I’m an Immigration Officer!

“The Evil God Cult?”
At those words, my mind snapped back into focus.

“Did you just say the Evil God Cult?”
Hearing my question, she threw one back at me.
“Who did you meet to come home soaked in such a vile aura?”

Vile aura.
I took a step forward.
“Can you tell me what color it was?”

Looking deeply disturbed, Erzena took a big step back before reluctantly answering.
“Like dried blood. Dark crimson… It’s a kind of power only the Evil God Cult uses…”
She got the color of the magic circle exactly right.

That couldn’t be a coincidence.
If the organization behind this is the Evil God Cult, it lines up.
They were believed to have vanished after their defeat in the Holy War. But before that, they were a powerful sect that stood toe-to-toe with the Holy Order.

They had motive. They had reason to hate us. And they had every justification to target the Saintess.
And they were violent—extremely so.
Even in a world full of enemies of the Holy Order, none had a history of hatred as bitter and reciprocal as the Evil God Cult.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner—wait a minute.
I realized what I had been doing just moments ago.
I’d been obsessing over the name “Hattenshila” the changeling had mentioned, blindly chasing names while completely missing the bigger picture.

The fact that she had an employer already pointed to the presence of a larger force.
It was the first thing she said during interrogation…
And only now did the final word she uttered—right before the curse activated—flash back into my mind.
—Evil God…

Goddammit.
I rubbed my forehead.
The answer had been handed to me. Plainly. Right there.

“You idiot…”
Blinded by someone dying in front of me… by the shock of an obvious terror attack, I missed the clearest lead.
Even if I hadn’t heard it clearly, I could’ve just asked Erzena—the person who was actually kidnapped—instead of wasting six hours tearing through files at the office.

What the hell had I been doing?
The realization drained the strength from my body.
And no—this wasn’t something I could just sleep off.

“Erzena.”
I took a deep breath and grabbed her hand.
“Y-yes?”

She looked completely startled.
“I need to ask for your company. Just for a moment.”
And with that, I threw the door open and marched out.

 
****
Thirty minutes later, Southern Border Immigration Office—Conference Room

The full team of Sensory Inspectors had just barely made it home when they were urgently summoned again.
Every single one of them trudged into the room looking deeply irritated, muttering complaints as they took their seats.
“You said we were done for the day. Calling us back like this is not okay.”
“Yaaawn… I was this close to falling asleep.”
“This is seriously crossing the line.”
“We told you to rest today…”

But then they noticed Erzena sitting beside me and blinked in confusion.
“Huh? Miss Erzena? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, uh—hello. I was suddenly asked to come, too…”

Her awkward greeting prompted the others to straighten up and take their seats properly.
After a moment of looking at her, the Olfactory Inspector spoke up.
“Chief Inspector. You’ve remembered something, haven’t you?”

“I believe I’ve found a very likely suspect behind the attack.”
The Tactile Inspector’s face turned grave.
“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I don’t have hard evidence yet, but the causal links are strong. This attack…”
Just as I was about to continue, the Gustatory Inspector raised her hand.
“Um… sorry, but are you going to tell us which organization it is?”

“…”
Silence.
What was she even talking about?

But she looked genuinely confused and continued anyway.
“Also, what attack? I thought that changeling had already been caught?”
“Gustatory Inspector. Do you not know what’s been going on?”

“Nope.”
…What?
“Did I not explain everything that happened?”

“As soon as you came in, you were just possessed or something. All you said was ‘Give me the departure records and books on changelings,’ remember?”
Ah. Right.
I really had only said that one thing.

‘Bring me the departure logs and books on changelings.’
That was it.
The Auditory Inspector chimed in beside her.

“I thought something was off after you came back from the Border Count, but since you didn’t say anything, we had no idea.”
“Ah…”
I let out a long sigh.

They’d been called back here without even knowing what was going on.
I’d been so consumed by it all, I hadn’t even thought to fill them in.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve explained everything.”

So I did.
I summarized all that had happened—from the interrogation, the curse, the bloody death, to Erzena’s sudden identification of the aura… and the group behind it.
By the time I finished, the Sensory Inspectors stared at one another, shocked.

“Is that true? Seriously?”
Erzena nodded.
“I can still feel the same aura on the Olfactory and Tactile Inspectors. That dark crimson, revolting energy.”

“Damn it. Are you serious?! Ughhh…”
The two of them shuddered, brushing their shoulders as if trying to physically remove the sensation.
Like that would help.

“But… weren’t they defeated in the Holy War fifteen years ago?”
“They lost, yes. But a small number survived and fled north. In fact, the whole goal of the Holy War was to wipe out the Evil God Cult entirely.”
“Then it must’ve been one of the remnants pulling this off…”

Everything finally began to line up.
The kidnapping of the Saintess, the recent terror attack—
Now Erzena’s testimony had turned my suspicions into something more tangible. Not just a theory, but real evidence.

“Now all that’s left is the name the changeling gave—‘Hattenshila’…”
She had said:
—My employer’s name is Hattenshil—

Then the Gustatory Inspector raised her hand again.
“Are we even sure it’s a person?”
“…What?”

She tilted her head.
“They only said it was a name. Not that it was a person. Couldn’t it be a title? Or even a place?”
A surprisingly sharp point from someone not known for it.

I stared at her for a second.
Why was I only looking for human names?
She was right.

The changeling never said it was a person.
And who would someone be affiliated with, to be connected to the Evil God Cult?
Was “Hattenshila” a rank? Or did she mean to say more, only to be cut off?

“…That’s an excellent point, Gustatory Inspector. A perspective I hadn’t considered.”
Everyone leaned in.
“It could be a sub-group within the Cult,”
“Or an alias. If they used their real name, they’d be exposed in seconds.”
“Or maybe it is their real name, banking on reverse psychology. Using honesty to mislead us.”
“But from our end, we can’t verify anything. There are over fifteen people with similar names in the records, and none of their backgrounds line up.”

Too many possibilities.
And if it was an alias, even the immigration logs would be useless.
Then Erzena quietly raised her hand.

“I… I have a bit of a connection to the Inquisition Bureau. Would it be okay to contact them?”
“…Excuse me?”
“They probably have books with lists of heretics’ names. Maybe we’ll find ‘Hattenshila’ there.”

Everyone turned to stare at her.
“Wait, you were the Saintess. What business do you have with the Inquisition?”
The Inquisition Bureau was only accessible to the most extreme fundamentalists in the Church.

It was a den of fanatics—front line of the Holy War.
What was she doing there?
Looking flustered, Erzena fidgeted as she answered softly.

“Well… I was a fanatic once, wasn’t I?”
“…Ah.”
Right. I remembered now.

That version of her who used to write ‘Paradise for the Lord, Hell for the Heretics’ on her forehead and scream sermons.
She hadn’t always been so composed.
Then suddenly, as if she’d realized something, she lowered her hand.

“Oh… but I’ve been stripped of my title. And I’m under temporary asylum…”
I took over from there.
“It’s an excellent idea, but under your current status, you cannot initiate contact.”

The first condition of asylum: the applicant may not engage in any political action.
Any contact with political groups, factions, or powers is forbidden.
And right now, the Church was both a religious and political entity.

Erzena mumbled, disappointed.
“Sorry… I thought I could help.”
“You’ve already helped more than anyone else. Don’t be discouraged.”

Without you, we’d still be completely in the dark.
I met her gaze and spoke.
“In return, I’d like to ask something significant of you.”

She jolted at my words.
“A-already? Shouldn’t we get to know each other first—”
“Not that.”

I shut down that line of thought immediately.
“Would you consider reporting to the Immigration Office for the time being?”
“…What?”

“You’re the only one who can sense the Cult’s aura. That means you’ll be able to detect any future infiltrations, and it’ll be easier for us to protect you as well.”
Now that we knew the Cult was behind this, Erzena’s safety was no longer guaranteed.
If they ever found out she was still alive and in Crossroads, they’d come for her again.

That meant we had to keep her as close as possible.
Just living in my house isn’t enough.
She needed twenty-four-hour protection. And if we could benefit from her abilities too, all the better.

“You’ll be compensated, of course.”
She fell into thought for a moment, then nodded.
“…All right. Maybe this is the path the Lord has set out for me. And I don’t need any compensation.”

“But—”
“If you’re the one protecting me, Chief Inspector, that’s enough.”
“…”

The sudden, embarrassing comment made the Sensory Inspectors squint suspiciously.
“If she’s saying things like that at a time like this…”
“Let’s just move on to the announcement, shall we?”
Ignored. Completely and cleanly.

Still, with that, we had at least secured a minimum level of protection.
Now, the matter at hand was the status of our Immigration Office.
“Everyone, as of this moment, we are elevating to an alert protocol.”

“…”
“Given that we now have reason to believe a terrorist entity is in operation, we will maintain this alert status until their full identities are revealed. Any objections?”
There were none.

“But how do you plan to investigate the Evil God Cult?”
“With the Immigration Office’s limited intel? We can’t. However…”
With my thoughts cooling, memories resurfaced.

“The Intelligence Bureau can.”
I recalled the first time I heard about the Pilgrimage Delegation—from the Foreign Minister himself.
—The Intelligence Bureau is currently on a covert operation up north, and the Foreign Ministry’s personnel are all tied up negotiating with the eastern nomads. That leaves only your Immigration Office.

And the testimony he gave during the trial in the capital—
—Right after the delegation departed, we received an urgent brief from the Intelligence Bureau: signs of the Evil God Cult’s resurgence, and stockpiling of wartime supplies in the northern regions.
In short, the Intelligence Bureau, a sub-agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had already begun investigating the Cult.

All the pieces were already there.
It was my failure to see them.
But now, I would make full use of that.

“I’ll contact both Director Hylin and the Intelligence Bureau Chief immediately.”
There was no time to hesitate.
“That concludes this meeting. Looks like it’s already morning. Good work, everyone.”

“Eh? It’s morning?”
Outside the window, dawn was breaking.
What had started late at night… had somehow stretched on. The clock now read 8:00 AM.

Work hours.
Uneasy glances darted around the room.
“S-so we’re clocking out now, right? I mean, I barely touched the floor at home before being called back…”

The Gustatory Inspector clung to a sliver of hope.
How naïve.
“It’s work hours now. So, yes—you’ll proceed directly to duty.”

There’s no ‘clocking out’ during an alert status.
The reaction was explosive.
“NOOOO, come on!!!”
“Overtime, extended shifts, and now we don’t even get to go home before starting a full day?!”
“I’m gonna die… I’ve got chronic fatigue, migraines, toothaches, and back pain!”

Just like during last time’s overtime pay negotiation, the Sensory Inspectors began to riot.
But then—
“Um, everyone. Please wait just a moment.”

Erzena folded her hands, closed her eyes, and softly murmured a prayer.
“In His name, may the foulness be purged.”
—Whaaaaaa…

Her divine power surged, glowing brightly as it enveloped the Inspectors and me.
“Huh?”
“Mm?”
“Oh?”
A warm golden light passed over us, and the Sensory Inspectors blinked in confusion, twisting and ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) turning their bodies.

“…Why don’t I feel tired anymore?”
“This is weird. Feels like I just slept for seventeen hours.”
“My hangover… it’s gone?”
For the first time, color returned to the Auditory Inspector’s face—normally pale from constant drinking.
The Gustatory Inspector’s cheeks weren’t just plump now, they were shiny.

Erzena gave a small, sweet smile.
“I purified the Evil God Cult’s aura and gave you all a little recovery boost. How do you feel?”
“So this is what Chief Inspector meant by ‘optimal condition’…”

I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Hm. Can you use that often?”
This could be a very effective recovery measure.

To think we had a built-in antidote for the aftershocks of night shifts, overtime, and extended duty…
The moment the Sensory Inspectors understood what I meant, their faces went completely pale.
“P-please don’t say that. Erzena, I beg you.”
“It’s… it’s something you can only use once a month, right? Or… or every six months? Right?”
“There are rules, you know. Ethical lines. Please don’t cross them.”

But Erzena was far too honest.
“I’ll pray for you every day. Then you’ll always stay in peak condition.”
“Excellent.”

Their screams echoed throughout the conference room.
 
****

Later, in the contact chamber.
Alone now, I activated the communication orb. It took a long moment, but eventually a familiar face appeared.
“Director. This is Chief Inspector Nathan Kell.”

—Yaaaawn. Chief Inspector. Calling your superior at this ungodly hour… I trust this is something important enough to warrant it…
Hylin waved lazily, stifling a yawn.
“I have an urgent report. This takes top priority.”

—Go on.
I immediately laid out everything I knew.
Her drowsy expression faded fast. As I spoke of the Evil God Cult, her face turned solemn, posture straightening.

—I’ll take this straight to the Old Man. If it’s the Evil God Cult, he’ll know more than I do. Anything else you need from me?
“I believe we must elevate the border’s threat level. If they’re operating this openly, then there’s a strong chance they’ve already planted agents within the kingdom.”
They could be considered a terrorist group.

And that meant anything could happen—not just in the south, but at any border.
Every station needed to be made aware of the threat.
—A sound proposal. Consider it done.

A rare sight: Hylin, entirely serious.
—Be careful, Chief Inspector.
The orb’s light faded out.

“Next…”
There was still one person I absolutely had to contact.
The head of the Intelligence Bureau.

“…Shit.”
The curse slipped out of me.
Normally, I’d just send a written request.

I didn’t like being alone with her.
But this conversation couldn’t be done on paper.
Unpleasant as it was, I had no choice.

I activated the comms.
Thock.
Not even a full second later, the orb responded.

And from it appeared a woman with long, slitted yellow pupils.
—Oh my. Look who it is.
“…Director Melanie. This is Chief Inspector Nathan Kell, Southern Border.”

I kept my tone as neutral as possible.
Her forked tongue flicked as she murmured,
—Well, well. The most righteous of our kingdom’s only two Talent Manifestors, and now the center of national gossip—coming to me directly. What a world.

Behind her, the long white tail of a lamia swayed lazily.
Tapping her nails on the desk, she grinned.
—It’s been a while, darling.

I swallowed hard.
For a moment, her eyes softened as they landed on mine.
Then, just as quickly, they narrowed—burning with hunger, and something more complex.

—How long has it been since you rejected me?
Melanie’s smile sharpened, and her gaze locked on me with dangerous intent.