Mutual Recognition - 9
I kept silent. I waited patiently, giving the merchant time to continue.
"Those people... they deserved to die."
"What?"
The merchant continued, her words slipping out between trembling breaths.
"We were right there. They might not have seen us, but we saw them."
"..."
"So, we saw everything. Those terrifying women over there, arguing with the guards."
She steadied her breathing calmly.
"We figured getting involved wouldn't help. And from what we saw, it looked like the guards were the ones in the wrong anyway."
"Did you hear what they were saying inside?"
"No, but we could tell those rough-looking women were begging for something, all desperate."
"..."
"And the guards... they refused and mocked them. We could tell that much."
I had no idea how far away they'd been watching from, but their story lined up with what Seohee's subordinate had said.
"What happened next?"
"Still... we thought we should at least keep them from dying, so we approached. But..."
The merchant bit her lip hard and cried out.
"That guy, he cursed us and blamed us!"
"...?"
"He yelled about why we didn't help, called us cowards for living like that... swore he'd get us banished from the area no matter what!"
It was tricky. There was no lie in the merchants' eyes. Right now, I had no way to verify the truth.
"Aren't you merchants? Can't you just leave?"
"...We've spent three years building up favors here in Seven Seed—just to get goods and selling rights."
"Hmm..."
"Other areas have their own merchants... We need Seven Seed to receive goods and to sell them..."
I didn't know the ins and outs of how these merchants operated. But getting banished from the area must have been a nightmare for them.
"They kept cursing, threatening us, and finally, one grabbed a discarded gun and said he'd kill some of us—"
"They fired first?"
"...Yes."
I glanced at Seohee. She nodded with a hollow laugh.
"Happens all the time."
"What? All the time? This shit?"
I'd expected something like "it's possible," but her words caught me off guard.
"I had a decent position here in Seven Seed, even if I wasn't on the responsibility council."
"I see."
"Yeah. And I traveled around a lot, so I met tons of people... heard all sorts of stories."
"..."
"Lots of folks came crying to me, begging me to fix their problems."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Some said those bastards stole their stuff, others sobbed about them toying with their lovers..."
She bit her lip bitterly.
"I couldn't do shit about it, though. Had my own issues."
"..."
"You can think I'm the bad guy. Can't be helped. I did keep bringing it up to the higher-ups... not that anyone gave a damn."
I let out a deep sigh.
"Those guards—were they big shots?"
"Guards at supply points are usually put there by someone with pull. They never go hungry."
"Makes sense."
I'd gauged the food production facilities and population when I was in Seven Seed. It was way short. Inside, people were either starving or barely eating enough to survive, suffering from hunger.
"Separate from that, one of those fucking bitches there... probably had a connection to someone on the responsibility council."
The situation was starting to clear up. I'd heard from everyone—well, everyone still alive.
Now it was time to decide.
"Follow me."
I looked at them steadily.
"Pl-please forgive us just once! Those assholes pushed us too far—we had no choice!"
"..."
"If we'd stayed quiet, we'd have been chased out unfairly. We had no choice!"
They had their reasons, their side of the story. I could understand that.
"I don't have the right to forgive you."
My only involvement was that Seohee got suspicious for a brief moment—purely by chance. The dead weren't people I knew. I wasn't in a position to demand retribution for their deaths, so naturally, I couldn't forgive these people standing before me either.
"But they need to know the truth. Those people deserve to know."
The folks in Seven Seed needed to understand why those guards died and who was responsible.
"...That's."
"I can sympathize with your situation, understand it to some extent. But... those people? They won't."
"We don't want to be sold off as slaves..."
"I'll do what I can."
I planned to defend them as best as possible. No matter their circumstances, the crimes they'd committed weren't something to just brush off.
Seohee's subordinates couldn't justify brutally beating starving people over mockery and contempt, then stealing their supplies. And it was pointless for me to atone on their behalf.
In the end, it was all their choice. Abandoning Seohee and nearly killing her, returning to Seven Seed territory, beating and killing people—it was all on them.
The merchants couldn't claim their actions were right either. Even in a desperate, wronged situation, they'd killed people. Shot wounded men mercilessly. And tried to pin the blame on Seohee's subordinates.
No matter how you sliced it—even if Seohee's people were just "thieves who didn't kill"—the merchants had tried to frame them. Their circumstances didn't change the crime, nor did how awful the dead men were.
They needed to explain themselves to the others. Convince the angry, the grieving.
"...Let's head to Seven Seed headquarters."
Still, I'd speak up for them. It was the decent thing to do for people who'd honestly confessed their sins.
/////
The merchants and Seohee's subordinates followed behind me.
"Your group's gotten bigger somehow..."
"Yeah, well, not sure if we can all go back together." Seohee sighed heavily.
"...You're really taking these bitches with us?"
"People died. They might've been disgusting, rude outsiders... but maybe they were decent enough inside the group."
"...Dunno."
"There might be folks mourning the guards' deaths inside. So..."
The thieves and killers needed to atone.
"Doesn't seem efficient."
Seohee shook her head.
"Huh?"
"Confessing sins and apologizing... sounds nice, but honestly, what do we care? It's got nothing to do with us."
"..."
"We've got dirt on these merchants and my subordinates' weak spots. Why bother with Seven Seed? Just take 'em and use 'em like slaves."
"What?"
"If you're horny, fuck 'em too."
Seohee was pragmatic like that. Thinking about it, her words weren't entirely wrong. Defending them, sympathizing—it gained me nothing.
If I needed bodies, it might've been easier to just say "I've got a safe place" and bring them along.
"You think Seven Seed's gonna let these bitches walk after an apology?"
"..."
"Get real. No one treats prisoners or slaves as nicely and cutely as you. They'll be dead in a month."
She knew better than me.
"If you wanna look good to Seven Seed, maybe it's not a total loss... but I still don't get it."
Maybe she was just sad. Regretting something she couldn't understand: her comrades—who'd insulted, beaten, and tried to kill her—dying pointlessly.
"After an apology, Seven Seed will think: 'They admitted it? Cool, now we can do whatever to these bitches.'"
Seohee's words rang true, every one.
"They won't patiently hear out their sob stories like you, all kind and shit. They're criminals either way."
"If that happens..."
I lifted my head with effort.
"We'll figure it out then—"
At some point, I realized the number of people around us had swelled unnaturally.
"...Huh?"
As we got closer to Seven Seed, I spotted people lining the road.
"...Heading out to fight or something?"
It was that woman from before—Yeonhyeon. The people with her wore unmistakable Seven Seed uniforms and gear.
Not just one or two—dozens were gathering on this street.
"Nice to see you again. And... as I suspected, you've brought the criminals."
"Yes. But after looking into it, they have their reasons—"
"I want to express my thanks, but first, I have orders to give."
"Orders?"
"Lower your weapons and raise your hands."
Suddenly, countless survivors surrounded us, guns trained on us.
"If you don't want to die."
Yeonhyeon stared at me with hollow eyes.