Little Demon King (6)
Behind the white feather fan that moved as lightly as the wind, Jegal Yeona’s wicked laughter spilled out.
Her purple eyes flicked from me to Yu Seojin to the Beggars’ Sect branch chief in Yichang, and then she parted lips red as cherries.
"So the Beggars’ Sect fellows in Yichang are all gathered here? Is there some kind of banquet going on?"
Her voice was cheerful, but there was a blade hidden somewhere in it.
Just hearing that voice sent a thread of tension crawling up my spine.
I’d run into the one woman I had least wanted to meet while passing through Hubei.
I would’ve preferred for things to flow along quietly, but one look at those gleaming eyes told me that this wasn’t going to be settled quietly.
The emotions Jegal Yeona was feeling right now were obvious at a glance.
Interest, impulse, anticipation.
In other words:
"Oh, how lucky. I was bored."
That was only natural. Jegal Yeona was a magnificent agent of chaos and a dopamine addict through and through.
The branch chief gave an awkward cough when she appeared.
"Ahem. May I ask what brings Lady Jegal here…?"
"What brings me here? I came to find my friend Seojin."
Yeona trotted over to Yu Seojin and linked arms with her.
"Good grief, you smell like dirt! Were you sleeping rough somewhere because you ran out of money again?"
"Huh? Well, yes, but no, that’s not the important part! Why are you here? Do you know how worried the clan head has been?"
"Where I am is my own business! Even Uncle and Grandpa Baek can’t stand in the way of Jegal Yeona’s path!"
Yu Seojin seemed at a loss before Yeona’s sudden appearance, but Yeona didn’t care in the slightest. She casually brushed a hand over Yu Seojin’s waist.
Then, with lightning-fast fingers, she snatched the purse hanging there.
"Oh? A purse I’ve never seen before!"
"Ah! Yeona, give it back!"
"So this is Yu Seojin’s twenty-third purse?"
Yu Seojin reached out, but by then Yeona had already untied the cord and was checking the contents.
"Let’s see… oh? It’s an IOU from our clan?"
She pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from the purse.
"But why is it so wrinkled? It’s filthy, and it even smells a little musty. Seojin, are you really allowed to keep someone else’s IOU like a scrap of toilet paper?"
"No, it’s just that…"
Yu Seojin trailed off, flustered.
At the same time, Jegal Yeona’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
She turned her head, looking back and forth between me and the old beggar.
"So, to sum up the situation:"
She tapped my chest lightly with the feather fan.
"This mute young hero says he recovered it."
Then she pointed at the old beggar.
"And this old man says he picked it up, but that this young hero snatched it away. Is that right?"
"Y-yes! That’s right! I picked it up! That bastard is a robber!"
The old beggar shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
Jegal Yeona nodded as though she found it interesting.
"Is that so? Then when you picked up the purse, did you check what was inside?"
"Huh? Ah, w-well… of course I checked! There was a jade pendant and a scrap of paper!"
"A scrap of paper? Did you read the writing?"
"I’m illiterate, so I couldn’t read it, but it looked like an important document."
The old beggar was sweating bullets as he answered, conveniently leaving out any mention of the Jegal Clan’s IOU.
When she heard that, Jegal Yeona smiled and gave the IOU a little shake.
"This is a Jegal Clan IOU. And not just any one—it bears the clan head’s personal seal."
"Ah, of course. Is there really anyone in Hubei too foolish to recognize the seal of the Jegal Clan?"
The old beggar’s face went ashen.
He must have remembered how, just moments ago, he’d been about to burn it in the shack, thinking it was simply some Jegal Clan item.
"If you found an IOU from the Jegal Clan, wouldn’t the sensible thing be to bring it to a caravan agency or the local magistrate’s office? Why were you trying to swallow it whole?"
"N-no, that’s not it, I was trying to find the owner…"
"You were trying to find the owner, and then this young hero showed up and snatched it away?"
"Y-yes! Exactly!"
The old beggar nodded desperately, as if clutching at a straw.
The smile on Yeona’s lips deepened.
The more she smiled, the more uneasy I became.
What the hell was she planning?
She wasn’t seriously thinking of having me arrested, was she?
I couldn’t even argue with her properly in my current state, so all I could do was stand there, taut with tension, and watch Jegal Yeona.
"How amusing. Our Seojin says this young hero is her benefactor, while the old man says he’s a robber."
With that, Yeona turned to the branch chief.
"Uncle Branch Chief, whose word do you believe?"
"M-mine?"
The branch chief pointed to himself and spoke carefully.
"Ahem, ahem. This matter must be decided with caution, so first we should hear both sides, determine the truth of the matter, and then…"
"You’re dragging it out, but in the end you’re saying you’re neutral?"
"Indeed."
"And yet if you’re neutral, why did you gather all the Beggars’ Sect members here and cause such a ruckus in front of the caravan agency?"
"That is…"
Jegal Yeona’s lips curved into a half-moon.
"In the end, doesn’t that prove you don’t trust this young hero either?"
The branch chief searched for words, then finally muttered as though admitting defeat.
"Shamefully, yes."
"Good. Then since Uncle Branch Chief says he stands with the Beggars’ Sect," Jegal Yeona said, and suddenly she linked her arm through Yu Seojin’s. "I’ll believe my friend’s word."
"Y-Yeona!"
She ignored Yu Seojin’s flustered protest with complete grace, then gave us both a wink.
"Seojin can’t lie. If she’s even sworn to it, then this young hero is innocent."
"Young lady!"
The branch chief cut in before she could continue.
"They say a father’s arm bends inward toward his own. It’s only natural for you to side with your friend, but we, too, can only believe our own brothers first!"
He protested with a look of injured righteousness.
Jegal Yeona looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes.
"Then that’s fair, isn’t it? My arm bends inward too, so I’m going to side with my friend. What’s the problem with that?"
The branch chief seemed struck dumb by the shameless logic.
"Huh."
All he could do was gape at Jegal Yeona.
Riding that momentum, Yeona went on.
"Then I’ll trust Seojin’s word and say that this young hero really did recover the purse."
Her purple eyes slid over and met mine.
"What was inside Seojin’s purse was a Jegal Clan IOU, and this young hero found it, so the Jegal Clan is in his debt as well. In that case, shouldn’t the Jegal Clan treat this young hero as a guest?"
My brow furrowed slightly.
She wanted the Jegal Clan to back me, and for this matter to be quietly buried.
That much was obvious.
But that only made it harder to relax.
What on earth was this woman thinking, helping me like this?
There was no way Jegal Yeona was helping me out of simple goodwill.
The branch chief probably had a different thought from mine, but his unease would be the same.
He let out a deep sigh.
If what was in the purse really was a Jegal Clan IOU, and if their own men had truly stolen it, then the matter would be tantamount to stirring up both the Wudang Sect and the Jegal Clan.
From the branch chief’s perspective, this must be a headache and a half. He’d probably prefer to bury the incident quietly.
"Young lady, even if what you say is true, the fact remains that this young hero invaded our branch and used violence. Innocent brothers were caught up in it and injured. This isn’t something we can just let slide."
Still, the branch chief tried to preserve the Beggars’ Sect’s dignity with what little pride he had left.
Settle the mistake, but the beating was still a beating.
He wanted an apology for the violence, that was all.
Then Jegal Yeona clapped her hands once.
"Ah, if that’s all, don’t worry."
She beckoned to the fat man standing behind her.
When he came over, looking bewildered, Yeona declared with confidence, "Our Jegal Clan and the Hubei Caravan Agency will cover it."
"What?"
"Huh?"
The branch chief and the fat man both blurted out at once.
The fat man’s reaction was even stronger.
"This young hero seems to have thrown a few hands while recovering our Seojin’s purse—or rather, the Jegal Clan’s IOU—but that all happened while protecting our IOU, didn’t it? Then we should be the ones to compensate for the damage."
As she spoke, Jegal Yeona patted the man’s back.
"Mr. Wang! You heard me, right? Tonight, throw a feast for all the Beggars’ Sect brothers in Yichang! Set out the wine and meat—enough that they can eat until they burst!"
"L-Lady! What are you talking about? There are hundreds of Beggars’ Sect members in Yichang alone, and that doesn’t come cheap…"
The man tried to protest with a tearful face.
From that reaction, he seemed to be someone from the Hubei Caravan Agency.
But Jegal Yeona didn’t even hear him out.
Instead, she glared at him and closed the distance, speaking in a machine-gun rush.
"Uncle, what’s the most important thing for a merchant? Money? Reputation? Those matter, sure, but just as important is the people’s favor."
"What do you mean by that…"
"Of course it matters! If the people of Yichang all point at the Hubei Caravan Agency and throw rotten vegetables at it, who’s going to entrust their business to you or buy your goods?"
"Th-that’s…"
One step.
Yeona stepped forward and said, "Uncle, do you know that after they landed that contract for Sichuan Tang Clan’s black salt, the Western Sichuan Caravan Agency has been gunning for you?"
"Th-that was a deal approved by Clan Head Tang!"
One step.
Yeona stepped forward again and continued, "And because of the reduced tolls on the Yangtze River Water Sect’s routes, the pirate bastards who don’t get along with the deputy chief are grinding their teeth so hard they might crack them. They’re saying that when the deputy chief isn’t looking, they’ll sink one of the merchant ships so cleanly no one will ever know it happened."
"Th-that was also approved by the deputy chief…!"
Another step.
"And that’s not all. I heard the Southern Border Sect’s chief was so upset over you stealing their spice transport contract at his request that the Fuwei Caravan Agency nearly lost its lid too?"
"Th-that was also at the Southern Border Sect chief’s request…"
With every step she took, the man’s voice sank lower and lower.
"In the end, even if you’re doing it with permission, there’s no avoiding the fact that you make enemies everywhere you go."
On the other hand, Yeona kept advancing with unwavering confidence, not missing a beat.
"So what happens if the Hubei Caravan Agency does a favor for the Beggars’ Sect brothers in Yichang in this situation?"
Tap, tap.
She jabbed the fat man’s belly with her elbow as she spoke.
"Beggars are cheap with their mouths, aren’t they? They’ll spread the word everywhere that the Hubei Caravan Agency is magnanimous and that the Jegal Clan is loyal. Then you win the people’s favor, the agency’s reputation improves, and when you need information later, you’ll have the Beggars’ Sect’s help too. Then those guys won’t dare touch a Hubei Caravan Agency that’s won the goodwill of so many sects and the common people. Wow, doesn’t that make this a complete bargain?"
Yu Seojin clicked her tongue at Jegal Yeona’s silver tongue.
"That’s amazing, really."
Her assessment of Yeona’s gift for talk was, in its own way, both innocent and brutally sharp.
"The ability to wrap sophistry so convincingly and turn the situation around. I really admire it."
No, there was no need to admire a skill like that.
But she was right.
That talent for seizing every loose end of an argument and twisting a situation until it favored her—or at least amused her—was Jegal Yeona’s specialty, and the reason she was called the Little Demon King.
When she finished speaking, Yeona casually turned to the Beggars’ Sect crowd.
"Isn’t that right? The Jegal Clan is saying they’ll treat the Beggars’ Sect brothers in Yichang to a proper feast as an apology, so they’re not going to act petty and club a lone young hero just because a few Beggars’ Sect members got beaten up, right? And naturally, if the Beggars’ Sect is truly united by loyalty and trust, you won’t just stand by and watch this sincerity from the Jegal Clan and the Hubei Caravan Agency go to waste, will you? You’ll spread the word far and wide, won’t you?"
"W-well…"
"And on top of that, if our clan and agency cover the medical costs of the Beggars’ Sect brothers who got roughed up, wouldn’t that be the end of it? In return, the Beggars’ Sect can thoroughly investigate who the culprit was. Of course, I mean someone other than this young hero."
When Yeona’s gaze speared the old beggar, his shoulders jerked.
While the branch chief was still gauging her reaction,
the atmosphere and the looks from the Beggars’ Sect members behind him had changed in a subtle but unmistakable way.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"They said the Jegal Clan’s throwing a banquet…"
"R-really? Our Maltong hasn’t eaten for a whole day already…"
"We can eat until we burst and drink until we’re cross-eyed?"
The Beggars’ Sect members all turned their eyes toward the branch chief.
Their message was unmistakable.
Shut up and accept it right now.
The branch chief wasn’t strong enough to ignore that pressure.
"Th-then, ah, all right. If Young Lady is willing to extend such kindness to the Beggars’ Sect, then the Beggars’ Sect will not forget that grace."
He gave a bitter smile and cupped his hands in salute.
It was, in essence, a surrender.
She was offering both moral cover and practical benefit, so there was no reason to keep being stubborn.
It’s over.
That was the first thought that came to me the moment I saw the branch chief’s salute.
Even now, among the Beggars’ Sect members gathered in front of the caravan agency, there were already more and more suspicious eyes turning toward the old beggar.
Those with sharp instincts had probably sensed the frame-up from the beginning, or at least from the moment Yu Seojin stepped forward with that grave expression.
When the hot-headed beggars started barking, half of them had been watching the old beggar’s reaction instead.
If the matter of pinning blame on someone ended so half-heartedly and the Beggars’ Sect began its own investigation from there?
I glanced at the old beggar again.
Just as I’d expected, he was trembling with visible panic.
In the end, the real culprit would be exposed.
"Good! Then the matter’s settled! Everyone pack up and go home!"
Jegal Yeona called out with a bright smile.
"See you all at the Beggars’ Sect branch at the hour of the rooster!"
"Waaah!!"
"Long live Lady Jegal!"
The beggars cheered and began scattering.
In an instant, the murderous mood changed into a festival atmosphere.
So this was the power of money.
Once the situation was settled, the old beggar shouted in desperation.
"Th-this is ridiculous! That bastard is a thief! Please believe me!"
He fought to the very end.
He knew that if he lost here, he was finished.
But Jegal Yeona looked down at him with cold eyes.
"Old man. Do you still not understand the situation?"
"What?"
Her lips curved in a crescent smile.
"Everyone’s excited about going to eat meat, and you want to ruin the mood all by yourself? And didn’t I say it earlier? If you get caught trying to swallow a Jegal Clan IOU, you’re going to be in very serious trouble."
With the tip of her white feather fan, Yeona tapped the old beggar’s purse.
"If a man tried to swallow a Jegal Clan IOU, wouldn’t he steal other things too? I’m starting to think we should let our clan’s people give him a proper shaking-down."
"Eek!"
The old beggar’s face turned white as he stumbled backward.
When he decided he couldn’t take any more, he tried to slip away into the crowd at the first opening he found.
But—
"Aaagh!"
He cried out and collapsed.
A tiny venomous snake was clamped around the old beggar’s ankle.
"If you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, then there’d be no need to run, old man."
It was the snake the branch chief controlled.
He was staring down at the fallen old beggar with a frosty expression.
"Young Lady, there’s no need for the Jegal Clan to step in after all. Leave the Beggars’ Sect’s business to the Beggars’ Sect."
The branch chief glanced at the beggar who had been reading for him.
"Old man Heo, what does the Beggars’ Sect code say happens when someone is caught stealing another man’s property?"
"Well, that’s easy. You break both his hands, of course."
"Then do that. Go ahead and turn him inside out."
At the branch chief’s command, his trusted beggars dragged the old beggar away.
Then, with an awkward smile, he said to me, "Young hero, I’ve unintentionally been rude. Can you forgive me for suspecting you, just as I suspected that old man?"
"My, and here I thought you said an arm bends inward."
"Heh heh, Young Lady. That’s not wrong either, but I did say I’d remain as neutral as possible. In that case, shouldn’t I also be prepared for what to do when one of our own lies?"
His tone and expression were awkward, but there was sincerity in them.
I gave the branch chief a gesture that said it was fine.
In any case, the misunderstanding had been cleared up, and the old beggar would be directly investigated by the branch chief himself.
The branch chief bowed once more, then led his beggars away and disappeared.
Only Yu Seojin, Jegal Yeona, and I remained in front of the caravan agency.
Arm still linked with Yu Seojin’s, Yeona gave me a strange smile.
"Now then. Shall we have a proper introduction, just the three of us?"
She took a step toward me.
Her purple eyes bore into mine.
Why did those eyes feel so chilling?
I swallowed dryly and looked back at Jegal Yeona.