Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Cool-headedness and Passion (2)
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Sharin glared at Shin-ju with piercing eyes.
Jekovic and Katrin’s eyes darted back and forth, anxiously wondering how they could possibly intervene.
Shin-ju closed the open Old Book.
He watched her for a moment, his face an unreadable mask, before speaking calmly.
“I have no intention of fighting. A duel with you here, Lady Sharin, would be foolish. What are your thoughts?”
She steadied her ragged breathing, trying to rein in her fury.
Truthfully, Sharin also felt there was no reason to waste her energy against the Old Book.
Noticing she had no intention of fighting either, Shin-ju glanced back at the pile of corpses.
“To reiterate, U.C.I.D. will be investigating this incident in absolute secrecy.”
He then turned his head back to look Sharin straight in the eye.
“From this moment on, that pile of bodies is something ‘we saw, but never saw.’”
“What!?”
The instant Shin-ju finished speaking, Sharin’s reproachful voice echoed through the room.
Shin-ju stared off into the distance as he continued.
“The Elves of Bluerobic are a fiery race, faithful to their combat instincts.”
Shin-ju recalled Enri’s ecstatic smile at Goodfellas, even after her brutal fight with Deadcasher.
“And they have an exceptionally strong sense of camaraderie.”
He then looked back and forth between Sharin and Katrin.
“Which is why they are also a righteous people who will charge in headfirst when their kin are in danger.”
Shin-ju briefly turned his head and wrinkled his nose.
“Tsk—but the problem is, because of that, there’s a high probability that you won’t be able to sit still and will let your thirst for vengeance cloud your judgment, ruining everything.”
Shin-ju gave Sharin and Katrin a sidelong glance.
“Honestly, wasn’t that ‘thirst for vengeance’ the very thing that started the war with the Planet Destroyer?”
*Grind—*
Sharin gritted her teeth and shouted.
“So what! Are you saying I should have just stood by while my comrades were being brutally violated and eaten by alien beasts!?”
She grabbed Shin-ju by the collar and demanded again.
“Answer me! You wanted me to just stand there and watch that horrific scene with my own two eyes?”
Despite Sharin’s anguished cry, Shin-ju remained perfectly calm.
“…Lady Sharin, I’m not saying you shouldn’t fight. There are times when you must. But do you know what’s most important in those moments?”
One of Sharin’s eyebrows arched up.
“It’s ‘negotiation.’”
Sharin’s lips pressed into a thin line as she listened to him.
“At the very least! You absolutely need the cool-headedness and composure to ‘just listen’ to each other’s side of the story.”
“Shall I be blunt? Do you know what Bluerobic’s downfall is?”
Sharin remained silent, her hand still gripping his collar, as if daring him to continue.
“You all just fought blindly… without even attempting to negotiate.”
Shin-ju slapped Sharin’s hand away.
“The power to fight is important, but it’s not everything.”
He looked up at the pile of corpses.
“Unconditional combat only leads to a great number of casualties.”
Shin-ju turned back to Sharin and smiled.
“You are strong, Lady Sharin. So you must have approached this thinking you could just crush them with force.”
His smile even seemed a little sad.
“But Lady Sharin.”
The smile on Shin-ju’s face slowly twisted into a grimace.
“Is it enough for you alone to be strong?”
Katrin continued to watch her, her expression still fraught with anxiety.
Shin-ju paid her no mind and continued speaking.
“Look at the situation on Bluerobic now. Has the problem been solved through combat and fighting alone?”
Jekovic, too, had unconsciously pinched his nose with both hands and was now listening beside Shin-ju.
“It’s the same for humans, and for the aliens who form societies as well.”
His gaze rested on the mountain-like pile of alien corpses.
“In the end, living beings… cannot survive alone.”
Then, he looked down at the floor.
“Reality, I’ve found, is not a world where you can survive just by being strong on your own.”
Shin-ju’s expression brightened as he lifted his head.
“In fact, me too.”
He held up the Old Book for Sharin and Katrin to see.
“Most problems can be solved with this ‘Old Book.’ I don’t really know what this book’s deal is… but anyway, it’s all thanks to my father.”
Shin-ju opened the book and flipped through the pages.
“But possessing this great power has made me realize one thing.”
As he looked down, turning the pages, he paused and his eyes shot up.
“The stronger you become, the more things you have to protect.”
Sharin’s eyes widened, as if in realization.
Shin-ju continued.
“On Earth, there’s a very entertaining spectacle called a ‘movie’… As you both know, it’s something like a play. Well… there’s a line from a movie I really enjoyed.”
Sharin and Katrin glanced at each other as they listened to Shin-ju.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Shin-ju smiled faintly and nodded.
“And living with great power myself, I’ve found that those words aren’t wrong.”
Shin-ju closed the Old Book and held it up before Sharin and Katrin.
“I also realized that the greater the power, the more important ‘negotiation’ truly becomes.”
Shin-ju suddenly roared.
“Just kill them all with your power!!! Just take them all down!!! What’s the problem?!!! Right?!! Hey!!! Park Shin-ju!! Can’t you just clean everything up with that Old Book? Can’t you kill them? Can’t you defeat them? You have such an easy way out, so why are you holding back!!!”
Jekovic and Katrin’s eyes went wide, startled by Shin-ju’s sudden outburst.
Jekovic scowled with a look of disbelief.
Sharin stood still, her expression blank, showing no sign of surprise.
Having returned to his calm demeanor, Shin-ju spoke again.
“That’s what various citizens told me during my time as a police officer.”
Shin-ju let out a small sigh and walked toward Sharin.
“The reality is, you can’t just kill all the villains as easily as you say. And while I was dealing with them, the number of my colleagues who fell and got injured only grew.”
He stopped in front of Sharin.
“The more I had to take responsibility for, the more mistakes I made. Life doesn’t always go the way you want it to.”
Shin-ju respectfully bowed his head to Sharin.
“I apologize, Lady Sharin. I’ve overstepped my bounds and ended up lecturing you. Please forgive me.”
Shin-ju slowly raised his head.
A steely resolve shone in his eyes.
“In conclusion, my point is that we need to be calm and cool-headed… and solve this problem with clear intent, even if it means taking the long way around.”
A fire lit up in Shin-ju’s eyes.
“Before fighting and war break out. If we just keep our wits about us, we might be able to prevent a disaster.”
Behind him, the corpse of the alien beast, split clean in two, was visible.
“I know it’s frustrating, but I trust you understand that I’m not saying this because I’m afraid of fighting and war.”
Sharin closed her eyes for a moment, then scratched her head vigorously and let out a deep sigh.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and gazed at him steadily, as if she had finally made up her mind.
She sighed again.
“This is infuriating as hell… but fine. I’ll accept your terms.”
Even so, Sharin’s expression showed she was still unhappy about something.
Shin-ju bowed his head respectfully once more, as if to appease her.
“Thank you for your understanding. You’ve succeeded in your ‘negotiation’ with me.”
Shin-ju slowly walked toward the pile of bodies.
“Well then… for now, Jekovic and I will quickly investigate a few of the corpses.”
He then turned back to Sharin and Katrin.
“I believe that will also give us a clue about Lady Furen.”
“Alright, I get it. I get it. So, what should we do?”
“Yes. Now, if you could please help us sort through that pile of bodies.”
Only then did Sharin understand.
She finally realized why Shin-ju had gone on and on like that.
*Would I truly have had the courage to touch that pile of bodies?*
*If I had seen the faces of my comrades among them, could I have kept my sanity?*
She would have undoubtedly been consumed by vengeance and stormed out of the room.
Cool-headedness and composure.
She definitely needed that.
*Clap—*
Shin-ju clapped his hands together.
His expression was grave.
“Alright then, let’s get moving.”
Shin-ju glanced around for a moment before approaching Jekovic.
“Jekovic, you okay?”
At his gentle question, Jekovic muttered quietly.
“Ughhh… It feels like someone’s scraping the inside of my nose with a razor blade. The stench of the corpses is too much.”
“Just hang in there a little longer. You know, right? We have to conduct this investigation no matter what.”
“I know. I’ll try my best.”
Jekovic sighed heavily, pinching his nose as he mumbled to Shin-ju.
“You’ve got a real knack for talking, even in a situation like this.”
Shin-ju whispered, making sure Sharin and Katrin couldn’t hear.
“Man, I was seriously freaking out, thought I was going to get my ass kicked.”
Shin-ju scoffed.
“You think I’d just take a beating without a fight?”
He ran his finger down a page in the book, stopping at a certain passage.
Then he closed his eyes and quietly recited an incantation.
A yellow light seeped from the Old Book.
Soon, large and small yellow particles spread out around the book.
The particles repeatedly gathered and scattered, gradually forming the shape of a giant hand.
The hand began to gently caress the corpses, like a mother soothing a child.
At Shin-ju’s gesture, the yellow hand scooped up the bodies one by one and placed them on the floor.
The rest of the group also began carefully moving the bodies to the ground.
In the process, Sharin and Katrin began to silently gather the corpses of their Bluerobic comrades in one place.
They looked down at their comrades’ bodies and observed a moment of silence.
A moment later, when they opened their eyes, their expressions were heavy.
How much time had passed?
Countless bodies now lay in neat rows on the floor.
They were a true menagerie of cosmic life forms, each with a different and unique shape.
The height of the corpse pile had significantly decreased.
“Hm?!”
Lifting a corpse, Sharin discovered something underneath.
At her reaction, Shin-ju turned his head from a distance.
“Lady Sharin, did you find something?”
She crouched down and began rummaging through the pile of bodies with her hands.
After digging for a while, she picked up a tiny object with her blood-soaked hand.
Shin-ju walked over to her.
“What is it?”
“Park Shin-ju, you were right.”
Sharin held the object up with her thumb and forefinger as she muttered.
“It’s one of Furen’s bullets.”
A golden bullet glittered between her fingers.
Katrin saw the bullet and a knowing smile spread across her face.
“I knew it. Just as I thought.”
Sharin smiled faintly.
She then turned to Shin-ju.
“Furen hasn’t been gone from here for long!”
Seeing the bullet, Katrin also let out a sigh of relief.
Shin-ju’s eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up.
“How do you know that?”
A flicker of life returned to Sharin’s face.
“Because this is a type of ‘marker.’”