146. Living Together (1)
146. Living Together (1)
Clank!
The police Kang Do-hee had called snapped heavy iron cuffs onto their wrists.
Since hunters who had awakened Mana possessed power on a different level from ordinary people, even the handcuffs were different.
They were cuffs with a heavy weight attached, like shackles.
"W-We're sorry!!!"
"This whole thing was cooked up and ordered by that bitch Kim Hye-ji!!!"
"That's right!! We had no choice, she made us—!"
Because of the weight of the cuffs, they crawled on the floor and shouted.
But when a hunter sent from the Hunter Management Bureau pulled out an axe, they shut their mouths instantly.
"Thank you. In cases involving Awakened Criminals, it was difficult for us to step in carelessly, so we're in your debt. They'll most likely be handled by the Hunter Management Bureau."
A policewoman bowed politely toward us.
"Yes, and I'll forward additional evidence as soon as it's ready, so please refer to that as well."
"Yep! W-We'll take care of it!!"
Shin Se-hee skillfully returned her greeting and promised to send over additional materials.
"But they're in pretty bad shape right now, and nobody's saying a word about it?"
Back where I originally lived, there were a lot of cases where you just had to put up with it, even in self-defense, because of things like excessive force.
"Hmm, if the opponent had been a civilian, no way. But they're also Awakened."
It seemed that in these times, the most troublesome crimes were these kinds of minor offenses committed by hunters.
Normally, crimes by hunters were handled by the Hunter Management Bureau, but they were said to be so short-staffed they were barely managing just the serious crimes. If they became Demonized Humans, jurisdiction was transferred and the handling was clear-cut. But when hunters committed minor crimes like this, the Bureau lacked the resources and the police lacked the ability—so it was more of a headache.
That was Shin Se-hee's answer to how they had committed as many as three thousand crimes and still hadn't been caught until now.
"......So when an Awakened commits an ambiguous minor crime, there isn't really a proper department to take charge. That's why garbage like that runs rampant."
"Their whole way of thinking is different from ours."
"Right. Crime is just their way of life."
Shin Se-hee looked at them with a contemptuous expression.
Hmm.
But Se-hee, Se-hee.
When you say things like that, it makes you look just a tiny bit? A very tiny bit? Shameless. Didn't you brag to me not long ago that you got your hands on a bugging device that even Mana detection can't pick up?
'......Well, still, our Se-hee doesn't commit crimes. She just skirts dangerously close to the edge of the law....... She's a girl with a strong law-abiding spirit.'
Yeah, at any rate, it's safe.
By this point, even Kim Hye-ji, who had been holding out until the end, seemed to sense intuitively that she wouldn't be able to slip out of this one.
Shaking off the police officer's hand, she crawled across the floor and grabbed Lee Yu-ri's ankle.
"Y-Yu-ri!! W-We were friends! Remember, o-old times! Think of the old times!!!"
She looked up at Lee Yu-ri with eyes full of desperation.
But in Lee Yu-ri's gaze looking down at her, not a trace of warmth could be found.
"Yeah, right. We've known each other a really long time."
She answered with an expressionless face.
At that, Kim Hye-ji's face brightened immediately, as if she had taken those words at face value.
"R-Right!? Still, we went to dungeons together for, f-for years! And t-training!!"
"Yeah, so, I won't try to get back the money you took."
"......M-Money?"
"How stupid did I seem, for you to reach out to me even now, at this moment. Now that I've found out everything."
Memories from her school days flashed through Lee Yu-ri's mind.
The times she had to bite her tongue and endure harassment, simply for being poor. Even when she told herself with a firm heart that this too shall pass, honestly, it had been nothing short of agonizing when everyone looked at her with contempt and disdain.
Back then, Kim Hye-ji.
She had ignored her too.
Later, only after Lee Yu-ri had turned the tables and given the scumbags who bullied her a proper lesson, Kim Hye-ji had approached her with a frown, saying she'd had no choice either. At the time, Lee Yu-ri had thought that expression was simply self-reproach for turning away from a bullied friend.
Now she could see the emotion from back then clearly.
'You were upset, weren't you?'
Seeing the old friend who was still racking her brain for a way to wriggle out of this situation, even at this moment.
Crrk.
The corners of her mouth rose naturally.
'Though, this kind of talk isn't usually my style.......'
After briefly taking Shin Se-hee in with her eyes, Lee Yu-ri crouched down.
"Hye-ji. Watching me all this time must have been really complicated for you."
"......Complicated?"
"Yeah. A penniless bitch acting out, you hated seeing it, so you tried to ruin me, but I came back to life. You thought you'd stomped me down again, but I came back to life again. I got into Velvet Hunter Academy, and then even joined Utopia. And in the middle of all that, you were stuck at the very bottom the whole time."
"Th-That......!"
Kim Hye-ji's mouth fell open as if in dismay.
"Your mood must have gone up and down dozens of times a day. Reading articles about me on the internet and in the papers, watching me doing well. Did you pray every night? That someday I'd fall."
Kim Hye-ji's pupils shook uncontrollably.
"Don't worry. That won't happen anymore. From now on, the only feelings you'll experience are regret and despair."
Lee Yu-ri shook off the hand gripping her ankle with a flick, as if it were loathsome.
"May all your remaining days be filled with dread."
"Let's go, Kim Hye-ji."
Before anyone knew it, a hunter dispatched from the Management Bureau had appeared, grabbing Kim Hye-ji's arm and restraining her.
Even as she was dragged away, Kim Hye-ji turned her head and glared at Lee Yu-ri as if she couldn't believe it.
"Lee Yu-ri!! Lee Yu-ri! Lee Yu-riiiiiii!!!!"
Screaming her name as if having a seizure, she was dragged off.
Hoo—
Lee Yu-ri let out a long breath.
'......Hmm, it felt refreshing, but it really isn't a style that suits me.'
She turned her head and looked at Jin Yu-ha.
The man she could now call her true ally.
And she walked toward him.
To be precise, toward the two younger siblings standing behind him with awkward smiles.
"Lee Yu-na. Lee Yu-hyeon."
"Uh, sis...?"
"N-Noona...?"
Gulp.
"Why didn't you pick up your phones?"
"......Uh, o-our phones?"
Lee Yu-na fumbled hurriedly and pulled out her phone.
"Uh, wh-what's wrong with it? It's t-turned off?"
"......Did you forget to charge it?"
Lee Yu-ri smiled brightly at her younger siblings.
"Is that so? Shall we have a little talk?"
"E-Eeek—!! Sis!!"
"N-Noona!!!"
* * *
"Our house......."
"What on earth......."
Lee Yu-ri's mother and father, who had been working far away and were suddenly summoned back, returned home belatedly.
With vacant expressions, they looked around the wrecked house.
Smashed furniture and torn-up clothes.
Ceiling and floor alike, there wasn't a single proper corner left.
Her mother, who had a quite youthful-looking face resembling Lee Yu-ri's and wore a firm expression, closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them.
And she turned her head toward Lee Yu-ri and her siblings.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No."
"Good. That's all that matters."
Even in the face of this sudden misfortune, Lee Yu-ri's parents maintained a composed attitude and confirmed only their children's safety.
"Mom. The, um, the house repair costs, I have them, so......."
Just as Lee Yu-ri was cautiously about to pull out her own allowance,
"Just a moment. Ma'am."
I interjected.
"Hmm?"
"Would it be possible to have a word with you?"
Lee Yu-ri's parents looked at me, and their eyes went wide.
"......Jin Yu-ha?"
"Ah, yes, that's right."
"......Hmm. Nice to meet you."
Lee Yu-ri's mother clasped my hand with a slightly dazed expression.
"Thank you so much for taking in our Yu-ri!!"
And from beside her, Lee Yu-ri's father cut in, making a fuss as he spoke.
"Ah, you, be quiet for a moment. Jin Yu-ha. You said you wanted to talk?"
"Yes. First of all, what I wanted to tell you is that compensation for the house will be fully covered."
"Is that so...?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, it's expected to take quite a while. The crimes the perpetrator has committed are quite severe and numerous....... It'll be processed after compensating the damages of other victims."
At that, a brief flicker of regret crossed the mother's eyes,
but she soon nodded.
"Yes, that's a relief."
"So, to get to the main point."
"......Yes?"
"Have you heard anything about Lee Yu-ri's Midterm Evaluation this time?"
"No. Yu-ri refuses to tell us, saying academy matters are confidential......"
"Ah, b-but! We always watch for her on the news, and every time we call, we know that Yu-ri's voice sounds bright! And this is all thanks to Party Leader Jin Yu-ha!"
Perhaps because this world had reversed gender roles, the father and mother gave off quite different vibes.
"Not at all. Yu-ri is an essential party member to me as well, and I'm the one in her debt."
I smiled and spoke toward the father.
Ahem—
Beside me, Lee Yu-ri coughed dryly as if embarrassed.
"Anyway, in this Midterm Evaluation, Cadet Lee Yu-ri took first place."
"......F-First place? Ou-Our Yu-ri? At the academy?"
At this, even her mother, who had always seemed composed, had a tremor in her voice, as if she hadn't expected this at all.
"Yes. And so, one benefit was given to the top-ranking cadets this time."
"......A benefit?"
"Living space."
"J-Jin Yu-ha......!?"
Lee Yu-ri also turned to look at me with a startled expression.
'Well, I did get it from the Chairwoman....... But honestly, we all did this together.'
If it were financial support or help from behind the scenes, Lee Yu-ri would probably refuse.
Because she's a kid who doesn't want to show weakness, and has strong pride.
So while thinking about how I could help, what I came up with was the house I'd received from the Chairwoman!
That house was plenty spacious and was divided by floors. And there were far too many unused spaces to live in alone.
Even if I gave up one of its empty floors, there would be no problem at all.
'If it's not pity or goodwill, but something Lee Yu-ri earned through her own strength, she has no reason to refuse. And she really did get first place.'
"Gukbap. You remember that house from earlier?"
I looked at Lee Yu-ri, who wore a dazed expression, and said.
"Uh, th-that house? You mean that house from earlier......!?"
Belatedly recalling the house we had visited earlier, Lee Yu-ri's mouth fell open.
"Yeah, I was going to tell you that it was given to our Utopia Party for our performance during the Midterm Evaluation, but I couldn't because you suddenly had an urgent matter."
"......What?"
I pulled the corners of my mouth up into a grin.
"So, let's move."