< 81. Hell of Distrust (9) >
The elf spying from the rooftop was unable to escape and had lost consciousness.
The spell he used was a primitive magic that connected one of the sorcerer's ears to the target's body. As soon as Min-jun drove the ritual dagger into Christoph's hand, the sorcerer's ear was also injured. The curse's excruciating pain was transferred.
Standing before the unconscious elf, Min-jun stamped one foot down. Shadows spread along the floor, binding the elf tightly like creeping vines.
Whack!
Min-jun slapped the elf with the shadow whip to wake him.
"Who are you?"
Before staining the blade with brain matter, Min-jun needed to check who else might be involved. He suspected it might be another pawn controlled by the prisoner, but...
The elf, regaining consciousness, trembled as he realized the situation.
"P-please... save me...!"
A clear mark of an injection was visible on his neck.
He was a first-generation immigrant. Min-jun frowned as he confiscated the smartphone tightly held by the elf.
"Hm?!"
Part of the conversation with the information dealer was sent as messages. While the elf had used an unknown language during their private conversation, the content of their dialogue in German with Liam was shared directly.
Detected. Immediate escape required.
It was not hard to guess who was detected and who the message was intended for. The timestamp of the message matched the moment Liam shared Bishop Joachim's location.
Min-jun frowned. This was a setback.
The expectation was wrong. This guy didn't send it, but...
"Sent from Dreamland?!"
Min-jun thought there would be no more tasks for today, but he had to drag the elf back down to the strip bar.
"Oh? Back again?"
Liam, who had been staring at his laptop, looked taken aback. Christoph was still unconscious. The information dealer, engrossed in other tasks, hadn't yet cleaned up the blood and other liquids on the bar and floor.
Christoph's smartphone, which was familiar to Liam because Christoph had been fiddling with it during the wire transfer, was connected to Liam's laptop. Even without being a prisoner, information from German immigration officials was valuable. Liam was likely copying the stored data and running a hacking app simultaneously.
"Keep it quiet from that idiot and do one more thing. Recheck Joachim's location. It seems the cover is blown."
Liam, looking flustered by the situation, retreated to his room. A few minutes later, he emerged and said,
"The scent is gone."
"Damn it!"
Realizing the location had been identified and traces erased immediately.
Moreover, the elf's message included the detail that 'the identity was confirmed by scent.' While it hadn't occurred to him before, now that he knew the tracking method, there were plenty of ways to erase traces.
Min-jun glared at the unconscious prisoner, grinding his teeth.
"Just how underestimated are you... that you had someone tailing you from a cult?"
What was even more pathetic was the failure to notice the eavesdropping magic. Not all prisoners were well-versed in magic, but this was quite extreme.
Min-jun turned his gaze to the elf. There was something that needed to be addressed before extracting information.
"What was the plan if Christoph moved next? Continue the tailing?"
The adversaries still didn't know that the elf had been captured.
Listening to the elf's trembling ramblings, Min-jun sent a fake message he had prepared. It was about Christoph, having completed his transaction with the information dealer, returning to his residence and being tracked.
Min-jun then tossed the phone to Liam.
"Check out this number. It's probably a dead end, but..."
Only then did the interrogation begin.
"What's your deal? Are you a Dreamland follower?"
In the light, more details were visible beyond the injection marks on the elf's neck.
Thin skin showing veins. Red rashes and scratches forming scars. Swollen eyes and a split philtrum.
'A drug addict.'
Among the first-generation elves, those who married humans or provided their seeds were highly likely to be addicted to cocaine, heroin, and the like. Drugs were used to stimulate them, as their libido hardly functioned otherwise.
"Umm... please save me...!"
Min-jun considered using a Happy Bug if necessary but found the elf starting to spill everything.
The elf didn't know Christoph was an alien, nor did the client mention such details. The primary task was to find out whom Christoph was meeting and what he was discussing as an immigration officer employed by the German government.
Furthermore, the Dreamland cult supposedly knew that Christoph was pursuing Joachim.
When Min-jun heard this, he could only look at the unconscious prisoner with a dumbfounded expression.
"What the hell, how do you behave normally?"
Meanwhile, the elf's attitude showed no sign of loyalty to the cult. Listening further, Min-jun understood why.
'He didn't become a believer because of true faith, but to get drugs.'
The Dreamland cult presumably had ample stock of various drugs essential for their worship. At least they would have enough to pay drug users for their services.
It was an effective control method. No matter how much a mage valued money, they would refuse the request to tail an immigration officer, but this elf risked everything for drugs.
Hearing this, Min-jun was incredulous.
"Why not ask for divine power to cure the addiction instead?"
"I was told it wouldn't be free because my body and soul are not pure... And the cost was too high..."
'He might have deliberately avoided treatment to keep exploiting him.'
Confirming that there was no more useful information, Min-jun asked one last question.
"Have you planned to make contact with the cult again soon?"
"No, because of this mission, I'm banned from entering the church for a while..."
With a snap of his fingers, Min-jun made the elf faint again.
"The Dreamland district headquarters is in Frankfurt, right?"
Liam looked troubled.
"They can't get in! They've sealed off everything—sewers and all."
"Really?"
Min-jun, after a moment of thought, said,
"I'll contact you again soon."
Liam, glancing at the elf, asked,
"If you don't need that, can I..."
"Leave it and let Christoph handle it. He should have the brains to trace how the information leaked."
Min-jun then turned his attention to other matters.
However...
'This is too quick. The cult sensed the scent just half a day after Christoph received his mission? What kind of ability do they have?'
Min-jun's face hardened further as he climbed the stairs.
"We've arrived."
Cathy said as she parked the car.
Today, Min-jun headed to the Dreamland district headquarters located on the outskirts of Frankfurt.
It looked like an ordinary ten-story building, but unlike the modern trend where the lobby is visible from outside, it had heavy iron doors and windows covered with curtains to prevent anyone from seeing inside.
"Wait here for a moment."
Unlike yesterday, Min-jun left the car waiting and went outside.
A few minutes later.
"Yikes!"
Haeun, who had been staring out the window from the back seat, screamed in shock. Cathy glanced at the rearview mirror and asked,
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a rat the size of a puppy ran by…"
The so-called 'German giant rat,' a large rodent, was seen everywhere in the city. Germans seemed accustomed to living with them, but Haeun, a foreigner, was startled every time she saw one.
Watching the rat tear into trash bags in the street with no concern for pedestrians, Cathy suddenly said,
"But did you know? Although it looks like a rat, strictly speaking, it's not actually a rat."
"What do you mean?"
Since interdimensional exchanges began and alien species moved to Earth, it wasn't limited to just sentient beings.
"People don't really know how they arrived. They probably came mixed with cargo inside a jump ship or something. They're originally extraterrestrial."
Though they were called rats for convenience, their DNA structure was different from Earth's rodents, and they had high intelligence.
"There's research saying they're smarter than dolphins."
"Really?"
"Yes. Look it up on the internet. They lure stray cats to deserted places using food waste and then attack them in groups and eat them."
"Ugh…"
Haeun, grimacing as she imagined it, soon noticed a strange part in Cathy's explanation.
"Why would they lure them to the outskirts?"
"There's a saying that if they did it in crowded places, people who felt sorry for the cats would interfere."
"Really…"
Despite believing or not, it was true that they were exceptionally intelligent. Cathy added that after these extraterrestrial creatures spread, the ordinary rats that lived in German cities had become extinct.
"In fact, the German government seems to have given up on eradication. They're so smart that rat poison and traps don't work at all. They have to use harmful gases or hire sea hunters to kill them one by one, but the former is too dangerous and the latter too costly."
Haeun found it hard to believe.
"And strangely, every time they attempt large-scale eradication, they disappear from the city and hide in mountainous areas. They're spotted coming back to the city once things calm down."
"Can they really be that smart? They're just rats."
Cathy was about to say more but changed the subject.
"Oh, Min-jun is coming back."
Returning and sitting in the passenger seat, he complained.
"The barrier is stronger than expected. We can't sneak in."
There were ways to prepare for a frontal assault, like tearing off the doors, but the Dreamland cult wasn't a criminal group
"Right now, considering just your soul, you're like a dragon. It takes over twelve hours to put a dragon spirit to rest, so how are you going to deal with a ghost? Be careful not to get caught, and if you do, get out immediately."
Following Min-jun's instructions, Ha-eun-seong, though worried, exited her body.
Thud!
The body, now devoid of its soul, slumped down.
About ten minutes later.
"Huff! Cough!"
Ha-eun-seong's polymorphed body began moving again. She had finished her reconnaissance and returned.
However, her complexion was far from good.
"Ugh! Can I, uh, throw up?"
"Do it later. How is it? Is the person inside?"
"Yes, there's a large worship hall in the basement where other worshipers are gathered, and the person in the photo is there too. But…"
It seems they are performing the same grotesque ritual Min-jun had witnessed before.
"I've confirmed the target is there. Now, I just need to find a way in and extract them discreetly."
The bishop has a separate residence but has been staying at this building for several days. There's no reason or time for them to come out, so waiting outside is not an option.
After some contemplation, Min-jun comes up with an idea.
"Well, it is a legitimate religious organization after all, right?"
So they probably wouldn't want to clash with government authorities.
"Wait here for a moment."
Min-jun gets out of the car with the door left open. He quickly surveys the street and walks towards a newspaper stand.
There, gigantic rats were burying their heads in trash bags, startling Ha-eun-seong.
Like the rats in the Central Station's entertainment district, these small creatures did not flee despite the presence of the ritual dagger. They pulled their heads out of the trash can and stared at Min-jun with their red eyes.
"What is he trying to do there?"
Trying to hold back her nausea, Ha-eun-seong asks Cassie.
"I have no idea."
At that moment, an unexpected voice was heard by the two people left in the car.
"Hey, connect me to Liam."
"?!"
"?!"
Cassie and Ha-eun-seong were taken aback.
No matter how you look at it, the scene was…
It looked like he was talking to the rats.
After the name "Liam" came up, Min-jun explained something at length to the rats. Due to the distance, Cassie could only tell that he was making some kind of request.
Ha-eun-seong blinked and asked, "Agent… Can you really talk to rats?"
Cassie seemed surprised as well.
"I thought he didn't have druid abilities. Is there such a spell in black magic?"
Then she muttered, "But, even if he explains so earnestly to the rats in German, there's no way they would understand…"
At that moment.
"Chirp! Chchirrrrr! Chirp-chchirp-chchirrrrrrr! Chchirrrrr!"
"······."
"······."
The "German Giant Rat" looked up at Min-jun and made a series of long, squeaky noises, as if protesting. Cassie and Ha-eun-seong stared blankly at the scene.
Unbeknownst to them, it was a type of coded message similar to Morse code on Earth.
Danger. Suspicion. Media exposure. Marine eradication petition. Annoying situation...
Min-jun spoke curtly.
"Everyone already knows about the crazy things happening in Dreamland. They'll probably think more weird drugs are being spread inside that building."
With the conversation finished, Min-jun returned to the car. An unusual silence hung in the vehicle.
Instead of explaining at length, Min-jun said,
"I'll stay here, so you two go back to the hotel. No… You should leave in about 5 minutes."
Then he closed the car door and disappeared from sight.
Even in the midst of the disarray caused by what they had just seen, Cassie wondered,
Why did he specifically say to leave in 5 minutes?
The question was answered by the situation that followed immediately.
"Ahhh!"
"What, what is that!"
"The rats… The rats have gone mad!"
The street was filled with the screams of pedestrians.
"Ugh! What is that!"
Ha-eun-seong, struggling to keep her nausea in check, covered her mouth with her hand.
Chirp! Chchirp! Chirp-chchirp!
Gray waves of rats surged over the ground covered with paving blocks and asphalt.
Rats were gathering from all directions.
It was like a scene from the Pied Piper of Hamelin, with massive rodents marching and rushing toward their destination.
The target was the Dreamland headquarters building.
Chirp! Chchirp! Chirp-chchirp!
Moving vehicles came to a halt. Cassie also, unable to start the engine, could only watch the scene outside.
Unlucky pedestrians who happened to be nearby jumped into any building to escape the swarm of rats. Some elderly people collapsed, losing consciousness before they could evacuate. The rat swarm split, avoiding people, and headed toward one location, ignoring everything else.
The rats, aiming for their target building, climbed the walls as if scaling a cliff—an impossible feat for ordinary mice.
Soon, the Dreamland building was covered in a gray fur coat.
A constantly wriggling and undulating fur coat.
People in the adjacent buildings pulled out their phones to take photos and videos. It wasn't long before the situation was broadcasted nationwide.
"What on earth are those crazy cultists doing inside?!"
"I don't know. Maybe they sprayed some drug that attracts rats, or some kind of rodent aphrodisiac."
"Call the police! Hurry!"
"I've already reported it."
Soon after, sirens blared in the air.
Police officers, having parked their patrol cars at a distance, approached the Dreamland building in uniform.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
"Police! Open the door!"
Despite the chaos outside, the cult's iron door, which had been unopened, finally began to slowly open.
The rats covering the building's walls and windows cleverly avoided the entrance.
"······What's going on?"
The police pointed with disbelief.
"Can't you see that? The report has caused a shutdown of operations. We need to check what's happening inside."
The clergyman who opened the door wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,
"A shutdown? What are you talking about?"
Then he looked outside and his expression stiffened.
A few seconds later.
"······That has nothing to do with us."
"You'll find out once you go inside!"
In the end, he couldn't withstand the police's insistence.
"Please wait here for a moment. There is a barrier that prevents unauthorized entry… I will contact the facility management team."
After a short while, Min-jun, observing from a hiding spot, confirmed that the barrier around the building had disappeared.
"······Come in. But I must warn you, it's a waste of effort."
The police entered through the opened door.
And none of them noticed that an uninvited wizard had blended in and hidden among them.
< 81. The Hell of Distrust (9) > End