The Whistleblower (1)
Kim Hyunsung wasn’t used to receiving things.
I didn’t know what he had been like in the first turn, but given how high his potential was, it was more likely that he’d been the type to give rather than take.
So it made sense that someone like that would be happy to receive an unexpected surprise.
He didn’t seem able to hide his feelings. He wasn’t grinning from ear to ear or wearing some huge, exaggerated smile, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward, and anyone could tell he was delighted.
He likes it.
A well-maintained black griffon. If he hadn’t looked so pleased, I would’ve been the one feeling disappointed. It was the sort of rare item that couldn’t even be measured in currency; on this continent, a means of flight was on par with a legendary item.
Maybe that was why everyone around us was staring in open astonishment.
“Wow….”
When you considered that this griffon wasn’t the guild’s property but mine personally, it wasn’t exactly easy to say, offhand, that I was giving it away as a gift.
Well, it was very easy for me, but for other people, it was probably a great deal harder. And when you thought about how much there was to gain by making this present public, that only became more true.
It also shows how tightly the guild master and vice guild master are bonded.
In other words, it was a reaffirmation of power.
It also proves that I’m that loyal to our Hyunsung.
It could even cement the image of Lee Kiyoung, the loyal retainer, even further.
Sure enough, Kim Hyunsung, who seemed a little overwhelmed, came into view shaking his head.
“I-I’m fine, Kiyoung. I appreciate the thought, but… this is too much for me.”
You should be overwhelmed. Do you have any idea how much this thing costs…?
“There’s no need to feel burdened, Hyunsung. I’m just repaying you for everything you’ve done for me. Ah! And I happened to receive it by chance, too.”
“But still….”
Of course, I had expected that reaction. It was too heavy to call it a simple gift.
Still, his expression was clearly that of someone who wanted it. Refusal was only a formality; realizing that took no time at all.
Kim Hyunsung was already preparing himself to accept the gift with reluctant grace.
It was like a student stubbornly refusing pocket money from his uncles. He only put on a show of resistance because he already knew it would be forced on him in the end.
“And there’s the Yuliena matter, too. If you look so burdened by this, I’ll end up feeling burdened instead. I already have my own griffon, so don’t worry about me and just take it.”
“Ah….”
Take it already, you brat. You’re taking it anyway.
Anyone could see his heart was already leaning toward acceptance. In the end, he gave a small nod.
“If you put it that way, then I’ll… gratefully accept it.”
Don’t stutter….
“Really, there’s no need to feel burdened. Haha. Just think of it as getting back the things you’ve gifted me over time.”
Keep paying me back little by little from now on, Hyunsung.
“No. I’ve received far more than that. I’ll be sure to repay this kindness.”
That’s exactly the attitude. Yes, that’s it!
As I casually handed over the black griffon, I saw Kim Hyunsung stroking it.
When the person receiving a gift is happy, the giver feels good too. And it wasn’t just Kim Hyunsung.
Park Deokgu, Sun Heeyoung, the kid, Hwang Jeongyeon, and even Lee Sanghee all looked bright with pleasure.
The rather grand gift presentation ended there, and I thought the party would be over soon enough, but it seemed the guild members had been holding a lot inside for a while.
“Since it’s come to this, we should stay up and party all night today. Right! Hyunsung-hyung. That’s all right, isn’t it?”
“Then we’ll start work tomorrow afternoon.”
“Ah….”
“I’m joking. Resting for a day wouldn’t be bad either. It’s a happy day, so a little drinking is allowed. Hyejin, why don’t you come over here and join us as well?”
“Yes, Master.”
Truthfully, I was a little tired from the long flight, but well, there was nothing wrong with enjoying myself for a day.
“Ah! Oppa, try this too.”
“Sure.”
“Kiyoung, about the next volunteer schedule….”
“Yes. I’ll make time and go out there.”
“More importantly, can you tell us what happened first?”
“It’s a long story.”
The night was long, and time was plentiful.
We drank slowly through the night and, once again, traded the stories we’d been too busy to tell.
Kim Hyunsung didn’t say much, but he looked at us with a quiet smile, while Park Deokgu was still so excited he kept dancing around.
Cho Hyejin didn’t seem to know how to adapt at first, but before long she was fitting into the group surprisingly well.
Jung Hayan and Sun Heeyoung kept firing questions at us nonstop, and Kim Yeri, still a minor, shot Kim Hyunsung a resentful look as he tucked himself in for bed before heading up to her room.
The things I was worrying about now weren’t visible, at least not yet.
Only after I sensed that dawn was approaching did the celebration finally wind down, and I, too, closed my eyes in a pleasantly dazed state.
“…….”
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I woke some time later to the sound from outside the window.
I thought that maybe I should’ve slept a little longer, but for some reason a heavy feeling weighed me down, and I had no choice but to lower my gaze.
“Ah….”
Jung Hayan was draped halfway over me.
…….
I was fairly sure I remembered bringing her back to her room last night.
I couldn’t tell why Jung Hayan was here, but I figured she must have sneaked into my room while pretending to be drunk.
Maybe she thought I wouldn’t remember… well, it didn’t really matter either way, but my body was starting to go numb.
I didn’t know how long she’d kept this position, but after lying like this for so long, it was only natural that my arm had gone dead.
It wasn’t a situation that I hadn’t dealt with often during expeditions, so I wasn’t flustered, but seeing Jung Hayan still pretending to be asleep with her shallow little breaths made me think I’d better stay like this a little longer.
Tap.
Tap.
Even then, the sound kept coming from outside the window. When I slowly turned my eyes, I saw a small bird pecking at the glass over and over.
The letter’s here.
The letter I’d sent to Lady Marlin yesterday had already arrived.
Nice.
I’d expected a quick reply, but this was a little faster than I’d thought. For someone as curious as I was, it was a welcome development.
Of course, what I was curious about was Cho Hyejin.
I was interested in what exactly had happened in Castle Rock.
I wasn’t planning to grab her weakness and start shaking her around just yet, but I did think I needed to know what she was hiding.
Carefully making sure Jung Hayan didn’t wake, I opened the window. The little bird slipped into the room, and after I untied the letter from its leg and scrawled out a reply on the spot, I sent it back out.
The reply simply said that I would come by soon, so I was sure the other side would be satisfied with it.
When I cautiously unfolded the letter, the words Lady Marlin had sent me came into view.
I’m delighted beyond words that you wrote to me so unexpectedly, and so soon after we parted. Though less than a day has passed, I have been secretly picturing Lee Kiyoung in my heart. In such a moment, your letter felt as though it were warming my heart, abandoned in the wilderness, with the gentlest winter wind. Am I mistaken in thinking that you have read my feelings?
Why is this so painfully long-winded?
I checked it out, wondering whether there might be some important information buried in the thick, heavily written letter, but most of it was exactly this sort of thing.
There were traces of her rewriting the same lines over and over, so she’d clearly put a great deal of effort into it.
Though it is embarrassing for me to say this as a noble lady, I still feel as though the dreamlike time I spent with you in the royal palace is before my eyes. What would it have been like if I, too, could have flown freely through the sky like the birds above? Please allow my heart to be conveyed along with this letter.
What on earth is wrong with her…?
I couldn’t figure out why she was acting like this.
We hadn’t met all that many times, and there had never been any strange spark or charged exchange between us. At most, we’d simply met while with the Duchess Katrin.
Of course, if you counted the number of times we’d met, she did come second only to Cardinal Basel, but there had never been any event that would’ve set a girl’s heart on fire.
I’d done my best to be polite and take care of her, but it still felt as though that wasn’t enough.
No matter how I looked at it, I was just as perplexed as ever.
The more I read, the more outrageous the wording became. It wasn’t even properly sinking in anymore, so I turned the page, and only then did the information I actually wanted begin to appear.
Good.
I couldn’t investigate much because time was short, but I believe this is the information you were looking for, Lee Kiyoung. I quickly gathered the free citizens and began my inquiry, and I also called in one of the guild staff members who used to be with Cho Hyejin to ask about her. As I listened to the story, I learned that the Small Rock Guild was closely connected to our Castle Rock territory.
Oh.
It was a welcome piece of news as I read on; this would make things a little easier.
To begin with, the Small Rock Guild that Cho Hyejin belonged to had once been investigated by our territory’s inspection squad. There were several intertwined reasons for the investigation, but as I recall, the main issues were the smuggling of monster byproducts and suspicion of tax evasion.
Judging by Cho Hyejin’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to get mixed up in something like that. As things started getting more interesting, I kept reading, and just as I expected, the content I’d anticipated began to emerge.
The reason the investigation started in the first place was because one conscientious free citizen from Small Rock had reported it to the inspection squad first. At the time, I was still too young to attend any family functions myself, so I only heard about it later, but I understand that the person who helped then was none other than Cho Hyejin. Despite being part of Small Rock, I was told she reported it directly to our territory for the sake of her conscience.
An internal whistleblower?
I could finally understand why Cho Hyejin had come to Lindel, and more specifically, why she had come to the Blue Guild.
For me, it was a rather headache-inducing problem. I wasn’t saying her actions were wrong or deserving of blame. She had done the right thing, and it was something worthy of praise. It was courageous, and she had nothing to be ashamed of.
But the problem was that her former guildmates didn’t see it that way.
I was sure there had been talk about it.
Some free citizens didn’t believe they had to abide by the laws of the Holy Empire. The reason was simple: they didn’t think of themselves as imperial subjects.
If you thought of Lindel, the free city created for people like that, it made sense.
Because of the nature of these free citizens, they tended to be stingy when it came to taxes.
Honestly, to some degree, tax evasion was something everyone did, and ignoring imperial law wasn’t exactly rare either.
Small Rock, where Cho Hyejin had once belonged, would have been no different. In fact, I doubted that was all there was to it.
If a guild had been smuggling monster byproducts and committing tax fraud, there was a strong chance they’d been up to other things as well.
Like trafficking in beastfolk slaves, maybe….
I couldn’t know the truth, but the important thing was that Cho Hyejin had been an internal whistleblower who reported her guild’s corruption to the lord of Castle Rock.
The rest was obvious.
She must have been branded a traitor by her guildmates, and every insult imaginable would have been thrown her way.
They would have said she’d needlessly blown things out of proportion, or that she only thought she was clean, and before long she would’ve been isolated from the group.
That’s just how our society works.
If you think about how internal whistleblowers are treated in modern society, the answer comes easily enough.
After being driven out of the guild, I figured she probably couldn’t find a place in any other guild or group either.
Someone who caused harm to the group couldn’t be allowed to stay in a guild.
Even the people who clapped and gave her thumbs-up would’ve hated being directly associated with her.
Maybe they didn’t even want to form a party with her.
I could say that with complete confidence.
After all, underreporting the results of party hunts to pocket the difference was also a long-standing custom.
As I lowered my gaze again, I could see that the story really was unfolding exactly as I’d expected.
Actually, the Small Rock Guild escaped punishment because the evidence wasn’t sufficient, but after asking the former guild staff member, I learned that Cho Hyejin left the guild under unavoidable circumstances. Even after that, she couldn’t settle down in Castle Rock and eventually left for another city. I’d thought she might have gone to Lindel, but I never imagined that Lee Kiyoung would know Hyejin. If this is a connection, then I suppose it’s a connection indeed.
“That figures.”
The result of following her conscience was that she had completely wrecked her own life.
From the perspective of any group, she was basically a bomb waiting to go off. A dangerous person who might expose the guild’s shame at any time.
Personally, I understood and respected her way of life, of course… but even from my point of view, she was no exception.
Hah… this is bad….
With the number of things that came to mind for me, I couldn’t help but feel worried.