Chapter 48
Preparation (3)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
The reason Namgung Hyeon, Miss Seol, and I personally visited the county office wasn’t to discuss the duel tournament.
Of course, we would discuss it, but there was a much more important reason.
—We need evidence.
—Evidence… that Paecheon Fortress is behind everything that’s happened.
Rewinding time a bit, on our way to the county office.
Inside the carriage, we discussed what we needed to do once we arrived.
—I’ll excuse myself with a stomachache. Then I’ll sneak into the quarters where the Paecheon Fortress people are staying or the magistrate’s office and find evidence.
—…Will you be alright alone?
—As I said last night, it’s easier to move alone in this situation.
Namgung Hyeon nodded at my casual answer, trying to hide his anxiety.
And then Miss Seol, who was sitting next to him, spoke up.
—What should we do?
—You two need to discuss the duel tournament. You remember the ‘minimum conditions’ I mentioned earlier, right?
—Yes, but will that be enough? Shouldn’t we demand more favorable conditions…?
—I’ll leave that to you two. Just try to buy as much time as possible.
The two nodded simultaneously at my words.
And back to the present.
“Is this it?”
I carefully infiltrated the magistrate’s office.
Fortunately, most county offices seemed to have similar layouts, so the structure was quite familiar.
Thanks to that, I easily found the magistrate’s office.
I hadn’t realized that visiting the Gun-gang County office with my father when I was young would be so helpful.
After confirming that there was no one inside, I stealthily entered the magistrate’s room.
And then I was struck by a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Wow, I feel like I saw this scene yesterday.”
The room was filled with extravagant decorations.
It was remarkably similar to that Jo whatever-his-name-was’s room from last night.
Did people with an insatiable desire for wealth have similar tastes in interior design?
I shook my head and started searching the room, just like I did last night.
Fortunately, although the magistrate might share similar tastes with Jo Un-chil, he lacked the creativity to hide things.
In other words, there was no need to look for a hollow golden Buddha statue or anything like that.
Because a box in the corner, which clearly looked like it held something important, was drawing my attention.
The only problem was that it was locked.
“The key should be nearby… or not.”
Repenting for trying to take the easy way out, I focused my internal energy on my fingertips and reached for the keyhole.
And then, release.
Click!
I flinched at the rather loud sound and quickly scanned the surroundings with my qi sense.
Fortunately, it seemed the sound wasn’t loud enough to be heard outside the room.
I breathed a sigh of relief and unlocked the now internally damaged, but outwardly intact lock.
“Wow, it actually worked.”
I had tried it, remembering how internal energy was sometimes used to unlock locks in martial arts novels, and it actually worked.
Moreover, since it looked fine on the outside, the magistrate wouldn’t notice that the lock was broken even if he saw it later.
Thank you, oh divine thieves from the countless martial arts novels I’ve read.
I chuckled inwardly and slowly opened the box.
A golden light emanating from the box as soon as it was opened… of course, there wasn’t any.
All that was inside were neatly stacked letters.
He decorated the room with all sorts of gold, but the box that should contain the most important things only had a pile of papers…
It didn’t seem like the magistrate valued enriching his mind, so I had to assume that these papers held far greater value than all that gold.
I picked one of the letters and unfolded it.
And then I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
“Wow, our magistrate is quite the character, isn’t he?”
The letter was from none other than that bastard Jo Un-chil.
Leaving aside all the flowery language, it essentially said that he would regularly offer a ‘token of respect’ if the magistrate would allow him to expand his gambling house.
I had wondered why a gambling house, clearly illegal, was operating so openly, and it turned out that the magistrate was behind it.
I unfolded the other letters, and the contents were quite colorful: bribery, tax evasion reports, forged official documents, and so on.
He had been busy. Wasn’t he tired of living like this?
I folded the letter with a cold gaze and picked up the last letter at the very bottom of the box, along with a book.
I put the book aside and unfolded the last letter.
I narrowed my eyes as I read its contents.
“…Found it.”
Surprisingly, the letter was from Jin Mu-gun, the head of Paecheon Fortress’s General Affairs Division.
It essentially said that if the magistrate helped oust the Namgung family, a long-standing power in Anhui, he would receive all of their assets.
And this was the method.
Lastly, it requested that the letter be burned without a trace after being read.
“But he didn’t burn it.”
He was probably worried about being abandoned after the job was done.
Thanks to that, I found a crucial piece of evidence.
I put the letter in my pocket and picked up the book.
After checking its contents and clicking my tongue, I put it in my pocket as well.
I had obtained what I wanted, so should I head back now?
***
Around the time Ja-seong was leaving the magistrate’s room, the discussion about the duel tournament was coming to a close in the meeting hall.
“Then let’s proceed as discussed.”
“…Yes, we agree.”
The expressions of the four people sitting on either side of Magistrate Man-deok, who was seated at the head of the table, were somewhat strange.
Except for Chil-ji, they all had bewildered expressions, as if thinking, “This isn’t right.”
And for good reason, Chil-ji had accepted all of the conditions Namgung Hyeon had demanded for the duel tournament without any objections.
Namgung Hyeon’s demands were as follows:
—The match will be best-of-three; the first side to defeat the opponent three times wins.
—Unless defeated, a warrior who steps onto the dueling platform can continue fighting consecutive matches if they wish.
—The duel tournament will be held fifteen days from now.
He had made demands that he thought the other side would reasonably accept.
But to accept them so easily?
Namgung Hyeon’s face, despite getting everything he wanted, wasn’t exactly bright due to his confusion.
‘What are they thinking?’
He couldn’t understand their intentions at all.
Unable to read their intentions, anxiety lingered in his mind.
Cheol-u was also confused.
He had been told to leave the discussion to Chil-ji, so he had remained silent, but she was giving them everything they wanted.
‘What is she thinking?’
He wanted to jump up and question her actions right away.
But Cheol-u suppressed that urge.
Chil-ji, whom he had observed for the past year, was a very suspicious and enigmatic woman, but at least she wasn’t stupid or incompetent.
She must have a plan.
Cheol-u, realizing that he had come to trust Chil-ji’s abilities, inwardly clicked his tongue.
Creak
Just then, the door opened, and Ja-seong entered with the official.
“I apologize for being late. I must have eaten something bad yesterday…?”
Ja-seong, making excuses with an awkward smile, widened his eyes as he sensed the calm atmosphere in the room.
“…Is it over already?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Namgung Hyeon, who had naturally spoken down to Ja-seong, who was accompanying them as a nominal attendant, stood up.
“It seems like the discussion is over, so can we leave?”
Chil-ji nodded without hesitation at Namgung Hyeon’s question.
“Yes, it seems like there’s nothing more to discuss.”
“Then we’ll see you in fifteen days.”
Namgung Hyeon bowed to the magistrate and the two from Paecheon Fortress and was about to leave.
Just then, Chil-ji called out to Yak-bing.
“Young Miss.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Yak-bing turned her head at Chil-ji’s voice.
“It’s nothing special, but I don’t believe I’ve been properly introduced to you yet.”
“Ah… I apologize. I am Seol-yak-bing of the Seol family in Anqing.”
Chil-ji covered her mouth with one hand and widened her eyes at Yak-bing’s introduction.
Was it my imagination that her actions felt strangely artificial?
“Seol-yak-bing of the Seol family… Aren’t you the one praised as the most beautiful woman in Anhui?”
“That title is too much for me.”
Chil-ji shook her head at Yak-bing’s humble words.
“Too much? Even in my eyes, as a woman, you’re so beautiful. Indeed, I heard you were engaged to the young master of the Namgung family. You’ve come to help your future husband.”
Yak-bing’s cheeks flushed slightly at the mention of “future husband.”
Chil-ji smiled at the sight and then apologized to Namgung Hyeon.
“I apologize. I couldn’t contain my curiosity and ended up stopping you on your way out. I wish you both happiness in your future together.”
“…Thank you.”
Warm words of blessing.
But they weren’t words that should be coming from those who were trying to destroy the Namgung family.
Namgung Hyeon gave a stiff thank you and then finally left the meeting hall.
As the unwelcome guest disappeared, leaving only the four of them, including the awkward official, the smile on Chil-ji’s face instantly turned cold.
“What, what’s this?”
Cheol-u, who was about to question Chil-ji’s thoughts, flinched at her expression.
Chil-ji quickly erased her cold smile and looked at Cheol-u and Man-deok, who were staring at her with uneasy expressions.
“It seems I’ve found a way.”
***
The three of us immediately left the county office and got into the carriage.
As soon as I got into the carriage, Namgung Hyeon asked,
“Did you find the evidence?”
His voice was filled with tension.
Without a word, I pulled the book and the letter from my pocket.
“Ah…!”
Namgung Hyeon’s face brightened at the sight.
I handed him the letter, and he immediately unfolded and read it. After finishing it, his eyes widened.