Jeong Taeui stared at Richard and then looked down at the children.

One child had finished assembling something and was checking if any parts were missing. The child quietly met Jeong Taeui’s gaze and smiled shyly, as if embarrassed.

“So, if the child competes until the end and is chosen as the successor, they won’t have to return any of the costs?”

Jeong Taeui asked without looking at Richard.

“That’s right,” he replied. Jeong Taeui was silent for a moment.

“Then why would the child quit when they just need to stay until the end and not give up halfway?”

“Perhaps it’s because everyone has different thoughts. After choosing the successor, the remaining children will have to work under the chosen one and support them. If a child isn’t confident they’ll be chosen and doesn’t like working under others, it might be better to give up from the start, even if it means paying a huge compensation.”

Richard’s voice was very calm.

Ilay, who was next to them, listened silently and smiled slightly.

“Maybe you should know this. If there’s no chance of being chosen as the successor, Richard would also choose to face punishment by repaying all the costs, even if it means working to death and paying with his life. A great man’s pride like his won’t let him work under someone else.”

Richard raised his eyebrows, smiled, and shook his head.

“That’s impossible. I can’t be sure I’ll be the successor either.”

“That’s hypocrisy, not humility.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Richard replied nonchalantly with a mocking smile. Then he instructed the children who had finished assembling to disassemble the gun. And once they reassembled it, he would teach them how to use it effectively at their age.

Jeong Taeui watched them and fell into thought.

Just as one cannot judge another, he couldn’t have any opinion on someone’s child-rearing methods just because they were unfamiliar to him. Every method has its pros and cons.

But.

“If a child has to make such a choice at such a young age, it’s likely they’ll regret it later. It’s too harsh for them.”

Jeong Taeui smiled bitterly and said.

Saying that wasn’t good for him either – but he said it anyway.

But Richard shook his head with a gentle face.

“In any case, people must take responsibility for their own choices.”

Jeong Taeui remained silent.

These were Richard’s thoughts. And perhaps the thoughts of all of Tarten, those who, whether actively or passively, agreed to continue this method.

Jeong Taeui pondered for a while but soon sighed quietly.

If everyone could do something with mutual consent, that would be good.

“Christoph knows where he can stand and where he can’t. The only regret is that if he realized it earlier, he wouldn’t have to bear the compensation issue.”

Ilay said slowly and happily. His voice had no regret.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue, tousled his hair, and sighed again.

Ilay looked down at Jeong Taeui and then at the distant forest. As if he knew Christoph was there.

“This isn’t where he should be.”

“…… All right. You’re right.”

Jeong Taeui weakly agreed. His voice was weak from exhaustion.

As expected, today wasn’t a good day. Fatigue was accumulating in his mind and body. …… Come to think of it, since coming here, he hasn’t had a peaceful day.

“All right. Yes. The T&R Mobile Unit – a den of madmen is a more suitable place for him.”

“Oh, right…….”

After speaking, Ilay – who had worked with Christoph in that den of mad men – squinted at Jeong Taeui.

Jeong Taeui didn’t respond to that gaze. He looked down at the forest.

Sometimes he vaguely heard a short scream and the sound of a horse running as if someone was urging a horse near the forest edge.

He thought of Christoph. He was someone who hardly ever made a sound, even when talking to others, and never raised his voice so much that it was hard to know if he was actually speaking or not.

He didn’t fit here.

But in special places, he thrived like a fish in water.

“…….”

Jeong Taeui sighed and shook his head.

He needed to stop thinking. If he continued, only unpleasant thoughts would keep appearing in his mind.

“…… However.”

After he deliberately stopped the thoughts of Christoph lingering in his mind, he suddenly remembered something he had momentarily forgotten.

Jeong Taeui stared at Ilay and then turned his eyes to Richard. This time Jeong Taeui slowly asked with a look of disbelief about something shocking.

“Earlier, you said the nominated candidate who refused was Johan, didn’t you? Could it be that Johan……?!”

“As far as I know, there’s only one Johan in this house.”

“Ah, he’s always friendly and gets along with everyone…… anyway…… he’s an interesting friend.”

After hesitating for a while, Richard managed to say the last compliment. But thinking about it, hesitating to call someone interesting seemed like he actually wanted to say that person was a bit insane.

Jeong Taeui looked at them with a frown.

Sometimes, when talking, he admired this man’s intelligence, but that wasn’t the issue.

Thinking back, Christoph was also a strong candidate for succession before he gave up…

“……….…Tarten is…… It seems the character of the heir isn’t very important?”

So, no matter how talented someone is, isn’t character something this family should care about? Then again, the old man he met recently seemed very kind. Jeong Taeui, who was struggling in his thoughts, didn’t see Richard’s silence and vague smile in front of him.

Ilay smiled and said something unpleasant for both of them.

“He means you have a personality problem, Richard.”

Only after hearing Ilay say with a sigh – “You have a keen eye” – did Jeong Taeui realize what he had said to Richard.

Jeong Taeui was momentarily confused and quickly defended himself.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

Richard smiled and replied, “It’s okay”. But Jeong Taeui felt as if he had spilled a bucket of water. A bucket of water that couldn’t be taken back.

No, he always thought this man had many personality issues, but he didn’t intend to reveal it so openly. He was talking about Johan, not Richard here.

Jeong Taeui regretted his mistake and glared at Ilay – the one who caused this situation.

He had to resolve this somehow, so Jeong Taeui decided to redirect the blame.

“But it’s incomparable to T&R’s Mobile Unit, right? That place recruits members with crazy personalities……? There, it’s not just personality but the whole person that’s problematic.”

He didn’t like attacking others to cover himself, but now there was no other way. Moreover, even if he aimed at others, wasn’t ‘others’ the cause of all this?

Ilay squinted, the smile not fading at Jeong Taeui’s words. He suddenly smiled gently – “The Anti – Riot Squad where Christoph was a member, right?”

‘I’m talking about you, YOU!’.

Jeong Taeui shouted in his heart. How could he so brazenly regard it as someone else’s business and a place unrelated to him?

“Indeed, the selection process had many problems…… They are all people I know and were chosen by my brother. Yes, indeed my brother’s selection process had some issues…… I’ll make sure to pass your message to my brother later.”

Oh God…

It felt like he had spilled another bucket of water.

No, what he meant was…… Jeong Taeui carefully thought and chose his words again.

What I mean is, your personality is problematic.

“So, what else can I say? From what I heard, it seems different. If we’re talking about personality issues, I only heard that you were very popular at the UNHRDO branch in Europe.”

“Ah ha……. Yes, there was a bit of a staffing issue there. I really had no intention of being an officer in that organization, and I didn’t even know I would be appointed there as an officer.”

“Exactly! There’s a big problem in appointing people to key positions based solely on their ability without considering their personality!”

“That’s because that place is related to weapons, but anyway, the one who indirectly pushed me to take that position was an officer at the Asian branch. Jeong—— Who was it……….”

“…….”

Better to keep my mouth shut. If not, he feared he would spill the remaining water.

Richard, who was sitting next to him, rested his chin on the table, just rolled his eyes at the two of them, looking puzzled as to why Jeong Taeui suddenly went quiet, but said nothing more.

At that moment, as if the heavens wanted to help Jeong Taeui, when he began to sink into silence and dared not utter another word, a child spoke up while fiddling with the gun that had just been disassembled and reassembled.

“If I pull the trigger here, the bullet will fire, right?”

“That’s right. Later, I’ll show you how to load the bullets.”

Richard replied, shifting his attention to the child. Ilay looked down at the child playing with the gun and said – “Wait a minute!” – then took the gun from the boy.

Richard had mentioned that it was only a model made exactly like the real one. The external structure looked identical. Jeong Taeui was very impressed when he saw the gun Ilay was holding. That model indeed looked very high quality.

Ilay opened and closed the gun a few times while speaking.

“Sure enough, it’s much lighter. This toy bullet isn’t strong either. But can it actually be used?”

He lightly tapped the barrel with his fingertip and placed his finger on the trigger. His finger gently applied some pressure, and a faint sound rang out.

“No matter how long the children practice with this toy, it won’t be useful at all.”

Ilay spun the gun and pointed the barrel towards Jeong Taeui with a cheerful smile. Jeong Taeui frowned as he looked at the gun aimed at him.

“Stop it. Even if the model is useless, you holding it is enough to make me feel pressured.”

“Haha, no matter what I do, I can’t kill anyone with an empty gun…….”

At that moment.

The child, who had been watching the two with a somewhat tense face since Ilay aimed the gun at Jeong Taeui, screamed urgently when he saw Ilay pull the trigger.

But it was too late.

*Pew!*

With a soft sound, Ilay’s wrist slightly shook. The distance between the gun barrel and the sight seemed to have shifted a bit, as it had been clumsily assembled by a child.

At the same time as that short, soft sound, Jeong Taeui let out a shout.

“AAh!”

Jeong Taeui frowned and bent over.

For a few seconds, silence enveloped the atmosphere.

Richard stood up with a puzzled look, and all the children opened their eyes wide, staring at Jeong Taeui. Only the boy, fumbling and frowning, looked a bit funny.

“I was curious about how strong it was, so I cut an eraser and stuffed it in…….Uncle, are you okay?”

In the momentarily frozen atmosphere, the child nervously approached Jeong Taeui.

Jeong Taeui, who had been holding his stomach and bending over, finally spoke after a moment of silence.

“If possible…… I also hope I’m okay…… but was that really an eraser? Why does it hurt so much…… Damn it.”

When Jeong Taeui muttered in a weak voice, the tense atmosphere slightly eased.

“You must be very surprised.” Richard sighed and laughed.

“Luckily, it’s just a model. If the kids practiced with the real thing, at such a close range, even if it was just an eraser, it would be very dangerous depending on where you got hit.”

“Oh…… my side…….”

Jeong Taeui slowly stood up, rubbing his side and stomach.

It hurt so much.

The moment the eraser hit him, his back immediately bent from the sudden pain.

Jeong Taeui mumbled to himself while rubbing his side to check for any bruises and suddenly shot a dagger-like glance at Ilay.

“I only told the truth about your personality, and you shot me like this…… ?”

In any case, it wasn’t Ilay’s fault in this situation. But Jeong Taeui, who had just been cornered by him, seized the opportunity to use his pain as a weapon to counterattack.

Ilay, holding the gun, stared at Jeong Taeui.

Jeong Taeui fell silent.

His face showed no emotion. As if frozen, he couldn’t tell what Ilay was thinking, not even guessing what was going on in his mind.

“Ila ― …… Riegrow.”

Jeong Taeui almost called his name.

Then, as if returning from another world, Ilay immediately looked at him with an uncomfortable expression.

“What can happen to someone hit by a piece of rubber?”

Jeong Taeui glared at him sharply, wondering how the culprit could utter such shameless words without showing any concern for the victim.

Ilay seemed to lose interest and casually tossed the gun back to the child.

“If a piece of rubber makes the gun barrel shift this much, it’s certainly not of sufficient quality for practice. Your family earns so much money; why not spend it on quality items instead of wasting it on stuff like this?”

“Hey, if it were of good quality, today would be my death anniversary next year.”

Ilay glanced at Jeong Taeui, who was grumbling beside him but didn’t respond.

Jeong Taeui met his gaze and clicked his tongue, rubbing his sore side.

**************************

(Even if Taeui had ten mouths, he couldn’t outtalk one sentence from Ilay 😆)