The Foreigner on the Periphery

Minjun’s expression darkened as he hung up the phone. "Is the timing too exquisite?"  

Kim Kwang-woo was famous for his work worm. Moreover, it was beyond common sense for the president of a company to go on vacation for several weeks as communication was not free.  

"What is that sneaky old woman up to?" Goryeong asserted.  

"Goblins, orcs, a cold-blooded man who doesn't care if millions of people die, do philanthropy? There must be something. It would be better to see the owner of the land as missing. He is a psychopath who will remain." Minjun tried to listen to Jenkinson’s gossip in a moderate manner.  

He knew long ago that he had a lot of bad feelings for Changcheon. Changcheon, who pretended to spend the rest of his life in seclusion on the island decades ago, quickly started hunting for Korean companies and became wealthy.  

Then, trembling with a sense of betrayal, Jenkinson challenged the Balaur Council.

  However, it was concluded that the action was justified because Changcheon never promised not to engage in corporate activities in the first place, and it could not infringe on the ‘right to freely multiply property (treasure)' guaranteed by the Dragonic Code.  

In the end, they had no choice but to compete fairly and fairly, but Changcheon's ability to roll money was never pushed by Jenkinson, and the fight between the two of them with capital instead of guns and swords continued to this day. However, even considering Jenkinson’s personal feelings, it seemed that Changcheon was an unusual dragon.  

Now, his gossip went to a point that had little to do with the topic. "Even among the dragons, it's a story that is quiet, but that woman has some mental problems. I'm not in a position to question what I polymorphed with in the first place!"  

Since he came to Earth, he seemed to have had a hard time with the Peter Pan complex, as well as Changcheon, who had been selling to Jenkinson, who was insisting on being the same since he came to Earth. He grumbled and told a secret story that he did not know well other than dragons.  

"Even after the death of your ex-husband, do you always choose to meet people who are younger than a thousand years apart? Rumors spread all over the world, and they don’t go overboard, so they’re famous for hunting men to outer space!”  

Even if the opponent was an adult, if the age difference was that much, other dragons looked unpleasant. In the meantime, he said that his taste was like a pine tree, and he only met men who looked exactly like him, taking into account the specific scale color, horn length, film shape, and head image.  

"The scariest thing is that Changcheon's ex-husband, who died in China, is also rumored to have been actually killed by Changchun."  

“What?!”

"My husband loved it when he was young and small, but as he got older and bigger, he lost interest and killed him. If you get a divorce, you will get a huge amount of alimony according to the Dragonic Code."  

When Minjun made a look of disbelief, Jenkinson said in a serious tone, saying that it had already become a fact. "Even among the young men I met after the death of my ex-husband, there are several missing children! Of course, there was no evidence, so everything was dismissed."  

"It's a bit strange to even talk like that." If Cathy had been in this position, she would have been eagerly taking the enemy gossip, but Minjun thought she would slowly get back to the point.  

"Anyway, it's sympathetic that Changcheon is not a great person to spend money on to save the goblin, whether it's a psychopath or whatever. Then why are you doing this?"  

With that, he pondered for a moment and finally made a decision. "For now, let's accept this request."  

"Really?" It was Jenkinson who first proposed to work with Changcheon, but he was reluctant because of the suspicious business contents. However, it was surprising that Mijun came out like this.  

“I don’t know what they’re decorating, but once you hold your hand, it’ll be easier to understand what’s going on.”  

"Whether it does something bad or suspicious, it's easier to observe if you put it in the courtyard."  

"If you really have a different motive, you can find out and use it as a weakness for Jenkins."  

She smiled at the dragon. "I like that."  

"But I have to change the terms of the deal."  

"How?” After the operation meeting, Jenkinson called Changcheon directly. The first condition was that they would eat 30% of the food here instead of the 10% that Changcheon suggested, but Changcheon rushed to bring in mercenaries from outer space and adjusted it to 20%.  

At first, the level that Minjun expected was about 15%, but it seemed that the deal was made too easily, so his doubts deepened. The second condition was that the subject of the contract should be ‘Immigration Bureau' rather than ‘Minjun', and the compensation would be received in the form of real talents from the Immigration Office.  

"Second, why do you have to do this?"  

"If I become the contracting entity and receive the talent directly, I will have to report it to the committee and pay the tax. And there is a high probability that they will put pressure on you to deposit money into your account instead of holding the real thing in your hand. Because it has always been that way."  

Thanks to this, Minjun had the real talent and had never seen it before. He started life as a prisoner and never once.

"But Jenkinson, your property cannot be tampered with by the Commission."  

First of all, he was planning to buy some time and do some research with the talents in the real state. If one were to take a peek, it could be attacked as tax evasion as only the name was Jenkinson and the actual owner was Minjun, but it was a structure in which the employee (Jenkinson) received the external remuneration (Changcheon's talents) and then paid the employee (Minjun) as wages.  

If it rained, it could be defended. "By the way, the Korean side could end easily if Changchun helps. Jenkinson How stupid are you from your point of view? Information leaked in the process is a mistake if it is a mistake."  

"Oh, no. To see it like that… I’m not playing, I’m going to cooperate with Changcheon at the group level…”  

"No matter how much you think about it, it would be difficult to indemnify 300,000 like this. Jenkinson, are you also pushing with that mindset?"  

"…" Jenkinson prayed sincerely. He hoped that only the DNA collected in Korea would be able to reproduce the genetic map of the demonic goblin requested by the committee.  

And so, he hoped he could be freed from that viper-like creditor.  

***  

The vice president of Changcheon Bank was the most emaciated elf Minjun had ever seen. He hadn’t slept well for several days, so dark circles reached his nose, and his voice was hoarse. The eyes that looked at him pathetically were red and bloodshot, and the fingers shaking hands trembled.

"Hey, Agent! Welcome. Please… Please take good care of me." Minjun misunderstood the way he looked at his business card, he said as if trying to make an excuse.  

"I am now acting as the president of the bank."  

"Are you the original bank manager?" Fear quickly crossed the deputy bank president’s face.  

"He passed away in an accident a few days ago…" With that, Minjun understood the situation.  

‘You were killed.'  

It was clear that Changcheon was responsible for the talent theft. He didn't know if they were ordinary executives or employees, but if one were to become a deputy bank president, one would be able to guess what was going on. He too would be anxious to run away, but if he did, he would endure because he knew that Changcheon would chase after him to the ends of the earth.  

‘I know how he rolls his men. Are they all just parts, as Jenkinson said?'  

Minjun spoke without expression. "Then let's see the CCTV first."

Of course, 24/7 CCTV was installed inside the special safe where the talents were stored.  

‘That's a million talents.'  

In the recorded video, an enormous body of light was scattering auspicious light. It was hard to capture on the screen, but it looked like a single crystal, and there were millions of tiny crystals joined together. Using special skills, talents could be freely fused or separated in that way.  

"The scene you see now is 10 seconds before the incident."  

As they listened to the announcement of the deputy bank president and waited, something surprising happened on the screen. The talent that had been safely stored in various barriers suddenly disappeared. It happened so quickly that it ended up getting soaked into the air.  

Before or after that point, there was no sign that the barrier had been opened or that anyone had entered through the wall of the vault.  

However, Minjun caught another strange thing in the scene where the talent disappears. Maybe he didn’t even know he had to change the case category this time. From ‘theft' to ‘damage.'  

"Isn't this probably evaporated into the spirit world due to a mistake in storage?"  

When the talent disappeared, the wave was not unfamiliar. It was very similar to the wave that occurred when the spirits of Lakefield returned to the spirit realm.  

"In that case, instead of calling me, you have to hire a fairy to explore the spirit world… Well, the chances of finding it are slim. The spirits living there wouldn't have left it alone."  

This was one of the reasons why people outside the committee did not withdraw their talents well. These were accidents that occurred if the balance was broken even a little during storage.  

If human-like creatures are residents of the physical world, spirits were residents of the spirit world. Spirits freely wandering around the world without a contractor were of course uncontrollable and moved according to their instincts, but if they were to see the talents brought into the spirit world, their eyes would have flipped over in the brilliance, so it was impossible to retrieve them.  

Hearing Minjun’s speculation, the deputy bank president waved his hand in surprise.  

"Absolutely not!"

"You will know when you go."  

"Yes, I will take you inside the safe."  

The safe at the main store, where Minjun also stepped in for the first time, had a thorough security posture as expected. In addition to mechanical and physical defense, a barrier had been constructed with multiple layers of magic. Even the largest exorcism Minjun had ever seen on Earth was prepared.  

Unlike the spirits of the spirit world, a magic circle that expelled spirits bound to the physical world, that was, ghosts and spirits. Even spying on the internal structure was thoroughly blocked.  

"This is the vault where the talents were kept."  

As he entered the place protected by a barrier stronger than any other facility, Minjun lit white flames in his eyes.  

Pot!  

If one were to use magic in the physical world, you will inevitably leave traces in the spiritual world within the same coordinates that overlap. A flashy afterimage of light that corresponded to the footprint of the physical world.  

However · · ·

‘What, it's completely clean?' Minjun's expectations were completely wrong. Even if one were to assume that the reason the thieves were not caught on CCTV was invisibility magic and that the secret of intrusion from the outside was teleporting comparable to an ancient race…

All traces of magic had to be left here at least. But no… The most recent of the traces were those that were formed during the establishment of the barrier. After that, no one had ever used magic here.  

Of course, it was possible to assume that a wizard who could hide Minjun’s eyes intervened, but there was no reason to rob a bank because of such an existence with 1 million talents, and even if he did,  

Changcheon would not have noticed until the end. Minjun told the deputy bank president what he had seen.  

"Isn't that magic?!"  

“Yeah, I don’t know what the thief was, but it’s not magic.”  

"Ha, but… it just disappeared like you saw on CCTV…. If that’s not magic, then…” Said the elf, half weeping.

"Then there really was a flaw in the barrier and it evaporated into the spirit world…" Minjun shook his head.  

“No. There is no sign that the boundary between the spiritual world and the physical world has been broken. The talent has moved within the physical world."  

However, he didn't know how. The devil used to sing, "Let's take a look outside the bank."  

Minjun walked around the main store alone, defeating the people to make it easier to concentrate. Still with white flames in his eyes. However, there was no sign of magic for intrusion.  

‘What is it?'  

He was observing the surroundings with such careful steps.  

"!"  

He felt a warm gaze on the back of his head. ‘Who are you?!’

A swallow was sitting on a telephone pole and looking down. ‘In a city like this?'  

Observing the spirit world with a clairvoyant perspective, it seemed natural. There was no sign of being manipulated by magic. It was a species that had become difficult to find in cities due to the destruction of its habitat, but it had not disappeared altogether.  

There was a tendency to dismiss it as just seeing a rare sight. That was, if it wasn’t for Minjun.  

‘Hmm.’  

He quietly raised his hand, pretending to explore. For nothing, I was banging on the exterior wall of the bank’s headquarters building and making a fuss.  

"!"  

He quickly turned around and stretched his arms out to the sky. Right! The reporter flicked his finger as it was.  

Dig! A heavy and urgent sound of wings was heard. The swallow, which had been directly hit by Minjun’s curse and had clots in its body, was collapsing to the floor.

‘I got it!'  

The moment he thought that his pointed beak had touched the concrete floor, his long, black hair flew into the air like a skein of thread. Feathers fluttered, wings turned into slender forearms, and thin legs instantly transformed into those of a human.  

Just before his head crashed into the ground, his body shape changed, and his naturally outstretched hands took over the weight. Thud!  

"Damn!"  

When the swallow turned into a human screamed, Minjun was already blowing the leash from his sleeve. The spy, who had been distracted by the pain he felt from the blood clot rapidly clotting on his thigh and the pain in his broken arm, was subdued. The opponent that would have been missed was the talented person.  

‘Breed Shift.'  

A unique ability to transform into another species. One of them was a Were Swallow.  

"Uh… how!" With an expression full of astonishment and anger, the woman looked at Minjun. It seemed unbelievable that he had been identified. This kind of ability was not the kind that left a mark in the spirit world, so he couldn't help but be surprised.  

Instead of giving the answer, Minjun thought to himself, ‘I was meant to be observing, but he was too close to me.' Most animals have a sharper sense than the average person. A typical example is that when aliens and dragons were fighting in Sokcho a while ago, all the nearby animals made a fuss. On the other hand, Minjun was quite hated by animals even though he didn’t use any terrible magic. When he approached, even the brave fighting dog peed, and the cat soon became hysterical and fainted. The secret was a black sword that he carried in his sleeve.  

While slaughtering and sacrificing countless lives, the resentment provoked stimulated the animals. There was no exception to the phenomenon of avoidance of birds. After all, there were two kinds of animals approaching like that swallow.  

Either it was already dead, or it was not real. ‘Who sent it? I’ll have to brush it off thoroughly. Anyway, it’s a bit difficult here…’  

Since he couldn't make noise in the middle of the city, he thought he would take him to a dark place and reveal the background. However…

As he reached out her hand, the woman quickly changed her expression and cried out in a hoarse voice. "Don't touch my body! This… on the theme of the filthy capitalist dragon’s hound!”  

It was a rebellion, but it was a very kind rebellion. A woman who spat out the sentence that made it possible to guess the background with that word and stared at her as if she was going to kill her.  

Minjun thought as she stared at her. ‘What is it, boy? Are you sick?'