Justice 2

It was something that had to be faced someday.

Something she had prepared for since the moment she claimed to be the owner of the Falling Star Sword.

In a sense, the catalyst for her reincarnation.

The reason she came to live as Han Suho’s older sister.

Unraveling all the secrets of this world.

The final gate to reach the conclusion.

If the story had progressed as originally intended, it would have been something she would face a year later.

Not anymore.

The villains who would have appeared persistently over a long time have long since died.

Characters who didn’t exist in the original work are in the world.

Therefore.

Although she doesn’t know why, even though it suddenly came as reality.

“Yes…”

Han Seoyeon wasn’t terribly surprised.

There was only a bit of contemplation and hesitation.

“I understand, Professor.”

Soon, she calmly accepted it.

“I’ll escort you. It’s a private interview at the principal’s home, so it would be troublesome to walk.”

“Thank you.”

“…No. There’s no need to thank me.”

It’s not an entirely shameless expression.

Seo Nanhwa shook her head and spoke in a somewhat subdued tone.

“Excuse me while you’re speaking.”

Just as they were about to set out.

Michaela asked.

“May I accompany you as well?”

“What…?”

Seo Nanhwa blinked blankly for a moment, then firmly answered.

“No. Only Han Seoyeon student was invited.”

“Then could you ask once for me?”

“…That’s a bit of a difficult request?”

Neither of them showed any sign of backing down.

However, objectively speaking, it was the student, not the professor, who was being unreasonable.

“Michaela.”

Han Seoyeon opened her mouth softly, trying to calm her lover.

“I’m fine─”

“No.”

“…”

“Absolutely not. Never.”

It didn’t get through at all.

If anything, her words seemed to stimulate Michaela a bit more.

“I don’t want to regret being apart from you anymore.”

“…Michaela.”

“No matter what happens, I’ll be with you. Definitely.”

Words mixed with love and obsession.

It wasn’t unpleasant.

How could it be unpleasant?

“Professor, do you remember the recent terrorist attack?”

“Of course. Why?”

“During that terrorist attack, I went to Japan with Seoyeon.”

“So what?”

“I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t protect Seoyeon.”

Obsession from a loved one.

There’s no more ecstatic moment for a girl in love than this.

“Due to the terrorist’s scheme to separate us, I was briefly separated from Seoyeon. Now, I don’t want to leave Seoyeon alone again.”

Michaela continued logically.

“Haa…”

Adding the minimum plausibility to persuade the professor.

Michaela firmly held Han Seoyeon’s hand.

So that they would never be separated.

“Don’t regret it.”

Seeing this, Seo Nanhwa made a phone call.

She’s still dreaming.

The flower girl is before her eyes.

Lily was a mature child.

Feeling even more mature than adults.

The reason was extremely simple.

It was because Lily was strong.

Far superior to her peer Awakeners.

She skillfully utilized her ability and mana.

As if she knew the monsters’ weaknesses, she easily achieved victory.

“Splendid! I can’t help but admire your hunting skills today as well!”

“All those monsters, in an instant…!”

“A-Amazing! As expected of Lily!”

All party members praise her in unison.

Lee Yeon also respected her as a comrade.

“Good job, Lily.”

“…Yeah.”

However, despite showing such great achievements.

Lily always seemed drained of energy.

“Want to eat a snack together?”

“…Sorry.”

She always only had words of apology on her lips.

Even though her achievements were worthy of being called heroic.

As if she was steeped in guilt.

Like someone who had committed a crime.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize for such things.”

“…”

Lily had a blunt and quiet personality.

But people can’t live without conversation.

“Ah, I’m bored…”

Especially when heading to the battlefield.

Without conversation, one would die of boredom.

“Come to think of it, I’ve been curious about this for a while…”

So the children wanted to talk with Lily.

“Lily, where are you from?”

The only foreigner in the party.

Yet despite her young age, she has no problem communicating.

“Ah, I’m absolutely not asking with any intention of racial discrimination or anything like that! Just, I’m curious. Since it’s an English name, I wondered if you’re from England or America…”

The world after the Gate was exclusive.

Especially the treatment of foreigners was not good.

It was a kind of division.

To divert citizens’ eyes from issues like forced conscription, labor exploitation, and rationing.

An easy target, easy to discriminate against.

A burden eating away at others’ rice bowls in a foreign country.

That was Korea’s attitude towards foreigners at that time.

“…Sorry. I can’t answer.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m the one who’s sorry for asking something unnecessary.”

So.

At that time, they let it slide.

“Although it’s not much of a substitute, I do have a story to tell to pass the time.”

“Oh…!”

Not that she didn’t want to answer.

Her words that she couldn’t answer.

“A story from Lily? This I can’t miss!”

“I want to hear it too!”

“M-Me too!”

“…I hope you don’t have such high expectations. It’s nothing much. Just a trivial story.”

With a somehow lonely.

And forlorn expression.

“Once upon a time, in a distant past.”

Lily begins to tell.

“There lived a beautiful Star Queen…”

The scene flows.

Tragedy descended suddenly.

Her younger sister died.

“Don’t make me laugh!”

She gets angry.

Seo Nanhwa, who was always sly.

“It’s as good as you killed her! That child wasn’t even ten years old yet! She needed a guardian! And what? Because the operation is important, hold the funeral later? Is that something to say in front of a sister who just lost her sibling!”

“…Calm down. They are merely messengers.”

He lowers his voice.

Seo Han-byeol, who was always energetic.

“Taking out your anger on them is meaningless.”

“Does this look like something I can calm down about!”

They argue, raising their voices.

The twin sisters who were always close.

■■■■■■■■■─────!

The calamity reveals itself.

“…Ah, ah.”

A sturdy muscular body reminiscent of a gorilla’s muscles

A head with horns like a goat, or a demon from the Bible.

Arms and legs made of sturdy iron chunks.

“It’s impossible. There’s no way we can win against something like that…”

Han Yuseol falls to her knees.

The divided party is ravaged by the calamity that has struck.

“No, I don’t want to die…!”

And.

“Behemoth. I didn’t expect such a mutant to appear. …No, perhaps they created it artificially and then released it.”

Lily mutters.

Words that make no sense.

“I’m sorry, until the very end. Because of me.”

She says again.

That she’s sorry.

“It was short, but I enjoyed being with you all.”

What on earth is she sorry for?

“Lil─”

Then, she disappears.

She faces the monster in a suicide attack.

That was the end.

And it was the beginning.

“…It doesn’t matter.”

She wakes from sleep.

Lee Yeon grasped the continuously ringing communication device.

“That child had something to see too, after all.”

The naive girl died there.

An avenger wearing the mask of an iron-willed person was born.

Hunter Management Bureau Headquarters.

A building symbolizing the order of a new era, built by demolishing the Constitutional Court.

Inside, Hunters were busy with their daily routines.

As all Hunter operations in South Korea are overseen from this one building, it’s no wonder they’re busy.

Han Seoyeon and Michaela walked following Seo Nanhwa’s guidance.

They took the elevator and headed to the top floor of the Management Bureau.

The Director’s office.

On the table piled high with documents, only an empty chair sits lonely.

“Follow me. This isn’t the end.”

Only a handful of Bureau members have the authority to enter the Director’s office.

Beyond that Director’s office, in the hidden space, only one person besides the Director, Lee Yeon, has the authority to enter.

Even the Guild Support Team Leader, considered to have the strongest power in the Hunter Management Bureau, doesn’t have the authority to enter this place.

No, they don’t even know this place exists in the first place.

She opens a hidden door.

Troublesomely, there were stairs going down again from the top floor.

Those stairs, not connected to any other floor, were made solely to access one place.

From the top floor to the first floor, and then underground.

To an eerie underground space that doesn’t exist in the publicly known design of the Hunter Management Bureau.

What eventually comes into view are experimental facilities of unknown purpose, but easily guessable, and.

A glass container holding something in the shape of a girl.

“It’s been a while since we’ve faced each other directly like this.”

Right in front of it, the hero reveals herself.

Red hair spreading like a lion’s mane symbolizes bravery.

Sharp and fierce golden eyes indicate coolness.

“Michaela Ernst von Wittelsbach, and Han Seoyeon.”

Goosebumps and pressure came simultaneously.

The pressure squeezing their breath penetrates their skin.

In reality, no actual harm was done to their bodies.

That’s why it’s even more absolute.

The pressure that spreads to surrounding living beings just by revealing herself and uttering a few words.

“Principal.”

“Principal… You don’t need to call me that. There’s no need to pretend anymore.”

Even knowing, they can’t cope.

Because that’s what a hero is.

“Isn’t that right, Reincarnator?”