A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 50

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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“You mean you want to meet Master Zhang now?”

“Isn’t that the only way we can get a lead right now? Since we can’t locate the person who stole the treasure anyway, it would be beneficial to quickly get information from Master Zhang.”

“Hmm…”

He nodded as if he found my words reasonable.

That was the only way to out of this situation of not having any leads to follow. He looked at me in a way that showed that, despite his attempt to school his expression into a stoic one, he couldn’t hide his uneasiness.

“I suppose there’s no other choice.”

“That’s right.”

He stood up with a somewhat uncomfortable look on his face.

It seemed he might be feeling awkward about questioning such a ‘Master’ like Master Zhang, someone he could not easily disregard due to their status.

Although they didn’t know anything about how the treasure was obtained, however, if it had been acquired through somewhat shady means, it would mean digging up something embarrassing that Master Zhang preferred to hide. If that happened, there was a high probability that both of them would end up in a difficult situation.

People with a lot to hide often didn’t hesitate to do dirty things to keep their secrets.

“Sigh… I wanted to avoid contacting Master Zhang if possible… but given the situation, I’m sure Master Zhang will understand. We’ll go see Master Zhang tomorrow. It’s too late to go now…”

“Ah, yes.”

“Well then, have a good night.”

He turned his back with a tired face and left the inn. I quietly watched him leave and then gave a slight nod to the innkeeper who was watching nervously from the kitchen area, and went up the stairs.

How did things end up like this?

I should try to resolve this quickly and then head to the Wulin Alliance or something.

—

“Ah, you’re here.”

“Good morning.”

“It’s not particularly a good morning. I got thoroughly scolded for not having any results.”

There’s nothing more annoying than getting chewed out by a superior. I recalled the particularly strict deputy commander. That guy was really strict too.

His strictness ensured we were well-supplied and didn’t go hungry. He made sure our supplies never went below a certain level. He was quite strict about that… I learned quite a bit from him.

“Hey.”

“…Ah. I’m sorry. I was just reminiscing about the past.”

“It’s natural to feel nostalgic sometimes. Well then, shall we go meet Master Zhang?”

We headed towards Master Zhang’s mansion to find more clues. I heard he owned the largest mansion in this city.

“Were there any clues discovered overnight?”

“It seems the thief hasn’t left the city. We searched the city thoroughly but couldn’t find any traces of the tracking fragrance. No other suspicious traces were found either, so the case has hit a dead end.”

“The Thief hasn’t left the city, huh…”

Why?

Wouldn’t it be natural to just leave and flee as far as possible? Why would a thief have to stay in this city? It’s not like there’s a barrier preventing his escape, couldn’t the thief just sneak out quietly?

“There are too many questions that we need answers for. This is definitely not an ordinary thief. It’s apparent he is not an ordinary thief from the moment he used qinggong, but…”

“In a world full of ruffians that possess some martial arts skills, there might be such a person.”

“…It’s a bit odd to say that martial artists are mostly ruffians in front of a martial artist, isn’t it?”

“I apologize.”

“It’s fine. What’s important now… is that we need to cross this gate and meet Master Zhang, right?”

I heard he suddenly appeared several decades ago, founded a merchant group, and grew it rapidly. It seemed he was a well-known self-made man of this city.

I heard that each of the collectibles he displayed at the night market was incredibly valuable.

I looked up at the gate of the mansion that could be mistaken for a palace.

It was like they had built Gyeongbokgung Palace here instead of a mansion. At this scale, it would probably take about an hour just to walk around the garden. We had to pass a long wall just to reach the mansion’s gate.

It seemed like the mansion might cover an entire district.

“Constable Meng. What brings you here?”

“We’ve come to ask Master Zhang something. Is Master Zhang in?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Please announce us.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The guard at the gate opened the door and went inside. We waited patiently for the guard to return. The guard came back after about fifteen minutes had passed.

“Please follow me.”

The guard opened the gates wide as he spoke. We followed the guard and entered the mansion.

“…So this is how different the house of the city’s richest man is.”

“He’s a person whose wealth is beyond our imagination.”

It certainly looks that way.

But how could such a wealthy person have such lax security?

This doesn’t add up either.

Maybe… he knew from the start that someone would steal the treasure.

I don’t know what his purpose might be, but…

No, right now everything is just pure speculation. What can I deduce from such flimsy clues that could be overturned? For now, the most important thing was to hear what Master Zhang had to say. William concluded

“Master Zhang! Constable Meng has arrived!”

“Tell them to let him enter.”

I heard some rustling sounds between the words.

“He says to come in.”

The room was spacious too. The room we entered after taking off our shoes was almost as large as a living room. I suppose it’s natural for such a big house.

Living in a place like this… no, it’s not that appealing. If it’s too big, it would be a hassle to clean.

“Constable Meng. It’s been two days. But who’s that person wearing a bamboo hat behind you?”

Ah, I forgot to take off my hat. I took off the bamboo hat that had become almost like a part of me and put it down on the floor, then made a cupped-hand salute.

“I am William Marshall. Please call me Wei Mo.”

“A Westerner…”

Master Zhang looked at me with a surprised face, then for some reason, glanced at me with a wary look.

“I didn’t know you were bringing a Westerner with you, Constable Meng.”

“I met him by chance. He’s quite intelligent, so I thought he might be helpful in solving this case.”

“Hmm…”

The feeling of being scrutinized by this old man with a somewhat shrewd-looking face as he stroked his beard wasn’t very pleasant, but I couldn’t cause a scene, so I waited for him to finish his examination.

“Hmm. Well. I suppose it’s fine if he’s useful…”

He really speaks in an unpleasant way.

Noticing that he had finished his examination, Constable Meng immediately got to the point.

“We came to ask about the treasure, if possible.”

…Hmm.

He furrowed his brow.

“It’s a secret manual I acquired by chance. I bought it out of curiosity as it was an old book, but when I had my bodyguard check it, he said it was the secret manual of the Shadowless Divine Thief. So I displayed it at the night market, partly to show it off.”

Acquired by chance, he says.

Something smells fishy.

Was it not obtained through normal means?

Should I ask directly? Or…

“Is that all?”

“Are you doubting me now?”

“Not at all. I was just wondering if there might be any more information…”

“Constable Meng. Did you fail to track it even though I sprinkled the tracking fragrance on the book?”

“That’s…”

“Huh. I trusted you, Constable Meng.”

…It seems like he’s trying to get rid of us quickly.

I shifted my gaze and secretly examined this old man’s body. There might be evidence I hadn’t noticed on the old man’s body.

His solar plexus was flat, and he had almost no muscles… No, I couldn’t be certain based on just this.

At this point, was taking a risk the correct answer?

“I’m disappointed in you. I’ll assign this case to another constable, so you can…”

“Sir.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Could you call the bodyguard who identified the secret manual of the Shadowless Divine Thief?”

“…That guard quit his job recently.”

…That sounded like a lie. He didn’t think there was really a guard that identified the manual and then quit.

How could a mere bodyguard identify the secret manual of the Shadowless Divine Thief by reading an old book, especially when it wasn’t even a famous item?

Of course, it was possible that the Shadowless Divine Thief had blatantly included his alias in the writing.

However, Master Zhang’s reaction wasn’t normal.

It was obvious that the wariness in his eyes as he looked at me had intensified.

“After reading the secret manual… it is safe to assume he remembered its contents, right? And you still let him go?”

How was Master Zhang considered a merchant if that was really true? Bluntly speaking, if that guard remembered the contents and made it into a book to sell, wouldn’t it decrease the value of the original manual? Of course, no one would do such a crazy thing, but it’s not entirely impossible, is it?

“Are you interrogating me now?”

“It’s you, Master Zhang, who wants us to get back the Shadowless Divine Thief’s secret manual.”

Master Zhang’s gaze sharpened. He looked at us with a gaze as if he was looking at an enemy.

“…We understand this is unpleasant for you Master Zhang, but…”

I observed his expression, which showed a mix of bewilderment and anger, waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity to get a clue.

“As long as Master Zhang is hiding something, there’s no way for us to find the Shadowless Divine Thief’s secret manual. Why don’t you speak with us honestly?”

For me, if this gets annoying, I can just say I won’t do it and leave. Trying to build connections with the officials might come to nothing for him, but he’s essentially no different from a martial artist.

If he doesn’t have those connections, he can just make some connections in the martial arts world and get by.

“Constable Meng. Is your intention the same as his as well?”

“Ah, no. Hey, why are you suddenly acting like this?”

Constable Meng tried to stop me with a flustered face, but I had no intention of stopping there.

There was still one more thing I wanted to confirm.

I spat out the speculation I chose not to mention before.

This speculation may turn out to be true or it might just be something easily dismissed.

“…Master Zhang, don’t you have some connection with the Shadowless Divine Thief?”

The old man’s expression twisted hideously.

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Who else other than me suspects that this old might be have aquired all the wealth and belongings of the Shadowless Divine Thief? He might have been forced to act as a self made man to justify the source of his wealth.