Chapter 43: Those Who Meet Must Part, Those Who Part Must Meet (2)
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“In the end, the leader of the Hongryun Sect was innocent.”
“It happens sometimes. You go to investigate someone who was reported as suspicious and they turn out innocent. Most of them turn out to be bastards when we find a single flaw in their ledger, but the leader of the Hongryun Sect managed to survive because he had a very capable person managing the ledgers.”
“….This is strange. I requested the investigator position to get rid of the rotten roots in the martial world, but like this, isn’t it no different from a hound that catches wild beasts? To nitpick at innocent people and punish them, is that… really the right thing to do?”
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Inspector?”
“Maybe I was blinded by getting results and had been walking down the wrong path.”
The lieutenant gave a wry smile at Im Seo-ryeon’s words. He didn’t like these kinds of deep conversations to drag on. The lieutenant pointed toward a grave that was visible near the village and said,
“I see a grave over there, Inspector. I don’t think I saw it on the way there, was there always a grave in a place like this?”
“Ah, is that so? There was a grave in a place like that?”
On their way back to their branch, Im Seo-ryeon and the lieutenant had discovered a tombstone sticking out of the ground near the path of a village. The lieutenant said while looking over the grave,
“It’s not a very old grave. It has a saying here as well. ‘An unknown young man, who had an unrequited love, is buried here.’ It’s a romantic phrase.”
Im Seo-ryeon frowned at the lieutenant’s words and said,
“Don’t be absurd in front of a deceased’s grave. Watch your mouth.”
“Ah, my apologies. But it’s a phrase that you wouldn’t usually see in a rural village, wouldn’t you say? I’m not sure why the deceased is buried in a place like this, or why they call him an unknown young man.”
Im Seo-ryeon also nodded after hearing the lieutenant’s question.
“Hey. Are you curious about that grave?”
An oxcart passed by us. It was an elderly man with a big hat, who was carrying bundles of grass. After being startled by Im Seo-ryeon and the lieutenant, he averted his eyes and said,
“Aigoo, you must be martial artists.”
Im Seo-ryeon was quicker than the confused lieutenant. She put on a smiling face and said,
“Don’t worry. We’re not related to this person, we were just passing by. It looked like there was a story behind this grave, so we were talking about it. Do you perhaps know any story that’s related to this grave?”
A kind tone and gentle expression would disarm one’s defenses. The old man, who had been hesitating, straightened his posture and bowed, before speaking.
“Aigoo, if you say so… I don’t think I’d be able to keep my mouth shut. From what I heard, the owner of this grave was a man who had worked for the Hongryun Sect.”
“He worked for the Hongryun Sect?”
“Yes. That man had secretly harbored feelings for the daughter of the previous leader and was discovered. So the leader had tricked him by saying that he would take him to a good place before smashing his head in and killing him.”
The lieutenant frowned. It was a story that was not impossible.
“He used a merchant to take care of the body by paying him, so he couldn’t be buried in his hometown. The merchant, pitying his situation, asked the people in this village for their permission and built this grave for him. That’s how it goes.”
Im Seo-ryeon tilted her head and asked,
“Was it the previous leader? Or was it the current leader who had taken over?”
The old man shook his head and said,
“I don’t know. I think it was around the time that the leader was changed. But I’m not really sure about which one came first.”
“Is that so. Understood. Then, have a safe trip.”
“Oh my, I hope my words were of help. Huhu.”
The old man smiled happily and left.
The two of them started their conversation again after the old man left. Im Seo-ryeon was the first to speak.
“What do you think? Which of the two, the current leader, and the previous one, do you think was the perpetrator?”
The lieutenant nodded at her question and said,
“It must have been the previous leader, right? I’ve heard a lot about him, he was a true beast. It wouldn’t be strange for a man like him to kill someone for harboring feelings for his daughter. In a way, it’s a reason that deserves to be punished by death, but if it was me, then I would have just chased him away.”
Im Seo-ryeon nodded and said,
“I think so as well. It’s too insidious. There were no problems with the ledgers under the current leader, and I’ve heard rumors that he even lowered the taxes. I don’t think that a man like him would have done something so troublesome. If he was the one who did it, then he would have done it more openly. I heard that the current leader had done a large-scale purge when he had taken the sect over from the previous one.”
“The daughter of the previous leader is the wife of the current leader. No one would have said anything if he killed someone for liking his wife. I’m thinking more that the previous leader had secretly killed him because of the problems that had happened in the Hongryun Sect recently, and because of the chaotic public sentiment. It would have been better to be generous as the sect leader, but a promising young man has lost his life.”
Im Seo-ryeon was lost in thought while stroking her chin. It seemed like she had fallen into thought while looking at the grave. The lieutenant tilted his head and asked,
“What’s wrong, Inspector?”
“Maybe this death is also the fault of the Martial Alliance.”
The lieutenant shook his head and said,
“No, you’re thinking too much, Inspector. That man would have died even if we came a few days earlier.”
“He would have, if we came a few days earlier. So, it’s our fault. Go to the village and buy a bottle of alcohol. I should pour a drink for him.”
“Ah, yes…”
The lieutenant rushed towards the village even though he had a confused expression after Im Seo-ryeon gave him a few coins. Im Seo-ryeon was staring at the tombstone for a moment, and then watched the lieutenant buying a bottle of alcohol at the inn at the village entrance. The lieutenant returned like the wind with the alcohol, using the movement techniques that he was learning.
Im Seo-ryeon received the alcohol from him and said,
“You’re learning movement techniques quickly. You seemed unstable the day we were coming to inspect the Hongryun Sect, but now you’ve gotten the hang of it.”
The lieutenant awkwardly smiled while touching his hair.
“Ah, my body just automatically moved like that after seeing that woman back there.”
Im Seo-ryeon moved her gaze past the lieutenant after hearing his words. An elderly woman with a wrinkled face glanced at the two of them before going back to wiping the tables at the inn.
“…Anyway, let’s pour him a drink.”
Im Seo-ryeon turned around, poured a cup of alcohol, and then placed it in front of the tombstone. And then, she bowed once before raising her body. The lieutenant, after seeing her bow, also hurriedly bowed to the grave together with her. Im Seo-ryeon raised her body and sprinkled the alcohol onto the grave.
And then she said to the lieutenant while looking at him,
“He’s dead because of us.”
The lieutenant didn’t refute this time. Im Seo-ryeon continued,
“The Martial Alliance is being controlled by a madman who is obsessed with money and calls himself Master Gold Fortune! If he says that something is wrong, then we go out to make someone wrong, and if he says that something is right, then even if we were to beat someone to death, then it would become right. That’s why we killed him. Because we turned a deaf ear, that is why we killed him.”
The lieutenant looked at Im Seo-ryeon with a sullen face. Im Seo-ryeon asked the lieutenant who was scratching his head,
“Do you have anything to say?”
“No, I don’t.”
Im Seo-ryeon continued with a sullen face,
“If I continue to live like this, there’s no meaning to me learning the sword in the Hengsan Sect. Because I am unable to uphold the teachings of my master, who taught me to wield my sword with righteousness, I won’t be able to look my master straight in the eye if I return. Confucius had said, do not look, listen, or engage in that which is not righteous. I have seen a man die before my eyes, and have also seen that the leader of the Hongryun Sect, who Master Gold Fortune had called suspicious, was innocent.”
Im Seo-ryeon’s hand was clutching her sword tightly.
She recalled the face of the Hongryun Sect’s leader. Do-cheol, was it? He, who had taken over the Hongryun Sect and become its leader, had seemed greedy on the outside, but there was nothing wrong with his ledgers.
And he was also skilled at massages.
She briefly blushed when she recalled the nights she had spent in the Hongryun Sect. When she looked forward, the lieutenant was also dazedly looking up at the sky. Im Seo-ryeon cleared her throat and said,
“Let’s start small. We have finished the investigation thoroughly, and the leader of the Hongryun Sect passed the inspection. The documents have been prepared, and we have determined that there is no more need to inspect them.”
“Master Gold Fortune will be very angry. If you fail to achieve results again this time, you might face more ridicule, Inspector.”
“I don’t care.”
Im Seo-ryeon responded firmly. The lieutenant was shocked by her actions and took a step back. Because her figure was different from the woman he knew.
“If I continue to find faults and punish innocent people, and if I were to judge fairly and distinguish between right and wrong, which of the two would tarnish the name of the Hengsan Sect more?”
Im Seo-ryeon said while looking at her lieutenant,
“You can do whatever you want. It might even be harmful to you if you continue as my lieutenant.”
The two of them started walking again. As Im Seo-ryeon walked quickly, the lieutenant looked at her back with a complicated expression.
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