn’t capture even with their eyes set on fire. You want me to go to war with them? To me?”
“The Chairman will personally handle such matters. I just ask that you find as many traces of him as possible before he returns to Earth.”
“Hmm.”
Minjun asked when Jenkinson would return.
“It will probably take at least another week. The dimensional jump terminal has been sealed off as of today to prevent the suspects from escaping from outer space, but if we leave it alone until the Chairman arrives, we will give them a chance to destroy the evidence.”
“You blocked the terminal?”
It was the first time Minjun had heard of this. It seemed like it hadn’t even been made public yet. He scratched his chin, thought for a moment, and then said.
“You know it’s not easy, right?”
The Human Rights Solidarity is a global terrorist group, and through several rounds of purges, it has gone into deeper hiding. It currently operates as a thorough guerrilla organization, and the higher up you go, the harder it is to find traces.
In Korea’s case, it wasn’t because Jenkinson was stupid or incompetent that he couldn’t root out the branch until now. It was because the cost was too high compared to the return, so he kept stopping at an appropriate level.
But this time, they really messed up something big, so his position will be different than before.
‘If you want to get rid of those bastards, you really have to start from zero. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up···.’
It would be a lie to say that it is impossible even with Minjun’s ability, but it is an incredibly labor-intensive and tiresome task that could make you faint.
He also put another of his creeds into words.
“I only work as much as I am paid to do.”
If the elf keeps muttering that he can’t make decisions on his own, I was planning on leaving without looking back.
“Okay, I understand.”
Blair’s response was surprisingly sharp.
“I have prepared a blank check for you, sir. It is a type that can be paid in both Earth currency and talent.”
“?!”
It was clear that he had already received the chairman’s approval. This also shows how much the elder dragon trusts Minjun. He does this because he believes that he will not demand an outrageous price.
‘Damn, if it comes out like this, it’ll be difficult to even explain it.’
Then, he threatened to charge an appropriate amount of money after calculating the effort and quality that went into this project according to his own standards.
Minjun nodded.
“Okay, let me give it a try.”
Only then did the elf show a face that looked as if it had come back to life, and the fairy’s face, which had been like a corpse, also regained color.
In fact, they couldn’t have guessed it, but there was a reason why Minjun accepted. It was because he had calculated in advance that he would be able to avoid heading to the bare ground.
‘The higher up you go, the harder it is to find someone. In other words, it is possible to catch someone at the lowest level. Connecting the link depends on the investigator’s ability.’
Even if you go all the way to the end, there are still traces. Furthermore, Minjun recently witnessed something that could be a clue to their whereabouts.
With the elf and fairy in front of him, Minjun made a phone call.
***
“Inspector! Inspector Park Jeong-pal! There’s a bunch of homeless goblin kids here again!”
The person who reported to Jeong-pal in a shouting tone was a member of the vigilante group. He was the same young man who had been questioning Ye-min-jun’s identity during the bank robbery incident.
All day today, Jeong-pal and his three vigilantes were patrolling the outskirts of the orc community. Not a routine patrol for crime prevention purposes, but a mission from far above.
If I had to summarize the instructions that were handed down in dozens of official documents in one word, it would be this.
Environmental beautification.
“Kruk! I… we… here… continue…. Kruk! I was wrong… I was wrong… please forgive me….”
In the dark alley, an indescribable stench filled my nostrils. The smell of sewage, rotting food, and the horrible body odor of someone who hadn’t washed properly for months assaulted my nostrils.
“Whoa! What the fuck, you dirty little bastards!”
“I was wrong… I was wrong…!”
As I turned the corner, I saw over thirty goblins gathered together and sleeping outside.
This alley is the most underdeveloped area within the Orc community, and is where homeless people like these mainly live. The Orc neighborhood was not necessarily inhabited only by Orcs. Synonyms for the word include crime-ridden area, slum, dangerous neighborhood, and shunned area, and those living at the bottom flocked there regardless of race.
“Crunch··· Crunch!”
They were lying on the ground, trembling, constantly begging for forgiveness, either because they knew they were police officers or because it was a habit ingrained in them from living on the streets for so long. The vigilante raised his arm and pointed to a certain place as if he did not want to touch the body.
“Can’t you wake up quickly? Do you see the bus over there? Get on it!”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry….”
“Oh, you fucking idiots!”
The moment when the vigilantes spit out curses and raised their batons.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
The vigilante flinched as Jeongpal spat out coldly. He mumbled as if making an excuse.
“No, this idiot won’t listen···.”
The orc sighed deeply. The young men were also nervous as this had been happening all day.
“Get up. Let’s walk together over there.”
Jeongpal thought to himself as he supported the homeless man’s shoulders and helped him up. He didn’t know what he was doing.
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He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible.
“It won’t hurt you. It’s not scary. Just take that bus to the camp, eat free food, get a clean wash, and sleep in a warm place for a few days. Then you can come back.”
The goblin whimpers as if he can’t understand.
“iced coffee?”
In fact, the last words were the key.
After a few days in the camps, the state will return the homeless to the streets. There is no limit to the budget.
The reason the country took interest in the slums, which it usually ignored, and decided to ‘clean up’ them was to prepare for Princess Vermi’s tour of Seoul and business meetings that would begin in a few days.
Despite the 0% chance of her walking in, the government was hysterical and preparing a curfew.
The biggest problem expected in its implementation was those who had no roofed shelter to hide in while reflecting. The government, which thought it would be shameful to expose them to the outside media, planned to isolate them until the princess’s official schedule was over.
That’s why Jeong-pal and the vigilantes are roaming around the slums now.
‘Yesterday, they said they had traffic control for 40km of road from the terminal to the hotel… They’re just getting worse.’
After loading all the goblins onto the bus, they began to move to the next location. The vigilante sitting next to the orc muttered in an annoyed tone.
“Aren’t they really ‘mistakes’?”
Jeongpal stared blankly at the young man. It seemed to imply, ‘Are you going to make a slip of the tongue in front of me again?’ The vigilante continued speaking without paying attention.
“No, honestly, all the other races… um, what should I say? I can’t think of a good word because I’m so dumb. Doing things? Being active? Playing a role? Yes, playing a role. They all play a role.”
Still, he must have listened carefully in class up until elementary school because he recites exactly what is taught in the textbook.
“Elf teach magic, orcs increase the population, trolls save the sick, dwarves make designer bags… Aw, fuck, that last one doesn’t help me at all.”
After grumbling like that, he speaks as if protesting.
“But those goblins are no help at all to the world. Even if you take into account the ones who got scammed and ended up working as salt farm slaves on deep-sea fishing boats… what use is there for the rest of them? They have to be pretty stupid.”
Jeong Pal also knew that there were quite a few young people who called goblins ‘the mistake of the committee’. For someone who had not experienced the old days, it might be a natural thought.
Jeongpal spoke gently, gesturing for him to lower his voice.
“It wasn’t like that in the old days.”
The goblins’ habits of living underground were optimized for mining, and there was a high demand for employment as miners until the early days of immigration. Of all the mines, coal mines naturally accounted for the largest proportion.
Their lives began to suffer after the 7th mass immigration, when magic stones were supplied in exchange for the collapse of the coal market.
They had been living in groups of thousands near the coal mines, following their instincts, and had been raising children in groups, but they lost their jobs, homes, and communities and began to wander the streets. After leaving the coal mines, there were very few occupations in which they could perform well.
This result must have been expected by the committee. Nevertheless, in the process of negotiating the 7th immigration conditions, which were particularly difficult at the time, they ended up pushing in the magic stone. It was not surprising that the goblins were practically abandoned by the committee.
From the perspective of that race, the Council is both the savior who allowed them to escape from their original dimension, and the enemy who caused their miserable downfall on Earth. What’s even more bitter is that most goblins live without even realizing this fact.
“Crunch··· Crunch!”
Jeongpal looked around.
The homeless people on the bus are anxiously looking around. There is not a single child or teenager among them. This is a characteristic that distinguishes them from other types of homeless people. They are clearly different from the Orcs who have children even though they live in tents without a home.
‘It is said that goblin women become temporarily infertile when they feel unstable in their environment.’
As a result, the total fertility rate of modern goblins is 0.3.
Scholars predict that if there is no further influx, the Earth’s goblins will virtually become extinct within five generations. The cause was not guns and swords, nor extreme changes in the natural environment. It was perhaps the first recorded social extinction in Earth’s history. An extreme decline in population due to failure to keep up with the changing socioeconomic conditions.
And some are quietly waiting for that time to come.
Tiring ringing!
Jeongpal’s cell phone rang.
“hmm?”
Check the sender and respond immediately.
“Yes, brother.”
It was Minjun who made the call. He asked on the other end of the phone.
“Jeongpal, are you busy?”
“I can talk to you for a moment. Go ahead, brother.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Environmental beautification.”
“Huh?”
Minjun sighs deeply after hearing the inside story.
“······The government really does all sorts of things. Hey, I’m busy, but let me confirm one thing. Last time we went to the Orc Community. The day we caught that Society brat.”
“yes.”
While following the traces of someone warping from Jang Tae-jun’s house, I entered the slums that were also under Jeong Pal’s jurisdiction.
“Among the bullies I met at the playground back then, there was a guy who was the biggest. I can’t quite remember his name… Was it Kang Gam-chan?”
I quickly figured out who he was talking about.
“Oh, is it Kim Yu-sin?”
A group of 20-somethings were hanging out at the playground, smoking cigarettes. One of them was talking about a young man with a tattoo that extended from his face to his shaved scalp.
“however···.”
Jeongpal’s expression quickly hardened.
“Why are you looking for him, hyung? Is there some big problem?”
It was unusual for an immigration agent to show interest in an orc. Minjun quickly said, sensing the concern in his voice.
“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with him. It’s just the tattoo.”
The tattoo that caught Minjun’s eyes when he first saw Kim Yu-shin.
What interested him was not the boldness of the engraving or the unusual color.
“Has there ever been any talk among you guys? Not within the police department, not among the orcs.”
“Huh? About that tattoo? I just thought it was unique, but I don’t know either… Why is that?”
“Well… he must have been doing that too since no one knew. The guy who carved it must have known that too.”
“?”
“Why don’t you call him and ask him where he did that?”
“all right.”
I ask instead of hanging up the phone.
“But… what is that tattoo?”
I felt like I had to ask.
Then Minjun hesitated for a moment and then said.
“······Well, he probably chose it without knowing. The kid who gave him the tattoo must have done some judo. These days, there aren’t many people on Earth who can read it. Even Dragon wouldn’t know? From what I’ve seen, it’s a sentence he made up by forcing himself to look it up in a dictionary, so there are a lot of grammatical errors.”
“Huh? That wasn’t a picture, it was text? What does it mean?”
After a while, Orc’s expression became distorted like that of an evil spirit after hearing Minjun’s answer.
