[Dammit. Kuhuhuhuh.]
“Turns out, the Unnamed Postmaster was the culprit! Well done! Our Ji-gal family’s child is shining the name of our ancestor!!!”
Elder Oh couldn’t help but be impressed by Ji-gal Seol-rok’s deduction.
Truly admirable. Even so, using the ancestor’s name has crossed the line. But isn’t there a saying that arrogance and confidence are just a paper’s separation?
The elder of the Ji-gal family beamed with pride as he looked at the family child.
[Postmaster! Why did you kill the postmen of Cheongsan Post and steal the cargo?]
[……. ]
“Officer Jung pressed the culprit, but the Unnamed Postmaster remained silent.”
[Was it to weaken the Cheongsan Post’s power? Or was it a personal grudge?]
[……. ]
[Even Officer Jung won’t be able to get your head! Hurry and confess the truth……. ]
“Thinking about how to open the tightly shut mouth of that heartless giant was dizzying. Just imagining it was haunting, but there was no need to go that far.”
[The question was wrong. Officer Jung.]
“The detective’s deduction hasn’t ended yet.”
[Detective?]
[Why did you kill the postmen? Why did you steal the cargo? That’s not the right question for us to focus on.]
[What are you trying to say?]
[Isn’t it strange to plan all this just to kill a few postmen from a competing post office?]
[No. If you’re catching him, you shouldn’t say that……]
“That’s right……. It makes sense. The method of killing the postmen is too grand. Just losing a key power doesn’t mean the rival post office will collapse.”
Elder Oh slowly realized the overlooked facts through Ji-gal Seol-rok’s words.
Just because the delivery was terribly messed up doesn’t mean the post office would fall apart in one go. Of course, losing key strategy hurts, but the competing post office wouldn’t take on unnecessary risks.
“No matter how much of a faction member he is, this is excessively cruel and cunning. Why? Why did he do this?”
Elder Oh set out to find the answers to his growing questions.
“It’s not the answer. I don’t know how to pry open the mouth of the mastermind who committed such a heartless crime, but I do know how to open the mouth of the detective who wants to lay out his deductions right now.”
[You definitely said there are many layers to this case.]
[Exactly. Kang Yoon-ho. To know the right question, we need to find the right answer. No matter how difficult and elusive that answer might be, especially when it comes from the one investigating the case.]
[Detective. Are you saying we missed something?]
[More accurately, it’s the answer the culprit managed to make us miss.]
[What answer?]
“Answer and question.”
“The culprit leaves the answer, and the detective finds the question from the answer. So what did we miss? What answer did we overlook during the investigation?”
“The detective spoke to the students who could not find the problem.”
[Why did the ghost ship incident happen?]
[……!]
[Who is the culprit? Everyone focused on just one thing. With all the attention on the murder case, they completely overlooked the motive behind the ghost ship incident.]
“Right……! In the hunt for the culprit, we never considered the ghost ship itself. Why? Why did this incident occur?”
[Isn’t it strange? If it were just to steal cargo or kill postmen, there would be no need to expose themselves to danger by docking in Wuhan. Why did the culprit bring up the ghost ship? Now we have been presented with the right question.]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok’s gaze turned toward me.”
“That was only natural. I could tell the answer to the question Ji-gal Seol-rok spoke of.”
[Rumors. It’s rumors of the ghost ship.]
“The motive for the crime. It was a story I brought up when he was searching for the answer with his burning incense.”
[That’s right.]
[What? What does that mean?]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok and I exchanged bittersweet smiles for a moment. Regrettably, not everyone could be a good student.”
[You said that Cheongsan Post and Heuknok Post are enemies, but they were also competing for a huge commission, right?]
[Th-That’s right! They were competing over a colossal delivery fee!]
[What happens if rumors spread that Cheongsan Post’s core delivery operation has completely failed in such circumstances?]
[No way……!]
[The ghost ship docked at Wuhan’s wharf. A blood-soaked ship without a single person on board. Did a ghost moor the ship? Who was on that ship? Which post office’s postmen and cargo were there? The rumors spread throughout Wuhan in just a day.]
“Some post office’s delivery operation has failed. It would be barely enough for a drinking story. But a ghost ship story? That’s different.”
“In just one day, it became an incident that no one in Wuhan was unaware of.”
[The goal wasn’t the lives of the postmen or the expensive silk in the cargo……. ]
“The purpose that Heuknok Post aimed for through the ghost ship incident was singular.”
[Right. It was Cheongsan Post’s reputation. That alone.]
“Something a post office must never lose—the most crucial value.”
—–
“Wait, so the motive was hidden within the ghost ship itself……?”
Who was the culprit? Why did he kill people? When a murder incident arises, it’s only natural to focus on those two things.
“To undermine the post office’s reputation, they would pull off such a daring act.”
To think the motive of the culprit was concealed within the ghost ship itself. It was anything but a simple feud; it was a sticky conspiracy.
A shock hit Elder Oh like a lighting bolt. It was hard to imagine, but at the same time, it felt like something someone could really do, making it all the more shocking.
“Ho Pil……. How on earth did you come up with this story!”
“Those who created a crafty conspiracy and those who immediately uncovered it. Admiration slipped from Elder Oh’s lips.”
“The sight of everyone gathered in the room finally realizing the truth of the situation, staring in shock, was delightfully amusing, even if I wasn’t a detective.”
“Huhuhuh…….”
Elder Oh didn’t need to imagine the expressions of the people in the room. His face mirrored them perfectly.
[Isn’t that so? Unnamed Postmaster.]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok stared satisfactorily at the astonished people, then turned his blazing eyes toward the Unnamed Postmaster.”
[Who is it……?]
[You probably heard already, but it’s the detective.]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok mocked the ruthless culprit, while the Unnamed Postmaster cried out with a face that looked ready to explode at any moment.”
[I don’t care about that! Who the heck betrayed me!!!]
[Betrayed? Hahahaha!]
“Watching the Unnamed Postmaster’s reaction, Ji-gal Seol-rok seemed utterly amused.”
[There’s no way to figure all that out!!! Who did you hear this from? Who among my post office is in league with you?!!!]
“I didn’t need to ponder whether Ji-gal Seol-rok was right or wrong based on the Unnamed Postmaster’s reaction. At the same time, I understood his feelings.”
“It feels like everything is being stripped bare without uttering a word. Anyone meeting him for the first time would inevitably experience this.”
“Eventually, when his laughter subsided, I could easily come up with what he would say next.”
[Basic deduction.]
————
[Deductions……. Deductions……. Kuh kuh kuh kuh.]
“The Unnamed Postmaster was bound with ropes, muttering about Ji-gal Seol-rok’s abilities with a foolish expression.”
[Bind him tightly and take him away!]
[I remember now! You were the one with the cursed blood that the person mentioned!]
[What are you talking about! Just take me already!]
“The person? What is this all of a sudden?”
[Who ‘that person’ refers to.]
[It’s all over now; do you think I’m trying to claim I’m not the culprit? There’s no need to hear more, but one person tuned into that story.]
[Wait a minute.]
[Detective?]
“When Ji-gal Seol-rok stopped the Ho Pil men, the culprit looked at the detective with a mixture of unbearable fury and regret.”
[Kuh kuh kuh kuh. The person warned me about only one person to be wary of in Wuhan. Said I just had to be careful of that fellow’s abilities. I never thought I would fall for that guy’s trick.]
[Do you know me?]
[I was uncertain, but now I know. You must be Ji-gal Se family’s direct descendant.]
[……!]
“That Ji-gal Seol-rok’s look of utter shock was something I had never seen before.”
[So, so-nyeon. Was I really a direct descendant of Ji-gal Se?]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok was a true descendant of the family? No! More than that! Who dared to call our Ji-gal family cursed blood?”
To call a renowned family that had existed for over a thousand years cursed blood! What kind of fool would say such nonsense?
“Ji-gal Seol-rok asked with the same confident face as always, but now he posed a serious question.”
[Who set this up?]
[Detective. W-What do you mean by that?]
[There was one suspicion I had. The ghost ship incident’s plan was too coherent. Conversely, moments after disembarking the ship, there were a series of blunders, as if the planner and executor were different individuals.]
[W-What?!]
[Who is it? Who plotted this?]
“Could it be that there really was a different true culprit? The Unnamed Postmaster replied with a smug expression.”
[……What will it change if you say you know the person?]
“Is it true that there really was a different perpetrator?”
[I just wanted to say you worked hard making a half-baked plan.]
“Ji-gal Seol-rok smiled a sardonic smile. Even if he was on the same side, that grin made the Unnamed Postmaster lose his cool.”
[I was just lacking! That person’s plan was flawless! How dare you s-…….]
[What?]
[You’re lining up your words! Cough!]
[Kang Yoon-ho!]
“I rushed towards the collapsing Unnamed Postmaster, holding my chest, but it was already too late.”
[His, breath is gone. What on earth is this……. ]
[Tsk! It’s the Forbidden Law!]
[Forbidden Law?]
“A secret of the Martial Arts World I had heard of in passing. Why would it suddenly come up?”
[……Only a few in the Martial Arts World can pull off such a thing.]
“No way!”
A lightning bolt of realization struck Elder Oh’s mind.
[The Samase Family.]
“Samase Family?! Why is the name of those cursed ones here?!”
A cursed name that had caused countless disruptions among the righteous faction. The name of a family that had been annihilated after endless struggles against the Ji-gal family had just popped up.
—
“Samase family! Why on earth is that clan of annihilators involved? What’s going on?”
Elder Oh’s heart raced as he continued reading the novel, but the following content only covered the resolution of the ghost ship incident.
[I found the missing cargo from Heuknok Post’s warehouse.]
[Good.]
[When I questioned the postmen, it seems Heuknok Post was struggling with heavy debts due to reckless expansion. They were on the brink of collapse if they didn’t receive a major commission. … And I found the sailors’ whereabouts.]
[They are no longer part of this world.]
[What?]
[They were all killed to eliminate evidence. Did you know about this?]
[There must have been a reason the captain couldn’t trust the Unnamed Postmaster.]
[When I interrogated the postmen, it seemed the Unnamed Postmaster plotted this scheme right after meeting someone.]
[Samase Family. Is there anything more you found out?]
“Tell me quickly!”
[The person from the Samase clan is the one who planned this whole incident. Oh! And I heard another bizarre tale.]
“The person from the Samase clan planned the ghost ship incident……?”
[Bizarre tale?]
“Officer Jung had a highly uncomfortable expression as he brought up an unexpected story.”
[They did it for free. All of this planning.]
[For free?]
[Because they thought it would be fun, they decided to do it for free.]
[That’s like……. ]
“My gaze naturally fell on one person. It was because their manner of speaking was very similar.”
“Detective.”
“Someone who had no other choice but to do what they must, while being present. If we were to call that person a hero, what should we call the person in the opposite position?”
“I had no idea.”
[This is interesting.]
“Only, I could see Ji-gal Seol-rok smiling with glee, enjoying it more than usual.”
———
[How boring.]
[Is it really true that I don’t have to take a single penny from Officer Jung? After all that trouble, shouldn’t I get something?]
[Isn’t it enough if it’s fun?]
[Truly. Impressive.]
“A criminal scheming evil. So then, what’s next……. Huh?!”
Elder Oh suddenly realized something odd about the book he had been holding.
“Wait! I clearly remembered it was a standalone complete volume! There should still be content left, so why are the pages getting thinner and thinner?”
The dwindling pages were disappointing, but Elder Oh’s surprise wasn’t finished.
[Have you heard the rumors?]
[Rumors?]
[There is a figure called the Shadowless Thief who appears. They write notice and steal items.]
“The Shadowless Thief from Chronicles of the Wind and Cloud Heroes?!”
With a true culprit appearing, another character from a book he loved emerged.
“W-Wait! This atmosphere!”
Suddenly, the pace quickened. Elder Oh didn’t want to see where this story was heading, but predicting it was all too easy.
[The phantom thief who writes notices, and the individual from the conspiratorial Samase Family.]
[I have no idea how this world will turn out.]
“Why did the annihilated Samase Family appear!!! You need to explain more!!!”
[That’s why this Wuhan is such an interesting city.]
“Wait! Noooooooo!”
[Is this the place where rumors say there’s a detective?]
[You weren’t a guest of the ceremony? I will guide you.]
[Detective. Ji-gal Seol-rok.]
“Just another everyday occurrence. Just another everyday guest. However, the case the guest brought in stirred up a new storm.”
Elder Oh couldn’t tear his eyes away from the last chapter.
“Is this really the end? What about the chase between Ji-gal Seol-rok and the Shadowless Thief? What about the identity of the one planning the murders? What about the detective solving it all?”
No matter how much he shouted, all that lay before him were the disheartening words.
Ji-gal Seol-rok. – The Secret of the Ghost Ship. –
– End (完) –
As Elder Oh looked over the last page, he couldn’t help but shout something different from any other member of the Tea and Book Club.
“Why is this the end?!”
