The Trap Beyond the Border
It had been five days since I began escorting Yu Il-seong.
In that time I had shielded him from a total of fifteen attacks. Six of them came on the first day alone; after that the frequency tapered off, and today evening was already settling in without a single attempt. No matter how I ran the numbers, the escort fee ought to have been two hundred million won a day, but the price had already been negotiated, so there was nothing left to argue.
Click.
The door opened. Yu Il-seong, who should have been in the next room, stepped inside. Our eyes met and he flashed a broad grin.
Seong Ha-ri, dozing in her chair, snapped awake. Realizing no combat had broken out, she let the tension drain from her body.
Yu Il-seong dropped into the chair across from me and clamped a cigar between his teeth.
"I am grateful to the two of you. Without you I would already be sitting face-to-face with the King of Hell."
"…We didn't sleep last night, so we're a little on edge. Get to the point."
"Blood Swell has decided to pull out. We just sealed a rough agreement over the phone."
Blood Swell. The Russian mafia that had been at war with the Taeseong Faction. Or rather, the mafia that had been at war, now that a truce was in place.
The whole mess had started over drugs. Blood Swell wanted to push product into Korea; the Taeseong Faction fought them to protect its own interests. Yu Il-seong claimed he was fighting to keep Korea free of narcotics… but that was pure bullshit. He had only moved to protect his own profits and his own territory.
"So you gave up the monopoly and decided to split the pie nicely?"
"……"
Yu Il-seong's smile froze. Bull's-eye.
"You planning to end the escort job here?"
"Not quite. I came with a different proposal."
"I'm listening."
"The war with Blood Swell is over, but we're still fighting the Jeongmun Faction."
The Jeongmun Faction. A Korean-Chinese gang operating out of China. Unlike the Blood Swell conflict, the feud with Jeongmun had started over something absurd—a bar fight. Taeseong members and Jeongmun members had crossed paths by chance, words turned into blades, and the brawl snowballed into full-scale war between the two organizations.
"And?"
"I want the war with Jeongmun finished as well."
"Then negotiate the same way you did with Blood Swell."
"This is different. It's personal now. Twenty-three of my men are dead, and my little brothers are ready to tear heads off. Even if I tried to stop them, they wouldn't listen."
"I'm tired. Just spit it out."
"I'll give you one billion. I want you to kill Choi Jeongmun, the boss of the Jeongmun Faction."
"Now you're trying to turn us into hitmen."
"I am saying this after weighing your abilities carefully. With your skills, killing Choi Jeongmun should be easy."
"…And if we refuse?"
"Then there's nothing I can do."
I thought it over for a moment, then accepted Yu Il-seong's commission.
Seong Ha-ri and I slipped across the border in secret.
She trailed after me with a sulky pout.
"Oppa. Why did you take the job?"
"They're paying a billion. It's not even hard, so I took it."
"It's killing a person."
"We've already killed people."
"That's different from—"
"Don't start thinking escort work and contract killing are somehow clean versus dirty. It's way too late to play pure."
"……"
Ha-ri pressed her lips shut as if swallowing her complaints.
I ducked behind a tree. Startled, she plastered herself against my back and hid with me.
"Why are we suddenly hiding? Did someone I can't see show up?"
"No. Just felt like staying out of sight would be smarter."
"What?"
"Ha-ri, think about it. Yu Il-seong suddenly hands us a hit job. Doesn't that feel off?"
She rested a hand against her cheek and sank into thought.
"…Now that you say it, something does seem weird."
"Yu Il-seong claimed he lost twenty-three men to the Jeongmun war. Damage that heavy means he should go crush them with his own hands to shore up his prestige. That's how a boss keeps his authority solid."
"…So it's strange that he isn't moving himself? But he still hired us. Isn't that enough for prestige?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't just send killers. I'd take the killers with me and hit Jeongmun myself. That way I create a real achievement."
"Maybe the old man is just scared of fighting."
"If he were scared of fighting he never would have sat in that chair."
"……"
I snapped my fingers and summoned Makina. She glared at me with a thoroughly sulky face—five days of being ignored while I ran escort duty had left her in a foul mood.
"What do you want."
She crossed her arms, radiating the exact energy of a wife the morning after her husband stayed out all night.
"Do some scouting for me."
"No."
"Come on."
"You only ever call me when you need something."
I seriously considered forcing the command, then remembered how much we'd been bickering lately. Contract or not, keeping a good relationship with your spirit is always better. Nothing is more inconvenient than a spirit that refuses to cooperate at the critical moment.
"Do it and I'll give you these."
I opened my palm. Three Spirit Jades rested there.
Makina's eyes went huge. She swallowed hard, once, twice. To a spirit, Spirit Jade is the ultimate elixir and the ultimate delicacy.
"R-really? You're really giving me all three?!"
"One as advance payment."
I flicked a single Spirit Jade. Makina reflexively opened her mouth wide; the jade sailed straight in.
"Hauuuuuuu!"
She spun in ecstatic circles above my head, then dropped like a stone. Ha-ri lunged and caught her.
"M-Makina! Are you okay?!"
Makina just grinned, face blissed out.
"Heh… hehehe…"
The drooling smile was honestly unpleasant.
"Makina. The scouting. You'll do it, right?"
"I-I'll do it. But just a little… I'm feeling really good right now… just wait a bit."
"Guess you don't want the other Spirit Jades."
"Spirit Jade!"
She shot upright, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and planted herself in front of me with full dignity.
"You said scouting, right? Where do I go?"
"Spirit-form first, then fly over there."
"Got it. When I get back—two Spirit Jades! You better give them!"
Makina turned into pure spirit and zipped off, excited.
I activated Spirit Eye. Her vision flooded into mine.
Makina, move right.
[Right…]
That's left.
[I mixed them up.]
……
This was supposed to be a machine spirit with computational power beyond a supercomputer…
My blood pressure spiked. If she had been in front of me I definitely would have smacked her.
[Huh? There's a lot of people here. They're all hiding. Are they playing group hide-and-seek? Looks fun.]
It was not hide-and-seek.
It was a trap.
The Jeongmun bastards already knew Ha-ri and I were coming, and they were ready.
I don't get it. Why would Jeongmun want us dead?
We had only worked for Yu Il-seong. We had never attacked Jeongmun ourselves, so Choi Jeongmun had no personal grudge against us.
Choi Jeongmun should want Yu Il-seong dead far more than he wanted us. That would be normal.
…Makina. Scout one more time.
[Again?]
You don't want the Spirit Jades?
[…You better give them. If you try to stiff me I won't let it slide!]
Makina circled the area, picking out every hidden figure one by one. Sixty of them. Not a single one could see her.
Looking at them, most of these guys are way too clean-cut to be ordinary gangsters… Are they even Jeongmun members?
I watched one of them bark into a radio. The shape of his mouth was Chinese. I spoke enough Chinese to catch the meaning without trouble.
…These fuckers are from the Chinese Hero Association.
The Chinese Hero Association had always been shady as hell—forcing awakened people into hero work, kidnapping foreign awakeners for human-rights-free research. The horror stories were endless.
Why the hell are they after me?
I was wanted as a terrorist, sure, but that was for the Seoul incident. China had nothing to do with it.
…Or are they after Seong Ha-ri?
I glanced back. Ha-ri was quietly watching me from behind. I ran through everything she possessed: that beautiful face, her combat prowess, the background of the Jinryeong Seong Family.
…Yeah. The Jinryeong Seong Family alone is more than enough reason to target her.
A clan that had produced spirit tamers for generations. Of course they would want to capture and study her. Kidnapping Ha-ri and squeezing something out of the family was entirely possible.
Other countries might not, but China? Absolutely.
A few options floated in front of me.
First: turn around right now and beat the living shit out of Yu Il-seong.
Second: slip away and run.
Third: smash straight through the trap.
I'll take the first and the third. No way I'm letting the bastard who sold us out walk free.
Decision made, I turned to face Ha-ri. She had been dozing against my back; she swayed, then snapped her eyes open and caught her balance.
I smiled. Her face went red.
I couldn't hold back.
I grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the tree. Startled, she looked exactly like a rabbit. I kissed her. Her body jerked. I slid a hand around her waist and held tight. Her eyelids fluttered shut; the restless eyes vanished.
I sucked on her tongue and kept my hands moving. Belt unbuckled, shirt buttons opened with practiced ease.
"Mm… mmmph…"
Ha-ri squirmed. The more she did, the harder I pressed her. The moment I layered on Erogenous Amplification, her eyes went hazy.
I pulled back just enough to check her reaction. She locked her arms around my neck and dragged me straight back into the kiss. My hand traced slow circles over her navel.
Up, or down?
I debated a long moment, then chose down.
The loosened pants opened easily; my hand slipped inside her panties. Ha-ri's eyes flew open. Our gazes locked. Panic was the last thing I could afford right now. I met her eyes with complete seriousness.
Coarse pubic hair brushed my palm. My hand traveled lower and found her most private place—warm skin, soft mound, a hint of dampness.
I stroked her pussy. No sudden moves. I treated it like something precious, caressing slowly so she wouldn't startle. I teased her clit until it swelled, pressed the soft folds. Under my fingertips her entrance fluttered open.
"Hah… haah… haaah…"
The long kiss finally broke. Ha-ri buried her flushed face against my chest and moaned.
"Hah… you're too good at this… hiiit…"
I flicked her clit.
I had already turned Erogenous Amplification off. This was pure sensitivity—hers alone.
Has it been building ever since that first kiss?
I pressed carefully. One index finger slipped into her. Only a single knuckle, yet her face was a complicated mix of fear, anticipation, and pleasure.
"Ha-ri."
I called her name, setting the mood.
"Oppa… hick?!"
She answered in a sweet, aching voice. The memory of the other Ha-ri outside this world flashed through me and my finger sank deeper without thinking.
"You trust Oppa, right?"
"I-I trust you…!"
She nodded hard. I kissed her again. This time her tongue came first, sliding into my mouth.
[Scouting's done now, right? Can I come back?]
Makina's voice cut in at the worst possible second.
Scout ten more times.
[Are you insane?!]
Three more Spirit Jades. In exchange, circle thirty more times.
[It's a promise!]
I shoved Makina out of my head and kept caressing Ha-ri.
Five minutes later I withdrew my hand. My palm was soaked with her juices.
"Haah… haah… haah…"
Ha-ri stood on trembling legs, eyes averted in embarrassment.
She was open enough. Time to take her properly. I began easing her pants down.
"Ha-ri. Just trust Oppa."
"Y-yeah…"
[Yujin! These guys are starting to move! Uh, they're heading your way!]
I froze. My face twisted.