< 79. Hell of Disbelief (7) >
Frankfurt, Germany.
A couple was having a meal at a fancy restaurant by the river. A middle-aged Asian man and a woman with strong Western genes.
The dinner course lasted over three hours and was luxurious, but neither of us ate in a cool manner. Every time a new plate was served, we would take a few bites like a bird and then quickly put our knives and forks down. After this happened several times, the hall manager came over and asked with concern what was wrong.
The woman, Cathy, sent them away, saying that it wasn’t the food that was the problem, but that they were both in bad shape. Then the man and woman’s eyes met again.
Cash speaks as if asking for consent.
“Well… not very good. Right?”
The middle-aged man answered in a tone that did not match his appearance.
“No matter how much I think about it, the food my older sister made for me when we were in the basement tastes a hundred times better.”
After deciding to take Ha Eun-seong to Germany, Min-jun asked Jenkinson to polymorph the pig into a human of appropriate status.
Since the identity of the body owner was still unknown, it was impossible to register as an alien, and it was also a hassle to sell a new family register. So Jenkinson chose one of his company employees and transformed Ha Eun-seong into that person.
After arriving in Frankfurt, Minjun told Cathy to drop him off in front of the central station and told her to figure out dinner on their own before disappearing.
Ha Eun-seong, who had never been abroad before or after his death, seemed to want to try German food, but Cathy was adamant. She said that no matter how delicious German food was, it was still German food, so she took him to an Italian restaurant she knew.
But the food didn’t seem to live up to expectations.
“That frying pan guy ruined our appetite.”
It was like losing half the pleasure of eating. Food that had not gone through that artifact, no matter how delicious, felt like sand in the mouth and as dull as paper.
In the end, both of them continued eating indifferently and even gave up on the third dessert after just one bite.
“This is ridiculous. This is chocolate cake. I can’t make it in a frying pan and I’ve never had any coaching, so why doesn’t this taste good?”
Ha Eun-seong nodded gloomily.
“When I was alive, I used to eat anything sweet and it tasted good… Why did it turn out like this?”
“Just like Mr. Jeongpal said, we’re already addicted. We’ve become bodies that can’t live without a frying pan.”
The man and woman finished their meal amidst deep longing for the magic tool. While waiting for the bill, Cathy asked casually.
“So, what’s the condition of the body owner? The soul, I mean?”
“It seems like it’s gotten a little better···.”
It seemed that he had recovered enough to survive a brief absence without dying. After opening up the conversation like that, Cathy asked what she was really curious about.
“But why are you so cold to me, Minjun? You’re not that kind of person. It wasn’t intentional that you absorbed the spirit power of the body owner.”
Cash hadn’t heard the story about Dallant. Minjun had deliberately kept quiet because of the risk of being involved with the committee.
Ha Eun-seong, who was threatened not to open his mouth carelessly, mumbled something.
“I guess you’re very angry.”
“That’s why it’s even stranger. There’s only one case where that gentleman gets so angry. When someone touches ‘his’ thing. Whether it’s his territory, a person, or an object, he’s extremely sensitive to his own things. But that dragon is like a complete stranger to Minjun, isn’t it?”
The ghost, unable to explain why he had done just that without mentioning the talent, changed the subject.
“But why did we come to Germany?”
Ha Eun-seong had no idea what the purpose of the business trip was. He had decided to follow Min-jun’s instructions to repay the 180,000 talents with his body (or soul), but he had not been told what he was actually supposed to do.
“You really didn’t hear anything?”
Cassie explained, and Ghost couldn’t help but gape at the story that was on a scale beyond his imagination.
“So, to sum it up… I have to find and intercept the Earthling heretic priest before the heretic inquisitor comes from another world? What’s more, that priest is running away with the corpse of the recently deceased Pope… And that Pope is an alien?!”
“To be exact, it seems he is called the Patriarch, not the Pope… but that’s about right.”
The fact that the real target was not Joachim but the severed head of the Patriarch was not revealed to Cassie.
“Oh my god.”
A story that felt unrealistic. Ha Eun-seong became scared when he thought about how Min-jun would use him for something like this.
And what’s next.
I’m not sure how much 180,000 talents is in Earth money, but how long would it take to pay it all off?
‘I think it’s around 1 billion?’
Ha Eun-seong asked, guessing so.
“Um… When I hear about that agent’s work, does it always sound like it’s only going to be dangerous?”
Cassie shook her head.
“No, this is only the fourth time I’ve been at this level since I started working with you.”
Ha Eun-seong sighed in relief. They said that the two had just started working together for five years, so if it happened four times in five years, it would be about once a year.
But Ha Eun-seong’s face turned gray because of what Cathy said next.
“Those four things all happened in the last three months, you know. Now that I think about it, it’s strange. Did 2020 have a curse?”
***
There is a common misconception that train stations are located in the city center, but Frankfurt Central Station is an exception.
The station, the gateway to Germany’s largest commercial city, is located quite a distance from the city’s business district and major tourist attractions, and is also one of the city’s worst crime areas.
Behind the central station, orcs were gathered in groups of three or five, smoking strangely scented cigarettes, giggling with strangely unfocused eyes staring off into space, or muttering half their words as curses.
“What, that guy is walking around alone?”
“Should I go and take a look? Those clothes look pretty expensive.”
Minjun was walking through a place where even the strongest trolls were afraid to walk alone. In fact, a few days ago, a troll was lynched by a group of orcs here because the watch on his wrist looked expensive.
His severed wrist will grow back, but his lost watch will never be recovered. It happens too often for the police to get involved.
“Oh, it looks okay? What do you think? Should I paint it?”
“Hey, don’t touch it. Don’t you see that? It’s an artifact.”
“Hey, Nimi. You’re a wizard, aren’t you?”
The orcs swear without even knowing that Minjun is listening. The agent ignores them and continues walking. Similar things happen again and again.
There is an orc community in Seoul, but it is located in a place where the middle class never sets foot in their entire lives. On the other hand, this place is a transportation hub, but there are orcs everywhere.
This contrast is rooted in German history. The country received the largest number of orcs in Europe during the second wave of immigration, due to international pressure.
Only a few years after the end of the war, the German government, struggling to pay the reparations it had to pay, agreed to accept a large number of Orc refugees as requested by the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union. This was in exchange for a partial forgiveness of the reparations and financial support.
As a result, orcs are no longer a minority in Germany. They have already exceeded half of the German population for the past ten years. Incidentally, this was a world first.
However, what the pro-immigration and multi-racialists expected did not happen after that. Despite being the majority, the orcs still did not reach the center of wealth and power. This phenomenon, of course, served as a good excuse for those who claimed the racial inferiority of the orcs.
“What? You’re going into a back alley?”
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“Even wizards have to drain water.”
“Shall we follow along? Even a wizard would take off all his clothes when he does something like that, right?”
“You crazy kid. I’m letting go. If you mess with a wizard, you’ll have three years of bad luck.”
“Really? Then I don’t want to do it either.”
“Tch, you cowards.”
Minjun entered the complicated alley, leaving the orcs behind, who had no idea that they had survived thanks to superstitions that were probably created by the experiences of their ancestors.
Then, a multi-ethnic landscape that was incomparable to that outside appeared there.
It was Germany’s largest red-light district.
Click! Crack!
On the streets covered with garbage and filth, huge rats that looked like they could eat a cat ran around. But no one paid any attention to them. Touts were persistently harassing pedestrians, and drunks were busy shouting foul language at each other.
Minjun continues walking, squeezing through the narrow alley.
After passing the sizzling graffiti, more stores began to appear in earnest. The neon signs that each store put up as if competing with each other were half-functioning and half-faulty, making it rare to read the letters. The eyes of people and rats were glued to Minjun’s back. A voice flew in as if it was obvious that he was a stranger.
“Human Oppa! No matter how far you go, it’s all the same. Just play around here and go! Have you heard the saying that once you fall for an Orc, you can’t get out? How are you today?”
“Hey! Hey! Chinese friend over there. How about a fairy show? I promise you, it will be an unforgettable experience like no other. Today’s special guest is Slime.”
“Let’s meet and meet women, let’s meet each other!” 请进来!”
“Kurururukwaak! Hururukkeok!”
He continues walking, leaving behind an orc woman wearing skimpy clothes, a dwarf man soliciting customers while holding up a picture of fairies with sugar-dusted mouths, a troll youth who solicits customers in broken Chinese, perhaps mistaking him for a Chinese person, and the howling of a bizarre race whose identity even Minjun has difficulty guessing.
And finally, I stopped in front of the strip bar I was aiming for.
In contrast to the scenes of businesses we had seen so far where they were bustling with activity, the store door was firmly locked and the sign wasn’t even lit.
But Minjun had no intention of turning away. He let out a sneer.
“You’ve been watching me from the moment I entered the alley, and you’re pretending not to know?”
I guessed that someone inside was listening and said that.
Clank!
Squeak!
As I nod, the door opens in vain. As I step onto the stairs leading down to the basement, I hear a dog barking from inside.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
“Alfred! No! Stop!”
He could hear the sound of a beast running down below, as if it had sensed the smell and sound of an intruder. However, Minjun continued walking at the same speed he had been going down.
And finally, a shepherd the size of a calf appeared. The beast and the agent’s eyes met. It bared its teeth and looked ready to bite.
but.
“Keep keep keep!”
Change of position.
The Shepherd also reproduced the same phenomenon that animals always show when they encounter Minjun. The dog is startled and runs away in the same direction as he came, urinating.
“Kkiiing! Kkiiing!”
Minjun did nothing. The dog simply noticed a beat later, with its sixth sense, which was somewhat less sensitive than its sense of smell or hearing. The vicious spirit flowing out of Minjun’s sleeve, the ceremonial dagger.
Minjun came down the stairs, careful not to step on the dirt, and a man appeared in front of him. The dog that ran out with all its might and then immediately tucked its tail and ran away was hiding behind its owner and whining.
Minjun waved his hand and said hello.
“Hey. Mayatol. Long time no see?”
The man was a short man, hard to tell if he was human or a dwarf. Flesh was melting down his face, and his eyes were twisted in an awkward direction.
He called my name and spoke in a curt voice.
“······It’s already been over 20 years since I got my permanent residency and changed my name. I’m Liam.”
“To be exact, it’s a conditional residency. I received it on the condition that if I caused trouble on Earth, I would lose my asylum status and be banished to my home world.”
“I don’t know what you heard, but that’s not what I did.”
“Calm down. I’m not here to arrest you. I’m not here to report on what you did to the German government.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I need information.”
Liam’s expression immediately changed after hearing Minjun’s story.
“Joachim Steinmeier? Why would a prisoner stationed in Korea be interested in that author?”
The eyes that were looking at Minjun as if he were an uninvited guest were filled with intense curiosity. They had smelled money.
“If you’re willing to go through the trouble of a 10-hour plane ride, does that mean you’re willing to move prisoners stationed closer to you?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“But why him? The Inquisitors will arrive on Earth in a few days, and Joachim will absolutely not be able to escape… Oh, I see. You’re trying to intercept him before then. But why? If you move, it means the Committee has taken action.”
Minjun neither confirmed nor denied.
“Keeping your mouth shut means your mission level is at least confidential···.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Liam rolled his eyes and said.
“Isn’t that crippled elf’s specialty in finding people?”
“Watch what you say. And there’s a reason that guy can’t come.”
“Ah! That’s true. There are too many old enemies still alive. If you wander around this town without permission, you’ll be eaten alive.”
The grudge of former East German intelligence officers against a former CIA agent who retired decades ago and disappeared into Asia is certainly a sore point.
But even aside from that, Lakefield can’t come this far due to health issues.
“Okay, let’s look for it.”
As Liam disappeared behind the counter, the trembling dog also ran after him in terror.
Minjun, who was left alone, took out some of the liquor on display, poured it into a glass, and drank it down. That was how he was killing time.
Bam!
As Minjun came down, he heard the sound of the door that had clearly been closed and had been placed with a barrier in place opening again. And then a shout followed.
“Hey! Liam! I know you’re all here, so come out!”
The sound of someone rushing down the stairs.
“You must have made some money in the meantime, right? Where did you get such a strong barrier to set up? Man, you had a hard time. Hey, Liam! Are you going to make me mad? Get that heavy ass over here now… GASP!”
The man who had been coming down grumbling like that froze when he saw Minjun sitting alone in the basement, pouring a glass of alcohol.
Minjun read the glowing string of letters above his head.
Asif-10,388,770
The face of the blond young man who had been confidently kicking down the stairs turned pale.
“How did you get here!”
Minjun muttered indifferently.
“Why, have I come to a place where I shouldn’t? Is the owner of this place an informant for European prisoners?”
“That’s not it, but···.”
Minjun knew the reason for the frustration on his opponent’s face. That idiot couldn’t have imagined that Minjun, who lived in Korea, would know about the existence of the aliens running this place.
In the first place, the other prisoners didn’t know that Liam, or the one who put Meyatol in here, was Minjun.
“The reason why we came is obvious to both of us.”
Minjun took out another empty glass and placed it on the bar with a leisurely gesture like the owner.
“Should we share some information with each other?”
Then the prisoner spoke hesitantly.
“···Really? You’re not playing with me, are you? Are you thinking of putting a urinary stone curse on me just to avoid being charged with property damage after hearing my information?”
“······.”
Have I ever done something that bad to this guy?
I tried to remember, but I couldn’t remember very well.
“You’re usually fine, but when you have to compete for a mission, you go crazy! You feel like something that’s yours is being taken away from you.”
“Don’t worry, just come here and sit down. I don’t do that to prisoners.”
“You did it?!”
“······Was that so? Anyway, trust me this time.”
The young man approached slowly with a look of utter indifference on his face.
< 79. Hell of Disbelief (7) > End
