The Foreigner on the Periphery

Hell of Disbelief (18)

The elder dragon, Callieter, frowned as she looked at the back of the obese dragon flying in the night sky. It was not unreasonable that someone had mistaken it for a flying elephant. 

She lamented, ‘It’s hard to see with your eyes open.’ 

Putting a vulgar human soul in the body of a great dragon would be like that. If it was the soul of a noble fellow, there was no way he could have left him so fat. Actually, there was no such dragon. 

‘Anyway, what are the lowly races?’ 

It was like giving a body stronger than any ancient race, but it was like that. One grumbled and began to change the subject of thinking. 

She remembered the deal with Minjun. There were two things he requested of the Elder Dragon through his family. One was to expel the prisoners who persecuted a poor dragon ‘for no reason,’ and the other was….

– I would like to know the details of the sponsorship contract you signed with the Dreamland Church. 

Of course, there was no reason to tell Minjun. But what she offered in return caught her attention. 

– Is it your fault that you leaked information about Christoph to the church? When Minjun arrived in this country, all other German prisoners had been summoned by Goryong. But how could only Christopher escape and move independently? Because the dragon allowed it. And why did the denomination find out less than 24 hours after he received a special mission? Thanks to the informant who leaked information to them. How, then, was the informant able to closely track the actions of the prisoners who were cared for by the dragon? The answer is, because the informant was a dragon. 

‘I don’t know if I’m holding on to the evidence or if I’m just crying based on circumstantial evidence…’ 

With that, a strange light began to shine in Callieter’s eyes, reprinting the rest of the message Minjun had sent. 

– It must have been obvious why prisoners suddenly wanted to leave the scene one after another. You may have noticed that the committee gave you a surprise mission with a huge reward. So, I allowed only the stupidest and most humble inmate here to escape, and then followed him.

Even before contacting an intelligence dealer in Frankfurt, Christoph had found Jochaim’s whereabouts in several ways. In the process, Callieter had noticed. 

He was tracking the Dreamland Priest, and he informed the Frankfurt Church about it. 

– By the way, was the information leaked really because of the sponsorship contract? To save Jochaim? It’s weird to dismiss it like that. Even in this situation, if it was a strong contract that had to take the side of the bishop, you would have taken the initiative to protect it in the first place, instead of passive methods such as leaking information. 

Minjun concluded as follows. – After all, didn’t you just want to shake the plate once? If Jochaim is captured too soon, it will never be known as to why the Commission is after him. But once he’s escaped and observing the trend, he seems to think he’ll get some clues. 

– If the committee finds out about this, you’ll be in a lot of trouble. As a result, they are interfering with their work. But if you accept my deal, I’m afraid I’ll erase all of this from my memory. And we will also erase the debt from the Oslo School sweeping operation. 

If an ordinary human or prisoner had bet her deal with her in this way, she would have sneered at her or would be furious with her. Moreover, Minjun’s words were close to speculation to the last, and there was no mention of holding material evidence. However, the opponent was no ordinary prisoner.

‘I don’t need to gamble for nothing,’

She knew. That agent was the object of the eccentric favor of Earth’s Dragon Lords. Enough to send invitations without getting caught up in all sorts of big things. As everyone agreed, the old dragon indeed had done a lot of strange things, but none of them were without cause. Also, although he (in her opinion) did not reach the authority and power of an old dragon, he had quite a useful talent. 

And so, the old dragon accepted the deal. ‘Eventually, the bishop will fall into the hands of the committee.’ 

Through the investigation so far, they had found a clue as to why the committee was pursuing him. The Wyrm turned his head and looked over to Bremanhaven. He began to spew thick smoke, engulfed in flames everywhere. A mess then broke out right in front of Lair, but she had no intention of intervening. 

It wasn’t even a war, so some of the lower races would die. It was a job on land, not the speed of the sea, and if one were to wait a little bit anyway, it would soon be sorted out by Minjun’s hands. Furthermore···

‘A wide range of mental attacks that drive lower races crazy,’ she thought, was the reason the committee was targeting the bishop. It was greedy, but as a result of the investigation so far, it was not powerful enough to take away from the committee.

‘Still, I’ll have to mention it at the next dragon clan meeting. When are you planning to go back to work, Rod?’ 

*** 

Ha Eun-seong looked down at the city from the sky and was astonished. ‘No, what the hell is this?’ 

The dragon’s gaze, which could see the darkness as clearly as daytime, contained all the horrific sights. Disastrous slaughter soon took place everywhere. Those in charge of it ran, each with a weapon in their hand, wounding and killing anyone they saw. People began to scream and run away. Of course, the police came, but the problem was that there were was too much chaos within, even among the talented. 

Ha Eun-seong had not yet noticed, but those who were engulfed in madness had one thing in common. These were people who had already slept and suffered from nightmares and have woken up again. ‘Why are you here? Why did you go crazy all of a sudden?’ 

In the meantime, flames and smoke began to rise from all over the place. Ha Eun-seong kept flying in her embarrassment and found Minjun. 

= Agent! Right now, this neighborhood is completely crazy… Huh! = 

The most gruesome scenery he had ever seen was unfolding in front of me. The dragon then looked at Minjun, whose body was covered in blood. And wallowing at his feet… 

=Woo··· Whew!= 

Following the fact that the dragon sheds tears other than yawning, Ha Eun-seong gained another piece of knowledge. He sighed for a while and then said with tears in his eyes, = Ye, these people…= 

Minjun said bluntly. “Do not worry.” 

A shadow that grew under the amputation of the forearm and took the place of bone and flesh, sucking blood from clothing and skin. Most of them were the four prisoners who attacked him. And all of them are lying on the floor, horribly twisted. 

Contrary to how it looked, no one died as Minjun promised. Prosecution of property damage by the Commission was rare, unless in extreme cases where their tools were completely broken or permanently disabled. 

Moreover, Minjun limited it to a maximum of one week, even if he cursed. Being incapacitated for too long is considered to have prevented the payment of the survival tax. Although no prisoners had been charged for the latter reason, there was nothing wrong with being careful. 

“Woooooooooooooooooo!”

Ha Eun-seong looked at Asif-1,319,552 with fear. He moaned as he smoked a handful of red-brown mushroom colonies in the crevices between his eyes and orbits, in his nostrils, in his mouth, and in his ears. He didn’t want to even imagine what was going on inside that body. 

“Come on, let’s go. Guide me to the place where the alien head was.” 

=········Yes.= 

At this, the prisoner and the dragon flew right away and went to the house where Jochaim was hiding. 

“!” The agent’s eyes, which had been looking outside the house, soon become sharp. ‘Traces of breaking the barrier and then leaning again!’ 

The spell made with lips licked began to dig into the cracks of the loose barrier. It seemed that those who destroyed it did not have time to elaborately reconstruct it. The scene inside was focused on his retina, and he saw the uninvited guests who had arrived before him inside. 

‘Damn, you’re one step late!’ 

There were three people of the same race as the patriarch he killed, now in that house. ‘They are heretical judges!’

It would be late due to a sudden delay. He thought it was a disappointment, but while the people inside were observing without noticing, he realized something strange. ‘What… Aren’t we right and we’re having a peaceful conversation?’ 

Minjun, who was worried about whether he would attack right away, changed his mind and memorized the spell once more. In addition to this, he began to eavesdrop on the conversation going on inside. And soon, his eyes widened. 

*** 

=Please don’t do this, Bishop Jochaim.= 

Jochaim grabbed the head of his unconscious adoptive father and looked at the intruders. The identities of the heterogeneous races that broke through the barrier he had unfolded could be known just by looking at their appearance. They were heresy judges sent from the hometown of the patriarch, where the main church of the denomination was currently located. 

The bishop also took note of the scars left on their necks. It was almost similar to the one under the chin on both sides. A scar from a knife cut. 

It did not appear to be congenital. Perhaps it also had some religious significance. A meaning that was not told to the people of Earth. He then began to proclaim in a sharp voice. “If you come any closer, I don’t know what I will do.” 

A divine light flashed in his hand holding the severed head. If the number was wrong, then it would simply be a gesture as if he was going to break his head.

As he spits like that in embarrassment, he blamed himself inwardly. Would this trick and threat work? 

However, the response that came back was unexpected. = Please calm down. Let’s put our heads down and talk.= 

The fight had continued ever since. Jochaim constantly rolled his eyes, looking for an escape route, but it wasn’t easy. Moreover, those people… 

‘Great divine power!’ 

They were those with powers that exceeded what the Patriarch had shown during his lifetime. Moreover, the grace of God that flows from the sheath on each waist was overwhelming. It was obviously a great thing, but he couldn’t even guess the identity of the object.

It made Jochaim even angrier. How many secrets were there that the members of the alternate district did not know? Of course, if it was that level of a holy creature, they should know the extent of their existence. 

= Priest, give us the head. = 

At this, Jochaim shook his head. “I can no longer trust you.” 

And, when he listed the facts that the general headquarters had been deceiving to the people of Earth one by one, a bewildered light stood on the faces of the aliens.

=········= 

A heavy silence then continued. Effortlessly, one of the heretical judges spoke up. = That’s right. That’s what ‘that man’ was all talking about. = 

“That’s right! It’s all gone!” 

=If we’ve heard that far, we can’t just keep our mouths shut. listen to me I hid part of the doctrine from the people of Earth… to protect you.= 

Jochaim felt his stomach twist. Was it such a nonsensical lie to say that he was coming now?! 

“Don’t be silly!” 

= Even if there is something you do not understand, listen to the end. Some of our secrets involve putting the entire sect at risk if disclosed to the committee. That is why missionaries sent to this world are not instructed to spread the doctrine in a limited way. Reluctantly. = 

Jochaim felt bewildered by the strange words in his opponent’s mind. Committee? Why were they suddenly not mentioned here? 

= That’s also why some of the manuscripts of the ‘Book of Asif’ you received were deleted! It’s a confidential document that cannot be handled carelessly unless we are on the same level as our mother-in-law’s level of vigilance. The moment we fall into the hands of the committee, it’s all over! Again, we made that choice to protect you and the people of this dimension. I’m here today to take the risk out of you! = 

“What?” 

= That head! We have to go get it back. The soul that dwells there has absorbed too much to overflow with wrath! So I can’t control my abilities and I’m running rampant. After he’s resurrected, the murderers’ frenzy is growing in scale and speeding up, isn’t it? Screams can be heard everywhere and the smell of smoke fills this city alone. As long as the head is on Earth, things will only get worse. So we will retrieve it and dispose of it.= 

Jochaim could not believe it. He shook his head again with a firm expression. = Priest, please! = 

At this, he laughed. “You try to deceive me with sweet words. Do you mean that we can somehow pass this moment by giving and treating those who are branded as heretics while giving them the title of priest?” 

At that moment, strange expressions appeared on the faces of the heretical judges. The emotions contained in the ensuing mental wave made Jochaim feel both embarrassed and guilty. 

=Sorry, we lied to you again.= 

It was not even funny anymore. Jochaim began to spit out poisonous words. “How did this happen? Let’s try to put aside all those absurd excuses.”

This race was lamenting. No matter what the other person already said, he wouldn’t listen. 

= The seeds of distrust towards us have turned your heart into hell in the end. It’s all our fault. The sins committed by lying must be washed away with the truth.= 

Then, he began to speak with a determined expression on his face. = No one is a heretic until the heresy judge pronounces it. And we haven’t sentenced you yet. And there will be no sentencing.= 

“What the hell is that?” 

It was incomprehensible. 

=It was after you disappeared that we asked for permission to jump off the committee. So the committee thought you were the one to be excommunicated. That was our intentional misunderstanding, and fortunately, the rumor spread like that. Most Earthlings will think you’ve already become a heretic. Asking the German government to extradite you also played a part. There is no extradition treaty signed, so they can’t agree to it. =

Nevertheless, he had not yet received a formal notice of excommunication. The Frankfurt Church considered the reason only because the heretical judge had not yet arrived at the scene. It was only a matter of time, but in the end, he expected Jochaim to be excommunicated. 

“If there is no need for a heresy trial, why are you not in any other organization and you are here…” 

= No, the trial will proceed. And I’m going to give you a sentence of excommunication.= 

“No way!” 

Jochaim couldn’t tell how much of what the author was saying was true, and how much of it was a lie. “Do you think I would believe such bullshit? What is your father’s crime? Is it the sin of spreading too many believers on Earth by faithfully preaching?!” 

=The author committed a greater sin in death than in life.=

He hesitated before speaking again. 

 =You must have heard of the currency called talents.= 

“?!” 

= So far, the committee has been through the same thing every year. The amount in hand must have been slightly less than the estimated total amount of talents mined. But it was within the margin of error, so I passed it on. It always has been.= 

The Earth Bishop felt dizzy because the story was going in a completely different direction than expected. “What is that now?” 

= Listen to the end. Why would they perceive it that way? It’s because it’s been so long since I took it for granted. But, what would happen if you had doubts that that might not be the case? As soon as it is possible to assume that someone can tamper with a talent that has not yet been mined, everything becomes in danger. Yes, we know how they mine their talents. And you know how to hide deep inside that pit. Beyond the line where even the ancient races fear and reluctant to enter. = 

“A mining pit?” 

=I put it in my mouth to help you understand, but in fact, mining is a disrespectful word. You already know the true name of the place that the committee does not know.=

= …It’s Ellahu-Praga.=