Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Rhinoceros
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The old man screamed at the top of his lungs.
The mercenaries, who had been laughing and chatting with various alien public officials, turned to look at the old man.
“What’s with him?”
Sharin’s eyebrow twitched.
“Ah.”
After a fleeting look of dismay, Enri quickly put on a professional smile.
“Sir~.”
She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose and approached the old man with a sweet, coaxing voice.
“Stay away! You monster!”
The old man stumbled backward as the tall, slender Elf approached him.
Unfazed, Enri showed him her police badge.
“It’s okay, sir. I’m a police officer. Do you live around here?”
“Get away from me, you monster!”
Despite the one-sided hostility, Enri maintained an unshakable tone of voice, as if it didn’t bother her at all.
“Sir, where is your family? Do you have their contact information?”
“I said, stay away!!”
At the old man’s shout, Enri took a step back.
“Okay, okay, I won’t come any closer. Are you perhaps unwell? If you don’t mind, shall I escort you home?”
“Forget it! Just get the hell off of Earth!”
“…Excuse me?”
The old man pointed at Sharin.
“Ever since you aliens came, we humans have been losing our places to work and live! *Cough, cough*.”
The crease between Sharin’s brows deepened.
“*Cough*, because of aliens, I and my children were all fired from our jobs! *Cough, cough*.”
Realizing what the old man was saying, Enri fell silent for a moment.
*I knew it.*
Her bad feelings were never wrong.
The alien planet Bluerobic had been ravaged by war, sparked by an attack from an unidentified cosmic entity known as the Planet Destroyer.
As time went on, the influx of Bluerobic refugees to Earth caused the population to swell.
In South Korea alone, the population of the Bluerobic Elf race had surpassed 3.2 million.
Ever since South Korea’s Negoti-alien, Park Shin-ju, had first used the word ‘Elf,’ Earth had officially designated the Bluerobic aliens as ‘Elves.’
The Bluerobicians who settled on Earth benefited from an alien quota system established by the Universal Friendship Act.
That benefit was a policy heavily influenced by major corporations.
Corporations, by their nature, place a high value on efficiency.
From their perspective, they preferred alien laborers, whose wages were much cheaper depending on currency values, circumstances, and species.
The Bluerobicians were an alien race that lived self-sufficiently, in harmony with nature.
They were the type to collect the seeds from fruit bought at a supermarket to plant in their own gardens.
Thus, they required comparatively less money to live than humans did.
They were perfectly content to live on a monthly salary of just one million Korean won.
Corporations rejoiced at this fact.
They hired aliens in droves, slowly pushing out human workers, and were able to accumulate wealth by gradually cutting labor costs.
Of course, the Elves of Bluerobic were met with a very warm welcome at first.
They boasted not only beautiful and elegant appearances but also formidable combat strength, readily helped those in need, and integrated quite well with other species.
With the emergence of a superstar from Bluerobic named ‘Tibee-ra,’ the Elves’ popularity skyrocketed, piercing through the distant galaxies of space.
But as the saying goes, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
The more the Elves settled on Earth, the more anxious humans became.
Ordinary humans saw their standing in society plummet exponentially due to the superior and cost-effective Elves, and life began to get incredibly difficult.
Just like for the old man and his children right in front of them.
Enri felt a sense of indebtedness to those humans.
It was one of the reasons she had started her job as a police officer, to protect them.
The old man got on his knees and begged.
“Please, just go back to your home planet!”
The old man wailed.
“My… My wife is sick, too! The hospital bills! What are we supposed to do to survive now!”
Enri stared at the old man in silence.
*He must have been at his wit’s end to come out here like this.*
She understood him.
She had to be patient and ensure the old man got home safely.
“Yes. Sir, it must have been so hard for you. I’ll listen to your story, so is it okay if I come closer?”
While soothing the old man, Enri discreetly took out her phone from her pocket to request backup.
But the old man’s demeanor suddenly changed, and he swung the picket sign he was wearing at her.
*Whoosh-*
“Don’t call the police!”
Enri nonchalantly dodged the old man’s attack.
Sharin’s eyebrow twitched as she stepped past Enri.
“Attacking without warning…?”
Enri, phone still in one hand, desperately grabbed Sharin’s collar with the other.
*Grip-*
“Sharin…! Don’t…”
Overwhelmed by the look in Sharin’s eyes, the old man screamed.
“An alien is trying to kill someone!!”
At the sudden, shrill cry, a massive mercenary who was nearby began to walk toward them.
*Thud-*
A colossal shadow fell over the old man and the two women.
A mercenary, appearing to be about four meters tall and resembling a rhinoceros, looked down at them with a stern expression.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Enri looked up, smiling as best she could.
“Ah, it’s nothing. It seems this gentleman here is going through a difficult time.”
Enri held up her police badge for the mercenary to see.
“U.C.I.D. Officer Enri Tankobichi. I will take responsibility for this man and see him home safely, so please don’t worry.”
“I am Tanggal, an S-Class mercenary from Cha-yoon Enterprise’s Bio Vanguard.”
He made sure to emphasize his S-Class rank while stating his name.
Enri narrowed her eyes, thinking to herself what an obnoxious type he was.
“I am in charge of security here, so if you run into any trouble, you can ask us for help.”
Spotting Sharin, Tanggal cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and addressed her familiarly.
“You must be the famous SS-Class hero. It is an honor to meet you like this.”
For a moment, Enri’s eyebrow twitched.
*Security?*
“I’m the police officer here. What do you mean you’re in charge of security?”
*Oops.*
Enri realized she had let an edge creep into her voice without meaning to.
Tanggal let out a sneer at Enri’s sharp demeanor, as if finding it pathetic.
Then, he shrugged his shoulders as if bestowing a great mercy and opened his mouth.
“I understand. The police have their duties. We are merely trying to help with the things the police cannot do.”
Tanggal deliberately stressed the words ‘cannot do.’
Enri looked up at Tanggal with a business-like smile.
“I appreciate the offer… but this is just a matter of dealing with an ordinary old man. I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do here.”
“Haha, you have a point. Well then, if you’ll excuse me…”
As Tanggal was about to quietly withdraw, Sharin, who had been holding her tongue, muttered.
“What a worthless punk…”
Tanggal, who had turned his back, froze mid-step.
“Sharin!!!”
Enri’s eyes went wide as she clutched Sharin’s collar and shouted.
“What did you say?”
“What, you worthless punk.”
Sharin stared straight at him, her eyes defiant.
“Ah……”
The color drained from Enri’s face.
Sensing Sharin’s killing intent, she quickly turned to check on the old man’s safety.
It was always the humans who got caught in the crossfire of alien fights.
But the old man… was nowhere to be seen.
***
Future Vision Entertainment.
Shin-ju had visited the entertainment agency once again.
He was sitting in the first-floor lobby café where he had observed Kim Cha-yoon before, tapping away at a tablet.
“Canyon Fonuel…”
An image of a mid-sized corporate building appeared on the tablet screen.
It was a subsidiary of Cha-yoon Enterprise that produced video and music software and distributed albums.
Shin-ju suspected that Tibee-ra’s song might have been distributed somewhere through this company.
But he had suspicion without proof.
In the current situation, he couldn’t proceed with the investigation without a warrant.
For now, he had to gather as much peripheral information as possible and piece the puzzle together.
“Hello~.”
A cheerful voice called out from a distance.
As soon as he heard it, Shin-ju looked up and raised a hand in an awkward greeting.
Kai, a male idol with an androgynous appearance, appeared before him.
“It’s an honor that you came to see me like this.”
“Oh, not at all! After last time… hahaha, the honor is all mine.”
Shin-ju smiled warmly at Kai.
*An idol is an idol, after all.*
They had a special power to make people feel good.
Feeling slightly burdened by Kai’s sparkling gaze, Shin-ju began the conversation.
“Kai, um… if you don’t mind me asking, do you know of a company called Canyon Fonuel?”
“Ah… they designed my album jacket… and did some other work for me.”
Shin-ju nodded.
“I see. Does Future Vision work with that company a lot?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure, but… all of my albums were made there.”
Shin-ju nodded more noticeably than before.
“Was there anyone at Canyon Fonuel who stood out to you?”
Caught off guard by the sudden barrage of questions, Kai took a moment to catch his breath.
“Uh… well…”
Kai looked at Shin-ju like an anxious puppy.
He hesitated before asking.
“May I ask… what this is about?”
“I can’t give you the full details… but alright. To ensure your future cooperation, I can tell you a little…”
Shin-ju paused for effect, then lowered his voice and explained the general outline of the case.
“Another idol, much like yourself, had important music files for an album they’d been preparing for a long time hacked. And it seems that music is being illegally distributed somewhere else.”
Kai looked crestfallen, as if he himself had done something wrong.
“So you’re saying that distribution company did it…”
Shin-ju quickly waved his hands in dismissal.
“No, no, no. There’s no evidence of that yet. We’re just in the process of trying to piece together as many situations and as much information as possible, so you don’t need to take it so seriously.”
Shin-ju clicked his tongue with a bitter expression.
“It’s standard operating procedure for the police to be suspicious of everything from the get-go.”
“I see…”
Shin-ju glanced at Kai, prompting him for an answer.
“So, about my earlier question…”
“Ah, right! There wasn’t anyone who particularly stood out. Other than seeing a few fellow idols there for work…”
“Which idols? Who did you see most often?”
Kai looked around nervously.
He felt like he was tattling.
“Don’t worry, your testimony will be kept strictly confidential. If it’s not, my neck’s on the line.”
Sensing Kai’s hesitation, Shin-ju spoke firmly, and only then did Kai reply in a low voice.
“I saw Aila there a lot.”
*Aila! Bingo!*
The alien idol secretly colluding with Cha-yoon.
According to Tibee-ra’s past testimony, Aila had been overly competitive with her on a music competition show.
“Anyone besides Aila…?”
“Um… just various idols? They all seemed pretty normal.”
“And Aila wasn’t normal?”
Kai fidgeted.
Shin-ju chuckled to himself.
*Looking at him now, he really is just a kid.*
Shin-ju instantly sized up Kai’s character.
He was the type who could never hide a lie.
“I understand. You don’t have to answer in detail.”
Shin-ju found it amusing that Kai, known as a “beastly idol” and the epitome of a bad boy, was showing such a timid side.
*I guess their broadcast image really is different from reality.*
*First Aila, and now him. The idols here seem a bit intimidated in general.*
“Then, just one last thing.”
“Yes.”
“What about the employees there?”
Kai’s expression grew uneasy.
“W-What about them?”
“Yes. Do they talk a lot about work?”
“Yes… I guess… they do? About albums… about idols…”
Shin-ju’s eyes lit up.
“So they talk a lot about idols. Which idols come up the most?”
“Of course… Tibee-ra is mentioned a lot.”
“Right~. Tibee-ra is the greatest superstar in the universe, after all~. So, did that company distribute Tibee-ra’s music too?”
“Um. I’m not sure about that. But for someone like Tibee-ra, she wouldn’t necessarily need that distributor…”
“Yes. I understand.”
At that moment.
Someone across the way caught Shin-ju’s eye.
His eyes followed the person, widening as they did.
Her, with the pink hair.
Aila.
Aila was walking quickly out the agency’s main entrance with an anxious look on her face.
*I have to follow her!*
Despite his urgency, Shin-ju politely offered a handshake.
“Kai, thank you for your cooperation in this investigation. Next time, let’s meet as a fan and his idol. Well then, I must be going!”