The Foreigner on the Periphery - Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Between Work (1)
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When Ye Minjun was free, he saw divination within a matchbook. Every time Cathy saw it, she got terrified, telling him not to do it because he looked like an old man when doing so. In fact, the pattern drawn on the hand didn’t matter. He induced them to resonate with each other by marking them with different magical powers. The act of turning the tile in this state was close to a kind of ritual. Before coming to Earth, when he was tasked with escorting the prince of a certain race, he learned magic from another world in order to kill time.

However, Minjun was not an oracle, and his fortune-telling accuracy was not very high. In his experience, it was only about 33%.

Nevertheless, Minjun had been consistently practicing this fortune-telling magic. This was because he knew it would develop his sixth sense. His forebodings didn’t really fit well at important moments.

‘Hmm…’

Like the N and S poles of a magnet, the paddles interacted with each other in order to form a shape. He proceeded to read the meaning. In this way, three fortune tellers were derived at a time.

-Today’s weather: Dry weather with no rain continues. Temperatures are expected to be moderate, but watch out for local magnetic storms and uranium fallout.

-Today’s health: it is best to avoid spawning as much as possible. If it is unavoidable, head to the wetland of the floating island.

-Today’s relationship: There is a possibility that you will be reunited with someone you haven’t met for a long time.

“….”

If there was a problem with this spell, it was that there were parts that were not correct when interpreting it because it had been created by the inhabitants of another world. As it was now, results that were different from the Earth’s environment or the biological characteristics of the Earth’s people may come out.

He glanced at the watch. Knowing that it was a good time, he turned on the TV to the morning news.

-The International Alchemist Association agreed to increase the gold production by 100 tons per day in May and June at the regular meeting held yesterday. As a result, the gold price traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed the market with a 7% plunge.

He waited, listening to news that he was not interested in. A few minutes later, he was able to check the information to match the fortune teller.

-Yes, here is the weather and natural disaster news from Lee Eunha, a forecaster

-Hello, this is Lee Eunha, the weather forecaster. If you look at the weather in Seoul today, it will rain softly everywhere, starting from 2:33 pm in Gwangjin-gu. You must bring an umbrella.

-Next is disaster prophecy. Today at 6:25:31 PM, an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.6 occurred near Jeongmok 1-dong, Yecheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Many people do not feel the vibration and pass it by, but if you are sensitive, set an alarm in advance so that you do not panic…

Of course, there was no news of a radioactive storm or fallout. It’s dry, even rain.

Although the Commission had yet to find a way to fully control its predictive powers, some information that had become public over time, such as the weather, was almost never wrong. In other words, Minjun’s spell was wrong.

Also, of course, he couldn’t lay eggs and had no plans, so the second fortune-telling must be wrong.

If that was the case, what was left was the third one…

‘Are you reuniting with someone you knew a long time ago?’

He did not have a sense of how long the replacement term would have to be described with the word ‘It’s been a long time.’ He had already been thinking about it for a while…

Booleung!

Outside the window, the heavy engine sound of a sports car could be heard. Cathy came to pick it up. After tidying up the desk on which cards were lined up, Minjun prepared to go out.

Cathy in the driver’s seat eventually asked.

“Can I just go shopping today?”

“Right.”

As she stepped on the accelerator, there was an engine burst, and Minjun’s body spun backward. At the same time, the hull bounced forward, much like a wild beast. Minjun raised his voice and protested.

“Drive the car gently!” “If you’re feeling embarrassed, go get your license.”

She turned the steering wheel and sharply dug into the lane. Then, he asked.

“Have you not had time to get your driver’s license after living so long? Well, since this was all work that was included in the salary, I have no complaints, even if I treat myself as a personal engineer…”

In Sokcho, Minjun, who had even used the Elder Dragon as a knight, did not even listen to it. However, Cathy didn’t even seem to want to finish the topic yet.

“Yeah? Why?”

When Minjun was first deployed to Earth, he never expected that he would stay here for so long. Also, in his eyes, who were accustomed to the means of transportation he had driven in the previous world, automobiles at that time were shabby, and boring machines that didn’t even give one a real taste of driving.

One, and then another year passed like that, and he chose to live with it until now. Instead of telling the story, Minjun muffled it, as per always.

“I haven’t liked cars since a long time ago.” “Why? Anything bad about the car?” “It’s a secret.”

Minjun just kept his mouth shut because he knew that when he started telling clumsy lies, he had to constantly make up small lies. Then, Cathy pouted.

“Anyway, I hate talking about the past.” “…”

Without answering, Minjun stared at the scenery outside, right through the wide field of view of the open car.

“Arrived.”

The Jagular Cathy was driving stopped in front of a building in Gangnam. Two women in suits were waiting at the entrance.

“Agent, welcome.”

The staff promptly greeted him. As if they had practiced this, the two of them bowed deeply at the same speed and angle. Waiting for Cathy to hand over the keys to the valet agent, Minjun entered with them. On the outer wall of the building, an embossed sign that read ‘Witch Cooperative’ was attached in a stylish font.

“The items you mentioned in advance are prepared here.”

When he entered the VIP room, he saw that some products were removed and displayed. Edeline and Jang Tae-joon were all paid quite a decent amount of money, so today he came out with some money of his own.

Minjun inspected the items one by one. Cathy glanced at him and said, “High-grade spirit stone, fermented petrified fungus, dry brain slime… and mud slug secretions… Oh? Is that fairy tree sap?”

Cathy, who had been staring at the side, noticed immediately.

“Did you get some amazing magic samples?”

She was quite quick to see. What Minjun wanted to buy now was a catalyst that supported powerful magic materials.

“Oh.”

Cathy’s eyes lit up. Buying only such high-quality catalysts meant that the material that would be the main material was also not unusual. Of course, she could not have imagined that Minjun would have obtained several liters of fresh blood.

“Oh, what.”

Again, while joking around, Minjun handed the card.

“Thank you.”

More than 30 billion won was paid at one time.

“I want to leave you with some grooming.”

Minjun entrusted an additional process that could only be commissioned after paying the price, which was cumbersome for him to do it himself. Originally, one would have to pay tens of thousands of won, but the employee replied that he would take care of it at no additional cost, as always.

“The process that you mentioned will take about an hour. Would you like to wait in the lounge?”

“Cathy, you go first. I’ll stop by the bathroom and go.”

With this, Minjun ran into an unexpected person in front of the sink in the bathroom.

At first, he didn’t know who it was. Nevertheless, the reason he had to pay attention to the troll was because he was teasing him so quickly that he couldn’t tell if he was washing or peeling his hands.

Very fervently and very carefully… he was rubbing his face, much like an ascetic bothering him.

‘I think that’s almost as much as labor.’

The troll rolled his expensive-looking white shirt up to his elbow and poured water hard on his forearm. After rinsing a few times, Minjun folded his arms in the same position as the surgeon who had come to perform the surgery. He then headed towards the hot air fan, being careful not to touch anything else. He didn’t even look at the cotton hand towels that were neatly rolled up one by one for the customers.

“Looks like you have tuberculosis. No, is it obsessive-compulsive…?”

It seemed that his gaze had stayed way longer than expected. The troll turned his head, and their stares intertwined.

The troll identified him quickly.

“Uh? Aren’t you Agent Minjun?”

However, Minjun couldn’t seem to remember his name.

“That… Who are you?” “Oh, that’s Jeon Nam-gyu!”

Only then did the puzzle of names and faces, places of meeting, and conversations fit into my head.

“Ah, that lawyer man!”

A few days ago, when Minjun had gone to read Jang Tae-joon’s will, the lawyer who helped write up the document was also called to the scene. It was a necessary part of the legal process.

The troll lawyer, who appeared in the VIP safe in a neat suit without knowing English, had his pupils dilated when he heard that Jang Tae-joon was dead, and his legs seemed to have loosened when he heard that he was an alien. Thanks to this, the people gathered at the scene had a rare sight of the staggering troll.

It seemed that the psychological impact was great, but Jeon Nam-gyu did what he had been asked to do professionally. He had testified that there was no forgery or alteration within the contents of the will.

“Ah, I was so busy back then that I couldn’t even give you a business card.”

“No, he gave me a business card.”

“Oh, did you?”

There seemed to have been no slack. He smiled shyly, but his expression changed soon enough.

“Me, Agent. Perhaps…”

He then hesitated.

“Ah! I’m not talking about in the bathroom.”

“Then, go out and do it.”

As soon as one opened the door and left, Jeong Nam-gyu asked with a desperate expression.

“Did you say that the agent is exclusive to the Immigration Office?” “Yes.” “Then, do you not receive any personal or corporate requests?”

It was a question that Minjun would get sometimes, and his answer was consistent.

“I’m sorry, but we do not accept requests from outside the government unless it is a really special case.”

He was an exclusive contract agent because he was nice, but Minjun had the right to refuse the immigration office’s request, and if he could afford it right now, then he could start the work entrusted to him by another client. It was such a loose contract.

That didn’t mean that Minjun actively sought out requests from outside the country, nor did it mean that he received them as well. In the case of an incident involving an alien in the first place, the Immigration Bureau directly submitted a request to him if it was a fairly large case. What an individual brought out was one of the small ones, and it was often unattractive in terms of remuneration.

“Oh, I know what you’re thinking. The truth is, my client, not me, got into a rut in her nasty situation…”

He hinted at the existence of a client capable of moving much larger amounts of money than a lawyer. However, Minjun was still negative. A request like this took a lot of money and was definitely not going to be fruitful.

“Sorry.”

“Ah…! No, I said too much. If you change your mind later on, please contact me.”

Minjun then turned around without giving a definite answer.

“By the way, what happened to the union?” “Ah, I have work to see on the third floor.”

The Witch’s Cooperative was also engaged in magic notarization. Feeling that he could not change his resolve, the troll nodded and disappeared towards the elevator.

Looking at the back, Minjun suddenly thought, ‘Wait, maybe the third fortune telling was right?’

However, the last time he had seen that troll was only a few days ago. It was difficult to say that they had met again after a long time.

‘Ah, no.’

Minjun, who had broken up with him, waited in the waiting room with Cathy and came out to the lobby on the first floor along with the finished items.

Cathy, who had been silent the whole time in the waiting room, asked a question while walking together.

“Wow, didn’t you do identity laundering by committing a huge crime in the past?”

It was quite the bait, but Minjun responded with a casual expression on his face.

“Do you look like that?”

“…For some reason, I kept thinking that it might be one of the two. Either he was innocent without committing any crimes in his life, or he had a serious accident that no one could imagine. I thought that it was all or nothing.”

Was the nib pretty good?

However, there was really nothing Minjun could say about this part. He glanced at an alien language that only his own eyes could see.

-Workplace: Earth (Dimension #22-189, Far-Reach Level 4)
-Type of Employment: Penalty indirect employment based on a judgment of correctional labor punishment.
:Limited amnestics are being applied to the inmate.
Minjun always thought that the word ‘labor reform’ had a certain ambiguity to it. This system had some resemblance to reincarnation in Buddhism. The bondage of suffering in the present life because of the sins of a past life that he couldn’t even remember.

His life before he had begun prison was the same as his previous life in that he had completely ripped out his memories.

But, how could indoctrination be possible without even realizing one’s own faults? Wasn’t it just that you struggled with suffering without knowing the reason? What kind of realization and development was possible in the same life as an accident without a word?

Minjun asked, calming his thoughts.

“Why are there so many questions today?”

Cathy paused for a moment and thought about it, then spoke as if she had decided on something.

“Then, can you tell me one thing?”

At times, he felt like she was asking too much about his identity, but as a friend, this didn’t really feel unpleasant.

“What?”

She put in the question she had been hesitating to ask.

“Maybe… It turns out that I was a woman in the past, isn’t it?”

Minjun found himself both smirking and swearing.

“No, what kind of bullshit is that?!”

This was definitely unpleasant.

“No, it’s too thoroughly hidden…” “Don’t even say nonsense like that.”

“Really? It shouldn’t be. That’s not enough. Even if you can pass it on as if everything else is the same, as far as gender changes… it’s really outside my margins.”

“You don’t have to explain what your Maginot line is.”

As the two of them quarreled, the front door of the Union opened, and a new customer entered. It was a white-haired man and a middle-aged woman supporting him. They were both walking together.

Minjun, who had been yelling at Cathy, turned his head and met the old man’s gaze. Minjun naturally rolled his eyes again, but the old man continued to stare intently at his face.

‘Anyone you know?’

He tried his best to remember, but there was no name that immediately came out.

Meanwhile, the old man’s face crossed with incredible surprise and joy. It was an expression that Minjun sometimes encountered, as he had lived for a long time with a body that did not age. This was usually how old people reacted.

‘I think you know me….’

The old man’s mouth opened first, as if he was trying to remember.

“Ho… by any chance, Mr. Lee Minjun?”

“Yes?”

Then, the old man’s face filled up with emotion

With a bright smile, he shouted at Minjun.

“Sister!”