Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Prisoners of Yongsan Station
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Upon arriving at Yongsan Station, I got treatment for the injuries I'd sustained in the Gate.
All the wounds had healed cleanly.
My torn earlobe had reattached perfectly, and there was no odd sensation from any of the other injuries.
"Skills really are impressive."
If this had happened before, I would've been suffering for a while.
Not just the pain, but everyday life would've been a hassle too.
'And yet it healed completely in just ten minutes...'
It hit me anew just how amazing the skills people had were.
They all used mana, but how could they produce such varied effects?
"It's a relief, but what about the scars?"
"Nothing we can do about it."
The earlobe had reattached cleanly.
My side was fine too.
Only my chest and upper arm, where the wounds had been larger, had faint scars left behind.
I was pissed that my body was marred, but oh well.
"Hye-seon."
"Yes."
On the way out of the infirmary and back to Kang Hye-seon's office.
Something in the corner of the station caught my eye.
"Why are those people locked up like that?"
"Ah... That's the prison over there."
It was obviously a prison.
What puzzled me was why they'd built a prison like that in the first place.
"Did those people commit crimes?"
"Yes. For minor offenses, we just give a warning and let it go... but those ones had serious crimes."
When people gather, problems arise.
We're no exception.
"So how long are they staying in prison?"
"We can't hold proper trials like before anymore. So the leadership decided on sentences ourselves... but honestly, I'm not sure."
From what she told me, those were the ones who hadn't received forgiveness from their victims.
Assault, theft, rape, even murder.
They couldn't live with the others, so they'd been isolated for now.
"Do they just stay in there forever?"
"Yes."
"What about food?"
"We give them one meal a day."
That's insane.
Kang Hye-seon's group was taking a huge loss doing that.
'Why bother?'
There's no prison in Samira.
All crimes get summarily judged and dealt with.
Of course, the judgment is up to me.
We have community rules set, but my call takes priority.
That's why I handle all the disputes.
"Must be a headache."
"Yeah. When we should be pooling our strength, there are people who just chase their own greed and vent their tempers..."
We arrived at her office while chatting with Kang Hye-seon.
I observed people's daily lives like last time.
Nothing seemed to have changed much.
Not surprising, since it hadn't even been a week since I brought Kang I-seon here.
At least the rain had kept everyone clean.
Kang Hye-seon especially seemed to have put extra effort knowing I was coming.
"Oh, here, take this."
"Huh? Uh... what's this?"
"A sword."
I handed over the prepared gift.
It was a long sword I'd brought from the Gate.
Delivered in a custom wooden box.
None of my group used such a massive blade.
Not even me.
So I'd decided to pass it to Kang Hye-seon and take credit for it.
"C-Can I open it?"
I nodded, and she placed the box on the table, unwrapping it.
Inside the elegant wooden box was the long sword.
Complete with a scabbard made of some unknown material.
"Oh my god..."
"Brought it from the Gate."
"Really?"
"Yeah. This sword can pass through Gates."
"Something this valuable..."
I could feel Kang Hye-seon's emotions surging.
Joy, gratitude, appreciation.
She looked up at me, her face flushed.
"I... I can really accept something this precious...?"
"Of course. I want you safe, Hye-seon."
"Yi Hyun..."
"Does it suit your grip? It's bigger than what you used."
She nodded.
Said just being able to take it into Gates was great.
"Thank you so much. It's the best gift of my life. Something this special..."
Kang Hye-seon expressed her thanks in a flurry of words.
Then she looked up at me and suddenly grabbed my cheeks with both hands.
I almost swatted her hands away, but realized it wasn't an attack and barely held back.
Mwah.
Kang Hye-seon stood on tiptoe and kissed me.
A knock sounded at the same time.
"A-Ahem. Come in."
Kang Hye-seon hastily stepped back, fussing with her clothes.
Not that anything was out of place.
Like last time, people brought in food.
They set the table full and left.
"You must be hungry. It's not much, but eat up."
I sat facing Kang Hye-seon.
She poured me water, beaming.
Just moments ago, she'd been dead serious.
Her sudden mood shift was fascinating.
"Hye-seon."
"Yes."
I scooted my chair back a bit and patted my thigh.
"Come here."
"Huh?"
"Food can wait. This is more urgent."
Kang Hye-seon's face turned red.
She averted her eyes.
"R-Right now? It's morning, and this is my office..."
"No one's coming in, right?"
"Well, true, but..."
She hesitated, conflicted.
But I could feel all her emotions.
I patted my thigh twice more without a word.
"Ah..."
Kang Hye-seon finally stood and approached me.
Like she was entranced.
She slowly sat on my lap.
Kang Hye-seon was fully prepared, as expected.
Once stripped, she was wearing lingerie focused more on looks than function, top and bottom.
Her armpits were clean, and a pleasant scent wafted from below.
I muffled her mouth as I wandered the office, satisfying her fully.
"If you'd just eaten and left, I'd have been so disappointed."
The final spot was her work desk.
Kang Hye-seon, bent over it, barely managed a reply.
"Th-That's not it."
"Sure it isn't."
Her voice was utterly spent.
I sat in the large office chair and pulled Kang Hye-seon into my arms.
"Hye-seon."
"Y-Yes?"
"It's fine when it's just us, right?"
"...Yes."
I whispered in her ear, and her face flushed again.
Didn't seem like the reaction of a woman my age.
"I've got a proposal."
I held her tight in my arms.
She leaned into me languidly.
"Mm..."
"I'll take those prisoners off your hands. What do you think?"
"Huh? N-No... why?"
"You said you don't know what to do with them. I'll try rehabilitating them."
Kang Hye-seon pondered.
I figured she'd agree to anything right now.
I moved my hands to urge her answer.
Gently stroking her upper body.
"Those people... they might cause trouble again."
After a moment's thought, she gave a noncommittal reply.
"And?"
"If there's trouble in Samira... how would you handle it?"
Her question caught me off guard.
By Target Detection's read on her emotions, she'd normally scream yes.
She was suppressing her feelings.
"Does that matter?"
"Ah... yeah. A bit... To me, those people are..."
"Hye-seon."
Unfortunately, I couldn't be fully honest this time.
If I laid everything out, she wouldn't hand them over.
"When you were a prosecutor... did you worry about how convicts lived in prison after trial?"
"No, but..."
"Exactly. Just hand them to me. Managing the prison, feeding and clothing criminals... how long are you gonna keep that up?"
I scooped her up and stood.
Set her on the desk and stood before her.
"Spread your legs. Put your feet up."
"Uh, huh?"
"One more round."
Kang Hye-seon looked at my face, then down.
She jolted in surprise and looked back up.
"Yi Hyun... no, Hyun."
I thought it was enough, but apparently not.
Time to cloud her mind further.
"Why sneak peeks? You can look openly."
"Wh-What?"
Kang Hye-seon stared at my chest and abs, startled.
I took her hand and placed it on my chest.
"Think it over. How far do you worry about criminals?"
"But..."
"Think I'm gonna take them and torment them?"
Kang Hye-seon tentatively explored my chest.
Her fingers traced the horizontal scar.
"We're allies, right?"
"Yeah."
"Heard about your sister? She's doing well?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Same for the prisoners. They're awkward living with others here anyway. Samira has the capacity to rehabilitate them."
Not a lie.
I really did plan to rehabilitate them.
"You'll do as I say, right? Then I'm going in."
"Huh?"
"What? No?"
"N-No. Yeah... if you want..."
I took that as agreement.
I overlapped with her again.
I returned to Samira before lunchtime.
Had someone gather my main group in the meeting room.
Started without Yu-na, who'd gone outside.
Relayed the conversation I'd had with Kang Hye-seon over breakfast.
"Kang Hye-seon's group has the immediate fires put out too."
Kang Hye-seon was steadily conquering Gates.
They were tackling them in order of impending grace period expiration, like us. I explained the situation.
No danger of Gates near Yongsan Station collapsing anytime soon.
Now that she had the sword too, I expected things to improve steadily.
"Got one Energy Stone and this many D-rank Mana Stones."
They were also clearing their zone like us.
The difference was they were still locked in combat with orc packs.
"Taking longer than expected? Their territory doesn't seem that big..."
"Probably because Hye-seon's out."
Bottom line, Kang Hye-seon's group was holding strong.
Challenges, but not collapsing.
"Now, our turn. Ho-seop, summarize the Gate status."
"Yes. Two emergency Gates left in our influence zone."
Samira classifies Gates with under 30 days grace as 'emergency'.
Core and peripheral emergency Gates were cleared.
"Next are sealed Gates, right?"
"Yes. And some green Gates and yellow sealed Gates overlap in collapse timing."
"Once we finish emergency Gates in the zone... we get about a month breather?"
Jang Ho-seop confirmed.
Thanks to diligently farming Gates, we'd have over a month without new emergencies.
"Time to start that project then."
"What project?"
"What I mentioned before. We need to expand the group."
"Ah, right. We've estimated forces in Seoul based on plaza info so far..."
The plaza had tons of survival reports.
We'd steadily tracked groups that formed via them.
"As you know, brother, they rarely mention exact locations directly."
"Yeah. So?"
"Closest and most likely is around Namsan. One of our interns..."
Jang Ho-seop reported disappointing results.
I'd expected at least three groups in the district.
But only Namsan came up.
And even that was uncertain.
Confirmed spots were too far.
"Plaza posts show most survivors are small groups. Ten or fewer."
Jang Ho-seop added by way of excuse.
I knew that.
Securing Samira's zone, we hadn't just fought monsters.
Found survivors too, but never a big group like Kang Hye-seon's.
Mostly one or two, occasional packs under five.
Made me realize anew how impressive Chairman Park was.
"Namsan is close, but... it's far now. Or rather, iffy."
"Yes, exactly."
I pondered alone for a bit.
Had an idea, but unsure if to execute.
Then Soo-jung raised a fundamental question.
"Yi Hyun."
"Yes."
"You decided to expand because we're short on labor, right?"
I nodded at her question.
"Yeah. Complaints about manpower shortages everywhere."
"Hm... Then maybe no need to rush? People aren't used to the work yet too..."
Did I seem impatient?
Rare for Soo-jung to oppose.
"Jang-su and Bong-sik have high standards. And we're being greedy too."
For example, expanding farmland means moving soil.
Bong-sik figures a certain amount doable by morning.
But interns can't finish it by then.
Different benchmarks.
Some think 'How to finish that?', others 'That's doable.'
Samira interns aren't used to 'field work'.
Makes a huge difference.
"We can maintain status quo fine, so maybe take it easy and think it over."
We were being greedy.
Everyone wants results; maintenance isn't 'results'.
"Worried about forcing it and causing issues... Now that influence is secured, we can deploy external teams too."
"Yes, ma'am's right."
Soo-jung was right.
Rushing creates problems or blows them up.
"But it's not just labor. There's a bigger reason."
The group waited.
I paused, then stated firmly.
"We need to prepare for war."
The truth everyone had forgotten.
Or ignored.