Chapter 332

"No, really. I said it was a misunderstanding."

The fourth S-rank found on the rooftop—Kim Geryeo—was dressed carelessly, like someone only half-committed to playing the role of a patient.

But the fact that he had thrown a blue hospital gown loosely over a plain white T-shirt, or that he was shuffling around in a pair of drab convenience-store slippers, hardly mattered right now. Honestly, considering he was an alien, any amount of bizarre behavior would have seemed perfectly plausible anyway.

"Is there CCTV up here? If footage of that gets out, it'll just add an assault charge to his record."

The association staff who had rushed over looked worried, apparently wondering things like, 'Did that elderly civilian somehow provoke him?' Even then, Kim Geryeo himself didn't appear particularly flustered.

"Hey. Listen to me. It's a misunderstanding—"

Just as he had been insisting all along, there really was a reason for what had happened. More fortunately still, the alien who had crash-landed on this planet could, much like the aliens in movies, speak Earth's language fluently.

Soon afterward, the blond man began to explain.

***

[1:03 PM]

The incident had begun with a meeting scheduled for exactly that time.

"Huh? Seonwoo Yeon sent me a text?"

It was just past lunchtime, around one in the afternoon.

At the time, I had received a message from a government official saying she had something to discuss, so I was waiting for my Earthling acquaintance to arrive.

As it happened, I had business with her too.

"I need to check the Beast corpses that must be lying around somewhere."

There was clearly some hidden force behind the dungeon-break scheme those impostors had been plotting.

As I've said many times before, I wanted to examine the bodies of the dead sorcerers for information. And to do that, I first had to follow the procedures of the organization that had recovered the corpses.

Naturally, the person most likely to know this planet's laws and administrative procedures would be a government official.

"Of course, even if there's no official way for me to see them, I'll probably end up poking around the bodies in secret later anyway. But for now, I should at least try to handle things like a gentleman."

Having settled on that, I headed straight upstairs.

After all, wandering around the hospital only earned me suspicious looks from the non-Awakened.

At first, I returned to the fifth floor, where my hospital room was located, and lay on the bed killing time on my phone. That had been the whole reason I'd bothered coming all the way back upstairs.

But after a while, simply lying there browsing the internet made my throat dry, and I began thinking about getting a soda from the vending machine.

"Ah. I've got coins in my wallet!"

The closest vending machine was in the rooftop garden.

"Come to think of it, the rooftop here is right next to the VIP rooms, so even the medical staff hardly ever go up there. Pretty convenient—"

So, jingling a few coins in my hand, I pushed open the door—

Just as I'd thought, certain areas of this hospital were accessible only to a limited number of people.

I'd spent hours alone up there that morning without seeing a single person pass by.

But this body of mine—jokes aside—was now undeniably that of an S5-rank Awakened.

Until now, I had been keeping my mana slightly suppressed, just enough to prevent the civilians inside the hospital from foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

"Maybe I should stretch a little?"

Constantly suppressing my newly increased power for no real reason was exhausting enough to make me feel like I was dying.

So when I reached the rooftop garden, I briefly released that compression.

And that was the root of the entire incident.

"Mom!"

The truth was, there actually had been a civilian on the rooftop.

Someone without even a speck of magical power—so faint a presence that, if you let your concentration slip, even a mage's senses could fail to notice him.

His presence was completely unexpected.

"Huh?"

An elderly man leaning on a walker recoiled in shock.

Apparently, his body had reacted instinctively to the sudden burst of overwhelming magical power. He immediately lost his balance and began toppling sideways.

"It's not even confirmed yet—wouldn't killing an Earthling already be a bit much?"

But what kind of body was this?

It was something I couldn't even have dreamed of only a few days earlier.

Now that my talents had fully awakened, this body finally repaid all the suffering I had endured by displaying truly superhuman ability.

Purely on reflex, I caught the falling old man and kept him from getting hurt.

Which meant that, despite appearances, there was actually a rather heartwarming story behind the whole scene.

"It's simpler than it looks, right?"

"But it didn't look heartwarming at all...."

"It only looked strange because I had to catch him in a hurry. I mean, think about it—if I really grabbed someone with this kind of strength, their bones would obviously break."

Even while explaining myself, I was still clutching the old man's hospital gown.

Seonwoo Yeon stared at me with a faintly bewildered expression—the sort of look one might reserve for an incomprehensible being from outer space—before finally saying,

"All right. Could you let go of the civilian now, please?"

"O-oh, heavens. What was that just now? For a moment, I clearly saw my late wife's face before my eyes...."

"Goodbye, Grandpa. Stay healthy and live a long, happy life—"

For the moment, the situation seemed to have settled down.

"And just so we're clear—I saved you, so don't go around giving people any weird testimony, okay—"

Still, even after everything had been sorted out, one person didn't seem to have recovered her composure.

I glanced sideways at Seonwoo Yeon, who still looked unsettled, then turned away.

Clang, clang, clang.

As originally planned, I started the conversation while choosing a drink from the vending machine.

"By the way, what's with the mood? Did something happen?"

"..."

"What are friends for, right? I've actually been in a pretty good mood lately because of some personal stuff. So if you've got something to say, just say it."

I'd suspected as much, but I hadn't really expected her to come all this way because of that matter.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but...."

After hesitating for quite some time, Seonwoo Yeon finally revealed the truth.

"Really? I'm being arrested for murder?"

More precisely, it could be involuntary manslaughter—or any number of other charges.

Apparently, they still hadn't decided exactly what offense they intended to pursue.

"Am I remembering wrong, or does Earth not have the concept of self-defense?"

"No, of course it does. And in situations like this, it's actually fairly common for self-defense to be recognized—especially when it involves protecting one of the country's S-rank Hunters. But... something about the way this is developing feels suspicious."

After hearing that, I briefly checked my phone.

"They clearly said in the message that it would only be a short round of questioning... and yet."

Come to think of it, one of the messages I'd received earlier had indeed been a politely worded request from the police asking me to appear for questioning.

But contrary to my assumption that it would be nothing more than a minor formality, it seemed the investigative authorities had already formed a fairly strong opinion that I had gone too far.

"Hmm."

Judging from her expression, even Seonwoo Yeon didn't appear to be entirely on my side....

"I understand. From an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like I had more than enough strength to subdue them, but chose to kill them instead."

"It honestly feels unfair. Just so we're clear, I would've spared every one of those Beasts if I could. The situation simply didn't allow it."

"I had literally just reawakened. I couldn't control my strength at all. My head was pounding, and that really was me doing my best!"

And yet, even after regaining power as vast and deep as the ocean, the first thing I had thought about was saving people.

"Ah, I'm too kind."

"If only they could understand this benevolent heart of mine."

"I... feel kind of sorry."

"There you go saying 'sorry' again."

"Of course, someone like me can't speak for everyone else. But you tried to save people, and now you're the one being questioned because of it, so I can't help feeling like I should apologize personally...."

I stood in front of the vending machine with my arms crossed.

Of course, I wasn't exactly lost in serious thought.

"Seriously, they're making this much of a fuss just because I dealt with a few S-ranks. How many enemies did I sink with a single flick of my tentacles in my previous life?"

That was the sort of thing I was grumbling about internally.

"Since reincarnating here, I've spent an entire year and killed only, what, four S-rank Hunters? And somehow that's enough to get lectured...."

At that moment, for some reason, an image flashed through one corner of my mind.

Someone in a raincoat, wearing a distinctly displeased expression.

"Right. Five. Come to think of it, I guess I've taken down about five altogether."

Anyway, I didn't believe I had done anything seriously wrong.

If I hadn't acted the way I did inside that dungeon, there absolutely would have been casualties on our side.

"Anyway, I understand."

But Earth's mammals don't know any magic that lets them peer directly into someone's heart.

So if I wanted them to understand that my intentions had been good, I would simply have to explain myself properly.

"Thank you for warning me in advance. I'll take care of the rest myself."

That was what I told Seonwoo Yeon.

"I've been studying Earth's laws here and there every day. And more importantly, I can afford to hire a proper legal team if I need one."

"Hmm."

Just as I'd said, she seemed to realize there wasn't much more she could do than an actual lawyer, and eventually accepted my answer.

"Um... but I'm asking just in case. If they refuse to recognize self-defense all the way to the end, you're not planning to destroy the entire court or anything, are you...?"

There were, of course, still a few lingering concerns.

But did she really think I would go that far?

"No. Of course not."

Ideally, violence should only be used after every attempt at dialogue has failed and no other solution remains.

That was why I lowered my voice and spoke quietly to Seonwoo Yeon.

"I promise. I won't harm any Earthlings over something like this."

Now that I thought about it, I was actually fairly confident that the matter could be resolved without much trouble.

"Once I meet the investigator, I'll simply present the argument I've prepared. Then they'll handle the situation as peacefully as possible."

Why turn it into an ugly fight when words could settle everything?

Having reached that conclusion, I reassured Seonwoo Yeon once more that she had nothing to worry about.

Then, after giving the selection some thought, I finally pressed the button for my chosen drink with my index finger.

An apple-flavored soda.

Thud.

I looked down.

There was a can of coffee sitting in the dispenser tray.

"No way—"

The curse slipped out before I could stop it.

I had definitely pressed the right button, so why had this disaster occurred?

Still, if I tried to look at it positively, perhaps this was some form of "cleansing away bad luck."

Then again, if the season had only just begun, exactly how many more misfortunes was I supposed to endure?

Holding the can of coffee that had come out instead, I sighed and glanced at the nearby Earthling.

***

Several hours had passed since then.

One apparent advantage of the peninsula nation where this alien had crash-landed was the impatience of its people.

Of course, I had already received a phone call asking me to appear for questioning.

But even though I showed up without making any formal appointment, the investigator immediately hurried over, visibly surprised.

"Oh? The patient who's supposed to be hospitalized is already here?"

And the people insisting on hearing my testimony weren't exactly ordinary police officers.

One man wore an impeccably neat suit and turned out to be a police chief.

Standing beside him was someone from the Supreme Court.

And behind them stood several more people, all carrying titles along the lines of Chief of Security.

"Exactly how many people are coming in?"

Was this an interrogation room or a conference hall?

In any case, I ended up explaining the previous [Unauthorized Occupation Gate] incident in an environment far more crowded than I'd expected.

At first, the atmosphere wasn't bad.

"First of all, thank you for always taking the lead in protecting our country. Now, please take your time and explain what happened at your own pace."

But as the discussion continued, just as Seonwoo Yeon had warned, a certain pressure gradually began creeping into their words.

"—Ah, so at that point, the Beasts could no longer fully use the [Book of Destruction], correct? You said you personally witnessed the item's effects wearing off. Hmm...."

What exactly were they trying to get at?

"It would be difficult to frame this as an immediate act of self-defense caused by fear for your life, since your counterattack occurred after you had already recovered...."

"If I hadn't taken down the Beast there, other Hunters would have died."

"Ah, of course. We understand that, and we certainly appreciate what you did. But when we consider whether your response was legally appropriate... well, that's a separate matter."

The magic wielded by modern society's Awakened was, in a sense, a kind of "free weapon."

So if someone attacked with a weapon first, should the person who retaliated with their own weapon and killed them automatically be declared innocent?

Questions like that were understandable coming from Earthlings.

If such acts were judged too leniently, it might establish a precedent that would later work against weaker people.

"Even among Awakened, there are differences in rank and in the abilities they use. I suppose that makes it incredibly complicated to decide whether someone's response was excessive when two of them fight."

But if they were hesitating solely for such "righteous" reasons....

Something didn't add up.

Why would they go out of their way to antagonize their own country's highest-ranked Hunter?

"What exactly do they gain by provoking me?"

By this point, though, quite a few things had become obvious.

"And if this is the kind of situation where an S-rank Hunter might become angry and cause a scene, yet no one here seems worried that the city could be torn apart, then clearly there's something else behind this."

Unfortunately, this case involved not one, but two Hunters belonging to powerful nations.

"They've got something up their sleeve."

Countless possibilities flashed through my mind.

"The obvious motives would be national prestige, insurance, an exchange of political favors, or perhaps an attempt to remind the Awakened class of its place."

Personally, Korea was a country where an alien could live quite comfortably.

But that didn't mean it was the single greatest nation on Earth.

Naturally, it was still vulnerable to pressure from other countries.

"Or perhaps another country threatened them and demanded that they reduce the responsibility placed on its own citizens?"

Yet no matter how many possibilities passed through my mind, I never voiced any of those suspicions aloud.

Whisper, whisper....

Come to think of it, I realized rather belatedly that perhaps the real problem was that the discussion had begun under circumstances like these in the first place.

Across the long table, the civilians seated together on the opposite side began whispering among themselves.

No matter how one looked at it, they murmured, it didn't seem right to simply declare a case involving someone's death justified.

But what if the Hunter involved ended up being viewed negatively by the international community?

Wouldn't it be better to quietly smooth things over for his sake?

And so on.

At first glance, their words sounded as though they were expressing concern for someone else.

But they weren't fools.

Surely they knew perfectly well that an Awakened person's hearing was far sharper than an ordinary human's.

Which meant they were deliberately saying those things loudly enough for me to hear, probably hoping to gain some leverage in whatever minor negotiation they intended to propose later.

"Excuse me. Hunter Kim Geryeo."

I shifted my posture slightly.

With the brim of my hat lowered, I loosely tucked my hands under my arms and crossed them over my chest.

Then I raised my eyes at a slight angle.

A classic pose of contemplation.

The moment I fell silent and adopted that ambiguous posture, every human sitting across from me immediately began studying my reaction.

"Hunter-nim?"

Even when they called my name, I didn't open my mouth.

"Everyone, I forgot to mention something earlier...."

After buying myself a moment to choose my words, I finally began speaking at length.

The truth was, I had already started to see how this situation could be resolved from the moment I left the hospital.

Hopefully, I had understood this planet's culture correctly.

Hopefully, I had chosen the right answer.

Hopefully, this would settle everything peacefully and quickly.

"If this incident is going to become a problem for me in Korea, then I'll simply emigrate. I don't know whether it would qualify as political asylum, but at the very least, the neighboring country has fans of mine and plenty of people who have said they'd welcome me."

I calmly stated my position, then let my gaze drift back toward empty space.

"If it comes to that, I'll just use the alias Nakamura and join the Japanese Hunter scene. Or maybe I'll change my name to Chinee and obtain Chinese citizenship. And if anyone later asks why I emigrated, I'll tell them it was because my home country refused to recognize my right to self-defense."

Then I looked back at them.

"Excuse me, but may I ask the names of the people in charge of this case?"