Aftermath (1)
The trait blocked a lot of things, but it couldn’t do anything about the mental fatigue. Thanks to that, I had passed out like a light yesterday. I didn’t even consider dragging myself to the bed and simply collapsed on the sofa.
When I regained consciousness, faint breathing tickled my chest. I slowly moved my fingertips, gently stroking the soft strands of hair. The warm body heat and pleasant weight brought a strange sense of peace.
“Mmm….”
Han Yeoreum’s eyelids slowly lifted, as if my touch had woken her.
“You awake?”
“…Yup.”
Han Yeoreum, who had been glued to me, shifted her body and sat up. She was practically straddling me, so my lower half reacted on its own without a shred of tact. Her eyes widened into perfect circles.
“Let’s eat first.”
Only then did I realize my stomach was practically glued to my spine. After going at it like that yesterday, I hadn’t eaten properly.
Han Yeoreum, who had been staring down intently, raised her head.
“What should we order?”
“They deliver here?”
“I saw it before.”
Han Yeoreum said, eyes already glued to her smartphone. She had looked it up already. As expected, she was always dead serious when it came to food.
“Order whatever you want.”
“I can really order anything?”
“Go ahead.”
“Done!”
After fiddling with her phone for a while, Han Yeoreum flopped back onto my chest.
“Hey, you need to get up.”
“Don’t wanna. At least hug my waist.”
She shook her head stubbornly and buried her face deeper into my chest. I let out a small sigh and wrapped an arm around her waist, patting it gently.
Warm weekend morning sunlight poured through the curtains.
“I’m going to fall asleep like this.”
My eyes naturally closed in the languid atmosphere.
“Won’t the delivery wake us up?”
Instead of answering, I spoke in a slightly serious tone.
“…About yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
Han Yeoreum murmured softly.
“I fought the Blood Sect.”
All kinds of words swirled inside my mouth, but what finally came out was something plain and simple.
“You worked hard.”
It was a completely different reaction from what I expected. She sounded like she had already guessed.
“Are you upset?”
Han Yeoreum pressed her body even closer. The soft movement of her lips brushed against me.
“…It’s not that. If it’s because of what I said before, you don’t have to tell me.”
I had killed people. I crushed their skulls and squeezed out their brains, ripped out their organs and turned them into mush. Some I had minced so finely their original shapes were unrecognizable.
It wasn’t as big a deal as I thought it would be. Whether they were Blood Fiends or whatever, humans died ridiculously easily. I didn’t even know how many I had killed. At a glance, it looked like more than ten. I slaughtered that many, yet felt nothing. It was even less impactful than killing goblins. I wasn’t sure if this was right.
Instead of voicing any of the thoughts swirling in my head, I simply kept stroking Han Yeoreum’s hair.
Ding-dong—
Just as drowsiness was starting to pull me under, the doorbell rang.
“Oh, it’s here.”
Han Yeoreum sprang up and hurried to the door to get the food.
“…Huh?”
An unexpected reaction came from the entrance. I dragged my heavy body up and followed. There, standing politely, was someone I had never expected to see.
“Hello?”
Professor Cheongha. She greeted me in a gentle voice.
I roughly guessed what this was about.
“Please come in.”
I grabbed the waist of a still-dazed Han Yeoreum and guided Professor Cheongha inside. Almost simultaneously, the meal we had ordered arrived.
“I’m sorry. It looks like I interrupted your meal?”
Professor Cheongha asked, glancing around the room.
“…Yes, it turned out that way.”
“I’ll wait. Please eat first, both of you.”
Professor Cheongha sat formally in front of the living room sofa. It was a little awkward, but her razor-sharp attitude made it clear she wouldn’t accept any arguments.
“Thank you. Have you eaten breakfast?”
“Yes.”
Professor Cheongha nodded. To be fair, the current time was closer to brunch than breakfast. Still, I couldn’t just leave her sitting there, so I rummaged through the cupboards.
…Nothing. I checked to see if there was any tea, but the shelves were completely empty. Since I mostly lived in the dormitory, I hadn’t stocked up on anything.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have any tea.”
“It’s fine. I don’t like tea anyway.”
Professor Cheongha smiled softly. A Hwasan sect master who doesn’t like tea? That was quite surprising.
“Would water be alright?”
Professor Cheongha stared at me for a moment before her gaze drifted elsewhere.
…Huh?
“That looks better than water.”
With an almost elegant gesture, she pointed at the cola bottle that had come with the delivery.
“Excuse me?”
I stared blankly, momentarily suffering from cognitive dissonance. A professor from the Hwasan Sect who dislikes tea but loves cola? There was no rule saying she couldn’t, but it was completely at odds with the noble Plum Blossom Sword Master image I had of her.
“That’s a prejudice.”
She must have read my expression perfectly, because she spoke in a slightly pouty tone.
“I’m sorry.”
“I was joking. I’ve heard it so many times that it doesn’t even bother me anymore. Even my master eventually gave up.”
She let out a deep sigh, accepted the cola I handed her with both hands, then held the cup with both hands and took a sip.
The dignified image I had seen at our first meeting was steadily crumbling.
Han Yeoreum seemed to feel the same, staring at Professor Cheongha with wide eyes.
“Table’s set.”
We naturally sat down at the table and began eating. My order was an eel rice bowl.
“What the heck is eel rice bowl?”
“You told me to order whatever I wanted. You don’t like it?”
“No, I don’t dislike it.”
But for breakfast? When I sneaked a look with my spoon, there was more eel than rice.
“Did you add extra eel?”
“Yup. Eat a lot. Don’t leave any.”
Han Yeoreum smiled brightly while twisting the end of her hair.
“This isn’t just one extra serving. Exactly how much eel did you add?”
“It’s a secret.”
She even stuck her tongue out a little. Unbelievable.
While I silently chewed the eel rice bowl, I felt a steady gaze on us. Professor Cheongha was watching with open curiosity.
Her eyes were clearly filled with questions about the relationship between us.
“I’m done.”
Meanwhile, one woman paid zero attention to anyone else’s gaze. Han Yeoreum patted her full stomach with a satisfied expression.
I had just finished as well.
“Clean up for me. I need to talk with the professor.”
“Yessir. Don’t worry.”
Han Yeoreum glanced at the empty bowl once before nodding. You already ate everything, you glutton. Why are you checking? I swallowed a groan and sat down across from Professor Cheongha.
“You’re here because of last night’s incident, correct?”
I asked first. There was only one obvious reason for a professor to come here personally.
“Yes. I serve as advisor to the Muksu Unit of the student council’s security maintenance agency.”
“I thought someone from the Murim Alliance or the police would come. This is unexpected.”
Professor Cheongha slowly shook her head.
“The incident occurred at the boundary of the academy grounds. All events that take place within academy territory fall under our jurisdiction.”
“Even criminal cases?”
“Yes. You can think of it as the Muksu Unit being granted investigative authority. More precisely, it’s closer to a joint investigation between the Muksu Unit and a dispatched Murim Alliance squad.”
The Muksu Unit. It felt like campus police with actual authority. Well, there was no way regular police could handle martial artists, even if they were students. Since the Murim Alliance was always busy, it made sense that the student self-governing body’s authority had been expanded for efficiency.
“Is the dispatched Murim Alliance unit the Iron Sword Squad?”
“You’ve already heard?”
“No. Just a guess.”
To be exact, I had inferred it from the file. Professor Cheongha narrowed her eyes at me.
“…Let’s go with that for now. The situation at the scene has grown rather complicated. Especially since the Heavenly Demon Sect is involved.”
“What happened with the Heavenly Demon Sect?”
“They agreed to cooperate with the investigation. They’ve secured the suspect on their end.”
That was a relief. I didn’t want any unfortunate clash between the Heavenly Demon Sect and the righteous factions because of me.
“Can I sit here?”
Han Yeoreum, who had finished cleaning up at some point, approached. I nodded. I hadn’t planned on hiding it forever anyway.
“Is that alright, Professor?”
“Yes, it’s fine. May I ask a few questions?”
Han Yeoreum sat down politely beside me.
…Seeing Professor Cheongha and Han Yeoreum sitting side by side like this, they really did look like sisters. The more I looked, the more fascinating it became.
“As long as it’s within what I can answer.”
“Please answer comfortably. Student Kim Mugong, you are the one who saved student Lee Jia and student Shin Ari. Correct?”
“If the injured person was student Shin Ari, then yes, I saved them.”
“May I ask how you knew about the attack in advance and arrived at the scene?”
Professor Cheongha asked with a stiff expression.
“I obtained information through a certain channel that an attack would occur nearby. I cannot provide the exact details.”
“…Understood.”
She accepted it more easily than I expected. I had thought she would dig deeper.
“How much has the Murim Alliance figured out?”
This time I asked first.
“The Heavenly Demon Sect already informed us of the opponent’s identity. It is a heretical group called the Blood Sect, and the suspect is the captain of the Blood Ghost Unit’s Slaughter Ghost Squad.”
“So it really was a captain-level fighter.”
As expected from professional interrogators, the Imperfect Demon Shadows must have identified the man’s identity. It matched my expectations almost perfectly.
The Blood Sect’s hierarchy was quite complicated. The leader, vice-leader, and Twelve Apostles stood at the top. Below them were hall-level, unit-level, and captain-level in descending order. There were also independent organizations like the Blood Brain Pavilion. Even a captain was in charge of several teams, so the position wasn’t low. Of course, that didn’t mean they knew many secrets. It was exactly a mid-level operational role.
“You seem familiar with the Blood Sect?”
“…They’re trash. They’re definitely connected to the serial disappearance cases in the capital region.”
“We have reached the same conclusion. We’ll need to make that Slaughter Ghost Captain talk more to confirm everything.”
Professor Cheongha took a sip of cola and stared at me intently.
“Is there something on my face?”
“I’m sorry. May I speak honestly?”
“Go ahead.”
“I saw the photos from the scene. No matter how I look at them… I find it hard to believe that student Kim Mugong created such a gruesome sight.”
Han Yeoreum’s ears suddenly perked up. It seemed Professor Cheongha suspected I had some kind of helper.
“It was me. You can think of the opponent as having been in a state of severe drug overdose. With the martial arts I’ve learned, I couldn’t stop him without killing him in that manner.”
“I wasn’t trying to blame you. I was just… worried about whether you’re alright.”
So that was it. Rather than suspicion, she was concerned about my mental state.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m fairly resistant to that sort of thing.”
“I see… That’s good to hear. Still, if any issues arise, even small ones, please let me know. The aftereffects of killing can sometimes hit much later.”
“Understood.”
“And this is a rather personal question.”
Professor Cheongha twirled the end of her hair around her finger as she spoke. Not only did they look alike, even their habits were similar.
“A personal question?”
“Yes. Are the two of you lovers?”
Professor Cheongha asked immediately, as if she had been waiting for the chance. Facing her sparkling eyes, I felt a strange pressure.
…This virgin professor really came here to investigate an incident but seemed far more interested in strange places.