Those Who Meet Must Part, Those Who Leave Must Return (2)
Those Who Meet Must Part, Those Who Leave Must Return (2)
"In the end, the Crimson Ring Sect Leader was innocent."
"Isn't that how it often goes? You charge in, convinced some scoundrel is guilty, only to find he's an innocent man. Most of the time, a single discrepancy in the account books is enough to make them dead men walking. But the Crimson Ring Sect Leader survived because he kept a competent bookkeeper."
"...It truly is puzzling. I requested this Inspector post because I wanted to tear out the rotten roots of the martial world. But at this rate, am I any different from a hound chasing wild game? Singling out innocents, finding fault, and killing them. Is this really the right thing to do?"
"Why the sudden change of heart, Inspector?"
"Perhaps I've been so blinded by results that I've been walking down the wrong path all along."
At Im Seo-ryeon's words, the adjutant gave a bitter smile. He never liked it when conversations on this topic dragged on. The adjutant pointed toward a grave visible near the village and spoke.
"There's a grave over there, Inspector. I don't recall seeing it on our way here, but it seems there was one in a place like this after all."
"Ah, is that so? A grave in such a place?"
On the way back to the branch, Im Seo-ryeon and the adjutant discovered a tombstone jutting out along a path near the village. The adjutant examined the grave and spoke.
"It's not a very old grave. There's an inscription here as well. 'A nameless youth, who loved an impossible love, laid to rest in this place.' A romantic inscription."
Im Seo-ryeon furrowed her brow at the adjutant's words and spoke.
"What nonsense are you spouting before the grave of one who died young? Watch your tongue."
"Ah, my apologies. Still, isn't this a rather unusual inscription to find in a rural village like this? I wonder what connection the deceased had to be buried here, and why he remains a nameless youth."
Hearing the adjutant's question, Im Seo-ryeon nodded as well.
"Well now. Curious about that grave, are you?"
A cart passed by beside them. An old man in a large hat was coming down the road with a full load of grass. Startled for a moment by the sight of Im Seo-ryeon and the adjutant, he averted his gaze and spoke.
"Aigo, so you were martial artists."
Im Seo-ryeon caught on quicker than the puzzled adjutant. She put on a smiling face and spoke.
"Please rest assured. We haven't come because we have some connection to this man; we are merely passing through. It seemed a grave with a story behind it, so we were exchanging a few words. Might we hear what tale is entwined with this grave?"
Her friendly tone and gentle expression loosened his wariness. The old man, who had hesitated for a moment, straightened his posture, bowed his head, and spoke.
"Aigo, if you put it that graciously... I haven't the skill to keep my mouth shut and hold out, now have I. From what I've heard, the owner of this grave was a fellow who worked for the Crimson Ring Sect."
"For the Crimson Ring Sect?"
"Yes. But, you see, this fellow was secretly pining for the former Sect Leader's daughter and got caught, so they say. And so, the Sect Leader tricked him into thinking he was being taken somewhere nice, then cracked his skull open and killed him, I'm told."
The adjutant grimaced. It was an all-too-plausible story.
"He'd paid a merchant to dispose of the body, since he'd given the boy travel money to keep up the ruse, so the corpse couldn't even be buried in his hometown. They say the merchant, who pitied the poor fellow's circumstances, asked for understanding in this village—the nearest one around—and made him a grave."
Im Seo-ryeon tilted her head and asked.
"Was it the former Sect Leader? Or the Sect Leader who took over this time?"
The old man shook his head and replied.
"I don't know. It seems I heard about it around the same time as the news that the Sect Leader had changed, but which happened first, I cannot say."
"Is that so? I understand. Please be on your way, Elder."
"Aigo, I hope my story was of some help. Heoheo."
The old man laughed cheerfully and vanished.
Once the old man had disappeared, the two began to talk again. Im Seo-ryeon spoke first.
"What do you think? The current Sect Leader and the former Sect Leader. Which of the two do you think did this?"
The adjutant nodded at her question and replied.
"The former Sect Leader, obviously. When I piece together the stories I've heard around here, he was beyond a beast. It wouldn't be strange for a man like that to beat someone to death just for harboring feelings for his daughter. In a sense, it's a reason that might warrant death, but if it were me, I would have simply driven him out and been done with it."
Im Seo-ryeon nodded and spoke.
"I think so too. The method is much too insidious. The current Sect Leader has no issues in the account books either, and in fact, when you listen to the rumors around here, there's even talk that he lowered the taxes. The thought that such a man... would go out of his way to do something so troublesome doesn't sit right with me. If he had killed him, he would have done it openly. I heard that when the current Sect Leader replaced the former one, he even carried out a large-scale purge."
"The former Sect Leader's daughter is the current Sect Leader's wife. Even if he had killed the man for harboring dark intentions, no one would have said a word. Rather than that, I suspect that since the Crimson Ring Sect has had various problems recently and the local mood was unsettled, the former Sect Leader killed him secretly to avoid drawing attention. It would have been better for him to show magnanimity as the leader of a sect, but instead, a pitiable young man has departed this life ahead of his time."
Im Seo-ryeon stroked her chin, lost in thought. She seemed to be pondering something as she gazed at the tombstone. Seeing her like that, the adjutant tilted his head and asked.
"Why are you acting like that?"
"Perhaps, this death could be the fault of the Murim Alliance."
The adjutant shook his head at her words and said.
"Ah, now you're jumping to conclusions. Even if we had come a few days earlier, this fellow still would have died."
"If we had come a few days earlier, that would have been so. And therefore, it is our fault. Go to the village and buy a bottle of wine. We must at least offer a ritual libation to the dead."
"Ah, yes..."
When Im Seo-ryeon handed him some coins, the adjutant—though his face showed he didn't quite understand—promptly dashed off to the village. Im Seo-ryeon gazed at the tombstone for a while and then watched the adjutant's figure as he bought a bottle of wine from the inn at the village entrance. The adjutant employed the footwork technique he was learning and returned like the wind, carrying the wine bottle.
Im Seo-ryeon accepted the wine bottle from him and spoke.
"Your progress in learning the footwork technique is swift. On the day we went to inspect the Crimson Ring Sect, your center was shaky, but seeing you today, your center has stabilized to some extent."
The adjutant scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Ah, I was thinking the lady over there behind us was watching, so my body just moved on its own."
At the adjutant's words, Im Seo-ryeon shifted her gaze over his shoulder for a moment. An old woman with a wrinkled face was stealing glances at the two of them while wiping down the tables of the inn.
"...In any case, let us perform the rite."
Im Seo-ryeon turned around, poured wine into a cup, and set it before the tombstone. She then bowed once and straightened up. When she bowed, the adjutant hastily bowed to the grave alongside her. Im Seo-ryeon straightened up and scattered the wine over the grave.
Then, looking at the adjutant, she spoke.
"He died because of us."
This time, the adjutant did not raise an objection. Im Seo-ryeon continued.
"Is the Murim Alliance not being manipulated by a madman so crazed by money that he even named himself Venerable Geumbok? If he says a man is wrong, we go out to prove him wrong, and if he says a man is right, even beating someone to death becomes right. So we killed him. Because we had stopped our ears, we killed him."
The adjutant stared at Im Seo-ryeon with an awkward expression. At his head-scratching demeanor, Im Seo-ryeon asked.
"Do you have something to say?"
"No. I don't."
Im Seo-ryeon continued with a blunt face.
"If I continue to live this way, there is no meaning to my having learned the sword at the Hengshan Sect. Since I cannot uphold my master's teaching to use the sword rightly, I would have no face to see my master even if I returned to the Hengshan Sect. The Master Confucius said: Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; and do not what is contrary to propriety. I have seen a man die before my eyes, and I have seen that the Crimson Ring Sect Leader whom Venerable Geumbok branded as suspicious is innocent."
Im Seo-ryeon's hand was gripping her sword tightly.
She recalled the face of the Crimson Ring Sect Leader. Was it Docheol? The man who had taken over the Crimson Ring Sect and become its new leader appeared greedy on the surface, but he was a figure with not the slightest problem in his account books.
And he was also a figure who gave an exceptional massage.
She reddened as the nights she had spent at the Crimson Ring Sect suddenly came to mind. Looking ahead, she saw that the adjutant was also gazing at the sky with a dazed face. Im Seo-ryeon cleared her throat dryly and spoke.
"Let us begin small. We conducted the inspection perfectly, and the Crimson Ring Sect Leader passed. The documents are prepared, and we will conclude that they require no further inspection."
"The Elder will be furious. If you fail to produce results again this time, Inspector might be cursed out once more."
"It doesn't matter."
Im Seo-ryeon answered firmly. At that, the adjutant flinched and stepped back. She seemed a little different from the Im Seo-ryeon he knew.
"Which would disgrace the Hengshan Sect more? Me catching innocent people by finding fault with them like this, or me inspecting them honorably to distinguish right from wrong?"
Im Seo-ryeon looked at the adjutant and spoke.
"Do as you see fit. If you continue to serve as my adjutant, it may bring harm to you as well."
The two began to walk again. As Im Seo-ryeon strode quickly ahead, the adjutant gazed at her retreating figure with a complicated expression.