Ch 102
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 102
"What's the matter? Weren't you the one who said we shouldn't get involved with each other anymore when we talked last time?"
―You sent that kind of text first, and now you're saying that!
"Did you boil and eat a train's firebox? Your voice is quite booming. If you're not planning to have a fight, just get to the point and hang up."
―This bastard, still... Ha, even when you deceived me by saying my whole body would be paralyzed, I didn't make an issue of it and let it slide. But now you're saying you'll hand Bennett over to the police? What the hell does that even mean? Wasn't it supposed to be something you'd handle personally?
"I don't think I said I'd kill her directly... Or did I? Actually, I don't really remember."
―What? You bastard, are you calling that talk right now?
"I'm just doing what the victim wants. Got a problem with that? She's going to be executed anyway, so it's not an issue, right?"
Bennett Krizia was repeatedly treated and beaten with Teacher Kim's help.
The more it was repeated, the less she reacted, and after two days, her spirit seemed broken as she begged to be killed instead.
Teacher Kim, who had been helping without much complaint at first, now suggested it might be better to stop and hand her over to the police, so I'm planning to turn her over to the police tomorrow.
Of course, no matter how much I'm an S-rank Hunter and an honorary director of the Hunter Association, if I just hand someone over saying 'This person is the culprit' without any evidence, the police won't just say 'Oh, is that so? Thank you for your hard work!' and believe me.
I'd need to explain how I caught her too.
Actually, I made a recording file of her confessing to the crime while beating her early on, but I don't plan to hand Bennett over to the police in perfect condition as I promised Minha.
The moment she says she was assaulted, the recording file loses its effectiveness.
Recordings obtained through threats and violence aren't accepted as evidence.
So I cut out Bennett's tongue.
Of course, just cutting out her tongue could be circumstantial evidence that she was coerced and assaulted, but Bennett is a magician.
If I say it was a measure taken to subdue her and prevent her from using magic, the police would have no choice but to accept it.
They might question whether it was necessary to cut her tongue when I had already destroyed the magic ring around her heart, but I could just say that happened because she tried to force herself to use magic.
Moreover, while investigating her phone, I discovered that all call recordings were stored, so proving her crimes is absolutely no problem.
Actually, I don't need to worry and prepare for each thing like this.
Bennett was already a fairly famous criminal who could be found just by searching the internet.
As I somewhat expected, she had committed quite a lot of terrorism and assassinations in Italy and was on Interpol's red notice.
On one side is an Interpol red notice fugitive, and I'm South Korea's proud S-rank Hunter and honorary director of the Hunter Association.
The image I've built up so far has been quite good, so it's obvious which side the police and the public will trust more.
Still, I prepared thoroughly to make sure there was nothing that could put me in a difficult position, just in case.
Antas-related individuals are treated specially unlike ordinary criminals and are processed quickly and executed soon, but one small mistake could ruin everything.
―If Bennett is handed over to the police, there will be tremendous protests from Antas Italy toward our side.
"They're already protesting, aren't they? And I know Antas operates independently by country, wasn't that the case? Are you afraid of Antas Italy, old man?"
―It's not just anything else, but an executive was caught. Moreover, it's a matter that went wrong when she had direct phone calls with me...
"I wrote you a scenario, didn't I?"
I planned to explain to the police that I discovered Bennett while tracking Antas Korea, so I sent him a scenario to match our stories.
―How can you expect to get by with something this crude...
"Still, I wrote down everything about what to say to the police. Your head works well, so figure it out yourself."
―No matter how well I cover it up, if Bennett opens her mouth in court...
"Don't worry needlessly. Bennett won't say anything."
―How can you guarantee that?
"I cut out her tongue."
―What?
"She has no will to live either. And Antas-related individuals are processed quickly unlike ordinary criminals, right?"
―...Understood. Then now we really won't get involved with each other anymore...
"Right. But old man, at the beginning of the call, you said that even though I deceived you, you didn't question it and let it slide?"
―No, that's...
At first when he called, he was as aggressive as a loan shark coming to collect debt, but after hearing about Bennett's tongue being cut, he seemed slightly frightened.
Well, he was surprisingly cowardly in the original work too.
"You should speak properly. Who let whom slide? To put it bluntly, I could have killed you there too."
―...
"And isn't the one who got deceived the idiot?"
―What? You bastard...!
"Am I your bastard? Still can't grasp the situation? Hong old man, do you want to see an article titled 'Antas Korea Boss Identity Revealed' on tomorrow morning's front page?"
―A-are you threatening me now? We agreed not to touch each other...
"That's why I'm telling you to behave yourself."
I hung up without saying anything.
I thought about calling back to properly show him who's in charge, but it seems better to stop here.
It would be troublesome if I provoke him too much and he comes out with a 'you die, I die' attitude.
I still have a lot to prepare too.
She's going to be executed anyway and I already cut her tongue, but I absolutely cannot leave her right arm intact.
Thinking about Bennett makes my irritation rise again.
I could just kill her and not have to go through this trouble, but I can't help it.
As I told Hong Man-sik earlier, I promised to do what the victim Minha wants.
***
It's already been a week since I handed Bennett over to the police.
Bennett was extradited to Italy less than two days after being handed over to the police and was sentenced to death on the day of extradition.
And yesterday, Korean time, the execution was carried out.
Even considering that she was an Antas executive, it was exceptionally fast, but in a way, it was a natural result.
First, there was a possibility that Antas Italy might come to rescue her, and honestly, aside from that, that bastard Bennett had killed too many people.
The ordinary Italian citizens who died in the terrorism she led alone numbered close to a thousand.
Not only that, among the people Bennett assassinated were the Italian Prime Minister's family, senators and representatives and their families, and even Mafia bosses, so it was as good as settled.
And despite Bennett being in very poor condition when I handed her over to the police, my image suffered almost no damage.
No, it actually improved.
The Italian government had placed a considerable bounty on Bennett's head worth about 5 billion Korean won, and if captured alive, it would be doubled to 10 billion won.
It's certainly not a small amount of money, but I'm not particularly strapped for cash, so when the Italian government contacted me about giving the reward, I declined, saying to use it for the families of victims who suffered because of Bennett.
I didn't particularly ask for an article to be written, but the Italian government published an article and I became a national hero of Italy.
I've never actually been to Italy even once.
Actually, I like pizza and pasta so I've thought about visiting sometime, but I think it'll be difficult for at least 10 years.
Antas Italy must be completely grinding their teeth.
I'll have to wait until Lee Ji-sung graduates and cleans everything up before I can visit.
And actually, I thought Antas Korea and Italy might clash significantly over this incident, but Hong Man-sik seems to have covered it up well somehow.
Except for the contact before handing over Bennett last time, there's been no separate contact, but they say no news is good news.
Oh, and not only in Italy but also in Korea, an article was published with the slightly cringeworthy title 'I Protect My Students Myself,' which significantly improved my image.
Honestly, I'm not particularly happy about it.
***
Lost in thought while walking, I arrived in front of the classroom before I knew it.
If it were before, there would be noisy chattering sounds, but it's too quiet.
When I opened the door and entered, all the kids were sitting down too.
It's already been 10 days since the practical training incident occurred, and not only Yeon-su who was poisoned but also Jae-hyeon who had ankle surgery returned yesterday.
But one seat is still empty.
Whether the saying 'you don't notice a full seat but you notice an empty one' is correct, the class atmosphere has remained sharply down since the practical training ended.
As a homeroom teacher, I'm trying to refresh the atmosphere, but honestly, it's too difficult.
I can't tell the kids to force themselves to smile and go around.
At times like this, it would have been nice if a guy like Jinsu were in our class.
No.
That guy is also quite affected by the atmosphere, so it wouldn't have been much different.
Today it rained in the morning, so the atmosphere feels even more depressed.
I announced the notices and finished the morning assembly.
"Everyone, attend your classes well today, eat lunch deliciously, and I'll see you at the closing assembly. Then class... No, never mind."
I should have been careful, but I made a stupid mistake without realizing it.
Some of the kids' eyes started to redden... I thought about making some clumsy joke, but it seemed like it would only have the opposite effect, so I fled from the classroom.
Among today's announcements was really good news that the kids would love - that they'd be sent home from Children's Day next week until Parents' Day.
But nobody openly showed they were happy about it.
Haah...
I really can't help but sigh.
Why did I make such a stupid mistake...
I headed to the swordsmanship training hall, blaming myself.
"Teacher Kang, good morning."
Good morning my ass. It's even raining, what kind of good morning is this...
No, I shouldn't get depressed like this too.
"Yes. Good morning."
I greeted back trying to be bright and sat down, turned on my laptop and opened a Hangul file, but I couldn't focus on work.
"Teacher Kang?"
"Yes?"
"It's time, aren't you going to class?"
Has it already become that time?
I have so much to do, but my laptop screen is still blank.
I closed the laptop and left the office, and when I came to the 2nd-year training ground, all the children were lined up.
I didn't even give instructions, but they had already put on their poncho raincoats.
Since there are many students from our class in the morning class including Eunseo, and it's the group where Minha was, the atmosphere isn't much different from our class.
The afternoon class where Jinsu and Minhee are has no students from our class, so the atmosphere is somewhat better...
"You all put on poncho raincoats without being told... Good. We'll skip running today."
"Huh? Teacher, can't we just run?"
"Right. I want to just run."
"Me too."
"I want to run."
The kids who would normally whine about not wanting to run when it rains, asking if we could skip...
"Alright, let's run. Today, the teacher will run too."
From 1st year until now, I've never run with the kids on rainy days, but today I want to run too.
After finishing the morning class, I came to the faculty office.
The lunch menu isn't great either, and I ate some snacks while buying snacks for the kids, so I'll skip lunch and do some paperwork.
Still, since I finished class early and bought them snacks, by the time class ended, everyone's expressions were better than at first.
I don't know if it's because of the snacks or because we ran in the rain for a while, but it's fortunate anyway.
I hope time passes quickly, even if just a little.
Of course, I'm not trying to rely on the saying that time heals all wounds.
Actually, Minha didn't quit school but is just taking a break.
Since dropping out without my permission is impossible anyway, even if she said she wanted to drop out, I was planning to hold onto her by force, but fortunately Minha said she would trust me.
And just as I have done so far, I have no intention of betraying my student's trust.
When I turned a page of the calendar on my desk, two dates circled in red caught my eye.
[6/13]
The departure date for the school trip.
[6/20]
The day when the two-month deadline I promised Minha ends, and the day I prove what my words about taking full responsibility mean.
"Huh? Teacher Kang? Not eating lunch?"
"Ah, Teacher Park... Today's menu isn't that great."
"Why? The pollack stew was so amazing it made me think of soju. Oh, right... Did you see the work notice? Amazing news came out."
"You mean from May 5th to 8th, school's off? The head of academic affairs talked about it this morning."
"Not that. From May 16th to 18th, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - they're selecting teachers to go on the school trip preliminary survey?"