Chapter 36
Sama Chang opened the door and stepped inside.
“Inspector, I’ve brought the first squad leader. I reviewed all five years’ worth of ledgers, but it’s hard to say he was involved in any corruption.”
“Understood.”
Sama Ryang extended a hand and pointed to the seat opposite him. “Please, have a seat over there.”
As Gwak Jiryang started toward the chair across from him, he seemed to remember something and glanced back at Sama Chang. “Ah, the gate guard from earlier will be out of work for several days because of his injuries. He was a rather diligent man. I assume I can request compensation from the Military Council?”
“You may. He’ll be compensated properly.”
Once Gwak Jiryang sat down, Sama Ryang set aside the document he’d been reading and looked at him steadily.
The silence stretched. Before long, Gwak Jiryang found himself swallowing without meaning to.
...What is this?
Those deeply lowered eyes felt as if they could pierce straight through him. Unease prickled at the back of his neck, and in the end it was Gwak Jiryang who broke the silence first.
“I came along because this was only a formal procedure, but I don’t really have anything worth reporting...”
“First Squad Leader.”
Sama Ryang cut him off cleanly.
“Have you ever submitted a report concerning the White Ghost Squad?”
Gwak Jiryang’s fingertips twitched. The faint smile that had lingered on his face vanished in an instant.
“The White Ghost Squad... You mean one of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s combat units? They’re full of hot-blooded men, so they do cause trouble from time to time. I’m sure I would’ve filed reports. You’re asking the obvious.”
“...”
“You called me away from my work just to ask that?”
Sama Ryang still didn’t look away. His expression was unreadable.
Gwak Jiryang suppressed the strange discomfort creeping up his spine and let annoyance seep into his voice.
“Listen. If you summoned me, then say something. If you’ve got nothing else, I’m leaving.”
“I asked about Yang Bong, the former deputy leader of the White Ghost Squad. Do you know anything about him?”
Sama Ryang’s tone changed. The air around him turned vicious, like a judge facing a criminal.
After a brief silence, Gwak Jiryang answered, “Yang Bong... I have no idea what you’re talking about. Just because I’m a squad leader in the Law Enforcement Hall doesn’t mean I keep track of every person who served under the previous administration. You’d be better off asking someone else. Now then, if that’s all...”
Sama Ryang lifted the document lying on top of the stack of books.
“Yang Bong, who had both his legs cut off, was seen wandering around outside, alive and well.”
“...!”
“Are you planning to commit false reporting and perjury?”
Looking at the wavering paper held at his eye level, Gwak Jiryang felt sweat dampen his back.
He finally understood that this inspection had nothing to do with the ledgers. It was meant to arrest him.
He knew better than anyone that if it were revealed he had submitted a false report to the upper leadership of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—especially to the Commander-in-Chief—it would be a capital crime.
Th-then what was that quarrel earlier? Don’t tell me they staged it among themselves.
His heart plummeted. “T-That! How could I possibly believe that Yang Bong is still alive and well? No, and just because my name is written there doesn’t prove I submitted the report...!”
Sama Ryang’s gray eyes flickered like ash stirred by wind.
“So you claim the Military Council launched this inspection using fabricated evidence?”
The atmosphere in the room froze solid. The weight in his voice seemed to spread a knife-cold chill across the air itself.
“That’s...”
“First Squad Leader.”
“...Yes?”
“Among the many organizations in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, only the Military Council holds the right to conduct inspections. Do you know why?”
Gwak Jiryang rolled his eyes before answering, “Because... it’s the upper leadership of the Cult, I suppose.”
“Half right. You need to look at the foundation that earned it that position in the first place.”
“...”
“For immeasurable years, the Military Council has proven its ability and built trust. Faced with countless crises, it found the Cult’s path forward, offered strategies, and proved its worth. Only after all that was its power recognized.”
Sama Ryang slowly leaned forward, lowering himself to Gwak Jiryang’s eye level.
“And who do you think granted that recognition?”
“...!”
Gwak Jiryang’s pupils shook violently, as though struck by an earthquake. Leaning against the wall and observing, Hyeong Baek was inwardly astonished.
Was my judgment wrong all along?
The Commander-in-Chief had long been wary of Sama Ryang’s gentle nature.
It was because he considered the man’s natural talent too valuable to waste. He was clearly a piece of material fit for great accomplishments.
Even to Hyeong Baek, Sama Ryang had always seemed too mild-tempered, better suited to being a physician than to the Military Council, which dealt day after day with ugly matters and brutal affairs.
I was mistaken.
He had to admit his error.
He was ruthless and unconventional, yet his work was impeccable.
What Sama Ryang meant by “recognition” could only have come from the Cult Leader.
If Gwak Jiryang denied that knowing it, then this would no longer be mere false reporting—it would become the grave crime of insulting the Cult Leader. If he admitted it, then he was choosing the path of becoming a criminal with his own mouth.
With just a few exchanges, he had driven the First Squad Leader of the Law Enforcement Hall into a dead end.
Gwak Jiryang clenched his trembling hands into fists.
If he let himself be dragged along by those words, he would be reduced to a criminal in an instant.
He had to keep his wits about him.
“I only asked about the truth of the evidence. Why are we suddenly talking about the Military Council’s authority? I’ll say it again: I’ve never even heard of anyone named Yang Bong.”
Watching from the side, Sama Chang let out a dry laugh. “Do they send you all to the same training sessions or something? It’s so familiar it’s practically tired.”
“...?”
Sama Chang stepped up beside Sama Ryang.
“These are the documents taken from the First Squad Leader’s office. The ledgers were apparently written by hand, so you should check them.”
“Understood.”
Sama Ryang compared the handwriting in the ledger with that in the reports, and Sama Chang bent over as well, examining the two documents in turn.
“Let me see... Wow, it’s so messy it’s making my eyes hurt. I was going to say this earlier and held back, but your handwriting is truly awful.”
Sama Chang straightened up.
“That distinctive scrawl is all over the place. There’s no need to compare it any further.”
“Indeed. Arrest the criminal.”
“W-What! Wait just a moment!”
Ignoring Gwak Jiryang’s frantic shout, Sama Chang took a hemp rope from the corner.
T-This...!
Gwak Jiryang was thrown into a terrible dilemma.
Should he submit meekly and be dragged away as a prisoner, or should he run?
Either way, the outcome would be disastrous.
Still, I need to get out first. If I can just escape...!
A cold glint flashed in Gwak Jiryang’s eyes.
The two men before him, both bearing the Sama surname, were at most the age one would call promising young talents. In other words, their individual martial skill could not amount to much.
Tsutsutsu!
He immediately began drawing up demonic energy with all his strength.
“...!!”
Gwak Jiryang’s entire body stiffened in an instant. It wasn’t that his acupoints had been sealed or that he’d been suppressed by inner force.
It was killing intent.
An overwhelming killing intent that shook both body and mind had frozen him solid.
Gulp.
Feeling as though his head might roll off at any moment, Gwak Jiryang barely managed to lift his chin.
“...!”
At the edge of his trembling vision, he saw a middle-aged man whose presence had seemed faint until now.
He was gripping a saber carved with grooves like dragon scales, his cold eyes blazing with a frightening light.
Silver Scale Saber...?
The moment he recognized the man’s identity, the heat in his body drained away all at once.
“First Squad Leader, the inquiry ends here. I do hope you won’t do anything rash.”
An inspection was, by nature, no different from leaping straight into enemy territory.
Moreover, the Military Council’s judgment was absolute. There was no bargaining with punishment.
That was why, on occasion, prisoners who refused to accept the outcome would go so far as to draw blades in desperate defiance.
If death was inevitable, they might as well try to flee.
Of course, such blades would not easily reach inspectors trained in both civil and martial matters, but variables always existed.
And this very danger was the reason inspectors could move forward without hesitation.
Hyeong Baek gave a low chuckle.
“Well then, is it time to face the deputy hall leader?”
One of the three great saber masters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Hyeong Baek, the Silver Scale Saber.
He was the Military Council’s foremost weapon, the mightiest force in a hall renowned as a treasury of talent.
* * *
The room where the Military Council’s group had stayed was on the first floor, while the deputy hall leader’s office was on the second. Since the distance was considerable, news of the First Squad Leader’s arrest naturally spread during the move.
What is that...?
First Squad Leader?!
Members of the hall who had been hurrying about one by one came to a halt.
Seeing Gwak Jiryang dragged along in bonds struck them like a blow. And since no trace of qi could be felt from his body, it seemed he had even been sealed at the dantian.
No one dared step forward before the absolute authority of an inspection, but the Law Enforcement Hall’s men ground their teeth with hostility.
Sama Chang, holding the rope, glanced around.
This is ridiculous.
So this shameless bastard had actually earned the trust of his subordinates?
Judging by the way the ledgers had been handled, he clearly wasn’t useless at his job.
Just then, Sama Ryang’s voice reached him through a telepathic transmission.
Senior Chang, please head to the First Squad Leader’s office.
Sama Chang turned to look at the back of his head.
Why? We’ve already checked the ledgers and battle records. There was nothing odd. And it’s not like we need any more evidence. What exactly am I supposed to search for?
Not the search itself. Someone like the First Squad Leader will have just overheard our interrogation. He may try something, so please head to the office first.
In other words, he wanted him to prevent any planted evidence from being slipped in.
Sama Chang’s eyes narrowed.
So all that confidence wasn’t empty after all.
There had been plenty of gossip within the hall about Sama Ryang’s appointment.
He had passed the hall examinations, yes, but that had been years ago, and he had been promoted to inspector only a few months after joining.
It was such a shocking move that “special treatment” barely covered it, and Sama Chang had also been inwardly dissatisfied... until now.
He’s good. He really is good.
Given the Military Council’s merit-based nature, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
Sama Chang quietly watched Sama Ryang’s back as he walked ahead.
On the main road, that back had seemed a strange blend of obnoxious and dependable, but now it tilted ever so slightly toward the latter.
Sama Chang immediately handed the rope to Hyeong Baek.
“Hm?”
“I’ll do a separate search.”
“Fine. Do as you like. No need for all three of us to go.”
“Yes.”
Sama Ryang and Hyeong Baek headed for the deputy hall leader’s office.
When they arrived, Song Ryeong’s voice came from inside the door.
“You may come in.”
Creak.
Unlike the dreary world outside, the interior of the office was lavishly decorated.
A potted plum tree sat beside a miniature artificial mountain carved with such precision that even its pebbles looked sculpted by hand, and a clear stream of water flowed between them.
It was a space so carefully arranged one might have believed it belonged to a famed merchant lord.
There, Song Ryeong—dressed in a purple robe—stood with his hands behind his back and spoke.
“The other inspector already looked through this place. What’s left to inspect?”
Sama Ryang turned his head slightly. At the signal, Hyeong Baek stepped forward, dragging Gwak Jiryang, who was still bound with rope.
“D-Deputy Hall Leader...”
“...”
Song Ryeong’s eyes went cold. With a hardened expression, he asked Sama Ryang, “You’ll need to explain this in detail.”
“Gwak Jiryang has been bound as a criminal. The charges are false reporting, perjury, and treason.”
Gwak Jiryang shrieked as if in a fit. “T-Treason? What nonsense is that! I have never committed treason!”
Sama Ryang’s ash-gray gaze flashed.
“You expected us not to notice that you tried to draw on demonic energy and were suppressed? To try to harm the scholars from the Military Council conducting an inspection—that is treason, under any circumstances, and cannot be tolerated.”
“That’s ridiculous! I only reflexively moved my qi, I never even struck—”
“Gwak Jiryang.”
Song Ryeong cut him off.
“Are you saying the false report and perjury are undeniable?”
“...!”
Gwak Jiryang’s shoulders twitched. Song Ryeong’s cold stare, as if it were carving flesh away, pinned him in place.
“Pathetic. What is this disgraceful display? I told you to guard against the corruption of bad company, and yet in the end you’ve become a criminal yourself?”
“...I’m sorry.”
“Tsk.”
Song Ryeong turned to Sama Ryang.
“People really aren’t worth trusting too easily. I placed him in the position of squad leader because I believed he had the ability for it, but I never imagined that trust would come back to shame me.”
“...”
Sama Ryang said nothing, only met his gaze.
A subtle light stirred in Song Ryeong’s pupils.
“So you didn’t come merely to escort him here. Inspector, do you believe this man is also implicated in the crime?”
Sama Ryang nodded.
“The report submitted by the criminal bore the deputy hall leader’s seal.”
At that, Song Ryeong’s brows twitched.