Demialos hurriedly ran down the hallway.
If a Teller who knew his usual deanor saw this, they might have been so shocked they’d fall over.
Demialos, who never lost his composure no matter what, was now visibly frantic to anyone who saw him.
His face was twisted into a fierce grimace, and his nacing aura prevented anyone from obstructing his path.
Demialos soon stopped in front of a door and flung it open with a loud bang.
“Well, well.”
Yu-hyun, who was leisurely drinking tea inside, frowned at the sudden visit from this unexpected guest.
“If you’re going to co in, couldn’t you at least knock?”
“…Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun. You’ve really co back.”
“Yes. It was quite a struggle, but here I am, back in triumph.”
Yu-hyun placed his teacup on the table and crossed his legs.
Demialos scowled at Yu-hyun’s leisurely behavior and glanced around.
They were the only ones in the room. Yu-hyun, having just returned from exile, had no previous stories with him.
‘If I make a move now, I can kill him.’
Demialos clenched and unclenched his tentacled right hand.
He quickly shook his head.
This was an extre action. Even if he killed Yu-hyun here, Demialos would undoubtedly be punished afterward.
‘He has returned from exile, but he doesn’t yet know what we did there.’
The only concern was Lean, the newly appointed Divine Spirit of Glacalis, but it would take ti for him to question the Celestial Corporation about anything related to the forr Divine Spirit, Georn.
Lean had just beco a Divine Spirit, so he needed to be recognized by the system and, more importantly, had to restore his broken planet. That would take ti, and anwhile, they could handle things on this end.
‘But what’s troubling is Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun’s relaxed attitude.’
Demialos never thought Yu-hyun would co back alive. Even the Director had said that exile was a place where even a director-level Teller could fail.
But Yu-hyun had succeeded greatly and returned to the headquarters.
He had proven that his achievents were due to genuine skill, not re manipulation of stories.
He had even declared in front of the Chairman that he would succeed and return, and he had indeed done so.
From Demialos’s perspective, it was like a bolt from the blue.
He had driven Yu-hyun into a corner and accused him of cris, and now the repercussions of that were about to co back on him.
“But Assistant Manager.”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you here?”
“What do you an?”
Demialos, unable to hide his discomfort, asked, and Yu-hyun pointed to the door Demialos had just entered through with a sly smile.
“Shouldn’t you be over there, in the courtroom where everyone is waiting?”
“What?”
Demialos didn’t understand what Yu-hyun was talking about.
In court? Sure, he could understand that. He had tried to stab soone and failed, so he was prepared for retaliation.
But the timing was the issue. Yu-hyun had just returned to the Celestial Corporation. Demialos had co here to confirm that.
To reopen a court to accuse him would require contacting the directors and setting a schedule.
Even with the support of a director, it had taken him at least a month to corner Yu-hyun.
And now, he was supposed to stand trial imdiately?
“Such a bluff is laughable. Did you think such intimidation would work on ?”
Demialos thought Yu-hyun was just trying to scare him. How much preparation could soone who had just returned today possibly have done?
Seeing Demialos’s triumphant expression, Yu-hyun scratched his cheek as if troubled.
“Well. It seems you think I’m joking or exaggerating.”
“So, are you saying I’m wrong? Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun. You should use such bravado with the right person.”
“It seems you saw it as bravado. Well, I understand. You’re in denial because you can’t believe the reality in front of you.”
“…Watch your words, Assistant Manager Kang. Even if we’re in different departnts, I’m still a manager, a rank higher than you. Mind your words.”
“You were a manager…”
“What did you say?”
“If you’re so curious, look behind you.”
Such an obvious lie.
But against his disbelief, Demialos instinctively turned his head.
His instincts warned him that the situation was dire.
To his surprise, he saw a row of Tellers from the Inspection Office glaring at him, having arrived unnoticed.
“Demialos, Manager of the Pentagram Departnt of the Storycraft Office.”
“What is this…?”
“You are under arrest for story manipulation.”
And in an instant, a white ring bound Demialos. Even with his manager-level power, he couldn’t resist its overwhelming strength.
Demialos, unable to resist, knelt.
In front of the stunned Demialos stood a Teller in a white suit.
“Director Utata…”
“Hey there, Demialos. You look well.”
Director Utata of the Inspection Office, who was glaring at Demialos, had slightly reddish hair.
“What on earth is going on?”
“It’s exactly as it was said. Demialos, you’re accused of manipulating stories.”
At that, Demialos turned his head to Yu-hyun.
The accusation of story manipulation was the sa charge he had used to fra Yu-hyun in front of everyone.
“Do you think you’ll get away with this?”
“We’ll see about that. Take him away.”
The Inspection Office Tellers dragged the bound Demialos away. Even as he was being taken, Demialos kept glaring at Yu-hyun.
As Utata approached, Yu-hyun stood up.
“Welco back, Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun.”
“Thank you, Director Utata.”
“It’s not polite to ask this on your first day back, but could you accompany ? We need the witness who submitted the evidence to be present.”
“I was going to ask you to take there. Let’s go.”
Yu-hyun followed Utata to the courtroom.
In the familiar courtroom, many Tellers were already waiting.
Seeing Yu-hyun enter with Utata, they widened their eyes. Rumors of his return had spread, but this was their first ti seeing him in person.
They all looked down at Demialos, who was now bound in the center of the courtroom.
Previously, it had been Demialos who was accusing and Yu-hyun who was the defendant.
But now, their positions were completely reversed.
No, it was even more blatant now with Demialos being forcibly subdued.
“The Chairman is arriving.”
At soone’s words, the door opened. Lotfiout entered, accompanied by Executive Director Hata.
Lotfiout, who might have found the repeated situation boring, instead had a sharper look in his eyes.
His gaze was fixed on Yu-hyun from the mont he entered.
“Alright. It seems everyone is here, so let’s begin.”
Yu-hyun stood in the center of the courtroom. All eyes were on him.
The suspicion and hostility from before were gone. Yu-hyun had gone to the place of exile, where no one had succeeded, and had returned triumphantly.
The Tellers, knowing well what the exile was like, had no choice but to acknowledge Yu-hyun.
Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun was not the type to fabricate stories and inflate his successes.
He was the real deal.
“We’re in a similar situation as before. And you’re probably wondering why we’re here again.”
No one answered, but everyone was thinking the sa thing. If Demialos was bound like that, the situation was worse than they knew.
“Manager Demialos here has committed a heinous cri. Yes, it’s terrible. More than just manipulating stories.”
“More than changing stories?”
“What else did he do?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! This is a setup!”
Demialos shouted, glaring at Yu-hyun. His tentacle beard trembled with anger.
Yu-hyun looked at Demialos coldly.
“Be quiet.”
“What…”
“Keep your mouth shut, criminal. Don’t you understand the situation?”
“Do you think you’ll get away with talking to like this?”
“Get away? That’s not your concern. Can you handle what’s coming?”
Before Demialos could respond, Yu-hyun pulled out a red gem from his pocket.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Isn’t that just a red gem?”
“It looks like a fragnt from a larger gem, given its irregular shape.”
“Correct. This gem is a small fragnt of a larger one.”
“Why did you take that out?”
“I submitted this red gem as evidence to prove Demialos’s cri.”
Murmurs of disbelief filled the courtroom.
“Isn’t that just a gem?”
“How can that prove a cri worse than story manipulation?”
“Quiet.”
As everyone murmured, Chairman Lotfiout silenced them.
Once the room was quiet, Lotfiout nodded to Yu-hyun.
“Continue.”
“Thank you, Chairman. You’re all wondering why this gem is evidence. If it were just an ordinary gem, it couldn’t hold any evidence. But what if this gem ca from a Divine Spirit?”
“What?”
“That gem ca from a Divine Spirit?”
Demialos was just as shocked. He recognized the gem. It was a shard from the heart of the corrupted Divine Spirit Georn, a piece of the giant ruby.
But how was it in Yu-hyun’s possession? All the shards of Georn were supposed to have disappeared with his death.
‘If it’s true, this is dangerous!’
Demialos almost sought help
but stopped himself. Looking to the true culprit would only draw suspicion towards him.
Desperately, he refrained from any action, rely shifting his eyes.
But Yu-hyun saw it.
For a brief mont, he saw who Demialos looked at.
‘So it was him.’
The one who released Manager Shamat, deceived Divine Spirit Georn into corruption, and knew about the Codex fragnts.
He didn’t think Demialos could do all that alone.
He had a collaborator. No, calling them a collaborator was laughable. The one hiding his identity was a Teller much higher in rank than Demialos.
Yu-hyun believed this person was in the courtroom. He had to be.
His fabricated exile was about to be exposed, so he couldn’t just sit quietly.
“Even ordinary gems can hold mories. But it’s usually just a small amount of information. But what about a fragnt of a Divine Spirit? What kind of stories would it hold?”
Even the fragnt of a Divine Spirit rarely held their past. Even if it did, it would likely be only a small portion.
Most Divine Spirits left no traces upon death, disappearing like stars turning to dust.
Yet Georn had left a fragnt. Not by accident, but by using his last strength to leave it before his death.
A wish to clear his grievances.
“The world we’ve neglected as exile, the world of Glacalis, frozen in the Curse of the Frozen Land. The reason it beca that way is right here.”
And Yu-hyun, in front of everyone, decided to fulfill Georn’s wish.
The red gem in his right hand began to shine and soon transford into letters in the air.
The letters didn’t disappear. Instead, they grew larger and created a scene in the air.
Showing what he experienced.
Revealing the hidden truth of Glacalis.
“No…”
Demialos muttered in a daze.
Yu-hyun looked down at Demialos and smirked.
“So I warned you.”
Demialos, unknowingly, began to tremble.
For the first ti, he felt fear toward soone he thought was beneath him.
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