Bomb Defusal Squad
The strange networking banquet where no one smiled finally drew to a close.
As the dancing girl who had been announcing the closing ceremony fell silent and bowed her head deeply, Emperor Hongrak of the Central Plains looked down wordlessly from the dais.
The Empress had used the excuse of feeling unwell to hurry the closing along, then vanished without a trace.
Like a snake swollen with venom, she had been scheming something of late.
Emperor Hongrak idly tapped the armrest of the dragon throne with his fingertip and murmured,
“Have you started to slip, Ga Hwiryung?”
Even speaking of his own wife, his voice was devoid of feeling.
A stone that has begun to roll down a slope cannot stop itself by its own power.
The Empress had finally crossed the line not long ago; watching where the fire of her desire would finally burn itself out was not such a bad pastime.
“Your Majesty, Her Highness the Noble Consort and Consort Yang are also returning to their own palaces.”
Head Eunuch Yu Unbaek pointed toward the retreating party of the Son of Heaven’s consorts and spoke.
They each set off for their palaces, burdened with the heavy gold chests the Emperor had gifted them.
“Everyone seems to find this gathering uncomfortable.”
Yu Unbaek’s expression wavered for a moment. He stole a glance at the Emperor, as if to say, You’re only realizing that now?
The banquet had felt like walking on thin ice. Yet he dared not voice it. He merely wiped his face clean of expression and bowed his head.
“I wonder if they will like the gifts.”
They could not open them in his presence, so each would return to her palace and confirm the Emperor’s intent for herself.
“At the very least, Her Majesty the Empress has already shown us how she regards the gift.”
At the white-haired eunuch’s reply—one who had known him long—the Son of Heaven’s lips curved in a faint smirk.
His gifts, setting the contents aside, were pure gold chests of enormous value by themselves.
Anyone who received such a present should have been beside themselves, yet Empress Ga Hwiryung had accepted hers with a completely blank face.
The Noble Consort had smiled and offered thanks, but it had been the polite gratitude of a gentle nature.
And Consort Yang had thanked him with a faintly puzzled look, as though she could not quite grasp his intention.
“In the old days, they used to jump in surprise every time I gave them a gift.”
A lingering note entered Emperor Hongrak’s voice, as if he were recalling the days when the Empress and consorts had first entered the rear palace in the bloom of youth.
Yu Unbaek answered low,
“That was ages ago… Now that they have become a proper Empress and consorts, it is only natural they feel little thrill.”
Such was life in the Imperial Palace. It remade a person’s thoughts and values.
And so the Emperor’s wives now seemed to feel no particular excitement over gold and jewels.
“Hmm. Gold and jewels, you say.”
After savoring the fragrance of his tea for roughly the time it took one incense stick to burn, Emperor Hongrak suddenly thought of a certain young man and looked in the direction he had disappeared.
Come to think of it, there was one more person besides them upon whom gold and jewels had no effect.
The Empress and consorts lived lives of vast wealth with no shortage of gold, so that was one thing—but he had heard that young man worked as a troubleshooter precisely to make money.
“Head Eunuch.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yu Unbaek bowed at the Emperor’s summons.
“Has there ever before been a man who rejected the reward I bestowed simply to save a mere thief?”
In this Imperial Palace filled with men who coveted power and glory, Dan Mujin was the fellow who had used his wish for a truly unexpected reason.
“Perhaps that thief was actually a close friend, or a lover…?”
Yu Unbaek tried to attach a reasonable guess to that irrational choice of throwing away advancement and riches.
Emperor Hongrak’s lips twitched finely.
“He said they had met only once.”
“……So the rumors are true. He really is a mad troubleshooter.”
That, too, was the white-haired eunuch’s own logical deduction.
The Head Eunuch shook his head, muttering that something strange had attached itself to the Noble Consort’s side.
“He said he was a righteous thief who knew chivalry, and it would be a waste to let him die here.”
At the words “righteous thief,” Yu Unbaek snorted as if he found it absurd.
“To dare steal the Imperial Palace’s treasures and claim he would distribute them… He should have been beheaded and his head put on public display after all.”
From the nation’s standpoint, an ideological criminal was far more terrifying than an ordinary one.
What chivalry was there in generosity with other people’s money? Yu Unbaek insisted they should cut his head off even now, before twisted ideas spread among the people.
“But we cannot. I promised him I would not.”
“…….”
His Majesty seemed to find this Dan Mujin and the whole situation quite entertaining.
Knowing that once the Emperor got like this, no words could stop him, Yu Unbaek simply closed his mouth.
As the banquet gradually wound down and people began to leave, the Son of Heaven was just about to rise himself when—
“Hm?”
The young man he had just mentioned was racing off somewhere with that very thief of impure ideology.
“Hey, Mujin! Hurry up! Why are you so slow?!”
“Damn it! This is my top speed!”
They shot away like arrows, kicking up clouds of dust.
Imperial soldiers along the path tried to stop them, wondering what the commotion was, but the two slipped past like a single gust of wind.
“You really never know which way he’ll jump.”
In a life that had been utterly devoid of feeling, a spark of interest had kindled once more, and Emperor Hongrak quietly rejoiced.
I had never neglected my practice of the Whirlwind Steps, yet Divine Wind Yang Yang’s lightness skill was truly extraordinary.
Even running with every ounce of strength I had, I could barely keep her from vanishing from my sight.
After racing for quite a while, the first thing that came into view was my employer, the Noble Consort.
“Huff—stop…! Halt, stop right there!”
I was so flustered that the first words out of my mouth were ones they could never understand. When I shouted “Stop!” next, the Noble Consort’s party turned to look at us as if wondering what was going on.
“So you came, you lunatic. In all my life I’ve never seen a madman use the Son of Heaven’s wish like that.”
Cheon Su-gong greeted me the moment I arrived by scolding me for being out of my mind.
His lectures and nagging were nothing new, so I ignored them as naturally as breathing and dashed straight for the golden chest.
“Your Highness the Noble Consort! Forgive the rudeness, but I must open this chest before you do!”
Imperial etiquette dictated that the recipient open a gift first where the giver could not see, but there was no time for such niceties now.
Click.
Without even waiting for permission I unlocked the golden chest and flung the lid open, leaving Cheon Su-gong aghast.
“You crazy bastard…! What kind of insolence is this!”
He was about to rush over, furious at the way we had charged in and started acting wildly without proper explanation—
“Cheon Su-gong, hold a moment. It is not that they do not know this is rude. There must be a reason.”
“……As you command, Your Highness.”
Truly the Noble Consort. Look at that heart as vast and kind as the great sea.
No wonder Princess Dohwa had grown into one of the few sane people left in this palace.
Though at the moment she and the young prince were staring at us as if asking what on earth we thought we were doing.
“I only see golden silk cloth?”
“It’s hidden underneath. Pull everything out.”
We yanked out every last bolt of the soft, lustrous, hideously expensive silk and tossed them carelessly onto the ground.
“Th-that… Good heavens.”
Officials of the Noble Consort’s faction looked dumbfounded at the way we were manhandling the Emperor’s gift.
And after that series of outrageous actions, the large thunder bombs that had been concealed at the bottom of the chest were finally exposed to the world.
“No wonder the Empress’s sticky killing intent was rolling off her in waves when she handed over the gifts.”
I had realized it then and carefully scanned the surroundings, yet I had sensed neither assassin nor poisoner and had found it strange.
“Everyone, look at this. Someone planted thunder bombs in the Emperor’s gift.”
I immediately informed the Noble Consort’s faction of the bombs’ existence.
At the news that someone had been bold enough to plant explosives in a gift from the Son of Heaven, people stared at me with blank faces.
“They’ve gone completely mad… What lunatic would dare plant something like that in a gift the Emperor bestows…”
While opinions poured out—that whoever it was had crossed a line far too far, that one could feel the madness—I asked Divine Thief Yang Yang,
“Can you disarm the timer on this chest?”
I needed it left as evidence.
At my question Yang Yang smirked and nodded vigorously.
“Heh. Compared to the hidden weapons, traps, and mechanical formations of the non-orthodox sects, this is child’s play.”
“Then earn your keep.”
I stepped aside, and she pulled professional tools from her robes and began delicately handling the devices connected to the thunder bombs.
After only a short time, a series of soft click-click mechanical sounds came from inside the chest.
She tossed me the fuse-striker device that had been touching the fuse.
“See? I’m the Divine Thief Yang Yang.”
She shrugged her shoulders and declared it proudly.
“Oh, not bad…”
She truly lived up to the name Divine Thief; her skill was exceptional. More deft than any artisan or locksmith I knew.
If you wanted to make a living as a troubleshooter, you really did need to know plenty of high-class specialists like her. Made the job so much easier.
“Mujin, what the heck is going on…?”
Jo Harang, who had been living it up mixed in with the Noble Consort’s party thanks to her performance in the martial arts tournament, looked back and forth between me and Yang Yang as if demanding an explanation.
Even if you ask me what happened, explaining it would take forever.
“Surely… you cannot mean the Empress installed something like this…”
Having seen the thunder bombs with her own eyes, the Noble Consort covered her mouth and asked in a startled voice.
“That I do not know, but it is certain they were aimed at Your Highness.”
According to Yang Yang, the bombs’ timers had been set to detonate right around the time they would return to the palace.
In short, it had been a matter of a hair’s breadth.
“Well then, we’re off!”
There were three chests in total. The Empress’s was either a self-staged farce or empty—either way, none of my business.
Only one target remained.
“You brat! Where do you think you’re going! You must protect Her Highness!”
Cheon Su-gong shouted after us as we shot away like swallows skimming water, but we were already long gone.
In the Imperial Palace, no one was permitted to use martial arts while racing across the imperial grounds without leave.
Yet a certain young man and woman, for reasons of their own, were sprinting through the palace at full speed.
Meanwhile, Consort Yang was returning to her palace with her grown daughter and her very young son in her arms.
Her mind was filled with the Empress’s gaze from the banquet just now—eyes that had looked as though they wanted to kill her.
“No matter how often I see her, she is a terrifying woman.”
Not only the venomous expression; for an instant there had even been a flash of something like madness.
“You’re right, Mother.”
The princess walking beside her nodded slightly in agreement.
Just then, far off, warriors came racing toward them, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Your Highness Consort Yang!”
At the approach of an unfamiliar man who looked to have urgent business, everyone tilted their heads.
Then, as the distance closed and she recognized his face, Consort Yang spoke.
“That man… is he not the one who won the martial arts tournament with those bizarre antics?”
A person of some importance, apparently, who moved freely between the Noble Consort and Princess Dohwa and conversed with them without reserve—an unknown quantity.
“You there! For what reason do you approach Consort Yang while even using martial arts!”
Consort Yang’s guards immediately stepped forward and blocked the man they presumed belonged to the Noble Consort’s faction.
Then the Eastern Depot man shouted, his face filled with genuine apology,
“I’m sorry! You’ll understand later!”
Using a slippery, utterly bizarre footwork he slipped between the warriors and, with just three sharp thud-thud-thud movements, dropped every last guard.
Gritting her teeth, the head lady-in-waiting threw herself in front of Consort Yang.
“You villain! As long as I draw breath you will not lay a finger on Her Highness!”
“No, that’s not it! That golden chest—!”
“Mujin, there’s no time! It’s about to blow!”
The woman beside him shouted as if the situation were desperate.
The Eastern Depot man’s face twisted. With unbelievable strength he heaved the golden chest into the air, sprinted a distance away, and hurled it with all his might.
“What do you think you’re—!”
The head lady-in-waiting was just about to shout when an explosion filled the empty air.
KWAANG—!
Sight and sound were both swallowed whole.