Delivery
Back at the cabin, I always followed Jeong-gu. I wanted to be like him, and that hasn't changed.
And yet, for some reason, ever since I left the cabin it's Hee-ju's words that keep coming back.
Maybe because the world outside, once I met it for myself, was exactly as she'd described.
The back of my head throbbed. I'd been trading at the settlement shop. The shopkeeper had stepped in close, there was a flash of pain, and the memory cut out.
An ambush. I never thought something like this would happen in the middle of a settlement.
Lesson learned. There was no such thing as a place where you could afford to relax. If I meant to use what I'd learned, I had to live through this first.
Fortunately, I didn't seem to be dead yet.
I opened my eyes and still couldn't see. My head swam a little. Had I lost my sight?
No. Every time I blinked, something brushed my brows. They'd covered my eyes so I couldn't see. Hands bound. Feet bound. Arms and legs, the whole of me.
I thought I could hear something. Far off, or past a wall. Faint.
No thrashing. Don't advertise that I'm awake. Listen. Work out the situation.
"So we leave in ten minutes?"
"That's plenty."
That voice. The merchant.
"Good. Anything we should watch for?"
"Your men are all waiting outside, aren't they? Faster if I explain it."
"Suits me. Let's step out."
"Step out? Tell them to come in."
"Huh? You said the goods were in that room. What if they hear?"
"I told you I put them under. Dosed them properly."
Drugged. So it hadn't only been the blow. No wonder I was dizzy. The dose hadn't taken properly, though.
"Drugged? With what?"
"A sleeping draught. What else?"
"Sleepgrass? Dose that wrong and they die. If anything happens to the merchandise, we're finished. Especially that kid!"
"Relax. Who do you think I am? Medicine takes a different dose for every body. I gave the little one a specially small amount."
You misjudged it. Waking early was a mercy.
"Doesn't matter if they hear. I tied them up tight. Here, look."
The door banged open, and I nearly flinched. It was right beside my head.
"See? Sleeping like the dead."
"You didn't tie them too tight? If an arm goes numb and they wake—"
"They wouldn't wake if you hit them. Want me to try?"
"Ah, forget it. Forget it."
"So call them all in."
I'd been locked in a room. Was I still inside the shop?
Then came the sound of people crowding in.
"Everyone here? Then I'll explain."
The merchant was running the briefing. So this might still be the shop after all.
"Your job is hauling merchandise. Simple, isn't it? You move the goods sleeping in here. Twelve in all. One kid. The rest, adults."
So I wasn't the only one tied. The snoring hadn't been in my head.
"While the drug holds, cart them. A little hard work, that's all. Once they wake, untie their legs and have them walk along behind you. Nothing difficult about it, is there?"
I'd read about this in books. Slavers.
"Payment for the bodies comes through another channel, so all you have to do is deliver the goods safely. Any questions?"
That seemed about right. But it was strange. If they'd meant to make a slave of me from the start, there'd been chances enough already. Why now?
"I do have a question. It's... a personal curiosity, if you like."
"What is it? Go on."
"What's with the kid? Branching the business out?"
So I wasn't the stock they usually handled.
"Curious about every little thing, aren't you."
"A kid, out of nowhere. I wondered if he might be that kid from the rumors...!"
"Tsk. Quick to notice. Nothing else to you."
"Oh! Really? Ha!"
Footsteps, coming closer. I nearly flinched again.
"Just looking at him, he really is nothing but a kid!"
"I know. Hard to believe."
"You've never seen him fight yourself?"
"My work is minding the shop. Same as now."
"Then how did you know this one had a P210? I heard you commissioned the job yourself."
Commissioned? What job?
"When I took the gun out to pull the ammunition I was paying with, I saw it. Right here."
"Well. Flashing a fine piece around like that. Then he deserves whatever he gets."
"That's why I hired a mercenary."
A mercenary.
The only one who'd ever shot at me. So he hadn't been a raider.
"We agreed to sell the gun and split it down the middle."
So it was my gun they were after.
"And then, absurdly, the kid took the mercenary down. Badly wounded, I heard. Rumored kid or not, I didn't think he'd be a match for a professional assassin. And the outfit that mercenary belonged to—"
"Is where these goods are being delivered."
"Right. The boss there said he very much wanted to see the one who did that to his man. When he heard it was a kid, he couldn't believe it."
So that was the whole of it. None of this was my fault.
A presence drew nearer. Someone crouching, looking down at me.
"Wow. Even with his eyes covered, you can feel it. Just like they said. A pretty boy."
"Stands out. The kind that doesn't live long."
"The boss over there's a young woman, right? Maybe she'll think he's too good to kill."
"Woman? That one is female in body and nothing else."
"Sorry?"
"If you happen to speak with her, watch your mouth. No. Don't speak with her at all."
"Yes..."
The delivery began.
My body lay on a cart. A single thin cloth covered me from head to foot, and that easily the world was cut away.
"Halt."
The cart shuddered and stopped. Just short of the settlement gate, by the feel of it. The one who'd called the halt would be a sentry.
"What's inside?"
"A delivery."
"I'll have a look."
"Be my guest."
Cloth flicked aside. Moonlight touched my face. I had a moment to wonder whether I ought to flinch.
The cloth fell. Darkness.
"Right. Pass."
"Carry on."
The sentries had seen me plain with their own two eyes. All of it sat under their control. I'd known it would. That was why I'd stayed as if quietly asleep. Raise a fuss, and there was no telling what would follow. The ones who meant me harm would be faster than any settler who meant to help.
There'll be a chance.
They'd said that once the merchandise woke from the drug, we'd walk on our own. A better opening than this one, surely.
Thrash once and fail, and all that's left is dying.
I had to wait for the perfect chance.
The cart jolted, and my stomach lurched with every shake. Look on the bright side. At least I wasn't hungry.
Another jolt.
"Hey! Postman Hwang!"
"Hm? Been a while. What's a procession of carts doing out at this hour?"
"Ah, why are we stopping? I'm about to drop."
"Hold on. It's a postman I know. We were due a rest anyway. We'll sit a minute here."
A postman.
"Mr. Hwang, any interesting news lately?"
I'd read about them in books. Come to think of it, I'd never properly met one.
"Same as ever. There's an air-raid warning. Where do you live again?"
Delivering air-raid warnings and the mail. That was the work. I was the mail, just now.
"Then it's nothing to do with you. A few monster sightings, too, but those are nowhere near where you live—"
The nature of the job meant wandering everywhere. A civil servant, out in the world beyond, and alone at that, and they didn't even issue a weapon. Maybe the postman had been invented to prove that some work was noble and some was base.
Applause, then, for the suffering postmen. And long may they keep at it. I wasn't about to take the job.
"Not that. News of how the world's turning?"
"Well. There is one thing. The first hunter to go to the Geofront has gone in."
Hm.
"I kept hearing he was going, he was going. He actually went?"
"About half a month back."
He really went.
"And once you're in, is it really as staggering as they say?"
"Who knows. You go, and that's the end."
"What, he's the same? Goes in and that's it? Not a word back?"
"Of course. What did you think there'd be?"
"That's not interesting news at all!"
Fair enough. Whether the Old Man went to the Geofront or not was someone else's business. What did it matter?
"No, there's a better story after it. They say that hunter had a son he'd kept hidden."
"A hidden son? Sounds like some trashy third-rate novel."
At the cabin, that book would have gone straight on the fire.
"A rumor, but it seems he left word of a son with a few people before he went."
"Oh? He went around talking about family? I had him down as a man with no blood and no tears."
He was that man.
"Even a man like that would hold his own family dear, wouldn't he?"
"Ha! Paternal love is a mighty thing!"
Like hell. He'd have been going around cursing my name. I'd used the Core that should have been Jeong-gu's. He was certainly thinking the one who ought to have lived was Jeong-gu, not me.
"So it seems there are hunters trying to find this son of his."
"Find him?"
Me?
"Why?"
"Why do you think? The man was nothing but secrets. If it's his son, maybe the boy knows something."
Unhelpful to the very end, the Old Man.
"That tracks. So the hunters are looking, hoping to be taught the trick of getting into the Geofront themselves."
"That's it. And I hear there's actually a bounty out for finding the son."
Ha.
"Oh? How old is the son?"
"What was it. Thirteen or so? I'm not certain."
"Thirteen or so..."
This felt bad.
"Any description? Anything like that?"
"Looks like a weakling, I think they said. Exactly the sort you underestimate on sight."
"...Is that so."
Bad. Very bad.
Someone was coming closer.
"Ah, and it isn't only how he looks. His skill's nothing much either."
"Huh?"
"Pathetic. Can't fight."
"R-really?"
"I think that's what the father said, and he's probably right. Would he call his own son a weakling on purpose? The whole world knows the man lives on how great he thinks he is."
"Tch."
The Old Man. Either no help at all, or a reason to be furious. One way or another, he stood in my road.
"So what are all the carts?"
"What do you think."
Cloth flicked aside.
"Ugh. Still at that work?"
"Your work and mine are the same. The only difference is whether you're a civil servant or not."
"There's also whether it's legal or not, you know."
"Law can freeze to death. How long has the world been finished?"
"Hey now!"
"Anyway, that was some interesting news."
The cloth dropped.
"Huh? Wait."
It lifted again.
"What, there's a child in here?"
"I know."
"Don't talk like it's someone else's affair. You branching out now?"
"It's not like that."
"Like hell it isn't!"
"Mr. Hwang hears all the news, so you'll know. There's a famous kid around here these days."
"Ah... the one who beats up raiders? This is him?"
Breath, drawing near.
"Prettier than I expected. How'd he end up like this?"
"You know the Gwanghwamun crew?"
"The Lady Boss?"
"Heard he took down one of their people."
"This kid?"
"Yeah. This whole delivery is bound for Gwanghwamun. Everyone loaded on these carts, not just the kid, crossed the Gwanghwamun crew and ended up like this."
"Aish. This just got unpleasant."
The cloth fell.
"I'm going. I saw something I shouldn't have."
"Ah, wait a moment! Mr. Hwang, do you know anything about that lady boss?"
"Why?"
"Our backer scared the hell out of us and then wouldn't say a word."
"Hoo. Don't even start."
"Ah, you too, Mr. Hwang?"
"Hm... No point standing around for it. Let's sit over there."
"Right, true. Hey! Everyone sit down? If we're resting, let's rest properly!"
I hoped they wouldn't go too far. This could be useful. I needed to be able to overhear—
A tap.
Huh?
"Shh."
A whisper, so faint I could barely catch it. Another piece of merchandise, pressed right up against me.
"You've been twitching for a while. You're awake, aren't you?"
Someone else was awake besides me.