Lee Jaehyun believed that just the existence of Se-re-hen could be of help to him.
He didn’t know what abilities she had, but just what Se-re-hen had shown so far was enough.
She acted as if she could identify Criminals.
And if she really could identify Criminals, that would be quite useful to him.
There were several reasons for this, but first and foremost, it was his sense of duty as a Police Officer not to create unjust victims.
“If I could know about people like Myung Jinhan in advance, I could prevent additional victims.”
A vow not to create innocent victims like his father… no, his father from his previous life.
His goal was to catch Criminals before another innocent victim could be made.
Catching Myung Jinhan, the perpetrator of this Serial Murder Case, was the same.
And…
On a personal level, it would help with his promotion.
“If I use Se-re-hen’s abilities, I can drastically reduce the time it takes to identify suspects.”
It’s the difference between solving a problem step by step and knowing the answer first, then working backward.
It was obvious which was faster, even with just a little thought.
The more quickly and more frequently he caught Criminals, the faster he’d be promoted.
“I need to stack up achievements quickly and return as a Detective.”
To be honest, Lee Jaehyun was frustrated with his current situation.
In his previous life, because he had achievements, he could move about freely and no one complained.
But now that he was back in the past, there were all sorts of things getting in his way, and it was a bit annoying.
Of course, compared to the interference from the Senior Officers who tried to block his investigations in his past life, this was nothing…
Still, it was annoying, no doubt.
Anyway, for those reasons, he had asked Se-re-hen if she could see Black Aura and tell if someone was a Criminal.
“Yes, I can.”
He never expected such a straightforward answer.
Lee Jaehyun furrowed his brows and glanced around as he spoke.
“There’s one here?”
“Yes. Over there.”
At his question, Se-re-hen quietly raised her hand and pointed to a spot with her finger.
Following her fingertip, Lee Jaehyun turned his gaze—and saw a nurse passing by.
There was no one else around.
He looked around repeatedly, but as expected, he saw no one else.
If she was pointing at the nurse when he asked if there were any Criminals… that meant that person was a Criminal.
To be honest, just judging by her appearance, it was hard to believe.
“Who?”
“That nurse who just passed by.”
“That person’s one of those evil people, someone with stacked-up Karma?”
She looked like a completely ordinary nurse, so it was unexpected to call her a bad person.
Of course, he didn’t think Se-re-hen was lying or mistaken.
After all, there were things she had already shown him.
She saw Black Aura and instantly saw through Myung Jinhan as a villain.
How could he doubt her?
Besides—
“It’s not like people walk around with ‘I’m a bad guy’ written on their foreheads.”
Even Myung Jinhan didn’t look especially evil just by appearance.
That was why he could run a pet shop without any trouble.
Lee Jaehyun glanced toward the examination room where his mother had gone in.
“A comprehensive Health Checkup takes a while, so I guess it’s okay to leave my seat for a bit.”
Thinking that, he quietly stood up from his seat.
It would be better not to leave his seat if possible, but a comprehensive Health Checkup would take a fair amount of time.
It was a long wait just to sit there, and if that nurse really had a history of committing Crimes—
As a Police Officer, and as the guardian of a patient getting a Health Checkup at the Hospital, he couldn’t just sit idly by.
He kept a little distance and carefully tailed the nurse.
“If you can tell if someone is bad or not, can you also tell what they did?”
Lee Jaehyun followed the nurse and asked Se-re-hen as he glanced at her.
He half-expected her to answer that she could know everything, but Se-re-hen shook her head from side to side at his question.
It seemed she couldn’t know everything.
“I can’t tell that much either. It’s like… even if you look at a dish, you can’t know exactly what ingredients went into it, right?”
“True.”
She compared it to food, and that made it easy to understand.
If it’s a dish where the ingredients are clearly visible, maybe, but just by looking at a finished dish, it’s not easy to know what’s inside.
Of course, maybe foodies or chefs could guess, but at least Lee Jaehyun wasn’t the type who could know the ingredients just by looking at a dish.
“It’s the same for me. Well, I’ve heard that experienced demons can more or less guess just from the Aura, but I’m not quite at that level yet…”
After trailing off, Se-re-hen furrowed her brows slightly and continued.
“I can’t tell exactly what they did until I taste it for myself.”
“Even just a little information is fine. Anything you see?”
“If I have to say… it’s a bit bland? The flavor’s weak but the amount is overflowing, so it seems like they did a lot of petty things. Other than that, I don’t know.”
“A lot of petty things…”
Then she was just a petty Criminal?
Se-re-hen seemed unsure as well, shrugging her shoulders.
Lee Jaehyun, unable to get a clear grasp, wrinkled his brow as he muttered her explanation.
“Yes, just as you guessed, like theft or fraud… you know, things like that.”
“So she really is a petty Criminal.”
Lee Jaehyun watched the nurse turn a corner and quickly hid himself as he replied.
Theft and fraud have degrees, after all.
There are people who, because of a wall, swipe a used pen or a piece of fruit from a mart.
Fraud can range from secondhand scams to investment schemes, in all sorts of varieties.
But Se-re-hen shook her head.
“Looking at the quantity, I don’t think it’s just petty stuff. You can’t stack up Karma of that density with just that.”
“Is that so?”
What should he do.
He didn’t know what Crime she had committed, but gathering evidence would take quite some effort.
“If I go through all this trouble just to catch a minor Criminal, it’ll feel pointless.”
He could either catch her, or just ignore her.
He hesitated for a moment, but quickly made a decision.
This was the Hospital where his mother was getting a Health Checkup.
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but there was definitely a need to check.
As Lee Jaehyun thought to himself, he quickened his pace and approached the nurse.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, yes. Can I help you?”
“I’m a bit lost… How do I get to the Health Checkup Center?”
“Ah, if you just go straight that way, then turn left at the Information Desk, you’ll be there.”
She pointed in the direction Lee Jaehyun had come from.
He glanced down and checked her name tag.
[Nurse Han Seona.]
“Thank you.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
After confirming her name and giving his thanks, he turned around.
Someone approached Han Seona and started talking to her.
From the outfit, it seemed to be another nurse.
“Seona, I heard Doctor Park from the Cardiology Department is treating us for a meal tomorrow. You’re coming, right?”
“Ah, what should I do? I have Volunteer Work tomorrow, so I don’t think I can make it.”
“Oh, right. Tomorrow’s your Volunteer Work day, isn’t it? But where do you go every month?”
“To the Senior Citizens’ Center.”
Hearing Han Seona’s reply gave him a tingling sensation.
Lee Jaehyun slowed his steps and listened closely.
“Goodness, Seona, you’re so kind-hearted. I already find working at the Hospital tough… I don’t know how you do Volunteer Work too.”
“I got close to the Village Chief, and ended up going along, but it’s actually pretty nice. The elders there treat me well and always give me food to take home whenever I visit.”
As Lee Jaehyun quietly turned to look, he saw Han Seona’s face bright with a clear smile.
Looking at her face alone, you wouldn’t think she was a Criminal.
Volunteer Work at the Senior Citizens’ Center…
He had a hunch.
At times like this, Lee Jaehyun’s instincts were pretty good.
“Hmm. She said theft or fraud, right?”
A Senior Citizens’ Center where elderly people gather.
And the suspect is a thief or a con artist.
It was a combination that made a lot of sense.
There was definitely something there.
Lee Jaehyun etched Han Seona’s face into his memory and turned away.
***
For now, Lee Jaehyun returned and waited until his mother’s Health Checkup was finished.
He couldn’t just keep following Han Seona around…
And he couldn’t just arrest her on the spot either.
“The problem is, as always, evidence. It would be best to catch her red-handed.”
He was mulling over methods, deep in thought, when—
“Why did you just come back?”
Without him noticing, Se-re-hen—who had disappeared after reading the mood—suddenly appeared in the air and asked.
With eyes half curious and half frustrated, she looked at Lee Jaehyun and spoke.
“Weren’t you going to catch her right there?”
“I can’t just arrest someone when I don’t even know what Crime they committed. If I want to arrest her, I at least need evidence to support the suspicion.”
At Se-re-hen’s question, he shook his head.
What was he supposed to say to Han Seona right now?
‘I don’t know what Crime you committed, but you look suspicious, so let’s go to the Police Station?’
If he said that, he’d only look like a madman.
It wouldn’t even be weird if it made the news.
Whoever it is, you need a justification to arrest someone.
“Being able to identify Criminals by Black Aura is great, but this part is inconvenient.”
Lee Jaehyun clicked his tongue in disappointment and furrowed his brow.
Being able to identify Criminals through their “Karma” was a very attractive trait.
But the limits were clear, too…
First, you didn’t know what Crime the person had committed.
“I don’t even know by what standard this Karma accumulates…”
You can’t arrest someone just because they lied a lot in their life.
He didn’t know what standards Se-re-hen’s “Karma” was based on…
But at least it probably wasn’t based on the Law made by humans.
No matter how much Black Aura someone had, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t treat them recklessly for that reason.
And second—
“It could be a Crime that’s already been judged and sentenced, so I can’t just interfere carelessly.”
By the Double Jeopardy Principle, once a Crime has been judged, you can’t try them again.
In other words, even if someone with Black Aura was a heinous Criminal, if they’d already been tried and sentenced under the Law, there was nothing Lee Jaehyun could do.
“So what will you do?”
“This time, I have to go by the book.”
In the end, there was only one thing Lee Jaehyun could do.
What he’d always done, and would keep doing for the rest of his life.
“First, I need to find evidence.”
“And then?”
At Lee Jaehyun’s words about needing to find evidence, Se-re-hen asked.
As if to ask, ‘Is that all?’
Lee Jaehyun just shrugged.
“Well, after that, I’ll make sure she’s judged properly.”
“That’s quite to my liking.”
Lee Jaehyun spoke in a light, matter-of-fact tone.
At his words, Se-re-hen answered in a satisfied voice, the corners of her lips curling up.
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