The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

The next morning, Luoyang was in an uproar.

An official of the Martial Alliance named Yu Heon had hanged himself with a rope and died. He left a suicide note next to him and turned his back on the world without any regrets. He was not a particularly conspicuous person, but he was still quite powerful. As the person in charge of the supply and post stations of a large battalion, his power could not be said to be small.

He wrote in his suicide note that he had enjoyed gambling and luxury and had used a lot of public funds for personal use. He could not handle that money and had made more debt by repeating speculation, and he could not overcome his guilt and was dying.

Suicide, unless it was a righteous means or a sacrifice for someone, was considered the worst way to escape. Since an official of the Martial Alliance had run away by dying, Yu Heon's honor had already fallen to the ground, and even the beggars in the marketplace cursed him and spat at him.

"They say the newly appointed inspector is so capable, he must have been scared of him."

"Of course. Isn't he the one who brought down the Hakseo Escort Agency and punished the Beggars' Sect? This guy would have been caught soon too."

"Aish, what a villain of the world!"

"He received divine punishment!"

The people's reaction was naturally not favorable. He was a man who had committed suicide while coveting wealth, so what could be said? Rather, they were disappointed that they could not throw stones at him by exposing his crimes while he was alive. No one pitied the dead man.

Jang So-gil let such stories flow by and sat by the window on the second floor of the inn, watching the noisy streets of Luoyang. He drank hot tea and, with a sweet candy as his companion, spat out words.

"Fuck. I got hit."

He spat out a curse with genuine emotion, which was rare for him.

Yang Gwan, who was attending to him, scratched his chin at the sudden curse.

"What has gotten on your nerves again?"

"That bastard went and died on his own, didn't he!"

"Are you talking about that fellow named Yu Heon?"

"Yes. That damn bastard!"

"The embezzlement must be true."

"He did it. He did it for a long time. He's a guy who embezzled three hundred silver taels over a year."

"He deserved to die."

"Yes. But he shouldn't have died now!"

Jang So-gil was investigating a military group called the Seven Star Squad. Yu Heon was the supply manager of that Seven Star Squad. Supply was originally a position that directly managed money as it encompassed various aspects such as food, clothing, and weapons, so it was a good position to embezzle a lot.

"Even so, all he embezzled was three hundred taels. But the money the Seven Star Squad embezzled is over twenty thousand taels."

"Twenty thousand taels!?"

"Yes. As I said before, martial artists eat up an enormous amount of money when they are nurtured. But this is to form a large battalion. Can you even imagine how much money it would cost?"

"I can't imagine."

"Me neither! The amount that came out just by roughly flicking the abacus was twenty thousand taels, so I thought I was going to faint! Anyway, since they ate like crazy, I have to cut open their stomachs properly and make them vomit the money. I was planning to handle that fellow named Yu Heon well and coax him to pull out the bastard who really ate the money."

"But that guy just went and died."

If this happened, the investigation would face difficulties. The supply manager had taken responsibility for all twenty thousand taels and died, so what and how should he investigate?

The dead have no words. Because they have no words, the living can make up words as they please.

"It's obvious that the guys from the Diancang Sect will also say they are victims and that he did everything. It's obvious even without looking. Damn bastards. I hope they get struck by lightning!"

"Then, did the villain you mentioned, the one who needed to be pulled out, kill Yu Heon?"

"That's right. To cut off the tail. I've been had."

Jang So-gil growled and chewed on the candy roughly. One, two, three. They went down well. He drank the hot tea without even realizing it was hot, and ordered a few more candies. Perhaps because he was young, he ate well. After venting his anger for a long time, he regained his composure and let out a long breath.

"But it's strange. Really strange."

"What is?"

"The leader of the Seven Star Squad is a fellow named Guyang Su of the Ten Thousand Li Solo Journey, an elder of the Diancang Sect. His head is empty, and he's an old monster with only a desire for showing off. It's strange that a man with an empty head and a taste for luxury would react and respond so nimbly. And to even cut off the tail, this is not an ordinary vicious method. For an elder of the Orthodox faction who even does chivalrous deeds to make up his mind like this in less than half a day..."

That was the reason he had aimed for the Seven Star Squad first. Guyang Su was relatively easy to deal with compared to the other old monsters. But for him to react so quickly.

"It seems there was someone who gave him advice. How frustrating, how vexing!"

"Is there no other sharp way?"

"From now on, if I continue my investigation, all the supply managers of the battalions in charge will probably die. They'll openly kill them and put pressure on me, asking if I'm really going to investigate when people are dying like this."

"They must think you'll flinch at something like that, Guild Master So."

"Even if I don't flinch, the Alliance Lord will!"

Right now, since he was firing off conspicuous achievements, the Alliance Lord was on Jang So-gil's side.

But if people kept dying like that and the Nine Sects One Alliance started petitioning from various directions, he wouldn't be able to protect Jang So-gil. Because even if the Alliance Lord was the law of the Martial Alliance, the origin of the Martial Alliance was a coalition of Orthodox factions. The foundation of that power came from the support of the Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Families. If he lost their support, Gu Munryong would also be finished.

"If this is the case, I'll have to postpone the internal reform for a while. Damn it. Damn it!"

The Martial Alliance was dying of anemia.

What Jang So-gil had done so far was like getting blood from the outside and giving a transfusion to the body. The amount of that blood was so great that the Martial Alliance seemed to have been completely revived and was full of life. But that was only on the surface, the problem remained.

"The mosquito bastards clinging to the skin are still there, and the leeches squirming in the intestines are also still there. There are also maggots that prevent hemostasis at the wound site. Without getting rid of them, the fundamental problem cannot be solved. I was planning to start with the Seven Star Squad and change the internal constitution to a healthy one, but now it's all for naught. For the time being, there is no justification to strike them until a sharp method comes up."

"No matter what you do, they will use Yu Heon's body as an excuse, so that's right."

"Tsk. To cut off the tail. The more I think about it, the more angry I get."

"From what you've said, it wasn't Guyang Su's doing. Then do you have any suspicions as to who did it?"

"Nangong Yeohwa of the Nangong family. Elder Seok Pacheon of the Hengshan Sect. Zhuge Xuan of the Zhuge family. These three have too many suspicions."

"Why are they suspicious?"

"Because they have the ability to do it."

Although Jang So-gil prided himself on being in the top five in the world in terms of business talent, the world was wide and there were many talented people. In the first place, the reason he could stand in this position was not only because of his ability, but also because he could be trusted. In fact, if it weren't for the strange job of an inspector, trust would not have been necessary.

"These three are the representative people who are likely to embezzle money from the Martial Alliance and create a strategically advantageous situation. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that they created the current Martial Alliance."

"You're basing your suspicion on their ability, not their motive."

"Yes. Anyway, if I just let this go after being hit like this, I won't be able to sleep. What should I do? Should I first find out which one of them did it?"

With a "tsk tsk tsk," So let out a low laugh. Usually, when he laughed like that, a bad idea would come out. Yang Gwan just looked up at the warm sunlight and the blue sky and smiled.

'I don't know who it is, but they've really gotten on Guild Master So's nerves. How pitiful.'

* * *

Before the sun set, Jang So-gil raised his fist high.

"Seok Pacheon, it was you!"

The method of finding out who it was was very simple. He questioned the maids and servants about the people Guyang Su had met. Guyang Su, fitting his title of Ten Thousand Li Solo Journey, did not have many friends. His social circle was so narrow that it was not difficult to remember his visitors, and it was even easier to get information from the maids and servants. Since there had been a meeting between the two on the day before Yu Heon died, Seok Pacheon was definitely the culprit.

"How should I deal with this little rat..."

An approach of going up from the battalion is impossible. He'll cut off the tail again this time.

And it's also impossible to strike the Hengshan Sect's headquarters. Jang So-gil didn't have the power to do that yet, nor could he protect himself after touching the Hengshan Sect, a corner of the Orthodox faction. Similarly, it was also impossible to directly attack and depose Elder Seok Pacheon. He had reached the rank of a supreme master and had many followers. He was a man with many merits and many faults, so it was premature to touch him.

"But I can't just let it go. Ah, damn it. Should I really look for Byeokryeokja?"

"Please endure it."

"I'm asking because I'm curious, but what do you do in the martial world in a situation like this?"

"In the martial world? I can't really get a feel for it."

"What would you have done?"

Yang Gwan rested his chin on his hand and pondered. He had never heard of or experienced such a complicated story. But it was easy to think about what he would do. Yang Gwan chewed on the development of the incident and said casually.

"For the honor of the deceased Yu Heon, I would request a duel."

"You crazy bastard."

"In fact, if you think about it, didn't he only take three hundred taels?"

"That's true."

"But the amount of damage is about twenty thousand taels. To have been killed after being made to take the blame for such an absurd amount, Yu Heon must be resentful. For his sake, I would have to request a duel with the Diancang Sect. My rank is a second-generation disciple, so a second-generation disciple would also come out as a duel opponent. If I fight them and win, I will make them promise to admit that they killed Yu Heon."

At the absurd story, So was dumbfounded and asked back.

"Are you crazy? Do you think they'll listen to that? And in the first place, will they even accept the duel? Can't they just ignore it? The reason for fighting is also strange. Why do you decide that with a fight instead of bringing evidence and discussing it?"

"If someone who is spreading slander, criticism, and rumors about their sect requests a duel and they don't accept it, the name of the Hengshan Sect will fall to the ground."

"The family's name? What's so important about that!?"

"It is more important than anything else."

"..."

He was at a loss for words at the resolute gaze.

He realized with his skin that this was the difference between a martial artist and a merchant.

"Hah, this is really absurd."

Jang So-gil blankly flicked the abacus.

"I'm sorry for telling you an absurd story."

"No, it's not that your story is absurd, but that it has some realism to it."

Jang So-gil consciously flicked the abacus one more time. His head was that of a merchant, and he concentrated best when he flicked the abacus. When he calculated with a calm head like that, the probability of success was quite high.

"First, the deceased Yu Heon's suicide note said that all the crimes were his, but if I can accurately sort out only what Yu Heon did from there, the remaining crimes are worth pursuing. The responsibility for that empty money naturally falls on the leader of the Seven Star Squad, Guyang Su. When I send a duel request to prove that, if they accept, I can just fight and win, and if the opponent ignores it, it will be a disgrace to the sect, so I can screw them over. It's a really crazy method, but the effect of screwing them over is definitely there. It's a much better method than doing nothing."

"But with that, you can't attack Seok Pacheon."

"That's right. So I have to apply this."

Like Guyang Su, Seok Pacheon was also wasting a considerable amount of public funds through the operation of his battalion. Its name was the Heavenly Celebration Squad. The Heavenly Celebration Squad and the Seven Star Squad were no different. Then the result would be more or less the same. If So were to investigate the Heavenly Celebration Squad like the Seven Star Squad, Seok Pacheon would kill the person in charge and cut off the tail. Then?

Jang So-gil, who had finished his calculations, rested his chin on his hand and his gaze sank.

"One more person... has to die, huh...?”

(End of Chapter)