An Unexpected Acquaintance
Autumn had settled in deep. A cool breeze brushed the cheek, and the mountains and fields were painted in a riot of autumn leaves — a season that tickled the nose with crisp air and made the heart lift of its own accord.
When the weather was this pleasant, people naturally longed to get outside and play. And the imperial family of old had been no different. Every autumn, when the grain grew fat and heavy, they threw a grand banquet called the Garden Party to ease the stifling confinement of palace life.
And today, the Garden Party — suspended ever since the Crown Prince collapsed — was raising its glittering curtain once more.
As if to prove it, gold-leafed cloud-patterned silk rippled across the vast imperial gardens, and fine wines of every kind shimmered in cups with a clear, liquid light. Eye-widening delicacies from land and sea. Court musicians spinning lively melodies. Dancers scattering flower-like steps to the music, and a troupe of performers breathing fire and pulling stunts.
Every luxury, every indulgence, every scrap of splendor the Emperor had permitted was concentrated here — and yet:
"Mujin, something's off. Nobody's smiling."
The very royals who ought to have been enjoying that luxury and indulgence all wore faces as stiff as if they had been dragged onto a battlefield. Some nervously chewed their nails, watching everyone around them. Others waged quiet factional skirmishes, or drained their cups while glaring daggers across the tables at the people opposite.
It felt exactly like forcing a pack of relatives who had turned into mortal enemies over an inheritance into a single room.
In a situation like that, the only ones pure-heartedly enjoying the banquet were Her Majesty the Imperial Consort and a handful of palace servants who knew nothing of the politics.
"Of course. When forces that can't stand the sight of each other are packed into one place, do you really think festival food is going to go down easy?"
Especially the Empress — there had already been signs she'd tried to poison the Third Princess. Just looking at each other must have twisted their guts.
"It's going down fine for me, though?"
Jo Harang answered while chewing on one of the dishes laid out in front of her.
"…Right."
Jo Harang was Jo Harang, no matter where she went. She grinned, her massive greatsword tucked under the table. People with stars jammed into their heads always seemed to have something a little wrong with them.
"Mudong, come here. I should like to savor this swallow's nest dish — it has been softened so beautifully."
The Imperial Consort's voice rang out through the uncomfortable silence, and every gaze in the place snapped to me at once.
For the record, the "Mudong" she was calling was me. Last time I had operated under the alias Muhong; this time they had assigned me the cover identity of Mudong.
I brought my nose close to the dish set before the Imperial Consort and put my sense of smell to work.
The dish, made from sea-swallow nests, was also called golden silk swallow. It had a springy texture like minced jellyfish, a sticky richness, and a distinctive fragrance that drove straight into mouth and nose. Because the sea swallows fed on seaweed, you could even taste the ocean itself — an expensive imperial delicacy.
"Why do only you get to eat…"
While I was inspecting the food for the Imperial Consort, Jo Harang swallowed hard and watched me take my bites.
"…Because I'm the food taster, Harang."
Could she, as the Purple Micro Star, survive an extreme poison the way I can?
Anyway, once smell and taste confirmed nothing was wrong, I activated the Heavenly Killing Eyes and swept the surroundings thoroughly. For just this purpose I had gathered the cooks, the maids, and the palace servants who had carried the dishes close by — and I checked every one of them.
Not a shred of murderous intent from anyone.
Nothing stood out, and as time passed without any trouble in my body, I nodded and handed the dish back to the Imperial Consort.
"This one's fine. No poison — you may eat it now."
The Imperial Consort beamed at my words and delicately picked up her chopsticks. That she could still take pure joy in a single dish under such heavy circumstances…
"Have a piece yourself. It truly is delicious."
"…No, that's all right."
I refused even though I had been eating it moments before; the Imperial Consort tilted her head but did not press. Honestly, in this atmosphere, not choking on your food was already a blessing. Plenty of people around us were staring hard in our direction.
Using the still-empty seat of the Son of Heaven as the reference point, the gathering had split into three factional clusters. One was our faction, centered on the Imperial Consort. Another was the Empress and Second Prince's faction, which had been silently glaring our way for some time. The last belonged to the high-ranking consort next in rank after the Imperial Consort — we called her Consort Yang.
A third power with one son and one daughter. The boy, though, was still a newborn and could not even enter the succession race, so their strength was limited. If anything, Consort Yang's faction was closer to a neutral party belonging to neither side.
"Princess Dohwa, you haven't touched a thing since earlier. Is there anything you would like?"
I asked worriedly, looking at Princess Dohwa, who sat with an anxious face and would not even take a sip of water.
"…I am fine. I do not have Mother's iron nerves."
Her voice was heavy with exhaustion. The trauma of the past poisoning attempt lingered, and the other factions — whose interests clashed with ours — were watching with eyes wide open. No wonder nothing would go down.
"Sister… but can that troubleshooter food taster really be trusted?"
Ordinarily, the food taster responsible for a royal's life was entrusted only to the most reliable person. Handing that role straight to an outsider no one had seen before clearly did not sit well with a prince. So he kept murmuring his concerns to his sister in what he thought was a whisper.
My ears were sharp enough that I heard every word, of course.
"He is a man I trust. You trust him as well, Ju Eogang."
The Third Prince was timid, and a bit clumsy when it came to placing faith in people.
"…I don't think I've ever heard you praise anyone like that before, Sister. Then I will trust him as well."
Suan-gong, the Third Prince, gave a small nod once Princess Dohwa declared that I was capable and reliable.
And so the banquet ground on — conversation, whispers, and music swirling together, with only the Imperial Consort seeming to truly enjoy herself — while I scanned the vicinity for suspicious faces and spotted a familiar one among Consort Yang's faction.
She had slipped in disguised as a maid doing odd jobs, but there was no slipping past my eyes.
It was Yang Yang — the thief who styled herself the Divine Thief.
"What's she doing over there…?"
She seemed to have latched onto Consort Yang's loosely hanging faction and snuck into the Garden Party. Drawn by the scent of luxury and indulgence thick in the air, no doubt.
I drew up my inner energy and secretly whispered a sound transmission to her as she pretended to attend the royals.
…What are you doing?
In the name of concern for the Crown Prince's health, the long-suspended Garden Party had finally been held. That also amounted to a statement that the Son of Heaven would no longer concern himself with the Empress's firstborn — so Empress Ga Hwiryung could not help but feel bitter toward him.
"So because he is as good as dead already, you will not spare him another thought."
She cast a brief, venom-laced glance at the Emperor's empty seat. Then she composed her expression and shifted her gaze toward the court ministers and palace servants murmuring under the surface with complicated calculations of their own.
Countless people wandering, unsure where to throw their support, whether to switch sides, or what to do at all in a gathering that suggested so much.
"Ju Gachi."
"Yes, Mother. You called?"
Second Prince Ju Gachi bowed his head at once and answered.
"Who is that young eunuch?"
The tip of the Empress's finger pointed at a young, handsome eunuch she had never seen before. An unidentified eunuch moving between the Imperial Consort and the Third Princess as if he were their closest attendant — and from the look of it, he was even handling the food tasting.
Someone kept that close should have been known to the Empress and the Second Prince. For their personnel to change right before a critical plan…
"Find out who he is. Quickly."
"Yes. I will see to it."
The Second Prince moved to summon a subordinate at once — but the Empress caught his shoulder, as if she had one more thing to ask.
"And that preparation of ours. Is it proceeding well?"
She asked in a voice so low that no one around them could possibly hear. Her tone was soft with excited anticipation, but the intent within it was a bloodbath pure and simple.
"…Yes."
The Second Prince's answer came slower than before, as if he dreaded the aftermath. He knew full well that his mother intended to sweep away everything that stood in her way here.
Seeing her son's heavy expression, the Empress covered her mouth with her fan and laughed softly.
"Do not feel too guilty. He brought it all upon himself."
Hatred for the Emperor and the Imperial Consort seemed to shine clear in both her eyes. The corners of her eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled like a snake.
"If the Imperial Consort and Consort Yang's entire households are wiped out by the work of outsiders who despise the Central Plains, what could even the Son of Heaven do about it?"
Pin the crime of the conspiracy on others, eliminate everyone, and the only blood kin left would be her own son, Ju Gachi. The Second Prince's investiture as Crown Prince would become the most natural thing in the world.
"Of course, there will be suspicion. Those insolent curs will bark."
There would be no hard proof, but some would raise soft suspicion against the Empress's party. Yet the royals who might have backed them would already be ash — and would anyone truly dare confront head-on those most likely to see their son made Crown Prince?
Even if they did, she would simply crush them flat.
"All of it is what you have earned, O Son of Heaven."
The Empress covered her face with her fan and laughed softly. The sound was like a murderous dagger slicing the air.
You sneak into an extremely dangerous place to steal, and someone clocks your identity.
What should a thief do then?
Ordinarily you run without looking back — but whether it was because she really was the Divine Thief, Yang Yang boldly melted into the crowd and began closing the distance toward me. At that ghostlike approach I secured the Imperial Consort's leave and slipped back for a moment, and the Divine Thief Yang Yang spoke to me at once.
"You — who are you…? Talk. Fast."
She had taken my back and asked in a voice she clearly thought was threatening.
"It's me."
"So who the hell is 'me,' damn it?"
When the answer did not come out immediately, she scratched at her hair in irritation.
"You saw me last time. Dan Mujin."
Only then did she seem to place my voice.
"…You bastard. What are you doing here?"
She thumped my shoulder as if she wanted to kill me for scaring her half to death.
"I'm a troubleshooter. I took a job, so I'm here."
I jerked my chin toward where my client sat. Yang Yang looked incredulous that any troubleshooter would be poking around the Imperial Palace.
"What about you, then? Why sneak into the palace?"
At my question she scratched her chin and opened her mouth.
"Hey. Who am I?"
"A filthy thief."
"…I said Divine Thief. For real."
She clenched a fist as if she wanted to hit me and went on.
"The imperial Garden Party. It's the event where every corrupt official who's squeezed the people's lifeblood gathers in one place, right? With this Divine Thief Yang Yang's eyes wide open, there's no way I'm letting that slide."
She said she would share the luxury and indulgence they enjoyed with the people of the Central Plains. This woman always talked as if she were some righteous outlaw.
"You going to hand over everything you steal?"
"…Not everything. About half. I've got to get something out of the work myself."
Even just cleaning out the purses of high officials here would bring in a fortune, and she was only going to give half of it away. Coming from me — a man who had walked away from big money more times than I could count and piled up countless good deeds — the answer was almost laughable.
"That's taking a lot for yourself."
"What do you want from me? I'm a thief. A thief who gives this much away is already conscientious."
Divine Thief a moment ago, thief now. Her logic always moved however it was most convenient for her.
"So what did you come to steal?"
Last time she had infiltrated the Emei Sect after the Heaven-Interceptive Sword.
"There's something. As you know, this body doesn't bother with small stuff. You can look forward to it."
Planning to steal something of the Emperor's, maybe? If so, I could at least credit her for having a gut the size of a mountain.
"I'm working too, so don't splash any unnecessary sparks my way. Thief."
"Ha. Look who's talking."
And while the two of us were bickering —
A line of figures in gleaming golden armor suddenly appeared, and the entire place fell quiet.
"…His Majesty the Emperor approaches!"
With that ringing cry, imperial generals with an extraordinary presence filed out in ranks on both sides. And then the man called the ruler of the Central Plains — the Son of the Heavenly Emperor — began to show himself at the Garden Party.