—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Is this all you have?”
The first place Im Seo-ryeon checked was the storage. The wide-open storage mostly contained supplies and food that we used, and there were almost no luxuries left. Im Seo-ryeon stepped inside the storage and glanced around before frowning and saying,
“…Hmm, I thought you’d have a mountain of treasures after sucking the villagers dry.”
Seon-go smiled triumphantly at me. I stroked her head and then said to Im Seo-ryeon,
“We’re running things cleanly here. Can’t you tell just by looking? The previous leader was like a beast, sucking people dry and all, but there’s no need for that now.”
But Im Seo-ryeon firmly shook her head at my words. It was like she was certain that I had also been corrupted.
“No. As the Hengsan Sect’s Kirin, my instincts are telling me. I’ve seen many disgusting people like you who put on a facade. Those bastards would always show me their empty storage and say ‘Look, we have nothing’. Do you think such a petty trick would work on me?”
I wasn’t fazed by her sharp gaze. Although her eyes were sparkling like a detective in a mystery novel, it had only been about a month since I had become the leader, so I hadn’t really taken anything for myself.
“I’m giving you a chance, and you’re not taking it. As expected, you guys are all the same.”
She said that and pulled out her sword, still in its scabbard. The servants were agitated at that action, and I stepped back with Seon-go in my arms. Im Seo-ryeon gave a satisfied smile at the sight and swung her scabbard down at the floor of the storage.
Thud!
With a loud sound, a large hole appeared on the floor of the storage, revealing a dark space. Bedding and random junk fell from the shelves with the shock of the trembling floor, and the servant who was standing beside me staggered forward, unable to maintain his balance.
“Oops!”
A voice echoed. There was a hidden space underneath the storage.
Im Seo-ryeon said in a strong tone,
“A secret space right below the storage! A petty trick like hiding things in plain sight does not work on me! Right here! This place will be filled with the evidence of your corruption!”
I couldn’t help but be a little flustered by her confident attitude. Because I truly didn’t know that there was a secret space underneath the storage. Did Seon-go know? When I looked at Seon-go, she covered her mouth and said in a low voice,
“Oh my.”
And that voice made me even more terrified.
She didn’t know either?
No, what if the previous leader had hidden his slush fund there? What if I opened it up and there were a ton of luxury vases and jewelry?
It seemed that my darkening face was very noticeable. Im Seo-ryeon pointed to the floor she had broken with a hearty laugh.
“Okay! It looks like I was right! Your fake act ends here! Lieutenant! Hurry up and bring out the things inside!”
The young man who had been standing behind us, watching the situation, jumped down at Im Seo-ryeon’s command. Although he might have hesitated since it looked pretty deep, he seemed to be as passionate about corruption as his superior.
Im Seo-ryeon was fidgeting with the sword in her hands while having her arms crossed. Just by her actions, it seemed like she had the intention of attacking me with her sword if anything suspicious were to be found.
Should I just run away now?
“Stay there. It’s nothing for me to cut your arms and legs off and stop your movements.”
Even if I just looked around with the intention of running away, Im Seo-ryeon took out her sword halfway and threatened me. I had no choice but to spread out my hands and try to calm her down, and we had to wait there at the storage until the lieutenant finished investigating inside.
Seon-go had an anxious expression as she looked back and forth between the hole and me, and I was even more nervous at her actions.
Is it really going to end so pointlessly?
Really?
“Um, Inspector?”
The man’s voice echoed from down below. Im Seo-ryeon’s lip curled up a little at his voice and said,
“What’s wrong?”
“…It’s a liquor storage. There’s only alcohol here.”
“…..”
Im Seo-ryeon didn’t say anything and just looked at me. As if she was trying to resist this reality that she couldn’t believe, she forcefully hardened her expression before asking the lieutenant,
“…Is it some kind of expensive liquor?”
“No, it’s just ordinary rice wine. There aren’t even that many barrels, so it’s a bit much to call this evidence of corruption….”
I silently looked at Seon-go.
Why was she so anxious?
She read the meaning in my face and shook her hands, giving an excuse.
“No, it hasn’t been fermented yet, so I had it hidden there on purpose to drink together later, since it would go bad if it was exposed to the outside air….”
And then, Seon-go looked at Im Seo-ryeon. Im Seo-ryeon avoided her eyes for a moment after making eye contact with Seon-go, and then said,
“…My apologies.”
What kind of woman is she?
Seriously.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“…But no matter how empty the storage is, there will always be flaws in the ledgers. Hand over the ledgers!”
“There are more storages there, aren’t you going to check those?”
I pointed towards the other storages. There were a few valuables there, including the Qin dynasty vase that had been passed down for generations in this sect. Im Seo-ryeon shook her head at my question and shouted,
“It’s not too late to do that after I look at the ledgers.”
The ledgers recording the income, along with the ledgers recording the transactions from the storage, and the ledgers about the management of this sect were all laid out in front of her.
She sat down as soon as she saw the ledgers with a cold smile, and the lieutenant placed a brush and ink stone he had brought out from somewhere on top of the desk. She said while grinding the ink,
“If you’ve been caught by the Hengsan Sect’s Kirin, then all your corruption is bound to be found out. I’ll remove that mask of hypocrisy for you.”
She shouted with a triumphant expression, but I could also feel a sense of unease from her. Her expression as she was furrowing her eyebrows and turning over the pages looked like a scholar preparing for an exam.
Seon-go said to me with the Hengsan Sect’s Kirin before her,
“Do you want some tea?”
“Should we?”
Then, the lieutenant, who had been standing there, raised his hand and said,
“Ah, give me a cup as well, please.”
Im Seo-ryeon, who had been looking through the ledgers, raised her head at those words. When she shot a glare at him, the lieutenant slowly lowered his hands and said,
“…I don’t think I need one anymore.”
Birds of a feather flock together.
Seriously.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Three hours later.
“…Hey, are you just going to keep on looking at the ledgers?”
Unable to wait any longer, I started to caress Seon-go’s hair, who was dozing off, and asked Im Seo-ryeon. Im Seo-ryeon had bloodshot eyes as she looked back and forth between the ledgers, the records of transactions, and the list of items recorded in the storage.
She had even counted the items in the storage and the money in the safe by hand, because she wanted to count it with her own eyes.
But the words that she had found any evidence of corruption never left her mouth.
The numbers matched up perfectly, and she had not found a single luxury item or anything strange.
Our sect was perfect, on paper.
We had not committed any act of corruption, and we had sold off all the items that had been left behind by the previous leader that could be used against us.
When I thought about it, it seemed that Seon-go had prepared for this situation by selling all the things in the storage for cheap to the merchants.
Seon-go yawned and said,
“…There’s nothing wrong with the ledgers. I put so much work into it.”
Seon-go said that, and then she leaned against my chest and acted like a spoiled child. The signs of her being nervous because of a first-rate master were now gone.
On the other hand, it had been a long time since Im Seo-ryeon had shown the calm demeanor of a first-rate master and the Hengsan Sect’s Kirin. It was as if she had suffered from Qi deviation. She was biting her nails and breathing roughly while clutching her chin.
“…This shouldn’t be happening…”
“How long are you going to do that for?”
I frowned. Then, the lieutenant, who had been fidgeting between Im Seo-ryeon and me, came to me and whispered,
“…Please understand. The inspector hasn’t had good results lately, so she’s very on edge since she has to improve her performance.”
I tilted my head at his words. Hadn’t she called herself the Kirin of the Hengsan Sect or something? Wasn’t she supposed to be skilled? I said to him in an even lower voice,
“She called herself the Hengsan Sect’s Kirin though?”
“She was called that in the Hengsan Sect because her talent in martial arts was exceptional, and she’s currently working for the Martial Alliance because they acknowledged her intelligence… but it seems like she’s not very suited to this type of work.”
Then, a thump sound came from the desk, and Im Seo-ryeon stood up abruptly.
“…What’s that building over there? It doesn’t seem like we’ve gone in there yet.”
And then she pointed to another storage. I said with a sullen face,
“That’s also a storage. I asked if you wanted to go in earlier, but you said that you wanted to look at the ledgers first, right?”
I didn’t care now, no matter what she wanted to do.
Now that my nerves were calmed, the only thing I wanted was for this woman who was obsessed with getting results to disappear quickly.
Im Seo-ryeon frowned at my words and then walked toward the storage and said,
“Yes, in that storage! That storage will definitely be filled with evidence of your corruption!”
Her tone was more of desperation rather than confidence. Seon-go, who had woken up at her actions, carefully said,
“Please be careful. The vase inside is a family heirloom, so…”
“Do I look like I would break a vase?”
Im Seo-ryeon said that, and then opened the doors and went inside.
The vase was still standing in the storage in the same spot as it was before, and Im Seo-ryeon blinked after seeing it and said,
“Oh, this is quite a nice piece. Where…”
And then the moment she reached out her hand to check the vase.
Crack
Crack
“Huh?”
Before Im Seo-ryeon, who had just put her hand on the vase, could even check what was happening,
before I could even remember that Sanyeo had broken and then reattached the vase not too long ago,
Crash!
The vase started to crack miserably from the spot where Im Seo-ryeon’s hand was touching it and shattered into pieces.
“Huh…”
Seon-go’s face became pale.
“Huh…”
And Im Seo-ryeon’s face also turned white.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
