Volume 3 Chapter 18 – The Rotten Shell

===================

Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Butler Seomun’s office.

“The close associate of Elder Ham has also sent word. He gave a firm answer that he will help as much as possible.”

“I have also sent a letter to the Second Young Master’s side. A reply will come soon.”

“Those who have connections to the Inspection Department also say they will exert their efforts.”

Butler Bang also said to Butler Seomun with a flushed face.

“They conveyed that the elders of the family who are within the Sword Family will surely help, so tell you to just keep your heart firm.”

However, Butler Seomun, who was sitting in her chair, gave no reply.

“Butler Seomun?”

“Mhm? Right. Understood.”

Although good news flew in one after another, Butler Seomun’s face was white as sheet.

Just then, a butler rushed into the office.

“I heard a group of personnel from the Inspection Department has just departed. It seems they are likely the personnel for the main investigation.”

Everyone looked at Butler Seomun, but she was silent.

“Now, now, everyone, pay attention.”

At that, the most senior butler among them stepped forward to gather their gazes.

“The movement of the Inspection Department is faster than we thought, so we failed to completely prevent them from departing, but it does not matter.”

Everyone wore determined expressions.

“The result of the main investigation depends on how much more we do our best during the remaining time, so let us all keep working hard until the end.”

“Alright!”

“Let’s do it!”

Everyone clapped and shouted energetically, and then focused on writing letters again.

It was after they had sent letters to all the people on the list prepared for emergencies.

Therefore, they strove to squeeze their brains to recall even a thin thread of connection.

Still, Butler Seomun did not move.

The scene she had seen a moment ago would not leave her head.

‘…What were those broken scissors?’

She had seen countless corpses of people who had committed suicide while working in the Inner Courtyard until now.

During her novice days, there were times when she had to personally handle the corpses.

How skilled the members of the Inner Courtyard were in such handling could be seen from the current situation alone.

If a figure of a high status like the Accounting Secretary had committed suicide in any other general organization of the Luoyang Sword Family, the entire department would have been in an uproar.

However, no one who went in and out of her office had heard the news of the Accounting Secretary’s suicide.

The Inner Courtyard was such a place.

The Inner Courtyard was the department that assisted the Patriarch, who held the strongest power in the Luoyang Sword Family, and it was also the organization where the most secrets existed.

In such a place, trouble was bound to occur at any time, and the highest-ranking officials of the Inner Courtyard had always cut the tail.

‘But the Accounting Secretary is that very highest-ranking official.’

It was the first time she had seen a highest-ranking official be cut off like a tail.

‘Just what on earth is going on with this matter?’

She bit her fingernails.

‘Was this not a budget issue of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment? Was it not that he wanted to find fault with the book expenses and search our budget details to take revenge on us?’

A drop of crimson blood flowed from her bitten fingertip.

‘Just why…, for what reason….’

She suddenly looked at the butlers and servants running around frantically.

Their behavior felt like the play of puppets dancing a turn on a stage.

* * *

“Eldest Young Master! The main investigation has been confirmed!”

The eyes of Kang Ho, who had rushed into the waiting room, widened.

“Oh, you have come. Sit here.”

Yeon So-hyeon pointed to an empty seat.

“Were you in the middle of eating…?”

He could not help but be astonished inwardly.

Did the Eldest Young Master calmly eat a meal in a place that was practically enemy territory?

He adjusted his sliding glasses and sat in the seat Yeon So-hyeon had offered.

As soon as he sat down, the Inner Courtyard protocol butlers and maids began preparing his meal with trembling hands.

He declined in a hurry.

“Ah, no. As an investigator, I cannot receive a meal in this place…”

Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand.

“You wouldn’t have been included in the main investigation anyway, would you? Eat with a peaceful mind.”

“H-How did you know?”

Indeed, he had been considerably discouraged because of that.

Yeon So-hyeon chuckled.

“All of you, go out now.”

According to his words, the personnel who were serving all left the room.

Once the sound of their footsteps could no longer be heard, Yeon So-hyeon spoke again.

“If the Inspection Department intends to conduct even a main investigation into the Inner Courtyard, there is no way they would leave the task to a mere novice like you.”

“…That is true.”

“Besides, the credit they will reserve for you for having conducted the preliminary investigation is more than enough.”

“…So I was told.”

“Even that credit wouldn’t have been received if it were other novices. You could receive it because of your grandfather’s face.”

“…That is correct.”

Looking at him who was disheartened, Yeon So-hyeon wore a meaningful smile.

“Instead, you must have received some separate instructions from the highest-ranking official of the Inspection Department, right?”

“…Is that so—?!”

He jumped in surprise from his seat.

“No! This small one has never received any instructions from anyone!”

The triplet maids giggled quietly upon seeing his behavior.

Sensing that it was already ruined by their appearance, he covered his face with his hands.

“…I absolutely cannot speak of the content of the mission.”

Yeon So-hyeon shrugged his shoulders.

“That is obvious anyway. I expected it from the moment you said you entered the Ledger Archives.”

“…Pardon?”

Yeon So-hyeon smiled as he looked at the genius with a blank expression.

“The contents of the ledgers you saw today. If it is you, you must surely remember all of them, don’t you? So it must be a mission related to that.”

“….”

“If they left it to you, it wouldn’t be a huge mission. At most, it would be compiling a confidential report related to the budget execution details of the Inner Courtyard.”

“….”

“Probably your report will be used by someone in the Elders’ Council of the Main Family. Naturally, your name will be left out of the report, but by the time they are elders, they will all know who made the report.”

“….”

“I do not know who gave you the opportunity, but he seems to be a figure with a considerable friendship with your grandfather.”

“….”

Yeon So-hyeon ignored Kang Ho, who did not offer any reply, and continued his meal.

After sitting in silence for a while, a voice like a sigh leaked from Kang Ho’s mouth.

“…Now I think I know why every letter grandfather sends to me contains stories of the Eldest Young Master.”

“Who is the one who opened the Inner Courtyard Ledger Archives to you?”

After a moment of silence, Kang Ho replied.

“…It was the Accounting Secretary of the Inner Courtyard.”

“He is probably dead by now.”

“….”

“Looking at what the Inner Courtyard has always done, it must be suicide.”

Along with Kang Ho, even Yeon So-hyeon’s maids looked at Yeon So-hyeon in surprise.

“W-What do you mean by that?”

At Kang Ho’s words, Yeon So-hyeon smiled beamingly.

“Novice. When you write the report, do not stand out too much. Since it is enough to just make yourself known.”

“….”

Yeon So-hyeon raised his chopsticks and pointed at Kang Ho.

“At least until you are at a level to judge what kind of board you are stepping into by your own strength, do not thirst for credit—that is what I mean.”

Kang Ho felt as if a sharp blade, rather than chopsticks, was pointing at him.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes! I understand.”

In his haste to nod his head, his loose glasses finally fell off.

“If you are found as a corpse in some corner of Luoyang, or if you disappear without even leaving a corpse, I won’t have the face to see your grandfather. That is why I am telling you specifically.”

Kang Ho could not even think of picking up his glasses.

“T-Thank you.”

He sat upright and sweat dripped down in streams.

In fact, he had secretly felt jealousy toward the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family.

He was the Eldest Young Master whom his own grandfather, who was famous for having an excellent eye for people, praised so much that his mouth grew dry.

When the distance grew, his grandfather had repeatedly urged him to stay close to him so much that his brush grew dry.

He was the one who had taken the palace examination before His Majesty the Emperor and proudly took first place.

He was the one who had heard countless times that he was a genius among geniuses.

Even so, in his grandfather’s eyes, he was still just an immature grandson.

“Master.”

The head maid of the Eldest Young Master, who was so outstandingly beautiful that he could not even meet her eyes, opened her mouth.

“Could you tell us, even if only roughly, what on earth is happening right now?”

The maids who appeared to be triplets also spoke in unison.

“The Heavenly Maidens are also curious.”

It was the moment when Yeon So-hyeon finished his meal and put down his utensils.

“Mhm.”

Yeon So-hyeon tapped the table with his finger as he began to speak.

“What kind of place is the Inner Courtyard?”

Jeong-ah replied.

“Is it not the department that serves the Patriarch of the Main Family and his direct bloodline at the closest distance?”

“Indeed. But where is the Patriarch of the Main Family right now?”

“He is on his sickbed.”

“Yes. Moreover, he stepped down from the position of Patriarch and became the Grand Patriarch. Then what would happen to the situation of the Inner Courtyard?”

“…Since they have lost their focal point, the unity of the internal personnel will fall, and power will be scattered.”

“Half correct and half incorrect.”

“Is that so?”

“The Inner Courtyard was originally the oldest organization in the Main Family, and it is still one of the departments that uses the most budget.”

Jeong-ah nodded.

“I learned that where there is money, there is power, and where there is power, there is money.”

“Yes. But since they have no focal point, what would happen?”

“…If I dare to guess, those who need power would cling to power, and they would rule with power over those who need money, I assume.”

“As expected of my head maid.”

“You flatter me.”

Yeon So-hyeon reached a conclusion while tapping the table.

“That is why the shell of the Inner Courtyard was all rotting away. That is practically the cause of this trouble.”

“The shell, you say…?”

“Yes. The shells. Do you remember those we saw today? They are those who showed their prominence and rose rapidly within the past ten years or so. Is that not so, Investigator Kang Ho?”

Kang Ho, who had been listening blankly to the story, nodded in a hurry.

“Yes, yes! That is correct.”

“If it is ten years, then indeed, after the Grand Patriarch collapsed…?”

“Yes.”

Yeon So-hyeon tapped the table.

“Rather than the original value of the Inner Courtyard, they are those who are familiar with gathering and dispersing, and mudslinging.”

Yeon So-hyeon wore a smirk.

“They cling to and prop up the successors they chose, push out the Fourth Young Master who is a threat but has slim chances, and ignore the Eldest Young Master who is of no help to their power.”

No one could easily open their mouth.

Unable to overcome his curiosity, Kang Ho asked Yeon So-hyeon with sweaty hands.

“…Now I understand the background of the board that the Eldest Young Master spoke of. If so, the truth of that board is….”

Yeon So-hyeon raised the finger he had been tapping the table with.

His head maid was looking toward a wall somewhere.

“Someone is approaching.”

A moment later.

Along with the sound of footsteps, a butler revealed a pale face.

“I-I hear the personnel dispatched from the Inspection Department have entered the Inner Courtyard.”

Yeon So-hyeon stood up abruptly from his seat.

“Now, shall we go see who came from the Inspection Department?”