The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

"Speak, witness."

"Among the children here, there's a mix of little ones aged five to ten who haven't even started elementary school yet. At the very least, please exclude the kindergarten-age children from testifying and place them under protection."

"……."

"Just revisiting past memories can be painful for children. Please, understand."

"Haah… Very well."

The chair let out a deep sigh and adjusted his glasses.

"Then the four children other than ten-year-old Cha Yul and nine-year-old Lee Sea-ah will be dismissed. Bailiffs, please escort them back to the waiting room."

At the chair's order, the bailiffs stepped carefully toward the children. But.

"No! I don't wanna go!"

"Waaahhh! Unnieeeee! I wanna stay with the Director and oppa!"

The children latched on tight to Yul's and Sea-ah's waists and coattails, refusing to let go.

"Guys, it's okay. I'll be back soon."

"Nooo! I'm scared!"

When the bailiffs tried to pull them off by force, the children broke into sobs.

At the heartbreaking sight, even the committee members and the bailiffs faltered, looking put on the spot.

What do I do…

I thought for a second, then walked slowly over to the children.

I bent down on one knee to meet their eyes.

"Hey, guys."

"…hic… Director."

At the sight of me, the crying eased a little.

"Do you want to stay with your hyung and noona?"

Faces streaked with tears and snot, the children nodded hard.

I raised a hand and called an usher over.

"Are there any headphones here, by any chance?"

"Ah, yes. We do have a few spare stenographer's headsets, but…"

"Bring me four of them. And… would it be possible to play some children's songs?"

The usher caught on and, nodding, hurried off.

A moment later four bulky headsets were in my hands.

Slip.

They were sized for adults and hopelessly big, but luckily the thick ear cups covered the children's little ears without a gap.

I slid the slipping headphones back into place and met their eyes.

"Listen carefully. If you want to stay with your hyung and noona, you have to keep these on the whole time."

"Mm-hm."

"No matter what happens, no matter who tries to talk to you, don't take them off. Got it?"

Just the fact that they weren't being separated from their hyung and noona seemed to be enough — the children nodded hard.

Soon, familiar music began to play from the headsets, and the tension slowly drained from their little faces.

Once I'd confirmed they were bobbing quietly to the rhythm, I got slowly to my feet.

"Done. Please proceed."

"All right, then… who'll speak first?"

Just as Yul was about to open his mouth at the chair's careful prompt.

Tap.

A small foot stepped boldly forward, cutting in front of Yul.

It was Sea-ah.

"I'm better at speaking than oppa is, so I'll do it."

The enunciation and composure of someone you'd never take for nine years old.

At the poise and sharp-wittedness of her, the grim air of the hearing chamber softened, if only for a moment.

But — one person alone, Park Wonjin, reacted differently.

Jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle.

For a while now he'd been checking the huge clock on the wall and bouncing his leg without pause.

Chewing his lip, stealing glances toward the entrance — the anxiety on him was unmistakable.

What's this? Who's he waiting on?

I narrowed my eyes at the strangeness of him.

Meanwhile, before I'd noticed, Sea-ah had already raised her small hand and finished the oath.

"Witness, please state your name and age."

"Lee Sea-ah. Nine years old."

Once the members had finished confirming her identity, they got straight to the point.

"Sea-ah. Could you tell us what life at the institute was like?"

Sea-ah went quiet a moment, then spoke in a clear voice.

"It was hell. I had to endure forced mana injections every day… I was made to fight simulated monsters after being kept without sleep for days at a time, or without food at all."

"……!!"

"Never mind school — we weren't even taught basic letters or numbers. The only things we were allowed to do were training and experiments."

As the horrific reality of the abuse came spilling straight from the victim child's own mouth, a silence so heavy you couldn't hear a breath settled over the hearing chamber.

Number Two adjusted her glasses and asked Sea-ah, careful.

"Miss Sea-ah. How long has it been since you entered the institute?"

Sea-ah stared into space for a moment, dredging up the memory, then answered evenly.

"Um… I didn't count the exact days, but I think it's been almost two years by now."

"Two years… quite a stretch of time. And after Director Chae Junhyeok took his post, how was it?"

The member's eyes sharpened.

"After Director Chae arrived, did your treatment improve? Or did the abuse continue?"

Sea-ah glanced at me once, then turned her head back to the member.

"When he first took his post… nothing much changed. If anything, a lot more of the painful experiments were carried out. Almost as if… he enjoyed watching us suffer."

"……!"

The hall stirred.

I bit my lip.

I couldn't defend myself with a single word.

Before the possession, the original Chae Junhyeok had been a genuine wretch who took pleasure in the children's pain. The members' expressions wavered, and buds of suspicion began to sprout in the looks turned toward me again.

That was when it happened.

"But."

"…"

"From the day the Director threw that fire extinguisher… every bit of the abuse stopped, as if by magic."

"…!"

"Warm meals and proper medical care were given, and in place of painful experiments, we were put through real training — the kind that could help us protect ourselves."

Sea-ah drew a steadying breath, then looked around at the members with certainty in her eyes.

"Honestly, I was suspicious at first. I was afraid the sudden change might just be another experiment. But it was only coming here today that I realized."

Sea-ah's eyes settled on me.

"The Director… he was playing the villain, pretending to be a bystander when he had no other choice, all so he could carry out his mission as a 'secret auditor.' Wasn't he?"

What?!

Any other kid, I could believe, but Sea-ah — she was taking that story at face value?

No way. There's no way she is.

Whether she knew of my consternation or not, Sea-ah went on evenly.

"Now that I think about it, there wasn't just one thing that didn't add up — there were dozens."

"…?"

"The Director was always watching what the Deputy Director might do. Almost as if… he was walking on eggshells around him."

……Huh?

I almost let a slack-jawed sound slip out.

I was the one walking on eggshells around him?

But Sea-ah pressed on, her face solemn, laying out one revelation after another.

"When he went to bring back Teacher Kim Sunja, the Director couldn't even take a single researcher with him — he had to go by himself. Even knowing how dangerous it is to travel that far without an escort."

No, that was because Teacher Kim Sunja's location couldn't be given away, which is why I went alone….

Never mind my bewilderment — Sea-ah's logic didn't stop.

"That's not all. The expensive equipment and artifacts we needed for our training — the Director paid for every last one out of his own pocket."

Sea-ah's voice thickened and began to tremble faintly.

"When the Deputy Director choked off the budget and got in the way… in the end, he emptied his whole personal fortune, just to protect us!"

Uh… those were things there was no way the institute's budget could ever have bought, so I put my own money in….

As the saying goes — the telling of the dream can outshine the dream itself.

Filtered through Sea-ah's words, my thoughtless little actions were being reborn as heart-wrenching sacrifices made for the children.

"My god…."

"To think there was a story like that behind it…."

Just as the members were stirring, moved to tears.

Sea-ah bowed her head, and while pretending to, threw me a subtle wink.

……Ah!

Only then did I get it.

She was doing it on purpose.

"There's no need to hear anything more."

Number One nodded.

"The child's testimony is extraordinarily specific and consistent. What's more, it lines up perfectly with the witness's account. At this point, the truth seems plain."

The chair picked up the gavel to close the matter out.

That was when.

"H-hold on!! Please, hold on just a moment!!"

Park Wonjin thrust out a desperate hand and cried out — almost a scream.

"You haven't… you haven't heard everything yet! A fair trial has to hear every witness!"

The chair replied, cold.

"We've had sufficient testimony. Hearing more isn't going to change the outcome."

"No! It's different! That sly little brat opens her mouth and out come lies, every one, but—"

Park Wonjin jabbed a finger with bloodshot eyes at Cha Yul, standing silent beside Sea-ah.

"That boy! We haven't heard that one's testimony yet!"

At the ugly sight of a grown man slandering even a child to save his own skin, the members openly showed their disgust.

Sickening piece of work, honestly.

The chair pressed his temples and spoke, plainly worn out.

"Very well. Since the accused's request is that desperate… we'll hear Cha Yul's testimony as well, and then wrap this up."

At the chair's permission, Sea-ah stepped back.

To fill her place, this time Yul came forward.

Yul didn't so much as meet my eye — silently he took the microphone at the witness stand.

"Please take the oath, then state your name and age."

Yul nodded shortly, raised a stubby hand, and finished the oath.

"Witness's name and age?"

"Cha Yul. Ten years old."

"Cha Yul, would you give your testimony?"

That was when it happened. Yul's steady shoulders gave a small twitch.

"Cha Yul?"

The chair called again, but Yul kept his mouth firmly shut and didn't move a muscle.

His eyes were locked hard on some point in the empty air, tracking it with fierce focus.

"Yul?"

Sensing something strange in behavior I'd never seen from him before, I half-rose from my seat and called out.

"…Yul?"

That was when it happened.

Yul's head, which had been fixed on the floor, snapped up like a bolt of lightning, his eyes locking straight onto me.

"GET DOWN!!!!"

I ducked on instinct.

Kwaang—!!!

Along with an eardrum-splitting roar, a tremendous shockwave slammed through the hearing chamber.

For an instant my vision went white, and then thick cement dust and a haze of debris swallowed everything.

"Kh—!"

I hacked hard and struggled to get my bearings.

Someone had thrown themselves at me hard and rolled me across the floor — that alone had spared me from taking the hit head-on.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the crown of a head caked in dust.

At some point in the split-second, Cha Yul had thrown his whole body over mine, shielding me.

"Yul…!"

Just as I moved to speak.

Crash—! Kra-ssshhh!

The huge plate-glass window on one side of the hearing chamber shattered into pieces, and razor-edged shards rained down.

And then, right after, a chilling metallic sound took over the space.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da—!

"Aaah! What the—!"

"It's guns! Get down!"

In the blink of an eye, a hellscape of pure pandemonium unfolded.

Just then, the body in my arms — Yul's — gave a sharp twitch.

"Yul!"

A thin line of bright red blood was trickling down his pale cheek.

He'd been grazed by a shard.

But Yul didn't so much as show a hint of pain.

The moment he'd checked me over and confirmed I was unhurt, he sprang up like a released spring.

"Don't! It's dangerous!"

I stretched out a hand desperately to grab him, but Yul slipped out of my grasp like an eel and stepped back instead.

Then, cutting through the pouring gunfire, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Lee Sea-ah!!!!!"

"I know!!!"

With a sharp battle cry, Sea-ah threw both arms wide against the hail of bullets.

Normally the familiar pulse of mana would have risen and wrapped around the children.

But.

Piiiiing….

The blue light that had started to gather at her fingertips scattered listlessly, like the last sparks of a firework.

"Huh…? No…! The barrier — it won't come up!!!"

Sea-ah's cry of alarm.

Of course.

This was the very heart of the Republic of Korea — a courthouse.

To guard against any Awakened rampage or freak accident, a mana-suppression field ran through the whole building.

"Guys! Get down!"

Realizing the barrier was impossible, Sea-ah threw herself at the younger children at once.

She wrapped her arms around them and dove behind the thick spectator benches.

Dut-dut-dut-dut! Thwock! Thwock-thwock!

Bullets buried themselves in the wooden benches, sending sawdust flying in every direction.

No abilities. No artifacts. Nothing but bare bodies.

That was when it happened.

[Ah— mic check.]

Through the pandemonium of ripping gunfire, a deep, machine-tinted voice rolled through a loudspeaker.

[This place is now under the occupation of the 'Awakened Liberation Front.' Surrender at once!]

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