Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 223.2

Only at the very end did he finally withdraw the jakdu.

“Aigoo, thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all! Helping good people is the right thing to do!”

“Ee-yah~ Really? Same here. That’s my day job, you know. Fulfilling work, helping good civilians. But…” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Agent Choi’s gaze fell on the gold insignia visible through Lee Seonghae’s mask.

Elite Team. Dolphin. Assistant Manager.

“And why are you working for Daydream?”

“……”

“You know plenty of good people have died because of that company, right?”

Lee Seonghae smiled faintly.

“Well, I try to stop bad things wherever I see them!”

“Is that so? How about just quitting?”

“……”

Lee Seonghae didn’t answer. And Agent Choi let the subject drop.

[Oh, looks like he’s about to leave.]

Right.

This was a simultaneous incident affecting multiple editors. Agents were likely deployed in teams, each taking separate locations.

He’d learned what he needed here, so now he’d leave the cleanup to the Vermillion-Bird Team and head off to support the other Black-Tortoise Teams.

I knew the procedure.

I’d done it myself once.

[…Friend, you seem upset. Oh dear, are you alright?]

I’m fine.

No, rather… I can’t even tell. This dull brain of mine isn’t good at drawing proper conclusions.

I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling.

I only watched, through the bars of the carrier, as the familiar figure stepped out the officetel’s front door…

“Like what I was saying.”

Agent Choi paused at the doorway. He turned back, approached, and spoke in a low voice.

To the sergeant.

“You know me, don’t you?”

“……”

“You know the employee who goes by ‘Roe Deer’, too.”

The sergeant met Agent Choi’s gaze.

“What happened? Don’t tell me that crap about him being listed as ‘missing, presumed dead’ after the train ghost story incident. I want the truth. What happened to him after that?”

“……”

“…Did he actually use the Wish Ticket?”

The sergeant replied slowly.

“The Wish Ticket… was used.”

“……”

Agent Choi’s expression went blank.

“And then?”

“……”

“What happened after that?”

The sergeant gently tapped my carrier, then turned his head toward me—

“Not happening.”

The jakdu slammed against the bars.

“Unauthorized use of supernatural disaster.”

A flash of yearned light sparked through the cage’s bars.

“Eyy, sir. Showing up at a crime scene with a suspicious carrier like that… Anyone would take it for a mobile containment unit for a supernatural disaster.”

“……”

“Should I just split it open to check? See what it’s for?”

“It’s… not like that.”

“Then answer me.”

“……”

The sergeant didn’t respond.

Because he couldn’t confirm how I wanted to proceed.

The silence stretched for several seconds, and Agent Choi, who had a supernatural disaster to contain and civilians to rescue, began to show signs of impatience… then seemed to give up.

On getting answers right here and now.

“Alright. I suppose… maybe you just don’t feel like talking. That’s your right.”

Instead, he chose another approach.

“But maybe, over a hot bowl of seolleongtang[1], after you’ve had some time to rest, you’ll feel like opening up.”

The moment Agent Choi reached into his coat with a sly grin, I realized.

“And, no matter how you slice it, this situation is suspicious.”

“……!”

“A Daydream employee ‘just happened’ to hear a rumor and came here to catch a Darkness… and the timing of the report is so convenient, isn’t it?”

His instincts were chillingly sharp.

“When witnesses are involved at a Disaster scene, their statements often get clearer over time if they have a quiet place to think.”

Then, from his coat, he produced…

A Glass Prison transport device.

“The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau will provide you with a comfortable place to wait.”

Agent Choi had decided, while he was at it, to detain the Daydream Inc. employees together.

‘…No.’

I need to complete the job and return with the USB.

I released my smoke.

Just as I began to flow out of the carrier…

“You there.”

A cool voice rang through the officetel.

Someone new had entered and grabbed Agent Choi’s arm.

“Cool your head.”

“…!”

She was tall, carrying a Four-Tiger Evil-Slaying Sword.

Team Leader Haegeum, Black-Tortoise Team 3.

The agent I’d met at the Cheerful Theme Park stood there.

[Ah, indeed. The staff member who helped manage your resort!]

Correct.

“Matters involving shady corporations should be handled by a team leader when one is present. Rookie agents should head to the station instead.”

“……”

“You’re still young, I guess. Quite full of fire. Even trying to bend the rules.”

“Eyy, Noonim. I’m practically in my prime.”

Agent Choi smiled, but his words carried a hint of urgency.

“But I still have more to say…”

“I said, go, Agent.”

“……”

“The chaos here is all contained. Now you need to go and sweet-talk the Bureau Chief at the station. You’re the right man for it.”

Agent Choi froze for a moment, as if glued to the spot, but finally turned and strode away.

His footsteps faded down the hall.

……

“Huu.”

Team Leader Haegeum straightened, then swept her gaze over the two masked operatives.

“Alright. If the two of you from the Field Exploration Team have nothing more to say, why don’t you head out now?”

“…!”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Waity. Are Security Team personnel free to go as well?”

“Oh, I have business with them. Don’t worry, I’m not throwing them in a cell.”

“Ah, then we’ll wait—”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you very much!”

Kang Yihak bolted for the exit, and after a brief hesitation, Lee Seonghae followed. The two Field Exploration Team members left the officetel.

Agent Haegeum watched their retreating backs with a faintly bittersweet expression, then approached the sergeant.

And… she lowered her gaze.

To me.

“Golden Mascot.”

…!!

“Or should I call you Resort Owner?”

Note/s:

[1] Seolleongtang – ox bone soup; historically known as the dish served as a sacrifice to ancestors during the Joseon period. ↵

Salt Goblin

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