Seo Daeryong came out following me, holding the dead crow with an expression that said he had no idea what was going on.
“Hang it over there.”
At Seo Daeryong’s eyes asking if I was serious, I spoke firmly.
“Hang it right in the middle where it’s clearly visible.”
I had Seo Daeryong hang the dead crow in the middle of the corridor that the members of the Demon Army used the most.
Hearing the news, the Demon Army members flocked in. Some wore expressions of interest, but most frowned and spewed curses.
“Damn it! What the hell is that?”
“Why the hell are you causing a scene by hanging an unlucky dead crow?”
“Does being an inspector mean you’re something special?”
“Those unlucky bastards from Hwangcheongak.”
“Ptooey. No wonder I had a foul dream today.”
“Isn’t that the perfect spot to hang a corpse torn to pieces?”
They were wearing martial uniforms with numbers symbolizing their respective divisions on their chests. Because of that, I could tell. The members of the First Division, whom I had nearly clashed with at the entrance earlier, were the ones cursing the most.
Of course, they didn’t mention me outright, but insulting Hwangcheongak was essentially the same as insulting me.
When the atmosphere had grown extremely hostile, one person could not stand it and stepped forward.
“Isn’t this going too far?”
His voice rang through the corridor, reverberating loudly.
“Who just spoke? It’s hard to tell when you’re all equally ugly.”
While everyone furrowed their brows, one man stepped to the front.
“I am Jang Ho, Third Great Chief of the Demon Army.”
Jang Ho was the largest among the Demon Army members. His muscles seemed ready to burst his uniform, and a long sword scar running across his face sent chills down anyone’s spine.
Seo Daeryong’s voice transmission flew in quickly.
—Third Great Chief Jang Ho is known to be the strongest in martial arts among the Great Chiefs. His temperament is no ordinary one either.
Indeed, the presence Jang Ho exuded was overwhelming among those gathered there.
“What dissatisfaction does Chief Jang have?”
“Must I spell it out? What do you mean by hanging such an ominous thing in a passageway used by people?”
“Isn’t it better than leaving it on someone’s bed?”
“Rather than ruining innocent people’s moods, catch the one who did this and punish him.”
I stared at Jang Ho quietly. He showed a will to not back down even an inch. The powerful demonic energy he emitted pressed down on me and Seo Daeryong. For a moment, my breath felt completely cut off—indeed, he was worthy of the evaluation as the strongest among the Demon Great Chiefs.
“You have a point. Inspector Seo, take that down.”
“Yes.”
Seo Daeryong took down the crow he had hung. The Demon Army members watching openly sneered.
“So scared.”
“Anyway, they only listen after taking a beating.”
“How dare they act up without knowing their place.”
Leaving behind those openly cursing and mocking, I returned to the room.
As soon as we entered the room, Seo Daeryong asked.
“Why on earth did you make me hang the crow corpse? If you were going to take it down this easily.”
Perhaps his pride was wounded; his face was flushed red.
“To find out who sent the anonymous letter.”
With a bewildered expression, he asked.
“Did you find out?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Perhaps it was an unexpected answer, for Seo Daeryong’s eyes went wide.
“How?”
I looked at the crow and said.
“Thanks to these fellows. So go out and bury it properly.”
* * *
From the next day, the full-scale investigation began.
I gathered the Demon Army’s Third Division in one place. Since Jang Ho, the Great Chief of the Third Division, had stepped forward during yesterday’s crow incident, his dissatisfaction was only natural.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“What do you mean? Didn’t you hear the news that I came to investigate?”
“Then why investigate our Third Division first instead of the First Division?”
“That’s up to me.”
“Are you not harboring a grudge over yesterday’s matter?”
“What happened yesterday?”
Jang Ho bit his lip tightly and glared at me.
“You will all need to submit every record. I will investigate everything from recent movements to financial records.”
At that, the Third Division Demon Army members began to murmur. Even an ordinary person has a handful of dust if you comb through them intentionally; these are the Demon Army. If I may add a joke, the most upstanding person here would probably be something like a local gang boss from some village.
Jang Ho shouted in a burst of anger.
“No matter who you are, you cannot do that.”
“I can.”
*Boom!*
Jang Ho smashed the desk placed in front of me.
“Look, you are free to get emotional, but don’t forget that the crime of rebellion is a grave one.”
At the word “rebellion,” several Third Division martial artists rushed to restrain Jang Ho.
“Please endure, Chief.”
“He is not someone to reason with amicably.”
I provoked Jang Ho even more.
“I’ll start the investigation with you, the Chief.”
“Fine! Let us settle this! All of you, get out!”
Demonic energy swirled around Jang Ho.
Then his subordinates calmed him down.
“Chief! You must not get agitated.”
“Don’t worry and get out.”
“Yes.”
The subordinates shot me frightening glares and soon went outside. I could feel that they truly followed him from the heart.
Once all the subordinates had left, Jang Ho spoke coldly.
“You will regret treating me this way.”
The scar running across his face twisted even more grotesquely.
I quietly gazed at Jang Ho, then lowered my voice and asked softly.
“How long do you plan to test me?”
For a moment, Jang Ho flinched in surprise.
“What are you talking about?”
“You sent the anonymous letter, didn’t you?”
For an instant, Jang Ho’s pupils shook.
“What are you saying?”
But he was a man with no talent for lying. As his voice trembled following his shaking pupils, before long Jang Ho honestly admitted the truth.
“How did you know?”
When he, who had been excited, spoke softly, it was as if he had become a different person.
“Yesterday, you stepped forward in a situation where you didn’t necessarily have to. Wasn’t that to avoid the Demon Army Lord’s suspicion?”
“That is correct.”
“Also, your Third Division martial artists had the strictest discipline. When the crow was hung, only your subordinates neither cursed nor mocked. And earlier, the way they stepped forward worried about you—seeing one thing lets you know ten. If you’re the kind of person who runs an organization this way, you couldn’t have simply overlooked the corruption within the organization.”
Actually, it wasn’t because of that that I had guessed correctly.
What made me realize Jang Ho was the one who sent the letter was, when he first appeared, thanks to the voice transmission Seo Daeryong sent me.
—Third Great Chief Jang Ho is known to be the strongest in martial arts among the Great Chiefs. His temperament is no ordinary one either.
The moment I heard that voice transmission, I remembered an event from before my regression.
There had been an incident around this time where a Demon Army Great Chief died. The reason I remembered it particularly well was because I had heard that the deceased chief was the strongest among the Demon Army Great Chiefs. Why did someone with such strong martial arts die? I recalled having that question.
I was certain that the deceased had been Jang Ho. There was no doubt that after submitting the anonymous tip and trying to resolve the Demon Army’s problems, he had ultimately died at someone’s hands within the Demon Army.
As expected, the one who sent the anonymous letter was Jang Ho.
“I didn’t know if the anonymous letter would work properly, so I couldn’t write the details.”
He had suspected that Hwangcheongak might also be under the influence of Hyeolcheon Doma.
“But I never imagined that the young master would personally come to investigate.”
“How did you feel when you heard I was coming?”
“Forgive my rudeness, but I thought we were finished.”
I looked back at Seo Daeryong and said.
“Is honesty trending among young people these days?”
“But young master, you are younger than us.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
After grinning, I asked Jang Ho.
“What on earth is happening here?”
“The Demon Army Lord is using the Demon Army for personal gain.”
“How so?”
The inside story Jang Ho told me was far more serious than I had thought.
“He is accepting money and deploying his subordinates for assassination contracts.”
“What?”
Even I, who rarely surprised at most things, was startled. I had thought perhaps he was just taking bribes from some regional martial arts faction. But something absolutely impossible was happening.
When experts of the Demon Army’s caliber moved, would they do so for mere pennies? They must be earning enormous sums of money.
Seo Daeryong asked in surprise.
“How is that possible?”
“They use leave and sometimes send them under the pretext of special training.”
“Even so, I don’t understand.”
Unlike Seo Daeryong, I noticed one case in which that was possible.
“The entire First Division is involved.”
“How did you know?”
Jang Ho was startled that I got it right at once.
“They were the ones who blocked us first. They were also the ones who cursed the most upon seeing the crow corpse. When something happens, they move together like a well-oiled machine. Didn’t I say so earlier? See one and know ten. You can tell just by looking at the First Great Chief. Anyway, how did you learn of this?”
“During the previous investigation, the martial artist who killed the inspector and then committed suicide was my friend. He was also the one who sent the anonymous letter.”
“It wasn’t suicide; he was forced to kill himself.”
“That’s right. A few days before he died, that friend informed me that he had sent the anonymous letter.”
In my life before the regression, I had not known of this incident. There had only been Jang Ho’s death. This meant that this incident too had failed to be brought to light and was buried.
“How close a friend was he?”
“We joined the cult at the same time. He was like family.”
“Why didn’t you reveal it then?”
“At the time, after those bastards killed my friend and the inspector, they monitored the interior so strictly it was terrifying. To the point one couldn’t even breathe properly.”
“Who killed him?”
“I believe the Demon Army Lord ordered it, and the First Great Chief, Godang, moved directly.”
If Jang Ho’s words were true, this case was a mega-scale corruption incident involving the Demon Army Lord and the entire First Division of the Demon Army. Added to that was the murder of an inspector. Truly, it was the largest-scale crime in the history of the main cult.
Could it be that my father or Sama Myeong didn’t know?
They must have noticed to some degree. That’s why they sent me.
Indeed, they sent me to test whether I could handle this matter by going head-to-head with the Demon Army Lord. Even though the opponent is the Demon Army Lord so I might die… come to think of it, that’s too much.
Father, they say that a fierce beast drops its cub off a cliff to raise it strong, but that’s not true. When the cub falls, it runs down with its fast legs and carries it back up!
I looked at Jang Ho and said.
“You kept a good friend.”
“He was a good friend. If I had been a good friend, I would have stepped forward when he died.”
“Then he would have been a foolish friend.”
Not everyone in the Demon Army was trash.
Seo Daeryong, who had been watching, also seemed to be choked with emotion. The inspector who died in the previous investigation had been a senior he respected.
Both of them were suffering the pain of shared grief from losing someone close due to that incident.
Watching these two, I felt there was hope for the ‘lost demonic path.’ The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult I wanted was a place where people like these held key positions.
“Thank you for mustering your courage.”
“Seeing that you identified me at once, I decided to trust this young master.”
“That was a good choice. By the way, would there be any problem if I combed through your financial records?”
“None. Even if you shake them out thoroughly, not a speck of dust will come out.”
“Everyone has dust. Something you don’t consider dust can be made into dust. But don’t worry. I won’t dig that deep.”
I opened the door and went out. The Third Division subordinates were waiting in the distance.
“Chief Jang has agreed to submit all records in your stead. So all of you may return.”
Jang Ho shouted in a burst of anger, playing along with my act.
“We’ll see! If I am not guilty, I will not let this stand!”
Gratitude was contained in his eyes. By saying he would undergo investigation in place of his subordinates, I had made the subordinates trust him even more. The Jang Ho from before the regression had died, but the Jang Ho of now would not die.
Saving people who shouldn’t die—that was the purpose of my regression.
As the door closed, Seo Daeryong spoke to me.
“This young master seems very different from what I heard in the rumors.”
“What do the rumors say?”
“Just…”
“Just be honest. You’re relaying rumors, aren’t you? Not your own thoughts.”
“They say you don’t fit in with the Heavenly Demon. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Perhaps that’s a compliment?”
“What?”
“Fitting in with the Heavenly Demon—is that a compliment? I don’t think so. I believe ruling the main cult through a reign of terror is an outdated notion. Now, shouldn’t the main cult change as well?”
When I spoke of change, a strange light flashed through Seo Daeryong’s eyes. But soon, he spoke in a somewhat gloomy tone.
“Change is not as easy as it sounds.”
“That’s true. It isn’t easy.”
“If you become the Heavenly Demon, will you strive to change the Cult?”
Of course.
If it doesn’t change, all that awaits my family is extermination, and all that awaits the Cult is the sealing of its gates.
But instead of voicing those thoughts, I said something else.
“To be honest, rather than becoming the Heavenly Demon, I’d rather wander the Central Plains and enjoy myself.”
In truth, I meant that to some degree as well. Once I killed Hwa Mugi, I intended to roam the Central Plains and have my fill of leisure.
“Everyone else would sell even their souls to become the Heavenly Demon……”
“You mean, what kind of spoiled nonsense is that?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“That’s because you’re the power-seeking type.”
“Me?”
He opened his eyes wide as if wronged, and I suddenly asked him,
“Are you happy when you help someone?”
“……No.”
“Are you happy when you get promoted?”
“……Yes.”
Seo Daeryong soon let out a sigh and mocked himself.
“Ah, so I was the power-seeking type?”
“Everyone has different conditions for happiness. For some, it’s money. For others, power. For some, it’s living quietly. And for others, it’s chivalrous righteousness.”
“Is it possible to be happy from practicing chivalrous righteousness?”
“Does it seem hypocritical?”
“Yes.”
In my past life, I had encountered such a person. Someone so selfish that he wore the mask of chivalrous righteousness to hide it. Someone who, in the end, even deceived himself. He was not good, yet to the very end he believed he was walking the path of righteousness.
Whenever I saw someone like that, I found them more uncomfortable than those who openly revealed their ambition. But that did not mean I intended to condemn him. That, too, was simply one way of living.
“In this murim, there are many who truly live by chivalrous righteousness. There are people far too great for you or me to measure with hearts the size of soy sauce dishes.”
After staring at me for a moment, he sighed.
“I’m the power-seeking type…… so I don’t really understand.”
I chuckled as I looked at Seo Daeryong. I don’t know how he would appear to those his own age, but at least to me, this side of him looked endearing.
“Enough of that ill-fitting self-reflection. Go and dig up the records on Jang Ho. As I said earlier, dig just enough. And bring more investigators from Hwangcheongak. From now on, we’re going to create the atmosphere that a full-scale investigation has begun.”
“Understood.”
I stood by the window and looked outside. Just then, in the building across from us, the Demon Army Lord was standing by the window, looking this way. Our eyes met, but I pretended not to notice.
Because what I was looking at was not that insignificant man, but the Heavenly Demon Hall visible far beyond him.