Ch.533Chapter 20. American Doblin (23)

Who is the Goblin?

What is the Goblin’s ability?

Why did the Goblin act that way?

If the Goblin is alive, where is he now and what is he doing?

TV panels enthusiastically debating or people competitively editing and discussing on wikis—it was all fine by me.

“What do you think, Ymir?”

“I think not thinking is the answer.”

Ymir calmly sipped an ion drink from a plastic bottle while shaking her head.

“I’ve decided not to care at all about people who look like the Goblin, or claims about the Goblin’s identity, or suspicious people with the Goblin’s abilities claiming to be heroes from some country.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Not thinking about complicated things is the best strategy.

The more you approach it with reason and logic, the more your head hurts, and all you’re left with is hair scattered on the floor and a hole in your scalp.

“In that sense, there’s no one wiser than those people.”

I pointed to the crowd filling the streets, dressed in black and carrying white flowers.

“You just need to feel grateful, thankful, and sad.”

“Mourning…”

A long procession of mourners stretched down the road.

Streets that should have been filled with festive crowds were now filled only with solemn waves of grief.

“Ymir, how many days did it take to get from Canada to Japan?”

“Four days.”

“If the Goblin hasn’t appeared in those four days, what happened to him?”

“If The Syndicate had secured the Goblin, they would have announced ‘the Goblin is alive,’ right?”

“Right.”

The Syndicate remains silent.

They’ve only stated their official position that they’re “confirming” the Goblin’s survival, showing no movement beyond that.

“It might be a bit hasty, but everyone thinks the Goblin is dead. Of course. It would be strange to think someone survived an explosion bigger than Mount Fuji erupting.”

Expecting the Goblin to be alive is too much to hope for.

There might be a ‘what if’ feeling in a corner of your heart, but most people probably think, ‘I guess he’s dead.’

“It would be quite embarrassing if he just came back alive now, wouldn’t it?”

“Still, creating this funeral atmosphere after just four days seems a bit…”

“That’s how it has to be. For Japan.”

While the mourning is voluntary on the citizens’ part, the atmosphere is being created by the Japanese government and their associates.

“They need to make the Goblin a hero and quickly change the issue. If they’re going to take a beating anyway, better to get it over with quickly.”

“…If the Goblin issue continues, they’d have to investigate why he died.”

“Right. But you know what? This is a secret.”

I whispered in Ymir’s ear, too quietly for others to hear.

“Isn’t this large-scale mourning also exposing their own shame? Why would they do this?”

“…To hide an even bigger shame?”

“Correct.”

The Blue Comet’s rampage has ended, and it has returned to normal.

Thanks to the Goblin.

“Come to think of it, the Goblin dying four days ago means that men in Osaka who were transformed by the TS demon have been that way for four days too.”

“Ah…”

“And some of them probably won’t be able to return to normal. Probably.”

“…Oh!”

Ymir looked around with a pale face.

“They wouldn’t appear in public, would they…?”

“They couldn’t. Imagine a middle-aged bald man suddenly becoming a cute high school gyaru girl overnight—how could they possibly go out in public?”

Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t.

“They’re probably looking for a solution right now. But what can they do? They’ve already become women, just as the TS demon wanted.”

“Did you get information about that?”

“Yes. While we were on the plane, The Syndicate’s informants gathered data.”

I showed Ymir a photo, making sure others couldn’t see.

“Pfft…!”

In the photo, a high school girl wearing a man’s suit was desperately shouting something at assembly members.

“What is she saying?”

“The Goblin is alive. We must find the Goblin. Even if the Goblin is dead and can’t be found, we must at least find his remains.”

“…This suddenly seems like a very grim situation.”

“Right. They want to return to being men.”

If the TS demon were still alive, he would have sneered, “Khuhu, you should just enjoy the pleasure of becoming a woman.”

But he’s dead.

Killed by an older sister enraged that her younger brother had been turned into a younger sister, ensuring he would never turn another man into a woman.

“Ymir, the Goblin is dead, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then if something strange happens from now on, will people think it’s the Goblin’s doing?”

“…Teacher?”

But his technique has been passed on to me.

“Will is inherited.”

“Um, excuse me?”

“Do you think it’s wrong?”

“…Well, suddenly doing something without reason is clearly villain behavior—”

Even as Ymir spoke, she let out an incredulous laugh.

“You’re a villain, seriously.”

“What if there’s a legitimate reason?”

“…What kind of reason?”

“For instance, politicians who contributed to Cheon Ju-yeon’s death.”

“……”

Ymir’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Did you deliberately let the Goblin die for this?”

“That wasn’t exactly the reason, but I can’t show my face when people are mourning like this.”

“But if it’s not the Killing Locust, your identity will be exposed. Even if they did bad things to Ju-yeon…”

“Killing them is too much?”

“Well, that’s part of it, but as you said before, making them suffer something worse than death is another option.”

“That’s not the Goblin’s style though.”

The Goblin doesn’t care about that—he just prefers killing cleanly.

“But now the Goblin is dead.”

If it’s not the Goblin, then it’s okay to act differently.

“Something not very good is about to begin.”

“Hmm… seeing you make that mischievous expression is quite refreshing. Is it because we’re in Japan?”

“I can do whatever I want without being responsible. And you should be grateful I’m not killing them. I’m planning to target only those who are as bad as, no, worse than Haeguneul.”

“…Well, since they’re such bad people, this isn’t something I should ask about in front of these people, so I’ll just go along with it for now.”

Has her energy returned?

Ymir, who had been sweating profusely on the plane and constantly drinking ion beverages, seemed to be feeling better.

“So, are we moving right away?”

“Yes. And before that, there’s someone I need to meet.”

“A woman?”

“No. Surprisingly, a man.”

I tapped my Syndicate watch to send him a message, then took Ymir’s hand and pointed to someone selling things in the crowd.

“Let’s wear those first.”

“…Wow. Making money off that.”

Ymir showed obvious discomfort.

“Isn’t that going a bit too far?”

“You have to throw away some principles to make money. Excuse me, can I have two masks?”

“Irasshaimase!”

I approached the vendor and bought two masks painted black.

“My condolences, may the hero rest in peace. Rest in Peace! Goblin.”

The masks were crudely but somewhat intricately made Goblin masks.

“Adieu to the Goblin.”

“X.”

“…?”

“It’s ‘condolences,’ not ‘adieu.'”

The Goblin.

He’s dead, anyway.

Therefore.

If anything strange happens in Japan, it certainly won’t be the Goblin’s fault.

Definitely.

***

While waves of mourning for the Goblin filled all of Osaka.

Passing through the black waves in the streets, wearing masks and wishing peace to the Goblin with everyone we met, we headed to the place where the person we were meeting would be waiting.

“Is this… a resort?”

“It’s a place with a golf course attached.”

The place we arrived at by taxi was a huge resort far from downtown Osaka.

Rather than a typical Japanese structure, it resembled a Korean resort in appearance, and was actually designed similarly to Korean resorts.

“Haeguneul Osaka Resort.”

“…Haeguneul is here too?”

“They earn yen in Japan and take it back to Korea. Koreans making money in Japan by doing business with foreigners on Japanese soil.”

Ymir and I casually stepped through the main entrance of Haeguneul Osaka Resort and went inside.

“It’s a bit quieter here.”

“That’s because it’s a Haeguneul resort. Though the staff seems a bit different.”

The staff wore black ribbons on their name tags.

The resort itself wasn’t officially mourning the Goblin, but individual employees had their own thoughts.

“There he is. The person we’re meeting.”

“…Ah, so that’s him.”

Ymir immediately recognized the man sitting in the resort’s first-floor café.

“Did you arrange to meet him here?”

“Yes. He and I have met before, but it’s your first time, so I brought you to introduce you.”

“Well, I made quite a mess on the private jet…”

“That’s Company property, so it’s fine.”

I took Ymir’s hand and walked through the lobby toward the elderly man in a suit drinking tea in the café.

“As promised… huh?”

At the appointed time.

The elderly man—Desmond Faygreen—was clearly there at the appointed time, but he was talking to someone.

He kept moving his mouth, speaking toward something below him.

“…Tsk.”

“Teacher?”

“Still not fully aware of being a Company person… wait.”

Desmond’s expression was clearly troubled.

Which means this was a variable even he hadn’t expected.

“Who on earth is he talking to… ah.”

“…A child?”

In front of Desmond Faygreen.

“…A baby?”

He was holding an unidentified little girl, patting her back and continuously trying to comfort her.

“……”

What is this?

What’s going on?

“Teacher.”

Ymir poked me from the side.

“Don’t think about it too much, just don’t think about it.”

“Maybe I should.”

Not thinking about anything might be the answer.

But.

“That child, could she be—”

“Thank you, Mr. Faygreen.”

The woman approaching Desmond Faygreen was a woman I knew well.

“…It’s Yang Da-rin.”

“Hmm.”

Ymir turned to me.

“…Who is she?”

“She’s.”

“The Haeguneul chairman’s wife.”