Chapter 8: Post-Apocalypse pistol is an artifact in my world(4)

“Ugh…”

As soon as I shot the gun, I was engulfed in intense pain.

Not because of the pistol, but because of the teachers who were restraining me.

“Brother!Brother!Are you okay?Are you crazy?How could you do such a thing-“

“C-Can you get off me-“

Only then did they seem to grasp the situation, and the teachers who were holding me down got off me one by one.

I set the fallen chair upright again, took a few deep breaths, and sat down again.

“D-Do you want to check?”

I tilted my head slightly and showed them my temple.

“There are no wounds…?”

“Yes.Of course, even though I’m a gatherer, I’m an Awakened.If an ordinary person were to be hit in the head with this, it would hurt a little more than this.”

And I lightly flicked my finger.

“Specifically, it’s about the level of flicking someone’s temple.”

It would make their head shake a little, but it would make them think, ‘So what?’

“This is a toy.”

“Y-You’re playing with words!”

The blonde girl shouted, feeling wronged.

“Even so, it’s stronger than a BB gun!If it’s an ordinary person, they might get hurt-“

“It’s much weaker than an ordinary person picking up a rock and throwing it with all their might.”

We were playing word games with each other.

The BB gun regulations in Korea are strangely weak.

Literally, to the extent that it would be okay for ‘a child’ to play with it.

The power of an ordinary person picking up a rock and throwing it with all their might is much stronger than one might think.

It was incomparable to this crude Gremlin pistol.

“That’s…That’s not all.I didn’t give Shin Yuhwa a single bullet.”

“…!”

“There’s no way to get these bullets.Even if you could get the bullets, they’re ridiculously weak compared to Shin Yuhwa’s abilities.”

I calmly looked at the teacher.

“Even so, is this item dangerous?”

“Do you realize that you entrusted such an item to a minor?”

“She’s a minor, but she’s a cadet of the academy.Did Shin Yuhwa use this item to threaten others?Or, can’t all students of the academy carry their own guns?”

That’s impossible.

Hunters have the right to freely carry the firearms they use.

Cadets of the academy also have that right.

It’s not a real gun, so it’s okay to carry this fake gun.

“If we’re talking about danger, Shin Yuhwa, who can use spells after her magic has stabilized, would be much more dangerous than this fake gun.”

I had said everything I needed to say.

I calmly looked at the teachers.

“What did you get in return for giving this gun to Shin Yuhwa!We need to find out!”

The blonde girl was being stubborn.

‘What is this? She’s not a teacher, she seems to be a student…’

“Say it. What did you get in return for this item?”

“…Nothing?”

“Liar.”

The blonde girl looked triumphant as if she had caught something.

“It’s an artifact, right? You’re saying you just gave it away? You must have gotten something in return. Tell me. What did you get?”

“Originally, I was just going to take it back and throw it away, but she said she wanted to keep it as a souvenir, so I just gave it to her.”

“Do you have proof?”

I sighed deeply.

“Honestly, I’m getting tired. I came here in the first place to see if this ‘toy’ was dangerous or not, right?”

“…But!”

“You’re going off-topic.After I prove that, what do I have to prove next?Where did I get this item?Have I been distributing other items besides this one?”

She’s just a child.

A child who has no choice but to cower when pressured by an adult.

“Y-You’re saying this because you don’t have proof? You’re just trying to change the subject… because it would be difficult for you if the questioning started here-“

“That’s not it.”

I stepped back a little, smiled, and shook my head.

“It’s because I want the people here… to make a promise.”

The teacher glared at me coldly.

“What kind of promise?”

“I have already proven that this toy is not dangerous. And, if only proof that I gave this pistol to Yuhwa for free comes out… please promise to just let me go.”

The blonde girl bit her lip in embarrassment, but the teachers nodded.

“Alright.It seems like we’ve been holding an innocent person for too long… if that problem is solved, we’ll… apologize.”

“Good.”

Yuhwa looked at me with a puzzled look.

“But Brother.Do you have any proof? It’s easy to prove that you did something, but it’s hard to prove that you didn’t do something…”

“I have.”

I took out my phone.

And, I opened an audio file.

-Give me your account number!

-Why would you buy this?

Yuhwa’s and my voices were heard.

-I’ll pay my mom back when I grow up, so it doesn’t matter! But if my precious pistol goes into Brother’s hands, it’ll go straight into the trash-

-Ah, okay! Okay! It doesn’t make sense for me to sell it, so let’s just give it to you. As a gift. Okay?

It was a conversation that was too realistic to be acting.

I looked at the teachers with a relaxed smile.

“Brother.Were you recording everything when you met me…?”

Yuhwa looked at me with a devastated expression.

“Of course.The world is a dangerous place.”

I answered with a faint smile.

“Y-You were bad! You doubted me!”

“It’s not doubt… anyway, it was useful, right?  Then that’s enough.”

It was a wise choice not to take her money.

Rushing into things without being able to distinguish between money you should take and money you shouldn’t is a shortcut to an early grave.

“Anyway… I think I can go now.”

“…As a teacher of the academy, I sincerely apologize. We were rash to call you here.”

“There might be some misunderstandings.I understand. Take care.”

“Yes, be careful on your way out.”

The opponent is the academy.

It’s the worst choice to think that I won here and try to take things.

I need to find a way to safely and surely secure my interests, even if it takes a little longer.

‘Still, it’s not bad to have come to the academy at least once.’

I can’t make a connection with the guild or make connections with hunters at my level right now.

‘It’s not bad.’

Now, I have given the academy teachers the ‘experience of suspecting and trying to arrest Jeong Isu and failing’.

When I’m suspected of something else later, they’ll think twice instead of trying to subdue me right away.

That’s enough.Pressuring them to get something right now is a bad move.

“Since I’m already at the academy, can I look around a bit?”

“Of course not. Outsiders can’t just wander around here.”

“Wow, that’s too much! If you keep doing that, I’ll report all these recordings… as illegal recordings!”

“Recording a conversation you participated in is not an illegal recording.”

“Ugh!”

After having a proper conversation with Yuhwa, I finally got up and left.

“Wait a minute, can we talk?”

“Yes?”

The blonde girl called me.

‘No, what else is left…’

I looked at her with an uncomfortable expression, but she bowed her head apologetically.

“Actually, this happened because I initially raised the issue…”

“So?”

“Now that I know you’re really innocent, I feel really sorry… I want to formally apologize later.”

“It’s okay.”

“Please don’t refuse.I really… feel so sorry.”

I frowned.

‘It’s good to apologize, but…’

People can’t easily change what they believe.

It’s a natural phenomenon.

If you believed that I was a criminal who did bad things, if you believed that Yuhwa was a bad woman who received a pistol by doing dirty things, it takes a lot of time for that belief to change.

Just like that blonde woman did, you can’t help but think, ‘There must be something bad somewhere!’ by attaching other reasons randomly.

‘The attitude changed too drastically.’

I need to be wary of this.

“The apology you gave now is enough.Then I’ll be on my way.”

“W-Wait a minute! I, uh, so…”

“Goodbye.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and left the academy.

‘I wasted my time on something useless. But well… it worked out somehow.’

I seemed to be getting involved with the academy a lot, but in the long run, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It was better for people to see me as ‘suspicious merchant Jeong’ than as ‘gatherer Mr. Jeong’.

‘But, in order to utilize that…’

I need to bring in more and better items. That required time.

****

Roze bit her lip tightly.

‘How can this happen!It was a perfect plan!’

He proved his innocence.

At this rate, there was no way to get Yuhwa out of the academy.

That wasn’t all.

The teachers would no longer take her words seriously.

The fact that there was a reason to be suspicious wouldn’t change, but the fact that she ultimately failed didn’t change.

‘In times like this, how-‘

Roze thought of her mother.

Her mother, who shines like a star in the night sky, whom she respects as a daughter, as a woman, as a person, and as a hunter.

‘What would Mother have done…’

Her mind raced.

-Sometimes, ridiculous and absurd things happen in the world. What should I do when that happens?

-Accept it.Acknowledge that it happened in reality. And, use it.

-Use it?

-Absurd things are profitable.Things that others can’t even imagine.

Roze’s eyes flashed.

‘An absurd event. What happened?’

There was a toy pistol with the power of an artifact that made the person who held it a sharpshooter.

And the person who could make it could casually give it to another woman.

It didn’t seem like he put much thought into making it or giving it away, nor did he consult with the company or guild he belonged to.

‘He made it alone.He can dispose of it alone.’

The conversation between him and Yuhwa was a great ‘basis for judgment’ for Roze.

‘Even when I think about it again, it’s ridiculous, but… right.This can be used.’

She gives up on Yuhwa cleanly.

Her personal grudge was no longer important.

Even if Yuhwa stayed at the academy longer, it wouldn’t really harm Roze.

It was a wise choice to focus on something much more important.

‘I can do business!’

He needs Roze.

Roze needs him.

To the person who can casually give away that pistol ‘because he doesn’t like a kid whining’, she can present a more valuable use.

‘Got it!’

Having made her decision, Roze removed the venom from her face.

She relaxed her expression and smiled.

“Wait a minute, can we talk?”

With her heart full of anticipation for the future.

Although, shortly after, he refused even a ‘personal apology’ from her.

‘I can’t… give up!’

A fire was burning in her heart.