Chapter 118: The Thing Wriggling in the Depths (8) (2/2)
He opened his mouth while pushing his sunglasses up.
“Things have gotten slightly out of hand. First off, let me apologise in Guardian Yu Jitae’s stead.”
“Ahh…”
“I’ve met Sillardo on the way but that friend really is quite tough. The shield only has a small crack on it and it’s fortunate that the losses aren’t too big either.”
“…”
“On the other hand, an extremely young cadet could’ve died on this side. I heard it was because of something that happened in the munitions department. What a shame that the incident originated from that place.”
He was practically shouldering the blame on the munitions department, which was the cause. It was evident that the school inspectors were becoming slightly displeased.
“Near is the shirt, but nearer is the skin. From what I’ve heard, I think it’s understandable that you would want to cover for the ones closer to you. I probably would’ve done the same myself.”
BM expressed his dissatisfaction with a low voice. Despite his low voice, the aura he was emanating was very fierce. He might be a nurse that listened nicely when he was with someone specific, but he was originally known as a mad scientist among other superhumans.
While everyone became nervous, Assistant Principal Ma Namjoon, the only one not nervous, intervened and cut him off.
“But as you know, there were a lot of eyes looking at us. Such rampages go against the regulations and we can’t not consider the equity of regulations as the authority maintaining the rules of the academy city.”
“Equity. You like that a lot huh.”
“Of course. At least in my opinion, the guardian staying behind at Lair… would be difficult due to the conventional thoughts of the society. There are lots of things to take into consideration after all.”
Ma Namjoon’s eyes bent like a snake.
He had been planning on using the Yu household if it was a half-assed organisation but since BM and Myung Yongha suddenly appeared out of nowhere, this catastrophe-ranked demon had to change his plan.
Yu Jitae had to be distanced away from Lair as much as possible.
“Ahh. But you know! It’s not like we have to do that right?”
That was when Myung Yongha opened his mouth with an amiable smile.
“…Please elaborate.”
“There’s this regulation I found on the way here. Would you like to look at it together?”
Myung Yongha clicked his fingers. Soon, his wrist divided and turned into tree branches, before spewing out a book.
“Punishment Regulations Article 17 Paragraph 4 says that guardians can be punished after the graduation of the cadet.”
“…Well yes. There is that but.”
“Doesn’t Lair prioritise the cadets above anything else? I know this because my cousin graduated 2 years ago.”
It was one of the regulations that had been made after the war, but there were no precedents of the regulation taking effect.
“However, there is no precedent. We need to inspect it a little bit more before we can make a decision.”
Then, Myung Yongha laughed heartily.
“Then why don’t you make one now.”
It was an imposing sentence with a commanding tone despite his smile. There was an undisguisable trace of confidence in his voice.
The middle-aged men of the education department gulped.
Right now, they were suddenly visiting a house and were telling the tenants to mow the lawn, but he had the right to do that. As a VVIP of the International Hunter Association, he was like a colleague of the house owner.
Ma Namjoon hid the frown by forcing a smile on his face. As a catastrophe, and as one of the heads of the undetectables, Ma Namjoon was confident that he would not lose to them even if he had to face the two of them at once.
And yet they were pushing through with their public authority.
Things couldn’t go this way. Right when Ma Namjoon was about to say something,
“Right, this isn’t why we came here, but it’s unfortunate. Sirs, I know that you’re having a hard time doing great things at great places.”
BM slowly opened his mouth.
“I’ve been in the military and I know myself. You’re all innocent and doing great things but you get pushed around left and right. The ones above talk shit and the households try to keep you in check. It’s uncomfortable right? They think they’re strong and do unreasonable things.”
“What are you trying to say.”
Ma Namjoon was unable to hold it in any longer and asked without hiding his displeasure. A pair of eyes behind the sunglasses glanced past him.
“…But what unreasonable household would possibly be able to use Myung Yongha and BM as spokespeople? It seems that you’re slow on the uptake because you spend all day looking at ink and documents.”
The expressions of several staff members turned dark.
“Let me ask you a question, Yongha.”
“Hmm?”
“Would you be his spokesperson if the Association Head asked you to do so?”
Myung Yonga chuckled.
“Why the heck would I.”
BM followed him and laughed.
But no-one was able to laugh from the education department’s side. Ma Namjoon did not even bother hiding his discomfort now as he yelled out loud.
“BM! Are you trying to assert your public authority during an official conference?”
BM grinned.
“Listen mate. I led the Third Kalian Brigade during the great war and later became the head of the Fourth Division of Korea’s superhuman soldiers. Then, I became the deputy commander of the First Division of the Second Corps. Now, I’m the deputy commander of the Association’s last resort Suicide Squad, the consultant of the Catacomb Vanguard Royals.”
“…”
“And a VVIP of the Association. One of the 30 with the right to raid dungeons at will, and ranked 2nd worldwide. One word from me and the Association will turn a country upside down to catch a little rat. So what if I assert my authority. What, you have something to say?”
“…!”
“Do you not understand what it means for me, this ‘Returnee’, to directly stand up for someone?”
Knowing something and listening to it be spelled out were different. Each and every one of them closed their mouths but with differing thoughts. Ha Sukmoo glared at Ma Namjoon with a myriad of thoughts while Ma Namjoon had to suppress his overflowing killing intent.
Their thoughts were different but the end result was the same. They had no choice but to harbour a question that drove them crazy.
What in the world was the Yu household?
“I know you’re all holding onto your dear positions no matter what the Association says to you. If you don’t want to let that go, don’t be too straight. The ceiling is lower than you think, and losing your job is also easier than you think.”
When Ma Namjoon also closed his mouth and turned quiet, BM threw his final remark.
“So just lower your head and live. Pretend you didn’t see it.”
That was the end of the conference.
Yu Jitae was declared to be punished with 10 hours of campus community service and some fines.
There were many that questioned the decision but none of them voiced it out to the public. It was because Ha Sukmoo apologised to the Yu household publicly, saying that it was the fault of the munitions department.
Meanwhile Kang Mungu, who had been bribed, received a death sentence at a military trial. Other guardians of Lair who had quick insight, quickly saw that something had happened behind their backs.
Just like that, the name of the Yu household was spread to every corner of the city.
***
The day after the incident, Malunga received unbelievable news.
It was that they were no longer able to contact anyone from Kanaye’s superhuman nurturing team. Within them was also Malunga’s family.
And his cadet, Malta was found dead in his room, dead from drug abuse.
“…”
He was a realistic person, and was quicker at adapting to the situation than others. So when unbelievable things became reality in the span of one day, the decision he made was also extremely rapid.
Malunga strangled himself.