The Foreigner on the Periphery - Chapter 114

Hearing that Choi Seon-ah had woken up in the middle of the night, Minjun went to the hospital alone early. Choi Pan-seok, who stayed until dawn, was absent. It looked like there was a parliamentary agenda. However, when he asked over the phone to meet with Choi Seon-ah again, he readily agreed. It was only natural for him to be the benefactor of his daughter. 

The frying pan said to Minjun. = As I said, Agent, if you want to read deeper than the verbalized superficial consciousness, it’s better to contact the other person. = 

All of the information that was digging out of Cathy’s head had happened while she was cooking with the guy in her hand. did. ‘Aren’t you supposed to stick it in your throat again?’ 

= If you don’t overflow with useless thoughts like him then, just holding it in your hand is enough. = Choi Seon-ah was puzzled by the agent who had asked to see it. But, as if she was the main character who had gotten saved from being kidnapped, there seemed to be no excuse for her to refuse, so she hesitated before taking it in her hand. 

In that state, Minjun asked a question. It was a question that was not very different from what he had asked before, and the answer returned was similar. This time, he intended to read more than a simple answer, and even read what kind of image was drawn in his head when he talked like that. And so, more time began to pass… 

Whoa! Whoa! As the frying pan buzzed as a signal that it was all over, Choi Seon-ah was startled. So far, the frying pan has never revealed that he had an ego, and he hadn’t even spoken to him about it Minjun, who had received it, asked. ‘How is it?’ 

= Well, so far, I have never lied about what the agent asked. =

‘Are you really saying that all your memories have been erased?’ 

= There are signs that someone has interfered with it. Too clean. ripped it out. As for the sensitive part that Agent-sama wants to know…= 

Most importantly, he said that there was no trace of how he got his ego sword. There was no memory of killing Kwak Do-chul and the incestuous woman, and the previous disappearance record was also unknown. The frying pan, who had been explaining that, suddenly clouded the tail of his speech.

= But….= 

‘Um?’

= Aside from the agent’s interrogation, there was one thing he was hiding.=

 ‘What?’ 

The answer he returned was unexpected. 

= This person, Depp Show who is talented? = 

‘······’ 

Minjun clearly remembered the briefings that had been given by Jeongpal. Clearly, Choi Seon-ah had never reported this ability of her to the state. That was to say… 

‘A person with unregistered ability?!’ 

= Is that a duty in this world? Anyway, I never made it public. It is a secret known only to very few people, including her parental guardians. Very good by a global standard.= 

Prophetic traits were one of the most coveted talents, but unfortunately, it was not known how to fully control their abilities. In the case of the Earth, the only use cases in real life were weather predictions. 

In the future, the more difficult it was to predict, the more information only a few could perceive, rather than information that was treated at the level of a public good. Also, the act of prophecy itself changed the future, killing the vitality of the prophecy. This was also the reason why weather predictions were most accurate. There was no such thing as rain that was meant to come just because it was foreseen in advance. Despite these limitations, the Commission had never lost interest in them. If one were to ask Minjun how much interest it was… 

-46. 

Discovering a way to fully control the abilities of a prophetic trait, providing a turn-key solution to the commercialization stage: 530,000 talents, Minjun was lost in thought. 

‘Did Choi Pan-seok know this in advance and adopt him?’ 

Why did the Orc adopt a human as his adoptive daughter, a teenager who wasn’t completely young at the time? The reason he made such a choice despite being criticized by both Orcs and humans, and even threatening to kill him. Maybe it was because he knew this ability in advance? 

‘It could be the reason why she has been so successful so far.’ 

He had remembered the relief and thrill of when she had woken up, and the expression on his salivating expression when she lost consciousness again. What if it wasn’t for his pure affection for her daughter, and love as an end in itself, not his means? What if she wasn’t considered a precious treasure because she was only his daughter, but was obsessed with its function? ‘Maybe the reason Blade showed interest in Choi Seon-ah was…

Minjun’s thoughts deepened. This was because he recalled how Elahu-Pragu in the Bible, called the man who gave wisdom to the primordial race. 

Prophet. 

He was someone who could understand this, more than anyone else. 

*** 

Choi Seon-ah’s secret was known, but her sword’s whereabouts were still unknown. Instead of reporting to the police as an unregistered person with extraordinary abilities, Minjun decided to keep the information in his head for now. 

‘I wonder if Blade knew this beforehand, and if so, how she knew it? I don’t think anyone knows except Choi Pan-seok.’ 

Minjun, who returned to the office after reasoning, found two huge packages in front of the front door. By looking at the magical powers covered in fingerprints, the identity of the sender was immediately known. 

‘It’s Dell.’ His ex-wife, who stopped by last night and left, sent me something within 24 hours. Minjun carefully opened the seal. There was a powerful magic that could not be opened or moved even if anyone other than him touched it. Minjun brought it into the room after a brief thought. 

Afterwards, he opened the package after several inspections with the same serious expression as a professional technician handling explosives. He opened the big one first.

“…” Minjun’s eyebrows furrowed. 

‘What is this?’ It was a box the size of a 30-inch suitcase, but the contents were close to exaggerated packaging. It was filled with bright red rose petals. And in the center of it was a frying pan… Yes, it was a frying pan. 

‘Why did you send this?’ 

Only then did he remember what Dell said yesterday. He looked at his frying pan and said: – If possible, can’t I just carry something else with me? The feeling is nothing. Can I make one properly as long as it’s in the shape of a frying pan? 

Minjun picked up the postcard placed on the frying pan, the strong scent of the perfume she loved to use permeated. The message was concise. ”

For blunt use, this would be much better. -Dell-

Minjun, who took the frying pan after throwing out the postcard, was surprised again. A silver frying pan glowing under office lighting. ‘Isn’t that Orihalcon?’ 

Orihalcon was a super strength metal specially polished in the Endelion style. These were such items that cannot be found or traded on Earth. 

‘No, how should I use this…’

This item was more suitable for a weapon master than a warlock. It was clear that the moment the surface was coated with an auror, it would show amazing performance. Of course, this was assuming that there were people who possessed the ability to fight with a frying pan instead of a sword. 

Minjun imagined himself wearing this. An agent of the immigration office glaring down at the enemy with a silver Orihalcon-made frying pan in one hand and a pitch-black dark iron frying pan in the other. It was a shameful look no matter which perspective he tried to view it in. 

‘Where would you sell it?’ 

Minjun’s decision was quick. ‘I’m going to dispose of this.’ He glanced at his handle, but fortunately, there were no words engraved on the place where he had tied a passionate red ribbon. 

He pondered for a moment. Who on Earth has such a bizarre taste that money could buy something like this, while also rotting cash? One person immediately came to mind. ‘Lord, you can sell it to that gentleman.’

The dragon, who said that he would soon return to work after finishing his spawning leave, had a hobby, one of collecting expensive and pretty but useless things. After making that decision, Minjun, who threw the frying pan along with the postcard in the corner, opened the next box. This time it was about the size of an album. When he opened it, he found that it was full of documents. Its content is… ‘Did you research up to this point?’ 

Minjun stuck out his tongue. That was Dell’s research on Blade. He had a list of murders committed regardless of borders. Minjun’s expression became serious as he turned over the documents one by one. Photos of victims who died of breathlessness were listed. The body was strewn across the bloody scene. 

‘They had killed a lot.’ It was impossible to conclude that the culprit who killed them all was Blade ‘All in all, these sceneries look quite surprising. It’s also very clean.’ 

The suspects’ impressions were different, so they were arbitrary, and no weapon was found at the scene, but they had something in common – sharp cut edges. It was clear that he had killed himself with a single knife. 

Minjun had never put a blade against his chest or abdomen. As much as the traces that the sword had rubbed against, his manner of action was also sharp

 ‘·······’ 

At that time, a bright spark flew in Minjun’s head. “Wait, there are no exceptions?” 

No, there was. It was not in the file Dell handed over now, but Minjun knew the exception. He then immediately tried to call his Jeongpal, but then changed his target. 

He checked the business card he received recently before taking out his cell phone and pressing along his dial. The other party answered the phone right away.

 -Yes, sir! hello. 

“Kim, let me ask you something.” 

After contacting the wizard, Kim Cheol-soo, he returned to his old tone for a moment. He had a matter to check directly with a senior member of the Police Magic Investigation Unit. “The scene where Choi Seon-ah killed Kwak Do-chul.” 

– I didn’t go out to see it myself, but I got a report. Please wait a moment… Ah yes. I found it. Please tell me, sir. 

“Then let’s see if I’m right. The order of events is as follows. Choi Seon-ah suddenly appeared with a half-elf hat, and this time she blew Kwak Do-chul’s neck. And the bones of his whole body were broken and he fell.” 

The sound of flipping papers over the phone could be heard. -Yes, everything you said is correct. 

“Then the sword was thrown aside for a while, as magic had to be used. Then a police officer came.” 

– Oh, sir. To be precise, I am not a police officer, but an agent contracted by the National Police Agency. 

Like Minjun, it was said that he was an exclusive contract worker. He suffered a penetrating wound, but was said to have escaped vital organs and was discharged very quickly. 

“The wizard confirmed it. There was no curse on that sword, and there was no soul in it. It’s just a cheap ego sword.” Kim Cheol-soo affirmed. What happened immediately after that… 

“Believing that, the forensic team who picked up the sword immediately took control of their minds and stabbed the wizard.” 

-Yes, that’s right. I had my stomach pierced. 

“Yeah, that’s the part. You got stabbed Instead of blown off the neck.” 

-··········?

“Why?” 

Kim Cheol-soo pondered over the receiver and answered. – The forensic team who held the sword was an ordinary person. He wasn’t even trained personnel. Wasn’t he determined that he had to subdue the wizard first in order to escape from that state? That cursed sword controls it like that… 

“Then wouldn’t it be more certain to kill him by blowing his head off? That’s the iron rule for a weapon master when dealing with a wizard, isn’t it? Even if your stomach is pierced, if you have the will, you can memorize the spell. The first thing to do is to stick a knife in your throat or cut your throat. But why did you stab me in the stomach?” 

Minjun guessed the identity of a hunter named Blade: A hunter wearing a cloth mask. He was a mysterious existence that even the contract organization did not know the true identity and appearance of. Why did he have to manipulate someone else in Korea to kill a member of the National Assembly and kill Kwak Do-chul again?  

The reason was this: Blade wasn’t human. His true identity was the ego sword that Minjun was pursuing. The killer didn’t use the sword, the killer was the sword. After explaining these conjectures, Minjun talked about the characteristics of the blade. It employed a neat style that could blow the neck away with just one simple swing. 

“The half-elf celebrity died like that. It was the same with Kwak Do-chul, and so was the body of a member of the National Assembly found in his home. All had their necks cut off. Of course, there are no survivors.” 

No survivors, except for one… Only one survived after allowing flesh and blood on the sword. “Why didn’t the ego sword kill the wizard?” 

However, looking at the previous pattern, the disruptors had also died in the same way. So was Kwak Do-chul’s incestuous wife. “The reason, perhaps, was that he needed it.” 

There came the reason as to why the sword needed a man. Minjun could only think of one thing. “There is danger in the act of an ego sword, which cannot move on its own, to switch hosts.” 

This was especially the case when the host is incapacitated and the sword is thrown on the floor. At that time, if someone doesn’t pick it up, the black would get stuck if further left unattended. The risk was too great. However… What if someone helped the sword? 

“Let’s think about it. How did the troll get the sword? And, how did the sword disappear?” 

The moment the sword first appeared in the memory of the troll, there was an Orc, which was the opponent he was fighting with. A man who suddenly spit blood everywhere during a melee and died. Aside from this…

“There were no traces of such things near the tobacco shop. Even magical pursuits have failed. Kim, why do you have to work so hard to erase traces of Orcs that you don’t even know about the assassin troll? That is, unless you belong to a contracting company…” 

It hadn’t been erased by cleaning it very cleanly, but what if there were no such Orcs in the first place? What if even the ghost’s memory was manipulated? “And, why did the sword disappear?” 

The knife was not found at the site of the death of the congressman’s killer troll. It must have been moved by someone, but there is no trace on CCTV. 

-Sir, what are you talking about…? 

“There is a facilitator. It moves independently of the contractor who does not know the identity of the blade.” 

A brief silence passed over the phone. 

– Who and why would you help? 

“I’m not sure, I must have felt too fascinated.” 

-·········· ?! 

“Until now, we were stuck in the stereotype that we had to hold the handle of the sword to control the mind. But the power may not stop there.” He thought about the frying pan. Even without touching the frying pan, Cathy and Ha Eun-seong trusted it with 100% purity. 

This was because they ate food cooked with it. Maybe that sword had similar abilities. What if, even if it wasn’t necessarily touched, for example, by inflicting a wound with it … after that, it was possible to inflict a somewhat weakened mind control? Doing it for prolonged periods of time was impossible, but what if it was possible to perform simple maneuvers? In this way, the helper of the sword was born. 

Such was the need for a fit person who could retrieve the sword when the blade wanted it and put it near the next host. A worker who didn’t have to move too aggressively, so he doesn’t have to worry about breaking bones and falling into immobility. 

‘Perhaps there is a limit to the number of periods that can be possessed at the same time. That must have been the reason I had to stab him on the spot.’ 

There would be no more suitable opponent to move without being caught on CCTV, so if the sword had been hidden somewhere before the forensic team came to their senses, and the discharged wizard would visit the place and retrieve it later, they could then hide the contact point. 

Minjun asked, “Kim-kun, where is the wizard now?”