Chapter 405: Evidence That It Wasn't Suicide
Chapter 405: Evidence That It Wasn't Suicide
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Han Seol was inwardly startled. Geom Mu-geuk had spoken as if he’d read her mind, suggesting they should help her mother.
Geom Mu-geuk had made that suggestion with the mastermind behind the recent incidents in mind. If the Blood King was targeting the Ice Palace, they had to join forces to stop him.
Of course, he couldn't tell her that directly.
“The reason the Ice Palace Master accepted my conditions was likely because she made a deal with the North Blood Sect. She probably saved the North Blood Sect Leader’s second child and received something in return.”
Han Seol couldn't deny his logic.
“In such a situation, we’ve entered the Ice Palace. Since your mother will be preoccupied with the North Blood Sect’s affairs, I was saying that you’ll have to be the one to deal with us.”
Was that really why he said it? It felt like there was something more significant beneath the surface.
“The Young Cult Leader has no need to involve himself in the affairs of this palace,” she replied coldly.
“I only said it for your sake.”
Han Seol never engaged in long conversations with anyone except her mother. She usually kept her business brief and to the point; no one dared to ramble in the presence of the Young Palace Master.
And yet, this Young Cult Leader kept making her talk. No—he made it so she had to talk.
“Why do you say it’s for my sake?”
“I just want to help.”
“There is no such thing as unconditional kindness in this world.”
After speaking firmly, she turned to walk away. She disliked receiving favors, but she hated the obligation to return them even more. To her, the exchange of emotions between people felt like trading poisoned hidden weapons.
Geom Mu-geuk followed close behind her.
“Why are you following me?”
“That’s rich, coming from someone who was just hiding and eavesdropping on me.”
Han Seol flared up instantly. “Eavesdropping? I was simply…”
“Simply?”
“I just didn't have a chance to step out.”
“Just as there’s no kindness without a reason, there’s an excuse for every grave.”
Han Seol looked at him with an incredulous expression and resumed walking. She realized it had been a very long time since she had actually lost her temper. She truly disliked people like him—people who teased others and stirred up their emotions at a whim.
“Don't delude yourself into thinking everyone in the world will fall for you. They only… pretend to like you because you are the Young Cult Leader. If you were a low-ranking martial artist, do you think they would still look at you the same way?”
“I’d probably have been beaten to a pulp by now for having such a big mouth despite being a mere low-ranking martial artist.”
Han Seol was about to snap at him, wanting to clarify she wasn't joking, but she stopped herself. He would only respond with more nonsense. She walked on in silence.
Passing martial artists bowed to her respectfully. Han Seol acknowledged their greetings with her usual expressionless face.
Seeing this, Geom Mu-geuk meddled again. “Are you always this stiff with your subordinates?”
“We are martial artists. Why should they expect kindness?”
She stopped walking again. Her values were simply too different from this man's.
“Do you think these people are here on vacation? Can you order them to go on a life-threatening mission after giggling and chatting with them? If you give the order, will they go willingly?”
Geom Mu-geuk said nothing.
“Why are you silent?”
“You’re right, so what is there for me to say?”
Han Seol stared at Geom Mu-geuk for a moment before leaving him with one last remark. “Even as the Young Cult Leader, you’re going to get thrashed one of these days.”
Han Seol strode away, signaling him not to follow. Geom Mu-geuk’s voice drifted from behind her.
“Let’s have a drink sometime! The Drunken Demon is currently abstaining, so I haven't been able to drink! Lee An won't drink with me out of loyalty to him!”
He’s like this until the very end. The Drunken Demon abstaining from alcohol? And what? His subordinate wouldn't drink out of loyalty? Was he implying she looked like she lacked loyalty, so she should drink with him? Just how much did he intend to mock her?
Fuming silently, she left the area.
The playfulness vanished from Geom Mu-geuk’s face as he watched her go. Because it was impossible to get close to someone who had built such an invisible wall through ordinary means, he was digging his way in like this.
His reason for doing this wasn't to brighten her personality or fill the hole in her heart. It was for her safety and the safety of the North Sea Ice Palace.
If the Blood King had infiltrated the Ice Palace, he would have surely made a move on Han Seol as well. Or he was planning to. That had been their pattern so far.
Geom Mu-geuk looked around. The buildings towering over this barren land and the giant statues of warriors made of ice reflected the sunlight, shimmering brightly.
Blood King, where are you?
Where are you hiding that cruel, red blood of yours?
*
The North Sea Ice Palace had provided them with three rooms.
Geom Mu-geuk said to Lee An, “You take the middle room.”
“Are you two going to protect me from both sides?”
“I have to protect you if I want to keep getting delicious noodles.”
Since they didn't know what was happening within the Ice Palace, they had to be as cautious as possible. The Drunken Demon could take care of himself, and if anything happened in the adjacent room, Geom Mu-geuk's Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art, which had reached Great Achievement, would react instantly.
“Before coming here, I sent word to Eun-wol and Tongcheon Pavilion. I asked them to focus all possible intelligence gathering on the North Sea Ice Palace and the North Blood Sect.”
The two information organizations would be a powerful force when working together.
“I believe the masterminds behind this are the same ones who plotted within the Murim Alliance and the Unorthodox Path Alliance.”
The Drunken Demon and Lee An nodded in agreement. They were the same ones who had been operating in secret within the Outer Region Pungcheon Cult. It would be stranger if they weren't here in the Ice Palace.
“Since they’ve been thwarted before, the situation is even more dangerous. Please be careful, Young Master!”
“It’s fine, my older brother will protect me. Right? Why aren't you answering? Say 'I'll take care of it!' Why aren't you saying it again?”
At Geom Mu-geuk’s prompting, the Drunken Demon feigned ignorance. “Ah! I want a drink.”
“You can't go back to your old self!”
Watching their exchange, Lee An smiled faintly. She never dreamed the Drunken Demon was this kind of person. He was someone she had feared would be impossible to even talk to because he was always drunk. She had expected that if he got angry, his emotions would explode into a drunken madness.
Above all, she had thought he would try to overcome his grief with alcohol.
But he knew better. He knew that getting drunk and wallowing in sorrow wasn't true mourning. Instead, he had quit drinking and was calmly observing the world, disciplining his mind. He was comforting himself in that way. He knew that one must know how to comfort oneself to truly mourn.
“We must be especially careful of the North Blood Sect. We caught them trying to hide something,” the Drunken Demon noted.
Lee An asked worriedly, “Then won't the North Blood Sect try to destroy all evidence and cut their losses?”
“They will,” Geom Mu-geuk answered.
“Then is it okay for us to just stay here?”
“It’s fine. The very act of trying to cut their losses will become another trail for us to follow.”
“I see.”
Lee An replied as if she understood, but she sighed, not knowing exactly how he planned to handle it. She had never been in a fight like this before. The mastermind, the North Blood Sect, the North Sea Ice Palace—it felt as if she were standing right in the middle of enemy territory, surrounded by terrifying foes.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m nervous.”
However, after looking at the two men she would fight alongside, she added one more thing to that nervousness.
“In a good way.”
*
The investigation into the death of the Institute Head began in earnest the following morning. Han Seol came personally to collect the three of them. She treated Geom Mu-geuk with her usual composure, as if she had never lost her temper the day before.
“I will first lead you to the late Institute Head’s room. The Palace Master ordered that it not be cleared out yet, so it has been preserved as it was.”
This was fortunate for the investigation. But why had the Ice Palace Master ordered it not to be cleared? Was it because they were close? Or did the Ice Palace Master also have doubts about her death?
“What was the cause of death?” the Drunken Demon asked.
“She drank poisoned wine,” Han Seol answered.
The Drunken Demon’s eyes twitched at the mention of poisoned wine. “Could she have been poisoned by someone else?”
“That’s unlikely. She left a suicide note.”
“May I see it?”
As if she had expected the request, she pulled the note from her robes and handed it over. It contained a confession that life was difficult, an apology to the people of the White Liquor Snowy Plains who made the wine, and a final plea for forgiveness for her disloyalty to the Ice Palace Master.
A strange light flickered in the Drunken Demon’s sorrowful eyes as he read the note.
“The investigation confirmed it was indeed the Institute Head’s handwriting.”
“Yes, it is definitely her handwriting,” the Drunken Demon admitted. Having seen her writing more than anyone else, he knew it wasn't a forgery.
“Did they find out where she got the poison?”
“That was not investigated.”
It seemed they hadn't bothered since it was clearly a suicide.
“What happened to the body?”
“She was buried in the cemetery where the warriors of this palace are laid to rest.”
If she was already buried, it was impossible to determine what kind of poison had been used from the corpse. Han Seol led the three of them into the Institute Head’s room.
“I heard she had no family, so there is no one to claim her belongings.”
In that sense, the Drunken Demon was her only family.
They entered the room together. Stepping inside, the Drunken Demon took a moment to mourn her.
I’ve known you for so long, yet this is the first time I’ve stepped into this room.
The room was neatly decorated. A small bed sat by the window, with a small desk and chair beside it.
You must have sat at that desk when you sent those letters to me.
The image of her sitting there, writing letters, rose in the Drunken Demon’s mind. Most of the books on the desk were related to alcohol. Various parts and devices used in the brewery were placed in a corner, and the clothes she wore while working were neatly folded.
Everyone felt the same thing: she really was someone who knew nothing but wine.
A cabinet on one wall held dozens of wine bottles of various shapes.
“Seeing how they’re kept separately, they must be precious wines, right?”
The Drunken Demon didn't answer. He couldn't. Among the collected wines were the ones he had sent her. Many of them were just ordinary wines easily found in the market, yet she had kept them alongside her rarest treasures.
That wasn't all she had kept. The Drunken Demon found a box under her desk. Inside, she had carefully preserved the letters she had received from him.
You kept all of these!
The Drunken Demon didn't even know where the letters she had sent him were. Some were likely lost, others tucked away somewhere. But the Institute Head had organized and stored his letters by date.
The Drunken Demon pulled one out and read it. It was worn from being read many times.
Ah, I remember this.
It was a memory from a very long time ago. The letter contained things he hadn't even realized he’d shared. His entire history was contained within those letters.
“May I take the letters we exchanged?”
At the Drunken Demon’s request, Han Seol readily agreed. “Please do.”
Even as he tucked the thick stack of letters into his robes, the Drunken Demon showed no emotion.
“Now, let us go to the White Liquor Snowy Plains.”
*
The White Liquor Snowy Plains was a hive of activity. Behind people carrying raw materials on carts, there were areas for fermenting and aging the wine. Others were bottling the finished product.
After watching them work for a moment, a man acting as the temporary Institute Head was summoned. He was said to be the person the late Institute Head trusted most.
“I have some questions regarding the previous Institute Head.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Was there anything unusual about her before she died? Did she act differently?”
“There was nothing of the sort.”
“Anyone she argued with?”
“The Institute Head was not the type of person to argue with anyone.”
They spoke with a few more people, but there didn't seem to have been any internal conflict. Before leaving the White Liquor Snowy Plains, the Drunken Demon investigated the wines produced there—the types, the production schedule, and where they were being sent.
After finishing the investigation, the four of them left the brewery.
“Since it is so clearly a suicide, is there any need for further investigation?” Han Seol asked.
If it was confirmed as a suicide, the three of them would have no reason to remain in the Ice Palace. However, against Han Seol’s certainty, the Drunken Demon showed a different kind of conviction.
“It wasn't suicide, so we must investigate in earnest. I hope the Ice Palace will assist us more actively.”
When Han Seol looked puzzled, the Drunken Demon spoke with confidence. “From today’s investigation, I’ve found three pieces of evidence that prove it wasn't suicide.”
“In what way?”
Not only Han Seol, but Geom Mu-geuk and Lee An also looked curious.
“First, even if she were to commit suicide, she would never have done it by drinking poisoned wine.”
“She was someone who loved wine all her life, so couldn't she have chosen to go out with wine at the end?”
The Drunken Demon shook his head firmly. “A drunkard like me might have. But she wasn't a drunkard; she was a maker of wine.”
To Han Seol, who still didn't understand, the Drunken Demon added an explanation. “She would have sooner jumped off a cliff than allow her own wine to be tainted with poison. She loved wine with a pure heart.”
Geom Mu-geuk understood that sentiment. A martial artist might commit suicide by piercing their own heart with their sword, but a master blacksmith would never want to stain the blade they created with blood.
“What is the second reason?”
“I looked at the schedule for the White Liquor Snowy Plains earlier. Five days after her death, a batch of Ice Wine for the Palace Master’s hall was completed. This top-grade Ice Wine can only be made during this specific time. It’s the most important day of the year for the brewery. And you’re telling me she committed suicide without finishing that final batch? That is absolutely impossible.”
Both Geom Mu-geuk and Lee An nodded. Han Seol didn't react outwardly, but she found the Drunken Demon’s words logical. These were doubts that had been overshadowed by the discovery of the suicide note.
“What is the third reason?”
“That is the decisive one.” The Drunken Demon spoke calmly, his eyes dark. “The fact that she didn't leave a suicide note for me.”
He was certain she would never have left without saying a word to him.
“By not leaving me a note, she was sending her final message. She was asking me to uncover the truth behind her wrongful death.”
If she had been forced to write the note under duress, or if she had anticipated her death, she might have left a final word for him. But by leaving nothing, she signaled to him that this death was not a suicide. It was something only possible because of their deep trust.
“Do you know what their mistake was? They killed the person who was protecting them.”
The Drunken Demon said, slowly stroking the Blood Tear hanging at his waist.
“The person who kept me from losing my mind and running wild.”