No Mercy for Traitors' Kin
"Would you really let a traitor's family off the hook? If we're doing this, we see it through to the end."
"Excuse me. Was the door locked?"
"The door, you say, sir??"
"Yeah. The door. Was it locked?"
"Yes, yes. I picked the lock to get in, sir."
After finishing my chat with the guards, I quickly scanned Yi Chamcho's corpse. Twisted limbs and face from agony, foam at the mouth. Anyone could see it was death by poison. No notable wounds besides the ones from the earlier torture.
The door had been locked until the guards found him convulsing. Another locked-room killing. But not a perfect locked room—the wooden bars were wide open all around, perfect for slipping poison through.
"Hey."
I stood up and asked the prisoner in the next cell.
"Anything happen before he ended up like this?"
"Uh, I, I don't know, sir. He was just talking with the guards, and when they left, he suddenly keeled over."
"Yeah? No exchanging anything?"
"Didn't see details. Something about worrying over his wife and kids before they left. That's it."
Wife and kids. Wife and kids, huh.
They couldn't have come inside the cell, so no forcing poison down his throat. Used his family as leverage to make him swallow it willingly?
"What's all this commotion!"
Hyeong-bang's voice rang out just then. I stepped out of the cell and approached him at the jail entrance.
"Sir Hyeong-bang. Any luck? Did you lock the government office doors?"
"It's not that simple. Only the Bu-sa has authority to lock the office gates."
"Talk to the Bu-sa, no, forget it. Too late anyway."
Not like this was my house—I couldn't just bolt the front gates on a whim. And the office had more than one door; they could've slipped out while we locked up, or hopped the walls even if we did.
"Ah, shit. Seriously...!"
"Captain Kim. What happened?"
"Yi Chamcho's dead."
"What?!"
"Those guys we passed earlier. They're the culprits."
"That's why you wanted the doors locked..."
Hyeong-bang squeezed his eyes shut and gnawed his lip. He was pissed about this mess too.
"What do we do now?"
"Hold on. Let me think. No—report to the Bu-sa first."
"Yes, sir."
With Hyeong-bang heading off, I finally had space to focus. Yi Chamcho called the guy who did this to him "Kongkeng." Let's nickname 'em Kong for now. Okay. So, what kind of bastard is Kong?
Stole three Min-su-yong matchlocks and stirred up chaos in Jeonju. No tolerance for traitors. Bold enough to hit the government office for revenge. Meticulous enough to snag guard uniforms.
But why? Why's he still in Jeonju? Checkpoints or not, he could've left anytime. Just sling rifles over his shoulder, disguise as a guard, and stroll out the gate.
Why stick around? Hid in Jeonju till today, got sloppy chasing the traitor. Even infiltrated the office to kill him. Risked his face getting known.
Why go that far? Why bother with the office for a dead traitor anyway?
Maybe killing traitors matters more than running. Hell, maybe the blood itself is the goal—shit.
"Captain Kim! Captain Kim! What's going on here!"
Right on cue, Jeonju's Bu-sa stormed into the jail with Hyeong-bang and a bunch of underlings.
"Bu-sa, sir!"
I bolted straight to him and blurted it out.
"Give me ten—no, twenty soldiers armed with matchlocks!"
"Wh-what? Soldiers?"
"Yes! We can catch these bastards if we move fast!"
"What are you talking about? Soldiers out of nowhere?!"
No time to explain, but I couldn't take on matchlock-armed foes solo.
"The thieves care more about offing traitors than hiding. They disguised as guards and snuck in—think they'd spare a traitor's family?"
Maybe they promised Yi Chamcho they'd leave his family alone if he took the poison quietly. But these guys were obsessed enough to infiltrate the office. No way they'd honor that.
"......"
The Jeonju Bu-sa just furrowed his brow silently after my pitch.
"Bu-sa, sir!"
"Quiet! You think deploying soldiers is easy?!"
"No time! Innocent woman and kid die, rifles gone forever!"
"Ugh......!"
I got his hesitation. Sure, he recognized my skills and made me temporary search captain, but handing troops to a 16-year-old kid? No dice.
"Hyeong-bang!"
After less than a minute's deliberation, the Bu-sa barked orders.
"Take ten matchlock-armed soldiers and follow Captain Kim Si-jin!"
Whoa, really giving me ten? There were only about thirty guards total—I'd asked big on purpose. He's actually doing it?
"Captain Kim Si-jin! Gear up and move out!"
"No need! I'll take these five guards here and go ahead! Hyeong-bang and the remaining five—grab our gear and follow!"
Peacetime, no armor, but guards were already matchlock-ready. Perfect—they were clustered from the murder scene anyway.
"Uh, yes! Do it!"
"Thank you, Bu-sa, sir!"
I bowed deeply to the Bu-sa for greenlighting my rude request without hesitation. Then picked five guards from the jail crowd.
"You there, mister! Yeah, you! And you two! Anyone know where Sergeant Yi Chamcho lives? Yes! You five—temporary Squad One! I'm squad leader! Moving out now!"
Quick squad formed. Bowed to the Bu-sa once more before leaving.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Good luck! Go!"
"Yes! Oh, Hyeong-bang, sir—you're Squad Two leader!"
Designated the follow-up as Squad Two, then led Squad One out of the office. No full sprint—saved energy for potential fights, fast march to Yi Chamcho's house.
"Hah, hah, hah."
Even pacing ourselves, breaths came heavy. Cool early autumn breeze or not, sweat poured as we hurried.
"Don't you know who my husband is? Why drag me to the office?!"
"Just—just come see. You'll understand. Please."
"Tell me exactly what's up! Then I'll go!"
Breath burning my throat now. In a residential alley, some auntie was arguing with two guards.
"Th-that the house?"
"Y-yes! That's it!"
Our guide guard nodded, panting from the pace.
Kong's crew weren't total lunatics ransacking homes in broad daylight. Though sneaking in to kill and slip out? Yeah, insane enough.
"I'll go ahead! Catch up!"
I broke into a run and reached Yi Chamcho's place. The arguing guards and auntie eyed my gasping arrival suspiciously.
"Hah, hah, excuse me! Ma'am! Hah! This—this is, hah, hah."
"You'll pass out at this rate. Hold on, I'll get water."
"No! Don't go in!"
I grabbed her wrist as she turned for the house, stopping her cold.
"Egg money? What's that mean? I'm a married woman with kids."
She startled a bit but grinned, not offended. Seeing that made spilling her husband's fate even harder.
"Well, uh."
While I fumbled for words, Squad One arrived, panting. The auntie frowned, flustered at the guards.
"What's all this?!"
"Uh, let's—let's go inside and talk."
"O-okay. Come in."
I released her wrist; she glanced at us warily and led into the yard. I ordered the guards to patrol, then followed.
"Something's wrong with him, isn't it?"
The auntie, already inside, asked in a trembling voice.
"All these guards... something happened to my husband?"
Tears welled as she stared. My heart pounded—not from the run.
"Look, it's like this."
I knew time was short but hemmed anyway. Screw it—straight to the point.
"You and your kid are in danger right now."
"What?"
"Sergeant Yi Chamcho got tangled in a crime. Murderers are targeting you and your child."
"Wh-what...!"
Her eyes shook wide at "child." I pressed on.
"Ma'am, where's your kid?"
"In the—in the room..."
"In the room? Hasn't gone out?"
"Can't walk yet—where would it go?"
Yi Chamcho's kid was a newborn? Head spun. But he wasn't clean—bribed me yesterday, killed at dawn today. That bias steadied me.
Glanced around casually. Broad daylight neighborhood—guards aside, neighbors peeked curiously. One might be Kong's man.
What now? How to protect ma'am and baby and catch Kong?
"S-sir?"
Snapped back; she gazed worriedly.
"Wh-what do we do?"
"Uh, right."
An idea hit. I stepped two paces back, eyeing her up and down. At 16, my height matched an adult woman's. Back-to-back, no one'd notice.
But the baby? Ah, got it.
"Ma'am."
"Y-yes? I'm listening."
"Got a rice chest at home?"
"Brother. You really gonna do it?"
"Scared now?"
"Would I? But Yi Chamcho—we promised not to touch his family."
"That was a lie to protect the crew. To survive, no choice."
"Fair point, but..."
"How's his house? Guards still crawling?"
"Ransacked all day for evidence, hauled the rice chest at dusk. In-laws wailed—no one cared."
"Hah, government dogs are all the same. No better than us. Extort under crime pretexts. So now?"
"Guards gone. Just the wife and newborn left."
"Sure?"
"Yeah. Saw the wife pacing the yard with the baby myself."
"Good. When heaven darkens fully, we move. Handle the woman and kid, slip out of Jeonju, plan the next."