“What do you mean.”
Director of the munitions department, Riyachana.
This young Cambodian superhuman in her late thirties received a shocking call during the report of the education department.
She hurriedly ended the conference and on her way outside, she contacted the strongest group of guards of Lair, the Central Sentries, about some crazy person showing up.
The director of the guards replied, “Alright. I’m on my way.”
Officially ranked 53rd worldwide, ‘Final Wall’, Sillardo Leo.
He stood up along with his large shield.
*
“I’m Riyachana, the director of the munitions department. Guardian Yu Jitae.”
She was wearing the classic costume of a career woman, with tidy hair and simple makeup. Although she was a fairly strong superhuman, the aura she gave off was not that of a soldier’s.
There were multiple people tailing her. Judging from how they were similarly all decently strong superhumans, it seemed that they were from the Sentries.
He was being treated like a terrorist, and the staff members of the munitions department were all hostages. Although he wasn’t pointing a gun at their heads, the entire body was a weapon for rampaging superhumans so the sentries did not dare act with haste.
For him, it didn’t matter.
In fact, he had wanted them to come.
“I heard you’ve been calling me. Fortunately, it seems that I’ve made it in time.”
High ranking officials of Lair were one of the two. They were either soldiers or politicians, and the one standing in front of him appeared to be the latter.
Yu Jitae pulled in the team leader who was hanging outside the window and threw him back into the office. While coughing desperately for breath, he crawled on all fours and quickly hid behind other staff.
“Please calm down. We will definitely be able to solve this problem with a conversation.”
“…”
“What made you act so violently in the office of the munitions department? If you discuss it with me, I would surely be able to help you without putting what happened into account.”
With stealthy words and a secretive question, they induced others to answer them. It was the typical speech technique of politicians.
More questions would be made depending on the response of the opponent, which would then lead to more questions. By having the opponent reply like that, politicians tended to gather information.
Who does she think she is, to dare crawl up.
“The Level 1 protective necklace artifact. What’s the supply channel.”
“…I see, so there must have been a problem with the protective necklace. What was the problem I wonder.”
“I asked for the supply channel.”
“If I hear what the problem is, I think it would be easier for me to give a more suited response.”
Yu Jitae was a terrorist.
So she compulsively thought that the flow of the conversation cannot be handed over to a terrorist.
“…Guardian Yu Jitae. I sincerely think it’s a shame that we have made you this upset. As you are probably aware, the supply channel is slightly lengthy and needs to be checked before we can give you precise information. So please calm down for now. The innocent staff members of the munitions department are shivering in fear.”
“Miss Director.”
“…Yes?”
“Are you not going to say the supply channel of the defective item?”
Riyachana’s eyes shook greatly. She wasn’t able to reply to his question for some time.
“Please give me a second. First, please let us apologise for what happened. A defective item… it really was a big problem. I’m extremely sorry for what happened.”
But her favourability that was revealed by the voice was a clear ‘dislike’.
“Excuse me but, when you say there’s a defect, may I ask what sort of problem it had? I don’t know the details yet.”
“The supplementary gem had an issue, and mana scattered instead of creating a shield.”
“Ahh, such a thing…”
Right after she slurred the end of her sentence, Riyachana slightly raised her voice.
“But, that’s strange. All the artifacts get double-checked by the inspection team before being sent to the munitions department. They all get confirmed that they are genuine before they are supplied to the cadets.”
“…”
“However, there’s no way you would be lying. First off, I think it’s a great shame that a defective item had appeared. And we will provide more than enough compensation for what happened. I’d assume that you won’t be able to avoid a disciplinary action from Lair, but as long as you calm yourself down…”
She blabbered on.
Yu Jitae closed his eyes for a second.
Whatever it was, they consoled and tried to deal with everything with money so that others wouldn’t delve in any deeper and create more problems.
Since there were many onlookers, politicians always had credibility behind their words.
However, he wasn’t interested in something like that.
“You’re putting it in a weird way.”
“…and, huh? Sorry?”
“Even if I call it a defective item, you can’t call it that.”
“…What do you mean.”
“It’s a defect in supplementary gems and not random manufactured items. Four of them, at that. The same problem and they all happened to be sent to the four cadets on our side. And yet the serial numbers aren’t even in an order.”
“…”
“Is this still a ‘defect’?”
In the first place, this wasn’t a defect. It was definitely touched by someone and they had been adjusted.
“Wait. There must have been an error…”
“You wanted to hear, so I told you. And now you chit-chat as if you’re in a negotiation.”
“Ah…”
“Do you think I’m here to bargain? You still don’t understand your position?”
His killing intent overflowed and flew across. The neck of a superhuman guard was bent in an unnatural angle. “Kuhuk!” he shouted, to which the onlooking staff members reacted by screaming and increasing the distance.
He could sense multiple presences outside the building twitch. But since the injured one was a guard and not the director, they did not move.
Shock painted the eyes of the middle-aged woman.
“…!”
“Try cutting my words off again with nonsense.”
Riyachana’s lips were closed shut. In that instant, she couldn’t control the trembling of her legs.
“Supply channel of the necklace.”
“…”
“Supply channel–”
The voice resembling the growling of a wild beast forcibly opened Riyachana’s lips.
“…We bring them in from the Virian Magic Stone Industrial Complex. A, already crafted.”
“Management staff.”
“…All, all the artifacts stay sealed in the basement of the storage. The administrator of the storage room, staff members of the munitions department, and several managers are able to open it in special cases.”
“Who went in.”
“…Henry. Please bring him the entry record.”
Yu Jitae confirmed the names of the people who had gone in and out of the underground storage.
“Bring everyone that’s in here.”
In seconds, staff members and high-ranking officials of Team 3 that were written on the list gathered in front of him. Fortunately there wasn’t anyone working outside the office.
“Answer yes or no.”
Five people including Riyachana, were unable to look into his eyes properly in fright.
“I am related to this protective necklace incident.”
They appeared confused but after furtively glancing at each other, they answered “No”. Without saying anything, Yu Jitae continued with the next question.
“I received bribes from someone.”
Perhaps because they were more at ease after saying it once, the second reply came with haste. They all replied, “No”.
“I, am the culprit.”
The third question. They were all aware that the same thing had happened without a problem two times already. Now, they all merely thought about when this strange question and answer session would end.
Therefore, they were slightly more relaxed when they replied.
““No.””
That was when Yu Jitae walked up to a man and stood in front of him. From a head above the man, he gazed down at him at a distance where his forehead might even touch him. This might be how a rabbit would feel when there was a tiger in front of it.
“You’re the only one that needs to reply now.”
“…S, sorry?”
The team leader of munitions department Team 3; he was the same one who had been grabbed on the collar by Yu Jitae, called Kang Mungu.
In surprise, he looked away from Yu Jitae’s eyes.
Seeing the sudden turn of events, everyone else also held their breaths and watched the two.
“Yong household. Erfan Guild. Brzenk Family. One of these organisations was the briber.”
“…”
“Reply.”
“No.”
“Sitri. Kanaye. Bright Moon. Heaven-Defying Sect. Jung Household. Pan Household. One of these was the briber.”
“…No.”
“It’s one of them.”
“S, sorry…?”
“Who is it.”
The Regressor’s voice became even lower.
“I’m asking.”
From the aura suffocating him, Kang Mungu was unable to do anything. He had trouble breathing and couldn’t even blink his eyes.
However, since Yu Jitae’s gaze remained only on Kang Mungu, Riyachana was able to come back to her senses. She was a superhuman who had experienced the war as a daughter of a countryside village head, who had also stood firm for 20 years within a group of vicious soldiers.
The sentries were yet to move. It was because they had sensed a new incident from the man’s mouth, and because the man wasn’t as violent as he first seemed. If he turned uncontrollably violent, that’s when the sentries would begin to act.
As long as he didn’t, it was her job as the director of the munitions department to persuade and calm the man down.
“T, there is one question I would like to ask…”
Her voice shivered but the meaning went across. The beast slowly turned his eyes.
“H, how was it proved that the following object was a defective product?”
“What?”
“From the delivery to being distributed to the cadets, all artifacts go through multiple stages of ‘circuit check’. T, they are analysed by machines that cost millions of dollars, but there isn’t any evidence backing up your claim, Mister Guardian. Isn’t it possible that only one was defective?”
The Regressor looked away from Kang Mungu.
Then, he stared at Riyachana for some time, before taking the protective necklaces out from his pocket. It was the ones that had belonged to Sophia, Soujiro and Kim Ji-in excluding Yeorum’s necklace that had exploded.
“Good words.”
He hung the three necklaces around Kang Mungu’s neck.
“Uh, uhh…?”
Befuddlement appeared in their gazes.
“Director Riyachana. If you’re doubtful, checking it right now on the spot is an option.”
“Uhh…”
“What. You have to stay still. What’s wrong.”
“I, it’s…!”
In shock, Kang Mungu brought his trembling hands to his neck. Yu Jitae slowly held onto his hands and grabbed it. Following a sharp shriek, the bones were broken.
“Stay still. You said you didn’t do anything.”
A few of the staff members had already fainted on the spot and were being supported by the ones next to them.
Yu Jitae turned back to Riyachana.
“Please come and destroy the protective necklace, Director.”
“That’s…”
“Then, a protective shield will appear, and save Team Leader Kang Mungu.”
“…”
Her doubt rapidly vanished.
Riyachana looked at Kang Mungu and hesitated.
If it really was defective as Yu Jitae had said, it would be detonated the moment it was destroyed and kill Kang Mungu in the process. If he was right, a colleague whom she had been working with, would die in her hands.
Kang Mungu was about to open his mouth and say something but Yu Jitae did not allow it. He reached forth and covered his mouth. While Riyachana was hesitant, Yu Jitae grabbed Kang Mungu by his arm and revealed his back.
Then, he kicked a weapon that had been dropped by a guard and sent it to Riyachana.
“Come here and destroy it. If the shield protects the team leader, that means I’m just a crazy idiot that did random nonsense. I’ll take responsibility for everything that happened here today, and I’ll follow everyone that came here obediently.”
The director who was suddenly made to hold the weapon didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t any concrete or clear evidence, but she had a strong gut feeling that dissuaded her from destroying it.
“What’s the hesitation for.”
But the man’s voice was like a sticky poison that forced her to make a decision.
“This, it’s a protective necklace right.”
Riyachana couldn’t look into his eyes.
Kwakakang–!
It was then.
The ceiling of the seventh floor crumbled down as a large man fell in between Yu Jitae and Riyachana. Carrying a large blue shield and having a fluctuating aura of mana, the enormous man with a rigid expression gazed down at Yu Jitae.
“Please stop there. Mister Guardian.”
It was the director of the sentries, Sillardo Leo.