Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 19

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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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Returning to the Heavenly Demon defeated.
Geon Pyeong (4)
As we stepped outside, Geon Pyeong lit a cigarette and, through the white haze of smoke, called me to a halt.
“Geon Hyoo, you head back now. I have something to discuss with A Seong.”
“Ha ha ha. Older brothers, it’s been years since your youngest finished his training and returned — surely you’re not shutting him out like this? My feelings are hurt.”
“We have business. Go on.”
As Geon Pyeong’s tone turned oppressive, Geon Hyoo shrugged his shoulders.
“Yes, of course. I’m leaving. But isn’t the younger brother already heading that way?”
Geon Hyoo chuckled and vanished, and Geon Pyeong called out to me again.
I was already some distance away, walking in the opposite direction from Geon Hyoo.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going! I told you to wait a moment!!”
Geon Pyeong hurried after me, huffing, and cut off my path.
“Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”
“This is… really….”
I let out a soft laugh.
“What, you want to be dragged off and hung naked again?”
……
As Geon Pyeong’s body trembled at the memory of that time, he spoke to me as I turned to leave.
“Thank you. You’ve done me a favor.”
“Is that so? Then pay back the debt while you’re at it.”
“A debt?”
“You have a spy planted in my Golden Flower Bureau, don’t you?”
……
“The Deputy Administrator.”
“What are you talking about….”
“Drop the pretense. I’m cutting out the rot — whether you take him with you or not is your business. After that, everyone watching me in the Golden Flower Bureau will be transferred under your command with Mother’s permission, or they’ll be removed entirely.”
……
“If you keep avoiding this, I’ll turn my attention to Geon Hyoo instead. Remember that.”
Geon Pyeong could only stare at me as I walked away without further response.
“Bring yourself before the Ancestral Hall someday. With or without Mother’s permission, I’ll flay the skin from your bones and hang you from the eaves of the hall.”
“I can hear you. Mutter like you mean to be heard.”
In any case, an unnecessarily honest son.
*
*
*
Seven days later, Seol Ha returned, having completed the task I’d assigned her.
After that, Joo Cho Saeng appeared at my door with hollow eyes, carrying an Account Ledger.
“I’ve heard that abandoned fields and unsecured debts — various property records — are concentrating in the Golden Flower Bureau.”
“Word travels fast?”
“Yes, so everyone’s been working through the night. All fabric-related operations are being withdrawn from the Golden Flower Bureau and transferred to the Iron Border Bureau under the First Young Master. Didn’t you know?”
“I set only the broad direction — the details are their business. I don’t concern myself with trifles. I only hear the streamlined reports from the Deputy Administrator. In any case.”
I poured tea into a cup with my own hands. After Joo Cho Saeng took a sip of the steaming tea, he spoke.
“Thank you.”
“I’m doing this because I’m worried you might sulk otherwise.”
“I apologize for the small bowl.”
“Your words carry hidden thorns, I notice. But in any case — you didn’t come looking for me in the middle of the night without a reason.”
“I’ve completed the task you entrusted to me.”
“Already?”
“I felt that work beyond my control would soon pile up, so I decided to clear what I could manage first.”
“You must have found me troublesome.”
“May I speak frankly?”
“No, don’t. It’ll put me in a bad mood.”
“As you wish.”
I chuckled softly at Joo Cho Saeng’s disappointed expression and asked.
“What did you find?”
Joo Cho Saeng unfolded the Account Ledgers he’d brought.
“I’ve gone through all the ledgers and traced the path of the slush funds the Deputy Administrator had been siphoning off.”
“You found out how he took it, roughly how much, and where it is?”
“Yes. But the scale appears to be larger than expected.”
“How much larger?”
“Both the Golden Flower Bureau and the Iron Border Bureau are connected. It seems the Deputy Administrator of the Iron Border Bureau joined hands with someone and doctored the ledgers together.”
“How did you find that out?”
“Low-grade fabric was sold through the Iron Border Bureau for Gyeol-un Fabric production, but the price fluctuations were far too erratic. So I looked into the Iron Border Bureau’s ledgers.”
“How did you get access to the Iron Border Bureau’s ledgers?”
“I infiltrated secretly.”
“What if you’d been caught?”
“You’d have rescued me, wouldn’t you?”
“…….”
A man without a plan, this one.
“So what did you find when you checked?”
“Whenever the price fluctuations spiked, the Iron Border Bureau’s records showed they’d purchased low-grade fabric at inflated prices—all documented plainly.”
“Then they bought it at market rates, didn’t they? The price of fabric for Gyeol-un Fabric does fluctuate depending on demand.”
“The problem is the profit margin. These aren’t real market prices—they’re fabricated ledger entries. The Iron Border Bureau took a much heavier loss when purchasing the fabric.”
“You’re saying they exploited the fact that the two bureaus don’t communicate and have no reason to cross-reference their ledgers.”
“Precisely. Moreover, as you mentioned, the First Young Master doesn’t trust the Golden Flower Bureau’s Deputy Administrator. Even if he frequently traveled between the Iron Border Bureau, it would have raised no suspicion.”
“The records on his end are probably held by the Golden Flower Bureau’s Deputy Administrator. The real question is where they funneled the remaining profit margins so they wouldn’t be discovered.”
As one thought led to the next, the answer became obvious.
“They moved the money through the underground gambling houses.”
“I thought the same. So I surveilled the personnel and carriages moving between the five gambling houses under your command for several days, watching for anything suspicious.”
“A mere clerk does work like that?”
“You ordered me to.”
“…….”
Truth be told, I’d never given him such an order. One wrong move and Joo Cho Saeng, a man with barely a shred of martial arts skill, could have been killed.
I understood it now with fresh certainty.
This wasn’t loyalty to me, after all.
“That orphanage means something truly precious to you, doesn’t it? A place worth staking your one and only life on.”
Joo Cho Saeng, who had been silent for a long moment, nodded slowly.
“Yes. It’s the place that raised me. And it’s the place I must protect going forward.”
“Then protect it. I understand—I have something I want to protect too. If you ever need help, tell me anytime. That’s why I keep you on my payroll and in my service.”
Joo Cho Saeng regarded me with an odd expression.
“I’ve wondered about this constantly. Why do you value me so highly? What’s the reason…?”
“I hear from others that you work straight through the nights as routine. That guilt complex of yours—it’s not about having embezzled funds, is it? You work beyond your wages so you can ease that guilt over siphoning money for the orphanage.”
“…….”
“It could be called self-justification, I suppose, but you didn’t have to do it. Yet you did.”
“There was no particular intention behind it….”
“No. I saw it differently. You give what you receive. I call that by another name.”
I poured more tea into Joo Cho Saeng’s empty cup.
“Trust and Righteousness.”
“…….”
“If my eye is wrong, then that’s the limit of my judgment. Otherwise, a man of real Trust and Righteousness has entered my service.”
A moment of silence hung between us.
I changed the subject.
“So you did find these suspicious individuals?”
“Yes, I found them. At regular intervals, cargo carriages made their rounds through all five gambling houses, hauling stacks of silver taels. They headed toward the Northern Gate, exiting outward. I’ve recorded all of this here. It should be useful for reference.”
“That’s strange indeed.”
“Beyond the gate, I feared my surveillance would be detected, so I stopped the pursuit. The crowds that had been concealing my presence began to thin.”
“You did well. It’s better to know your limits and preserve your life than to overestimate your abilities. Take this.”
I handed him a pouch of silver taels that I’d prepared beforehand in the room.
It was thick and heavy.
“Around five hundred taels of silver.”
“What??”
Even with all his embezzlement, he’d never held such a large sum in his hands.
Joo Cho Saeng’s shock was only natural.
“Use it for the orphanage. The price of risking your life deserves to be paid. Whether you relocate the orphanage to safer grounds or provide years’ worth of support—that’s yours to decide. For now, you won’t have to worry about funds.”
Then Joo Cho Saeng looked at me with fear in his eyes.
“I didn’t expect you to move me emotionally, but what’s with that terrified gaze?”
“How much work are you planning to give me…?”
Laughter burst from me at this unexpected remark.
“I’ll keep giving you work until you beg me to kill you.”
“…….”
“It’s the truth.”
Joo Cho Saeng’s face darkened sharply.
“Go now. I’ll track where that carriage heads.”
Just before Joo Cho Saeng nodded and rose from his seat, he called to me with a serious gaze.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“I repay what I receive in full measure.”
“I know. And?”
“From now on, I am prepared to stake my life for you. I wanted you to know that beforehand.”
“I handle all the dangerous work myself. When would you ever need to risk your life? Just do as I tell you.”
At my rebuke, Joo Cho Saeng left the room with slumped shoulders.
Soon after he departed, Seol Ha entered.
“The secretary looked positively ashen as he left. What happened?”
“He doesn’t like hearing there’s more work piling up.”
Seol Ha smiled faintly, then tilted her head as she watched me rise from my seat.
“But where are you going? It’s already quite late.”
As Seol Ha said, the sunset had already passed, and the world outside was deepening into dusk.
“I have somewhere to be. Prepare a carriage for me.”
I moved to dress myself in a striking, ornate robe.
“I’m planning to visit the Gambling House. It’s been a while since I rolled the dice.”
At my meaningful smile, Seol Ha’s eyes widened in surprise.
*
*
*
“The eldest master apparently went to his regular establishment at the Giru House and held a drinking session. There seem to be no immediate movements.”
Geon Hyoo, seated in an upscale Tea House, nodded with a mysterious smile.
“Understood. You may withdraw.”
“Yes, sir.”
Reporting to Geon Hyoo and withdrawing was none other than Jo Wee, the Deputy Administrator of the Iron Border Bureau.
The other person remaining in the room was Jun Pyo, the Deputy Administrator of the Golden Flower Bureau.
Geon Hyoo gestured dismissively toward Jun Pyo, who knelt rigidly with anxious eyes.
“Haha. Please, sit comfortably. It’s been so long, and you’re far too stiff.”
“How could I presume….”
“I hear the second brother has been acting rather strange lately. What’s he doing now?”
“Before I came here, I learned he was heading to the Gambling House as usual. It seems his gambling addiction has flared up again.”
“Is that so? While I was away, was there nothing remarkable? I’m told the Jegal Clan met with the young lady, and that the eldest brother even grew strong enough to be a worthy opponent. And his trip to Nan Province doesn’t seem to have been merely a casual visit either.”
“The matter is that he has been saying nothing to me of late….”
“He was never indifferent to you from the beginning, was he?”
……
“With a generous monthly stipend and a prominent position within the bureau, maintaining your family presents no difficulty. It seems you’ve grown rather comfortable these past years.”
At the subtle killing intent behind Geon Hyoo’s gentle smile, Jun Pyo pressed himself lower still.
“That could never be… If you grant me but a little time, I shall report to you precisely where the second master goes and what plans he devises.”
“Your daughter is well, I trust? I hear preparations for her marriage are underway. In the meantime, you’ll want to remain at your post without incident. It would be unfortunate if something sudden were to befall you, wouldn’t it?”
……
“The eldest brother shows little concern for those close to him. He doesn’t even know whether his administrator’s child is a son or a daughter. But I am not that way.”
Geon Hyoo spoke softly, almost in a whisper, yet beneath the gentle tone and mild gaze lay steel in every word.
“I know where your administrator’s family lives, what thoughts he harbors.”
Jun Pyo trembled with terror.
“You mustn’t think only you are involved in this matter. Think instead that my family’s life and death hang in the balance—then run with your feet in earnest. With the resolve of a desperate struggle for survival! Isn’t that right? That, after all, is the duty of you subordinates, unlike myself, who was born to privilege.”
“I… I swear to devote myself entirely, to exhaust every ounce of strength.”
“Good. It would be wise to watch the second brother more closely than the eldest from now on. Much has changed since he left the family.”
“Yes….”
“Now go. You must be busy.”
Jun Pyo forced strength into his weakened legs and rose, then hurriedly fled the room.
Watching his retreating figure in silence, Geon Hyoo’s expression shifted, his eyes now gleaming with contempt as he muttered.
“Subordinates, all the same.”
Crack—
Geon Hyoo crushed the teacup in his grip, his mind drifting back to what had transpired during that meal.
“So now the little brother thinks he can bare his fangs at me too? Very well. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

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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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