Mission Cleared...? (1)
"...And that’s how Hamwon’s medicinal materials get distributed through the Dongbang Merchant Guild or the Seongsim Merchant Guild. Especially the pharmacies that handle Hyeonrihwa are... this one, and that one."
Physician Yang pointed to several spots on the map.
Baek Wontae nodded.
"Is this enough?"
"More than enough."
Baek Wontae bowed deeply.
"Thanks to you, I’ve gained a great deal. I won’t forget this kindness. If I ever become someone important, I’ll make sure your name is held high, Physician Yang!"
"Think nothing of it. If this old doctor has been of help, that is enough for me."
* * *
Creak─
The group left the pharmacy.
Baek Wontae laughed as he flipped through the papers filled with information.
"Damn, how much did those jackasses just save me? I thought they’d never tell me anything about their distribution network, so I even prepared a bribe. Saved me the trouble of doing all this legwork, too."
He turned everything into profit the way other people turned bread into crumbs.
Dang Ihwa asked quietly, "Um... you. What you said earlier, about your parents... was that... true?"
A snort escaped him.
"You kidding?"
Her chest went cold.
She’d expected as much, but hearing it outright still hit hard.
To use his parents as part of a scam?
He was completely off the rails.
Dang Ihyeon clicked his tongue.
"You sold out your own parents just to make the deal happen...?"
"So what? They were useless anyway. Never did a damn thing for my life. At least they’re being useful now."
Then, almost suddenly, he let out a sigh.
"...The part about them being dead was true. To be exact, my dad died, and my mom ran off."
At that, the siblings flinched.
Everyone had a story.
The outlaw in front of them might not be an exception.
But this felt like he had crossed a line.
Dang Ihyeon couldn’t hold back anymore. "Even so—"
He thrust up a palm in front of her face.
"Don’t hit me with that parents-and-children bond crap. Or duty, or virtue, or whatever. Please."
Baek Wontae’s eyes were more serious than they had ever been, and emptier too.
Dang Ihyeon fell silent.
"...All right."
Baek Wontae relaxed his expression and recovered his easy grin.
"Anyway, Hahou? What’s that supposed to be?"
At his question, the siblings only exchanged looks.
After a brief hesitation, Dang Ihyeon explained, "It’s our mother’s surname. We can’t let our real names be known, so... we’re using aliases."
"Oh?"
Baek Wontae’s eyes widened.
"What, so you two are out here running scams too, but you’re only going to complain when I do it?"
"We’re...!"
Dang Ihwa bristled, but couldn’t quite refute it.
As infuriating as it was, he wasn’t exactly wrong.
They criticized Baek Wontae’s scams, but they themselves were slipping into society under false names.
They had never thought of that as fraud.
It was for protecting their family, for fulfilling a long-cherished grudge, for survival.
But now that she thought about it, it was contradictory.
Dang Ihwa’s eyes wavered.
This time, Dang Ihyeon pushed back. "Our mother’s surname is our surname too. How can a child taking their mother’s name be a lie?"
Baek Wontae nodded lazily.
"Good. That attitude."
"...What attitude?"
"The kind where you justify things like that."
The corner of Baek Wontae’s mouth lifted.
"Once you get used to it... you’ll fit right into this game someday."
The siblings had no answer.
They only looked down at the ground.
"But do you two even have Sinpae for those aliases?"
"...Sinpae? No."
He stared at them, dumbfounded.
"What? You’re using aliases and you don’t even have forged identity tokens? What’s with the nerve?"
When you operated in the shadows, forged identities were the absolute basics.
No—hell, even kids in a back alley trying to buy booze and cigarettes knew to get fake IDs first.
And these two?
They were out there using aliases without even the most basic common sense.
If you were going to hide yourself, shouldn’t you at least prepare accordingly?
"If I hadn’t been there earlier, do you really think you could’ve stomped those bastards and threatened them with a knife? No chance. They’d have gone straight to the magistrate and testified that the Hahou siblings did it. Then the office would’ve checked your identities against their records, and what were you planning to do then?"
Silence.
They had never really thought about it, because they’d never had to use forged identity tokens until now.
Once Baek Wontae pointed it out, the problem became real.
If he hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have been able to cleanly erase the consequences.
And then their aliases could have been exposed, their family threatened.
The siblings’ heads began to burn.
Baek Wontae shook his head.
"Then I can’t help you. If you’re going to be this sloppy, there’s no way I can help you."
Dang Ihyeon raised her voice. "Then what are we supposed to do? Sinpae are strictly controlled by the government. You think it’d be easy to forge them?"
"Hah."
A cold laugh slipped out.
Strictly controlled by the government?
Even in modern times, where the data of eight billion people was organized inside computers, fake IDs were everywhere.
And this was an old analog world. There was no way forgery was impossible here.
"What in the world is impossible? If you want it badly enough, anything can be done."
He opened his bundle and looked down at the pile of coins.
"Of course... it’ll cost a bit of money."
Then he called out to Dang Ihyeon.
"Hey. You still have those bastards’ Sinpae, right?"
"I do, but..."
"Give them here."
Dang Ihyeon took the tokens from inside her robe and handed them over.
Baek Wontae glanced at them, then shoved them into his bundle.
"What are you going to use those for?"
"There’ll be plenty of uses for them someday."
For some reason, a chill ran down her spine.
He told the siblings, "All right. Let’s go handle the last job."
He started walking.
"Let’s head to the pleasure house."
* * *
They arrived at the pleasure house.
Geumgangru.
A vast, lavish building adorned with brilliant decorations and lacquered red walls.
People in expensive clothes came and went, while laborers in one corner hauled mountain-high stacks of crates.
"You can practically smell the money."
It looked like they really might pull off something big.
He looked back at Dang Ihyeon and asked, "This is the pleasure house you mentioned, right?"
"Yeah. I used to do unloading work here once."
The courtesans around them each radiated their own brand of allure.
Some clung sweetly to wealthy customers, showering them with affection.
Some used a seductive, cool detachment to stir up their patrons’ appetites.
"There sure are a lot of pretty girls. Makes it feel worth working."
"Quit spouting nonsense and tell me what to do."
"Go find someone in charge and get a list of the merchant guilds they deal with."
"That won’t be easy. Like Physician Yang said, business records are usually confidential. Back then he told you because he fell for your scam... but this place is different."
Baek Wontae snorted.
"Then use what you learned from me."
"...You want me to scam them?"
"If not, when were you planning to do it?"
Dang Ihyeon let out a sigh.
"...I’ll handle it."
The siblings headed toward the courtyard of the pleasure house.
A staggering number of crates were being moved nonstop.
As laborers sweat their way through the load, a neatly dressed man shouted orders at the top of his lungs.
His voice was rough, and his expression was stern.
Dang Ihyeon approached him.
"Hello, Manager Jo."
As soon as she greeted him, the man turned his head.
When he recognized her face, his expression brightened.
He immediately grabbed her hand.
"Oh! Well, look who it is—Mr. Hahou! You’re here to work? Perfect timing. Give me a hand!"
"Huh? No, I’m not here for that—"
"What, you came to relax? Hahaha, just joking. You’re not that kind of person."
The man kept talking without pause.
"Of all days, a bunch of delayed shipments came in at once, and I’m sweating blood trying to sort the inventory. At this rate, even staying up all night won’t be enough. And the person beside you must be... oh, your younger sister! The pair of siblings known as the Double Pulley have come together! I’ll pay you extra, so lend me a hand. Hmm?"
He had a bushy beard and bright, earnest eyes as he clung to them.
Dang Ihyeon broke out in a cold sweat.
It was such a desperate request that she couldn’t very well refuse, and her good nature made it impossible to ignore.
"...Ah, yes."
Double... pulley...
Dang Ihwa was shocked inside.
No matter how you looked at it, calling a young woman a pulley was ridiculous.
Meanwhile, Baek Wontae sat on a bench, sipping a drink.
He was, in fact, looking forward to seeing whether the siblings could sweet-talk the person in charge and squeeze out the information like he’d taught them—
But then they’d suddenly been grabbed and made to—
Carry crates.
"Pfft!"
He sprayed the drink and rubbed his eyes.
When he looked again, it was still the same.
"What the hell are they, wha—what are they doing?"
His head rang.
Then a laugh escaped him.
What, they couldn’t even say no to helping with a little work?
He really was a pushover.
But soon the corner of his mouth lifted.
Well... if they build up a good image while helping out, that might actually help when it comes time to get information. And there’s no shortage of time.
He nodded and convinced himself.
Manager Jo knew Dang Ihyeon’s strength well.
The monstrous power that let him haul five or six loads at once without breaking a sweat.
So there was nothing to worry about on that front.
The problem was his younger sister.
The nickname Double Pulley might be circulating, but maybe it was just an exaggerated rumor born from her brother’s reputation?
He didn’t want to force heavy work on a woman.
"All right, Miss Hahou can take those smaller crates over there—"
Flash─!
Before he could finish, four huge crates were piled onto Dang Ihwa’s shoulder.
Everyone except Dang Ihyeon gaped.
Dang Ihwa calmly walked into the warehouse and stacked the crates neatly.
"O-ogh... oof..."
Manager Jo nearly fainted from sheer delight.
As for Dang Ihwa, she still didn’t know why she was called the Double Pulley.