Puppeteer II
To put it bluntly, I had no respect for the Second Provisional Government. I respected my eye crust more and didn't want to be unnecessarily rude.
The problem was the Fukuoka city government.
The ones who leaked the information about my visit to the provisional government were likely from that side.
At this point, unlike the Korean Peninsula, the governmental organizations in the Japanese archipelago hadn't completely collapsed yet.
Therefore, they had the luxury to hold on to the "provisional government" coin without discarding it.
Who knows? This coin might rocket to Mars' atmosphere.
It was an extremely irrational judgment, but gamblers are often resistant to rational persuasion. Moreover, the Japanese had the sweet success story of the Lee Wan-yong coin etched in their minds.
The point when the Japanese government began regaining its rationality was much later, with the descent of the eight million monstrosities. It was a good trade, except for the price of offering heads, arms, torsos, legs, and innards for wisdom.
I would eventually take down a monstrosity called Inunaki... but all these tales are for later.
It wasn't yet a realized future.
Therefore, for now, I had to consider Fukuoka's authorities' dignity.
My task was to abduct an A-class awakener residing in Fukuoka without causing a fuss. Provoking the locals would be foolish.
Of course, in my 180th cycle, I could have kidnapped the Puppeteer without caring about politics, but at this point, I was merely a novice in my 18th cycle.
What could I do? Sometimes, you have to do dirty work.
"Haha. To have a patriot like you supporting our provisional government feels like gaining a thousand troops!"
"Oh, support is too grand a word. I just want to share the hardships of my compatriots abroad during these tough times."
"Ahaha, I see. Truly humble! Here! Please accept a drink, Mr. Undertaker!"
In the end, I spent the night drinking with the provisional government officials. While Jung Sang-guk might have enjoyed the 'sweet conversations with the war hero Undertaker' more than the alcohol.
Anyway, I sang his praises enough to make Jung Sang-guk satisfied.
"By the way... what brings you to Fukuoka?"
"Ah, it's more of a business matter than official duty."
"Oh, in these times, what's the difference between business and official duty? Any business you undertake is practically a national project. Please, do tell me."
"Your words put me at ease. I'm looking for an awakener known by the codename Puppeteer who resides in Fukuoka. Do you know of them?"
"...Puppeteer?"
For the first time, Jung Sang-guk stuttered.
"Yes, Puppeteer."
"...I know them very well. But why...?"
"As you know, I run a small academy, a training facility exclusively for awakeners. I'd like to see this Puppeteer in person and, if suitable, invite them to enroll in our academy."
"I see..."
The former mayor of Busan stared at me and muttered.
"...Maybe this is for the best."
It was a murmur whose meaning eluded me. The silence between us stretched for a couple of seconds before Jung Sang-guk awkwardly broke it.
"Do you smoke?"
I was a staunch anti-smoker, but that question was a signal for a private chat outside.
For that, I could temporarily sacrifice my lung health. Some people even abandoned their homeland, so what was a little smoke?
"Yes, I am desperate for one."
"Let's go. I can't stand the heat, need some fresh air."
We left the bar and polluted the night sky of the city.
As the level of fine dust in Fukuoka rose appropriately, a rather remarkable sight unfolded.
"Oh. A shooting star."
"Oh? Really."
A few meteors fell from the night sky. It was more of a sprinkle than a meteor shower.
Soon the cosmic rain ceased. Jung Sang-guk, however, was barely looking at the meteors, nervously glancing around.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm envious of you, Mr. Undertaker."
"Sorry?"
"Sometimes I imagine how great it would be if I were an awakener."
Jung Sang-guk pulled out a portable ashtray with trembling hands and stubbed his cigarette into it.
In that gesture, I didn't see his neatness but rather the survival instinct of someone living abroad.
If he had carelessly flicked the ash on the streets of Fukuoka, passing Japanese might wonder, ‘Does this Korean think of our land as an ashtray?’
"Puppeteer is my daughter."
I was so focused on the portable ashtray that I reacted a bit late.
"...What?"
"Puppeteer, Ha-yul. Lee Ha-yul. She's my daughter. If you take her, please take good care of her."
This was unexpected.
Just as I was about to ponder the peculiarities of fate, I quickly came up with a question.
"Wait a moment. Aren’t you Mr. Jung? Pardon me for asking, but if your daughter's surname is Lee..."
"Ah. She took her mother's surname."
Could it be that he believed a child should inherit not only the father's surname but also the mother's?
But my imagination was too limited.
The former mayor of Busan smiled. It seemed a forced smile.
"She's my second... a hidden daughter."
Damn.
The first day's schedule ended.
After that, I had 2 nights and 3 days of alone time. The provisional government had arranged my accommodation.
‘He’s something else, alright.’
Even with the country falling apart, he managed to flee abroad with his second family. A true hero who could even use teleportation had to be different.
Long ago, when Emperor Gaozu of Han was defeated by the demonic Xiang Yu and had to flee, he was forced to climb onto a carriage.
At that time, Liu Bang threw his children off the carriage, claiming it was overweight. Those who had played RPGs would understand that having a full inventory was an unforgivable sin for a player.
However, in the game of the Chu-Han Contention, children were designated as essential items, and a warning popped up, saying, [It's unacceptable to discard them!]. He failed to abandon them in the end.
This is why people need to learn martial arts. If Liu Bang had mastered the teleportation technique like Jung Sang-guk, he could have committed such atrocities without relying on a weak carriage.
"Mr. Undertaker, are you there?"
Knock, knock.
Just as I was testing the boundary between meditation and daydreaming, a martial arts master visited. It was our first reunion in two days.
Jung Sang-guk handed me a piece of paper with Puppeteer's address written on it.
His appearance was odd. Despite the warm spring day, he wore gloves and had a rather strong fragrance.
He even declined to accompany me to Puppeteer's house.
"Why? Aren’t you coming with me?"
"I'm sorry."
Jung Sang-guk smiled awkwardly.
It was a smile unbecoming of a politician. His expression was stiffer than it had been at the drinking party.
"My daughter is going through a strong rebellious phase these days..."
"But wouldn't you be worried about me meeting your daughter alone?"
"Oh, no. Not at all. Besides, there's a housekeeper at Ha-yul's place, so it's fine."
"Hmm."
"More importantly, I talked to Ha-yul about you yesterday. You don't need to worry."
"Got it. See you in the evening."
Actually.
I should have noticed the oddity then.
If Jung Sang-guk's second family was functioning properly, the housekeeper wouldn't be there but rather his daughter's biological mother.
Moreover, it was strange that someone who had struggled so hard to win my favor suddenly refused to accompany me.
But what could I do?
I checked the address and asked locals for directions, eventually arriving at Lee Ha-yul's house.
Knock, knock—I knocked on the door handle attached to the entrance (few people used electronic doorbells due to electricity conservation) to announce my visit.
"Is anyone home?"
Knock, knock.
"Hello, I'm the Undertaker. I'm here on Mr. Jung Sang-guk's recommendation. Is anyone home?"
Knock, knock.
"......"
It was purely my experience as a regressor who had gone through countless hardships that made me sense the foreboding then.
I turned the doorknob. It was unlocked.
"......"
As I stepped into the foyer, my sight was filled with cobwebs.
The corridors, living room, and first-floor staircase of the house were covered in giant cobwebs. Like an abandoned house.
No matter how hard life abroad was or how illegitimate a child, it was too odd for the daughter of the head of the provisional government to live in such conditions.
'No, are these even cobwebs? They are too big.'
Rustle—
Something was under my shoe. A doll.
Distracted by the cobwebs, I hadn't noticed the dolls placed all around the house.
"Lee Ha-yul?"
I carefully navigated the house, avoiding the dolls.
Figures, Russian matryoshka dolls, Japanese Ichimatsu dolls, Barbie dolls, ball-jointed dolls, stuffed dolls, paper flower dolls.
Literally a house of dolls.
Or perhaps a spider's nest.
A woman in her 40s, presumed to be the housekeeper, was found dead, hanged by cobwebs in the second-floor bedroom.
"......"
I was used to corpses. I didn't panic, but seeing the 13 dolls surrounding the corpse as if in prayer was a first.
It wasn't the only first.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
Dolls attached to strings moved up and down around the corpse.
Like playing on a seesaw at a playground.
I had no idea what kind of mechanism it was, but the strings wrapped around the dolls' wrists extended to the corpse's 'jaw' and 'hands.'
So, as the dolls moved up and down, the corpse's jaw clicked, and the fingers wiggled weirdly. Yes. Like a nutcracker.
"What the...?"
The stench was overwhelming.
Judging by the rigor mortis, she had been dead for over 30 hours. At least 30 hours, but it felt much longer.
That was strange.
Over 30 hours meant it wasn't yesterday but the day before.
Moreover, Jung Sang-guk had testified that he met his daughter yesterday and told her about me. So, the housekeeper was already dead by then?
'Strange.'
I instinctively felt that Jung Sang-guk had lied to me.
Especially the gloves. His out-of-season gloves bothered me.
I left the 'house of dolls' and returned to my lodging. I planned to gather my belongings and track down Jung Sang-guk.
Soon, it turned out I didn't need to.
Jung Sang-guk's corpse was hanging from cobwebs in the middle of my lodging.
"......"
How?
Something was off. No, it was dangerous. Even though Jung Sang-guk was a powerless traitor, finding his body in my room was bad news.
My mind quickly cooled.
A familiar sensation.
I acted swiftly.
'I need to handle this.'
Fwoosh—!
Without investigating further, I immediately incinerated the body. Completely. Using all my aura to erase any trace, including my own.
Only someone who had accumulated inner power over multiple cycles like me could perform such a feat effortlessly.
'59 seconds.'
I grabbed a book and walked out of the lodging casually. I greeted the staff brightly on purpose.
To them, I would appear as 'a guest who briefly entered and left the room.' It would be hard to believe that a body was incinerated in such a short time.
Now, I only had to worry about witnesses. Anyone who might have seen Jung Sang-guk enter my room.
No need to worry about CCTV. Nowadays, CCTV was rare. Not because of electricity but because they were prone to being infected by monstrosities, making people avoid them.
I asked the lodging staff, 'Have you seen Mr. Jung?' They shook their heads, saving their lives.
So far, four minutes had passed.
While not a perfect alibi, it was sufficient for plausible deniability.
I hadn't committed any murder.
That was the truth.
And I was strong.
The power of truth sometimes wielded sharp blades even in the hands of the weak. In the hands of the strong, it was unmatched.
'Scho, old man. I'll make sure to charge you well for this trip.'
I headed back to the house of dolls.
This time stealthily, without anyone noticing.
―Circumstantially, the 'culprit' was almost certainly Jung Sang-guk's illegitimate daughter, Lee Ha-yul.
Evidence was unnecessary. I was neither a detective nor a cop. I was a regressor. I could verify evidence in other cycles.
What mattered now was to gather as much information as possible about the culprit, Lee Ha-yul, to gain an advantage in future cycles.
It turned out to be necessary.
At the entrance, I found an awakener with bright chestnut hair, presumably Lee Ha-yul, dead.
"......"
Lee Ha-yul was in a wheelchair, stabbed in the chest by a knife held by a doll.
I first realized then that the Puppeteer was a legless girl.
Without ever having heard her voice and knowing I would never hear it in the 18th cycle, I covered my forehead with my left hand before her corpse.
"That damned old man..."
Really.
I would charge a high price for this trip.
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