CLS-Chapter 70

Chapter 70

“Still, you’re supposed to be a Censorate inspector! An inspector!”

“Inspector?”

Jwageol tilted his head.

Jin So-ah shouted with great vigor.

“That’s right! That gentleman over there is an inspector! He saw your wicked deeds with his own two eyes, so he definitely won’t stand by and watch!”

Jwageol’s face became serious.

If that inspector really meant the Imperial Censorate, this was no ordinary matter. If he was a real inspector, he had the power to instantly erase something like the Black Branch Gambling House from the world.

But!

‘An inspector?’

That guy?

Jwageol looked at Wei Yan-ho with a dubious expression.

Even if he conceded a hundred times that the man could be a martial expert—since he’d seen it with his own eyes, he had no choice but to believe it—he could somehow accept that much.

But an inspector?

Being an inspector wasn’t something just anyone could do.

The Censorate was a place only the most outstanding among those who had passed the incredibly difficult imperial examinations could enter.

But that guy with a face completely devoid of any intelligence was an inspector?

Jwageol glared at Jin So-ah with half suspicion and half doubt.

Realizing what Jwageol’s gaze meant, Jin So-ah shook his head vigorously.

“I-I’m not lying!”

“Even so, this is a bit…”

“You can just ask him directly!”

“Hmmmm…”

Jwageol still looked at Wei Yan-ho with a sullen expression.

“Is it true?”

“What?”

“Are you an inspector?”

“Me?”

Wei Yan-ho laughed with a bewildered expression.

“No, I’m not.”

“…”

When Jwageol turned back with an ‘I told you so’ look, Jin So-ah stammered and shouted.

“N-no! I definitely heard it with my own ears! He said he was an inspector!”

When Jwageol’s gaze returned to Wei Yan-ho, Wei Yan-ho answered calmly again.

“No, I’m not.”

“He says he’s not…”

“Oh my goodness, this is driving me crazy! Why are you lying! I definitely heard it!”

Wei Yan-ho yawned lazily and continued.

“Come on, does it make sense for someone my age to be an inspector?”

“You’re right, isn’t it?”

“The kid must have been dreaming. Please understand with a generous heart.”

“Haha, you’re truly wise.”

Watching Wei Yan-ho, who had instantly started getting along with Jwageol, Jin So-ah beat his chest.

How did such a person end up rolling into his house and creating this disaster?

“Hmmph.”

Jin So-ah wanted to scream right then and there, but he wasn’t foolish enough not to know that his irritation wouldn’t help resolve this situation in the slightest.

“Then you won’t interfere with the Black Branch Gambling House’s business?”

Jwageol’s words became curt again.

“Wait a moment.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not very smart, so when you pressure me like this, I can’t calculate well. I need to think about which side is doing the right thing.”

Saying this, Wei Yan-ho stuck his head completely under the blanket.

“…You think in a unique way.”

Jwageol had a lot to say, but he felt doubtful about grabbing Wei Yan-ho and going on at length.

‘Let’s wait a little.’

If he just waited a little more…

Snore.

Jwageol’s pupils shook.

Jwageol’s and Jin So-ah’s eyes met.

Jin So-ah made a groaning sound as if in pain, then stealthily approached Wei Yan-ho and shook him, blanket and all.

“Young Hero, you can’t sleep. Young Hero?”

“Mmm…”

Wei Yan-ho’s head popped out from under the blanket much more slowly than when it had gone in.

Jwageol wanted to cry.

But what could he do? If you’re wronged, you should become a martial expert.

If only he hadn’t treated that eccentric who said he’d take him away because of his impressive build in childhood as a kidnapper and cursed him out, he wouldn’t be suffering this humiliation now.

“Even so, how can you sleep in the middle of all this!”

This time even Wei Yan-ho seemed embarrassed and showed an awkward smile.

“I couldn’t sleep properly last night…”

“…”

Jin So-ah looked up at the sky with empty eyes.

If someone whose only activity all day was sleeping said he couldn’t sleep, then everyone else would probably be crossing over to the afterlife from sleep deprivation by now.

“Anyway.”

Wei Yan-ho yawned lazily again and opened his mouth.

“I thought about it…”

“Yes.”

“It seems I can’t give you that young lady.”

At Wei Yan-ho’s words, Jwageol’s face flushed red.

“Are you saying you’ll interfere with the Black Branch Gambling House’s business now?”

“Black Branch Gambling House, Black Mosquito House, I don’t really know about such things. I thought about it, and since I came here with a recommendation letter, if I send that young lady away like this, it would really hurt the face of the person who sent me…”

Wei Yan-ho shuddered as if remembering something.

“Thinking about a woman who would charge at me to devour me alive if she found out what happened, I don’t think I can send that young lady away for the sake of my comfortable sleep in the future.”

Jwageol looked at Wei Yan-ho with a hardened expression.

Normally, there would be no need for such a conversation, but he couldn’t engage in fisticuffs with such a martial expert, so he had no choice but to try resolving it through dialogue.

“Then I’ll assume you’ve decided to interfere with our establishment’s business.”

“I have no intention of interfering.”

When Jwageol was about to say something with a twitching face, Wei Yan-ho cut him off.

“So… the problem right now is money, isn’t it?”

Jwageol’s eyebrows twitched.

“That’s one way to put it.”

“Then if we just pay back the money, that’s all, right? You get the money, so you’re happy, and this side doesn’t have to suffer.”

“Oh?”

Jwageol said with delight.

“Are you saying you’ll pay back the money in their place?”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes widened.

“Where would I get money?”

“…”

“I’ve never had money in my life.”

Jwageol found himself nodding unconsciously.

Right, that seemed likely.

Looking at his behavior, he looked like he couldn’t even get proper meals, let alone money.

“Then how will you pay back the money?”

“Money can be made.”

If money were easy to make, who would suffer!

Jwageol wanted to shout out loud, but the warning from his jaw, which still hadn’t properly recovered its sensation, was too realistic for that.

“Hmmph.”

When Jwageol shook his head as if it were hopeless, Wei Yan-ho grinned.

“There are many ways. I’ll make the money and give it to you, so don’t worry and go on back.”

“If I return like this, I’ll be beaten to death. At least set a deadline.”

“I should be able to give it to you within half a month.”

“Really?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

Jwageol’s eyes wavered.

Of course I don’t trust you!

When have I ever seen you to trust you!

But what could he do? The law is far away, but fists are close.

To argue further, Wei Yan-ho’s excellence, which had been wriggling under the blanket since earlier, was bothering him.

“…I’ll trust you.”

Jwageol bowed his head deeply.

The biggest reason he had survived in the underworld until now was his ability to appropriately find his place.

But no matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t a place to stay.

He had a strong premonition that if he clumsily overstepped, he’d have to eat only porridge instead of meat for the rest of his life.

“I’ll trust that you’ll keep your promise.”

“Yes, yes. Take away my trustworthiness and I’m just a corpse.”

Jwageol looked at Wei Yan-ho as if he couldn’t believe him at all, then turned his head to glare at the Jin So-ah and Jin Ye-ran siblings.

“Since the gentleman has made a promise, I’ll trust those words and return today. But if you can’t pay back the money even after the promised time passes, I’ll show you what real bitterness tastes like. No excuses will work then! Next time, I won’t come alone.”

Jwageol’s words were directed at the two siblings, but they were also a warning to Wei Yan-ho.

But Wei Yan-ho, whether he knew or not, was slowly crawling back into the room.

“I’m leaving.”

When Jwageol turned and left Sacred Hand Hall, Jin So-ah sat down limply as if his tension had been released.

“Whew…”

A deep sigh escaped naturally.

“What in the world is all this?”

While Jin So-ah was making a tearful face looking at the medical clinic in chaos with patients who had been dragged out, Jin Ye-ran urged him in a calm voice.

“First, escort the patients back to their rooms, and check their pulse to see if they were frightened.”

“…Are patients the problem right now?”

“If patients aren’t the problem for a medical clinic, then what is?”

“Sister! You were almost dragged off to a brothel. Even in that situation, you’re telling me to see patients?”

At that moment, sparks flew from Jin Ye-ran’s eyes.

“Are those words that should come from a physician’s mouth? Have you already forgotten our late father’s teaching that for a physician, patients should always come first in any situation?”

Jin So-ah grumbled as he got up from his seat.

“Everyone, please return to your places. Physician Hwang, please help me. We need to escort those with mobility issues back to their rooms.”

“Understood.”

When Jin So-ah stepped forward to push the patients back into their rooms, peace was quickly restored.

Jin Ye-ran quietly watched this scene, then turned her head to look at the door of the room Wei Yan-ho had entered.

Jin Ye-ran’s eyes were colored with a complex light.

That night.

“Are you sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“…You’re sleeping.”

Jin So-ah unhesitatingly opened Wei Yan-ho’s door and entered.

“Huh?”

Jin So-ah rubbed his eyes as if surprised.

“I definitely heard a response?”

Jin So-ah rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, but there was no trace of Wei Yan-ho anywhere.

“This is enough to make a ghost wail.”

“Tsk.”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue while looking down at Jin So-ah, who was looking around the room from the roof.

“What nagging is he trying to do now?”

Jin So-ah didn’t particularly torment him, but his whining was too severe.

If he kept up with his pace, he wouldn’t be able to rest properly tonight either. In that case, it was better to sleep on the roof even if it was a bit chilly.

The night dew was cold, but for Wei Yan-ho, who had spent five years in a cave, this level of air and night dew was almost endearing.

“Well then, let’s sleep…”

Just as Wei Yan-ho was about to fall asleep, a low sobbing sound reached his ears.

“Eh…”

Wei Yan-ho looked down with a slightly surprised expression.

‘Whose room is this?’

There was no need to find out. The sobbing was high-pitched. It was a young woman’s crying.

Wei Yan-ho felt his chest tighten a little as he looked up at the sky full of stars.

“…Mother.”

Hearing the low sobbing that leaked out, Wei Yan-ho let out a small, silent sigh.

“My fate.”

Wherever he went, his fate was completely ruined when it came to resting peacefully. The place where he’d rested most comfortably since leaving the cave was a beggars’ den—need he say more?

Heaven is truly heartless.

To give both laziness and many troubles to one body. Isn’t this exactly how to properly torment a person?

“Hmmph.”

Wei Yan-ho squeezed his eyes shut.

Even if tomorrow’s work would be solved tomorrow, he had to sleep today. If he couldn’t sleep properly today, he’d collapse tomorrow.

The distant sound of insects, the low sobbing, and Wei Yan-ho’s small breathing filled the night sky where starlight descended.