Care to Take a Vacation?
Anastasia looked at him as if he were a lost cause. She was the sort who worked in silence through almost anything, and even she could see there was no saving him.
He stared blankly at the map, unaware that juice was running from his mouth. She had come in to deliver the regular report, and an hour after she entered he was still exactly like that. Juice fell in steady drops. He was spilling so much of it that a puddle had spread across the floor.
Anastasia barely held down a sigh. He had always been something of an eccentric, but today he was worse.
"Compose yourself. How long do you intend to stay like that?"
Anastasia raised her voice.
"Whoa!"
"Kya—!"
He shot to his feet so suddenly that she startled, and juice mixed with spit sprayed in every direction.
"Augh—gahr—whuh?"
"………Swallow, then speak."
I really want to hit him.
"Nweh?"
He turned his head toward her. The juice still filling his mouth splashed across Anastasia's face, misting her as if from a spray bottle.
"………."
"………."
Their eyes met. He looked away, embarrassed.
Anastasia clenched her fist. The tendons stood out sharp across her knuckles.
"Sowwy."
Drip. Drop. Drop. It landed on her shoes—the liquid that man had sprayed.
Anastasia quietly laid a hand on her sword.
"Ah'm... sowwy...?"
"Wait a moment. This will be over quickly."
With a clear, ringing note, the sword came free. Caught in the lamplight, the blade brought to mind the stars of a night sky.
"Sowwy. Sowwy."
"Please drink it, and then talk. Do you not have muscles in your jaw?"
Step. Step. He backed away. Anastasia advanced.
Thud. The wall stopped him. He could retreat no farther.
"Ueh?"
"Oh, for the love of—"
Why won't that damned juice drop? And why won't that damned man drink it?
"A jaw that cannot drink juice has no use, does it?"
The edge of the sword turned on him with a low, hungry rush of air. She had only raised the blade, and yet a thin sword-mark scored the floor.
Perhaps survival instinct had finally stirred. He barely managed to swallow the juice filling his mouth.
"W-wait! Anastasia! I was startled by something I saw! It wasn't on purpose!"
The excuses rattled out like gunfire. Anastasia stared at his flustered face with eyes like ice.
"Can you tell me what that was?"
"Uh………."
Look at those eyes rolling.
"If you will not tell me, then hold still. This will be over quickly."
"No, no! This is dangerous—I can't tell you!"
A beautiful note rang through the room.
Then a sharp stroke of the sword split it in two.
"I apologize."
Anastasia bowed her head low. The ceiling above her was split in a perfectly straight line.
"……No. It's fine. I understand."
He was rubbing the nape of his neck. A faint mark had been left there.
"No denying whose daughter you are. Brutal."
"I apologize."
Anastasia bowed even lower, until she was nearly touching the floor.
"Enough. This isn't a one-day or two-day matter."
"Thank you."
Anastasia straightened. Her face was perfectly calm.
"You are sorry, aren't you?"
"I apologize."
"Don't. Don't."
She started to bow again, and he stopped her.
"Good grief. Anyway, you said you had something to report?"
"That is correct."
He had been so far gone that the report was long overdue.
"I will make my report."
"Go on."
He straightened in his seat. Anastasia turned a page.
"Regarding the incident in Korea……."
"Skip that."
He waved the matter off. Anastasia nodded.
"Understood."
"Right."
The page turned.
"The Heavenly Punishment of China have moved."
"Heavenly Punishment?"
He stroked his chin.
Heavenly Punishment. Self-proclaimed agents of Heaven. Or, to call them something else: lunatics with a creed.
"Why did those madmen move?"
"It appears connected to what happened in Korea."
"……Is that so?"
"Yes. Once the Korean news was reported as far as China, their movement was detected, and they clashed with Negus on the spot."
Anastasia scanned the page.
"The clash was confirmed around 7:00 p.m. local time in China. We are currently investigating the situation."
"Understood. Next."
"The shrine maidens of the Shrine performed a rite to soothe Heaven's wrath."
"Nothing else?"
"Several members of the Shrine have moved."
"They mean to cross into Korea."
Korea's situation was shifting fast. The Dan Clan had revived. Unjinhoe had collapsed. Negus was keeping its silence. And today alone, a natural disaster had struck. With so many things erupting one after another, whatever lay beneath the surface was bound to be growing restless.
Korea could become a battlefield.
It was only a supposition. So long as Captain Earth existed, and heroes remained in the world, they could not start a war on a whim either.
"What will you do?"
"Leave them."
Korea had that. An unknown even he could not grasp waited there. What could the likes of them accomplish by going?
"And Europe?"
"The Temple Knights of Europe fought a large-scale battle against Ilshikgyo."
The Temple Knights: a hero order guaranteed by the Vatican, cutting down the wicked in God's name. An organization bound by faith possessed a cohesion second to none.
Ilshikgyo: a deranged religious order that worshiped a god called the Eclipse God. A cult on a worldwide scale.
"So they finally clashed."
It was a foregone conclusion. Ilshikgyo were the very cultists the Vatican had branded heretics with its own hand, and the bad blood between the Temple Knights and Ilshikgyo ran deeper than any other.
"Keep a close watch. We don't know who will win."
"Understood."
Another page.
"Next is the United States."
"Captain Earth smashed a few criminal organizations, didn't he?"
"Yes. He also destroyed the politicians involved."
Nothing new. He was a hero who did that sort of thing whenever he grew bored.
"However……."
Anastasia let the sentence trail.
"What."
"The United States government appears to be conducting a secret project."
As if the matter pained her, Anastasia pressed the end of her pen against her head.
"Is that all?"
"I apologize. Anything beyond this is inaccurate, and it lacks credibility……."
"Nothing to worry about. Skip it."
It's America. As if pulling information out of there were easy.
The page turned.
"The number of missing persons in South America has risen sharply. The cause could not be identified."
Another page.
"Magician, Warrior, and Giant have requested support."
"Those three? That's unexpected."
A request for support from the executives was hardly an everyday affair.
"Magician requested magic implements, Warrior requested soldiers, and Giant requested provisions."
"Give them whatever they want."
"Understood."
The last page turned. Anastasia hesitated over the final report, then flipped back through the papers to confirm she had read it correctly.
"What's wrong?"
"Th-that is……."
She spoke as if she could not believe it herself.
"The Devil's Tree appears to have developed anorexia……."
"………What?"
"It is refusing every kind of food………."
At the news that the predator of all living things had come down with anorexia, he could only stare, his soul half out of his body. And yet, in the same moment, a thought occurred to him.
Well... that would track.
He offered a small prayer. May it pull through, bravely…….
A day had passed since I brought Hong Yumin and San-gun home. Today I was watching television with Dan Miryu.
Slurp.
"Peaceful, isn't it."
"It is."
Click.
Click.
Click.
The screen snapped off.
"I'll go wreck him and be right back."
"Please do."
Dan Miryu made a brief call. After that, we turned our eyes to the yard.
"Whoa. The fur. Whoa. An actual tiger."
"Kyaa! It's so soft!"
"Nnngh. Lord San-gun……."
Dan Chuyeon circled San-gun, utterly at a loss. Mi Soryeong bounced on her feet as she rubbed the pads of his paws. Hong Yumin had not left San-gun's embrace all day.
San-gun's resigned eyes met ours.
"You're having a time of it."
"Grrrnn."
I looked up at the sky. Clouds drifted past, cool and unhurried.
"Mr. Dan."
"Yes?"
"How about we take a vacation?"
"Where to?"
"Somewhere like Hawaii, more or less……."
"This isn't going to turn into another incident, is it……?"
"Uh……."
"Tell me right now."
"There's something I need to go and get……."
"Is there an evil organization there?"
"Well, Ilshikgyo is there, but……."
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh."
I quietly looked away from Dan Miryu.
"It should be fine this time……. I'll handle it alone……."
"That's fine. One can always catch international terrorists while on vacation."
Terrifying.
"I'll take care of everything myself. You only need to know about it, Mr. Dan."
"I know. I know."
I let out a breath.
"I said I know……."
Dan Miryu lowered his head.
"A vacation……. The elder will understand, won't he?"
"Once I finish all the work...?"
Ring-ring. A bell, right on cue.
"Yes, Elder."
"Are you home?"
"Is it work?"
"Sorry. Come quickly."
"I'll be right there."
Dan Miryu stood.
"I'll be back."
"Godspeed……."
Dan Miryu walked away with heavy steps.
Hang in there, Dan Miryu.
Hawaii is counting on you.
"Well, then."
I searched Hawaii on my smartphone.
"Where was the good part of Hawaii again?"
An aloha shirt. I definitely have to pack one.