Chapter 81.
Chapter 81.
"Good morning!" I bowed and greeted the director energetically. He always went to work early in the morning when no one else was there.
Currently, it was 7:20 am, which meant that I arrived at work 15 minutes earlier than when that damn director told me to get here. Come to think of it, the normal workday started at 8:30, but the director was here an hour early.
Director Pelgrant had a bewildered expression on his face before it transformed into a look of disinterest as he quickly passed me and went to his seat. Then he bluntly said, "You must have nothing else to do if you came to work this early."
Hahaha, I wonder if he would still say that if I hit him on the head with a stone.
Despite my true feelings, I still spoke with a big smile, "I was late to work yesterday, so I reflected on my actions and came earlier today."
Who said you can’t spit on a smiling face? The director looked at me with an expression of disapproval and clicked his tongue. "Tch, how unnecessary."
Ududuk!
"Huh?"
Oops! I inadvertently clenched my fist just then. The director seemed to have heard the noise as he looked at me. I smiled and stretched, facing the director.
"Haha, I think my body is still stiff because it’s morning."
I resisted the urge to add, "Can you act as a sandbag for me to warm up?"
"Do things like that before you leave for work. This is a workplace, not a place to exercise."
That said, Director Pelgrant handed me a bunch of documents from inside his drawer.
"This is a record of individuals registered in our district. Sort it by age, then bring it to me."
The thickness of the pile was almost one meter. Where did you get this from? Actually, why does it need to be sorted by age anyway?
"Yes, I understand!"
I answered bravely, putting aside my doubts. This isn’t useless work that you’re making me do for nothing, right?
I sat down and began to sort through the documents.
* * *
After lunchtime, at around two o’clock in the afternoon, I finally finished sorting the documents into various age groups and went to put them on the director’s desk.
"It has been completed,” I said.
Director Pelgrant spoke without even looking at me, "Really? Then re-sort them from youngest to oldest."
Hahahahaha! I had already expected that!
I grabbed the pile of documents and started the re-sorting on the spot. People aged 11-19 were found 63, 40, and 57 pages from the top of the pile. Those in their 20s were 155, 68, and 120 pages from the top. I sorted it this way in the first place and brought them over.
The director was looking at me like I was a madman, but whatever.
After I finished re-sorting the documents on the spot, I smiled and said, "It’s done."
How was that, you damn director? I had a hard time sorting the documents, but somehow it felt satisfying. Yet, that feeling of satisfaction quickly disappeared when Director Pelgrant reached back in the drawer and pulled out another pile of documents. The new stack was still thick enough to fill up one hand.
“This is a list of deaths which occurred this year. Remove anyone who’s died from the other registry."
Unlike the previous documents, which had one person per page, the list of deaths given by the director had multiple people per page.
"Yes!"
For now, I answered cheerfully and lively- this bastard!
* * *
"Would you like to go for a drink?” I asked Flam on the way home from work.
For the entire time I was at work, the director continued to give me all kinds of documents and ordered me to sort them in various ways.
Hahahaha, should I kill him? No, not yet. Let’s put up with it a little longer.
Flam shook his head at me. "No, in consideration for your health, I think we should pass today. I was really surprised when I saw you drinking a glass of beer half mixed with liquor."
"Why? Aren’t you supposed to drink liquor by mixing it since the liquor has a high alcohol content?” I asked.
"Who mixes alcohol with alcohol!”
Are you saying that alcohol isn’t supposed to be mixed with each other? Well, I guess the beer at the tavern yesterday had a strong lager flavor, so it masked the scent of the liquor. Korean beer in my previous life wasn’t tasty because the flavor was light, but if you mixed it with soju, the taste was good.
"Anyway, I am not going."
I licked my lips at Flam’s resolute reply and said, "That’s too bad."
"If possible, just go back to the boarding house."
"Well, I guess I should."
It was unfortunate, but I couldn’t do anything. It wasn’t that I couldn’t make it home by myself when I was drunk, but rather, I thought I might worry everyone if there was no one to help me. As such, I decided to put it off for another opportunity.
It was a while since I last drank alcohol, so it seemed I wasn’t able to control myself.
After separating with Flam on our way home from work, I started to head back to the boarding house when I saw Director Pelgrant quickly disappear into a back alley. The scene seemed like he was quickly running away from a pursuer.
Hmm, I have a hunch that something interesting is going to happen.
I wore a smile that would make others think of the devil and decided to follow him while concealing my presence.
* * *
Pelgrant packed up his suitcase and got up from his seat earlier than usual.
"Have a good evening, Director!” At the same time, a trainee who was sitting in front of him stood up and greeted him.
All the department members turned their attention from the trainees’ greetings and looked at Pelgrant with anticipation. However, Pelgrant would not live up to their expectations.
"Finish everything that you are currently working on before you all leave. You can’t start pushing off your work and going home later just because it’s the end of the year. You know this, right?”
The department staff had no choice but to look at Pelgrant with gloomy eyes as he left, saying that he would check their assignments when he went to work the next morning. In fact, Pelgrant wasn’t wrong. It’s possible that it would be a different matter at a time with a little more wiggle room, but it would be hard to cope if the work began to get pushed back during the period when they were having the year-end audit.
Still, no one could stop him from leaving work because he arrived earlier than anyone else and finished all of his work. Either way, department workers would be able to leave work at a normal time if they completed all their work.
Leaving the district office, Pelgrant slowly wandered around the market before sneaking away into a back alley. Pelgrant walked quickly to the east side of the capital and went into an obscure bar in the corner.
As expected of a back-alley bar, bottles of liquor rolled around the floor, and a bunch of people who looked like gangsters were drinking. Yet, there was no stale smell, and not a speck of dust could be seen, even in the corner. These were very minor details, but they convinced Pelgrant.
Pelgrant went deep into the bar and approached the bartender. He took out five iron coins and said, "I’d like the cheapest drink here, please.”
Pelgrant’s wage was not low enough that he needed to find the cheapest liquor in these corner bars.
The bartender scanned Pelgrant from top to bottom and said, "You’re asking for the cheapest drink while wearing a nice suit.”
At the bartender’s somewhat derisive tone, Pelgrant felt a little embarrassed, but he gave a dry cough and said to the bartender, "That’s not something pertinent to you, is it?"
The bartender snorted at the remark, "So, what can I get you?”
Although he spoke bluntly and without using honorifics, Pelgrant did not care. "The Sun’s Daybreak...”
"Ha, five iron coins for such an expensive liquor? Hey, guys!"
The gangsters sipping their liquor rose from their seats and approached Pelgrant when they heard the bartender.
"You shouldn’t make a scene here, brother."
The sturdy men who surrounded Pelgrant grabbed his arms and headed for the back door of the bar.
"Where are you dragging me?!"
Despite Pelgrant’s cry, the men dragged him to the back door while ignoring him. When the men opened the back door, rather than leading outdoors, there was a staircase leading underground.
After entering the stairs and closing the door, the men released Pelgrant’s arms. Pelgrant stretched out his crumpled suit and went down the stairs without saying a word. At the end of the stairs, there was a door. Pelgrant knocked on the door, and the door slid open sideways.
Pelgrant felt a sense of disharmony when the door with a turning handle slid open sideways, but he quietly walked through the opened door anyway.
Past the door was a fairly large room adorned with extravagant decorations. In the center of the room was a luxurious sofa and table, and on the sofa sat a woman covered with a veil.
"Welcome. Should I call you Director Pelgrant von Bologneo?” The woman’s voice was light and playful as she spoke.
Pelgrant sat across from her and said, "Call me whatever is convenient. However, can’t you change the secret rendezvous method?"
He thought the rendezvous method wouldn’t matter because it was a kind of a gimmick, but the way he was dragged in seemed a bit unseemly.
The veiled lady pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, I guess you didn’t like our Big Mama Information Agency’s play, Agent Bologneo White."
At the woman’s words, Pelgrant frowned. He told her to call him as she pleased, but to refer to him as ‘Agent White’... Just how much did she know about him?
As Pelgrant thought of this question, the woman in front of him recited his profile as if she had read his thoughts.
"Pelgrant von Bologneo, born as the third son of Count Bologneo, the family of Duke Artemis, and brother of the current Count Bologneo. Currently working as a department director at the district office. He used to belong to the treasury office but was appointed as the director of a district office, which was rumored to be a demotion. Despite this rumor, due to his significance in the "Spider Trap" operation four years, nine months, and 13 days ago-”
"Stop!" Pelgrant cut her off with an angry shout.
As Pelgrant breathed harshly with a red face, the veiled woman bowed her head and apologized, "I’m sorry. I was accidentally rude because you seemed to have questions about us."
After saying this, she grabbed the kettle of hot water on the table, filled the teacup, and handed it to Pelgrant.
"This is a tea that’s made with herbs that help stabilize the mind and body. Thank you for your first visit to Big Mama Information Agency. We’d like to offer you a free request for information to apologize for our rudeness."
Pelgrant looked at her face. He couldn’t see her face because it was covered with a veil, but the gaze he felt through the veil was cold.
Pelgrant was able to see that everything that had happened was part of this woman’s test. No, there wasn’t even a need to call it a test. It was likely that this was a process of verifying whether the information they had obtained was true.
Pelgrant was overcome with displeasure but did not act rashly. Rather, he calmly judged that it was time to retire from the job because his big flaw had been discovered by someone else.
"You said you’d give me free information one time?"
The veiled lady nodded lightly at Pelgrant’s question. "Yes, of course."
"Then give me all the information you have on ’Scorpio.’”
The woman pretended to exaggeratedly cover her mouth when she heard the request. "It seems I’m going to have to pay a high price for that moment of rudeness.”
Even while saying so, there were no changes in her emotion. Pelgrant marveled inwardly at how she acted as if everything had been intended. He also noticed that she was purposely trying to hand over some of the information he asked for. Otherwise, she would not have deliberately said she would give the information for "free."
As if she had prepared it in advance, when she beckoned with her hand, a man opened the door and brought a document envelope with him.
"Here you are."
Pelgrant received the document envelope from her and asked, "Who are you?"
The veiled woman smiled and answered, "Just call me the Director of Headquarters."
Her voice sounded very young.