Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: An Unsettling End
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Fires caused by people trying to light a fire indoors after their gas was cut off were all too common in the old town.
Juyeol had insisted his younger sibling would never have started a fire alone, but no one had taken him seriously.
That child was a victim, not the negligent perpetrator of the fire.
The culprit who could prove it was right in front of him.
Juyeol mulled over that fact, gritting his teeth.
Haon firmly gripped his fist, which he had clenched so tightly it was trembling.
She wanted to pull Juyeol into a tight embrace and comfort him right then and there, but she held back, thinking he would hate it.
She knew he didn't have a very good opinion of her.
*He’s already going through enough. I shouldn’t bother him.*
As she thought this and let her mana barrier dissipate, Blue chimed in at just the right moment.
[Haon. We have visitors! Four police officers and two heroes.]
“……!”
Haon hastily checked Gowon’s condition, then used a mana hook to snatch a water bottle and pour it over him.
“Gowon! Wake up!”
“Ugh…!”
Gowon’s eyes shot open and he groaned from the stinging pain, but Haon paid him no mind and frantically wiped his face with a towel.
She couldn't do anything about the bruises, but after wiping away the nosebleed, he looked a bit more presentable.
Then she quickly wiped the bloodstains splattered on Juyeol’s fist and cheek.
He, who had been too consumed by swallowing his rage to notice his surroundings, reflexively dodged the damp hand that suddenly started rubbing his cheek.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Hold still. I have to wipe this off quickly.”
Haon grabbed him by the collar and scrubbed his face clean.
Just as a flustered Juyeol was awkwardly trying to push her hand away, the sound of multiple footsteps approached.
“Ghost! If you kill someone while you’re on probation…?”
The hero, River, who had rushed into the café shouting urgently, trailed off in confusion upon seeing the cozy interior and Juyeol being held by Dr. Eun.
She was sure she’d been called in for a report that Ghost was trying to kill someone who was turning himself in, but this situation was…
“There.”
Haon murmured softly and let go.
The evidence of Juyeol’s merciless beating of Gowon was more or less gone. Now it just looked like he’d been hit a few times.
Juyeol rubbed his face, frowning at the warmth that had suddenly touched him and then vanished. His hand came away clean.
“Dr. Eun. Let go of Ghost and step away. Now.”
Misunderstanding the scene, River warned in a sharp, wary voice.
“Ghost. Are you okay? What did Dr. Eun do to you?”
“……?”
Haon looked back with an aggrieved expression, but River merely aimed her taser at the mad scientist.
“I’ll cover you. Slowly, come over here.”
At that moment, Gowon, who was on the floor cradling his jaw, shouted.
“Here! I’m over here! Arresht him quickly!”
His pronunciation was off, as if he’d lost a front tooth.
Juyeol fixed his dark gaze on Gowon and took a step.
“Juyeol…!”
“I know.”
He removed Haon’s hand, which was anxiously clutching his clothes, and walked toward the arsonist.
Then he snatched the handcuffs from a police officer and cuffed Gowon’s wrists himself. He was suppressing so many impulses in that short time that his jaw made a grinding sound.
Gowon looked at him with a dazed expression before shuffling over to the police while still sitting on the floor.
The officers grabbed Gowon by both arms, pulled him up, and escorted him out of the lab.
Haon sighed in relief, confirming that Juyeol wasn't going to throw any more punches at Gowon.
Then she spotted a cell phone lying by her feet. It was Gowon’s.
Haon picked up the phone to hand it straight to the police, but then she paused.
*…What’s this?*
A single message was displayed on the lit screen.
「Deposit complete.」
It had arrived a few minutes ago from a restricted number.
*Is there someone else besides me who would send Gowon money? Who could it be?*
As she furrowed her brow in thought, someone roughly snatched the phone from her hand.
“You shouldn’t be carelessly touching a suspect’s belongings.”
It was River. Her gaze was completely different from when they had run into each other while searching for Awakening Spheres.
“You don’t want to be needlessly misunderstood, do you? Though I’m not sure if it is a misunderstanding.”
Thinking that she wasn't wrong, Haon obediently apologized.
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”
“……?”
River blinked as if she’d heard something she shouldn't have, then moved on. She was heading over to give Gowon’s phone to the police.
Still seeming to doubt her ears, she glanced back at Haon a few times with a tilt of her head.
That sight left Haon scratching her head with a sense of unease.
*Besides ‘Eun Haon,’ who else would benefit from paying Gowon to come to Korea?*
*This is bothering me. If I try to access Gowon’s phone to copy it now, I’ll just create a misunderstanding, like River said, right?*
Perhaps there was something else entangled with Gowon’s confession.
It was only a suspicion, but this wasn’t about her; it was about Juyeol. The case he had harbored his anger over for ten years.
So if there really was something more to this case, he needed to know.
“Juyeol. Just now…”
But when Haon turned to look at Juyeol, her heart sank.
“…This is how it ends?”
A sense of emptiness, which had cut in before his anger could even subside, was painfully contorting his face.
The specter of the blaze that had tormented him for ten years had departed, leaving behind a lingering afterglow of heat.
Haon bit her trembling lip, standing rooted to the spot. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Juyeol that there was something unsettling about this case.
She was afraid his heart, ravaged by burns, would freeze over before it could heal.
Afraid it would only prolong his suffering.
“This is how it ends…”
“……”
In the end, unable to say a word, Haon could only stand there and watch blankly as Juyeol stumbled out of the lab.
The helmet she had upgraded for him was lying near the entrance, though she didn't know when he'd dropped it.
Haon recalled his expression and sank to the floor.
It was an expression she knew all too well. One she had seen countless times during the war.
It was an expression that had once covered her own face and that of ‘Juyeol’.
The memory of a small child’s hand, growing cold under the rubble of a building, came to mind.
A tearful voice escaped her lips.
“Blue.”
[Yes, Haon.]
“Blue…”
[Yes, I'm right here!]
“…Parang.”
Behind her terribly shaky voice, the sound of sniffling filled the lab.
That night, Haon was tormented by nightmares and couldn't sleep.
***
“This is strange.”
Haon rubbed her hollow eyes and stared at Juyeol’s image on the monitor.
It already felt strange to see him without his harness.
Just as Gowon had wished, the trial was held quickly. Juyeol, the victim’s family, was also present, dressed in a black suit instead of his hero uniform.
Haon had wanted to attend as a spectator, but she was told she couldn't even set foot in the courthouse unless it was a trial she was directly involved in, whatever ‘Eun Haon’ had done there.
*I’m worried about Juyeol, but I can’t just do nothing.*
In the end, she had no choice but to hack the court’s CCTV.
The trial proceeded in a familiar fashion, and Gowon, aside from occasionally glancing at Juyeol, seemed at ease.
It was so infuriating that Haon thought she should have let Juyeol hit him a few more times.
Perhaps Gowon seemed comfortable because he had something to rely on, as the verdict was far too lenient.
The fact that he had returned to Korea to confess to a crime committed ten years ago, a thick, pre-written letter of apology, and his claim that he didn’t know anyone was in the building were taken into consideration, and he was sentenced to five years in prison.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Just as Haon shot up from her seat with a scream, Juyeol lunged at Gowon.
A knife, which had appeared from nowhere, was in his hand, and the heroes sitting on either side of him barely managed to restrain him.
After that, it was chaos.
Gowon’s transfer to the Gwonyoung Rehabilitation Center happened in an instant.
The place was a rehabilitation center in name only; in reality, it was a prison.
Gwonyoung City was notorious for being dangerous, even in a world with a high crime rate.
It had a port and an airport nearby, highways stretching in all directions, and even large-scale casinos and auction houses.
It had all the elements for money laundering, smuggling, and a thriving black market to flourish, and since even the police were wary, it was only natural for criminals to flock there.
Since more than a few criminals had escaped or been attacked while being transferred to prisons in other regions, there was a push to build a prison right in Gwonyoung.
The citizens’ opposition, calling it a NIMBY facility that would lower property values, was a common story.
After a long debate, a massive facility was built under the name of a rehabilitation center, but no one was fooled into thinking it wasn’t a prison.
When Gowon was being transferred there, the police were more wary of Ghost, who could pop up from anywhere, than they were of Gowon himself.
But Juyeol never showed up. Not even after several days.
He didn't visit the lab, and there was no news of him fighting crime anywhere.
Whenever Haon tried to call him, his phone was off.
She debated whether she should go looking for him every day, but she never acted on it.
She was well aware that Juyeol didn't even consider her a friend.
Haon’s tasks were set.
A continuous cycle of searching for Awakening Spheres, tracking ‘Eun Haon’s’ phone, researching the Dimension Gate, and being crushed by nightmares.