Stocking the Warehouse Generously - 12
"Everyone, stop."
I halted them with a voice that dropped cold and heavy.
"Let's get a grasp on the situation first. I don't know what this girl did wrong exactly, but that's far enough."
"...And who the hell are you?"
The girl's voice was trembling. I met her eyes. She was terrified. Like someone who'd been abused by me for years, her body shook violently just from making eye contact.
...
A strange mix of emotions washed over me. The girl who'd just been mercilessly beating another woman was now trembling before me like this.
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I'm strong. No matter how this fight goes down, I decide who wins."
Threatening people with raw power wasn't something I enjoyed, but right now, it couldn't be helped.
"I'll hear both sides and make a judgment. Can you give me just a little time for that?"
I let out a deep sigh and applied some healing ointment to the fallen woman's wounds. Fresh skin wouldn't grow immediately, but the pain would ease a bit.
"Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Kim Haena... sir."
"Got it."
I helped Haena's slumped body sit up and leaned her against a nearby snack shelf so she could rest comfortably.
"What happened? Why were they beating you like that?"
"I... I was sold off. I didn't know it was this kind of work, but they were going to use me as a meat shield..."
"Yeah?"
"All the girls who came with me... they all died. All of them... had their faces eaten whole by that monster, then collapsed. Blood... blood splashed everywhere, and chunks of my friend's flesh got in my mouth—"
She wasn't in her right mind. I gently pulled her into an embrace and patted her back.
"It's okay, I get it. Don't think too deeply about it. Just breathe. Slowly."
"Hoo... haa..."
Holding her now, I could feel Haena's heartbeat pounding against me. It was racing. So fast I wondered if her blood vessels might burst.
Trauma. She wasn't particularly fragile, nor was this mental anguish unique to her.
"So... so... I ran away. I ran, but because of that... now they're all trying to kill me..."
Haeri was sobbing.
"...Can you explain it a bit more precisely?"
A nagging suspicion crossed my mind.
"Who sold you? To whom?"
Deep down, I hoped it wasn't true. But a certain face kept flashing in my head.
This world had levels, dungeons, rewards—but at its core, it was an apocalypse. The incompetent couldn't survive. Those who couldn't prove their worth wouldn't last.
"Seon Yeowon... the director sold me to Katus."
And my ominous hunch was spot on.
/////
I'd half-expected it. Once the kids from the orphanage grew up, they had to leave. And those who left had to earn their keep.
I didn't want to resent Seon Yeowon. I wanted to believe she wasn't raising all those orphans just to sell them off.
But I hadn't imagined the ones who left would be thrown into hopeless battles as meat shields.
"There might be some misunderstanding here."
Pestal Patrol's leader, Soo Kangyeon, stepped into the mart. Gratefully, she'd waited until we'd finished talking.
"No, I'll... I'll explain."
The girl who'd first been hitting Kim Haena bit her lip hard and looked at me.
"This woman's a traitor. A coward. Because she didn't fight properly... the whole orphanage is in danger now!"
"Why?"
Soo Kangyeon shook her head slowly.
"Our organization, Katus... we recruit manpower from Director Seon Yeowon's orphanage. No point denying that."
All the women glared coldly down at Haena, who sat huddled there.
"And yes, orphanage girls get thrown into riskier frontlines on their first missions. But that's not to use them as disposable pawns... it's to give them a battlefield to prove themselves."
Haena screamed in disbelief.
"There were only three of us thrown into that zone! There was an elite monster—zombies poured out endlessly!"
"So, did you follow orders?"
"...That's!"
"Your orders were clear: hold the position at all costs. If you'd fought with your lives on the line, reinforcements would've arrived in ten minutes!"
"We would've all died by then!"
"That fight stemmed from faulty recon intel. We can't deny things went beyond predictions. But if you'd been even a little more competent, a little braver!"
Soo Kangyeon's voice boomed through the mart. She seemed genuinely furious.
"Five more minutes, and those zombies would've pulled back to other ops zones! Then three more Katus fighters could've survived!"
...
It was a familiar, painful sensation. Everyone here was human. Not monsters in human skin with incomprehensible mindsets.
Just people gathered in this mart, desperate to live a bit longer, to keep their comrades alive.
The girl I'd seen at the orphanage chimed in.
"It was a grave sin. Katus used to supply food to the orphanage in exchange... but that stopped."
Soo Kangyeon nodded calmly.
"They couldn't even track a cowardly deserter, and Director Seon didn't cooperate in the search. This level of retribution was necessary for us."
Kim Haena cried out, voice breaking.
"Lies! They sent us there to die—all of us! To leave you as the only survivor—"
"You know me. Do you really think I'd send you to a place like that just to 'kill off orphanage girls'?"
"..."
"I came from the orphanage too. Sure, orphanage hunters face some discrimination, but I fought with my life on the line. That's how I climbed to patrol leader."
Kangyeon responded evenly to Haena.
"Lee Hari here will get recognized the moment she joins Katus too. Because she's strong. Because she put in the effort."
The leader of the orphanage girls was probably Lee Hari. She still couldn't meet my eyes directly, but she wasn't fleeing despite her trembling.
"...Sister Kangyeon. We found this traitor. At the orphanage. Right?"
"Of course."
"And if we punish her... Katus will be pleased too, right?"
"It could go on my record... but yeah. No reason to lie. You spotted and captured Kim Haena. I'll report it that way to command."
Kangyeon nodded. Hari looked at her desperately.
"Thank you. We'll handle the punishment ourselves. Then the orphanage supplies—"
"Even without that, supplies were about to resume. Katus never planned to starve all the orphanage girls."
"...That's a relief."
"Still, the orphanage punishing its own traitor will look good to Katus. Don't worry too much."
Hari caught her breath and bowed to Kangyeon.
"Thank you, senior."
"Yeah. I'll be waiting."
But I couldn't let things wrap up so neatly. Haena was still trembling right beside me.
"What exactly do you mean by 'punishment'?"
"Nothing special. No physical or mental torture. Katus isn't that barbaric."
"Is that so?"
"Just execution. Nothing more, nothing less."
Deep terror settled on Haena's face.
"Just... kill her?"
"Yes. No food to waste on criminals, and anything less severe would have everyone fleeing zombies."
"..."
I looked at Haena. She was an adult, but still young. Fresh out of the orphanage on her first mission, and she'd fled.
"I don't know what you think, Sunwoo-ssi, but this is Katus discipline. I'd appreciate your respect for it."
"Respect... yeah, I can respect that..."
They weren't making irrational demands. From what I'd heard, Haena hadn't done her duty, causing extra casualties. They were in a position where someone had to be punished.
Of course, Haena had her own grievances. Logically, ordering three low-level rookies to hold against an elite monster was unreasonable.
Whatever the reason, Haena hadn't followed the 'hold or die' order, so she had to die.
"Without rules like this, desertions would skyrocket. Everyone would run to save themselves, and Katus would collapse."
And if Katus collapsed—or even if they just decided they didn't need to supply the orphanage for recruits anymore—the system falls apart. They had solid reason to kill Haena.
"Still... I don't think so."
And I had an absolute reason to stop them from killing her.
My mood was soured.
"Can't you just look the other way here?"
I gave a faint smile, glancing between Kangyeon and Hari.