Sealed City (3)
No sunlight reached Sealed City.
The sky above the city looked like a dark night sea.
In a night sea, there is no sun, no stars, no moon. It only swells like waves at fixed intervals. That sea had no interest in doing what a sky is supposed to do.
A sky that had abandoned its role.
A city where more than a hundred thousand people had been abandoned.
A certain woman, leader of those abandoned people, leaned on the railing and smoked. She stood on such a narrow edge that one light shove could have sent her over. Gray smoke drifted from her lips.
"Hoo, fuck."
With a rough curse thrown in for good asure.
"You have quite a foul mouth."
"Try living in this kind of city for a few years. Then tell whether your mouth stays clean. I used to speak prettily and gently, and laugh all girlishly, ahaha."
She turned halfway and leaned her back against the railing. Not looking outside this ti, she stared straight at Najin. Yuel let out a long stream of smoke.
"You have sharp eyes, huh? You caught that tiny mont when I slipped my hand into my coat."
"I have good eyes."
"But no tact. Did you really have to point out what soone was trying to hide?"
She grumbled.
"Are you going to spread it around?"
"What if I do?"
"Well, what would happen? I'm not a dictator who executes people over gossip. At most, I'd make a face whenever I saw you."
She showed no interest in using power to silence him, throwing threats around, or intimidating him.
"Please don't spread it. Though honestly, I doubt anyone would believe it anyway..."
It was just a request.
"I worked hard to stage this fear. I'd rather you didn't ruin it."
"Why stage fear?"
"Didn't I tell you when we first t?"
With one arm resting on the railing, Yuel spoke.
"The difference between people and beasts is whether they can restrain desire, whether they can control themselves. Humans are beasts that live by fitting themselves to law and social rules."
Her eyes narrowed.
"So if you break the law, you're fucked. If you treat rules like shit, you're the one who gets fucked. That needs to be drilled into their heads regularly."
"..."
"Especially in this city."
Najin blinked, and she tipped her chin at him.
"Your na was Najin, right? It's been about a week since you ca here. Haven't you felt anything?"
"Sorry?"
"People here are impulsive. They get swept up in their desires, throw punches on impulse, and sotis kill outright. Fights that start over trivial things often spread to entire families."
The self-restraint people should naturally have grows thin here. That was what Yuel ant.
"I don't know if it's magic or so madman's trick after kidnapping people here, but this city is a place where people easily turn into beasts."
"That..."
"Words don't work. A kind, benevolent ruler? Hah. My predecessor tried that, and the city went to hell."
She pointed at herself.
"What these animal bastards need is a trainer to put a leash on them and yank it. A trainer needs severity and fear. For beasts, nothing teaches better than fear."
"So you want to be that trainer?"
"Sothing like that. Even when they're about to act on impulse, if they think, If I break the law, that crazy City Lord bitch will cut my head off, they'll hold back a little. It works. Cri has dropped sharply in the three years since I took office."
A bitter smile crossed her face.
"Probably because personally cutting off my predecessor's head and displaying it left a strong impression. Ah, he was a good man. He just wasn't suited for this city."
The fingers holding her cigarette trembled. As if disgusted by her own shaking hand, she looked at it with hatred in her eyes.
"A psycho like suits this city."
"You don't look crazy."
"What?"
"Your hand is still shaking. Acting crazy and being crazy are different."
"...Hah."
Yuel let out a dry laugh, as if she hadn't expected that answer. She crushed out her cigarette and stepped away from the railing.
"So, are you convinced now?"
Najin nodded.
Yuel pointed outside the railing.
"Then get out. Before I hang you in the square for trespassing in the Lord's Keep. If you break in again, it won't end with a warning."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Najin shrugged, hopped over the railing, and vanished. Yuel watched him in disbelief. This was the fifth floor, yet he moved like it was nothing. She clicked her tongue as she watched him climb down the wall like a spider.
Then, suddenly.
She tilted her head slightly. Her stomach had been churning just monts ago, but now she felt a little better.
"..."
Pressing hard against her chest, Yuel walked off. Probably won't see him again, she thought.
2.
"..."
"..."
Tap tap. Najin knocked on the window.
Yuel stared at it in disbelief, then reluctantly opened it.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"Fuck, didn't I make it clear? If you trespass again, I'll cut your head off and hang it in the square."
"You did."
"Then what is this?"
"I haven't gone inside yet. I'm outside."
The Lord's Keep office.
Yuel had been in her chair handling paperwork. She frowned at the window fra. It was that man again. Najin sat on the fra in an absurdly comfortable pose.
How did he even get up here? Are the guards not doing their jobs? What is this?
To be fair, the guards had their own grievance. No matter how many restrictions were piled onto him, and no matter that his physical ability had dropped to normal human levels, Najin was still a forr Sword Master. Climbing walls while dodging a few guards' eyes was easy for him.
I should chew those guards out.
Of course, their City Lord had no intention of acknowledging their efforts. Resting her chin on her hand, Yuel gestured at Najin.
"So what is it this ti?"
"Ah, nothing much."
When soone started with nothing much, it was usually never nothing. He had leverage over the City Lord now, so he was probably here to ask a heavy favor, a job, sothing like that. That's just how people are.
With a sigh, Yuel started to speak.
"Go on. What's your busi..."
Whoosh. Before she could finish, he held out a roasted potato in front of her. Yuel had seen it before. A potato skewered and grilled, common street food in the market. Steam still rose from it.
"What is this?"
"What else? Roasted potato."
"I an, why are you giving this to ?"
"It's pretty good."
Najin waved the skewer lightly. Yuel took it reluctantly, and Najin jumped off the window fra as if that settled everything. He vanished outside in an instant. Yuel blinked.
Even after waiting a few minutes, there was no sign of him coming back.
So he really infiltrated the Lord's Keep just to give her one roasted potato? Like he was out for a stroll? For Najin, it was basically a stroll, but Yuel had no way of knowing that.
A truly trivial errand.
Still blinking, Yuel muttered,
"...Is he a fucking lunatic?"
The roasted potato was good.
* * *
Tap tap.
"..."
Tap tap.
"..."
Tap, tap, tap tap, tap, tap.
"Ah, fuck!"
Yuel sprang to her feet and flung the window open. Najin was hanging from the railing again, absurdly skilled as ever.
She was sure she'd ordered the guards to tighten security, so why? Even while genuinely stunned, Yuel stared at Najin.
Her eyes said, What is it this ti?
Expressionless, Najin handed her sothing. She took it. It was a ledger from so shop. As she tilted her head, her eyes soon narrowed.
"What is this?"
"Picked it up at a tavern."
Picked it up? This wasn't sothing you casually picked up. It looked like a ledger, but on closer inspection it was a criminal roster.
Several organizations existed in the city.
This roster belonged to one of the criminal groups Yuel had been watching. The list contained nas closely matching criminals only she knew about. Yuel looked at Najin.
"This... is valid information. I don't know how you got it, but it will help. So? What do you want from ?"
Najin pointed at the window.
"How many illegal entries into the Lord's Keep am I at now?"
"Five tis, you lunatic."
"Then clear that for ."
He left those words and turned to go, but Yuel hurriedly grabbed him. She caught his sleeve before she realized it, and her lips moved.
Who are you? What does any of this an? She was still choosing her words when
"...?"
Najin tilted his head as if he had no idea why she'd stopped him, then muttered a short, "Ah."
He pulled a roasted potato from his coat and handed it to Yuel.
"If you wanted one, you should've said so."
"Sorry? No, that's not..."
Whoosh. Najin went over the window fra and disappeared.
Dumbfounded, Yuel let out a hollow laugh. Chewing on the roasted potato, she left the office. She needed to investigate based on this roster first. She was walking through the Lord's Keep with her adjutant when,
"M, My Lady!"
Soldiers ca running to Yuel. Saying she had to see this, they led her to the Lord's Keep front yard...
"Mmph, mmph!"
"Please spare , I was wrong, I'll turn myself in, from now on I swear..."
"Hnnnnngh!"
Several wanted criminals were bound there, and a man who looked like the boss of their group was on his knees, desperately begging. Watching him mutter over and over that he would surrender, Yuel blinked.
...Similar things happened several more tis after that.
Whenever that man ca, several criminals were left in the Lord's Keep front yard, each with at least one broken limb, heads bowed.
They kept repeating the sa plea to be spared.
"What exactly do you do?"
Flap.
"Stop flapping your coat. It's kicking up dust."
"Ah, you don't get it at all."
"...What?"
Of course, Najin never explained.
For so reason, he only kept flapping his coat with a disappointed look.
3.
No matter how tightly the net of law was woven, no matter how severely lawbreakers were punished, cri still happened sowhere. With over a hundred thousand people gathered in one place, that was only natural.
Because Najin blocked many incidents in advance, quite a few criminals ended up with prison sentences.
But not all of them.
So still committed murder.
So still stained their hands with blood.
Yuel had a duty to punish them.
"The charges are as follows."
In the center of the square.
Yuel raised her sword once again.
"Death."
No matter how many tis she did it, she never got used to executions. Suppressing the nausea climbing up her throat, she moved her hand.
I don't want to do this.
But she knew. This thod worked. Rather than appointing a separate executioner and diffusing attention, it was more effective to focus everyone's attention on herself and cultivate fear.
In this city, every emotion was amplified.
Fear was no exception.
She needed to beco the most frightening being in this city. Wearing an expressionless face, Yuel set the severed head on a spike. She swept her eyes across the gathered citizens, then turned away.
The sll of blood made her stomach heave. Her blood-slick fingertips began to tremble, so she shoved them into her pocket. She hid the cold sweat running down the back of her neck behind her long hair.
As she walked, voices rose behind her.
Monster, lunatic, rigid fanatic of rules, voices mixed with fear. Listening to them, Yuel kept walking.
She climbed up to the Lord's Keep and entered her office.
Thud. She shut the door. The mont she was alone, Yuel collapsed where she stood. She raised her blood-soaked hands and trembled. Hugging her knees, her teeth chattered.
She could never get used to this. Biting her lip hard, she buried her face in her knees. Just a little, just a little rest. She still had too much work to process. As she steadied her breathing, shoulders shaking,
Tap tap.
A sound ca from the window.
Yuel slowly raised her head.
The mont she looked at the window, a dry laugh slipped out without her aning to.
A man hanging outside the window.
She had laid spikes so he couldn't sit on the sill, so now he was hanging from the railing with one hand. For a brief mont, Yuel felt glad to see him.
Right. You ca again today.
She hated to admit it, but right now she was glad he was here. Yuel rose unsteadily and opened the window.
Then,
She reached out, removed the trap she had set on the sill, and tossed it outside. It was useless anyway, and now it only got in the way. Najin blinked, and the mont he set a foot on the fra, Yuel grabbed him by the collar.
Whoosh.
Yuel yanked Najin in.
She had never allowed him inside her office before, but today was an exception. Najin ended up inside, and Yuel pointed at the sofa.
"Sit there."
Yuel started to put on her usual act, then gave up.
That man had already seen through it all. Yuel undid a couple buttons on the shirt she always kept tightly fastened.
It felt like she could breathe again.
Sitting on the sofa opposite Najin, Yuel pulled several bottles of liquor from a corner of the office. Thunk, thunk, she set them on the table one by one, then grinned.
"Today, you're drinking with ."
She lifted her glass and tilted it toward him.
"I feel like fucking shit, so I'm drinking."
Between the loose strands of white hair falling down, her red eyes flickered unsteadily.
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