The Kirin of the Hengshan Sect (3)

"Is this all the goods?"

The first place Im Seo-ryeon inspected was the supply warehouse. The wide-open warehouse held mostly supplies and provisions we used, and almost no luxury goods remained. Im Seo-ryeon leaned inside, cast her gaze around, then frowned and said.

"......Hmph, I thought you'd been sucking the blood and sweat of the villagers and piling up riches."

Seon-go flashed me a triumphant smile. I stroked Seon-go's head and then said to Im Seo-ryeon.

"We're running a clean operation. You can see that, can't you? The former Sect Leader was no different from a beastly bastard who went around bleeding people dry, but there's no need for that now."

Yet Im Seo-ryeon shook her head firmly at my words. She clearly believed I was guilty of corruption.

"No. My instincts as the Kirin of Hengshan Sect are telling me. I've seen plenty of revolting men like you who put on airs. Those bastards always showed me an empty warehouse and said, 'Here, look. We have nothing.' Do you think such a pitiful trick will work on me?"

I felt nothing under her sharp glare. She was scrutinizing me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a detective from a mystery novel, but I'd only been Sect Leader for about a month and truly hadn't skimmed anything.

"Even when I give you a chance, you can't take a hint. You bastards really are all the same."

As she spoke, she drew her sword, scabbard and all. At the sight, the attendants stirred, and I pulled Seon-go into my arms and stepped back. Im Seo-ryeon smiled with satisfaction at my reaction, then swung the scabbard and struck the warehouse floor.

Kwang!

A deafening crash rang out, a huge hole opened in the floor, and a pitch-black space revealed itself. The shock that shook the floor sent cloth bundles and odds and ends sliding off the shelves, and an attendant standing nearby lost his balance and tottered forward.

"Whoa!"

The voice echoed. There was a secret space beneath the warehouse.

Im Seo-ryeon spoke in a forceful tone.

"A secret space right beneath the warehouse! A cheap trick like hiding something in the darkness under the lamp won't work on me! Right in here! It'll be bursting with evidence of your corruption!"

Her self-assured attitude left me a little flustered. I truly hadn't known there was a secret space under the warehouse. Had Seon-go known? When I looked at Seon-go, she covered her mouth and said in a small voice.

"Oh my."

And that voice made me even more terrified.

'Surely she didn't know?'

'No, what if the real Sect Leader had stashed a slush fund in there? What if we opened it up and a bunch of high-grade ceramics or jewelry poured out? What would I say then?'

It must have been perfectly obvious how my face fell. Im Seo-ryeon smiled a hearty smile and pointed at the floor she had smashed.

"Yes! It seems I've caught you properly! Your hypocritical little act ends here! Deputy! Get in here at once and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bring out whatever is inside!"

The young man who had been watching from behind leaped down into the space at Im Seo-ryeon's command. It looked deep enough to make one hesitate, but like his superior, he seemed to be the type who would stop at nothing when it came to rooting out corruption.

Im Seo-ryeon stood with her arms crossed, toying with her sword in her hand. Judging by her demeanor, she looked ready to start swinging the moment anything suspicious emerged.

'Would it be better to just run away now?'

"Stay right where you are. Severing your limbs to seal your movements is nothing to me."

Even when I merely glanced around with thoughts of escape, Im Seo-ryeon pulled her sword slightly from its scabbard and issued a warning. Left with no choice, I had to raise both hands to placate her, and we had no option but to stand in front of the warehouse and wait until the deputy finished his inspection inside.

Seon-go looked back and forth between me and the hole with an anxious face, and seeing her attitude made me tense up even more.

'It's going to end this pointlessly?'

'Seriously?'

"Uh, Inspector?"

The man's voice echoed up from below. Im Seo-ryeon's lips curled upward as she spoke.

"What is it?"

"....This is a wine cellar. There's nothing but wine."

"....."

Im Seo-ryeon looked at me wordlessly. As if rejecting an unacceptable reality, she forced a stiff expression and asked the deputy.

"...Is it fine silk, or expensive liquor or something?"

"No. It's just liquor brewed from rice. There aren't many jars, so calling this evidence of corruption is a bit...."

I looked at Seon-go wordlessly.

'If it was just this, why did she look so anxious?'

She read the meaning in my expression and waved her hands, explaining.

"No, it's not fully aged yet, so the flavor changes if outside air touches it. I had it hidden on purpose so we could drink it together once it matured...."

Then Seon-go looked at Im Seo-ryeon. When their eyes met, Im Seo-ryeon subtly averted her gaze and said.

"....I'm sorry about this."

'What a useless bitch.'

'Seriously.'

******

"...But however empty you keep your warehouse, the ledgers are bound to have flaws. Hand over the ledgers!"

"There's another warehouse over there—aren't you going to inspect that one?"

I pointed at the other warehouse. It was the one holding several valuables, including Qin dynasty ceramics passed down for generations in this sect. Im Seo-ryeon shook her head and shouted.

"It won't be too late after I've inspected the ledgers."

In front of her, the ledger recording revenues, the ledger recording warehouse withdrawals and receipts, and the ledger for the sect's operations were all laid open.

The moment she saw the ledgers, she sat down with a smug smile, and the deputy produced a brush and inkstone from somewhere and set them on the desk. She said while grinding the ink.

"Now that you've been caught by the Kirin of Hengshan Sect, all your corruption is bound to be exposed. I'll strip off that filthy mask of hypocrisy."

She shouted with a triumphant look, but at the same time, a hint of restless anxiety was visible. The way she furrowed her brow and flipped through the pages almost made her look like a Confucian student preparing for the civil exams.

Seon-go, with the Kirin of Hengshan Sect right before her, said to me.

"Shall we have some tea, at least?"

"Should we?"

Then the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deputy standing beside us raised his hand and said.

"Ah, I'll have a cup as well."

At that, Im Seo-ryeon, who had her head buried in the ledgers, lifted her head again. When she glared sharply, the deputy who had asked for tea lowered his hand quietly and said.

"....Now that I think about it, I don't think I need any."

'Birds of a feather, huh.'

'Seriously.'

********

Three hours later.

"......Hey, are you going to keep staring at those ledgers forever?"

At the end of my patience, I stroked Seon-go's head as she began nodding off and asked Im Seo-ryeon. Im Seo-ryeon, bloodshot eyes and all, looked back and forth between the ledger, the receipt records, and the inventory register for the warehouse.

She'd even counted the items in the warehouse and the money in the strongbox by hand, saying she'd verify with her own eyes.

But the words "I found evidence of corruption" never left her mouth.

The amounts matched perfectly, and not a single excessive luxury item or suspicious object was found.

Our sect was perfect on paper.

We hadn't committed any corruption to begin with, and we'd liquidated every single item left by the previous generation that could have been held against us.

Thinking back, it seemed Seon-go's move of selling off all the warehouse goods to merchants for dirt-cheap prices had been exactly to prepare for this kind of situation.

Seon-go said, yawning.

"...There isn't a single thing in the ledgers that could be a problem. I wrote them that carefully, after all."

As she said that, she pressed her head against my chest and clung affectionately. The tension she'd shown as a first-rate master was nowhere to be seen.

On the other hand, Im Seo-ryeon's composure—the composure of a first-rate master and the Kirin of Hengshan Sect—had long since vanished. With an expression as if she were suffering from qi deviation, she bit her nails, let out rough breaths, and rubbed her chin.

"....This can't be...."

"How much longer are you going to do this?"

I frowned. Then the deputy, who had been fidgeting between me and Im Seo-ryeon, sidled over to me and said in a small voice.

"...Please try to understand. The Inspector's track record hasn't been very good. Lately, she's been extremely on edge from the pressure to produce results."

I tilted my head at his words. Going around calling herself the Kirin of Hengshan Sect, wasn't she supposed to be a powerhouse? I spoke to him in an even lower voice.

"But she's called the Kirin of Hengshan Sect?"

"In Hengshan Sect, she was called that because she was exceptionally gifted in martial arts, and they valued her intelligence enough that she works for the Murim Alliance now... but she doesn't seem suited for this kind of work."

Just then, the desk rattled, and Im Seo-ryeon sprang to her feet.

"....What's that building over there? I don't think I've gone in there yet?"

And she pointed at the other warehouse. I answered with a listless expression.

"That's also a warehouse. Didn't you say earlier, when I asked if you were going in, that you'd look at the ledgers first?"

Whether she went in or did something else now, it didn't matter at all.

Once the tension had drained away, the only thing swelling in my chest was the wish that this results-crazed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman would disappear quickly.

Im Seo-ryeon scowled at my words, then strode toward the warehouse and said.

"Yes, that warehouse! That warehouse is definitely brimming with evidence of corruption!"

It was less a statement of conviction and more a desperate hope. At the sight of her, Seon-go woke from her doze and said cautiously.

"Please be careful. The ceramics inside are family heirlooms...."

"Do I look like some oaf who goes around smashing pottery?"

Im Seo-ryeon said that, then flung the warehouse door open and went inside.

Inside the warehouse, the ceramics stood just as they always had. The moment Im Seo-ryeon saw them, she blinked and said.

"Oh, this is quite a fine piece. Let me see...."

And the instant she laid her hand on the pottery to inspect it.

Jjeojeok

Jjeok

"Huh?"

Before Im Seo-ryeon, who had touched the pottery, could notice anything strange.

Before I could remember that Sannyeo had broken and then glued the pottery not long ago.

Jjaenggeurang!

The pottery split with a sickening crack starting from the part Im Seo-ryeon had touched, then shattered to pieces on the spot.

"Uh...."

Seon-go's face went pale.

"Uh...."

Im Seo-ryeon's face went ashen.