Chapter 104
The morning after the closing ceremony dawned.
From early morning, the cadets headed for their family hos.
So had already left with their families yesterday, but most had enjoyed the banquet that lasted until dawn and fallen asleep in the dormitory.
Of course, the cadets who stayed behind instead of going ho sweated as usual.
Do Minyeong was among those who remained in the dormitory, yet despite it being the ti she would normally have already gone to work out, she was wandering in front of the male cadet dormitory.
‘What kind of relationship does he have with my great-granduncle?’
What filled her mind was the conversation Ji Seokhyeon and Kim Shinwoo had shared in the cabin a few days ago.
At the ti, the two of them had spoken as if they believed Do Minyeong was asleep, and Do Minyeong had woken up right before Kim Shinwoo left the cabin.
That is, at the mont Ji Seokhyeon asked him to allow a transfer.
The atmosphere had been serious, so she had kept pretending to sleep, but Ji Seokhyeon’s words echoed in her head countless tis over the following days.
‘Why does he want to transfer? If he is with the Special Affairs Division, is there any need for him to leave the Investigation Division?’
Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, Kim Shinwoo accepted Ji Seokhyeon’s request and publicly announced at the closing ceremony that he would lift the restriction on transfers.
It was an unusual situation for Kim Shinwoo, whose single word carried the weight of stone, to withdraw his own proclamation.
That ant Ji Seokhyeon and Kim Shinwoo shared a deep relationship, yet Do Minyeong could not even begin to asure what it was.
‘When did they beco that close? Did they know each other from before?’
In so ways, she even felt jealous.
All her life, Do Minyeong had wanted Kim Shinwoo’s acknowledgnt.
Still, the reason she was lingering outside the dormitory was not to pry into their relationship.
Nor was it to ask about the transfer.
Rather, she was there to make a deeply personal suggestion.
‘He is coming out…!’
Ji Seokhyeon left the dormitory around the sa ti as usual.
Even without lectures, a habit ingrained into the body did not crumble easily.
The mont he spotted Do Minyeong, he walked toward her.
It would not have been strange for him to simply go on his way unless she spoke first, but Do Minyeong was staring at him openly.
She still looked clumsy with relationships.
“Yawn…. Why are you not going to exercise? What are you doing here?”
Ji Seokhyeon spoke first while yawning.
Do Minyeong skipped everything and blurted it out.
“Um, hey! Do you want to co to my house soti?”
“Huh?”
“No, not my house. A close grandmother…. No, soone who is closer than family, in a way. Since the dormitory will be under construction, I decided to stay there for a while. And she said she wanted to see you too. So, if it is all right….”
Was it too direct?
To so, it might have been a private subject, but to Do Minyeong, it was a once-in-a-lifeti invitation.
Because she was trying, for the first ti, to invite a friend to her ho.
Judging by Ji Seokhyeon’s lukewarm expression, it seed she would not get a positive answer.
So Do Minyeong hurriedly added,
“I did not an anything by it, so do not worry. You are busy anyway. With all sorts of things.”
Do Minyeong gave up.
But an unexpected answer ca from Ji Seokhyeon’s mouth.
“When should I go?”
***
I headed for District 26 for a Special Affairs Division investigation.
That is, a major traffic hub connecting Seoul and Gyeonggi-do.
The investigation would not take place here.
The actual site was a small village at the lower edge of Gyeonggi-do, adjacent to Gangwon-do, and I was supposed to et a Special Affairs Division colleague in District 26 before proceeding together.
“In another place I would have had to call her senior, but the Special Affairs Division does not bother with that kind of ceremony, so ‘colleague’ is more accurate.”
My colleague’s na was Special Affairs Division Investigator Monica Bayliss.
A woman in her late twenties, born in Ireland, and in the terms of this world, a second-generation awakened being with little connection to a clan.
Because of that, she could not enter Hero Prep, but she graduated from Sienna, which was fad for light attribute and alchemy.
And she did so as the top student.
“It should be around here.”
Following the map I had been sent, I entered a secluded alley.
No matter how developed District 26 was among the outskirts, stepping into an alley like this made it feel as though the Psychic Mafia might jump out at any mont.
Well, it was not as though the mafia would roam around in broad daylight.
After wandering a bit, I witnessed an unforeseen scene in a dead-end alley.
“L-Look, hic, my little brother, my little brother said he would co pick up soon!”
“Look at this bitch, she is properly wasted. I told you, did I not? These bitches are always weak to alcohol.”
“Damn, does she live outside Seoul? How long has it been since we saw one like this.”
Roughly speaking, two n were cornering a drunken woman.
From a short distance away, I studied the woman’s features.
For so reason, she seed like soone I might know.
The first thing I saw was thick, wavy hair covering her shoulders.
It was a reddish-brown color, and she had pale skin and faint freckles—traits not easily seen in Seoul, where mixed heritage was common.
In other words, unmistakably Irish.
She was nearly as tall as an average man, had an upturned smile so intense it looked absurd, like a clown’s painted lips, and her long fingers made the bottle in her grip look small.
But what caught my attention most was the amount of mana she possessed, enough to overwhelm the current Lee Eunho.
I could feel it even without Demonic Eye.
That woman was Monica Bayliss.
I had never t her, but as the original author, failing to recognize a Special Affairs Division investigator would have been bad manners.
Once I realized who the person in trouble was, I suddenly wanted to leave.
I did not want to play along with Monica’s vile hobby.
In truth, it was less a hobby than an investigation thod she often used.
She would enter the dens of lowlife thugs, subdue them, and search for clues there.
Criminals in the outskirts were often connected through informal networks, so Monica’s infiltration was, from the Special Affairs Division’s perspective, a fairly useful source of information.
Especially regarding forbidden drugs, she often produced overwhelming results.
And for Monica, it was a two-for-one, since she could also help herself to valuables while she was at it.
“…….”
An investigator stealing?
Even I, the author, found it hard to swallow, but that woman’s greed was considerable.
And since Baek Dojun tolerated it within certain limits, it likely would not beco a problem.
“So, pretty lady, where do you live? We will take you there.”
“If you have nowhere to go, you can co to our place nearby.”
I tried to read the room and leave.
But just as I began to step backward, misfortune struck, and Monica’s eyes t mine.
“Oh! Seokhyeon!”
As expected, Monica shouted in a delighted voice.
She ran over in a single dash and rubbed her cheek against mine.
As if I were a child.
“Why are you so late? I kept waiting and ended up drinking more.”
“…….”
What a convenient excuse.
The thugs who followed her looked at my plain clothes and complained.
“This bastard is her little brother? He does not look like her at all.”
“And he looks flimsy, like he cannot even use force. Hey, pretty lady, stop talking nonsense and co with us.”
Monica had already hooked her arm around mine.
“Hah. How ungentlemanly. Seokhyeon, are you just going to watch them? They were just about to do sothing to .”
Her drunken, slurred voice from earlier was nowhere to be found.
From the context, it was obvious she was testing .
Before we investigated together, she wanted to see what kind of person I was.
In other words, she ant to put through a trial, but I had no intention of being toyed with by an alcoholic.
I curled my lips into a deliberate smile and spoke.
“Ah, so it looks like the gentlen here have taken an interest in this dood woman. I will advise you to give up.”
“What the hell is this bastard saying?”
“I an exactly what I said. It is better not to touch her. She looks decent enough, so she toyed with a lot of n, but she ran into a truly strange one and ended up with a debt about the price of a house in District 5. It would be nice if the debt ca from funds issued by inner-district guilds, but do you think any guild insane enough would lend money to a dood woman like her? That debt is all from the Psychic Mafia. Did you not find it strange that she is passed out drunk in broad daylight?”
“Well… I guess that is true….”
“Nine tis out of ten, she could not repay this month’s debt either, got harassed by the mafia, and then, being weak-willed, she got drunk in the middle of the day. If you lay a hand on her, the mafia will mark you. Starting tomorrow, she will have to sweat to repay the debt, hangover or not. Of course, if you still intend to take her anyway….”
“If we still intend to…?”
“It would be better not to keep anything sharp near her.”
“Why?”
One of the thugs asked with a surprisingly serious face.
I lowered my voice slightly.
“Because the mont she gets a chance, she will cut herself. Here and there.”
“S-She self-harms?”
“Self-harms? Sir, you are innocent. I ant suicide attempts.”
“……!”
“Well, either way, until she pays off the debt, she is basically mafia property. If you damage mafia property for no reason, you will not end well, will you?”
“…….”
“So I will advise you again. Just go on your way. If you value the rest of your lives.”
Did my nonsense work?
I did not know if it was overwhelmingly effective, but it seed to have so effect.
They began glancing at one another and making excuses.
“W-We had an appointnt anyway. We were just ssing around.”
“Like we would pick a fight with the mafia.”
“Wait, was the appointnt at the plaza?”
“R-Right! That is why we ca into this alley!”
The thugs fled while spouting one line after another, like they were trading jokes.
In Seoul’s outskirts, the mafia was scarier than Dispel.
Once they were far enough away, Monica, still clinging to my arm, burst into laughter for no reason.
“Kgh! Kah! Pwahahahaha!”
It was so loud that the thugs could have returned and not even noticed.
When I forcefully pulled my arm away, she finally stopped laughing.
“You are funnier than you look.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Yes. The chief was right. If I investigate with you, I do not think I will get bored.”
What was that? Sohow, those words felt unpleasant.
Monica gave a pleasant smile and held out her hand for a handshake.
“Then let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Monica Bayliss. Nice to et you.”
I took her hand and replied.
“I am Ji Seokhyeon. I apologize for any impropriety as a probationary investigator.”
“Good. Then introductions are done, so shall we move?”
“Move? The train is still far off.”
“Not that. I am saying we should tail those guys. I broke the setup because I wanted to see your quick thinking, but my goal was to empty their pockets.”
“…….”
A Special Affairs Division investigator speaking of illegal acts as if it were nothing.
“From what they were wearing, it looked like they had so items or valuables worth selling. The train is still far off, and it would be a waste to just kill ti doing nothing, would it not?”
Had I called Monica an alcoholic earlier?
In truth, that had been an exaggeration.
Her real problem was gambling addiction.
In the original setting, she had been expelled from Sienna because she was so obsessed with probability.
She rolled dice and shuffled cards with everything she earned, so her bank balance never had a chance to grow, and her luck was abysmal.
On days when Monica actually won, misfortune inevitably struck the people around her.
It was the kind of character that made you wonder who would write such a thing.
If I could, I wanted to revise the setting book myself.
Because with Monica in such a good mood, it felt as though misfortune would strike during this investigation.
“Ahem. As your senior investigator, I am teaching you sothing useful. This chance is rare. I will show you skills you cannot learn even with money.”
A deep sigh began to rise from my chest.
I barely held it in, and matching her charming smile, I deliberately curled my lips.
“Then are we splitting it fifty-fifty?”
All I could do was hope her bad luck would hold off until the investigation ended.
“No.”
“…….”
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