Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: A Superstar's Dilemma (1)
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The look in Enri's eyes, behind her glasses, glinted fiercely.
If the mercenaries were creating a pretext to obtain weapon materials, it was a welcome development for Shin-ju.
*Swoosh—*
As Shin-ju chanted an incantation, a blue gate opened to his right.
But suddenly...
*Twitch!*
The dead alien beast's body twitched from rigor mortis.
At that moment, a shell shot out from within the gate.
*Boom—*
The surrounding area instantly exploded, showering the mercenaries with fragmented pieces of the alien beast's corpse and thick, purple blood.
A moment later, Jeg's mechanical hand, transformed into a cannon barrel, emerged from the blue gate.
Jeg's hand abruptly turned toward the mercenaries like a snake's head.
The mercenaries raised their weapons, trying to act as if they weren't intimidated.
Then, Jeg spread his palm wide open.
Eyeballs, rolling around grotesquely, appeared in his palm.
The mercenaries froze, their faces turning pale.
*Whirrr—whirrr—whirrr—*
Suddenly, Jeg's hand began to spin in a circle.
"Magnet."
As Shin-ju muttered, a weapon held by one of the mercenaries snapped onto Jeg's hand.
Blue veins of light began to pulse on Jeg's hand.
As if it were absorbing something...
The human mercenary quickly forced a smile and gestured for the others to lower their weapons.
"Our apologies. It's certainly foolish to defy the authorities."
Shin-ju gestured toward the corpse with his chin.
"If you understand, then clean this up and get going."
As soon as Shin-ju finished speaking, Jeg tossed the confiscated weapon back to the mercenary as if his business was done.
The mercenary picked up his weapon and showed his phone to Shin-ju.
"I was just about to call the space cleanup crew, actually."
Shin-ju carefully observed the weapons the mercenaries were holding.
The initials CH.U were, as expected, clearly visible.
However, it was clear that the mercenaries before him had saved civilians, so there was no justification for confiscating their weapons.
*Vrooooom—*
A moment later, three wheelless motorcycles appeared in the distance.
They were the space janitors affiliated with Earth.
One of them, a cute-looking female alien, recognized Shin-ju.
The small horn protruding from her forehead added to her charm.
Spotting Shin-ju, she greeted him in a cheerful voice.
"Wow, you haven't changed a bit, Mister! Did you bag another one?"
"It's been a while, Kaneseu."
At the appearance of the cute girl, Enri's expression softened, and she waved at her.
"Wow, a pretty lady!"
Kaneseu beamed when she saw Enri and waved back.
Shin-ju gestured toward the mercenaries behind him with his chin.
"They're the ones who took care of it this time."
"Oho! So they're mercenaries!"
The alien called Kaneseu exclaimed, sounding slightly surprised.
A moment later, Kaneseu and her two fellow janitors circled the alien beast.
A large opening appeared on the motorcycles they rode.
*Whoooosh—*
And at an incredible speed, they began to neatly suck up the pieces of the corpse.
"Yep! All taken care of! The price is..."
Kaneseu tapped on a calculator.
"300 Julas! That's 650,000 won in Korean currency."
The mercenaries' eyes widened at the price.
"What! For cleaning up this one thing?"
"Damn it! Still so expensive!"
"Hey! That's a quarter of the fee we just earned!"
And so, the reason the mercenaries had tried to sneak away was revealed.
The friendly-looking human mercenary clicked his tongue and grimaced slightly.
Grumbling, they went on their way.
Shin-ju called out to Kaneseu as she was about to leave.
"Kaneseu, how many alien beast-related cleanup jobs have you had this month?"
Kaneseu tilted her head up for a moment, as if in thought.
"Umm, about three cases? Ah, yes, three cases is right!"
"Three cases... What do you think? Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?"
"Well, it feels like there's been a bit more work this month? But more work is good! I make more money, hehe."
As Kaneseu laughed, Shin-ju smiled back as if finding her cute.
"Haha, right. Ah, one last thing. How many cleanup jobs have you done that involved mercenaries?"
Kaneseu's eyes narrowed.
"Mister, you can't just keep digging for information for free. I'm grateful you saved me from being kidnapped by space pirates, but don't you think you're milking that one incident a little too much?"
"I'm just asking casually for information gathering. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Kaneseu furrowed her brow and thought for a moment...
"Hmm, well, I heard the trend these days is that everyone's responsible for their own safety, so the distribution and purchase rates for weapons have gone up a lot! So I think the line between mercenaries and civilians is blurring. That probably means more cleanup jobs, right?"
"Hmm, is that so. Thanks for telling me. Take care."
"Okay, you too, Mister. You too, pretty Elf lady!"
*Vrooom—*
Kaneseu and her two colleagues soared into the sky on their motorcycles.
Shin-ju was lost in thought.
The line between mercenaries and civilians is blurring...
Shin-ju once again examined the spot where the alien beast's corpse had been.
It was a long-standing habit of his to constantly check for any lingering issues.
"Sigh, at least it didn't have a leash. Sheesh..."
Shin-ju turned to Enri, ready to head back to the police station.
"Enri!"
"Hee... that girl is so cute."
Her fierce expression from moments ago completely gone, Enri was staring up at the sky with a dazed look.
Shin-ju watched her for a moment before turning his head and starting to walk.
"...Let's head back now."
Before they knew it, the sun was setting, casting a crimson twilight over the city.
And so, Seoul grew busy with rush hour.
Enri and Shin-ju, who were scheduled for overtime, stopped by a nearby supermarket to buy a late-night snack before going to the station.
The supermarket was bustling with various Earthlings and aliens of all shapes and sizes.
Enri marveled quietly at the sight of the diverse species, each maintaining order as they lined up at the checkout counter.
"No one would have ever expected a sight like this to be possible."
Shin-ju also smiled, glancing at the long line beside Enri.
"I agree."
Just then, Enri's eyes fell upon a small, cute Elf baby, giggling in its mother's arms.
"Ah!"
Enri let out a small gasp.
It was the same mother and daughter who had been attacked by the alien beast a while ago.
For a moment, she was reminded of her home planet, Bluerobic, where a war had broken out due to an alien beast invasion.
The valiant figures of her two older sisters, who had fought alongside her on their home planet, flickered before her eyes.
Her eldest and second-eldest sisters, bleeding as they saved her, the youngest, and confronted the alien beasts.
The crimson flames rising over the Sea of Veils, and the blood reflected in the eyes of thousands.
Enri could never forget those who had fallen in the war.
Lost in thought, she stared into the distance for a moment.
"I have to bring my sisters and the people from my hometown here soon..."
While Shin-ju was a short distance away from Enri, an Earthling couple approached, loading their cart with groceries for dinner.
Suddenly, a beer bottle fell to the floor and rolled to Enri's feet.
She picked up the beer bottle and handed it to a man who appeared to be the husband.
"Ah, thank you."
The man smiled brightly, and Enri gave him a slight nod in return.
A rather strange-looking self-defense holster on the man's hip caught her eye.
It didn't look like something from Earth.
The husband soon returned to his wife and got in line at the checkout.
In that instant, Enri realized.
The Earthlings and aliens standing in line at the checkout all had self-defense weapons at their hips.
The reason they maintained peace with one another was the underlying fear that they could all attack each other.
The South Korean government was still engaged in an endless debate over the pros and cons of alien weapon regulation laws.
Enri neither opposed nor supported weapon possession.
She believed it wasn't an issue an individual could simply decide upon.
"Then again, I..."
Enri looked down at the self-defense police baton on her own hip, modified with dragon bone, and sighed softly.
"...am not in a position to say anything."
Soon, Shin-ju and Enri left the supermarket and walked down the street.
Colorful neon signs covered the street in the dark of night.
As the two walked and chatted, they saw a giant electronic billboard standing in the middle of a Seoul street.
Shin-ju and Enri casually looked up at the monitor.
On the screen, an incredibly beautiful singer was performing.
Pointed ears, jet-black hair that seemed to hold the cosmos, and sparkling blue eyes.
The singer was not an Earthling.
The top star receiving the most attention these days.
She was 'Tibee-ra,' an Elf from the same planet as Enri, Bluerobic.
The cosmic superstar Tibee-ra, who boasted unparalleled beauty even among Elves.
Shin-ju recalled a documentary about Bluerobic Planetarians from a few years ago.
Tibee-ra had appeared in that documentary and spoken about how she had lived on her home planet before coming to Earth.
She was from 'Sinsnature,' a provincial region of Bluerobic, and was the young head of her household, having raised eight younger siblings. Because of this, her quiet and resilient demeanor, different from typical Elves, had earned her considerable popularity not just worldwide, but galaxy-wide.
Like Enri, she too was a refugee who had fled to Earth as a victim of the alien beast war.
He didn't know if all eight of her siblings were on Earth, but she was living proudly in this distant, foreign land.
Enri looked up at the large billboard and smiled, seeing a fellow native of her home planet succeeding on Earth.
For the people of Bluerobic, Earth was their only hope.
The next morning.
The U.C.I.D. headquarters was bustling as usual.
A tentacled alien officer of U.C.I.D. was taking calls from all directions, handling civil complaints.
Entering the building, Enri always thought that tentacled colleague was amazing.
A moment later, Enri entered the office and offered a greeting.
"Shin-ju, hello. Good morning."
"Yes. You're here?"
Someone was sitting demurely in front of Shin-ju.
There was something extraordinary about the woman's back.
"Oh... we have a visitor?"
Enri cautiously approached the seated woman.
She was wearing a large cap and sunglasses.
"Oh!"
Enri's pupils widened.
When the mysterious woman saw Enri, her eyes, shining behind her sunglasses, also began to widen.
"Uh... Ms. Tibee-ra...?"
In response to Enri's question, she nodded slightly and spoke in a small voice.
"Yes... hello."
Realizing that the cosmic superstar was sitting right in front of her, Enri straightened her back and struggled to maintain a composed expression.
To maintain her dignity as a police officer, she deliberately looked up at Shin-ju.
"Uh... yes, what brings her here?"
Finding her behavior cute, Shin-ju gave a barely perceptible smile and shrugged.
"She's filing a theft report."
"...A theft?"