Carving Out the Rotten Flesh - 6
The Responsibility Council members were exchanging glances with deeply furrowed brows.
"We need countermeasures! Countermeasures!"
"If you're that pissed off, surely you've already prepared those countermeasures, right?"
"No, that's why I'm saying this—because I don't have any!"
The other members let out deep sighs at the unnecessarily confident councilor's words.
"That doesn't mean we can just sit here doing nothing!"
That man's gratitude had torn through the settlement far more sharply and viciously than they had anticipated.
"The malcontents are running wild like they've found their savior. At this rate, order will collapse... and nothing would be surprising after that!"
Their concerns were valid. Kim Sunwoo had been wandering from place to place, constantly on the move. He'd heard stories from many people, and those who fell for his serpentine tongue spilled the organization's secrets without reservation. But it didn't stop there. He'd sown division throughout the entire organization, making every member fear not just him, but each other as well.
"So what? It seems pretty fair to me—he's just cutting out what needs to be cut."
Chaeyun flashed a faint smile.
"'Cutting out what needs to be cut'? What the hell does that mean?!"
"This is blatant interference in our internal affairs!"
Chaeyun shook her head slowly.
"Even if it is blatant interference, what can we do about it?"
Her point was spot on. He was strong, he fought, and he won. Considering the average level of humanity in this world, the mere fact that these people were still alive wasn't exactly realistic.
"Kim Chaeyun. You know full well that a report came in last night..."
"Ah, about that one—I cleared it up first thing this morning. It was just a slight misunderstanding. Both the accuser and the man involved were satisfied and left."
"Ugh..."
"So if you're as clean as I am, just explain yourself, right?"
The others clicked their tongues in disbelief. From the start, there wasn't a single clean person in this room. They had no need to live cleanly. Even the most moral, ethical person wouldn't bother using a crosswalk or overpass to cross an empty road in an apocalypse with no cars. In a world where no one had seen a "clean person," becoming one was nothing but an inefficient, irrational luxury.
Chaeyun's sins were mostly directed outward, at outsiders. And that, in turn, was proof of how devoted she was to the organization. It meant she hadn't tormented allies for personal gain but had sacrificed outsiders for the good of the group as a whole.
"I never imagined something like this would happen..."
Doing the right thing, and oversight. When they looked at those clauses sensibly—and considering the pledge was between organizations—no one had thought "doing the right thing" meant this. At most, they'd assumed it was a formal procedure, a pretext for Seven Seed to keep an eye on his group without attacking it outright.
But he was boldly and decisively digging into Seven Seed's past. Assaults, thefts, even murders. The disgusting skeletons they'd buried, figuring "no one will care about this much," were bubbling up from every corner.
"This is an act that undermines order and—"
Chaeyun spoke carefully. "Why not think of it the other way around?"
"What does he want?! No, how can you even still be here? This is all because of your screw-up—"
Chaeyun nodded. "I know. Let's go back to the beginning. Why did Sunwoo spare us?"
"Because... he needs someone to manage this area."
"I don't think that's the whole reason, but it could be part of it. But there's a more important issue."
"What?"
"Like you said, we need to figure out why Kim Sunwoo is putting in all this effort to do this."
"He's just an idiot! No different from a damn kid!"
Chaeyun shook her head. "Did you take a look outside before coming to the meeting hall?"
It had already been a week since he arrived. A short time if short, long if long—but the words and hope he'd sown in that period were far from insignificant.
"He's being worshipped. The workers who think they've found freedom and happiness thanks to his power believe in him like a god and follow him."
"They're all malcontents anyway! We'll purge them ourselves or kick them out later with some excuse—"
"So you're going to kick out the people who know him? People who know him? You've got some guts. Not that it matters to me anymore—I'm not on the council."
It was clear he took this matter seriously. Otherwise, there'd be no need to spend this much time in Seven Seed.
"Are you sure this isn't his intention?"
"His... intention? To shake up Seven Seed? Why the hell would he?!"
"You need to start from the beginning."
Chaeyun shook her head pityingly. "He can't kill us all. He needs people to manage this place, and he doesn't have enough manpower to fully replace Seven Seed."
"..."
"But he wants control over Seven Seed. Not through fear and oppression, but wearing a more hopeful mask."
Now realizing the gravity of the situation, the council members began murmuring to each other.
"Control..."
"Is he planning to exclude the Responsibility Council entirely?"
The Responsibility Council wasn't elected by the trust and votes of others. The power to appoint new members lay solely with the council itself. As such a key position, they wielded great authority and even had their own private guard. At least, ordinary survivors posed no threat to their positions.
Unless you excluded the irregular named Kim Sunwoo.
"Not a complete exclusion. He wouldn't want infighting. But in less than ten days, he's already built a faction within Seven Seed that supports him."
"...!"
That was the result of ruthlessly exposing Seven Seed's ugly past under the guise of justice and righteousness.
"He might be anxious deep down. Or maybe he just doesn't trust the organization and thinks he needs to fully take it over."
"That's speculation!"
"Sure. The connections between the evidence aren't perfectly tight. But... if that's his intention, wouldn't it be foolish to defy his orders here?"
The possibility that he hadn't backed off—or that his alliance with Seven Seed wasn't truly for a mutually beneficial future.
Just that one possibility made the council members' blood run cold.
"Then... what do we do..."
Chaeyun shook her head. "What can we do? We don't have many options right now. We'll just have to cooperate with the investigations sincerely and cut out whoever needs to be cut."
"Hmph..."
A number of people had been reported this time. Among them were Responsibility Council members themselves, and even if it wasn't their own misdeeds, the crimes of their close subordinates were included too.
"If he wants to restructure Seven Seed's power structure... and dreams of inserting his own trusted people to expand his influence in the process, then it's best to lay low for now."
Contrary to Chaeyun's expectations, the council members' minds turned quickly—mostly toward sacrificing others.
"In that case... Yeonhyeon. Since you've just joined the council, how about making a sacrifice?"
"What kind of sacrifice... do you mean?"
"Become his slave."
A massive groan erupted the moment the survivor spoke.
"Yeonhyeon is a council member now! Even if her entry was a bit forced, you can't just throw her away like this!"
"Ridiculous. We should stick together and fend off excessive interference—instead of offering up Yeonhyeon as a sacrifice...!"
No matter how kindly he acted toward them, the council members didn't believe that kindness would last through the night. It was pressure, perhaps even a threat, disguised as a request.
"That's...!"
Yeonhyeon couldn't easily accept the condition either. A slave's desires were meaningless; they could only move according to their master's will.
"If he has no other way to control Seven Seed and that's why he's doing this, then go along with it!"
"Yeonhyeon is a hunter close to that man... Better to send her than some half-baked woman and risk angering him, right?"
Yeonhyeon squeezed her eyes shut. It was a familiar sight. They raised the banner of the greater good, yet at crucial moments, they discarded someone without hesitation. She'd thought it wouldn't happen to her after joining the council, but the organization had no intention of letting her go, clinging to her tenaciously.
Yeonhyeon glared at the surrounding council members with disgust. The Responsibility Council she'd imagined before joining was far nobler and more beautiful than this.