That reporter was a Motion Aura User named John Gale.
***
John Gale.
Gender male, age 32, D-rank Motioner. 185cm.
Nationality Alcity. Current residence Quiqus near Tar.
Evil, who had been reading down the tablet screen, raised one eyebrow.
“A Motioner? But he said a refugee saved him on the battlefield.”
“He’s the type who doesn’t use aura well. You know, there are people who are ashamed of aura because of moral beliefs.”
“Ah, those idiots. So that’s why a Motioner does something like a reporter job…. Where’s Quiqus again?”
James answered immediately.
“It’s a small country bordering Tar. He’s currently in Quiqus, but even just a week ago, he was in Yaktor. Before that, Tor, Mirk….”
“So he only loiters around near Tar.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
James nervously watched Evil’s mood. Last Friday afternoon, he received instructions to find out about John Gale. It was the first time Evil, who was indifferent to everything, had instructed to investigate someone, so the secretaries went on emergency alert.
Because it was none other than Evil Devil who ordered it, they couldn’t use other personnel, and without being able to ask the reason, all the secretaries had to give up their weekend to investigate. They could only guess it was related to Cheche because the subject was John Gale.
Evil scrolled down the rest of the tablet.
John Gale retired from his reporter job at a young age due to injuries sustained while following battlefields and lived as a columnist. However, that was a surface occupation, and in reality… a Tartarian broker.
“It seems he’s been active as a Tartarian broker since a year ago. In a little over a year, he’s helped fifty people escape.”
“Fifty people? Even if his rank is low, he’s a Motioner, and he only got fifty people out?”
“It seems like there aren’t many because he’s settling them in safe countries. Escaping to countries near Tar isn’t difficult, and it costs five million daal per person, but they get kidnapped by rebels or government forces right away. Even if Tar people wear wigs and contacts, they stand out because of their skin color. Since the nearby countries are also impoverished nations, when they’re suspected of being Tartarian, they seem to report them for the reward.”
“How much is the reward?”
“Between thirty to fifty thousand daal per person.”
“Cheap.”
Evil sneered. Since one meal out for an Alcity commoner family cost about thirty thousand daal, it was too cheap a price for handing over someone else’s freedom.
“They’re all extremely poor countries….”
“When poor countries gather together, they must become fucking stupid.”
“They seem to be watching Vilain Jerado’s mood. Tar is practically a vassal state of Vilain Jerado, and Vilain Jerado is such a powerful nation.”
“First time I’m hearing this. Since when was that place a powerful nation?”
“……”
Toward the powerful nation counted as third after Alcity and Rondel, Evil only snorted.
“The stupidest ones are the refugee bastard and the Motioner reporter bastard. Even if they get caught again, they should bring out as many as possible first. Who do they think they are to select people and send them to safe places?”
In Evil’s opinion, rather than rescuing only fifty people by spending a fortune to settle them in safe places, it was better to evacuate as many people as possible even to neighboring countries. Let them find their own way to survive after evacuation, and first, no matter how he thought about it, it was better to get them out of an area where bombings and air raids continued every day.
“Where did those fifty people settle?”
“They’re all living here, in Alcity.”
“All of them? I’d be damned. No wonder the beggar smell seemed to have gotten worse lately.”
“……”
It was a difficult word choice for James to respond to, so he kept quiet. He was also surprised when he saw the investigated materials. Fifty Tar refugees in one year. In some ways, it was a small number, and in some ways, it was more than expected.
“How much does it cost to bring them out to Alcity?”
“Between thirty to fifty million daal per person.”
“Do columns make that much money?”
“Absolutely not. How interested would people be in columns about civil war countries? Should we investigate where the funds come from?”
Evil laughed as if dumbfounded and told him to forget the investigation. Because he seemed to know where the source was. Tar’s young hero was providing funding to the Tartarian broker.
It was very audacious and also interesting. With that emotionless face that seemed to have no thoughts, that didn’t even seem alive… he ignored Alcity and international society’s laws and regulations and settled as many as fifty people here over a year.
The cost to bring fifty people out to Alcity was roughly 1.5 billion daal. It was nothing to Evil (the wristwatch he gave to a dog raised at his family home as a toy because he got sick of it two days after buying it was 1.5 billion), but it would be a large sum to Cheche. Evil planned to find out directly where that money came from. And….
“I should catch him on the spot and see his expression.”
“Pardon?”
“Where does the refugee live?”
“The ref—ah, if you mean Cheche-ssi, he’s living in a nearby officetel prepared by the family.”
James had now completely given up on requesting Evil to call Cheche by his name instead of refugee.
“Give me his home address.”
“…Yes, I’ll contact the HR department. May I ask what this is about?”
Asking what it was about first would obviously make him angry, so saying he understood first and then asking the reason was a method James often used. Of course, Evil saw through such thin cushioning. His rapidly beating heartbeat like he was scared and his rising body temperature told him everything.
“Don’t ask and just hurry up and find out the home address, you idiot.”
“…Yes….”
It would be simple to ask Cheche, who was currently working in the secretary’s office on the same floor, for his home address, but James tactfully contacted the HR department. The answer came right away. It was unit 1502 of a newly built officetel near the Center.
Evil left his office with a quite pleased expression.
***
James looked at Cheche, who was studying with an expressionless face, with mixed feelings. The cause of his mixed feelings was Evil asking for Cheche’s home address. He was worried Evil might go to his house and harm him, but if Evil made up his mind, even if they gathered all the bodyguards in the world, even if they warned Cheche to be careful, it was useless. Having lived as Evil’s secretary all this time and turned a blind eye to all the vicious acts Evil committed, he decided to turn a blind eye this time too.
“Cheche-ssi will take calls until seven o’clock today, and the rest of you can leave work.”
James instructed Cheche to work overtime as Evil had ordered. The Center’s secretary’s office originally had frequent overtime. Except for when Evil caused trouble, it was a leisurely job, but there were more days when Evil caused trouble than days when he didn’t. Recently too, they had been working continuous overtime to clean up Evil’s messes, and had only just returned to leaving on time the day before yesterday.
In fact, even when they said overtime, since the secretary’s office’s regular leaving time was 3 PM, they only stayed a couple more hours to answer phones. Since they left by 6 PM at the latest, it was embarrassing to tell Cheche to stay until 7 PM. However, since Evil’s time searching through Cheche’s house might take longer, he had to say it as long as possible for now.
“Cheche-ssi, did you hear? Stay alone and answer the phone.”
“Yes.”
Unlike Cheche, who answered calmly as if he had known in advance, the senior secretaries widened their eyes in surprise, then soon had troubled expressions like James.
‘The devil bastard is tormenting Cheche.’
‘So that’s why he ordered us to investigate reporter John Gale—to catch Cheche’s weakness.’
‘Will he be able to answer the phone well alone?’
They were very troubled, but anyway, they busily gathered their bags. Evil’s secretaries, like James, were people with the kind of character who had overlooked Evil’s bad deeds countless times. They pretended not to see this time too.
While James kept Cheche stuck in the secretary’s office, Evil was heading to Cheche’s house. The address entered in the Center’s personnel records was 00 Officetel, unit 1502. It was a quite expensive building located near the Center.
He arrived in front of the door of unit 1502 around the time the sun was setting. Evil quietly listened to the conversation inside the door.
“Honey, take out the dishes.”
“Okay, let’s eat quickly before it gets too cold.”
A young couple was busily preparing dinner. Evil wore a cold sneer and pressed the bell.
“Who is it at this hour?”
“Honey, you go see.”
The bell rang, and after being flustered for a moment, the couple busily opened the door.
“Who is…”
“……”
“Uh, E-E…?”
The person who appeared after opening the door couldn’t even properly pronounce the name Evil. The homeowner wearing an apron was a thirty-something man of average height, and behind him could be seen a young baby in a walker and a woman holding a ladle. They weren’t Tar people. Anyone could see they were a young Alcity couple with Alcity citizenship living a peaceful life.
