Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 226.2

Either way, Assistant Manager Jin Nasol didn’t seem to care and just gave Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae a look of disbelief.

“You want to take out a Darkness that’s been secured in a carrier? Are you out of your mind?”

“He’s not locked up. I think he’s just in there because it’s comfortable! Right?”

Partial confirmation.

: Adapting to public-facing duties

“……”

Assistant Manager Jin Nasol stared at the smoke I used to write words outside the crate, her expression shifting like she had a lot to say, but then she unexpectedly apologized right away.

“My apologies.”

Not at all… That was a perfectly reasonable thing to say.

Supervisor Park Minseong hurriedly spoke up gently, addressing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.

“Thank you. Your teammate got taken in by the Disaster Management Bureau, so you must be feeling uneasy… I appreciate you thinking of us.”

“Hm? Oh, Ms. Pony.”

Lee Seonghae smiled faintly.

“We’re not from the same team.”

“Ah.”

…The air went quiet for a moment.

“Not the elite team?”

“Nope?”

“I see.”

That was the end of that conversation.

……It seemed that Kang Yihak wasn’t exactly a ‘good person’ in Assistant Manager Lee Songhae’s eyes.

And Assistant Manager Jin Nasol didn’t seem to care at all. Even though the two of them had worked together in the Mermaid Grave…

‘They really are such consistent people…’

Feeling like my mangled stomach might start hurting, I decided to shake my bell again.

At this point, shaking it every time I felt stressed made it feel like one of those stress-relief dolls or balls they give you at the dentist’s office…

“Just give me the access card.”

“Ah, yes.”

Supervisor Park Minseong handed over an access card to Assistant Manager Jin Nasol while nibbling on oranda.

Then, after some hesitation, he asked,

“Pardon, about our squad leader… I mean, D-squad’s Section Chief Lee Jaheon. Is he doing well?”

“How should I know?”

Assistant Manager Jin Nasol frowned but surprisingly answered anyway.

“Better than before, I guess. A new batch got hired recently, too.”

“…Ah. I… see.”

“Well, it’s not unusual for all members except the squad leader to change out completely, so he’ll manage fine.”

“……”

“Oh! As for Section Chief Lee Jaheon, I think he went on a long-term Darkness exploration a couple of days ago. Some… boarding school ghost story, I think?”

Assistant Manager Lee Songhae spoke up, and she added that it’d probably take four or five days. Only then did Supervisor Park smile and nod.

“I see. Thank you.”

After the two women left to go about their business, Supervisor Park whispered to me,

“If we’re lucky, we might get to see Section Chief Lee Jaheon too. If he comes back from that Darkness this week… I’m kind of looking forward to it. Aren’t you?”

Tap.

“Alright.”

And as Supervisor Park smiled, I carefully and discreetly made a request.

There was no one else around.

Request : Transport secretly

“…Huuh?”

I poked the item with smoke.

“Oh, you… want this?”

Tap.

“Uh, would it be fine though— Uh, Sergeant?”

“Here…”

Thank you.

I carefully gathered the various writing tools the sergeant pushed into the carrier crate, collecting them into the smoke surrounding me.

And after my first night shift at the annex front desk ended…

[Ah, a place of rest! Of course, it’s a windowless structure with no ventilation, but since my friend wears a gas mask, it’s not much of an inconvenience.]

I returned to the isolation room and sat down on the bed.

Then, very carefully, I tried to become aware of my body…

To recognize each part I could identify, and move it.

‘Come out.’

Outward.

To where it’s supposed to be.

Crrrk.

Wriggle, wriggle.

Strange noises seemed to echo inside my body, and a wave of nausea rose, but I managed to move.

After what felt like enough time for my body to be drenched in sweat. Or, I mean, if I could even sweat.

‘……Done.’

I extended my arm, touched the Security Team uniform near my left arm’s wrist, just below the elbow.

Then I opened the zipper.

Ziiiip.

Inside, beneath the unzipped uniform, I saw strange, shapeless flesh barely holding form.

But I also saw exactly what I had intended to locate.

A tattoo.

Its color shifted as if activating.

:恩主:

The inventory tattoo.

‘Found it.’

I reached into the tattoo.

‘…!’

It works. It’s still functional…!

[Ah, this leads to the passage connected to the Cheerful Theme Park manager’s office! I recall how that unworthy mountain lodge keeper ended up working in far too grand a position thanks to you, Mr. Roe Deer…]

It wasn’t quite that, but yes, it was a much larger space.

And of course, it was mostly empty now, as it should be. I’d cleared everything out before using the Wish Ticket.

Some items had been left with the Disaster Management Bureau.

‘In the end, I handed almost everything over to Section Chief Lee Jaheon…’

I recalled leaving almost all my gear in a subway locker and sending its location and password to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

Yes, it made sense for it to be empty.

But… there was a strange sense of presence inside.

Something occupying my space.

‘There’s… something else in there.’

But I couldn’t keep my security suit unzipped for too long, so I couldn’t investigate further.

For now, I quickly checked only the things I could hold in my hand. The items I expected.

First, the blue scale.

It’s from the blue dragon mascot at the Cheerful Theme Park.

I hadn’t given this to anyone out of fear of the consequences.

The dragon did say I could ‘call upon them’… but right now, if I tried, it’d probably just add another incident report to the company logs, so I’d hold off.

‘I’ll just keep it in mind.’

I pulled my hand away from the clear, smooth, and cool sensation.

Then… the next item caught my attention.

Second, a paper boat.

It was left behind by Baek Saheon when he escaped Jisan Village.

[Hm. Allow this Braun to guess. Because it’s a somewhat personal item, and its value is hard to gauge, you chose not to give it to anyone, yes?]

Correct.

And maybe, thanks to that, it would be invaluable.

It could be a way to learn what happened during those six months I spent in the basement, in that shattered body, without a self.

And perhaps about Jang Heowoon-ssi, too.

[Oh, a passageway.]

Exactly.

A boat is a means of sending something somewhere.

And paper is for writing.

Put those two together, and…

‘This could be a communication device.’

I took the paper boat out of the tattoo.

Then quickly zipped my uniform closed and straightened it.

‘Huu.’

Done. I’d managed that safely.

Then I looked closely at the boat.

It was folded from somewhat worn paper, but it had clearly been carefully kept. Despite being fragile, it wasn’t torn or crumpled.

‘Thinking of it like an item, this is probably how to use it…’

I carefully unfolded the boat, flattening the paper.

And revealed the side hidden inside…

[Oh, jackpot, Friend.]

There was writing on it.

Uh

Are you dead?

The pencil-written letters were in Baek Saheon’s handwriting.

Of course, I couldn’t know when it had been written.

But judging by the nuance of the words, it wasn’t something he’d scrawled randomly before fleeing Jisan Village.

‘This question seems directed at me.’

Or, more precisely, at the ‘Agent Grapes’ who had drawn the golden stick in Jisan Village.

‘…Good.’

I searched through the writing tools the sergeant had given me and picked out a pencil.

Then I wrote on the paper.

I’m not dead.

A moment later.

What the

A reply came back.

The handwriting was hurried and jagged, as if shocked.

Salt Goblin

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