“Because I like it.”

“…”

Hong Woo Geon’s words about liking turned her mind blank.

Numerous questions built spider web-like houses in her mind.

Like?

Who?

Me?

Does this man know what he’s saying?

Kwon Jwa Woo was gradually consumed by the growing question marks.

Hong Woo Geon blinked his eyes and stared at her intently.

Then, as if he had seen through Kwon Jwa Woo’s mind, he continued speaking.

“I like walking side by side with someone.”

“…”

Pfft, she felt deflated.

It seemed as if she heard the sound of air escaping from somewhere.

For a brief moment, Kwon Jwa Woo, whose mind had been distant, felt embarrassed to face Hong Woo Geon and quickly moved her steps.

“Is it speed walking this time?”

The sound of footsteps following from behind could be heard.

Fearing being caught up, Kwon Jwa Woo moved her feet even faster.

Ah, who knew acting appropriately for the situation would be this difficult.

Looking back at Hong Woo Geon, who was following at a quick pace without any awareness, Kwon Jwa Woo let out a deep sigh.

Then she ran forward as if performing light footwork.

“That slow-witted one.”

Hong Woo Geon muttered to himself.

As he chased after Kwon Jwa Woo with wide and quick strides, a playful smile appeared on his lips.

It was said that the cleverness of the Hwaseop-ja of Myeongnyebang was unpredictable.

But people only knew one thing and not two.

That teasing the clever and smart Hwaseop-ja of Myeongnyebang was easier than teasing a six-year-old child.

Kwon Jwa Woo, who blushed at the single word “I like,” was cute.

Seeing her blush to her ears, he even felt the urge to embrace her in his arms. Like watching a child in the midst of playfulness, he looked at Kwon Jwa Woo walking ahead with quick steps.

Teasing Kwon Jwa Woo as slow-witted, Hong Woo Geon quickened his pace. No matter how fast she ran, she could never escape his sight.

Hong Woo Geon, who truly failed to realize that he was the real slow-witted one, ran after Kwon Jwa Woo with a face full of joy.

The sunlight that had been circling in the air bounced off Kwon Jwa Woo and Hong Woo Geon’s feet.

The quiet morning air became busy due to the two people.

Mr. Jung’s morning routine was always the same.

He always woke up at the same time, ate breakfast at the same time, and took a light walk at the same time.

After the walk, he would review the documents organized by the housekeeper Goo, and then inspect the granaries.

Today, too, Mr. Jung, led by Mr. Goo, made his way to the granary located in the northern backyard of the mansion.

Mr. Jung’s granaries were divided into three places.

One was the granary containing grains for Mr. Jung and his household. It was located near the southern servants’ quarters, not in the northern backyard.

The other two granaries were in the northern backyard, and the grains there were solely for the villagers.

Or rather, it would be more correct to say they were granaries to inflate Mr. Jung’s wealth.

One of the two granaries was packed with processed grains. In the granary next to it, grain processing was in full swing.

Before entering the granary where Dolseok was processing the grains, Mr. Goo handed Mr. Jung a face cover.

Mr. Goo and Mr. Jung covered their noses and mouths with the face covers without anyone needing to go first.

When they opened the door and entered the granary, about seven young boys around ten years old were spreading grains on straw mats. The children’s appearance was wretched. Wearing old and torn jackets and pants, their faces were full of grime as if they hadn’t washed properly. They all looked skinny as if they hadn’t eaten properly.

They were all children who had been abandoned by their parents or sold for a small amount of money. No one was curious about where these children came from or how they were treated.

Managing the children was Dolseok’s job.

Unlike the children who wore nothing on their faces, Dolseok shouted at the children with his mouth and nose covered by a face mask.

“You brats, hurry up, hurry. Time is of the essence.”

Dolseok held a whip in his hand.

As he mercilessly struck the backs of children who moved even slightly slowly, Dolseok noticed Mr. Jung entering the granary.

“Oh my, you’ve come.”

Dolseok rushed to Mr. Jung in one breath.

Mr. Jung tried to minimize his words and just nodded.

He knew better than anyone how harmful the air here was to the body.

“Is the work going well?”

“Of course. When have I ever failed to meet your expectations, sir?”

“Yes, yes. I trust you.”

“I will finish processing the newly brought in grains within ten days.”

“It seems the new ones you brought in are doing their work quite well.”

“There are a few who grumble, but the others are sturdy and their hands are quick.”

“Is that so.”

It was while Mr. Jung and Dolseok were conversing.

“Aaaargh!”

From the back of the granary, a boy who was boiling something in a large pot suddenly screamed and collapsed on the spot.

“Here we go again.”

Dolseok frowned while checking his master’s reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, for the past few days, he’s been making a fuss saying he sees things.”

“It’s a symptom of poisoning.”

A low tsk sound of clicking the tongue came from Mr. Jung’s mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

Just as Dolseok was lowering his head like a criminal, it happened.

“Ugh.”

One of the children applying the steam from the pot to the grains suddenly started vomiting.

“You brat, go to the designated place to vomit. If even a drop of your spit gets on the grains, I won’t let you off!”

At Dolseok’s threat, the child staggered to the corner of the granary. The child buried his face in an empty jar there and vomited until he was nauseous.

As if he had seen something unsightly, Mr. Jung hurriedly moved his body out of the granary. Mr. Goo and Dolseok followed him out.

“The effectiveness of the cinnabar we brought in this time seems to be superior to usual.”

Dolseok, who had removed his face cover, explained.

Cinnabar, a red stone finely ground into powder, was sometimes used as an herbal medicine. However, while it was medicine when used in appropriate amounts, the smoke produced by heating large amounts of cinnabar like now could also be a fatal poison.

The symptoms of people poisoned by cinnabar varied.

The most common were vomiting or stomachache. If more severely poisoned, their hands would shake as if they had palsy, and they would see hallucinations or hear auditory hallucinations. There were cases of skin necrosis, and sometimes they would lose their lives.

Mr. Jung fumigated the grains to be distributed to the villagers with cinnabar smoke.

Outwardly, Mr. Jung was someone who helped the poor that even the king couldn’t save, but in reality, he was a cruel person who poisoned and killed the villagers with cinnabar.

Mr. Goo had asked once before.

Why he was poisoning and killing the villagers.

Mr. Jung’s answer was clear.

“I want to own all the land in this village.”

To Mr. Jung, human lives were just obstacles preventing him from getting what he wanted.

He had never felt guilty. He had never shed tears. No one cries when an ant dies. To Mr. Jung, the villagers were just insects like ants.

Only Mr. Goo and Dolseok knew of his cruel nature.

The children currently fumigating the grains in the granary would all die from cinnabar poisoning before long.

So Mr. Jung’s secret would never leak out to the world.

At least until he heard the news that the secret royal inspectors were inquiring around the village, Mr. Jung was confident he could keep his secret.

The sun had set.

The wind was getting warmer day by day.

After looking around the village and returning to the government guesthouse, Kwon Jwa Woo and Hong Woo Geon carefully shared their opinions with Lee Gyo Young and Yoo Chi Sung.

“You said poisoning?”

Lee Gyo Young asked as if he couldn’t believe it.

Hong Woo Geon nodded with a serious expression.

“What’s your evidence?”

To Lee Gyo Young who asked again, Hong Woo Geon answered.

“On the first day, I got water from the village’s communal well. At that time, the woman who handed me the water was shaking severely. At first, I thought it was due to wariness of strangers, but today another woman I met at the well was also shaking finely.”

Following Hong Woo Geon, Kwon Jwa Woo spoke.

“That’s not all. Did you see the complexion of the villagers?”

“Complexion?”

“Unlike farmers, their faces were unusually pale and their skin was taut, not matching their age.”

“On the other hand, there were people with complexions that were pale to the point of being bluish, as if dying.”

“Couldn’t it be due to frequent vomiting and stomachaches?”

“I think that’s also a symptom of poisoning.”

At Kwon Jwa Woo’s speculation, Lee Gyo Young tilted his head.

“Then we need to know what they’re poisoned with and how, don’t we?”

Hong Woo Geon nodded.

“Yes, we need to find out how they mixed the toxic substance into the grains.”

While everyone was lost in thought with the same mind, it was then.

“Um…”

Yoo Chi Sung, who had been quietly sitting in a corner of the guesthouse, timidly intervened.

“What is it?”

“There’s something I can guess…”

“What is it?”

“There’s a red stone called cinnabar… It’s sometimes used as an herbal medicine, but if used excessively, it can show the symptoms you’ve just described.”

“How do you know that so well?”

To Kwon Jwa Woo’s question, Yoo Chi Sung waved his hands as if it was nothing and answered.

“My family owns a couple of mines, so I’ve had some knowledge in that area since childhood.”

In an instant, everyone’s gaze turned to Yoo Chi Sung.

“Your family…”

“Owns mines?”

Lee Gyo Young and Hong Woo Geon asked in turn with surprised expressions.

Kwon Jwa Woo also joined in.

“Sir Yoo, are you rich?”

To the questions from the three people, Yoo Chi Sung humbly said one thing.

“I played with gold bars instead of toys as a child…?”

Before Yoo Chi Sung could finish his sentence, Hong Woo Geon shouted.

“Secret royal inspector passed!”

“…”

“…”

Kwon Jwa Woo and Lee Gyo Young stared at Hong Woo Geon with the same look in their eyes.

This materialistic person!

Anyway…

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

Kwon Jwa Woo hurriedly changed the topic.

“If it’s cinnabar poisoning as Sir Yoo said, this is no ordinary problem.”

“That’s right.”

“Shouldn’t we hurry to gather evidence and catch Mr. Jung?”

At Lee Gyo Young’s opinion, Hong Woo Geon rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.

“Gathering evidence…”

After being lost in thought for a moment, he looked around at the people and continued speaking.

“There is one way.”

Kwon Jwa Woo asked with sparkling eyes.

“What is it?”