The Foreigner on the Periphery

Chapter 6: Three Ways To Murder Your Boss (3)

The ego Frying Pan who harbored idealistic desires stated.

= Tae-joon? He seemed like a completely normal human being from the moment we first met until the last time we met. =

Minjun did not put down his suspicions since there were many aliens who did not resolve their human form at home.

"When was the last time you saw each other?"

= I think it was about a week ago. I saw him going out in the middle of the night at around 2 am without even driving a car. =

His last image taken by CCTV outside the house also matched the testimony of the frying pan.

= He had an appointment late at night, so I thought that was why he was leaving. I was also worried at the same time. The next night, I heard some signs of him from the living room, so I was relieved thinking that everything went well =

"What?"

Had Jang Tae-joon ever returned back home since that day?

When he transferred what the frying-pan said to Jeongpal, he shook his head.

"I've already checked the CCTV footage outside the house, brother. Today is the first time that this house door has been opened since President Jang Tae-joon went out."

= Oh, that person definitely wasn't brother Tae-joon. I can tell that much apart. =

It meant that there was an uninvited guest who passed through the closed door without even opening it when it was the next day after Jang Tae-joon disappeared.

= Anyway, that night, he suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room while searching every corner of the house as if he were looking for something and disappeared again when it became dawn. If it was the next night, he'd show up again, and after repeating that for five days, he didn't come as if he gave up these two days. =

"Have you seen his face?"

= He always walks around inside without turning on the lights, and unfortunately, I don't have night vision but when I looked at his body shape, he did look like a human being. =

The bad smell vibrated. An unidentified person appeared shortly after Jang Tae-joon disappeared and searched the house for days. Minjun rested his chin on his hand while having thoughts for a while.

"If he walked in and out without even having to open the door, it would have meant he used warp magic."

As a result, it was eventually bound to leave its mark.

After entering the house, Minjun has found the magic that exists here now' to find Jang Tae-joon's shame. It's like a secret safe under a transparency spell. However, tracking the magic that had been invoked here in the past required a different method.

"Brother, what's that frying pan sayingOh my gosh!

Instead of asking questions, Jeongpal was horrified. White light was shining out of Minjun's eyes.

"This is the living room, right?"

= Yes, he always showed up there. =

Minjun was now looking at the overlapping spirit on the same level as the material world just as stepping on wet soil leaves footprints in the material world, magic leaves marks on the spirit, which corresponds to the same spatial coordinates.

Among the various magic fingerprints left over for a long time, Minjun found the latest one, which was ripping off strands of light one by one.

"This is the one!"

Just like a fluorescent afterimage being left in the eyelids after looking at the sun, there were traces left like a circle in the air with a form of a large hole in a wide-spread plastic.

There were 10 of them. All were scattered at a distance, and a thin ray of light stretched out of the house from each hole. If it was around five round trips, the number was correct.

"Jeongpal, there are several trails of warps in here. Let's follow it."

"What about this pervert?"

"Let's take it with us since It's the only witness and evidence we have."

The ego Frying Pan shed mental waves intoxicated by both satisfaction and joy.

***

After putting the frying pan in the back seat and sealing it, Minjun sat in the passenger seat of the Vehicle driven by Jeongpal and ordered the directions.

"Turn left from here."

His pupils continued to glow, keeping his eyes fixed on the spirit. While looking at the figure, Jeongpal admired it.

"Wow, are wizards supposed to be able to do that? Are you able to easily find and follow the warp magic that came into play a few days ago, knowing where to where space connects?"

Of course, it wasn't possible for just anyone. Rather than seeing a scenery of a spirit for a long time, most wizards are only able to have a quick peek as if they were taking pictures.

Instead of elaborating on the facts, Minjun glossed over them.

"It's not possible for everyone It's just I have some free time."

"Oh, well, that's true."

"Turn right at the next intersection. It's straight-ahead after that."

Minjun, who stared into space for a while, began to ask as if he remembered. "By the way, Jeongpal, are you really going to retire in five years?"

"Yeah, I should. Even if I'm fine now, Orcs don't usually age slowly, but once they start to, it goes in a flash. I should receive the pension and live comfortably."

Each species had a different life expectancy. Because of this, the timing of receiving pensions also varied. The fact that Orcs were significantly faster than other races had long been a controversial issue.

Opponents argue that the reason they die early is because of low incomes and high crime rates and that the same logic requires the same standards to be applied to poor humans and other tribes.

"Whatever the other Orcs are like, I think you're going to have a blast in the future."

If you look at Jeongpal in a spiritual state, there seems to be something unusual about him as well.

Minjun alluded to the proposal.

"After you retire, why don't you work in our office?"

"Brother, you know my family's motto."

"Let's not be mean to Trolls?"

"Not that."

"If I read all your family's motto, it's a book. How am I supposed to memorize all of that?"

"Here's what I'm trying to say. Let's live by our means."

"Your place is enough for us to work together. "

"Oh, that's enough. My mother will swear about it."

"I heard you're still worried about it, which also goes the same for the last article. In that sense, maybe you'd rather work with me."

Jeongpal smiled bitterly without answering.

There was a mistake he once made. He was seriously injured for eight weeks as he was in the process of overpowering a drunk person. The Internet went crazy. Thanks to having the title named "Orc police beats up a human!", Jeongpal's mother was summoned in the comments and suffered several life and death while being misled into a certain professional group.

""

There was a moment of silence between the two while they were waiting for the signal. In the meantime, a campaign vehicle that held a promotional broadcast hit the eardrums loudly.

A party of Humans, by Humans, for Humans! Don't forget that the Earth was originally a world of our own! With all authority back to humans again, this was your candidate number seven for the "Human Center Party," Choi Taek

Minjun spoke while naturally raising up the window.

"Shall we listen to the radio?"

"Yes."

It just so happened to be on the news channel.

It is alien news. The visit of Princess Vermi, the united royal family of the Gelanco dimension, was announced today. The United Nations has denied allegations that the invitation might have been another preparation for mass immigration.

Police have announced their position on the recent series of missing Elves. This afternoon, at the Seo daemun-gu, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

The Ghosts staged another guerrilla demonstration in front of the National Assembly today. Their demands include the guarantee of the right to exist' equal to the right to life and the withdrawal of the law amendment to prevent damage to privacy by the mind' proposed in the National Assembly

Minjun, who had been listening to the news, opened his mouth.

"Here! It divides by ten branches starting from here."

"Huh, this is" Said Jeongpal.

"It's the Orc community."

It was an area with over 50% of its population filled with Orcs. Minjun nodded as if it wasn't a strange thing at all.

"He's been back and forth every night for five nights in a row, so he's probably got a temporary place nearby. In fact, this is the right place for that purpose."

Jeongpal agreed to what he said.

"He's scattered the warp locations here and there, to be careful."

As Minjun led the way, he told Jeongpal all the ten places where the warp gates were opened. The criminal would have walked from there to his residence in order to avoid any possible pursuit.

Fortunately, there was no sign of transparency around the gate.

"All we need to do is check the CCTV in this neighborhood in order to get a walking route, right? I'm requesting you."

Minjun had no doubt that the criminal's temporary residence would be revealed soon.

Even after vacating the residence, tracking the lease records or remaining clues would open another way.

It bothered him that Jeongpal's expression was a little uncomfortable, but they broke up for now as the day was coming to its end.

***

And the next day, Minjun heard an unexpected story from Jeongpal.

"What, there aren't even 100 CCTVs in that big neighborhood?"

Jeongpal shrugged. "You already know it. An oak neighborhood is, after all"

Investing in facilities is also insignificant due to low tax revenue.

However, thanks to Minjun's specification of where and when the warp gate was opened, several men who are believed to be the culprit were caught. Only the silhouette that can't be traced by the spirit due to his hat being pressed down

The bigger problem was that there were too many areas with broken CCTV's or none at all, and all the traffic was cut off, so there was no footage of him entering the building. The streetlights were almost out as well, so there were a lot of cases where it was impossible to read the videos.

"So that's why your expression was like that.'"

It was also the moment when it became clear why the criminal chose this neighborhood and expanded the walking range.

"Because I know what's going on in the neighborhood."

Minjun frowned and spoke. "Sorry, I need you to help me a little more."

Unable to get help from high-tech culture, we had no choice but to use traditional methods.

"Seriously, I can't believe that a wizard living in the 21st century is an inquisitor."

***

Inside the neighborhood where the intruder hid was a typical oak community scene.

Trash was rolling around on the floor, and public property was hard to find intact. Minjun realized that the deeper he went; it was a miracle for such CCTV footage to be left. Jeongpal stopped walking after passing the building wall covered with various slangs and unfamiliar graffiti.

"Hey, Lee Tae-sam."

He opened the door of a shabby oak pub and called the owner.

"You look familiar."

"Yes. Since this is one of my jurisdictions."

When the tired Orc of his age came out, Jeongpal immediately said what he had to.

"Are there any new people who have moved into this neighborhood recently, or have you suddenly seen a human? His body shape is similar to this picture. He most likely goes out at night and would have smelled like a wizard."

The owner shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

"Since It's a request from you detectives, of course, I'll find out. I'll make a few calls, so please wait for a moment."

Jeongpal looked at Minjun and spoke.

"If he's not here, he really isn't in this area. We can go over to the next building."

Minjun lifted his thumb up without saying a word.

After a while, the owner who came back said some names of Orcs that were mixed with vulgarism and some other names that Minjun didn't know.

"It's not here, but they say they've seen a suspicious fellow in a nearby neighborhood. Let's go there and find out what there is."

Whistle. Minjun whistled. That was fast.

***

"Hey, Kim Yu-shin!"

The next place was a playground with sand and cigarette butts on the floor at a similar rate.

The Orcs, who were smoking while making insignificant jokes, turned their eyes. As soon as they found Jeongpal, their looks were stiffened.

The biggest of them all spoke.

"Oh why, now what! It's not me! I didn't make any trouble!"

"I always hear the same thing over again. Whether you've caused trouble or not, you are always saying that you haven't made any trouble."

Minjun found a tattoo with a bizarre pattern on his opponent's face and scalp. Looking intently at it, he made eye contact with the Orc.

He spoke.

"You're asking me if I've seen a suspicious human being? That person right there is the most suspicious guy I've seen lately."

Jeongpal growled and spoke. "You'd better watch your language. That person is a brother who I have huge respect for."

Until here, the expression of the bully Orc who was snorting.

"He's a contract agent from the immigration office."

After hearing the crucial words that explained Minjun's identity, he soon turned pale.

"Shit, you should have told me earlier."

Kim Yu-shin gently lowered his eyes that had been staring at Minjun.

"I almost got picked up by a troll. If he's an agent, he should act like one then."

He thought he wouldn't be able to hear it, but everything was heard through Minjun's ears.

Jeongpal's face turned bright while there was a short conversation over the picture. He looked back at Minjun and raised his thumbs up.

"I think I found it, brother."

***

One of the implicit rules of humans living in the Orc community was not to wander around at night.

A human being who went out only at night in such a neighborhood seemed to have caught the eyes of one of the bullies. As they went around the alley, there was a five-story apartment that seemed so ancient one couldn't tell when exactly it had been constructed.

"Brother?"

"Yes."

Minjun shoots white light from his eyes once again.

And then.

"Ohhhh!"

In just one house, traces of overlapping magic were seen several times. Some of the characteristics of the spell left with some sort of fingerprint were caught in Minjun's eyes. Just as each person had a different form of flaw left on his or her finger, magic also had its own differences depending on the magician.

And the word that Minjun had been waiting for finally came out of his mouth.

"Bingo!"

"Is he the right one?"

"Yes, he is the bastard who ran the warp."

Minjun grinned. "He's sleeping right now. Let's go in and torture him."