The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group 7 - Stop the Jaekyung Pavilion Fire (3)
When Chief Yu died, the image of his father blaming himself—saying it was because of his own shortcomings that the man had passed so early—flashed vividly in his mind.
'Does he really think I can be trusted?'
A flicker of joy had welled up for a moment, but it vanished just as quickly.
The precarious stacks of documents on Chief Yu's desk came to mind.
'I should focus on preventing Chief Yu's death from overwork.'
Time slipped by before he knew it, and it was nearly time to clock out.
And so, he kept racking his brains.
Because tonight, he needed a perfectly natural reason to enter and exit the Jaekyung Pavilion.
Dozens of methods had already popped into his head.
All he had to do was pick the best one.
That's when one clerk handed a ledger to Yeo Chang-ui, another clerk from the pleasure quarters division.
"Here's the night duty log."
"Got it."
Seeing that, Eun Seo-ho asked Yeo Chang-ui,
"Looks like you're on night duty tonight."
"Yes, that's right."
"Usually two people, right?"
"Yes, tonight it's me and my senior, Clerk In Daesu."
At those words, Eun Seo-ho tilted his head.
Strange?
This didn't match his memory.
One of tonight's duty clerks was indeed Yeo Chang-ui. But the other wasn't In Daesu.
He remembered it clearly because Yeo Chang-ui died in the fire that would happen tonight, and the other clerk had to retire due to severe injuries.
Just then, a plump-built clerk approached from afar, asking the group,
"Anyone willing to cover my night shift? I'll buy you a proper drink later."
His expression made it clear he was in a real bind.
In Daesu Clerk.
'So that's what happened. He swapped shifts with someone else, which is why it didn't match my memory.'
A great idea struck him right then.
'Talk about perfect timing.'
He quickly called out to In Daesu.
"Clerk In Daesu."
"Ah, yes! Young Master. What can I do for you?"
"You seem to be in quite a pickle."
"Ah... Well, my wife's due to give birth today."
"Then you should hurry and go to her."
"Yes, but I'm on night duty tonight..."
Eun Seo-ho smiled and said,
"I'll cover your shift for you."
"Pardon?"
"I don't have anything planned for dinner anyway."
"B-but how could we let the young master..."
Eun Seo-ho waved it off.
"Even if I'm just a special apprentice, I'm still part of the Jaekyung Pavilion, so I figure I'm qualified for night duty."
He turned to the clerk handling the duty log.
"Isn't that right?"
"Correct. There's no problem if the young master takes the shift."
Hearing that, Eun Seo-ho told In Daesu,
"See? So I'll stand in for you tonight."
"Thank you so much! Young Master!"
The reason he'd been agonizing over a natural way to stay in the Jaekyung Pavilion tonight was because the arsonist was extremely cautious.
In the future he'd experienced, no one had suspected the culprit until he left a confession and killed himself.
So Eun Seo-ho had been playing dumb and cautious himself—until this golden opportunity arose.
Just like that, he had a legitimate excuse to stay inside the Jaekyung Pavilion.
Night deepened.
In the Eunhae Merchant Group's Jaekyung Pavilion.
A man glanced around cautiously.
Confirming no one was nearby, he hurried toward the duty room.
He lit the lantern in the dark duty room and opened the teapot lid.
From his pocket, he pulled out paper wrapped around white powder and dumped it all into the teapot.
Thud, thud, thud.
Footsteps approached.
"...!"
The man quickly slipped out the other door of the duty room and pressed himself against the wall.
Two men in Jaekyung Pavilion clerk uniforms were walking over, chatting amiably.
"Wow, that must've been something."
"It was dizzying, right in front of my eyes."
"I'd have felt the same."
They were people the man knew well: Clerk Yeo Chang-ui of the Jaekyung Pavilion and the third son of the merchant group leader, Eun Seo-ho, who was learning practical work as a special apprentice.
They entered the duty room, still talking.
"Oh, you have overtime tonight?"
"Yeah, it just worked out that way."
"I'll help out."
They bustled about, going into the records room to fetch documents and such.
After working diligently for quite a while, the two took a break.
"Tea?"
"Sure."
They each poured a cup and drank.
And shortly after,
As they pored over books, their heads began nodding like sick chickens, until they finally slumped face-first onto the desk and fell asleep.
'Perfect!'
The man inwardly cheered.
Judging by the amount of sleeping potion he'd put in the pot, they'd be out cold for at least an hour.
He'd planned this so he could sneak into the document vault undetected.
The vault was inside the duty room, and at this quiet hour, no one else would come by except the duty clerks.
As he entered, he let out a quiet sigh.
'I never should've poked around those gambling dens...'
Too late for regrets.
Tempted by curiosity and egged on by hustlers, he'd started gambling and ended up buried in massive debt.
He'd sold his inherited land and possessions, but it wasn't nearly enough.
At this rate, he'd lose his family.
In that desperate situation, a subordinate of the gambling den's banker had made him an offer.
"If you do one favor for our banker, he'll wipe out all your debts."
"R-really?"
"For real."
"W-what is it? I'll do anything. Just please spare my family..."
The subordinate replied,
"It's simple. You're a clerk at the Eunhae Merchant Group's Jaekyung Pavilion, right?"
"...Yes."
"Set the document vault on fire."
"...Pardon?"
The man was stunned.
"Why that place?"
"You gonna do it or not?"
"B-but..."
"Want to lose your family?"
"...I'll do it."
He bit his lip.
Today was the last deadline the banker had given him.
Until now, he'd been meticulously checking his surroundings.
For fear someone might find him suspicious.
But no one had suspected him yet.
'Maybe I've got a talent for this sort of thing?'
The banker had promised to cover for him so he could keep working at the merchant group.
For his future, no one could know he was the culprit.
That's why he was moving so carefully.
The man entered the document vault and scanned the shelves.
'This is it!'
A ledger of transactions bound as a single book.
This was exactly what the banker—who had ordered the job—wanted completely destroyed.
He'd asked the subordinate,
"Can't I just steal it? Arson seems too risky."
"No. That'd point straight to the culprit. Make it look like an accident—burn that book along with the others."
It made sense, so he had no choice but to nod.
That's why he'd prepared oil too.
Splish, splash.
He poured oil around and pulled out his fire starter.
Right then.
"That's far enough."
At the sudden voice, the man jumped in shock and whirled around.
A voice that absolutely should not have been heard.
Eun Seo-ho clicked his tongue at the culprit holding the fire starter.
His name was A Seung, a Grade Gi clerk of the Jaekyung Pavilion.
He was so quiet that his presence was barely noticeable, so when it came out that Clerk A Seung was the arsonist, everyone in the pavilion had been shocked.
A Seung looked more startled than if he'd seen a ghost.
"H-how are you not asleep? You drank the tea..."
"That was just for show."
"H-how did you know..."
"Know what? Why would you tell me?"
Eun Seo-ho grinned.
"Shall we start with a beating?"
Thwack!
Thud!
He threw a punch at the man, who tumbled backward.
In the future he'd lived through, the two on duty had indeed drunk the tea and passed out.
The fire had spread badly; Yeo Chang-ui died, and the other suffered severe injuries.
The next day, A Seung was found hanged in the back hills, cold as ice.
A confession lay beneath him.
It claimed that due to overwhelming workload stress, he'd drugged the duty clerks with sleeping potion, then impulsively set the vault ablaze.
The case closed like that, but Eun Seo-ho and the other members of the Silver Moon Council—who oversaw merchant group operations—hadn't bought the confession.
It didn't make sense for someone acting on impulse to procure sleeping drugs and start a fire.
And A Seung's family had vanished.
It stank to high heaven, but they lacked the manpower for a prolonged investigation.
With no leads and urgent need to restore the burned documents, it ended there.
They pulled all-nighters for nearly a year straight—Eun Seo-ho included.
Even after a year, they couldn't recover half of what was lost.
It had been hell.
The punch he'd just thrown at A Seung carried all that pent-up rage.
As he punched, he swiftly snatched the fire starter and tucked it away safely.
Then he picked up a document from the pile.
"T-that!"
A Seung's face drained of color at the document in Eun Seo-ho's hand.
"So this is it. The one you really wanted gone."
It was labeled Hwaryeon Pavilion.
In the future he'd known, A Seung had been revealed as the arsonist, but they'd never uncovered the mastermind.
Or rather,
Some parties had profited greatly from the Jaekyung Pavilion fire, and three suspects stood out.
But there was no evidence.
They'd had to let it slide uneasily—but not this time.
"You sure wasted a lot of this precious oil. No room for excuses now, huh?"
That's when it happened.
A Seung suddenly pulled another fire starter from his bosom.
"Don't move!"
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn, Eun Seo-ho froze.
He hadn't known there was a second one.
His mistake.
"I-I have to burn it! That's the only way my family won't be sold off!"
"Sold off? What do you mean?"
Those words made something click.
'Come to think of it...'
During the investigation back then, he'd learned that A Seung's assets had transferred to someone else just days before the incident.
And his family had vanished too.
There was only one scenario where someone lost all their property and family in one go.
"You in debt or something?"
"..."
The flicker in A Seung's eyes at the question confirmed it.
He'd fallen into the clutches of loan sharks.
Why would he, though?
Eunhae Merchant Group salaries were generous.
And from what Eun Seo-ho knew, A Seung had been unproblematic—though witnesses later said he'd been hanging with shady types lately.
Which meant...
"Gambling debt."
"...!"
A Seung flinched.
'Bingo.'
Eun Seo-ho could only give a bitter smile.
What a pitiful man.
He wasn't prominent, but he'd lived quietly and ordinarily—until he lost everything and plummeted into ruin.
His family sold off, assets seized, and he himself murdered.
That's right.
He hadn't suicided; he'd been killed.
Of course, there was no proof of murder—it was ruled suicide.
But the circumstances all pointed to homicide.
Eun Seo-ho looked at the trembling A Seung.
"Clerk A. Look at me."
"..."
"Look at me, please."
A Seung raised his head.
"You want to protect your family, right?"
He didn't answer, but his eyes did.
"Then tell me everything— the truth. The merchant group will protect your family."