Detective Yuki

12. Aegukga

1. Aegukga

Late at night, when a full moon graced the skies over Keijo, the land of Korea was to present a new challenge for those on the passenger ship coming into dock at the Gyeong-in port. For fifteen years, Korea had been under the grip of the Japanese empire after wresting it away from the power of China. This land of rolling mountains, huge expanses of verdant forest and rugged terrain had a culture and people unlike those to their east or west, preferring instead to become unique in their own way. Keijo was the capital of Japanese Korea, where whitewashed low-rise buildings dotted numerous public parks of pine, it was a scene reminiscent of a suburb back in Tokyo. Yuki and Aibo were still spooked by the events on the ship and battling an invisible enemy, yet this inspired Yuki to come up with a new plan of action that she discussed with her companion beside a glistening blue lake in the Pyeonghwaui park.

"Senbi has to be around here somewhere. The clue said Keijo, which is the name of this city, so for all we know, he has either moved on or remained stationary in town." Yuki spoke to Aibo. "if he is here, we will find" Aibo reassured Yuki. 

They looked out onto the lake for several minutes, admiring the peace and tranquilities that came with the scenery. That scenery was disturbed by the horrific discovery Yuki found grinding along the lakeshore. Aibo yelped in shock, while Yuki was scared out of her seat on the park bench. They rushed over to the sight of a charred corpse, riddled with sore burn marks and bite holes on the limbs from some sort of unidentified animal. 

"who could do such a thing like this?" Aibo stared at the floating corpse drifting face down in the water.

"alright. First, we call the police here, leave them to take care of this, while we find a place to stay" Yuki quizzed over their find then walked off to the nearest phone, alerting the local law enforcement to the body in the lake. 

In the meantime, the duo went off to find a bedrest in a blue walled hotel in the center of the city. almost immediately after checking in, Yuki and Aibo split up and searched the city, looking for any clues and connections anyone had as to the ravenous attack at the park lake. Zoos, dog fighting rings, prisons, all came up with no evidence of their involvement of the murder.

Yuki walked through the busy lanes next to Keijo university, where rowdy Korean students in black uniforms and blue ribbons waited outside the iron spiked gates. 

"hi there, little lady, are you lost?" one of the students said, a thin twig of a young man, who was joined by three other men in walking close behind Yuki. She did not give them the satisfaction of answering, knowing all to well they had ulterior motives. 

"what a nice little handbag you have there. Mind if I take a look?" one of the students snatched away the bag, prompting the lady to give the man what for.

 She picked up a loose brick from the pavement and throwing it at the back of the thief's head, forcing him to the floor and releasing the bag from his grasp. Shaken by the response from his victim, the other students had to pick up their injured friend and flee through the university gates without another word, the handbag thrown down in defiance by the blood soaked thief on the ground. Yuki was left by the gates picking up her bag off the dusty street, only to continue her quest in spite of recent events.

On the other side of the city, at the brown walled crevasses of the headquarters to the Japanese colonial police, Aibo was talking to an officer in a blue attire. He had informed the officer that he and his associate had given them the word on the murder in the park. 

"a pleasure, soldier" the officer addressed Aibo, still in his iconic military uniform, be it tattered from several turbulent days in Japan and Okinawa. 

"likewise. Has the police any information on the burned body in the lake?" Aibo retorted. 

"I am afraid not. Currently there are no leads or prime suspects. We have been too occupied with rising nationalism in the colony to be able to deal with a strange murder" the officer told Aibo as they walked out of the station.

 "good luck with this investigation of yours, mister Aibo" the officer bid farewell to the visitor, but before he could create a response, the sound of a roaring engine came closer to the station as a black automobile draped in the circle and stripes of the Korean imperial flag and carrying five men stopped outside.

The men then took out several short rifles and opened fire on the policemen waiting outside the station, causing the streets to empty with the gunfight ensuing. 

"do you have a gun?, sir" Aibo crouched behind a limestone post by the front door.

 "all our weapons are in lock up. At the end of the hallway, there is a steel door, take this and unlock it. Get a gun then come back, okay?" the officer gave Aibo a sickled iron key to the latter, who then sprinted into the police station under fire as the officers fought back against the Korean nationalists. 

At the end of a red painted corridor of work desks and crouching workers next to smashed windows, Aibo found the blue metal door at the end of the room. He quickly opened the door, revealing an armory of guns, grenades, swords and knives of different shapes and sizes, all collecting dust in the darkness of the room.

Aibo shut the door behind him, then emerged several minutes later with a burlap sack filled with weapons and a Nambu pistol in his hand. Running out of the door to find the police still fighting the rebels, Aibo opened fire, injuring one of the fighters who were shooting from behind their automobile. After five more minutes, two of the fighters were dead on the ground, two had surrendered to the police and had been taken into contempt for political extremism, and several policeman had been injured. Aibo survived the fight unscathed and was allowed to leave with his small cache of weapons as a reward from the officer he had befriended for defending the police station.

As Aibo ran back to the hotel where he and Yuki were staying, he could hear the police discussing an order to implement martial law in the city in response to the attack on the police, a claim only verified by a radio broadcast heard by he and Yuki in their exquisite furniture hotel room.

 "this does not sound too good Aibo. What is worse, we have no information on the murder case, neither have we found out where Senbi is hiding" Yuki looked hopelessly out of the hotel window onto the streets.

 "anyway, how was your search for clues" she continued. 

"I found nothing on the murder or Senbi, but I did get these weapons that we can use on Senbi when we finally find him" Aibo showed off his haul from the police station. 

"that seems useful. As for me, no information on either as well. I went into town and found some supplies that I can use to make something later. Hopefully this martial law will die down before Senbi leaves" Yuki showed Aibo a bag of supplies, then got to work on her new project.