These Bastards, Seriously?! (3)

I stepped down onto the helipad of the Grand Blue Building's office wing and checked the time. It was past nine.

Franc drew out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from my brow. While she did, I glanced around to see what everyone else was doing. Hwayeon, Aunt Hyeryeong, and my sister were in Hwayeon's office, watching television. Department Head Kim Pyochung and Department Head Ha Yucheol had the news on in their own offices, sorting through paperwork.

And what became of Department Head Ha after that? Is that viper bastard Ha Cheolsu really his son?

Turning it over as I went, I stepped into Hwayeon's office on the thirty-ninth floor, and the three women welcomed me. On the television behind them, breaking news was running about the Mana Cannon I'd detonated over Tokyo a little while ago.

The woman anchoring it had her face set hard. This wasn't being treated as some simple protest. Good. At least I hadn't wasted the effort. If a Korean anchor was reacting like that, I could imagine how Japan was taking it. Or anyone else.

"How's the reaction?"

At that, my sister lifted the remote and flipped over to a Japanese channel. The moment it changed, the blast from an hour ago started looping, and an anchor doing his best to look calm rattled on and on.

"What's he saying?"

"A vicious Korean ability user unleashed his power in the sky roughly three hundred kilometers from Tokyo and caused an explosion. They're still assessing the exact damage, and the current Japanese cabinet, which brought this on, is keeping its silence. Was what the Korean ability user said on last night's live broadcast true? If it was, why did he do it? They need to produce a clear answer as to why they allowed something like this to happen. More or less that."

Worry showed through as she interpreted. I clicked my tongue.

"They still haven't tasted what real vicious looks like."

Aunt Hyeryeong nodded at my flat delivery and spoke.

"World opinion isn't unilaterally condemning either side over this. An individual picking a fight with a nation is unprecedented, so that may be why. That said, we've had word from the President that the leadership of several countries is cautiously taking Korea's side."

"They're taking our side because of the high-grade Phase Stone auction. That's what I was aiming for when I put them up. What are the IWO and the Ability User Association saying?"

"They're maintaining their silence."

"I thought they'd denounce one side or another—me, Korea, or Japan. Guess I had that wrong."

"The wait-and-see posture is probably the larger part of it. Side with someone too soon, and the sparks might land on you."

One side is a nation and the other is a single person, and they're still content to watch. That means my ability shocked them that badly, doesn't it? Not a bad feeling.

I was thinking I'd opened this cleanly enough when my sister let out a small sigh and put her finger on exactly that.

"Your ability is shocking, yes, but it's also because they're watching the high-grade Phase Stone auction, just like you said. High-grade Phase Stone output for the first half of this year is only about seventy percent of last year's, so plenty of countries are desperate for supply."

"Timing's doing me a favor. So they're worth even more than I thought?"

I let the incomprehensible Japanese anchor wash past my ears and kept my eyes on the screen. The shockwave from my cannon had cracked buildings all over Tokyo; shattered windows glittered in the footage. It looked like a six-lane city road. Not a single person on the sidewalks, and every car had stopped dead.

It had gone off early in the morning, so pedestrian casualties looked scarce.

Then it cut to a Japanese man who seemed to be a reporter, hard hat on, face grave, jabbering away at what might have been a factory. Pipes as tall as a man packed the place, and even at a glance the operation had clearly been shut down.

Aunt Hyeryeong said, "There's that as well, but I also think it's because Master's ability is, from their point of view, a problem with no answer. And there's Clearance Department Head Jung Siha, and Hiarid, a Peak-Rank aberrant. According to a survey by one domestic Phase research institute, Master and his sister, Miss Franc, and Hiarid alone are stronger than every ability user in our country and Japan put together."

"Including the combat footage against high-tier aberrants in the PR video was the key. Thanks to that, the raid team's image is shooting up. We haven't even held the founding ceremony, and since last night ability users from all over the world have been flooding us with calls asking how to join Grand Blue. The boards on the Grand Blue site are bursting with it too."

"I'll leave that side to Hwayeon, Sis, and Aunt."

With that, I explained to my sister, Hwayeon, and Aunt Hyeryeong the scheme I'd struck with Youngeun. I rampage out front, and behind me the government soothes me down and pockets the gain.

Of course, if the act doesn't take, I rampage for real.

"...My god!"

"So you're not going to attack Japan directly?"

Aunt Hyeryeong looked stunned. I set her aside. My sister's face said she was afraid I'd commit a slaughter. I had no intention of making my name as some butcher for the ages who'd killed dozens, or millions. But if I had to, I would.

"Depends on what Japan does. If they transfer everyone involved to our country and pay reparations, I'll let it go."

"...Japan would never do that. The Patriotic Subjects Association in the Japanese cabinet holds more lawmakers than any other political bloc in Japan. If they try to start a war..."

"Then I leave the response to Madam, and I drop Mana Cannons on all of Japan from the sky."

"Seoha!"

Maybe she was already seeing a massacre unfold at her little brother's hands. The color drained from her face, and she seized my hand tight.

"Miss Siha? Please calm down. Master only means that as the very last of last resorts. That's why he said he'd leave the response to us. Isn't that right?"

"As expected. Aunt Hyeryeong reads me perfectly."

When it came to my business, my sister never seemed able to find her cool. So long as I was Master, seating her in Integrated Management might be worse than making something like a Sub-Master post and putting her there.

Oh, right.

"Aunt's right. And do you know someone named Yoo Chae-rin?"

"Yoo Chae-rin—the recovery ability user the government placed with us recently. President Yu Youngeun recommended her personally, so we assigned her to a general team. Is there a problem?"

"Ah. Madam said she'd train her and send her over. Looks like she already did. From what she let slip before, the woman's work is exceptional. Could you look into sending her to Integrated Management, to assist my sister?"

Aunt Hyeryeong's face said so that was the woman the government had sent. She nodded as if she understood.

"If Madam acknowledged her to that degree... She's a mid-grade D-Class recovery ability user, so it's a waste to move her into desk work, but we'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to convert her."

"I don't need an aide."

"You do. When it's about me, you lose your head and pull something stupid, so I need a calm person to stop you."

"Ugh. That's mean..."

My sister made a wounded face. Franc, Hwayeon, and Aunt Hyeryeong, by contrast, nodded along without pause. They'd already seen through her brother complex.

Seeing that, my sister took an even harder hit and wilted completely.

"And..."

I wondered for a moment whether I ought to say this in front of my lovers, but these weren't women who'd go around leaking rumors. I just asked.

"Is Ha Cheolsu Department Head Ha Yucheol's biological son, or isn't he?"

"Ah, that went just as Master expected. Department Head Ha's wife had the child through an affair. And after she gave birth to Ha Cheolsu, she hid it from him, underwent a tubal ligation, and enjoyed a promiscuous life."

My face soured on its own. Franc, Hwayeon, and my sister started looking back and forth between me and Aunt Hyeryeong, expressions asking what on earth this was.

It was an ugly story, and not a fun one. Miho was prowling around me, so I scooped her up, sat her on my thigh, and stroked her head. She went ehehe and swung both legs.

"Knew it. So what happened?"

"We told Department Head Ha everything, presenting it as facts uncovered while exposing Ha Cheolsu's crimes. I hear he's in divorce proceedings now."

"That's all?"

"Not all. He gathered material on every man she cheated with and sued them for adultery damages. On the advice of our legal team, he also charged his wife with fraud and filed for divorce compensation."

"Nice."

I'm not sure which part counts as fraud, but she passed off someone else's child as his. A few fraud counts would have stuck.

"Heh. Better still, the woman who was Department Head Ha's wife has been reduced to nothing and put out on the street, the product of her affair has become a vicious criminal, and the men she cheated with can be stripped clean. Department Head Ha says he can finally focus everything he has on Grand Blue in peace, and that he'll bury his life in Grand Blue with this chance."

"See that living alone isn't a hardship for him."

"Yes!"

Finished, Aunt Hyeryeong bowed to me at the waist and took the elevator down. After that the three women came up and asked what in the world had happened.

"It's Department Head Ha's private life, so you won't talk about it anywhere else, right?"

"Isn't that obvious? That bastard wasn't even Department Head Ha's real son?"

My sister shoved her face in close as if she couldn't believe it, those big eyes blinking.

"Yeah. I only found out because Youngeun dropped me a hint."

"He was a man devoted to his family, and I couldn't understand how a rotten thing like that came out of him. So that was why."

"Justice, properly served. A woman who spent more than thirty years straying outside her marriage is cast out without a single coin of the property, and the child she bore in pain has a kill order from the IWO and the Ability User Association hanging over him. Most satisfying indeed."

Franc didn't hesitate at the harshness. Come to think of it, she had always hated people who lied and set out to deceive.

"Is that so~ Quite a few of the women on staff admire Department Head Ha in secret. I wonder what happens now."

"...What are you talking about. Department Head Ha's about fifty, isn't he? And he's popular?"

"Mhm. Especially among the young women in Business Support Building 2—he's a huge hit as a silver fox. This business has quietly spread through the company too, you know? And the mood is people looking at him kindly, men and women both."

So that's what a silver fox is... Department Head Ha took care of himself well for his age; he didn't look a day past his mid-forties. Well. If women wanted to chase a capable man, it wasn't my place to say anything about it.

"Anyway, we should head down too. With what you've kicked up, we'll be busy for days."

"Yeah. Take care of the cleanup for me."

"Sure."

I watched Hwayeon and my sister head down to their offices, then opened a world map on my Certifier and zoomed it until only Japan showed. Franc and I started working out where I could drop one without killing anyone.

I turned it over until nightfall—where to put a Mana Cannon tomorrow, whether to blow Mount Fuji clean off the map—and then my sister called to say Mom and Dad were looking for me. I went, and found them on the living-room sofa with grave faces.

It had to be this morning's threat against Japan. Fifteen hours on, and the thing still hadn't cooled. It was heating every television and every corner of the internet.

"..."

"..."

"You called me here, and now you're like this? Nothing to say?"

Their eyes were full of worry, but they didn't speak. I said if they had nothing, I'd head back up, and Mom called after me.

"Son. Your dad and I are always on your side. Don't you forget that."

"...Yeah."

"I trust you wouldn't torment someone without a reason."

"Obviously. I only give back what I'm given."

I answered with a grin and left my parents' house. Something in my chest went tight and warm. Knowing there were people who would believe in me no matter the situation steadied me.

Late last night I'd talked it through with my lovers, but the talk came around to how dropping one on the ground would mean deaths no matter the method, so we decided against a ground drop and settled on detonating Mana Cannons instead.

A Mana Cannon still gouges a crater ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two or three kilometers across. Loose several at once, and that ought to be enough.

I'd meant to start after lunch, so I came into the office early to sort my summer-break assignments. Aunt Hyeryeong found me there and told me a massive riot had broken out in Tokyo.

On top of that, Japanese politicians who didn't belong to the Patriotic Subjects Association were going live on the national airwaves with an absurd line.

I turned on the television. A middle-aged man who looked like a monkey was up there, face red, jabbering away. Then the picture cut, and showed violent protests all through Tokyo—Molotovs hurled at what looked like politicians' offices, pickets spread wide demanding they turn themselves in if they meant to ruin the country.

I listened to Aunt's translation, then set my pen down, dumbfounded, and looked up at her.

"So they want this case handed not to our country, but to the International Court of Justice, and the ones who attacked me tried there? Not sent to us?"

"That's right."

"These bastards..."

I'm the one who nearly died. Why are they demanding the trial be held over there?

At my mutter, Aunt Hyeryeong sighed and spoke again.

"The International Court of Justice is reluctant as well, I hear. That place usually exists to mediate disputes between states, and this incident isn't between state and state. It's between an individual and a state. This is unmistakably..."

"The Patriot Blockhead Association stirred them up, right?"

"Pfft. Yes, yes. Tha—hk. That's right."

Aunt Hyeryeong's sense of humor really was a little off. I watched her fight the laugh down, and when it had settled I asked again.

"So how's our government responding?"

"The President said she's reaching out mainly to countries where high-ranking ability users have suffered unexplained terror attacks, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she's keeping this incident front and center. If nations around the world condemn Japan over similar cases, global opinion will..."

Mid-explanation, the Certifier rang. Youngeun.

"One moment. Madam's calling. Yes, Madam."

"Yes. You must be busy—what's going on?"

"The Japanese prime minister came in secret?"

Unofficial, and the prime minister by herself?

"Ha. People have apologized and then turned around to spew bullshit—ah, excuse me. Outrageous remarks. More than one or two of them have run their mouths like that, so what am I supposed to trust? And unofficial means it won't even be put in writing. Perfect situation for them to flip their stance."

"You said the Japanese prime minister is on her way to the Blue House, right? Would it be all right if I came too?"

"Yes. I'll head out right now."

I found myself curious what this Japanese prime minister, come in secret, would actually say.

Aunt Hyeryeong watched me end the call, then picked up the explanation she'd left hanging.

"We're predicting public opinion will turn against Japan. And with the high-grade Phase Stone auction setting off their game of watching one another, the psychological pressure Japan is under right now must be considerable. Judging by the prime minister coming through an unofficial route, that effect is already showing."

"Right. Come with me, Aunt. And call Hwayeon, please."

"Understood."

I took Hwayeon and Aunt Hyeryeong, and with Franc and Miho I arrived at the Blue House to find the entrance already under tight guard.

Unofficial visit or not, another nation's head of state had come. They could hardly post an ordinary watch.

We were shown in. The wide reception room was dressed in the quiet lines of a traditional Korean house, and waiting there were Youngeun and the Japanese prime minister I'd sometimes seen on television.

The current prime minister was a sharp-featured woman of sixty-five. She had slathered so much money on her appearance that, ability user or not, she didn't look a day past her late thirties.

Short bob, a suit of pure white. She was glaring at me with a razor stare, so I lit Mana Vision and glared right back.

Blue light began to spill through my eyes. She flinched for an instant, but the way she kept glaring told me the hostility in her had piled up thick.

Give me a break. Shouldn't I be the one throwing the hostility around?

"Only the principal parties will remain. Everyone else, please step outside."

"What is this talk?! We have no idea what he'll do—how can we leave?!"

What was that. At our prime minister's words, the buzz-cut man who looked like one of the Japanese prime minister's aides shouted and jabbed a finger at me. It didn't sound like anything kind.

"He's saying he doesn't know what stunt you'll pull, so how is he supposed to leave the room."

Hwayeon translated the buzz-cut's words, and the moment I heard them rage surged up from my gut.

"B-Class physical reinforcement, Phase Power sitting at a flat 3.5 million. So Japan's been pouring its heart into raising this one. Shall I wreck him first, and then we can start?"

Something twisted in me. I flashed a rotten grin, poured Mana Sieve through my whole body, and turned my palm up.

The aides standing behind the buzz-cut and the Japanese prime minister—C-Class elemental, recovery, and detection users—dropped into attack stances all at once.

But aside from the buzz-cut and the prime minister, their eyes were shaking without restraint. Scared monkeys, the lot of them.

Come on. Why just hold the pose? Attack already. Then I can go ah, an accident, and snap a few limbs. Or cut them off.

A standoff settled between me and the Japanese aides, and Youngeun broke into a bright smile and clapped.

"The atmosphere is very much to my liking. An unofficial visit to the Blue House, and you're the ones who moved first on something that could blow up into a diplomatic incident. Well? What are you doing? Don't just hold the stance—why not attack outright? Of course, whatever happens after that, our government will neither interfere nor accept a shred of the responsibility."

Smiling, she took two steps back. Our government people went white and retreated in a rush.

Hwayeon stood in front of Aunt Hyeryeong, shielding her. Franc took my right and glared at the Japanese aides. Miho tugged at Hwayeon's hem.

"Are we fighting now? Can I punish those people?"

"Manners? Roll them up in a bowl of soup and eat them—wait, you people pour tea over rice, don't you? Did you pour tea over your manners and choke them down? Point at a person out of nowhere, this bastard, that bastard—does that feel good? Or not? Want me to fly to Japan right this second and drop a Mana Cannon on Tokyo for you? Hm?"

"...Ishikawa. Enough."

Ishikawa was the name, and the rest of it... that was her telling him to stop, wasn't it? The Japanese prime minister hadn't spared a glance for the commotion. She only cracked her lips, sharp eyes still on me, and the buzz-cut bastard she'd called Ishikawa let out a hah! and stepped back behind her.

"No, I said get out. Our prime minister told you to leave."

Our prime minister cleared his throat at that. A plain middle-aged man standing in the Japanese corner went pale and looked back and forth between me and the buzz-cut called Ishikawa. From the look of him agonizing over whether to translate, he was the interpreter.

He floundered, not knowing what to do. The Japanese prime minister kept her eyes on me and turned only her head a little, saying something I didn't catch. The buzz-cut went hah! again, bowed at the waist, and led every last aide out the door.

Wait. She speaks Korean?

"Hwayeon, Miho, you two go out as well. If those buzz-cuts try anything, just stomp them. Miho, you can kill them and pretend it was an accident. You remembered all seven faces that just left, right?"

"Yeah! I remembered! If they get cocky, I kill them! Right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Do it well and Master will give you something tasty."

"Waaah~!"

The Japanese prime minister, having heard me and Miho, looked at her in disbelief—and the moment her gaze touched Miho's tails, she flinched.

Miho scampered out the door, delighted. Hwayeon and Aunt Hyeryeong glanced at me with a little worry, then turned and left.

The government people followed. Our prime minister and the others, aides or whatever they were, streamed out as well, until the wide reception room held only three of us. Me, Youngeun, and the Japanese prime minister.

Alone with us, the Japanese prime minister frowned and spoke in a slightly rough voice.

"I have often heard that rumors are not to be trusted, but I have never heard one this wrong. To think you would use a mass-slaughter skill in the sky over the capital without warning."

"You must be joking. Which hole were you listening through when I announced it the day before yesterday, that you're saying there was no warning? I spent what little mercy I had left and set one off over Tokyo as a warning, and today's round is still waiting. Keep that in mind before you run your mouth."

So she does speak Korean. More than that, the show of force worked, at least to a point. Enough that the woman you could call Japan's president flew over in a rush, unofficial and top-secret.

I opened my mouth in a sharp tone, glaring as if her rank meant nothing at all. The Japanese prime minister only frowned, and couldn't go on. Youngeun, who had been watching with her arms folded, cleared the air with a now, now.

"Sit down and talk first. What are you doing, standing around?"

The Japanese prime minister frowned, then took one of the chairs set widely around a small ebony table at the center. I sat opposite her. Youngeun sat on the sofa beside me and spoke.

"Skip the speech. If you wanted to argue right and wrong, you should have stopped your people from pulling that shit in the first place. So what are you going to do now? Judge our Seoha by the surface and you'll get your nose smashed, you know? Everything that's come out so far is the truth, and I'd appreciate it if you understood I had a hard time talking him down from firing a Mana Cannon at Tokyo."

With that she turned on her Certifier and showed the footage of me floating in the air, Korea and Japan spread out beneath me, right after I'd launched the cannon.

At that scene the tips of the Japanese prime minister's brows trembled. She spoke in a slightly choked voice.

"That is why I came to apologize."

"And this is the attitude of someone who came to apologize?"

"An apology needs only for mutual understanding to align. What does the attitude matter?"

"Pfft—pahahaha! So you got shoved over here to offer material compensation, is that it? Miyabi, you're obsolete too now?"

"..."

I listened in silence to the exchange between Youngeun and the Japanese prime minister, then released Mana Sieve. She had been watching me where I glowed blue, and she let out a small sigh, as if she had been holding herself tense.

At that, Youngeun turned back to her with a mischievous look.

"Funniest thing I've heard in these past few decades. All right. Let's hear what Japan means to give as a token of apology."

"It would be faster to hear that directly from the party concerned. What does Blue Genius desire of our Japan?"

"If I said the lives of everyone who so much as lent a hand in killing me, would you grant it?"

"..."

"I'm not a politician, and I'm not some conglomerate-family brat. So don't babble based on whatever you've decided on your own. I'm the one holding the knife. Stick your belly out like that, and all I can do is stab."

The prime minister stared at me with eyes sharp enough to kill, past sharp. I stared right back. Youngeun giggled, then couldn't hold it, and slammed the sofa's armrest as she laughed.

"Ahaha! A condition that would satisfy Seoha, who pinned a high-tier aberrant with one hand and tamed it besides! Ahahaha! Miyabi, did you come to apologize, or did you come to laugh me to death? Ahahaha!"

"The world is wide, and the strong are many. You—"

"Those strong ones aren't in your country right now, lady, and the justification is in my hands. On top of that you stuck a spy on me and still expect to hear something pretty? I'm warning you. Don't provoke me with that kind of tone. My mood's already in the gutter, and if it falls any further I might just shoot out of here and erase the island nation called Japan from the face of the earth. Think I can't? Shall I erase the ground under Tokyo with a Mana Cannon?"

I growled it out, and both Youngeun and the Japanese prime minister flinched.

I'd been burning since earlier at the way she carried herself, as if she'd done nothing wrong, as if she'd only stepped over to the shop next door. And every time I thought of that bitch Sophia, my insides already burned like a hole was about to open through me...

I looked at Youngeun. She winked, playful.

In truth, I didn't think the demand would land a hundred percent.

The politicians next door were the same as anywhere—plenty of them cared only about their own hides, and if the country came into danger they wouldn't think of sacrificing themselves. They'd sacrifice the country.

Even so, the reason I pushed this hard was that Youngeun stood between me and Japan.

If it was Youngeun, she would act as a buffer and draw out the result I wanted. Of course, if that mediation didn't suit me, or if I wouldn't accept it, the Mana Cannons would fly.

The Japanese prime minister seemed to think there was no answer. Her face had gone gaunt. She closed her eyes.

"An unreasonable demand. I looked into it myself. Those who so much as set a foot in the plot to bring you down account for seventy percent of the cabinet. If they disappear, Japan's politics will be paralyzed."

"Isn't paralyzed politics better than a country that disappears?"

At that she flared her eyes, and the hand gripping the armrest trembled. I watched her, then folded my arms and turned my head away.

While she knit her brows and couldn't go on, Youngeun stepped in.

"Our Seoha is angry that he was attacked, yes. But what angers him more is that innocent ordinary people were swept up in that incident, hurt or killed. And on top of that, Miyabi, that stiff neck of yours is making him angrier still."

"This is my nature."

"A political nature like that does nothing to resolve the situation, so fix it. And Japanese intelligence stuck an assassin right beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our Hwayeon, which has put our Seoha in a thoroughly foul temper, so watch your tone as well."

"..."

To the prime minister, who had closed her mouth, Youngeun offered not a false smile and not a mocking one, but a faint smile with something dangerous in it.

"Heh. You struck the cheek, so now it's time to pay the price, isn't it? I wonder if you know the old saying. You reap what you sow."

At Youngeun's needling, the Japanese prime minister's expression rotted further and further. Seeing it, Youngeun snorted, turned to me, and opened her mouth as if to say now for the real point.

"Seoha? Will you hear the compromise this lady is putting forward?"

She said it gently, voice and face both coaxing, so I turned to look at her. She wore a warm, easy smile, and went on.