The Hunting Dog of the Prestigious Family Has Returned Chapter 66

A luxurious vehicle, incomparable to anything at Iron Tiger Fortress, cut through the desolate no-man’s-land without slowing.

Its surface gleamed as if it had just been polished.

It seemed to be treated with great care, but from where I sat watching, I could feel nothing like admiration.

Vehicles two or three times the price were scattered like garbage on the high-end streets of Hanseong.

“Every time I come here I can’t help but sigh when I see those wall garrison people. Late on their reports, almost dying….”

The 3rd Forward Base, arrived at in time. The Defense Commander’s mansion.

Before my eyes was a table laden with fine liquor and food, unmistakably intended to entertain.

Electronic gayageum music drifted through the room, and courtesans kept pressing in from the side. (+) ^[1] TLN: Gayageum is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is a plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. You can see the picture of it here: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.britannica.com%2F16%2F99416-050-5361527A%2FMusician-kayagum-zither-instrument-Korean.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=64793629a1631dd0fc981f78ec01118f6c065ed9f6c6e8ba84123200ffee6039.

My reason for waving them away was nothing complicated.

Seating courtesans beside me to entertain a distinguished guest.

In Hanseong, anyone who entertained like this was not an aristocrat but a nouveau riche playing at being a mid-tier businessman.

Looking at the spectacle arranged and called a banquet, I had no desire to play along.

“It is a rather rugged place, after all. Everyone has their own hardships.”

“That is exactly what I say! The inspector truly understands!”

When I offered a small word of encouragement and let him speak, the Defense Commander began raising his voice as if he had been waiting for it.

“From the very start, our 3rd Forward Base has no capacity to spare for monitoring monsters! We also carry the mission of defending against the Jurchen, and on top of that we must handle negotiations with the Central Plains warlords! People who spend all day obsessing over monsters and running around brawling would have no way of understanding hardships like these!”

“Ah.”

“And while we are on the subject, that woman they call the young lady is a problem as well. I heard by rumor that her phase power is formidable, but is she not a commoner without even a military register? She goes in and out of military facilities openly, and takes part in combat on top of it…. Inspector, do you really think any of that makes sense?”

“Of course, of course. It makes no sense at all.”

With that empty agreement, I studied the figure before me.

‘Defense Commander of the Northeast Frontier, Seong Ryeoun. As a person himself, nothing but common trash…. but for precisely that reason, he was the one Kim Jungheon chose.’

A local notable, so he had legitimacy. Reasonably clever, and a philistine.

On top of that, from the way he made such a fuss the moment he heard a secret royal inspector had come from the Administration, he was a man stuffed full of ambition to advance to the center as well.

From the Andong Kim clan’s perspective, what better conditions could there be for a chess piece to use.

“So…. is the work the inspector has taken on proceeding smoothly?”

When the courtesans had been roughly dismissed, the Defense Commander glanced over as if the mood had been killed and pushed in with a probe.

He had entertained this much, so it was time to get his money’s worth. He had the look of a dog panting before a food bowl.

“I am putting in my best effort, but…. it is not as easy as I thought. It is a remote location, and with frequent combat I understand, but….”

“What a lamentable state of affairs. Work done under the Administration’s orders, and yet disrupted by petty fighting?”

What he meant was: stop paying attention to those Iron Tiger Army officers and talk to me.

Perhaps I should toss out some bait.

I tilted a glass of cinnamon punch I had substituted for liquor and spoke evenly.

“With the local officers holding so much power, there is much that gets in the way when carrying out official duties.”

“For those of us who serve in the military as well, it is nothing but shameful. What can be done about this….”

“Knowing that eases my mind considerably. If someone like the Defense Commander, who understands propriety, were to cooperate, things would go considerably more smoothly….”

There is work to be done inside the Iron Tiger Army, and having a well-trained dog like you would make things easier.

Seeming to grasp my meaning, the Defense Commander’s eyes began to shine.

“If it is a matter of assisting with the Administration’s official business, this old body cannot simply sit still.”

Having set that opening, Defense Commander Seong Ryeoun quietly lowered his voice.

“However, this old man’s strength falls short for bringing these people to order, and it is endlessly frustrating.”

“You are saying your authority as Defense Commander is insufficient?”

“Shameful as it is, yes. Most of the areas outside this 3rd Forward Base that I occupy are…. effectively under the control of the Iron Tiger General’s people.”

A faint anger lay beneath Seong Ryeoun’s voice as he drained what remained in his glass.

Resentment of no clear origin. Wounded grievance.

Even a sense of inferiority in his voice.

“Inspector. My family has been the aristocratic family of this region from generations past.”

Now he was getting to the real point.

I adjusted my expression and received his words.

“Is that so? I understood that managing Iron Tiger Fortress belonged to the Yoo family….”

“It only appears that way because of the Iron Tiger General’s reputation. In reality it is entirely different.”

His hand tightened around his wine cup, and Seong Ryeoun began slowly saying his piece.

“The Yoo family is a line of soldiers who came in from the outside long ago. And yet outside soldiers who came from elsewhere have claimed those positions for themselves…. the people of our family, who have been here for generations, have no end of grievances.”

I could see it plainly.

Unlike those rusty hunks of metal, they were a traditional noble family who had put down roots in this region. That was what he was saying.

Exactly the kind of label that nobles would love.

“And the Yoo family has many problems in other respects as well. Just look at Yoo Arin, that woman! A family that cannot even properly carry on the line and takes in war orphans. How could anyone call that a proper noble household?”

“Oh my….”

“And now, as if freely detaining an inspector were not enough, they commit such rudeness on top of it. Is this not proof that the laws of the Northeast Frontier have fallen to the ground? I believe it would be right for the inspector to inform the Administration of these facts and set this barbarism straight.”

Right then. Translating that circuitous rubbish into plain language:

‘Please make a place for me in the Administration. If you do, I will throw myself entirely into being your dog. Woof woof, bark bark, yap yap.’

Knowing that intent and looking at it again gave it an even richer flavor. It was nothing less than a conversation overflowing with the dignity of a true noble.

Ah, yes, this is it.

Carrying on about tradition and bloodline while cutting others down by whatever means, and groveling for even one scrap to be tossed their way.

This was the authentic noble of Joseon.

I nodded with satisfaction and immediately received his words.

“Hearing that from a distinguished elder of the region, I learn a great deal. I would hope for more opportunities like this in the future….”

“Is that so? Then for this old man, there could be no greater honor!”

Saying that, the Defense Commander operated his visual interface.

Shortly after, a female officer who saluted entered the room.

Unlike the rough-hewn garrison officers, she had a clean face and a well-fitted high-quality artificial body.

No matter how I looked at her, she seemed entirely unsuited for combat.

Click-

The officer, approaching soundlessly, held out a small box before my eyes.

An old-fashioned box with no electronic components attached whatsoever.

When I opened it slightly to check, inside were stacks upon stacks of data chips loaded with cryptocurrency.

“My good sir. Is this not far too generous a gift….”

“I offer it in celebration of a new connection formed. How could the size of it be of any consideration? Inspector, please do not refuse.”

Ah! A bribe.

This familiar and sweet taste of money.

I looked at the Defense Commander with a smile as bright as could be.

To think this much money comes popping out at a mere touch.

If I were to slice open that belly, how much money would come spilling out?

---

I declined twice, was urged three times, and reluctantly accepted the bribe.

Being guided to my quarters by the officer.

I pulled out one data chip and checked the amount inside, and a spontaneous exclamation came out.

‘To think this much comes popping out of a military officer scraping by in the frontier. How on earth did he accumulate this?’

While that thought passed through my mind as I considered plans going forward.

“Long time no see, Young Master. Two years since we sent Jo Seonghwan to hell?”

Hearing the voice that came from the mouth of the officer leading me, I could not help but doubt my ears for a moment.

But the surprise was brief.

“……Was it one year or two. Been so busy I lost track of time.”

Freely saying something sensitive like the Jo Seonghwan affair out loud meant all listening ears had been blocked.

I opened my mouth with a dry laugh.

“Honestly can’t predict you people. Are you doing disguises now on top of everything else?”

“What are you talking about. Disguise and infiltration was our field from the beginning.”

Saying that, the officer glanced back at me, and the face slowly distorted.

An old woman, a child, a middle-aged person, a courtesan.

Countless faces flipped past like TV channels changing, and at the end of it, what appeared before me was a familiar-shaped mask.

It was Bune mask, one of Hahoe’s executives.

“I heard from Imae. Didn’t expect you to meet the Defense Commander before meeting the Iron Tiger General. General Yoo Sanghyeon was grumbling about it.”

“Why would the General? Was he worried I’d defect?”

“Nothing like that…. apparently he’s in a huff wondering why you didn’t come to him first?”

Well, that’s something.

“Not a child, and he’s sulking over something like that? The Iron Tiger General?”

“I was surprised too. That man is surprisingly sensitive in ways you wouldn’t expect.”

Bune mask grumbled in his own way, then dropped himself casually onto a railing.

“So. Which is it?”

“Which is what?”

“The meeting with the Defense Commander. Trying to lure him into a trap, or are you actually going over to his side. Needed to find out.”

He just asks that point-blank.

Well, thinking about what that one did to the Royal Investigative Bureau agent last time…. this was actually fortunate that he was asking with words.

That finger that had been twitching for a while now.

If he drove that finger into a throat, he could pull out every memory and more.

“Start trusting me a little? If I had been thinking of going over to that side, you wouldn’t have been able to get here.”

“……Fair enough.”

He concedes surprisingly quickly this time.

Bune mask nodded and, seeming to have reached his own judgment, opened his mouth while looking at me.

“Then I’ll give you a piece of information. Information that will be useful whether you’re blackmailing or killing the Defense Commander.”

“I’ll take it. Tell me.”

Any fresh information brought in by a Hahoe executive would be worth something whatever it was.

“On your way to Iron Tiger Fortress, you were attacked by Jurchen, weren’t you? A checkpoint employee sold your location information.”

That’s coming up here, now?

When I nodded slowly, Bune mask continued immediately.

“Didn’t that strike you as strange? Even if the Northeast Frontier’s public order is a mess, how are Jurchen who live at the northern edge running loose like that right there?”

“No one to do patrols, they said. Isn’t that why?”

“That’s part of it…. but there’s a separate real reason.”

A real reason?

The moment she said it, a video appeared in my visual interface.

Late at night.

A group of Jurchen gathered in one corner of the no-man’s-land.

An Iron Tiger Army tactical vehicle approaching them, raising a cloud of dust.

And stepping out of that tactical vehicle…. the Defense Commander?

“Well, would you look at this.”

From the tactical truck the Defense Commander had brought, countless rifles and ammunition and anti-tank weapons were being unloaded.

In exchange, what the Jurchen handed over were stacks of data chips.

The exact same objects as what was in my hand right now.

“A Defense Commander who should be responsible for defending a region is selling weapons to the Jurchen, and opening the path for them to plunder Joseon.”

Beneath Bune mask’s voice was a faint sneer.

How laughable, selling weapons that were no different from the lives of frontline soldiers to the enemy.

“What are you going to do? Mister Secret Royal Inspector.”

“What else.”

This way, I could advance the plan considerably.

I cheerfully waved the mapa toward Bune mask.

“Isn’t this exactly what secret royal inspectors exist to catch?”

Got him.

I’ll make your death a painful one.

• 1. TLN: Gayageum is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is a plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. You can see the picture of it here: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.britannica.com%2F16%2F99416-050-5361527A%2FMusician-kayagum-zither-instrument-Korean.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=64793629a1631dd0fc981f78ec01118f6c065ed9f6c6e8ba84123200ffee6039.