Chereads / The Foreigner on the Periphery (English Translation) / Chapter 2 - <63. 21st Century Robin Hood (17)>

Chapter 2 - <63. 21st Century Robin Hood (17)>

The ancient dragon led Minjun down to the 30th underground floor. The reason why Cheongchong had been "collecting" the impoverished was revealed there.

"Talants can interfere with souls in various ways. They can extract a soul from a living body, or conversely, insert it into another. They can even completely annihilate a soul, or, with slightly less intensity, cause it to break down and fragment."

"Fragment?"

Was she suggesting that they could multiply like planarians when split?

But that wasn't what Cheongchong meant.

"The Talant's power breaks down the soul into ultra-fine basic particles, into the purest form of energy that constructs existence."

"And then?"

The expected answer came.

"We'll have Ryuhō's wraith absorb it."

"Is that the method the Carbites taught you?"

"Yes. A wraith is ultimately an incomplete ghost, a damaged and fractured soul due to a terrible death. The best course of action is to let it heal naturally, but if you want to speed up the process?"

She was talking about grinding up undamaged souls to use as a remedy.

Minjun remembered that the number of captured impoverished people already numbered in the hundreds. Combined with the empty glass tubes stored there, the total would amount to thousands.

"To save Ryuhō, you're planning to sacrifice another dragon and thousands of humans, orcs, and goblins?"

"That was the original plan."

So, has the plan changed now?

Minjun asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Did you change the plan because you realized it wasn't cost-effective?"

"That's not the reason. I'm an ancient dragon, after all. I still believe I'm entitled to make such a demand. If I desire something, they should offer it. These insignificant species also live under my benevolence, so such a sacrifice is a fair request."

Minjun thought to himself, What kind of nonsense is this?

Cheongchong continued with conviction in her voice.

"Since I arrived in this country, I've created over 2 million new jobs. The revenue of the conglomerates I control accounts for 20% of South Korea's GDP. My true wealth isn't the dead assets locked up in my lair. Instead, it functions as blood, filling the veins of the economy, carrying value instead of oxygen and nutrients. Do you know how many people would be unable to sustain their livelihood without me?"

"······."

"The value of life is not equal. If I demand the sacrifice of thousands from inferior species, society must accept it. Especially when it's those who contribute nothing to the economy, those who have fallen out of the community's cycle, that I'm asking for. No matter how many of them you gather, they can't match my value."

It was typical of a dragon to consider the application of relative value to dignity as only natural.

Minjun subtly pointed out the contradiction in her statement.

"But you're still sacrificing another dragon, aren't you?"

"That one is not yet fully mature. It's never truly contributed and doesn't have a hoard."

"Isn't Ryuhō the same in that regard?"

"It's different. He's chosen by me. The fact that I need him gives him value. Of course, that idiot Jenkinson would be horrified to hear this."

Then she spoke with a hint of irritation.

"Anyway, while my conviction remains unchanged, the plan needs some modification."

The dragon boldly demanded from Minjun.

"Because of that fool, we have to hurry. There's not enough time to build a new medical building and gather more trash. Despite the contract, if you keep your mouth shut, Jenkinson won't find any decisive evidence, but he won't give up easily either. Once he's suspicious, he'll use every means to dig up proof. So you need to help."

"How?"

"We need more souls to grind. Proper souls, not wraiths."

She grinned slyly.

"I recently learned you have a peculiar talent. Should I call it necromancy, relying on the principles of black magic?"

Minjun had only used necromancy in front of others three times recently.

Once at the warehouse theft scene at Bukhansan, in front of the elf and the fairy.

Once at Changchun Bank to interrogate a Red Star operative who self-destructed, in front of the bank guards.

And once at the Red Star ability training center to evacuate civilians.

He wasn't sure which event had leaked to Cheongchong, but she had caught wind of it.

"So?"

"I realized the souls we need don't have to come from the living. Once they're ground up, they're all the same, whether they're from the living or the dead."

Souls usually ascend to the afterlife upon death, but some remain bound to the earth.

"This week, the largest ghost gathering in history is supposed to take place at Gwanghwamun Square."

Cheongchong smiled.

"The ideal time would be right after the gathering. I want you to release wraiths there and capture as many ghosts as possible."

Though there are ways to perform an exorcism, catching so many ghosts at once is a job only a necromancer can do. In other words, only Minjun could do it around here.

He answered with a nonchalant expression.

"Not a difficult task. But I have one condition."

"What is it?"

"I need to see with my own eyes that this magic circle works properly."

Even if the technology came from the Carbites, Minjun wasn't going to act until he verified that it worked as intended. Cheongchong nodded in agreement.

"You need a test run? Fine. We'll extract and disassemble a goblin's soul first. Right in front of you."

"Hold on."

Minjun pointed to Ha Eunsung, who was still bound and trembling with fear.

"You brought him here, so you must know his situation... Talant has already been absorbed into his soul. Does that matter?"

The dragon laughed leisurely.

"No problem at all. It's actually better this way. I'm not sure how the fusion happened, but now it's easier to handle. In a way, his body is the most stable wallet and vault, right?"

At her signal, the attendants moved Ha Eunsung. They were taking him to the location originally designed to hold Talant in the magic circle.

"?!"

At that moment, Minjun's telepathic voice pierced Ha Eunsung's mind, which was pale with fear.

=Hey! Get a grip and listen to me!=

A little later, Ha Eunsung watched the researchers busily moving inside a transparent barrier.

He thought to himself in a daze.

'How did it come to this?'

The safe house, which the ancient dragon had assured him was impenetrable, had been breached too easily. The pain of having his arm torn off with just a goblin's gesture was still fresh.

It wasn't hard to guess who was responsible. Only another dragon could break through the ancient dragon's barrier.

'Damn it, damn it!'

Just as the fear from that time began to surge back like a rising tide.

'No, focus!'

He concentrated on the sharp message Minjun had implanted in his mind just before they were captured.

While Ha Eunsung immersed himself in his thoughts, Minjun and the ancient dragon waited in the control room for the test run.

An operator announced,

"It's working!"

With the dragon's approval, the magic circle began to emit light.

Vroom!

'Hmm.'

Minjun quietly observed the scene. He took in how the magic circle absorbed magic, how it transformed it, and where it flowed. He saw the entire process.

Though it was clear the circle hadn't yet entered its full operational phase, he deliberately commented with admiration.

"Impressive."

The ancient dragon smiled.

"Of course. The magic circle was designed by an ancient species."

Cheongchong's subordinate said,

"We'll increase the output a bit more."

Vroom!

As they adjusted the control panel, the space enclosing Ha Eunsung began to shake violently.

Then, as heavy waves whipped through the barrier, Ha Eunsung saw a familiar flash of light.

'Ah... as expected!'

A brilliant, beautiful light emanated from within him. The Talant fused with his soul was resonating with the magic circle. The light from the Talant mingled with the waves, and the pipes connected to the barrier began to absorb it. According to Minjun, the goal was to forcibly separate the goblin's soul trapped in the next room.

If left unattended, that's exactly what would happen.

But Ha Eunsung recalled Minjun's words.

"You didn't just drive out Ji Seongyeong's soul. You destroyed it! That wasn't just a coincidence or an accident. At that moment, you clearly willed it, didn't you? You wanted to get rid of Ji Seongyeong. Understand? The Talant exerted its power according to your intention!"

Unlike the time when he had unconsciously drawn on the Talant's power in a life-threatening situation, now the magic circle was resonating with it, stimulating the energy it held inside.

Moreover, the waves of this barrier moved with a clear purpose: to extract a soul from a living body.

"If you stay trapped in this woman's body, that dragon will always have an excuse to meddle with you!"

If he had remained in his spiritual form like before, he wouldn't have been so easily captured. Resurrection might be an endlessly sweet and tempting fruit for the dead, but for Ha Eunsung, that wasn't the case.

So, what should he do?

The answer was simple. He had to escape from Ji Seongyeong's body. And Ha Eunsung found himself inside the magic circle that would serve as the perfect guide for how to do it.

He focused.

"I want to leave. I hate it here."

He wished with pure intent.

"I don't want to be here."

Almost simultaneously, the waves meant to tear apart the goblin's soul, and the power of the Talant, which was supposed to target the goblin, changed direction.

"I hate it here!"

Then, as if responding to Ha Eunsung's will, light and waves intertwined like warp and weft, and exploded.

Minjun was observing the movement of the magic circle from behind a glass window. The situation was just before the magic circle, following the commands entered from the control room, would extract the soul. After extraction, the form of the waves would change. Borrowing the Talant's power, it would then break down and disassemble the targeted soul.

Watching the direction of the swirling magic, Minjun spoke.

Softly.

"So, that's how it works. I see now."

The ancient dragon asked,

"What did you say?"

"I think I roughly understand how this thing operates."

"?"

Cheongchong was taken aback by his words.

The ancient dragon and her subordinates had given up trying to understand the Carbites' technology. It was a mysterious technology several steps ahead of Earth's civilization, so it was only natural. They had merely followed the instructions and reproduced it.

But now, after only a brief observation, Minjun seemed to have grasped the principle, which made her think he was bluffing. If everything could be understood just by looking at it, Cheongchong wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble in the first place.

However, the next words that followed were oddly resonant, making it hard to dismiss them as mere bravado. They were words that Minjun himself didn't intend, suddenly slipping out.

"Those little bastards... they've really progressed a lot, haven't they?"

Whee-oo, whee-oo!

At that moment, sirens began blaring throughout the control room. The ancient dragon shouted sharply,

"What's going on?!"

The operator, pale-faced, cried out,

"There's an anomaly in the Talant response...!"

At that moment, Ji Seongyeong's body inside the barrier collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Minjun understood the significance of this.

Even though Ha Eunsung was fused with the Talant, he wasn't some lifeless object to be defenselessly extracted and controlled by the magic circle. The ancient dragon had underestimated this aspect. Cheongchong had only seen Ha Eunsung's soul settling into Ji Seongyeong's body as an unexpected accident. She thought the Talant had exerted its power on its own.

However, Minjun was certain that there had been a clear interaction between the Talant and Ha Eunsung at the time of the incident.

He had placed a bet on that certainty, and it had paid off.

In the end, Ha Eunsung altered the magic circle, which was originally designed to extract the goblin's soul without damage, so that it would instead extract his own soul from Ji Seongyeong's body.

And Minjun observed the entire process.

"It worked!"

Ha Eunsung found himself floating in midair, looking at his hands, which were now shaped like penguin wings. He felt around his neck and touched the hilt of a knife. He never imagined there would come a day when this grotesque object would bring him such relief.

Minjun was watching him as well.

At the moment Ha Eunsung's escape was confirmed, the shadow monster that Minjun had released on the first basement floor—without using it for an attack—swiftly spread out from behind him, beginning to smash and tear apart the control room's monitors, control panels, and various devices.

"What are you doing?!"

"······!"

Seeing Minjun's determined expression, Cheongcheon realized something. That alien had never intended to accept her proposal in the first place.

"No!"

The moment Cheongcheon confirmed that the shadow Minjun released was extending towards the room where Ryooho was trapped, she made a decision.

The grand barrier that had been isolating the lair from the outside world ceased functioning, and the coordinates within the distorted space, which had been twisted to prevent teleportation, were restored.

Poof!

In an instant, Minjun saw his surroundings change. The control room on the 30th underground floor was gone. He was now floating in the air above Namsan.

"Emergency escape magic circle!"

Cheongcheon had teleported every living being in the control room to the outside in an instant.

This was exactly what Minjun had intended. To prevent Ryooho from being freed, she had expelled all the potential threats, including Minjun, out of the lair.

Just as Minjun quickly finished casting a levitation spell—

"Aaaah!"

"Save me!"

The subordinates of Cheongcheon, who had been teleported along with them, screamed as they plummeted from the sky. The dragon didn't spare them a glance; her gaze was fixed on Minjun, filled with barely contained fury.

"You... you...!"

Poof!

Before she could even finish speaking, the air around them violently rippled as a massive shadow appeared, enveloping them.

Minjun rejoiced inwardly.

"It's here!"

The fact that Minjun was outside the lair meant that he could now freely communicate with others.

Another elder dragon, who had teleported across the city center at Minjun's call, roared mentally.

"Cheongcheon! This ends here!"

Cheongcheon didn't need to look up to recognize her opponent.

Jenkinson.

Amidst her anger and frustration, she glared at Minjun.

"Why?"

The ancient dragon couldn't understand the alien at all. If he had sided with her, he could have earned hundreds of thousands of Talant. Yet, in the final moment, he had kicked it all away.

"Why make such an irrational, illogical choice?"

In Cheongcheon's value system, it was inconceivable.

Though he was imitating a human, he was still an alien of an unknown species. No matter how many young dragons, humans, or goblins he sacrificed, it wouldn't matter to a convict like him. There was no need for him to maintain loyalty to Jenkinson if it meant achieving greater benefits.

After all, the sole purpose of beings like him was to earn Talant and regain their freedom.

"Why?"

This was the limit of Cheongcheon's moral imagination.

She hadn't predicted Minjun's betrayal—not because she trusted him, but because she trusted her own judgment that he wouldn't make such a choice.

"······So it was my mistake."

Cheongcheon looked at Jenkinson and Minjun in turn.

Both were madmen.

They made incomprehensible choices, acted unpredictably, and took self-destructive paths that went against their own interests.

Her mistake had been assuming they would act within a rational framework.

And the consequences of her mistake were dire. Cheongcheon looked down at the lair. Ryooho was still inside, and now that Jenkinson had evidence, he wouldn't ignore the dragon's ghost. She felt the looming threat of everything she had prepared falling apart.

A red beam slid across her stiffened face. The violent dawn was ending, and the sun was fully rising over the horizon.

In the deep shadows, Cheongcheon made a resolution.

"I must kill them. No matter what it takes. Only then can I grab Ryooho and escape!"

Jenkinson might be an elder dragon, but she had lived far longer than him.

Flash!

A blinding flash of light, intense enough to extinguish and bury even the bright morning sunlight, erupted from the goblin's body.

When the light faded, the polymorphed goblin body was gone. In its place was a dragon, distinctly different from Jenkinson, with a long, serpentine body covered in blue scales, hovering in the sky above Namsan.

Soon, the two dragons collided as the flash of light clashed, and the blue dragon charged towards her enemy.

A long day had just begun.

End.