Episode 560
There was no need to think too hard about it.
Let’s just look at the returning situation.
There are eight people in front of me now.
Six people are leading the martial arts world of Cheonhaseong Sacheonbu.
And one of them is a man who was dispatched from the Milos Empire and has been serving as the Inspector General here on the Eastern Continent for over 20 years.
And the remaining one.
He is the patrolman of Cheonha Castle.
It was really simple.
These eight people are connected by an invisible string.
It’s not a question of probability or something like, “it might be so, it might be true.”
100%. Unconditionally connected.
I’m not stupid, and if I can’t figure this out, I should just go out and die.
Above all, they seemed to have no intention of hiding that fact.
It was just left out there.
Anyway, the most senior of these is the Inspector General.
As I continued to drink, I noticed that all six heads of household, including the patrolman, were keeping an eye on Beck.
Was it a bribe or a favor given?
It’s not certain, but there’s something between them that Beck is noticing.
How bad must it have been for even the patrolman of Cheonha Castle to be keeping an eye on Beck?
I just detonated a bomb.
No matter how much I think about it, there is a high probability that my predecessor, the woman named Elena, who was mentioned in the data, also held a similar position.
How far you noticed is a separate issue.
I stared blankly at the patrolman next to me, Jung Woo-young.
His throat moves greatly. He is flustered.
Immediately, his eyes furrowed. It was the discomfort he felt at my speaking. Continuing.
His fist clenched, then immediately unclenched.
I seriously considered cutting off my neck right away, but then immediately withdrew.
Let’s make one thing clear.
I don’t have any ill feelings toward Jung Woo-young. To be exact, I don’t have any feelings at all.
I came here to solve a case and these people revealed so much to me.
Being connected to each other means that we can hide ‘certain facts’ from each other, look after each other’s backs, scratch each other’s itchy spots, and get rid of those who are harmful to each other’s future together.
It means that it has always been like that.
This was enough.
Just stimulate it and see the reaction. Then, facts you didn’t know about will pop out, and if you solve them one by one and move forward one step at a time,
Advertisements
I will have reached the truth before I know it.
He smiled and asked Jung Woo-young.
“Why aren’t you talking? Are you deaf?”
“… … Are you drunk?”
“Do I look drunk?”
“Yes. You seem drunk. If that’s not the case, why are you suddenly talking nonsense?”
He stretched out his arm and roughly tossed the food on the table to the side. Then he placed an empty glass down in front of it.
“You are making a big mistake.”
“… … Me?”
“I know that Cheonhasung is the center of the martial arts world. Not just me, but everyone knows that. Because it has changed. However, don’t think that the influence of the Milos Empire has disappeared because of that.”
“… … .”
“The order of precedence must be clear. Cheonha Castle belongs to the Eastern Continent, and the Eastern Continent belongs to the Milos Empire. Your Majesty has granted us autonomy, but that is autonomy in the literal sense of the word. It does not mean that the hierarchy has changed. I am asking because I feel like you have really forgotten. Who am I?”
“… … .”
“I asked who you were.”
Jung Woo-young closed his eyes tightly for a moment and then slowly opened them.
Those were the eyes of someone who had decided on something.
I didn’t care. I didn’t care.
For now, we need to focus on the situation itself.
I asked Jung Woo-young.
“Are you drunk?”
“… … Do you look drunk?”
“That’s what it looks like to me. Are you drunk or can’t understand what I’m saying? Do you have to speak in Eastern Continental language for me to understand?”
“… … .”
“You’re asking me this twice. Who am I?”
“… … You are a new inspector from the Cheonhasung Branch Inspectorate, personally dispatched by the Milos Empire.”
“You know very well. But you’re just saying weird things like, ‘let’s talk,’ and that’s all you have to do as a patrolman?”
Jung Woo-young’s face was very pale.
I can tell you for sure that he was very angry.
I silently tapped the empty glass with my finger.
At the gesture of following, Jung Woo-young silently poured his drink and filled his glass.
Looking at my trembling hands, I had a gut feeling.
It worked out well.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
It doesn’t stop there. When you push, you have to push all at once.
“And I still haven’t heard the answer to my question. Elena, how much do you know about her?”
“… … I don’t know. We just had a few drinks together and got involved in a professional relationship several times.”
Advertisements
“Tangled… …? I see.”
This time, he shifted his gaze to the remaining six heads of household who had their mouths shut.
“Do you know anything about the destruction of the Gwangmyeong family?”
“… … .”
“I asked if there was… … .”
My words were not continued.
“Look here, Inspector Melon.”
That’s because there was someone who interfered like this.
He was Inspector General Beck.
He had been quiet until the patrolman was provoked, but now he has finally come forward.
“Yes, sir.”
“What is this now?”
“I don’t understand. What are you doing?”
“Why are you suddenly ruining a good drinking party? This is a private space, not a public space. Why are you suddenly bringing up the topic of the dead?”
I stared blankly at Beck.
“They were the ones who failed to adapt and ended up dying, so why are you asking ‘us’, who are innocent, about that? And did you give me permission to investigate Elena?”
“I didn’t do it.”
“But why are you doing this? Did I misjudge you? You were the head of the academy, right? When I was exiled, I personally told you that I would send you to a better place. Don’t you remember what I said?”
“I remember.”
“And I clearly said this. You are the new inspector general and your assignment will start tomorrow. And that’s not about Elena. That’s a different department… … .”
“Chief.”
This time I boiled the words.
He continued speaking silently, looking at Beck with a blank expression.
“The Inspector General is an independent investigative agency. It is my responsibility to investigate what kind of work I will be assigned. I don’t know how much work I will be assigned, but I just need to deal with that work, right?”
“… … .”
“I can tell you clearly that the matter regarding Elena and the deaths of Academy talents in Cheonha Castle are my business.”
“… … Is it your job?”
“Yes. Because I received the ‘order’ before I came here.”
Beck’s eyes shook violently.
“You received… an order? From whom?”
“He wanted to remain anonymous. I can’t tell you, even if Mr. Beck is my superior. And there was a ‘witness’.”
“Witness? Who is that?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“Yes. Witnesses must be protected. Isn’t that the duty of the inspector?”
Advertisements
The atmosphere became even more mysterious.
I’m not an idiot, and I know they created this place to explore me.
And I know that they’ve decided that if they please them and play along, they can bring me over to their side.
It’s all useless.
I am an inspector.
I came to solve the case.
I don’t have time to mess with them.
Although I learned about the art of living at the academy, long before that, there was someone who clearly explained to me what the art of living is.
‘The art of living is ultimately a struggle for power. If you have power, the other person will bow their head, and if you have no power, you will bow your head. Develop power. The power to turn the situation to your side, the power of pure individual force, the power of the power behind you, use all of it. That is the art of living.’
I believe in only one thing.
Pure individual powerlessness.
And sometimes they lie.
It’s not against the law, it’s just the result.
All you have to do is produce results.
He looked at Beck, who had become quiet, and asked in a small voice.
“Now that the time has come, I will speak. I will reinvestigate the unusual deaths of the new civil servants in Cheonha City, including Elena.”
I just stood up from my seat.
“Please invite me next time you have a drink together.”
Just like that, I walked out of the bar.
The air was cold.
Taking a slow breath of the cold air, I reviewed the events of just a moment ago.
To be clear, Beck made one slip of the tongue in that situation.
When I brought up the Elena thing and pressed Jung Woo-young, Beck said this.
‘They were the ones who failed to adapt and ended up dying, so why are you asking us, who are innocent, about that? And did I give you permission to investigate Elena?’
we.
Beck clearly said it was us.
I was just pushing Jung Woo-young, but what Beck is saying is, why is he asking us?
At least from my perspective, I can’t just ignore it.
They are somehow involved in the death of a former inspector named Elena.
ruler.
The work has been done.
Now it’s time to see how it turns out.
* * *
The place where the melon had disappeared was still filled with silence.
It was really quiet.
Advertisements
The one who broke the silence was the mad king known as the Great Swordsman.
“Chief, what are you going to do?”
Beck drank his wine in silence.
Silence falls again.
It was also the mad king who broke the silence.
“… …Should I kill you?”
Only then did Beck react.
“No. Not yet.”
The appearance of the chief was that of a perfect superior.
That was understandable.
The reason Melon was able to get out was because Melon was an inspector.
An inspector of the Milos Empire dispatched from the Milos Empire.
But Beck is the district chief who oversees those inspectors.
Behind him is the Empire of Milos.
If you touch them, they all die.
Did Beck get up to this spot easily?
Not at all.
First of all, he was quick-witted.
“He said clearly. There was someone who gave the order.”
“… … .”
“I might have smelled it in the Milos Empire. I’ll hold off for the time being.”
This was the conclusion.
A conclusion reached after careful consideration.
But he wasn’t a patrolman.
Jung Woo-young, who felt he had been severely insulted, stood up from his seat without saying a word.
“Patrolman Jeong Woo-yeong.”
“… … .”
“I called, but there was no answer. Patrolman Jeong Woo-yeong.”
Jung Woo-young turned his head.
“Please don’t do that.”
“… … I won’t do it.”
Beck and Jung Woo-young looked at each other for a moment.
Jung Woo-young added.
“Let’s go in first. The bill has already been paid, so please rest and go in. The other heads of households have also worked hard.”
So Jung Woo-young left the place.
Advertisements
With an expression that seemed to suppress anger.
Late at night, Jung Woo-young asked for a private meeting with the owner.
The first words that Jeong Woo-yeong spoke to the head of the household, Park Mu-gi, who was working, were these.
“I have to kill him.”
