The Support Ate it All

Rumble….

The disciplinary committee’s room was nothing short of a bustling marketplace.

With disciplinary committee members, the Thieves’ Club, the White Magic Club, and even the Ruby Magic Tower all gathered here due to their involvement in the incident, the large crowd was only normal.

Oh Se-hoon who had stepped into the room maintained a reserved stance. This confirmed the fact that he delegated most of the important work to Kwak Seung-jae.

In fact, this operation had been led by him as well.

Soon, Kwak Seung-jae stepped forward. He glanced at Dang Gyu-young and me in turn before leading the way.

“This way, please.”

He guided us through a door on one side of the office and led us to an adjacent room.

It was the disciplinary committee’s exclusive interrogation room which was known as the “Room of Truth”.

Typically, the Room of Truth accommodated no more than three or four people at a time for their “nice talk” but today, even this space was crowded.

The scale of the incident involved several clubs. So it was inevitable.

As we entered, Jeong Chong-myeong and Hong Ye-hwa both turned to look in our direction.

Jeong Chong-myeong smirked faintly.

“So you got caught?”

“That’s how it went~ Oh Se-hoon was lying in wait.”

Dang Gyu-young replied nonchalantly, then plopped down onto an empty folding chair.

I moved to take the seat beside her, but then I felt an intense, almost stinging gaze on me, which caused me to turn my head.

That was when I met the sharp eyes of Song Cheon-hye staring straight at me.

“…….”

A large bump had formed on her forehead, and she had tissues stuffed into both nostrils, likely from a double nosebleed.

This was the result of her charging full speed into the ice wall.

And since I was the one who had summoned that ice wall, I offered an apology.

“Sorry, I went a bit overboard, didn’t I?”

Song Cheon-hye grimaced and spoke in a nasal tone.

“Thad’s enough. Hurry up and dake out the prohibited itens.”

“Prohibited items? What prohibited items?”

I feigned confusion and acted as though this was the first I’d heard of it.

At that, Song Cheon-hye’s expression shifted to a mix of disbelief and rising anger. She quickly spun around, pulled the tissues from her nose, and then whipped back to glare at me.

“You’re seriously going to deny it even now?”

“Denial is for people who actually have something to hide. How am I supposed to claim something exists when it doesn’t?”

“Why are you lying when it’s obviously going to come out?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Why would I tell a lie that’s so easy to find?”

If I were to lie, it would be about something impossible to reveal.

Like right now, for instance.

Perhaps because I was so brazenly confident that Song Cheon-hye appeared momentarily shaken.

But she quickly steeled herself and hardened her expression.

“Fine. Then let’s confirm it.”

Song Cheon-hye took out a terminal with a crystal ball embedded in it.

The device functioned similarly to a Ban Wave detector. If the target possessed or stored a prohibited item in their inventory, the ball would glow red.

“……”

Song Cheon-hye immediately pointed the device at me.

However, contrary to her expectation that the crystal ball would light up red right away, it remained unchanged.

There was no way it would detect anything. I had stored everything inside the Cube of Life.

Song Cheon-hye’s pupils quivered violently.

“Wh-What… There’s really nothing?”

“I keep saying there’s nothing. Can’t you trust what someone says?”

“No, no, not yet.”

Song Cheon-hye turned to look at Dang Gyu-young.

It seemed she thought if I didn’t have them, then Dang Gyu-young must have them.

She quickly excused herself and held the terminal out to her.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Well, sure.”

Dang Gyu-young nodded her head casually.

Some time passed in that state, but…

“……”

“……”

…The crystal ball remained silent.

Song Cheon-hye became even more flustered and started stammering her words.

“N-No, this, this can’t be…”

The reactions of those watching were similar.

They had been certain that one of the two of us must have prohibited items.

Jeong Chong-myeong and Hong Ye-hwa’s eyes sparkled with interest, while Oh Se-hoon smirked silently.

Even Kwak Seung-jae stared intently at me as if trying to figure something out.

I calmly met their eyes and spoke to Song Cheon-hye.

“Do you understand now? I’m innocent. That’s all.”

“……”

Song Cheon-hye who was about to apologize for accusing the wrong person suddenly seemed to think of something and asked again.

“…Then why did you run? If you don’t even have any prohibited items?”

Her question implied that if I were truly innocent, we wouldn’t have needed to restrain her with shadow butterflies or create an ice wall to block her.

Of course, I was prepared to answer this, too.

“Honestly, I wasn’t entirely innocent. Causing that ruckus in the middle of the city…”

“You tampered with the temporary storage but didn’t take anything out?”

“That’s right.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

But if she wanted to press further, she’d need to bring some evidence.

Dang Gyu-young watched my audacity with a look of pride and amusement.

It was the expression of someone marveling at a master thief.

Jeong Chong-myeong seemed to have similar thoughts and slyly asked Dang Gyu-young.

“…Didn’t you say that guy wasn’t a member of your club?”

“He’s an honorary member. An honorary thief.”

As Song Cheon-hye remained speechless, Kwak Seung-jae seemed to decide it was time for him to step in. He stepped forward and spoke.

“There were too many items stolen tonight to conclude that you two are innocent.”

“Is that so? But you just saw it; we didn’t take anything.”

Dang Gyu-young replied with a shrug.

Kwak Seung-jae continued his questioning.

“We’ve caught everyone who broke into the storage. The stolen items must be with one of them. Since the others have already been cleared, it’s only natural to suspect the last two caught.”

“I get it, but nothing came out of us, right? Wouldn’t it make more sense to start checking from the beginning again?”

As to be expected from the president of the thieves club, Dang Gyu-young responded with composure and audacity.

At that point, the Hell Axe senior who had been observing from the side intervened.

“Isn’t it possible they hid the items somewhere on their way here?”

He was saying that perhaps we hadn’t stored the items in our inventory but instead hidden them in the city or the forest.

However, Kwak Seung-jae slowly shook his head.

“They wouldn’t have had the time to stop. We’ve already searched their entire route.”

“Hmm…”

The Hell Axe senior hummed thoughtfully, while Song Cheon-hye who had been deeply lost in thought finally spoke up.

“I still find the two of them suspicious. Isn’t it possible they used some item or skill to conceal the prohibited items?”

“For example, what kind of skill?”

“For example… that is…”

Song Cheon-hye faltered.

She had no idea what kind of skill or item could accomplish such a thing, despite her suspicion.

Though she had come surprisingly close to the truth, it slipped just out of reach.

After observing her for a moment, Kwak Seung-jae finally spoke.

“Song Cheon-hye.”

“…Yes?”

“It’s good to present alternative perspectives. But before you do, take a moment to think it through a bit more deeply.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And here’s the more important question. If, by any chance, Senior Dang Gyu-yeong or Kim Ho possessed such a skill, how would we neutralize it?”

That’s a valid point.

Even if they figured out the existence of the Cube of Life, it would be meaningless without a way to see through it.

However, it seemed Song Cheon-hye had already given this matter some thought.

“…Wouldn’t it work if we used a magnifying glass?”

“That could be possible. But you understand that it lacks justification, don’t you?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

A magnifying glass, depending on its type, was an item that could reveal a target’s skills, traits, or inventory information.

Since such information was not something people could easily share, the use of a magnifying glass was also heavily restricted.

While it was true that we broke school rules and caused chaos in the downtown area, that alone didn’t give them the right to say, “Hand over your skill information!”

At that moment, Oh Se-hoon added with a light smile,

“If, by any chance, the party involved agrees, we could impose conditions and use it in a limited capacity.”

“I refuse.”

Dang Gyu-yeong immediately rejected the idea outright.

Oh Se-hoon nodded his head as if he fully understood, then turned to me and asked,

“Kim Ho, what about you?”

Everyone assumed I would also refuse without hesitation.

Even Song Cheon-hye who had been the first to bring up the idea of the magnifying glass didn’t seem particularly hopeful.

But after slowly looking around at everyone, I spoke up.

“If you agree to my conditions, I will allow it.”

“Kim Ho, you can just refuse. Why agree to this?”

Dang Gyu-yeong tried to persuade me with a worried expression on her face.

After all, there was absolutely no value in revealing inventory information for something like this.

No matter how well the prohibited items were hidden inside the Cube of Life, there was still a high chance that the magnifying glass could expose them.

However, I smiled lightly and said,

“It’s fine. Just trust me this once.”

“…Aah.”

Dang Gyu-yeong still looked uneasy, but perhaps deciding it was pointless to argue further, she sighed deeply and gave up.

Kwak Seung-jae asked,

“Let’s hear your conditions.”

“First, I’d like to minimize the number of onlookers.”

“That’s only fair.”

The purpose of using the magnifying glass was solely to check for the presence of prohibited items. There was no reason to reveal one’s inventory in front of a dozen or so spectators.

“And if the magnifying glass is used and you find no prohibited items, I ask that there be no further pursuit regarding the stolen items.”

“….…”

Kwak Seung-jae exchanged a quick glance with Oh Se-hoon before nodding his head in agreement.

“Alright, we’ll let it go.”

“And finally…”

I looked directly at Song Cheon-hye as I voiced my final condition.

“If you’ve wrongly accused someone, you should take responsibility. If no prohibited items are found, I’d like to receive a wish ticket from Song Cheon-hye.”

“A wish ticket?”

“Yes, a promise to help me with something in the future, no matter what it is.”

At the moment, Song Cheon-hye still had three “small” wish tickets left from the mentoring bet.

But this was on an entirely different scale. This was a powerful, so-called “large” wish ticket.

With the seniors watching, there would be no room for her to feign ignorance later.

Kwak Seung-jae turned to Song Cheon-hye and asked,

“Song Cheon-hye, will you accept?”

“….…”

At this point, it seemed Song Cheon-hye had realized something strange was happening here, but it was already too late to back down.

Having started this herself, could she retreat now after coming this far?

Her pride wouldn’t allow it.

“I-I accept. The wish ticket.”

“Good. Then let’s proceed.”

Kwak Seung-jae exchanged another glance with Oh Se-hoon before quickly chanting a spell.

Rumble, rumble…

A wooden door suddenly rose from the ground.

Taking the lead, Kwak Seung-jae turned to Song Cheon-hye and me and spoke.

“Follow me.”

“……”

“……”

Crossing through the door, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a forest.

It was slightly removed from the place where Oh Se-hoon’s intense battle had occurred.

The surroundings were dark, illuminated only faintly by the moonlight filtering through the trees.

Kwak Seung-jae gave a final confirmation.

“Are you both ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Y-Yes, I’m ready.”

Song Cheon-hye’s voice trembled slightly.

Moments later, a magnifying glass emerged from Kwak Seung-jae’s inventory.

Under the moonlight, it gleamed with a golden light.

[Pure Gold Magnifying Glass – Inventory (B)]

“Song Cheon-hye.”

“Y-Yes?”

Song Cheon-hye carefully took the golden magnifying glass and cautiously pointed it at me.

Her fingertips trembled visibly, which betrayed how nervous she felt.

However, after taking a deep breath, Song Cheon-hye infused mana into the magnifying glass. Moments later, a notification message appeared at the edge of her vision.

[Failed to use the magnifying glass.]

“H-Huh…?”

Song Cheon-hye’s eyes widened in shock; she was clearly flustered.

Thinking she might have made a mistake, she tried using the magnifying glass again.

[Failed to use the magnifying glass.]

[The magnifying glass has been destroyed.]

Crack.

Fractures spread across the surface of the magnifying glass, and in an instant, it crumbled into pieces and scattered as fine dust.

Song Cheon-hye stared blankly at the scene and was unable to process what had happened. Gradually, her expression shifted as tears began to well up in her eyes.