Vicious Darling

[40]

Team A started work from near dawn.

The pit was the most peaceful it had been recently.

Even the team members who used to throw down their materials and run up at the slightest tremor had become quite calm.

“Is that Hogan?”

“Why is the foreman coming out at this hour?”

Yuri turned his head at the conversation Edgar and Larry were having behind him.

Hogan, looking a bit tired, was standing there.

He gestured when his eyes met Yuri’s.

“What’s this? Why is he calling the newcomer?”

“This is rare. He’s usually too lazy to even call someone.”

Hogan would only push people when orders came from above or when delivery dates were approaching, but usually he was negligent even in showing his face.

“When we can’t meet the quota, he’s like a glass shard in your shoe. Really annoying.”

Joseph probably said that.

However, Hogan never called individuals to vent his anger as long as they met the quota.

So it felt strange to see him appear so early without even oversleeping.

Edgar, the team leader, looked at Yuri with concerned eyes.

“Should I go with you, just in case?”

“It’s fine.”

Of course it was fine. Yuri knew why Hogan was calling him.

If he really wanted to make a deal, he would refuse someone like this.

‘He’d get caught before he could even skim anything off.’

Yuri went out of the pit at the foreman’s call.

Hogan, heading towards the containers, looked around a few times. Then, pretending to go to his office, he led Yuri through the bushes to a small clearing.

“I’ll accept the proposal you made last time.”

“Ah.”

Yuri had already expected this, given Hogan’s hunched shoulders and head that kept turning at the slightest sound of wind.

He was the most timid dealer Yuri had ever met in his life.

‘But he’s quite bold in his own way.’

If Yuri hadn’t overheard that day, he wouldn’t have thought Hogan would attempt a double deal.

Perhaps he’s even acting this careless on purpose, anticipating that.

“How do you plan to deliver the medicine?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m in charge of this site, so I can go anywhere.”

Hogan said, straightening his shoulders for show.

“First, I want to receive a down payment. About 50 percent.”

“Hmm. This is troublesome.”

Yuri clicked his tongue.

“I don’t have much money as I came here suddenly.”

“Can’t you contact the person who said they would buy and ask for money?”

“Hmm. It’s difficult to make contact, but if you help, I could try to get in touch. Even so, 50 percent before receiving the goods is difficult.”

Hogan clicked his tongue at the smoothly delivered words.

“40 percent?”

“20 percent.”

“…I’m taking risks too, and you’re offering only 20 percent?”

“More than that… If I borrow money from them, interest will accrue. If I can’t pay it back, I’ll have to offer my head, so getting even 10 percent would be a stretch. The remaining 10 percent I’m offering you is from my own pocket.”

“Hmm.”

Hogan, who had been groaning, finally nodded.

“Alright.”

His face looked disappointed as the free money decreased, even though he had no intention of delivering the goods anyway.

Yuri held back a sneer.

“When shall we make the deal?”

“Once the money is prepared, I’ll call you one more time about the contract issue.”

Hogan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Come to think of it, he was worried about how Yuri, trapped here, would hand over the money to him.

“How do you plan to give me the money?”

“Don’t worry about the payment method. Since I can’t transport the medicine directly, I’m planning to call in an acquaintance.”

Hogan hesitated a bit but soon nodded.

Yuri seemed skilled at this kind of thing.

Perhaps because he was an illegal immigrant, he seemed to know the elements necessary for illegal transactions.

‘Is it okay to scam someone like this…?’

He felt a bit uneasy.

But anyway, this guy can’t leave the site.

Even if he takes the money and runs, how could he chase after him?

It would have fewer repercussions to scam this person than to incur the wrath of real criminals.

‘If worst comes to worst, I’ll have him deported.’

“Before that, can I borrow your device for a moment? I need to contact someone outside, and as you know, mine is being tracked.”

Hogan hesitated but readily offered his wrist.

He felt a bit uncomfortable, but his desire for money quelled his hesitation.

Yuri casually operated the device.

[Request for transfer code. Payment in Spring Continent credits.]

When the request and amount appeared, a grin spread across Hogan’s face.

The blue light from the device spreading over his face made him look even more grotesque.

“…You must surely prepare the goods.”

“Of course.”

Hogan smiled broadly.

“As soon as the code is received. I’ll hand over all the medicine stock I have.”

Now Hogan would run around so much his feet would sweat to get what he wanted.

Not knowing he had already fallen into a trap.

Yuri stared at the beast’s eyes that looked like yellow fireballs in the forest.

“Then, I’ll trust you.”

***

Hogan walked with a broad grin.

He had received a notice that he would soon be transferred elsewhere. It meant he would be dismissed from his current position until reassigned and should wait.

It was essentially an indefinite dismissal notice.

Nevertheless, it was impossible to ruin Hogan’s mood right now.

Over the past few days, Hogan had been very busy.

He diverted medicine, manipulated inventory and ledgers. He made appointments with two dealers, planning to betray one of them.

He couldn’t help but feel good about the prospect of doing similar work and earning double the money.

If he wrapped things up well, a large sum of money would come in. Enough to never have to work again for the rest of his life.

‘There was such an easy way to make money, why did I struggle so much before?’

Laughing at his past self, Hogan went to work with a light step.

Even at this point, he couldn’t imagine the very long and exhausting day he was about to experience.

“You son of a bitch!”

Hogan’s eyes widened at the fist flying towards his face.

He should avoid it.

But until that fist knocked his jaw and his body fell to the ground, he couldn’t move a finger.

“You promised to sell, even took a down payment, and dare to scam me!”

“Sc-scam?”

Hogan asked, trembling as he clutched his cheek.

“What scam did I pull?”

“You diverted the goods!”

What on earth was he talking about?

Hogan was dumbfounded.

He had muscle pain from digging to hide those damn goods in the exchange area.

That’s why he couldn’t even dodge the guy’s punch, but he’s saying Hogan diverted the goods?

The guards rushed towards the man who was shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Give me back my money! Or give me the goods!”

Hogan desperately shouted as he saw suspicion creeping into the guards’ eyes looking at him.

“Sh-shut up!”

But this would surely be reported to Abigail.

‘What on earth is going on?’

He was struggling so violently that two guards had difficulty subduing him. Because of that, even the last one on standby had to subdue the criminal from Team B.

“Give me back my money! Or hand over the goods!”

His dealer shouted even as he was being dragged away by the guards.

‘What went wrong?’

Hogan hurriedly headed to his office, wiping cold sweat with a handkerchief.

There must have been some mistake.

The moment he turned around, Hogan discovered a guest waiting for him with a bored expression.

It was a face he had never seen before, from head to toe.

But those purple eyes were familiar.

Moreover, he wasn’t alone. Next to him stood a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, who somehow seemed threatening.

As Hogan fumbled, reaching behind for the alarm, the man opened his mouth.

“Quietly, I’d like you to sit down in front of me.”

Yuri?

He couldn’t believe it.

“H-how did you get in?”

“How?”

Yuri chuckled.

“Didn’t Investigator Abigail bring me here?”

“The guards will be back soon. This place is monitored in real-time!”

Hogan said through gritted teeth.

Although he didn’t know the identity of the other party, this situation was very threatening.

“Thanks to you, you’ve solved that, haven’t you?”

“What do you mean.”

“You caused a commotion and sent all the guards out.”

Ah!

Hogan was shocked at those words.

“There won’t be anyone left to watch the surveillance footage either. Right?”

Yuri’s observation implied that he knew well how things worked here.

The site’s surveillance equipment was kept to a minimum.

The higher-ups were more wary of data being left behind than of someone infiltrating.

They didn’t even upload the data to servers, keeping only analog records and burning everything once the deal was finished.

“Why, what business do you have with me?”

“How disappointing. Don’t we have a deal to finalize?”

Yuri declared coldly.

“As promised, I’ve come to pay the money.”

Promise? Money?

Hogan, who had been dazed, barely reacted to those words.

That’s when it happened.

From above, something started to fall.

It was money.

The credits that Hogan loved so much hit his head and rolled onto the floor.

“Huh?”

Seeing the bundles of bills, Hogan was dumbfounded, even forgetting his pain.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Argh!”

Money kept pouring down.

Like rain.

No, like those construction materials that had poured down on the illegal immigrants of Team A and the criminals of Team B in the pit a few days ago.

Hogan had been stomping his feet watching from above then. He couldn’t have cared less about the people being buried in the debris pile than about the wasted materials.

But now, he was writhing under the weight of the credits he so loved.

“Aaaaargh…!”

“Having received the goods, I’m paying the price, but you seem to be struggling.”

Yuri murmured as if feeling sorry.

“Pull him out.”

With those words, Hogan was dragged out, his collar gripped by an invisible hand.

“See, didn’t I tell you to sit down earlier?”

Yuri murmured casually.

He was sitting comfortably as if he were in his own home.

“You, that, diverting the goods…! Was it you?”

Hogan asked, trembling.

No matter how he thought about it, this situation didn’t make sense.

Yuri affirmed this with his silence.

“How did you know?”

Hogan muttered blankly.

“I’m sure I buried it when no one was watching.”

“The open space next to the container.”

Yuri said slowly.

“You called me out there, didn’t you? So I guessed there were no surveillance devices.”

“Ah.”

Hogan opened his mouth stupidly.

The thought he had when he saw those purple eyes earlier solidified into certainty.

The man before him was Yuri, the new worker at the site.

“I just thought that a lazy person like you wouldn’t know more than two or three tunnels to avoid others’ eyes, and if you were to bury something, it would be there.”

Yuri gestured.

“Chris. Explain, please.”

“At night, I took out the goods that Foreman Hogan had buried and put empty boxes back in. At dawn, when a member of Team B came to retrieve it, he lifted the box and checked the contents due to its weight. Of course, it was empty inside, so he went back cursing.”

Hogan was dumbfounded.

“Thanks to your stupidity, we saved time. I appreciate that.”

“But the medicine… even if you took it, it shouldn’t be worth this much money.”

Hogan, who had barely regained his senses, muttered.

“So you do know.”

Yuri smirked.

It’s fortunate that he grasps the situation quickly. They could move on to the next topic right away.

“That’s the price for the secret of Babel City that you know.”