Ch.160159. Crime City (2)

“A police organization?”

“Yes. I felt we needed a specialized department to maintain internal security and law and order. So I established a police organization. It wasn’t just my decision. Starting with Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul, Administrative Officer Lee Su-a also argued for its necessity. Seol-hwa and Seo Un-jae who assists her also emphasized the need for a police organization.”

While the establishment of the police force was handled through Yu-na and Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul’s authority, naturally, the subsequent details were reported to Bahamut in detail as after-action reports.

Yu-na visited Bahamut directly for a regular report, informed him about the establishment of the police organization, and Bahamut casually dismissed it saying, isn’t it natural for a country to have police?

To begin with, it wasn’t Yu-na’s unilateral plan, and she explained that it was established based on the advice of Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul, Administrative Officer Lee Su-a, and Baek Seol-hwa and Seo Un-jae who were in Pohang.

In other words, from their perspective, a police organization was necessary, and since two influential figures in charge of Gyeongju and Pohang said so, Bahamut was more concerned about…

“I see. So there are internal security issues. I understand. Is the situation dangerous?”

He turned his attention to the internal security of the Balhut Cult.

He wondered if the cult’s internal security had deteriorated so much while he was preoccupied with Alicia, the contractor, and spoke to Yu-na in a somewhat worried tone.

“Yes. We’re currently struggling with the refugee problem coming from outside as a social issue. If these refugees were truly innocent, there wouldn’t be much of a problem. But unfortunately, looters are entering disguised as refugees, causing suffering for small business owners near the border and citizens living in that area.”

Yu-na said that they were still working on resolving the issue, and that small business owners and citizens settled near the area were suffering from this recent social problem.

At those words, Bahamut made a somewhat troubled expression, judging that it wasn’t a problem he could solve.

‘This is difficult for me to address. It’s hard for me to distinguish between refugees and looters just by appearance.’

Of course, Bahamut had been patrolling around the cult’s territory to fulfill his vow to protect the Balhut Cult’s safety, but if people were entering the territory disguised as refugees, even Bahamut found it difficult to determine how to judge them.

If they were looters with bad intentions, he would naturally drive them away, but if they were truly refugees fleeing to find a place to live, it would be troublesome to just expel them.

So the only thing Bahamut could do right now was to alert the Balhut Cult through Yu-na about refugee groups he discovered during his patrols.

‘That’s the disadvantage of monitoring a wide area. I can’t check everything in detail.’

Above all, the biggest disadvantage was that he couldn’t monitor everything in detail.

Since Bahamut was patrolling Pohang, Gyeongju, and even Ulsan alone, he had no choice but to overlook things unless they were conspicuous or suspicious objects.

To be frank, the main enemies of the Balhut Cult were undead or monsters, not fellow humans, which also played a part.

“So. You said you established a police organization? It’s certainly necessary to maintain public order. Who is the head of the organization?”

However, to wrap up the report, Bahamut asked about the person in charge of the newly established police organization.

Of course, he wasn’t expressing dissatisfaction or objection to actions already taken, but rather asking for the name of the new minister that he himself should remember from now on.

“Yes. Han Seong-geun, who played an active role in the Ulsan battle, has been appointed as the police commissioner.”

‘Wow. We have many impressive Awakened in our cult. And he rose to the position of police commissioner despite that competition? Wow, he must be quite capable.’

Upon hearing this name, Bahamut was inwardly astonished.

From Bahamut’s perspective, he never dreamed that the deputy leader of the resistance forces who came for the Ulsan alliance would reach this far.

Since Bahamut was also in charge of overseeing the Awakened project, he had seen many Awakened belonging to the Balhut Cult, and among them, there were certainly some talented ones, so he had internally thought that someone from the Balhut Cult would take the position of police commissioner.

However, contrary to his expectation, Han Seong-geun had risen to the position… it was a pleasant miscalculation that he could be happy about.

“Han Seong-geun. That man I met before. He seems quite capable.”

“He was appointed as the deputy commander of the Ulsan front, replacing Jeong Dong-geon.”

‘Oh? Then he’s a talented person? It’s hard to find someone as diligent and productive as Jeong Dong-geon.’

Moreover, he was a talent recognized by Jeong Dong-geon, whom Bahamut himself trusted the most.

With Yu-na’s positive evaluation, Bahamut thought they were fortunate and believed things would work out more easily than expected.

After all, if Jeong Dong-geon praised him to that extent, it meant Han Seong-geun had definite strengths that caught Jeong Dong-geon’s eye.

Thinking that they had selected a talent who could be entrusted with confidence, he was about to stop worrying about police matters and leave them to Han Seong-geun when…

“And Jin A-yeon is his deputy. Since it’s still in the early stages, the military and the NTS are helping out.”

While Jin A-yeon might be a bit extreme, he could overlook it since force was necessary for the job, but the last thing Yu-na mentioned was something he couldn’t ignore.

Wait… who did she say?

Could she possibly be referring to the infamous… NTS?

“…Is someone trying to cripple someone here?”

Bahamut asked quite seriously!

Just listing the names mentioned now, wasn’t this the perfect combination to cripple someone?

Setting aside Jin A-yeon, the NTS was the most dangerous organization within the Balhut Cult, willing to commit any evil deed to collect taxes.

“Of course not.”

“Really?”

Fortunately, unlike Bahamut’s gloomy imagination, she says they have no such intention.

“Well, there is some excessive suppression. But by Awakened standards, they haven’t been crippled.”

‘I’m worried! So worried! This is excessive suppression itself!’

However, Bahamut couldn’t hide his anxiety at Yu-na’s unsettling statement that followed.

Jin A-yeon alone would be somewhat understandable, but she says the NTS is also involved.

Having frequently heard of the NTS’s notoriety, Bahamut thought the force was too excessive.

“But this is also a problem in Pohang. Even if the force is a bit excessive, it can’t be helped.”

“Are there problems occurring in Pohang too?”

However, it was unavoidable because this wasn’t just happening in Gyeongju but in Pohang as well.

Since this was happening in territory effectively controlled by the Balhut Cult, the deployment of the NTS, which could resolve issues decisively even if somewhat extreme, was inevitable.

Bahamut also asked about this with a serious expression upon hearing that it was happening in Pohang as well.

“Yes. Seol-hwa consulted directly with me and the cabinet about this issue.”

“I see. Unfortunately, this isn’t something I can help solve.”

He was told that Seol-hwa herself had met with the cabinet and Yu-na personally to discuss the problem.

At this, Bahamut regretfully stated that this was something he couldn’t solve directly.

‘I can’t solve social problems too! Monster subjugation, technology development, magic research, distributing tools for civilian use – those I can do!’

To begin with, he didn’t have the mind to solve such problems, and he thought it best to leave sensitive social issues to the Balhut Cult as much as possible.

Moreover, if such a sensitive issue were mediated and resolved not by fellow humans but by a dragon…

‘It sounds cool, but no. I’d rather redevelop Geas scrolls for civilian use!’

It might sound cool, but it still wouldn’t work.

“It can’t be helped. You’ve declared that problems between humans should be solved by humans. I understand.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“Yes. It would be a lie to say I’m not.”

From Yu-na’s perspective, she couldn’t help but be greatly disappointed.

If Bahamut stepped in, there was a high chance things would end well.

Using the terrifying power and wisdom of the Dragon God Bahamut, surely with means the Balhut Cult hadn’t thought of…

‘No, even I would find it difficult to solve this at once.’

As if that could happen!

To be frank, Bahamut knew well that such social problems would come back bigger later on!

Above all, he simply didn’t have the ability to solve such problems! There was just a realistic limitation to what he could do here!

“But if I get involved, it could lead to bigger problems. Please forgive me.”

“That’s too much, Bahamut.”

It couldn’t be helped.

To hide his own incompetence, he had to leave such social issues to Yu-na and the cabinet.

Wasn’t that what the cabinet was created for in the first place?

“Then moving on to the next agenda. Where are these refugees coming from?”

“We have information about that from an NTS agent dispatched to Daegu.”

‘It might be troublesome to mention the fact that an NTS agent was in Daegu, right?’

Why an NTS agent was infiltrating Daegu was something kind readers didn’t need to know.

As always, if something strange happened, pointing to the NTS would usually hit the mark.

This time too, it was likely a story that began with the NTS’s vigorous activities.

“The Daegu provisional government led by Heo Jin-ho has collapsed.”

And as if not to disappoint that expectation, the Daegu provisional government has fallen.

Bahamut looked at Yu-na with a stunned expression at the statement that Daegu, which had managed to secure public order and form a provisional government without external help, had collapsed in an instant.

After all, a provisional government was a transitional form of government commonly seen at international reconstruction conferences, and it was also evidence that they had grown into a sufficiently powerful force.

“…Did someone secretly distribute drugs?”

A government like that collapsed while he wasn’t paying attention?

Bahamut couldn’t help but suspect the NTS and Lee Hyeon-a on the spot, but…

“No. It’s not drugs. An agreement was already reached on that matter.”

“Then did it collapse due to an undead attack?”

Yu-na defended Lee Hyeon-a, saying it definitely wasn’t drugs and that an agreement had already been reached.

After all, Lee Hyeon-a, a loyal subject of the Balhut Cult, didn’t have the rebellious spirit to dare do something that Bahamut had strictly forbidden.

She faithfully followed Bahamut’s orders and, in consultation with Lee Su-a, processed drugs in the form of medicine to help the Daegu provisional government survive as a buffer zone.

In this situation, he could only think that they had been destroyed by a large army of undead.

“No.”

She says it wasn’t that either.

“…Don’t tell me it was refugees again?”

“Yes. They were attacked by refugees from elsewhere and had their regime usurped. Conversely, they’ve become refugees after being driven out of Daegu.”

‘What is that? It’s scary not knowing.’

Of all things, they were defeated by those refugees.

It was both frustrating and…

‘Should I criticize that incompetent guy? Or should I say it’s pitiful that just when things were getting better, he got hit by a dump truck?’

He couldn’t quite evaluate it.

If those refugees were forces disguised as looters, it wasn’t really incompetence but rather falling victim to the false accusation of being looters.

“Then it seems a force worthy of being called a warlord has emerged among the looters.”

“It seems so. The community is also struggling with the sudden refugee problem.”

But this confirmed that there was definitely a force among the looters disguised as refugees that could be called a warlord.

After all, the Daegu provisional government’s forces were well-trained from long battles with the undead, so if they were overthrown in an instant, it meant they were subjugated by an attack from a force that could be called a warlord.

Although it was impossible to understand in detail how they achieved a decisive victory against the Daegu provisional government, it was possible to identify the warlord who usurped the Daegu provisional government as someone skilled in combat.

“How are other cities faring?”

“There don’t seem to be any problems yet, if the community reactions are to be believed.”

Usually, if community news said so, the trend was to think, “Ah, I see,” and move on.

However, if there was one thing the Balhut Cult learned from the war with the Cult of Immortality…

“We’ve already realized from Ulsan that community reactions aren’t everything. It can’t be helped.”

It was that community news wasn’t the entirety of public opinion.

In this apocalypse, community news was very vulnerable to opinion manipulation or information manipulation, and if someone controlled the entire community, it was possible to delete unfavorable opinions and fill the community posts with only favorable ones.

So community news was just a reference, not something to be truly believed anymore.

‘The newly established Daegu provisional government won’t cooperate with us… With a sudden usurpation, they’re highly likely to choose war to maintain their regime.’

After checking the community news, Bahamut fell into contemplation about the newly formed Daegu provisional government.

He considered resolving it through dialogue, but realized they couldn’t cooperate when he thought of it as having a neighbor who was a knife-wielding robber.

After all, they had arbitrarily taken someone else’s home, so how would they view a neighboring house that knew the true owner?

Naturally, they would kill everyone to ensure no one knew the truth, and frankly, from a usurper’s perspective, the easiest way to secure legitimacy for governance was through the use of force.

“…Then, I should negotiate with those who were driven out after having their regime usurped.”

“Negotiate?”

So what Bahamut could choose was to negotiate with the former provisional government that had been driven out after having their regime usurped by these people.

“A proposal to come under our umbrella in exchange for helping them return to power.”

Moreover, now that they had lost everything, Bahamut’s proposal was quite attractive as it was entirely feasible.