Volume 3 Chapter 16 – The Inspector
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Translated by Rain
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Elder Yeom of the Luoyang Sword Family had once said to his subordinate.
‘The Eldest Young Master was not called the Swordless One because he was ignored; he was called the Swordless One because he stayed still even when ignored.’
* * *
“I told you to call them, the Inspection Department.”
Yeon So-hyeon said.
“E-Eldest Young Master, please wait just a moment!”
Butler Seomun stopped him.
“Everyone, step aside! Did you not hear what Master ordered?!”
The triplet maids pressed.
“Uh! Didn’t we tell you to wait a bit?! Eldest Young Master?! Eldest Young Master?!”
The butlers blocking the hallway clamored.
“Eldest Young Master. If you suddenly act like this…”
“Then what?”
Butler Seomun shouted.
“The Inspection Department?! Are you saying you will call the Inspection Department over mere book expenses?!”
“Since you won’t answer no matter how much I ask, isn’t that so?”
“I am saying this because you don’t seem to know what will happen if the Inspection Department steps in….”
“What will happen?”
“To begin with, there is no way the Inspection Department would step in over the cost of a few books, is there?!”
“Then why are you all blocking us?”
“That is….”
Butler Seomun grit her teeth at Yeon So-hyeon’s innocent expression.
“Are you saying you want to shake the entire Inner Courtyard right now?!”
Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
“Do you think you represent the entire Inner Courtyard right now?”
“If the Eldest Young Master drags the Inspection Department into a mere matter like this, the entire Inner Courtyard will eventually harbor hostility toward you!”
Yeon So-hyeon looked around and shook his head.
“Seeing how you block the maids trying to carry out my orders, do not answer questions about a mere book expense, and do not even observe proper protocol when the Eldest Young Master visits in person, you seem to already be hostile enough.”
Butler Seomun shrieked.
“Are you unable to understand that they will become far more hostile than they are now?!”
At her words, Yeon So-hyeon shook his head and clicked his tongue.
“…Your conduct is a sight to behold.”
To all appearances, it seemed that no words would work on the Eldest Young Master anymore.
She looked at Jeong-ah.
“Head Maid, listen carefully. You must know that stopping here is what truly benefits your master.”
Jeong-ah was expressionless.
“Following and carrying out the master’s will is what truly benefits the master.”
Her cold gaze directed toward Butler Seomun.
“What did you learn in this place called the Inner Courtyard that you try to block Master’s will with mere force?”
Her words pierced Butler Seomun.
“And just what kind of place is the Inner Courtyard that it tries to intimidate the Eldest Young Master, who is of the direct bloodline of the family?”
“….”
The Inner Courtyard is a department that serves the direct bloodline, centered around the Patriarch of the Main Family.
That was the very first thing all members of the Inner Courtyard were educated on.
“Furthermore, the Inner Courtyard will show hostility to Master, who is the legitimate son of the family?”
“…I didn’t say that, did I? I said the Eldest Young Master’s actions would incite the Inner Courtyard’s hostility. The Head Maid needs to listen to other people’s words a bit more carefully.”
Although Butler Seomun was flustered for a moment, she was indeed a formidable person.
Even so, the water had already been spilled.
“Whether you catch the tail of my words or pick a verbal fight, I do not care.”
Jeong-ah smiled coldly.
“Since it is already too late.”
“…What does that?”
Butler Seomun’s mind spun rapidly.
“Could it be…?!”
Just then, someone’s voice was heard from the hallway.
“U-Um, excuse me…?”
It was a voice that was thoroughly shrunk back.
“Who is it?”
At Butler Seomun’s words, the butlers who had been blocking the hallway stepped aside.
The triplet maids also stepped back.
“Ah, I came from the Inspection Department…?”
The one who showed up with his body completely hunched over was a young scholar.
Rather than young, he was closer to being youthful, and the uniform of the Inspection Department did not suit him at all.
As everyone’s gaze gathered on him, he spoke while avoiding their eyes.
“I am an inspector investigator from the Inspection Department….”
One of the butlers asked with a reluctant voice.
“Are you… a real inspector investigator?”
At that, he scratched the back of his head as if embarrassed.
“Ah, yes. Although my probation period ended last year.”
His glasses slid down.
“Who asked you that? Show us your Inspection Department plaque.”
Butler Seomun frowned.
“Ah, ah. I am sorry….”
He began to fumble and search his sleeves.
“Huh?”
Only after searching the opposite sleeve and looking inside his bosom did he pull out a plaque.
“H-Here….”
One of the butlers received the plaque with a suspicious expression and delivered it to Butler Seomun.
“Investigator Kang Ho?”
The youth whose name was called smiled as if embarrassed.
“Yes, I am Kang Ho. Just call me Investigator Kang comfortably.”
Only then did Butler Seomun, whose tension had eased, chuckle.
“Since we asked for an investigation into book expenses, it seems they sent a fitting figure.”
Kang Ho giggled.
“I am sorry. If a complaint is filed, we have to investigate it. Because there are procedures….”
The other butlers also felt relieved.
Butler Seomun smiled.
‘Of course. There is no reason for the Inspection Department to turn the Inner Courtyard upside down and ruin relationships over the book expenses of a mere Swordless One.’
Kang Ho peeked inside the waiting room.
“Uh, by any chance, is the complainant here?”
Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand.
“Here.”
At that, Kang Ho jumped in surprise.
“Ah! Eldest Young Master!”
He walked in with quick, short steps and bowed to Yeon So-hyeon.
“Kang of the lowest rank of the Main Family greets the Eldest Young Master of the Main Family!”
While he was extremely polite, every movement was precise.
“There is no need for useless pleasantries. Here is the evidence related to the complaint, so refer to it.”
Jeong-ah handed over the ledger related to Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment’s budget.
“Take it.”
“Ah, t-thank you.”
Kang Ho’s face turned red upon seeing Jeong-ah’s face, and he accepted the ledger with a trembling hand.
“Please sit here.”
“I will serve you a cup of tea.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
As the triplet maids came close, Kang Ho’s face turned even redder.
“Ah, no! It would be troublesome for the complainant’s side to treat me like this!”
He declined the service of the triplet maids and hurriedly sat down on a chair.
Seeing that, the butlers crossed their arms and let out sneers.
‘Right. Try hard to look good to a brat who has just finished his apprenticeship. It won’t be of any use.’
Butler Seomun smiled coldly as she watched the novice investigator flip through the pages in a hurry.
It seemed he had to pretend to investigate at least, but since he couldn’t drag out the time, he was likely just pretending to look at the ledger.
The Eldest Young Master, resting his chin on his hand from the seat of honor, asked him.
“Is your grandfather doing well?”
At that, Kang Ho, who had been flipping through the pages rapidly, giggled and nodded his head, and his glasses slid down again.
“Yes. He is the same as always. Just a few days ago, he sent a letter to nag me because the Eldest Young Master had not replied to him.”
Even while speaking, he was flipping through the pages.
“I wonder what he thinks of his grandson who is only of the lowest rank….”
Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
“Was it not you who took first place in the palace examination held before His Majesty the Emperor? Since such a grandson refused a government post and headed to the Luoyang Sword Family, he must have assumed you were being treated accordingly.”
He looked embarrassed.
“How does the Eldest Young Master know my circumstances so well?”
“Your grandfather’s letters to me are filled entirely with boasting about his eldest grandson.”
Yeon So-hyeon looked at him and smiled.
“If he hears that you turned down special treatment and started as a novice in the Inspection Department, he will immediately ride his horse to the Main Family.”
“Oh dear, Eldest Young Master. Such a thing must not happen….”
Even so, his gaze did not leave the rapidly flipping pages of the ledger.
“What are you worried about? A man who is nearing ninety in a couple of days is still so hale. I heard he still goes hunting with the members of the imperial family.”
“It’s not that, I am worried my buttocks will catch fire.”
He suddenly realized something and shrank back.
“Ah, ah. I have acted far too familiarly with the Eldest Young Master of the family.”
“Haha. It is fine. Since your grandfather and I are like friends, what harm is there if his grandson acts a bit familiarly?”
At that scene, and at that conversation, Butler Seomun and her butlers felt that something was going wrong.
Before they could even respond to that anxiety, Kang Ho closed the ledger.
“I have finished checking.”
He looked around cautiously and spoke.
“By any chance, is there anyone who wishes to make a statement regarding this complaint? If this place is uncomfortable, we can move…?”
Butler Seomun stepped forward.
“Rather than that, tell us the result of the investigation.”
She was anxious about the Eldest Young Master showing off his close ties.
She wanted to move on to the ‘determined conclusion’ as quickly as possible.
“Uh? Then please note that there could be a main investigation into the respondent and reference witnesses….”
“Wait!”
Butler Seomun interrupted.
“A main investigation? If it is just an investigation into book expenses, it should merely be a simple verification procedure. What is this talk about a main investigation?”
Kang Ho shrank back.
“Uh, ah. That is… because there are suspicious points….”
“Suspicious points?!”
The butlers chimed in.
“Is the investigator perhaps approaching this investigation with personal feelings?”
“I don’t want to say this, but after hearing the conversation just now, it cannot be denied that the investigator’s motives are sufficiently doubtful.”
Kang Ho’s glasses slid down.
“Ah? Uh? That is not it….”
Butler Seomun slammed the table.
“What do you mean it’s not?! A mere investigation related to book expenses…”
Yeon So-hyeon clicked his tongue.
“Who said this was an investigation related to book expenses?”
“Pardon…?”
The thoughts of Butler Seomun and all the butlers ground to a halt.
Ignoring them, Yeon So-hyeon asked Kang Ho.
“So. What is the result of checking the evidence?”
Kang Ho stammered as he answered.
“Uh, well. Looking at this ledger itself, there are no problems.”
Butler Seomun shouted.
“Then what is the problem?!”
Kang Ho adjusted his glasses and spoke.
“The amount of the budget allocated to Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment as written in this ledger differs from the amount I verified.”
“…!”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
“I wondered why you were so late, but it seems you checked the Ledger Archives of the Inner Courtyard first.”
“Ah, yes. In order to investigate, it is best to check from the top….”
“It’s a lie! W-Who gave you the authority to enter the Ledger Archives?!”
At Butler Seomun’s shout, Kang Ho tilted his head.
“An investigator is prohibited from inquiring about the identity of the collaborator, though?”
Butler Seomun shouted as if in a frenzy.
“You! What on earth are you investigating?!”
Kang Ho nodded.
“I can reveal that.”
His glasses slid down again.
“Upon the complaint of suspected misappropriation of the budget allocated to Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment among the Inner Courtyard budget resolved by the Elders’ Council of the Luoyang Sword Family, I was dispatched to determine the necessity of an inspection.”
“A budget inspection…?!”
“Misappropriation?!”
He adjusted his glasses.
“As the opinion of the inspector investigator, the suspects have been identified to some extent, and the allegations have been considerably proven. Judging that the current situation is extremely serious…”
From behind his glasses, his gaze directed toward Butler Seomun and the butlers.
“As of this hour, I command in the name of the Inspection Department that all personnel involved in this investigation may not leave the Main Hall of the Inner Courtyard.”