NOVEL WEB Chapter 199
“It was a somewhat impromptu decision, so a few kids couldn’t join in, but I figured it was best not to call them since Justitia isn’t going anywhere tomorrow.”
Sure, having a big crowd can make serious conversations a bit tricky, but everyone seemed to agree, and no one complained about it being lame.
“We can let them know later, and if anyone wants to talk separately, they can just call then, right, miss?”
“So, for the love of all that’s sacred, stop calling me that!”
Just as Lapiz leaned in with a fury, she quickly backtracked and begged not to do it for the rest of the day.
Honestly, her body looked like it was made of solid metal, so even playful poking hurt like crazy.
“It doesn’t hurt that much… wait, why just today?!”
“Well, I’m planning to crash at your place today! You know I don’t have anywhere else to go, right?”
“If you’re okay with it, we could let you sleep over at our house…”
As Yeonhwa shyly opened her mouth, Jinhyeon interrupted, saying that they hadn’t really talked it through yet.
Yeonhwa, trying to pick up on the vibe, poked Jinhyeon in the side, but he still didn’t seem to get what he did wrong.
That guy is never going to change, is he?
Once the topic was on the table, both Minho and Ageha chimed in, excitedly suggesting their homes until they suddenly started bickering.
“Did you just propose that on a whim? How could you leave me at a guy’s place?” and other complaints were flying around.
Seeing that friendships might take a hit, I stepped in for some traffic control.
“I appreciate all your offers, but I’ll have to decline. Don’t make those sad faces, it’s not that I dislike any of you. I’m heading to Lapiz’s place for my safety and yours.”
After all, even if it’s just one night, you can never know what Heros Company might pull.
After I explained the reasons one by one, the kids quickly understood, saying they wouldn’t press it if that was the case.
“If it’s about returning folk and their families, Heros Company wouldn’t dare touch you, right? Sounds like a reasonable choice. But, wait, they actually made such offers?”
“What offers? More like threats if you ask me.”
For the first three days, they had particular threats that seemed legit, but by the fourth day, they ran out of ideas and just started threatening my friends instead.
That’s also why I decided to stick with Lapiz.
This way, not only could I avoid being bothered by Heros Company, but if they messed with my friends, we’d end up in trouble with the returning folk.
Even if they were itching to get their hands on my ability, it wouldn’t benefit anyone to fall out with the returning folk, so I’d rather let it go.
“We’re getting close, so get your points ready.”
As we chatted away, Lapiz called out that we were almost there.
Points…. I had so many but didn’t need to spill them all at once.
When I got out of the car, we were met with a rather intimidating main gate and guards.
At first, they were cautious, but once they recognized Lapiz, they seemed to catch on and naturally stepped aside, allowing us to move quickly towards where Justitia was held.
“This is it. There’s no hard rule about only meeting one person at a time, but… anyone want to talk one-on-one?”
As Jinhyeon, Minho, and I raised our hands, Lapiz said she’d wait outside and let us decide who would go in first.
But honestly, it was pretty much decided already.
Jinhyeon and Minho didn’t even need me to say anything, they instinctively stepped back, chatting about who would go next.
With nothing to argue, I pushed open the heavy iron door and walked into the room where Justitia was locked away.
I thought security would be tight as a drum, but surprisingly, it was rather lax compared to her abilities and powers.
But as soon as I laid eyes on her, I understood why they kept her so poorly guarded.
Before thinking about escapes or anything, she looked completely devoid of any will to do anything.
She appeared like a reflection of my past self.
No, scratch that. It was much worse than that.
At least I hadn’t been ruled by Arman. I had friends come visit me.
But Justitia was being ruled, forced to endure all kinds of unpleasant things, and probably had no one coming to see her either.
“Justitia.”
“…Blanca, is it?”
Only after I called did she look at me. Her eyes were utterly hollow.
“…It’s been a while.”
“Sure has.”
I had expected a rough situation, but it was much worse than I imagined, and I found myself at a loss for what to do.
I thought I could just do my best, like my friends had done for me, but this was beyond simple solutions.
So instead, I decided to convey what I wanted to say.
“…This is the Boss’s last message.”
…”
Justitia didn’t say a word, but she stared at me. Her violet eyes showed a glimmer of interest.
“…He said, to become the person you want to be. To break free from your chains and live freely.”
…”
I knew that wasn’t exactly what he meant, but I figured he’d understand a bit of a distortion of his words.
Because above all, he wanted everyone to live well and prosper.
“…I may not have the audacity to presume to understand him, but… it seems he wished for everyone to be okay.”
…”
“And you too, Justitia.”
…”
“…Wow, this feels awkward. Uh, anyway… I hope you stick around. But… if it gets too unbearable… just tell me. I’ll make it easy for you.”
…”I’ve always wanted to be a person of justice.”
After a long silence, Justitia finally opened her heavy mouth.
“I lived only thinking about becoming someone worthy of my name. At first, I thought adhering to justice was enough…”
“But that justice wasn’t your justice, was it?”
…”Yeah. Justice set by others and by society… no matter how I twisted my head, it felt wrong. So… I tried to implement my own sense of justice…”
“And this, is how things turned out.”
She could easily have snapped at me for interrupting, yet she seemed to lack the will to push me away, simply clinking her handcuffs and staring at me directly.
“…Blanca. Am I… are we in the wrong? Was it just arrogance?”
“Don’t you dare say that. There’s nothing wrong with you. If anything, it’s Heros Company that’s in the wrong. But… yeah, maybe the methods were flawed.”
“…Methods…”
As much as I still held firm that our cause wasn’t wrong, looking back, it was hard to find anything positive in our methods.
“Even if our cause was just, we moved too hastily.”
“…That might be true.”
Justitia made a bitter smile, agreeing with that sentiment.
“…So, what do you want to do? The Boss said to live, but I doubt he meant for you to just survive and want to die.”
Upon saying that, Justitia fell silent for a long time.
“I…”
And finally, the moment she opened her mouth.
“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, that guy waiting for me in the realm of the dead told me to live.”
And I managed to spill the one line I had been holding back.
“…If you heard that, how could you say you want to die, Blanca?”
“I just don’t want to see anyone die.”
“Then… let’s agree that you want to live. I’ll work hard outside, so don’t give up. Weren’t you saying you wanted to live a life worthy of your name?”
That was all I had to say, so I added a little bit of advice and stepped out of the solitary confinement room.
As I did, Minho quickly stepped in.
I knew eavesdropping was a terrible thing to do, but I couldn’t help but be curious to hear what the main character was going to say to her former master.
Listening in, he was discussing her concept of justice and the society she envisioned.
Maybe he wanted to learn from a failed senior.
After Minho finished speaking, it was Jinhyeon’s turn.
As I strained my ears to listen, I caught Jinhyeon launching straight into wanting to learn about “justice” from Justitia.
Even if Justitia was feeling down and out, that caught her off guard. When she asked what he meant, he simply said he wanted to learn from a senior who had championed justice.
…Learning from a failed senior seems questionable, though.
But hey, Justitia’s views on justice can’t be wrong, right? So maybe it’ll work out.
I held onto hope that Minho and Jinhyeon would end up cooperating, and as soon as Jinhyeon exited, the other kids crowded around.
“So, what are you planning?”
When I finally asked her that, she closed her eyes, opened them, and broke into a smirk.
“…Yeah, living sounds good. At least this way, I won’t die. Leaving behind my juniors will settle my heart a bit.”
Looks like she’s thinking of teaching Jinhyeon and Minho after all.
“Glad to hear that.”
I said that but deep down was relieved.
…
Now that the conversation was winding down, it was time to head over to Lapiz’s place.