Chapter 7
A little while later.
Dal-jae headed to the local government office in a nearby town. In his hand was a plump native chicken.
Knock, knock.
“Officer Lee, it’s Dal-jae. There’s something I’d like to speak to you about.”
“Come in.”
Dal-jae cautiously opened the door to the Deputy Magistrate’s office.
Slide.
Inside, a thinly built Deputy Magistrate was sitting at a desk, looking over a ledger.
Dal-jae quietly placed the native chicken beside the Deputy Magistrate’s desk.
“Ah, Deputy Magistrate. Hear me out for a moment.”
“What is it?”
“You know that rumor going around lately?”
“What rumor?”
“You know, that tavern called Insaeng Jumak or whatever it’s called. The rumor that it’s doing unbelievably well.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of it. I hear the gukbap there is supposed to be quite delicious?”
At the Deputy Magistrate’s words, Dal-jae clapped his hands with a sharp smack! And made a great fuss.
“Yes! Yes! I don’t know about the taste, but good grief, those bastards have snatched away all my customers!”
“They took all your customers? How?”
“Ah! Well, it’s a little complicated to explain…”
As soon as the Deputy Magistrate showed interest, Dal-jae began confessing everything related to Insaeng Jumak.
How the place had been newly renovated, the various services, and even the story concerning Hayun.
“…And get this, some woman with no known background completely tore the place apart and redid everything!”
“She certainly used her head well.”
“Anyway, can you really call this a proper market order? What are the other taverns supposed to live on? Isn’t that right, Deputy Magistrate?”
“Hmm…”
After hearing Dal-jae’s words, the Deputy Magistrate fell into thought for a moment.
The person who had made a major contribution to Sanmaru Jumak becoming the finest tavern in the town was none other than this Deputy Magistrate, Choi Hyang-seo.
In exchange for Choi Hyang-seo looking after Dal-jae’s interests, he received money and various forms of hospitality. With Choi Hyang-seo’s support, Dal-jae had been able to maintain his position as the owner of the finest tavern for a long time.
That was, until just recently.
“Hmm…”
But now, Sanmaru Jumak was facing a crisis that left it hanging by a thread.
And that wasn’t entirely good news for Choi Hyang-seo either. Because it meant that his share would decrease.
In reality, Dal-jae had been regularly offering Choi Hyang-seo a certain portion of his profits every month.
“Hmm…”
Even so, Choi Hyang-seo was reluctant to intervene in this matter.
No matter how much authority he had as a Deputy Magistrate, mobilizing the administrative forces ultimately required the magistrate’s permission, and if he reported something as trivial as this, it was obvious the magistrate would chew him out.
He needed something bigger to obtain the magistrate’s permission.
After weighing his options, Choi Hyang-seo shook his head.
“That’s something the merchants in the market should settle among themselves. It’s not something I should interfere with. I have no grounds to intervene.”
“What do you mean, you have no grounds? Didn’t I just tell you?”
What Dal-jae intended to report was not wrongdoing on the part of Insaeng Jumak.
What he intended to report was the status of Hayun, the key to Insaeng Jumak.
“There’s a woman working there whose origins are completely unknown! We need to arrest that woman right now and interrogate her.”
“Her origins are unknown? What do you mean by that?”
When Choi Hyang-seo became interested again, Dal-jae lowered his voice and spoke.
“There’s a young woman working there, but the way she talks and behaves… she doesn’t seem like she’s from around here.”
“She isn’t from around here?”
“Yes. Her hair is cut all the way up to her ears, who knows where, and more importantly, she claims she’s lost her memory and says she doesn’t know where her hometown is. Isn’t that obviously a lie?”
“Hmm…”
Choi Hyang-seo stroked his chin and fell into thought for a moment.
“She must be a runaway slave from somewhere. Otherwise, there’s no reason for her to tell such a lie. Isn’t that right, Deputy Magistrate?”
“A runaway slave…”
As luck would have it, Choi Hyang-seo himself had a memory from several years ago of going through considerable trouble to catch a slave who had fled with his property.
Fortunately, he had managed to catch the fellow in a certain village, and although he hadn’t recovered everything, he had managed to reclaim part of the property.
He made up the shortfall by selling the fellow to a salt merchant.
The unpleasant feelings from that time slowly began rising again.
“If that’s the issue, then things are different.”
In Joseon, slaves were a kind of resource with monetary value.
Therefore, capturing a runaway slave was considered a significant achievement.
Depending on whose household the slave belonged to, it could also bring additional rewards.
For example, if one were lucky enough to capture a slave belonging to a high-ranking nobleman and return them, one could receive a promotion in return, or perhaps ask that nobleman for a favor in the future.
At last, having found that their interests aligned, Choi Hyang-seo slammed his hand down on the desk.
“Good! Tomorrow morning, I’ll send the constables to verify that woman’s identity.”
“Thank you, Deputy Magistrate! Thank you so much!”
Having finally obtained what he wanted, a vile smile spread across Dal-jae’s lips.
With the crisis about to descend upon Insaeng Jumak, Dal-jae felt as though he were already getting drunk even though he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol.
***
Around dawn, just as the sun was about to rise,
Hayun, who had gotten up early, was sitting inside the empty tavern.
‘Why am I here…?’
When she had first fallen into the Joseon era, she had been too flustered to even have the time to worry about such things.
Joseon era, out of nowhere.
When something she had only ever seen in dramas or novels suddenly became reality, she couldn’t think about anything at all.
The only thing that dominated Hayun was her survival instinct, the instinct to somehow stay alive. But as the tavern regained stability and she gradually adapted to this era, questions began surfacing one by one.
The fundamental question of what exactly had brought her here.
‘The curved jade. That curved jade is what brought me here.’
She remembered the moment of the accident, when the curved jade had thrashed violently, and its radiance had enveloped her. And when she opened her eyes again, the curved jade had vanished without a trace.
She had no way of knowing whether it had disappeared as a consequence of sending her to Joseon or whether she had simply lost it.
‘I have to find that curved jade again.’
Hayun knew the curved jade existed somewhere in Joseon.
Her father had emphasized that the curved jade was an object discovered from the Joseon era.
‘To do that, I need to achieve great success here!’
Whether it was to return to the future or to find the only keepsake left by her father, Hayun couldn’t stop.
She had to make Insaeng Jumak even bigger.
She had to use its influence to find the curved jade.
The success of Insaeng Jumak was the key to returning to the future.
In the end, there was only one answer.
Survive… And succeed.
Once she made a plan, her previously muddled thoughts began to clear up somewhat.
“Then, shall I sell lots of gukbap today, too!”
Just as Hayun finished thinking and was about to stand up…
BANG—!
Suddenly, the tavern door was thrown open noisily, and constables stormed inside.
“What is this… Gasp!”
Startled by the noise, Munsik and Ok-bun hurriedly came running out.
“Why are constables here…?”
“No, more importantly, why are they carrying weapons like that…?”
The constables looked as though they had come to arrest some heinous criminal.
Munsik cautiously approached them.
“Um… What brings the honored constables here?”
The man who appeared to be the leader of the constables slowly looked around the tavern.
Then he asked in a low, intimidating voice.
“This is Insaeng Jumak, is it not?”
“Yes. This is indeed Insaeng Jumak, but…”
“Who is the woman with the short hair?”
“……!”
When the constables suddenly began looking for her, Hayun instinctively hunched her shoulders.
Munsik calmly continued responding.
“Excuse me, but why are you looking for Hayun?”
“You needn’t concern yourself with that. Just tell us where the woman is.”
“Well, I…”
Sensing something ominous, Munsik hesitated to answer. If he told them the truth, they looked ready to arrest Hayun immediately.
Unable to cause them any further trouble, Hayun stepped forward herself.
“It’s me. I’m the woman you’re looking for.”
“Hmm.”
The constable compared Hayun’s appearance with the bundle of papers he had brought.
In fact, there was hardly any point in comparing them at all, because Hayun’s defining feature was unmistakable.
A woman with short bobbed hair could not possibly exist in Joseon.
The constable stared at Hayun for a moment before speaking.
“A report has been filed questioning your identity.”
“A report?”
The constable said this as he ordered Hayun,
“Hand over your hopae immediately!”
“Hopae!”
At the word hopae, Hayun’s face turned pale.
A hopae was an identification tag used during the Joseon era, which everyone over the age of sixteen was required to carry.
A resident registration card; she might have had one. But Hayun, who had come from the twenty-first century, obviously had no such thing.
“Um, well…”
When Hayun hesitated to answer, the constables pressed her even more forcefully.
“What are you doing? I said hand over your hopae!”
“Ah, well, you see…”
Hayun hesitated because she genuinely did not have a hopae.
The constable glared at her suspiciously.
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a hopae?”
“……!”
Once the constables realized Hayun had no hope, their attitude changed completely.
Their suspicion had turned into certainty. Soon, the leader ordered the constables.
“Listen! Bind that woman at once and escort her to the government office!”
“Yes!”
“Good heavens! Hayun!”
“No! She isn’t a criminal!”
Munsik and Ok-bun tried to stop Hayun from being dragged away, but there was nothing they could do.
“Stand back! If you interfere with the government’s business any further, you’ll be charged with the same crime.”
“Gasp!”
Faced with the constables’ threat, the couple ultimately stepped back.
Hayun comforted the two of them.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“Hayun…!”
“I’ll be back soon. Until then, please take good care of Insaeng Jumak.”
“Oh, what are we going to do…!”
And so, Hayun, who had no hopae, was escorted to the government office under the false accusation of being a runaway slave.
And even over the once-bright and sunny Insaeng Jumak, dark clouds slowly began to gather.
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