Chapter 20 Part 1: Commission – Innocent

A leisurely afternoon with the sun shining brightly.

Haran and I were sitting in the office, leisurely sunbathing.

“It’s so peaceful…….”

“There’s no work, so it can’t be helped. …Ah, this is delicious.”

Slurp.

When I drank the coffee that Haran made, I felt the unique scent of high-quality coffee that I hadn’t felt for a long time, making my mouth happy.

I used to taste things that I doubted where they were made, what they were made of, and even if they contained coffee ingredients, so it felt more delicious because I was drinking coffee that was actually made by grinding coffee beans.

…From now on, it might be better to leave the coffee making to Haran.

“Where did you get it?”

“It was hidden in the corner of the tea chest. I think it was something the landlord had. The guy who lived in a place like this used good coffee?”

“Criminals are all the same. I’m not surprised.”

No matter how much assets they have over hundreds of millions, criminals don’t try to move to a good house if they can help it.

The better the place, the better the security, so it becomes difficult to commit crimes.

Because they don’t use the money they earned by getting blood on their hands because they cherish it, it was a fairly common sight to see expensive items packed inside a dilapidated house.

“By the way, it’s peaceful….”

“Stop chanting that it’s peaceful and leisurely like that.”

“Yes? Why?”

“There’s a superstition that requests are bound to happen if you say things like that.”

Haran looked at me in surprise as if she didn’t think I would believe in superstitions.

“What’s with that expression. Is it so strange that I believe in superstitions?”

“Of course it’s strange! Isn’t that as absurd as the story that a machine has fallen into religion?!”

“…I roughly know what you mean, but did you have to use that example?”

For a moment, the thought that I might have said something I shouldn’t have crossed my mind.

As expected, Haran was looking at me with strange eyes as if she was amazed that I, who was spewing out superstitions, was amazing.

If this continues, she’s going to keep watching me endlessly.

I sighed and decided to explain why I was spouting superstitions.

“Of course everyone knows that it’s a ridiculous story. It was just a story that mercenaries usually said to each other. To blame others.”

“Yes? Blame others?”

“Yeah. Work isn’t always just good things, right?”

It’s true that I have to work to live and earn money.

This was especially true for mercenaries. They’re not employees of a company, and they don’t earn money just by sitting still.

As freelancers who have to constantly prove their value by carrying out requests, mercenaries always had to carry out requests.

They have to carry out requests if they want to earn money too.

However, that doesn’t mean that mercenaries welcome requests. It would be more correct to say that they avoid them.

“Unlike other freelancers, the work that mercenaries do usually puts their lives at stake.”

“Ah…”

“If something goes wrong, their heads and bodies may say goodbye, but even though it’s something they have to do, they don’t want to welcome it, right?”

“I think I know. It’s similar to awakened.”

“Then it’ll be easy to understand.”

Haran nodded her head up and down as if she understood perfectly.

Yes. If freelancers who create designs fail, they won’t get paid, or they can just listen to the client’s requests for revisions and create it again.

But if mercenaries fail, it’s at least an arm.

“I have to, but I don’t want to. That’s why that kind of superstition was created. Don’t talk about not having work. It’s just complaining.”

Ding-dong.

Right after I finished speaking, as if to aim for it, a visitor came to the office.

Looking at the CCTV installed outside the door, there was a man I was seeing for the first time.

He was looking around and paying attention to his surroundings, holding a document envelope preciously in his arms.

“It really came. It’s not bad to believe in superstitions sometimes.”

“Oh my god…. Please wait a moment!”

Haran, who was muttering as if she couldn’t believe it, quickly realized that this wasn’t the time to do this and started preparing to greet the guest.

Her recovery is so fast. I like her more and more.

Leaving behind Haran’s busy movements, I opened the front door to welcome the guest.

“Welcome to the revenge agency service. Is there something you want?”

“…Um, um. I came with Yoon Hyun-ssi’s introduction.”

“Yoon Hyun?”

“He said you would know if I said the first customer…”

Aha.

It seems that the seeds I planted are bringing in a new request.

I was happy with the first customer’s actions of faithfully paying the request fee, so I smiled brightly and welcomed him.

“You’ve come to the right place. First, let’s sit down and talk…”

“…Before that, there’s one thing I want to ask.”

“Yes?”

The client, who had a weak-looking impression, looked around as if he was still anxious and asked me a question.

“Can you really take revenge? …Neatly.”

“Aha. So you’re asking that?”

Is it because there are no results yet except for the first customer?

This client looked like he was wondering if I could really achieve what he wanted.

Then, I have to answer him.

“Don’t worry. If it’s a legitimate request, I’ll kill anyone.”

“…I hope so.”

“Well, shall we talk about the details while sitting down? It’s a bit hard to talk while standing.”

What kind of things did this customer go through that he craves revenge so much?

Even though he has a weak-looking impression, his face became vicious in an instant as soon as he brought up the story about revenge.

I wonder what he went through that he’s doing that?

The appearance of receiving the refreshments that Haran handed over and greeting her was a normal person in itself no matter how you look at it.

“Th, thank you.”

“Please tell me if there’s not enough or you don’t like the taste. There are other snacks too.”

“No, it’s okay. It tastes good.”

When the second client took a sip of the coffee and made a surprised expression, I felt proud for no reason.

Yeah, it’s delicious. Haran’s skills are pretty good.

“…Where should I start the story?”

“Take your time. There’s plenty of time.”

“I was a teacher at a high school.”

Was?

Seeing that it’s in the past tense, it seems that he’s not currently a teacher.

Judging by his weak-looking impression, he might have been tormented a lot by the students when he was a teacher.

“Was means…”

“Yes. That’s right. I’m unemployed now. …It’s not that I became unemployed because I wanted to.”

“Were you dismissed?”

“Wa, wait a moment. Ella-ssi?!”

“There’s no need to do that. It’s the truth. Yes, I was dismissed.”

A teacher being dismissed.

Considering that even public officials who committed a big enough crime to be on the news mostly end up with disciplinary action or salary cuts, it seems that he committed a terribly big mistake.

“The reason?”

“…Do I have to tell this story?”

“Yes. We need to hear the client’s circumstances in detail so that we can know how to handle the work.”

The client was hesitant to speak, constantly hesitating whether it was really okay to say it or not, so I just enjoyed the snacks with the coffee.

With the intention of waiting until he tells me.

Whether it was because he made a decision after seeing that appearance, the client closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth.

“Sexual harassment.”

“Ah, if it’s that, it’s definitely grounds for dismissal. It’s understandable.”

“…You’re not surprised?”

“I don’t think there’s any reason for me to be surprised after hearing that story. Because it can’t be what you did.”

There’s no way he’s a pervert with a strange taste who wants to come all the way to a place like this and let you know that he’s a criminal.

It’s obviously a false charge.

As if my expectations weren’t wrong, even though the client nodded, his heart rate was always beating consistently, except for when he was excited a while ago.

“That’s right. No one believed me, but I really didn’t do it. I’m innocent.”

“But you lost in court?”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

The document envelope he was preciously holding in his arms.

He took out the documents contained in that document envelope and showed them to us.

“What is this?”

“It’s the victim’s information. Her name is Lee Da-hye. She is currently 23 years old. She was 19 years old at the time of the incident.”

The fact that he took out this woman’s documents here means that this woman is the victim.

And, if the perpetrator didn’t do anything in reality, there can’t be a victim.

That means….

“Is this woman the target of revenge?”

“That’s right. That kid…trampled on my life.”

Whether it was because the sorrowful emotions came over him, he opened his mouth in a trembling voice, shedding tears.

“No one, no one believed that I didn’t do it. No matter how much I insisted on my innocence…I was ignored as a s*x offender’s struggle.”

“I was dismissed from the lectern that I had climbed up by studying all my life, and when I was locked up in prison, I wanted to die. Really.”

“You can’t die. It’s unfair.”

“…Yes, that’s right. It was unfair. I couldn’t die because it was unfair. I wanted to take revenge on that kid no matter what. On that kid who I regret even teaching at one time.”

He stared intently at the documents without even thinking of wiping away the constantly flowing tears.

At a photo of a young female student smiling brightly.

As if he really wanted to tear her apart and kill her if she was in front of him, staining both of his eyes red.