When I arrived for work at dusk, I saw patrolmen. To think that these unlucky officials would be at my sacred workplace. If I had my way, I would have spit on the ground and turned right back around, but this wasn't something I could solve by simply avoiding it.
After I changed into my uniform and came out, Jo Gyeong-jik led me to a secluded spot.
"What is going on?"
"An official from the authorities, an Inspector, is here. He wants to see you."
"An Inspector?"
"An official in charge of security and punishment."
I hadn't asked because I didn't know. What had the escort agency been doing while the official was on his way? That was what I was curious about.
It wouldn't do any good to get on the pavilion master's nerves.
"Isn't the Deep Fragrance Pavilion a place even the prefect visits from time to time? Since a murder happened here, it seems the authorities can't just sit by and do nothing."
It was one of two things. Either they were panicking and trying to do something, anything, or they saw this as an opportunity and came to claim some merit.
"Am I being arrested?"
"No. If that were the case, they would have taken you away already. Considering the escort agency's position, we've decided to let them make a show of it and be done."
"The agency master himself went to see the county magistrate, so it should be fine. You just have to say the same thing you told the pavilion master yesterday."
Jo Gyeong-jik looked around, then lowered his voice.
"The black-clad masked man. Remember that he is the only way out. For you to live, and for the escort agency to live."
"This incident must remain a matter between martial artists. That way, the authorities will have no grounds to interfere."
"Understood."
I answered without another word, studying Jo Gyeong-jik's expression. Thankfully, he didn't seem to actually believe in that nonsense about officials not interfering with the martial world.
"By any chance, was the deceased Escort Bang Jo-in holding a tile in his hand?"
"A tile? I don't know. Let's go."
Jo Gyeong-jik answered nonchalantly and headed for his office. The patrolman guarding the door looked me up and down with a condescending gaze.
"This is the escort?"
"That's right."
The patrolman pointed to the willow blade at his waist.
"Leave your sword here before you go in."
"That will be difficult."
"What?"
The patrolman glared.
"This is like a part of my own body. I can only part with it after I'm dead."
I had no idea what might happen inside, yet he was telling me to go in empty-handed. To my ears, it sounded like he was saying they would pounce and capture me at the first opportunity.
"Well now, this young friend doesn't seem to know how fearsome officials can be. Do you even know who is inside…"
"That's enough. To a martial artist, his weapon is his life. Besides, this isn't a government office, is it? We are cooperating with the official, not being interrogated."
"Do not disrespect the Dragon Sky Escort Agency any further."
When Jo Gyeong-jik stepped forward, the patrolman reluctantly backed down. The patrolmen in charge of security on the front lines were people just trying to make a living, much like the escorts. They had families to support and would surely have bribes they were taking on the side.
It would do them no good to get on the bad side of the Dragon Sky Escort Agency's security chief. The patrolman announced our arrival and opened the office door. Jo Gyeong-jik went in first, and I followed.
Inside the same room as before sat the official, dressed in a red and black robe and even wearing an official's hat. As if to show off his authority, two military officers with swords at their sides stood in attendance. When I entered with my weapon, the official frowned, displeased.
But he did not reprimand me. As Jo Gyeong-jik had said, this was not a government office. Even at a government office, only criminals had their weapons confiscated.
"Are you the one who first discovered the dead escort?"
"The one who first discovered him was that maid you saw earlier. This escort heard the scream, ran over, and confirmed the body."
"I see. You may leave."
Despite the blatant disrespect, Jo Gyeong-jik maintained a calm face, cupped his fists, and turned away.
"Sit there."
The official commanded in a low voice. It was an authoritative and dignified tone, accustomed to giving orders. Any coward with a weak heart would have been crushed by the atmosphere and plopped down in the chair without thinking.
I stood with my legs tensed, gauging their martial ability and quickly turning things over in my head. How would I get out of here if the mood turned sour? This wasn't the first or second time, so an escape route soon formed in my mind.
First, I'll push the table with all my might, striking the official in the chest and knocking him back. Then, I'll throw a chair at the military officer on the right, who will be drawing his sword.
I'll kick off from my spot and rush in, striking the belly or chin of the officer on the left, who is only now grabbing his sword hilt, and then throw myself through the window. The reason to subdue the right one first and then charge the left one is because the window is behind the officer on the left.
The one on the left was also slightly smaller, and his face and aura seemed more manageable than the one on the right. It was the first floor, so I wouldn't be seriously injured. Outside the office was a small, empty lot.
I would easily outrun the paunchy patrolmen chasing after me and dash toward the detached houses. If I step on that pine tree from yesterday, I can easily clear the wall of the Deep Fragrance Pavilion.
If it came to that, I'd have to leave my hometown for good, but it was better than being hunted down and dragged to a government office. Only after calculating the route in an instant and steeling my resolve did I perch on the edge of the chair.
I watched them, ready to stand up and create distance if the military officers took even a single step closer, but they didn't budge from the official's side. All three of them looked different, but the contemptuous look and expression they gave me were the same.
It didn't seem like they were hostile because they suspected me of being a murderer. No matter where I went, the way officials looked at martial artists was always like that. To officials, martial artists—whether they were heroes or followers of the dark path—were all just the same violent thugs and murderers.
In reality, the majority of criminals who caused trouble for the common people were martial artists. So it was understandable that they would stand by and watch while martial artists fought, slashed, killed, and died among themselves, calling it non-interference. If one martial artist died, three or four common people would be spared suffering.
In a way, it was a righteous deed that prevented future crimes. Of course, when it came to tormenting and sucking the blood of the common people, the officials right here were no different than bandits. The official focused on a thick stack of documents on the table, as if something truly important was recorded there.
No matter where you went, the way powerful people established their authority was similar. Even in a small faction, they would call someone in like this and pretend to be busy with other things, ingraining in the person's mind that they held the upper hand.
Every time this happened, I felt like a dog that had been told to 'wait' in front of its food. Without taking his eyes off the documents, the official spoke.
"About the dead escort. He was a gambler. Had some debt, too, and used a Flame King House token at a gambling den. Have you heard anything?"
"I haven't been with the agency for long, so I don't know much. We weren't close."
"Is that so?"
The official lifted his eyes from the documents and stared at me intently.
"If you have something to confess, it would be best to do it now. It will be too late if you do it at the government office. It's hard to treat you like a human being then. As a martial artist, you should know well enough what kind of place a government interrogation room is."
The official laid out his threats calmly. It wasn't just an empty bluff; it was as if he were a judge reading a verdict, informing me of a predetermined fact that was soon to come.
His dry voice and bored expression oozed a languid cruelty, as if he could be yawning and eating a pancake while an executioner seared a criminal's flesh with a branding iron and pulled out his intestines while he was still alive. A Inspector was an expert in torture and interrogation.
Though he wouldn't do it with his own hands, there was no telling how many people he had turned into blood-soaked slabs of meat. There was no way all of them were guilty. There must have been many innocent ones.
Officials didn't care about such things. As long as they caught a criminal, one way or another, that was all that mattered. It was enough to make one's hair stand on end, but my heart, on the contrary, grew calmer and calmer.
If I were just a worthless martial artist, I would have already been bound in ropes and dragged away. Among the masters with outstanding martial ability and high reputations, those with a lot to protect considered connections with high-ranking government officials essential.
This was because if you were part of an orthodox sect, faction, or family, or if you were married with a wife and children, falling out with the authorities would bring harm to those around you.
But for wandering swordsmen like rootless duckweed, who had nothing but the sword in their hand and a stubborn hold on life, it was different. Their own lives were the most important, so if things went wrong, they would ditch everyone, official or not, and run.
If there was even the slightest hint that they were going to take my weapon and bind me here, I had every intention of doing just that, without hesitation. Following the route I had just mapped out.
One day I would die miserably by the sword and become food for wild animals, but I didn't have the slightest intention of being meekly dragged to a government office to be tied to a rack and beaten to a pulp. Fortunately, the risk of that seemed low.
No matter which village you go to, a dog that barks fiercely doesn't bite. The official was the same. He only growled, but he couldn't lay a hand on my body.
It was likely because I was wearing the uniform of the Dragon Sky Escort Agency. An escort died at an establishment managed by the Dragon Sky Escort Agency, and now they were cornering a fellow escort as the culprit without any evidence.
This was a blatant act of disrespect toward the agency, a move to tarnish the fame and prestige of the agency master. The prefect and several influential figures had attended the celebration for the provincial exam passer, Lee Yun-jae. The agency master had also rushed over a little late to join them.
Since he went into the main hall, he must have greeted the prefect. They might have known each other from before. I didn't know how strong their connection was, but it was probably strong enough to get a single official reprimanded.
Even if the official had come simply to do his job, without any ambition for fame, it would be impossible for him to pin the crime on me. I had no motive, no time, and there was no evidence to kill Bang Jo-in. The testimony of the maid who first found the body also supported my innocence.
After a long time of asking this and that, nitpicking, and tightening the screws, the official finally shook his head.
"I have given you enough of a chance. If we meet again at the government office, do not resent me. You may go."
The official waved his hand for me to leave, vowing that we would see each other again soon. When I came outside, Jo Gyeong-jik, who had been whispering with his head close to a patrolman's, approached with a start.
We moved to another spot, and when I told him about the questions and answers I had exchanged with the official, Jo Gyeong-jik sighed and patted my shoulder.
"You've been through a lot. Just go home for today. Rest at home until we send someone to call for you, and don't come out for a while. Your daily wage will be paid as usual, so don't worry."
Jo Gyeong-jik seemed relieved, as if a major crisis had been averted, but I had a bad feeling. The official's attitude was too rigid for it to be a simple threat, and it bothered me. I felt like I shouldn't go home just yet.
I walked toward the main gate, watching my surroundings, then stealthily headed toward the detached houses. The sun was setting, burning the western mountains red. There was no time to check the entire area around the detached houses.
My feet naturally led me to the pavilion master's residence. I walked with my eyes fixed on the ground and stopped in front of the wall, about ten paces from where I had picked up the Mak Jade. I bent my knees, sat down, brushed away the gravel, and picked up a familiar tile.
Its corners were worn round; it was definitely Bang Jo-in's tile that I had touched before. Did he cross the wall here? I looked up at the high wall and meticulously reviewed the information I had gathered so far.
It started with the song the pavilion master had hummed softly in the detached house. The same tune, after a slight interval, flowed from the lips of Lee Yun-jae and Bang Jo-in. Bang Jo-in had said it was a lullaby sung to put children to sleep in common households in Hubei.
The Mak Jade I had found by chance was also a gift primarily given in Hubei to pray for a baby's long and healthy life. Lee Yun-jae was from Hubei. He visited the brothel every day, and each time his face was filled with anxiety and worry.
At the scene of Bang Jo-in's murder, the pavilion master was relieved yet disappointed that I hadn't seen anything significant. As if she knew who the culprit was. As if she was looking for something.
Why was the celebration for Lee Yun-jae's passing of the provincial exam, a man from Hubei, held in a brothel in this distant Western Village? Who arranged this place and paid for the feast? Why of all places, here…
Connecting the scattered facts like stepping stones with guesses and assumptions, a plausible hypothesis was completed. I couldn't be sure if it was correct, but I felt like I knew who I had to go see. Until just a moment ago, I had been cautious, thinking it might be too hasty.
But after being threatened by the official, my thoughts changed. My intuition and instincts, honed by overcoming countless brushes with death, were telling me. If I get caught by the authorities now without even trying to make a decisive move, I will never get another chance.
Though I had done nothing, my situation had suddenly become extremely precarious, as if I were placed on a knife's edge. Jo Gyeong-jik said I had been cleared of suspicion, but with the authorities involved, the future could not be guaranteed. I had seen and heard too much to just trust his word and do nothing.
No matter how much the escort agency claimed that the unidentified master who ambushed the Black Night Gang was the murderer, if the authorities needed results, a culprit had to be produced. When a strong wind blows, the trees with shallow roots are uprooted first. A rolling stone is the first to be kicked.
The authorities needed a culprit, and if the pavilion master also helped, the agency master would try to compromise at a reasonable level. Who would be the right person to take the fall for the agency? The other escorts who had worked there for a long time would be a burden for the agency as well.
If a newcomer who just joined caused the trouble, the agency could shed some of its responsibility. Since that newcomer was the first to approach the body and confirm the death, if they could just silence the maid, it wouldn't be impossible to frame me as the murderer.
The Chief Escort Leader was a man with a mind deep enough to connect the murderer who ambushed the Black Night Gang with Bang Jo-in's death. He seemed to think well of me, but there was no personal friendship or debt to repay.
For the sake of the agency's well-being, he would hand me over to the authorities without a second thought. Saying things like there was no personal grudge, that it was a pity it had come to this, that he hoped I would understand, or that he didn't expect me to understand… Spouting such nonsensical crap.
I had been stabbed in the back like that twice before. They said it was all over, but when I went, swordsmen were waiting for me.
If I was going to be bothered by what might be happening under the surface, ready to pounce on me, I needed to prepare at least one place to lean on for the worst-case scenario. I didn't have to reveal everything I had deduced. I had a rough idea whose this Mak Jade was.
Since they kept it so preciously that they mended the broken piece with expensive gold instead of throwing it away, they must be desperately looking for it. Wouldn't this be enough to make a deal with the pavilion master? When I knocked on the door of the detached house, the same pale guard appeared.
"What is it?"
"It's something I found on my way back after stopping by here yesterday. I came because I thought perhaps the pavilion master might have lost it."
The guard's eyes twitched as if he recognized what I held out. He stared at me with a subtle expression, then took the Mak Jade and closed the door. A moment later, the door opened again.
The guard stepped aside and gestured.
"Please come in."
It seemed my gamble had paid off.