Everyone turned to the beautiful woman with confused and suspicious eyes. They stared at her, then looked back at Gu Jin, then at her again.
After all, it was strange. Why would this woman be inside someone else’s tent at midnight?
Sensing the shift in their stares, the beautiful woman quickly dropped tears from her eyes and said in a trembling voice, "I already told you all—she tried to kidnap me!"
Gasps echoed from the crowd.
One man muttered, "She must be from a different country... I’ve heard stories before."
"Yes," another woman said. "There was a case last month. Foreigners pretending to be travelers, but they were kidnappers! They took six girls!"
"She must be one of them!" someone else shouted angrily. "A human trafficker!"
The crowd got louder and more worked up.
"She should be reported to the police!"
"We must bring justice to this poor girl!"
"She came from another country just to steal and harm our people!"
The beautiful woman looked very pleased that everyone was now taking her side. She wiped her tears and said, "She even stole my stuff! My bracelet and necklace—they’re in her bag!"
Now the crowd was furious.
"She dared to steal from one of us?!"
"She thinks we’re stupid!"
"She’s mocking us by doing this right under our noses!"
Some of them started stepping forward and reaching toward Gu Jin, ready to grab her or search her bag.
But before they could get too close—
Gu Jin raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, a wall of sharp, glowing plant vines burst from the ground, forming a thick wall between her and the crowd. Each vine was covered in tiny poisonous pins that glimmered green in the moonlight.
Someone in the crowd gasped and shouted, "She’s... she’s an Emperor Rank mage!"
Silence fell over the group.
That was insanely powerful.
Most mages didn’t even reach that level in their whole life—and this girl looked like she was only in her early twenties!
People whispered to each other in shock.
"No way she’s Emperor Rank..."
"She must be some kind of elite from her country."
"Wait—what if she’s not a kidnapper? What if she’s a spy or worse... a terrorist sent here to destroy our land?!"
"What if she has a bomb? What if she’s here to blast our whole camp?!"
The wild theories kept coming. Each one more ridiculous than the last.
Gu Jin stood calmly behind her vine wall, looking at the group like they were all idiots.
She raised an eyebrow and said coolly, "If I really kidnapped her... why would I bring her into my tent? In a camp full of people? Wouldn’t I take her somewhere hidden? Somewhere no one would find us?"
People looked at each other, unsure now.
One woman crossed her arms. "She’s right. Who kidnaps someone in a place with so many witnesses?"
"Maybe... maybe the other girl is lying?"
"Shouldn’t we question both sides before we accuse someone?"
But just when the doubt was starting to grow...
Three men suddenly stepped forward.
It was the same three dirty-looking men from the nearby camp—Lain, Cane, and Lechisney.
Lain pointed at Gu Jin and shouted, "We saw it! We saw her dragging the woman toward her tent!"
Lechisney nodded quickly. "She had her hand over the girl’s mouth! We saw everything!"
Cane stared at them silently.
narrowed her eyes. She instantly understood what they were trying to do.
They wanted her to be declared a criminal.
Because in this twisted country—Country J—the law said that if someone was declared a criminal, any citizen could do anything they wanted to that person.
And no one would be punished for it.
In fact, they’d be praised as heroes.
These men... they wanted that.
They wanted her to be defenseless, so they could hurt her however they wanted.
Gu Jin could see it clearly in their eyes.
The crowd turned to the three men and asked, "Are you sure you saw it?"
Lain grinned. "Her eyes. I remember them clearly. Red. Red like a ruby. I’d recognize those eyes anywhere."
"Yes," Lechisney added. "Those red eyes burned like fire. I’ll never forget them."
Gu Jin looked at them with a slow smile. Then she asked calmly, "You’re both saying you saw me?"
"Yes," they said together.
"You remember my red eyes clearly?" she asked again.
"Of course," Lain said proudly. "Just like blood."
"Interesting," she said. "Because..."
She reached into her bag.
Everyone around her tensed.
"She’s going to pull out a bomb!"
"Or a magical weapon!"
"Run! She’s dangerous!"
Some people even backed away, preparing to attack her first if needed.
Gu Jin pulled out something small and black.
The crowd blinked in surprise.
The moment the woman and the three men saw it, their faces turned pale.
Gu Jin smiled coldly. "While I was asleep, I didn’t forget about security. I placed a small hidden camera inside my bag. It records everything near the entrance of my tent."
Everyone was stunned.
Someone whispered, "She recorded everything?"
Another person said, "That’s smart. We should all do that."
"Yes! It can protect us from thieves!"
"Maybe she’s telling the truth..."
Gu Jin nodded calmly. "The footage shows who entered the tent. It proves I didn’t kidnap anyone. In fact, this woman walked in on her own and tried to steal from me."
She held up the camera and added, "I plan to submit this video to the police."
The beautiful woman’s face turned white.
She suddenly dropped to her knees.
"N-No! It wasn’t me!" she cried. "Maybe you used magic! Maybe some spell pulled me into your tent!"
But no one believed her anymore.
"She changed her story again."
"First she said she was kidnapped."
"Then she said Gu Jin stole her jewelry."
"And now she says she was pulled in by magic?"
The crowd wasn’t buying it.
Still, the three men who supported her didn’t give up.
Lechisney quickly said, "Now that I think about it... maybe Gu Jin led the girl inside calmly. She didn’t look like she was forcing her. The girl must’ve been dazed."
Lain nodded. "Yes! She must’ve used some kind of charm spell. I remember the girl walking slowly, like she wasn’t in control."
Some people in the crowd started to frown again.
"Could that be true?"
"Maybe they’re right?"
But Gu Jin didn’t give them a chance to argue.
She smirked and said, "If I really led her in, that would show up in the recording, wouldn’t it?"
The three men didn’t respond.
The woman opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
She turned around and pulled out a flat silver device—a magical projection stand. It looked like she took it from her bag, but really, it came from her hidden space.
She placed it on the ground and connected her phone, where the video had been saved.
Then she pressed play.
The screen lit up, showing a clear video—even though it had been recorded at night, the night camera made everything easy to see.
The crowd leaned forward.
They watched in silence.
The video showed the entrance of Gu Jin’s tent.
The flap moved gently... and the beautiful woman slipped inside, looking around carefully.
She waved her hand in front of Gu Jin’s sleeping face.
Then she quietly stepped toward Gu Jin’s bag.
But before she could reach it, Gu Jin’s hand shot up and grabbed her wrist.
The woman gasped. The screen froze on that exact moment.
Gu Jin hadn’t kidnapped anyone.
The woman had entered the tent on her own and tried to steal something.
And the three men who said they saw Gu Jin dragging her?
"They almost made us attack an innocent girl!"
People turned toward the woman and the three men, their faces full of anger and shame.
"You should be punished!"
"You tried to frame her!"
"How dare you try to destroy someone’s life !"
Some turned back to Gu Jin.
"We judged you without thinking."
"We shouldn’t have believed them so quickly."
She didn’t scold them.
She simply turned to the kneeling woman and said, "I’m submitting this video to the police. You will be punished for what you did."
"No, please!" the woman cried. "I made a mistake! I won’t do it again!"
Tears fell from her eyes.
She bowed her head and begged, "Please... don’t send me to jail. Please, Gu Jin. I’m sorry!"
Gu Jin tilted her head and said coldly, "If I didn’t have this recording, what would I be right now? A terrorist? A kidnapper? A criminal?"
The woman couldn’t answer.
Gu Jin’s voice grew sharper. "You think I’ll let you go, just like that?"
Some people in the crowd started to feel uncomfortable.