Hongdu - The King's Men - Chapter 46

“You, do you know how to fight?”

It wasn’t a question meant to probe or mock.

The king’s question to Jwa Woo was tinged with worry.

Although dressed as a man, the king knew better than anyone that Jwa Woo’s true nature was that of a woman, so it was natural for him to be concerned.

Jwa Woo stretched her mouth into a long smile.

Instead of answering, she spread both hands wide.

Her palms had developed calluses from practicing with wooden swords for the past few days.

No, even without the sword practice, she was confident she could handle at least one stone.

“I can protect myself.”

“I see.”

Reading Jwa Woo’s confidence, the king nodded.

Then he stepped back a couple of paces and folded his arms.

It meant he would stay and watch, not run away. It was an action implying she shouldn’t lose.

Jwa Woo sighed quietly so the king wouldn’t notice.

He really doesn’t listen. He should just run away while he can.

Strangely, there was someone who came to mind when she looked at the king.

Hong Woo Geon, that man.

Even in this stubborn behavior, he came to mind.

Perhaps it was because she thought of him too much.

Jwa Woo erased the afterimage of Hong Woo Geon that followed her around like a ghost.

Then she looked around for something that could be used as a weapon.

Fortunately, as the granary was in the middle of the forest, there were branches scattered around the warehouse that could substitute for wooden swords.

Jwa Woo picked up a suitable one and turned to look at Dol Seok.

At some point, Dol Seok was holding a rather sharply honed knife.

He mocked Jwa Woo, who stood with a branch as a weapon.

“Has our bookworm lost his mind out of fear? Can’t you see what I’m holding?”

Dol Seok said, thrusting the blue-edged knife right in front of Jwa Woo’s nose.

“I see it clearly. Because I see it clearly, I warn you. That knife, put it down now. Then I’ll reduce your punishment a bit.”

“Ha, are you bargaining like at a market stall? Talk about reducing punishment or not.”

“You’ll regret it later.”

“You won’t even have a chance to regret. This knife cuts well, regardless of noble or commoner. If you die here, you won’t be able to regret anything.”

“Have you truly lost your fear? How dare you threaten me?”

They say that in a fight, momentum is important.

It wasn’t about what weapon the opponent was holding, but about the mindset with which one approached the fight.

Jwa Woo threatened to kill Dol Seok’s momentum.

“If I happen to die here, do you think you’ll be safe?”

“Don’t worry about me. Our master will take care of burying everything.”

“Bury what? What do I look like to you? I am a noble. Moreover, I’m a candidate for a secret royal inspector.”

“W-what? A candidate for a secret royal inspector?”

“It means I’m about to become a secret royal inspector.”

“…”

“Do you think the government office will just stand by if such a person dies? No matter what clever tricks your master uses, you won’t be able to escape death either.”

“Then we’ll just make sure the body is never found.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. That person knows I came here…”

Jwa Woo turned to look at the king. The king waved his hand as if to say, ‘I’m here.’

Such composure even in this situation.

Is our king fearless, or does he have nothing to fear?

It’s truly puzzling.

Inwardly clicking her tongue, Jwa Woo turned back to Dol Seok and continued speaking.

“Someone must have seen me come here. Then, even if my body isn’t found, who will be held responsible for my disappearance?”

“…”

Did Jwa Woo’s persuasive threat work?

For a moment, the knife Dol Seok was holding trembled slightly.

His wavering heart was clearly reflected in his actions.

In that instant, Jwa Woo struck both of Dol Seok’s wrists alternately with the branch she was holding.

Thwack!

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Dol Seok dropped the knife he was holding.

Jwa Woo kicked the knife that had fallen to the floor far away with her toe.

Dol Seok hurriedly bent down to pick up the knife.

Jwa Woo’s attack continued. The branch she wielded began to mercilessly strike Dol Seok’s head and shoulders.

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Jwa Woo’s attack didn’t last long.

Thud!

While Jwa Woo and Dol Seok were in the midst of fighting, suddenly the warehouse door closed from the outside.

The door was too large to think it had closed due to the wind.

Someone must have deliberately closed it.

Startled, Dol Seok ran towards the door, avoiding Jwa Woo’s attacks.

Clank, clank.

The door was locked from the outside.

A door that was always locked from the inside was now locked from the outside?

A blue madness flickered in Dol Seok’s eyes.

“Mr. Gu?”

He shouted towards the outside.

Then a voice answering was heard.

“I’m sorry.”

Sure enough, Mr. Gu’s voice flew to Dol Seok’s ears.

“Why are you suddenly doing this? It’s me, Dol Seok, Dol Seok. How can you lock the door when I’m in here?”

“What choice do I have? It’s all the master’s orders.”

Mr. Gu recalled Master Jung’s order to leave the warehouse door wide open and wait. That was their code word to close the warehouse door and destroy all evidence.

Moreover, the evidence to be destroyed included Dol Seok as well.

To Master Jung, even Dol Seok was just a tool to be used for his own needs.

A moment later.

The smell of oil for torches floated around the warehouse.

Dol Seok, growing anxious, threw his body against the warehouse door. But the firmly locked door didn’t budge an inch.

“Mr. Gu, save me. There are other people here besides me.”

“…”

“They’re nobles. They said there’s a candidate for a secret royal inspector. If such a person dies, won’t it be troublesome for the master too? So…”

“What did you just say?”

“I said there’s a candidate for a secret royal inspector here.”

“Oh no…”

A perplexed sigh flowed in from outside. After a moment of conflict, Mr. Gu spoke again.

“Well, since it’s come to this, it’s just as well. Having seen this, they wouldn’t let it go easily. Might as well let everything burn away now.”

“W-what?”

Before Dol Seok could utter another word in anger, suddenly flames shot up. Mr. Gu had finally set fire to the grain warehouse.

The flames engulfed the warehouse in an instant.

With the wind that began to blow, the flames grew even fiercer.

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At the same time.

A pungent smell hit the noses of the candidates entering the rear garden.

“This is…!”

Hong Woo Geon looked around with surprised eyes.

Soon, he saw the warehouse spewing black smoke.

He had thought something was strange from the beginning when they said they would guide them to the warehouse so easily.

But fire?

They say you can fix things, but you can never fix people.

It seems innate habits can’t be helped.

Master Jung, with his cruel inner nature, chose to burn down the grain warehouse to cover up his faults.

In other words, he intended to destroy all evidence.

Wait, then the children inside…?

Hong Woo Geon’s heart raced. He hurried to run towards the warehouse.

But even that wasn’t easy.

Dozens of men who jumped out from various places in the rear garden blocked the candidates’ path. They were servants employed by Master Jung.

The men, who seemed to number well over forty, had been hiding all over the rear garden and attacked the candidates.

Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young adjusted their stances and prepared to fight.

Yoo Chi Sung, who was far from fighting, hid behind a nearby large tree.

The servants, each holding clubs, sickles, and rakes, slowly and carefully surrounded Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young in a circle.

A suffocating tension flowed through the rear garden.

Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young, standing back to back, leaped into the air at the same time without anyone taking the lead.

The first to land was Hong Woo Geon.

He landed on the ground while kicking the shoulder of a servant holding a club with his foot. The club the servant had been holding was now in Hong Woo Geon’s hand.

“Yaaah!”

A servant holding a sickle rushed towards Hong Woo Geon.

But he was no match for Hong Woo Geon.

In the blink of an eye, the servant who was hit in the solar plexus by Hong Woo Geon’s club fell to the ground clutching his chest.

While Hong Woo Geon took care of two servants like that, Lee Gyo Young had knocked out three servants.

The two of them quickly and accurately dealt with the servants swarming like a pack of dogs, as if they had rehearsed beforehand.

And so, a long yet short time passed.

It took less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense for the two to take down all of Master Jung’s servants.

“You bastards, get up right now! You good-for-nothing rice bags, how could you all be knocked down by just two guys?”

Master Jung, faced with an unexpected situation, was raging.

But none of the servants lying on the ground could easily get up.

Although they had preserved their lives, they had tasted extreme pain as if they had stepped on the threshold of the underworld.

Looking at the men lying down and groaning in unison, Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young put away the weapons they were holding.

With the situation turning out like this, Master Jung was the one who became desperate.

Master Jung, who had been raging just moments ago telling the men to kill the two, suddenly changed his demeanor.

“Look here, look at these guys. Why are you doing this?”

Master Jung, with a kind-looking smile now plastered on his face, brought both hands to his chest.

“I’m begging you like this. Just let it go this once. Let’s just say no harm, no foul. It’s not like you suffered any harm because of me. And speaking of which, there’s no evidence that people died because of me.”

“What? You’re going to play it like this?”

“In any case, the warehouse has all burned down, so on what charges are you going to punish me?”

“…”

“But, since people got sick after eating the grain borrowed from my house… how about this?”

Master Jung began to speak as if he had a brilliant idea.