“I need help finding someone.”
“What type of someone?” Si-yeol continued. “A friend, long-lost relative, lover, God knows you’ve had plenty of those?”
“A criminal, obviously,” Min-jun said. “They hurt someone . . .” What? Someone dear to him. Even as a lie, he couldn’t get the words out. Even though just weeks ago he’d been able to spew all sorts of nonsense, if it meant solidifying his good relations with the King in the eyes of the public.
“Hurt someone . . .” Si-yeol said, rolling the syllables mockingly. “There are a lot of ways to hurt a person, sweetheart. You’ve gotta be more specific.”
Si-yeol had always been annoying, but months of being apart had made his personality all the more jeering.
“He’s been infected with Time’s Plague,” Min-jun said.
Even Si-yeol was stunned speechless.
“Min-jun,” Ha Jil said. “Son, don’t you think this is a job better left to a doctor?”
“That’s what I told him, too.” Hyun-woo sighed, crossing his arms. “Min-jun’s convinced that the plague is being spread by someone, and if we catch them they can cure it.”Min-jun couldn’t believe his luck. The King was dying of natural causes. No one would deny the mark of Time’s Plague. Min-jun would be labeled as a mourning widow. There was no better scenario for an assassin.
So, why did he feel so apprehensive? His hands stayed clasped around the King’s, a slight tremble to them. Calm down, he urged. Calm down. This is the best thing that could’ve happened to you?
Still, his mother’s voice echoed in his ear. “We save people, Min-jun. No matter how lost they seem, we save them.”
So? He wanted to scream. So what if they were meant to save people. Surely, there were exceptions. He’d killed Gyeo-wool, hadn’t he? He’d allowed Sanhae to be skewered and dragged into the earth, hadn’t he? Why now? Why couldn’t he give up now?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Because this wasn’t the way the King was supposed to die. The plan had been different. There was no reason for him to die here. Min-jun . . . Min-jun wanted to kill him by his own strength, not by some fluke of the universe.
A groan at the door forced Min-jun to look up. Hyun-woo stood in the doorframe, a hand dragging across his ashen face. When his gaze fell on Min-jun, his exhaustion melted to concern.
“Did something happen?” he asked.
“He’s sick,” Min-jun said, his voice wavering barely above a whisper.
“Sick?” Hyun-woo joined him on the floor. “Sick with what?” He went silent at the sight of the mark on the King’s wrist.
“What do I do?” The question hung in the air, unsure of who should answer it.
“No one’s ever survived Time’s Plague, Min-jun. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do for him now,” Hyun-woo said, a hand on Min-jun’s shoulder. “Min-jun, breathe.”
“I’m breathing fine,” Min-jun replied, but said breathing didn’t come as naturally as it should have. He was no doctor. All the medical experience he had concerned illnesses and injuries in the brothel houses. Fevers, cuts, and bruises, overdoses, regular colds, not deadly diseases no one has ever managed to survive.
Min-jun stared at the inked clock for long, deafening minutes, waiting for a solution to surface. Eventually, it clicked. The strange markings, the sudden onset, the rumored ticking of a clock. Of course. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?
This was a Gifted’s doing. And if it was a Gifted’s doing, then that meant the Gifted who’d cursed the King could cure him as well. Not a sickness but a person, and people Min-jun could deal with. A person he could chase and apprehend.
Wolgwang City was labyrinthine and sprawling, but if he could get the help of the agency, then they stood a chance. If that person was still here, then Min-jun couldn’t afford to lose any more time. But to leave the King alone in a situation like this made him uneasy.
“Hyun-woo, contact Dal-nim.”
“Min-jun –”
“To watch over him while we’re gone.”
Hyun-woo nodded, slow, uncertain. “And where exactly are we going?”
“To ask for help from the agency.”
Hyun-woo didn’t even attempt to hide his cynicism. “For help? With a fatal disease?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
. . .
Min-jun didn’t explain it all, of course. From what he could tell, the King tried to keep the Gifteds a secret to the public, and Min-jun would rather keep his head when all this was over.
Their agency, like many of the buildings in the city, was shabby and run-down from the weather. Over the door hung a wooden sign with red letters painted on it, though the color was chipping and fading away. “Half Moon Investigation Agency’, it should say. Instead, it was nearly illegible. It didn’t matter. People always found their way to Ha Jil’s doorstep.
Cobwebs had been woven all along the sides of the doors, their owners having long abandoned them. Four pairs of straw sandals had been left outside. Min-jun didn’t bother knocking.
“Well, well, well.” Shin Si-yeol was sprawled out on the floor, a bowl of soup next to him. His eyes shone like a cloudy sea, his hair pulled up in a tight topknot, and his body clothed in simple, elegant garments.“If it isn’t the little traitor. Took you long enough.”
The other three detectives were spread out across the dimly lit room. Floorboards creaked under Min-jun’s feet as he entered. Ha Jil sat behind his desk as always, surrounded by paperwork, ink staining his hands. Ha Jil was the owner of the agency, and the most experienced out of the lot of them. He’d taken what Min-jun’s mother had taught him and turned it into something practical. Most of the time, he looked unassuming. Just a middle-aged man with a wiry beard and kind features free of wrinkles and blemishes. Min-jun had seen Ha Jil take out criminals before, though, and he would never want to be on the receiving end of that man’s punches.
And huddled over in the corner was their resident artist, who managed to capture a person’s face in his memory within seconds and transcribe it onto paper. Jo Dae-yeong had a gentle face, full of soft curves, and brown eyes that spoke of the emotions he couldn’t quite voice. Not far from the gentle boy, Dae-yeong’s partner, Won Eok-gi, sat glaring at Min-jun. Eok-gi and him have never quite gotten long, with the young man always finding Min-jun’s promiscuity and unorthodox methods rather disconcerting.
Dae-yeong slipped off the shelf, quiet and graceful as ever, and bowed low. “Welcome back, hyung-nim.”
“It’s good to see you, Dae-yeong,” Min-jun said, managing a smile. The boy blushed light pink, bowing his head again. Beside him, Eok-gi rolled his eyes. Envy was as good a motivator for hatred as any.
“So,” Si-yeol said, his voice lazy. He’d turned onto his stomach, legs bent at the knees, feet in the air, chin in his hands. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Si-yeol laughed. “That’s a new one.”
“I’ll pay you.”
A snort. Si-yeol was being especially annoying today. “‘Course you will. We don’t work for free, you know?”
Patience, Min-jun. Breathe in, breathe out. “Triple what you usually get.” After all, Half Moon Investigative Agency usually didn’t take on a case without evidence. Without the knowledge of Gifts, this seemed like a fool’s errand.
“Since when do you have that sort of money?” Si-yeol asked.
Since I became a consort to the sovereign of this country. A sovereign who is now looming ever closer to death.
“So just trust me for now,” Min-jun said.
They all looked to Hyun-woo, as if he could give them the explanation they sought, but his partner was similarly lost.
Finally, Ha Jil heaved a sigh, closing his eyes. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
🙏🏼 Min Jun deductions are correct. Quickly go find that gifted. Also was this a random attack against King or assassination attempt? 🤔