It’s All Over Now.

“Ah, I didn’t find where the scroll is, only who stole it.”

He could not know where they had hidden it.

“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to.”

Gyo-ha laced his fingers behind his head.

He really did not care.

He had only told him because Hyeok Du-sim seemed like a good person.

From what Gyo-ha had seen, he could be called a good man.

Yet Hyeok Du-sim only grew more confused at Gyo-ha’s attitude.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason for Gyo-ha to sow discord among them.

But it was not easy to doubt the comrades he had worked with all this time.

It was not just one or two people.

Yet after hearing Gyo-ha’s words, one strange point after another came to mind.

The people whom Gyo-ha had pointed out had avoided talking to him on this escort run.

As if they were keeping their distance.

As chief escort, it was hard for him to mingle freely with the escorts and wagon hands.

But he had not usually treated them so strictly that they would avoid speaking to him.

The strength faded from Hyeok Du-sim’s eyes as he glared at Gyo-ha.

“…Even if that is true, there is no way to confirm it.”

If he interrogated them here based only on Gyo-ha’s word, his standing within the escort agency would vanish.

“There is a way.”

“Huh?”

“Are you any good at acting by any chance?”

What was he talking about all of a sudden? Gyo-ha gave Hyeok Du-sim a crooked grin.

“I am not sure if I can control my strength. Ah, it might hurt a little. You just have to pretend to faint.”

“Huh?”

Hyeok Du-sim blinked.

But Gyo-ha was already rolling his shoulders.

“Gently, gently. Good, I can do this.”

His muttering sounded ominous.

“W-wait a moment…”

Hyeok Du-sim opened his mouth, but Gyo-ha had already taken his stance and thrown his fist.

Puk!

A blow that made his mind go blank.

‘That is not a little at all…’

Hyeok Du-sim’s body flew like a kite.

Thud, he crashed to the ground.

At the sudden turn of events, the escorts and wagon hands froze.

Since the two of them had been chatting so amicably just moments before, the shock was even greater.

The escorts even forgot to draw their weapons and simply stared with wide eyes.

Gyo-ha walked toward those escorts with steady steps.

“I heard you gentlemen hid a treasure.”

The escorts panicked. But they soon collected themselves and drew their swords.

At that moment, Gyo-ha swung his fist to the side.

Kwajijik!

A tree burst apart and tipped over.

Kkiiik, Koong!

The sight of the tree falling to the ground seemed to move in slow motion.

Seeing that, the escorts could not bring themselves to charge him.

They knew their own bodies would end up like that.

“I happen to be a little interested in that treasure.”

Gyo-ha gave a slight smile.

The escorts stood rigid.

“W-what in the world…”

“Ah, not you, sir. Those men in the back.”

Gyo-ha pointed at the two escorts in the rear.

“I heard everything. Where is the treasure?”

“T-treasure, what are you talking about?”

His voice was shaking.

Anyone could hear how flustered he was, but Gyo-ha did not miss how the escort’s eyes flickered.

Gyo-ha immediately leapt forward.

Koong!

He landed right in front of the escort.

His muscles rippled. From afar it had not been clear, but up close his presence was overwhelming.

“Where is the treasure?”

“At, at the escort agency!”

He threw himself flat and bowed his head. At those words, the escorts who had been about to attack stopped moving.

“I-it is true. We never had it from the start. The escort master, the escort master is the one who has it. Please spare me!”

The escort even rubbed his hands together as he begged. When he received no answer for a long while, he cautiously raised his head.

There he saw Gyo-ha’s face smiling brightly.

The innocent look on his face made it even more frightening.

Because of that, he could not bring himself to look at the faces of his comrades beside him.

Gyo-ha turned his head and looked at Hyeok Du-sim.

“You heard that, right?”

At his words, Hyeok Du-sim pushed himself up.

He was clutching the place where he had been hit, but the twist on his face was not from pain.

“Uncle, that was really convincing.”

Gyo-ha stepped back as he praised him.

It had been natural enough to fool even Gyo-ha. But it could not have been otherwise.

Hyeok Du-sim had truly fainted and then come to. It had not been acting.

Even so, he had heard all the important parts.

“…Gwan Heung, you.”

The escort who had come back to his senses shook his head.

“N-no. It was because this man threatened me…”

“If you lie, I will break that hand.”

At Gyo-ha’s kindly reply, the escort shut his mouth.

Only then could Hyeok Du-sim tell which side was telling the truth.

Turning his head, he spoke as he looked at the escorts and wagon hands.

“Jeon Pyeong, Jong Sam, Gwak Du…”

Each time a name left Hyeok Du-sim’s mouth, the looks in the eyes of the escorts and wagon hands changed.

Those whose names were called resigned themselves, knowing everything had been exposed, while the others trembled with outrage at the betrayal.

They had never imagined so many would be involved.

“…Let us hear your story.”

At his words, they began to speak, one by one.

Only long after their story ended did Hyeok Du-sim finally speak.

“So the escort master took money from the merchant guilds in Sangwu?”

“…And he received a contract promising they would use the escort agency for the next five years.”

He had heard it, but could hardly believe it.

After Hyeok Du-sim performed the inspection, those two had pretended to double-check and diverted it.

There had even been wagon hands present at the time.

They were all accomplices.

To purposely not deliver entrusted cargo, no one would trust an escort agency run like that.

“A new escort agency, is it?”

That was why the escort master had boldly decided to discard the name.

No, it was not just the name he meant to discard.

He intended to pin the blame on the people here.

“…He said that once the new escort agency settled in, he would hire you, Chief, and the escorts again.”

“We would think the escort agency vanished because of our own mistakes, so we would be grateful that he took us back.”

He could not even laugh in disbelief. The other escorts’ gazes were, of course, icy.

“The yokai story. Was that the escort master’s idea as well?”

At Hyeok Du-sim’s question, everyone’s eyes shifted.

To the escort called Gwan Heung.

“…I thought spreading that rumor would help the merchant guilds in Sangwu…”

“You simply did not want to be scolded for letting the thief get away.”

An escort beside him sneered. Gwan Heung glared at him, then closed his mouth.

Hyeok Du-sim squeezed his eyes shut.

All of this, they said, was tied to the rights to the salt-field business.

“Tie them up.”

At Hyeok Du-sim’s order, the escorts moved.

They had been comrades until just moments ago, but their hands showed no hesitation.

If things had gone wrong, they might have lost their jobs without even knowing why.

Their families’ livelihoods were at stake.

“Thank you, Benefactor. If I ever have the chance, I will repay this favor.”

Hyeok Du-sim bowed deeply.

But his expression was not good, and not only because his comrades had betrayed him.

“What will you do now?”

“I will meet the branch chief as planned.”

The scroll they had prepared as a gift had not even left.

“I will go and report the truth.”

The expressions of the escorts and wagon hands who had been tied up darkened.

The crime of deceiving an official was heavy.

All the more when it was a branch chief.

Yet no one felt pity for them.

“Are you really alright with that?”

“…The escort agency will close its doors. On top of that, we have offended the merchant guilds in Sangwu, so it will be hard to work at any other escort agency.”

No one would take in people who had reported their former employer.

There were plenty of people. No one needed to take the risk.

It was not just them.

From now on, the name of the Yeo-un Escort Agency would follow its former people like a tag.

Feeling Gyo-ha’s gaze, Hyeok Du-sim forced a smile.

“It is not because of you, Benefactor. The escort master never really intended to hire us again anyway.”

The other escorts nodded.

If he had, there would have been no need to hide the story.

Of course, he might have rehired one or two. But he would not have taken everyone back.

They would have had to quit sooner or later anyway.

Gyo-ha nodded.

It was regrettable, but there was nothing he could do.

Then the group set out once more.

A third of them were bound with ropes, so their pace slowed, but no one complained.

Once they crossed the mountain range, their view opened wide.

Large and small villages could be seen at a glance beneath the clouds, and at the end of them was a city.

Canals ran through various parts of the city.

They had arrived in Soheng.

“Chief.”

Just then, an escort in the rear called out quietly.

Following the escort’s gaze, he saw smoke rising from one of the villages.

It was not smoke from chimneys.

The houses were burning.

“What in the world…”

Something had clearly happened in the village.

Otherwise smoke would not be rising like that.

At that moment, a shadow passed by Hyeok Du-sim’s side.

It was Gyo-ha.

Gyo-ha bounded down the mountain.

In an instant his figure grew distant.

Hyeok Du-sim looked at the carriages behind and the bound escorts.

His hesitation was brief.

“Escort Yun, you will lead the escort from here. If those men do anything suspicious, you may cut them down.”

“Yes, Chief.”

The middle-aged escort nodded with a stern face.

Aside from Hyeok Du-sim, he was the oldest of the escorts.

“Escort Guk, you come with me. Hyah!”

Before he even heard an answer, Hyeok Du-sim pulled on his reins.

The horse broke into a run, charging downhill without pause.

A younger escort followed behind him.

The closer they got to the smoke, the stronger the burnt smell became.

It was not just the smell of burning wood.

There was the smell of seared flesh, and with it the stench of blood.

It was not animal blood.

Gyo-ha, his brow furrowing, stamped against the ground.

And soon a horrific sight came into view.

Corpses were scattered everywhere.

There was not a single body with its limbs intact.

There were even traces showing they had been dragged around by ropes.

This was neither hunting nor simple slaughter.

It was sport.

The men had been toyed with and then killed, and among the women there was not one whose lower body had been left intact.

Kkadeuk.

His clenched fist creaked audibly.

So this was what hell on earth might look like.

Hyeok Du-sim and the escort who arrived after him also caught their breath at the scene.

“This is an atrocity that cries out to heaven. Who would do such a thing!”

At that moment, Gyo-ha moved.

He ran off toward somewhere.

“Benefactor?”

At a burning house, Gyo-ha drove his fist forward as he rushed in.

Kwaang!

A burning pillar toppled and crashed down on him, but he paid it no mind.

He stepped forward and drew back his fist.

Radiant Burst Strike.

Kwagang!

With an impact even greater than before, the house was completely shattered.

Ash scattered in all directions.

Gyo-ha glanced around, then reached toward the floor.

Kkigik.

He tore up the planks, revealing a hollow space beneath.

Seeing what lay beyond, Hyeok Du-sim’s face hardened.

“Children!”

A boy who looked about ten and a girl who seemed about five.

They were unconscious, as if they had fainted.

When Gyo-ha carried the children out, Hyeok Du-sim opened the bamboo flask at his chest.

He wet a cloth and wiped the children’s faces.

Drinkable water was precious in these times, but he did not care.

The escort beside him also followed suit and wiped the children’s faces.

After some time had passed.

The pained expressions on the children’s faces eased somewhat.

Soon the boy opened his eyes.

“Kuh, kuh.”

As the coughing child trembled in fear, Hyeok Du-sim stepped forward.

“It is all over now. You are safe.”

Only after he had soothed him several times did the boy finally calm down.

The boy squeezed his younger sister’s hand tightly.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“People on horses came. Father put me and my sister in the cellar and told us not to come out. After that we heard screams and…”

The boy could not go on.

He trembled with fear, and leaving the boy like that, the escort whispered softly.

“They must be mounted bandits.”

“…Mounted bandits in Soheng of all places.”

Pirates or mountain bandits were one thing, but mounted bandits were not something you saw around here.

But Hyeok Du-sim furrowed his brow, as if something had come to mind.

“Could it be them?”

“Do you know who they are?”

At Gyo-ha’s question, he gave a small nod.

“They are warriors from the Taeho Gang. I have heard rumors that they ride out and raid the surrounding area. But I never thought it would be like this.”

“The Taeho Gang.”

At the familiar name, Gyo-ha’s expression hardened.