I Wish They Would All Die. (4)

“W-What the…!”

Yeom Mal-saeng screamed in horror.

“Turn your heads! Now!”

“This…”

“I said don’t look! Turn your heads this instant, before I gouge your eyes out?!”

Startled by his violent words, the workers quickly lowered their gazes.

“Damn it! I told you to be that careful!”

Yeom Mal-saeng floundered helplessly before suddenly roaring at Chung Myung.

“Clean this up immediately! Hurry!”

“But there’s nowhere to put them…”

“Then at least wrap them up roughly with that cloth over there!”

“Like this?”

Pretending to cover them with the cloth, Chung Myung instead pulled out even more swords from inside the crate.

“Y-You damned bastard! I will never let you get away with this!”

“When you put it that way, I don’t feel like working.”

“Aaaaaaargh!”

The Mount Hua disciples turned their backs on the frenzied Yeom Mal-saeng and exchanged glances.

“They were swords, right?”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

“Hey, Jwa Go-Hak. Didn’t you say before that it was impossible to obtain proper swords in Beijing?”

Jwa Go-Hak spoke with a stiff expression.

“…In Beijing, not only the private possession and sale of weapons, but also their transportation, is prohibited. And weapons in such quantities…”

“Hm.”

Baek Cheon nodded gravely.

“We should investigate this a little further.”

Baek Cheon could not shake the feeling that this matter was becoming far more serious than expected.

That night.

“It’s really dark.”

“Shh. Keep your voice down.”

The Mount Hua disciples entered the warehouse where the mysterious crates were stored and exchanged glances.

“We got in surprisingly easily.”

“…Because we took control of the workers from the beginning. The people standing guard are workers too, after all. It wasn’t difficult.”

“No one expected Uncle Hong to be this helpful.”

“He really is a contrast to the other Hong in Hwa-Um village.”

“Exactly.”

“Enough with the idle chatter, everyone.”

Baek Cheon looked at the crates piled up like a mountain and slowly raised one corner of his mouth.

“Let’s check first. We need to find out whether only that one crate was a problem, or whether all of this…”

“Yes.”

“Open them.”

At Baek Cheon’s command, the Mount Hua disciples began taking down the crates at the top. Then they tore open the tightly sealed crates with their hands.

Crack.

The Mount Hua disciples moved aside the lids covering the crates and carefully pulled away the cloth wrapped around the goods. As soon as they saw the contents, groan-like voices escaped the disciples’ mouths.

“…They’re swords, sasuk.”

“These are bows.”

“…These look like armor.”

The Mount Hua disciples’ faces grew paler and paler.

They had suspected this might be the case, but now that their suspicions had actually proven true, even they found it difficult to bear.

“Sasuk, this…”

“Not yet.”

Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lip and pointed at the crates.

“Just in case, let’s check a few more. Take out and open one crate from the middle and one from the very bottom, not just the ones on top.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong quickly pulled out the crates Baek Cheon had indicated and tore off their lids.

“…There are swords here too.”

“These as well.”

Baek Cheon raised his head and stared at the ceiling for a long while, then slowly turned his gaze toward Jwa Go-Hak.

“Hey, Inkpot.”

“…”

Jwa Go-Hak looked as though his soul had nearly left his body.

The Mount Hua disciples were also shaken by the weapons piled up here, but no matter how great their shock was, it could not compare to Jwa Go-Hak’s distress.

“What do you think?”

At Baek Cheon’s words, Jwa Go-Hak looked once more at the crates scattered across the floor and bit down hard on his lip.

“I don’t know for certain either, but…”

Jwa Go-Hak let his voice trail off, as though trying somehow to deny what he had seen. But in the end, unable to interpret the scene before him any other way, he spoke with a deep sigh.

“The swords here… are similar in form to the military blades used by the army.”

Baek Cheon’s face hardened further.

“The bows as well… and the armor too. No matter how I look at it, these things… were not prepared for hunting or some hobby.”

“Then what are they for?”

Jwa Go-Hak chewed his lips for a while before continuing with difficulty.

“…To fight.”

“To fight.”

Baek Cheon repeated the words once, then narrowed his eyes.

“Against whom?”

A brief silence flowed through the warehouse.

“I don’t know. No—we must not know.”

Jwa Go-Hak answered with a bloodless face. His voice was clearly tinged with something different from anything they had seen in him until now.

“Because even trying to predict it would be disloyal. Determining what these things are… no, not what they are, but what they are meant for, is not our role.”

Baek Cheon slowly nodded.

In the end, they had only come here to find evidence of what Do-Hyeon was doing. Anything beyond that was not their concern.

“Is this enough evidence?”

“…It’s more than enough.”

Jwa Go-Hak clenched his fists tightly. His fists, tensed with excessive force, began to tremble.

Simply bringing this quantity of weapons into Beijing was a grave crime for which he could be executed on the spot, with no room for excuses. No excuse would be accepted.

‘Of course it wouldn’t. This is high treason.’

Intent did not matter in a charge of high treason. If one committed an act amounting to rebellion, one was punished for high treason. And Do-Hyeon’s actions had clearly crossed the line.

But…

“Really?”

At that moment, Chung Myung, who had been listening in silence until then, spoke in a bored tone.

“It doesn’t seem that way to me.”

“…Pardon?”

Jwa Go-Hak blinked and turned toward Chung Myung.

Jwa Go-Hak’s brow furrowed involuntarily when he saw the strange smile on Chung Myung’s face.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t seem that way?”

“Let’s analyze the situation first.”

Chung Myung snapped his fingers.

“So, as I understand it, that head Eunuch or whatever is smuggling a large quantity of weapons into Beijing, right?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s even scarier is that we don’t know when it started or how much he’s brought in. For all we know, he may already have stockpiled enough weapons to arm several thousand people. Isn’t that right?”

“S-Several thousand?”

“That’s the minimum estimate. There could be far more than that.”

Cold sweat began to run down Jwa Go-Hak’s back. Come to think of it, Chung Myung was right. Hadn’t Hong-ga said that these goods had been coming into the Gahwa Merchant Guild for several years already?

“What do you think that means?”

Heavy tension settled over everyone’s faces.

“An actual rebellion?”

“W-Watch your words!”

“But sahyung, if that isn’t the case, there’s no reason to bring so many weapons into Beijing.”

“…”

At Jo Gul’s words, even Yoon Jong merely moved his lips, apparently at a loss for words.

If it were dozens—or, being extremely generous, a few hundred weapons—it might be possible to imagine some other purpose. But thousands?

“He’s the head Eunuch—the head Eunuch. From what I hear, he has completely seized control of the imperial court and toys with it as he pleases. Someone like that could openly bring in as many weapons as he wanted for official purposes. And yet a man like that is secretly bringing weapons in through the back door.”

“…That’s true.”

“Then where do you think those blades are pointed?”

“…”

Once again, a heavy silence descended. There was only one possible conclusion.

That was when everyone was thinking the same thing.

“That’s the problem.”

“Hm?”

Chung Myung tilted his head askew and spoke bluntly.

“Judging from the situation alone, that head Eunuch has completely lost his mind and is trying to kill the emperor and become emperor himself.”

“…Isn’t that a little too extreme?”

“But… extreme or not, it isn’t wrong.”

Baek Cheon could not find anything to say in response and was unable to continue.

“But that can’t be the case, and that’s the problem.”

“Hm?”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“Do-Hyeon, the head Eunuch—you said he’s a eunuch.”

“…Why does that matter?”

“What is a eunuch going to do if he becomes emperor?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes widened.

“If a eunuch became emperor, then of course… Huh?”

Everyone’s expressions turned puzzled.

“Would that… not work?”

“No, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work, is there?”

“Even if it worked, what would he do afterward? He wouldn’t have any children anyway. Would he be emperor for his own reign and then elect someone else?”

“Hey, he could adopt someone.”

“Wouldn’t that be rather meaningless from his perspective?”

“…”

Baek Cheon looked at Jwa Go-Hak in confusion. Jwa Go-Hak was floundering too, wearing an expression as though he had just been hit hard.

“W-Well… if you look at history…”

“If you look at history?”

“There have been several occasions when eunuchs rebelled and seized power surpassing that of the emperor… Yes, that’s right. None of them ever became emperor. Not even once.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? Because they were eunuchs. What would a eunuch do by becoming emperor?”

“…”

Jo Gul whispered softly to Yoon Jong.

“Isn’t this eunuch discrimination?”

“Be quiet. This is not the time.”

“Even so, they’re looking down on them too much.”

“Apparently that’s how it was historically.”

Jwa Go-Hak began scratching his head furiously.

“Eunuchs rebel in order to obtain power equal to the emperor’s… but Do-Hyeon already wields power equal to the emperor’s!”

“…So?”

“There are people who risk their lives to obtain what they don’t have, but what idiot would risk everything to obtain what he already possesses?! If he were that stupid, he never would have become head Eunuch!”

“…Why are you getting angry at us?”

“Leave him be. He must be frustrated.”

Jwa Go-Hak was now clutching and tearing at his own hair.

“Then what are all these weapons for?! What in the world is this lunatic eunuch planning to do?!”

Baek Cheon sighed as he watched Jwa Go-Hak kick the weapons irritably, having abandoned even his dignity as a Confucian scholar. This matter seemed far more complicated than expected.

“Ugh, I don’t know. There’s no need to overthink it.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s keep it simple. We didn’t come here to prevent a rebellion in the first place, did we?”

“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Whatever the purpose of these weapons may be, it is an undeniable fact that head Eunuch Do-Hyeon bribed the Vice Minister of Revenue to bring a large quantity of weapons into Beijing.”

The Mount Hua disciples slowly nodded.

“So if we properly report just this situation, Do-Hyeon will lose his head. Then we will have accomplished our mission.”

“…”

“Hohoho. At any rate, this is the end for Doh-Heon! The end!”

Chung Myung stared blankly at the snickering Jwa Go-Hak before speaking.

“How?”

“What?”

“How are you going to bring him down?”

“What did you hear? I told you, the weapons here alone are sufficient evidence.”

“Exactly. So how are you going to use these weapons as evidence?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Are you planning to carry all of this to the authorities and present it to them?”

“…”

“Or what? Are you going to draw a picture and insist that you saw it clearly with your own eyes?”

Jwa Go-Hak blinked blankly. What was this supposed to…

“N-No, wait a moment.”

“Or is it something else? Are you going to go somewhere and say that a huge amount of weapons is piled up in the Vice Minister of Revenue’s house and ask them to come verify it with you?”

“…”

“You said it yourself. Power is the force that makes it possible to do what should be impossible. If you bring some ordinary nobody here, the whole thing will be treated as though it never happened. And by the time someone important enough comes here, all the weapons will have disappeared.”

“Ah…”

Jwa Go-Hak’s mouth slowly fell open.

It was here, right now. Undeniable evidence capable of bringing down not only the Vice Minister of Revenue, but even Do-Hyeon, the head Eunuch who ruled the realm.

And yet…

“Y-You’re saying we can’t use this as evidence?”

“…”

“W-What do you mean by that? This… what is this?”

“…”

“Does that make any sense at all?! This insane world! Aaaaaagh!”

“Hey, keep it down…”

“Gueeeee? Eh? Uaahra?”

“He’s broken again.”

“Can you blame him…”

Jwa Go-Hak, foam bubbling at his mouth, toppled backward. The tears pooled at the corners of his eyes scattered sorrowfully through the air.