Ch.3535. The Trial (1)

Jo Sun-do’s gang and all their collaborators were unable to escape Gyeongju and were captured by the Balhut Cult.

Of course, while they couldn’t flee beyond Gyeongju, some remnant forces had hidden in the underground areas of the city, but the Balhut Cult didn’t have the resources to worry about them.

Above all, the captured Jo Sun-do and the atrocities committed by his gang were causing such headaches for all the cult’s executives.

“More than expected. It seems Mr. Jo Sun-do committed numerous crimes in North Gyeongju.”

“I pray that the evil deeds I reported are all false. Is this what someone wearing the mask of humanity does?”

War correspondent Kang Jae-wan’s interviews with various citizens, numerous testimonies, and even video footage and audio recordings were before the executives.

They all provided detailed information about what Jo Sun-do and his gang had done in North Gyeongju.

“In other regions, it’s common for strong Awakened to take control and exploit the weak. However.”

It could be described as a system commonly called “the strong exploiting the weak.”

All resources and supplies were concentrated on Jo Sun-do and his gang at the center, and thanks to pressuring and exploiting the rest, Jo Sun-do was able to become the most powerful Awakened in Gyeongju.

Of course, if it had stopped there, Yu-na and the other executives wouldn’t be so shocked.

“Those who call themselves kings usually don’t plunder their own territory. But Jo Sun-do did just that.”

“…Truly the end of days.”

Yes, plunder.

Jo Sun-do, who called himself king, had no intention of governing or ruling Gyeongju, but rather treated it as his doormat.

He had his gang and collaborators turn all of North Gyeongju’s resources into his own, and the wealth he accumulated was enough to leave even Yu-na and Jeong Dong-geon speechless.

According to Lee Hyeon-a’s calculations, the massive supplies in Jo Sun-do’s warehouse were enough to replenish all the materials the Balhut Cult had spent on this war and still have significant change left over.

For the cult, which operated on a monetary economy, Jo Sun-do’s treasure warehouse was a treasure trove that could complete their current monetary economy and represented physical resources of tremendous value.

“We’ve won big.”

“Because we’ve acquired Jo Sun-do’s warehouse.”

So undeniably, the Balhut Cult had won big against Jo Sun-do.

The Balhut Cult had arrested the king of North Gyeongju, Jo Sun-do, captured most of his gang, and taken possession of his treasure warehouse, so the assessment that they had won big wasn’t wrong.

However, a reality they couldn’t possibly be happy about was approaching.

“But how do we govern North Gyeongju…?”

“It’s troublesome if you ask us that.”

Conversely, the Balhut Cult now had to solve the various problems and messes Jo Sun-do had left behind.

Starting with the refugee problem, the policies and incidents Jo Sun-do had thoughtlessly implemented, and even his gang members who had fled to the underworld—his legacy that wasn’t a legacy.

From now on, the Balhut Cult had to take responsibility for all of it.

“Even drugs. There’s information that they’re being distributed.”

Even the fact that drugs were being distributed in North Gyeongju thanks to Jo Sun-do’s gang’s great work made Yu-na, an ordinary citizen, cover her face in shock.

The executives all turned their faces away from Yu-na’s lament.

“Additionally, there are drug addicts. Yes, this too was spread by Jo Sun-do.”

“Damn it!”

According to the report, North Gyeongju currently had drug addicts who were hooked on the drugs Jo Sun-do had spread.

When Park Cheol-gon somehow managed to convey this fact, Hwang Geun-chul unconsciously blurted out a curse in disbelief.

However, the fact that no one pointed it out showed how much that curse reflected the current feelings of the Balhut Cult.

“If, if there’s an advantage, is it that Jo Sun-do eliminated all his competitors? Haha.”

“On the contrary, it means the only powerful Awakened in North Gyeongju are either Jo Sun-do’s gang members or his collaborators.”

“…Sigh.”

Of course, since Jo Sun-do had voluntarily eliminated any competitors who might challenge his position as king, all that remained in North Gyeongju were small survivor camps or Jo Sun-do’s former collaborators, so there were no forces left that could influence the major trends in Gyeongju.

The cult’s remaining task was to stabilize North Gyeongju, which they had already acquired, and complete the unification of Gyeongju.

In fact, it wasn’t all disadvantages, and thanks to this war, the job problem, which had been a representative issue for the Balhut Cult, was naturally solved, and Yu Su-seong was leading reconstruction workers to rebuild North Gyeongju.

The Balhut Cult was self-evaluating that it was a battle with clear gains and losses.

“How are the North Gyeongju citizens doing?”

“I’ll speak to that.”

When Yu-na asked about the condition of North Gyeongju’s citizens, Han Jun-woo, who was serving as the director of the cult’s hospital, raised his hand and said he would explain directly.

As the director of the only large hospital in South Gyeongju, he was responsible for the health of cult members with the full support of the cult and together with the medical staff working with him.

While Yu-na was in charge of the expedition team’s health, Han Jun-woo and the medical team he led were responsible for the health of the general citizens of South Gyeongju, so he was highly trusted by Yu-na.

“They cannot return to daily life immediately. Everyone needs to rest for at least a month. And they need to undergo psychiatric treatment as well. They’ve all suffered indelible wounds from Jo Sun-do.”

Due to Jo Sun-do’s tyranny and exploitation, most North Gyeongju citizens couldn’t return to daily life immediately.

They were in a state of physical and mental weakness due to malnutrition as well as harsh labor exploitation and sexual exploitation.

According to the doctor, they needed at least a month of rest as well as psychiatric treatment.

“A month. That’s short in peaceful times but too long in the current era.”

“Originally, these people would need intensive treatment for a long time. Even a month is a timeframe that takes the disaster situation into account.”

“Geez, what did that Jo Sun-do do in North Gyeongju?”

Jeong Dong-geon commented that the period was long if considered long and short if considered short in response to Hospital Director Han Jun-woo’s words.

In rebuttal, Han Jun-woo solemnly declared that this was a timeframe calculated taking the apocalyptic disaster into account.

In reality, as Jeong Dong-geon said, a month felt like a long time in this disaster situation, but conversely, they were in such a miserable state that they wouldn’t recover without at least that much rest.

“And even now, many North Gyeongju citizens are heading to the hospital crying for help. Not only the emergency room but even hospital beds are becoming scarce.”

“That’s a serious problem.”

And apparently, a medical crisis was occurring.

The only large hospital in South Gyeongju couldn’t accommodate all the patients coming from North Gyeongju, as most North Gyeongju citizens were essentially patients.

At this rate, there could be North Gyeongju patients dying because they couldn’t receive timely treatment, which could greatly affect the cult’s reputation.

“I’ll have the patients who can’t be accommodated at the hospital housed in the Balhut Cult’s main hall.”

“Are you sure?”

So Yu-na’s decision was swift.

She declared that she would take care of all patients who couldn’t be accommodated at the hospital.

Han Jun-woo, whose expression had been dark, brightened considerably and asked Yu-na if that was okay.

“Yes. I’ll treat them whenever I can. Of course, this could place a significant burden on the expedition team, so for the time being, we won’t conduct external expeditions, and all expedition members with free time will be assigned to the security force.”

“Of course. Restoring order in North Gyeongju comes first.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Of course, this would burden the expedition team members who received treatment from Yu-na, and Yu-na declared a temporary suspension of expeditions for this matter.

Instead, Jeong Dong-geon responded favorably to Yu-na’s declaration that she would deploy the expedition team to maintain order in North Gyeongju.

“By the way, how is the public order in North Gyeongju? Is it bad enough to require the deployment of the expedition team?”

“…It’s chaos itself. Not only are Jo Sun-do’s gang members hiding among the refugees, but there are also underworld organizations that followed Jo Sun-do. To make an example of all of them, the cult will need to make a lot of effort.”

“Wow. Can we really handle this?”

“We must endure it.”

With the king of North Gyeongju gone, wolves had appeared to take his place.

The deployment of the expedition team to correct this might be inevitable.

In response to Jeong Dong-geon’s answer, Yu-na turned her gaze back to Hwang Seung-man.

“Mr. Hwang Seung-man, when can Jo Sun-do’s trial take place?”

“How about 15 days from now? It’s a time when the North Gyeongju citizens who will attend the trial as witnesses can recover to some extent. And also…”

Handwritten documents piled up before them.

They were testimonies and accusations from North Gyeongju citizens detailing Jo Sun-do’s evil deeds.

Of course, there were also scenes captured on video or in photos, so Hwang Seung-man emphasized that he needed to see Jo Sun-do’s evil deeds with his own eyes.

“Plus, considering the criminal evidence collected by war correspondent Kang Jae-wan, organizing all this with our limited manpower is a herculean task. Is Jo Sun-do truly human like us?”

He sighed with a pale face as if nauseated even after viewing only a portion.

Moreover, that was just a part, and there were still evidence videos and interviews from war correspondent Kang Jae-wan.

Reviewing all of this was the role of Hwang Seung-man and the court that followed him.

“It’s so outrageous that I have to repeatedly ask myself if this is reality. Given the situation, it might be understandable… but it’s lamentable.”

“But this is the Balhut Cult’s first trial. Please do your best.”

Conversely, what was lamentable was that this might have been a future he himself could have created if he had been pushed to extreme circumstances.

Now he was doing work related to his specialty, law, under the support of the Balhut Cult and making a living, but without the cult, Hwang Seung-man might not have been much different from Jo Sun-do, a thought that unconsciously crossed his mind.

‘No, even so, not to that extent.’

Nevertheless, Hwang Seung-man thought that what Jo Sun-do had done crossed the line, and as a human being, he had to absolutely deny his actions.

So…

“…Just in case, could Bahamut participate as the judge?”

“Why?”

“Rather than portraying us committing judicial murder, I want to paint a picture where evil deeds are cleared through the stern judgment of a fair dragon god. Of course, it’s not judicial murder but a proper legal proceeding, and we’re not fabricating charges that don’t exist.”

This time, it had to be Bahamut, the dragon god of the cult, not himself as a human, who judged Jo Sun-do.

Even if the cult pronounced a just legal execution or a valid reason, Jo Sun-do himself as well as those who followed or sympathized with him would surely strongly oppose this trial, and the Balhut Cult would always have to fight against that opposition and opposing forces.

“If we’re not careful, it could set a bad precedent. This time, even if we use extreme methods, Jo Sun-do must absolutely pay for his crimes.”

So there was a sufficient possibility that Jo Sun-do’s judgment might be thwarted due to public opinion.

To avoid setting such a precedent, he advised that this time, they should judge Jo Sun-do’s crimes using the extreme method of Bahamut.

Hwang Seung-man thought that this time, Jo Sun-do must be judged in the name of Bahamut, not the cult.

“I understand. Then I’ll ask the god.”

At those words, Yu-na nodded without much thought and accepted.

Rather, it was an opportunity to show the majesty and mercy of Bahamut to the public, so there was no reason to refuse.

With the discussion about Jo Sun-do concluded, the cult meeting came to an end, and as always, Yu-na contacted the god Bahamut to inform him of the current news.

“So much has happened.”

[Indeed. But it will be even harder from now on.]

“I know. Oh, and Mr. Hwang Seung-man asked if Bahamut could attend the trial as the judge.”

[Huh? Uh. Hmm. The reason?]

“He wants to show the public the image of a fair dragon god clearing the criminal’s evil deeds through stern judgment.”

‘What’s that? I don’t know, but it sounds cool.’

Yu-na’s statement struck a chord with Bahamut.

Somehow moved by the cool-sounding words, Bahamut spoke to Yu-na in a somewhat excited voice.

[Ahem. Well, since it’s the most important first trial for the Balhut Cult, my attendance to grace the trial would be for the sake of my contractor.]

He was just attending because it sounded cool.

To be frank, this foolish dragon had no thoughts about it at all.

[I will attend the trial.]

It’s chilling.

It feels like a dagger piercing the heart.

Is this trial really okay?