The Foreigner on the Periphery

Jeongpal pulled the car up to the agent's house. Minjun told him to wait and went inside alone. When he emerged a few minutes later, he was still by himself, and still empty-handed.

"Didn't you say you were getting something?"

"I got it."

Jeongpal tilted his head in confusion but started the car. Their next destination was the hospital.

"Kwak Do-chul's wife is hospitalized here."

The two of them entered the inpatient ward together. There, Jeongpal stumbled upon an unexpected scene.

"The Chairman informed me in advance."

A dwarf in a tailored suit was waiting in the lobby.

"We will ensure your utmost comfort during your stay. Right this way."

'Why the board director?'

Minjun gave a calm nod and offered a brief word of thanks. Without another word, he followed the dwarf.

Jeongpal could not grasp what was going on.

'And the Chairman? What Chairman is he talking about?'

Minjun had not made a single phone call on the drive over. Jeongpal had no idea how the agent could have a university hospital director waiting for them on such short notice, let alone why they were rolling out the red carpet.

The director spoke as they walked.

"I am not sure if you were informed, but the patient's guardian has also been contacted. He consented to let you visit the room, but he is apparently on his way over now, perhaps feeling uneasy."

Jeongpal's eyebrows twitched.

The guardian had to be Kwak Do-chul's father-in-law.

The father of the woman lying unconscious after murdering her husband—and a formidable four-term assemblyman.

"It does not matter."

The director led them into a VIP hospital room, told them to call him if they needed anything, and took his leave. The moment the door clicked shut, Jeongpal looked ready to unleash a barrage of questions.

Instead of looking at him, Minjun stared at the hospital bed with a strange gleam in his eyes.

"It's a miracle she isn't dead."

Jeongpal followed his gaze. A single human woman occupied the spacious room, various tubes and electrodes hooked into her body. She was swollen to the point of looking like a drowned corpse. Her face was so terribly disfigured that Jeongpal could not find any trace of her original appearance. She looked like a completely different person.

Minjun shifted his gaze and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

Silence lingered.

"...?"

Just as Jeongpal was about to open his mouth, Minjun spoke first.

"Let's wait here for a bit. He said it should take about thirty minutes."

"What? Thirty minutes?"

"Let's sit down for a moment."

Minjun casually surveyed the room before picking up a magazine left out for visitors. He dropped onto a sofa made of unicorn leather, crossed his legs, and began turning the pages.

"Didn't you come here to check something?"

Minjun spoke without taking his eyes off the magazine.

"I did."

"Then why..."

"It's not time yet."

Jeongpal had no way of knowing.

He did not know that before coming here, Minjun had unsealed his basement and released the alien kept inside.

Or that the priest had followed their car—completely invisible to Jeongpal and everyone else—and was now standing on the hospital roof awaiting Minjun's orders.

Meanwhile, Minjun was impressed that the preparation time Yumtus required was so short.

'I expected he could heal her, but only thirty minutes? Impressive.'

Figuring the agent was not going to elaborate, Jeongpal gave up on pressing the issue.

How much time passed like that?

"Jeongpal."

Minjun asked out of the blue, having lost interest in flipping through a magazine filled mostly with photos of elf models.

"Yes, Boss."

The agent brought up a completely different topic.

"Are you really going to stay a cop? Right up to retirement age?"

Jeongpal gave a silent nod. He knew exactly why the agent was bringing this up. Team Leader 2's attitude earlier today spoke volumes.

"I apologize. It was uncomfortable to watch, wasn't it?"

The sudden apology caught Minjun off guard. He replied awkwardly,

"No... what do you have to be sorry for? That bastard was just being a prick."

He had committed the man's name and face to memory. But Minjun had a gut feeling that the team leader was far from the only one who treated Jeongpal like that. And even if every last one of them came down with a mysterious, agonizing disease, it still wouldn't change how Jeongpal was treated.

It didn't sit well with him.

"How about you come work with me full-time instead of just moonlighting like this? You can quit the force right now."

"Oh, come on, Boss."

"Your pension won't take that much of a hit if you retire early. I'll pay you well enough that you won't even notice the difference."

He had made similar offers plenty of times, but Jeongpal had always turned him down with one excuse or another.

"..."

After a moment of hesitation, Jeongpal finally opened up about something he had never mentioned before.

"Boss, you know there aren't many orc police officers, right?"

"Yeah. And I know why they're rare."

Most people felt uneasy seeing an orc exercise state authority. They figured orcs were better suited to wearing Handcuffs than holding them.

The problem was that plenty of police officers thought the exact same thing.

"Actually, I'm not the country's first orc cop."

"I know."

"Do you know this, too? I might not be the first, but I'm the longest-serving orc police officer since the founding of the country. Even counting the guys who joined before me."

"..."

Minjun blinked quietly.

"That means..."

"Yeah. Every single orc who earned a badge before me eventually threw in the towel. I just ended up being the most senior. You want to know why they couldn't stick it out? I'm sure you can guess it wasn't just an issue of aptitude or job satisfaction."

Nobody else had been able to stomach the treatment. It was likely that their famously explosive orc tempers had finally snapped.

But Jeongpal endured.

He endured it, time and time again.

"I'm pretty good at holding it in. Not a very orc-like trait, is it? I've managed to stick it out this long, and now I've only got five years left. But getting this far made me a little greedy. It's nothing grand, but I guess you could call it a dream. I want to be the very first orc police officer in Korea to reach full retirement age."

He wasn't declaring some grandiose ambition to leave his mark on history.

"I want the kids to look at me and realize something. Oh, sure, they know orcs can be cops. Everyone knows the door is legally open to us."

Anyone could join the force; surviving it was the real problem.

That was exactly the point Jeongpal was trying to make.

"I just want to change their minds a little. I want to break the stereotype that even if an orc lands a decent job, they'll inevitably get fed up with the abuse and quit. If there's even one precedent, won't that change how people see things? Maybe it will stop them from giving up before they even try. I want them to look at me and think, 'If that guy can make it to retirement, then so can I.'"

The majority of Jeongpal's jurisdiction covered the orc community. He patrolled the area more frequently than anyone else on his squad. From the local tavern owners to the punks loitering in the playgrounds, everyone in the neighborhood knew exactly who he was.

That was completely by design. He wanted everyone to get used to the idea of an orc wearing a badge. He wanted them to recognize the possibility that an orc could be the one slapping the Handcuffs on, rather than wearing them.

Minjun pointed out quietly,

"But then they're just going to have to deal with the same garbage you do."

He left the words 'like you' unspoken.

But the orc flashed a grin, as if he had already guessed what Minjun meant.

"If they become cops, sure, they'll have to deal with the same garbage. And they'll throw absolute fits about it. They'll act far more like proper orcs than I ever did. But the more fits they throw, the more things will change. The louder our voices get, the better."

Jeongpal was banking on the fact that the next generation—or perhaps the one after that—would finally see some real change.

"I'm no civil rights activist or revolutionary, so I won't be able to change anything overnight. But I'm damn good at enduring. Just like any other salaryman putting up with their job. We all just grit our teeth and get through the day, don't we? It's really nothing special."

Minjun chewed on those words for a moment before replying.

"I understand where you're coming from. Let's shelve this conversation for later. It seems our guest has arrived."

As if on cue, the hospital room door swung open.

"It seems I'm a bit late."

The person speaking was an elderly orc.

He stepped into the room. Raising a hand to halt the entourage attempting to follow him inside, he pulled the door shut behind him.

Kwak Do-chul's father-in-law greeted Minjun.

"This is the first time we've met face-to-face, Agent."

"Indeed."

His face betrayed no emotion. The elderly man's gaze settled on Minjun, then shifted to Jeongpal. Though he had addressed Minjun, his eyes lingered on Jeongpal just a fraction of a second longer. A subtle distinction.

His eyes eventually returned to Minjun. The four-term assemblyman, Choi Panseok, spoke.

"I only learned of it today. Is it true that Chairman Jenkinson considers you a 'friend'?"

"...?!"

Jeongpal's eyes went wide, looking as though they might pop out of his skull. He thought he had misheard. He had not.

"I was quite startled when the Dragon suddenly contacted me, but I was even more astounded once I heard what he had to say."

The words that tumbled from Choi Panseok's lips felt like a fatal blow.

A terrifying word, often cited alongside loan sharks and predatory debt as one of the three great horrors of modern life.

Dragon.

'Dragon? And... Chairman Jenkinson?'

That Jenkinson of the Jenkinson Company?

The Ancient Dragon, the Red Dragon who claimed Korea as his personal territory?!

'That's impossible!'

An Ancient Dragon acknowledging a quarter elf as a friend? It completely defied common sense.

While Jeongpal was spiraling into a panic, the agent simply asked,

"Did the Chairman really go that far?"

"...!"

He didn't even try to deny it—he just accepted it as fact!

Jeongpal felt his breathing quicken and his vision shake.

"Yes, the venerable elder was quite persuasive."

He looked at his adoptive daughter on the hospital bed.

"We do not share the same blood, but I raised this child as my own. Naturally, I was concerned when an Immigration Office agent declared his intent to interrogate a girl who hasn't even been indicted. Especially when she is currently hovering between life and death. But when I voiced my objections, the esteemed Dragon informed me that 'a friend of his' would be visiting. I had no choice but to consent. An Ancient Dragon's acknowledged friend paying a visit carries the same weight as the Dragon arriving in person. Who would dare turn you away?"

The orc slowly turned his head, fixing the agent with a piercing gaze.

"Simply because an orc adopted a human, I have been subjected to countless anonymous death threats over the years. They claimed I was a stain on human dignity. Some of them didn't just stop at making plans in their heads; they actually tried to carry them out. This is the child I endured all that hardship to protect. So... I am begging you."

His voice dropped low and heavy, thick with a desperate resolve.

"I know you are a practitioner of Dark Magic. My daughter may have been caught up in the effects of a sinister artifact, and she may be in critical condition, but she is still breathing. If you are planning to turn my little girl into some hideous familiar just to extract information from her, I swear I will mobilize every single resource at my disposal to resist—"

"Ah, hold on a second."

Minjun frowned. He finally realized why the assemblyman had suddenly started pouring his heart out.

The man was operating under a massive misunderstanding.

"I have absolutely no intention of turning your daughter into a jiangshi or a zombie."

"...?!"

For the first time, a look of bewilderment crossed the assemblyman's face. Minjun spoke in a tone that left no room for argument.

"I'm going to wake her up."

The elderly orc shook his head. He knew perfectly well what his daughter's condition was. Without the intervention of a high priest, recovery was utterly impossible. And securing a high priest on such short notice simply wasn't going to happen. Deep down, he knew he was going to lose her soon, yet he was trying desperately to deny it.

Even so, the thought of turning his daughter into an undead creature was utterly unthinkable.

"I'm telling you once more, I absolutely refuse to let you wake her up like that—"

Minjun quickly realized that any further explanation would be a waste of breath. Above them, Yumtus had just concluded his ritual and reported directly into Minjun's mind.

=O avatar, the preparations are complete.=

Minjun replied telepathically.

'Do it.'

At that moment.

Whoooosh!

Just as Yumtus intended, his Divine Power was not accompanied by brilliant flashes of light or blinding bursts of color. A surge of pure, invisible Divine Power pierced straight down through the hospital's ceiling. It was a level of mastery rarely seen on Earth. Thus, no one in the room felt it—save for Minjun.

However, the immediate physical effects were impossible to miss, and the others reacted instantly.

Crack! Cr-crack!

"W-What?!"

At the gruesome sound of bones snapping and forcefully realigning, all eyes snapped to the hospital bed. Choi Panseok scrambled to his daughter's side, letting out a horrified scream.

"Seon-a!"

Convinced that something had gone horribly wrong, he frantically slammed the emergency call button. The medical staff stationed outside rushed into the room, bracing themselves for the worst.

But the sight that greeted them was far from what they had anticipated.

"T-This?!"

The doctors and nurses froze, staring at an impossible phenomenon. The surgical steel pins that had been driven into her bones over multiple operations suddenly slid out of her flesh! Bandages ripped apart, and her plaster casts shattered, exposing the bare skin beneath. The sickening swelling across her body subsided, and her open wounds knitted themselves shut. Her twisted, shattered skeleton audibly snapped back into proper alignment. Even her horrifically disfigured face smoothed out, regaining its original beauty.

It was easy enough to assume a priest was nearby working a miracle, but there was absolutely no holy light to suggest such a thing.

It was nothing less than an inexplicable miracle.

"S-Seon-a?!"

A thick, choked sob rose in the assemblyman's throat. His adoptive daughter let out a soft groan as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open. Her lips parted.

"...Dad?!"

The orc wailed.

"Seon-a!"

The assemblyman collapsed over his daughter, pulling her into a desperate embrace. Between the massive orc and the swarm of medical staff, Minjun's view of the girl was completely blocked. He decided to give them a moment. Instead, he praised Yumtus up on the roof.

'Good work.'

=I am simply grateful for the privilege of serving by your side.=

A whirlwind of chaotic emotion swept through the hospital room. Finally, Minjun spoke up from behind them.

"Now that you can see she is perfectly fine, could the medical staff please step out for a moment? I have some matters to discuss with the patient."

The medical staff exchanged uncertain glances, but the orc quickly nodded his approval. Once the doctors and nurses had cleared the room, Choi Panseok turned around. His voice was still shaking.

"Agent... Thank you. Thank you so much!"

The man's previous hostility had vanished without a trace. It was obvious that this man was the reason his daughter had just returned from death's door. He had confidently stated that he would wake her up, and he had delivered a genuine miracle.

While the orc wept in the face of this miracle, however...

"...!"

Minjun's face had hardened into a terrifying scowl. His eyes were locked dead onto the patient. Her fully recovered face. When he had first entered the room, she had been so hideously swollen that she was completely unrecognizable, and immediately after the healing, the crowd had blocked his view.

Only now did he finally get a clear look at her.

Choi Panseok's daughter... Her face...

'What the hell? It's her!'

Minjun knew her.

The slender woman who had shown up in that secluded, troll-run tobacco shop wearing completely out-of-place clothes.

A wave of sheer confusion washed over the agent.

'...She's the woman from the assemblyman killer's memory!'

Meanwhile, the orc detective was spiraling into his own state of utter shock.

'He actually saved her?! A critical patient that no ordinary priest could even dream of treating... Boss just brought her back?'

The events of the entire day flashed rapidly through Jeongpal's mind.

He had genuinely believed he knew Minjun well, but now it was glaringly obvious that he knew nothing at all. The sudden realization hit him like a physical blow, sending violent shivers down his spine.

The orc stared at the agent.

A man that an Ancient Dragon—a being capable of bending the nation's entire economy to its will—openly claimed as a friend.

A man capable of performing a spontaneous miracle, casually reviving a dying woman back to perfect health in an instant.

There was no way a man like this... was just an ordinary quarter elf.

In that moment, Jeongpal finally believed he understood Minjun's true identity.

"B-Boss..."

The voice that squeezed out of Jeongpal's throat sounded bizarrely strained.

His heart plummeted into his stomach as he forced the question out.

"Boss... You've been hiding your true identity this whole time, haven't you? Has everyone been entirely fooled?"

Minjun slowly turned his head, taking in Jeongpal's deadly serious expression. Their eyes locked in midair.

The voice that broke the brief silence was deathly pale.

"You aren't really a quarter elf at all, are you..."

Jeongpal blurted out the conclusion he was now half-certain of. Minjun was completely dumbfounded.

It was so absurd that he momentarily forgot all about his shock over the assemblyman's daughter.

"...Are you actually a Dragon in disguise?!"

"..."

Minjun felt deeply insulted.

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