Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Confrontation
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“I'm telling you! I was wondering when you'd finally call.”
The man in his forties with green hair chugged his iced coffee and let out a satisfied sigh.
As soon as Gowon got Haon's call, he showed up at the lab as if he'd been waiting and started complaining.
“You told me to come to Korea, but then you disappeared. You said you'd protect me until I got to prison if I turned myself in, but then you never called. I had to join a gang just to survive.”
“I-I'm sorry. I was in a bit of an accident. I lost my phone, too.”
“Yeah, I heard the rumors. The fact that you're using formal speech, which you never did, must mean your memory really is shot.”
“Uh-huh. That's right.”
Haon nodded, but Gowon's words left her confused.
“You're here because of that arson case from ten years ago, right?”
“So you remember that much.”
“Then you're the one... Juyeol's...”
This was the very criminal Juyeol had been searching for.
The arsonist who had burned down Juyeol's house, caused his sister's death, and made him a Hero was sitting right in front of her.
Her tightly clenched fists trembled slightly.
To Haon, ‘Juyeol’ was special. He was like family, her closest friend.
The thought that the person who had caused the ‘Juyeol’ from her dimension so much pain was this close made her angry, even though she hadn't known this world's Juyeol for long.
‘Maybe I should just hit him with a single Mana Bullet before handing him over to Juyeol… I'll have to make him apologize, so I'll control it just enough not to knock him out…’
As she bit her lip, deep in thought, Gowon crunched on some ice and asked.
“So, when are you giving me the rest of the money? At this rate, my creditors from Macau are going to come looking for me.”
“...The rest of the money?”
Haon narrowed her eyes, studying his expression.
It was true that ‘Eun Haon’ had sent him money, so he probably wasn't lying to extort her like Chacha.
“The money I sent you...”
“I used it to pay off some of my debt in Macau.”
She barely managed to keep her jaw from dropping.
To think she'd paid off Gowon's debt just to get him to turn himself in for an Awakening Sphere. ‘Eun Haon’s’ passion for Awakening Sphere research was immense.
“Did we agree that I'd pay the balance once you entered Korea?”
“You said you'd pay in installments because you didn't know if I'd just skip the country if you gave it all at once. Well, that's how things usually work in this line of business.”
Come to think of it, she had also received payments from her clients in installments—an initial deposit and the final balance. It seemed that was the standard payment method here.
“I feel bad rushing you since it looks like you've been through a lot, but I'm just asking for the money we agreed on. I'm not asking for more.”
“...Right.”
The more Haon talked with him, the more she was reminded of the Mana Engineering terrorists.
This was a man who seemed perfectly sane, yet he was an arsonist. A famous one at that, who'd been in and out of prison several times.
The terrorists had been the same.
If you ran into them at a convenience store or a café instead of a battlefield, you would never imagine they were terrorists.
‘Why do people live like that?’
Even though it was ten years ago, and even though he was only turning himself in for the money, he didn't seem to feel a shred of guilt.
His only concerns were the final payment and his debt.
Just as she was thinking she really should hit him just once, Blue chirped and flapped its wings.
[Haon! An ever-welcome guest has arrived!]
At those words, Haon shot to her feet, turned toward the door where Juyeol was entering, and pointed straight at Gowon.
“Juyeol! The criminal you've been looking for is right here—”
*Bang!*
Before she could finish, a bullet grazed her hair.
The bullet, aimed for Gowon's forehead, slammed into the automatically deployed mana shield and fell to the floor.
It was thanks to the peace-keeping mode she had set for the first floor.
Haon and Gowon froze, their eyes wide.
Juyeol's murderous voice broke the short silence.
“What the fuck. Get that fucking thing out of my sight. Now.”
Gowon gasped, his lips trembling as he looked at Haon. His eyes pleaded with her to do something.
She *had* promised to protect him until he got to prison.
A part of her wanted to let Juyeol do as he pleased until his anger subsided, but…
“J-Juyeol, wait. This man is turning himself in.”
As Haon approached, waving her hands, Juyeol's face twisted into a vicious snarl, and he pulled the trigger.
*Bang! Bang!*
“Hey. Didn't you hear me? I said get rid of that thing.”
Haon flinched under his icy gaze, unable to bring herself to tell him to calm down.
Who could stay calm with the criminal who'd caused their sibling's death standing right in front of them?
“Y-You! A Hero can't kill people!”
At the ashen-faced Gowon's shout, Juyeol's sharp, cold eyes fixed on him.
“I don't consider things like you human.”
A knife flew toward Gowon's neck, but it too was blocked by the mana shield.
Gowon let out a short scream and scrambled behind the sofa. Unsure what to do, Haon grabbed Juyeol's arm.
“Juyeol, let's turn him over to the police. He's really here to surrender.”
“Don't interfere. Get lost.”
He shook her off irritably, sending Haon tumbling onto the sofa.
“Ugh…!”
Without even a glance back at her pained cry, he advanced on Gowon, his eyes burning black.
Gowon, who was inching back toward the wall, hastily checked his phone when a message notification chimed.
Then he made a call.
“P-Police! I'm turning myself in for the arson I committed ten years ago!”
He scrambled away, his face pale with terror.
“I'm at Dr. Eun's lab! Hurry! Come and arrest me! Ghost is trying to kill me!”
His actions were utterly unbearable. Haon clenched her fists and yelled.
“Are you crazy? Apologize to Juyeol first!”
“What?”
Gowon stared at Haon in disbelief before shouting as if to say, 'to hell with it'.
“I-I'm sorry about what happened!”
He didn't sound sorry at all.
“But I have the right to a trial! I'll face the judgment of the law!”
He wasn't wrong, but he was shamelessly brazen.
Juyeol closed the distance to Gowon in a flash and kicked hard, intending to break the shield.
“Get rid of this fucking thing!”
“Oof…!”
Gowon, who took the kick square in the stomach, collapsed to the floor.
Both looked surprised, but Juyeol was the first to figure out what had happened.
“Looks like it can't block anything that's not a weapon.”
He gave a cruel smile, grabbed Gowon by the collar, and swung his fist.
“Wait, ugh! Gack!”
Dull, brutal sounds echoed along with groans of pain.
Gowon struggled, trying to resist and fight back, but the difference in their builds left him helpless.
‘What should I do…!’
Haon clutched her head, at a complete loss. She wanted to stop him, but she didn't. She didn't want to stop him, but she did.
She could separate them right now by raising a barrier or adjusting the shield's settings.
But she couldn't bring herself to do it, because she could guess how Juyeol must be feeling.
Wringing her hands, Haon tried to think practically.
Gowon had reported his location and surrendered, so the police would be here soon.
Juyeol was currently suspended, and if he were seen like this, he would surely be in trouble.
Having made up her mind, Haon thrust her phone forward.
“Juyeol. I'm sorry, but you can't do this.”
A low-intensity Mana Bullet flew between Juyeol and Gowon and burst.
The two were pushed apart as if by a strong gust of wind and were instantly enclosed in a mana barrier.
“...What is this?”
Juyeol pounded on the transparent blue box trapping him. He kicked it and shot it, but it didn't even crack.
His gaze shifted to Haon. Unabated fury seethed in his dark eyes.
“So you're the one who called that bastard here. Were you planning to hide him?”
“N-No, that's not it. If it were up to me, I'd let you do whatever you want!”
“Then stay out of it and get lost. Get rid of this thing, now!”
“No. You can't kill him, if only for Hyeseong's sake.”
“Fuck. You don't know anything, so don't you dare bring up Hyeseong—”
“I do!”
Standing before the mana barrier, Haon looked up at him, her face on the verge of tears.
“I know a little of what you're feeling. And…”
The image of a child who had run around laughing cheerfully like a little bird flashed through her mind.
“I also know that me understanding how you feel is no comfort to you at all.”
Haon gazed into his eyes, which were so cold they looked pained.
“I'm not talking about criminals' rights or the judgment of the law. That's not it.”
Then she gently touched her hand to his blood-stained fist.
“But that case is on record as your sister starting a fire that burned down the house.”
“...!”
“You have to give Hyeseong back her identity as a victim of arson, not a kid who accidentally burned down her own house.”
Juyeol flinched but didn't pull his hand away. His burning dark eyes trembled slightly.
Haon had looked up every article she could find about the incident.
As was often the case with incidents in the old city district, there had been no proper investigation, and contrary to what Juyeol had said, ‘Woo Hyeseong’ had been recorded as a child who accidentally started the fire.