The magistrate sat in the central seat of honor in the government office, looking down as his gaze moved between the old man, the granddaughter, and Im Baekmun.
Anyone could see the old man and his granddaughter were the victims.
Anyone could see that Im Baekmun was a notorious lecher, and that the women he had assaulted were not merely one or two.
There had been frequent lawsuits over that very fact.
Each time, the magistrate had taken Im Baekmun’s side, and by now, he was sick of doing it.
But he could not refuse.
Was Im Baekmun not the terrifying military governor’s son-in-law?
One wrong step, and his own head might fly, so he had to be careful.
He did pity the wronged grandfather and granddaughter, but he had to survive first. There was nothing else he could do.
“Ahem! Then I shall begin hearing this case. Sir Im Baekmun, state your account first.”
“Haah. Lord Magistrate. Where in this world could there be a more unjust situation than this? I was on my way home when that thing seduced me first. She said she was frightened of the road home and asked if I would go with her. I am a man, so of course I granted that request.”
“You bastard! What are you saying? Do you not fear Heaven?”
When the old man shouted in fury at Im Baekmun’s words, the magistrate frowned and said, “Enough! Silence! I have not yet given you leave to speak!”
“M-my apologies, my lord. That man was spouting such absurd lies that...”
“Whether they are absurd or not is for me to judge. This is your warning. Interrupt one more time, and I will not let it pass.”
“Yes, my lord. I am sorry.”
The old man lowered his head deeply and begged forgiveness.
“Continue, Sir Im Baekmun.”
“Ahem! I shall continue.”
Im Baekmun glared once at the old man and his granddaughter, then went on.
“In any case, I escorted her all the way home, but then that thing suddenly said she was afraid to be alone in the house and asked me to stay with her only until her grandfather returned. So I told her I had to go home and tried to leave, but would you believe it? She grabbed my leg and refused to let go.”
At Im Baekmun’s shameless story, the old man trembled violently, and the granddaughter shed tears with her head bowed in shame.
“What was I supposed to do? I had to soothe her somehow before I could go home, did I not? So I went into the room. Then that thing suddenly took off her clothes. I tried to avoid her, but then she started hurting herself, saying she would die if I left like that. Look at her face over there. Those are all marks from self-harm.”
When everyone’s eyes turned toward the granddaughter, the old man shielded her with his body.
“Look at that. If she had nothing to hide, would he be covering her? What could I do in that situation? I had to save a life first, did I not? So I merely sacrificed this body of mine to calm her. Lord Magistrate, I am truly wronged. To think I would do such a good deed and be falsely accused on top of it—I truly feel like dying.”
“Do you have anyone who can prove your words?”
“I have witnesses.”
At that, people came forward in a rush.
“I saw it.”
“I saw it too.”
“I saw with my own two eyes that that thing seduced him first.”
People competed with one another, all claiming they had seen it.
The magistrate asked the old man, “Make your rebuttal.”
“This child would never do such a thing. Until now, she has never even held a man’s hand. How could a child like that seduce a strange man? Even at the inn, when that bastard pestered her, she was so frightened she hid behind me.”
“All of that is merely your testimony. Let the person involved speak too. If Sir Im Baekmun’s words are false, refute them.”
The granddaughter said nothing.
“This child was so shocked she lost her voice. This lowly one will refute it in her stead...”
“Enough. The other side gave a clear account of the situation, and they have that many witnesses besides. Do you have witnesses?”
“Yes! The regulars at the inn saw it clearly. They are over there.”
The old man pointed toward several men loitering in one direction.
“Are you regulars at the inn this old man runs?”
“That is correct.”
At the regulars’ answer, the old man’s expression brightened.
“Then did you see Sir Im Baekmun harass that young woman?”
“We did not.”
“We were drinking, so we paid no attention to anything else.”
At the regulars’ answer, the old man cried out with a look of shock.
“H-hey, all of you! What are you saying? Were you not the ones who told me my granddaughter was being harassed?”
At the old man’s words, the magistrate asked with a frightening expression, “Is that true? If it is, I will punish you for insulting me with false testimony.”
The men waved their hands in denial.
“N-no! It is not! Truly! We saw nothing!”
“I-I think I may have seen that thing seducing him as I was leaving.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Understood.”
The magistrate’s gaze turned straight ahead.
“Even the witnesses from the opposing side say Sir Im Baekmun is innocent, so there can be no clearer proof than this. Therefore, I proclaim that Sir Im Baekmun has committed no crime whatsoever. Furthermore, I cannot forgive the two people who falsely accused innocent Sir Im Baekmun.”
“M-my lord! N-no! That is not true! Truly, it is not true! We have been wronged!”
“Shut your mouth! Do you intend to mock me until the very end? Guards! Bind that man to the punishment frame!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers dragged the old man away by force and tied him to the punishment frame.
Then the granddaughter, who had been sitting there in a daze, grabbed the soldiers’ arms.
“Uh, uh! Uh! Uuuuuh!”
Though she could not speak properly after losing her voice, she tried with everything she had to tear her grandfather away from the soldiers.
At that, the magistrate said with an enraged face, “To obstruct official business. Insolent wretch! Bind that thing as well!”
When even the granddaughter was seized and dragged to the punishment frame, the old man shouted in a voice that seemed to spill blood.
“My lord! That child is innocent! My lord!”
“Silence! Not only did you seduce and frame an innocent, virtuous man, you opened a false lawsuit to conceal your crime. Thus, in accordance with the law, I sentence you to thirty strokes of flogging!”
“M-my lord! That child is truly innocent! My lord!”
“What are you doing? Punishment officer, raise the paddle and strike at once!”
“Yes, sir!”
“If it were up to me, I would give you a heavy sentence, but Sir Im Baekmun asks for leniency, so consider yourselves fortunate that it ends with thirty strokes. Think of him as your benefactor.”
In the old man’s eyes, he saw Im Baekmun looking at him and his granddaughter with a mocking expression.
In that moment, a powerful impact struck his backside, and the old man fainted on the spot from injustice and pain.
*****
The old man’s story ended there.
Both their pants were soaked with blood.
If they were left like that, they might die from infection in the wounds left by the beating.
“Let us treat the places where you were struck first.”
“Are you a physician?”
Jeok Wigang shook his head.
“I can only perform simple treatment.”
“No need. What would I live for?”
“You have to live. Are you going to leave your granddaughter behind?”
When the old man looked at his granddaughter sitting blankly beside him, he began to sob again.
“Huuuuk!”
Jeok Wigang patted the old man’s back and said, “Let me treat you. I will do my utmost to help clear this injustice.”
At that, the old man looked at Jeok Wigang.
“Do you know me?”
“I do not.”
“Then why are you helping me like this?”
“How could I simply pass by when I see someone suffering hardship?”
The old man’s eyes trembled.
“If the people of the world... were like you, it would truly be a good world to live in.”
“That world will come. A world where evil comes to an end.”
“A world where evil comes to an end. That sounds like a dream.”
“That world will certainly come, so you must live and see it together with your granddaughter.”
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“Now, let us go inside.”
When Jeok Wigang supported the old man, he rose with difficulty, groaning in pain.
It seemed they had simply thrown the two here and left them, though neither could even walk properly.
The ground where the two had been sitting was soaked dark with blood.
Ye Yahyeon did everything Jeok Wigang told him to do without a word.
All the while, he tried not to meet Jeok Wigang’s eyes.
An angry Big Brother really is terrifying!
*****
Jeok Wigang treated the old man and his granddaughter.
He had just tucked the blankets neatly over the two sleeping figures when a commotion broke out outside.
Wondering what had happened, he went out and saw two masked men caught in Ye Yahyeon’s hands.
“What are they?”
“I do not know. They were creeping over, so I caught them first. We can find out what they are from here.”
“How long will it take?”
At Jeok Wigang’s question, Ye Yahyeon grinned and said, “Not long.”
Press.
When he pressed their shoulder blades with his fingers, the two men’s eyes bulged as if they would pop from the pain.
“People commonly mistake Bone-Splitting Tendon-Twisting for the most frightening torture, but it is not. Spirit-Shattering Meridian-Severing is the true pinnacle of torture. Its effect is...”
Ye Yahyeon pulled off the two men’s masks and asked, “What are you?”
The two answered before the question had even finished.
“I-Im Baekmun sent us!”
“He told us to kill the people in this house and disguise it as suicide!”
The two confessed smoothly.
Ye Yahyeon shrugged and looked proudly at Jeok Wigang.
Jeok Wigang lightly ignored that gaze and looked at the assassins.
“What should we do?”
“Get rid of them.”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, Ye Yahyeon smiled.
“Understood. I will get rid of them. May I handle the disposal as I see fit?”
Jeok Wigang nodded.
At that, Ye Yahyeon’s smile deepened, and he licked his lips.
“It has been a while since I had any fun.”
When the assassins saw Ye Yahyeon’s eyes, they clung to Jeok Wigang.
“S-save us! We will do anything you order!”
“P-please, just kill us here instead!”
Jeok Wigang frowned.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get rid of them.”
“Yes!”
Ye Yahyeon easily lifted the two men whose pressure points had been sealed and said, “You bastards. Let us have a good time together before you go to the afterlife. Understood?”
With those words, Ye Yahyeon vanished in an instant.
Jeok Wigang spoke to the remaining Embroidered Uniform Guard Martial Inspector.
“Guard them well. I am going out.”
“Yes! Understood!”
*****
Jeok Wigang wore a mask for the first time in a while.
He headed for Im Baekmun’s residence.
In front of Im Baekmun, who had fallen asleep drunk, Jeok Wigang looked down at him in silence.
What should he do?
He could kill him right now, but then the old man and his granddaughter’s injustice would not be cleared.
Only if this man told the truth would their injustice be cleared.
He would make Im Baekmun confess his wrongdoing himself, with his own mouth.
Jeok Wigang picked up the sleeping Im Baekmun and slipped out quietly.
Then he moved to a secluded place he had noticed on the way.
After driving all the alcohol out of him with a mantra, he slapped Im Baekmun across the cheek.
SLAP—
At the sudden pain, Im Baekmun bolted upright and looked around with a bewildered expression.
Then he found Jeok Wigang and asked, “What are you? Where is this? Are you the one who brought me here?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“The military governor’s son-in-law?”
“You know that, and you still committed this?”
Im Baekmun rose to his feet, moving his body this way and that as he spoke.
“This is unbelievable. Just how lightly did you take me, to leave me like this without even sealing my pressure points?”
“Was there any need?”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, Im Baekmun grinned.
“I learned martial arts.”
“Oh, really?”
“Ever heard of the top first-rate level?”
“You are at a higher realm than I expected. I do not even have inner qi.”
“Hahaha! You have no inner qi? Regretting it now, are you? Thinking you picked the wrong man to touch? But it is too late.”