The Head of the Hobop Court
“Hm?”
A voice drifted down from above.
“Wasn’t he supposed to be here?”
It came through the wall, muffled enough that the words themselves were hard to catch. Yet the owner of that frost-edged voice needed no content to be recognized.
The white-haired, white-eyed ghost… Dokgo Ya-yeon…!
What became of those dragged into the Central Audit Department—and what torments they endured before the end—he had heard more times than he could count during his long years at the Sword House Bank.
How in the world did everything go so wrong…?!
Terrified even his breathing might be heard, the Vice Head of the Sword House Bank clamped a hand over his own mouth and held his breath as well.
Where did it all start to unravel?!
Beneath the bed in the inner chamber, Bu-jeonjangjang crouched inside a tiny hidden compartment. The space was so cramped he had to fold himself into it, every joint screaming, yet he was in no position to be choosy about comfort.
“Hm? I confirmed he was here only moments ago.”
That voice belonged to none other than Hobop Il-bujang—the man who had once browbeaten him without mercy. The searchers who had entered the room were hunting him specifically.
“First Director. This matter is as good as settled already. Cooperate willingly…”
Hobop Il-bujang himself sounded rattled.
“Come now! As you say, at this stage what possible reason remains to hide him—”
Listening to their exchange, Bu-jeonjangjang seethed with silent fury.
Damn those Hobop Court bastards…! They use people when they need them, then sell them out the second they’re no longer convenient!
The one who had shown him this secret place was none other than one of the corrupt Yeon-clan elders.
“Even among our bloodline, only a handful know of this Gi-gwan. It was built in secret when the Elder Council Hall was constructed—so secret that even the Head of the Elder Council is unaware of it.”
The elder’s words rose unbidden in Bu-jeonjangjang’s mind.
“I’ve stocked it with enough water and food. Hold out. We’ll extract you when the chance comes.”
The corrupt Yeon bloodline and Bu-jeonjangjang himself were in the same boat. They had joined hands with the Hobop Court, yet they had never trusted it. Bu-jeonjangjang had exploited that distrust to secure a second lifeline the Hobop Court knew nothing about.
A cunning rabbit digs three burrows, after all.
A man who had weathered every storm and climbed all the way to Vice Head of the Sword House Bank always kept one more means of survival.
It won’t end like this…!
He clutched the ledger hidden against his chest, swallowing humiliation and rage.
As long as this secret ledger remains with me, the Yeon bloodline will have no choice but to pour every effort into keeping me alive…!
Even if he became a wanted man of the Luoyang Sword House, so long as the ledger existed he could borrow the power of those corrupt Yeon kin recorded within it and rise again wherever he fled.
I will survive…! I will survive…! I will definitely survi—!
At that moment a voice he never, under any circumstances, wished to hear reached his ears.
“No need for either of you to raise your voices.”
Someone who could speak down even to the First Director of the Hobop Court and the Head of the Central Audit Department.
“The scent of something delicious is coming from right here.”
No deduction was required. He had never forgotten that voice even in his dreams.
Click-clack.
The sound of something being manipulated.
That sound…?!
With a heavy grind the secret door above his head began to open.
“Truly a simple mechanism.”
A head thrust down into the opening. Their gazes met—his looking up, the other’s looking down—straight on.
The face was so finely wrought it could have been called that of a peerless young master, yet to Bu-jeonjangjang it was the face of the Reaper himself.
“Did I not tell you to resist with everything you had?”
The Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, bared sharp teeth in a smile.
“Stake your life. Drag in every last thing you can. Resist. That was what I said.”
A soft click of the tongue.
“And this is all you could manage?”
A pure-white hand reached down and seized Bu-jeonjangjang’s head in an iron grip.
“Ghk—Gyaaaaah!”
A scream of pure agony tore from his throat unbidden.
“A rat of this caliber has been gnawing at my family all this time.”
The strength in that hand was monstrous. It felt as though his skull were being crushed between a cartwheel and the ground.
“Gyaaaa—aaaah!”
The Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon—no, the Reaper—kindled blue ghost-fire in his eyes and delivered judgment.
“From this moment on you will taste the hell of the living world inside the Central Audit Department.”
The instant the words ended, Bu-jeonjangjang was hauled upward by the skull like a rag doll.
“Uwaaaaaaah—!”
A scream as needlessly long as the life-thread he had clung to so desperately, and then he was gone.
In the cramped secret space only untouched food and water remained, abandoned.
“Drag him away.”
“As you command!”
At the order of Dokgo Ya-yeon, Head of the Central Audit Department, personnel in crimson uniforms seized Bu-jeonjangjang and hauled him out.
“P-please!”
With both shoulders locked in iron grips he clawed at anything his hands could reach.
Crash.
Tables, porcelain—everything toppled and shattered until the room was a wreck, yet not a soul in the lounge so much as glanced at a man already as good as dead.
“S-spare me! Please, Eldest Young Master! Just one chance…!”
“……My congratulations on your victory, Eldest Young Master.”
The first to speak was Hobop Wonju.
One might plot for the future and aim for an opponent’s back when the moment came, yet one never made a true blood-enemy of anyone. That was the secret of long survival in the political arena: there were no eternal foes and no eternal allies.
Even while sharpening a blade in his heart, Hobop Wonju forced a stiff smile onto his face.
“……A splendid contest.”
“My thanks, Hobop Wonju.”
As though savoring the man’s humiliation, Yeon So-hyeon smiled while leafing through the secret ledger in his hand—the very lifeline Bu-jeonjangjang had clutched to the end.
“……But how did you know of that secret space?”
At Hobop Wonju’s question the gazes of Dokgo Ya-yeon and Hobop Il-bujang, both privately curious, also turned toward him.
“I did not know.”
“Pardon…?”
Yeon So-hyeon answered while slowly turning the pages of the ledger.
“I did not find him because I knew of a secret space. I found the secret space because I knew he was here.”
It was an answer, yet not one anyone ignorant of the Jeam Jincheon Scripture could comprehend.
“……What do you mean by that?”
Instead of elaborating further, Yeon So-hyeon merely gave a short laugh.
Hobop Wonju continued to offer congratulations and empty words, yet his eyes had never left the secret ledger Yeon So-hyeon was casually examining.
“Helping the corrupt Yeon bloodline for profit is now water under the bridge…”
The Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon turned a bright smile upon Hobop Wonju.
“But with this secret ledger in hand, one can recover the losses of this affair simply by rounding up those same corrupt Yeon kin, can one not?”
When Yeon So-hyeon casually dropped his speech level, Hobop Wonju’s wrinkled face twitched.
Yeon So-hyeon studied that face and continued.
“The Head of the Audit Department has already secured his share of the spoils in this game. If you walk away empty-handed now, the sting will not end at mere heartburn.”
Damn it…
Yet the victor was unmistakably the Eldest Young Master, and Hobop Wonju was reduced to hoping for the winner’s goodwill.
“……Should you extend me that goodwill, I shall not forget it.”
Hobop Wonju clasped both hands and spoke with the utmost formality.
“Although I suffered a great reverse this time through the Eldest Young Master’s divine calculations, so long as I remain Head of the Hobop Court I will still be able to offer you considerable assistance in the days ahead.”
Of course his inner thoughts were the opposite of his outer words.
A gentleman’s revenge is never too late even after ten years, Eldest Young Master.
The one who laughs last is the true victor. What did a little present humiliation matter?
“……Indeed.”
Fingering the ledger thoughtfully for a moment, Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
“……I will still have occasional need of the Hobop Court’s aid.”
Done…!
Color returned to Hobop Wonju’s face.
“Take it.”
Yeon So-hyeon tossed the ledger casually. Hobop Il-bujang caught it cleanly and bowed.
“……My deepest thanks, Eldest Young Master.”
Hobop Wonju, face now wreathed in smiles, also bowed to Yeon So-hyeon.
“Eldest Young Master, I will ensure you never regret this decision.”
Yet somehow—
“With that secret ledger and the cooperation of the Central Audit Department, it should be more than enough, yes?”
“Yes, it will.”
—the Eldest Young Master was not even looking at him. He was speaking solely with Hobop Il-bujang.
With a calm expression Hobop Il-bujang leafed through the ledger he had just received.
“Rooting out those who siphoned the main family’s assets through the Sword House Bank—and not ordinary power-holders, but the corruption of the Yeon bloodline itself…”
Hobop Il-bujang nodded.
“To call it a meritorious achievement would still fall short.”
“Exactly.”
As though in agreement, Yeon So-hyeon smiled upon Hobop Il-bujang.
“And that level of merit, combined with the career you have already built, will be more than sufficient for you to assume the post of the new Head of the Hobop Court.”
Hobop Il-bujang bowed his head once more with perfect formality.
“My thanks, Eldest Young Master.”
Still deeply bowed, he continued.
“I once again pledge that henceforth the Hobop Court will conduct investigations with no sacred cows.”
“I shall look forward to it.”
Yeon So-hyeon stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder.
“There will be a final review and decision by the Supreme Operations Council, but leave that side of things to me and do not worry.”
He spoke of the opaque, notoriously exacting Supreme Operations Council as though it were nothing at all.
“Leave all the political matters to this Eldest Young Master of yours. You need only devote yourself to the work itself.”
Hobop Il-bujang swallowed hard and nodded.
“……I will keep that firmly in mind.”
“My congratulations.”
This time the blessing came from Dokgo Ya-yeon, who had been watching from behind.
“I look forward to continued investigative cooperation between us and the Central Audit Department as well.”
To Dokgo Ya-yeon’s words Hobop Il-bujang replied with equal courtesy.
“The honor is mine; I look forward to working with you.”
Everyone exchanged words as though the outcome were already settled. Only one man could neither follow nor accept the situation.
“……W-what is the meaning of this?”
Hobop Wonju.
“What on earth are you all talking about…?”
A man of his political acumen could not possibly have failed to grasp what was happening.
“This is… what…?”
He simply could not accept it.
“You two will have much to discuss.”
With a short laugh at the sight of him, Yeon So-hyeon led Dokgo Ya-yeon outside.
“I will go on ahead to the Great Assembly Hall.”
“Yes, Eldest Young Master. We shall join you shortly.”
In his usual unhurried manner the Eldest Young Master waved a hand behind him and vanished down the corridor.
Silence was broken by Hobop Wonju, who looked as though he had aged ten years in those few moments.
“……From the very beginning?”
“……Yes.”
From the moment this affair began, Hobop Il-bujang had already taken Yeon So-hyeon’s line.
“Is that so…”
Hobop Wonju sank slowly into a chair, yet the motion looked little different from collapsing onto the floor.
“You sold yourself at the moment of highest value. Well done.”
He lifted his eyes and offered praise to the man who had once been his right arm.
“You have become a fine politician in your own right—and an elder of the main family.”
At those words Hobop Il-bujang shook his head.
“No.”
“No need for false modesty. You—”
Hobop Il-bujang cut him off.
“The moment I assume the post of Head of the Hobop Court, I will resign my seat as elder.”
“What…?”
Hobop Wonju stared blankly, unable to process the statement, and asked again.
“What do you mean…?”
“The head of an investigative organ must not concurrently sit as a member of the Elder Council and engage in politics.”
Hobop Il-bujang voiced the conviction he had long held in his breast—the very words the Eldest Young Master had spoken to him as though reading his mind.
“From this day forward, within the main family, no investigative organ will ever again be allowed to become a political power.”
To Hobop Wonju, who gaped at him with a vacant expression, Hobop Il-bujang offered one final deep bow.
“I have learned a great deal from you all this time.”
“Thank you.”