BXBX NOVEL Chapter 57 – Ruler IV
Chapter 57 – Ruler IV
Chapter 57 – Ruler IV
5
After the trial ended, we went out to have a meal of sundae. I didn’t feel like returning to the guild building, plus my relationship with Tang Seorin had shifted from “Guild Master and Vice Guild Master” to “foodie friends.”
I couldn’t hold back my questions even before the assorted sundae platter arrived.
“Tang Seorin. What was that earlier?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Tang Seorin tilted her head with a clueless expression. I frowned and passed her a dish of dipping sauce.
“Here. The trial, I mean. Since when did you start using equivalent exchange for judgments? The last time I was here, there was nothing like that.”
“Well, you wouldn’t know since you rarely show your face in Busan. We’ve been doing this for almost half a year now. Here.”
Tang Seorin mixed salt, chilli powder, and pepper in perfect proportions and handed it to me.
“The citizens really like it. It’s now one of Busan’s top three attractions, along with the monster dissection shows.”
“What the heck…? Tell me more. Boss, could we get some makgeolli over here?”
“Sure thing!”
I took the makgeolli kettle and immediately mixed half a cup of cold water with floating ice. This was Tang Seorin’s favorite ratio. Such is the privilege of being a friend who has looked after her for centuries.
“There’s not much to explain. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. It’s just the Code of Hammurabi applied directly.”
“Hm.”
“When the country was functioning normally, we could lock people up for every offense. But now, there are no prisons. And just cutting off fingers or heads wastes manpower. So I’m merely providing ‘revenge everyone can accept’.”
“…Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
“Huh?”
“It’s from Romans 12. Jeez. Leave you alone for a second and you’re pulling crazy stunts.”
“What? Are you picking a fight?”
“My mind is what’s blown here. This is ridiculous.”
The assorted sundae, sundae soup, makgeolli, and well-fermented kimchi disappeared beyond our chopsticks and lips. It was a taste you could only savor in Busan these days.
“I actually think it’s strange how the old society tried to handle everything with imprisonment.”
Tang Seorin raised her chopsticks.
“Think about it. How can theft and murder get the same punishment? The feeling when someone steals your stuff is different from when you get stabbed. There’s a qualitative difference.”
“Hm.”
“Theft also varies. Losing today’s meal feels different from losing a secret radio or a kidney.”
“Is that last one still theft?”
“Of course. Anyway, punishment should be decided based on the severity and context, as well as the personalities of the offender and the victim. For instance, Jesus might offer the other cheek, but you, Doctor Jang, would probably take a tooth along with the slap to consider it a fair trade. Right?”
“I get your point.”
“And surprisingly… this greatest of all witches, the unprecedented and unparalleled Tang Seorin, can provide a fair trade for everyone.”
Just then, a little kid shyly approached and said, “Grand Witch!” while holding out a party hat. Tang Seorin smiled brightly and signed the brim of the hat.
As soon as the fan service ended, Tang Seorin’s expression drooped like a sponge soaked in hot water. It was always the same wherever our idol from Busan went.
“Aww, so cute.”
“But that fairness is just ‘what you think is fair.’ People always run the risk of making wrong judgments.”
“That’s why ‘equivalent exchange’ doesn’t activate without others’ consent. If they think my proposed trade isn’t fair, they simply don’t agree from the start.”
“Who would dare refuse a ruling from Busan’s ruler?”
“Hey, in a world like this, they should be grateful I even hold trials. If I don’t pass judgment, they’ll all just end up dead from a witch hunt. It’s better than dying, right?”
“Hmm.”
“If you’re so worried, why don’t you come watch the trial next month?”
Tang Seorin grumbled.
“Anyway, what have you been up to these days? It’s been hard to see you around.”
“……”
…To be honest, I was a bit lost at this time.
Sharp readers might have already noticed, but the 26th regression was when Old Scho officially declared his ‘vacation.’ Naturally, when a teammate I believed would fight through this shitty game of world destruction with me for life officially retired, my mental state was like Barcelona right after Lionel Messi transferred.
I had quite a few embarrassing moments as a regressor during this time… but let’s skip the dark history.
“Alright. I’ll come again in a month.”
“Sure. Bring some Melona.”
Exactly one month later, I showed up at Busan’s ‘Execution Square’ with homemade ice cream made from blended melons.
“Here. I brought it.”
“Oh, thanks… Wow! It looks just like real Melona!”
Tang Seorin was impressed by my versatility.
By the way, I could recreate almost 92% of the taste of cup noodles, instant noodles, and snacks from the days when civilization was intact. You can trust me; I got the recipes by raiding the headquarters of snack companies.
What? Why? What do you think a regressor does with all that time? This was the most productive hobby I could find.
“I reserved a good spot over there.”
Unlike last time, I got to watch the entire trial from a prime spot.
While I was savoring my Melona—and Tang Seorin, sitting at the judge’s bench, was also casually eating her Melona—I observed that, surprisingly, Busan’s witch trials were quite rational.
“You severed someone’s leg, so the guilty party will serve the victim for life. [For all tasks that the victim’s two legs would have done, they can now command you]. You are not allowed to leave the victim’s side without their permission. Do you agree?”
“The only newspaper left in Busan wrongly accused an innocent citizen, who then committed suicide. Although there are no surviving family members to avenge them, the newspaper’s tarnished reputation must be restored. From now on, all the wrongdoings of the guilty party must be documented in the newspaper. [All your past mistakes and any future ones must be reported without a single omission]. This way, all the citizens of Busan will know what kind of person you are. Do you agree?”
“A person didn’t pay the promised wages despite the work done. Labor is an investment of time. [For the exact amount of time the victim worked, the guilty party must follow the victim’s orders]. Of course, orders like ‘commit suicide’ or other highly unreasonable demands are not allowed. The guilty party will eat the same meals, sleep in the same bed, wake up at the same time, and rest at the same times as the victim. Do you agree?”
These judgments would be unimaginable in the modern world where civilization was intact.
No, they could never be realized without Tang Seorin’s magic in the first place.
Tang Seorin’s rulings were harsh and cruel—and yet, strangely, they had a persuasive power that made the hundreds of people gathered in the vast square feel ‘satisfied.’
Every time a judgment was made, a blue scale glittered in the air.
The trial that left the biggest impression on me was the one dealing with a murderer. The judgment for murder.
“…….”
Tang Seorin chewed on the stick of her now-finished ice cream.
On one side stood the defendant, charged with murder; on the other side were the victim’s family members. Tang Seorin’s dark blue eyes swept over them.
“Defendant, do you repent for your murder?”
“…Yes.”
“Are you truly sorry to the victim’s family?”
“Yes… I am sorry…”
“Then, [whatever the family decides to do to you, you must accept it without resistance]. You cannot complain to anyone or express your grievances. You must simply accept it.”
“…….”
“Well? Do you agree?”
“…….”
A long silence followed. Compared to the length of that silence, the moment the defendant nodded was extremely, almost absurdly, brief.
“Yes. I agree. Please… please do so, Great Witch.”
The scale lit up.
“You bastard!”
At that moment, one of the family members leaped over the barrier and rushed at the defendant.
Thwack!
I clearly heard the sound of a fist breaking bone.
“How could you! Our child! You promised to marry them, how could you! You bastard! You filthy, wretched dog!”
Normally, someone would have intervened, and in a time when civilization hadn’t collapsed, at least the courthouse security would have stepped in.
But in the execution square, no one, not a single person, stopped the family. Other family members joined in, kicking the defendant who had fallen to the ground.
With most high-rise buildings collapsed, the view in Busan was clear. The one thing unchanged from past to present was the red sunset reflecting off the sea and back onto the city.
In the execution square bathed in the crimson sunset, drops of the defendant’s blood splattered to the ground. It wasn’t long before the breathing stopped.
“…….”
And in that moment—I was struck by an intense realization that this entire scene might just be a projection of Tang Seorin’s inner world.
While all the spectators focused on the family’s punishment, I alone turned to look at Tang Seorin.
She was looking back at me.
Between us, the sunset blazed a deep red.
6
Afterword.
I do not consider myself to have the right to judge the world.
Thus, I did not interfere with Tang Seorin’s ‘witch trials.’ She had her own sense of rationality and fairness.
And to be fair, her rationality and fairness were the best possible in the apocalypse.
Other cities? They were subject to personal vengeance by guild leaders seeking their own gains. It was well known that the introduction of AI judges was a long way off.
Not just in the 26th regression, but in every run where I taught Tang Seorin the complete version of the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic, she held witch trials without fail.
“So… what did you think?”
“What do you mean, what did I think?”
“You know. The trial.”
That day, we returned to the train of the Three Thousand Worlds and drank.
Usually, visiting bars outside was our way of maintaining our friendship.
But when Tang Seorin said, “Let’s drink on the train today,” it meant she wanted to get thoroughly drunk that night.
As the ruler of Busan, the leader of the Korean Peninsula Guild Union, and the founder of the Magic Song Dynasty, the Great Witch couldn’t afford to be seen stumbling around drunk in public. Not even in front of guild members.
To avoid any loss of authority when hanging around with Tang Seorin, one would need to be someone like me— Doctor Jang who defeated the Ten Clans, reclaimed the southern part of the Han River in Seoul, and trained countless disciples through SG Net.
“It seems fine to me.”
“What part seems fine?”
“The fact that you’re even asking if it’s okay means that everything is fine.”
“Pfft.”
Tang Seorin laughed.
“What is that? You sound like an idiot.”
But her expression visibly relaxed.
As I listened to my friend’s drunken ramblings for a while, Tang Seorin suddenly activated her equivalent exchange magic.
“Doctor Jang. Put your feelings for me on the scale.”
“Oh, come on. What are you, a child? Are you one of those parents who ask if the kid likes mom or dad better?”
“Ugh, whatever. Just put it on the scale already. Do you agree?”
I sighed and said, “Fine.”
From my chest emerged a dark yet bright serpent tail, half shadow and half light.
Tang Seorin waved her fingers. From her heart, a white snake of light slithered out, coiling on the opposite side of the scale.
Creak—
A sound, impossible to exist physically, echoed as the two sides of the scale slowly found balance. Before long, they reached perfect equilibrium.
Tang Seorin’s lips curled like a cat’s.
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
In the middle of the night, inside the train, the scale Tang Seorin created glowed faintly like starlight, and outside the window, the Milky Way poured down.
It was a meteor shower.
With the night sky’s rain as the backdrop, Tang Seorin smiled brightly.
“It’s a secret.”
It was a very witch-like answer.
– Ruler. The End.