Forged Sinpae (Part 2)
It was when he came face-to-face with Dang Rim.
If Ihwa had possessed forged Sinpae then, things would have ended far more easily.
One stolen token had been enough to make Dang Rim back off without a fight.
Until the trouble between the Dang Clan and Dangmun was fully sorted out, forged Sinpae were essential.
So long as they could prove that Ihyeon and Ihwa were not members of the Dang family, a great many dangers would disappear.
But a crude fake, carved from a few lines of writing into a wooden plank, wasn’t enough.
A counterfeit identity that was truly registered, one that even existed in the government records.
A name that the law acknowledged, even though no such person existed.
He needed someone with the skill to make that happen.
“I was told that if someone from the Shinjiang side wanted to cross borders and city gates easily, they’d need forged Sinpae, so I was ordered to find a trustworthy craftsman.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Since this is information needed for business, if you know anything, please tell me.”
“Well… I do know someone who might do such work, but… this is pretty expensive information.”
“I’m not expecting it for free. How much?”
“N-no money is necessary. Just….”
Predictable.
What a pill fiend wanted was always one thing.
“Next time I come, I’ll set aside a share for the boss.”
“Heh, you know my heart well.”
The merchant spilled everything he knew.
Some time later, when the story was done, the merchant let out a long sigh.
“That’s everything I know. Still… they’re a cautious bunch, so if you’re careless, you could end up in trouble. You’ll have to follow the procedure I told you exactly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He rose slowly and bowed his head.
“Then I’ll see you at our next deal.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the work was done, Baek Wontae called for Ihyeon.
“Dang Ihyeon, are you free for the next few days?”
“What is it?”
“Nothing major. I just need a bodyguard. There’s somewhere a little… far away I have to go.”
“How far is ‘far’?”
“A city called Haryeong. Heard of it?”
“I’ve heard the name, but I’ve never been there. It’s farther than Hamwon.”
“Then it probably has nothing to do with the Dang people. Even better.”
“Why Haryeong?”
The corner of Baek Wontae’s mouth lifted.
“To forge Sinpae.”
“….”
Forged Sinpae.
An act that openly defied the emperor’s law.
A treasonous crime that mocked the order of the realm.
And yet, it no longer felt strange.
The longer he stayed with Baek Wontae, the more logic mattered than morality.
“…All right.”
“Good. We leave in two days. Get ready.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
At last, they arrived at an inn in Haryeong.
Thud.
Baek Wontae tossed a bundle of luggage onto the bed.
“There are a few things I need to know first. I haven’t seen him, but does the clan head ever leave Heokryeonhyang?”
“No, hardly ever. The last time he left Heokryeonhyang was about four years ago.”
“Then it’s safe to say the only ones doing outside business are you two siblings.”
Ihyeon nodded.
“Do people outside know anything about your family makeup? Like, that you have a father?”
“We didn’t talk about it much, but… people used to ask about our family sometimes. I said we had a father. Of course, I didn’t tell them his name or what he did.”
“Right. And people outside Heokryeonhyang know you live there, too?”
“Some of them do.”
Baek Wontae sorted through his thoughts.
“So, from an outsider’s perspective: the siblings are called Hahou Hyeon and Hahou Hwa. They’re suspiciously strong, skilled at menial labor and medicine. They have a father, but his name and occupation are unknown. They live in Heokryeonhyang… something like that?”
“That sounds about right.”
“Good. I’ve got a rough outline for what to put on the Sinpae.”
He stepped closer to Ihyeon.
“Whatever I do, don’t argue. Got it?”
“Even if I argued, you wouldn’t stop anyway.”
At that, he grinned.
“You really do know me now.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Chiryajeong.
The wooden signboard gleamed in the light.
It was a lively inn.
Two men wearing bamboo hats and face coverings stepped inside.
Baek Wontae and Dang Ihyeon.
They took a seat in the corner.
Before long, a server approached.
“Welcome! What can I get you?”
Baek Wontae beckoned him over with a hand.
When the server leaned in, Baek Wontae whispered, “Bring me a bottle of Haryeong Mountain Wuliangye, delivered right to the front door.”
At that instant, the server’s smile vanished.
“…That item is rare. I’ll have to speak with the proprietor directly.”
He glanced around, then pointed toward an inner door.
“This way, please.”
Creaaak—
Baek Wontae and Ihyeon followed the server.
The corridor was more complicated than it looked.
Narrow passages led to one door after another, and beyond each one waited yet another.
They stopped before a door lacquered in red so glossy it seemed to sweat.
Knock, knock.
The server rapped on the door.
“Proprietor, there’s a guest here requesting Wuliangye.”
Creeeeak—
The door opened from the other side.
“Whoa.”
Baek Wontae blinked in mild surprise at the man who opened it.
A huge figure, masked.
He had to look up more than he did at Dang Rim.
Even wrapped up tight, the breadth of his frame was impossible to hide.
The man stepped aside from the doorway.
Baek Wontae and Ihyeon entered the room.
A dim room carrying the faint scent of incense.
A young woman sat across from the table.
The proprietor.
She wore clothes unexpectedly neat for the atmosphere, and her face carried a strangely alluring air. Beneath her smile, a certain shrewdness seemed to leak through.
Baek Wontae sat down.
“Are you the proprietor?”
The proprietor didn’t answer at once.
She simply looked him over, then said, “No need for small talk. What do you need?”
The corner of Baek Wontae’s mouth twitched upward.
He liked that attitude.
“I was asked to find someone who could make forged Sinpae. This was the only place that came to mind. Can you do it?”
“If you’ve come to us with a request, then you’re not asking for some toy carved from a scrap of wood.”
“Two forged identities, registered in the government records. With whatever details I want.”
The proprietor gave a faint, tired laugh.
“Reusing a missing person’s identity is relatively easy. But creating a completely new one is another matter. That means stepping into the government office, and that… carries considerable risk.”
“So you can’t do it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
She rummaged through a stack of papers and pulled one out. As her eyes skimmed the document, they shifted to Baek Wontae.
“As it happens, I have someone who can handle your request. Highly skilled labor doesn’t come cheap, and risk pay has to be included, so… it won’t be a small sum.”
“What’s the risk of the forgery being exposed?”
She folded the paper with the same calm as before.
“Only the people here and the one who does the job will know. No one else.”
Baek Wontae tested her a little further.
“Can I trust that?”
The proprietor let out a quiet snort.
Her gentle look cooled, and a chill slipped into the room.
“We’re Haomun.”
The lamp flame trembled.
“We don’t take on impossible jobs. As for us, impossible doesn’t exist.”
A smile bloomed at Baek Wontae’s mouth.
“How much?”
“Ten thousand mun each. Twenty thousand total.”
Ihyeon’s shoulder jerked.
Twenty thousand mun.
Two years’ worth of income, the kind of money you could only touch if you worked yourself to the bone.
It wasn’t the sort of sum you could pull out casually.
But then he remembered what Baek Wontae had done in Hamwon.
The man named Dang Rim who had noticed Ihwa’s eyes.
A moment that could have ended everything.
Back then, luck had been on their side.
Baek Wontae had blown away the crisis with quick thinking.
But would luck favor them again next time?
For now, the Dang Clan supposedly had no presence in Hamwon… but once they’d been suspected, the clan might soon begin investigating the area.
If the opponent was the Dang Clan, that was no fantasy.
They might even run into them on the street.
And just like Dang Ihwa and Dang Rim had, they would recognize them.
How had Baek Wontae handled that situation?
He used the stolen Sinpae from before and the circumstances around it to pose as an innocent commoner.
It had been a remarkable improvisation…
But if Dang Rim had pressed harder, he might have been exposed.
If it had been him in that situation, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything.
But if they had forged Sinpae that were legally valid?
Then even if they ran into the Dang Clan, they could still force their way through somehow.
The clan might be suspicious, but as martial artists, they couldn’t openly harass ordinary citizens.
That alone would reduce the danger greatly.
Until they returned to the Dang family in full, they couldn’t afford to be exposed as fugitives.
This was a survival tool.
With that in mind, this money would be the smartest investment they could make.
Baek Wontae had to know that, which was why he’d come all this way.
The proprietor went on, “The deposit is five thousand mun. Pay the rest when the work is finished.”
“Five thousand mun, huh….”
Clink.
He placed five nyang of silver on the table.
The proprietor took the silver and put it in the drawer.
Then she set out paper and brush.
“Write down the contents and requirements for the Sinpae. The more detailed, the easier the work becomes.”
Baek Wontae wrote without hesitation.
Some time later, after reading the contents, the proprietor nodded.
“Hmm… this is a good time for it, too. The work will be finished within two weeks. Come back then.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A few days later.
The government office in Haryeong.
Officials and clerks dashed back and forth.
Scrolls were piled high on every desk.
Haryeong was the administrative center of the counties under its jurisdiction, and now it was the season for the periodic household registry review.
It was the time to inspect the household records sent up from each township, revise them, copy them out, send them on to the higher office, and then return them to their local jurisdiction.
It was a moment of crushing responsibility, and one that demanded countless hands.
The officials worked their brushes without a breath to spare.
“Sort the Hamwon documents into bundles of ten! Quickly!”
“Clerk Kang, please correct the old ledgers!”
“Clerk Yu! Check the new households!”
“Hey! You wrote this wrong!”
The whole office was in chaos.
Clerk Park, brush in hand, massaged his wrist.
His brow was knotted tight.
“Why are this quarter’s ledgers all such a disaster… what were the township heads doing? There are mountains of other districts’ records too. I’m going to lose my mind.”
Then a shout rang out from somewhere far off.
“Hey, Clerk Park! Come here for a second!”
“I’ve got a mountain over here too, what do you want?!”
“The clerks from Gudong Township left out the death records! They’ve been taxing dead people for months!”
“Ah, shit!”
Clerk Park grabbed his face.
There was already enough nonsense to sort through, and now they were taxing the dead?
If you’re going to embezzle, at least do it properly.
It was always the useless ones who had too much greed, and everyone else paid the price.
Then one of the attendants said, “Clerk Park. I’ll organize these ledgers for you.”
Clerk Park whipped around.
He had never been so relieved to hear those words.
“Fine, then I’m counting on you!”
He plunged into the pile of Gudong Township records.
The attendant who remained behind lowered his gaze to the stack Park had left.
He lifted his head and scanned the surroundings.
Brushes scraping, paper rustling, curses, sighs.
No one was looking at him.
His eyes returned to the ledgers.
The attendant’s hand slipped into his robes.
Swish—
Two scrolls.
Prepared in advance: forged identities.
Identities that would soon become real.
The night before, he had quietly secured a few official forms for this job.
He spread the scrolls across the table.
Then he lifted the county magistrate’s seal from the desk.
Thunk—
A bright red stamp landed on the ledger.
Once.
And then again.
He returned the seal to its place and shoved the scrolls back into the stack of records.
As if they had been there all along.
He organized the ledgers as though nothing had happened.
In that moment, two new citizens of the Yeom Kingdom came into existence.