Goblin Library - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 69

“A con artist using seduction?”
Jang Ma-ru tilted his head and pulled the wireless keyboard closer to him.
Tap tap tap! Tap tap!
As he searched the name, glamorous photos of a woman began appearing on the screen.
“Lee Hye-eun. Age 32. Is this the woman?”
At Jang Ma-ru’s words, Lim Sung-un examined the photo and nodded.
“You found her quickly?”
“All of your case files are saved on my server.”
Jang Ma-ru answered with a smile, then stared blankly at Lee Hye-eun in the photo.
“But… she’s beautiful.”
Choi Tae-sik chuckled upon hearing Jang Ma-ru’s murmur.
“So you recognize beauty even at your age.”
“I’m not that young. I’m 19 now.”
“Right, you’re all grown up. I should take you to a bar sometime later.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Jang Ma-ru brightened and asked a question.
“Do you know her too?”
At Jang Ma-ru’s question, Choi Tae-sik licked his lips while looking at the photo. Seeing that expression, Lim Sung-un laughed.
“Tae-sik even took a knife wound while saving her.”
“You did, hyung?”
Seeing Jang Ma-ru’s confused expression, Choi Tae-sik sighed.
“She’s a very bad person.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, Lim Sung-un chuckled and spoke.
“She was the girlfriend of a wealthy heir we were pursuing. Of course, she wasn’t really his girlfriend—she was just attached to him to commit fraud.”
“And then?”
“When the wealthy heir realized she was scamming him, he sent gang members to eliminate her. Tae-sik stopped them.”
“If things had progressed that far, you would have known she was a con artist too, yet you still protected her?”
Choi Tae-sik took a sip of beer and answered.
“You don’t beat women and children with your fists. If they’ve committed a crime, they should be punished by law.”
At those words, Jang Ma-ru giggled.
“But you beat school gang kids just fine?”
“Punishment for education is necessary. And kids who use violence on others deserve to be hit.”
“I agree with that. Kids who use violence should be beaten.”
Then Jang Ma-ru looked at Choi Tae-sik.
“So that’s why you got stabbed?”
“I went to save her, and those bastards took her hostage and swung a knife. If it hadn’t been for that…”
Choi Tae-sik shook his head as if to say he wouldn’t have been stabbed otherwise. Then he looked at Lim Sung-un with a firm gaze.
『Lee Hye-eun is out of the question.』
『Why?』
『She’s a con artist.』
『That’s exactly why I’m bringing her in.』
Lim Sung-un spoke while gazing at the photograph displayed on the monitor.
『The Convenience Store Owner isn’t an innocent man, and he deserves punishment. But legally, he hasn’t committed anything I can act on. That means he’s someone I can’t touch.』
『So you’re planning to entrust this to Lee Hye-eun?』
『Yes. She’s perfect for dealing with someone like him.』
『Understood.』
Choi Tae-sik acquiesced without resistance.
Jang Ma-ru looked at him with astonished eyes, then quickly turned back to Lim Sung-un.
『Do you trust this person, hyung?』
『Of course not. The moment you trust a con artist, you’re bound to be conned.』
『Then how do we work with her? If she leaks information about us…』
As Jang Ma-ru voiced his concerns, Lim Sung-un shook his head.
『That won’t happen.』
『Why not?』
『Because I know where the money Lee Hye-eun conned goes.』
『Ah! So you know which bank she’s stashed it in.』
Lim Sung-un answered with a smile.
『If she’d hidden it in a bank, I would’ve thrown her in Prison and seized it for the state the moment I found out.』
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Jang Ma-ru suddenly pulled the keyboard toward himself and typed. Then he tilted his head in confusion.
『The case file is from two years ago, but there’s no incarceration record?』
『She escaped and I couldn’t catch her back then.』
『You couldn’t?』
『If you’d been around then, we might’ve caught her… but she went underground and slipped away.』
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Jang Ma-ru nodded. Then he offered another theory.
『So she buried the money somewhere in the ground?』
Lim Sung-un chuckled and gently stroked his head with his hand.
『You’ve been investigating bad people for so long that your mind only works in bad directions.』
『Huh? It’s not? Then what happened to all that money?』
『The Orphanage.』
『The Orphanage?』
『Lee Hye-eun is moderately bad. She commits crimes to earn money, but she uses half of it to support the Orphanage.』
『Ha!』
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Jang Ma-ru burst into laughter as if bewildered, then spoke.
『She donates to the Orphanage with money earned from scams?』
『That’s what she does.』
『That can’t be easy.』
Money always leaves traces when it moves. There’s no such thing as money falling from the sky. And the larger the sum, the larger the traces it leaves behind.
I’m not sure how much he donates to the Orphanage, but if he committed fraud, it wouldn’t be a small amount. There’s a high probability he can’t afford to donate half of such a large sum.
‘Money can solve anything, so the funds went through various laundering channels.’
‘Wow… laundering that much money must cost a fortune….’
Jang Ma-ru tilted his head in confusion.
‘He could just make a cash donation….’
‘Cash donations have their limits.’
Then Lim Sung-un straightened his posture and spoke.
‘Donating to an Orphanage doesn’t make him a good person. He’s still a criminal who defrauded people and stole their money.’
‘That’s true.’
As Jang Ma-ru nodded, Choi Tae-sik was observing Lee Hye-eun with a different expression.
‘The Orphanage… donations.’
At Choi Tae-sik’s murmur, Lim Sung-un turned to look at him.
‘What, does the idea of donating to an Orphanage make his criminal image fade a bit?’
At Lim Sung-un’s words, which carried a hint of jest, Choi Tae-sik quickly shook his head.
‘No, sir. So we’ll be working together from now on?’
Lim Sung-un nodded.
‘Whether we work together just this once or take on other jobs together will be decided after we see how this goes.’
Then he met Choi Tae-sik’s gaze and spoke.
‘You’ll handle the contact with Lee Hye-eun and manage the operation.’
‘Understood.’
Unlike Choi Tae-sik, who answered immediately without needing to be told twice, Jang Ma-ru asked a question.
‘Maru and I won’t meet that noona?’
‘If Maru gets tangled up with Lee Hye-eun, you’ll be mining coins for the rest of your life.’
‘Come on! I’m not that naive.’
‘Tae-sik barely met Lee Hye-eun a few times and already took a blade meant for her.’
‘Ah….’
Jang Ma-ru looked at Choi Tae-sik with a knowing expression. At that gaze, Choi Tae-sik’s face flushed slightly.
‘And there’s no benefit in letting Lee Hye-eun know my identity. I know her secrets, but… if I’m pushed out of the Prosecutor’s Office, our operations will lose their leverage.’
‘Understood.’
‘When you work with me, you’ll definitely try to dig around and find out who I am. You need to be careful about that.’
‘I’ll be careful and do well.’
Lim Sung-un watched Choi Tae-sik answer with determination, then nodded.
‘Tell her to meet tomorrow and work on a job together.’
‘Do you know where she is?’
At Choi Tae-sik’s question, Lim Sung-un pulled out a business card and handed it over.

「Ihwa Flower Shop」

“A flower shop?”
“I’m currently posing as a part-time worker at a flower shop.”
At Lim Sung-un’s words, Choi Tae-sik glanced at the business card and muttered softly to himself.
“It suits you.”
Though his voice was quiet, Lim Sung-un caught every word and fixed his gaze upon him.
“What did you say?”
“Ah… it’s nothing.”
Watching Choi Tae-sik scramble to make excuses, Lim Sung-un let out a sigh.
“Can I trust you? Don’t let yourself be fooled by him.”
“Don’t worry, sir.”
At Choi Tae-sik’s earnest plea, his eyes wide with sincerity, Jang Ma-ru smirked.
“Actually, I think you’re already falling for it?”
As if agreeing with Jang Ma-ru’s observation, Lim Sung-un regarded him with a worried expression before speaking.
“Keep a close eye on him.”
Jang Ma-ru nodded in acknowledgment.

***

In the Seoul Outskirts—though still bustling enough to be lined with high-rise buildings—there stood a small two-story structure wedged among them.

Ihwa Flower Shop

Inside the small flower shop, a woman with slightly brownish hair, wearing a flowing sundress and apron, was misting the flowers with a spray bottle.
Her appearance was so perfectly suited to the role that the phrase “flower shop attendant” seemed to have been coined specifically for her.
『Ahem!』
The woman turned at the sound of the deliberate cough from behind and offered a bright smile.
『Manager Kim.』
『I came to buy some flowers for the office.』
Manager Kim spoke with a smile, and the woman smiled back before asking.
『What kind of flowers would you like?』
『What do I know about flowers? Hong-gyeong, you pick something out for me.』
『Then how about baby’s breath with a single rose today? A rose nestled among the baby’s breath looks quite lovely.』
『Sounds good to me.』
At Manager Kim’s words, the woman wrapped the baby’s breath and rose in newspaper and handed them over.
『Oh? Why are you wrapping it in newspaper today?』
『You charge two thousand won for arranging flowers, right? You’re going to put them in a vase at the office anyway… so with those two thousand won saved, why not buy yourself a coffee at the Convenience Store?』
『My goodness, you’re even thinking about my two thousand won?』
『We all need to prosper together.』
At the woman’s words, Manager Kim laughed, paid for the flowers, and said.
『Don’t be like that—come work at our office. I’ll pay you more than you make here.』
『I don’t know much about real estate.』
『Does anyone know it from the start? Think it over carefully.』
Manager Kim spoke with a smile, then as he was leaving the flower shop, he made a casual suggestion.
『If you happen to be free this evening, would you like to grab some beef?』
『Beef?』
『My friend just opened a restaurant, and I wanted to help support him. I happen to have time today.』
『I’m sorry. Today is my mother’s birthday.』
『Ah, I see. Understood.』
As the woman apologized with an awkward expression, Manager Kim nodded understandingly and walked away in good spirits.
The woman watched Manager Kim disappear into the distance, and once he was completely gone, she irritably sprayed water on the flowers.
『Does he think I’m possessed by the ghost of someone who died from not eating beef?』
The woman muttered softly, then sighed and looked at the building across the street.
『By now, I should be getting some bites…』
『Are you fishing? Waiting for a bite?』
At the sudden voice from beside her, the woman smiled and turned, but her body went rigid.
Yet it was only momentary before she spoke with startled eyes.
『Oh my! You’re the one who saved me!』
At Lee Hye-eun’s voice filled with astonishment, Choi Tae-sik let out a quiet laugh. If he hadn’t known who Lee Hye-eun was, he would have thought her expression was genuinely full of gratitude and surprise.
Choi Tae-sik glanced around once before speaking to Lee Hye-eun.
『Since I came here knowing who you are, there’s no need to act.』
At Choi Tae-sik’s words, the smile vanished quickly from Lee Hye-eun’s face. She quietly checked her surroundings before speaking.
『From the moment you took that knife for me—or even before that, when you came to rescue me—I knew you weren’t an ordinary person. That’s why you would have tried to save me from all those gangsters.』
Lee Hye-eun set down her words and pulled out a few flowers from those placed in front of the shop.
“Come inside.”
As Lee Hye-eun entered the shop, Choi Tae-sik followed in her wake.
Once inside, Lee Hye-eun retrieved wrapping paper and scissors, beginning to wrap the flowers as she spoke.
“It seems you already know about me… but I don’t know you. Isn’t that unfair?”
At Lee Hye-eun’s words spoken with a smile, Choi Tae-sik looked at her before responding.
“You can call me Choi.”
“Your name is ‘Rago’? That’s quite an unusual name.”
Despite Lee Hye-eun’s jest, Choi Tae-sik merely squinted his eyes and offered no reply. At his silent reaction, Lee Hye-eun laughed and tied a ribbon around the flowers before extending them toward him.
“Anyway, Choi, I’m sorry for just leaving you behind like that back then—when you got stabbed saving me. This is my apology.”
At those words, Choi Tae-sik’s expression hardened. That was right. When he had saved Lee Hye-eun back then, he had been stabbed with a knife.
And even while wounded, he had brought down all the remaining gang members. Yet… Lee Hye-eun had simply abandoned the injured Choi Tae-sik and left.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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