281 – Corporation, Villain, Gang #3
The Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi was running hard towards somewhere.
It wound through the narrow alleyways and squeezed through the crowds of people.
“Kkungkkungi! Slow down a little!”
I had to exert all my energy to keep up with the swiftly sprinting Kkungkkungi.
But the Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi didn’t seem to care that we were following him; he just kept running towards some direction.
“Quick, let’s chase! He must have caught a whiff of Lee Dong-sik!”
Having smelled Lee Dong-sik’s handkerchief, Kkungkkungi would be able to quickly find the escaped prisoner hidden somewhere in the city with his keen sense of smell.
Had we been running for about ten minutes?
We arrived at a park in Makcheon City.
“There are a lot of people. Is he somewhere here?”
I looked around.
I had memorized Lee Dong-sik’s face when I received various materials from Kang Cheol-Min.
Pop—!
At that moment, Kkungkkungi dashed off somewhere.
And he was barking at a tree planted in the park.
—Kkungkkung…!
Kkungkkungi.
Does that mean Lee Dong-sik is up there?
No, for some reason Kkungkkungi’s tail was wagging back and forth.
It was as if he was happily moving like a puppy greeting a long-lost guest.
Pop—!
Something soon jumped down from the tree towards Kkungkkungi.
It was a squirrel with shimmering silver fur.
“What’s that? Isn’t that the flying squirrel Phey?”
—Kkungkkung…!
—Kkungkkung…!
Flying squirrel Phey.
He was the squirrel that Ms. Freya, the head of the “Green Fairy Association,” left at our house.
With a shiny silver body and a plush coat, he had a thin membrane between his front and back legs, allowing him to glide freely, which is why he was called a flying squirrel.
Anyway.
If there were one major characteristic about the silver flying squirrel Phey, it was that he was the favorite female of Kkungkkungi, the top squirrel who was always chased around by various female squirrels.
In other words, you could say she was the main consort among Kkungkkungi’s several girlfriends. Even I could see that Phey was somewhat beautiful for a squirrel.
She was likely the most beautiful among squirrels.
—Kkungkkung…!
—Kkungkkung…!
The two squirrels were spinning around each other, jumping and playing; it was quite a mess. It felt like this was what it was like for a couple reuniting after a long time, though I also felt puzzled.
“No, Kkungkkungi. Were you in such a hurry to find Phey’s scent?”
I thought they must have found Lee Dong-sik’s scent.
I was a bit tense because of it.
Soon, Seo Ye-rim, who was slightly out of breath from the over ten-minute sprint, frowned and picked up Kkungkkungi with her palm.
“What’s this? You rushed over just to meet your girlfriend? Kkungkkungi is more of a romantic than I thought. In some ways, he’s much better than his owner.”
Kkungkkungi better than me?
I decided to admit it willingly.
Because that statement was indeed true.
Swish—.
When Seo Ye-rim put Kkungkkungi down on the ground, he began to hop around the park again with the flying squirrel Phey.
Seeing this, Lee Jin-A said,
“They seem to be having a great time. It’s hard to interrupt them when they’re so happy.”
I thought so too.
Whether they were climbing the tree or chasing each other’s tails, they looked like squirrels out on a fun day at the amusement park.
At this rate, asking Kkungkkungi to chase a prisoner would be difficult….
“Oh my, who is this? It’s been a while.”
Tap, tap—.
Just then, someone approached from the park, making high-heeled shoe sounds.
She was a woman wearing a red coat beneath her rose-like thick green hair. Her ears were long and pointed, unlike those of the Nymphs, and she was even wearing sunglasses.
“Ms. Freya…!?”
Freya.
She was the spiritual leader of the elves who came to Korea, someone you could call the representative of the elves. Borrowing the expression of Inoi, she would be the top elf sister.
“It’s been a while. I heard you were very busy; has everything finally settled?”
It had been several months since I last met Freya.
Occasionally, I would text her, “Is my friend Phey doing well? Please send me some photos,” and that was all we had shared during that time.
Swish—.
When Ms. Freya reached out her hand, the flying squirrel Phey leaped into the air and spread its four legs, gliding to land in her palm.
Thud—!
The flying squirrel Phey snugly nestled into Ms. Freya’s palm.
Soon, Ms. Freya began to gently pet Phey and said,
“I was just taking a stroll around Makcheon City, finally meeting Phey again.”
That was a very good story.
A stroll with a squirrel and its companion is always important.
Swish—.
At that moment, Yu Ara stepped forward.
“‘Stroll’ sounds like a lie. Madame Freya, are you also looking for Lee Dong-sik to gain access to Big Sister?”
# # #
“Senpai! Don’t trust that elf! That elf is lying! ‘Stroll’ is a lie, and you are also looking for Lee Dong-sik, right?”
Ari’s statement felt a bit out of the blue.
It felt slightly rude.
Could Ms. Freya really be lying to me?
But the elf lady Freya elegantly laughed.
“Someone with good intuition is indeed hard to deceive. That’s right. We are also looking for a man for a meeting with Big Sister. Phey has an excellent nose, just like Ratatoskr.”
Swish—.
When Ms. Freya waved her hand through the air, a piece of clothing fell down from thin air.
It was an orange prisoner uniform.
—Kkungkkung…!
The Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi barked at the prisoner uniform.
Kkungkkungi usually liked to bark without any meaning, but now, that ‘—Kkungkkung…!’ likely meant, “That’s the smell I’ve been looking for!”
I quickly realized that the prisoner uniform belonged to Lee Dong-sik.
And this was the moment it was revealed that Kkungkkungi hadn’t neglected his duty.
Kkungkkungi tracked Lee Dong-sik’s scent from the handkerchief and found the prisoner uniform, which had a stronger and richer scent.
This meant that by smelling this prisoner uniform, he would gain even more significant scent information, increasing the probability of finding Lee Dong-sik….
Swish—.
I cautiously glanced at Ms. Freya, the elf.
The fact that the elves were looking for Lee Dong-sik to meet Big Sister indicated they were our competitors.
I was uncertain if they would let Kkungkkungi sniff the prisoner uniform.
“What do the elves plan to do by meeting Big Sister?”
Seo Ye-rim asked somewhat bluntly.
I once saw a joke on the internet that suggested young women worldwide have a peculiar resentment towards elf women, who never seem to age and remain eternally beautiful; perhaps Seo Ye-rim felt similarly?
Soon, the head of the elves, Ms. Freya, chuckled.
“Nothing much. This year, many elven children were born, so we need multicultural policies for them. We’re just trying to subtly get the lawmakers to move through Big Sister’s connections.”
It seems that meeting with Big Sister could lead to creating new laws.
I had thought that the elves were increasingly occupying important positions in Korea, but now I realized they were connected to Big Sister!
It made sense in many ways!
Pop, pop, pop—!
At that moment, elves scattered throughout the park surrounded us.
Most of them were young, beautiful women.
Isn’t it said that despite being ugly, my diligent friend Park Seong-sik married one of those elves and had a beautiful daughter? My cousin Ha Jeong also said she would marry an elf.
“Elven wives.”
In these modern times, it seemed to be a symbol of success for men.
If beautiful elf women were there to massage the shoulders of their returning husbands, cheer them on daily, and encourage them, their spirits would surely rise.
Swish—.
However, the elven women surrounding me didn’t offer any encouragement or support; they placed their hands on the elf swords strapped to their waists.
Elven swords.
They say their blades can slice through solid steel like tofu, right?
Swish, swish, swish—!
The number of elves gripping swords continued to grow.
At least dozens.
It was said that each elf possessed abilities ranging from D to B Rank Awakened status, so it was indeed a perilous situation.
“What? Are we going to have a showdown right here?”
Lee Jin-A cracked her knuckles, displaying enthusiasm.
Seo Ye-rim and Yu Ara leaned against each other, eliminating their blind spots.
As everything hung in the balance, I turned to Ms. Freya.
“Do we have to fight?”
“I think so too. Is there really a need to fight? But they belong to the hardliners known as ‘Nidhoggr Faction’ among the elves. They won’t follow my orders.”
So there are elves who don’t follow Ms. Freya’s commands.
I thought Freya was the highest authority among the elves.
“Hoho, I’m the leader of the relatively gentle faction among the elves. But the leader of the Nidhoggr Faction is different. She is my nemesis and has been extremely radical for a very long time.”
The leader of the Nidhoggr Faction.
I realized that elf was a staunch hardliner who believed, “Elf women should intentionally give birth to a lot more children and cover Korea with elves!”
It seemed that Ms. Freya had entrusted Phey to me and hadn’t shown up for months to narrow the gap with the leader of the hardliners.
“There she is.”
Swoosh—.
Ms. Freya narrowed her eyes.
When I turned my head to where her gaze landed, a woman radiating a golden glow was parting the crowd of elves like the Red Sea, approaching us.
Her eyes sparkled like amber jewels, her skin glimmered like stars, and she emanated a noble aura. She seemed to carry the nobility of a gemstone that had been refined and polished over a long time through storms and rains.
Ms. Freya said.
“Aein Sinuh Alar, may the blessings of the mother be with you. Galadriel. What brings the Lady of the Forest to such a place? Wasn’t it left to me to track down Lee Dong-sik?”
“Dain Senadar, may the glory of the father be with you, daughter of the stars, Freya. I couldn’t just sit idly by since the future of our race is at stake.”
She was a woman with an antiquated, dignified air.
I could tell that this person was the head of the Nidhoggr Faction, known for its radical stance among the elves.
An extraordinary elf!
Swish—.
The extraordinary elf glared at us.
“Freya, our elves need to give birth to more children on this land and be surrounded by more offspring. If we have elf multicultural welfare policies, we will be able to have more children.”
Zing—.
The look directed at me was piercing.
“Freya. You weren’t planning to compromise the future of our elves to these people, were you? Were you not intending to give up on a future filled with half-elves frolicking around on Korean soil?”
Did we appear to be hindering the elves’ population expansion?
It seemed she was about to draw her sword at any moment, but then a fact suddenly struck me.
“Is Galadriel a common name?”
Gasp—!
All the elves surrounding us seemed taken aback, inhaling sharply as if I had asked a question that should never have been asked.
It felt like I had unintentionally crossed a line, and it genuinely seemed that way.
At that moment, Freya said,
“Il-do, Galadriel is a noble name. Among elves, only Freya and those named Galadriel exist; the two of us have been guarding our names for centuries.”
Centuries?
It wasn’t surprising that elves had long lifespans, but somehow, I was curious about that.
It differed slightly from what I knew.
“Galadriel, do you happen to know someone named Ha Jeong? I heard that an elf named Galadriel is getting married next year.”
