If You Tie Me Up and Imprison Me
“Shirabayashi-san has disappeared, you say?”
“That is correct.”
“......”
Renka stood motionless, lost in thought. For Lee Yuha—who was always glued to Baek Chulyeon’s side—to appear this grave, and to seek help from her of all people, it could not be a trivial matter.
‘Shirabayashi-san…?’
Was he in danger again somewhere, just like during the vampire professor incident last time? On top of that, Renka herself had found Professor Nakamori’s sudden collapse in otherworldly biology highly suspicious.
Driven by that near-instinctive unease, Renka murmured under her breath.
“……Osue!”
“Yes, my lady.”
From behind Renka, Katsurai Osue appeared as if sliding out of the shadows—her classmate in name only.
Renka turned and asked urgently, “Where is Shirabayashi-san right now?”
“Sessha last observed him hurrying toward the campus shrine.”
“The shrine?”
Why on earth would he go to the campus shrine? Worship hours were already over; the place should be deserted. Moreover, as far as Renka knew, Baek Chulyeon possessed a strong sense of pride as a Joseon man and held shrine visits in contempt. He was not the sort to visit one of his own free will. The fact that he had rushed there meant something was definitely afoot.
Renka turned to Lee Yuha. “She says he went to the campus shrine. Come, let us go.”
“……Understood.”
Thus Renka and Lee Yuha climbed the stone steps past the torii gate, yet—
“……?”
The shrine was empty. The area was not large to begin with; a single glance after ascending the stairs revealed no one was present. With no dedicated staff, the campus shrine stood utterly deserted once worship hours ended.
“Osue. Are you certain Shirabayashi-san came here?”
At Renka’s question, Osue replied, “That is what Sessha witnessed. Immediately after seeing him pass the torii and climb the stairs, Sessha withdrew to inform my lord, but……”
‘……I see.’
Renka pondered. It would have been better if Osue had kept watching a little longer. Yet she herself had ordered the girl to report at once if anything seemed amiss, so she could not blame her.
“Very well. Just in case, go outside the shrine and search elsewhere. I will look here.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Osue vanished as swiftly as she had appeared. After sending her away, Renka turned back to Lee Yuha.
“All right. Let us search here first. If Shirabayashi-san came here in such a hurry, he must have had some purp—”
But Lee Yuha was staring at her with an icy, hardened expression. Why is she looking at me like that? The puzzled Renka asked, “……Ri-san? Is something the matter?”
“……”
Lee Yuha merely continued to glare. She was looking not at Renka, but at the female student standing behind her, thinking, That girl is definitely……
Lee Yuha knew her. A small-statured girl with bangs covering half her face, giving her a somewhat sinister impression. She was the same student who had helped support Lee Yuha when she collapsed after fighting the fake professor Choi Seonggil alongside Baek Chulyeon in that abandoned hermitage. Until now she had assumed the girl was merely one of Renka’s friends, but after overhearing the exchange between Renka and Osue, she grew suspicious. Was this Osue actually a subordinate of Renka—the branch leader of the Shimazu Gumi’s Gyeongseong branch and daughter of the Shimazu ducal house?
Moreover, the girl clearly knew the details of Baek Chulyeon’s whereabouts. No matter how loyal a subordinate she might be, it was exceedingly suspicious. In a cold tone, Lee Yuha asked Renka, “Did you perhaps order your subordinate to surveil him?”
Renka was genuinely flustered. Oh no. Normally she would never have summoned Osue in front of others. But she must have been more anxious than she realized and had made an uncharacteristic blunder.
Stammering, Renka denied it. “Surveillance… is not quite the right word. No, it is different.”
“Then what is it?”
“I merely placed someone near him for Shirabayashi-san’s safety. I am his…… friend, after all.”
It was a clumsy excuse, and Renka herself knew it. Placing someone by his side for his “safety”—how was that any different from surveillance? Lee Yuha’s gaze only grew heavier with doubt and distrust. Renka forced a calm smile and said, “Hmm…… Ri-san! Is Shirabayashi-san’s well-being not the most important thing right now? Let us set aside trivial details and focus on finding him first—”
“Lady Shimazu.”
Lee Yuha’s voice had sunk to a freezing depth. “Does he know that one of your people is attached to him?”
Of course, Lee Yuha had long been aware that Baek Chulyeon shared some connection with Renka. She also knew that Renka belonged to one of Japan’s most prominent families—one not unrelated to her own ancestor’s history. Even so, she had never delved deeply into the matter. The grudges of our predecessors are just that—grudges of the past. And Baek Chulyeon is a man of outstanding ability with wide connections.
That such a man should be acquainted with Shimazu Renka, daughter of the Shimazu house and leader of the Shimazu Gumi’s Gyeongseong branch, was not strange. Yet even setting aside ancestral enmity, Lee Yuha now felt strong suspicion and distrust toward Renka. The fact that Renka, who claimed friendship with Baek Chulyeon, had secretly placed someone to watch him was clearly suspicious. Moreover, Renka was dodging the question with evasive denials.
“Lady Shimazu.”
As Lee Yuha spoke, a cold wind swirled around her and tiny ice crystals began to float into the air.
“Right now, more than anything else, it is you whom I find suspicious.”
‘She won’t suspect me anymore, right?’
I looked at Hong Okrye. Still tied to the chair, she no longer glared at me with venomous eyes. Instead, her gaze now carried unmistakable respect.
She had even called me “comrade.” I asked her, “Do you operate alone? Any comrades?”
“There is an organization in Gyeongseong called the Taegukdan. I am the only one at this school.”
“Hmm. Taegukdan, huh.”
An easy name to remember. And the fact that she was the only one at this school was fortunate for me. It meant I only had to win this one girl over.
“Good.”
The way she answered my questions so readily showed she now trusted me completely. At this point I could probably untie her. But before I did, there was one last thing I needed to make crystal clear.
Srrrng—!
In a flash I drew my blade and pressed it against the still-bound Hong Okrye’s throat.
“……!”
Hong Okrye’s face turned deathly pale at the sight of the eerie blue edge. “B-Baek Comrade?”
“I’m sorry,” I said in a grave voice. “You’ve learned a secret between me and Lee Yuha. ……The mission Mister Kim Gu personally entrusted to us requires absolute secrecy. No one can know about it.”
“T-Then you don’t mean—”
“That’s right. Even if it’s a fellow patriot who shares the same dream of independence…… those were Mister Kim Gu’s orders. Therefore, by all rights, I should kill you. Do not resent me.”
“Aah……!”
Hong Okrye’s face went white as a sheet. After watching her reaction for a moment, I swung the blade like lightning—severing the ropes that bound her.
“……?”
Leaving the bewildered Hong Okrye behind, I sheathed my sword and said quietly, “However, I will turn a blind eye.”
“……!”
“Mister Kim Gu said to eliminate anyone who found out without mercy…… but I cannot bring myself to turn a blade on a fellow countryman. That is why I am sparing you.”
“Baek Comrade……!”
To the deeply moved Hong Okrye, I lowered my voice and added, “But remember this well.”
This should be enough, but it wasn’t yet. Since I had dragged Lee Yuha into my lie, I needed to make sure this Hong Okrye girl wouldn’t breathe a word to her either.
“Unlike me, Lee Yuha will never show you mercy.”
“……What?!”
“If you’ve watched her at school, you must know. That girl is a cold-blooded killing machine devoid of human emotion.”
“T-That’s…… well, that’s true……”
Hong Okrye accepted it immediately. It made sense; to the other students, Lee Yuha did give off a cold, unapproachable aura. Sorry, Yuha.
“Therefore, never speak of it, and make sure she never finds out. The moment you tell Lee Yuha that you’re involved in the independence movement, it would be the same as announcing that you know our secret.”
“I-I understand! I-I’ll be careful! No! I won’t say a single word to Lee Yuha! Baek Comrade!”
“Good.”
Only then did I approach the still-frozen Hong Okrye, personally untie the remaining ropes, and help her to her feet. Did I tie them too tightly? Red marks from the ropes stood out clearly on her wrists and calves. I felt a little guilty seeing them, but since she was a physical reinforcement awakener, I had no choice but to bind her firmly.
“All right, let’s get out of here.”
A glance at my wristwatch told me afternoon classes were already over and the campus would be empty. The shrine, long past its permitted worship hours, would have its gates closed as well. When I opened the storage shed door, the late-afternoon sunlight poured in.
“……?”
Yet once my eyes adjusted, I saw two girls standing there as if confronting each other, staring straight at me. Why are they here?
It was Lee Yuha and Renka. Never mind why they were here—the distance was still considerable, but I could sense the flow of their magic power. Both had raised their energy and were directing it at each other. ……What the hell?
“You.”
The silence was broken first by Lee Yuha. She asked me, “After Professor Nakamori collapsed, you vanished. We came looking for you—why are you here?”
“That’s……”
“Hic!”
A hiccup sounded behind me. It was Hong Okrye. Having swallowed my story hook, line, and sinker, the sight of Lee Yuha had clearly thrown her into a panic.
Anyway, the reason Lee Yuha and Renka were here must be because I had suddenly disappeared and they thought something had happened. I glanced back at Hong Okrye. Obviously I could not tell the truth.
I patted her shoulder and said, “She told me that praying is the best way to wake someone who’s fainted! So I came to the campus shrine! Since Professor Nakamori is Japanese, I thought a prayer at the shrine would be especially effective! Right?”
“Y-Yes! That’s right!”
Hong Okrye hurriedly played along. I continued, “Of course, there were other professors and students there, so someone probably already woke him up. Still, even if it’s superstition, I figured offering a prayer couldn’t hurt!”
“R-Right, right! My mother always sets out a bowl of water and prays whenever I get sick……”
Even with Hong Okrye throwing in her wholehearted support, Lee Yuha tilted her head, looked at me again, and asked, “Then why were you inside the storage shed……?”
“Well, um……! The official worship hours were already over, right? So I sneaked in to pray, but when I thought someone was coming I hid!”
“So that was it……”
Only then did Lee Yuha nod. She smoothed her long daenggi braid and spoke again. “……I was worried that something serious had happened when you suddenly vanished. I am truly relieved that was not the case.”
“Yeah! Sorry for disappearing without a word!”
“It is fine. If anything, I was the one who jumped to conclusions……”
She believed me. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Haa……”
Back at the boarding house, I let out a long sigh. It had been one hell of a day. I had stopped Hong Okrye’s planned school terrorism, persuaded her so she wouldn’t become a threat to me, and even silenced her. When I left the shed, Lee Yuha and Renka were waiting and I was momentarily flustered, but in the end they accepted my excuse without much suspicion.
‘As expected, a person needs to build up trust in their daily behavior.’
Because I had earned their trust over time, they believed even a lie like that……!
‘Anyway, the problem is solved.’
Now it was truly time to focus on schoolwork. I had felt it for a while, but to graduate safely and on time I needed to put serious effort into both practicals and theory classes. Ever since enrolling, various incidents had caused me to miss many lessons and I had never been able to concentrate fully on my studies. But now I could finally devote myself to learning without worry.
‘From now on, it’s really just studying.’
With that resolution firmly in mind, I crawled under the covers and fell into a pleasant sleep.
“It cannot be that simple, Shirabayashi-san.”
That night, inside Renka’s residence. As she strolled through the garden, Renka recalled the events at school earlier that day. The moment they had found Baek Chulyeon at the shrine. After listening to him explain something to Lee Yuha in Korean, Renka quietly spoke up.
“I will not report your use of Korean, but could you please speak in the national language so that I may understand as well?”
When she asked him to explain what had happened, Baek Chulyeon repeated in Japanese what he had told Lee Yuha.
“……And that’s what happened. You get it now, right?”
“……”
Listening quietly to his explanation, Renka thought, Shirabayashi-san, you are lying.
The story about going to the shrine to pray for the collapsed Professor Nakamori. But Renka knew that was not the real reason he had gone there. It was certainly fortunate that, contrary to her worries, he had not fallen into any danger. However, she had instantly seen through the falsehood of his “praying at the shrine” claim.
First of all, a man with strong pride as a Joseon person would never pray at a Japanese shrine—setting that aside, the sharp-eyed Renka had immediately noticed Baek Chulyeon’s flustered attitude and the vivid rope marks left on the wrists and ankles of the unidentified female student. Renka recalled the shabby shrine storage shed and thought, ……Just what exactly did you do inside there……?
A deserted shrine warehouse. A secret room. Had a man and woman engaged in some perverted act in there? The very thought made Renka’s ears burn.
She had heard the saying before: “A man has no character below the three inches beneath his navel.” Whatever hobbies he might have or whoever he associated with, it was not her place to interfere. Yet the realization that Baek Chulyeon—the man she had thought upright and honorable—possessed such tastes shook Renka’s perception of him to its core.
That night, Renka could not fall asleep until very late.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
A black-haired girl ran through a dark forest. She wore a white dress that contrasted with her long black hair, but the dress was stained with dirt in several places and she was barefoot. Her eyes were wide with terror. Something was chasing her from within the shadows.
“Hahaha! My lady! My lady! Come with me!”
“No! No!”
The black-haired girl squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as she ran. From behind, the thing drew ever closer and shouted.
“My lady is now an adult and must understand! The great cause that has been prepared for the Greater East Asia……!”
“Kyaa!”
The girl finally tripped over a tree root and fell. Unable to stand again, she collapsed, covered her ears, and screamed.
“Okaa-san! Okaa-san! Help me!”
“Otoo-san! Otoo-san!……”
“Takahiro-san!”
“Catherine! Catherine!”
“Where… where is everyone……!”
Toward the defenseless girl, a massive hand finally emerged from the darkness.
“Now then, become an adult with me!”
“Nooooo!”
The instant the hand moved to swallow her, a powerful ray of sunlight broke through. The black, gloomy forest transformed into a white one. Like magic, a figure appeared on a white horse.
“Graaaah!”
He drew his sword and slaughtered the hand without a shred of mercy, then dismounted and approached the girl. The man who lifted her into his arms. And then, at some point, her own form bound tightly with ropes.
In her hazy consciousness, the girl looked up at the face of the man holding her and whispered.
“Shirabayashi-san……?”
Chirp chirp……
Sunlight and the sound of birds in the garden filtered through the window. Renka, who had just woken on her bed with her hair still disheveled, sat blankly for a long time before thinking with a dumbfounded expression, as if she herself could not understand it.
‘Why……’
‘Why would I have such a dream……?’