Chương 98: S.05 Time to Fly 05(02)

Scene 03. So-hui had looped a red 실타래(Sil-ta-rae_Skein of thread) over the fingers of her right hand and was letting it stream downward. Letting the skein settle to the ground, she watched, offhandedly, Jeong-seon, who stood before her catching ragged breaths. On one side of the garden of the 별채(Byeol-chae_Detached Quarters) in 중앙도(Jung-ang-do_Central Province), where So-hui and Si-yeon stayed, stood a plum tree in rather full bloom. Red plum blossoms were bursting open their lavish buds.

Thanks to the plum trees being less than abundant, they did not cast their white reach deep into the mountains, yet the magnolias too seemed poised to bloom before long, shaping their buds large and full. Catching her heaving breath, Jeong-seon gripped her blade firmly anew and leveled it at So-hui once more. The noon sun beat down. Wind fluttered through So-hui's tightly bound-up hair. It was a wind with no bite to it.

So-hui, who hadn't even drawn out her blue skein, watched Jeong-seon steady her breath ahead and gathered up the red skein she had set down. The red skein stretched out long in time with the snap of her wrist. Jeong-seon, gripping her sword, hurled out from behind a short blade she'd kept hidden, one about the length of her forearm. Chained to a length of links, the short blade bored in, aimed at So-hui's left.

The moment So-hui turned her body lightly and slipped the blade aside, she met Jeong-seon's lunging slash. Jeong-seon's blade, rushing in arrow-swift, reached nearly to So-hui's brow, but So-hui's skein fluttered up before her first and lightly flung back the charging Jeong-seon. Losing her grip on the sword to the thread, Jeong-seon charged all the way in again and tried to seize So-hui's throat bare-handed.

With her left hand, which had conjured nothing, So-hui caught Jeong-seon's wrist and flipped her over backward with ease. As Jeong-seon, sprawled limply across the ground, clutched her back and made to rise, So-hui stepped in first and took her hand. Jeong-seon's hand, too, was cool like Si-yeon's. Using So-hui's hand as her measure, Jeong-seon hauled herself fully up. Jeong-seon: Ugh, seriously. I don't even know where to start cutting from.

Brushing off the back of Jeong-seon, smeared all over with green grass, So-hui answered with a smile. So-hui: They say don't get antsy. Especially at times like this. Jeong-seon: That's true, but still. So-hui: I'll stand across from you anytime. Don't worry. We're not going anywhere. Jeong-seon: It's just — I wonder if I leaned too hard on the Envoy's traces and did nothing myself. So-hui: No one thinks that. Jeong-seon: I think it.

Having brushed Jeong-seon's back clean, So-hui sought to turn away the deep darkness that had flickered across her. So-hui: That's because you're worn down. And of course it's worse, since this is a hard stretch. Jeong-seon: Mm. Still, it's thanks to you two that I got better so fast, right? So-hui: Getting knocked around every day and still thinking that way — we're grateful, for our part. Si-yeon had come out at some point and stood near the front door. Her clothes had grown a good deal thinner.

Jeong-seon, no different from Si-yeon, carried a low body temperature, so even a little running quickly beaded her with sweat. Her clothes looked stained with it. Listless, Si-yeon unfolded her arms and trudged over, drawing near to So-hui and Jeong-seon. Si-yeon: Hey. Jeong-seon: What. Si-yeon: Watching you, I figure you ought to spar with me. Jeong-seon: Why? Am I that much of a damn pushover?? Si-yeon: If you want to learn the blade, wouldn't I be the better bet?

Well, even setting that aside — So-hui's way stronger than me. You've got to take me on first — So-hui: What kind of crap are you spouting now. How am I the one who's way stronger than you. Si-yeon: You can take on both Gyeong-seo and Yeon-su, but for me even just Gyeong-seo is a handful. So-hui: That's just because my skein moves like hemp cloth—both run on the thread line, after all. The thread line runs strong against the blade line's forms, too.

Point, line, plane—of those, sand takes point and plane, skein takes line and plane, blades take point and line. Your forms are just a bit vulnerable to skeins, that's all. Si-yeon: Anyway. I don't know about all that. After lunch, Yoon Jeong-seon — you're with me. Jo So-hui, you've got somewhere to be, yeah? So-hui: Oh. Is it Friday already? Si-yeon: You don't even know what day it is? So-hui: Ah-ni, why are you picking fights all morning?

As Si-yeon let a grumbling, displeased look show, Jeong-seon read the mood between the two for a moment and slipped inside ahead of them. Si-yeon came out into the garden and planted herself in front of So-hui. Watching Si-yeon's sullen face, So-hui asked with a dubious look. So-hui: Why so sulky? Si-yeon: Just. You won't even say what it's about, and I don't like you going alone. So-hui: It's nothing, that's why. I'm just going to see the Strategist for a bit.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Si-yeon: I know her well too, you know. Si-yeon scratched her own cheek lightly with a finger and grumbled on at So-hui. At Si-yeon acting like a child, So-hui burst into a daft little laugh. So-hui: Ah-ni, SSibal, of course you do. Si-yeon: Hey, what are you laughing your ass off for. So-hui quietly took Si-yeon's cold hand. So-hui: What, are you worried? Si-yeon glanced carefully around and gave a short nod.

Si-yeon: That sis. You said she'll become an enemy. Later. No — soon. So-hui: That's why I'm going. I have to go and say my piece. Si-yeon: And nothing's going to happen, right? So-hui: It's not like she turns enemy tomorrow. If it were like that, she'd have cast us off long ago. But look at Ji-young sis. She's not even on guard. Si-yeon: Ah-ni, honestly, that's the part I get the least. So-hui: You have to hold someone closest of all, so neither side is left with regret. The four of us, and the Strategist too.

Si-yeon: Hm. So-hui: Anyway, don't worry, just keep good care of Jeong-seon. Along with the Seventh Steward. Si-yeon: Well, Jeong-seon aside, how am I supposed to take care of someone over a hundred years older than me? I'm the one who'd get taken care of. Leading the hand of the still-grumbling Si-yeon, So-hui headed back toward the entrance. Si-yeon: You wearing the hanbok? So-hui: Ugh, that thing's uncomfortable. Do I really have to wear it? Si-yeon: Wear it. So-hui: I said it's uncomfortable.

Si-yeon scratched her cheek again and snapped at So-hui in irritation. Si-yeon: Argh, just wear it already!! Scene 04_01. Ji-young patted her belly as she stepped out of the eatery. While Hee-jin and Yeon-su, trailing out behind her, took in the satisfaction in Ji-young's smile, the people coming and going greeted Ji-young's party as they stepped inside or out.

Feeling the balmy sun, Ji-young—without even a 두루마기(Durumagi_Traditional outer coat) thrown on—straightened the sleeve cuffs of her sky-blue 저고리(Jeogori_Korean Traditional inner jacket) and the navy hem of her skirt. Ji-young: Ah, seriously. That beef-and-garlic-chive pajeon today was killer. Hee-jin: It was my first time trying it too. It was striking how it wasn't tough at all. Yeon-su: It really was delicious. It tasted different from any jeon I've had before.

Rubbing her belly, Ji-young strolled along in her blue 운혜(Unhye_Everyday traditional shoes). Past her satisfied expression, Ji-young kept working her lips as if something were stuck in her teeth, then received the greetings of Eun-jae and Soo-a, who had come running up in haste. Eun-jae: The Oldest. A moment, there's something I... Ji-young: Hm? After taking in Eun-jae's urgent manner for a moment, Ji-young hurried off in the direction Eun-jae and Soo-a led her. Scene 04_02.

Two 자격루(Jagyeongnu_The Water Clock) sat amid the secluded shade. In one, clear water flowed, recording the present's distorted time, while in the other, 검은 물(Geomeun-mul_Black Water) flowed, recording the forgotten time in full. The party, gathered at the water-clock courtyard, examined the Water Clock as it sent up droplets in a roiling boil. In time with the steps of Ji-young's party, the officers of the 지원관(Jiwon-Gwan_Directorate of Support) bowed low to Ji-young. Support Officer 2: The Oldest. Ji-young: Mm.

Since when has it been like this? Support Officer 1: It began thrashing all at once from noon today. There's no great trouble in recording the time, but seeing as it's an anomaly all the same, we reported it to the Director. Eun-jae: It's a first for me as well. Time that holds the River of the Dead has no business thrashing like this. Ji-young glanced back for a moment and looked to Hee-jin. It was a first for Hee-jin too, so she only shook her head faintly, unable to readily offer a word.

After letting out a light sigh, Ji-young gestured for everyone to step back. Hee-jin, Yeon-su, and Eun-jae held their place at Ji-young's side to the last. Ji-young: Step back a little further, please. Ji-young spread out her bracelet. After winding the black wire that burst from the black bracelet around her hand, she stroked, bare-handed, the pillar of the Water Clock that held the 삼도천(Samdo-cheon_River of the Dead).

In answer to Ji-young's black touch, the River of the Dead, thrashing hard enough to leap from the Water Clock, gradually began to settle. Ji-young raised her hand to the top of the Water Clock's pillar she'd been stroking, then thrust it abruptly inside. Frowning, she seized something she felt within and hauled it out with force. A single 독각귀(Dok-gak-gwi_One-legged one-eyed specter), tumbled out across the courtyard, was thrashing as if in agony.

Twisting its hideous single leg and screwing its single eye tight, it clutched its own throat and flailed. As Eun-jae burst a blue 인불(In-bul_Ghost Light) to snuff out the specter's breath, Ji-young checked Eun-jae for a moment and stepped forward first. Pressing the specter's throat down firmly with her foot, Ji-young asked in a flat voice. Ji-young: Why — were you peering in on us? The specter delivered words closer to a wail, but they were not easy words to make out.

As Hee-jin, listening, made to relay a translation to Ji-young, Ji-young—seeming to have understood it all—gave her own reply the moment the specter finished. Ji-young: That's a lie. Quickly now, speak properly. Why one such as you — cast out of the Between World, bound to dwell only in the world of the dead — came prowling about the world of the living. No one will accept the paltry claim that you lost your way. The specter's mutterings could not go on.

Blinking its single eye with an agonized look, the specter burst with dark-red blood and crumbled apart where it lay. From its broken body, the River of the Dead—a red light stained black—seeped out thick and sticky. Ji-young turned something over in her mind. Hee-jin: It doesn't seem to be a lie. Most likely it was fleeing and ended up here. Ji-young: Then — what was it fleeing from? Throwing out the brief question, Ji-young drew the wire wound around her hand back into the bracelet.

The Black Water staining her sleeve cuff vanished in moments, leaving only a faint blot behind. Ji-young looked at the now-quieted Water Clock. Ji-young: Secret Agent. Yeon-su: Yes, The Oldest. Ji-young: Lend me your blade for a moment. Yeon-su: What?? Yeon-su glanced for a moment at Ji-young's shadow and read Hee-jin's face. Paying it no mind, Ji-young held her hand out toward Yeon-su, keeping her eyes on the Water Clock. At Hee-jin's nod, she drew a small short blade from her waist and handed Ji-young the hilt.

Ji-young gripped the hilt and set her hand to the blade's edge. Clenching her fist to draw blood with the edge, Ji-young stepped her 운혜(Unhye_Everyday traditional shoes) onto the Water Clock's footing and let her blood run down inside. A fair amount of blood was pouring from her fist. The instant Ji-young's blood touched the River of the Dead's water, it faded to black. Stepping down from the Water Clock, Ji-young wiped Yeon-su's blade clean of her blood with a handkerchief, then carefully handed the hilt back.

Ji-young's hand had already turned back whole, not a single wound left on it. Ji-young: They won't be able to cross over rashly, most likely. I'll leave the cleanup to you. Eun-jae: Understood. Eun-jae quietly signaled the officers of the Directorate of Support with his eyes. After confirming that the officers had swiftly cleared the area, Eun-jae and Soo-a fell in behind Ji-young, alongside Hee-jin. Ji-young: It was probably reconnaissance, wasn't it?

When Ji-young, mid-stride, spoke up abruptly, Hee-jin picked up where her voice left off. Hee-jin: Even so, the River of the Dead held in the Water Clock is hard to use. The River of the Dead that already dwells in the world of the living was placed there directly by the former Bishop long ago, so its capacity will differ from that of the world of the dead. Ji-young: That's why it was in such agony, then. Hee-jin: They're not so dull as to cross over knowing it can't be used.

Besides, a specter bearing the traces of the Weeping of Immolation won't be a common thing either. Ji-young: The specters have been the Goblins' foes from way back, haven't they? Eun-jae: That's why I lost my head for a moment and tried to burst it the instant I saw it. My apologies. Ji-young: Ah, no, I didn't mean it that way. I only asked in case the Director might know something. Eun-jae: Specters don't take well to the Envoy's Legion's orders to begin with. They can't hold the Legion's traces either.

A specter isn't something you can command. They've barely any reason left in them — they just craved life and harassed the Kim-seobang, that's all. Ji-young: Mm. Then a specter holding the Weeping of Immolation would be a thing that doesn't add up. Mulling something over deeply, Ji-young gave a quiet nod, let out another breath, and looked to Hee-jin. Ji-young: Ah, you're heading out for a bit today, aren't you, Strategist? Hee-jin: Yes. That's right. Ji-young: Go on, then.

I'll be looking over the rest of the documents. Hee-jin: Understood. Ji-young: Secret Agent. Yeon-su: Yes, The Oldest. Ji-young: Stay by the Strategist's side today. Yeon-su: Understood. Ji-young: And contact me right away if anything comes up. Yeon-su: Yes. Yeon-su and Hee-jin left a deep bow behind and departed. Eun-jae and Soo-a were following behind Ji-young. Ji-young: You should go and eat too, Directors. You haven't eaten yet, have you?

Eun-jae: Ah, that's true, but I wasn't sure it'd be all right to just leave like this. Ji-young laughed heartily and waved her hand back and forth. Ji-young: There won't be anything like that anymore. Hurry off and go eat. While Eun-jae and Soo-a read the mood for a moment, Ji-young abruptly shoved Eun-jae's back first, pushing the two of them off toward the eatery.