Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Puppeteer IV - Shin Noah
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“Huup……!”
Jeong Sang-guk’s eyes bulged with bloodshot veins. His mouth and tongue were sealed shut by puppet strings, preventing him from uttering a word, but it didn’t matter.
Body language was the universal tongue, after all. Jeong Sang-guk thrashed his entire body, broadcasting an SOS signal.
Sorry as I was for him, my priorities lay with the child, not the parent. Jeong Sang-guk’s struggles only provoked Lee Ha-yul further.
“…….”
Lee Ha-yul silently drove a needle under his fingernail.
Stab! The nail tore free. Another competitor in the same line of work had abruptly opened for business.
“Wuuphuuugh!”
The resulting hemorrhage from this cutthroat competition plunged Jeong Sang-guk into semi-consciousness.
I offered a silent prayer in my heart. It was all because they’d been born in the wrong era. Had it been the colonial period, a traitor of Jeong Sang-guk’s caliber wouldn’t have endured nail torture.
I spread my hands wide.
“Lee Ha-yul. I have no intention of interfering in the matter between you and Jeong Sang-guk. As I said earlier, my only goal is to persuade you and bring you to the academy.”
“…….”
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I’m the Undertaker. I subjugated the Ten Tribes on the Korean Peninsula. Now, I serve as a counselor at Freihite Academy.”
At this point, it was her turn to introduce herself. But nothing of the sort happened.
The housekeeper marionette who had opened the basement door for me stood rigidly behind Lee Ha-yul’s wheelchair. She opened her mouth and emitted a puppet-like sound.
“Lee Ha-yul. Puppeteer.”
“…Hm. I get that you’re on guard, but couldn’t you converse in your own voice?”
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
Lee Ha-yul, seated in the wheelchair, gaped her mouth wide. Her neat teeth came into view. Beyond them lay pitch-black emptiness, like a void.
I tilted my head.
What? Unless she mistook me for a dentist, it was a meaningless pose.
At that moment, the housekeeper spoke, her voice ventriloquized like a controlled doll.
“Vocal cords. Impaired.”
It was beyond my expectations.
“She can’t speak.”
“…….”
“That’s why she can’t talk.”
Only then did I realize that the disabilities afflicting this Awakener named Lee Ha-yul went beyond the loss of her legs.
A physical speech impediment.
…In that case, the girl before me must have endured extreme discomfort before awakening her ability. Unfreedom of movement. Unfreedom of communication.
And considering she was the illegitimate child of a major politician, one could add unfreedom of status to the list without issue.
The [Puppeteer] ability truly was a miracle for Lee Ha-yul.
“…Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine.”
Lee Ha-yul closed her mouth. Not a flicker of emotion showed on the puppeteer’s blank expression.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Hm.”
“How did you find this place?”
It was a bizarre scene.
The voice came entirely from the housekeeper, yet the conversation flowed with Lee Ha-yul. The direction of gaze and voice were misaligned.
Feeling this unfamiliar sensation, I kept locking eyes with Lee Ha-yul.
“I tailed Jeong Sang-guk. Asking me to wait at the dorm for two days straight felt suspicious. When I saw him enter the Doll House here, I decided to eavesdrop for a bit.”
“…….”
The girl’s eyes softened slightly.
It seemed she liked the phrase ‘Doll House.’
“Thanks to that, I overheard your entire conversation with Jeong Sang-guk. If you saw me rampaging upstairs, you’d know—I’m pretty good at handling aura.”
Tilt. Lee Ha-yul cocked her head.
“Aura?”
“…Yeah.”
I summoned aura atop my palm. Smoky flames. My aura was colorless.
“This. You injected golden aura into the puppet strings earlier, right?”
“So that’s called aura.”
“Some call it inner energy. Matter of taste. There are folks who say ‘demonic qi’ or pronounce it ‘aura.’ Did you awaken it on your own?”
“Yeah.”
“Impressive.”
“The magical girls said the same.”
For reference, magical girls referred to the Awakener group considered the strongest in Japan—the ones who would later effectively inherit the Japanese government’s role in the Magical Girl Council.
As for how such a madhouse extravaganza came about… well….
I’d just say that the more eccentric an Awakener, the stronger they tend to be. I’d get a chance to talk about them separately later.
“The magical girls? Did they try to recruit you?”
“Yeah. I turned them down.”
“Mind if I ask why? I’d like to learn from your refusal to lower my own failure rate.”
“But those people are weird.”
“…….”
“Dresses. Tons of frills. Serious fashion sense. Ending sentences with ‘nyan.’ Abnormal.”
“…….”
It was a pretty heavy claim coming from the girl currently stripping her father’s nails bare in a grotesque debut.
In any case, this bit of small talk nicely broke the ice between us.
Contrary to expectations, Lee Ha-yul was surprisingly easy to talk to. If you ignored the eerie puppet voice.
“Mind if I ask why you’re trying to kill Jeong Sang-guk?”
“Huh……?”
Jeong Sang-guk reacted to the word ‘kill.’ Even as he was dragged to the basement and had his nails pried open, he probably hadn’t anticipated his daughter killing him.
But Jeong Sang-guk was fated to die anyway.
In the 18th round, Lee Ha-yul killed him, hanged the housekeeper, and then took her own life.
Everyone in this room except Jeong Sang-guk himself viewed his impending death as a scheduled event. Lee Ha-yul naturally took my question.
“This man betrayed my mom.”
Her mother? Lee Ha-yul’s birth mother, Jeong Sang-guk’s second wife.
“He said he’d get a doctor. Said there was medicine. Said her treatment was progressing. But Mom died.”
“Uugh……!”
“Mom wanted to stay in Korea. This man dragged her here by force. Then abandoned her.”
There was no change in Lee Ha-yul’s ‘voice.’ It remained a flat, mechanical tone.
Yet Lee Ha-yul’s ‘eyes’ blazed, hot enough to melt gold. That was her true temperature.
“I remember. From age five, he hardly visited our home. He found Mom annoying. Me too. He was scared of staying in Korea. Scared we’d be exposed.”
“Hughb!”
“The day Mom died, I awakened. This is Mom’s revenge.”
Jeong Sang-guk thrashed desperately, as if it could never be true. The rickety wheelchair he was bound to creaked and shook.
…I could feel the sincerity in Lee Ha-yul’s words.
But I also knew well that sincerity guaranteed neither past truth nor future truth. Wasn’t that the most painful flaw of the beast called humanity?
“Could we hear Jeong Sang-guk’s side too?”
“…….”
Lee Ha-yul glanced up at me obliquely. Her golden gaze probed my face, as if peeling back the skin to divine my intentions.
Nod.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Pfhaaa!”
Jeong Sang-guk’s tongue finally regained freedom. Spiderwebs still tangled his tongue and teeth, but they loosened slightly.
“L-Lies! Mr. Undertaker! Don’t believe this child’s words! Especially not the words of a kid who tortures her parent’s body like this! I’m Jeong Sang-guk! Jeong Sang-guk! A man who devotes this body to our nation and people, sir!”
“Ah, sorry. I pretended otherwise at the dinner, but I actually think your Second Provisional Government is a load of bullshit.”
Jeong Sang-guk stared blankly.
“Pardon?”
“I only treated you Fukuoka officials decently for their sake, not because I care about you lot. Mr. Jeong Sang-guk. Why would the Awakened who stayed on the Korean Peninsula and got cozy with the Ten Tribes feel any fondness for you people?”
“…….”
“And I told you. My goal is bringing the puppeteer to our academy. Right now, I just want to verify if Miss Lee Ha-yul’s claims hold water. As you know, teachers need to grasp their students’ family situations to some extent.”
“Lies, I tell you!”
Jeong Sang-guk bellowed.
“What did I abandon? Huh? What! You think I’d bring a secret second wife quietly if I meant to abandon her? Or would I parade her around town? Think about it! Really think! If I planned to abandon her, I’d have left her to die in Korea!”
“…….”
“Sure, life’s tough here too, but Korea—you know! The Ten Tribes! Those fucking bastards! They wiped out the entire Republic of Korea Army! North Korea’s army too! With those monsters roaming free, should I—you know—have abandoned So-yun and Ha-yul there and fled, knowing I’d die? Was that right? Yes! I’m a traitor! I, Jeong Sang-guk, am a filthy traitor! But I wanted to save my family. At least my family. That’s why I groveled to Japan to survive!”
I could feel sincerity in Jeong Sang-guk’s words too.
But I knew the instincts of the beast called a politician included mimicking human pain.
“If I were a selfish bastard thinking only of myself, I wouldn’t have bothered with Ha-yul! But a daughter—however resentful she is, how can she torment her parent like this—ugh!”
Spiderwebs clamped around Jeong Sang-guk’s tongue once more.
At first, I thought Lee Ha-yul had forcibly silenced him.
But no.
“Brought her. Abandoned her.”
Jeong Sang-guk’s mouth moved. It was his voice, but not his words.
They were Lee Ha-yul’s.
Intentionally or swept up in emotion, Lee Ha-yul manipulated Jeong Sang-guk’s tongue, teeth, and throat to spill the words.
“This house too. Was originally. Shabby. Used my ability to control people. Remodeled it. Like this.”
“Ugh—that too! In this era, that’s a blessing and luxury! You’re grown now—why don’t you get that!”
“Lies. Your house. Was completely different.”
From then on, something utterly bizarre unfolded.
The two shared the same tongue and mouth for their conversation. No—they were arguing.
Lee Ha-yul’s words came out choked and mechanical, like static. Probably Jeong Sang-guk resisting.
But resistance failed. So it looked like they were taking turns speaking.
As if they’d forgotten my presence, the father and daughter’s emotions erupted fiercely—one path, yet split in two directions.
“Of course! I’m the head of the Provisional Government! Living shabbily would smear dirt on every exiled Korean’s face! Do you even know how much Japanese value face?!”
“Why, when Mom was sick. And bedridden. Did you cut off her food? Why. Didn’t visit?”
“I told you! I was out of my mind then! Busy! And food doesn’t grow from digging dirt—everyone was starving and struggling!”
“Mom’s. Funeral?”
“I couldn’t go! Obviously! I keep repeating myself! I’m not alone. The future of Korea, the spark of hope rests on me!”
“You said. Wanted to save. At least family. Earlier. Then why. Suddenly bring up country?”
“That’s how it started! Only at first! After coming here and caring for Koreans, a sense of duty grew in me too! So what, you think your dad stays the same forever? Traitors stay traitors forever? Deserve to die? Cruel. How can you be so harsh? Even if the world wants me dead, family should protect each other!”
“Lies.”
“No it’s not!”
“Didn’t. Protect.”
“Failed to protect! Yes! I’m sorry, Ha-yul. Huh? Daddy was wrong!”
“That’s lies too. Never apologized. Only after. I awakened my ability. Did you apologize then. Why. Won’t admit the lies? Want to live like that? Why?”
“Why won’t you see your dad’s sincerity!”
…It was a grotesque play.
I was speechless at this scene I’d never witnessed before.
One side: a child who couldn’t speak a word her whole life before awakening. The other: a man who spoke whatever he pleased lifelong.
People usually think of dolls as ‘beings that can’t speak.’
But ‘beings that say anything’ are dolls too, aren’t they? After all, words never convey true feelings. In that, the two were alike.
“You’re no daughter of mine! You crazy bitch who tortures people!”
“You’re no father. To me.”
Their rage peaked.
But I thought their words were wrong.
Jeong Sang-guk was a doll too.
As Busan’s mayor, a doll spewing whatever to win citizens’ favor. As Fukuoka’s representative, a doll endlessly talking to garner Japanese support.
Language meant nothing to him. Naming the exile group the Second Provisional Government? Fine. Calling Fukuoka Busan? No issue.
Only the difference between homeland and foreign land. Ultimately, Jeong Sang-guk was a lifelong slave to national power—a national serf.
If language defines human essence, Jeong Sang-guk merely mimicked it.
Something imitating humanity. Don’t we call that a doll?
Strangely, the doll gene passed to the doll.
Raised watching her mother and father lifelong, Lee Ha-yul—the child—imprinted the human archetype as doll.
Parents inevitably bequeath some legacy to their child, wanted or not.
Even parts they ignored, the child doesn’t. Can’t.
That was humanity’s fate.
“Lies.”
“Not lies……!”
And one who devoted life to power must accept such an end.
In a helical clash with no intersection, victory goes to whoever wields greater power—that’s truth.
Before coming to Japan, right after, the powerholder in this family was unequivocally Jeong Sang-guk. He could control other dolls.
“Lies. All of it. Everything.”
Now, no.
The ‘Doll House’ master was now Lee Ha-yul.
“Huh—huup?”
Jeong Sang-guk’s throat constricted.
Lee Ha-yul said nothing. As since birth. She gazed at her own flesh and blood as at birth.
Puppet threads burrowed into flesh.
Guh—a convulsion.
“……! ……!”
Struggles.
Brief ones.
And then.
“…….”
The doll went limp.
The basement fell silent.
Thus, the last words of a certain politician who stirred this end-times commotion.
Lies.
All of it.
Everything.
A will severed in three phrases. Three necks.
Of all the words Jeong Sang-guk uttered living as a politician, how close was this will to truth? To lies?
“…….”
Gazing at Lee Ha-yul, splattered in blood bursting from his throat, I pondered briefly.
Some might say it couldn’t be his will, since not spoken by his volition, thus no true last words.
Perhaps.
But it was undoubtedly his legacy.