To Rage Trouble (6)

The heated debate the two of them were trading over Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince did not end until Suhan had finished every last piece of the fruit she had peeled. From where I sat it might as well have been an alien tongue—dense, difficult, and dull—and sitting there blankly listening had left my head on the verge of aching.

Watching Suhan, a homegrown Korean beauty, and Franc, the very picture of Western beauty, compose a scene like a painting was a thorough pleasure for the eyes, and I did think it a genuinely fine hobby. The subject, though, was what it was, and my ears and my brain were enjoying themselves considerably less.

"I was deeply impressed by the depth and breadth of Lady Franc's views."

"I had no idea you held so clear a philosophy on The Prince, Suhan. It was a truly rewarding hour."

"You two done?"

It had finally seemed as if the conversation was over, so I asked with my face brightening—and Suhan dipped slightly at the waist, looking sorry, while Franc's expression turned apologetic as well.

"I apologize. I got carried away before I knew it."

"I'm sorry, Seoha. It was awfully dull, wasn't it?"

"Nah~. I felt like my own ears were opening up, so don't worry about it. Have useful talks like that as often as you like."

Looking at the two of them so guilty and so apologetic, I couldn't bring myself to say anything more. I waved them off to say it was fine, picked up the remote, and flipped over to an American news channel, where Yeongeun's morning announcement was coming through in chopped segments.

The anchor delivering it, though, had an attitude that was something to behold.

I was glaring at the mug of an anchor who clearly had no intention of believing Korea's formal protest when Suhan asked, carefully.

"Have you had lunch?"

"No. Something simple I can eat quickly."

"Yes. I'll prepare it at once."

With that she went into the kitchen, and Franc followed after her and started making something as well. The news had changed subjects and was now digging into the MeToo storm blowing through the United States. I folded my arms and frowned at it.

Hmm. Could I take that broadcast as representative of how people in America were actually reacting? Judging the whole by a part was a mistake I couldn't afford to make.

Depending on how Americans on the ground judged this, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I meant to decide whether the aberrant drop would end as a one-off or continue into a second and a third, so I needed a larger sample. For information like that, maybe I ought to ask Yeongeun…

Oh, right. I hadn't even sent Yeongeun a text saying I was back. I switched on my Certifier, fired off a message ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I'd returned, and then, curious where Hwayeon was, placed a call.

A few rings of the waiting tone passed before a hologram window rose, late, with Hwayeon's tired face in it.

"Yeah. I'm home. Where are you right now? I don't see Darky or Miho, either."

Hwayeon hesitated a moment, glanced around, and then opened her mouth quietly.

In an instant, my blood ran cold.

A hearing? What hearing? Weren't hearings only ever used in the bad sense? Surely it wasn't the kind of thing I was thinking.

"Who's after whom?"

At the chill that had entered my voice, Hwayeon couldn't find the next words for a moment. At last she let out a small sigh and spoke, quietly.

"The National Assembly building, right?"

"I'm on my way."

They were setting incidents off left and right. A Christmas bombardment of presents, was it? I bared my teeth and started up from my seat, and Hwayeon rushed to stop me.

"So it wasn't the assembly members picking you apart and harassing you because we poked America?"

I stared at her with my bone-deep distrust of lawmakers written all over my face, and Hwayeon waved her hands as if to swear it was true.

"…All right. Get here fast."

So Yeongeun couldn't come again. This wasn't a simple matter either. She'd probably be living at the Blue House for another few days.

I waited as Hwayeon had asked, pacing the living room and trying to settle the anger that had been slowly coming to a boil, and before even ten minutes had passed Hwayeon and Miho touched down on the terrace, Darky dangling from Miho's neck. Miho spotted me standing in the living room, came barreling over at a dead run, and crashed into my chest as if she meant to throw a tackle.

"Master~! Wheee!"

Using Miho—face buried in my chest, nuzzling—as a stepping-stone, Darky climbed onto my shoulder, settled there as if the spot belonged to him, and wrapped himself around my neck. I patted the two of them and turned to Hwayeon, who had come close with relief on her face.

"Explain all of it. What happened?"

"All right. Sit down first."

Hwayeon caught my arm, pulled me over to the sofa, and sat. She sent Miho to fetch Franc, then fiddled with my hand as she spoke.

"Before that—how did it go, where you went?"

"I didn't enter the Phase World. I only caught two of the things on American soil and turned them into high-tier subspecies. One's a desert tortoise in the Mojave Desert. The other's a black bear in the mountains of Kentucky."

"That's a relief. If two high-tier subspecies had appeared right after you went into the Phase World and came back out, ordinary people might not have noticed, but the Ability User Alliance would have suspected you."

"If Franc hadn't told me, I might have done exactly that. I didn't enter the Phase World, so it should be fine."

…Come to think of it, with America's insane level of technology, I started to wonder whether something like satellite imaging might have caught me in the act of making aberrants.

"You don't think I showed up in satellite photos or something? I went out of my way so it wouldn't look like my doing. If it got captured on satellite imagery, that'd be a problem."

"No matter how many high-performance satellites America has, they can't cover that entire vast landmass. There aren't many satellites carrying cameras high-resolution enough to identify you. And most of those are watching America's major cities, not the middle of a desert or the deep woods of some backcountry."

"Oh. That so?"

In the movies they take a satellite photo and zoom, zoom, zoom, enhance, clean up a screen mashed into dots, and even pull a face reflected in some building's window until they know exactly who it is. Figures. Movies and reality really are different.

"How do you know that stuff so well, Hwayeon?"

"…Because that's where my interests lie."

With that she looked away, her face flushing. Was a hobby like that really something to be so ashamed of? Because it wasn't ladylike?

Just then Franc came out with Miho clinging at her waist, wiping her wet hands on a handkerchief. She smiled when she saw Hwayeon.

"Welcome back, Hwayeon. Nothing happened, I hope?"

"No. After I returned to Korea I received a summons from Madam, and there was an investigative hearing about what happened aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington. It wasn't anything serious."

"A hearing? It wasn't broadcast, so I take it it was unofficial."

Franc looked briefly startled at the word hearing, but unlike me she returned to calm almost at once. So it really hadn't been a big deal. Hwayeon glanced at me as I gave a small nod, then nodded herself and answered.

"It was exactly what it sounds like. A session where I gave an oral account of that day's events according to who, what, when, where, why, and how, and confirmed that the footage was genuine. They needed to secure supporting material for the formal protest to the United States."

"So it was an investigative hearing to lock down evidence."

"Yes. So there's no need to be angry."

Miho, who had been hugging Franc's waist, looked back and forth between Franc standing there and me sitting down, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then crawled into my arms.

"This is my spot!"

She had evolved from a kindergartener's looks to something closer to a middle schooler's, and she still acted like a little kid. Honestly, I liked that she leaned on me this way, so I stroked the fluffy tails she had wound around my body like a sea anemone, and her fox ears flapped as if she might die of happiness.

Hwayeon watched the girl squirming in my arms, overcome with joy, a gentle smile on her face. Then she composed her expression into something serious and spoke.

"I suppose I should call it fortunate. Before you left, Seoha, you had left a call connected through the Certifier. Thanks to that, everything from just before your departure until you caught the Blade Flyer and came back was on record. Because of it, we were able to submit solid evidence."

"It's been more than four hours since the protest was announced. Do you have any sense of how things will proceed from here?"

"We've secured evidence recording Vice Admiral Robert Phillips's statements, and the actions of Michael Granado, Second Boss of the GS Raid Team, along with the Second Boss's aide. From here it will be a matter of watching America's response and reaction, then taking appropriate measures."

"Appropriate measures… That's a rather delicate way to put it."

At Franc's deflated reply, Hwayeon spoke with her brow slightly furrowed.

"Compared to America, the only point on which Korea is superior is Seoha's existence. The fault lies with them, but I think diplomacy that presses the charge and demands compensation would be too much to force. That said, America will not be able to simply ignore Seoha's anger. He has proven, by his own hand, that he is the only person on Earth capable of subjugating a Highest-Rank Variant alone."

Then she looked at me and spoke again.

"The variable that creates is that you have released two high-tier subspecies onto American soil that can be regarded as Highest Tier. America's military power and its armed force will not be able to deal with those two, so they will have no choice but to reach out to you and ask for help. When that happens, I believe we can submit the evidence of the full hostage-taking and demand an apology from President Donald Trumpet, along with punishment for those involved."

I needed to smash that bastard to pieces, but the way Hwayeon was talking, it sounded as if the fault couldn't be laid on Trumpet himself. Did she think the man couldn't be touched?

No need to say it out loud and put her in a bind. When the time came, I'd step in myself and turn Trumpet inside out. For now, keep quiet.

"Hm. What if they don't ask me for help and just use something like a nuclear missile?"

Hwayeon shook her head at the thought and said no.

"I don't believe a nuclear missile would work on a Highest-Rank Variant, but America couldn't use a nuke on its own soil even for the sake of face. If they tried to launch one, the state in question would obviously rise up in fierce opposition. Major cities sit packed in close around the Mojave Desert—LA, Las Vegas, San Diego. Think of the election two years from now. As the Republican Party, they would never drop a nuke on California, a densely populated state, or on Nevada and Utah, rich in tourism, and ruin their own voter base."

"That country's a joke, too. An aberrant ought to be a bigger problem than nukes and radiation, and they don't even know which one matters more."

"That's a power struggle in the political arena for you."

When Hwayeon's account ended, only the sound of the television lingered in the living room. In the sudden silence Miho was watching our faces and keeping her mouth shut, which made the air even colder.

That was when Suhan brought in kimchi pancakes and iced dongchimi—the cold radish-water kimchi—and began cutting them into easy bites. To the snip of her scissors, a talk-show host on the television settled in with a single guest and opened a discussion on the subject of America's attempted hostage-taking.

I picked up a piece of kimchi pancake and ate while I listened to the panelist and the host, and Franc, Hwayeon, and Suhan were drawn in as well, all of them fixed on the debate the television was showing.

When the panelist had finished, the host began briefly recounting what had happened on the aircraft carrier—perhaps meaning to call the subject back to mind—and in the midst of it Franc spoke.

"Ah. Seoha has one more measure already in place."

"A measure? What do you mean?"

"Sophia offered Seoha an idea: attempt a hostile takeover of the capital companies President Trumpet owns, and ruin him completely. She took some High Grade phase stones and left the house before you arrived, Hwayeon."

Hwayeon heard that and spoke with a bitter look.

"Sophia used to be extremely reluctant to do anything that would make enemies, and yet she is taking that kind of action for Seoha's sake. It is a little disconcerting—and a relief, as well."

"She was that sort of person?"

"I think it was probably an unconscious resistance that came from her position as a spy. In any case, if she is willing to volunteer, of her own accord, for something she dislikes, and to step forward herself for Seoha's sake, then we need not worry about her betraying him."

Listening to the two of them, I picked up a piece of kimchi pancake.

"Me too, me too!"

I popped it into the mouth of Miho, who was clamoring for some, and lifted the cold, tangy dongchimi for a drink. Franc and Hwayeon turned to look at me.

I couldn't begin to guess why the two of them were staring straight at me. I opened my eyes a little, blank, and Hwayeon spoke.

"Anyway. Your break starts today, doesn't it, Seoha? Have you thought about what you'll do regarding entering the Phase World?"

"I'll have to wait until this matter is wrapped up. I don't want to enter the Phase World with trouble left behind me."

If the desert tortoise and the black bear I'd evolved would just hurry up and run wild, America wouldn't merely have a fire land on the back of its foot—it would have lava dropped on it, and be scrambling in a panic. With those two staying quiet, America looked like it was still testing the water.

At the word that I wouldn't be going in until then, Franc's and Hwayeon's faces brightened a little, and they nodded as if they thought I had decided well.

"You're right. The other party is America. Settling the problem for certain before you step away is the correct decision."

While this got sorted out, I figured I ought to take a proper look at what had changed, now that phase stones were coming into being.