A Lifetime of Regret
"Won't you regret this?"
Her pale lips trembling, Im Seol-geum spoke. "Senior Gwan, you came from the same academy as us. You know better than anyone what our relationship with Im Bukjin is really like. We have absolutely no way of knowing where he is! You know this, so why are you tormenting us like this?"
Gwan Bi-do let out a chilling laugh. "You are all in league with that Demon Worshipper, Im Bukjin! That is your sin! How dare you try to spin sophistry in my presence? Men! Keep beating them! Hit them harder!"
Inside the restaurant, a stir went through the crowd as they watched the crystal screen. Bukjin, currently disguised as an alluring young woman and seated by the window, slowly averted his gaze from the screen.
'That bastard Gwan Bi-do! I'll make sure you don't die a peaceful death! It's one thing to insult me, but to take revenge on your own fellow students? You piece of trash!'
"Sigh, did you hear the news? The Investigation Team announced they're beheading five members of the Mi family tomorrow at noon for the crime of conspiring with the Sama!"
The conversation drifted over from a neighboring table. Mi Yeo-yeon, currently disguised as a middle-aged woman in her forties, felt her pupils narrow and tremble.
"That's right! I heard it too! That man, Mi Sin-ya, has the worst luck! He thought he'd been blessed with a daughter as precious as a jewel, but who would've thought she'd fall into Demonic Possession? As things stand, there's no way out, even if the heavens themselves collapsed. I heard his eighty-year-old father and elderly mother are being executed along with him!"
A look of profound shock washed over Mi Yeo-yeon's face. She grabbed Bukjin's hand, her eyes pleading and desperate. Bukjin let out a silent, heavy sigh.
'Classmate Mi... please don't look at me like that. My heart is breaking too, but right now, I'm struggling just to keep my own head on my shoulders...'
The patrons at the next table continued their grim discussion. Their voices carried clearly through the room.
"But isn't it strange? Even the High Priestess, Jin Ju-je, said that Ak Hong-hyang and Mi Yeo-yeon were victims. Theoretically, shouldn't they be exempt from arrest?"
"What does that matter? Right now, Unmong City is under the thumb of the Investigation Team! One word from them and it's over!"
"Is there nothing the City Lord can do?"
"You think the City Lord is just sitting idly by? It's just that his efforts are useless. I heard he had a massive argument with the Investigation Team this afternoon, opposing the executions with everything he had. But in the end, he was surrounded by their men and is currently under house arrest in his own manor."
"The ones with the worst luck are Cho Heun and Pan Oe-min from the 3rd Academy! They were just ordinary teachers to Im Bukjin, yet they were the first to be dragged away and subjected to all sorts of torture..."
"Sigh, and then there's Manager Yang from the Iron Hammer Smithy..."
"In my opinion, the unluckiest ones are the Yuchae Jewelry Merchant Guild and the watermelon merchants from Soseo Mountain. They're just merchants who hired Im Bukjin for advertising. All their shops have been shut down! Especially O Bong-gok—I heard his hundreds of acres of watermelon fields were destroyed, and he's been beaten half to death in prison..."
"This is truly too much... They're turning Unmong City into a wasteland..."
"And that's not all! The Investigation Team made another announcement today! They said if Im Bukjin doesn't show himself, they'll execute one of his acquaintances every single day!"
"The world has gone mad!"
Suddenly, a new scene flickered onto the crystal screen. Bukjin's eyes widened in fury.