Chapter 64 – Cutting Ties

“Before we leave, I have something to ask.”

At my words, he looked up at me with a puzzled expression.

In my previous life I was slightly shorter, but now the height difference made him look up at me.

Looking down at my old friend, I continued.

“I heard there were no superhumans here. Is that correct?”

My friend nodded with a confused face.

“Yes, that’s right. If we had superhumans among us, people wouldn’t have died like that.”

His regretful expression while speaking was no different from my friend in the previous life.

A friend who was always considerate of others and honest.

However, unlike his expression, his pupils trembled ever so slightly.

In my previous life, as an ordinary person, I wouldn’t have noticed such subtle movement.

A tremor so slight that even I might have missed it without careful observation.

It seemed subtle enough to pass a lie detector.

Looking at my old friend’s natural demeanor, I asked again.

“Then, the person who secretly followed us after we left here wasn’t someone from this place.”

Instead of my old friend who should have been surprised, Hoffman looked at me with shock.

Hoffman hadn’t known there was someone secretly following us.

Hoffman was a mountain soldier with a thief background, specialized in infiltration and reconnaissance.

For someone like him to not notice being followed was shocking.

However, he kept his mouth shut and observed the situation.

Unlike Hoffman, my old friend’s expression didn’t change at my continued words.

His pupils trembled more, but even that trembling quickly disappeared.

His emotional control was truly remarkable, but unfortunately, this time he made a mistake.

“You’re not surprised. This time it’s something worth being surprised about.”

Finally, my old friend’s expression changed at my words.

He raised his hand with a frowning face.

“Just a moment…”

I crossed my arms and waited at his words.

I wondered what answer my old friend would give.

I looked forward to seeing how much he would make up for my disappointment.

His contemplation grew quite long.

People looked at him with confused expressions.

They didn’t understand why he was contemplating.

If, as he said, there were no superhumans here and no one had secretly followed us from here, there would be no reason to contemplate.

Naturally, his long contemplation should raise suspicion, but people were merely puzzled, showing how much they trusted him.

However, when he hesitated, the party members’ expressions changed.

Zahina and Yerim began watching him carefully, and Hoffman placed his hand on his short sword.

After much deliberation, he finally sighed and spoke.

“Oh dear. I’m cornered. Since you already know, there’s no way to make excuses.”

He turned and bowed to his colleagues who were watching him.

“I’m sorry everyone. I deceived you all. Recently, after barely surviving a trip outside, I became a superhuman.”

Everyone was shocked at his words.

“That’s…”

“Impossible.”

People looked at him with astonished faces, and he continued with a bitter smile.

“There were various reasons, but they’re all excuses. What words can a liar say? I should have told you all immediately after becoming a superhuman, but I couldn’t. I apologize to you all again.”

Bowing to people once more, he finished speaking with a trembling voice.

“I’ll take responsibility and step down right here. And as part of taking responsibility… I won’t go to the sacred zone.”

People were shocked again at his words.

“What? What do you mean you won’t go? Captain can’t not go!”

“No! Everything will fall apart without the captain!”

“Right! If we go alone, everyone will ignore us!”

“What’s the reason? Please tell us. There must have been an important reason for keeping it secret. Even if you’re a superhuman, you can’t survive here alone!”

As people continued talking, he raised both hands.

When he raised his hands, people fell silent, and he looked around at everyone before speaking again.

“Actually, there wasn’t any special reason. I became a superhuman after people died, so it was difficult to tell you all then. With people dead, I couldn’t just announce that I had become a superhuman.”

Looking at people’s expressions, he continued.

“Moreover, the superpower I gained wasn’t one that could kill zombies like the knight here. I didn’t get stronger, nor could I turn zombies back into corpses.”

He lowered his hands and looked at them with gloomy eyes.

“Ridiculously, it was an ability good for avoiding people’s eyes, suitable for theft. Though I became healthier and my body became slightly stronger, that was all.”

He patted the backpack on his back. The backpack wasn’t much different from others’.

“I couldn’t tell you all that I had an ability that wasn’t helpful in dealing with zombies, only useful for secretly watching people. The moment I said this, all the trust and faith built with you would be ruined. Because I had power, you would have to follow whatever I said, and my words would become just orders.”

People nodded, seeming to agree with his words.

“You would build up complaints, and as time passed, you wouldn’t trust me. That I became a superhuman after people died, that I couldn’t kill zombies. Even the things I ask of you.”

Adjusting his backpack again, he looked around at people with a sad face.

“So, after deciding not to tell, I planned to leave if anyone found out. I’m really glad it was revealed after we were heading to the sacred zone.”

As he was about to turn around after saying this, one person stepped forward.

“No! The captain was going to tell us. I stopped him. I desperately prevented him, saying that people would curse the captain for not being able to save people, and everyone here would fight and die!”

It was the young man who traveled with him.

This seemingly very gentle man was one who had returned alive with Jin-su after going outside.

“Not everyone was unaware! I knew! The captain didn’t do anything wrong! He just couldn’t tell because I stopped him!”

At the man’s words, everyone looked sympathetically at Jin-su and the young man.

“Then there was no choice but to hide it.”

“Oh dear, getting such an ability must have been troublesome for the captain.”

“The timing was terrible too. Nobody could say anything back then.”

“But what do we do? He said he’s quitting.”

“That’s nonsense. There’s no reason to quit. We would have stopped him even without knowing the reason, but with a valid reason, we can’t let him leave.”

“Right. This turned out well. If the captain is a superhuman, we won’t be pushed around at the sacred zone.”

“Ah, that’s right. Then we absolutely must stop him from stepping down.”

While people were talking after hearing his and the young man’s words, he bowed to us.

“I apologize to you all as well. Though I’ve stepped down now, as a representative of an organization, I had to observe until the end to trust you. It wasn’t a good method, but I had no other choice.”

“Well, they might not have been able to trust us easily either. Right?”

Yerim nodded continuously with a face moved by Jin-su’s apology.

Her expression was no different from those trying desperately to keep Jin-su.

Zahina also stood beside Yerim, looking at Jin-su with an admiring face.

Zahina usually maintained an expressionless face regardless of circumstances. But this time, she showed genuine admiration.

However, her words of admiration were different from what I expected.

“You speak very well. So this is what they call appealing to people’s emotions. There’s much to learn here.”

At Zahina’s words, both Yerim and the apologizing Jin-su looked at her with surprised eyes.

He probably hadn’t expected such words from someone with such a pretty face right in front of him.

While Zahina’s words were unexpected, Hoffman’s expression was even more remarkable.

He was glaring at Jin-su with genuine anger.

“An ability only good for theft? What nonsense.”

Jin-su’s words seemed particularly uncomfortable for the former thief to hear.

After checking all party members’ expressions, I spoke to my old friend who had finished apologizing.

“If you did wrong, taking responsibility is right. I don’t know why you followed us, but because of your tailing, we couldn’t properly complete today’s tasks.”

Jin-su knew where we had stayed today.

Though he didn’t know what we did there or that we buried food, even that much information had leaked.

Therefore, compensation was needed.

If it were a stranger or enemy, I would have stripped them of everything and silenced them right there, but I couldn’t do that to an old friend.

“However, if I mention that compensation now, it would become troublesome…”

People were glaring at me from behind him.

Silent pressure to understand and forgive Jin-su poured from them.

I met those gazes and continued speaking.

“I’ll receive that compensation from you personally later.”

“That’s right. When you tell me, I’ll do my best.”

Jin-su nodded at my words.

People looked regretful but couldn’t stop Jin-su’s answer.

I inwardly laughed while looking at Jin-su and the people.

Sorry to my old friend, but I had no intention of receiving compensation from Jin-su.

Because I had already received compensation.

That compensation was the help he gave me in my previous life.

I had planned to repay him somewhat when I met him, but decided to use this incident instead.

Though it might not balance with his help then, I just decided to do it this way.

That’s how disappointed I was in him.

The person I saw in my previous life might have been an illusion he created.

No, there was no need to jump to conclusions.

I could just cut ties this time.

I just felt a bit bitter seeing this different side of a friend I had respected in my previous life.

I shook my head to clear my gloomy mood and said to him.

“I promised to escort you to the safe zone, so I’ll provide escort, but unlike this morning, trust between us has disappeared, so no more free service. I’ll need payment. How much can you offer?”

There was no reason to help strangers in this world.

To live as a free knight, I needed proper compensation.

Only then could my dream of an estate become possible.

The government office representative standing before me froze stiffly at my words demanding ‘advance payment’.