I had expected there would be a lot to take care of once I returned to Korea, and in reality, there truly was an overwhelming amount to deal with. But I never imagined that something this trivial would be added to the list.
“Grrrr…”
At Leo’s threatening growl, Lobo tucked his tail tightly and hid behind me. It had happened so many times by now that I couldn’t even be bothered to count. The two familiars sized each other up with me standing between them.
“Leo, why again—hey, hey.”
Leo’s fur bristled as he shot like lightning toward Lobo, who was hiding behind me—
“Yelp!”
Thud! Thud, thud, thud! Leo rained punches down on Lobo’s snout. They were so fast that Lobo couldn’t even dodge; he just stood there stupidly, taking more than ten hits in a row.
“Yip!”
If I hadn’t grabbed Leo and lifted him up, it wouldn’t have stopped at ten; he would have thrown a hundred. Dangling from my hand, Leo flailed and let out a sharp cry.
“You two used to get along. Why do you keep doing this?”
Hiss!
“He’s bigger than me! Bigger than me!”
“Well, Lobo was summoned across the dimensional wall, so he’s less restricted than you are…and don’t even think about hitting him again.”
“Mreoow!”
“So annoying!”
At Leo’s resentful voice, Lobo shrank in on himself. He covered his head with his front paws and lay flat on the floor. Honestly, it was pitiful. What was he doing, being that big and acting like this? Was there a more small-minded fight than this?
In terms of size alone, Leo was about the level of a kitten, while Lobo was nearly as big as a large dog. If they truly fought, Lobo shouldn’t be losing this one-sidedly.
Hissss!
“Insolent!”
But in truth, Leo had been born long before Lobo. Because of that, Lobo had naturally followed Leo like a leader. Now he only looked like a kitten making threats, but still. Maybe that was why, even with their sizes reversed, Lobo simply let himself get beaten without resistance.
Pant, pant! Even as he took the hits, Lobo’s tail wagged faintly. He must have been genuinely happy to see Leo again.
Watching that ridiculous sight, I smacked the back of Leo’s neck as he fumed. “Don’t throw your weight around just because you were born first, Leo. Lobo’s still young.”
Across both my lives, I had unfortunately only ever been someone’s younger sibling, so I couldn’t help but sympathize with Lobo. And the trembling puppy looked far more pitiful than the cat glaring viciously.
“Have some dignity. You should show at least that much generosity to someone younger.”
Snort! Leo scoffed. “Don’t know hard words!”
“Stop pretending to be dumb only at times like this.”
“Daon, the food’s ready… Is Leo still like that?” Right on cue, Jeong Dajeong came out of the kitchen and laughed at the sight of Leo throwing a tantrum. “Still, I’m glad Leo’s got some energy back. While you were gone, he just lay slumped on the sofa all day.”
“Mya!”
“He’s talking nonsense!”
Leo shrieked in protest.
Even though they had spent nearly two months together without me, Leo still disliked Jeong Dajeong. If anything, their relationship seemed worse than before.
Snort!
Watching Leo throw a fit, Lobo sniffed the air. He was still a little wary around Jeong Dajeong. At least Lobo didn’t follow Leo’s lead and start raging too. Maybe the younger sibling really was superior to the older one.
“Leave the kids and come to the table. Let’s eat. Ugh, this house is great and all, but the kitchen’s so low it makes my back hurt when I cook.”
“I told you we could’ve just ordered in.”
“I wanted to cook for you!”
Honestly, I still thought ordering in would’ve been tastier and more efficient, but Jeong Dajeong often operated outside the bounds of my understanding. As we sat at the table eating, I could constantly feel his gaze lingering on my face. I endured it, assuming he’d stop soon enough, but eventually I put my spoon down.
“What? Are you done eating? Eat more! You’ve gotten so thin while you were gone—”
“Then stop staring at me. I’m going to choke.”
“What’s wrong with looking? You’re my little sister.”
“I may be your little sister, but that doesn’t mean you get to interrupt me while I’m eating—”
“Daon, try putting yourself in my shoes.”
I’d brought this up wrong. Jeong Dajeong started sniffling. At this point, there was no stopping it. I gave up and prepared to let my mind drift away. Sure enough—
“Do you know how my skin crawled when the Ministry of National Defense called? ‘Recruit Jeong Daon has gone missing during training. We regret to inform you…’ I didn’t even understand what I was hearing. It was like a bolt out of the blue.”
“Right, right.”
I wasn’t unaware of how much he must have worried, given his personality. I was just tired of hearing the same story more than twenty times. It had already been a week since I returned, and every time we faced each other, this came up.
At least the kidnapping was kept secret.
It was already like this just from me going missing and returning. If he heard about the kidnapping too, he might faint with his eyes open. As for the battle video with James Chen circulating online, I’d told him it was fabricated and not to worry about it.
“I’m telling you, it didn’t feel like I was even living during that time! Whenever I asked about the investigation’s progress, they’d say it was classified and they couldn’t tell me a damn thing, and to stop pestering them.”
For someone who usually watched his words around me, that was unusually rough language.
“One time they even told me there was a high chance you were dead and that I should prepare myself mentally… I mean, how do you think I felt?!”
“Wow, that must’ve been really hard.”
“Don’t give me some mechanically learned response!”
Then what exactly was I supposed to do? Wasn’t it considered a virtue to learn if you didn’t know how?
“Respond honestly, from the heart.”
“What was the name of the guy who told you that?”
“What are you going to do with that? File a complaint?”
A complaint? Please. I don’t rely on an organization’s system for something like that. I handle things myself.
“Anyway, I came back safe in the end,” I soothed Jeong Dajeong, who was once again red-eyed.
This, too, had happened several times since I returned. Honestly, this whole process was always a bit tiresome. But being faithful to his emotions and unafraid to express them was one of Jeong Dajeong’s strengths. It was that very personality that had kept him from giving up on raising me, and it was also why I cherished him. Everything has its pros and cons. I supposed this was something I had to accept.
…Even if it was extremely bothersome.
Fortunately, it worked. His expression brightened slightly.
“Still, you’re right. I’m just glad you came back safe… Sigh. I can’t imagine how Seunghui’s parents must be feeling right now.”
With that, Jeong Dajeong let out a deep sigh.
Lee Seunghui.
At that name, I fell into brief thought.
I had just returned from another round of questioning about it today. Among the many things that awaited me upon returning to Korea was the investigation into the incident that occurred during basic military training. The case of Lee Seunghui, who died after a mana rampage.
And in the end, the key issue in this case was whether someone else had intervened in that mana rampage—or not.
“It was clearly a side effect from illegal drug use, not a typical rookie mistake.”
I heard that Han Jaeyeong had testified firmly to that effect. As an S-rank Hunter, their testimony carried weight. But that was as far as Han Jaeyeong could prove. Whether Lee Seunghui had secretly smuggled the illegal drug in herself, or had taken something handed to her by someone else, was an entirely separate matter.
“Seunghui wasn’t the type bold enough to purchase illegal drugs on her own.”
Lee Pyeonghwa had said that, citing Lee Seunghui’s timid and fearful personality, and that it was hard to believe she had brought it in herself. If that were the case, then someone close to her must have handed her the smuggled drug…
“The only people Seunghui was close enough to accept something like that from were me and Recruit Choi Jisu.”
The problem was that there was no way to prove Lee Pyeonghwa’s suspicions. And that was only natural. It had already been weeks since we went missing. Even if there had been evidence, there had been more than enough time to destroy it.
Choi Jisu, who had already been assigned to her unit, naturally denied the allegations as well.
Lee Pyeonghwa, however, was furious.
“Does that even make sense?! It doesn’t look like they even investigated properly. Choi Jisu was only called in by the company commander once. And from what I heard, they just asked a few routine questions.”
“How do you know that?”
“Others who got assigned to the same unit told me. She came back looking pale, but they said the questioning itself ended quickly without much to it.”
Well, Lee Pyeonghwa had been close to more people in the unit besides Choi Jisu and Lee Seunghui, so it wasn’t strange that someone would pass along the news.
“And the police are acting weird too. Today they asked me whether Seunghui had any mental health issues normally. Like that’s what they want it to be. Even with Hunter Han Jaeyeong’s testimony!”
“That’s because it’s easier to wrap it up that way.”
"What?"
“Of course the military doesn’t want to make this any bigger than it already is.”
As it stood, one trainee had died and two had gone missing during basic training; a serious blow to their reputation. Now imagine if it were confirmed that illegal drugs had been smuggled into the military and even circulated internally.
“If it’s not an accident but a case, then more people would have to take responsibility.”
In a closed organization like the military, it was only natural they would move to cover things up. From their perspective, it was better if this remained an accident, a tragic incident caused by Lee Seunghui’s personal psychological instability. Even Han Jaeyeong’s testimony wouldn’t change that. Most likely, they would read the situation and quietly close the internal investigation due to insufficient evidence.
After all, the dead cannot speak.
“That’s insane. Someone died, and they’re just going to bury it for a reason like that?”
For Lee Pyeonghwa, it seemed to be one shock after another.
“Hey, Jeong Daon. You suspected Choi Jisu too! If you testify with me, maybe it’ll make more of a difference—”
“I didn’t even know Choi Jisu’s name. It seems everyone’s already testified that I didn’t socialize much in training… I doubt anything would change just because I spoke up.”
“Wow, what a thing to be proud of.”
In fact, my involvement might only hasten the case’s closure. As Lee Pyeonghwa had suspected early on, this entire incident was likely orchestrated to target me.
It could have been Choi Jisu acting alone, but someone in the military might have been backing her.
If a high-profile S-rank Hunter whose stock was soaring stepped in, they might rush to shut down the investigation before any tail could be caught. It would simply fizzle out.
“It’s a predictable pattern.”
Just because there’s a prime suspect doesn’t guarantee thoroughness or fairness in the investigation, nor does it mean the case will be solved. This wouldn’t be the first life unfairly extinguished in human society, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“So you should just forget it too,” I advised Lee Pyeonghwa. “It’s not something you can solve with your own power. The military has always been that kind of organization.”
“Hey, Jeong Daon. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Just like the time she had tracked me down after I snuck out of the training camp at dawn, Lee Pyeonghwa’s face was flushed with genuine anger.
“So because the military is ‘that kind of organization,’ we should just forget it? If you approach everything in the world like that, of course nothing will ever get solved.”
For a moment, I felt caught off guard.
She wasn’t wrong.
“Then what are you going to do?”
Except that she didn’t have an answer either. Lee Pyeonghwa bit down on her lip before speaking.
“I’m not saying Jisu is definitely the culprit.”
“Then?”
“If a proper investigation proves Choi Jisu is innocent, I’ll apologize. I just… I don’t want Seunghui’s death to end like this, brushed aside.”
“And?”
“I’ll investigate it myself.”
That was very like Lee Pyeonghwa, and also exactly what you’d expect from a twenty-year-old who still didn’t know how the world worked.
“With what means? Once you’re assigned to a unit, you’ll barely have time to take care of yourself.”
“It’s different if I become a social service agent. Once I clock out, I’ll have free time, right?”
“…You’re going to accept Han Jaeyeong’s offer?”
“Yeah. I was already thinking about it anyway… Why are you making that face? And you call yourself my friend?!”
She’d declared us friends on her own and now she was saying whatever she pleased. I let out a deep sigh. I’d just managed to shake Yu Hanul off my trail, and now what; looks like I’ll be seeing her at the guild too.
“Even if you become a social service agent, you’ll still be busy. Just leave this alone.”
I offered the advice, but Lee Pyeonghwa didn’t seem inclined to listen. Was stubbornness just a universal trait among people like this?
“If we just sit back, who’s going to solve it? You think the heavens will?”
“The heavens won’t.”
No matter how desperately you pray, the heavens never answer. Nothing changes just because you wish for it.
The quest "Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿" is in progress.
But this demon was willing to handle it personally, and three days later, we got a call from the police.
Choi Jisu had confessed.