Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 047

“Senior.”
“Junior, what’s the matter?”
Seo Seok-san wore the expression of a man whose entire world had collapsed, his family wiped out in a single blow.
“Could you lend me two silver coins, Senior?”
The moment he spoke the amount on the bill, shame came flooding back.
He had shared so much wisdom about women with Geom U-bin, the finest romantic scholar under heaven—and yet here he was, rejected by a mere courtesan.
“Senior, should I perhaps enter closed-door cultivation?”
The voice of Yeon Geum-hong, the person he least wanted to see right now, drifted over.
“Is there a closed-door cultivation for growing hair too?”
Yeon Geum-hong’s lips twitched as she whispered with barely suppressed amusement.
“Junior.”
He hadn’t known that being addressed by that honorific—from someone other than Geom U-bin—could cut so deep.
Just as Seo Seok-san was about to explode, Geom U-bin, reading the storm gathering on his face, hastily stepped in.
“I’m not sure what this is about, but let’s all calm down first. I’ll cover the bill.”
Geom U-bin examined the bill, then drew out some silver coins as he muttered to himself.
“Now two people are borrowing silver from me today.”
The words “two people” jolted Seo Seok-san back to his senses.
“Who else borrowed silver from you?”
“Master Yeon borrowed fifty coins.”
Seo Seok-san’s gaze shot toward Yeon Geum-hong like an arrow.
“You—why did you borrow money from Senior?”
“Whether I borrow money or swords from Senior is none of your concern.”
“What did you use that money for?”
“You don’t need to know. And ‘you’ to Senior? Have you forgotten our promise?”
The tenor of Seo Seok-san’s voice shifted ominously.
“Where did you spend the money?”
“I didn’t spend it. I borrowed it in case I might need it, but it turned out I didn’t.”
Yeon Geum-hong pulled a purse of silver coins from her robes and handed it to Geom U-bin.
“Senior, I’m returning it.”
“Ah, this is five coins short.”
Bewilderment flickered across Yeon Geum-hong’s face.
“That can’t be. I’m certain it was fifty coins.”
“Come now, how many coins do you think I’ve handled selling Saegiuju? I know the weight just by holding it in my palm. Shall we count them out?”
“Ah, that’s right. I think I did spend five coins earlier.”
Seo Seok-san pressed the question.
“Where did you spend those five coins?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“We may have done plenty of wicked things, but at least we don’t lie to each other—isn’t that so?”
Yeon Geum-hong folded her arms and turned her head away.
“Lie? Hardly. I just oiled the wager a bit.”
“You—you—you gave money to Chaemi!”
“Hah! The fact that he fell completely over five miserable coins shows how weak your charm actually was! Goodness, our Seok-san is finished now. Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
“You shameless old witch! That’s foul play!”
“Foul play? There was no clause forbidding bribery. If your charm had been worth more than five coins, I wouldn’t have needed to spend anything at all!”
Had Geom U-bin not stepped between them, the establishment would have been closed for months.
“Both of you, stop this. I have a rough idea what’s happened, so may I render a judgment?”
Whatever decision Geom U-bin made, it was something both could accept.
“Giving money to the courtesan was definitely foul play on Master Yeon’s part.”
Seo Seok-san threw both arms up.
“However.”
“Here it comes.”
Seo Seok-san’s arms sagged slowly back down.
“In any case, what were you supposed to do—how were you supposed to win against the courtesan?”
“Her skirts…!”
Yeon Geum-hong rushed forward and covered Seo Seok-san’s mouth. “Either way, we failed to do what needed doing.”
“Either way, we failed to do what needed doing.”
“Mm… So that’s the conclusion of the wager. You’re right—failure is failure. But the other party committed a foul, so this wager ends in a draw.”
Since Geom U-bin had acknowledged Yeon Geum-hong’s foul play, Seo Seok-san could have pressed further. But he accepted the ruling without protest, and Yeon Geum-hong said nothing more.
A double hour later, Seo Seok-san and Yeon Geum-hong sat facing each other by the lakeside, the night breeze washing over them.
“It really was only five taels?”
“Yes.”
“Chaemi abandoned me for a mere five taels?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’d prepared fifty taels just in case.”
Seo Seok-san had accepted Geom U-bin’s ruling so readily because of that pittance. Had he still been in his prime, even fifty taels—no, even five hundred—wouldn’t have shaken her resolve.
“Am I finished too?”
“In a few years, we’ll both be a hundred.”
“Soon I’ll have less hair on my head than years in my life.”
Yeon Geum-hong patted Seo Seok-san’s back gently.
A melancholy night.

***

A tense night.
Scaling another man’s wall always makes the palms sweat.
“Everyone ready?”
At Wang Bok-ju’s question, fifteen men—Bong Tae-man among them—nodded in unison.
They’d brought only the best fighters from the Heuksahoe, determined to ensure success beyond doubt.
According to their intelligence, Oseong Jang-won currently housed fifteen people. The workers at the Brewery might contribute what they could, but in an operation like this, more hands were always better than too few.
The moment Wang Bok-ju’s feet touched the ground on the far side of the wall, a bestial sound reached them from ahead.
Grrrrr…
Low and threatening, it came from a dog.
At first, he’d thought it a tiger wearing a dog’s shape. It was massive enough to be one.
His startled men faltered backward.
“Any man who shows fear to a mutt will have a separate word with me later.”
The men hurriedly drew their blades.
Clang! Clang!
Dogs the size of calves hurled themselves forward.
Though Wang Bok-ju had not trained in the martial arts like a Murim master, a Triad leader of his standing naturally commanded third-rate martial prowess.
“How dare this beast!”
He swung his blade at the dog.
But to his shock, the dog sidestepped the blade with uncanny grace. The moment its paws touched earth again, it lunged back at him.
“Argh!”
Hearing his men cry out, Wang Bok-ju threw a punch. The dog it caught tumbled across the ground, but got up an instant later as though nothing had happened.
His men were struggling against three dogs, their wild sword-swings even catching their own comrades.
“You bastards! Finish them!”
He was about to swing his blade again when—
Whistle!
At the sound of a sharp whistle, the fighting dogs broke off in unison and bolted toward a single point. Their tails wagged as they bounded toward the figures who had been making deliveries in rotation—wine couriers.
One of them let out a laugh that made no sense.
“Hehehehe… This is rich, hehehehe! This really is…”
The other two couriers joined in the laughter.
“Hahahaha! So that’s it. So that’s what it was. Now I understand why the masters were so delighted when we arrived.”
“It’s been how many years since I’ve felt this kind of edge?”
A sharp, piercing voice cut through the Gangseо Samak laughter.
“My! What’s this? The dog’s tail is severed!”
“W-what did you say?”
“Look at Boram-i’s tail!”
Gal Ma-pyeong, who tended to Boram-i among the Gangseо Samak, went deathly pale.
A quarter of the tail had been sliced clean off, blood dripping steadily, yet Boram-i seemed oblivious to pain and wagged the stump without ceasing.
“B-Boram-i! What happened to you?”
Of course Gal Ma-pyeong was worried. But his neck was in far greater peril than Boram-i’s wound.
If Jang Man-dok learned that Boram-i was hurt, he might reduce him to a pool of blood.
Gal Ma-pyeong rose slowly and turned to face the Heuksahoe men.
“You dare sever Boram-i’s tail? Every last one of you dies tonight.”
From this moment on, it’s not a game anymore. It’s revenge.

***

“Sixty taels? What were you thinking, writing down that amount?”
At Jeong Gi-mong’s question, Bae Chong-mun answered as though it were obvious.
“That’s the minimum needed to monopolize the Saegiuju.”
He’d wanted to ask for more, but sixty taels was already far above what Geom U-bin had expected.
So he asked.
“How much are you planning to sell the Saegiuju for?”
“At cost, exactly.”
“What?”
“I have no intention of profiting from the Saegiuju. It’s merely bait to attract customers.”
His business acumen was undeniably sharp, and Geom U-bin nodded in acknowledgment.
“Since your offer is more than double what anyone else has proposed, there’s no reason not to sell to you. I’ll hand over the hundred bottles of Saegiuju I’ve brought with me now. The next delivery will arrive in a month. It’ll be shipped through Seo-yang Pyoguk, so you can settle payment there as well.”
The other tavern owners could only watch as the contract unfolded at breakneck speed.
Once everything was finalized, Hang Ju-sa-ung came downstairs.
Despite Yeon Geum-hong’s comfort, Seo Seok-san’s spirits remained dampened.
As he was preparing to pay for lodging and leave the inn, the innkeeper handed him a letter.
“Miss Chaemi asked me to deliver this.”
“Chaemi?”
Seo Seok-san unfolded the letter.
It began with “To my dear friend.”
Half the letter consisted of praise for Seo Seok-san’s artistry, and the other half contained words of apology.

I am a woman who holds promises sacred, and because of my prior commitment, I have wronged you. Had I met you first, I would have firmly refused even five hundred taels, let alone five.

That passage moved him most.
The letter closed with a request that he visit Wuhan again, and a promise that next time she would receive him with all her heart.
As Seo Seok-san read the letter, his shoulders straightened and confidence flooded back into his face.
“You see?”
Yeon Geum-hong said nothing after reading the letter.
“I’m not finished yet. Ahahaha!”
Watching Seo Seok-san stride ahead with newfound confidence, Yeon Geum-hong quietly asked Geom U-bin.
“Did your senior ask you to do this?”
“Shh!”
Geom U-bin pressed a finger to his lips and spoke.
“It was just one silver coin. Now that our junior’s mood has improved, it was money well spent.”

***

“Ugh! Boram-i, stop wagging your tail!”
But wagging the tail was a dog’s instinct, and because of it, the fake tail they’d so carefully glued on kept falling off again.
If they could find the real one, they’d sew it on, but no matter how thoroughly they searched the area, they couldn’t locate Boram-i’s lost tail.
“The household manager and the masters will be back soon—what do we do?”
Go Seo-bang spoke to Gal Ma-pyeong, who looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
“We’ll have to find a stronger adhesive.”
The fake tail in Gal Ma-pyeong’s hand trembled with a long sigh.

***

Geom U-bin got off at the fork in the road.
“Since I’m back after so long, I’ll stop by Cheonha Jeil Gaekjan and Wol-ha Giroo. Oh, and I need to visit Seo-yang Pyoguk too. I have to arrange transport contracts for the Saegiuju heading to Wuhan.”
Now that they’d arrived in Hangju, nothing dangerous would befall Geom U-bin.
“I wonder if Hang Ju-sa-ung is doing well?”
Hyeolpung Saja deliberately stopped the carriage far away.
It seemed like it would be refreshing to tease Hang Ju-sa-ung again after so long.
Seo Seok-san quietly poked his face through the half-open gate. Hang Ju-sa-ung, unaware of their presence, was crouched down in a circle.
“You can’t attach it that way. That spot is a bit misaligned.”
“It has to go on before the glue sets.”
“Boram-i, hold still now. Yes, that’s right, good girl.”
Hyeolpung Saja bent low behind Hang Ju-sa-ung, peering down at the object drawing everyone’s attention.
Clang!
When Boram-i caught sight of Hyeolpung Saja and wagged her tail in delight, Gal Ma-pyeong winced.
“Boram-i, please, stay still. If anyone finds out your tail was cut off, I’m a dead man.”
“Boram-i’s tail was severed?”
“Why are you asking as if you don’t know?”
“Why wouldn’t I ask? How did that happen?”
Only then did Hang Ju-sa-ung realize the voice was coming from above his head.
Their gazes turned upward with caution.
Hyeolpung Saja, bent forward to look down at them, seemed like death itself made flesh.
“M-Master, when… when did you ar-arrive…?”
Gal Ma-pyeong stammered, his hands trembling visibly.
“Did you catch a chill?”
“I… that is…”
“If you caught one, you’re lucky. Jang Man-dok might take a look at you, though who knows.”
Jang Man-dok’s face, observed only by the movement of his eyes, was etched with wrinkles—his mood clearly fouled, though only Geom U-bin and Do Pyeong-su could gauge exactly how severe his displeasure ran.
“Will I… die, then?”
Do Pyeong-su glanced at Jang Man-dok’s face before answering.
“He’s still deciding—whether to kill you outright, use you as a test subject for poisons, or something else entirely. Seo Seok-san, I can’t even joke about it for fear you’ll have a heart attack. Don’t tell me you’re worth less than a dog’s tail?”
Gal Ma-pyeong pondered for a long while before he answered.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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