Chapter 405: The evidence that it was not a suicide
"Why are you saying that all of a sudden?"
When Geom Mugeuk said that she should help her mother, as if he had read her mind, Han Seol was inwardly surprised.
The reason Geom Mugeuk said that was because he had the mastermind behind this incident in mind. If the Blood King was targeting the Ice Palace, they had to join forces to stop him.
Of course, he could not tell her that.
"The reason the Ice Palace Master accepted the conditions I proposed is probably because she made a kind of deal with the Northern Blood Gate. She must have saved the Northern Blood Gate Master’s second child and received a price for it."
Han Seol could not deny his words.
"In this situation, we entered the Ice Palace. Since your mother would be concerned with the Northern Blood Gate’s matters, it meant that you would have to handle us."
Was that really the reason he had said it? It felt like there was something a little more important.
"You do not need to get involved with the internal affairs of the palace, Young Cult Leader."
"I said it for your sake."
Han Seol rarely had long conversations with anyone other than her mother.
She usually spoke briefly and to the point, and who would dare to speak at length with the Young Palace Master?
However, this Young Cult Leader kept making her talk. No, he made it impossible for her not to.
"Why do you say it is for my sake?"
"I just wanted to help."
"There is no such thing as kindness without a reason in this world."
She spoke firmly and moved away.
She hated receiving favors, but even more hated the situation where, having received one, she had to repay it. The emotions exchanged between people, that interaction felt to her like passing around poisoned hidden weapons.
Geom Mugeuk walked after her.
"Why are you following me?"
"You are hardly in a position to ask that, after eavesdropping on my conversation."
For a moment, Han Seol flared up.
"Eavesdropping? I just."
"Just?"
"I just did not have the chance to step in."
"Just as there is no such thing as kindness without a reason, there is no such thing as a grave without an excuse."
Han Seol made a dumbfounded expression and started walking again. Now that she thought about it, she realized it had been a long time since she had flared up. People like him who teased others and stirred up their emotions as they pleased—she really hated them.
"Do not be under the delusion that everyone in the world will fall for you. They are only pretending to like you... because you are the Young Cult Leader. If you were a low-ranked martial artist, would they have liked you?"
"They would probably have beaten me up badly, saying that a low-ranked martial artist was being too talkative."
Han Seol almost burst out angrily, but held back. If she did, he would surely respond with some other ridiculous remark.
She walked away without saying another word.
Passing martial artists respectfully greeted her.
Han Seol received their greetings with the same unchanging expression.
Then Geom Mugeuk started meddling in all sorts of things.
"Do you always act so stiffly toward your subordinates?"
"We are martial artists. Why would you expect kindness?"
In the end, she stopped walking again. Her values were far too different from this man’s.
"Did those people come here to have fun? Can you order them to go on dangerous missions where their lives are at risk after chattering away with them? Would they willingly go if ordered?"
Geom Mugeuk said nothing.
"Why are you silent?"
"You’re speaking the truth, what could I say?"
Han Seol stared at Geom Mugeuk for a moment before leaving a final remark.
"Even if you are the Young Cult Leader and not a low-ranked martial artist, one day you’re going to get beaten up badly."
Han Seol strode away quickly, signaling him not to follow. Behind her, Geom Mugeuk’s voice rang out.
"Let’s have a drink sometime! Drunken Demon is abstaining from alcohol right now, so I can’t drink! Lee Ahn won’t drink with me either because she’s keeping her loyalty!"
Always like that until the end. Drunken Demon abstaining from alcohol? And what was that? That his subordinate wouldn’t drink to maintain loyalty? Then was he asking her to drink because he thought she seemed disloyal? Just how much did he intend to tease her?
Thus she left the place.
The playful look disappeared from Geom Mugeuk’s face as he watched her leave.
Since he could not get close to her by ordinary methods due to the invisible wall she erected, he was digging in like this.
But the reason he was doing so was not to brighten her personality or fill a hole in her heart. It was for the safety of her and the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
If the Blood King was involved with the Ice Palace, he must have extended his schemes toward Han Seol as well. Or at least, he would eventually. That had been their pattern so far.
Geom Mugeuk looked around. The towering buildings and the giant statues of martial artists made of ice sparkled under the sunlight.
'Blood King, where are you hiding?'
Where are you concealing that cruel, bloody intent?
* * *
The Northern Sea Ice Palace provided three rooms in total.
Geom Mugeuk said to Lee Ahn,
"You stay in the center room."
"So you two are going to protect me from both sides?"
"If I want to get delicious noodles, I have to protect you."
Since they could not know what was happening inside the Northern Sea Ice Palace, they had to be as cautious as possible. Drunken Demon would take care of himself, and if it was just a room away, the perfected Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique would react.
"Before coming here, I sent messages to Hidden Moon and Heavenly Communication Pavilion. I asked them to focus all their information networks on the Northern Sea Ice Palace and the Northern Blood Gate."
If the two intelligence organizations joined forces, they would unleash tremendous power.
"I think the ones behind this incident are the same people who once plotted in the Martial Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance."
Drunken Demon and Lee Ahn nodded in agreement. They were the same ones who had been active in the Heavenly Wind Cult. If they were not present in the Ice Palace, that would actually be strange.
"Since we were attacked before, the situation is even more dangerous now. Be careful, young master!"
"It’s fine, my brother will protect me. Right? Why aren’t you answering? I’ll take care of it! Why aren’t you doing it again?"
At Geom Mugeuk’s urging, Drunken Demon feigned ignorance.
"Ah! I want to drink."
"Don't revert to your original self!"
Watching the two of them, Lee Ahn smiled faintly.
She truly never imagined that Drunken Demon was this kind of person. She had always been afraid that conversation would be impossible because he was perpetually drunk. She thought that if he got angry, his drunken rage would explode out madly.
Above all, she believed he coped with sorrow through drinking.
But he knew. That drowning in sorrow through alcohol was not true mourning.
Instead, he had quit drinking and was calmly observing the world, soothing his own heart. He was comforting himself that way. He understood that true mourning meant knowing how to comfort oneself.
"Especially, we must be cautious of the Northern Blood Gate. Because they were trying to hide something from us."
At Drunken Demon’s words, Lee Ahn asked worriedly,
"Then won’t the Northern Blood Gate try to destroy all the evidence and cut ties?"
"They will."
The one who answered was Geom Mugeuk.
"Then is it okay for us to just stay here like this?"
"It’s fine. The act of cutting off the tail will become another tail."
"I see."
She answered as if she understood, but because she could not figure out exactly how they would deal with it, Lee Ahn let out a sigh.
She had never been in a fight like this before.
Behind-the-scenes forces, the Northern Blood Gate, the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
It truly felt like standing in the heart of an enemy camp surrounded by terrifying foes.
"How do you feel?"
"Nervous."
But after looking at the two people she would be fighting alongside, she added to that nervousness.
"Pleasantly."
* * *
From the next morning, the investigation into the Former Master Brewer’s death began in earnest.
Han Seol personally came to fetch the three of them.
She treated Geom Mugeuk calmly, as if she had never flared up the day before.
"I’ll guide you first to the Former Master Brewer’s room. The Palace Master ordered it not to be cleaned up yet, so it has been preserved exactly as it was."
It was fortunate for the investigation. But why had the Ice Palace Master ordered it not to be cleaned? Was it because she was close to her? Or had the Palace Master also found something suspicious about her death?
"What was the cause of her death?"
At Drunken Demon’s question, Han Seol answered.
"She drank poisoned liquor."
At the word "poisoned liquor," Drunken Demon’s eyes twitched slightly.
"Could she have been murdered?"
"That’s impossible. She left a suicide note."
"Can I see it?"
As if she had expected him to ask, she pulled the suicide note from her clothes and handed it over.
It contained confessions of how hard life had been, apologies and guilt directed at the people of the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard who had been making liquor with her, and concluded by asking the Ice Palace Master to forgive her for her disloyalty.
A trace of strange light flashed across Drunken Demon's sorrowful eyes as he read the suicide note.
"The investigation confirmed that it is indeed the Former Master Brewer’s handwriting."
"Yes, it’s certainly her handwriting."
Drunken Demon also acknowledged it. He had seen her writing more than anyone else, so at least it meant that the suicide note was not written by someone else.
"Where did she get the poison?"
"We didn’t investigate that."
Since her suicide was deemed certain, it seemed no investigation had been conducted.
"What happened to the Former Master Brewer’s body?"
"She was buried in the grave where the martial artists of the palace are laid to rest."
Since she was already buried, it would be impossible to find out what kind of poison had been used from her corpse.
Han Seol led the three of them to the Former Master Brewer’s room.
"I heard that there’s no family member to retrieve her belongings."
In that sense, Drunken Demon was her only family.
They entered the Former Master Brewer’s room together.
Upon entering, Drunken Demon took a moment to mourn her.
'It’s been so long since I’ve known you, yet this is my first time entering your room.'
The room was neatly arranged. A small bed that would fit exactly one person was placed by the window, and next to it was a small desk and a chair.
'You must have sat at that desk and sent letters to me.'
The image of her sitting at that desk, writing letters, surfaced in Drunken Demon's heart.
The books tucked into the desk were mostly related to liquor.
Various parts and devices used in brewing were placed in a corner, and the clothes worn during work were neatly folded.
Everyone felt the same emotion.
She truly was someone who knew nothing but liquor.
On one side of the wall, a cabinet was filled with dozens of liquor bottles. They came in various shapes.
"Seeing that she gathered them separately, they must be precious liquors."
Drunken Demon gave no reply. No — he could not reply. Among the gathered liquors were ones he had sent her. Many of them were common liquors easily found on the market, yet she had placed them among her collection of precious bottles.
And it wasn’t just the liquors she had collected.
Drunken Demon found a box under her desk. Inside, she had carefully kept the letters she received from him.
'You kept all of them!'
Drunken Demon had no idea where the letters she sent had ended up. Some might have been lost, others stuffed somewhere.
But the Former Master Brewer had organized them by date and kept them carefully.
Drunken Demon pulled out one of them and read it. The paper was worn from being read many times.
'Ah, so this happened.'
He remembered events from long ago. There were things written that he barely remembered sharing with her. His history was embedded in those letters.
"May I take the letters that I exchanged with her?"
At Drunken Demon's words, Han Seol readily answered.
"Of course."
Even as he stuffed the letters into his chest, Drunken Demon showed no expression.
"Let’s head to the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard now."
* * *
The Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard was bustling with activity.
Behind those loading ingredients onto carts, the fermentation area for liquor could be seen, and there was also a place for aging. There were also people bottling the completed liquor.
As they briefly watched the workers, the man who had been appointed as the temporary Master Brewer was summoned. He was said to have been the person the deceased Former Master Brewer trusted the most.
"I have some questions about the previous Former Master Brewer."
"Please, ask."
"Did she show any strange behavior before she died? Anything unusual?"
"There was nothing like that."
"Anyone she fought with?"
"The Former Master Brewer was not someone who would fight with others."
They spoke with several others besides this man, but there seemed to be no internal conflicts.
Before leaving the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard, Drunken Demon investigated the liquor being produced there: the types of liquor, the production schedule, and where the liquor was distributed.
After finishing the investigation, the four of them left the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard.
"Since it’s so clear that she committed suicide, is there really any need to investigate further?"
If her suicide was certain, the three of them would have no reason to remain at the Ice Palace.
However, in response to Han Seol’s certainty, Drunken Demon showed a different conviction.
"Since it wasn’t a suicide, we must conduct a full investigation. That way, the Ice Palace will assist us even more actively."
When Han Seol showed a puzzled expression, Drunken Demon said confidently,
"During today’s investigation, I found three pieces of evidence and suspicions that prove it was not a suicide."
"Which parts?"
Not only Han Seol, but also Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn showed curious expressions.
Three, he said?
"First, even if she were to commit suicide, she would not have died by drinking poisoned liquor."
"She loved liquor all her life; couldn’t she have chosen to accompany it on her final journey?"
Drunken Demon firmly shook his head.
"Maybe if it were someone like me, a drunkard. But she wasn’t a drunkard — she was a brewer."
To Han Seol, who still didn’t seem to understand, Drunken Demon added an explanation.
"Rather than tainting the liquor she made, she would have jumped off a cliff. She was someone who purely loved liquor."
Geom Mugeuk interpreted that heart this way:
A martial artist might stab their own heart with their sword to commit suicide, but a swordsmith would not want to stain the sword they crafted with blood. That must be what he meant.
"What are the other reasons?"
"I looked over the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard’s schedule earlier. Five days after her death, the Ice Liquor bound for the Alliance Leader’s Hall was scheduled to be completed. That Ice Liquor is a premium brew that can only be made during this season. It’s the most important day of the year for the Hundred Liquors Snow Courtyard. Yet she supposedly committed suicide before completing that final brew? That’s absolutely impossible."
Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn both nodded together. Han Seol also did not react outwardly, but she, too, thought Drunken Demon's words were reasonable. It was the discovery of the suicide note that had obscured the doubts.
"What is the third and final reason?"
"That’s the decisive one."
Drunken Demon spoke calmly with sunken eyes.
"She didn’t leave a suicide note for me."
He was certain that she would never have left without saying anything to him.
"By not leaving a letter to me, she sent her final message. She wanted me to uncover the truth behind her wrongful death."
If she had been forced to write the suicide note under threat — if she had foreseen her death — she might have left some final words to Drunken Demon.
But by leaving no message at all, she was letting Drunken Demon know that her death was not a suicide. It was something only possible when there was deep trust.
"Do you know what their mistake was? They killed the person who would have protected them."
Drunken Demon said this as he slowly caressed the Blood Calabash hanging from his waist.
"The person who would have stopped me from going wild in drunken rage."