Mutual Recognition - 8
Han Seohee's former subordinates were trailing right behind me, sticking close like lost puppies. They looked like they'd taken a pretty hard beating, but they still had enough strength left to keep moving. Or maybe they thought I'd kill them if they didn't. Either way, it didn't matter. What counted was that they were following my orders right now.
I calmly tracked the trail. And sure enough, not far off, I found my targets.
"Hey, mister! There you are!"
The merchants I'd seen before were slowly herding their cattle along.
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon! Nice to meet you—well, again!"
"Yeah. Would've been a hassle if you'd gone too far..."
"Why's that?"
"I was looking for you all. Got something urgent I need to talk about."
They tilted their heads, puzzled.
"Aw, sorry, but we don't have anything to sell you right now. And we're not slave traders, either."
"You don't deal in that?"
"It's inhumane, and... risky. Hard to get paid what you're worth."
"Ah..."
"Every slave-trading merchant I knew met a bad end."
"Makes sense."
"Kinda boring, right? But living decently is the way to go. Folks like us stir up grudges running around everywhere, and it makes trading tough."
The merchant glanced over the women following me.
"They're not tied up or anything... but they're sticking real close, huh?"
"Told 'em to follow. They couldn't run even if they wanted to anyway."
"Impressive... Hand those criminals over to Seven Seed, and you'll get a nice reward!"
"Yeah, if nothing else comes up, that's probably what I'll do. Those people deserve to know who killed their friends."
No death should go to waste. The survivors had the right to calm their hearts by seeing the killers pay and suffer.
"Mind if I ask one thing before you go?"
"Ask away! We're not the most knowledgeable merchants, but we'll tell you everything we know!"
They beamed at me. I kept my smile steady as I spoke.
"Why'd you kill them?"
The air turned ice-cold in an instant. Everyone stared at me.
"W-what are you talking about...?"
"The Seven Seed women guarding the supply point. Why'd you kill them? Easy question, right?"
I was certain. She'd lied to me, and these merchants were the real culprits.
"D-did those criminals say something weird? Whatever it was, it's all lies!"
"Of course, I don't take their word as gospel. But they said, 'We never killed anyone.' And that rang true to me."
"Why?"
"You've lied too many times. Regrettably."
"...What?"
I'd suspected these women from the start. Meeting Han Seohee's subordinates before I was fully convinced wasn't because I thought they were the killers. I had business with Seohee to settle, and if there was even a slim chance those subordinates were guilty, I needed them under my thumb first.
"Too many inconsistencies. Starting from the very first red flag..."
I glanced back at Han Seohee's staggering subordinates.
"These guys wouldn't have had plenty of bullets on hand."
"...What?"
"They weren't the type to favor guns in the first place."
Han Seohee's crew specialized in close-quarters weapons, just like her. Sure, they might've scavenged a gun or ammo while wandering, but according to Seohee's memories, nothing like that happened. And when I'd captured them myself, I hadn't confiscated any guns from them.
"Bullets aren't exactly overflowing, and it's not like they had a way to buy more."
"B-but we saw it! Guns—they could've ditched them somewhere!"
"True. But... no matter how I look at it, too many things don't add up. What you told me..."
Their eyes trembled. Not with the stress of "Why suspect us?"—but pure terror and dread.
"You said they started with gunfire, then finished with melee? No—melee first to subdue, then guns for the kill shots?"
If they had spare bullets to waste, they'd have used them first to take down the enemy. If ammo was so scarce they had to prioritize melee, there'd be no reason to waste bullets on confirming kills. It just didn't make sense. I'd felt something off from the moment I first heard the story.
"Bullets are valuable. No reason to waste them like that."
"Why... why would those women do something like that? I don't know, but it... it happened—"
I shook my head slowly.
"I've been to the actual crime scene."
"...What?"
"Bullet holes riddled the display shelves. If those criminals had downed the victims first, then gone for kill shots... the bullets should've been in the floor."
"Th-that's not... enough."
"Sure, not ironclad proof. But those holes were scattered everywhere—way too many, and too erratic."
"..."
"You don't need that many for kill shots anyway. One bullet to the head of a downed target does it."
If they hadn't lied, or if they'd just said nothing or "We didn't see the scene," I might not have pieced this much together. It would've been easy to assume "Seohee's crew killed them after a shootout, ditched the gun somewhere." But they didn't stop there.
"Wh-why would I make such an obvious lie? I could've just said I didn't know..."
"To convince Seven Seed, not me. Obvious, right?"
They were the first witnesses to the bodies. It's a cliché, but the witness turning out to be the killer is common. Seven Seed surely knew merchants passed through here. After the murders, they'd be suspects. So these merchants needed an easy, believable culprit for Seven Seed.
"Saying melee first, then guns for kills... probably to hide the real cause of death, just in case."
Unlike me, Seven Seed had seen the bodies. They might figure out if blunt trauma to the head or chest killed them, or if it was those erratic bullets. It was weirder they hadn't spotted the merchant's lie from the corpses alone.
"Am I wrong?"
If they'd been calm with time to think, Seven Seed might've noticed the inconsistencies too. But the too-convenient testimony—"fled with bloody goods"—pointed straight to the culprits.
"S-so... that's..."
"And conveniently, no bullets on you... Eh, that's pure speculation at this point."
The merchants before me trembled, avoiding my eyes.
"Anyway, you lied to me. That's clear enough to me. So..."
I asked her point-blank.
"Why'd you kill them?"
"Th-this isn't proof! You got no evidence we did it!"
"You seem to be misunderstanding something."
I calmly drew my sword.
"I've always had the power to kill people without needing evidence."
This was the apocalypse. Strength was justice. I didn't plan to play by those rules myself, but the world made it possible.
"Give me an excuse I can believe. Why lie? What did you really see? Were you even there?"
On the way here, I'd talked to Han Seohee's subordinates. They'd never seen these merchants.
"Or at least... make me understand you emotionally. Tell me why you killed them—the reason!"
I shouted at her, pleading almost.
Punishing guilt was vital. But the circumstances suggested the dead might not be innocent victims. I wanted to hear everyone's side. The dead were gone, but I could consider the living's perspectives.
"That's..."
The merchant bowed her head deeply. I watched her silently.
"I'm... sorry."
She wasn't looking at me. She was bowing to Han Seohee's subordinates behind me.