PASSION Chapter 5 Part 6

Chapter 5 Part 6

Tae-ui could tell immediately. That blood wasn't that man's blood. No, though perhaps quite a bit of his own blood was mixed in too, most was from others' sacrifices.

Not just one person -- three or four. Or even more.

Only then could Tae-ui see behind him, previously hidden by Ilay's broad shoulders and tall frame. Behind him lay two more men besides the recent corpse. They were already dead too. They lay in pools of blood in a more miserable state that made being completely dissected seem preferable.

Recognizing one of their faces, Tae-ui slightly furrowed his brow.

Kipenhan. The instructor from whom he had taken lectures multiple times lay dead there. The one who had likely plotted this situation first apparently hadn't predicted this outcome.

"You called me, Tae-ui. Do you seek me for the same business as them?"

Ilay whispered. Tae-ui, who had been staring at Kipenhan's face, raised his gaze again.

He wore a faint smile. A face he had seen many times before. An expression as ordinary and normal as ever. He stood before Tae-ui with an attitude no different from hours ago.

"Is your business the same as theirs, hmm?"

Ilay asked again. And in that moment Tae-ui suddenly realized.

He had said before. That he didn't feel like fighting now, that it wasn't the time. But his capricious mind could tear out Tae-ui's heart whenever such a mood struck him. And now was that time.

If Tae-ui gave one word of affirmation, he would smile saying "Yes" and pierce Tae-ui's throat.

"...No. I came to see whether you had become a corpse or not."

Tae-ui spoke gruffly. How treacherous the human heart was - though until just earlier Tae-ui had clearly thought he should get this man out of this situation, learning he was fine made regret surge about his actions. Especially after seeing several human corpses.

"You called my name. Then you must have known I would be here."

Ilay spoke again. That somehow seemingly pleased voice was even more chilling. Tae-ui clicked his tongue. Staying like this would likely get his neck taken by those hands from misunderstanding. Being completely honest was best. Though of course, he couldn't avoid criticism for knowing but pretending not to.

Thinking such thoughts, he felt angry that he had to face this situation just from unluckily hearing about this in advance, not even plotting it himself.

"I happened to overhear in the bathroom. About killing a man who had piled up mountains of grudges. So I came to help, though a bit late. ...You killed Kipenhan too. Seems he came here though I thought he would just provide the cluster and pretend not to know."

What a foolish man.

Though he hadn't liked him, seeing him lying there as a corpse made him feel very unpleasant. And anger surged. At those several corpses who left the land of the living doing clumsy things, at the man standing before him, at his own unlucky self.

"Yes... that's fortunate. I would have been very sad if you had actively participated in trying to kill me too."

Ilay muttered languidly as if relieved. Tae-ui snorted with a frown.

"Since when did you trust me so much?"

"No, no. Apart from trust, I think I would be sad if you died."

Tae-ui made a face like he'd bitten a bug. A murderer who kills people while being sad, that would be something to see. Though he'd die while watching. ...But this man wouldn't be sad even if he killed him.

As Tae-ui muttered "Came for nothing" and turned to leave, Ilay spoke as if catching his breath:

"Then you can be my witness."

Tae-ui stopped his half-turned body abruptly. And turned just his head to look at Ilay suspiciously. Only after a few seconds passed did he understand what he meant.

"You mean witness to self-defense?"

"Of course. I was in quite a bit of danger this time too. I almost ended up lying there in pieces as a lump of blood. Fortunately my instincts were good..."

Ilay shrugged while rubbing around his arm. Tae-ui looked uneasily at that man soaked in blood from head to toe. Though he might have survived by pushing someone else in instead thanks to good instincts, there was no change in the fact that this man was monster-like.

Then suddenly he raised his eyebrows. Among the blood stains already starting to dry, only around the right shoulder remained consistently wet. A thin stream of blood kept leaking from there flowing down his arm. Surely not...

"Are you injured too?"

Though thinking "No way," Tae-ui asked just in case. Seeing him speak with round eyes as if in disbelief, Ilay laughed a couple empty laughs as if finding it ridiculous.

"With a cluster exploding right in front of me, you think there's any way I wouldn't get hurt?"

Tae-ui gave no answer to his retort. Not just no way to avoid injury, but no way to survive at all. Any normal human would be the same. You're beyond normal or abnormal, already not at a human level. He just grumbled that sulkily inside.

Suddenly all strength left his body. And the depression returned. Tae-ui looked around at the corpses gloomily, feeling as if all the world's depression had gathered. With several corpses lying there like that, having to prove that man's self-defense really went against his wishes.

However, while Tae-ui, who had neither means nor ability to refuse, stood blankly amid that horrific scene, people who had rushed at the explosion sound gathered, and there was no way to escape anymore.

The one sole comfort for the endlessly gloomy Tae-ui was that training was immediately suspended for the day.

That day's incident was unprecedented.

Though casualties from accidents—at least on the surface—were common in joint training between branches, there had never been a case of using explosives in a planned attempt to kill a specific person. Especially with an instructor involved.

People's reactions were varied.

The European branch tried to hold the Asian branch responsible for the planned attempt to murder a branch member. However, that was just the official position - even the European branch members who usually hated the Asian branch like mortal enemies couldn't condemn them too boldly. Because they had seen how miserable the dead bodies were.

The Asian branch expressed deep regret about their instructor and members creating such a situation, but practically they had suffered more damage. Part of their building was destroyed and collapsed needing repairs, and the actual casualties were on their side. Moreover, seeing the state of the corpses, there was no shortage of ethical condemnation to pour out.

The headquarters, contacted in this situation, soon delivered their conclusion. It was a conclusion neither side found satisfactory but was ambiguous to argue against.

Though recognized as self-defense, the perpetrator who had used excessive defense would be sent to solitary confinement for a short period as punishment.

Though there were of course opinions that sending someone to solitary was too light a punishment for killing four people, since investigation revealed the dead side had instigated the situation, there couldn't be strong opposition.

In an organization operating on internal regulations separate from general society's laws, the matter was concluded thus.

Those who had directly witnessed the incident and experienced the person involved agreed that "only the dead ones are pitiful" but had no way to practically express that opinion. However, though the dead might be pitiful, they weren't wronged.

There was exactly one person claiming this situation was truly unfair, unreasonable and absurd.

"Why do I have to go to solitary too? What did I do wrong?! I just got unluckily involved!"

There was about one young man making such claims. And there were several people who knew his words were right but had no power to help. There was also one more person who might have had the power to help but showed no intention to.

"That's why I clearly told you. That not getting involved at all was best. I clearly told you to just absolutely avoid catching attention, so why didn't you listen?"

They say good things come even in sleep to those who listen to their elders. But though Tae-ui had never regretted not listening to his uncle before since good things didn't seem to come from listening to him, this time he did regret it.

Dragged by Ilay to testify, Tae-ui was caught by the aiding and abetting crime he had only playfully thought of. Knowing and predicting the facts in advance yet pretending not to know could be considered sufficient passive participation even if not actively helping.

"This is unfair! I'll appeal!"

"To where?"

His uncle shattered Tae-ui's anger with one short word. His uncle who had been flipping through his phone book muttering "Need to contact the undertaker again. Demand increased unexpectedly" closed the book with a sigh and patted Tae-ui's shoulder. Then spoke in a more serious tone than before:

"You buttoned the first button wrong to begin with. You violated the rule about not getting involved with that guy from the start. Plus this time, it's the crime of displeasing, the crime of displeasing."

"What?"

"Look. A vicious European branch guy came and killed four of our branch members. One of them was even an instructor. Isn't this cause for uproar? But then it turns out our side plotted murder and an instructor was involved, creating an indelible stain. Our branch's honor and face were already getting scraped down, then a branch member goes and testifies. How upset do you think those above would be?"

Though saying this, his uncle didn't seem particularly upset. Tae-ui glared at him.

"Even if I hadn't testified, wouldn't everything have come out in the investigation anyway?"