The Foreigner on the Periphery

The stench of blood writhed inside his skull once more.

It was a trauma he thought he had mostly forgotten, overcome, and resolved over time. Yet the nightmare had dragged it back to life. It tore through his mind like a raw, bleeding wound, flaunting its presence.

Amid all that, her sinister demand sparked an intense revulsion in Minjun.

"I'm not an idiot. It's obvious why you're asking. Are you pulling the same stunt as back then?"

The homunculi scattered across the secret laboratory—dying or already dead—flashed before his eyes.

Looking tense, Dell took a deep breath. When she spoke, her tone was desperate, her eyes swirling with heavy emotion.

"It's not what you think. I'm trying to save you."

"Then explain."

"...I can't go into detail."

"Put yourself in my shoes. My ex-wife, who pulled 'that stunt' in the past, used to steal biological samples behind my back. Now she's asking for them openly. But she can't explain why? Under these circumstances, who would just say 'Understood,' and hand them over?"

"I can't explain the reason, but I can explain my intent. I'm trying to make up for my past mistakes. This is my atonement."

"So you beat someone to a pulp, and to apologize, you stab them with a knife. Is this the Endelion method of apologizing?"

"I know it was terrible. But... there was a reason."

"Right, you were crazy. Great reason."

Dell finally gave up. Time was already running short, and if she wanted to bring up her other business before leaving, she had no choice.

"I wish you'd understand my sincerity. I really am... just trying to help you."

Then, without giving him a chance to reply, she pressed on.

"There will be another tax audit. Targeting only you."

Minjun gritted his teeth. If that were true, they were likely trying to keep him in check because his account balance had spiked. But Dell added something unexpected.

"They might barge in with much shorter notice than before. It could even start the moment you receive the notification."

"...Damn bastards."

"But you know what? They can give short notice to a prisoner, but they can't do that to the Earth Representative Office."

Minjun began to realize his ex-wife's intention.

"As long as I sit in that chair, the Tax Collection Command has to notify me before sending investigators to Earth. They have to give me at least a few days' notice. When that moment comes, I'll let you know. You need to start preparing now, but knowing the exact time a few days in advance will help."

Dell was proving her claim that she had come to Earth for Minjun. Then she asked a question.

"How is the goblin case going?"

Come to think of it, it had been a while since he received an update from Jenkinson. It was about time to check on the current situation.

"You'd better hurry. The Committee's movements have been strange lately. Instead of making prisoners do it, they're dispatching full-time employees to several dimensions to handle the job. Yes, I mean the genetic sample collection. You know what it means when they act like this, right?"

It meant the probability of the mission's success had grown extremely high, the timing was close, and there was almost no anticipated risk.

In that scenario, full-time staff were dispatched directly instead of relying on temps. Thus, the prisoners' freedom was pushed just a little further away.

"A frontier dimension like this is low on the priority list, but you can't afford to take it easy. One misstep, and you'll lose the credit to the official employees. I can stall their dispatch requests a bit to buy you time, but I can't block them entirely."

Dell finally brought up her last piece of business.

"And the fragment of Asiph-1."

"You received a tip?"

"Yes. But its form isn't certain. It could be hiding inside a sentient soul, or it might possess an object. In the latter case, there's a strong chance it's a sword."

Minjun naturally thought of the Ego Sword.

"I can't step forward officially, but I plan to investigate behind the scenes. If I find anything, I'll let you know. If we want to push all the credit to you, it's best to leave evidence that you were active from the very beginning."

For a while now, Dell had been listing several ways to help Minjun. Plans in case the first failed, and backup plans after that. It wasn't a roadmap that could be drawn up overnight.

In spite of all that.

"..."

Minjun still couldn't trust Dell completely. His scars and sense of betrayal ran that deep.

Furthermore, she was of the Ancient Race—royalty among them—and now a member of the Committee.

Therefore, the prisoner decided to hold off on mentioning the Frying Pan for now. If both that sinister cooking utensil and the Ego Sword were truly fragments of Asiph-1, he could always reveal just one and observe her reaction along with the Committee's.

He would keep the other as insurance.

And...

'The story about the Ego Sword will reach Dell's ears soon anyway. A police investigation has already started.'

If she was going to find out regardless, striking first wasn't a bad idea.

He feigned ignorance and asked.

"What clues are there to determine if something is a fragment of Asiph-1?"

Dell frowned slightly.

"That's the problem. The truth is, the known information is extremely limited."

They had placed a bounty on it without even knowing how to find it themselves. There was a reason a massive sum had been allocated.

"First of all, no matter how small the fragment, it's certain to have an ego. It might be asleep, or it might be awake, but..."

"Then it'd be almost impossible to discover while it's asleep."

"You could say that. If it's awake and you can converse with it, you have to figure out what that spiritual entity wants. If it's truly Asiph-1, there's a high chance it will have a strange obsession."

"What kind?"

"Simply put, you could define it as an obsession with salvation."

A sense of duty to save someone.

"Salvation? What exactly does that mean?"

"You can understand it as the concept of rescuing someone from suffering and granting them happiness."

That obsession was generally directed toward the sentient beings around the fragment.

"If it dwells in a person, it would provoke the host's unconscious mind and translate into action. If it's hidden in an object, it will evolve to match its function. If we imagine based on the highest probability—a sword..."

She narrowed her eyes.

"It would try to save someone by killing or injuring them."

"That's a difficult concept to grasp."

At this point, Minjun decided to lay out his own information.

As his story continued, Dell's expression shifted to one of intrigue.

Minjun explained about the contract organization called the Abrams Helper Service, the killer codenamed Blade, and the Ego Sword and murder case witnessed in Korea. Having just arrived on Earth today, she likely hadn't encountered all this information yet.

When her ex-husband finished his explanation, Dell spoke.

"There are a few strange parts, but it fits the conditions in that it's an Ego Sword of unknown identity. Its suspicious abilities also weigh on my mind."

After hearing where Minjun had hit a wall in his investigation, Dell nodded and stood up.

"It's a shame, but I don't think I can stay much longer. Right now, hundreds of people gathered from all over Earth are waiting for me. And more than half of them are Ancient Dragons."

It was time to leave.

Minjun opened the door to see her off. A strange undercurrent flowed between them. Minjun remained guarded and suspicious. His ex-wife's eyes were tinted with regret.

"I'll look into it too. About that contract organization. For now, that seems to be the only place a clue might turn up."

Right before stepping out the front door.

She suddenly stopped walking and asked.

"By the way, about that breed shifter from earlier."

She was talking about Cathy.

Dell asked in a calm tone, as if in passing.

"Someone as perceptive as you can't possibly not know, right?"

"..."

"Are you pretending not to know, pushing her away on purpose?"

The act Dell had committed completely transformed many aspects of Minjun, but if he had to pick the two biggest changes:

He no longer formed deep relationships with anyone. And he never yielded a Talent to anyone.

Instead of explaining that fact, Minjun stared blankly at his ex-wife. His silence held many answers. Dell met his gaze with calm, deep eyes. She read countless memories in her ex-husband's face. The years they had spent together lay buried beneath a layer of skin and a cold expression.

"Right, is that my sin as well?"

No matter what her intent had been, the fact that it left a scar remained unchanged.

Minjun did not answer. Dell took a step outside, then looked back again. The prisoner averted his gaze. Thus, he failed to notice Dell's eyes lingering for a moment on the bottom drawer of the desk.

She muttered softly.

"But on the other hand... I guess it's a relief."

Dell left.

*

"Secretary... please... have some of this..."

The goblin held out a mug of herbal tea, but Cathy didn't reply. Taking up position in front of the Evergreen Bookstore's counter, she had been intently glaring outside the shop for tens of minutes. When no reaction came, Dong-cheol grew flustered.

"Ahem, ahem."

It was only when Lakefield cleared his throat that she finally looked back.

"Ah, Dong-cheol. Thank you."

"Yes..."

But instead of touching the cup, she merely stared outside. A zeal akin to an undercover detective on a stakeout boiled on her face.

From the opposite side of the counter, Lakefield, the old elf, asked.

"Are you sure a guest went up to the office? I haven't seen a single soul."

The goblin chimed in.

"I haven't... seen anyone... either..."

The building's layout meant anyone going to the second floor had to pass in front of the bookstore. Yet both of them insisted they had seen no one. At that, Cathy replied in a sensitive tone.

"I'm telling you, I just came down from the second floor."

Lakefield simply couldn't understand.

"But didn't you say he told you to leave work? Why do you keep loitering around here? Do you have something to ask that guest when they come down? You could just go upstairs and talk to them instead..."

An unidentified woman who called Minjun by an incredibly bothersome title. Other than assuming her name was 'Dell' and guessing she was a quarter elf, Cathy knew nothing about this guest, but she was determined not to budge until the woman left.

She felt like she wouldn't be satisfied unless she confirmed with her own two eyes that the woman left without staying 'longer than necessary.'

Even Cathy couldn't understand why she was acting this way, but the urge to do so dominated her mind.

She had been gazing out for quite some time when it happened.

"...Huh? It's true."

The goblin let out a puzzled voice.

Someone walked in front of the bookstore without making a single sound. Judging by her path, it was clear she had descended from the second floor and exited through the commercial building's main entrance.

The gazes of the human, the goblin, and the elf all locked onto one spot.

At that moment.

The woman, walking at a distance from the bookstore entrance, suddenly turned her head. Her gaze was directed at the people inside the bookstore.

Freaking out as they made eye contact, Cathy grabbed a random book off the counter. It was a tome filled with an unreadable alien language, its cover blurring the lines between illustration and text. Her face flushed bright red, she buried her head in the book.

Cathy couldn't see anything in that state, but the goblin and the elf could. The mysterious guest smiled in amusement. A relaxed grin spread across her lips. Remaining like that, she stared intently at Cathy. As if observing her.

A few seconds passed like that, and her lips parted slightly. She muttered lightly, and though they were at a bit of a distance, her voice echoed loudly as if she were whispering right next to them. It was a playful tone.

"...You're holding that book upside down."

Leaving those words behind, she withdrew her gaze. She kept walking until she eventually disappeared from their sight.

"Hmm."

Lakefield let out a low groan.

"How did she know?"

He looked at the cover of the thick book. Cathy had tossed it onto the counter, curling in on herself from sheer mortification. 'Why did it have to be an unreadable book of all things...!'

Meanwhile, for an entirely different reason than Cathy, Dong-cheol couldn't control his pounding heart.

'Ah... why is this happening?'

The moment that woman had stared into the bookstore just a second ago.

The goblin felt as if the blood in his entire body was violently surging backward. His instincts, which hadn't even reacted when he saw a polymorphed dragon until she exuded her Fear, were now piercing his nerves and running rampant.

If he had to express that sensation in words... it felt exactly as if he were standing before an incredibly dangerous, overbearing, and magnificent being.

"..."

He stood there, staring in the direction the guest had disappeared for a long time.

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