Chapter 376 – Things Got Complicated
As soon as I received a call from the police, I headed straight to the police station.
“Hello.”
“You arrived quickly, Hunter Kim Shinwoo.”
As expected, the pedophile bastards were locked up in the detention center.
But they had surprisingly relaxed and confident expressions.
On the contrary, the police were openly showing discomfort on their faces.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, you see…”
I asked the police for an explanation about the situation.
Before the police could finish speaking, the explanation popped out from an unexpected source.
From those pedophile bastards, who were standing with over-the-top confidence.
“Do you think you can judge us?!”
“We are unfortunate beings that can only be classified as mental patients by your standards!”
“Then what we need is close treatment!!!”
“If you understand, get us out of this filthy place!!!”
Their claims were utterly ridiculous.
Just a moment ago, when they were dragged in, they looked like they were on the verge of death.
Now, their faces seemed to be bursting with vitality, almost infectious to everybody.
From their facial expressions, it wouldn’t be surprising if the police and they swapped places right now.
“Hunter Shinwoo… about that…”
“I think I get it.”
At this point, I had a pretty good idea of what those bastards were thinking.
“So, what you’re saying is that instead of being criminals, they’re appealing for treatment as mental patients?”
“That’s an accurate summary… yes, that’s right.”
It’s a rather cruel statement, but a wise approach indeed.
Pedophilia, or the strong desire for children, is essentially a mental disorder based on a sexual preference.
And they brazenly made that their shield.
[The way they think is clearly mental ‘illness’, huh.]
‘Why is Piece saying that of all people…’
[Ah, fuck.]
But they were still clear criminals.
There were already disgusting physical evidences, of course.
Even if they tried and failed, they actually attempted to raid a kindergarten.
On Children’s Day, no less.
“Isn’t that a death penalty situation?”
“Since there are no actual victims, it won’t come to that. Besides, they didn’t use their abilities.”
It made sense that they hadn’t used their abilities until they were caught.
Now I was starting to understand the reason behind that.
If they used their abilities, the severity of their crimes would escalate in an instant.
Even though all of them ought to vanish into thin air, it was tragically not happening.
And that tragedy wasn’t over yet.
“And they said to bring them urgently from the mental health hospital as they are mental patients.”
“What diagnosis do they have?”
“Pedophilia and adult phobia.”
“Ha…”
The mental health hospital.
That place is a type of prison for mental patients, a treatment facility.
But not everyone gets to go there.
Only those who cannot be held responsible for criminal acts due to mental or physical disabilities can go to such a restricted place.
[But why haven’t you gone? You’re a perfect fit for that place.]
‘I haven’t committed any crimes yet, you moron.’
And apparently, someone had connections to urgently take them there, which was the current situation.
“It’s not even a case of diminished mental capacity. Yet the higher-ups just told us to let them go?”
“I hate to say this, but… there’s just a lot of shitheads in the world.”
Despite going through numerous procedures, they disregarded them all.
Of course, the treatment facility isn’t always a good place.
If it’s in a really poor environment, I thought I might at least feed the police some words.
“Anyway, where is the designated place?”
“This is it.”
But as soon as I saw the place the police showed me.
“Oh, motherfucker.”
“……It’s quite an excessive place, isn’t it?”
I spontaneously cursed out loud.
That place was a hospital preferred by hunters because of its experienced medical staff and excellent services.
The high price might be a slight flaw, but within that place, you could forget about it for a while.
Naturally, it was a very luxurious place for those pedophile bastards.
Moreover, this hospital was also frequented by the general public, just as much as any other hospital.
Naturally, there was also a pediatric department aimed at children, which made it a place of interest for the pedophiles.
In the end, this meant that the issue hadn’t been properly resolved.
“So when will they be moving?”
“Today is a holiday, so they’ll probably go tomorrow.”
Not only that, but their transfer was set for right tomorrow.
“They’ve told us not to lift a finger.”
“What a load of crap.”
“It really does seem to be a hell of a job being a cop.”
Moreover, as if to put the nail in the coffin, the police could take no actions whatsoever.
[Something stinks. Both the higher-ups and the hospital.]
‘It really is a mad world out there.’
To summarize, those pedophile bastards were set to move to what was technically a treatment facility.
In practice, they were about to be moved to a very cozy place.
And yet, they were causing a ruckus instead of just waiting for tomorrow.
This was definitely a situation that just reeked of sweet potato.
A sweet potato that absolutely shouldn’t exist in web novels.
But it’s okay.
There’s a critical flaw I can dig into.
“Shinwoo, come to think of it, those bastards are still hunters, right?”
“Right. Their processing hasn’t been done yet.”
The fact that they were still hunters.
Of course, it’s true that their hunter qualification revocation is certain.
But coincidentally, today was a holiday, Children’s Day.
So the actual revocation of hunter qualifications would only start by tomorrow, if anything.
“Everyone’s way too slow! Wouldn’t it be great if they moved as fast as my coin graph?!”
“……No matter how much it moves, it always goes down, no matter day or night. Use a different metaphor.”
“As fast as you drop it, Husband!”
“Fuck you.”
Thanks to that, there was still time today before they became civilians.
“So that’s why you all called us here.”
“……I’m sorry. To be honest, we couldn’t do anything…”
“No worries. This is actually beneficial for us.”
Meanwhile, we could do what only hunters could do.
Interestingly, the state never intervenes in conflicts between hunters.
So as long as no murder or irreversible harm is caused, it’s always just brushed aside.
After all, from the public’s perspective, fights between hunters are seen as mere dog fights.
And that’s why those bastards tried to take an attacking stance against us back in the kindergarten.
Of course, since they prioritized kidnapping over fighting, no further violent conflicts occurred.
In any case, conflicts between hunters should just be regarded as a part of daily life.
[But why did they even restrict Hyeji with the law?]
‘It’s apparently a strategic weapon. They’d consider it military provocation if deployed along the border.’
[Ah.]
It’s okay to maintain such a system.
No matter how you look at it, the state isn’t a fool.
Well, it might be a fool, but–
Anyway, the state still has its beliefs.
Basically, since the use of abilities is prohibited, there’s little chance for fights to escalate.
If they were to commit a serious crime using their abilities, they could just be controlled immediately.
Of course, that aside, those hunter bastards often commit crimes because they treat civilians like trash.
[The ‘Exemplary Hunter of the Month’ award is indeed impressive. Especially since it involves not jaywalking.]
‘Wasn’t last month’s award given to a hunter who put a cigarette butt in an ashtray?’
[Ah, the hunter society is still so bright.]
Let’s briefly skip over these trivial matters.
Whatever the case, our job was simple.
We just needed to stomp on those bastard’s faces down there.
Legally, of course.
“Could you step back for a moment?”
“Please be careful. You mustn’t cause them too much harm. It’s hard to get out of the police station, anyway.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Of course, Hyeji would have to wait a bit longer.
“When will I be able to get involved?”
“I’m sorry. The disaster management office isn’t responding either.”
[But didn’t Hyeji use her ability earlier? Why can’t she throw a punch now?]
‘That was during an emergency while making the arrest.’
[Aha.]
Excluding Hyeji, the rest of us dragged the bastards filling the detention center out.
None of them had handcuffs on at the moment, but they couldn’t choose to throw a tantrum or attempt to escape.
Since it was a police station, armed police were present, and if anything escalated, I could quickly contact the ability user task force.
At worst, there was always ‘Hyeji’ here.
Of course, seeing the now confident attitude of those pedophile bastards, it didn’t seem like they had any thought of resisting.
In fact, they seemed to mock us now.
“Hit us hard! The longer we’re in the hospital, the better for us!”
“It’s only going to be one day anyway! We might as well have a little rest before heading to heaven!”
“Don’t tire yourself out for no reason. How are you going to do anything to this many of us with bare hands? Just go home and handle your daughter.”
[After all that trouble, didn’t they learn anything?]
‘That’s why they’re hunters.’
[Oh right.]
As if they were saying, how much could we possibly do?
“Husband! But where are we going?”
“The parking lot is full, so let’s head up.”
“Got it. You guys follow us.”
For now, we decided to take them to the rooftop.
Even if the rooftop wasn’t that large.
It was still far more spacious compared to being stuck inside the detention center, as it left a bit of room after accommodating them all.
While wondering how I could stomp on them so well that I’d get praised.
Suddenly, the guild master stepped forward and quietly began to mutter.
“What do you think about gravity?”
An unexpected statement from no one!
