Monopolizing Fortunes (11)
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Monopolizing Fortunes (11)
In the end, Jang Yu-seom and Seon Hye-min met two ke later. Seon Hye-min apologized, and Jang Yu-seom simply held her without a word.
* * *
"Boss, happy thirty-eighth birthday."
Wang Chil's face brightened at the birthday present Do Tong-dal held out, then quickly turned to disappointment.
"What's this?"
"Shoes."
"I'm the type who values sincerity over price in a gift, but usually sincerity comes with a price."
Wang Chil stared blankly at Do Tong-dal, then asked.
"Honestly, you don't like me, do you?"
"What? No, I don't."
"If you don't, then how can you squirrel away all that money and buy cheap shoes for my birthday? Are you telling me to run away?"
"Where would I get money? I'm only a squad leader in title; I haven't even received my monthly pay yet."
"Didn't you win five nyang off Gong So-seong?"
Do Tong-dal let out a thin sigh.
"That was ages ago, and I've spent it all."
"Where did you spend a fortune like five nyang?!"
"I asked you to find a house for Jang Yu-seom. How did that go?"
"Huh? That... well, that's..."
"Finding that house cost two nyang, and I spent three nyang treating Mrs. Seon's illness."
"Mrs. Seon, Jang Yu-seom's wife? You spent three nyang of silver on a physician? How great a physician could it be?"
"The physician in black."
Wang Chil's face crumpled instantly.
"That physician in black who treats injured thugs and cures prostitutes' venereal diseases?"
"Yes."
"You crazy bastard! You gave three nyang to a quack like that! I thought you were smart, but you go around getting scammed everywhere!"
"You won't say that once you find out who that physician really is."
"Who is he, then?"
Do Tong-dal said as he walked out of the office.
"You'll find out later."
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"To invest in the future."
After leaving the office, Do Tong-dal headed for Hwangil-ro. If today hadn't been Wang Chil's birthday, he wouldn't have remembered when the day of the murder had been.
That was because nothing in particular changed just because that person died. But if Do Tong-dal saved that person, the story would be different.
'There's no harm in getting close to the new magistrate.'
A diligent new magistrate would go to the district he was assigned to and observe the public sentiment. Yet that faithful performance of duty often led to death.
The local powers who did not welcome the new magistrate would eliminate him before he took office.
If the culprit wasn't caught, even the central government could do nothing, so the case would fizzle out, and those who had been exploiting the situation would keep on exploiting it for a long time afterward.
At the time, the murder of the new magistrate had turned Hangzhou upside down, but they had only made a fuss about finding the culprit; the authorities, who had no will to find him in the first place, could never have solved the case.
Hangzhou was a place where no one batted an eye even when a new magistrate was murdered in broad daylight.
'I don't know what kind of man the new magistrate is, but he won't treat the person who saved his life poorly.'
Hwangmun-ro, with its unusually high number of taverns, therefore held a desolation like nighttime elsewhere. He didn't know why the new magistrate had been poking around here in broad daylight.
According to the various testimonies gathered at the time, the murder had occurred around the end of the hour of the Sheep (1 to 3 p.m.). So Do Tong-dal arrived at the scene at the beginning of the hour of the Sheep.
The alley, mixed with urine that hadn't dried yet, vomit, and garbage, was no different from any other pleasure district alley.
Do Tong-dal was probably the first person to pass through this alley after daybreak. These alleys were places where not a single person could be seen until it grew dark.
"I think the incident happened a bit further in..."
He moved his feet, intending to lie in ambush beforehand, when he heard a voice.
"You bastards! What do you think you're doing in broad daylight!"
From beyond the alley that turned left came the shout of a young man. The reply to the shout was a sneer.
"Heh heh heh... Acting like a magistrate, and the first thing he does is talk big."
"He hasn't even taken office yet, so he's not a magistrate."
"You know who I am, and you still intend to kill me?"
"If you weren't the magistrate, we'd have no reason to drag you all the way here. Before you die, at least be satisfied that you got to hold a courtesan."
"W... wait! However much you were paid to kill me, I'll give you twice that."
Do Tong-dal thought, 'Isn't he a stingy one?' If he was going to make an offer anyway, he should have offered ten times as much to move their hearts.
"No! I'll give you ten times as much!"
'He adapts to reality quickly.'
But even ten times as much didn't move the men's hearts.
"Don't make an ugly scene and just die quietly."
By the time Do Tong-dal, who had quickened his pace, rounded the alley corner, one of the three men was just about to stab the new magistrate.
"Stop."
His voice wasn't very loud, but it was enough to stop the man. Everyone's gaze turned to Do Tong-dal.
The man who had been about to stab the magistrate pointed his blade at Do Tong-dal.
"Who are you?"
"A thug from the Underworld who was passing by."
"The Underworld?"
"From the looks of it, you're not with the Red Tiger Society. If you're going to do a job here, you need the Red Tiger Society's permission."
"You mean some lowlife from the Underworld is going to stop our work? I'll let it slide just this once, so get lost!"
A man with a thick scar running from under his eye to his chin stepped forward.
"They've seen our faces. We can't leave a witness."
The scarred man walking toward Do Tong-dal drew a dagger from his waist.
His steady gait and the force he exuded marked him as no ordinary man. Then again, no nobodies would have come to kill a new magistrate.
"Blame your bad luck for bringing you here."
The scarred man immediately aimed for Do Tong-dal's heart. The man's dagger, drawing a straight line, was fast. But it wasn't fast enough to kill Do Tong-dal.
Do Tong-dal twisted his body to the left to avoid the blade and at the same time grabbed the scarred man's wrist.
If Do Tong-dal hadn't met Jang Yu-seom, and if the sword in the scabbard hadn't come out because of that, he might have died from this single strike.
But he was now Jeonsalgwi. He wasn't as strong as Jeonsalgwi in his prime, but he was strong enough to bear that name.
Thwack! Crunch! Gyaaak—!
The strike, the breaking of bone, and the bursting scream all happened almost simultaneously. The scarred man collapsed, clutching his broken arm.
"Th... that bastard...!"
Since he had already made his move, there was no reason to drag things out. Do Tong-dal ran toward the two startled men.
The one who had held his blade to the magistrate reacted first. He thrust his blade at Do Tong-dal's stomach, but he wasn't as fast as the scarred man.
Do Tong-dal spun around, dodging the blade, and at the same time drove his elbow into the man's jaw.
Crunch—!
His jawbone shattered, and three bloodied teeth flew out. Do Tong-dal shoved his foot into the collapsing man's shin.
Crack!
"Gyaak—!"
Leaving the pain-filled scream behind him, Do Tong-dal threw himself at the last man. The one who had been holding the magistrate belatedly tried to draw his weapon, but the hand that touched his waist couldn't even pull free.
Thwack!
A fist slammed into the bridge of his nose, and Do Tong-dal's extended kick shattered his ribs.
It took Do Tong-dal only the time needed for a few breaths to subdue the three men.
Do Tong-dal spoke to the new magistrate, who stood frozen with a startled face.
"From the looks of it, you don't seem to be hurt anywhere."
The new magistrate, who had been examining his body here and there, placed a hand over his left chest.
"My heart is hurt."
Then he smiled brightly. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes drooped, giving him a good-natured impression. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties, and seeing as he had already become a magistrate, he must have scored well on the civil service examination.
Do Tong-dal said, looking at the three men rolling on the ground.
"Today is a lucky day for you."
"I almost died?"
Do Tong-dal grinned.
"You met me."
The new magistrate narrowed his eyes.
"For a young kid, you look sly."
"That's not an insult to someone from the Underworld."
"I wasn't insulting you either. I'm asking because you look sly—you know who I am, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Did you orchestrate all of this? To somehow get yourself entangled with me, the new magistrate."
He got it half right, so should he be praised? Do Tong-dal let out a long sigh.
"You have a rich imagination."
"If you're not with them, then kill these bastards."
Crack!
The neck of the man who had been holding the magistrate from behind snapped. The new magistrate, who had told him to kill, was startled.
"You fool! What do you think you're doing, actually killing him!"
"You told me to kill him."
"I thought you'd at least ask again!"
"They're going to be executed anyway... Should I kill those two as well?"
"Is killing people easy for you?"
"It's not a matter of easy or hard; it's a matter of necessity."
"So you killed him because it was necessary?"
"Shouldn't I show you what kind of person I am, the one who saved you, Magistrate?"
The new magistrate stared blankly at Do Tong-dal. A young thug from the Underworld. He didn't match the vague image he had drawn in his head at all.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Do Tong-dal."
"Your affiliation?"
"I'm a squad leader with the Red Tiger Society's Gwanghwa-ro Fixer Office."
"I'm Yang Su-pan."
Yang Su-pan pointed at the men who had tried to kill him and asked.
"The ones behind these bastards are the local powers here, right?"
"Nine times out of ten, that's right. Shall I help you?"
"I'm not incompetent enough to need help from the Underworld."
"You would have died if not for me."
"I'm asking just in case—of the six boards of the local government, which one should I be most wary of, and which one is at least somewhat trustworthy?"
Just as the nation's system worked, local government offices also ran on the six boards. They were the Board of Personnel, the Board of Taxation, the Board of Rites, the Board of Military Affairs, the Board of Punishments, and the Board of Public Works.
Perhaps Yang Su-pan had asked the most suitable person in Hangzhou.
"As is usually the case, the Board of Personnel is the root of evil. The Board of Public Works at least has a relatively good reputation."
"I see. Where is the most money to be made?"
Yang Su-pan threw out the question, then immediately said, 'Just kidding,' and laughed heartily. Somehow it didn't sound like a joke.
"Anyway, thank you for today. I'll repay the favor when I get the chance."
He owed him his life, yet he said he'd repay it only when he got the chance. Watching Yang Su-pan's back as he sauntered down the alley, Do Tong-dal chuckled.
He liked that the man didn't seem like a rigid official.
"Still, he probably won't do anything to harm me."
* * *
His days repeated: coming to the pleasure house early, drinking, and falling asleep in the arms of a soft, tender courtesan.
Occasionally he went to the gambling hall and enjoyed the feel of winning, so for an old man, it wasn't bad. No, it was the retirement any thug who had survived the back alleys where swords and blades ran rampant would dream of.
"The liquor is getting me drunk quickly today. Burp—!"
Han Dong-san urinated in the pleasure house's flower bed and turned around when he saw someone.
The man who met his eyes greeted him.
"I greet Elder Han."
The man, now in his late teens—young, if one could call him that—knew who he was.
"Are you a member of the Red Tiger Society?"
"I'm Do Tong-dal, a squad leader at the Gwanghwa-ro Fixer Office."
"Oh ho! So you're the new recruit who flattened Gwang Hae-bong's nose."
"It's an honor that you know of me, Elder Han."
"This isn't the Gwanghwa-ro Fixer Office's territory... Did you come to drink?"
"I'm not the sort who can afford to frequent a high-class pleasure house like this. I came because I have something to tell you, Elder Han."
"To me?"
Do Tong-dal looked left and right, confirmed no one was around, and spoke.
"Branch Chief Gwang Hae-bong has gotten hold of your weakness."
For Han Dong-san, who was called an old fox, it was better to go straight at him than to beat around the bush.
Han Dong-san's white eyebrows bristled.
"What do you mean, my weakness?"
"You embezzled quite a large sum."
The startled expression disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"What are you talking about?"
From now on, it was a battle for control.
"If you don't know, then there's nothing more to say. Excuse me."
Do Tong-dal bowed politely and walked away. If Han Dong-san didn't stop him here, he would have to take a very long detour.
"Wait. You're a nasty one, throwing out bait and then leaving."
When Do Tong-dal turned his head, Han Dong-san gestured with his chin for him to come.
"Let's hear it."
Do Tong-dal spoke about the blackmail ledger inside Gwang Hae-bong's safe.
"I happened to find out while I was looking at the courtesan register."
There was no need to lie. Only when nine-tenths of a story is true does the remaining one-tenth of a lie work.
"So you saw that blackmail ledger too?"
"I had to confirm it."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Are you afraid of me?"
"No."
"Then I'm not. I never make threats that don't frighten the other person."
"But it's not a favor either. What do you want?"
"Make Wang Chil the Branch Chief of the Baekdong Branch."
* * *