Justice 1

The extraordinary life named “original work” disappears.

Daily life flows peacefully.

Han Seoyeon enjoyed her life as an utterly ordinary Academy student.

Attending classes like a normal student.

Gathering together to eat lunch when it’s time.

Occasionally going to hunting grounds to hunt together.

And volunteering at the orphanage.

With Han Suho, Baek Da-eun, Lee Ha-yul, Yoo Sua, Blossom.

And Michaela.

Spending such days.

Time flew by like an arrow.

Like the calm before the storm.

Again.

Lee Yeon sensed that she would dream again.

Was it because her long-cherished wish would soon be fulfilled?

Was it because she was unconsciously excited, unlike her usual self?

Or else.

Was there some other reason she didn’t know?

The reason is unknown.

A lucid dream begins without knowing the reason.

Honestly, a foreign name is difficult to call.

It feels awkward to naturally come out of one’s mouth.

But it’s also inconvenient to always call both the surname and given name together.

So it’s rare for someone to call her by just her given name.

“Yeon…!”

Moreover.

There’s only one person who calls that name with a sobbing voice.

“Are you conscious! Yeon…!”

“…Yuseol.”

Han Yuseol.

The girl with a small build, unchanged now as before, appears.

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

An extremely awkward tone naturally comes out.

There’s no authority.

The same tone as girls of the same age.

“Thank you for worrying.”

“Thank goodness…!”

It couldn’t be helped.

At this time, she was still young.

Just a child soldier.

“Because of me, you, you…!”

Han Yuseol was a tender-hearted girl.

As tender as her heart, she wasn’t strong in terms of combat power.

Her eyes read the flow of mana.

In battles with monsters, this ability is close to momentary future prediction.

However, apart from her ability, Han Yuseol’s individual combat power is too low.

She alone cannot fight and win against monsters.

That’s why they formed a team.

Han Yuseol gives instructions, and the vanguard engages in combat based on this.

“If I had noticed a little faster…!”

However, everyone makes mistakes sometimes.

They’re just girls around elementary school age, after all.

“It’s not your fault.”

“But, because of me…!”

“You don’t need to blame yourself so much.”

They’re alive.

At that time, that was enough.

“Look, I’m alive with all my limbs intact.”

In a world where powerless adults casually push powerful children into the battlefield, one couldn’t whine about minor injuries.

“That’s right!”

A energetic voice is heard.

Even without seeing the face, one can tell whose it is.

It’s Seo Han-byeol.

“Excessive self-deprecation is not good! Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they!”

“So noisy…”

The voice that seems to be fed up with this next to her can also be immediately recognized just by hearing it.

It’s Seo Nanhwa.

“Failure is the mother of success, isn’t it!”

“…Well, it might not immediately resonate with you, but it’s not entirely wrong.”

The sisters with completely different personalities were always the mood makers of the party, bickering.

“Just don’t do it next time, next time.”

“…But!”

“Ah, how frustrating! The injured person herself says it’s fine, what are you so worried about!”

And.

One more person.

“You say something too! Lily!”

The foreigner who can no longer be met.

The girl with the name of a flower.

“That’s right…”

Blue hair that shimmers as if not of this world sways gently.

Blue eyes that seem to directly contain mana sparkle.

“You are not bad.”

“Yeah, that’s right, so relax and rest for now! Hurry!”

Lily.

She takes in the unforgettable voice of the girl.

“…You all are not bad, not at all.”

So that no one else can hear.

Lee Yeon doesn’t miss that single sentence muttered softly alone.

“It’s open.”

On a night when the sun has completely set.

Hearing a voice from inside, Han Yuseol opened the door and entered.

An office neatly arranged with antique furniture that seems to fully reflect the owner’s taste.

Looking at the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa placed in the center, Han Yuseol said.

“…What business did you call me for, Major General?”

“Well. First, why don’t you sit down?”

Major General Kim Wan-seung, still seated, offered Han Yuseol a seat.

There was no need to refuse, so Yuseol sat down and faced him.

“You were so uncooperative before.”

“I flatly refuse targeted investigations, that’s all.”

A smile was on Han Yuseol’s face, but one of her eyelids twitched slightly.

Major General Kim Wan-seung didn’t make any particular reply.

However.

“What…”

Major General Kim Wan-seung threw a file folder on the desk with a thud.

The documents inside spilled out to the side from the collision with the desk.

“…This, what on earth.”

Han Yuseol’s smile slowly distorts.

She then skimmed through the documents in order.

“No way…!”

The contents written in the documents were all of a kind that could not be understood.

It was reminiscent of conspiracy theories with no sense of reality.

Don’t terrorists or naive young people sometimes say this?

That this country could become strong thanks to something inappropriate like human experiments.

The contents of the documents are no different.

“Lies, this, such things…”

Just, to someone involved, all of these contents had a level of detail that couldn’t be dismissed as mere conspiracy theories.

No, that’s not all.

Information about the foundation of Gates and monsters that had never been revealed before, top-secret information from the Bureau that even she couldn’t access with her authority, and more than that─.

“It’s true. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

Major General Kim Wan-seung replied as if it was nothing.

“…What are you plotting, Major General?”

“You’re saying strange things. I’m the one being used. Not the one doing it.”

“Then why did you show me something like this?”

“A small deviation, a deviation.”

He took out a cigarette.

Click, the lighter ignites.

“You see, I’m a very cowardly person. A small-town citizen. The position of general is too much for me. It’s just that all the original guys in charge were human trash, so I had no choice but to take over.”

The state of emergency right after the Gate.

The stars that couldn’t even protect the country fell to the ground.

In fact, he himself wasn’t much different.

He just didn’t have a moment to participate in low-level evil deeds because his rank was low.

The excuse that his rank was second lieutenant doesn’t hold.

Because he was already an adult at that time.

“We sent children to the battlefield, and turned a blind eye even when they died. Saying it was orders, saying the times were what they were so it couldn’t be helped, defending ourselves like that.”

He just sometimes pretended to hesitate.

He showed that he was different.

Saying he was different from those at the top.

That he was a righteous and good soldier.

Even though the fact was that he pushed children onto the battlefield, fearing what disadvantages there might be if he refused orders.

“It’s the same this time.”

There are always substitutes in all of Lee Yeon’s plans.

Not only her comrades, but Kim Wan-seung is also one of those substitutes.

All those who were related to Lee Yeon at that time are included in her plan.

So it’s nonsensical to talk with them.

“A small deviation, a small self-defense…”

Only one person, Han Yuseol, was not included in that plan.

And thinking about it, she was the only ordinary person who wouldn’t be purged by Lee Yeon even if she learned the secret.

“…That’s all.”

Major General Kim Wan-seung put the cigarette in his mouth.

Then he exhaled a white breath.

“You see, I think this country is good. Even if everything written there is true, it’s at least better than 20 years ago.”

It’s a hundred, thousand times better to catch criminals and conduct human experiments than to send children to the battlefield as meat shields.

“What about you, Hunter Management Bureau Guild Support Team Leader, no…”

The smell of cigarettes permeates.

White breath rises.

“…Miss Han Yuseol.”

It hits the ceiling and then scatters.

Ash falls.

This charade is finally coming to an end.

In the early morning, Seo Nanhwa stretched refreshingly.

Now that the Spear is complete, there’s no reason for her to continue acting as an Academy professor.

It was time to return to her main job.

Either fall into hell alive.

Or fall into hell dead.

Even though there were no other options besides these two.

It’s a black workplace she chose herself.

She has to endure with evil and stubbornness.

Suddenly, while walking down the corridor, she sees an unnecessarily lively face.

“…It’s been a while!”

He even smiles as if glad to see her.

“I’m─!”

Seo Nanhwa ignored Seo Han-byeol and brushed past him as if she hadn’t heard anything.

‘This is why I tried not to run into him as much as possible…’

When was the last time they faced each other, how many years ago was it?

Even mountains change with time.

The resentment from when he was a kid had long been resolved.

‘…Sorry.’

But now they can’t be together.

They shouldn’t even have a single conversation.

The paths they’ve walked are different.

They will continue to be different in the future.

Seo Nanhwa shook her head.

There was something more important than that right now.

“Hey, you who ranked first in the written exam!”

The key holder is an incompetent.

However, he’s also a hero who has saved the Academy from terrorist threats several times.

“The principal is looking for you.”