The Foreigner on the Periphery - Chapter 106

Jenkinson faced the ruling party leader with a very complicated expression. 

“See that great dragon…” The elf, who was about to say hello in the dragon’s office, looked out the window and stiffened. It was a landscape he had seen from the outside, but seeing it from this height gave it an entirely new feeling altogether. 

-La La La. La la la la… 

A melody that could be mistaken for a heavenly song reverberated through the area. A sweet wave began to echo through the window. The musicians who played the upbringing turned out to be the ikin (翼人). Such creatures were sirens embedded in white feathers, harboring the ability to soar through the sky. It was one of the reasons why the ikin continued to be spotlighted in the labor market despite the slightly lacking intelligence. The consequences of that persistence combined with twisted beliefs and unfounded optimism were unfolding near the Jenkinson Tower.

In addition to this, it had been over a month already. It was a shame because it was quite good to hear, but if their vocal cords sounded a little more like an Orc, they might have no choice but to regret their decision. 

Seeing the dragon’s hard expression, the elf struggled to look away. “···Sorry. I must’ve looked away for a moment.” 

The dragon replied bluntly in turn. “It’s okay. Sit down.” 

In fact, there was another reason why he appeared uncomfortable. Now Jenkins’s head was full of tentacles. The elf, who had no way of knowing that, kept silent, examining his eyes. Only then did the Red Dragon manage his expression. “Does your back hurt a lot these days? I didn’t expect the election results to be like that. It’s quite embarrassing to say, but even our group’s Institute for Political Science and Social Sciences had failed to hit the mark. I want to change the water sometime soon.” 

Seeing his expression soften, the elf was relieved. He bowed his head. “It is the public sentiment that even politicians do not expect. It has already happened and we are looking for a way to fix it.” 

Contrary to expectations that they would win overwhelmingly, the ruling party won the recent general election by just a narrow margin. 141 votes for the ruling party versus 129 votes for the opposition party. The problem proved to be the whereabouts of the remaining 30 votes. The people, who had neither the ruling party nor the opposition, found an alternative. 

It was an outrageous choice for many. Thanks to that, the party that proudly took the position of the third party in the parliament was called the People-Centered Party. They hated the pro-dragonist ruling party and despised the opposition that advocated the rights of all minorities. Many people expressed concern at the fact that they became casting voters in the National Assembly, who declared that they would only work for human rights. 

“Moreover, there are only ten people in the ruling party who have returned their badges for various reasons after being elected. Their cooperation will be even more desperate.” 

Thanks to the dragon’s words, the elf was able to state the purpose of coming here. “Actually, I have a lot to say about the upcoming re-election.” 

“Where?” 

“This is the Gurye-4 constituency.” 

It was definitely an Orc community. Recalling who the constituency-elect was, Jenkinson nodded. “Ah, that orc-elect. remember It was unfortunate.” 

The man Jenkinson referred to did not face the shame of participating in elections, was not prosecuted for felonies, or arrested for bribery like other disqualified candidates. But unlike other people who would come back to politics after a few years, pretending not to know, he would never set foot in this world again. The dead could not be appointed to public office, after all. 

“Did you catch the culprit?” 

“The Red Star is a very thorough point organization, so it seems useless to interrogate those arrested. Perhaps he had already been killed during the war with the Orcs.”

“I’m sorry. It was a candidate who was elected by an overwhelming majority.” 

If one wanted to be elected in a neighborhood with over 50% Orcs, they only needed to meet two conditions. First, the race must be an Orc. Second, one should get a nomination from the ruling party. The tendency of the Orcs to vote for the ruling party was notorious. Perhaps because of their sensitive nature to authority, most of them felt that the ruling party’s policies were more to their palate. In addition to this, the opposition, which tried to care for a minority inferior to the Orcs, seemed less attractive to them. 

There was a tendency in every society to look for and despise the inferior as the group moved away from privilege, and the Orcs were no exception. Therefore, the president-elect, who was the known godfather of the Orc gang and Chairman Kim Kwang-woo, was nominated for the ruling party without much difficulty in the way of money and won proudly. 

Red Star had judged him an obvious Orc gang member and fired rockets into his office in broad daylight. This then resulted in an immediate death. “I can see why he came to me. Now, as in the past, if you insert any Orc in the scene, you are not in a situation where you will be elected, right?” 

“The war between the Red Star and the Orc gangs soon became the decisive factor.” 

Kim Gwang-woo, who was the spiritual leader of the Orcs, was not only exposed to the wrathful crimes and corruption of the Orcs, but also the circumstances in which he was associated with the Red Star until just before the war, alongside the Knapurs of the Human Rights Coalition. 

“The Orcs who have elected the ruling party candidate that Kim Kwang-woo has supported so far will feel extremely ashamed. I don’t want to vote for the opposition, though. That’s why we expect the Orc turnout in this district to be extremely low in this re-election.”

Moreover, the card that the opposition party, which had almost given up on the constituency so far, had drawn for re-election was… “A half-Orc from a human rights activist?” 

Of course, the human rights referred to here were not the rights of human beings as mentioned by the Solidarity for Human Rights, but the rights of people that broadly encompassed the intellect. 

“Orcs hate harps, don’t they?” 

“I decided to throw away the mainstream Orc vote altogether. It appears to be intended to unite the humans who live there and a small number of opposition-oriented orcs. The atmosphere is already unsettling whether it worked well. If you do it wrong, you may have an accident.” 

“So you are saying that we need more money for the election in the end. Originally, it was a constituency that did not require any money, but a sudden change occurred?” 

The elf bowed his head deeply. “I see. Go out and talk to Blair.” 

“Thank you, Chairman.” 

After a brief knock, the secretary entered and handed the note to the dragon. As Jenkinson read said note, his eyes slowly rose. The senator did not understand the situation and waited. Eventually, the dragon spoke. “Hmm, I just got some news. Again, bad news for you.”

“Yes? What is that…” Jenkinson trailed off, looking into the other person with deep eyes. “At the end of this re-election, I think we should add one more candidate.” 

It was said that one elected member of the National Assembly had his position revoked. Hearing that, the elf felt goosebumps. His own phone had remained quiet, unknowing of the news. The dragon was the first to receive news that he had not yet heard of. The legislator realized once again how broadly and deeply the dragon’s hand had penetrated into various parts of this society. 

“Even if I ask what constituency it is…” 

“Sanyoung-3.” Jenkinson said as he looked into his notes. “It was about 30 minutes ago. Your member of the legislature elected in that constituency was murdered in his home.” 

“Yes?! How did that happen… how?” 

At this, the dragon frowned slightly. “As the crime scene was captured on CCTV, it doesn’t seem like it would be difficult to arrest him. The culprit is probably an unregistered weapon master.” 

“He’s that talented?” 

“Yes, I am.” The dragon lifted his finger and drew a horizontal line near his neck.

“It sounds like his head was cut off with a single knife. You said you had a weapon similar to a long sword?” 

*** 

Minjun spoke as he sat in the passenger seat. “Jeongpal, I’m sorry… You must be tired.” 

Holding the steering wheel, the Orc shrugged. “You’re welcome. Come to think of it… Are you strangely not tired? It’s very brisk. It feels like the fatigue of days gone by at once.” 

Minjun, who had come out of Kathy’s house with a frying pan, asked Jeongpal where the last Egosword was found. Even if the knife had already disappeared, the intention was to trace the traces. ”

Then, Jeongpal said he would accompany him. This was because it was within their jurisdiction anyway, and it was not far away. 

Minjun remained deep in thought. He then saw a frying pan mounted in the back seat with a rearview mirror. His mind was complicated. ‘I can’t hand it over to the committee like this. If I had been eaten by that urge, it would have been a disaster.’ 

Strictly speaking, that was not proven to be a fragment of Asif-1. Nevertheless, the moment he noticed the possibility, Minjun felt a tremendous impulse. He harbored an obsessive urge to go ahead and submit it to the committee. What would have happened if it had been reported?

‘For once, the committee must have retrieved the frying pan. But what next?’ 

Minjun had no way to prove that it was a fragment of Asif-1, nor had the means to verify that it was. In other words, even if the committee washes its mouth, there was no way to protest. ‘What if I checked and it says that the talent cannot be given because it is not an Asif-1 fragment? They’ll be left behind!’ 

In other words, it was necessary to fully prove its identity and leave evidence before reporting it to the committee. While he was thinking like that, the ego sword mentioned by Jeongpal flashed through his mind. 

Because of this, he decided to acquire the artifact that had characteristics similar to that of a frying pan. The reason for suspecting the current frying pan as fragments (except for the statement) was the invisible property of the soul. If there were other swords lying around like that, studying them against each other might give one a clue. 

– Cheek! Chick! 

A voice emanated from the radio mounted in the car. Minjun couldn’t seem to understand. The sensitivity wasn’t good, but he had mumbled far too much. Of course, Jeongpal understood, and his expression hardened immediately. “Ummm… something big happened, bro.” 

“What?”

“A member of Parliament was found dead.”

Because the site was also under the jurisdiction of Seo Seo, where Jeongpal belonged, the radio had rung. Minjun then asked the question without paying much attention. “What if it was because of a heart attack?” 

“No, you said you were decapitated at home?” 

“…”

“…”

“No.”

“…What?” 

But as time went on, the details continued to be updated, and words he could no longer hear reached his ears. Minjun, who gradually became accustomed to the voice of the walkie-talkie, understood its contents. 

“…” 

It was said that the suspect was found without being able to escape far. But the state was… 

“Did I just hear you right?” He had broken bones all over his body and his muscles twisted. Moreover, CCT He didn’t have the weapon stamped on the V. A thought then began to run through their minds. “Jeongpal, let’s go over there first! If it had just been discovered, the sword may not have gone far.” 

“All right, I hear you!”

Jeongpal roughly broke his handle. 

*** 

At the scene of the incident, the police were still busy hitting the police line. 

“Huh? Inspector Park, what’s going on here? It’s off today.” The detective then looked at Jeongpal and asked. His gaze passed through the faces of the Orc and the stranger behind him. 

Jeongpal looked at the situation beyond that. An old wizard with a clear police rank was busy checking the scene. “Let’s go inside for a moment.” 

“Ah yes. Wait···” 

At that moment… “Wait a minute.” 

Another detective approached from behind. Jeongpal saw him and grimaced quite evidently. ‘Damn it, I guess the case was passed to that kid.’ 

He was the leader of the 2nd Violent Detective Team. He was also a writer who had a bad relationship with Jeongpal. If he swore allegiance, his tendencies would be quite similar. Moreover, when Minjun arrested the crazy dragon Endeline, Jeongpal, who was moving with him, even took the ball of the elf’s serial disappearance, hence explaining his passionate willingness to argue. 

The disappearance case had been originally assigned to Team 2. He approached and scolded the detective who had been talking to Jeongpal. “Hey, you bastard. What are you… How dare you refuse to give me permission? You’re quite cheeky…” 

The detective who tried to let Jeongpal in was two flower buds, that was, a rank of a police officer. When the boss then yelled at him, he rolled his eyes and then stood back. The team leader chased him away with a chin gesture and began to ask in a stern tone. “This case has already passed to our Team. 4 Why did the team leader come here?” 

Jeongpal then pointed to Minjun behind him and says. “Here, you are an agent from the immigration office, and you want to see the scene.” 

Then, the second team leader spoke sarcastically, all while biting his tongue. “Looking at the outfit, I know that the yangban are also wizards, but here too, a great wizard is already on-site forensics.” 

He then pointed to an old wizard who was closely observing the scene. “It means that the Magic Investigation Officer came directly.”

Jeongpal also saw a white-haired wizard. If one was the manager of the Magic Investigation Team, one was also a police officer. In terms of the military, it was a high-ranking position that corresponded to one star. Unlike other occupations that focused more on administration instead of the field as they got promoted, in the wizard series, the more important the event, the more senior positions would come directly. 

“Besides… immigration? No, this hasn’t been stamped as an alien case yet. Moreover, there have been no requests for cooperation or instructions from this side yet.” 

Then, the other began to respond with exaggerated gestures, as if he did not understand at all. “No matter how strong you are there, does our 4th Team leader have no pride in the police? Before the official notice even came down, do you know Bill Gear? This isn’t some kind of slavery, so what should it be? Of course, I should have checked the procedures before bringing other administration agents here. Isn’t it?” 

A vein of blood then began to sprout from Jeongpal’s temple. Mentioning the word slave in front of Orcs was quite deliberate. Now, the 2nd Team leader just wanted to argue. Intention to disgrace Jeongpal in front of the immigration office. 

Jeongpal then growled. “Instructions will come soon.” 

It wasn’t a lie. If Minjun made a phone call and waited, an order from the National Police Agency through the immigration office would eventually come. It was just a matter of time. In the first place, if the police were the immigration office, there was a reason why they would pass everything without asking or questioning. And so, Jeongpal was suggesting not to waste unnecessary time.

However, even though they knew it was quite the useless procedure, the 2nd Team endured the whole ordeal with an arrogant smile. There were direct glances made at Jeongpal and Minjun alternately, wondering what to do. “Well, considering everything, we might as well wait here for a little bit.” 

Seeing this, Minjun could see how Jeongpal was usually treated inside the office. ‘So, let’s just throw it away and work with me.’ 

Minjun then looked at the 2nd Team leader, wondering what it was that he had to do. It was then… 

“Ye Minjun… Sir?” The place where the voice came from was inside the police line. 

Everyone turned their heads. The white-haired wizard who was perceiving the scene was looking at them. His white eyebrows, who oversee the Korean magic investigation, twitched. “Teacher, right? Oh my God, am I dreaming right now?!” 

He rushed towards the police line. Upon seeing this, the team leader’s expression morphed into one of confusion.

Meanwhile, Minjun was worried as he looked at the face of the wizard approaching him. It was because he was definitely familiar with him face-to-face. Soon enough, he remembered his face in his youth. 

“…Kim-kun from Class 2 of Magic?” 

Soon. the full name would eventually be completed. “Kim Cheol-soo, is that right?” 

Upon hearing this, the wizard smiled broadly. “Yes, teacher! That’s me! I’m Kim Cheol-soo, who studied as a teacher at Goseong Academy!” 

“·····” 

At this, the second team leader’s face contorted.