It definitely seemed like something serious had happened. The fact that bright lights were still spilling out late into the night was proof enough.
Normally, in the second week, users without proper qualifications—like me—aren’t even allowed near the User Academy. But given the circumstances, they made an exception after a strict verification process, and I was finally allowed in.
“Mercenary Lord has arrived.”
The guide opened the door, and inside, I saw ten users already seated.
There was Lee Hyo-eul, looking exhausted, and a woman with her head bowed so deeply I couldn’t tell who she was.
Likewise, Ahn Hyun had his head down, and Ha-yeon’s face was grim.
Jo Sung-ho sat with his eyes closed, while a man with a sneering expression sat nearby. Next to him was a confident-looking woman—I vaguely remembered seeing her before; she was probably a diplomatic officer from the Goryeo Clan.
And then there were three men who looked like rookies, their faces tinged with anxiety.
An awkward silence filled the room. I said nothing and quietly took a seat beside Ha-yeon. No one spoke. Only Jo Sung-ho opened his eyes briefly and gave a slight nod.
Returning the gesture, I shifted my gaze to Lee Hyo-eul.
After scratching his head a few times, Lee Hyo-eul spoke softly.
“Well, now that the Mercenary Lord has arrived, shall we get into the details…?”
“Is that really necessary? We’ve already gone over the situation thoroughly, haven’t we?”
The one who cut him off was the woman sitting next to Jo Sung-ho. With her usual confident smirk, she looked at me and slid a document across the table.
“Mercenary Lord, I’m Kim Min-seo, chief instructor of the User Academy and diplomatic officer of the Goryeo Clan. This is a report detailing the circumstances of the incident. Please take a look, and if you have anything to say, feel free.”
“If you have anything to say, feel free,” she said.
I crossed my arms and glanced down at the report.
[Incident Summary]
Kim Sung-woo, Lim Eun-kyu, and Joo Yeon-ho (hereafter “the three”) consensually engaged in sexual relations with Cha Hee-young in a warehouse.
Han Chae-hyuk (Goryeo Clan member) accidentally discovered this. At first, he approached to help Cha Hee-young but stopped upon hearing it was consensual.
At that moment, Ahn Hyun (Mercenary Clan member) burst in for the same reason as Han Chae-hyuk. Ignoring Han’s attempts to explain, he threatened the three with a weapon. Han, following User Academy rules, had no choice but to defend Cha Hee-young and the three.
During this, Han and the three were subjected to one-sided violence by Ahn Hyun.
Skimming through, a sudden, inexplicable smile crept onto my face. I saw no need to read further and flicked the report away. It landed neatly in front of Kim Min-seo.
She smiled warmly and looked at me.
“You’ve already read it?”
“I’d heard some of it beforehand. Nothing much has changed.”
“Yes, you’ve definitely read it. Hohoho.”
“…”
I closed my eyes briefly. Perhaps thinking she’d won, Kim Min-seo spoke confidently.
“Anyway, this is what we’ve established so far. No additional evidence has come to light. If these circumstances are accepted as fact, we will demand two things from the Mercenary Clan: first, the immediate expulsion of all Mercenary Clan members from the User Academy; second, an official apology from the Mercenary Lord. That’s all.”
Her tone was more of a declaration than a discussion—Ahn Hyun’s guilt was already assumed.
I picked up the water bottle in front of me and took a light sip, then glanced discreetly at Ahn Hyun. He still kept his head bowed.
“That’s only if these circumstances are accepted as fact. I think it’s premature to jump to conclusions.”
“Premature? But as I said, no further evidence has come up…”
“Are you joking? You keep calling it ‘circumstances,’ but circumstances aren’t facts. They can’t serve as proof. I don’t understand why you insist on building a case solely on that.”
“…Is that so?”
Kim Min-seo let out a sharp breath, clearly stung but trying to maintain composure. She shrugged and continued.
“So, Mercenary Lord, are you saying you don’t accept this report?”
“Of course not. Because…”
I set the water bottle down firmly and kept my gaze on Ahn Hyun as I spoke quietly.
“The Ahn Hyun I know wouldn’t do something like that.”
At that moment, Ahn Hyun’s body twitched noticeably.
“Pfft! Do you really think that makes sense…?”
“What I mean is, we need to hear our side of the story too.”
I spoke firmly, and finally, Ahn Hyun slowly lifted his head. I met his eyes briefly, then scanned the room.
I wasn’t saying Ahn Hyun was innocent on a whim. From the moment I entered, I’d been watching everyone closely.
Han Chae-hyuk and the three men looked nervous, somehow on edge. Cha Hee-young’s face was mostly hidden, but the glimpses I caught showed slight swelling and faint bruises.
That suggested she had resisted, which cast doubt on the claim of consensual relations.
It was only a possibility for now, but I was certain we needed to hear Ahn Hyun’s side.
Then—
“Before that, Mercenary Lord, there are some points you must consider before hearing from the Qi Engineer.”
A low, cold voice echoed through the room.
The speaker was Jo Sung-ho. When Lee Hyo-eul and I nodded, he calmly picked up a document detailing the circumstances and gave a brief, bitter smile.
That sudden smile stuck in my mind—it clearly carried an apology.
“Mercenary Lord, sorry to bring this up now, but some corrections are needed. This report only contains statements from Han Chae-hyuk and the three men. There’s nothing from the Qi Engineer or Cha Hee-young.”
Then came the bombshell.
Everyone in the room turned to Jo Sung-ho in surprise. But he remained unfazed and continued.
“The Qi Engineer said he’d speak when the Mercenary Lord arrived. As for Cha Hee-young… I just got here, so I don’t know if she’s been threatened or is just in shock. But so far, she hasn’t disputed any statements. So, as the Mercenary Lord said, it’s only right to hear from the Qi Engineer as well.”
“Clan Lord?”
“And also—”
“Clan Lord! What are you saying…?”
Kim Min-seo stared at Jo Sung-ho with a sharp voice but soon froze. Instead, Jo Sung-ho glared back coldly, then looked at Lee Hyo-eul and me in turn before bowing his head slowly.
“I apologize on behalf of the diplomatic officer for the earlier disrespect. I’m truly sorry.”
I watched Jo Sung-ho with mild interest. That bitter smile from earlier came back to me.
Maybe Jo Sung-ho had the same thought I did.
Once we heard Ahn Hyun’s side and began verifying the circumstances, their position would become increasingly precarious.
Jo Sung-ho had also been directly involved in the Baek Seo-yeon incident, led by the Mercenaries. He knew well that uncovering the truth wouldn’t be difficult if we wanted.
So, Jo Sung-ho had made the most clan-leader-like decision in this situation.
He sighed deeply, signaling he was done speaking. I tapped the table and spoke.
“Ahn Hyun. Now that I’m here, you can speak freely, right?”
“Yes. I will tell the truth.”
Ahn Hyun answered obediently, and I prepared to begin the interrogation.
“Why did you go to the warehouse?”
“I was on patrol.”
“A patrol? By an assistant?”
“Ha-yeon noona asked me to.”
Ha-yeon nodded quickly, as if confirming his words. It wasn’t entirely implausible, so I accepted it.
“What did you see there?”
“…I saw user Han Chae-hyuk and the three men forcibly assaulting Cha Hee-young.”
“But the report says it was consensual.”
“What I saw was nothing like that. Cha Hee-young kept resisting and even begged me for help from where I was watching.”
“Then why didn’t you report this earlier?”
“…At first, I claimed innocence, but Cha Hee-young didn’t respond or testify at all. So, following Ha-yeon noona’s advice, I waited for the Clan Lord to arrive.”
As Ahn Hyun said, Cha Hee-young remained silent throughout. Whether she was threatened or too shocked to speak, I didn’t know.
Either way, with her silence, Ahn Hyun’s testimony could be damaging—or she might have been coerced into fabricating a story. In that light, Ha-yeon’s decision to keep Ahn Hyun quiet was a reasonable choice.
Because, in the end, the truth would come out.
I pressed on.
“So, you went in to protect her and ended up assaulting them?”
“I did go in to protect her, but it wasn’t a one-sided attack.”
“Lies! You were the one who attacked me first with that black spear…!”
“Quiet!”
Han Chae-hyuk suddenly shouted, sensing the tension rising. But before he could finish, Jo Sung-ho’s sharp voice cut through, silencing him instantly.
Han Chae-hyuk looked at Jo Sung-ho with eyes full of injustice, but Jo Sung-ho, still wearing a cold expression, nodded toward Ahn Hyun as if to say, “Go ahead.”
After clearing his throat once or twice, Ahn Hyun cautiously began to speak.
“At first, I went in and identified myself, asking them to stop. But the user, Han Chae-hyuk, just brushed me off, saying it was none of my business. The three others didn’t listen to me either. It’s true that I drew my weapon first, but only to protect Cha Hee-young—nothing more, nothing less.”
“Keep going.”
“In the end, I tried to use my spear to separate those three, but then suddenly Han Chae-hyuk charged at me. That’s when the fight broke out…”
“Then what do you mean by ‘one-sided assault’?”
Ahn Hyun clicked his tongue and hesitated for a moment before speaking reluctantly, as if he had no choice.
“Well… I’m just too weak. I only swung lightly two or three times, but he suddenly collapsed…”
“Hmph.”
I thought to myself. So that’s how it was. Well, regardless, it was still a one-sided assault.
I let out a soft chuckle and shifted my gaze to Kim Min-seo.
“As you’ve heard, this is our side of the story.”
“Ho… hoho… That’s quite different from our version.”
“Not just a little different—very different. Anyway, there’s no need to drag this out any longer. It’s time to move on to verifying whose account is accurate.”
“Y-yeah, I suppose so.”
Where had her earlier confidence gone? Kim Min-seo nodded reluctantly. Judging by her expression, I could piece together the situation.
Jo Sung-ho had just arrived. Kim Min-seo was the chief instructor of this user academy. By protocol, the chief instructor holds authority and responsibility over incidents occurring within the academy. So, the incident report likely reached Kim Min-seo first.
It seemed Kim Min-seo had been trying to steer the incident in her favor, but that was a dangerously naive approach when dealing with me and Jo Sung-ho.
Kim Min-seo shot a resentful glance at Jo Sung-ho, then subtly checked my reaction.
“Th-then, how do you plan to verify the facts…?”
“There are many ways. We could have an archer investigate the scene for traces, or use mental magic to probe the mind.”
“B-but traces are only circumstantial evidence, not facts. And using mental magic risks contaminating the user’s mind. So we reject both methods.”
“Hmm.”
I stroked my chin thoughtfully. Kim Min-seo’s eyes flashed once, then she quickly turned to Cha Hee-young and continued.
“R-right now, the only way is to hear from Cha Hee-young herself…”
“We refuse that.”
“W-what did you say?”
“Judging by her condition, the shock seems severe. If this had been a consensual matter, I don’t understand why she’d be so shaken… Anyway, I have a better method.”
There was no way I’d allow it. As the victim in this incident, Cha Hee-young’s testimony would be the strongest evidence. But even if she testified, that wouldn’t guarantee the truth. In other words, there was a risk she could be coaxed into giving unfavorable testimony.
“Clan Lord, forgive my interference, but there are still a few Crystals of Truth left in the mercenary warehouse.”
“Oh, that’s perfect.”
Hyun had apparently caught on when I mentioned a better method and jumped in at just the right moment. I nodded in approval, then folded my hands together. Fixing my gaze on Kim Min-seo, who was biting her lip, I spoke calmly.
“To determine the exact facts of this incident, I propose we use the Crystals of Truth. Of course, we will bear all the costs.”
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Dear readers, I appreciate your feedback, but please, let’s avoid fighting. ㅜ.ㅠ Everyone interprets the story differently, so naturally, there will be a variety of opinions. It’s simply a matter of differing perspectives, and excessive criticism isn’t productive. I hope this comment section can be a place where we respect each other’s views. (__)