The Foreigner on the Periphery (English Translation)

9. Three Ways to Kill Your Boss (6)

Lost in thought, Minjoon put the documents back into the envelope, but he noticed something moving on the sofa in the living room.

A muffled voice.

"...Did I sleep here last night?"

"Looks like it."

As she lowered the blanket, Cash stood up with a groggy expression.

Seemingly struggling to clear her head, she stared blankly into space and muttered.

"Oh dear..."

Minjoon, with his back to her, opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of medication he had recently been prescribed by a doctor. It had been 24 hours since his last dose. After shaking a blue pill into his palm, Cash spoke.

"Is that some kind of hangover remedy? If so, can I have some too?"

Minjoon replied firmly.

"No, it's a laxative."

"..."

After a brief silence, she asked again.

"Is it that bad?"

"It's pretty serious."

At that, Cash became serious and muttered to herself, "I heard sweet potatoes are good for constipation..."

Minjoon wondered if she might bring a box of sweet potatoes soon. He wouldn't mind that as a gift.

Opening the fridge, he spoke.

"I'll make you some hangover soup. Eat before you go."

Minjoon had hired her on the condition that she would work from home, so there was no need to visit the office every day. If anything, he had more business at the immigration office than here. Nevertheless, Cash stopped by once or twice a day.

She weakly got up from the sofa.

"Do you have my toothbrush?"

"It's in the bathroom cabinet. But are you planning to brush before eating?"

"That's how I feel refreshed."

As soon as she entered the bathroom, a short scream followed by the sound of movement was heard.

"What's this? Why is Uncle Jeongpal sleeping here?"

Cash found Jeongpal, his limbs twisted, asleep in the bathtub. After several attempts, the orc finally opened his eyes, groaning as if his body had been submerged in a furnace of hell. He muttered while pressing his temples.

"...I feel like I want to rinse my brain with tap water."

The disheveled Jeongpal stumbled into the living room, where Minjoon was preparing breakfast.

"Did you wake up?"

"Next time, let's eat in moderation."

"...I should."

He casually sat down at the table and turned on the TV. The morning news came on.

Princess Vermi's visit to Korea is facing delays as the parties involved cannot narrow their differences. The biggest obstacle seems to be security issues...

In entertainment news, elven actress Arenta Serafi, who is also active in Korea, has been selected as the muse for Hermes and recently finished filming an ad for their new perfume, Jardin des Elfes. The product is said to capture the unique body scent of elves in a seductive but not overwhelming way. It is expected to be released next month...

Jeongpal, staring blankly at the TV, was joined by Cash, who had finished brushing her teeth and tying her hair. She quietly took out her phone and started typing a message. "Should I try this on my seller?" She began composing a message to send to her contact. While the news said the product would be released next month in Korea, cheaper items like perfumes could be arranged sooner.

Meanwhile, Minjoon, who had been listening to the news in the kitchen, muttered.

"Elf-scented perfume? What's so great about that? I don't get why they're even making a perfume out of it. I'm not into it."

Cash deleted the message she had been typing and replied.

"Come to think of it, why don't you have that scent, Minjoon? The bookstore owner on the first floor is old, so I get that, but you're at the peak of elf age."

Minjoon's hand paused briefly as he was slicing meat on the cutting board. After a moment, he casually responded.

"They say once it's diluted to a quarter, that sort of thing doesn't manifest."

"Hmm, I see."

Cash's gaze shifted toward Minjoon as he was cutting the meat. She froze when she saw the knife he was holding.

"...Wait a second, Minjoon. Could you use a different knife?"

The knife Minjoon was using was a stone blade that he had used to make cuts when charging up dark magic.

"It's too much of a hassle to wash up, and this one cuts the best."

"That's the one used by slaves for human sacrifices in Mexico, right?"

It was true.

Minjoon had cheered when he found the knife after arriving in this world. It was an ancient artifact used by natives on a far continent to tear out the hearts of thousands of humans, and it was perfect for dark magic, carrying the resentment and malice of its past.

"I've modified it well. There's always a faint magic flow along the edge. It cleans itself automatically. Probably cleaner than a surgical scalpel."

"..."

Cash gave up trying to convince him. She figured it wasn't worth protesting when he was the one preparing the meal.

"By the way, Jeongpal. Didn't you plan to head back today?"

"Yes. I have to report that I'm closing the case."

"Huh? Closing it?"

"I'll put it on hold for now. I received a letter from the headquarters this morning…"

As Minjoon explained, Cash and Jeongpal's expressions grew serious. Seeing their faces, Minjoon regretted not waiting until after breakfast to speak.

"So, will you head to the headquarters today?"

"Yeah."

Minjoon nodded, throwing a large amount of meat into the pot. He needed a solid meal before facing a demanding schedule.

"Agent Minjoon, we've been expecting you. Please follow me."

He followed the staff of the Jenkins Company to a conference room. As the door opened, a refreshing smell of grass and a subtle floral fragrance filled the air.

Humans who wanted to imitate everything about elves considered this fragrance superior to any artificial perfume, but it wasn't quite to Minjoon's taste.

Inside the room, an elven woman in a suit was already seated.

"Long time no see."

She was the head secretary of Chairman Jenkins. It had been as long as when Minjoon first met Lakefield, but Minjoon didn't particularly like her.

"Why did you call for me?"

"I have a message from the chairman."

Minjoon sat down, and she immediately got to the point.

"The chairman is deeply interested in the disappearance of Hyoseong Industries' CEO, Jang Taejun, the case you're investigating."

Minjoon swallowed a curse inwardly.

This was the expected turn of events. The chairman's secretary spoke in businesslike terms, her expression unreadable.

"After receiving a report on the arrest of a member of the Hong Clown Society yesterday and the identity of the client who made the request, the chairman ordered your immediate summon."

The wizard arrested in the Orc community yesterday afternoon had yet to finalize his stance. Minjoon had deliberately refrained from reporting it to immigration, but the police who took over the case likely shared the information internally.

As a result, Chairman Jenkins had managed to obtain information from the police force, a completely separate organization, and acted immediately. That letter had arrived in the mailbox this morning.

Dragons, the powers behind this society, were like that.

"Who do you suspect the dragon client requesting the crime syndicate's help might be?"

She asked, testing him. Minjoon answered without hesitation.

"Could it be Ayudeltas?"

The elf replied without a flicker of expression.

"You're a bit slow on the uptake. She laid her egg not too long ago."

"Already?!"

Ayu Delta's age... how old was she again? He racked his brain.

From the story that followed, it seemed that she had an accident with a man she met while on a trip to an alien world.

"Anyway, since she's on maternity leave, she probably won't have the time or energy to care about the affairs of other races."

That left three candidates.

The elf spoke again.

"Chairman Jenkinson considers Vetravia, Hallispard, and Edelines as the leading suspects."

It was a list that matched Minjun's thoughts.

He had never entertained the absurd notion that Chairman Jenkinson had made contact with the Society. The man was far too influential for such triviality.

While it's true that dragons occupy the highest strata of Earth's hierarchy, not all of them are on the same level. Some are weaker, others have comparatively smaller assets, and some are troublemakers. Only dragons of such a caliber would resort to criminal organizations to handle their matters.

He was talking about young and inexperienced types like the three of them.

'But what I don't understand is…'

Why is the chairman taking such a hands-on approach?

"I understand that Chairman Jenkinson has no blood relation to them."

After a brief silence, the elf replied.

"Are you familiar with Hyoseong Industries, agent?"

Minjun recited what he had read in the documents.

"It's a pharmaceutical company."

"Through a trustworthy channel, the chairman gathered information that there was a secret task (Task) within the company. It was reportedly directly overseen by CEO Jang Taejun until his disappearance."

"Well, it's a company, so it's not surprising that there would be such things."

"But the research topic of that task is problematic."

"What was it?"

"I wasn't able to gather detailed experimental data, but one of the main themes seemed to be the genetic research of dragons."

Minjun clicked his tongue inwardly. Such important information had likely been carefully hidden from the files, didn't it?

Dragons don't catch diseases, and most external injuries heal naturally without infection. They don't have any known genetic disorders, and their bodies are practically immune to poison. Therefore, there's no need to develop any drugs specifically for them, and no dragon would invest in companies to research their genetics. Clearly, that company had not received permission from the dragons.

"A young, impetuous dragon would have been furious upon discovering this. The very idea that someone dared to conduct unauthorized research on the genetics of their noble race would have been seen as an affront. You know how dragons are at that age. They become obsessed with whatever they have, and since their race is their only source of pride, they cling to it."

There are always those who cling to assets they have never worked for and make them their only source of pride.

"So, they resorted to the Society to cause a stir?"

It was the moment when the motivation of the nameless client was revealed.

"If he ignored the unspoken advice of the elders and acted recklessly, Chairman Jenkinson believes he has to stop him."

Most Elder Dragons do not want the existence of dragons, who pull the strings behind the scenes, to be brought to light in mass media. The most effective method of domination is to do it without the subjugated realizing it.

If rumors spread that a young dragon had colluded with a criminal organization to ruin a company, public opinion would turn against them. Media control is not a panacea.

Now, Minjun understood Chairman Jenkinson's motive. Because of the Draconic Code, he couldn't directly interrogate and eliminate the young dragons himself, so he was resorting to using agents.

That left one last question.

"By the way, what about the speculation that CEO Jang Taejun might be an alien…?"

"There's no solid evidence, but tracing his history, it's highly suspicious how he appeared out of nowhere and helped the company rise."

Minjun read between the lines.

The government and immigration services are after Hyoseong Industries' stock because they want to seize the secret task's research materials and, if possible, completely dispose of them. For that scenario to work, the most straightforward explanation would be if Jang Taejun was an alien.

"And in this situation, where CEO Jang Taejun has disappeared, the chairman has asked me to pass along some information that might help you."

She then shared something that Minjun had not expected.

"A few days ago, the chairman attempted to buy up large amounts of Hyoseong Industries' stock by mobilizing a few securities companies. This was after CEO Jang Taejun had already disappeared. He judged that with the position of the CEO vacant, there would be a delayed response."

The major shareholder, Jang Taejun, still held the stock, but they were trying to scoop up any shares on the market.

But…

"The result... I don't know if you've heard the news yesterday."

"Hyoseong suddenly began buying back its own shares."

"Exactly."

While they couldn't exert voting rights on the stocks they had repurchased, this move could block any attempts to seize control of the company.

"The interesting part is, this decision was made without CEO Jang Taejun."

Minjun now understood that Jenkinson had deliberately shaken up Hyoseong. The results seemed to show that it had been a fairly effective method.

'It's a little suspicious to write it off as an action he got approval for beforehand. Jenkinson's involvement started after Jang Taejun disappeared.'

Minjun spoke quietly.

"Someone must have taken the lead and given the orders. Was it to protect the management rights of the missing Jang Taejun?"

"It could be that, or perhaps it was for less noble reasons. Maybe they resisted because they didn't want to lose what they thought would soon be 'theirs.'"

"Do they have the confidence to capture Jang Taejun and seize his stock later?"

"It's still unclear."

The elf handed him a file.

"Take a look."

It was personal information about someone named Kim Yeonju, Executive Director of Hyoseong Industries, the de facto second-in-command.

Recently, at Hyoseong's temporary board meeting, the executive director presented a proxy letter from CEO Jang Taejun and pushed through the agenda. It was a proxy letter from someone who had already disappeared.

"If we interrogate her now, she'll probably just claim she got it beforehand."

But Chairman Jenkinson didn't think so, and he wanted Minjun to meet her in person. Though the police had already interviewed her before handing the case over to Jeongpal, Minjun was expected to find something different with his own eyes.

"You suspect this person?"

"Yes, based on the two things we discovered yesterday... If you connect the mysterious client of the Society with Executive Director Kim Yeonju's strange actions, you can come up with one scenario."

Looking Minjun in the eye, the secretary voiced the theory her employer had formulated.

"Think about it. If the only superior is CEO Jang Taejun… wouldn't she be tempted to fall for a sweet allure? The temptation to get rid of the one person by leaking information to a dragon. I'd say it was a rather sophisticated method of murdering one's boss."

The elf smiled.