< 61. 21st Century Robin Hood (15) >
Minjun quietly turned his back.
The opponent was an old troll driving a buggy. He looked at him with annoyance. Thanks to the information he had memorized in advance, Minjun realized that he was a member of the management team.
“You’re a member of the cooking team, right? What are you doing here?”
The spy Jenkinson recruited worked in the department responsible for Changcheon’s meals. It was a team that would naturally know when she was away.
Minjun gave the prepared answer.
“I’m not feeling well.”
The voice that answered was very hoarse and cracked. The neck was made like this on purpose. Even if an arm is cut off, it will regenerate over time, but it is not completely immune to disease. Furthermore, if the same part is damaged for a long time, the regenerative ability will eventually decrease and abnormalities will occur.
Because his voice was so hideous, the staff didn’t notice that his accent or pronunciation was different from usual.
“so?”
He glares at me with fire in his eyes.
“I’ll go to the infirmary and get some rest.”
Then the troll started to fuss as if he had heard some terrible nonsense.
“What? You’re going crazy. Don’t you know how busy the cooking team is right now?”
“······why?”
Changcheon won’t be there.
“The master skipped meals and went out at dawn. When he comes back, he’ll eat several times his usual amount of food, but we have to prepare that much all at once! Is it normal to skin and debone fifty elephants? If I stay here and do nothing, are you telling the other team members to eat shit?”
The kitchen is far from his destination.
Minjun planned to pretend to go to the infirmary, use his invisibility magic, and disappear.
He mumbles as if making an excuse.
“I don’t have any strength left right now… Can I just lie down in the infirmary for a few hours?”
Then the old troll responded incredulously.
“Anyway, young people these days… you need to learn to endure and persevere no matter how difficult it is. If you run to the infirmary all the time saying you’re not feeling well, who’s going to do the work? If you go later and get tuberculosis, you’ll have to take sick leave. Don’t you think about your teammates who will be doing your work for you? Don’t you think you’re a nuisance?”
Tuberculosis, which is considered a serious illness by other races, is similar to a cold from the trolls’ perspective.
“And, even though your voice is a bit bad, you’re still walking around fine! If you have the strength to walk, you should be able to squeeze an elephant’s butt. Go back to the kitchen right now!”
Minjun had no intention of continuing the argument here.
‘Should I put it to bed for a bit? No, that won’t work.’
It’s easy to curse a troll and make it pass out. The problem is that this scene is being watched on CCTV in the control room.
This species rarely faints, no matter how sick they are. Furthermore, if a perfectly healthy troll suddenly loses consciousness, the management team will suspect poisoning and declare an emergency for the entire lair. This is definitely not what Minjun wants.
‘That doesn’t mean there is no way.’
Minjun soon remembered the disease that the trolls who migrated to Earth feared the most.
His lips moved slightly.
“Ugh!”
The face of the troll holding the steering wheel turned pale. He fell into the passenger seat with his body turned to the side.
“Ugh… euaaaah!”
He rolled over, holding his lower abdomen.
“It hurts! It hurts aaaaah! Ohhhh! Someone… Call someone!”
It was a work of art created by Minjun’s curse. The pain that some say is comparable to the pain of childbirth was now being experienced by that troll in a male body.
The diagnosis is urinary stones.
The troll foamed at the mouth as he was stabbed in the lower abdomen and turned left and right in pain. His supernatural regenerative powers were effective in healing wounds, but they could not remove the hard stone lodged in his ureter.
“Gasp! Whoa!”
While holding onto him who couldn’t even breathe properly and pretending to check on his condition, Minjun grabbed the buggy’s radio. After revealing his fake identity, he reported the situation to the control room.
“We have an emergency patient. He is complaining of severe abdominal pain. This is Area AC-19. I will take him to the infirmary.”
“Copy.”
Permission was granted easily. He threw the troll in the infirmary and said he was not feeling well and would be taking a rest. The medical staff were all focused on the troll. ‘Code blue! Code blue!’ A nurse was seen running with a CPR cart, as if he was in shock.
‘Even if he was a troll, was a 1cm diameter stone a bit much?’
Minjun, who was leaving the treatment room that had become a mess and heading to the hospital bed, cast an invisibility spell in the blind spot of the CCTV. He left the infirmary and headed to the elevator hall.
There were still many employees coming to work. I waited for a moment in front of the elevator leading to the 30th basement floor.
Then, two people who stood out in the crowd of trolls that made up the majority of the staff approached.
Elves and humans.
The fact that they hired that race means that they have special skills.
Boom!
The elevator door opens only when they hold up the ID they have around their necks to the pad. Unlike other areas, not just anyone can get on.
Minjun, in his transparent state, floated in the air and followed them. The ultrasonic sensors and weight sensors that were used to catch invisible intruders were useless.
The elevator doors closed and began moving underground.
The two people who had been silent until now finally opened their mouths. They seemed wary of other employees hearing what they were saying.
“You said that Mr. Changcheon went out at dawn?”
“Yes, today’s entry is canceled. Just close the prepared extraction tube until you return and monitor the existing test subjects.”
“Phew, I can finally catch my breath.”
Minjun, who was hiding behind them, was going down a different route than when Ha Eunseong intruded.
Ha Eun-seong, who was in a free spirit state at the time, heard the spirit wave and approached vertically from where he was, but Min-jun was moving by elevator, so he was heading to a different area on the 30th floor that the ghost had not seen.
Ding!
30th floor underground.
Minjun followed the two out of the elevator and saw an unbelievable sight.
‘What is this!’
The huge underground cavern was densely lined with cylindrical glass tubes each about two meters high.
Most of them were empty, but those placed in the direction the employees were walking were filled with contents.
‘!’
——————
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Beyond the glass wall, people are immersed in a liquid that emits a faint glow.
Goblins are the most common, but humans and orcs can also be seen occasionally. What they all have in common is that they are so skinny that their joints are protruding.
It wasn’t hard to guess where they came from. I had already heard from Lakefield.
‘A poor person being cared for at a medical center. This is crazy…’
Perhaps not all, but at first glance it seems that a significant number are trapped here instead of being treated and cared for there.
‘Is he dead?’
He approached them and examined them. Minjun, a black magician, could sense the life force faintly wriggling within their bodies.
‘This is a life support device. It was intentionally put into a suspended animation.’
The extraction tube that the staff were talking about was probably this glass tube. Minjun observed the magic circle engraved on the outside of the device.
‘Exorcism?’
The container that held the living was sealed with an exorcism. The same barrier was also engraved on a kind of ‘pipe’ connected to the top of the glass tube. The pipes connected to each extraction tube converged at the ceiling and led to the next room.
Minjun passed by the staff inspecting each extraction pipe and headed towards the place where the pipes connected. He expected that the dragon’s ghost that Ha Eunseong had seen would be there.
But what he saw inside was not a dead dragon.
“······!”
Minjun opened his mouth wide.
His trembling eyes contained a glass chamber far larger than anything I had ever seen before. I couldn’t believe it even as I looked at it.
Beyond the transparent glass wall, a creature covered entirely in scales is sealed with its eyes closed.
It was a familiar race.
‘dragon?!’
I barely managed to hold back the swear words from pouring out.
A dragon of similar size to Edelines was sleeping in a glass tube filled with liquid. As expected, it was alive. Given its size, it probably wasn’t even a hundred years old yet.
‘This bitch is really crazy!’
This makes it clear. Even if the ghost Ha Eun-seong saw wasn’t a dragon, Jenkinson would have no problem punishing Chang-cheon. There’s no reason why a living dragon shouldn’t be more honorable than a dead one.
Meanwhile, there was another thing that puzzled him.
‘Even, it’s a dragon I don’t know.’
Its horns were oddly curved, giving it a unique appearance that could not be mistaken for any other dragon.
And, among the dragons who have officially acquired Earth citizenship or have been recognized as having residency status, there is no one that Minjun does not know.
‘Illegal stay? Or···.’
Jenkinson’s words echo in my head.
– Even after her ex-husband died, she only dates men who are at least a thousand years younger than her. Rumors spread all over Earth, so she’s famous for going so far as to go on extraterrestrial missions to hunt men!
– Among the men I met like that, there were a few who went missing! Of course, they were all cleared of charges because there was no evidence.
One hypothesis came to mind.
‘After being seduced from outer space, he was kidnapped and held captive on Earth?’
Jenkinson’s assertion fills my head.
– That woman has some mental problems. She’s a psychopath!
His expression distorted on its own.
‘Jenkinson was right.’
First of all, we fully understand that Changcheon is not a normal dragon.
So then, what on earth are you trying to do here?
Minjun examined the structure of the room, the barriers here and there, and the composition of the magic circle.
The same pipe was connected to the top of the glass tube where the dragon was trapped. The pipe was connected to another empty glass tube. Minjun frowned as he examined the barrier inside the empty container.
‘Isn’t that the barrier used to stabilize talent?’
It is empty now, but it was originally meant to be used as a place to put talents. Above it, pipes are connected again, some of which lead to a room where the poor are sealed, and some of which lead to another room beyond this… an area that Minjun has not yet confirmed.
And Minjun seemed to be able to guess what was in the third room, because he had been hearing screams from there that were so loud it was painful to the ears.
Let’s head there, past the dragon that is trapped alive.
“······!”
There was a dragon trapped there, dead.
Hurrruk!
A spiritual fervor that ordinary people cannot feel was everywhere.
=Save me! I was wrong… Changcheon! Please… Ahh! It’s hot. It’s too hot here!=
A phantom writhing in spiritual flames. Screaming and thrashing madly. No, it actually seemed to have gone mad.
Minjun looked at it with his mouth clenched. He especially observed the horns on its head. They were oddly shaped, curved bony crystals. He had just seen a horn that looked almost exactly like that in the culture solution.
A comparison is made naturally. If you were to burn a dragon trapped in a glass case, wouldn’t it end up looking like that ghost?
And··· unlike the alien dragon whose identity was unknown, Minjun knew the identity of that ghost.
‘That’s for sure. He’s Changcheon’s ex-husband who died in China. Now I know what he was up to.’
Minjun also carefully examined the barrier and magic circle that trapped the ghost.
‘But who the hell taught you that?’
It seemed that the magic circle built here had a hidden principle that even Minjun didn’t know about. Despite his doubts, he remembered everything for now.
‘This is enough.’
Jenkins has evidence to prove that he can strike the Heavens, and has also memorized the magic circle configuration that appears to utilize the talent.
The crime of kidnapping the poor from the medical center was also uncovered.
After finishing his observation, Minjun waited in front of the elevator, waiting for someone to come up to the ground.
– Beep!
The wait wasn’t long. One of the researchers who received the radio responded and showed signs of returning to the upper level. Minjun waited for the door to open and quickly jumped inside.
The moment the elevator, which had been stuck on the 30th basement floor, went up to the 1st basement floor.
The door opens.
“!”
Minjun ended up encountering people he had hoped he would never see here.
Pouring gaze.
‘this!’
The researcher who came up with him stuttered in embarrassment.
“What, what is this···.”
A large crowd of people gathered in the elevator hall with menacing expressions. They were not waiting in line to board, of course. They were not waiting for the researchers.
Most of the gazes were slightly off, unable to find Minjun’s exact location, but one person was staring at him clearly and precisely.
A voice full of laughter.
“Yeah… Did you have a good time looking around?”
Bam!
It was clear that he had measured the distance accurately. The opponent had thrown something heavy at him. Something rolled under Minjun’s feet as he was floating in the air.
It was the severed head of someone Minjun knew.
***
After sending Minjun to the lair, Jenkinson was waiting for Changcheon at the meeting place.
He grumbles to his secretary.
“Why has that old lady been wandering around since three in the morning?”
Intelligence was being relayed through spies planted throughout Seoul that she was leaving much earlier than scheduled and was making her rounds in the city.
“It seems like he’s looking around the companies since he’s been out for a long time.”
The question of whether no one will be working anyway even if you go that early is something that comes from not knowing much about Changcheon.
News of her move would have been delivered to her subordinates in advance, and they would have rushed out of their homes at three or four in the morning, dressed neatly, and waited politely to welcome the arrival of the company CEO.
“Anyway, I told you she’s a terrible woman.”
While he was mumbling like that, Blair gave another update.
“I heard that they just teleported from the headquarters building of Changcheon General Insurance.”
“What’s your next destination?”
“Not yet well···.”
Jenkinson looked at his watch. There were only twenty minutes left until his appointment.
“He’ll probably come here. He’s not the type of old hag to break promises.”
Thinking that he would show up soon, Jenkinson checked what he was going to say. His only goal was to buy time until Minjun returned safely.
“!”
Such a dragon’s thoughts had to be interrupted in a violent manner.
“no!”
Blair asked in confusion as his face turned red.
“Mr. Chairman, what’s going on?”
Jenkinson just sensed that one of the barriers he had constructed had collapsed due to an external force.
He shouted with a face full of anger.
“What kind of guy is that!”
The moment I jumped up from my seat.
Tiring ringing!
Jenkinson and Blair’s phones ring at the same time.
“!”
The two exchanged a hard look and then immediately picked up the phone.
The people on the other end of the phone were relaying the same message to both of them.
It was reported that the ‘witness’ that Jenkins had been protecting in the safe house had just been kidnapped by an unknown entity.
***
Minjun looked at the floor for a moment.
It was clear that the head that the opponent had thrown at the foot had been torn off in a violent manner. Minjun looked at the pupil where the light had disappeared and raised his head again.
The invisibility magic had already been seen through. He gritted his teeth and glared at his opponent. The one who had been waiting for him in the elevator hall. Their eyes were intertwined.
Minjun said the name of the dragon that should be meeting Jenkinson by now.
“Changcheon!”
Even though the appointed time has come, the meeting between the Goryeo Dynasty will not take place.
She had no intention of meeting Jenkinson today in the first place.
The reason I left early in the morning was also for another reason.
“We’ve been fooled. Jenkins and me.”
The old dragon, disguised as a goblin old woman, smiles leisurely.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
He spoke in a mocking tone.
For two dragons to meet, both must come out of their lairs.
If Changcheon were to leave, so would Jenkinson.
“A spy planted in Lair? Jenkinson is also a tough guy. Why do you assume that what is possible for him is impossible for me? What I swore by the dragon was that I would never form a military organization. And… you know, intelligence organizations are always in a vague category.”
Because of the great barrier on the Rare’s surface, magical communication with the outside world was impossible without the permission of the Heavens.
Has Jenkins figured it out by now?
The neck lying at his feet was that of a troll. A spy deployed by the Red Dragon and an original impersonator of Minjun. A real employee who worked in the kitchen.
By now he should have been on a fake passport and heading to a warm island in the Philippines, but instead he was found dead, his throat slit open. A gouged out eye, torn skin, burn marks and a crushed ear were all signs of the ordeal he had endured.
Perhaps··· he was bullied until he could no longer regenerate, and then he died.
“······.”
Minjun’s gaze turned to Changcheon this time.
There stood a woman with one arm missing, her body twitching slightly. The muzzle of a gun pointed at the back of her head by one of Changcheon’s subordinates.
Ha Eun-seong, who was supposed to be protected in the safe house, was standing there.
With half-dilated eyes, gripped with fear.
A ghost trapped in a living woman’s body was kidnapped by an old dragon and brought here.
Changcheon pretended to go out to meet Jenkinson and achieved everything he wanted in that short period of time.
‘How? Where did the information come from?’
The dragon speaks leisurely.
“Well, then, shall we have a chat among ourselves here, without Jenkins? Alien.”
Minjun responded to Changcheon’s suggestion by summoning a shadow bubbling behind his back.
< 61. 21st Century Robin Hood (15) > End
