The Floating Vault
The man's gaze locked onto me as I stood a step back, hands clasped behind my back. Though Han Myeong-hoe was the one running his mouth at the front, this man had instantly realized that I was the true center of this group. He was remarkably sharp. But I didn't bother stepping forward. I merely stared back at him, unperturbed.
"..."
As I remained silent, Han Myeong-hoe, who stood before me, shifted subtly. Gently waving his fan, he slowly scanned the man from head to toe. There was something discordant about the man's appearance that didn't match his merchant attire. Han Myeong-hoe's eyes lingered on the man's hands, which peeked out from the sleeves of his overcoat. They were rough, thick-jointed, and heavily calloused.
Han Myeong-hoe took a few steps back to stand beside me. Covering his mouth with his fan, he whispered in a low voice, "Do you see the calluses on that fellow's hands?"
"..."
"Those aren't the hands of a merchant. He's handled a sword for a very long time. He's a military officer."
I gave a slight nod at his words. The pieces quickly fell into place in my mind. Military officers were occupying a secret outpost of a merchant group where money and goods changed hands. What's more, they were fully aware of the political situation at the headquarters in Hanyang. These men were no mere uninvited guests. They were undoubtedly deeply entangled in the embezzlement of tax grain from the Asan local government.
The outpost manager broke into a cold sweat, his eyes darting anxiously between the two groups. I averted my gaze from the military officer and stared directly at the terrified manager.
"As an outpost manager of our merchant group, you should know better than anyone what that wooden plaque represents."
The manager's shoulders flinched violently.
"It is a plaque that only the chief administrators of the Daedong Merchant Group Headquarters can possess. It is not something one can simply steal or pick up off the street. Am I wrong?"
"T-that is..."
"Furthermore, you must have heard from that man's own mouth just now that the chief administrators were arrested one after another a few days ago. And along with that, the news that the entire merchant group has undergone a massive restructuring and welcomed a new master."
The manager swallowed hard. I spoke slowly and deliberately, as if tightening a noose around his neck.
"The moment the ledgers of this outpost, which involve Daedong, fall into the hands of the local government, the headquarters will cut its tail to ensure its own safety. They will silence everyone involved by putting them to death."
"!"
"The provincial governor, the county magistrate, and every single person from this outpost whose name is written in those ledgers. All of them."
Staring at the frozen manager, I continued in a detached tone, "After all, isn't it a rather common occurrence for people to die mysteriously, one by one, while suffering under torture in the government dungeons?"
At my words, the manager's face drained of all color, his lips trembling uncontrollably. Just then, the man who had been watching the situation from behind asked in a low, menacing voice, "Are you threatening us right now?"
I turned my gaze away from the manager and slowly looked at the man.
"It's not a threat," I replied calmly, keeping my hands clasped behind my back. "It is merely goodwill, kindly pointing out a way to survive."
The man let out a short, incredulous laugh at my response.
"Goodwill, you say."
He gave a slight jerk of his chin.
*Clang!*
The bodyguards standing behind him drew their swords in unison.
At that exact moment, Jincheol, who had been standing behind me, lunged forward like a bolt of lightning.
*Shring!*
Jincheol's sword cleared its scabbard in an instant, and he planted himself firmly in front of me. He leveled his blade, looking ready to decapitate the guards at any second.
The gleaming edges of their weapons nearly clashed in midair.
The man's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"So, you want to do this the hard way."
The tension was thick enough to cut. Caught suddenly in the middle of a deadly standoff, the manager panicked, waving his hands frantically as he intervened.
"A-Aigoo! Please, hold on! What in the world are y'all doing this for?! Everyone, calm down and put your swords away...!"
As the manager jumped up and down in desperation, Han Myeong-hoe, who had stepped back beside me, tapped his folded fan against his palm and intervened.
"Tsk, tsk. My, what a stubborn bunch who can't take a hint."
Han Myeong-hoe pointed his fan at the guards' blades and spoke with a sly grin.
"We are literally showing you a way to keep your heads on your shoulders. So let's not be crude and spill blood over a sword fight. Let's settle this amicably, shall we?"
Despite Han Myeong-hoe's playful banter, the tense standoff did not easily dissipate. Jincheol growled like a wild beast, and the man's bodyguards gripped their hilts tightly, measuring the distance between them. I watched the spectacle in silence.
Slowly, I reached out and tapped the shoulder of Jincheol, who was blocking my front.
"Sheathe your sword."
"But, Brother..."
"I said, sheathe it."
At my firm tone, Jincheol reluctantly slid his blade back into its scabbard with a metallic ring. The man's brow twitched. Completely ignoring the imposing figure standing before me, I turned my head. I stared intently at the pale-faced manager and spoke.
"The headquarters has two choices it can make."
My voice echoed through the warehouse.
"To cover up and overlook the internal transgressions. Or to cut our losses entirely, with the headquarters taking the initiative to actively cooperate with the government's investigation."
The manager's shoulders shook like a leaf in the wind.
"And which choice the headquarters makes depends entirely on your actions right now."
The manager's face turned ashen. He turned to the military officer, frantically rubbing his hands together and begging.
"Aigoo, milord! Please, calm your anger! If blood is spilled here with those gentlemen, our outpost is finished right then and there! If the waterway from the headquarters to Hanyang is cut off, your business and the entire naval headquarters' operations will be completely ruined!"
"Naval headquarters."
The word slipped from the manager's mouth. It was exactly as I had suspected. These men were not mere thugs or merchant guards; they were active military officers under the command of the Jeolla Naval Headquarters. This was clear evidence that the military was directly involved in the smuggling operations of the merchant outpost to line their own pockets.
Having his affiliation exposed, the man's brow furrowed fiercely. He glared at the manager groveling on the floor as if he wanted to kick him, then clicked his tongue sharply and raised his hand.
"Sheathe your swords."
At his command, the bodyguards reluctantly returned their swords to their scabbards. Suppressing his boiling rage, the man glared at me as if trying to pierce through me. However, instead of confronting me, he delivered a heavy warning to the manager.
"You had better keep the promised transaction date, even if it costs you your life."
With those final words, the man turned on his heel without looking back. His bodyguards followed close behind, their murderous intent still lingering in the air.
Only after they had completely vanished from the warehouse did the manager let out a long-held breath and collapse onto the floor.
"Aigoo... I can finally breathe."
The manager raised his head and looked up at me. It seemed he had realized, to his very bones, that his only way to survive was to spill everything and wag his tail. Even though I hadn't asked yet, his lips parted in a frantic rush.
"M-Milord. I swear, I only did as I was told. I merely collected the tax grain embezzled from the Chungcheong local government and quietly sent it up to the Jeolla Naval Headquarters. I swear on my life, I didn't steal a single grain for myself!"
"Jeolla Suyeong."
As I muttered the words in a low voice, the manager nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! That military officer from earlier comes from Jeolla Suyeong when the time is right to load up the rice sacks. I merely acted as a transit point, gathering the goods and handing them over...!"
The manager's excuses no longer registered in my ears. The scattered questions in my mind were connecting into a single, clear line. If it were merely a matter of a subcontractor outpost buying embezzled rice from the local government to resell it on land, there would be no reason for naval officers from far-off Jeolla Province to travel all the way to this mountain valley to collect it themselves.
The sea.
Since its founding, Joseon had enforced the Haegeum—the maritime ban policy strictly prohibiting private citizens from traveling out to sea—as state law. The boats of fishermen and merchants were kept under the strict surveillance and control of the local government. Venturing out into the open sea was fundamentally impossible.
However, there was exactly one group that could roam the seas at will, completely free of restrictions. The government forces guarding the waters: the navy.
Their destination was obvious. The open sea, far beyond the reach of Joseon's administrative eyes. There, they would meet Japanese merchants or Ming smugglers on the high seas to conduct illicit trade. The heavy, bulky Joseon rice sacks—which were difficult to hide on land—were perfectly laundered on the water into untraceable, high-value Japanese silver ingots or Ming silk.
I looked down at the manager and gave a brief command.
"Bring me the smuggling ledgers you kept while trading with those Jeolla Suyeong officers. All of them."
"Y-Yes! I'll bring them right away, milord!"
The manager scrambled to dig through a corner of the inner warehouse, returning in a flurry with three thick, tightly wrapped ledgers clutched to his chest. I gestured with my chin toward the boy standing behind me.
"Gaetdong-i. Pack them."
"Yes, sir!"
Gaetdong-i darted forward like an arrow and snatched the ledgers from the manager's arms. With practiced ease, he stuffed them securely into his pack and tightened the drawstrings.
"Whew, still, now that the headquarters has stepped in like this, I can finally put my mind at ease..."
Before the manager could even finish his sentence—
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*
The thunderous roar of galloping hooves and marching soldiers echoed from the entrance of the village like an earthquake.
"Manager! It's the military! The soldiers are here!"
The merchant guards who had been keeping watch outside the warehouse rushed in, their faces pale with fright. The manager also collapsed to the floor in sheer terror.
"S-Save me! It must be the Jeolla Suyeong officers bringing their troops to cut their losses and silence us!"
The terrified manager clung to the hem of my trousers. I calmly pried him off my leg.
"It is not Jeolla Suyeong."
"What?"
"They are the soldiers of the Chungcheong Provincial Office."
The manager's jaw dropped at my words. Beside me, Han Myeong-hoe, who had been fanning himself, also stared at me with wide, startled eyes.
This was a pre-arranged agreement I had made with Lord Maeng Sa-seong before leaving the Asan local government office this morning. Two double-hours after we departed, he was to send the government troops to completely surround this place.
"W-Why would the Chungcheong Provincial Office come here...?! M-Milord! What do we do now?!"
The manager, completely pale and frantic, tried to grab my trousers again. I looked down at the clueless fool who still hadn't grasped the situation. How on earth had someone with such poor wits managed to run an outpost and dare to lay a hand on the state treasury?
"Didn't I tell you earlier? The headquarters has two choices."
At my words, the manager's trembling eyes locked onto me.
"To cover up and overlook the internal transgressions. Or to cut our losses entirely, with the headquarters taking the initiative to actively cooperate with the government's investigation."
"What does that mean..."
The manager's voice trailed off as his face turned deathly pale.
"N-No way...!"
It was at that moment.
"Bind them all!"
Before the manager could even let out a proper scream, the military officers and soldiers of the Chungcheong Provincial Office burst in. Gleaming spear tips surrounded them from all sides.
"Spare me! Please, spare my life!"
In an instant, the thugs and the manager were bound in ropes and forced to their knees on the ground. The military officer leading the troops stepped up to me and bowed.
"Are you and your companions unharmed?"
"Thanks to you, we are safe. The men bound here are the ones who colluded with the provincial governor and the county magistrate to embezzle the state's tax grain. Take every single one of them to the provincial office's dungeons."
"I shall keep that in mind."
The officer replied firmly and gestured to his soldiers. The manager's sorrowful wails echoed through the mountain valley.
Turning my back on the chaotic scene, I walked over to a worn-out table in the corner of the inner warehouse. I pulled a portable inkstone from my breast pocket and began writing rapidly on a blank sheet of paper.
[Report on the Embezzlement of Tax Grain]
1. The tax grain embezzled from the Asan local government was systematically gathered at the subcontractor outpost of the Daedong Merchant Group.
2. The gathered grain was illicitly transferred to the military officers of Jeolla Suyeong for maritime smuggling.
3. We are currently departing for Jeolla Province to trace the remaining ledgers and uncover the full extent of this conspiracy.
I folded the paper and handed it to the officer.
"Deliver this to the Left State Councillor. It contains the full details of what transpired at the Asan local government office."
"Understood."
Once I confirmed that the officer had carefully tucked the letter into his robes, I turned around without any lingering regrets. Jincheol, Han Myeong-hoe, and Gaetdong-i followed close behind me.
I left the remaining matters in Chungcheong Province to Lord Maeng Sa-seong. Now, it was time to turn our horses toward Jeolla Province—the true tiger's den, where the massive hoard of stolen goods recorded in the ledgers was pouring in.