# Chapter 56
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## Ruler III
**Shin Noah**
4
So if one were to ask what Great Witch Dang Seo-rin did with the grand magic she had created after investing so much time and effort—— nothing, really.
"Undertaker, are you resistant to pain?"
"I believe I am fairly resistant. Why do you ask?"
"Surely you possess the magnanimity to overlook it even if I were to inflict injury upon you?"
"…."
Somehow, things took an ominous turn.
"What are you scheming?"
"Answer me first. Do you or don't you?"
"…I can't exactly say I don't."
"Excellent. Undertaker. I'm going to show you something amazing."
Immediately after saying that, Dang Seo-rin took out a fountain pen and stabbed my right hand! Right through it.
I screamed like Tom from Tom and Jerry. Wait, is this woman crazy?
"Wait! Stop the aura! Hold on! I'll do it too!"
"What?"
Stab— Dang Seo-rin drove the pen into her own left palm. Blood droplets trickled down from the sharply honed pen tip. No, is she seriously crazy?
As I watched in bewilderment, Dang Seo-rin proceeded to do something even more insane. While we were both bleeding, she suddenly began to sing.
And then something amazing happened.
"Ah-♪"
*Swish.*
A blue 'scale' rose hazily from the empty air like a hologram.
And simultaneously, the wound on my right hand healed. Truly in an instant. Instead, a new wound appeared on my left hand, did it not?
The exact same phenomenon occurred in reverse for Dang Seo-rin. In other words, the wound on her left hand had packed its bags and moved to her right hand.
Immediately after, blood droplets settled on both sides of the scale. And then the scale slipped away, vanishing from the air.
I was utterly dumbfounded.
"This is……?"
"Ah, this is equivalent exchange—."
Dang Seo-rin wore an otaku smile.
It was somewhat obnoxious.
"Your wound and my wound. I exchanged my pain and your pain."
"Incredible!"
I genuinely marveled.
Our hands were still functioning as faucets pouring out blood, merely with the wound locations swapped, but regardless, this was undeniably an amazing magic.
"What's the principle?"
"I told you. Equivalent exchange. I used magic to realize an exchange I deem fair."
"Good heavens. Then is it possible for me to sustain a bunch of injuries and transfer them to the Ten Clans?"
If so, this could potentially become a revolutionary turning point in how to deal with anomalies.
But Dang Seo-rin clicked her tongue with her characteristic irritating expression and shook her index finger left and right.
"Tsk tsk— Unfortunately, such application is nearly impossible. For this magic to activate, the other party's consent is absolutely required."
"Ah…."
I couldn't hide my disappointment. So that's why she had asked me those strange questions earlier.
"…Wait, then where exactly can this be used? Exchanging pain for pain, or pleasure for pleasure, the total amount is still maintained, isn't it? Can this perhaps be used to convert energy to energy?"
"Oh— Wonderful idea, but that's also impossible. As I said, the other party's consent is required. You can't obtain consent from energy or matter, can you? They don't have brains. Ah, it obviously doesn't work with plants or animals either. They don't understand human language……."
"Then this is truly a useless magic!"
"Magic is not useless!"
Dang Seo-rin's seizure button was pressed. And Dang Seo-rin was the type of lunatic who would immediately unleash attack magic the moment that button was pressed.
Naturally, our battle ended with my victory. For Dang Seo-rin to defeat me even by the slimmest chance, she would have needed to lay down incantations at least 30 minutes in advance. This was precisely the compatibility between an honorable warrior and a despicable magician.
After such a trivial dispute, how much time had passed?
Of course, since I was equipped with [Perfect Memory Ability], I could mention that exactly 398 days had passed rather than vaguely saying "how much." That's merely a literary expression. No one would particularly care even if I counted every moment like someone with savant syndrome.
And so, after 398 days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes, I visited the Samcheon Segye headquarters for the first time in a while. However, Dang Seo-rin was not on the train.
"Ah, you mean the Great Witch? She has temporarily stepped away since today is judgment day."
A guild member who recognized my face informed me. Her silver hair swayed prettily.
Her name was Yoo Ji-won, a talent recruited starting from the 5th iteration who served as an executive in Samcheon Segye. Her abilities were quite decent, but she was a psychopath with many flaws in her character.
As an additional note, she was also a Latin major.
"Judgment day? What is that? And why is someone at the level of Operations Director manning the counter? Where are your underlings?"
"Most of the other guild members have gone out to the square. I don't have much to do there, so I'm just guarding the base."
"Hmm. So what's judgment day?"
"Starting recently, here in Busan, we've designated the last day of each month as judgment day."
The silver-haired psychopath lifted her glasses with a clink.
"The Great Witch personally passes judgment on criminals who have committed murder or inflicted serious harm. The citizens' response has been very positive."
Ah, for reference, 'Great Witch' was Dang Seo-rin's official title. Guild members belonging to Samcheon Segye were especially required to use this appellation unconditionally.
It was similar to how that old Sword Empress hag absolutely had to be called 'Sword Empress.'
Only I, who served as vice guild master around the 5th iteration, was specially permitted to use the title 'Guild Master' for Dang Seo-rin. Because that was a condition I had demanded when I was recruited by her.
"By now, she's probably entered the final judgment. It will take about an hour though……. Would you like to wait in the reception room? I'll issue you a train ticket."
"No, it's fine. Staying with you people would just waste expensive snacks. Where is the judgment being held?"
"It's held at the square just ahead. Your Excellency."
I walked to the indicated location.
Finding the way wasn't difficult. It was that very square where Dang Seo-rin staged her 'monster disassembly show'—the so-called Execution Square.
Even though it was the apocalypse, the relatively well-maintained square was already in the midst of a judgment. The trial was grand. At a glance, nearly six hundred citizens had spread out their mats here and there, attending the judgment.
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
"Quiet! Please maintain silence!"
A Samcheon Segye guild member's voice resonated loudly.
Probably an 'amplification' magic was applied. Considering no singing voice was heard, 'silence' magic must have been infused as well.
'Considering the replay loop magic is basically included, at least three incantations are laid? Hmm. For Dang Seo-rin, this is quite an elaborate setup.'
I shifted my gaze.
In the center of the square, a man who appeared to be the defendant stood with his head bowed deeply. And Dang Seo-rin, serving as judge, rested her chin gently on the table.
'This is a first for me.'
In my regressing life, it was the first time Dang Seo-rin had held a public trial and rendered judgment before citizens.
Intrigued, I watched the trial from a distance. When the square quieted down somewhat, the guild member raised their voice.
"Please maintain silence! I will announce again! The criminal is a witch who joined Samcheon Segye six months ago and was assigned to the combat unit. However, during the expedition that took place last week, when battle with anomalies occurred, despite the fact that the criminal should have fought alongside other comrades, she fled before others, causing the battle line to collapse. Although no deaths resulted from this, two injuries occurred, and the entire combat unit could have been in grave danger."
"Boooo!"
"Cowardly bastard!"
Several citizens threw stones and such. However, whether a protective barrier had already been erected, the stones didn't reach the judgment seat and bounced away.
"Silence, silence! Now the Great Witch Dang Seo-rin will render her judgment!"
All fell quiet.
Hundreds of citizens who had been throwing stones or blaring horns, making noise as if participating in a festival, fell silent.
If the ability to make many people noisy is an artist's quality, then the ability to silence many people must be a ruler's yardstick. This was a passage that starkly demonstrated what position a guild master named Dang Seo-rin held in Busan, on the Korean Peninsula.
"This criminal is a deserter."
Dang Seo-rin's voice flowed through the amplification magic. A beautiful voice stunning enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Gentle and seemingly slow, yet upon listening, the words flowed quickly, a rhythm that hammered complex words and sentences one by one into the listener's ears.
A voice that should perhaps be called breath sounds rather than speech sounds flowed into the square's atmosphere.
The Samcheon Segye guild members looking at such Dang Seo-rin had a dreamy reverence in their eyes.
Well, it wasn't without its cringeworthy aspects, but as someone who was once Dang Seo-rin's right hand, I couldn't say I didn't understand that sentiment. Her voice was admittedly a bit rigged.
"Deserters are typically dealt with by immediate execution. However, in this case, we must consider that there were no deaths, and the deserter who fled the battlefield turned herself in after just one night."
"…."
"Little deserter who committed a crime. Because you fled, your comrades nearly lost their lives. Are you repenting for that wrongdoing?"
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry……."
"Can you promise me that you will never commit such wrongdoing again?"
"Of course, Great Witch. Naturally……."
That was the moment.
A blue 'scale' rose above Dang Seo-rin's head.
It felt different from the gaudy blue of neon signs. A bluish light like when stars in the night sky scattered flickered along the scale's outline.
"Then, you can be forgiven. I, and the witches of Samcheon Segye. And your combat unit members who had to fill the gap you left, from now on will absolutely not [hold the fact that you deserted last week against you]."
*Swish.*
From Dang Seo-rin and the guild members' chests, and from the direction of the train station where Samcheon Segye's headquarters was located far away, pitch-black clouds of smoke—— thread-thin shadows that wriggled like snakes came crawling.
The black threads took their place on the left side of the scale. *Clink*, the balance broke and the scale tilted violently to one side.
"In exchange."
Dang Seo-rin stirred her index finger.
"You will henceforth [be unable to retreat first in any battlefield, and even if you must retreat unavoidably, you can only withdraw after all other comrades have retreated]."
"Ah…."
"Not just comrades. Citizens are also included in your battlefield. You can never retreat until ordinary people's safety is secured. In other words, [you will always be the last person to retreat]."
"…."
"Do you agree?"
The defendant's expression was pale.
Naturally, battles with anomalies were never safe. It would have a much higher survival probability to strap on a wingsuit and jump off a cliff.
But why was that?
The defendant's face held not only pallor but also something like relief. Like someone finally at ease.
"…Yes. Great Witch. I agree."
"Good."
*Swoosh-*
A white thread-like shape emerged from the defendant's torso. It resembled the breath of winter air. An exhalation from the entire body, not just the mouth.
The defendant looked up blankly at the breath escaping from her body. The white snake tail wriggled and rose to the sky— then coiled on the right side of the scale.
*Clink*, the left and right sides of the scale achieved parallel balance.
"Thus balance is achieved."
"Thank you……. Thank you……."
"Yes. From now on, fight at the forefront for your comrades, and above all, for the citizens."
Ohh, some of the audience exhaled sounds. In response, hundreds of citizens showered applause.
"…."
That scene gave me considerable shock. Equivalent exchange, the grand magic I had thought was completely useless, was now functioning as Busan's legal system.
This was why even in distant future iterations, unlike other cities, Busan alone had rejected AI judges.
It was Dang Seo-rin's 'Witch Trial.'