Even as Wonhyeok was consumed by disillusionment, the Ghost Gate Messengers did not so much as blink.
The wooden floor had been cut into a neat square, as though it had been prepared in advance.
Park Yehu pulled a ledger from the floor Haje had torn open.
After quickly flipping through its pages, he said, “Hmm, it is a genuine ledger.”
“You can tell just by looking?”
“I have an ability called <Inspection>. To put it simply~ I suppose you could say it lets me tell whether something is real or not.”
A Ghost Gate Messenger’s ability!
Having seen only Haje playing with lightning or creating talismans from thin air, Wonhyeok found Yehu rather impressive.
Then Haje suddenly said, “Hmm, did we touch something wrong? It is noisy outside the work office.”
“Is it?”
Park Yehu scratched his head like a lumbering bear.
Wonhyeok also listened outside after Haje, but he could not hear anything in particular.
Is this some heightened sense unique to a Gap Grade Messenger?
Wonhyeok quickly gave up on the question.
“They must have set some kind of mechanism. I still have not figured out what the chrysanthemum means, either....”
“You are really getting absorbed in playing detective with riddles, Clerk.”
“I-I am not!”
Waving the ledger, Yehu said to Haje, “Then I will leave with this ledger. What do you plan to do, Haje?”
“If the alarm has already been raised, it is better to stay than draw needless suspicion. You go alone.”
“It is not because you do not want to show me proper courtesies, is it?”
“......”
“Understood! I will leave quietly.”
While the two chatted, Wonhyeok kept thinking about the earlier riddle.
It was not that he had become engrossed in playing detective, as Haje claimed. Rather, it was suspicious that they had added another step to open something that anyone could simply break open by force.
Place a chrysanthemum beneath where bamboo grows.... But had there even been a place to insert anything?
Then Wonhyeok spotted the Revenue Clerk’s document chest that Haje had moved.
At the very bottom were three small drawers lined up beside one another, each lavishly carved with bamboo, plum blossoms, and orchids.
Beneath where bamboo grows... a chrysanthemum....
Then Wonhyeok saw a fallen brush holder.
Among the brushes that had spilled from the holder Haje knocked over, he saw an iron key.
An iron key decorated with chrysanthemums....
“Who goes there!”
The moment Park Yehu disappeared, government troops rushed into the room.
Wonhyeok hurriedly pocketed the iron key.
The guards hesitated in surprise at the black-clad Ghost Gate Messenger standing amid the ruined room.
“...Where is Messenger Park Yehu?”
“He used a concealment technique to leave. He is nearby, watching us.”
I see. Then from now on, Wonhyeok and Haje needed to discover what this key was for.
Wonhyeok’s brain, ninety percent. Haje’s brain—more precisely, his willingness to participate—ten percent. Together, a full hundred percent!
“G-Ghost Gate Messenger, what is the meaning of this...?”
“While investigating for the Ghost Gate inspection, I came in because there were so many stray ghosts. Even though the Ghost Gate is being managed so well, uncanny powers and wicked spirits are wandering around like this. The world truly is in decline.”
“...I-is that so?”
Though dusk had only begun to fall and it was still light outside, Haje lied shamelessly.
Since night had not yet come, he could bluff without a care.
Having heard the news, the clerks of the Six Offices stood murmuring behind the government troops.
Among them, Wonhyeok saw Revenue Clerk Shin Heon-gae and the bearded Military Clerk standing tensely.
From behind Haje, Wonhyeok quietly struggled to push the Revenue Clerk’s document chest back into place. Then he cleared his throat and said, “We can only apologize for causing such a disturbance. But it was work that needed to be done.... Ahem. We will be leaving now.”
Haje lowered his head and whispered to Wonhyeok, “Clerk, you are getting better at scamming people.”
“Please be quiet....”
If he was going to serve as a Ghost Gate Messenger’s clerk, Wonhyeok would rather improve at rapid writing. Why was he getting better at deception?
“But....”
The woman who appeared to command the government troops glanced back at the Six Offices with a flustered expression.
What should we do? Her face practically asked.
Just as the Military Clerk was about to say something, Haje seized the initiative and shouted loudly.
“An Office of Ghostly Inspection Messenger causes a disturbance while exorcising ghosts, and you rudely try to persecute him without cause! Or is there something else hidden in this work office?”
Wonhyeok’s stomach twisted at the forceful declaration.
How is he going to handle the consequences of this, this man?!
But thinking about it, Haje had no consequences to handle.
An unknown Gi Grade Messenger whose identity was unclear aside from his entirely black appearance and attire.
Furthermore, due to Haje’s influence, Ghost Gate Messengers who dressed all in black from time to time did exist. It would be difficult to identify him by his clothes alone.
I see. I am already in enough trouble merely looking out for myself!
After only their second case together, Wonhyeok realized the most important truth he had to remember while accompanying Haje.
Meanwhile, faced with the situation, the Six Offices had no choice but to retreat despite their displeased expressions.
Seeing that, Haje snorted and said to Wonhyeok, “Just as Ghost Gate Messengers do not interfere in the affairs of people, ordinary people should not meddle in the work Ghost Gate Messengers do to capture uncanny powers and wicked spirits.”
“I see....”
Following Haje as he grandly pushed through the guards and left the work office, Wonhyeok hurried away as well.
Once they had left the county office and returned to the guest hall, Yehu dropped from the sky.
Unlike Wonhyeok, who nearly jumped out of his skin, Haje casually asked Yehu, “What did they say after we left?”
“Haha, the ledger our Clerk found must be an important one. The Revenue Clerk and Military Clerk were panicking, stamping their feet because it was missing!”
Yehu smiled broadly. Then his face suddenly hardened.
“But there is something strange. They spoke as though everything else was still fine, aside from that.”
“Does that mean there is something else hidden?”
“From the context, it seems so. I also found time to look through this ledger a little.... It concerns Ghost Gate byproducts. This alone proves the poor Ghost Gate management and corruption, but....”
Yehu furrowed his brow and trailed off. He seemed to feel that something more was hidden.
Hearing that, Wonhyeok remembered the iron key concealed in his sleeve and took it out.
“C-come to think of it, I found the ‘chrysanthemum’ from the riddle during the commotion.”
“You were still looking for that? Clerk, you are very diligent.”
Yehu sounded impressed, but Wonhyeok somehow felt as though he had said, You really were serious about that riddle. It made him feel embarrassed for no reason.
“Perhaps this may have concealed something else besides the ledger.”
“Did you see where this goes?”
“Ah, yes. Beneath the Revenue Clerk’s document chest that Messenger moved, there were drawers. The Four Gentlemen except for the chrysanthemum were carved there, so I believe the place to insert this iron key may be there.”
“Interesting.”
Haje spoke suddenly.
Wonhyeok did not know what was interesting, but now that a secret royal inspector had arrived, he felt a sense of duty to reveal every crime they could.
“S-so... I would like to investigate that place again, if possible.”
“I understand perfectly! However, not much time has passed since the ledger was taken, so they will be on high alert. Once they realize the key is missing, they may move what they have hidden.”
“I do not think they will.”
At Wonhyeok’s words, Yehu’s eyes brightened.
“Is that so? Why?”
“Judging by its shape, this iron key appears to open some kind of lock. I do not think they would keep several such keys and divide them among the conspirators. If they did, there would be no need for a riddle in the first place. The fact that it is in the form of a riddle... makes me believe one of the Six Offices periodically moves the key’s location.”
“I see, I see. So the riddle itself supports that conclusion. And?”
“S-so... If they want to force open the document chest, they would have to break the chest itself or use someone with extraordinary grip strength, like you Messengers. Since they cannot immediately do something so conspicuous, we should go first and seize whatever they have hidden.”
Park Yehu nodded along to Wonhyeok’s explanation before turning to Haje.
“What will you do?”
“My accompanying inspector is quite capable. He cannot stand leaving something half-finished.”
How could anyone leave things half-finished when a secret royal inspector had arrived?
From Wonhyeok’s perspective, Haje was simply being excessively laid-back.
At Haje’s words, Park Yehu burst into a laugh that could have been hearty or awkward.
“In truth, we can punish Tanghangseong’s corrupt officials with the ledger we already possess. As we punish them, the evidence in the hidden document chest will come out on its own.”
“But could they not destroy the evidence in that document chest in the meantime?”
“Well, then there is nothing to be done~.”
Wonhyeok was dumbfounded by Park Yehu’s carefree voice.
Then Haje said to Wonhyeok, “Anyway, if we go back to the county office work office to check it, we will be the ones struggling while using techniques. Why should we do something so troublesome?”
“How can you say that? You are a Ghost Gate Messenger and a secret royal inspector, yet you would neglect your duties because they are troublesome...!”
“Then will you go?”
“P-pardon?”
I am going? Where?
Even as Wonhyeok’s head spun, Haje spoke as casually as ever.
“Once midnight comes, even a mere civilian like you should have no trouble sneaking into the work office. We will inspect the Ghost Gate in the meantime, so if anything happens, you can make a break for the Ghost Gate.”
“I know where the Ghost Gate is~!”
Yehu raised his hand and called out cheerfully.
Then, as though he truly expected Wonhyeok to come, he explained exactly where to go from the work office, which streets to cross, and which corners to turn.
Wonhyeok felt so exasperated that he might simply die.
In other words, he was so wronged that he felt ready to burst.
Are these people truly Ghost Gate Messengers?!
“Fine, I will do it! But I will record every last detail of this, so brace yourselves!”
“My, how frightening.”
Haje teased Wonhyeok to his heart’s content.
Clutching the iron key and grumbling furiously, Wonhyeok left the guest hall.
Once Wonhyeok had gone, Park Yehu watched his retreating back before turning to Haje with a tense expression.
“...Are you truly going to leave him on his own like that?”
“What is the harm?”
He may be my clerk, but he really has no fear.
Tilting his head, Haje said to Yehu, “Let us go look at the Ghost Gate, as we said.”