The Second Test - 6
"Run carelessly and he'll get caught. The Three-Eyed Sword has been driven into checkmate."
How, then, did one strip the Three-Eyed Sword of the option to run at all?
Not a single Mangeum Hall warrior was hunting him at the docks. But the trick was never about the truth—it was about making him believe it.
If the inn staff under my orders claimed Mangeum Hall men were swarming the port, then swarming they were. The Three-Eyed Sword would never wager his own neck on a trip down there.
"If he's caught, it's over. They won't merely snatch back the promissory note. He'll pay dearly for the crime of daring to see Mangeum Hall as a fat money purse."
The Three-Eyed Sword's options were down to a precious few now.
"He could always keep lying low without spending a single coin."
"While the interest he owes swells with every breath he takes? Better to pin his hopes on someone dependable—someone who can grow his money while the mess is still salvageable."
I had deleted the escape route with my own hands, which left the Three-Eyed Sword's single best option: me.
"To a scoundrel who'd take money labeled 'investment' and think of nothing but settling his debt on the spot?"
I snorted at Jeon Gilsan's jibe.
"What can I do? He has no way of seeing into my heart. And the shape of it is rather pretty, isn't it? It was all a misunderstanding. I'm building a business. I'll pay the interest—just grant me time on the principal. Even when the odds are nil, a man can at least cradle a hope he can speak aloud."
"A runaway who missed his principal's due date? Whatever story he spins isn't going down easy."
Fair point.
Since no note had ever been signed, an excuse would only hold water when Mangeum Hall's men came calling—meaning it would only work if he meekly handed back the principal along with the interest.
Announce that the money had gone into an investment and that only the interest would be paid, and they'd move to seize the principal on the spot.
"Hoping costs nothing. And if he'd rather not hope, hiding his assets works just as well. Stash it away in a secret investment, and even after Mangeum Hall drags him through the wringer, something will be left over. The trouble is, this world isn't thick with men you'd trust to squirrel your money away for you."
I lifted my head and met Jeon Gilsan's eyes—wide with sheer incredulity.
"Well, well. And here he's just met a man he can trust."
"By the most marvelous coincidence, no less."
Hollow laughter spilled out of the both of us.
Truly a coincidence for the ages. Had this not been a scene someone had staged, you'd sooner believe that even when the sky caves in, there's always a hole left to crawl out through.
"You absolute madman. I still can't fathom that you engineered this entire situation from first breath to last."
"Eating another man's money is the hardest work in the world, isn't it?"
And eating the money of a man who ran off with everyone else's money was, naturally, harder still. I rose from my seat in the office of Jeon Gilsan's inn.
"Where are you off to?"
"To become a man worth trusting. Hey—I'll be back at your establishment later, so start memorizing this paper."
"A man worth trusting? What now?"
"I haven't yet reached the tier of man someone would trust with their life savings. So a little groundwork is in order."
Burn the ship he'd flee on, stand as his best remaining choice—still, it wasn't enough.
The money the Three-Eyed Sword Jo Cheol carried was money borrowed against his very life. To become someone he would hand that over to gladly, I still fell short.
Could he truly entrust his own money to a hometown younger brother? If he lost this money, his life would end right there. Even if I was the best option on the board—would he really hand it over?
Was there a way to plant certainty in him?
For me, there was.
"Brother, something weighing on you? That fish just swallowed the bait and bolted."
The Three-Eyed Sword Jo Cheol hadn't managed to focus the whole way to the fishing spot.
No wonder his mind was troubled, with the net closing in around him. I knew everything, of course, but asked as though worried.
"It's nothing. Just had something to think over. By the way, you're late today."
Having barely shaken off his worry, the Three-Eyed Sword asked me—someone who had arrived late to our appointment—what had happened.
"Well, you see. I stopped by the port on business, and those Mangeum Hall fellows were making a thorough nuisance of themselves, hauling people aside for questioning."
You barely shook off that worry? Here, have it back. And hearing it from his hometown younger brother would make it land twice as hard.
"Th-they did that?"
The Three-Eyed Sword pressed his bamboo hat down low, as if afraid someone might be watching him.
"Whoa! A monster carp! Why does it feel like I'm raiding every last shred of your fishing luck today?"
I hauled in a carp as thick as my forearm and said it cheerfully.
"It's just my lack of skill—what has luck to do with it? I only took up this hobby after coming to Wuhan, so I'm simply not practiced at it yet."
"As expected of you, Brother! They say picking up new hobbies only gets harder with age. The way you always throw yourself at something new—truly admirable."
The little pup from Musu Village admires his dear brother in every situation imaginable. So hurry up and hand over the money, will you? At my flattery, however small, a smile spread across Jo Cheol's lips.
"Kind words are thanks enough. Still, even a novice like me can tell you've a real knack for fishing, little brother."
"I took up fishing as a hobby after coming to this land as well, and I seem to be better at it than I expected."
In truth, mine had been survival fishing.
Back when I wandered the Central Plains like a beggar, I'd had to catch and eat fish just to quiet an aching stomach. Even so, it suited me surprisingly well.
Find the one worth hooking. Scatter the bait it craves. Wait until it moves exactly as you intend—then reel it in.
Those years taught a diligent, hardworking office worker and web novelist plenty on the road to becoming a fisher of men.
"What are you looking for, little brother?"
A way to make the Three-Eyed Sword believe in me. That was what I was looking for.
Word was he came by around lunchtime. It was about time he showed. Why wasn't he here? Paying no mind to whatever puzzled look the Three-Eyed Sword might be wearing, I kept scanning our surroundings.
"Well... oh?! My lord, is that not you?!"
Good fishing demands great patience until the fish you want appears. And the fish I'd been waiting for had finally surfaced.
"Oh. Constable Kang? You. What brings you here?"
The man I'd been waiting for was Imperial Inspector Jeong Munwon—future confidant of the Imperial Princess, and the man with whom I'd exchanged favors during the Shadowless Divine Thief case.
"Just dropped by for a spot of fishing! You enjoy it too, my lord?"
I asked the Inspector with all the wide-eyed surprise of an office worker discovering a colleague who shares his hobby.
Though in truth, I'd gathered intel that he'd been haunting this very fishing spot of late and had staked it out well in advance.
"Heh heh. Well, about that. And who might this gentleman be...?"
Perhaps he found it awkward to discuss hobbies before a stranger. With a mere flick of the eyes, Inspector Jeong Munwon asked me to introduce Jo Cheol.
"This is the great hero Jo Cheol, the Three-Eyed Sword—my sworn elder brother from back home. Brother, this is Inspector Jeong Munwon, whom I have the special honor of serving."
"Th-the Imperial Inspector?"
Jo Cheol's jaw dropped as he stared at Jeong Munwon in astonishment.
No surprise there. This was an official empowered to audit the corruption of the entire bureaucracy. What was more, however modest the rank, an Imperial Inspector was a post appointed directly by the Emperor himself.
"Keeping things from me now? That wounds me, between you and me."
Jeong Munwon's eyes narrowed, and he answered in a voice of exaggerated disappointment.
"Haha."
"You have a fine younger brother there. He's a constable I hold in particular regard."
Perhaps I'd earned considerable favor with him. The moment I introduced Jo Cheol as my hometown brother, Jeong Munwon sang my praises with a smile.
"A constable?"
"Ahaha. For a while, yes."
I had, after all, been the constable assigned to the Shadowless Divine Thief case. And with the thief having vanished from Wuhan without a trace, there was no reason left to wear the badge—nor anyone pressing me to keep it on.
"One of the finest constables in all of Wuhan. I'd have him work under me for good if I could, but he never makes it easy."
"Hahaha. Praise me all you like—I'm better suited to running my business."
You still haven't given up on that, have you? However you dress it up, that road for me is no garden of flowers—it's a trail of sparks.
As light banter with the Inspector warmed the air into easy conviviality, my plan worked its charm on the other side of the pond, where a face was struggling—unsuccessfully—to hide its stunned disbelief.
"Ho. On familiar terms with the Imperial Inspector himself..."
Now that's the reaction I wanted.
How does one build trust within a short span of time? A hometown bond between sworn brothers can certainly grow warm. But entrusting your life savings to a younger brother you've only just reunited with after a decade and more is another matter entirely. Trust piles up in proportion to the years you've actually witnessed.
So how do you build trust across the years you never lived through? You borrow the authority of others. It wasn't for nothing that con men loved to boast of friendships with famous performers or backdoor closeness with politicians. Being chummy with society's most respected figures was easily mistaken for being trustworthy in one's own right.
So I went with the most reliably proven method the world had to offer. Kang Yunho—trusted by the Imperial Inspector, who is trusted by the Emperor himself? How could you not trust me?
I had to transmute the Three-Eyed Sword's astonishment into conviction and faith. Chatting idly with the Inspector about the ways of the world, I waited for the shock on Jo Cheol's face to subside.
"If you ever wish to serve the country, just say the word at any time. By the by, that catch in your bucket. Is it, by any chance... a carp?"
Jeong Munwon asked carefully about the monster carp his gaze had kept drifting toward this whole while.
"Landed myself a Dragon King."
"Name your reward and let me have it—could you part with it?"
"Haha. What reward, between the two of us? Please, take it."
Did the Inspector have a taste for carp? Raised in the dirt as I'd been, I never cared much for the things myself. Perhaps he meant to press a fish-print rubbing and show it off somewhere—though it was certainly a size worth bragging about anywhere.
Whatever his reason, it didn't matter. Here I was, on terms where I gifted the Imperial Inspector presents. A golden opportunity to advertise myself.
"Ha! That's our man! Thank you!"
Jeong Munwon clapped my shoulder as though genuinely grateful.
"I'll take my leave now. Should you ever need anything from me, seek me out—any time at all."
"...Right. I'll be in touch."
No doubt the Inspector had only slipped out briefly for his lunch—he bade me farewell with a contented smile and retraced his steps the way he'd come.
"Shall we go, Brother?"
Business concluded. As I turned toward the carriage that had been waiting for me, Jo Cheol tossed me a remark.
"Little brother Kang, I never dreamed you had connections like these. To be so familiar with an Imperial Inspector who moves on the Emperor's own decree..."
Exactly as I intended, the look in Jo Cheol's eyes as he regarded me had shifted another degree.
"Brother, if even you look at me like that, I swear I'll float clean off the ground. Haha. Let's go get a meal in us, shall we?"
The trust-building operation had only just begun.
"Association Leader! What brings you here!"
The moment I stepped into Jeon Gilsan's inn, the Joseon Hometown Association members employed there greeted me warmly.
"Hard at work, everyone? Nothing amiss?"
"My wife's nearly full term now."
"Is that right? Must be a strain. When your shift ends, head straight home—let's have no mishaps."
"He already does! These days this one sprints home the very second his shift ends!"
"Hahaha!"
After the round of easy greetings, I ushered the Three-Eyed Sword—who was still gaping at me—inside the inn.
"Association Leader? Now that I think of it, the Joseon folk at the inn where I've been staying called you that too."
"Ah, oops! I never got around to telling you. I head up the Joseon Hometown Association here in Wuhan."
"The Joseon Hometown Association... as in...?"
"We're perpetual targets for persecution among the Central Plains folk, so shouldn't we compatriots at least push each other up and pull each other along?"
Leader of the Joseon Hometown Association.
If a moment ago I had paraded authority borrowed from others, this time I paraded my own. Even a modest title gains gravity when the list of them keeps growing.
"You're telling me the man leading all those thousands of Joseon folk in Wuhan is you?"
The leader whom every Joseon expatriate in Wuhan follows. If that man was me, it became proof positive that I was someone worth trusting.
The Three-Eyed Sword looked me up and down as though the claim were simply beyond believing.
Shocking, isn't it? And we're far from finished. Before Jo Cheol's reeling heart could steady itself, I struck again. I flicked a glance toward my accomplice, who'd been biding his time at a distance.
"Brother-in-law! You made it?"
Jeon Gilsan hurried over wearing a face full of delight. This rascal. One taste of a con and his lips are already trembling at the corners. Get that face under control, man.
"We've come to see you."
"But the innkeeper here isn't Joseon...?"
Jo Cheol eyed me as though to ask—weren't the franchises handed out to Joseon folk alone?
"So this is the hometown brother you're forever crowing about?"
Jeon Gilsan asked, studying Jo Cheol.
"That's right. This is Brother Jo Cheol. And this gentleman is..."
"This rascal's brother-in-law."
"Brother-in-law? Since when are you married?"
"We haven't held the ceremony yet."
"A groom-to-be must be run off his feet, then. Which is why I keep telling him: carve out the time and hurry off to Mount Longzhong."
Not a hitch in sight. Jeon Gilsan delivered the lines I'd drilled into him without a wobble.
At the words Mount Longzhong, the Three-Eyed Sword's complexion shifted.
And no wonder. In all this murim, Mount Longzhong pointed to one group and one group only.
"M-Mount Longzhong...? Don't tell me your bride is...?"
"Haha. Well, you see..."
I averted my gaze, the very picture of bashfulness.
Hey. Jeon Gilsan. Get on with it. It lands twice as hard from someone else's mouth. At my glance, Gilsan belatedly realized it was his cue and opened his mouth.
"Did he not tell you? He's marrying my first cousin on my mother's side—a daughter of the Zhuge Clan."
"Hurk—!"
With a strangled gasp, the Three-Eyed Sword whipped around to stare at me.
"Haha. Staring at me in shock won't make anything pop out. Shall we head in for our meal?"
Borrowed authority, stacked into trust.
In the murim of Hubei Province, no one was ignorant of the Zhuge Clan's majesty.
And the younger brother standing before him was now bound to that clan by marriage. Here, in this very moment, every last blank space on my "Trustworthy Fellow" seal had been stamped solid.
"Today I've come to know entirely new sides of you, little brother."
The Three-Eyed Sword spoke to me, still unable to settle the astonishment from his face.
"Truthfully, it's nothing special."
"Leader of the Joseon Hometown Association. The constable an Imperial Inspector dotes on. And now a marriage into the Zhuge Clan. I'm ashamed of how big my head had gotten around you."
"Brother. The only reason I stand here today is because you, Brother Cheol, paved the road ahead of me. Try to work as hard as Brother Cheol did. Try to live as earnestly. It's because I could repeat those words to myself every single day that I've come this far. Frankly, if you hadn't made such a name for yourself, Brother, I'd still be nothing but a beggar brat out of Musu Village."
Brother. However worthy I may be of being trusted with every last coin you own, you are still the one I respect most in this world. I flattered the Three-Eyed Sword with effortless grace.
"...I'm grateful, if you truly mean that."
Jo Cheol nodded, his face washed with emotion. About time, then.
"Association Leader!"
The instant I gave our prearranged signal, one of the Joseon men came sprinting toward me, face tight with urgency.
"Who taught you to barge in on people mid-meal without an ounce of manners?"
"Association Leader, I mean it! You have to buy that inn building!"
"We agreed you'd drop this subject, didn't we?"
I replied, knitting my brows.
"Association Leader, it's simply too good a chance to lose! Buy that inn and you could pillow your head on sacks stuffed with money!"
"We only just opened another franchise location. Neither I nor the savings circle has the means to stretch any further."
"Association Leader...!"
"Little brother, what's all this about?"
That, of course, was the plop of a fishing line cast straight for the Three-Eyed Sword.
I waved it off as if it were nothing worth his attention.
"It's nothing at all. Pay it no mind—let me pour you a drink."
"Association Leader, it's a red-hot listing! Prime location! And it's packed with patrons deep enough in their pockets! Buy that inn and the profits will split your money sacks wide open!"
"Business talk, is it?"
A tremor ran up the fishing line.
"However golden an opportunity, a man still has his hour and his fortunes to mind, doesn't he? I keep telling him to stop pining after a chance fate never meant for him—and there he goes again."
Still just a nibble. Do not set the hook yet.
"Association Leader! Raise the funds however you can, please!"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"
Wait long enough, and—
"Little brother."
"Yes?"
"That inn of yours. Might I hear about it in a little more detail myself?"
The fish was on the verge of swallowing the bait whole.