The Foreigner on the Periphery

The private vault building on West 34th Street in New York City seemed more conspicuous due to its clumsy and dilapidated appearance. The two-story building nestled among the splendid skyscrapers lining the world’s financial center seemed out of place. However, a hundred out of every 100 people passing this street knew that it belonged to what was known as the oldest dragon on earth. 

Therefore, that shabby building also towed the surrounding real estate prices, which had soared without knowing how high the sky was. It was because of the expectation that no matter how reckless a terrorist would not touch the earth’s greatest dragon assets, and even if such a madman appeared, the old dragon would see through it in advance and want it outright. 

Thanks to this, the area around Lord’s building had since then been evaluated as the safest area. Minjun was at one of them right now. 

‘What an incredible barrier.’ 

He clicked his tongue in admiration. It had tighter security than the Lehman Brothers building next door. The bodyguards were nowhere to be seen, but it didn’t matter. Even a moderate wizard would be killed if he cast a spell here without permission, all by the blind magic that constituted that huge barrier. 

At this, Minjun opened the door and entered. The inside was clean compared to the outside, but there was a cool smell unique to old buildings and the scent of wood. The furniture, which was originally used as a cabinet or storage cabinet, was empty and dusty. In the middle of the office was an old mahogany desk, and an elderly dwarf was absorbed in reading, smoking a pipe in one hand and a thick book in the other. 

Looking at the cover, Minjun realized that it was a novel by a dwarf writer that Lakefield likes. He couldn’t seem to understand why that nobleman or that tribe… tended to like bizarre Korean writing. While grumbling inside, the old Dwarf spoke without looking away. 

“I thought you wouldn’t come. You are a little late.” 

Whoa-! He exhaled a deep breath of smoke and then raised his head. He raised his glasses and gestured to Minjun. “I’d like to offer you a cup of tea, but I’ve cleaned up everything and nothing deserves it. Put your hand here.” 

There was a crystal ball on the desk. Minjun did as he was told. Ugh! 

The artifact reacted immediately. Particles of hazy light bloomed in the transparent sphere. The muddy light gathered like fog, and the hard crystal surface shook like water. Then, inside the bead, a piece of metal the thickness of a finger rose slowly. Just as what had sunk beneath the surface of the water rose, Minjun grabbed it. 

It was the key. After holding the pipe again, the dwarf silently pointed backwards with his chin. There was a door leading inward. ‘This is the principle.’ 

If someone other than Minjun had come in the first place, the crystal ball would not have reacted. Also, even if someone else were to put the key into that hole, the door wouldn’t open. Minjun inserted the key and turned his wrist. 

He returned without any resistance. A small room was revealed when the door opened. There was a box on a plain-looking table. 

One could see the padlock holding it firmly. Minjun had a hunch that that one would also be opened with the same key. The prediction was correct. 

Click! When the box was opened, the key turned into light and disappeared. Minjun looked inside and raised his eyebrows. ‘What is this?’ 

It was a smooth metal body with not a single groove or crack visible. Cube of cubes. He recalled his will.

– Gift the key to the private safe on West 34th Street in New York City and everything in it. 

He looked around. ‘Everything in it. I have nothing but this box. You made a safe like this because of this one thing?’

‘A subspace artifact. Is this itself another safe?’ 

However, he didn’t know how to open it. This was because the key was already gone. He searched the room for clues, but to no avail. 

‘It’s not a problem that can be solved here, I’ll have to take it and do some research on it.’ 

The next sentence of the will echoed in his ears.

-Don’t think of this as grumpy. You’d better check what’s inside first. 

No matter how he was to think about it, he thought the grumpiness was right. Not only did he have to solve another riddle, but also consider the complicated situation Minjun faced because of this. That said, he had no intention of pretending not to know, throwing it away, giving up, or handing it over to another heir. 

‘It’s because it came into my hands.’ 

Now it belonged to Minjun. 

*** 

The old dwarf was waiting for Minjun, holding a book. He invited Minjun to walk outside the building with him after he finished his business. In addition to this, the moment the two came out on the street, the old man memorized the start language. Rumble! 

“Kyaaak!” 

“What, what?!” 

Dragonlord’s private vault. The historic building was ‘folding’ with a roar. It was a two-dimensional reinterpretation of a three-dimensional space. The roof then bent and shriveled. The red brick wall that covered the outer wall of the building was distorted and piled up in layers. The building collapsed in the air like a deflated balloon, shrinking, shrinking more, finally shrinking to the size of a fingernail, and then disappearing from there. Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at Novel Multiverse – “NovelMultiverse dot com”

Where the vault building disappeared, only the site, which was sandwiched between high-rise buildings and dented at the height of the first basement level, remained. No dust was blown in the process, and water and gas pipes with sealed sections remained intact. 

Minjun looked at the dwarf with a renewed gaze. He knew that he was a formidable wizard, but he was also someone Rod could hire. Although he did not have the ability to create the barrier that was here just now, he was a wizard who was not good at managing it. There were many young dragons that did not reach this level. 

“Hey, look here!” 

“What’s happening? Oh my gosh···.” 

From there, the citizens gathered. The sudden evaporation of New York City’s landmarks proved to be a bummer for everyone. The alien and the dwarf stood side by side and looked at the clearing. The dwarf quietly exhaled cigarette smoke. Minjun then began to ask in a voice that did not leak around. “Is this what it was supposed to be like?” 

“You may have already seen it, but everything else inside was already taken out. All that was left was this one book.” 

“If I had come earlier, the old man’s time off work would have been that much faster. No, is it retirement time?” 

“The employment relationship ended a long time ago. On the day Rod died, he was immediately informed of the termination by the investment bank he owned.” 

However, there was no sadness in his voice. It had taken on a calm tone as if something had come. Minjun praised him. “You are very talented. I don’t think there will be any problems with re-employment.”

“I have no idea.” 

“But if you are the dragon lord’s vault keeper, it’s a career that other dragons covet. He passed away so quickly that I couldn’t have left a letter of recommendation, but…” 

The dwarf snorted at him. “I will retire like this. Rod knew that too. I just didn’t know that day would come so soon.” 

He seemed to have said this in repetition. “I didn’t expect Rod to leave so soon.” 

Unlike when he talked about his retirement, his eyes were filled with sadness and regret. 

“And…” Quickly resolving those feelings, the dwarf glanced at Minjun. The wrinkles around his eyes quickly hid the glimmering sadness. Instead, there was a sudden burst of intense sparks. “Even if you get a job again, what? You’d still work under the dragon.” 

Apparently, he had decided to go for it. “Working under those scum, is there anything wrong with you in your old age? Even though I don’t have much time left to live, I don’t want to turn it into hell.” 

From there, the Dwarf uttered a voluptuous speech. “Dragon, do you know what the biggest problem with those ferocious reptiles is? Let’s put aside the selfishness that only knows oneself and the compulsion to control that one has to rule and control others to release one’s temper. An even greater tragedy is that these damned beasts with no inclusivity have been given unbefitting powers. If the creator really exists, we need to analyze the mental world of the creator. If you have thoughts and common sense, you shouldn’t create such monsters!” 

“…” At this, Minjun decided to hold back the words he meant to spew out. 

As if noticing that sign, the dwarf grumbled. “The load is different. He was a special person. Being able to serve him has been the greatest blessing of my life.”

Then, he looked up at Minjun and asked. “Do you think you can catch the culprit?” 

“I don’t know yet.” 

“I bet those idiots would turn on the lights in their eyes and find them. The ex-wives of hatchling guardians.”

Although not publicized in the press, the contents of Lord’s will were known to all who might know. “I guess so. I don’t know if it will work out.” 

“In my opinion, Lord had no intention of handing over the Dragon Heart to his children in the first place.” 

It was an idea that Minjun had also thought of. “Find the culprit in 99 days? If you really want revenge, would you put a tight deadline on it? Is there such a proverb in China? A gentleman’s revenge is not too late even if it takes 10 years. But why did Lord do that?” 

He then spoke after a pause. “In the end, wouldn’t it be that the subject of revenge isn’t ‘the gentleman’? Or you don’t have to take ‘revenge’.” 

There was no further need to take revenge. Minjun then repeated the words in his mouth. “Anyway, there must be a reason why I handed over this entire safe to you. You know what the other dragons said about him? It’s true that Lord did a lot of weird and bizarre things, but…” 

“… None of them were meaningless.” The Dwarf grinned. “Okay. Then we agree that everything will have meaning. My name is Robert Duncan. If there is a chance, maybe we can meet again. I’ll have to excuse myself first. The back of my head hurts and I can’t stay here any longer.” 

Having said that, the dwarf turned around and began to walk towards the onlookers. And just like that, he snapped his fingers. A piece of light the size of a coin was thrown and swelled up in an instant. To the astonishment of those around him, Robert Duncan walked through the golden door at his usual pace without slowing down. The golden orb that fully accepted him evaporated in an instant. 

There was only cigarette smoke in the place where the wizard and the transfer door had disappeared. ‘The teleport is also neat.’ 

Also, Robert Dunn Kern’s last words were not about onlookers. There was another reason he said that the back of his head was sore. ‘The feeling is great. Of all the wizards I’ve met on Earth, he’s the highest level, except for the old dragon?’ 

After admiring that, Minjun immediately erased his thoughts about Robert Duncan. The last thing he muttered was that he probably wouldn’t see her again. Instead, he focused elsewhere. 

From there, he felt twelve gazes observing him from a distance. ‘Four more than before entering the safe.’ 

It didn’t exactly match the number of heirs. A dragon that was not an heir could also be watching, and though unlikely, there could be a gaze that Minjun didn’t notice. Without losing sight of the tail, Minjun moved with a leisurely pace. His direction was towards the residence where he was staying. 

On the way, he also stopped at a hypermarket. He packed a lot of meat, vegetables, and condiments. Without thinking deeply, he picked items up and put them wherever his hand went. It was enough to feed fifteen people. A few minutes later, he stood at the door of his residence room with a bunch of paper bags full of stuff inside. Eyes go to the lock. The expression did not change. A tattered barrier that did not even hide the traces of being broken. 

Although it was installed with the intention of breaking it in the first place… 

‘It’s so messy, I tore it up.’ 

Upon arriving back, he took out the groceries and put them in the refrigerator. From there, he heard a voice from the table in the living room, just as he was about to fold the paper bag and finish cleaning up. “How’s Duncan?” 

“······So so. He looked fine.” 

A blonde man sitting at a table in the living room smiled. “I am not surprised. Also, that’s great.”

“So I see you here again.” 

At this, the prisoner looked at the dragon lord’s eldest child on Earth, at least by his standards, a young dragon fresh out of a hatchling. Dragon then shot an arrogant look at Minjun. How solemn that expression was, and how stiff his neck was, Minjun could barely hold back a laugh. 

‘All dragons that haven’t reached the age of 100 are skinny cubs who aren’t even pale.’ 

It was obvious what they were thinking. How did the conclusion that rolled that less ripe head comes out? He must be in a state of confidence that he took the initiative through his sudden appearance. It was truly a ridiculous misunderstanding. 

This was because Minjun had the confidence to fry such a young dragon to the bone and chew it whole. Of course, it was a figurative expression….

Or so he thought.