As soon as I made my decision, a bundle of documents popped out from Margreta’s arms.
“It’s the contract. Check it and sign.”
The sudden appearance of the documents was amazing enough, but where they had come from was absurd.
There shouldn’t have been anywhere for them to come out of, right?
Even Soph seemed to have been struck speechless by the magic-like appearance.
I took the documents and read through them.
Hmm...
All good stuff.
I handed the documents back to Margreta.
“I don’t understand a word of this.”
At my words, Margreta tilted her head.
“Was there something difficult in it?”
I took the translation artifact out of my pocket and showed it to her.
“The translation artifact doesn’t translate writing.”
Unlike math and physics, I had studied English hard.
But I had no idea what an English contract was saying.
It wasn’t my fault.
This was a problem with the Korean education system.
I heard Soph click his tongue, but I neatly ignored the sound.
“Ah, right. Wait a moment.”
Unlike Soph, Margreta did not mock me.
She immediately brought out an alternative.
“Since we’re on Earth, we can just use technology.”
The alternative she brought out was a cell phone.
She opened the camera app and handed it to me.
“Translation apps are quite good these days, so it shouldn’t be hard to read.”
Earth’s science was no less impressive than magical artifacts.
On the phone screen, I saw the contract translated by AI.
Soph was also very surprised when he saw the phone.
[There’s no magic, yet their civilization level isn’t bad. To think they can record images with such a small machine and even translate with it. Well, I suppose if they weren’t at least this advanced, they wouldn’t have dared try to remodel the ruins.]
The reason for his surprise was different from what I’d thought.
Rather than marveling at the greatness of scientific civilization, he seemed impressed that they had managed this much without magic.
Confidentiality, protection, compensation—the contents of the contract were no different from what she had said.
“My nationality stays the same.”
“It would be better to keep your Korean nationality. It’ll be better for your own life as well, and since you’ll be coming and going here for a while, it would be troublesome if you got on the wrong side of the Koreans.”
“Hmm...”
I tilted my head at her explanation.
It sounded plausible, but something about it felt lacking.
Seeing my reaction, Margreta sighed.
“I’ll be honest. It’s better for me if you remain a Korean national. While changing your nationality, you’d be exposed to the outside, and then all sorts of people would definitely reach out to you, Hyeon.”
She grumbled that even within her department, hyena-like people like that were lurking everywhere.
“Besides, for me to have an excuse to use you as outside personnel, you need to remain a foreigner.”
That made sense.
I had no intention of switching to another handler either.
And I didn’t want to change my nationality.
It was the various restrictions I disliked; without those restrictions, living as a Korean wasn’t bad.
“During the contract, your basic allowance will be fifty thousand dollars a month. You’ll receive separate allowances for each operation and for each artifact you bring back. For something like a ruin exploration, you’ll be paid at least a hundred thousand dollars, so you won’t have to worry about money.”
Seventy million won as a base, and one hundred forty million per operation, huh.
It certainly seemed I wouldn’t need to worry about money.
“Besides, Hyeon, you can make so much money that you won’t even care about amounts like this.”
After hearing the explanation that followed, I signed the contract immediately.
She signed it as well, then held out her hand to me.
“Good. From now on, we’re family.”
“Should I call you my client from now on?”
“I said family. Call me Maggie!”
It seemed like East and West had gotten mixed together, but I took the hand she offered.
After we signed the contract, she handed me two business cards.
One was her business card, with the title “Special Envoy for Climate, Department of State” written on it, and the other was mine, with “Agent Hyeon” written in English.
“Did you expect all of this? You had them made in advance.”
“We don’t have time. If it didn’t work out, I would’ve just thrown them away.”
She said it with a smile, so I decided to simply believe her.
“If you use those two business cards, you’ll be able to verify your identity and contact me.”
She told me how to use the business cards.
Then she made a gun shape with her hand and pretended to shoot.
“There’s actually more I’m supposed to give you, but you can’t use it over there, so I’ll give it to you later.”
Wasn’t Korea a country where firearms couldn’t be used?
The war was over too, so they shouldn’t be able to use guns anymore.
But there was no way she wouldn’t know that, so there must be some method.
After the contract was finished, I asked Margreta for one favor.
I borrowed her cell phone.
It was to call my family.
**
The day after Margreta left with the contract, looking excited.
The Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service came to see me.
The Deputy Director looked around inside the old tent and sighed.
“You were still here. It wasn’t my intention to keep you in this place. Since Sergeant Hyeon belongs to the military, it was difficult for me to exert influence.”
In truth, I didn’t have to stay in this tent.
The Korean side wasn’t in a situation where they could pay attention to me, and Margreta had also tried to move me to another lodging.
I stayed here because I didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.
And also because I wanted to show the people who came looking for me, like now, where I had been staying.
[Have you never been told that you hold grudges terribly?]
In fact, I had heard that a few times, but most of the people who had said it could no longer say such things.
Because they had all been enemies I met during operations.
“Did the general not come?”
“The military side is in chaos right now.”
Since the war had suddenly ended, it was only natural that they would be in chaos.
“You must be busy too, Deputy Director. What brings you here?”
“Yesterday, I went back without properly speaking to you, so I came to apologize and also discuss what comes next.”
Had the Korean side sorted out its position in just one day?
That was faster than I expected.
I asked him to confirm.
“You’ve heard the story, I assume?”
“...The United States moved quickly. In truth, we also needed a mass transporter... We were one step late.”
It seemed the story had already been fully sorted out.
Thanks to that, it became easier to talk.
“Then there shouldn’t be anything for you to say to me separately.”
I hadn’t become an American, but to outsiders, I would appear to belong to the United States.
And yet he had something to say to me?
When I tilted my head, the Deputy Director smiled bitterly.
“Sergeant Hyeon, you have not yet been discharged. Even if the United States has influence, you should not forget your responsibility as a soldier.”
It was the kind of nonsense a general might say, so I clicked my tongue.
“There’s no point in saying things like that.”
“...I suppose not. Then let’s talk practical matters.”
He let out a bitter laugh, then hardened his expression again and spoke to me.
“First, when you go to that planet, do not say that the war has ended. This is something we have already discussed with the United States.”
I nodded at his words.
The fact that I had come to Earth was a secret anyway.
If I spoke needlessly, it would only ruin the atmosphere at the base.
Someone might say it, but I intended to keep the secret.
‘How long will it last, though...’
Even if I didn’t say anything, it wouldn’t last long.
“Originally, we intended to dispatch a second follow-up team soon. This time, they were to be properly trained and carry out exploration separately from the United States. We had already begun gathering people. The reason this camp was maintained, and the reason the general was busy, was all because of this.”
I understood why this military camp had been maintained as it was.
But I couldn’t understand why he was telling me that.
“However, because of the sudden end of the war, the plan has been completely disrupted.”
So why was he complaining to me when the end of the war wasn’t my fault?
[According to that woman, it’s not entirely unrelated to you, is it?]
In any case, it wasn’t because of me.
“We do intend to send at least some of the second group, but because the schedule has been delayed, we need time before they can depart.”
That was also very unfortunate.
Though it had nothing to do with me.
As I listened patiently, the main point finally came out.
“We can no longer send the supplies that were supposed to go with those people.
On top of that, even the mass transporter has been recruited by the United States, so before long, the Korean follow-up personnel will have no choice but to starve.”
It was an exaggeration, but as expected, Korea had no information about that planet.
The follow-up personnel would not starve.
Even if no food was sent, no one would starve to death.
‘Though someone might starve because it tastes bad.’
There was a high chance they would become deficient in vitamins because they couldn’t eat vegetables, but there was plenty of meat.
However, it was true that they lacked supplies.
People could not live on food alone.
On that planet, there were more than one or two things lacking.
“First, I would like to thank you for remaining Korean. Thanks to that, I have room to come here like this.”
I was sorry to say, but I had not remained Korean out of a sense of belonging.
It was simply because it made things easier...
It seemed he had misunderstood.
“Seeing how the United States has acted, I assume you intend to move supplies mainly for them. But if you are Korean, I hope you will think of your homeland first.”
It was a misunderstanding, but it was just as Margreta had said.
“I think I can discuss it. However, given the United States’ position, I don’t think I can do it for free like last time.”
“You mean you intend to take money?”
At my words, the Deputy Director’s lips twitched.
“I won’t be receiving the allowance Korea promised me anymore, after all. I haven’t even received ten days’ worth of allowance. It would be difficult to do it for only one side for free.”
In truth, there was no need to discuss it with the United States. I never had, either.
The Deputy Director didn’t know, but I didn’t belong to the United States.
If I finished negotiations here, I would have to negotiate with the United States too.
I clasped my hands together and asked the Deputy Director sincerely.
“Transportation costs for forty light-years... How much did you have in mind?”
The Deputy Director was unable to answer for quite some time.
The negotiations did not take long.
I was very considerate, but the Deputy Director left the tent with displeasure written all over his face.
Right now, reusable spacecraft charged around 350,000 won per kilogram to launch cargo into satellite orbit.
If it was forty light-years, how many times farther was that?
And yet he got that angry when I said I would charge only a hundred times that.
Was it because he was a civil servant?
The Deputy Director didn’t seem to know what a fair deal was.
[You didn’t make the ruins, nor do you manage them. What are you even talking about...? In that case, I should be paid too.]
[Soph and I are one body, so I’m receiving it on your behalf.]
At my words, Soph clicked his tongue.
Even a mage didn’t understand how precious money was.
In any case, the negotiations were wrapped up well.
The negotiations with the United States that followed were also handled well by Margreta.
Just as Margreta had said, the other income could not compare to this delivery income.
With this, my money worries on Earth disappeared.
Two days later, Margreta and I left Earth.
Loaded down with the piles of baggage the American and Korean governments had stacked up, I teleported.
Of course, I also packed plenty of seasonings and vitamins.
Unfortunately, there were many things I could not bring.
According to Soph, it was because the ruins had been remodeled so crudely.
It seemed the half-broken ruins could not properly transport unstable substances such as gunpowder, electronic circuits, or polymer materials.
After a flash of light before my eyes, Margreta and I arrived on another planet.
The ruins were no different from before.
After greeting the technicians, we headed toward the surface.
When we passed through the long cave and went outside, smoke was billowing up from one of the caves.
From what I heard, it seemed to be a makeshift forge.
They were melting down the scrap metal I had brought and making weapons.
As expected of Earthlings.
They were quickly building up civilization.
As I admired the base developing day by day, I heard bad news.
The follow-up personnel who had been with me on the first day.
Staff Sergeant An and Hanna had gone missing.
“During the hunt, a sandstorm suddenly appeared. While getting us to safety, the two of them were buried in the sand.”
Those were the words of a college student who had made it back alive.
An incident as soon as I returned.
There was no time to rest comfortably.
I attached the spearhead to my staff again.