< 95. A Domestic Dispute Ends in Decapitation (2) >
Inspector Park Jeong-pal plans to retire in five years. Although he's at an age between middle-aged and elderly, he has never experienced what others call a "midlife crisis." His life, being born an orc, has been a continuous series of crises.
Work was no different. The scorn and discrimination he faced for working in a job involving handcuffs—a profession associated with his kind—were so overwhelming that they've become almost unremarkable now.
It's not that he avoids thinking about it due to aversion or trauma; it's simply that such incidents were so pervasive in his professional life that pinpointing any one event seemed pointless.
The current situation, where he's assigned the task that all his colleagues avoid, is just another extension of his past life.
"Damn it, where the hell is that guy going in the middle of the night now?"
From the surveillance vehicle parked in the upscale residential alley, the neighborhood watchman grumbled. Jeong-pal, according to the investigation protocol, was not supposed to be deployed on such a mission, so he silently started the engine instead of responding.
The townhouse parking gate opened, and a foreign car quietly drove out. Jeong-pal started the car and followed behind.
The scandal between the talented actor Kwak Do-chul and a popular idol had once been such hot news that even Jeong-pal, who had no interest in the entertainment industry, had heard of it. But he never imagined it would affect his life.
Specifically, that he would end up in a situation where he has to follow the adulterer every day for personal protection.
"Inspector, how long are we going to keep following him?"
"Just one more week. I heard he's friends with the chief. Even if he's being threatened, he shouldn't be able to use public authority for his personal protection indefinitely. The Protection Committee will review the situation."
"And the threats were all from his wife, saying she'd kill him if necessary, right? What kind of threat is that... If she finds out her husband is fooling around with a half-elf ten years younger, even the Virgin Mary would threaten to kill him!"
The problem was that, after that call, the wife had truly disappeared. This was unexpected for everyone, including Jeong-pal.
At the time of the scandal, those involved had denied it desperately. In reality, the only witness was a ghost who wasn't recognized as a credible witness, and no evidence photos were available. Additionally, Kwak Do-chul had somehow managed to silence the wife who had discovered the scene. There was no divorce, of course.
Rumors eventually died down. The situation was quickly resolved, and it appeared that the parties involved had wrapped things up without leaving the film project they were working on or paying any compensation for advertising contracts.
Then, suddenly, the wife vanished after leaving a phone call threatening to kill.
"And if it's Kwak Do-chul, he must have a lot of money. If I were his wife, I'd file for divorce immediately and get a hefty alimony. Why bother with threats and then disappear?"
Jeong-pal agreed with that point. Since the fault was with the husband, it would be a much better approach for her.
But to disappear in the midst of this?
The neighborhood watchman lowered his voice.
"In my view… Kwak Do-chul is all just a show. His wife didn't disappear on her own; I bet Kwak Do-chul made her disappear."
He mimicked the motion of slicing with his hand.
"He managed to silence her for now, but since she kept threatening to expose him to the media, Kwak Do-chul got scared and got rid of her."
"And then, in a turn of events, he demands police protection? Trying to cover up his own crime?"
"Doesn't it seem plausible?"
Park Jeong-pal snorted. The neighborhood watchman became excited and raised his voice.
"Originally, this is all pointless. How could a woman who isn't even a superhuman and was constantly in and out of hospitals kill Kwak Do-chul?"
"Don't you know what a gun is?"
"Oh, really? If someone thought they'd be killed, wouldn't Kwak Do-chul be wearing bulletproof charms all over his body? Isn't that right?"
All the arguments made sense, but Jeong-pal simply quietly stopped the car. The car driven by Kwak Do-chul had stopped in front of a luxurious villa.
The neighborhood watchman cursed as he checked outside.
"Damn it! That son of a bitch. He's come to screw around again!"
Jeong-pal also sighed lightly. This was the new location where Kwak Do-chul intended to meet his half-elf lover, the one involved in the scandal.
"Such audacity."
Although the commotion had been quieted, the media was still watching, and he was continuing the affair.
It was impressive how brazen he was.
"It's excessive considering he even requested police protection. If it weren't for the chief…"
Receiving their gazes, Kwak Do-chul rang the doorbell. But unlike usual, the front door on the first floor didn't open immediately.
Kwak Do-chul complained.
"Damn it. I told her to stay awake and wait."
After ringing the bell a few more times, he eventually made a phone call.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood watchman was looking at his phone.
"Wow! But she's definitely pretty. Look, Inspector. How did Kwak Do-chul manage to seduce her?"
He kept admiring the photos of the idol mistress. Jeong-pal glanced at the screen and turned his eyes away. Then he snapped.
"Hey, we're working. Focus…"
At that moment, Jeong-pal felt a shiver run down his spine.
"!"
He turned his head in the direction his intuition pointed.
One step. Under the streetlight outside, a smudge emerged. At the boundary where darkness met the hazy light, the faint outline of someone appeared.
The figure hiding in the darkness was a woman. The shadow cast by the streetlight distorted her shape, making her left arm look absurdly long and her right fist appear monstrously large.
Another step. As she came into the full light, Jeong-pal realized that her hands weren't deformed but were each holding something. And he also saw her face.
"!
The appearance he had seen in the documents.
The approaching person was Kwak Do-chul's wife.
And then.
Woom! Woom!
A low sound.
Jeong-pal had mistaken it before, but this time it was unmistakable.
'The sound of a sword?!'
The source of the sound was the longsword in her left hand. A formidable weapon wielded by that slender arm.
Carrying a blade without a sheath in the middle of the night was problematic, but the bigger issue was in her right hand.
In the other hand, she held the head of the half-elf. The mascara smeared face was a mess, but Jeong-pal thought the head resembled the idol singer he had just seen on the phone.
"Damn it! Get out!"
As the two men roughly opened the car doors and jumped out, Kwak Do-chul seemed to realize the situation. He turned his head towards the noise and his face went pale.
"Ugh… Aaah!"
Turning his back, he fled in desperation.
At that moment, Kwak Do-chul's wife fiercely stomped the ground. Before Jeong-pal and the neighborhood watchman could aim their weapons, the woman darted past like a gust of wind. As Jeong-pal reflexively turned his body, he saw her racing towards Kwak Do-chul with insane speed.
Bang!
A gunshot ripped through the night air. The panicked neighborhood watchman fired without aiming properly. But it seemed like the bullet didn't even come close.
She treated the gunfire like a starting pistol in a track race, soaring into the sky with the loud noise.
"?!"
She looked like a swallow cutting through water. A fierce killing intent streaked through the air. The blade rang heavily.
Boom! Boom!
As the woman's sword cut through the air, Kwak Do-chul's head soared high into the sky.
After finishing his work in Germany, the inquisitor who followed Minjun to Korea was named Yum-tus.
To prevent the Committee from knowing that he had entrusted his safety to Minjun, the convict made sure he stayed in the safest place possible.
The place was the basement where Ha Eun-seong had once stayed while fused with Dalant.
Yum-tus was moved by being assigned to the Sacred Realm and was content spending his days in the windowless basement, awaiting Minjun's decisions about the future and his introduction to the multidimensional priests.
Initially, he filled his days with prayers and meditation just as usual, but over time, he began to have certain thoughts.
'Perhaps my stay here might be extended. Although I don't know what purpose the Divine Spirit has in mind, there must be a reason for being assigned to this place as a convict!'
If there was a special reason for the Divine Spirit choosing Earth, Yum-tus had to consider the possibility of staying here for a while.
'In that case, I should also become somewhat familiar with this world.'
Though he couldn't freely roam outside at the moment, it was uncertain what the future held.
Rushed to be dispatched, Yum-tus had not acquired basic knowledge about this place, so he looked at the TV in front of him.
'The Divine Dragon said that this video transmission device is a terminal for viewing information and artistic works.'
He remembered Ha Eun-seong explaining this to him when he had handed over the small room.
The inquisitor turned on the TV. The Netflix logo appeared, set up according to Ha Eun-seong's configuration. Additionally, the last program watched by the previous occupant was displayed as an option. Yum-tus awkwardly used the remote to click on it.
The screen showed a video of orcs living in a large mansion by the seaside. As Yum-tus did not understand the language, he had to deduce the situation from the actors' gestures and expressions. The purpose of the video was hard to guess. It even seemed to grow more perplexing the more he watched.
'Given the mansion's size, they seem quite affluent, so why are they behaving so crudely? They must be of the same tribe since they live together, but why are there no children or elderly among them... Even if they are nobility, why do they only show scenes of drinking, dancing, and courting each other all day?'
Confused, Yum-tus finally managed to grasp the intent behind this video.
Gedwick was shocked after reading the report transmitted by Dotes.
His subordinate had been diligently reporting on the activities of "Asif-666" as instructed, despite the dissatisfaction. Even though Gedwick was preoccupied with the unusual events occurring at the Mint, he didn't hesitate to read the report.
In retrospect, it was the right decision.
"Four hundred thousand Dalants?!"
He knew that the high commissioners had assigned a sudden mission to the dimension known as Earth. However, it was unexpected that Asif-666 had completed the mission alone and claimed all the rewards.
The fact that a reward of 400,000 Dalants had been deposited was even more astonishing.
"Did the high commissioners really assign a mission without considering such an allocation? If it was a task easily accomplished by a convict alone, they should have reduced the amount of the reward!"
On the other hand, it suggested that the high commissioners had taken a great interest in the head of the archbishop.
"What on earth could it be?"
The head that Asif-666 had transmitted through the committee's Earth representative was sent directly to the high commissioners without passing through intermediaries like Gedwick.
Gedwick did not know whether the high commissioners were satisfied with the recovered corpse or what they wanted to verify from the head. However, he was aware that the recent balance changes in Asif-666's account were at a dangerous level.
"Just a few months ago, his balance was around 20,000 Dalants, but now it has surpassed 80,000 Dalants."
Though retirement compensation exceeds 5 million Dalants, this increase was still considered significantly alarming.
"In just a few months, it has grown more than fortyfold. This is dangerous. And suspicious. Even without the recent 400,000 Dalants, he has earned an unusually large amount in a short period."
He was about to contact the high commissioners immediately to make a suggestion.
Although a recent tax investigation by the Tax Collection Authority targeted Asif-666, the speed of this financial growth suggested that there might be a need for another investigation into his tax evasion and also to check his memory recovery status.
However, before he could access the communication network, the office door opened with a sound, and Hyung-no entered to report. Gedwick responded curtly to the message indicating that a communication addressed to him had arrived.
"Wait a moment, I'm dealing with an urgent matter!"
The convict Bezni, who was supposed to bend and retreat, continued to stand there hesitantly.
"What is it?!"
Hyung-no, looking scared yet careful, spoke cautiously, indicating it was an important matter that couldn't be ignored.
And indeed, it was an important matter.
Kavaite asked with a suspicious tone.
"The princess of the Endelion tribe... has requested an interview with me?"
< 95. Domestic Disputes Are Settled with Sword Cuts (2) > End