WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 103

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Influence (2)

Min Wan-ki said,

“As expected, we should use this to score points. Ah, of course, after setting aside all the key posts first. The U.S. military must have handed this over with that much in mind.”

Then he asked Gyeoul,

“What is your thinking, Captain? What should we keep, and what should we hand out?”

He was clearly trying to test him. Gyeoul sensed a faint streak of intellectual vanity in him. It was ordinary, a flaw anyone could have. Nothing to be offended by.

There was only one standard for what to keep and what to divide. After sorting his thoughts for a moment, Gyeoul answered.

“Isn’t influence what matters most? Direct profit comes last.”

Jang Yeon-cheol thought it over, and Min Wan-ki nodded. Watching the two of them, Gyeoul continued.

“This is only my opinion, so take it with a filter. I think we should give up the Distribution Bureau first. A role that manages immediate necessities like food, clothing, and hygiene supplies is bound to draw suspicion and resentment from everyone. Especially when everything is scarce like now. You would even get complaints from inside the group running it.”

Embezzlement by officials was always a real possibility. Hungry bellies would only feed suspicion. Once suspicion takes root, people start seeing ghosts.

‘When emotions come first, people find reasons later.’

That was the kind of people Gyeoul knew well. In some ways, it overlapped with Min Wan-ki’s cynical view of human nature. Still, Gyeoul believed people could be better. Or at least he wanted them to be. In this afterlife, hearts were all that remained.

Jang Yeon-cheol agreed.

“Now that I hear it, you are right. It looks like the biggest prize, but it is really a poisoned apple.”

“Yeah. There is nothing to gain. Better to hand this kind of thing to someone else. It stirs division. Speaking of that, Vice-Captain Jang, what happened to that thing you said you would try last time? It would be good if we could use it now.”

“Last time? Ah, that.”

Back when the Snowflake Knot was first created as the symbol of the Gyeoul Alliance, just before Christmas, Jang Yeon-cheol had said he would try to split other Korean organizations. He said he would prod the internal corruption of rotten groups like the Korean Patriotic Association and the Damul Promotion Association, and build secret connections.

It seemed he had really gone all in. Jang Yeon-cheol quickly listed brief profiles of more than a dozen people across multiple groups. But at the end, he added a negative assessment.

“I do not really recommend them. They are exactly what they look like, people full of complaints, so they are not exactly kind-hearted. Not that they are rotten at the core, more that they have too much resentment piled up... Mm, how should I put it. You know the type. They flip an organization over, but the corruption stays the same... Revolutionaries who become dictators? No, that sounds too grand...”

His wording was fuzzy, but the meaning was clear. Gyeoul understood.

“I think I get it. You mean we should leave those people alone for now?”

“Exactly. If victim and perpetrator only switch places, does anything really change? I also have not forgotten what Vice-Captain Min said before.”

Min Wan-ki looked puzzled when he was mentioned.

“Hmm. What was it I said? Maybe age is catching up with me, my memory is not...”

“You said being weak and being good are different, and we should beware of Underdogma.”

“Ah, that? Yes, definitely related.”

Min Wan-ki smiled with satisfaction. Jang Yeon-cheol scratched his head and turned away a little, embarrassed.

“Let us say we ditch the Distribution Bureau. Then what should we take? You said influence mattered most.”

The conversation resumed with Min Wan-ki’s question. Gyeoul already had his answer.

“We should secure the Audit Bureau first. You think so too, don’t you, Vice-Captain Min?”

“Little Captain’s age always amazes me. I had a few students like that when I was teaching too. Haha.”

Adjusting his glasses out of habit, the middle-aged man laid out his thoughts.

“That is right. By the nature of its work, the Audit Bureau will be in constant contact with every other department. It is the best position for exerting influence. Usually there are limits, of course, but with Little Captain here, assuming normal limits is pointless. Even if we give up the Distribution Bureau, we lose absolutely nothing. Who would dare discriminate against us?”

That was also what the boy intended. The same logic was probably behind why Colonel Laughlin had originally recommended the audit commissioner post to the young officer. Gyeoul said,

“Jobs that get cursed no matter how well you do them are better left to someone else. This is best for the alliance too. Think of Yu Jae-heung. How many people are already asking us to feed our own first?”

Jang Yeon-cheol made a sour face.

“He is still going around doing that. He does not shout it openly, but around his close circle he keeps whining that the Captain treated him unfairly. He stole and ate someone else’s dog, and still acts proud... And there are people who pity him. I really do not get it. So your concern is only natural, Captain.”

Min Wan-ki commented,

“There have always been people like that. Selfish patriots.”

Gyeoul turned those words over in his mind. People who stressed belonging to justify protecting their own interests. Even in a confined society like a refugee camp, every kind of crowd still appeared.

Min Wan-ki shifted in his seat.

“Anyway, where should we toss the Distribution Bureau? If we have the best bait, we should catch the biggest fish. There may be many positions overall, but management posts are only a handful.”

Besides the Distribution Bureau, there were several other departments, Transportation Bureau, Military Affairs Bureau, Personnel Bureau, and more. Getting into any of them would be a major privilege for refugees. But this was a cold, hungry season. Everyone would covet posts tied to urgent needs.

Jang Yeon-cheol cut in.

“Um, what if we give it to the Chinese first?”

He offered his opinion carefully.

“You remember the person who secretly sent that letter before. The one who claimed to be a joint proxy for Shui Fong and Wo Shing Wo? He asked you to become their Dragon Head, or at least accept their faction into the alliance... I am bringing this up because maybe we should settle that now. Thanks to Little Captain, things are different from back then.”

The changed situation meant the police’s large-scale crackdown on Chinese gangs. The Chinese would have taken that as Gyeoul flexing his power. Even Xiong Xigui, Hall Master of Zhili Hall, had singled Gyeoul out as the target in the hostage standoff.

‘More than anything, wouldn’t other Chinese people share Li Ailing’s fear too?’

Yeon-cheol pointed that out as well.

“And these days the Chinese are very uneasy. They were already cornered, and now the police crackdown is on top of that. If we offer them a chance to work in public office, the response should be very positive. At least they will not run wild trying to pay back what they suffered so far. And they probably will not get that chance going forward anyway. Uh, I know you said earlier that we should induce division, Captain, so that part does bother me a little.”

Gyeoul put on a smile.

“Do not worry about that.”

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes. What I want is division for the sake of unity. Right now people are too tightly bound by nationality, ethnicity, or organization. We need to loosen those bonds somehow. That is what I meant.”

“Ah, I see.”

Yeon-cheol’s face brightened. Min Wan-ki added,

“I agree. It is unfortunate that all our negotiating partners are gangsters. It would be good to pick moderate Chinese figures and back them, but people spoil quickly once they get a taste of power... Their culture and social code are unusual, so they are also hard to sort.”

For someone like Li Qinzhen, loyalty might be no more than a slogan, but for other Chinese people it was not. Blood ties, school ties, hometown ties. If people were connected through any kind of relationship, guanxi, they would do whatever they could to keep loyalty. And they demanded the same from others.

On the other hand, they showed no Empathy toward people outside those ties.

People who built fences in the name of loyalty and relationships, and felt Empathy only inside those fences. Toward those outside the boundary, they cared intensely about face. That also matched the nature of violent organizations. The only difference was whether they used violence.

Min Wan-ki’s point, that it was hard to distinguish gangsters from ordinary people, came from the same context. These were people bound together by loyalty through hard times, so splitting them now was difficult.

“For negotiations with the Triad side, I think we should recommend Li Ailing.”

At Min Wan-ki’s new proposal, Gyeoul tilted his head.

“Not Li Qinzhen?”

“That old man has already lost a lot of prestige. If his daughter gets a public post in this state, the balance of power inside the organization will tilt sharply. Will Li Qinzhen allow that? No. He is far too greedy to accept becoming an old man in the back room. He will pretend not to show it while tormenting his own child in one way or another.”

“Will it really be like that? He seemed to care for his daughter in his own way.”

“Haha. This has nothing to do with affection. The world is full of parents who fight their children, and even more children who rebel against their parents. Do all those conflicts happen because there is no affection? No. There is affection, but they do not know how to show respect. Most parents struggle to treat their children as equal human beings. That is understandable, since they raised them from infancy, but once they start seeing children as property, that is when it turns serious.”

Gyeoul sighed.

“You are right, Vice-Captain Min. No matter how deep love is, it is useless without Empathy.”

He had never been loved, so for a moment he had fooled himself.

“Ahem, yes, that is about right...”

After reading Gyeoul’s expression, the middle-aged vice-captain continued.

“In China they say women hold up half the sky, banbiantian, but that was Communist policy education... and it was not enough to remake the minds of older generations like Li Qinzhen. Why else would Chinese orphanages be overflowing with girls? And that man is a criminal. Male supremacy runs rampant in the criminal world.”

“That is true. That is a fair point.”

Chinese education emphasized gender equality. Li Ailing had received that education too, but she might have grown up suppressed by family tradition. If so, that knot must still be inside her.

“We lose nothing by trying. If even a small grudge forms in young Li Ailing’s heart, it is still a gain for us. Personally, I think the odds of success are high.”

“Alright. I was planning to meet Li Qinzhen once anyway, so let us do it your way, Vice-Captain Min.”

Jang Yeon-cheol, who had been listening, raised a concern.

“Li Qinzhen will insist on taking the commissioner post himself. Will he accept the proposal?”

Gyeoul answered lightly.

“A little deception will do. Tell him the regimental commander will never approve a criminal boss, so we are pushing hard to at least get his daughter in. Tell him even this is already a stretch. Then what can Li Qinzhen say? Is he going to walk into the regimental commander’s office?”

Once Fort Roberts’s command structure was reorganized, the old collusive ties had vanished. Xiong Xigui treating Captain Markert like washed-up trash was one piece of evidence. How would Li Qinzhen verify the facts anyway? With police crackdowns tightening now, the circumstances alone could keep him from suspecting anything.

He might still complain that they gave him the disease and the cure.

The discussion continued in the same vein after that. There were many recommendation letters and many blank slots, so it took time to match them.

============================ Author's Afterword ============================

#Q&A

Q. Geumseo-Maker-nim: @Hey Mr. Author, are you planning to do s-x?

A. ;;;

I planned a total of three adult-rated scenes in this novel. The first has already appeared, and the second, like the first, is meant to punch holes in the readers’ stomachs. The third is literal romance activity, but depending on circumstances, it may be skipped.

Q. Bahoe-nim: @I have enjoyed every chapter so far, but the last one really lingered with me... I just read it again carefully too. Like licking it... lick lick!

A. So you were one of the ancients who read novels with your sense of taste. New ancients are always welcome.

Q. ToothbrushWithRice-nim: @Anti? What kind of anti do you mean...?

A. They said it was a title that made people not want to read.

Q. Haruos-nim: @Saying there is hope because it is not regular repayment... As expected from someone who learned childlike innocence from Cthulu.

A. No, that is not it. Cthulu learned childlike innocence from me...

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