“But… I was a little surprised.”
Chwi Gon spoke up, and Seol-Hwi looked inside the broken carriage before asking,
“What?”
“I understand that usually when a transport is attacked, separate personnel handle it. It’s been three months now… and the body hasn’t even been recovered. There’s no way the escort service is fine with this.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi thought for a bit and nodded.
If the escort service had been hit, it was right to reorganize and go to the field.
To compensate the client and find out what happened, where the stolen items went, and who was the culprit.
Even with big problems, it was common sense to think of internal affairs first, identify the dead, tend to the wounded, collect the bodies, and pay compensation to the families.
But the scene of the incident was left neglected like this? It was difficult to understand that this was the case with a service that had deep roots in the nation. This was something that should have been done, even if it was just the recently started ones.
“Hmm.”
There were two dead bodies in the carriage.
Usually, carriages were used for transportation, such as staff or messengers. And they were used to carry the wounded after the battle.
However, even though time had passed and the body had been greatly damaged, it didn’t appear to be the original injured person with their clothes and equipment.
This is a sign of a surprise attack…
They were hit in the carriage.
This meant that a significant number of people had attacked them. He was hit in an instant, without even having time to kick open the carriage door.
Crack! Clack.
Seol-Hwi entered the carriage.
The foul odor of the rotting body hit him, but it was necessary to observe the body even closer. After covering his nose for a moment and looking closely, Seol-Hwi saw something odd.
This… this is unusual.
The injured area had broken bones and crushed flesh. It wasn’t a martial arts attack of energy, but rather something like a fierce weapon had caused it.
For Seol-Hwi, who had mostly experienced fighting using energy arts, the sight of the direct hit felt unfamiliar.
They seemed to be people who were better at this than martial arts…
“Are you looking for something? Euk,”
Chwi Gon grumbled while covering his nose and frowning. The body, which had been abandoned for three months, barely retained its human form.
“They were poisoned.”
“…Poison.”
“Right. It wasn’t touched by bugs and rats alone. There was poison left in the body, so even animals avoided it.”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi realized it was true. As he listened, he saw several dead rats next to the body and some wild animals from the mountains. Probably some idiot had come and taken a bite, then died. Since then, even animals had stopped approaching.
“Hmm…”
However, even with this level of martial arts, they were thorough bastards who managed to use poison. Seol-Hwi felt his confidence had increased a bit from this.
“Do you have any guesses?”
“…A rough one.”
It wasn’t an attack that was done with energy arts, but a martial art which preserved the form of the weapon. From those who pursued the pure combat of weapons, and not internal energy.
As far as Seol-Hwi knew, there were two groups who had this habit.
One was the military. A group called the Seven Energy Troops. Another was the Imperial special troops. These were people who had information and soldiers, such as the Eunuchs and the Imperial troops.
Seol-Hwi, whose thoughts were going there, slowly nodded.
“I have seen everything there is to see, so now I need to head somewhere else.”
“Where else… ah, do you want to go to the escort service?”
“I was planning to do that, but… there is no need for it anymore. If these are the people who would commit such a tragedy, it would be obvious without looking at them.”
“What is…”
Seol-Hwi spoke calmly to the confused Chwi Gon.
“What does it mean that an escort service left the scene of the incident alone for three months without touching it?”
“I-I guess it meant that something urgent had come up, or they didn’t have the resources for… wait… were you really saying that the entire service was in trouble?”
Chwi Gon’s eyes widened.
If a disaster hit the escort service, then there was nothing they could do. It was like the entire base being taken down.
Chwi Gon shuddered at the thought of it, and Seol-Hwi asked,
“Who was the most powerful person around here that you know of?”
“It would be… the provincial commander or the Envoy department?”
The Envoy department was an administrative position in charge of the district. The military was around the provincial commander.
In Chwi Gon’s opinion, there was no one higher than him.
But Seol-Hwi shook his head.
“Not the heads of departments, but of the highest status. This was the most powerful man, but not a warrior.”
“Not warriors. No, then you mean… kuak!”
Chwi Gon tilted his head and opened his eyes again.
90% of those who attacked the escort service and stole their wealth were from the Green Forest.
They were the group of bandits known as the 72 Green Forest bandits and the 108 Coalition.
Naturally, he tried to find them as one of those who harmed the escort service. However, if one took a closer look, they definitely fell into the category of the Kangho people.
As Seol-Hwi said, if the Kangho warriors were excluded, the Green Forest was also excluded.
Then, if you were literally the strongest person in this area…
“Are you saying that the son of the king would also fall into this?”
Chwi Gon thought for a moment and then asked carefully.
“It isn’t like they are out of range, so is there anything around here?”
“R-right. Zhou Tae-jik, and he was the third in line for the royal family.”
“Right.”
Seol-Hwi nodded. And then he declared,
“The third king was probably behind it, or knew something about this incident.”
Those who knew wolves well were the same as wolves.
Did he know about the existence of the pills and try to steal them, or did he know who else, besides himself, might be interested in them?
Seol-Hwi thought this man needed to be talked to first.
“Let’s head to his residence. Which way is it?”
“…”
Chwi Gon felt a chill run down his spine at these words. Discussing the prince, and going to his residence?
The coldness in the air left him speechless.
How could a mere warrior with no title or position meet such a precious person?
This man would be lucky if he weren’t accused of insanity.
“T-this way… it will be quicker to go directly instead of through official channels.”
Chwi Gon nodded, but he felt scared inside.
I guess I need to stay within my limits.
He had thought it was a botched attack and lost cargo, but the conflict involved the royal family?
For Chwi Gon, who was the best at appraisal, this would be a huge risk, one that could cost him his life.
Tuk
The poles curled inward, and at the same time, tension filled the air.
The man, armed with fancy armor, stared at the target with eyes wide like a tiger’s. At some point, he let go of the guard.
Pang! Swish!
The arrow soared straight for the target.
“Ohh!”
The old man in military uniform next to him let out an exclamation.
The arrow hit right in the center of the target without a single error.
“That was amazing, your highness. I think you could compete with the generals and hold your own on the front line, right?”
“Haha, that’s high praise. I was able to concentrate better with the general by my side.”
A young man in fancy armor. He looked a bit older for his age and had the clean-cut look of a noble.
This man was Prince Zhou Tae-jik. He descended from the Ming imperial family and tailored the region to his taste.
“Take good care of this.”
“Yes!”
The young man handed the bow, with a phoenix engraved on it, to the soldier behind and then walked over to a chair placed by the fire. He sat down.
Following him, the older man also sat down.
“Well, what happened last time… we needed to prepare a place for him, but I was too insignificant to treat him right.”
The old man shook his head at the words of the young prince.
“You did well. Wasn’t the current situation the best? It was enough for me to ensure that we both looked in the same direction.”
“No problem. We wanted to always be in the same direction as General Han.”
Drrrip
Just then, a servant brought out a cup of tea.
They sat, appreciating the beautiful view of wild fields and forests. The two drank a cup of tea in silence.
How long had it been?
The prince began to speak.
“General Han, do you think that the archer plays a role in the flight of an arrow? Or do you think the bow plays it?”
“…They both play a role.”
“That’s expected, but if we had to choose, which of them do you think is more important for the arrow to fly?”
“Hmm.”
General Han thought for a moment and then said.
“There are many things to consider such as the material and size… If I had to say, it would be the bow.”
“…”
The prince’s eyes narrowed at this.
“The bow uses a silk thread, but there is no elasticity in it. Even if one makes it, the pullback is bound to be too small. So, how hard is the bow and how flexible can it be? It’s important to have the right string.”
“Yes. I think the same. My thoughts changed quite recently.”
“Uh?”
General Han showed interest at those words.
“In order to shoot an arrow well, one might need an arrow and a bow, but in the end, it is you who is shooting.”
“Oho.”
“To finish after shooting with the same form, same breathing, and same strength is necessary. In that sense, I believed that with the help of the uniformed warriors, I would achieve effective results.”
“I understand what you mean.”
A smile formed on General Han’s face.
From the prince’s words, one could see his determination to avoid missteps and join him in making changes.
The starting point would be the best with the pill they obtained, the Doll Snow Ginseng.
Shhsshs
It was time for the two to look at the garden with happy expressions.
Tatak. Thud!
The soldiers rushed over and quickly bowed.
“What is happening?”
The person in front of him was General Han. So, he asked.
“Sir! We have an intruder!”
“Intruder?”
The prince looked as if this was absurd.
Right, wasn’t this place guarded like a fortress?
“Where is the person?”
General Han asked, and the soldier’s answer shocked him even more.
“That… it’s the building behind the 2nd warehouse.”
“What?”
He referred to the best warehouse, built with all kinds of things.
“Do we have to go further?”
His forehead was soaked with sweat, and his knees were sore as if they had been pricked.
In a way, this was natural. He was jumping on the roof.
Of course, they were caught moving.
But the guard who was about to shoot was instantly taken down by the old man’s hit, and after passing by several times, they reached this point.
“Here it lies.”
At first glance, the warehouse seemed odd. The entrance was made from iron, and the roof was a wall without any tiles.
In front of this odd warehouse, which looked like a lump at first glance, was intended to stop everyone from entering.
“Now, let’s go.”
The old man lightly hit the iron door.
Chung!
The thick iron door moved and opened at once.
“Hahaha…”
Chwi Gon was beyond just dumbfounded now; he could only laugh. It was one thing to break an iron door with your bare hands, but the thickness of the door was much greater than the man’s fist.
