Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The One in Charge
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Sharin looked down at the business card held out before her.
The card shimmered with a silver gleam.
She glanced at Dantallion for a moment.
He was smiling, a bright and refreshing grin on his face.
Realizing the clerk was watching from behind, Sharin gave her a nod, quickly took the card, and brushed past Dantallion.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Dantallion also smiled and nodded to the clerk before following Sharin.
An alley beside the skyscraper.
Sharin lifted her chin and glared at Dantallion.
“Who do you think you are, stepping in like that?”
Dantallion looked momentarily flustered and raised both his hands.
“Oh… I didn’t mean anything by it. I just saw you from a distance and it seemed like you were in a bit of a bind.”
Sharin felt a pang of embarrassment.
*Damn… was it that obvious?*
“In any case, I had enough money. It was unnecessary meddling, you get it?”
“Yes, I understand. I simply wanted to help. It’s not uncommon for those new to Earth to face awkward situations when they don’t know how to pay for things.”
For a second, Sharin thought Dantallion might be a decent person.
But she quickly steeled herself.
This man was a mercenary for Cha-yoon Enterprise, the infamous organization that U.C.I.D., where Enri worked, was keeping a close eye on.
Sharin handed the business card back.
“Here. Let’s make sure we never cross paths again.”
“…Why are you so wary of me?”
Sharin stared at Dantallion for a moment.
After hearing from U.C.I.D. that Cha-yoon Enterprise was involved with the Planet Destroyer, she couldn’t see anything related to him in a positive light.
However, she felt no need to reveal that.
She didn't want to do anything that might inadvertently harm her sister.
“I don’t know. I just don’t like you people.”
Sharin turned away.
“Anyway, thanks for paying for me, but you did it on your own, so don’t expect me to repay you.”
She was about to walk away.
Dantallion’s low voice came from behind her.
“Lady Sharin, we’ve made contact with Lady Furen.”
Hearing her sister’s name so unexpectedly, Sharin’s eyes widened and she froze.
She slowly turned her head.
“…What?”
Sharin’s face darkened at the mention of her sister’s name.
A blazing fury was instantly directed at Dantallion.
She stared at him with eyes as cold as ice, as if demanding to know how he knew of Furen’s existence.
Dantallion momentarily held his breath under the immense pressure.
But he quickly regained his composure and continued.
“Lady Furen has successfully escaped from the ruins of Bluerobic. She responded to a message we sent. She is scheduled to arrive on Earth in a few days.”
Sharin strode toward Dantallion. Her eyes were wild with fury.
“…Tell me everything. Don’t leave out a single word.”
Dantallion held out his business card again.
“Then let’s discuss this at our company.”
The warrant, which he had expected to take days, arrived just thirty minutes ago.
The chief of police had been extremely cautious about touching Cha-yoon Enterprise, but it seemed he had taken action as soon as he heard from Shin-ju about the Planet Destroyer.
*Thunk.*
The police car door closed.
Shin-ju and Bid908 had arrived in front of the Canyon Fonuel building.
Shin-ju immediately stormed into the recording studio, which was filled with audio equipment.
He held up the search warrant and raised his voice.
“Alright, everyone here. Pursuant to Article 4 of the Information and Communications Network Act and the Act on the Prevention of Illicit Use of Content, you are under arrest for the illegal distribution of creative works and content without just cause.”
The record distribution company employees, startled by the sudden entrance of Shin-ju and Bid908, rose from their seats in alarm.
A few of them shook their heads and grimaced with expressions that said, ‘Ah, we’ve been caught.’
Bid908 immediately transformed its body, connecting strange electrical cords to the audio equipment.
[Tibee-ra’s music file ‘May the Glory of Victory Grace Your Honor’ found.]
The text appeared on Bid908’s monitor.
“Okay.”
This wasn’t the end of it.
They had to thoroughly investigate how the spell to summon the Planet Destroyer was inserted between the notes of that song.
Shin-ju scanned the room.
The person who looked like the representative here was…
Shin-ju’s eyes landed on an Earthling with horn-rimmed glasses and a mustache.
From the looks of it, he seemed to be the one in charge.
“Sir?”
The mustache twitched slightly.
“Are you the person in charge here?”
He hesitated for a moment.
“W-Well, yes, I am…”
“Could I have a word with you?”
“Haa… For the record, we only received the file.”
“Well, I’m sure you did. But you didn’t *just* receive it, did you? Didn’t you notice anything strange when you listened to the track?”
The man in charge wore an annoyed expression.
“Even if we did, when the higher-ups give an order, we follow it. What choice do we have?”
“Are those higher-ups Kim Cha-yoon?”
“……That’s not it.”
*Right, I’m sure.* The reply was a little slow.
“I see. In any case, it won’t be difficult to trace the distribution route, so we’ll soon find out where you got the data. But the problem is…”
Shin-ju swept his gaze over the people.
“If you try to be pointlessly loyal, all these people here are going to end up on the street.
Like you said, they were just doing what they were told by the higher-ups. Wouldn’t it be terribly unfair for them to lose their jobs in an instant?”
Shin-ju looked the man in charge straight in the eye.
“Including you.”
“It’s fine. It was absolutely not an order from Kim Cha-yoon. We have no connection to Cha-yoon Enterprise.”
The man in charge added,
“Of course, Future Vision, which received investment from Kim Cha-yoon, might have commissioned us. But we are merely a distribution subcontractor.”
*Oh, look at this.*
He was being quite thorough.
Not referring to Kim Cha-yoon as his boss was a calculated move.
“Oh, really? My mistake. You said ‘higher-ups,’ so I assumed you were part of Cha-yoon Enterprise.
But! Isn’t that an expression one would normally use for their own superior?”
“No, well, that’s… because Cha-yoon Enterprise is above us…”
“But if what you say is true, Future Vision could have placed a commission with you… which means Tibee-ra’s song could have been commissioned in the same way, right?”
The man in charge didn’t open his mouth.
He was exercising his right to remain silent.
“Sir, sir.”
Shin-ju called out to the man twice in a low voice, as if urging him to listen.
“Circumstantially, there’s only one answer.”
“The direction of this investigation is very clear. We police have no choice but to follow that path.
Let’s not lie. This isn’t your fault, is it? I know that very well.”
*Flutter, flutter.*
Shin-ju held up the warrant.
“This warrant? It’s just a pretext to investigate Cha-yoon. This investigation was never planned with you as the target from the start.”
The man in charge frowned, as if asking what he meant.
“I’ll make you a promise.
Just tell me who you got that file from, and where you got it. If you do, I’ll personally separate you from those undesirable elements you’re tangled up with.
So that you’ll never be involved in this kind of illegal activity again. You can just go on doing your own work from now on. The authorities will ensure your protection.
If you just help me, you won’t be criminals, but collaborators and people we must protect. Do you understand?”
As Shin-ju’s words flowed without pause, the man in charge kept frowning and biting his lower lip.
The room fell silent.
“There’s no need to take such a risk, you know? I urge you to think carefully and make a wise decision.”
The man finally looked around.
The employees were sitting in their places like mutes who had eaten honey.
Their gazes and their silence bore down on him. They were all waiting for his decision.
Putting everything else aside, one thing Shin-ju said stuck with him.
‘Circumstantially, there’s only one answer. The direction of the investigation is also clear.’
Indeed, his opponents were the police, and for them to have come this far, it was a situation where anyone could see they already knew what was going on.
The man in charge lifted his head and looked at Shin-ju.
*Right. This man came here already knowing almost everything.*
The man squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
“…Alright. I’ll tell you everything.”
“An excellent decision. I will be sure to keep my promise.”
Shin-ju, Bid908, and the head of distribution for Canyon Fonuel were huddled together in front of a computer.
“So you’re saying you don’t know whether it was a direct order from Kim Cha-yoon or not.”
“Yes. As I mentioned before, we’re just a subcontractor. There’s a record label president between myself and Kim Cha-yoon, and it was his order.
But I’ve never once met him in person. That’s actually why I said earlier that it wasn’t Kim Cha-yoon.”
Shin-ju snorted.
*Of course. He wouldn’t want to leave any clear evidence.*
[Mr. Shin-ju, I’ve found the distribution route.]
“Where is it?”
[Huh? It’s not here, but a company called ‘Blind’?_?]
“Blind?”
By now, the manager’s expression had relaxed slightly. It seemed that deciding to confess had lifted a weight from his shoulders.
“Ah, that’s another company name used under instructions from Future Vision. We use a different company name when distributing albums with poor sales records.”
“Aha, I see. So you distributed the album under a completely different company name from here, is that right?”
“Yes… that’s correct.”
The manager now admitted it readily.
A list of albums distributed under the name Blind began to scroll across Bid’s monitor.
Among them, Shin-ju spotted the names [Song: Aila] and [Song: Kai].
Instantly, the images of a hesitant Aila and a shy Kai flashed through his mind.
What they both had in common was a strangely subdued demeanor.
Seeing their names on the list of underperforming albums, Shin-ju felt a pang of pity in a corner of his heart.
Aila, in particular, had fallen for the sweet talk that she could succeed by keeping Tibee-ra in check and was now dancing in the palm of Kim Cha-yoon’s hand.
“Sir, do a lot of celebrities come here?”
“Yes, well, singers and idols come by from time to time since we also have a recording studio.”
“Who comes by the most? Is it Aila?”
Shin-ju naturally assumed it would be Aila.
But the manager’s eyes widened as if he didn’t understand the question.
“No? Why would you think that? Aila has never once been here.”
Shin-ju’s eyes widened in turn.
“What…? Aila’s never been here?”
“Kai.”
An unexpected name came from the manager’s lips.
“Kai has visited our company the most. In fact…”
The manager paused for a moment before continuing.
“We received Tibee-ra’s music file from him, you know?”
Shin-ju’s mouth fell open, and for a moment, he was speechless.