PASSION Chapter 5 Part 3

Chapter 5 Part 3

Tae-ui clicked his tongue internally. Though he had seen plenty of ugly sights in the military, this place was no better. He had gotten discharged even getting injured to avoid seeing such sights, yet here he was seeing this. Though the tree wishes to stand still, the wind does not cease - a white heron among playing crows...

But which bastard was receiving such fierce hatred.

"You saw earlier. Completely drenched in human blood from head to toe yet didn't even blink, that crazy bastard."

"Honestly speaking, that guy scares me. If he killed people while being happy I could write him off as mentally ill, but he's not even that. His face killing people is exactly the same as usual. He's not human."

A low, gloomy voice muttered fearfully. As if infected by that tone, the atmosphere grew chilly.

Tae-ui looked at the ceiling while sighing inaudibly. He had thought so but his premonition was right. Well, if there were two people earning such hatred that would be serious too.

A man who considered killing people no different from sleeping or breathing.

Ilay Rigrow. A man who inevitably drew the word "madman" from everyone's lips.

"But will it be okay? Even so, using a cluster would blow up the whole martial arts room."

"Without going that far it would be hard to kill him. Plus in the martial arts room there's nothing inside so nowhere to hide behind. That's the only way. To eliminate him."

"No need to worry too much. Even if we blow up one martial arts room. Besides, Kipenhan said he'd cover for us."

The moment those words ended, the sound suddenly cut off. Probably the last person seemed to close his mouth right after speaking, realizing his slip. The other men also stayed silent as if checking each other's reactions.

Tae-ui went "Oh..." and leaned his head against the wall. Seemed he had heard something troublesome.

Given that those men weren't trying to drag Tae-ui out of the bathroom stall, it probably wasn't something considered extremely confidential, but it was definitely content that wouldn't be good for others' ears to hear.

"What does it matter. If that bastard dies, not just our side but actually the European guys too would be happy inside though they can't say it openly. As long as it doesn't reach his ears, and would there even be anyone around him to give warnings?"

One man's muttering broke the silence. Agreements of "That's true" followed.

Tae-ui pressed his forehead with his hand, unable to just lean his head against the wall. He felt a distant headache coming. His heart pounded unsteadily and his neck grew cold.

He could tell just from those few words. These men were trying to cut off Ilay's breath. Moreover, they had Kipenhan—probably meaning Instructor Kipenhan from information management—backing them.

Not good. This situation itself was very bad. He was practically everyone's public enemy, a man who had committed countless acts deserving death by any measure. Killing one such man wouldn't draw condemnation. Rather, more people might greatly rejoice and find relief for their grudges.

However, the situation wasn't stopping at just those with grudges conspiring to kill one person. If Kipenhan was involved, it didn't look good no matter how you thought about it.

Though he couldn't know why Kipenhan wanted to eliminate Ilay—with Ilay it wouldn't be surprising whoever held whatever grudge against him—wasn't it a problem if an instructor was condoning killing a member?

Plus a cluster.

Tae-ui nervously rubbed his bloodless lips. What was wrong with the minds of every single one of these bastards here? No one wouldn't know what kind of weapon a cluster was, yet they would detonate one? Seems they wanted to not just kill someone but leave no evidence, make the remains unrecognizable. Or perhaps they wanted mutual destruction.

From the context of that conversation, the cluster they mentioned probably wasn't referring to a CBU. It would mean a modified anti-personnel cluster that could be mounted on a portable launcher small enough to carry on one's shoulder, but he had heard even the small modified type could devastate thousands of square meters. They said it could just blow away an indoor pool of normal size.

The empty martial arts room they mentioned was most likely the 5th martial arts room on basement level 3.

Put someone in there and throw in a cluster, not even bones would remain. When the martial arts room itself wouldn't survive, how could a person?

No, beyond everything, the very idea of detonating a bomb in an underground building was absurd.

Previously when taking lectures on internal organization, the instructor had added something. That from the design stage they had built the foundations equivalent to an air raid shelter. The gist was to train without worry since it wouldn't budge from ordinary impacts.

Certainly if it was like an air raid shelter, perhaps they could dismiss worries about ground collapse from bombs.

But even taking that into account, these guys seemed crazy anyway. Guys thinking of mobilizing bombs and blowing up part of a building to eliminate one person. Plus with Instructor Kipenhan involved.

This wasn't simple condoning. With a modified cluster that wasn't something just anyone could obtain easily coming up, it couldn't be just the instructor knowing their plan, turning a blind eye and smoothing things over afterward. He was directly involved somehow. Maybe Kipenhan was even the one who had handed them the cluster.

Tae-ui recalled Kipenhan.

That instructor of similar age to his uncle was someone very sensitive to his own interests. Knowing well how to deduce situations and results to draw outcomes favorable to himself, he was good at getting maximum results with minimum investment. It seemed he often used somewhat unethical methods in that process.

Tae-ui, who served under a different superior than his uncle, didn't much like him. He wasn't someone likeable as a person. However, he was undoubtedly someone extremely intelligent, so Tae-ui hadn't expected him to be involved in something like this. It didn't seem like Ilay's death would benefit him either.

Tae-ui rubbed the wrinkle between his brows with his index finger. And thought about what he should do in this situation. The answer came very simply. To not go anywhere near basement level 3.

He couldn't know whether they would succeed in their plan. If they could successfully lure Ilay into the martial arts room and throw in a cluster, even that monster-like man couldn't survive being human. Then should he tip him off?

Brief human conflict passed through him. And no answer came. He wouldn't feel sorry if that man died. No, rather it would be good for Tae-ui. However, no clear answer came about whether it was right to pretend not to know after hearing talk of trying to kill someone. Tae-ui wasn't righteous or naive enough to believe in absolute ethics that didn't consider cause and effect.

"Heard something unnecessary, something unnecessary... If that guy dies like this I'll just needlessly feel guilty."

Tae-ui grumbled quietly enough not to be heard outside. His bloodless lips were still cold. Maybe his cold fingertips touching his lips made them feel colder.

Outside, the men still seemed to have more to say. Tae-ui thought he should make the best choice he could in this moment. Before hearing any more unnecessary words, just leave now.

When Tae-ui opened the bathroom door and went out, the men standing outside closed their mouths again. Though they had known he was in there from the start, they examined him with eyes as if looking at someone suspicious. Tae-ui silently pushed through between them and washed his hands at the sink. Though he actually wanted to wash his head that had leaned against the dirty bathroom wall, he couldn't wash his hair here.

"Hey, you. You're from Instructor Jung Chang-in's team right?"

One of the men suddenly spoke. From that cold and threatening tone, he could well guess what the man would say without needing to hear more.

"Whatever you do I won't interfere so do as you please. Don't waste energy on me."

Tae-ui spoke gruffly while looking in the mirror. Just hearing unnecessary things made him quite uncomfortable, and getting threatened here would completely ruin his mood. Above all, he didn't want to mix words with such dangerous guys. Plus if they were Kipenhan's team members, even more so.

"You won't have time to spread word anyway since we'll finish this period, but don't run your mouth unnecessarily. Hm? We're comrades right? Right? We're just making a deserving bastard pay his dues."

The man elaborated unnecessarily, apparently unsatisfied with Tae-ui's answer. Tae-ui sighed softly. It seemed he needed to say one more thing for these tactless men.

"You don't seem to realize, but I didn't hear the name of this bastard who deserves to die. You didn't mention that part. Meaning I don't know what you're talking about."

"...Ah."

The man finally seemed to understand what Tae-ui was saying. Though unclear how well he understood the message that Tae-ui would have nothing to do with it and treat it as something he didn't know about, at least the main point seemed to get across.

The man shrugged saying "Right, friend." While wiping his hands with paper towels, Tae-ui thought "Friend my ass" but didn't voice that thought. He just hoped their memory was bad enough that they wouldn't try to act familiar if they ran into him in the corridor or somewhere later.

During this time, an hour seemed to have passed. The signal alarm rang through the building.

After 5 minutes break, positions would switch and training would resume.

The men left the bathroom, and soon people who seemed to have been running around all this time started coming into the bathroom one by one, drenched in sweat.

Tae-ui thought gloomily while leaving the bathroom. He had been saying his luck was bad lately but there was no end. Rather than hearing words better left unheard, running around swinging rubber clubs at walls for an hour would have been a hundred times better.

There was such a thing as aiding and abetting crime in the world. A crime established by helping others' criminal acts.

Tae-ui traced his memory of past studies while getting an ion drink from the vending machine.

Though he couldn't claim to have lived a spotlessly clean life, he had thought he walked a straight path not greatly deviating from law-abiding spirit, yet this was how he strayed from that straight path. Moreover, the aiding and abetting was for murder. Though this branch was extraterritorial, and even in a situation that could be called lawless now, Tae-ui grew depressed recalling the term "aiding and abetting murder" and picked up the ion drink gloomily.

During the short 5-minute break, people recharged. Those who had been chased fulfilled needs they couldn't properly rest or drink for while preparing to chase, and those who had chased moved far from those they had chased and changed positions. Of course there were also people who calmly went about their business saying "What does it matter who chases, I'll just fight back anyway."