Chapter 773

It was good to have somewhere to return to. Better still if there were people waiting for me there.

“Team Leader Choi! Taekyung!”

After several hours of flying, we arrived at Incheon Airport. From far away, a hairy giant came thundering toward us with both arms spread wide.

Whump!

The air caught in my throat.

Even as Im Kkeokjeong squeezed us in a hug that felt more like a chokehold, Team Leader Choi and I patted his shoulders while he sobbed.

It just felt like the thing to do.

“Why are you crying? Hit menopause already?”

“You’ve been okay—waaah! You’re not hurt anywhere—waaaah!”

“We’re fine. Please calm down.”

“I was so worried, so worried—sniff!”

Going by appearances, even the Green Forest Alliance Leader would have to step aside for him. But when it came to being sensitive, no one could match him.

The man’s outside and inside couldn’t have been more different.

And from over Im Kkeokjeong’s shoulder came a voice as clear and direct as the impression its owner gave.

“You should say we were worried, not I. What does that make me when you put it like that?”

Song Song stopped and looked Team Leader Choi and me over carefully.

“Hmm. You both look better than I expected.”

I asked in return,

“Are you sure? I’ll be suffocated in five minutes at this rate.”

“That’s five minutes from now. You look fine at the moment.”

“Can’t you see how bloodshot my eyes are? I haven’t slept properly in three days.”

“Why? You look much better than you did on TV a few days ago.”

She added, “Your eyes were completely gone then. You looked like you were about to drop dead.”

“…And now?”

“Hard to say. Like you might die in a hundred years or so?”

I couldn’t think of an answer, so I grinned.

Song Song was right. My body was exhausted, but my mind was incomparably clearer than it had been a few days ago.

Team Leader Choi’s was, too.

“How did the matter I asked you to handle go?” he asked.

“I delivered your instructions properly—to both the Peace and Ares Guilds. Once I narrowed the list down, there weren’t even ten people. But the ones I chose are all staunch loyalists.”

“Is there any chance the information leaked?”

“I picked only the most trustworthy senior members of the two Guilds. All their families are in Korea, too.”

“Well done. I’ll give the instructions myself from here on, so please make sure everything stays confidential, Miss Song.”

She nodded, then spoke cautiously. “But is Michael Silbert really…?”

“Shh.”

Looking perfectly composed, as though he hadn’t been sobbing a moment ago, Im Kkeokjeong cut her off. He whispered just loud enough for us to hear.

“He’s coming.”

He was right.

Several limousines glided across the quiet runway and stopped in front of us. President Baek Hanseong stepped out of one of them, looking as though he’d aged ten years since we last saw him.

“Welcome home, both of you.”

His voice sounded as worn out as his face.

A weekday afternoon.

The airport would normally have been packed. Instead, it was quiet inside, and outside was no different.

Police officers and soldiers appeared everywhere in the scenery passing beyond the limousine window. Here and there, people in black suits wore earpieces and, of course, Blue House badges on their chests.

“It’s nice and quiet,” I said.

“As you requested, we cleared everyone out in advance for security.”

Baek Hanseong continued as he threw away the red ginseng juice he had finished drinking.

“Of course, it was a necessary precaution with that terrorist out there.”

He meant The Prophet.

Only a few hours earlier, he told us, a huge crowd of reporters and well-wishers had surrounded the area.

“This may not be something I should say as President,” he muttered, “but lately, everyone seems to have lost their minds. Things are getting far too extreme.”

I agreed with him. I understood the crowds, too.

People who had no power to protect themselves were bound to go to extremes in a crisis. One moment they trembled as though humanity would be wiped out tomorrow; the next, the word hope made them blindly devoted.

…That’s what he was counting on.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Baek Hanseong seemed to sense something in my unthinking mutter. A complicated expression crossed his face, but I turned back to the window without another word.

He had helped us a great deal already. Depending on what happened next, he might be able to help us even more.

I couldn’t tell him everything—not because I distrusted him, but because I couldn’t trust what surrounded him.

There are plenty of ways.

Michael Silbert’s eyes and ears were everywhere.

There could be a mole among Baek Hanseong’s closest advisers, and there was every chance he was being watched.

The moment anyone was confronted with an unbelievable truth, they were bound to be shaken.

Being an experienced politician did not mean he could hide every emotion. If the enemy noticed something because of that, the situation would become even more disadvantageous.

And we can’t rule out the possibility that the clue we found isn’t the truth.

My eyes met Team Leader Choi’s, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

He had limited his instructions to a tiny handful of the most trustworthy senior members of the Peace and Ares Guilds. Those instructions had been delivered covertly, and even they had nothing to do with the truth we’d uncovered.

They were only a safeguard for a worst-case scenario—a way to act before the grenade’s pin was pulled, or to contain the blast if it went off.

For now, though, we couldn’t be certain of anything.

Less than twenty-four hours remained before the inaugural ceremony. How it ended would decide everyone’s fate.

Michael Silbert and me.

Beyond the simple divide between the enemy and us, it would decide where the world went from here.

Vroooom.

While my thoughts tangled themselves up, our limousine raced down the open road. Baek Hanseong filled us in on the latest news: the international situation, the decision to hold the inaugural ceremony at the National Assembly, and the list of participants confirmed so far.

He even told me how my mother and Hayeon were doing under heavy security.

“Your family has heard the news, and they’re very worried. If you’d like, we could take you to them right now…”

I understood what his trailing words meant and shook my head.

“No. I’m planning to see them after the inaugural ceremony.”

“Are you sure that will be all right?”

“Of course.”

I missed my family more than anyone in the world, but I couldn’t see them like this.

No. I mustn’t.

I was afraid I’d lose my composure if I did.

Once everything was over, I wanted to face my mother and Hayeon with a peaceful mind. I wanted to rest in their warm embrace.

…If I can.

The words I couldn’t bring myself to say lingered on the tip of my tongue, then faded. Just then, Baek Hanseong asked as though something had occurred to him.

“Where is the other person, by the way?”

“Ah.”

“I’m fairly certain he was on the list of people entering the country… Has something happened?”

I hesitated, then met Team Leader Choi’s eyes. I gave a bitter smile.

“He’ll be late. Something came up.”

It was a lie.

The Skeleton King was with us right now. He was simply keeping an endless silence inside a mysterious space no one else could see or sense.

Even now.

How long are you going to stay holed up in there?

This time, too, there was no answer.

That day, the whole world’s attention was fixed on a small peninsula in East Asia.

The usual laughing, chattering variety shows were nowhere to be found on television. News channels, current-affairs programs, and internet forums were all abuzz over the World Hunter Federation’s first inaugural ceremony, now less than a day away.

└ Who’s coming to the inaugural ceremony? └ No idea. They flat-out said they wouldn’t release the list because of the terrorist threat. Cleared out the airport, too. └ Heard they aren’t broadcasting it live, either. They’ll record it, though, so I guess we’ll find out after it’s over. └ Why keep the list secret? If they’re that worried about terrorism, why not hold a video conference like they did at the UN? └ Fact: They showed up in person even during the Great Cataclysm. └ It’s a declaration that they won’t back down, no matter what. Everyone’s been fighting separately until now. Once the Federation is established, The Prophet is fucked. └ Cheon Taemin’s the most likely representative, right? └ Yeah. Who else but Lord Taemin? └ Michael Silbert. └ Jin Taekyung. └ I like Lord Fuck, but he doesn’t measure up to Michael Silbert. Michael’s got the seniority, and what he’s done lately has been huge. └ Doesn’t matter. It’s Cheon Taemin either way. └ True. └ Maybe it’s because Cheon Taemin hasn’t shown up in so long, but I’m getting a chill. Just me? └ Then turn on the boiler.

The questions kept coming. Who would attend? Once they were all together, whom would they choose to represent them?

As the hours crept by, guests who had crossed thousands—even tens of thousands—of kilometers¹ began arriving on the peninsula.

“We’ll need to conduct a brief identity check.”

The young man had neatly styled brown hair and faintly green eyes. He looked as though he’d stepped out of a fairy tale, and when he spoke, his voice carried an air of authority.

“I am Felix Alexander Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Knight of the Order of the Garter, and Knight of the Order of the Chain.”

“Pardon?”

“Those titles are merely for show. Feel free to address me casually.”

“Ah, of course. Then, Mr. Felix…”

“Feel free to call me His Highness Prince Felix Alexander Louis. Casually.”

“…Yes.”

Prince Felix had just finished the brief scan when a large shadow fell over him.

“It’s been a while, Felix. Oh, should I call you His Highness?”

At the familiar face looking down at him from far above, Prince Felix seemed about to frown, but then relaxed his expression.

He would have scolded anyone else. But this was one of the few people from whom he could tolerate a little rudeness.

“Mr. Johnson.”

Magic Johnson smiled faintly.

“Just get here?”

“I did.”

“Faye Chen will be here soon, too. All of us who fought together in China will be in one place.”

“So it seems. And who is the gentleman behind you?”

“He’s with me. Though he’s no gentleman.”

Felix had never met the middle-aged man in person, but he recognized him at once. He was as huge as Magic Johnson, dressed like he’d stepped straight out of the American frontier, and had a cigar between his lips.

“…Chuck Hagel.”

Chuck Hagel, who had been puffing away at his cigar in front of a no-smoking sign, answered,

“You calling me, Prince?”

At his irritable tone, Magic Johnson eased forward. “Since we’ve run into each other, how about a drink? Faye Chen can join us.”

Felix studied them both for a moment, then shook his head.

“I have no interest.”

“Too bad.”

“See you tomorrow. Both of you.”

“Sure. Then we’ll do that.”

A perfectly ordinary exchange.

Felix gave them a brief nod and walked off with his attendants. Under tight security, he reached his assigned lodgings, unpacked, and went to bed early ahead of the next day’s ceremony.

Or so everyone thought.

But…

Click.

The locked door opened. The lights came on.

Felix had slipped out of his lodgings unseen. Now he could make out the figures who had been waiting for him in the dark—and the young man seated among them.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

Felix gave a quiet laugh.

Choi Minwoo laughed with him. So did Magic Johnson, Chuck Hagel, and Faye Chen.

Their night, known to no one else, deepened.