Syringe in One Hand, Gun in the Other 21

Syringe in One Hand, Gun in the Other

Chapter 21

-VB-

8CA (Alan’s clone)

The Kingdom of Joseon, as we expected, had the typical lack of infrastructure and appearance of a country that had yet to industrialize. Dirt roads dominated even the capital city, most houses were one-story houses with dirt and hay material for the poorer districts and timber and brick for the richer districts. Something we noticed was the ubiquitous usage of paper doors and the high development of paper-related industries.

We walked the streets dressed in our rugged armor, which had been more standardized, but even the passing civilians seemed to recognize us as trouble. We glanced at one such civilian, a man trying to sell some hard candies in a stall. He had his hair tied up above his head with a white cloth band covering the forehead. Instead of closed-toed shoes, he wore straw woven sandals. His pants and long-sleeve shirt (in the middle of summer!) were of the same white cloth as his headband.

Speaking of which, most of the clothes for the commoners were white or brown. Sure, some of the women had skirts that weren’t white, ranging from brown and yellow to red and blue, but the overwhelming majority had white as half or the majority of their attire’s color. It was unique because we’ve never visited a single world where this was the case. We briefly wondered if this was the case for the majority of all pre-modern Korean societies.

“Muhmchu’uhra! (“Stop there!”)”

We turned around, having been distracted in the middle of the main street (the only wide street that was paved with even stones), and saw a squad of men who looked like police briskly walking up to us. Everyone got out of their way.

The man in the front wore mainly black with woven ropes of red, yellow, and blue in bits and pieces across his attire like on his hat and in the tassel of his sword. He and his men wore the signature Korean military hat, which we knew was called “jun’nip.” It was the one that made the local Russies - who we did have some interaction with - call the Koreans here as “big heads.”

“Otcharim’eul boaht’sseultten, wehguk’nom eegil… yuhgeenun weh’jigu’ga ah’needa! Nuhhee’neh jigu’ro dahngjang’gahguhra!”

(“From what I can see from your attire, you are foreigners… This is not the foreigner district! Go back to your district now!”)

Instead of answering, one of the five clones that was here stepped up and pulled out a scroll.

The magistrate, upon seeing the scroll, balked.

He immediately stood at attention and bowed, making his subordinates confused momentarily before they followed their superior’s example.

Because the scroll we had just pulled out had the Imperial Seal of the House of Yi visible for everyone to see. Since using this seal for any purpose other than for imperial orders or invitation was tantamount to treason, the magistrate immediately recognized that we were the guests of the king.

Sufficed to say, we didn’t get to do any more observation of Joseon’s capital and found ourselves ushered into the royal palace, the Gyeongbokgung.

And here… the palace definitely stood up to its name. Though the palace may not have been of the same material as that of its western counterparts, we could not deny that the palace was of both high quality in material and construction. What we saw, however, was not a new palace but an old palace that had been restored to its old glory. Instead of painting new art or sculpting new statues, the old art and statues were carefully reconstructed.

It was a restoration that reflected the traditional nature of its people.

As the magistrate handed us off to the royal guards (not the palace guards but the royal guards), they inspected the scroll, actually broke its seal open and read its content, and then escorted us deeper into the palace.

To our surprise, we found ourselves stopped not by a noble (because nobles were nosy everywhere you went) but by a noblewoman, and from the gold thread embroidered attire, she was either a rich noblewoman … or a member of the royalty.

“Eedeulun noo’guunga? (Who are they?)” she asked the lead royal guard leading us.

“Yorungsung’ehsuh gyungyoung’hanuen yongbyoung’deul’eeopneeda, ohngju-mama. (They are mercenaries currently operating in Liaoning, Your Grace (princess).”

She looked us up and down. “Youngbyoung? Duhruheun binminee wheh goong’ahn’eh’itneunga?! (Mercenary? Why is there a peasant inside the palace?!)”

“... Jusang-junha’kkehsuh eedeul’ul so’hwan’hashut’sseumneeda. (His Majesty has summoned them.)”

One of our clones, not wanting to get caught up in whatever politics or shenanigans a princess might cause, turned to one of the royal guards. And spoke in Korean.

“Junha’leul geedaleegeh haneunguhnga? (Are you making His Majesty wait?)”

Our sudden interruption caught the royal guards and the princess in surprise.

The princes… she did not take it lightly for us “commoners” to interrupt her conversation and posturing.

“BUHRUTUHMNEUN -!”

And then she slapped us.

We didn’t do anything. Didn’t even turn our head with her slap because that’s how weak she was.

“Jeegeum muhn’illee nahtgiieh neh tthal’ee soun’eul deul’ut neungah? (What is happening that my daughter had to raise her hand?)”

The princess and the guards immediately turned to our left and bowed and knelt, respectively, while we turned and saw a man walking up to us. He had a quartet of guards with him, who were more fancifully dressed and better armed than the royal guards.

“Ahbuhnim (Father),” the princess said.

“Junha! (Your Majesty!)” the royal guards quickly followed.

He waved his hand. “Geuhreh. Janehdeulee nehwah yehgeeleul hetduneedeuleengah? (So. Are you the people that I have been in the talks with?)”

Our lead clone stepped up and gave him a forty-five-degree bow. “Mahtsseumneeda, junha. (You are correct, Your Majesty.)”

He hummed as he stroked his beard. “Ahnehsuh yehgeehaseh. (Let’s talk inside.)”

And so that’s how our first encounter with real royalty went.