Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 236.2

‘…Is this guy a total idiot?’

Why walk into something like that on purpose.

He wrote exactly that onto the boat.

The reply came back.

Someone asked for help.

“……What a damn sucker.”

Yet somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to sneer.

Because he’d personally seen, back in Jisan Village, that this agent was someone who actually kept promises.

“……”

Baek Saheon stared at the paper.

The agent was requesting something.

We found a spot in this facility

where we can see outside.

Could you look at my drawing

and explain where in Jisan Village

this view is located?

Baek Saheon was about to write ‘With what nerve—’ when another line appeared.

If I learn anything about Jisan Village

during this operation, I’ll share it with you.

You’re directly involved, after all.

And at the end.

I apologize about not being able to compensate you with an item.

……

Ha… fuck. Seriously!!

Baek Saheon tore at his hair, but in the end he scribbled back.

Fine. Show me the drawing first.

* * *

‘Oh.’

Baek Saheon agreed to share Jisan Village intel.

Surprisingly smooth again, just like last time. Apparently the ‘agent infiltrating a cult’ story was playing well…

‘Guess giving him that initial Jisan Village info was the hook.’

Or maybe… seeing how easily he snapped and vented, maybe he just needed an emotional garbage bin.

Anyway, now I had Baek Saheon’s simple hand-sketched map of the village memorized.

[Hooh, Mr. Roe Deer, your ordinary ex-roommate actually has some drawing skills.]

Yeah.

The map was clear and easy to read. The well, the pine tree, the hanok where we’d been held, even the spot with the village guardian shrine were marked nicely.

And where we’d just looked out from in this Authority Zone was…

‘…Under the well.’

– If there’s an entrance, it’s probably around here.

Meaning, the Jisan Village well sits right over where this underground bunker’s exit should be.

A strange feeling.

[Indeed, rather intriguing. So, are the twins who vanish every lunchtime slipping out to check the well via the entrance? Or heading deeper into some other hidden facility?]

[But this fact… Oh, if everything goes by your plan, Mr. Roe Deer, we’ll know soon enough!]

Right.

Once I’d shown I could use an ‘item’ to communicate and gather intel, Ho Yoowon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje took on another job.

– We’ve got to tail them, of course.

Carefully track where those twins disappeared to at lunchtime.

To figure out what exactly this underground bunker was preparing.

– I’ve said this all along, if we don’t first understand what’s going on here, we can’t handle sudden incidents or dig up specific intel.

Sticking close to the convert grandma would draw some eyes, but it would also make strange movements look less suspicious.

Since they’d already shown me that ‘performance’ last night.

‘Even if we’re caught, Ho Yoowon doesn’t seem like the type to go down easy.’

Besides… how should I put it, the so-called executives of this Happy Ending Sect, well. I’d seen that they were supposedly strong in theory, but somehow there’s no real psychological tension about them.

‘It all just feels shallow. Fragmentary, so to speak…’

Still, the mystery of the place and the oddity of the situation were enough to make the air feel strange.

So I sat quietly, matching the village landmarks to the underground bunker’s angles and layout, calculating against the map, and waited for the other two to return.

And, by the time the lunch period was nearly over—

“Found it.”

Ho Yoowon and Assistant Manager Eun Haje had come back with something.

Still in her grandma disguise, Assistant Manager Eun Haje caught her breath, then urgently knelt and started sketching on the floor with her finger.

She was drawing the bunker’s interior.

“If we see it this way, this side is north. The connected east is the dining hall, east-west is the converts’ living quarters.”

And then… smack dab in the center.

“Here’s that big hemispherical chamber where they’ve crammed all the coffins. The place they call a ritual hall but really it’s for corpse disposal.”

Symbolic.

And…

“There’s a passage behind the coffins.”

Her finger slid downwards.

South.

“That’s where the twins are going.”

……

“So? Anything to cross-check with whatever ‘informant’ you contacted?”

There is.

I mentally overlaid Baek Saheon’s map on top of Eun Haje’s rough sketch…

And that’s when I realized.

The place the twins went.

It’s right under the Jisan Village guardian shrine.

And what had been under the shrine?

‘The Centipede Sage.’

Of course, the centipede was dead and even its liquor had been sealed by Agent Bronze’s bullets. Nothing should be left there now.

Only the empty space where the shrine once stood. And yet…

What are they trying to do down there?

“Hm. That’s not a good sign.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje frowned at my explanation.

“Then how about one more check?” Ho Yoowon suggested.

Hm?

“Just a quick peek inside. We wait till the twins come back out, then slip in.”

Ho Yoowon smiled faintly, turning to Assistant Manager Eun Haje.

“Ms. Falcon. If you refuse, I might get sad thinking you don’t trust me…”

“…Fine. Just don’t ditch me if it goes bad.”

With an unamused face, Assistant Manager Eun Haje looked back at me.

“Alright. We’ll check inside and look through the converts’ area too, so stay put and wait.”

Hm.

“Don’t worry. If anything smells off, we’ll pull back fast.”

Then maybe I should go instead this time?

Isn’t it risky to have the same people go twice? Maybe I…

“Mm, Roe…”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje patted my shoulder.

“You know you’re dragging around that black smoke right now, yeah?”

Ah.

“Sorry, but with that plus the yellow flicker you’ve got going, you’ve got a full dramatic entrance effect. You’re basically a walking billboard.”

……

Right……

“Just stay here. Instead, could you try to pin down the exact location of the bunker’s exit while we’re gone?”

I nodded quietly.

“Okay. Then see you at dinner time.”

And with that, they went out to search again…

“Let us gather and pray for happiness.”

Time passed, and soon the appointed dinner hour arrived.

But.

“……”

“Grandma Kim Bokja… didn’t come?”

Neither Assistant Manager Eun Haje nor Ho Yoowon showed up to the evening meal.

Salt Goblin

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