69. I've Always Loved You (7)
As I entered the Lake Patrol Office, people glanced at me sidelong. Normally, they'd recognize me as the Hohuk Shinui and crowd around pretending to be old pals, but this was the first time no one stuck to me like glue. Even the runner who'd cozied up to me last time spun away the moment our eyes met, walking off with exaggerated stiffness.
I headed straight for the Lake Department. It was a total mess, as expected. The head of the department, Vice Minister of Lake Affairs Jin Mubyeok, had been caught up in a corruption scandal.
"Hey, hey! I told you not to touch that! You wanna get dragged off to the Censorate with me?"
"Th-the documents were crooked..."
"Shut it! From now on, anyone who touches a single paper without Censorate permission will be charged with evidence tampering!"
Just like at the Hwi-yeong Merchant Group, investigators were flipping through files, combing every inch. Only then did I realize how half-hearted my academy classmates had been. A real search was supposed to be this suffocatingly ruthless.
I rolled my eyes, gauging the mood. Asking for anyone right now would get me chewed out for being clueless. I wasn't an official—just a common merchant. But I couldn't waste time standing around either.
"Is Vice Minister Hyeong here right now?"
I grabbed a nearby Lake Department clerk and asked. I was braced for the backlash.
As expected, the clerk scowled and turned to me. But surprisingly, no curses flew.
"H-Hohuk Shinui?"
"Yes."
"Ah, right. Um. He is here, but he's under inspection himself, so it might be awkward for him to receive you."
The clerk stammered, sneaking glances at me. I wasn't some high official; he didn't need to be this deferential.
"Anyway, he's here, right? Then I'll just wait."
"N-no, no need to wait. If it's urgent, I can pass it on directly."
"Huh? No need for that."
"It's no trouble. I want to."
The clerk suddenly bowed deeply to me and slipped into the vice minister's room. When he emerged, he bowed again.
"He'll see you shortly."
"Ah, yes... thank you."
I tilted my head at the clerk's unwavering politeness to the end. There were no people as proud and arrogant as the imperial bureaucrats. Even when I was head of a top-tier merchant group in my past life, they'd strut around stiff-necked on their government salaries.
Maybe this guy's just special. Well, the world's full of all sorts.
True to his word, Vice Minister Hyeong Taeseong appeared right away. Through the door crack, the Censorate inspector looked upbeat— the polar opposite of the chaos in the Lake Department.
"Come in."
As I entered, the Censorate man gave me a quick bow.
"Hohuk Shinui—or should I call you Merchant Group Head? Nice to meet you anyway. I'm the inspecting censor in charge of this search."
"Feel free to speak casually; I'm no official."
"Whoa, the Deputy Censor would have my head. He said to treat only you and Vice Minister Hyeong with utmost courtesy while turning the Lake Department upside down."
"Ah."
So that's why everyone's been so polite. But on second thought, no. The Deputy Censor's orders only applied to his Censorate underlings.
The Lake Patrol runners or Lake Department clerks had no reason to tiptoe around me.
"I see. Thank you."
"No trouble at all. It's our job."
"Seeing the Censorate searching gave me chills."
"Hm, truth be told, tearing up the Lake Department now isn't all that meaningful. The big evidence was already neatly compiled by Vice Minister Hyeong himself. We're just checking for any loose ends."
"Ah, I see. So what happens to Vice Minister Jin then?"
"Well..."
The censor smiled awkwardly. Even so, it felt too soon to say.
Then the door burst open, and two men entered: Censorate Deputy Censor Wang Song and a middle-aged man with a goatee. Wang Song let the older man enter first, which told me everything.
"An honor to meet the Lake Patrol Commissioner."
Vice Minister Hyeong promptly confirmed the man's identity. Lake Patrol Commissioner. Head of the entire Hohuk Lake Patrol Office.
The commissioner wasted no time scolding Hyeong.
"Tsk. You handled this poorly."
"My apologies."
Hyeong bowed his head. I got the gist immediately.
Connecting directly with the Censorate without notifying his superior first, flipping the Patrol Office upside down. From the commissioner's view, it looked like Hyeong had snubbed him.
"Still, Deputy Censor Wang smoothed things over in the middle. You're only keeping your post thanks to him."
"My deepest apologies once more."
"Enough. I know why you went straight to the Censorate without telling me. You worried it'd leak to Vice Minister Jin if you did."
The commissioner spoke bitterly. In other words, Hyeong hadn't trusted him.
"Come now, Commissioner. Don't be too harsh. He acted for the people, didn't he?"
"Ahem. Otherwise, I'd have come down hard."
The commissioner cleared his throat and finally looked at me.
"So you're the Hohuk Shinui. Pleased to meet you. I'm Gang Semin, Lake Patrol Commissioner for Hohuk."
"The honor's mine. Muk Hwi-yeong of the Hwi-yeong Merchant Group."
I gave Gang Semin's face a quick once-over. Nothing standout, but he oversaw an entire province. A far cry from some sub-department head. Especially with someone so careful in speech and action, caution was key.
"Commissioner, how much do you know?"
I asked carefully first. That would set the tone for what I could say. Wang Song answered instead.
"I had to tell the commissioner everything. That's trust, isn't it? We're in the same boat anyway."
"Fair enough."
I cleared my throat. A commissioner like him had every right to know the full plan. We were toppling one Patrol Office, after all, and he'd have been briefed to get his buy-in.
Last time in the Lake Department, we'd secretly met and assumed: "If the Censorate pressures Vice Minister Jin directly, he'll mobilize the Commander Alumni." Eliminate that alumni head, and it all crumbles.
Without their leader, the alumni Hohuk branch fractures; Jin, suddenly bereft of backup, collapses. That was our calculus.
Anyway, if the commissioner knew everything, it made talking easier.
"But..."
The highest-ranking man there trailed off. What could make a commissioner hesitate?
Surprisingly, the one he was eyeing was me.
"How'd you handle the Commander Alumni head?"
"Pardon?"
A tricky question. Wang Song chimed in.
"We spread the rumor you suggested—that the Commander Alumni head vanished. The public buys the Censorate angle, but some weird tales are circulating too."
"Weird tales?"
"That you're a divine being wielding monstrous strength and divine fury, turning the alumni head to a puddle of blood."
"...Seriously?"
"Dead serious believers out there."
I hadn't seen that coming. I had seeded the vanishing rumor myself. It'd break Jin Mubyeok's nerve.
We also spread that he'd fled in fear of being linked to Jin by the Censorate. Rumors favor the first sower. Overlapping lies twist into truth; debunking them takes mountains of facts. We'd made the vanishing the accepted story, but the monster-god bit was pure wild card.
"That's on you showing off your Hohuk Shinui miracles. Curing an incurable plague clean like that? No mortal does that."
It was just future knowledge. I'd overlooked how miraculous it'd seem. But a divine emissary commanding freakish power? Never dreamed.
"Such nonsense'll fade quick."
"True. But that's not the point."
"Then what is?"
"We know the truth. The Censorate didn't make him vanish."
Curiosity burned in their eyes, fixed on my lips.
"Need I spell out how?"
"No need. But secrets between allies can breed doubt."
I chuckled dryly. They were dying to know.
Killing an imperial official was massive risk, naturally. Even to the end, Wang Song and Hyeong had doubted I could handle the Commander Alumni head.
To their worries, I'd never detailed how—just affirmed I could.
They'd imagined: assassins, connections, poison, honey traps. They craved my full hand. What trump card let me casually off a regional heavyweight like that?
Lake Patrol Commissioner Gang Semin, Censorate Deputy Wang Song, Vice Minister Hyeong Taeseong. I eyed them each.
Hyeong was future prime minister material—no need to explain. Gang was a Rank 2 noble official; Wang, a palace power player. Me? Just a merchant head, Wudang lay disciple—small fry. Sharing secrets with them was a win for me.
I flashed a grin at their tension and shrugged.
"I just killed him."
"...Just?"
Their voices blanked in unison. The most absurd answer from their view.
"You killed the Commander Alumni head yourself?"
"He came to assassinate me. So I killed him."
"No traps or anything?"
"Why bother? I win anyway."
"..."
My brazen reply stunned them silent. After a beat, Gang muttered blankly.
"The alumni head had few equals in Muhan..."
"I'm not Muhan stock. Wudang."
"Heard you entered as a lay disciple less than a year ago?"
Wang Song asked. They'd dug into my background thoroughly. Nothing damning, though.
"Talent."
"Whoa."
They were speechless again. Their gazes shifted anew. They'd only known merchant-head Hohuk Shinui Muk Hwi-yeong.
"You're a scary one."
Gang said, voice shaky. Never thought I'd see a commissioner flinch at me. Impossible even in my past life. Though he did seem a tad soft for a high official.
"Alright, curiosity satisfied. Back to business."
Wang Song clapped to reset the mood.
Outside, the wrecked Lake Department had Jin Mubyeok bound and kneeling, courtesy of the censors. No fight left in his eyes. With his trusted alumni head gone, surrender made sense.
"Haha."
Laughter burst from me. My mocking tone reignited venom in Jin's hollow gaze.
"You damn bastard."
"What'd I do? Blame the corrupt one yourself."
"Shut up! Everything went to hell after you! Everything!"
Jin bellowed, blind to the commissioner and deputy censor ahead. Not that he could afford to care.
I squatted to meet his eyes. Bound hand and foot, he couldn't budge. I slapped his cheek hard.
The crack rang like a whip on flesh. Jin shuddered. Humiliated before his men by a mere merchant—unbearable.
"Hey, you tried to kill me first. So dunking you was inevitable, right?"
I patted his swelling cheek. Jin looked dazed with shame.
I whispered close.
"Since you sided with Muhan Merchant Association, I've always wanted to bury you. And today, it happened."
Jin's face flushed crimson; he choked out a gargle and toppled backward. I chuckled low. My laugh would haunt his fading mind.
I stood after knocking him out. Everyone stared in shock.
"You could kill with words alone."
Wang Song clicked his tongue. The censors hoisted the slumped Jin. Couldn't die here—he'd face due punishment in the palace.
Watching him dragged off drooling, I'd never felt so refreshed.