Chapter 213 – #47_Protection(3)
#211
One.
When Deneb and his twins left, the house that was already spacious for two seemed twice as spacious.
“Something is missing.”
“Yeah, if you think about it, I’ve lived alone in a place like this for months.”
“I didn’t live in a very nice place either, but I must have been very bored.”
Sharon and Siu eat dinner while talking about each other.
Today, I was eating while watching TV while sitting at a table in the living room, not in the kitchen, and the reason was simple.
It was because I was watching the news about the disaster at the shopping mall in real time.
Even if you turn on the Internet right away, keywords related to the accident are listed from the 1st to the 20th in the search term ranking.
Siwoo, who was in the middle of that terrible accident, thought, ‘Can even a witch really cover up an accident of this scale?’…
Surprisingly covered.
Not exactly covered, but forged and manipulated.
Strange fish appearing and biting people were replaced by collapse accidents caused by toxic gas leaks and explosions.
Even in the interviews with survivors, they said similar things, and the video sent out with the content of securing CCTV at the accident site was also a scene of people who were shopping peacefully collapsing.
In the news, the construction company’s poor construction and poor management due to insensitivity to safety were criticized.
Siwoo turned off the TV after breaking the news that an arrest warrant had been requested for the director of the facility, the chairman, and the representative of the construction company.
“……”
“Siwoo…”
Seeing Siwoo with his mouth shut, he gently grabbed Sharon’s hand.
“You did your best. The Count told me that there are many survivors who escaped safely thanks to you.”
“It is, but. The taste is bitter. I don’t think it’s something to watch while eating.”
Thanks to that, the meal ended a little early.
Said Sharon, who organized her empty dishes and took them to the kitchen.
“Siwoo, I think you’ll be depressed if you stay at home anyway. Do you want to go get some fresh air?”
“Wind? Where?”
“To Incheon Port.”
“Incheon is good. Shall we eat some grilled clams?”
I just felt like I needed a change of atmosphere.
Maybe it was because the passive effect of the twins’ vitality buff was missing, and it seemed like it was a bit stretched.
There was no need to spread that depression to Sharon for nothing.
“The grilled clams are good too. There’s a Gehenna smugglers’ dock there.”
“Uh? Was there anything like that?”
“Yeah, it’s not always there, but there is a time when we get on and off the ship for about 15 days every three months, but these days must be in full swing, right? There are also a lot to see. I haven’t been there a few times because I don’t go there except when absolutely necessary.”
“Is there anything we can go and see?”
To hear an additional explanation, it is said that there are docks like this all over the world besides Incheon Port.
He added that while smugglers most often bring earthly goods into Gehenna, the reverse is also possible.
“Yeah, most magic crops are grown in Latifundium, for example, but outcasts can’t live in Gehenna directly. That’s why smugglers come out and sell them instead. The same goes for magic tools and magic beasts.”
“It’s like a regular market.”
“Yes! That’s pretty much it.”
Border Town’s junction shop also served as logistics transport, storage and sales, so it seemed that the world’s junction shop played a similar role.
At that time, I remember being subtly excited by the gloomy atmosphere unique to Bordertown and the dystopian fantasy sensibility.
I wonder what the atmosphere of the current contact center will be like.
“Thanks to you, I also got the clue to recovering the stigma. To prepare for ‘sacrifices’ and research in earnest.”
“Okay, then let’s leave right now.”
Sharon hesitated for a moment at Siwoo’s words.
Then he tapped the bottom of her toe and nodded her head slowly.
She seems to have stopped to say something.
“Okay! Let’s get ready quickly!”
Since he passed without saying anything, Siwoo also packed his things.
2.
Wolmi-do, Incheon, arrived by taxi.
This is the way to enter any nearby grilled clam shop and eat your fill.
I could already see a crane moving a container in the distance and the inner harbor of Incheon Port.
Now, it seems that the salty smell of the sea is mixed with the breeze that feels like autumn.
“Where is the dock in this world?”
“It can be said that there are almost all of them in a slightly larger trading port. They are in Incheon and Busan right now, Yokohama, Jebel Ali, Port Klang, Los Angeles… So much do I know?”
“Surprisingly, there are none in China.”
“The Chinese Communist Party does not take witches very warmly. That’s why there are few location points in that wide land mass. There is little cooperation with witches.”
Even if there is a close agreement between the witch and the upper classes of her country, it does not seem to be friendly with all countries.
“Can I? The witches catch the homunculus, right?”
“Well? Is it because China is so vast and has so many people? In the case of a minor accident caused by the homunculus, it seems that they decided to just skip it. As you know, witches are not guardians of justice. They ask for a lot of things in exchange for protection.”
The witch of Sharon and her lecture on international affairs were quite interesting.
“For the same reason, witches rarely reach third world countries or developing countries that do not give due compensation.”
“Even if China has the potential to recover. How is it going?”
“It’s a vicious cycle. Witches who don’t like turmoil hide in remote areas, and they don’t go to places with poor social infrastructure like Cambodia or Bangladesh.
Since there are few witches, various disasters naturally caused by the homunculus occur more often, and the infrastructure becomes poorer, and witches do not gather again…
That’s why some countries even invite witches to their countries with huge amounts of money and conditions.
Should I say Scout? Countries that can’t even afford to do that will set a deadline and hire them like mercenaries, and of course that’s excruciatingly expensive.”
She came to know facts that she would never have known if she had lived as a modern person.
And even though the witch is not noticeable, it was also known that it was deeply immersed in the present world.
When I listen to her, I sometimes think that people’s lives are all the same anyway.
“Have you ever been scouted?”
“To do that, you have to chase away the exploits that creep in from time to time. The 17th rank was a little too much for me, so I passed. The risk is too great.”
Well, even though it’s not a battle type, it’s a situation where even 19th rank Yebin has to buy her body.
Sharon should have been more careful.
As we talked about this and that, I suddenly had a question.
“Come to think of it, what on earth are the exploits doing for a living? You are ostracized in Gehenna, you are ostracized among the outcasts, and you cannot use any of the services provided by Location Point. Wouldn’t they wither away and die if they were isolated that much?”
It is said that the percentage of achievements is extremely small compared to all witches.
How do achievements live in a situation where so many witches’ influence extends to every corner of the world?
From what I’ve heard, it seems that many achievements are still taking place all over the world and causing conflict.
“As I said before, witches are not particularly righteous. Catching homunculus is because they pay money, and earning money is all because it is necessary for magic research.
The feats that have survived so far are generally very dangerous.
Most of them are archwitches or are on the edge of archwitches.
To be honest, there aren’t many witches willing to fight first, except for Duke Tiphareth. It’s only natural that witches with plenty of money don’t care about homunculus hunting in the first place.”
So, it was like saying that even a witch who earns a small amount of pocket money, feeling like catching trivial mobs because she needs money, won’t put her hands on a boss raid that risks her life.
The greater the return, the greater the risk.
“And, according to merit, there is a way to make money. Like running a massive drug cartel in South America, a drug plant, or a factoryized refinery.
Why is it said that the beginning of chemistry is alchemy? Of course, there are also achievements in running a normal business and earning a lot of money.”
“No, didn’t you say that if you mess around like that in this world, the Duke of Keter will step in?”
At Siwoo’s words, Sharon shrugged her shoulders.
“Duke Keter, um… Should I say perfect neutrality? Perhaps even if I worked hard to create a human trafficking organization, if only the identity of the witch was not disclosed and magic was not abused, I would just leave it alone?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. However, historically, the only time the duke was directly involved in killing a witch was when the witch disturbed her world with ‘magic’ and almost exposed the existence of the witch.
Perhaps the achievement that runs the cartel in Mexico must somehow purchase the Strategic One Submarine and launch a nuclear weapon into Mexico City before it will move. The achievements know that too, so they secretly notice and do what they have to do without crossing the line.”
Even secret stories not written in any history books were able to be sorted out through Sharon.
To put it simply, the reasons why the exploits live in this world without being subjugated can be summarized as follows.
One, the fact that the name of achievement is colorless, the witches who are fairly common do not dare to fight with merit.
Two, that she already has sufficient capital.
Third, that the Duke of Keter tolerates their actions as long as they do not cross the line.
Do you think it’s enough?
Anyway, as we walked and talked slowly, there were no buildings around.
The vehicles passing through the wide and large roads were also trucks loaded with large containers rather than ordinary cars.
After going through a toll gate and entering the pier, I see more containers stacked in the yard than I have ever seen in my life combined.
A bizarre-looking yard tractor flashed and moved heavy-looking containers, while dozens of spacious warehouses were lined up side by side on the vast flat land.
In particular, the most impressive thing was the container crane, which was several tens of meters tall, lifting and lowering the cargoes piled up on the tall ship like a doll.
I wish I could be here as a normal person.
“This way.”
Sharon pulled Siwoo’s clothes, which she was amazed at, and she headed to the place where the large warehouses were gathered.
In fact, the moment she entered the depths of the harbor, she was worried that people in overalls would grab hold of her and ask, ‘Why are you here?’
Fortunately, the effect of the music box seems to be certain.
No one paid attention to Sharon and Siwoo.
As I slowly walked inside, digging between the walls of the narrow container, people disappeared like a lie before I knew it.
At some point, neither the loud sound of mechanical equipment nor the roaring sound of the tractor engine could be heard.
Only one warehouse suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
It’s a little funny to say this, but it feels like I’ve been possessed by a witch.
“I wondered why it was so openly. Was there a way?”
“It is a place where all kinds of logistics are gathered, so we have to share the port anyway, but we can’t build a docking station in a place where everyone can see it.
As far as I know, they used leylines, water veins, and containers to spread the battle.
You have to turn the corners in the right order at the right timing to get here.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Is not it?”
Maybe that’s why there was no one else guarding the entrance to the warehouse.
Side by side, Siwoo and Sharon opened the side door of the warehouse and entered the smugglers’ meeting place (ver. Present world).
============
Oh my god…
This is the blackened Amelia fan art provided by Primitive.
Wow, this is the atmosphere
In particular, the unscrupulous clothes that emphasized the navel captivated my heart.
Thank you so much for the beautiful fan art!!!
I will keep it in the gallery!!!!
