< 60. 21st Century Robin Hood (14) >
***
That was the conclusion we reached, but we couldn’t boldly attack her while she was still holding out on the lair. So we had to wait for the right moment to empty the lair, but during the discussion, Minjun found out something he didn’t know.
“A spy?”
Jenkinson said it as if it was a given.
“That woman has recruited some of the staff at Lair to be my eyes and ears. They may not know what secret things Changcheon is up to, but they can at least tell me whether he’s out today or not.”
He spoke confidently, but several days passed and there was no report that Changcheon was out of the house.
Minjun, who became suspicious, asked him.
“Are you sure you’ve got it all right? Changcheon has been stuck in Rare for days? That’s not his style.”
“Ugh… But looking at the situation, it seems like he really isn’t coming out. He hasn’t even been going to work these days.”
It was a strange thing. At this very moment, Changcheon was shut in and locked in the lair.
Meanwhile, the war within the Orc community escalated, and Jenkinson observed the attrition of both sides through his own methods.
Both groups were already feeling anxious that if the war dragged on any longer, their foundations would be shaken. But now that the option of a ceasefire had disappeared, the only thing they could do was to resort to more radical methods.
Eventually, the fire of war spread beyond the slums. Not all of the people involved in the two organizations lived in the orc community. In particular, Kim Gwang-woo was an orc who disguised himself as a businessman, and his family lived in an upscale residential area where wealthy elves and humans gathered.
And, Red Star’s firing of a rocket at the Hannam-dong home where Kim Kwang-woo’s eldest son lives was something many would judge as crossing the line.
The press, which had shown little interest in wars taking place in poor neighborhoods, gave it major coverage, and the rich rose up.
It was absolutely intolerable that their courtyards would become dirty because of the fighting between those who threw waste at each other across the river.
It was only when talk of mobilizing the military began that Jenkinson intervened, after the two organizations had decided that they had killed each other enough.
A document was circulated on SNS and communities. Most people who checked it out laughed at it and ignored it, saying it was a conspiracy theory. There were media outlets that paid attention to the suspicions raised there before.
– Red Star is a front organization for the Human Rights Solidarity.
The reaction came from an unexpected group.
The Red Star members paid more attention to it and were greatly shocked by it than the general public. The document clearly revealed the truth that was discovered through Ji Seon-gyeong. Members of the organization with background knowledge could easily infer that it was true.
In the midst of the war, the majority of the Orcs began to defect. They were furious and trembling at the fact that they were working for an organization that was formed to hate and kill their own kind.
The money they earned was being used to slaughter orcs.
Not only did some people take their own lives due to feelings of betrayal, shame, and guilt, but there were also those who instantly turned into enemies of the organizations they had been a part of and committed acts of terrorism.
The situation, which had been precariously balanced, suddenly changed. The disappearance of Ji Seon-gyeong, one of the most powerful figures in the command, also had an adverse effect.
In the end, the gang completely took over Red Star’s sphere of influence. An overwhelming victory.
Only then did the Orc community regain peace. Even after winning the war, Kim Gwang-woo’s successor focused on eradicating and rooting out the remnants of the Red Star that remained throughout the city. If only Changcheon could be eliminated, it was believed that their rule would continue for a long time without wavering.
Jenkinson let them enjoy their momentary happiness, waiting until the winners finished pulling out the weeds.
***
“Uh··· Where did everything··· go···?”
After hearing that the war was over, Dong-cheol went to see his friends from the slums for the first time in a long time.
“There is no one···”
But what was waiting for was a trace of a hasty withdrawal.
Despite the police’s efforts, it seems inevitable that the battlefield will expand as the fighting intensifies. Bullet marks can be seen all over the walls and floor of the alley where my friends have pitched their tents.
He put down the shopping bags he was carrying with both hands and looked around with worried eyes. It seemed like they had left without even taking their tent or other belongings with them.
“uh?”
Dong-cheol, who was looking around carefully, discovered something inside the tent.
“Ahhh… Thank goodness.”
Dong-cheol, who had been anxious that something terrible might have happened, let out a deep sigh of relief. Then, with eyes slightly filled with tears, he read what he had found.
They knew that Dong-cheol would be worried if they suddenly disappeared like this. On the torn paper in the box were a few crooked and misspelled lines written. It was a letter left for Dong-cheol.
The friends eventually decided to enter the medical center run by Dragon.
“Thank goodness··· Thank goodness···.”
If you didn’t die during this, that alone would be a blessing.
Dong-cheol returned to the bookstore, his chest clearing. The elf tilted his head when he saw the employee who had taken a vacation in the afternoon return with a huge amount of lunch boxes.
“I··· Boss. I··· have one thing··· to ask···.”
After hearing the following words, the elf readily complied with the request.
Like many goblins, Dong-cheol was afraid to call someone he didn’t know. Because he spoke slowly and awkwardly, people would often ignore him or get annoyed. It was fortunate that he didn’t just hang up after exchanging a few words.
So Lakefield called instead. The phone number for the medical center run by Changcheon was found with a quick internet search.
“Yes, thank you for your hard work. Before I go to the interview, I would like to ask you something in advance…”
Dong-cheol was planning to go to his friends with his lunch box. In the meantime, several new medical centers had opened, so it was essential to check which one was providing care.
The goblin remembered all of his friends’ names, of course. Lakefield squinted as he read Dong-cheol’s words written in cursive letters through his magnifying glasses.
Then his face hardened.
“···Huh? There is no such person? Then please check another branch.”
The goblin also felt uneasy when he heard his voice and felt that the atmosphere was ominous.
“Huh? No way.”
The words of the employee who connected the main phone were unexpected. The majority of the goblins he had inquired about had no record of hospitalization. Dong-cheol said with a pale face.
“But… if you go there… there’s a letter…”
Among them, there were a few names that were confirmed to have been hospitalized. However···.
“Okay, I understand for now.”
Lakefield said after hanging up the phone.
“They are protecting some of them, but it seems that they are all in a situation where they cannot meet.”
“Huh?! Why?”
“He said he was in the intensive care unit because his physical condition was so bad. They cut off visits, saying even family members could not come.”
Dong-cheol thought that it couldn’t be true. The last time he saw them, they were all malnourished and had minor illnesses, but they weren’t in such a dangerous state.
Even if things had gotten worse in the meantime, I can’t believe we ended up in the same situation so quickly, without exception.
“Just wait a moment.”
In the end, Lakefield summoned the spirit. Unlike Minjun’s imperfect psychic powers, the spirits of the spirit world, who could be controlled from a distance for long periods of time, flew toward the medical center.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
And after a while.
“this.”
Lakefield sighed as he heard the story of the returning spirit.
“······You can’t go in?”
It was said that strong barriers were installed in all medical institutions to prevent spirits from entering.
‘Why are you doing that to welfare facilities?’
Lakefield picked up the phone with a stern expression.
“Wait a minute. This is… really strange.”
And this time he started calling other people.
***
Changcheon prefers trolls as his employees to work at Rare.
The reason was that it was the largest and strongest of the easily procured intelligent beings on Earth, but the more important reason was that it would not die even if handled roughly, the employees implicitly assumed.
As such, Changcheon was a ferocious employer and a terror to those who worked under him.
“Oh, really? You finally left?!”
It was shift change time, and the handover between the morning shift that had just arrived and the night shift that was leaving was in progress. The morning shift was in high spirits at the news that Rare’s owner had finally left the house after a few days.
“Wow, how long has it been? I’ve been so nervous because I’ve been staying in the lair without going outside at all….”
It is the wish of all office workers to have their superiors leave the workplace as empty as possible, but when that superior is Changcheon, that wish becomes even more earnest.
If you have an employer who reprimands you with violence and murder when his temper is twisted, then that’s bound to happen.
“I was worried because I’ve been feeling really nervous lately… Did you hear what the bank manager said?”
The man mentioned in the story was externally treated as having had an accident after work.
But the employees who knew the truth knew that he had been torn to pieces by the angry hands of Changcheon.
At this point, it would have been natural for them to give up money and everything and run away, but they were not given that freedom. They knew that the dragon’s revenge would follow.
“At this point, it’s a job scam… Why didn’t anyone know that Changcheon was such a dragon?”
“No, actually, there were rumors going around. We were blinded by money so we ignored them.”
I thought that there was no way a company run by Goryong would fail, and the salary offered was generous, so I gave it a go.
If I had known this truth, I would not have applied even if you offered me ten million won.
The reason why the truth that if you are not careful, you can physically ‘lose your head’ rather than metaphorically is not well known to the outside world is simple. If current or former employees reveal the truth on the Internet or even hint at similar content on job search sites or company review sites, they will be assassinated by her.
Employees could only live in fear in front of a boss who would hunt down and kill anyone who acted selfishly or badly for the company.
“But why did you leave? When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know that either.
“At least I can work with a little more peace of mind today. Why are you so sharp these days? It’s much worse than before. I’m afraid I’ll run into you while I’m working.”
“I guess… it’s because of that thing they’re doing on the 30th floor these days. I don’t know what it is, but a few cargo trucks came in yesterday. They said they all went to the 30th floor.”
“Oh, I had plans to wear it today, but it got canceled?”
“Yeah. You know what I mean? He canceled because he couldn’t supervise it himself today. That means something important is going on.”
“Ugh, after hearing this much, I don’t even want to know. Whatever it is.”
“Yeah, even if you find out a lot, it’ll just end up putting your life at risk.”
The two grumbling trolls rode in a buggy and headed to their workplace in the lair. It was nearly impossible to walk through this huge underground space, which was designed to fit the size of a dragon.
Meanwhile, after they were gone, one troll remained in the employees’ locker room.
He quietly reviewed what he had heard.
‘The 30th floor?’
He glanced at the mirror, checking the information in his head. There, he saw the face of the spy Jenkinson had planted in this lair. He stared at it intently and was amazed.
‘As expected… Dragon kids’ polymorphism is amazing.’
The troll muttering like that was, of course, Minjun.
The spies Jenkinson planted in Lair were arranged for various purposes. When he chose the liver, he didn’t choose just anyone. Those who had no family members who would be retaliated against by Changcheon, and who had no regrets about leaving Korea.
Also, unlike other trolls who couldn’t run away for fear of death, this one had a strong backing. The only safety net against the dragon’s clutches was another dragon. Like Jenkinson.
‘Let’s see… If it’s the 30th floor underground, that’s where Ha Eun-seong saw the dragon ghost.’
When there was no sign of Changcheon emptying the lair no matter how long he waited, Jenkinson changed his strategy and called her out.
When two dragons meet, the location is usually somewhere other than their lairs.
This is because, unless you are on a fairly close level, the act of seeking out the other person’s rare is interpreted as a kind of ‘audience’, that is, an act of bending down and entering.
Although Jenkinson ruled this area, she did not reign over the other dragons, so she had to come out of the lair if the two were to meet.
‘There’s a separate elevator to the 30th floor. Since you can’t access it with this ID, you have to follow the other guys when they go in···.’
Minjun, conscious of the CCTV, suddenly started to move around looking for blind spots instead of reciting the invisibility spell. He planned to cast the spell when the opportunity arose and then move around without being noticed.
Due to security concerns, teleportation was sealed throughout the lair, so there was no choice.
‘It’s so damn wide.’
I was muttering to myself while looking for a suitable place.
“Hey, over there!”
Behind him, he heard someone calling him.
< 60. 21st Century Robin Hood (14) > End
