Overnight
An unofficial meeting of Japan's leading members of parliament.
Osaki Tomu, of the ruling Gamin Party, slammed his fist down on the table.
"What in the world is going on here?! Chairman Hosaka Judo, dead overnight?!"
Had it been some ordinary company, no one would have cared whether the chairman died or the entire payroll went with him. But Ronia, the corporation led by the Hosaka family, was another matter entirely. A prestigious firm with centuries of tradition behind it, it still ranked among Japan's top five exporters—a giant even the Japanese government couldn't afford to cross.
And the man at its head had been murdered.
"Who's the culprit?"
"We haven't identified anyone yet."
Tomu squeezed his eyes shut. No name sprang to his mind either.
What kind of lunatic goes after Hosaka…!
The Hosaka family and the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kobe's largest yakuza organization. The long-standing connection between the two was an open secret, which meant everyone in the room understood the same thing: touch Hosaka, and the Yamaguchi-gumi would move.
"Whoever it is, they've clearly lost their mind."
"You're telling me. I'm not even sure there's a point in us looking anymore. They'll vanish without a trace soon enough."
By now the Yamaguchi-gumi would have heard the news as well. The odds were high they were already on the move, hunting the killer down to put him in the ground.
"Fine, forget the culprit. What I don't know is how we're supposed to contain this."
"Indeed. A great star of Japan has gone dark. A truly lamentable affair. Wouldn't you agree?"
The Gamin Party members murmured along in agreement, all the while watching one another out of the corners of their eyes.
Sato Tsubasa of the Innovation Party, who had been observing the whole performance, let out a quiet laugh.
Those sly old foxes. Lamentable, my ass.
She sneered—and still couldn't quite tell whether they were grieving this or celebrating it. The Hosaka family had been the Gamin Party's largest backer, and Hosaka Judo's influence had run correspondingly deep. More than a few people had taken to calling him the power behind the Japanese government.
And now that Judo was dead. Some would mourn the money pipeline that had just gone unstable. Others would smile at the death of the man who had held them in the palm of his hand.
Tsubasa pulled out her phone. A single link had arrived on an unofficial channel. She tapped it, and the screen jumped to a column that hadn't been made public yet.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh slipped out of her before she could stop it. The older members of parliament clicked their tongues.
"Representative Tsubasa! This is a meeting to prepare for a national emergency! It is hardly the time to sit there grinning at your phone!"
"Tsk. This is what happens when you keep puffing her up as the youngest representative this and that."
"And this is precisely why the Innovation Party remains the eternal opposition."
The pile-on was so familiar Tsubasa didn't even bother reacting. She simply looked at the old foxes and let a leisurely expression settle on her face.
"That culprit you were just talking about—the one who killed Chairman Hosaka Judo. I think the government is going to have to throw everything it's got at finding him."
"Good heavens! Would you focus on the meeting?! We already discussed this! The Yamaguchi-gumi will find him far faster than we will, so for now we should be discussing how to prepare for the fallout!"
"That's the thing."
Tsubasa let out a long sigh and held out her phone.
"I beg your pardon? What are you even—?!"
Tomu's words died in his throat. He looked as though he'd seen a ghost. Before the other members of parliament could crowd around him, every phone in the room began buzzing at once.
Tsubasa took her phone back and shrugged.
"You can all see for yourselves. Looks like it's gone out."
One by one, the members of parliament checked their screens and choked.
Articles were pouring out by the dozen. The headlines were all more or less the same.
A heavy silence settled over the conference room.
Until a moment ago, this had been a matter of catching a single culprit—the one who had killed Hosaka Judo. The instant the Yamaguchi-gumi went down with him, the scale of the thing changed. This was not something an individual could pull off. Something was happening in Japan.
"I'll be taking my leave first."
Sato Tsubasa of the Innovation Party rose from her seat. She slipped out of the conference room as if nothing were the matter—and the moment the door clicked shut, her footsteps quickened.
The two pillars holding up the Gamin Party had collapsed overnight.
Coincidence? No.
Judo and the Yamaguchi-gumi had fallen at the same time. That was a stretch for coincidence. Someone had understood the relationship between the two and taken them both out in a single stroke.
This is my chance.
The Gamin Party's defensive line had been so solid she'd never even dared to take a run at it. Now that party was starting to shake in earnest.
Who is it?
She wanted to find them. No—she had to find them. The one who had dropped this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity into her lap.
Tsubasa pulled out her phone and placed a call.
"This is Tsubasa. Get in touch with Rotori. There's someone I need found. Tell them the money's whatever they want."
She hung up, and the corner of her mouth curled.
A variable capable of riding a wave and turning it into a tsunami. She would find them. One way or another.
A luxury ryokan in Kyoto.
"Nnghhhhh."
Jinhyuk let out a long, blissful groan. Nobody had hit him. The temperature of the hot spring he'd just sunk into was simply that perfect.
"It's incredible, sir! My whole body's goin' all limp and tingly, sir!"
"So Kancho's going all limp and languid too, huh."
Kancho of the Yoddle Rangers was bobbing on the surface of the spring like a dumpling. One look at his face and it was clear he'd already departed for paradise.
"It's been a long time since I've had a spring like this."
Darc, leaning back against the rocks, wore a look of deep satisfaction.
"There were hot springs where you lived too?"
"Nothing this well maintained. It was a natural spring sitting right next to a lava flow."
"That doesn't sound safe."
"Every so often you'd sit there soaking and come out with your skin roasted red. Springs in a place like that have a mind of their own when it comes to temperature."
"Ah…"
A natural hot spring had sounded romantic enough. It also sounded like the kind of place you didn't enter unless you were The Immortal.
Before long, the far side of the dividing wall grew noisy as well.
"It's too hot! Momo's gonna burn up!"
"Young, so very young. A proper hot spring is meant to scald you. That's where the flavor is."
"Elia's a granny! Momo's a little kid!"
"Granny? For an elf, 3,271 is still in her prime, you know?"
"Nuh-uh! Elia's an old granny!"
Judging by all the splashing, they'd moved on to actual water play. Jinhyuk was just thinking they seemed to be having a good time even in a hot spring when Elia's voice rang out in a delighted oh-ho.
"Seira really is impressive in all sorts of ways."
That was an ominous thing to say.
"Hey, Granny over there! What's so impressive, huh?! Don't leave me hangin'—speak clearly, that's an order, si—"
Jinhyuk grabbed the hopelessly tactless Kancho and dunked his ears underwater. Overhear something like that, and they might have a devil coming over the wall.
"So when does the kaiseki come out?"
He looked around, eager to change the subject.
"Kay-seki? What's that, sir?"
"Kaiseki. The stuff we had at the banquet."
"Ohh! You mean that insanely delicious stuff, sir?! We're gettin' more of it, sir?!"
"Momo wants some too!"
"You'll get it over there as well. Just wait a bit."
According to his search, this ryokan had made its name on a rather unusual method of serving kaiseki. He was still glancing around, wondering where the meal was supposed to come from, when—
Creeeak.
With the groan of old wood, one of the walls slid open. A floating tray-boat drifted out—though calling it a tray-boat undersold it. The thing was enormous, two or three times the size of Kancho bobbing along beside him.
"It's here, sir!!"
"We got one too!"
Momo's voice soared with excitement. Apparently a boat had arrived on their side as well. Kancho, unable to wait, paddled over and towed the thing in himself.
Oh, wow.
Jinhyuk's eyes lit up. Premium sashimi and sushi that looked exquisite even at a glance, king crab, fish dishes—and the portions were enormous. Jin Seohui must have put in a special request.
"Permission to eat, sir?!"
"Of course. Dig in."
He picked up a slice of tuna belly so marbled the fat ran off it in rivulets, piled on the wasabi, and put it in his mouth.
"Whoa."
The sound escaped him on its own. The tuna belly melted away in an instant. It wasn't as though he'd never eaten tuna in Korea, but nothing he'd had there came anywhere close to the piece he'd just swallowed.
THIS is real tuna.
His chopsticks got busy. Meanwhile Kancho was pouring cold sake into cups with the focus of a man on a mission. Jinhyuk ate a piece of grilled sea bass, then picked up the cup Kancho had filled for him.
Darc, Kancho, and Jinhyuk knocked back the sake at almost the same moment. Jinhyuk squeezed his eyes shut and gave a little shake of his head. Pure, unfiltered bliss.
Hot spring water at the perfect temperature for soaking a body down to the bones. A cool night breeze drifting in from above. Excellent food, and crisp, clean sake to go with it. The word paradise arrived all by itself.
Japan really is something.
People didn't flock here for nothing. He smiled, watching Kancho and Darc wolf down their food. He had breathing room now. He ought to travel more often.
He set his chopsticks moving again. A chaotic, thoroughly enjoyable meal got underway.
And some stretch of time later—
"I can't eat another bite, sir!"
Kancho declared his surrender and flopped onto his back on the water. Jinhyuk stared at the thoroughly emptied boat. Wipe out the enemy, then surrender. Some kind of exclusive Yoddle Ranger teabagging, he supposed. Maybe it was the food baby, but Kancho was floating even better than before.
"Momo's belly's gonna burst!"
Looks like they'd finished over there as well.
"That was good. That was really good."
Jinhyuk patted his stomach and leaned back against the rocks. He tipped his head and gazed up at a night sky thick with stars. Every bit of fatigue that had piled up since yesterday seemed to lift off him in a single breath. As a kid, he'd never understood the adults who went to bathhouses and jjimjilbangs just to bake themselves. He understood the feeling now.
"Momo's wounds are all better! Hot springs are the best!"
"That would be thanks to my potion, dear. Not the hot spring."
"Really? Elia's the best!"
"Right? So be a dear and rub my shoulders now and then. They ache before it rains."
"Okay! I'll massage you right now!"
"Oh-ho. Remarkably unsoothing. Want to try a little harder?"
"This is Momo's maximum!"
This was the same Momo who hoisted enormous monster carcasses like they weighed nothing. Apparently her strength only kicked in when there was loot to grab.
The phone he'd set aside began to buzz. The alarm marking midnight. Jinhyuk stretched until his whole body uncoiled, and a smile tugged at his mouth.
Once he was done with the spring and his stomach had settled a little, he was heading straight up.
To find the last remaining sword.
To the ninth floor of the Mythic Tower.