Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Part 16: Inspection Investigator
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Elder Yeom of the Luoyang Sword Clan had once said to his subordinate.
'The Eldest Young Master wasn't called the Swordless One because he was ignored for lacking a sword. He was called the Swordless One because he stayed silent even when ignored.'
* * *
"Call the Inspection Department," Yeon So-hyeon said.
"E-Eldest Young Master, please wait just a moment!"
The Seomun Housekeeper tried to stop him.
"Everyone, make way! Didn't you hear the master's command?!"
The Triplet Maids scolded.
"Hey! Can't you just wait a little? Eldest Young Master?! Eldest Young Master?!"
The housekeepers blocking the corridor shouted in unison.
"Eldest Young Master. If you suddenly come out like this..."
"Come out?"
The Seomun Housekeeper cried out.
"The Inspection Department?! Are you really calling the Inspection Department over mere book payment?!"
"They won't answer no matter how much I ask, so what choice do I have?"
"It seems you're saying that because you don't know what happens when the Inspection Department gets involved..."
"What happens?"
"The Inspection Department wouldn't step in over just a few books' worth of payment in the first place!"
"Then why are you all blocking me?"
"That's..."
The Seomun Housekeeper ground her teeth at Yeon So-hyeon's innocent expression.
"Are you trying to shake up the entire Inner Residence right now?!"
Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
"Do you think you're representing the entire Inner Residence right now?"
"If the Eldest Young Master drags the Inspection Department into something this trivial, the entire Inner Residence will end up resenting you!"
Yeon So-hyeon looked around and shook his head.
"You're blocking a maid trying to carry out my order, refusing to answer questions about book payments, and not even showing proper courtesy when the Eldest Young Master comes in person. It already seems plenty hostile."
The Seomun Housekeeper screamed.
"Don't you understand that it will become far more hostile than this?!"
At her words, Yeon So-hyeon shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"...What a spectacle."
It looked like no words would get through to the Eldest Young Master anymore.
She turned to Jeong-a.
"Head Maid, listen well. You need to realize that stopping here is truly for your master's sake."
Jeong-a was expressionless.
"Following and carrying out the master's will is what's truly for the master."
Her cold gaze turned toward the Seomun Housekeeper.
"What have you learned in this Inner Residence that makes you try to block the master's will with mere intimidation?"
Her words pierced the Seomun Housekeeper.
"And what exactly does the Inner Residence do that it dares to intimidate the Eldest Young Master, a direct bloodline of the family?"
"...."
The Inner Residence served the family head of the main house and attended to his direct blood relatives.
That was the first thing everyone in the Inner Residence was taught.
"Moreover, the Inner Residence is going to antagonize its rightful heir?"
"...I didn't say that. I said the Eldest Young Master's actions would provoke the Inner Residence's hostility. The Head Maid needs to listen more carefully to others."
The Seomun Housekeeper had been momentarily flustered, but she was no pushover.
Not that it mattered—the water was already spilled.
"Whether you nitpick words or pick a fight, I don't care."
Jeong-a smiled coldly.
"It's already too late."
"...What do you mean?"
The Seomun Housekeeper's mind raced.
"No way...?!"
Just then, a voice came from down the corridor.
"Um, excuse me...?"
It was a voice shrunk in on itself.
"Who is it?"
At the Seomun Housekeeper's words, the housekeepers blocking the corridor stepped aside.
The Triplet Maids also withdrew.
"Ah, from the Inspection Department...?"
The one who appeared, hunching his body as much as possible, was a young scholar.
More boyish than young, the Inspection Department's uniform didn't suit him at all.
As all eyes turned to him, he avoided their gazes and spoke.
"I'm the inspection investigator from the Inspection Department, but..."
One of the housekeepers asked in a dubious tone.
"You're really an inspection investigator...?"
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Ah, yes. I finished my probationary period last year."
His glasses slipped down.
"Who asked? Just show us your Inspection Department badge."
The Seomun Housekeeper scowled.
"Ah, r-right. Sorry..."
He fumbled in his sleeve.
"Huh?"
He checked the other sleeve and his bosom before finally pulling out the badge.
"H-Here..."
One housekeeper took the badge dubiously and passed it to the Seomun Housekeeper.
"Investigator, Gang Ho?"
The young man whose name was called smiled shyly.
"Yes, that's me, Gang Ho. Just call me Investigator Gang for short."
Only then did the Seomun Housekeeper relax and chuckle.
"They sent someone fitting for a book payment investigation."
Gang Ho grinned.
"Sorry. When a report comes in, we have to investigate. It's procedure..."
The other housekeepers relaxed too.
The Seomun Housekeeper smiled.
'Of course. There's no reason for the Inspection Department to upend the Inner Residence over the Swordless One's book money and ruin relations.'
Gang Ho peeked into the waiting room.
"Um, is the complainant here by any chance?"
Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand.
"Right here."
Gang Ho jumped.
"Ah! Eldest Young Master!"
He hurried in and bowed to Yeon So-hyeon.
"Gang, a lowly servant of the main house, greets the Eldest Young Master of the main house!"
It was exceedingly polite, every motion precise.
"Enough with the unnecessary formalities. Here are the pieces of evidence related to the complaint—use them as reference."
Jeong-a handed over the ledgers related to the Won-gak Pavilion's budget.
"Here you go."
"Ah, th-thank you."
Gang Ho glanced at Jeong-a's face, blushed, and took the ledgers with trembling hands.
"Please sit over here."
"Have some tea."
"Do you need anything else?"
As the Triplet Maids drew near, Gang Ho's face reddened further.
"Ah, no! It's a problem if the complainant's side attends to me like this!"
He refused the Triplet Maids' service and plopped down in a chair.
The housekeepers crossed their arms and snickered at the sight.
'Yeah, go ahead and try to impress the fresh-faced rookie who just shed his apprentice skin. It won't do you any good.'
The Seomun Housekeeper smiled coldly as she watched the rookie investigator hurriedly flip through the ledgers.
He had to at least pretend to investigate, and he couldn't drag it out forever, so he was making a show of looking at the ledgers.
The Eldest Young Master, propping his chin at the head seat, asked him.
"Is your grandfather well?"
Gang Ho, who had been rapidly turning pages, grinned, nodded, then his glasses slipped again.
"Yes. Same as ever. Just a few days ago, he sent me a letter complaining about how you hadn't replied, and he gave me an earful."
He kept flipping pages even as he spoke.
"I wonder what he thinks of his lowly grandson..."
Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
"Aren't you the one who took first place in the palace examinations before the Emperor? With a grandson like that refusing an official post to come to the Luoyang Sword Clan, of course he's proud."
He looked embarrassed.
"How does the Eldest Young Master know my situation so well?"
"Your grandfather's letters to me are full of nothing but boasting about his eldest grandson."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled at him.
"If he heard you turned down special treatment and started from probation in the Inspection Department, he'd ride straight to the main house."
"Oh dear, Eldest Young Master. Heaven forbid..."
Still, his eyes never left the rapidly turning pages.
"What are you worried about? In a day or two, he'll be turning ninety, and he's still so hale. He even goes hunting with the imperial clansmen."
"It's not that—I'm worried my backside's going to catch fire."
He suddenly realized and hunched over.
"Ah, ah. I've been too casual with the family's Eldest Young Master."
"Haha. It's fine. Your grandfather and I are like friends, so what fault is there if his grandson is a bit casual?"
At that scene, at that conversation, the Seomun Housekeeper and her housekeepers sensed something was going wrong.
Before they could even respond to the unease, Gang Ho closed the ledger.
"I've finished checking."
He cautiously glanced around before speaking.
"Does anyone have anything to say regarding this complaint? If this place is inconvenient, we can move..."
The Seomun Housekeeper stepped forward.
"More importantly, tell us the results of the investigation."
She was uneasy at the Eldest Young Master flaunting his connections.
She wanted to push through to the 'predetermined conclusion' as quickly as possible.
"Huh? Well, keep in mind there will be a formal investigation of the respondents and witnesses..."
"Wait!"
The Seomun Housekeeper interrupted.
"Formal investigation? For a mere book payment check, it should just be a simple verification. What's this about a formal investigation?"
Gang Ho shrank back.
"Uh, ah. Well... there are suspicious points, so..."
"Suspicious points?!"
The housekeepers chimed in.
"Isn't the investigator approaching this with personal feelings?"
"I hate to say it, but after hearing that conversation, we can't deny suspicions about the investigator's motives."
Gang Ho's glasses slipped.
"Ah? Uh? That's not..."
The Seomun Housekeeper slammed the table.
"What do you mean 'not'? For a mere book payment investigation, what..."
Yeon So-hyeon clicked his tongue.
"Who said this was a book payment investigation?"
"Pardon...?"
The Seomun Housekeeper and the housekeepers' thoughts froze.
Ignoring them, Yeon So-hyeon asked Gang Ho.
"So, what did you find after checking the evidence?"
Gang Ho stammered.
"Um, well. Based on this ledger alone, there's no issue."
The Seomun Housekeeper shouted.
"Then what's the problem?!"
Gang Ho adjusted his glasses and said.
"The amount listed here as paid to the Won-gak Pavilion differs from the amount I confirmed."
"...!"
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
"I wondered why you were taking so long—you must have checked the Inner Residence's ledger archives first."
"Ah, yes. To investigate properly, you start from the top..."
"Liar! Wh-who gave you access to the ledger archives?!"
At the Seomun Housekeeper's cry, Gang Ho tilted his head.
"Isn't it prohibited to question a investigator's sources?"
The Seomun Housekeeper screamed like a cornered animal.
"You! What exactly are you investigating right now?!"
Gang Ho nodded.
"That I can reveal."
His glasses slipped again.
"I was dispatched by the Luoyang Sword Clan's elder council to assess the need for an inspection into allegations of misuse of the Inner Residence budget allocated to the Won-gak Pavilion, as decided in their meeting."
"Budget inspection...?!"
"Misuse?!"
He adjusted his glasses.
"In my view as an inspection investigator, suspicions are focused to a degree, evidence of guilt is substantially proven, and the current situation is judged very serious, so..."
Beyond his glasses, his gaze turned to the Seomun Housekeeper and the housekeepers.
"By the authority of the Inspection Department, as of this moment, all personnel related to this investigation are prohibited from leaving the Inner Residence main building."