Chapter 41

Chapter 40

"I'm surprised. I didn't expect you to come to a place like this."

"Do you dislike pasta by any chance?"

The place I chose is a pasta restaurant run by an Italian chef.

Fortunately, Yun Eui-seon didn't seem to have any major complaints about my choice.

"No. I just thought that men might not like places like this. Oh, please speak casually. I find it more comfortable that way."

"...Really?"

Then it's good for me too.

"I don't dislike it. It's just that it feels a bit odd for men to come here together, or for a man to come alone."

"...Indeed. It usually takes a lot of courage for a man to come here alone to eat pasta."

"Right?"

It's common for a man to walk into a soup restaurant and eat soup and leave.

But pasta is different.

Even if the status of Korean and Western food has switched, the cultural position of Japanese and Western restaurants hasn't changed.

-Even if Korean food is trendy worldwide, it's a bit off-putting to go on a date to a place where kimchi broth might splatter.

This is the background for why Japanese and Western specialty restaurants have managed to maintain their presence to this day.

Moreover, with many foreign restaurants opening on Sejong Island, there are also stores targeting foreigners or run by foreigners.

Thus, the cultural element of pasta restaurants—places where you come with a woman—hasn't disappeared in this world.

Fortunately.

"Student Eui-seon, would it be okay if word got out that we came out to eat together? It wouldn't cause a scandal, would it?"

"Scandal? Not at all. I've eaten with many people while working in the student council. Would eating with a presidential candidate be considered a scandal?"

"...Not a romantic scandal, but a political one."

"Hehe."

Yun Eui-seon is a smart woman.

Not only is she a highly ranked psychic, but her political acumen is also considerable.

That's why she has continued to lead the student council up until now, and even as a college student, she still leads the student council.

She will continue to lead the student council in the future.

And after graduation, she will likely go into 'politics.'

To promote the rights of psychics.

'But no way.'

Yun Eui-seon hasn't seen all the dark sides of the world yet.

She's a woman who has lived in a pure flower garden, completely unaware of things like demons or human experiments.

She knows roughly that there's a bloody swamp beneath the flower garden, but she doesn't know how dirty and cruel that swamp is.

There's no need to tell her.

"If a scandal were to happen, how about using this as an excuse? We're working on a project with the library."

"Project?"

"Yes. A book lending project. We're holding something like a 'review contest' for the books in the library."

"Wouldn't that increase your workload?"

"Only for the books in my section, not the 800s literature novels over there."

"Ha. Are you passing your work to others? Just providing the idea?"

"Of course. I don't want to live a busy life. I want to live comfortably, thinly, and long."

"You seem like someone who would live thickly, long, and strongly."

"......?"

Did I hear that wrong?

Did she just deliberately say that to me?

If so,

I can't lose.

"Of course, I live thickly, long, and strongly, but life isn't always like that. Even if you always hold your head high and work, sometimes you want to lie on the bed and stretch out. That's just how it is."

"You mean you want to continue living like that."

"Raising my head and getting up when someone needs me is enough."

"When someone needs you... It sounds like a hero's answer, which is quite amusing. Hehe."

Yun Eui-seon lightly charred the marshmallow in front of her with a lighter.

"I thought about what you said last time."

"What? Oh, the contract with the demon?"

"Yes. At first, it sounded like you were telling me to become a villain, but I understood the essence of what you were saying."

"Even if you have the power of a demon, if your actions aren't those of a demon? If you look like a demon but act more heroically than anyone else? Would you call that a demon or a hero?"

"A hero."

I charred the marshmallow a bit more.

"Even if the appearance is ugly, if you want to be a hero, you can still be one. What matters is your mindset and actions."

"Not your beliefs?"

"Having beliefs doesn't always make you a hero. Like this."

I swallowed the marshmallow in one go.

"This is a marshmallow. But it's burnt. How does it taste? The inside is still sweet, but there's a bitter and greasy part. I expected the sweetness of the marshmallow, but what I actually ate was different."

"You seem to have a tendency to use difficult metaphors."

"Speaking straightforwardly, if your actions aren't those of a hero, then you're not a hero."

"Hmm...."

Yun Eui-seon fell into thought.

"...Like a goblin?"

"Goblin."

A difficult subject to discuss objectively came up.

"Goblins are villains."

"But people often call them 'dark heroes.'"

"What? No, that's just nonsense."

A dark hero?

Me?

That's ridiculous.

"Goblins just kill villains. Like what happened on the Gyeongbu Expressway recently, and at that restaurant. Phew, I was so scared back then."

"......?"

"Ah, I was at that restaurant then. I was eating when the attack happened."

"Really? I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have asked about your well-being earlier."

"No, it's fine. Just being alive is a blessing."

It was actually an incident where people died.

"Anyway, goblins can't be called heroes, whether they're dark heroes or anything else. They're just villains who kill people without hesitation to achieve their goals."

"That's a harsh evaluation."

"It's the truth."

"Hmm... I think he's quite good."

"...What?"

What did she just say?

"You think the goblin is good? Are you defending a villain?"

"I'm not defending a villain. I'm defending the goblin."

"Defending a villain who kills people? That's a dangerous thing to say."

"Is it? I think his actions are right."

"......"

Is she testing me?

Does she think I'm the goblin?

Or does she genuinely believe the goblin is right?

"Those who kill others should be executed. That's from the Goguryeo Eight Laws."

"That's an ancient law. It's problematic to apply it directly in modern times."

"But keeping them alive and imprisoning them doesn't seem to help society much. Once a villain, always a villain... not exactly, but I think those who commit evil deeds should receive appropriate punishment, and the death of a person should be replaced by the death of the perpetrator."

"Harsh. You might end up killing a villain by accident someday."

"I won't kill anyone."

Yun Eui-seon shrugged and smiled.

"Heroes arrest villains. The execution is carried out by the law. Of course, if a villain resists arrest, the hero isn't held responsible for on-the-spot execution."

"I didn't expect to have this kind of conversation while eating with Student Eui-seon."

"You were speaking poorly of the goblin."

Ah.

Could it be?

"Are you a fan of the goblin or something?"

"......"

Yun Eui-seon took out her smartphone and showed me a screen that was indescribable.

"I'm member number 38 of the Goblin Fan Club. I've seen him in action since he was a C-rank. I know all the places where the goblin has appeared."

Oh.

This is bad.

She's a goblin otaku.

"Good grief. Is it okay for the student council president to be like this with a villain?"

"Yes. There are many people who like the goblin. When heroes are annoyingly reciting Miranda rights to catch villains, many people cheer when the goblin decisively smashes the villains. Some people have even been saved thanks to the goblin."

"Saved?"

"Yes. The families of those killed by the villains the goblin has killed. Something like, 'Thank you for killing them in my place.'"

"......"

I feel a bit uneasy.

"Sometimes I think that if there are demons in this world, they're not the out-of-control psychics but the people who commit crimes with malice. Especially those who kill people for reasons others can't understand."

"Understanding... It's getting more complicated."

"Even if it gets complicated, it's better than people who just want to conquer the world recklessly, right?"

"......What?"

Did she just

insult the dream of the leader?

"That's something I can't just let slide."

"...Do you know what you're talking about?"

"Yes. I know. You're talking about the Immortal, the Four Kings, and the Supreme Leader of the Immortal's Guard."

"Do you think it would be good if a malicious organization ruled the world and turned it into one giant nation?"

"...Not necessarily. But in whatever form, if the actions and results are shown, isn't that enough?"

"Indeed, you're quite interesting. Ah, are you one of the Four Kings or a member of the Immortal's Guard?"

"......Let's say something similar."

In the end,

Yun Eui-seon and I, though our targets are different, reached the same conclusion.

"Even if the outside is a demon, if the inside is a hero, then it can be seen as a hero."

"Yes. That's why I brought a few sketches."

"...Sketches?"

"Yes."

Yun Eui-seon smiled and opened the gallery on her smartphone.

"I'm planning to use this as my new costume. What do you think?"

"......"

I have only one thing to say.

"Hot pink dog rider?"

Imma Mangryang, oh my.