novelraw Chapter 126 : Mission 9: Interlude (2)
Chapter 126 : Mission 9: Interlude (2)
December 10, 2050, 1:00 PM.
Prison Cruise Paradise Lost. Commander’s Office.
The phone buzzed, and Hae-eun snatched it up on the first vibration.
“Yes, this is Hae-eun.”
«...»
“...So that’s how it turned out.”
«...»
“Yes, understood.”
Hae-eun bowed deeply toward the voice on the other end.
“We’ll prepare for immediate deployment.”
***
December 10, 2050, 1:30 PM.
Geoje Traditional Market.
For any self-respecting Korean politician, a “people’s livelihood tour” meant hitting three sacred rites of passage.
First: ride public transit. Second: deliver briquettes to the hillside slums.
And third?
“Eating at a traditional market!”
Dia led the way to Geoje’s biggest market, her five-man Black Parade escort trailing behind her.
Jae-hee smacked his lips. “What’s famous around here?”
Ghost fired back without missing a beat. “Tongyeong next door is the birthplace of chungmu gimbap.”
“Whoa, chungmu gimbap! Isn’t that super pricey?”
Status Window chimed in. “Right desu. At a buffet, eat nothing but that and you’ll bankrupt the joint desu.”
“Damn, should I apologize in advance? Guess I’ll hold back...”
Jae-hee’s genuine remorse made Ghost break into a cold sweat.
“...It’s not that expensive. And this is basically the original spot, so it’s cheaper than elsewhere.”
“Heck yeah! I’m going all in, then!”
“Oysters are big here, too. And among the fish, they catch a lot of cod...”
They chattered about local specialties as they plunged into the market… until Status Window flinched.
“Uh... guys? Something’s off desu.”
“What?”
“Some of the crowd’s moving weirdly desu. Their names on my status window are turning red... like ‘hostile’ desu.”
Where Status Window pointed, a dozen or so people were closing in fast, glaring daggers at Dia’s group.
Ghost scanned them and clipped out, “They’ve got pickets. Looks like a protest, but we can’t rule out the possibility of harm to Miss Dia.”
She snapped out orders. “Preemptive response. Status Window, pinpoint the hostiles. And Cultist.”
Ghost turned to him. “Control the targets Status Window flags.”
“Yup.”
“The rest of you, keep Miss Dia safe.”
The group surged closer, yanking pickets from their coats and bellowing: “What the hell do you think you’re doing here...”
“Down with the Awakened Protection Act...”
“Do you have any idea how many people died during the pilot program...”
But before they could finish, Cultist flicked his hand fan in their direction.
Their eyes glazed over in unison. They dropped their pickets and started spouting nonsense.
“All hail Miss Dia Kim!”
“Welcome to Geoje!”
“You’re so cute, miss!”
The sudden wave of adoration threw Dia off-balance. Then her eyes welled up, and she clasped her hands to her chest.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so touched...! I never dreamed the people of Geoje would welcome me so warmly!”
Jae-hee eyed the scene dubiously, speechless.
Cultist just smirked. “Just doing what I was told.”
C-Rank inmate, Cultist. His ability: Crowd Control.
It could temporarily force people’s actions. The chance of resistance scaled with one’s mental barrier, but un-Awakened civilians? They were controlled one hundred percent of the time.
The effect didn’t last long, and the range wasn’t huge.
But crowds have always been swayed by the actions of those at the front.
The market throng, drawn by Miss Dia’s visit, was bewildered by the reaction at first.
But then Cultist picked off people here and there, manipulating them to spark wild cheers, and the rest began to follow, swept up in the tide.
“Hurraaahhh!”
A moment later…
As Miss Dia crossed the traditional market, people on both sides welcomed her with open arms, overjoyed by her visit.
Dia was able to enter the market proper amid a grand reception.
“They don’t even like me this much in Seoul...!”
Her big eyes sparkled with genuine delight. “It feels like they welcome me even more than my own parents...!”
Jae-hee broke into a cold sweat internally. I have to make sure she never finds out this was staged...
In any case, Dia and her escort team entered a pork and rice soup restaurant inside the market.
The rich aroma of simmering pork bones wafting from the shop made Jae-hee worry. He glanced at Miss Dia. Could she handle this distinct pork smell?
“Miss, are you okay with the smell?”
But Dia was swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
“Of course! My father’s favorite food is gukbap, so this girl loves it too!”
Oh, that’s her backstory?
...But to say that, the way she dove in the second her bowl arrived, scooping up a huge bite, was anything but ordinary.
The sight of her deftly piling radish kimchi on each spoonful was no mere commoner cosplay; this was a genuine foodie in her element. She was sniffling and shoveling it down so fast, she must have been starving.
Click-click!
Reporters snapped away from outside the restaurant. With every shutter, Dia showed off her skill at adjusting the angle of her face, but her eating pace never slowed.
“Agent Boy? Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Huh? Oh, I will.”
Jae-hee hadn’t even touched his bowl yet; it was still piping hot.
Dia covered her mouth and giggled. “You have to eat it when it’s hot for it to be refreshing! Hurry up and eat!”
How can it be refreshing if it’s hot?
As Jae-hee puzzled over this, Dia suddenly pushed the radish kimchi bowl at him.
“Like this. If you add the kimchi brine, it’s absolutely delicious.”
“Oh, uh, no, I’d like to just have the white broth, keep it clea—”
Splash!
Ignoring Jae-hee’s protest, Dia poured the kimchi brine into his bowl.
And without being asked, she grabbed a huge bunch of chives and dropped them into his stone pot.
Jae-hee stared down in silent despair at his pork soup, now stained red by the kimchi brine. I wanted to eat it clear...
“Try it!” Dia smiled without a hint of malice.
Though he didn’t feel like it, Jae-hee stirred the pot with his spoon, blew on it, and took a sip.
“It’s delicious, right?”
“...Yeah. It really is.”
The kimchi brine created a perfect balance of seasoning. It wasn’t the clean flavor he had wanted, but still...
After pouring a heap of kimchi brine into her own bowl, Dia rolled up her sleeves in earnest and began to devour the soup, huffing and puffing.
For some reason, Ghost was watching her with a pleased expression.
“I didn’t take you for a connoisseur, miss...”
“...”
Judging by eating form alone, Ghost was the one who seemed more like a highborn lady. That neat handling of her spoon, those sharp, precise movements...
“Master...”
“What.”
“Were you from a noble family?”
“As if.”
Shooting him a glare, Ghost took another hearty spoonful and added, “Besides, what family isn’t precious?”
In any case, for bodies weary from hauling briquettes in the rain, the hot soup was pure bliss. Cosplay or not, the escort team rubbed their full bellies in satisfaction.
After leaving the soup restaurant, Dia did a lap around the market, popping all sorts of snacks into her mouth.
Chungmu gimbap!
Seasoned oysters!
Cod stew!
Fresh sashimi!
Street fish cakes!
Dia opened her mouth wide to receive whatever the merchants offered, and the Black Parade inmates happily got in on the free food.
“Delicious desu! Geoje is a wonderful city desu!”
“Woof woof woof!”
“Damn, eating this sober is driving me crazy. Anyone selling soju around here?”
“...”
Surprisingly, of the five, only Cultist—the one working the hardest—was sipping his fish cake broth with a tired face, warily scanning his surroundings.
“I know how to read the heavens a little.”
After tossing his empty paper cup into the trash, Cultist clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.
“The heavens are amiss.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“It means we’re about to be fucked.”
Jae-hee looked up at the sky as well.
The sky, where the rain alternated between heavy and light, was gloomy. It clearly didn’t look good.
“Well, we’re inmates, aren’t we? Isn’t our situation always bad?”
“Not us.” Cultist pointed a finger at Dia. “I mean Miss Dia.”
“...?”
“Her path ahead is filled with hardship—and I mean completely filled...”
With his hands behind his back, Cultist clucked his tongue.
It was such a classic cultist-like thing to say that Jae-hee decided to just ignore it.
“Haa~ That was a delicious and wonderful time.”
The traditional market tour came to an end.
Dia patted her full stomach, satisfied.
“When I was a child, I ate market food like this often. I couldn’t come as much after my father fully committed to politics... I missed it so much that I overate.”
“I’m glad you had a good time, miss.”
With that, all three stages of the people’s livelihood tour were complete.
Jae-hee was letting out an inward sigh of relief that the schedule had ended without any major incidents.
Just then, Dia gasped, her face paling as she looked at Jae-hee.
“We have a huge problem!”
“What? What is it?”
“My belt!”
Dia clutched the belt fastened around the waist of her dress, panicking.
“The belt broke! I think I ate too much...!”
“...”
Could this be the heavenly sign Cultist spoke of? There was no way to know.
“Please bring me a spare belt, Agent Boy! Quickly, before anyone else notices...!”
“On it!”
Jae-hee bolted like the wind, searching for a clothing store somewhere in the market that sold belts.
This, too, was part of the secret service of the interlude, he thought.
***
December 10, 2050, 3:00 PM.
In front of Geoje City Hall.
All of Dia’s scheduled events in Geoje were finished.
This mission really was quick and easy.
And delicious, to boot.
If only every mission could be like this, Jae-hee thought to himself.
The final press conference had just concluded, and Dia was heading for her waiting car to depart for the next stop on her itinerary.
Thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup—
With a deafening rotor roar, a white transport helicopter descended from the sky.
It bore the post office mark, its front scorched black. It was the Black Parade’s exclusive transport.
Once it landed, the transport’s hatch opened, and Commander Seo walked out, leaning on her cane.
“Miss Dia.”
Bowing to the President’s daughter, Hae-eun spoke in a stiff tone, devoid of her usual groveling.
“His Excellency has ordered me to escort you safely to Seoul. Please come with us.”
“What?” A bewildered Dia asked, “But I have more tours scheduled in the south...”
“This has not yet been publicly announced, however…”
Hae-eun checked her wristwatch and whispered, her voice low. “As of 3:00 p.m. sharp, a national state of emergency has been declared.”
“...!”
“You must evacuate to a safe location immediately. We will escort you. Please board quickly.”
Her aides, their faces now hardened as if they had just received the news as well, nodded to Dia.
While Miss Dia boarded the transport first, Hae-eun approached the Black Parade inmates waiting behind her.
“It’s overtime, Black Parade. The mission has been extended. You are to escort Miss Dia to Seoul.”
Ghost frowned and asked, “What exactly is going on?”
“Intel just came in. Twelve hours ago...”
Hae-eun said flatly. “The Iron Knight, Jo Shin-woo, and his Hunter Guild, ‘The Knights,’ seized the Cheongnyangni Gate.”
“...!”
“It seems negotiations between the Iron Knight and the government were ongoing, but, well, it looks like they didn’t end well.”
Hae-eun’s face was devoid of its usual playfulness.
“To prepare for any contingency, we, the Black Parade, will mobilize all available forces to escort Miss Dia safely to Seoul.”
Everyone present understood.
The escort was just a pretext.
They knew what kind of mission the Black Parade inmates would be thrown into once they entered Seoul.
“I hope you enjoyed the food and your time in Geoje,” Hae-eun said flatly, her gaze fixed on the sky.
Heavy rain started to fall again.
“Because you’re about to have a miserable time in Seoul.”