Chapter 40: Artificial Demons And Natural Demons (3)
“It’s unexpected. I didn’t think you’d come to a place like this.”
“Do you dislike pasta?”
The place I chose was a pasta restaurant operated by an Italian-born chef.
Fortunately, Yoon Iseon seemed to have no significant complaints about my choice.
“No. I was just thinking men might not like places like this. Oh, feel free to speak casually. It’s more comfortable for me too.”
“…Really?”
Then that worked for me.
“I don’t dislike it. It’s just that it’s a bit strange for men to come here together, or it’s quite a bit odd for a man to come here alone.”
“…True. It does usually require some courage for a man to come to eat pasta alone.”
“Right?”
It was common for a man to walk into a soup restaurant alone, eat soup, and walk out.
But pasta felt different.
Even though the status of Korean and Western food had reversed, the cultural position occupied by Japanese and Western restaurants had not changed.
[No matter how popular Korean food is globally, a place where kimchi soup splashes around is a bit strange for a date.]
That was how Japanese restaurants and Western cuisine specialty stores had managed to maintain their pulse so far.
Like the increase of foreign restaurants on Sejong Island, there were also shops directly operated by foreigners or targeting foreigners on the peninsula.
Therefore, the cultural element pasta restaurants possessed—‘a place to come with a woman’—had not disappeared in this world.
Fortunately.
“Iseon, is it okay if rumors spread that I came out to eat with you like this? It won’t create a scandal, will it?”
“A scandal? Not at all. I have lunch with so many people while on the student council. Is it a scandal if I have a private meal with a presidential candidate?”
“…It wouldn’t be a romantic scandal, but a political scandal.”
“Haha.”
Yoon Iseon was a smart woman.
She was not only a highly-ranked superpowered individual, but her political acumen was also quite impressive.
That was why she had been leading the student council until now, and even as a university student, she had continued to lead it.
She would continue to lead the student council in the future.
And after she graduated, she would probably go into ‘politics’.
For the advancement of the rights of superpowered individuals.
‘But she needs to back off.’
Yoon Iseon doesn’t yet know of all the dark sides of the world.
She was a woman who lived in an innocent flower garden, knowing nothing about demons or human experiments.
She roughly knew that a bloody pit was spread out beneath the flower garden, but she didn’t know how filthy and vicious that pit was.
There was no need to enlighten her.
“In case a scandal happens, how about this for an excuse? We are conducting a project in collaboration with the library at the student council.”
“A project?”
“Yes. A book lending project. We’re holding something like a ‘review competition’ for the books in the library.”
“Wouldn’t that increase your workload?”
“Not the books in my section. I mean the literary novels in the 800s section.”
“Ha. Are you passing the work to others? After providing the idea?”
“Of course. I don’t want to live a busy life. I’m a person who wants to live comfortably and long.”
“You seem like someone who would live a thick, long, and vigorous life.”
“……?”
Did I hear that wrong?
Was she deliberately saying that to me?
If that was the case.
I shouldn’t lose.
“Of course, I live a thick, long, and vigorous life, but life doesn’t always allow that. Even though I always keep my head up and work facing forward, sometimes I just want to lie down on the bed and relax.”
“You want to keep living that way, don’t you, teacher?”
“I only need to lift my head and stand up when someone needs me.”
“When someone needs you… Such a heroic response. It’s interesting. Hehe.”
Yoon Iseon lightly toasted her marshmallow over the flame.
“I’ve thought about what you mentioned last time.”
“What? Ah, the contract with the demon?”
“Yes. At first, it sounded like you were telling me to become a villain, but I have now understood the point of your words.”
After swallowing her marshmallow in one bite, Yoon Iseon stuck her fork vertically into the table.
“Even if you have the power of a demon, but your actions are not demonic? If you look like a demon but act more heroically than anyone else, should that be called a demon or a hero?”
“A hero.”
I slightly over-toasted my marshmallow in the flame.
“Even if the appearance is monstrous, if you want to be a hero, you can be a hero. What matters is your mindset and actions.”
“Not conviction?”
“Just because you have conviction doesn’t always make you a hero. Like this.”
I swallowed my marshmallow in one gulp.
“This is a marshmallow. But it got burnt. How does it taste? The inside is still sweet, but there are bitter and gritty parts. I expected the sweetness of the marshmallow, but what I actually ate was not that.”
“You seem to have a tendency to make difficult metaphors, teacher.”
“If I speak directly, if the actions aren’t heroic, then you’re not a hero.”
“Hmm….”
Yoon Iseon fell into thought for a moment.
“…Like the Goblin?”
“The Goblin.”
An objectively difficult subject had popped out.
“The Goblin is a villain.”
“But people sometimes call them ‘dark heroes’.”
“What? Nah, that’s complete nonsense.”
Dark hero?
Me?
How ridiculous.
“The Goblin, if they were simply a villain, would just kill. Like what happened on the Gyeongbu Expressway a while ago and also at that restaurant. Ah, I was so scared then.”
“……?”
“Oh, I was at that restaurant. I was eating when the attack happened.”
“Really? I’m sorry. If I knew, I would have asked how you were sooner.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s lucky just to have come out alive.”
Since it was an incident where someone actually died.
“Anyway, whether the Goblin is a dark hero or whatever, they cannot be called a hero. He’s just a villain who doesn’t hesitate to kill people for his own purpose.”
“You’re pretty harsh in your judgment.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“Hmm… I think it’s quite okay.”
“…Huh?”
What did she just say?
“You think the Goblin is okay? Are you defending a villain right now?”
“I’m not defending a villain. I’m defending the Goblin.”
“You’re defending a villain who kills people? That’s a dangerous statement.”
“Is it? I think what he does is right.”
“…….”
Was she joking?
Was I just saying this because I am the Goblin?
Did she really think what the Goblin did was right?
“Those who kill people are sentenced to death. That’s in the eight laws of Gojoseon.”
“That’s an ancient law. There are issues with applying it directly to the modern era.”
“But I don’t think it’s a great help to society to keep imprisoning without killing. Once a villain, always a villain…even if not to that extent, I believe those who have committed evil acts should receive their deserved punishment. The death of a person should be substituted by the death of the perpetrator. That’s what I think.”
“That’s harsh. Later on, you might inadvertently end up killing a villain.”
“I won’t kill.”
Yoon Iseon shrugged her shoulders and smiled slightly.
“Heroes arrest villains. And the execution of the death penalty is judged by law. Of course, suppose the villain does not willingly comply with the arrest during the arrest process. In that case, they can be dealt with on the spot, and the hero is not held responsible.”
“I didn’t expect to have such a conversation while coming to eat with student Iseon.”
“You spoke poorly of the Goblin.”
Ah.
Could it be?
“Are you by any chance part of some Goblin fan club or something?”
“…….”
Yoon Iseon took out her smartphone and showed a screen that was indescribable.
“I’m member number 38 of the Goblin fan club. I’ve been watching his activities since he was in grade C. I know all of the Goblin’s actions so far.”
Oh.
I was in big trouble.
She was a Goblin otaku.
“Goodness. Is it okay for a student council president to do this against a villain?”
“Yes. Besides me, there are so many people who like the Goblin. When heroes annoyingly uphold the Miranda principle trying to catch villains, many people cheer at the sight of the Goblin decisively smashing the villains. There are also people who have been saved thanks to the Goblin.”
“Salvation?”
“Yes. The relatives of those killed by the villains who the Goblin killed. Something like this. ‘Thanks for killing on my behalf.’”
“…….”
I felt somewhat hollow inside.
“I sometimes think like this. If there are devils in this world, they are not those with rampaging superpowers, but those who commit crimes with evil intentions. Among them, those who kill people for reasons others cannot understand.”
“Understanding… it’s getting more complicated.”
“Even if it gets complicated, it’s necessary. It’s better than those who want to indiscriminately conquer the world, right?”
“……What?”
Did she just…
Insult…
My leader’s dreams?
“I can’t just let that go.”
“…You know what we’re talking about, right?”
“Yes, I do. You’re talking about the Gyeolsa and the Yi Maemangryang.”
“Do you really think it would be great if an evil organization ruled the world and made it into one giant nation?”
“…Not necessarily like that. It’s not that. I don’t know what the form would be, but ultimately, isn’t it about showing through actions and results?”
“Teacher, you’re really interesting. Ah. Are you perhaps one of the Four Kings or a member of Gyeolsa’s guardian team?”
“……Well, something like that.”
In the end,
Yoon Iseon and I had the same point of agreement, although the subjects were different.
“If the outside is a devil, but the inside is a hero, then it can be seen as a hero.”
“Yes, in that sense, I brought some sketches.”
“…Sketches?”
“Yes.”
Yoon Iseon opened her gallery on her smartphone with a big smile.
“I’m planning to use this as my new costume. What do you think?”
“…….”
I had one thing to say.
“A hot pink Dodjirider?”
Good Lord, Yi Maemangryang.
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