< 85. Hell of Disbelief (13) >
***
Bremen Harpen.
In this German port city bordering the North Sea, a series of strange events took place today. People were showing emergency symptoms and fainting one after another.
It would have been better if he had just fainted quietly. It was a sight that terrified even the witnesses, as a person who had been walking normally collapsed with a sudden commotion or showed sudden bleeding.
The victims were all outsiders, and citizens were terrified of what was happening.
Wheeing!
An ambulance arrived in front of the hotel where Minjun was staying, sirens blaring. The paramedics carried away a middle-aged woman who had fainted and was bleeding from every orifice in her body.
And there was a man looking at that sight from afar. He was a half-elf.
‘Another one is leaving.’
He is both an agent and a prisoner.
I followed her here to get the 400,000 talents, but since I have a more meticulous personality than the cursed woman, I have been observing her from a distance. Thanks to that, I have been able to avoid showing off the various things that should be inside my body. For now, that is.
‘But if things continue like this, there will be no progress.’
It is still unclear whether there really is an alien head here. Like the other prisoners, he was being followed around by Asif-666 because of speculation that he holds some information.
“Does this seem hopeless?”
The moment the voice of an intruder was heard from behind, the half-elf immediately summoned a spirit.
Hurrruk!
The inhabitants of the spirit world, who were originally unable to influence the material world, interfered with the laws of physics in exchange for the summoner’s mana. The air in the back alley danced transparently and blazingly.
A normal elf would never reveal his spirit in front of an enemy, and half-elves are somewhat prone to this as well.
But the man is a prisoner.
He said, glaring at his opponent without an ounce of shame.
“what?”
The summoned spirit was a half-elf with its entire body engulfed in flames. The intruder sneered at the sight of its appearance, which was so similar to the spirit master. This was the result of suspecting that the spirit master was a narcissist or harbored an unrequited love for the twins.
But the man is a prisoner.
The intruder guesses that the spirit’s form is an expression of deleted memories and longing for the self.
“I don’t want to fight.”
The spirit master narrows his eyes. Above the opponent’s head, the letters ‘Asif’ and a long series of numbers are floating. He must see a similar shape above his own head as he looks at it.
The intruder raised both hands as if to show that he had no will to fight.
“Making a fuss here will only benefit that monster. What do you think? There are other prisoners in similar situations gathered over there. Why don’t we go over and talk?”
Have you come to recruit your colleagues? The spirit master hesitated for a moment before nodding.
And where they followed, there were more prisoners gathered than expected.
‘There are still more than ten?’
The number has decreased slightly due to those who were forcibly removed by Minjun, but the number will increase further. There are still those who have not been able to enter Germany.
Also, the prisoners based in this area are currently struggling to fulfill other missions due to the demands of the Goryong, but it was obvious that they would join as soon as that task was completed.
“You came.”
The agent sitting in the center opened his mouth. The spirit master looked at the identification number above his head and was inwardly amazed.
‘Asif-1,319,552’
A number in the millions.
At that level, he’s a veteran that can be counted on one hand in any dimension. Of course, he can’t compare to the monster inside that hotel.
“I think we’ve gathered everyone who fits the criteria. Excluding the idiots who got caught after getting too close.”
A man with a look of weariness and an eerie flame burning in his eyes looks around at the gathered prisoners.
One inmate asked a question.
“Conditions?”
“They are prisoners who have the intelligence and tracking ability to arrive here, but who don’t have a good relationship with ‘Asif-666.’ At least, they are prisoners who have no reason to show favor to him.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. The spirit master was the same way. He had never worked with Asif-666 before, and his reputation was a pain in the ears.
Then the black-skinned troll roared and shouted.
“Favor?! The sound of dog eating grass. If only he hadn’t been guilty of property damage, that son of a bitch would have already died by my hand!”
No one listened to the troll’s words. Even the spirit master snorted inwardly.
‘If he had the power to kill, at least he wouldn’t have suffered anything.’
The bad blood between that troll and Asif-666 is well known.
The troll tried to interfere with the work of the inmate with the shortest ID number on Earth, and was punished by the curse for a full week. The result was a deep, irreparable wound etched into his mind. If only one of his limbs had been cut off, he could have recovered, but the trauma left in his mind was difficult to overcome.
‘What was that curse?’
“I thought it was better to die every day in a shame!
Asif-1,319,552 reached out his hand to stop the trembling troll.
“Now, calm down and listen to the rest of my story.”
His proposal was simple: the prisoners gathered here should join forces to attack Asif-666.
“I don’t know how much of your remaining retirement savings you have, but 400,000 talents is a pretty big sum even if you divide it by the number of people here. Don’t you think so?”
One by one, they nod their heads.
“Asif-666 doesn’t move on uncertain information. There must be ‘the head’ in this city. You all must have guessed so. So I think you’ve already searched this place thoroughly like me. But you haven’t found it, have you?”
With some discomfort and shame, the prisoners agree.
“So the hardest part is leaving it to the monster. The moment Asif-666 finds the false priest Joachim or something and retrieves his head, we all rush in and hit him in the back of the head.”
The troll shouted in an angry voice.
“It’s not good to see the dynamics!
Aside from the troll who declared that he would rather move towards Minjun’s misfortune than gain anything for himself, the rest of the inmates found the offer tempting, each for their own reasons.
“There will be prisoners arriving at Bremenharn later, but they will not be included. It will only be done with the members gathered here. If the number increases, the share for each person will be reduced.”
“I agree. But what’s the plan? Are we just going to keep following Asif-666?”
“We need to keep monitoring. But we’re also trying to prepare some insurance just in case.”
“which?”
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The inmate continues his explanation.
“You probably already saw it while following it, so you don’t need pictures. There are two moving companions with Asif-666 right now.”
The inmate who had not said a word until now suddenly spoke up.
“Hey, what is this? Are you trying to start a hostage situation?”
“It’s insurance after all.”
If a prisoner kills another prisoner, he or she will be punished by the commission for property damage.
But what about the inmate’s fellow inmates?
They would not interfere unless someone important to the committee was killed or massacred. So it was unlikely that the committee would pay attention to the act of threatening fellow inmates, who were not prisoners.
however.
“If that’s the case, I’ll get out.”
“You’re a coward.”
The inmate, who had just heard the word ‘hostage crisis’, shook his head.
He had never worked with Asif-666, but he had heard of such experiences from former colleagues he interacted with, and he told them this in a discreet manner, telling them not to spread the word.
In the past, prisoners from that dimension chased down and captured a criminal dragon. They injected sulfuric acid into him while he was escaping, which weakened his strength, but he was still not an easy opponent.
Among the prisoners who were going through hard times, the one who showed the most brilliant performance was Asif-666. He was so desperate and persistent that he was almost like a devil.
He added, “It’s like he’s slaughtered a dragon more than once or twice.” Of course, it was a metaphor.
“That guy said… It would be better to touch the dragon’s eggs, and never touch Asif-666.”
The man who had called everyone together chuckled.
“That’s an exaggeration. If a single prisoner had abilities comparable to those of a dragon, why would they have kept him in a small country on the outskirts of the dimension? They would have brought him closer and made good use of him by the committee.”
Despite his assurances, one or two people start to raise their voices in uneasiness.
“How are you going to handle that resentment even if you succeed? You curse me because you think competing with me on a mission is a hindrance, and now you’re blatantly attacking me and taking it from me?”
“Furthermore, if you touch that writer’s ‘own thing’, he acts like a mad dog. That’s suicidal.”
“Hey, wait a minute. Then is there any other way besides this? Since you started competing with Asif-666 for the mission anyway, aren’t you prepared to fight? Also, do you think that monster can live well on Earth by turning all these prisoners into enemies?”
“······That’s true.”
The first inmate to express his intention to leave spoke to them as if to dissuade them.
“Think about it. Asif-666 is the only one of us who has ever worked with dragons.”
This is a story about the Oslo School crackdown.
“That means he has that level of ability. Why would he bring an agent stationed in Korea all the way to Europe?”
The man in the middle shook his head and said.
“It’s obvious why a prisoner would get involved in Dragon’s business. The ancient dragon that made Korea his territory… Was his name Jenkinson? Asif-666 owed that dragon a huge debt. Isn’t that why he came all the way here to repay the debt with his body?”
“To be so rich···.”
The man tried to persuade her further, but the mood had already shifted to hitting Asif-666. He eventually gave up and retreated.
“I say again, I’m letting go.”
After he disappeared, Asif-1,319,552 looked around at the prisoners and said.
“If we look at the pattern so far, Asif-666 will move alone at a critical moment. At that time, a few of us will secure the remaining companions, and the rest of us will follow Asif-666.”
“There was one woman and one man?”
“okay.”
“What if Asif-666 teleports his comrades away before we make our move?”
Asif-1,319,552 He let out a dry laugh. At the same time, white flames bloomed in his two eyes.
“Even if you use teleportation, a trace will remain. Unless you are an ancient dragon, no matter how cleanly you clean the spirit world, you will not be able to avoid my pursuit!”
A low laugh.
“Being sensitive about your own stuff means you value it, right? Let’s see that author go crazy and run wild.”
***
“The moment I go to capture Joachim, the agents outside will be after you two.”
Minjun spoke confidently to Cathy and Ha Eunseong. He had explained that the inmates crowding around him were agents dispatched from each country.
“So, Cassie, you go into the ocean for a bit.”
“?!”
Ha Eun-seong made a puzzled expression, but Cathy nodded with a firm expression.
“Then I’ll go change my clothes first.”
“Yes. Even if you protect them with a strong barrier, it’ll just be like bragging to the neighbors that you hid them here. And there are way more flies than I thought. I don’t think they’ll even think about searching the bottom of the sea.”
The speed at which the prisoners gathered was faster than Minjun expected. If they all joined forces, the barrier would also be in danger.
“And, take this.”
Minjun handed the bracelet he had been keeping to Cathy. She looked at it carefully and said.
“Message magic?”
“Yeah. While you’re at it, throw that in the Kalliether Lair.”
“You said the house is empty now?”
“Even if the landlord is gone, the servants will still be there. Tell them that this is a letter from me. You can see it when you get back. I can’t find where it is right now, so I have no way to contact it separately.”
While Cassie went to change clothes, Ha Eun-seong asked curiously.
“Are you going to the beach with me, sister?”
“No, I’ll send you separately via teleport. It’s less than a kilometer from here to the port. It won’t be a big deal to erase your traces in the spirit world.”
“But, didn’t you say that the dragon lair that lives here is at the bottom of the sea?”
Callieter said that he had placed lairs all over Europe, but this was his main base, and unlike the others, it was located on the bottom of the sea. He overheard the conversation between Cash and Minjun.
“that’s right.”
“How do I get to the lair under the sea? Is that sister that good at magic?”
“Cassie? Her magic isn’t that great. That’s what all multi-powered people are like. She’s not good enough to make a path through seawater.”
“Then how?”
“How? You have to swim.”
“That deep sea?”
Only then did Minjun tell her about another ability that Cassie had besides magic.
Ha Eun-seong let out a gasp.
“Ah, Breed-shift!”
The ability to transform into another species.
In the media, only cases like wolves and bears are often featured.
“He’s a fish.”
“······okay.”
Ha Eun-seong could understand why the artifact was made in the form of a bracelet.
Just as a wolf-transformer can freely switch between a full wolf form that runs on all fours and a half-human, half-beast form that walks on two legs, Cassie could also change into a half-human, half-fish form.
‘Wait, half-human, half-fish?’
It was a moment when Ha Eun-seong’s fantasy about Cash grew stronger.
‘That… in short, it’s a mermaid! Somehow. I said it was so pretty.’
Ha Eun-seong felt her affection for Cathy rising rapidly as she recalled the fantasy of the Little Mermaid she had seen on TV.
“So you gave it to me as a bracelet? It’s easy to wear even in the water.”
“What do you mean? That’s not a bracelet, it’s a bracelet.”
“yes?”
“Think about it. If your upper body is human and your lower body is fish, how can you breathe underwater? It should be the other way around.”
“······.”
Ha Eun-seong, recalling the scene Min-jun had described, felt her fantasy shatter once again.
“Enough small talk, you need to do something too.”
Ha Eun-seong’s expression hardened after hearing the following words. Min-jun had no intention of safely evacuating her by teleportation.
“There are more people following me than I thought. I need to reduce them a bit.”
< 85. Hell of Disbelief (13) > End
