Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Northward
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It had been three days since they started clearing a path northward.
By now, everyone's levels had risen to a decent point.
With experience under their belts, fighting goblins had evolved from mere "battles" into proper "hunts."
Not just combat—improvements had spread to other areas too.
They had personal gear now, and even when moving in groups, they kept the noise down.
Even if a grotesque corpse popped up during farming runs, they pressed on without flinching.
All for the sake of results.
People were making efforts to contribute to the group in their daily lives too.
"Jang-su, the rewards are way too generous."
"Huh?"
"You gave Im Sang-sik a whole case of wine, didn't you?"
I was having dinner at my place with the crew.
Auntie Soo-jung was scolding Uncle Jang-su.
"He made us that materials ledger..."
"Even so, how many bottles was that?"
These kinds of rewards were the driving force behind their actions.
They were all in similar straits, but quality of life still varied within that.
'Auntie Soo-jung's "enlightenment sessions" are a thing too...'
The auntie used her skill every night to drill it into them.
Everything they wore, slept on, and ate was thanks to her.
So they needed to devote themselves to her.
'Their whole mindset's flipped.'
We'd provided people with food and safe places to sleep.
We'd taught them how to fight and helped them level up.
Now they could gather supplies on their own.
But those supplies weren't theirs.
People still lived off what they "received" from me.
From survival essentials like water to luxuries, snacks, and daily conveniences—everything.
Not that I micromanaged it all personally, but that's how they'd come to see it.
My crew handled coordinating the process.
"Twelve bottles..."
"Twelve? Good lord."
It was like the market system I'd seen—some kind of structure, crude but effective.
People didn't question the system itself.
There was justification for it.
Survival as an absolute value formed a massive, sturdy frame that boxed them in.
Auntie Soo-jung used her skill to patch and stack that frame higher.
She endlessly hammered home that even their ability to do productive work was thanks to her existence.
"What happens down the line? You can't satisfy them completely. They need to feel a shortage to work harder."
Ho-seop, Yu-na, Auntie, and Uncle.
The four of them controlled supply distribution.
And that control had turned into power.
"Yeah... you're right."
"No standards yet... We need to set up something like salaries soon."
Uncle Jang-su just eyed Auntie Soo-jung nervously under her scolding.
The second-biggest guy after me was cowering before this tiny woman.
'What's going on between those two.'
There seemed to be some weird vibe between Uncle and Auntie.
Both single for ages, same age bracket too.
Auntie Soo-jung was two years his senior.
"Oh, time already... Yi Hyun, the interns' enlightenment session's up."
Dinner and meeting on various agenda items had flown by, and it was dark out.
"Yeah. Go ahead."
The crew all got up at once.
Only Spring sis remained by my side.
"Hyun! Bath time now, right?"
"Yeah. Just gotta check the plaza real quick."
"Okay~ I'll get it ready!"
Since stripping Jang Ho-seop of admin rights, I'd been checking the plaza daily myself.
'Huh?'
Usually just a few posts from Jang Ho-seop that I could skim fast.
But in that dead space, a new post had appeared.
I checked the new post on the plaza.
Surprisingly, it was from Swordswoman Kang Hye-seon.
I was about to call Jang Ho-seop to tell the crew.
'Oh, enlightenment time...'
Looked like I'd have to wait for the crew to get back after sessions ended.
"Bro!"
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a knock sounded.
Jang Ho-seop came in looking like a headache on legs.
"Why're you back already? Was just gonna call you."
"Huh? What's up?"
"You first. Sounds urgent."
Only Jang Ho-seop had returned solo.
Something had gone down.
"Oh, not super urgent... Just tricky for me to handle."
"What is it?"
"Fight broke out at the church."
"Fight?"
The rest of the crew was at the church, he said.
"Yeah. You know Kim Ha-na?"
"Yeah. Im Sang-sik's wife."
"Right. She and Yun-seong got into a shouting match."
There was a college kid named Park Yun-seong.
Apparently, he'd been caught peeking while she was using the bathroom.
"Got it. Let's go."
With multiple people, conflicts were inevitable.
Stuff the crew couldn't judge fell to me.
"Uh, bro. But there's something weird."
I called Spring sis to come along.
While waiting, Jang Ho-seop spoke up again.
"Yun-seong swears up and down it wasn't him."
"You use your skill?"
"Yeah. He's not lying. But Kim Ha-na's not lying either."
Jang Ho-seop had already deployed his "Lie Detection" skill.
Both telling the truth, yet their stories clashed.
"Just a misunderstanding then?"
"Doesn't seem like it. You know the church bathroom?"
The "bathroom" he meant was the spot people had improvised for business.
Regular toilets were off-limits for various reasons.
Water scarcity being the big one.
"There was this peephole in the partition or whatever. Yun-seong got spotted right there, so..."
Situation anyone would misinterpret.
If not for Jang Ho-seop's skill, I'd suspect Park Yun-seong too.
"And he still claims he wasn't peeking?"
"Yeah. No one buys it. But it's not a lie... Sigh."
We had tabs on everyone's skills.
Conversely, we hadn't shared our crew's skills with the group.
"Bro, what if I just reveal my skill and call it a misunderstanding?"
"No."
Skills inferable from context were unavoidable.
But I wanted to keep Jang Ho-seop's under wraps.
"Why was he even back there if not to peep?"
"Yun-seong's got a skill."
"Yeah. Location Tracking."
"Said he went around back to find his stuff."
Park Yun-seong could track items in his memory.
Low level meant restrictions and conditions, of course.
"That's true too?"
"Yeah."
"Got it. Let's check it out."
This was fishy.
Both going to fetch his item, and it being behind the bathroom of all places.
I headed to the church with Ho-seop and Spring sis.
We arrived at the church.
Everyone was gathered.
"That doesn't make any sense! Logically!"
"Argh, I'm telling you, I'm innocent."
Im Sang-sik was red-faced and raging.
He figured Park Yun-seong was a perv caught peeking and making excuses.
Meanwhile, Park Yun-seong claimed he was the victim too.
"He's here."
Everyone shut up when I arrived.
Uncle Jang-su fetched a chair.
I sat alone before the group.
Auntie Soo-jung called Kim Ha-na and Park Yun-seong forward like I was some judge.
"Kim Ha-na first."
"Yes. Before enlightenment time, I went to the bathroom for business. But after I finished, I heard a rustle..."
Park Yun-seong next.
Their stories matched what Jang Ho-seop had relayed.
"Let's check the bathroom."
We inspected the bathroom.
People had split it into men's and women's.
Opposite sides of the courtyard, which only piled suspicion on Park Yun-seong's motives.
"Here. He peeped through this gap."
"Argh, I didn't look. I don't have that hobby. Didn't even know you were in there, auntie."
Sure enough, a small gap in the women's wall.
Didn't look deliberately drilled.
"Park Yun-seong."
"Yes?"
"What were you looking for?"
"Uh, well..."
Park Yun-seong hesitated.
I stared him down, and he pulled something from his pocket.
A magazine.
"This went missing all of a sudden..."
I knew it. Famous for pics of scantily clad women.
"What? Brought a mag to jerk off?"
"Ugh, figures."
"Eww, gross."
Murmurs rose at the sight of the magazine.
"Quiet, everyone."
Auntie warned the noisemakers.
"You came looking for this?"
"Yes."
I glanced at Jang Ho-seop.
He nodded.
No lie in Park Yun-seong's words.
"You been here before?"
"Huh? No! First time. Really just for the magazine..."
Jang Ho-seop nodded again.
Assuming everything Park Yun-seong said was true.
The magazine being behind the bathroom was weird.
No one had business back there.
Not a trash spot either.
"Someone hid the magazine on purpose..."
"Yes! Exactly. Someone stole it for sure."
Park Yun-seong nodded eagerly.
I could feel his emotions.
He was genuinely wronged.
I thought the same.
Because from the moment I arrived at the church, one person's emotions had stood out as off.
'Anxiety.'
I silently scanned the crowd.
A young woman.
Unusually high anxiety.
Why so anxious?
"Name... Do Ji-eun."
I called her.
Naming her spiked her anxiety even more.
"Did you steal Park Yun-seong's item, Do Ji-eun?"
Straight to the point.
Jang Ho-seop would handle the skill check.
"What? Out of nowhere..."
Didn't even need Target Detection.
Do Ji-eun avoided my eyes, trailing off.
"Answer. Did you steal it?"
"No, why pick on me all of a sudden."
Others looked baffled too.
Figured I was grilling an unrelated party.
"Last chance verbally. Did you steal it?"
Do Ji-eun bit her lip.
Then met my eyes and answered.
"No? Never did."
I looked at Jang Ho-seop.
He shook his head.
I asked a few more questions.
Did she steal it on purpose?
First time thieving?
Habitual klepto?
"No. Why suspect me outta nowhere?"
Do Ji-eun stuck to lies.
Jang Ho-seop looked bitter.
"I hate lies."
Others still didn't get it.
And her anxiety was fading.
"You've answered everything I said with lies, Do Ji-eun."
"Me? No I haven't?"
No evidence, so she figured she could brazen it out—emotions stabilizing.
'Could reveal mine and Ho-seop's skills, but...'
No real need.
I just drew my axe.
"Huh?"
Do Ji-eun panicked.
I stood, grabbed her by the hair.
"Eek! Wait. Hold on."
I raised my hand.
"Mistake! It was a mistake! I'll talk, so..."
Her face flushed, terror of death surging.
Held her hair, gave time to speak.
"Didn't know it was his. Really. Just found it by chance..."
Murmurs rippled.
"Why put it behind the women's bathroom?"
"Just a prank..."
Jang Ho-seop still shaking head.
Not a slip-up touching someone else's stuff.
I sensed her "mistake" was specifically targeting Park Yun-seong's item.
Church folks knew each other's skills, after all.
"Stolen before?"
"Well..."
"Think carefully. Lie and it's over."
Do Ji-eun swallowed hard.
"Yes... But just tiny things. Believe me."
She confessed.
Saw Jang Ho-seop nod, released her hair.
"Bring everything you stole."
"Yes. Over there..."
Do Ji-eun had stashed loot behind the women's bathroom.
Near where Park Yun-seong found his magazine.
Ballpoint pen, hair tie, lighter, single-use eye drops.
That was all.
"Huh? That's my pen... Thought I lost it."
"Hey, water bottle went missing last time—could it be..."
"My lighter..."
I listened, then eyed Do Ji-eun again.
"Where's the water?"
"Drank it... Sorry."
Do Ji-eun apologized to everyone.
Including Kim Ha-na and Park Yun-seong.
"But I never touched anything important. It's impulsive... Sorry. I'll pay it all back."
The verdict shifted.
This wasn't just between Kim Ha-na and Park Yun-seong anymore.
Straight misunderstanding.
One Do Ji-eun created.
"You got me wrongly accused!"
Park Yun-seong yelled, mix of relief and fury.
Murmurs again.
"Just a good kid after all..."
"If she hadn't confessed, Yun-seong would've..."
"But maybe not just that she stole..."
Theft case, and now between Do Ji-eun and me.
Because.
"Do Ji-eun."
"Yes..."
"Belated honesty means I forgive the denial."
Do Ji-eun had gone after my stuff.
"But you tried to steal from me."
"Huh? No! Never! Really!"
"Those items were mine to give to people."
She didn't get it.
I bent down, grabbed her hair again as she knelt.
Whispered in her ear.
"You're a thief. One who tried to steal the toy I bought my pet dog."
"What?"
Different value, but analogy-wise.
Couldn't forgive that.
"So pay the price."
Do Ji-eun trembled violently.
I gripped her forearm.
Raised the axe.
"Spare me! Sorry! Please. I'll do anything. Just please..."
Do Ji-eun begged through tears.
Her pants soaked wet.