“Why are you laughing?”
Just as the F-rank standing on the sandy beach began to feel uneasy, the exotically featured Hunter was the first to stop laughing and resume the conversation.
“Ah, sorry for laughing like that right in front of you. Just give me a moment. I’ll explain.”
“Yes?”
“But before that, there’s something I’m curious about. Hmm. How tall is our Hunter Giryeo?”
For some reason, it sounded faintly sarcastic...
‘Is it just me?’
It was a rather abrupt question, but given the flow of the conversation, staying silent would have been awkward. So Kim Giryeo answered. The measurement was from about a year ago and might not be perfectly accurate, but he was approximately 179 centimeters tall.
Clank.
At the same moment, the unidentified noise from earlier rang out once again.
Even hearing it a second time, the sound was strangely familiar.
Almost like—
“179 centimeters. Right, that was it... Most people would just round up and say they’re about 180, but Hunter Kim Giryeo really is honest.”
The light clatter of something like ‘plates’ knocking against one another.
The sound kept coming from the same place.
Just as the alien occupying a human body began to realize what it might be, Kang Changho fixed his gaze on the open shoulder bag.
“Honestly, I never expected this thing to end up being used like this.”
“What did you say?”
“Before coming here, I was checking out a dungeon in Seoul. It was called [Nameless Cave]. Yes, the new monster lair you were trying to enter [N O V E L I G H T] before. Actually, I’ve been clearing it whenever I happen to find it.”
“I already knew that.”
“But to be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything to drop. And yet, what do you know? After I took the leader’s head today, this came out as the reward.”
Clank.
At last, the source of the noise revealed itself.
Kang Changho opened the bag wide and showed them the object inside.
Gripping the narrow section as though holding a chicken by the neck, he pulled out something silver.
At first glance, it resembled a silver candlestick from the Renaissance. But on closer inspection, there was an ornate central pillar engraved with elaborate patterns—whether they represented a living creature or a tree was difficult to tell—with two flat dishes suspended from either side.
A scale.
What Kang Changho had been carrying in his bag was a gleaming silver two-pan balance.
“—[Justitia].”
Jung Haseong recognized its shape first and stared in shock.
Even the dazed Kim Giryeo stiffened when Kang Changho followed with the artifact’s name.
[Justitia].
It was one of the few artifacts that could still be trusted in a modern society rife with selfishness and deception.
Until now, it had been an exceedingly rare national treasure, with the only known example belonging to England. No other scale with the same function had ever been successfully reproduced anywhere in the world. After discovering it in a certain dungeon, England had spent years verifying its capabilities, and recently the results produced by [Justitia] had even been formally recognized as admissible evidence in court.
The primary function of [Justitia] was to distinguish truth from falsehood—and punish those who lied.
Politicians in this world often made endless false promises in order to lure voters. Perhaps because those who lived by honeyed words had no desire to expose their true intentions, the [Justitia] owned by Western Europe was subject to extremely strict controls. Even private use of the scale required permission from the British Hunter Association as well as majority approval from the twelve High Justices.
As a result, encountering that magical scale in an East Asian country was almost unheard of.
At least, that had been the case until now.
“Is that really Justitia?”
And now, a sibling to that priceless treasure had finally appeared in the world.
And of all people, how had it ended up in the hands of such a lazy Hunter?
The F-rank’s expression rapidly hardened as he grasped the situation.
Yet even after witnessing this unfamiliar change in Giryeo’s demeanor, Kang Changho remained perfectly calm.
“As for how Justitia works... Well, there’s no point explaining it in detail to another Hunter, Kim Giryeo. It seems the artifact activates automatically once its effective range has been properly established.”
“...”
“So during our conversation, something I said was apparently judged to be a question, and you answered it... But your answer contained a false statement, which is why the scale tipped left earlier.”
Sssk.
Kang Changho displayed the balance, which was currently tilted toward the right.
“If Justitia’s left plate sinks, that means the statement was a lie. But the problem is... the sentence you said immediately before it was judged—”
His reptilian eyes, glistening eerily with the moisture of a human body, stared straight ahead.
Kang Changho slowly swept his green gaze over the man before him, then finally spoke.
“Kim Giryeo.”
“...”
“Let me ask you one more thing.”
His voice rang clearly across the beach.
“Are you an Awakened capable of breaking the [Knight’s Oath]?”
The half-blooded man who had obtained the Scale of Judgement had never originally intended to use Justitia so aggressively.
He knew the fourth S-rank Hunter’s personality well enough. If he had openly presented this artifact and started asking questions, Kim Giryeo would probably have refused to answer even the most trivial thing.
Kim Giryeo was a sly Awakened.
Which also meant he rarely spoke more than necessary and habitually kept things to himself.
More importantly, he was no fool.
Had he known about Justitia beforehand, he would immediately have realized that answering carelessly could only work against him. There was a high probability that he would simply have chosen the easiest defense available: silence.
Besides, Kang Changho had never intended to pressure his target merely because he refused to answer properly.
Until now, there had never been any question important enough to place on the scales of truth in the first place.
Even if Kang Changho had hidden the artifact and tried something underhanded to extract the truth, the most he would probably have asked was something like, ‘Is he really an S-rank or not?’
But through an accidental mistake, the scale’s ability had activated on its own.
And that accident had led them here.
“I’m genuinely curious whether our Hunter Kim Giryeo is completely unaffected by the Oath.”
At Kang Changho’s threatening question, Kim Giryeo’s thoughts began racing.
But no matter how frantically he searched for an answer, the conclusion remained the same.
He was screwed.
This was his first time encountering Justitia in person, so he had yet to understand the artifact’s complicated magical structure.
There was no way he could immediately devise a method of interfering with it.
And even if he had understood how, executing such a method with his F-rank magical power might have been impossible anyway.
Therefore—
“...No.”
Even knowing what the result would be, he forced himself to answer the question of whether the [Knight’s Oath] affected him.
Clank.
A moment later, one side of the balance sank.
To the left.
Boom!
A tremendous impact thundered across the open beach.
The instant Kang Changho saw Justitia’s verdict, he drew up his magical power and kicked the sacrificial vessel squarely in the chest.
At a speed an F-rank could never hope to respond to, the blond man was effortlessly hurled backward.
The two had been standing almost face-to-face, leaving virtually no space in which to build momentum. Yet Kang Changho had produced overwhelming force with nothing more than a twist of his waist.
“H-Hunter Kang Changho! What are you doing...!?”
Clank.
Jung Haseong had failed to react in time.
The hero shouted in shock, but Kang Changho completely ignored him. He carefully placed Justitia down on one side of the beach and spoke.
“I’ve treated you well all this time.”
The words were directed at the swindler.
“You really played your part well.”
“...”
“I overlooked everything you did. So much that there was hardly anything left I could possibly overlook.”
“T-that’s...”
“I put up with all of it. Whether it was going on a dungeon raid at two in the morning or spouting nonsense about wanting to visit Japan’s S-rank gate.”
Kang Changho’s sharply arched brows drew together.
“I even refrained from locking anyone in a basement just to uphold that damned sense of ethics. People really are heartless, aren’t they?”
His expression was still mild.
But his voice was steadily rising.
“You were even the one who called me first to propose this deal. And this is how you repay the kindness of a fellow professional in the industry!”
“H-Hunter Kang Changho.”
“So that’s why you accepted the offer so readily when you were only twenty-four. Right. I knew something felt strange from the very beginning.”
Kang Changho muttered in his characteristic low voice.
“The oath doesn’t affect you at all? The oath...?”
At that, Kim Giryeo managed to push himself upright from where he had fallen and hurriedly apologized.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll explain everything. I’ll explain how this happened...”
The response was not encouraging.
“Shut your mouth before I put every word you say on the scale and expose the lies one by one.”
Kang Changho cut him off coldly, the corners of his mouth still raised.
“If I’d known things would turn out like this, I should have just killed you from the beginning instead of wasting my time on all this pointless nonsense.”
“Hunter-nim.”
“You should be grateful I spared you at all, even when I passed up good opportunities like [White Maze] and [Inevitable Malice]. And all this time, you kept your mouth shut and deceived me? At this rate, I could have spent ten years being used by you only to end up with absolutely nothing...”
Then Kang Changho suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“Wait. Does that mean you entered the S-rank gate that appeared last week by yourself?”
At the sharp question, the alien hurriedly denied it, his complexion pale.
He had never expected information about his circumstances to be exposed this abruptly, and the sudden development had thrown him badly off balance.
However, since he had recently been seriously considering breaking the contract in order to proceed with the Improvement, he had at least prepared a plan for resolving the inevitable friction between them.
“I’m sorry I didn’t reveal my abilities earlier. Yes. I admit it. When I first signed the contract, I fully intended to deceive you.”
“Right?”
“But recently, I changed my mind... After seeing how faithfully Hunter Kang Changho continued to uphold your side of the agreement, I genuinely started thinking about ending the deception.”
“Ending it?”
“I was going to stop lying and repay you for all the work you’ve done for me. Of course, it wouldn’t be exactly the same as what I originally promised, but...”
‘It’s a relief that even in a life-threatening crisis, the structure of this mouth doesn’t interfere with my ability to speak properly.’
Kim Giryeo found himself absurdly grateful for one of the few advantages his current body provided.
He was too flustered to pay much attention to his expression, but that hardly mattered.
In a negotiation, the most important thing was the compensation being offered.
“I’ll make you a [Skill Stone]! Please spare me.”
Kim Giryeo quickly raised both hands in surrender.
Then he offered an argument that would be enough to catch the attention of almost any human being.
“Anyway, no one actually knows whether ‘that trait’ of mine would even be classified as a skill, right? I honestly don’t know either. S-so if you kill me now, there’s a chance you’ll get nothing at all. It could end in complete failure with no benefit whatsoever.”
“...”
“Actually, I know a method that can increase internal magical power with one hundred percent certainty. I’ll make it for you, Hunter. I’ll make you stronger—far stronger than you could ever become with [Dragon’s Eye] or [Dragon’s Heart]. Strong enough that you won’t feel you’re lacking anything...”
But intelligent beings were creatures made from layers upon layers of complicated emotions.
No matter how tempting an offer might be, if it came from a swindler who had deceived you over and over again, naturally your pride would be wounded.
And naturally, your interest in the offer would diminish.
“Sorry, but from now on, I have no intention of trusting Hunter Kim Giryeo’s silver tongue.”
“What? No, wait! If you just test what I said with the Justitia behind you...”
“There’s a man standing in front of me who completely ignored the so-called [Knight’s Oath], an artifact everyone says is impossible to break. And now that all his cards have been exposed, you’re telling me to trust another artifact?”
Silence fell for a moment.
“I’m sorry.”
Giryeo reflexively repeated the phrase that had so often helped him survive.
“I was wrong. Please...”
It was the first time he had ever seen Kang Changho display such obvious displeasure.
So he continued lowering his head, maintaining a submissive posture.
“...”
Yet as an alien scholar, he instinctively understood something.
No matter how deeply he bowed, no matter how sincerely he acted, the contractor’s decision—to kill him—was not going to change.
And the moment he realized apologizing would no longer improve his chances of survival, a different conclusion settled firmly into place.
There was no way to turn the situation around.
And because of that, a particular thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘But damn it, why the hell am I apologizing to a bastard like this...?’
Mutter.
Kang Changho’s eyes widened.
The blond man, however, paid no attention to his reaction. He placed a hand against his forehead and spoke in a resigned voice.
Apparently, no matter what he did, his life was about to end.
If that was the case, he might as well say everything he had wanted to say before it was over.
“—Hey, Kang Changho.”
Informal speech.
The alien switched to the manner of speaking he actually preferred.
What followed was an uninterrupted stream of dry, merciless criticism.
Kim Giryeo admitted his own wrongdoing.
He had concealed the fact that the contract was ineffective and exploited another person’s labor.
But looking at the situation as a whole, he believed Kang Changho bore the greater share of the blame.
“When you think about it, you really are proud of everything you do, aren’t you? Forget all that crap about how you’ve been ‘letting things slide.’ What was that supposed to mean? I’m supposed to be grateful just because you didn’t lock me in a basement?”
“Hah.”
“Is having a little power really something worth boasting about? Back when I was going around saying I was F-rank, you constantly mocked me. You kept asking what someone as weak as me could possibly do, kept testing me, and whenever I tried to make use of you, you set traps and tried to blow up our agreement only a few days after signing it. In the first place, you’ve been trying to break the contract yourself from the very beginning.”
Kang Changho gave no answer.
“But according to the logic you’ve been preaching all this time, shouldn’t this be exactly the kind of situation where you’re supposed to turn a blind eye?”
By contrast, Kim Giryeo’s voice grew steadier with every word.
“If the reality of the weak is that they have no choice but to accept injustice and endure it simply because they’ve been targeted by a powerful Awakened...”
“...”
“Then getting scammed by an ineffective item was simply the result of you knowing less about contracts than I did. What? Is magic the only thing that counts as strength? In a world like this, knowledge is power too.”
Swash.
Giryeo slowly lowered the hand that had been resting against his forehead.
His dry skin came into view.
Then, facing Kang Changho directly, he opened his mouth.
“So, if we follow the logic some brat used to spout at me all the time—”
One corner of his mouth curled upward, revealing a particular emotion.
“In the end, it’s all your own fault for getting deceived because you weren’t capable enough... isn’t it?”
It was a twisted expression.
Not a smile born of pleasure, but one filled with contempt and irritation toward the person before him.
At that, Kang Changho began to laugh as well, his lips spreading into a wide grin.
But soon, veins began to stand out along the neck of the freely laughing S-rank Hunter.
At that ominous sign, the Earth sorcerer specializing in physical enhancement immediately activated his magic.
Mana flooded his muscles.
Like a sword descending in a single stroke, he surged forward.
The instant the blond Hunter entered his range, Kang Changho committed his full body weight to an attack aimed at crushing the visible vital points of his opponent.
The terrifying agility unique to a body-enhancement sorcerer revealed itself in full.
Bang!
With no one interfering, Kang Changho reached his target in an instant.
His mana-infused fist slammed directly into Giryeo’s solar plexus, sending the blond man tumbling backward once again.
That single blow had stripped away a full seventy percent of the [Protection] barrier.
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