At my words, Internal Chief Administrator Yu’s expression hardened.
But after a moment, he let out a sigh and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“…”
“I guess you’re thrown off because I didn’t deny it and just admitted it.”
“Ah, yeah…”
Honestly, I thought he’d at least try to deny it once.
Internal Chief Administrator Yu lifted his head, stared up at the carriage ceiling, and began to speak.
“It’s already been more than ten years. Back then, I suffered an injustice, and they put me through torture for it.”
“…”
“According to the physician, it was a miracle my tendons and bones weren’t damaged, so I could still walk.”
“Would it be rude if I asked what exactly happened?”
At my question, Internal Chief Administrator Yu gave a bitter smile.
“Since you’re curious, Deputy Merchant Lord, it’d be better you hear it from me than from someone else.”
I quietly nodded.
In truth, I’d already heard the whole story from my father.
But any story changes depending on who’s telling it, so I wanted to hear it once from the person who actually lived through it.
Internal Chief Administrator Yu calmly began recounting what had happened back then.
In broad strokes, it wasn’t much different from what my father had told me.
But hearing it from the very person who’d gone through it gave the whole thing a different weight.
How brutally the bride had been murdered. How humiliating it had been to be half-dressed, tied up with rope, and dragged around.
And how agonizing the torture at the county office had been, and so on.
“But thanks to the Merchant Lord, my innocence was finally proven.”
“So that’s how you ended up working for our merchant group.”
“That’s right.”
He went on.
“Honestly, there were times I just wanted to run away from the way people looked at me. People care more about the scandal itself than the fact that the so-called culprit turned out to be innocent.”
“…”
“Even now, among those in Beijing who remember that case, plenty probably still think I’m the killer.”
Hearing that left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Gossip only grabs people’s attention for a moment. Once it’s passed, hardly anyone cares how it really turned out.
Because it’s not about them, their family, or their friends.
Other people’s misfortune is just a passing spectacle, so no one bothers chasing the truth afterward.
“Is the reason you haven’t gone back to Beijing even once since then because it reminds you of that time?”
“It’s already been more than ten years. The memories themselves are fine now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it like this with you, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Then why…”
“But there are still people in Beijing who know me. I’m afraid of running into them.”
So that’s it. It’s not the memories that scare him, it’s the people who remember that time.
I thought back to when I’d taken Internal Chief Administrator Yu out with me before. Back then, he had absolutely no social skills.
I felt like I finally understood why.
It wasn’t that he never had the chance to learn how to interact with people. He’d just cut himself off from the world.
“…”
Still, it’s a relief that he’s doing much better now than he was back then.
Alright, time to finally get to the main point.
“Then… are you rejecting Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong’s feelings because of what happened back then?”
“…”
Internal Chief Administrator Yu let out a long, heavy sigh, then looked out the carriage window as he spoke.
“The people in the merchant group probably think I’m a real bastard.”
“Why would they think that?”
“They must think I’m stringing Deputy Jo along. If I don’t plan to accept her feelings, I should cut things off cleanly, but I haven’t.”
“So how do you feel, Internal Chief Administrator?”
“I…”
“Do you like her, or not?”
“…I don’t dislike her.”
“Then you like her.”
“It’s not that simple. Just seeing her makes me restless, and if I tell her to stop, it feels like she’ll cry, and then that’ll make me miserable…”
I let out a silent, incredulous laugh inside.
What the…
Internal Chief Administrator Yu clearly has Deputy Jo in his heart. He just refuses to admit it to himself.
Does he seriously not realize that’s what romantic feelings are?
“When you see Deputy Jo, do you ever think of your dead bride?”
Internal Chief Administrator Yu looked taken aback.
“Actually… when I met a few women over the years, she did come to mind. It tormented me.”
He blinked.
“Now that you mention it, it’s strange. Why doesn’t that happen when I see Deputy Jo?”
How am I supposed to answer that for you?
.
.
.
And just like that, the two-day business trip came to an end.
Thanks to Pavilion Lord Jeok, I’d been able to carve out some time to be with Internal Chief Administrator Yu.
And just confirming how he really felt was already a huge gain.
“You worked hard.”
“Not at all. You’re the one who worked hard, Deputy Merchant Lord. By the way, working together like this reminds me of when you served as my assistant.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Oh, how’s Il-song doing? He must be pretty used to the work by now.”
“Yes. He’s starting to look the part now.”
For Internal Chief Administrator Yu to say he “looks the part” means Seok Il-song is doing a pretty good job.
Bringing Seok Il-song over was worth it.
Before long, we reached the main compound’s carriage yard and got off the carriage. But…
The atmosphere in the yard was chaotic, with a tense undercurrent running through it.
And… the Eunpoong Division was rushing about with grim faces.
Something had definitely happened.
Palgap quickly ran over to them, exchanged a few words, then hurried back.
“Young Master! It sounds like something serious happened.”
“Serious how?”
“They say there was an attack. While they were transporting medicinal ingredients and grain to nearby Yangeun County, bandits ambushed them.”
“Bandits? But we already formed friendly ties with the bandits on that route, remember?”
“Well… apparently they were faces they’d never seen before.”
At that, I could more or less guess who they were.
Vagrants and beggars must have banded together and turned into a bandit gang.
The signs of a peasant uprising were starting to show.
“So what about our people? Are they alright?”
“They say they followed the merchant group’s guidelines and abandoned the goods, then focused on getting everyone out.”
In the Eunhae Merchant Group, the top rule in those situations is to ditch the cargo and make sure the people escape.
The idea is, you can always make amends later and try to retrieve the goods, and if that’s impossible, so be it.
A person’s life is irreplaceable, and finding skilled people is incredibly hard.
When people first start working for the Eunhae Merchant Group, they tend to cling to the cargo. They can’t quite believe they’re really allowed to just leave it behind.
But as they gain experience, they come to trust the rule, and once that happens, they follow it without hesitation.
That’s what they’d done this time too.
“So everyone managed to get away?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Except… I can’t really say it’s a relief.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“While they were fleeing… Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong was badly hurt. She’s in the Medical Pavilion right now…”
“What?”
The instant I heard that, someone bolted past me.
It was Internal Chief Administrator Yu.
I watched his back for a moment, then started walking.
“First, let’s go see Father.”
“Yes.”
I headed to Father’s office and got the full story from him.
“So you needed the County Magistrate of Yangeun County’s cooperation, and Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong was accompanying the caravan with a letter for that, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Of all times, it had to be now…”
“How is she now?”
“She’s in critical condition.”
“Ha…”
I let out a deep sigh and scrubbed my face with my hands.
“She’s my deputy. Why are you taking it so hard?”
Because this probably happened as a result of the changes I made.
In my previous life, our caravans had been attacked because of uprisings too.
But Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong had never been caught up in those attacks.
She was still alive when I died.
No one died, either.
But just because no one died in my previous life doesn’t guarantee the same outcome this time.
“Have we figured out who they are?”
“A crowd of vagrants and beggars who banded together. There are about fifty of them.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“For now, we’ll handle it by the book.”
What Father meant by “by the book” was offering a reward and getting the cargo back.
If they refused, then it would turn into a subjugation operation.
But…
“Father, they’re a rebel group. Do you really think the usual method we use for dealing with bandits will work on them?”
“The Chief of the Changin Escort Bureau is wrestling with that same question.”
Rebel groups are different from bandits.
To put it another way, they’re like a brand-new merchant who just opened up shop and doesn’t know how the world works.
Not even someone who entered the trade with real ambition, but a greenhorn who became a merchant only because there was no other way to make a living.
People like that don’t listen to reason.
Just the fact that they attacked people who were already fleeing showed how clueless they were.
Normally, not attacking those who are retreating is an unspoken rule.
“They’re probably blinded by the cargo right in front of them and planning to swallow it whole.”
The problem was that they were part of a peasant uprising.
Treating them like ordinary bandits and wiping them out in a full-on campaign weighed on my mind.
Because there were almost certainly women and children mixed in.
“I need to think about this.”
I rose from my seat and headed for the Medical Pavilion before returning to my annex.
On the way, I ran into Internal Chief Administrator Yu standing in front of the Medical Pavilion.
“Why are you standing out here?”
“Well…”
I glanced at Internal Chief Administrator Yu’s bodyguard. From the slight shake of the head, it seemed he hadn’t been able to bring himself to go in and see her.
He’d rushed all the way to the Medical Pavilion, but when it came time to step inside, his feet must have frozen.
His words trailed off, and after a sigh, he finally spoke.
“I’m scared.”
“You said your dead bride doesn’t come to mind when you see Deputy Jo. So what are you afraid of?”
“What if Deputy Jo dies like this? I… I mean, I…”
Watching him struggle to finish his sentence, I spoke firmly.
“They say she’s in critical condition.”
“…!”
“If she dies like this, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”
At my words, he bit his lip.
“Let’s go.”
I took Internal Chief Administrator Yu by the hand and led him into the Medical Pavilion.
A short while later.
We were finally able to see Deputy Jo.
Lying on her side on the bed, she was breathing faintly, her face pale and drawn.
“You’ve come.”
Standing beside her was Squad Leader Jo. His gaunt face said everything about what he was feeling.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve sent more Escort Guards…”
At my apology, he shook his head.
“No. You sent more than enough Escort Guards. Thanks to that, they were able to save her life.”
“Still, I’m sorry. Sorry is sorry.”
I turned to the physician beside her.
“How is she?”
“She was hit by arrows in the back and arm. We removed the arrowheads as soon as she arrived, but it was a bit late…”
“…”
“The pain was severe, so she kept waking and passing out. I put her to sleep with medicine.”
“I see.”
Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and were slowly rolling down. Her fever seemed to be rising.
“Tonight is the critical point.”
What the physician meant was obvious.
If she made it past tonight, she’d live. If not…
Just then.
“Um, Internal Chief Administrator.”
Squad Leader Jo called out to Internal Chief Administrator Yu.
“Yes. Please, go ahead.”
“May I make a somewhat unreasonable request?”
“…?”
“I know very well how much work you’ve fallen behind on. But even so… please grant this father’s plea for his daughter.”
“What is it?”
“Tonight, please hold my daughter’s hand.”
“…”
“As you know, my daughter adores you. So… I beg you like this.”
I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it felt like for a father to make a request like that for his daughter’s sake.
Honestly, Squad Leader Jo probably hadn’t thought much of Internal Chief Administrator Yu. It must have felt like he was toying with his daughter’s heart.
But with Deputy Jo Yeong-yeong standing at death’s door, he’d thrown those feelings aside.
All for his daughter’s happiness.
“If you do that for her, Yeong-yeong will be able to close her eyes in peace.”
“…I’ll do it. I will.”
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“However.”
Internal Chief Administrator Yu continued.
“Please don’t talk about Deputy Jo’s death as if it’s already decided. Why should Deputy Jo die? No. Deputy Jo… won’t die. She won’t.”
He’s right.
Deputy Jo won’t die.
If things turned out like this because I changed the future, then I just have to change her death as well.
As I headed back to my annex, I sent a Voice Transmission to Palgap.
— Palgap. Tell Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu to get ready to head out immediately.
A little later.
I left the annex with the two Escort Guards.
We needed an Elixir to help her recover. Of course, I had the Fruit of Renewal, but honestly, that would be overkill for Deputy Jo.
And conveniently enough, I knew exactly where to find a suitable Elixir.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt