Retire 333

333 Report Smuggling to 125 (1)

May 30, 2022.

Busan Port.

2:49 a.m.

Countless containers were stacked high, forming walls like a fortress. There were lights, but they couldn’t fully illuminate the spaces between the containers. There were people working late—security guards and others—but compared to broad daylight, blind spots were inevitable.

It was the perfect time for anyone who wanted to avoid being seen.

Two shadows moved through the darkness.

The many CCTV cameras were useless. In fact, the two didn’t even bother pretending to care about them. They avoided the well-lit areas, but… for any ordinary person, it would be nearly impossible to spot the two figures moving in the shadows.

They were so blurred, so much a part of the darkness, that even with your eyes wide open, you’d barely see them. Even the person walking with you might lose track if they weren’t careful.

But the two slipped quietly out of the port.

It was late, but once they reached the street, a few cars were still driving by. Avoiding those eyes as well, they crossed a few more shadowy alleys before emerging onto a main road.

Only then did they take off their tightly pulled-down hats.

“Works pretty well.”

Hong Seokyeong, uncharacteristically, whistled and praised the effect with a touch of frivolity.

It was hot. Even without moving much, the inside of my hat was damp with sweat. Being resistant to heat or cold didn’t mean you didn’t feel it. I brushed the hair from my forehead and peeled the rune off the inside of my hat.

The rune, using a secondary rune by Noah Michel, was quite durable. The core rune was one developed by Park Seohyun, but I wondered—did Michel know his own rune was being used to rob him blind?

Well, it’s not like only one or two of Michel’s runes had been leaked. If he’d developed even one of them by now, he’d know. Judging by what Hope had said about Michel’s personality, he was probably losing his temper somewhere. He was a man very confident in his own abilities.

“Seohyun’s going to make this later?”

“Yes. For now…”

I tore up the paper with the rune drawn on it. The mana infused in the rune dissipated into the air. Burning it would be the surest way to destroy the evidence, but I couldn’t do that on the main street, so I tucked it away in my pocket.

“She probably won’t be the one to make it this time.”

“Will it be registered under your name?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t know if we’ll even reveal it, but if we do, it’ll probably be under Mr. Kim’s name.”

A rune developed by the witch Park Seohyun.

A rune that blended with shadows and made you almost impossible to notice—surprisingly, it was perfectly suited for sneaking into places. It was always meant for limited use, but…

…Was it originally made for situations like this?

I didn’t know much about the magical or scientific theory behind runes, so I couldn’t explain it in detail. But if Noah Michel’s concealment rune hid mana, Park Seohyun’s rune was more about hiding visually. It wasn’t true invisibility, but a low-quality CCTV camera wouldn’t pick you up. Just in case, I’d checked CIA reports and avoided any area with cameras.

If I’d known the rune could be used like this, I wouldn’t have taught it to the kids. No wonder Imi-seon had freaked out when she came to observe class that time. I’d just thought she was excited by the new potential of runes.

Hong Seokyeong crushed his rune as well.

“Still not much to go on here.”

He spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

“We expected as much.”

“I expected it, but I still hoped for something.”

Hong Seokyeong had suggested that, while he was in Korea, we finally investigate the Busan Port warehouse we’d kept putting off. I’d been worried about it too, so things moved quickly.

What I hadn’t expected was Hong Seokyeong using a rune. I hadn’t thought to use one for this purpose, so it surprised me a bit. It was convenient, though.

He was still frowning and grumbling.

“It’d be easier if we actually knew what we were looking for. Relying on the word of a suspicious monster is a big risk.”

“Even if it’s a risk…”

“It is! You know how stingy the Americans are! They demanded every bit of compensation for their investigation!”

He clicked his tongue.

“All I got was trouble. And now I have to go back to America! Do you know how valuable my labor is? At this rate, they’re getting it for free.”

“You’d have gone even if we hadn’t asked you to investigate.”

“……No!”

“No?”

“…Maybe.”

His bluster faded. It was almost funny, the way he always said things he didn’t mean. They say people don’t change easily as they get older—he’d always been like this.

I drove in the nail with a voice full of disbelief.

“If we’d asked you to help with a dungeon raid, you’d have gone.”

“…That’s true.”

“When you go, ask about Alex Hope, too.”

“That guy? Why?”

“Gamble’s acquaintance works over there, right? Just say you were curious and ask if they’ve learned anything about monsters. If Hong Seokyeong is the one asking, maybe they’ll say something.”

“Americans aren’t sentimental—they won’t talk.”

“Make them sentimental.”

He gave me a strange look.

“Now I see how you were raised, and how you worked.”

It didn’t feel like a compliment.

“Your subordinates must have had a rough time.”

“What do you mean, rough?”

I snorted.

“If you think you can slack off after working like that, you’re mistaken.”

“So you do realize you were tough?”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

“Good. At least I didn’t raise you to be disrespectful.”

“……”

Continuing this conversation would only make things worse for me.

I quickly changed the subject.

Or rather, returned to the original topic.

“Anyway, I don’t think we’ll find anything more at the port right now. If Henry Lehmann has any sense, he won’t be operating openly in Korea at this time.”

“Maybe we should have acted as soon as we got the information.”

I’d thought about that, but shook my head.

“No. We don’t know exactly when Tati’s information is from. Even the passport shows it was years ago.”

“Hmm.”

“I last saw my brother around the same time. This is at least two years old. There wouldn’t have been much difference. Even the lab I was in was cleaned up much earlier than I remembered…”

“So the information’s already expired?”

“Coldly speaking, yes.”

Hong Seokyeong didn’t argue.

“It might be better to track Steven Fowler’s movements. The others probably didn’t enter so openly…”

“But a few did have passports.”

“Ordinary ones. It shows they’re not stupid.”

“Illegal Awakened… We won’t be able to track them down on our own.”

“They’re Lehmann’s men. Let the Americans handle it. Why should we do everything? We’ve got more than enough to deal with already.”

“Sounds like you enjoy teaching.”

Hong Seokyeong chuckled. It’s not that I “enjoyed” it…

…I had nothing to say.

I didn’t think teaching was my calling, but seeing the kids grow bit by bit did make me feel proud.

I didn’t know what standards Hong Seokyeong used, or where he found them, but they were such gentle kids that they’d never really caused any trouble.

Or so I thought.

Had they?

I don’t know. The past always gets romanticized.

“So, what should we do?”

Hong Seokyeong suddenly asked. He was looking back at the pier we’d just left.

The deep night. The weather was starting to get warm, and even at dawn, the air was muggy. The salty smell of the sea drifted in.

Time moved fast. It had already been well over a year since I came here. The pursuit of the Ark had stalled. Both Noah Michel and we were aware of each other, but neither could make a move. Social standing aside, even the physical distance made it difficult.

The only reason we knew Noah Michel was after Uirok was because it was me—otherwise, even Kim Chaemin wouldn’t have figured it out. Michel probably didn’t even know he’d been found out.

So we couldn’t take revenge, either. If we made a move, we’d just be stirring things up. Kim Chaemin was frustrated by that, but… what could we do? Just the fact that Uirok had been targeted was dangerous enough. I didn’t want to give Michel more targets.

“Should we go to the warehouse Atlas uses?”

It was clear that Henry Lehmann was on a different path from Noah Michel. I didn’t know what they called themselves now, but since Lehmann’s connection to the old Atlas was clear, we decided to call “Lehmann and friends” Atlas for convenience. It was easier to keep track that way.

I asked Hong Seokyeong,

“What do you think we should do?”

“You’re asking me?”

“You’ve done this sort of thing more than I have.”

“Hm, hmhm. That’s true.”

He straightened his shoulders, oddly proud.

Why? Why was he so pleased by this?

I didn’t understand, but it wasn’t hard to humor him. Right, he was a simple man, happy with a few words like that… Kind of pitiful, really.

“Better to listen to the expert.”

“Ahem. Right. Thanks to our American friends’ hard work, we know which warehouse Atlas uses in Korea, right?”

“Yes. Usually, it’s used for smuggling drugs and the like.”

“But as we just discussed, Lehmann would be cautious at a time like this.”

“If he has any sense, yes.”

He nodded.

“So he’d have prepared for the possibility of an intrusion. Normally, the CIA or I wouldn’t make a big move in this situation.”

“What do you mean by a big move?”

“I mean, nothing that would make the news. Arrests, whatever. Awakened crimes always involve violence, and that draws attention. If you’re not careful, someone you’ve caught could be released because of public opinion.”

I thought about it, then agreed. Public reaction to Awakened violence was always bad. In my original timeline, there were no dungeon breaks, so it was less of an issue, but in this era, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to get sued after saving people from monsters.

You didn’t have to look far—just think of what would have happened in Myeongdong…

“So they’ll have prepared for Awakened, but nothing else.”

“Nothing else?”

“Yeah. Are there still payphones around these days?”

“Payphones?”

“…Ah. You’re not from the payphone generation. Tsk. I’ll have to ask Hunter Lee for this.”

“What are you planning?”

Hong Seokyeong put the rune-less hat back on his head. Standing under the streetlight, the brim cast a deep shadow over his face.

But his chin was lit up by the bright light. He wore a smile straight out of a movie villain—full of confidence.

“Let’s report them to the police for smuggling.”