The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 91

My party and I returned to the accommodations building the corporate city side had prepared, a structure of cold metal and glass.

In the lobby, twice the usual number of guards and an attendant standing with the stillness of a sculpture were staring fixedly in our direction. On the shoulders of their uniforms was embroidered the cross-within-a-circle emblem of the Shimazu family.

“You are late, Young Master.”

When the attendant spoke, the air of the lobby seemed to drop another degree.

Their gaze carried undisguised displeasure alongside suspicion, as though our behavior was something they simply could not comprehend.

“We were in the process of forming a search team out of concern that something untoward might have occurred. Had you informed us in advance, this inconvenience could have been avoided.”

“Ah, is that so? We must have caused you needless worry.”

His voice was polite, but each word carried an edge.

‘A search team, my foot. Their tail lost me and now they’re rattled.’

From the look of it, my leaving for the outer district without a word was not sitting well with them at all.

In this strictly controlled city, an unpredictable outsider was a cause for vigilance in itself.

I made an exaggeratedly apologetic expression.

“I am deeply sorry for the concern. There was someone I needed to go collect urgently, and in the rush I simply did not think to notify you. I had no choice but to move with our own operatives.”

I gave Father Jeong Suhan, whom I had brought along, a small nudge forward and put on the most gentle smile I could manage.

“This is Mr. Jeong Suhan, who traveled with us from Joseon. He had come out to the outer district for academic research, but… it seemed likely that there would be unrest in the outer district before long, so I brought him along for his protection.”

“Protection… you say?”

The attendant’s brow furrowed slightly. His gaze lingered for a moment on Father Jeong’s shabby appearance.

“Yes. Given the urgent situation of a bombing attack on the very center of a corporate city, as an official of the Administration, I thought it my duty to protect Joseon nationals residing in this corporate city. That is so, is it not, Mr. Jeong?”

“Ah, yes… thank you for looking out for me, Young Master….”

Father Jeong smiled awkwardly and stumbled over his words.

This was, after all, foreign territory, so the Joseon Administration could not simply exercise its authority at will.

But protecting one’s own nationals was a different matter.

The most plausible pretext, and one difficult to argue against.

In fact, the moment the terrorist attack had occurred, I had already directed my family’s operatives to track down the locations of Joseon nationals within the corporate city and issued orders to protect them.

In that process, I had ‘coincidentally’ located Father Jeong and ‘protected’ him.

“……You could have asked our security forces for assistance.”

“Of course, we are well aware of the excellent security system the corporate city has in place. We know you are already seeing to the safety of Joseon nationals within the city. But if we were to cause a commotion over something concerning a personal acquaintance of mine, it would be an imposition on the senior city officials cooperating with us…. It would be meiwaku(inconvenience), would it not.”

There was still a barb in the attendant’s voice, the suspicion not fully gone, but I deflected it by talking in circles and slipping through the gaps.

“Smooth talker, aren’t you. Is that how you strung along those Pungyang Jo people too?”

“Keep quiet. You’re making it harder to concentrate on the performance.”

Mizutani was chattering through the communications channel beside me, so I silenced him.

‘But what can you do. No need to actually convince them. Just let the suspicion settle.’

As a Joseon public official, protecting one’s own nationals was a perfectly natural duty, and having said I went out to protect an acquaintance, they had no easy basis to make a fuss.

As far as they were concerned, finding fault with my actions would be awkward too.

“……Young Master Kim Hyunwoo has stated that departure will be tomorrow morning. We trust there will be no delays.”

“Of course. I have been duly informed. There will be no issue with the schedule.”

In the end, the corporate city’s surveillance agent had no choice but to bite his lip, fix us with a skeptical look, and let our party inside.

Eyes that said, ‘for now, we will watch.’

But even that watching gaze would last only until tomorrow morning.

Clang, clang.

As my party and I passed through the security gate and entered the city, dozens of multi-angled tanks and infantry fighting vehicles rumbled past alongside us in a hurry.

The noise of heavy treads scraping asphalt and the low roar of diesel engines shook the air, and the acrid smell of exhaust struck the nose.

The armored surfaces bore night camouflage paint, and through every hatch, guards with armored helmets and goggles covering their faces were visible.

‘Shimazu’s suppression forces. At that scale, they mean business.’

Ominously glowing red sensor lights, radars spinning busily, autocannons beginning to warm up. The metallic friction sound of gun barrels traversing.

As I cast a sidelong glance at that grim spectacle, Father Jeong Suhan’s face grew more and more stricken.

“Surely, even now, we should go back and warn them……!”

“Think of the children in Joseon, Father.”

At those brief words, Father Jeong’s voice stopped.

“This is not the place for your martyrdom, Father.”

“……!”

His face pale, biting dry lips, he could not bring himself to look at the procession head-on and lowered his gaze.

“It is only temporary lodgings, but you will not find it uncomfortable. Everything you need has been provided. A ship back to Joseon has been arranged as well, so you will have no difficulties when the time comes to return.”

“Th, thank you. Young Master…. Truly… I don’t know how to thank you enough….”

“I only did what needed to be done. I will see you in the morning, then.”

With a brief farewell, I saw Father Jeong into his room.

The sound of a heavy fire door closing echoed briefly down the corridor.

“Taewoong.”

I called quietly to the bodyguard Taewoong following behind me.

Without any particular words, a simple exchange of glances was enough. Taewoong nodded as though he had understood everything.

He then touched the connection port at the back of his neck, activated part of his artificial body, and took up his post in front of Father Jeong’s door.

His presence seemed to fade almost instantly, dissolving into the surrounding environment, but just standing there, he felt like an invisible wall.

And so I returned to my private room in that strangely charged atmosphere.

Spacious and lavish, but a room as cold and artificial in feeling as the corporate city’s nightscape visible through the window. Expensive furniture and furnishings sat in their places without a trace of warmth.

“…If I may ask one thing?”

I had thrown my coat aside carelessly and was resting for some time when Mooyoung, who had been silent throughout, turned to me and spoke.

There were no surveillance personnel around, so it would be fine.

When I nodded, Mooyoung thought for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“You said that Society of Truth cult leader Baek Donghyeon would let his followers… let them die.”

“I did.”

I replied absently, walking toward the refrigerator.

“But… when we met him in person, he appeared to cherish his followers. At the very least, those who followed him believed that. Given that… how are you certain?”

His voice carried pure curiosity, along with what seemed like a hint of unease about my judgment.

“Ah, that? Nothing to it. If anything, it’s so obvious it’s almost boring.”

Saying that, I took a cold drink from the refrigerator and handed it to Mooyoung first.

“I’m a machine. I can’t drink.”

“Ah, right. You can just watch then.”

Correction.

After taking out the drink and holding it out to Mooyoung, I took the one I had been about to give Mizutani, opened it, and brought it to my own lips.

“Wrap yourself in good deeds, show people hope, win their loyalty. Call yourself their savior and gather them around you. And at the decisive moment, become a martyr, becoming the spark that ignites all that gathered sentiment into an explosion. The standard hero’s story. Isn’t that right?”

A fresh fruit drink prepared for honored guests. I swallowed a mouthful of crisp juice and spoke with an easy laugh. As though telling a mildly amusing joke.

“This is exactly what I intend to do with the Eight Outcasts Society.”

“……Excuse me?”

Mooyoung’s eyes widened slightly. Bewilderment and incomprehension passed plainly across his face.

“Shh.”

But just as Mooyoung was about to ask something more.

Boom!

From somewhere far off, beyond the solid bulletproof glass windows, an explosion sounded. The entire building vibrated imperceptibly.

“It has begun.”

I set down the drink can I had been sipping from and murmured.

What followed was countless gunshots, cannon blasts. A wave of sound that raked the city’s night like a storm.

The sharp rapid-fire of machine guns, the dull thunder of heavy weapons, and woven in between, the sound of unidentified energy weapons, all mixed together.

Far outside the windows, the sky over the outer district began to be stained with flashing light and black smoke.

And drifting in from the distance, mixed into all of it, were the screams of people. Faint, but those sounds of despair struck not the ear but the chest.

“Well now, they’re firing things up more spectacularly than I expected. Tens of thousands could die from this.”

“……!”

Mizutani throwing out barbed words in a twisted voice, and Mooyoung standing rooted to the spot, face drained of color, speechless.

Wearing a smile touched with cold, I looked out at the hellish scene unfolding in the distance.

“Congratulations, cult leader.”

In my reflection in the window, satisfaction and cold calculation were mixed together.

“Everything is going according to your plan.”

With this, the lower-class people of the outer district had been transformed into a mob that could explode at any moment.

A dagger to ruin the corporate city coalition’s expedition plan had been beautifully forged.

Then what was needed now was to get a firm grip on the Society of Truth’s weakness, so that they could be discarded at the right moment.

And the thread leading to that.

-Young Master.

Right here. Taewoong’s communication, arriving at exactly the right time, brought the news I had been waiting for. Through the communicator, the faint sound of gunfire could be heard, but Taewoong’s voice did not waver.

-As you anticipated. Father Jeong Suhan has disappeared from his lodgings.

“As expected. Current location?”

-He has passed through the foreign nationals’ protection zone and is heading toward the outer district. On your order, I can subdue him and bring him back immediately.

“No. Let him go.”

After saying that, I gave Taewoong an additional instruction.

“But under no circumstances let him die. Just escort him to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Without letting him know you’re there. Can you do that?”

-Yes. I will begin the mission.

He says he can.

To protect a powerless civilian in a hell of flying bullets. Even given an order as unreasonable as that, not a word of complaint.

Truly befitting the bodyguard I trust most.

-However, may I ask one thing. What is the reason?

The reason.

On one level, it was to protect that good-natured Father. But there were other reasons too.

“I need a witness. A living witness who can see that massacre and testify to it.”

-……A witness?

The relationship between Baek Donghyeon and Jeong Suhan. The moment I heard about it, an idea I came up with on the spot.

But at the same time, it would be a card quite fatal to them.