The Hanseong Recapture Operation (4)
The Hanseong government office was locked down tighter than a fortress. Breaking through this place would probably take a while. If nothing else, the fact that Kuroki Tamemoto was dead set on holding it meant he was willing to sacrifice every Korean life inside the walls. In that case, the explosives I’d planned to drop into the palace were probably off the table. Which was why I had decided to slip into Hanseong alone to rescue Yi Cheok.
I tried to pass through the checkpoint, but the Japanese troops were already in full “entry denied” mode.
“Entry to Hanseong is prohibited right now, so fuck off! Huh? A woman?”
“Like hell I will, you piece of shit.”
Crunch. I pulled out my handaxe and smashed his skull open on the spot. How dare this bastard leer at me with that disgusting grin? I had no intention of wasting any more time. If I was going to finish this at night, I needed to be as careful as possible.
“Wh-what the hell is this bitch?”
“Kill her! Kill that whore!”
“Not a chance.”
I caved in the heads of the few Japanese soldiers standing near the first one I’d killed. The sight of them bursting apart and spraying blood everywhere was actually pretty funny.
Crunch. Squish. Splat!
The last soldier’s brains and blood splattered across the ground, and that took care of the small fry.
“These worthless pieces of shit really love running their mouths.”
I snatched up a few more soldiers who had been in sight and sprinted through the streets of Hanseong. The imperial palace was clearly visible. After slipping past the soldiers’ watch and jumping over several unknown walls, an older-looking man appeared this time. I didn’t see any bodyguards, which meant the ones I’d just killed were probably his escort.
“This is the Joseon imperial palace! Who the hell are you, woman!”
I didn’t know his name, but he seemed like someone important.
“The Great Powers recognized the Korean Empire’s official name ages ago, yet you’re still calling it Joseon? You pathetic Japanese bastard.”
“You bitch. Whose blood is that on your saber!”
The man pointed at the blood dripping from the military sword in my hand.
“This? It’s from the subordinates I just carved up a minute ago. Man, out of all your weapons, this saber really is the best. It’s perfectly specialized for cutting people down.”
The final expressions of the men this blade cut down were always filled with absolute terror. For soldiers of the so-called Imperial Army, their faces were disgustingly pathetic as they left this world.
At first I had resented the old man for bringing me to this place, but this wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was actually fun.
“Looks like I shouldn’t underestimate you just because you’re a woman.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets. They struck my shoulder, chest, and head. They did make me flinch a little since they were at close range, but that only made it more enjoyable. The man who had been grinning when I flinched now stared in shock as I lifted my head back up after the bullet to my forehead, smiling viciously. I wagged my finger at him as if to say he’d done a bad job.
“Everyone keeps shooting at me, but don’t you know?”
“Wh-what…”
“I actually get pretty excited when I’m hit.”
I put on an expression of pure ecstasy. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well see a crazy bitch’s face on his way out. To be precise, this was something I had realized after gaining this body. No matter how lethal the attack, I wouldn’t die. Guns and blades had no effect on me. I was invincible. The overwhelming sense of superiority and chosen-one mentality I felt because of that flooded my brain with dopamine.
“Th-that’s impossible. Just what the hell are you?”
“And if there’s one thing I’ve felt even more intensely since gaining this body, it’s how euphoric it is to see bastards like you make that exact face.”
Slaaaaaash!
Cutting down a man like him was enjoyable too. This nameless Japanese bastard sprayed blood from his slashed throat like a fountain, looking as if he had seen something that should never exist in this world until the very end.
Even in my original life, I used to crack people’s skulls open when I had free time. Having this body only increased the value of using it.
“Hmm, he seems to have held a fairly high rank.”
But who the hell was this guy? Someone famous? For now I posted a question on the alternative history gallery.
Update the series? I’m not writing a novel. I’m the one crossing live fire every single day.
“So his name was Colonel Kawano Tsuko?”
I poked the face of the man called Kawano or whatever, whose eyes were still open in death. Well, he wasn’t coming back like I would. But it seemed there were still soldiers left nearby. A bunch of them were running toward me from far away. I’d already killed about twenty, yet there were still this many left. Well, it was only natural since they were guarding the imperial palace.
“Colonel Kawano has been killed by that bitch!”
“Whether a hundred or a thousand come, I’ll kill every last one of you.”
There was no need to describe the battle that followed. I took quite a few bullets and slashes, but none of it mattered. After the first couple hits, the feeling of the bullets striking my body actually became stimulating. It was like my brain was pumping out massive amounts of dopamine. Tragically for them, not a single one of the Japanese soldiers who charged at me survived.
They seemed to be gathering because of the gunfire, so I needed to finish this as quickly as possible.
“This can’t be real. What kind of monster is she?”
The last remaining soldier stumbled backward, shaking his head. That face that looked like it had seen something that should never exist was always fresh and thrilling.
“But here I am.”
“She’s already killed dozens of us by herself!”
Dozens by myself? That was a bit of an exaggeration. At most I’d killed around ten. Still, even though I had done well so far under the cover of night, if I wasted any more time here the Japanese army would swarm in. If things had gotten bigger than expected, I might as well just go all in.
“Where is the crown prince?”
“I-I don’t know. I have nothing to say to a Joseon bitch—”
Slice.
I kicked the Japanese soldier’s severed head as it rolled across the floor and kept walking. If they didn’t know, I’d just find him myself. Given that the Sapodae had already arrived, it was highly likely security had been tightened. Considering the soldiers I had encountered on the way here, I should head toward where they had come from. Ha, to think they were still using swords in this era. How ridiculous. It would be so much better if I could just shoot freely even after being discovered.
That was when I found a particular pavilion.
“The Joseon crown prince is here! You bitch—urk!”
The defending soldier kindly informed me that this was where the crown prince was. What idiots. If someone had broken in, the first priority should have been to take the prince hostage and capture me. Though I suppose if a strange woman suddenly charged in during the middle of the night, even I would be taken aback.
“If you don’t even know how to take a hostage, just die.”
Simple as that. I stabbed the Japanese soldier around my age through the stomach with my saber, smashed open the pavilion door, then pulled the blade out of his gut and slashed his throat, dropping him to the ground. All without a moment’s hesitation. As if killing bastards like them was the easiest thing in the world.
Inside, a boy dressed in the crown prince’s robes stared at me with a stupid look on his face.
“Ah, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Yes. This was Crown Prince Yi Cheok. The one who would later become Emperor Sunjong. The pitiful figure who would become the emperor of a ruined nation stood before me. I supposed I should at least show proper courtesy to the crown prince. Perhaps because of that, Yi Cheok stumbled backward.
“Hiiiiiiik!”
Why weren’t there any court ladies around? The Japanese must have been planning something. They had probably decided to treat the crown prince purely as a hostage rather than with any royal dignity.
“Are you His Highness the Crown Prince? I am Sapodae staff officer and Shenyang administrator Ok Jin-seo.”
Now it was time to drag away Yi Cheok, the one I had only seen in history books.
For the past several days, Crown Prince Yi Cheok of the Korean Empire had felt like he was walking on thin ice. The Japanese bastards had finally gone and assassinated his father. After that, some man named Kuroki or whatever kept coming to him every day, pressuring him to issue a dissolution order for the Righteous Army by threatening that he didn’t want to end up like his father. Then they claimed they had wiped out all the volunteer soldiers from the three southern provinces. As if he were some loyal subject of Korea, he spoke as though he had suppressed the Righteous Army for the sake of the nation. Yi Cheok had nearly wet himself at the sight of that man’s face laughing maniacally as he said those words. After all, he never knew when he might be killed. If they had killed both the emperor and the empress, what would stop them from killing the crown prince? On top of that, under the pretext of protecting him from rebels, the palace itself had kept him under surveillance and effectively imprisoned.
In the midst of that, screams and the sound of blood spraying suddenly came from outside, and a woman burst in with a sword buried in a Japanese soldier’s stomach. The skewered Japanese soldier flailed both arms in a final desperate struggle, but the woman who had stabbed him simply pulled the blade out of his gut and cleanly severed the soldier’s head.
“Hiiiiiiik!”
“Are you His Highness the Crown Prince? I am Sapodae staff officer and Shenyang administrator Ok Jin-seo.”
Shenyang administrator Ok Jin-seo. The woman his father had appointed as administrator before the war. He had only heard rumors, but they said she had charged into Fengtian Castle alone and massacred the Manchurian barbarians. But why was the Shenyang administrator here?
“Sh-Shenyang administrator? But how did you get here…”
The French consul had been full of admiration for the Shenyang administrator, calling her Korea’s Jeanne d’Arc or something. Could she have come to rescue him? But seeing the brutally slaughtered Japanese soldiers and the dangerous glint in the administrator’s eyes, she looked extremely threatening. It was the face of someone who seemed ready to exterminate anyone who so much as touched him.
“From now on, I will escort Your Highness to the French legation. Once you are there, the imperial forces will recapture Hanseong and this war will end.”
“Is-is that true?”
Had the loyal imperial army defeated the Japanese in Manchuria and marched back? Tears welled up in Yi Cheok’s eyes. Along with the relief of realizing he might survive, he felt great reassurance that the French consul’s words had been true.
“Yes. Our imperial forces, already numbering one hundred thousand, have surrounded Hanseong on all sides. However, since the enemy is trying to hold out by using Your Highness as a hostage, I have come personally to escort you. They will be powerless once you are at the French legation.”
That might be possible, but how were they supposed to get out of the palace first? Even if she had cut through the Japanese to get here, the same number would surely swarm them on the way out. So he cautiously asked this blood-soaked reaper.
“But how exactly do you plan to escape the palace?”
“This disloyal subject must make a request of Your Highness.”
The Shenyang administrator suddenly pressed her head to the floor, saying she had a request. What kind of request could she possibly have in that state?
“Wh-what request?”
A request? What request could she mean?
“To draw the Japanese bastards’ attention, we must set fire to the palace before they gather.”
“S-set fire to it?”
Set fire to it? Did she mean to burn down this palace with hundreds of years of history? No matter what, burning the palace was still regrettable, wasn’t it?
“We have Seokjojeon, so isn’t it fine? After the war, we can demand reparations from the Japanese and build even more Western-style palaces.”
Western-style palaces. There was no other way right now. Besides, look at those murderous eyes filled with bloodlust. She was undoubtedly a grim reaper wearing the skin of a woman. If he refused, she might not take him with her and simply burn him to death outside. Yi Cheok jumped to that conclusion. He had resisted Kuroki Tamemoto with a few words, but even that fear hadn’t been this intense. Yes. He was not afraid. This was a grand decision made for the survival of Korea, for the soldiers who would be unable to reclaim Hanseong because of him.
“Do as you wish.”
Whoosh!
A short while later, the pavilion where Yi Cheok had been lying was engulfed in flames, and naturally the Japanese troops guarding the palace lost their minds at the sight of the burning building. If the crown prince died, everything would be over.
“What the hell are you saying! A single Joseon bitch broke in, killed all our imperial troops, and set fire to the pavilion where the prince was!”
Kuroki Tamemoto doubted his own ears for a moment.
“We have to put out the fire! Quickly!”
Ito Hirobumi, who had received the report alongside Kuroki, was equally horrified. The crown prince’s existence was the most important card they held in hostage negotiations. If the crown prince burned to death inside the pavilion, it was all over.
‘Joseon bitch? It’s that woman! Shenyang administrator Ok Jin-seo! She’s the one who killed the crown prince!’
Kuroki Tamemoto’s troops had no choice but to work desperately through the night to extinguish the flames engulfing the imperial palace. In the meantime, Yi Cheok was able to reach the French legation.
“Well, this is rather sudden…”
“Our forces will strike Hanseong soon. I ask for your protection until then. Isn’t it enough to say that the crown prince of Korea simply came to the legation to deepen his friendship with the French consul?”
“Hmm, very well. That much is no problem.”
The atmosphere at the French legation was not exactly welcoming, but Consul Plancy still accepted them since he had recently been favorable toward Korea. And so, after a night that felt like the Japanese had been possessed by ghosts, the next morning arrived.
“Recapture Hanseong! Kill the Japanese devils and protect our land!”
“Damn it, we still haven’t found the crown prince!”
The Japanese troops, who had been frantically putting out the fire in the palace and searching for the crown prince, were met with a full-scale offensive from the Korean Empire.