Chapter 16
“W-what... did you say?”
April slowly pulled away from where her body had been pressed against me. Her voice trembled as if flustered, but her eyes held a distinctly hostile venom.
In other words, she knew she hadn't misheard me.
“You called me a crazy bitch. Do you know that if you go around saying things like that carelessly, you'll get slapped across the face?”
“You.”
“Or should I hit you right now? It might help you come to your senses.”
“.......”
April said nothing.
I had expected her to threaten me, even if only slightly, with force, but she didn't.
She simply closed her mouth and moved only her eyes, as if trying to discern my intentions.
'Is she overthinking things because she's a noble? Or is she holding back because we're from the same family?'
Well, either way, it didn't matter.
Not only had this woman insulted Lee Chang-jin, she'd even tried to cause needless harm.
I needed to divert her attention thoroughly so she couldn't do anything strange again.
“April.”
“......Yes.”
'Please let this work.'
Ding-
[Activating skill 'Confusion LV.3'.]
[Redirecting the target's aggression toward the monster.]
'......'
Ding-
[The target's stats are too high.]
[The target's memories have become jumbled.]
[You can manually connect the misaligned fragments.]
......As expected, it turned out this way.
It was similar to what had happened in Egypt before.
Back then, I had experimented on the beggars who followed me, and this message had appeared for people with somewhat strong mental fortitude.
'Or it didn't appear at all.'
So even this much was a relief.
April was probably A-rank, or B-rank at the very least.
Although the skill had improved, its success rate had been low from the start, so being able to manipulate even a simple memory was fortunate.
I smiled at her and spoke.
“Big Sister, a Hunter named Kim Young-hak called you a 'crazy bitch.' I let it slide at the time, assuming you didn't know about it, but now what am I supposed to do? I still get angry whenever I think about it.”
“Ah... that man. He did, didn't he? But how do you know about that, Youngest?”
“I heard it directly in Egypt. He bragged about it, telling me to emulate how boldly he'd stood up to Douglas Kim.”
This was how memories had to be connected coherently.
Confusion could only change or erase the subject or target of 'anger'; it couldn't turn an emotion into something that had never existed.
In simple terms, it made someone believe that the guy beside them had slapped them instead.
April stared blankly for a moment, then blinked as if her senses had returned.
Then she flicked open the soundproofing barrier with a click!
'A long-range... telekinetic mage?'
“Mr. Giseok.”
At her quiet call, the driver turned around with a startled expression.
“Oh? You actually spoke to me for once... Haha, what can I do for you, Lady April?”
“Could you pull over for a moment?”
“Pardon...? Here?”
“Yes. Would that be a problem?”
April spoke in an unusually low tone. Her expression still held a faint smile, but her eyes had gone cold and empty.
I could feel a sharp chill from her.
'She's pissed...'
“B-Big Sister. Is there some urgent business you need to attend to?”
“I suddenly remembered something I have to do... Sorry, Youngest, but you can go by yourself, right?”
I suppose I could go alone.
But now that I'd set things in motion, I was worried. What was she about to do by suddenly getting out?
Thinking I should keep watch over her, I grabbed her arm and said,
“C-Could I come with you, too? I want to get closer to you, Big Sister!”
“......This doesn't seem like a particularly suitable place for two women to socialize.”
It's fine. I know that too.
“Even if it isn't socializing, I'll follow you around and learn whatever I can. You're a senior far beyond me, Big Sister. Please let me accompany you.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, I heard you weren't originally born a noble, Youngest?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Phew- I suppose it can't be helped. All right. Take this opportunity to see it for yourself, Youngest.”
The car stopped by the roadside somewhere along a national highway. The moment April got out, she started running somewhere, and I dangled helplessly from under her arm.
Apparently, she thought my rank meant I wouldn't be able to keep up with her speed.
“Youngest!”
“Yes, Big Sister!”
“It's a secret that we traveled like this! Even as a commoner-born, you know this is undignified, right?”
“Everything you do is dignified, Big Sister!”
“Pfft...! You certainly know how to say pretty things.”
……There was no venom in her tone. Her hostility had already been redirected elsewhere.
After that, we arrived at the Hunter Management Bureau, a place where one could look up information on Hunters worldwide, not just those from our country.
Of course, information on noble families and A-rank or higher Hunters was exempt.
I asked April,
“Big Sister... Are you looking for Kim Young-hak?”
“Yes. I need to set right the wrongs I previously let slide out of indecision. I remembered thanks to you, Youngest. Thank you.”
...What should I do? That man was dead. If her revenge(?) failed, would the backlash hit me again?
I'd deliberately pointed her toward a dead man in case a third party might get hurt.
Unless she dug up his remains and stomped all over them, there'd be no way to punish him for anything further.
So I was worried because she had no way to vent her anger, either.
“He's dead?”
As expected, April's brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the Bureau employee with a troubled expression.
But she didn't back down obediently; she began forcibly pulling up his records—his movements, relationships, and so on.
She was so desperate that I found myself wondering whether she was even allowed to do that.
In the end, a certain person's name suddenly came up. She smiled with satisfaction.
“Follow me, Youngest.”
“Y-yes...”
...Hmm.
'Sorry, Park Sang-tae.'
Well, it was karma.
It was bad enough that he'd dragged someone who was trying to serve their sentence diligently into doing private work; wasn't he also the one who had tried to take my life and sell my organs?
He wouldn't have any grounds to complain, no matter what was done to him.
Still, if you die, I'll pray for the repose of your soul.
“L-Lady April...”
Park Sang-tae was in an Awakened prison. Apparently, he had been extradited to Korea immediately after confessing in Egypt.
He was first startled by April, then, when he saw me standing beside her, his eyes practically split toward east, west, north, and south.
Since he was too shocked to speak coherently, I explained on April's behalf why we'd come to see him.
After hearing the explanation, he went into hysterics.
“W-what...!? You mean Kim Young-hak did that!? O-oh, you've got it wrong, Lady April! No matter how much of a loose cannon that bastard was...!”
“Then are you saying I'm lying right now?”
Her tone was cold. Park Sang-tae seemed to want to say more, but the dark pressure emanating from April pressed down on him.
Park Sang-tae's eyes looked as pitiful as a lamp flickering in the wind.
“......Mister.”
“You... what the hell.”
“I heard it from him directly. Do you think Kim Young-hak killed himself for no reason?”
“...? Wait! Kim Young-hak's death was...!”
Park Sang-tae's wavering gaze turned toward me. His expression asked what the hell this was supposed to mean.
'I want to brainwash him, but… if I use a skill, I'll be detected, right?'
The Awakened Prison was a place that monitored and understood every ability of the Awakened. If I acted carelessly, I could end up in serious trouble.
So here, I'd have to talk my way out of this.
I opened my eyes wide and glared at Park Sang-tae.
“Kim Young-hak committed suicide.”
“......How is that suicide?”
“Huh? Of course it was suicide. A commoner Awakened challenging Douglas Kim—and insulting Big Sister April—was an act of suicide.”
Park Sang-tae lowered his head. He clenched his cuffed hands tightly, then slowly closed his eyes.
Then he spoke in a clearly audible low voice.
“Kim Young-hak didn't commit suicide. You rotten bitches, as if things weren't bad enough already... Krrk!?”
Park Sang-tae's face crumpled like a sheet of foil as he stopped speaking. Blood trickled from his mouth, and his helpless hands flailed.
This happened when April made a motion as if she were gripping something in midair.
'Telekinetic magic...!'
Was she allowed to do that just because she was a noble? It was true that detecting something and restraining it were separate matters.
It seemed my guess was right.
Even though the Hunters outside must surely have detected the skill, not a single one rushed in to stop her.
“Krr... krr... krrk...!”
The torture continued for some time. I had no idea what exactly she was doing, but it looked extremely painful.
Yet even after seeing that, April didn't release the skill; she even gave a slight smile.
“I didn't come here to chat with you. The result was decided from the start.”
“.......!”
Park Sang-tae pointed at his own mouth. His eyes seemed to ask why she was doing this to him.
April chuckled when she saw that.
“I'm sorry. I was depressed because the person I needed to kill had disappeared, but then it turned out his closest friend and colleague was still around. And what's more, he's a serious criminal about to be executed.”
“......!!!!”
“You know, right? Nobles can have someone else do even this sort of thing for them. Well then, goodbye.”
“!!!!!!!”
N-no!
I abruptly grabbed April's forearm.
“Youngest...?”
“Big Sister, wait. It seems a little beneath you to dirty your hands over some commoner who doesn't even know his place.”
“Hmm? My hands aren't getting dirty. It's telekinetic magic, you know?”
“Th-that's true.”
Ah... Vincent's words were finally starting to sink in.
If the family was full of psychopaths like this, of course I wouldn't want to join it.
'This can't go on.'
Seeing people die leaves trauma.
I still had Kim Young-hak's dismembered corpse hovering before my eyes; I didn't need to see anything like this on top of that.
Still holding April, I shot her an imploring look. She tilted her head, then opened her mouth.
“Do you dislike me doing this?”
“No, it's just... If he gets to leave that easily, wouldn't that be too light a punishment for his crimes?”
“......Oh-ho, I suppose you're right. All right. I've vented most of my anger, so let's go back now.”
Only then did April release the skill. Park Sang-tae collapsed with a thud and passed out on the spot.
I hurried out of the interrogation room with her, then took the lead without looking back.
‘I want to see the estate first, not this sort of thing…!’
Seeing me urge her to hurry, April asked, puzzled,
“Do you know where it is?”
“Of course.”
Heh heh, as if I could fail to know.
The noble estates belonging to Korea's top six families were all gathered on an artificial island in Incheon.
Each family had built a floating island matching its symbol, connecting them into one enormous island, then constructed ultra-luxurious mansions and gardens atop them.
There was only one entrance: a long bridge. And since even that was heavily guarded,
it was famous as a place ordinary people could hardly even set foot in.
In other words, it was exactly the sort of place I'd been dying to see.
April might not know this, but most ordinary people knew exactly which island belonged to which family.
'I'm finally going sightseeing...! Finally...!'
And so I traveled on in high spirits, unaware that Park Sang-tae had been executed the moment we left.
***
“W-wowww-!!”
“......Hey, Raebi.”
“I know, Big Sister. It's undignified.”
But what else could I do?! An ultra-luxurious, cutting-edge artificial island covering tens of thousands of pyeong! And on top of it, beautiful Western-style mansions and gardens...!
‘Who could possibly hold back after seeing this?!’
Someone who saw it every day might not be impressed, but my position was different.
I ignored whatever gaze April cast my way and admired the scenery to my heart's content, taking it all in.
“Wow... Seriously.”
“Enough, enough. Really, calm down now. The family head is coming out over there.”
April rapidly tapped my shoulder three times.
I turned my gaze toward where her other hand was pointing and saw a huge man.
He stood about two meters tall, with a shaggy brown beard and glasses perched on his nose—everything about him fit the name 'Douglas.'
He spotted us and began approaching at a brisk pace.
“You know how you're supposed to greet him, right?”
“Yep.”
I answered April's question confidently.
I hadn't known before, but Vincent had explained it to me in detail.
'When greeting the family head, you don't merely bow your head; you kneel on one knee.'
The right knee for both men and women. Great! And then the line...
Before long, Douglas was right in front of me. I knelt before him as he approached.
“Raebi Na Tiernected Douglas Kim, Douglas Kim's eighth... Aaaah!”
My body was suddenly hoisted into the air with a whoosh before I could finish the greeting. I instinctively flailed, trying to get free, but the bear-like hand didn't budge.
After calmly watching me panic, he suddenly thundered,
“Hwahaha!! You've finally arrived!!!! You audacious little monster!!!”