Chapter 111: The Thing Wriggling in the Depths (1) (2/2)
“Answer me, Guardian Yu Jitae!”
“…”
“Now, now. Lyun. Please calm down. First off, the purpose of this meeting is to decide on the punishment and action that should be taken on Cadet Yeorum.”
The meeting continued with one of the staff members blabbering and Lyun showing his fiery temper.
Yu Jitae listened to everything in silence.
He didn’t think much of Yeorum’s insult. As long as she enjoyed herself, it didn’t matter what happened to others.
On the other hand, if she did something that was against the general framework of the society, he was planning on letting her take responsibility for her actions for the most part. Yeorum insulted someone when she didn’t have to, so she should take accountability for her actions if that proved to be a problem.
So he was intending to accept the punishment as long as it was appropriate.
But surprisingly, there was a witness who stood on Yeorum’s side.
“Is it okay for me say something?”
“Ahh, Guardian Yong Chuljun. Yes, please do.”
“I think a punishment would be taking it too far.”
He was a guardian from the Yong household.
“I do agree with the fact that Cadet Yeorum did go too far, but we should still adhere to the regulations.”
“Look here, Guardian Yong Chuljun! Doesn’t Section 2 of the regulations clearly state that excessive swearing and violent language are prohibited!?”
“So did she swear excessively, or speak violently? I think she just returned what Cadet Zhou Luxun did by insulting her.”
“If she wanted to pay him back, why do it to Cadet Zhang Xueyan and not Zhou Luxun himself!”
“Well, group responsibility I guess.”
“Damn it. Are you standing on her side just because you’re both Koreans?”
“Be mindful of your words. My parents are Chinese,” stated Yong Chuljun indifferently.
Zhou Luxun’s interview had provoked a public outrage of the cadets so the guardians from a Japanese household and Russia’s RIL all showed their support for Yeorum.
Thus, the punishment was cancelled.
“…”
However, Yu Jitae wasn’t really fond of the current situation.
Guardians weren’t charity commissions or donors. They never helped others without anything benefiting them. Most of the old superhumans were veteran soldiers, and soldiers loved playing with numbers as much as businessmen did.
The Regressor could clearly see the things they wanted.
The next day when Yu Jitae was accompanying Yeorum, Yong Chuljun visited the lecture room with Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi.
“Uh?”
“Hukk…”
Since they were considered small celebrities even within Lair, the cadets that were still in the lecture room turned to them in surprise.
“Hello. This would be our first time having a chat like this. I’m Yong Chuljun.”
“I’m Yu Jitae.”
Yeorum gazed at Yu Jitae with an expression that read, ‘What’s wrong with these guys?’ but he shook his head.
“Cadet Yeorum. Nice to meet you.”
“…?”
“You guys, say hello as well.”
Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi gave light greetings despite the awkwardness.
“What brings a busy person like you here.”
“Ahh, yes. Let me go straight to the topic. If you haven’t decided on the members of the 4-man party yet for the raid, I was wondering if you would like to have Cadet Yeorum join the Yong household’s group.”
He was here because of the assignment performance that had been posted yesterday – the raid of B+ ranked underground fissure.
A maximum of 100 cadets were allowed to enter. With three days left till the day of the raid, cadets had to form a party that consisted of at least 4 members and register for it again.
According to his knowledge, all the cadets competing for the top positions had applied for the assignment. Since they had all gathered on one fertile land, the question now was how much piece of the land they could get.
That’s why they were asking to join hands but,
“Is there a written proposal for the raid already?”
There was something that was weighing on the Regressor’s mind.
“The proposal hasn’t been written yet. We were going to write it after the members were decided.”
“I’m curious how it would be roughly.”
“As always, we will be moving for the greatest benefit. In the shortest period of time, going for the most amount of kills and rewards. We can promise all that to Cadet Yeorum.”
“Points are given per individual contribution, if I remember right. How will the positions be formed?”
“It will probably be 2 front guards, 1 operator and 1 sharp shooter – if Cadet Yeorum joins us that is. And the front guard at the very front will be our Taeha as well, so there’s no need to worry about her safety.”
Up to here was a general explanation that sounded as if he were considering and worrying about Yeorum’s safety, but Yu Jitae focused more on the fact that the proposal hadn’t been written out yet.
“We will look through it optimistically if the four members are moving together and once the proposal is ready.”
In response to Yu Jitae’s words, Yong Chuljun’s eyes twitched. As he had thought, a household that focused heavily on the points and ranks of their cadets won’t ever give such a proposal out of a genuine goodwill.
“As you are probably aware, Guardian Yu Jitae, raids don’t always go the way we expect it to right? Sometimes the members might be forced to move separately and we can’t predetermine that right now.”
He made it sound humble and realistic, but sounded like an obvious excuse to Yu Jitae. Although the Regressor was still inexperienced with human relationships, he was very familiar with how humans acted before greed.
“If the original plan promotes individual movements of each of the positions, that would be troubling.”
“I do understand what you’re worrying about, but I can assure you that that would never happen.”
“As long as you’re focused on the shortest time span, most kills and rewards, positions might be discarded per their level of necessity. And if it’s outside, having a person die as bait might be an easier method to gather monsters.”
Hearing his words, Yong Chuljun laughed heartily and shook his head.
“Haha! I wish you would trust us a little bit more. Our Yong household isn’t a family that is so heartless and cruel.”
“In that case, can I ask something.”
“Of course.”
“Are you thinking of using Yeorum as a scapegoat?”
Yu Jitae blatantly asked him.
[Eyes of Equilibrium (SS)]
The seal of the demon archduke that discerned good and evil, authenticity and favourability was drawn over Yu Jitae’s eyes. True or false will be revealed depending on the thoughts of the opponent once he answered the question.
“…”
Yong Chuljun was a genius of the Yong household, currently ranked somewhere in 3 digits worldwide. He was a superhuman who would stand somewhere around the back if a hundred top ranking cadets from Korea were made to line up.
Although he couldn’t see the seal of the demon archduke, his instincts alerted him of something serious and made him close his mouth.
“…A question like that does make me feel slightly uncomfortable. I don’t know what makes you think of our Yong household the way you make it out to be.”
“I would like to hear the answer to the question first. Are you thinking of using Yeorum as a scapegoat?”
“…”
“You can just say no if you don’t.”
Cold beads of sweat travelled down Yong Chuljun’s forehead. A feeling that he should never reply to this question strongly controlled his lips.
“No no no. The word ‘scapegoat’ is a bit too overboard. I don’t understand why you’re being so blunt. Didn’t I help you just yesterday? I just want us both to do well as fellow Koreans.”
He somehow managed to gloss over it.
Yu Jitae remained silent for a bit. It was blatantly obvious to him that he was trying to use her while pretending otherwise.
“And, it is unpleasant to be treated like a criminal.”
“Are you here to play around?”
“…What?”
“Just reply to what I say. Stop going around in circles.”
“…!”
The sudden change in his attitude made Yong Chuljun speechless for a second. Startled, Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi looked back and forth between Yu Jitae and Yong Chuljun.
“Look, your word choice is a bit overboard don’t you think? You young, hot-blooded little friend.”
Unlike his bold words, Yong Chuljun wasn’t angry. To be exact, he was just unable to get angry.
For some reason, his anger cooled itself down on its own and it was a strange feeling for him who brazenly talked about everything he so desired to even the family head. It felt like a nail was poking into his stomach.
“I’m asking for the last time. Will you use her as a scapegoat?”