The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 63 : Sweeping the Net (1)

"The commission failed?"

Duan Sijin slammed his fist on the table.

The teacup shattered with a 'clang', and his subordinates' shoulders flinched.

But the man in black, who was reporting to Duan Sijin nonchalantly, showed no signs of being intimidated.

"That's right. The assassins were annihilated, and the inspector returned alive. The assassination den declares the commission a failure and will return all the commission fees received."

"They won't accept the commission again, will they?"

"Of course not. That is the law of this assassination den."

"Tsk."

Duan Sijin clicked his tongue and stared at Yelu Ze. It was a look of reproach, as if he should have insisted and spent more money. But Yelu Ze, on the contrary, stared back at Duan Sijin with force in his eyes.

"Let's think positively. We haven't lost anything yet, have we?"

That was true. If one were to ask who had lost in this incident, it was definitely not Duan Sijin and Yelu Ze.

The one who had lost the most was the assassination den, which had lost dozens of assassins without getting a single penny of the commission fee. The next biggest loser was the Jangseong Escort Agency, which had lost several innocent escorts and an escort leader, and even its building.

If losing a few spies that Yelu Ze had planted in the Jangseong Escort Agency was a loss, it could be a loss, but it was by no means comparable to the losses of those two. His heart was relatively light.

"Since we spent a moderate amount of money, we won't be tracked either. So there's no need to worry."

He had commissioned them using hidden assets because he had thought it would be like this. It was the habit of a wise strategist to always dig an escape route.

As Yelu Ze gave a faint smile, the man in black from the assassination den withdrew without any expression. This time, Duan Sijin muttered, looking at the back of the man in black's head.

"If you're talking about tracking, isn't there a possibility that the assassination den will sell us out? They didn't even get any money, so they might even hold a grudge against us."

"Don't worry about that. They are professionals. They are those who make a living by killing. The trust they have built up for half a century is too expensive to trade for a mere one thousand one hundred taels."

"I see. But I wonder if we really won't be tracked just because we used hidden assets."

"It's impossible. Impossible. Why do you think hidden assets are called hidden assets? They're called hidden assets because they're impossible to track."

For the transaction with the assassination den, they had used silver ore and compressed tea. Compressed tea refers to tea in the form of a compressed board, and this time they had used what they had set aside for decades for the reason of trading with the Western Regions.

Since both were items not recorded in any ledger, no evidence would be left even if they disappeared.

"So don't worry. This Yelu Ze, even if I try to track it myself, there is no way to track it."

"I see. I will trust only your words."

But a few days later.

The Jiaolong Unit of the Martial Alliance, which had succeeded in tracking, raided the Dali Ye Clan.

* * *

The day after the assassination den's attack.

Jang So-gil returned to Mount Diancang with a new task: the dissolution of the Jangseong Escort Agency and its incorporation into the Martial Alliance. The anger and sorrow of the scholars had grown several times over, and in the midst of it, Sima Hui asked.

"You've blocked the assassination den's attack well. So what are you going to do from now on?"

"They tried to kill me, so I have to hold them responsible and screw over the Dali Ye Clan."

"There's no evidence. Don't tell me you're thinking of dragging in the government again?"

Jang So-gil laughed. The way he laughed and shook the horse-ear brush he had taken from Sima Hui was so annoying. Sima Hui, with his eyes blazing, asked back.

"I asked if you're thinking of dragging in the government."

"The situation is not bad, is it?"

The remnants of the Yuan were the mortal enemies of the Ming Dynasty. The current emperor had a strange illness where he would have a fit just by seeing the character 'Yuan'. Because of that, he would order northern expeditions, southern expeditions, send spies, and send troops every time. The military funds wasted because of that amounted to a staggering five hundred thousand silver taels a year. That's how pathological the emperor's hatred for the Yuan was.

"If I just say one word, the Eastern Depot will move. And in a week, the army will move."

"That's right."

"The basic punishment for treason is death by a thousand cuts, so if I leave it to them, they'll take care of it very well."

To be able to cleanly root out the Dali Ye Clan and the remnants of the Yuan with just a three-inch tongue without lifting a finger, it could be said to be the best in terms of labor-to-efficiency ratio. But Jang So-gil immediately shook his head.

"I didn't use that method."

"Ho, why?"

"Aren't the government and the martial world inviolable?"

"That's true, but I didn't know you cared about such things. Now you're a little like an inspector of the Martial Alliance..."

"Of course, I don't give a shit."

"..."

The government and the martial world are inviolable. He knew well that it was the Martial Alliance that had created that rule and had to protect it.

But it was none of Jang So-gil's business. The man named Jang So-gil was someone who would even drag in the government if necessary.

"But right now, it doesn't make sense to drag in the government and make them do the work."

"It doesn't make sense?"

"The remnants of the Yuan and the Dali Ye Clan are too cheap a price to pay for breaking the common sense that the government and the martial world are inviolable. Unlike when I was a commoner in the past, I am now a Martial Alliance inspector. If I drag in the government now, the relationship between the government and the martial world will be readjusted in the future, and common sense will change. Do I use a means that can only be used once here? Not a chance. I won't even touch it unless the stakes are more than ten times higher."

Goosebumps rose on Sima Hui's back. Those words were like a declaration of war, saying that he would drag in the government if a very big incident occurred someday.

If such a thing were to happen, the government and the martial world would not have the same relationship as they do now. It was a matter that could change the world.

"You're saying dangerous things."

"Anyway, I understand your concern, Brother Hui. You're saying there's no evidence, right?"

"That's right. No matter how much we are the Martial Alliance, we cannot attack the Dali Ye Clan with only circumstantial evidence and no clear proof."

"Then we just have to find the evidence, don't we?"

"It's obvious they used hidden assets, so what evidence would be left? A raid? A full investigation? It's all useless."

"That's true, but what if there is clear evidence?"

Jang So-gil chuckled. And he twirled the horse-ear brush in his hand.

He pointed to the inside of the tent, then to Yang Gwan, then to Sima Hui.

"Isn't someone missing?"

"The escort warriors and the young palace lord of the Beast Palace are not in sight. Where did you send them?"

"I sent them to the assassination den."

"...What?"

"In the end, no matter how much they bullshit about slush funds or hidden assets, the fact that they are physical assets doesn't change. And an assassination den is a professional organization that only works after receiving a down payment. It's not a place where you can pay with nothing, with just your mouth, or with a promissory note."

"Well, that's true. So?"

"So the cargo that departed from the Dali Ye Clan is bound to arrive at the assassination den. But if the killing fails, the assassination den returns the commission fee, right? The goods that came will go back to the Dali Ye Clan. Ye-er has confirmed that whole process with her own eyes."

"Isn't that too weak to be used as evidence?"

"That's right. So I planted the Martial Alliance's special-class warriors among the guys who handle the cargo. It wasn't very difficult. The Dali Ye Clan and the remnants of the Yuan guys were so wary of each other because they had their own power struggles. It was a piece of cake to squeeze in between them and plant a spy. So what I'm saying is that among the people who delivered the commission fee to the assassination den, there was a person I had planted."

"What!?"

"It was the same on the way back. I saw all the commission fees coming and going. I also obtained the ledger that recorded it. Is there any more certain evidence than this?"

Jang So-gil chuckled once more.

"It seems that using spies is their specialty, but they probably didn't think they would be hit by a spy themselves."

"No, that's easy to say, but how..."

"No matter how meticulously those guys hide their hidden assets, in the end, as long as it's in Yunnan, it's bound to be tea and silver ore. If you think about it a little more, to ensure safety, they would have used low-purity silver ore that was discarded. And for the tea, they would have paid with the compressed tea that was set aside little by little, which had fallen out of fashion after matcha came out and was only sold to the Western Regions."

As if he was seeing it right in front of him, Jang So-gil continued to speak about something he hadn't seen. It felt like watching a magic trick, but it wasn't difficult to understand when he explained it calmly.

"Based on the transaction volume of Yunnan over the past twenty years, the limit of what they could give as payment in tea and silver ore would have been roughly between eight hundred and one thousand two hundred silver taels."

If Yelu Ze had been here, if Duan Sijin had been here, their eyes would have shot open in astonishment.

He had grasped their budget with surprising accuracy.

"Both have the common problem of taking up a lot of volume. I singled out the escort agencies and merchant guilds that specialize in the delivery of silver ore and tea and planted spies there in advance. The special-class warriors alone were not enough, so I hired quite a few ronin."

"When on earth did you carry out such an operation?"

"I did it as soon as I came here, so it's been quite a while."

"You predicted this phase? As soon as you were appointed to Yunnan?"

"If you think about it carefully, isn't it obvious?"

It was by no means an obvious thing. But listening to it explained step by step, it wasn't a strategy that seemed to have the power to predict the future, like something a celestial being or a monster would use. That's why it was all the more surprising.

Sima Hui felt like he was finally beginning to understand Jang So-gil's secret method.

"I see. So what you do is ultimately all a matter of time."

"Huh? You figured it out in one go."

Jang So-gil's prediction was very rational. Except for the fact that the accuracy of his deductions from the opponent's point of view was quite high, it wasn't such a world-shaking and miraculous strategy.

If asked to make a prediction, Sima Hui could probably do it too. He might even be able to grasp it more precisely.

So Jang So-gil's truly terrifying talents were his judgment and execution.

The matter of coming up with a question that suddenly occurred to him and a solution to that question. The matter of preparing a response to the problem he had come up with.

The time in between was overwhelmingly fast.

‘Is it okay to do this? Should I do it? There’s no hesitation—no inner conflict at all.’

While other people were meticulously reviewing and revising their plans by changing their thoughts several times, Jang So-gil just did it. Even if it was something that an ordinary person had decided they must do, there were many cases where they didn't execute it. But Jang So-gil, on the contrary, would quickly respond and execute even ambiguous matters where he would wonder, 'Do I really have to do this?', and handle it.

His trust in himself was astonishingly high.

Even if the prepared work might be a useless waste. Even if it seemed excessive, even if it might not be necessary, he didn't care.

All of that became a weapon.

"Each one is a deduction of ordinary thought, and a response, but. If you repeat that countless times, our response will be finished before the opponent can even react."

"That's correct. You get it in a flash."

Just as a single drop of water gathers to form a river, it was the magic of a merchant who bought a lot of time by gathering many short moments. Jang So-gil had the ability to make the board his own through that quick execution and judgment. Sima Hui, finally realizing his essence, shuddered.

It was the art of a madman who had gathered the ordinary to create the extraordinary, and gathered the extraordinary to create madness.

This was something Sima Hui could never imitate, and no one in the world could either.

"So the evidence is certain, is that it?"

"The confirmation of the commission fee going to the assassination den, the acquisition of the ledger. The confirmation of the cargo returning due to the failure of the assassination. I've also obtained the ledger for that, so isn't it over? Just by submitting it, it's a lump of justification that can make the Martial Alliance move right away."

"I see it that way too. Then are you going to execute it right away? No, what's the point of asking?"

That fellow would have already handled it and more.

Sima Hui's judgment was not wrong.

Ye-er was already running towards Luoyang with the evidence and report of all this.

A few days later, news came that the Martial Alliance was heading to the Dali Ye Clan.

(End of Chapter)