Episode 1 - The Revolutionary
The suspicious tavern that always did its lunch business as usual. I had my doubts about how they had managed to hide their identity with this level of sloppiness until now, but apparently the whole point was that hiding in plain sight was what made it work. Or something like that.
“The deadline was generous and the work was easy. Not bad at all.”
“Heh heh, I dropped a hint to Mr. Shylock to give you an easy job. You can thank me later.”
“The client was kind of an asshole, though.”
“My apologies for that. I know nothing about it. Oh, and there were no particular incidents with Miss Rebecca this time, either.”
Mister, please stop winking. It’s painful to watch.
The bartender of this tavern and the dapper, mustached intermediary who connected visitors to the guild—Matthew. Whose side was this man even on?
It had been thirteen years since I first met him, but was that really enough time to trust someone? From the beginning, my relationship with Matthew had been strictly business. The kind of colleagues who worked at the same place and exchanged favors when necessary. Ask me if he was trustworthy, though, and I’d have to shrug. I had no idea what he wanted or why he was even working here.
“Is Shylock inside?”
“He’s in there right now. Head on down.”
Shylock. The old bastard who kept me in the palm of his hand and swung me around however he pleased. Already past sixty, the geezer should have been celebrating his sixtieth birthday and rotting away in the back room, but greed still burned in him like a furnace. The old man who had spent his whole life hiding in Zachsen had climbed all the way to headquarters director of the Larsen Kingdom the moment he got his hands on me. Of course, that only happened because I was somewhat competent. I wished he would have been satisfied instead of reaching beyond his station, but his recent moves suggested he was aiming even higher.
“Lee Han. No trouble on this job, I trust?”
That crotchety voice. It had once been my lifeline, but after suffering under it for so long, all I wanted now was to crack that shiny bald head open.
“No trouble.”
“Hmph. If that’s true, why are you so late getting back?”
“Ah, come on. You’re really going to nitpick? I can be late if I take my time on the way back, can’t I?”
“Sure, that can happen. If ‘taking your time’ includes fooling around with some woman, that is.”
This lecherous old fossil. He already knew everything and was just testing me. Bastard.
“Shylock, you might be too old to feel any interest, but I’m still in my prime.”
“This body is still quite vigorous, I’ll have you know.”
I glanced at him and gave a dry chuckle.
“Pfft. Sure it is.”
“Damn brat. When I put that collar on you back then, I should have sewn your mouth shut first.”
“Blame yourself for not doing it at the time.”
Shylock pressed a hand to his forehead like he had a headache. The veins bulging on his temple proved he really was still healthy. So far, so safe. This was the usual reaction. He hadn’t noticed that the shackles had been broken.
“Right… Lee Han. You didn’t come all the way here just to stare me down again. What is it?”
“I want some vacation time.”
“Vacation?”
“I’ve done every single thing you ordered without missing a beat.”
“It’s not like I gave you a mission every day, is it?”
“Still, I need a proper break where I can rest without worrying.”
“Hah. Why should I grant any such favor to a slippery bastard like you? You have to listen to me either way.”
“Then I guess I’ll have no choice but to slack off as much as possible and take my sweet time.”
Shylock’s face flushed crimson, then purple. Oh boy. He was about to blow.
“Grandpa, you’re going to give yourself high blood pressure!”
“You… you son of a bitch…!”
“Oops. I meant to say that only inside my head.”
I slammed the door shut behind me. A strangled roar followed me up the stairs, but what was he going to do about it? Fire me?
I finally let out the breath I’d been holding as I climbed the steps. I had confirmed Rebecca’s safety and guessed that he hadn’t noticed the broken shackles yet. But walking into the tiger’s den was an entirely different kind of tension. I rubbed my knotted shoulders hard, trying to loosen them.
“Lee Han, my boy! Business finished already?”
“Yeah, Matthew. I’m heading out. Let’s get closer next time.”
“Haha, Lee Han. You want to get closer to me? Then how about fixing that casual way you speak first?”
“That’s because you people taught assassination techniques to a child and ruined his manners.”
“Logical. I’ll accept that.”
I left Matthew waving behind me and started on my way back. A hand suddenly shot out and yanked me aside.
“Lee Han! How did it go?”
“It worked out. I got a full month of vacation.”
“Whew…”
Rebecca let out a huge sigh of relief and promptly squatted on the ground. She must have been incredibly worried.
To understand why she was acting like this, we’d have to go back to dawn. The warm mood hadn’t lasted long. Under her relentless questioning I had confessed everything, and then I had to endure her smacking my back until it stung.
“Hey! When did I ever ask you to sacrifice yourself for me!”
“It wasn’t a sacrifice…”
“Then what the hell do you call this!”
Her hands never stopped moving even as tears poured down her face.
“You always insisted on being called oppa or whatever, so you really thought you’d become my brother? You were six years old too! So why? Why are you the one doing assassin work!”
“I was in danger too, and I had to protect our home…”
“If you go around piling up that kind of debt on your own! Did you think I’d thank you? Absolutely not! I’m not grateful at all!”
“…”
“If you were going to hide it, you should have kept it a secret forever! All this time I had no idea…”
“I did keep it a secret.”
“Shut up!”
The logic was nonexistent, but as the generous one I had no choice but to understand. After preaching her brand of illogic for a while, she eventually grabbed my arm and started sobbing in earnest.
“Sob… was it really hard? Then all those injuries you got were from dangerous stuff? That shackle—did it hurt?”
“Nah, it wasn’t that bad.”
“Hng… so it was hard…”
She didn’t seem tired at all even though she had nursed me through the night. Rebecca kept asking for every single detail, determined to know everything. She blew her nose constantly, piling tissues into a small mountain while her poor red, chafed nose glowed like a beacon.
“I thought Uncle Matthew was a good person, but he was just a child exploiter?”
“He’s only an intermediary…”
“A bystander is just as guilty, Lee Han.”
Sorry, Matthew.
After listening for a long time, Rebecca fiddled with her lips in thought, then suddenly asked.
“Lee Han, can’t you ask for vacation time?”
“I’ve never taken any before.”
“The kingdom’s labor laws guarantee one day of leave per month worked. Of course, it’s rarely followed. Still, that perverted senile old monster Shylock has plenty to feel guilty about, so he’ll probably listen to your request.”
“Isn’t that a bit long-winded?”
“I shortened it a lot.”
“Fine. But why? Is there somewhere you want to go with me?”
Rebecca shot me a look that said I should have already figured it out.
“What if that crazy old man gives you a job starting tomorrow? Are you going to go assassinate people again?”
“That… would be difficult right now.”
“Exactly. So get the vacation first. Longer would be better, but at least a month.”
“You have… some kind of plan?”
The girl who had been moping pathetically all day suddenly wore a confident smile.
“Of course! We have to get our revenge. Lee Han, just trust your big sis on this.”
Enchanted by those words, I had nodded and gone to the guild—which brought us to the present situation.
“I got the vacation like you asked. But Rebecca, it’s dangerous. I told you to wait at home.”
“No. From now on, I’m the one who’s moving.”
“Can you at least tell me what you’re planning?”
I was this child’s guardian. I needed to know what she intended so I could handle any sudden developments. Reading my thoughts, Rebecca’s eyes grew serious.
“Lee Han, you don’t want to keep doing assassination work anymore, right?”
“That’s true, but… it’s not the kind of thing I can decide for myself.”
“No. I won’t allow it. The shackles that were forcibly binding you are gone now, aren’t they?”
“They are. But if I stop listening, he’ll notice immediately.”
“Yes, he will.”
“If Shylock notices, he won’t leave us alone.”
“Lee Han, I’ll say it one more time. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for me.”
“Still… it can’t be helped.”
“I’m not the helpless six-year-old I used to be anymore. And neither are you, right?”
“Th-that’s true.”
Why had Shylock gone to the trouble of searching for someone who could cast the Subordination Shackles? He might have wanted an absolute safety measure, of course. But finding both the caster and the materials wasn’t easy. A safety measure existed to prepare for danger in the first place. What could possibly have frightened Shylock, who held my life in his hands, about a mere six-year-old? Probably… the version of me that would grow up.
“You’ve been sensitive about my safety for more than a day or two, so I never said much, but no matter what happens, I can take care of myself. Even in the worst-case scenario, don’t worry about me.”
“…”
I didn’t like it, but I nodded for now.
“But because of that pot-bellied, bald, disgusting old relic Shylock, do we have to tremble and run away? From Zachsen, where we’ve lived our whole lives? Throwing everything away?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Rebecca’s eyes blazed with fire.
“So… we’re going to devour it.”
“What…?”
I swallowed hard. Those small lips, as if holding a bomb behind them, parted and delivered the answer.
“The guild.”
A quest has been generated!
You, driven into a corner! You are living the life of a puppet. If ordered, you obey! A life where you simply follow commands. Oh? You think it's not so bad? Then you can just keep living like that. However, it seems your companion does not want that. It's time to make a decision. There isn't much time! Make your decision within the time limit and produce a result!
Remaining time: 2 months
The conditions for this escape had been created.