< 81. Hell of Disbelief (9) >
***
The elf who was spying on the rooftop was unable to escape and was unconscious.
The spell he wrote was a primitive spell that linked one of the wizard’s ears to the target’s body. The moment Minjun struck the back of Christoph’s hand with the ritual dagger, the wizard’s ear was also wounded. The curse that made him feel terrible pain was transferred.
Minjun, standing in front of the unconscious elf, stomped down with one foot. Then, a shadow spread across the floor like a vine and tied him up tightly.
slap!
Wake him up by slapping him in the face with the Shadow Whip.
“You, what are you?”
Before wetting the tip of the knife with brain water, there was something I had to do. I had to check who was behind me. I thought it might be a trick used by another inmate, but…
The elf opened his eyes, realized the situation, and trembled.
“Please… save me…!”
There is a clear trace of a vaccination on the neck.
He is a first-generation immigrant. Minjun frowned as he snatched the cell phone from his hand.
“hmm?!”
Some of the conversations with the information merchant were organized into a message and sent. When the two prisoners spoke alone, they spoke in a language the elf did not know, so there was no content, but the conversation between Liam and German was shared as is.
– Discovered. Escape immediately.
It wasn’t hard to guess who had been discovered and who was receiving this message, since the time the message was sent was the very moment Liam shared Bishop Joachim’s location.
Minjun was impressed. It was a disaster.
My guess was wrong. This kid wasn’t sent by the inmate…
“Did you send it from Dreamland?!”
He thought he wouldn’t have any more business today, but Minjun ended up having to drag the elf back down to the strip bar.
“Huh? You’re back again?”
Liam, who was staring at his laptop, said in a dazed manner. Kristoff was still unconscious. The information dealer was busy with other things, not even thinking about cleaning up the blood that had pooled on the bar and other liquids that had soaked the floor.
The familiar smartphone that Christoph had been fiddling with while transferring money was connected to Liam’s laptop. Even if he wasn’t a prisoner, the information of German immigration agents was valuable. He was probably copying the saved information and hacking the app at the same time.
“I’ll keep quiet about that idiot, but do one more thing for me. Find out Joachim’s location again. I think he’s been found out.”
Liam, who heard the situation, looked embarrassed and went back into the room. Then, a few minutes later, he came out and said.
“The smell is gone.”
“shit!”
As soon as they realized that the location had been identified, they erased all traces.
Moreover, the elf’s message contained the content ‘identification by smell’. It may not have occurred to me before, but now that I know the tracking method, there are many ways to erase the scent.
Minjun glared at the unconscious prisoner, gritting his teeth.
“How low must you be to be followed by a cult?”
The more pathetic part is that he didn’t notice the wiretapping spell. Not all prisoners need to be proficient in magic, but this seemed a bit much.
Minjun glared at the elf this time. There was something that had to be done before he could dig up the information.
“What did you decide to do the next time Christophe moves? Are you going to keep following him?”
The opponent doesn’t know yet that the elf has been captured.
Minjun, who had heard the trembling wizard’s mutterings, sent a message that he had pretended to write. It said that Christophe was returning to his residence after finishing his transaction with the information merchant and that he was being tracked.
Then he throws the phone at Liam.
“Look at the back of this number. It’s probably a tin can.”
Only then does the interrogation begin.
“What are you? A Dream Land believer?”
When I looked in a bright place, I could see more than just the injection marks on my neck.
Thin skin with visible veins. Red rashes and scratch scars. Puffy eyelids and a torn philtrum.
‘You’re a drug addict.’
Among the first generation elves, those who married humans or provided seed to them were highly likely to become addicted to cocaine, heroin, etc. This is because drugs were used to forcefully stimulate their sexual desires, which were not easily aroused.
“I… I… Please save me…!”
I was wondering if I should use the Happy Bug, but the elf started blowing continuously.
Elf didn’t know that Christoph was an alien, and the client didn’t mention it. The main order was that he was an immigration agent employed by the German government, and that he was to follow him and find out who he was meeting and what he was talking about.
Moreover, the Dreamland Church said that they knew that Christoph was chasing Joachim.
The moment he heard that part, Minjun couldn’t help but look back at the unconscious prisoner with a dumbfounded expression.
“This idiot, how on earth does he conduct himself normally?”
On the other hand, I didn’t feel any loyalty to the church from the elf’s attitude as he continued to speak. When I heard what he said next, I could understand why.
‘You didn’t become a believer because you truly believed in God, but because you wanted to get medicine.’
The church will always have enough stock of all the drugs necessary for the Dreamland worship service. At least enough to pay the drug dealers for their work.
In retrospect, it was an effective means of control. Even the most money-hungry wizard would refuse a request to tail an immigration agent, but this elf risked his life for the sake of the potion.
Minjun, who had heard that far, asked in disbelief.
“Why don’t you just ask me to cure your addiction with divine power instead of medicine?”
“I said that I couldn’t do it for free because my body and soul are impure. But the price was too high…”
‘Maybe he didn’t treat me on purpose. He wanted to keep using me.’
Minjun, who had clearly determined that there was no more information to reveal, confirmed one last thing.
“Are you planning to contact the church again soon?”
“No, because of this mission, I am banned from entering the church for the time being···.”
When Minjun snapped his fingers, the elf fainted.
“Isn’t the headquarters of the Dreamland Diocese in Frankfurt?”
Liam said, sounding embarrassed.
“Our kids can’t go in there! It’s so thorough… the sewers and everything are all sealed.”
“okay?”
Minjun said after thinking for a moment.
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“I’ll contact you again soon.”
Liam glances at the elf and asks.
“If you don’t need that···.”
“Just leave it alone and let Christophe figure it out. He’s got the brains to trace back how the information got leaked and figure it out.”
In the meantime, Minjun planned to focus on something else.
however···.
‘This is too fast. The pseudo-children smelled it only half a day after Christophe received the mission? What ability did he have?’
Minjun’s face hardened even more as he climbed the stairs.
***
“I’ve arrived.”
“Cassie said as she stopped the car.
The place Minjun headed to today was the headquarters of the Dreamland District Parish located on the outskirts of Frankfurt.
It looks like an ordinary 10-story building, but unlike the current trend of being able to see inside the lobby from the outside, the iron door is tightly shut and the windows are covered with curtains, making it impossible to see inside.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Unlike yesterday, Minjun went out with the car waiting.
A few minutes later.
“Huh!”
Ha Eun-seong, who was sitting in the back seat and staring out the window, screamed in horror. Cathy looked at the rearview mirror and asked.
“Why is that?”
“No, just now a rat the size of a puppy passed by…”
The large rodents, commonly known as the ‘German giant rats’, were everywhere in the city. German citizens were already used to living with them and paid little attention to them, but Ha Eun-seong, a foreigner, was startled every time he saw them.
As I was looking at the rat chewing through the trash bags on the street, not even paying attention to the pedestrians, Cathy suddenly said.
“But, you know that thing? That thing actually looks like a rat, but strictly speaking, it’s not a rat?”
“What do you mean?”
As interdimensional communication began, alien species that made their home on Earth were not necessarily limited to intelligent beings.
“No one really knows how they got in. They probably got in with the cargo loaded onto the jump ship. They’re actually aliens.”
Although they are called rats for convenience, their DNA structure shows that they are not only different from Earth rodents, but they are also very intelligent.
“There are even studies showing that they are smarter than dolphins.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look it up on the internet. They say they lure stray cats into uninhabited areas using food waste as bait, then attack them in groups and eat them.”
“Ugh···.”
Ha Eun-seong, who had been grimacing as if he had imagined it, soon found something strange in her words.
“No, why did you lure me to the outskirts?”
“Some say that it is because they know that if they do something like that in a crowded place, people who feel sorry for the cat will interfere.”
“Hey, no way···.”
Believe it or not, it’s true that their brains are incredibly smart, as Cash added that after the aliens spread, the normal rats that used to inhabit German city centers became extinct.
“In fact, the German government seems to have given up on eradicating them. They are so smart that rat poison and mousetraps don’t work at all. You have to spray toxic gases or mobilize marine hunters to catch and kill them one by one… The former is too dangerous, and the latter is too expensive.”
From Ha Eun-seong’s perspective, the story continued to be unbelievable.
“And strangely enough, whenever a large-scale extermination attempt was made, they would disappear from the city and hide in the mountains or something. Then, when it became quiet, they would return to the city again, there were also eyewitness accounts.”
“Could he really be that smart? He’s just a rat after all.”
Cassie tried to say something more, but then changed the subject.
“Huh? Minjun is coming back.”
He returned and sat in the passenger seat, grumbling.
“The barrier is much stronger than I thought. I won’t be able to sneak in.”
There was a way to tear down the door while preparing for an all-out war, but the Dreamland Church is not a criminal group designated by the state. If a Korean agent causes a rude disturbance abroad, it will not only cause a diplomatic problem, but the old dragon Kalliether, who seems to maintain a sponsorship with the church, may also intervene.
Minjun, who had made up his mind, turned his head to the back seat and asked.
“So, you can project your body?”
Ha Eun-seong, who was suddenly pointed out, hesitated and spoke.
“Yes. I don’t think I’ll die even if I leave my body empty for an hour or so… But why? No way?!”
Minjun said, holding out a photo.
“Check to see if this guy is in there.”
What he held out was a photo of the bishop who was leading the Dreamland Diocese after Joachim.
The Diocese of Earth has been cut off from the Council for decades and for some reason has decided not to follow their orders this time. This will be similar to what happened in the past when local churches and denominations on Earth under the direction of the Holy See became independent.
As a result, if they were supporting Joachim’s escape against the will of the Council, the bishop in the photo would have intervened.
“But… what if I get caught wandering around in a spirit state and become a Buddha?”
“You’re just like a dragon if you’re only considering the soul. It takes more than twelve hours to consecrate a single dragon ghost, so how can you mess with a ghost? Be careful not to get caught, and if you do, get out of here right away.”
Ha Eun-seong, who received Min-jun’s instructions, left her body while feeling worried.
dump!
The body, devoid of its soul, becomes limp.
And about 10 minutes later.
“Huh! Cool!”
The polymorphed Ha Eun-seong’s body moved again. She had returned from her spying.
However, when he returned, his complexion was not very good.
“Ugh! Can I throw up?”
“I’ll do it later. How is it? Are you inside?”
“Yes, there is a large chapel in the basement, and other believers are gathered there, and the person in the photo is there too. But···”
It seems that a bizarre worship service is being held there, something that Minjun also witnessed.
‘Now that we know we have a target, we just need to somehow get in there and sneak it out.’
The bishop has a separate house, but it has been empty for several days. It seems that he continues to settle down in this building. So there was no reason or time to leisurely wait for him to come out.
Minjun, who was thinking about it for a while, comes up with an idea.
‘No matter what, it is a legitimate religious foundation, right?’
So, you probably don’t want to cause friction with the government authorities.
“Just wait a minute.”
Minjun left the car door open and went outside. Then he glanced around the street.
“Here it is.”
He walks toward the newsstand. There, he sees the giant rats that startled Ha Eun-seong, burying their heads in trash bags.
Just like the rat in the entertainment district of the central station, the little animal did not run away despite the ceremonial dagger being nearby. It pulled its head out of the trash can and stared at Minjun with its red eyes.
“What are you trying to do there?”
Ha Eun-seong asks Cathy if she suppressed the pottery.
“I don’t know.”
At that moment, the two people left in the car heard an unexpected voice.
“Hey, connect Liam.”
“?!”
“?!”
Cash and Ha Eun-seong were embarrassed.
No matter how I look at it, that scene…
It seemed like he was talking to a rat.
After the name ‘Liam’ is mentioned, Minjun gives a long explanation to the rat. Because of the distance, Cathy only understands that he is asking for something.
Ha Eun-seong blinks his eyes and asks.
“Agent… can you talk to mice too?”
Cash also looked surprised.
“You said there were no druid abilities. Are there spells like that in black magic?”
And mutters.
“But, no matter how hard I try to explain it to the rat in German, there’s no way he’ll understand…”
That was when.
“Crack! Crack! Crack, crack! Crack, crack!”
“······.”
“······.”
The ‘German Giant Rat’ looks up at Minjun and makes a long squeaking sound as if protesting something. Cathy and Ha Eunseong just stare blankly at the scene.
They didn’t know it, but it was a kind of code similar in principle to Earth’s Morse code.
– Danger. Suspicion. Media exposure. Petitions for marine extermination. Annoying situations…
Minjun said bluntly.
“Everyone knows that all sorts of crazy things happen in Dreamland. They’ll think that some weird drug or something is being sprayed inside that building.”
Minjun returned to the car, as if the conversation was over. An odd silence fell over the car.
Instead of explaining at length, Minjun said this.
“I’ll stay here, so you two go back to the hotel. No… not now, but we can leave in about 5 minutes.”
Then he closes the car door and disappears from sight.
Even though she’s out of her mind from what she just saw, Cassie still has questions.
Why did you tell me to leave in 5 minutes?
The question was immediately resolved by the subsequent events.
“Gyaaaah!”
“What, what is that!”
“The rats… the rats are crazy!”
The screams of pedestrians filled the streets.
“Ugh! What is that!”
Ha Eun-seong covered his mouth with his hand as the anger he had barely suppressed welled up again.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak squeak!
Gray waves rippled across the surrounding ground, where pavement blocks and asphalt had been laid.
Rats were swarming from all sides.
It’s a sight that seems to be gathering all the rats in the city. Like a swarm of rats possessed by the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the giant rodents march and rush at you.
The destination was the Dreamland headquarters building.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak squeak!
The moving vehicles stopped. Cash, too, could only stare out the window at the scene without even thinking about starting the engine.
Unluckily, pedestrians who were passing by ran into any building to avoid the swarm of rats. An elderly person lost consciousness and collapsed before being able to escape. Then, the swarm of rats split apart like a sea and ran toward one place, avoiding the people. It seemed as if they didn’t care about anything else.
The rats that rushed to the building they were aiming for climbed up the walls of the building as if they were climbing a cliff. This was an impossible feat for ordinary rats.
Soon, the Dreamland building was dressed in gray fur.
I’m talking about a fur coat that constantly wiggles and sways.
People in the next building took out their phones from the windows and took pictures and videos. It was no time for the situation to be broadcast nationwide.
“What the hell are those crazy quacks doing in there?!”
“I don’t know. Maybe they sprayed some kind of drug on the rat. Or maybe it’s a rodent stimulant.”
“Call the police! Quickly!”
“I already reported it.”
After a while, a siren sound echoes through the air.
After parking their police cars at a distance, uniformed officers approached and stood in front of the Dreamland building.
Ding dong! Ding dong!
“Police! Open the door!”
Even as the chaos outside raged on, the iron door of the church, which had not been opened, finally opened slowly.
The rats that had covered the walls and windows of the building were cleverly moving while avoiding the doors.
“······What’s going on?”
The policeman points with his finger as if he finds it ridiculous.
“Can’t you see that right now? The call is paralyzing our work. I need to see for myself what’s going on in here right now.”
The priest who opened the door said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Paralysis? What is that···.”
And then he looks outside and his expression hardens.
A few seconds later.
“······That has nothing to do with us.”
“You’ll know once you go in!”
In the end, he could not overcome the police’s anger.
“Please wait here for a moment. There is a barrier that will reject anyone who has not registered in advance… I will contact the facility management team right now.”
And after a while, Minjun, who was hiding and observing the situation, confirmed that the barrier surrounding the building had disappeared.
“······Please come in. I tell you again, your efforts are in vain.”
The police enter through the open door.
And none of them noticed that an uninvited wizard had sneaked into their midst.
< 81. Hell of Disbelief (9) > End
