Chapter 219
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 219
Chapter 219. Karma (8)
My telepathy woke Jin-yu, who opened his eyes, put on his mask, and tied the strings tightly.
“I'm ready.”
“Go ahead. I'll follow you.”
“Yes.”
Jin-yu took a deep breath and raised his sword.
The sword, which had been coated with ash to make it look dull, seemed particularly cold today.
Ta-!
Jinyu Musha kicked off and shot forward, and Seo Woo Musha followed behind him.
Was it time for revenge? Or was it time for retribution?
Whatever it was, one thing was certain: it would be hell for them.
Shak!
This time, we would show no mercy.
Unlike last time, we had to make sure they were missing so that the Martial Alliance would be troubled.
Moreover, they were the sons of families loyal to the Martial Alliance.
Even if they were good-for-nothings, they were still the sons of those families, so they would not suffer the same fate as Ma Jang-ju's bodyguards.
Each family will probably give them some compensation and try to cover up the incident.
Then they will continue to commit reckless acts, and innocent people will suffer.
Therefore, it is better for them to disappear from here.
* *
Vice Captain Sagoo jumped up from his bed, his killing intent sharp.
“Who dares!”
He quickly grabbed his sword and rushed out of the barracks.
However, the situation was already not looking good.
Everyone had drunk so much that they could hardly stand, and they were falling down helplessly.
“You bastards! What are you doing!”
At the cry of Vice Captain Sagu, the intruders turned their heads toward him.
Smiling masks.
The moment he saw them, a chill ran down his spine.
“Was that testimony true?”
But he quickly shook his head to calm his fears and gripped his sword tightly.
If those guys were the culprits, they must know where the gold is!
“How dare you attack us? You're very brave. I'll arrest you and get back the gold coins!”
Some of them had been knocked down by the surprise attack, but now that he had stepped forward, the situation would be resolved quickly.
Thanks to his recent attainment of peak strength, his confidence was sky high.
He swung his sword with confidence.
Clang!
However, contrary to his expectations, his sword was easily blocked.
“Not bad!”
“...”
His opponent was not at all flustered, even after blocking his sword.
The eyes visible behind the mask were cold.
“Hee-hee!”
He had a bad feeling, but he tried to shake it off by swinging his sword again.
Clang! Clang!
Kagagang!
The swords clashed repeatedly, sending sparks flying.
However, neither of them gave an inch, and a tense atmosphere enveloped them, as if they were pulling on a string from both ends.
It was a precarious situation that seemed as if it would break at any moment.
Only then did Vice Captain Sagu come to his senses and realize
that the man facing him was his equal.
“Damn it! This is a warrior at the peak of his powers! Where did this guy come from?”
Attacking them like this, they must be enemies of the Martial Alliance, not ordinary Green Forest Bandits.
He had to survive at all costs and relay this information to the Martial Alliance.
“Then we'll be able to resolve any problems that arise.”
Just then.
“An opening!”
He saw an opening on his opponent's left side and quickly moved in to strike.
Just as his sword was about to touch his opponent's side,
“Huh?”
When he realized something was wrong, the dagger was already in front of his eyes.
However, it was difficult to pull back a sword that had already been thrust forward.
Moreover, as he thrust his sword forward, his upper body also moved forward, so he couldn't dodge the blow.
“Damn it! Could the opening in my side have been a trap?”
Setting such a trap meant that his opponent was a master swordsman, superior to him.
But he realized it too late.
Puk!
“Aaah!”
He screamed in pain from his eyes.
Squeak!
At the same time, his right arm, which was holding the sword, flew away.
Then, his opponent's sword reached his heart.
“I'm glad it wasn't a stone knife this time. Now I can avenge my friends who died back then.”
“...!”
Only then did the past come to his mind.
The child who tried to stab his chest with a stone knife, the child who ran away, and what they did at that time.
“You, you!”
Puk!
But he couldn't say anything else.
This time, the sword of the true warrior was stuck in the heart of Vice Captain Dao.
Thud.
Thus, he met a peaceful death compared to the crimes he had committed.
But would he really be at peace in the afterlife?
Considering the hardships his family would suffer because of his death, it would not be so peaceful.
“There is no one left alive.”
Thanks to Seo Woo's telepathy, Jin-yu was finally able to look directly at the Vice Captain he had killed.
He calmly retrieved the dagger stuck in Vice Captain Sagu's eye and closed his eyes.
The faces of his friends who had died miserably began to flash before his eyes.
Sixty people who had been brutally massacred by the Baekrodae, and thirty who had died in subsequent training.
And...
Five who had died during the mission.
The revenge of Jinmu, the only survivor among those who were with him at the time, had only just begun.
* *
I looked at Jinmu.
He looked somehow refreshed.
However, this was no time to relax, so I called him over after a moment.
“Jinmu, we need to clean up and leave.”
“Yes, thank you for waiting.”
We hurriedly began our work.
We hid the bodies and cleaned up the blood. Then, after packing our belongings, we left traces behind to cover our tracks.
Of course, the gold coins went into my secret hiding place.
Having completed our work, we returned to the inn.
“Young master, are you here?”
“Yes. Was everything okay?”
“Yes, everything went according to plan. I showed the people your image and the images of the two warriors, just as you instructed.”
“Well done.”
I gave Pal-gap the Heo Mae-gyeong and told him to use it to show the others what Seo-woo, Jin-yu, and I looked like.
Heo Mae-gyeong is an item that allows its user to place their illusion wherever they want.
However, Heo Mae-gyeong had another hidden ability.
It was the ability to place not only one's own illusion, but any illusion one wanted.
In other words, it didn't matter who the person was, as long as the user knew them.
Pal-gap used this ability to show our appearance to others, thereby creating witnesses.
Since we were already doing it, we had to do it perfectly.
We all went down to the first floor.
“I'm hungry after working all day.”
“I'll order some food.”
“Okay.”
Soon, a simple-looking noodle dish was served at our table.
I ate the noodles and gathered my thoughts once more.
Now all that was left was to get rid of Chairman Ma. He had to pay for his crimes.
He still had to pay for the cruel murder of eight young Misses.
Not long ago, Master Jin came to ask me about Jihyeon, who had offered grain to the imperial palace.
At that time, I asked Master Jin for advice.
He said that if there was solid evidence, the inspector general could investigate on his own authority without a whistleblower.
Evidence... Perhaps Jihyeon has something?
He may be bowing and scraping to Chairman Ma, but isn't he secretly resentful?
He is a government official responsible for the county, so his pride must be hurt.
There must be something.
Evidence that I gathered with the determination to get him one day.
.
.
.
Three days later, I went to see Jihyeon in Taegyeong County.
“This is So-sang, reporting to Jihyeon-dae-in.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“I apologize for visiting you at such a busy time due to the recent unfortunate events.”
“No, I was just about to take a break because I had a headache. Would you like some tea?”
“I would be grateful if you would offer.”
We headed to the reception room in the county office.
Unexpectedly, the county magistrate brewed the tea himself.
“Please, help yourself.”
“Thank you.”
As I drank the tea, I was a little surprised.
The quality of the tea itself was certainly not as good as the tea I had drunk at Magajang, but the taste was much better.
This meant that he was very knowledgeable about tea.
“You are very skilled at making tea.”
“It's nothing to brag about, but I appreciate your kind words.”
We exchanged light conversation for a while before cautiously bringing up the main topic.
“What do you think of Ma Jang-ju?”
“...He is working hard for the development of this village.”
However, judging from his expression and the trembling of his hands holding the teacup, I knew he didn't mean what he said.
“Lord Ji-hyun, you must know that Chairman Ma lost 10,000 gold coins.”
“Why are you stating the obvious?”
“Do you know why Chairman Ma needed such a large sum of money?”
“I know. Chairman Ma decided to invest in the escort agency project promoted by the Martial Alliance.”
“Then how did Ma Jang-ju, who lost ten thousand gold coins, send the money?”
“...Huh?”
“I'll tell you the answer. He sold all his possessions to me. That's why Ma Jang-ju is now a beggar. In vulgar terms, he's penniless.”
“Penniless... You mean broke? Ma Jang-ju?”
Ji-hyun's eyes lit up for a moment, but he quickly shook his head.
“But the profits will come in soon. You can't think so simplistically.”
“You're slow to catch up on rumors.”
“Huh?”
“There's a commotion at the Martial Alliance right now.”
“A commotion? What do you mean?”
“It's because the members of the Baekroo Dan who came here last time are missing. They all disappeared while transporting the gold.”
“...What?”
“The investment funds didn't reach the Martial Alliance, so we can't even move forward with the project. How can we receive the profits in this situation?”
“...”
“And most of the warriors who were protecting Chairman Ma are currently being interrogated at the county office.”
Hearing this, Jihyeon's eyes widened as if he had just realized something important.
“The only person who can control Jihyeon, who is in charge of the administration of this county, is His Majesty the Emperor.”
“That's right!”
“But does it make any sense that a mere county magistrate would use his power to receive the emperor's sacred land and threaten Jihyeon, who came here to govern this village?”
“That's right! You're absolutely right.”
Jihyeon's reaction was as I expected, so I calmly continued with the next part of my story.
“I heard that there were eight women who were married to the county magistrate.”
“....
”And they all committed suicide, right?“
”Hm.“
He cleared his throat awkwardly and picked up his teacup.
”What is the truth?“
”Why are you digging into that?"
“Of course we have to bring it up. Is there anything else that can send Ma Jang-ju away for sure? Besides, there is an official from the Ministry of Justice here right now.”
Even after I said that, he still hesitated, so it seemed that he had been tormented by Ma Jang-ju quite a bit.
“You have the investigation files, right?”
“....”
Since he didn't deny it right away, I knew he had them.
“Then I will give you the courage to make a decision.”
I showed him my inspection officer's badge.
“...!”
Jihyeon's eyes widened when he saw it.
“Actually, His Majesty the Emperor knows about this matter.”
“....”
“That is why I am here.”
His hand holding the teacup trembled violently, spilling tea onto the table.
I took the teacup from his hand and placed it on the table.
Then I took his hand and said,
“I understand. You are also a victim, Ji-hyun. With everything in the county under the control of Chairman Ma and dozens of elite warriors following his orders, what could you have done?”
Only then did he open his mouth.
“That's right. He put a sword to my neck and told me to listen to him carefully if I didn't want to die a cruel death.”
He pulled open his official robe and showed me his neck.
“This is the wound I received then.”
There was a long scar.
I realized once again how powerful Ma Jang-ju was.
I never imagined that he would threaten Ji-hyun, who was supposed to be the head of the county, like that.
“Of course, I resisted at first. But when it came to this, I had no choice but to give in. As the head of this county, I have lost all face.”
I patted him on the back and asked again.
“It's not too late. Do you have the investigation files?”
He nodded with a solemn expression.
“Yes. I made all eight files confidential.”
.
.
.
I left the county office.
I felt sorry for Jihyun again.
Honestly, who wouldn't act like Jihyun in that situation?
But Jihyun survived until the end, waited for his chance, and finally reaped the rewards.
I spoke to Lee Pil, the warrior.
“Tell Eunpungdae Sa Jo to come here immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Palga.”
“Yes?”
“Can you find a hut for me?”
“What do you mean, a hut?”
“Yes. The shabbier, the better. We can't chase him away without giving him a place to live.”