The Regressed Gangwon Hunter Makes a Fortune in 1933 - Chapter 104

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 104: The Food You Ordered Has Been Delivered

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Inje.

Inside the building at the police constable post where the military police detachment was based, Sawada had been summoned in the middle of the night. His head throbbed.

"So..."

"Reporting, Commander."

The adjutant on night duty recited what he had put together before Sawada arrived.

"Eight children without household registers and three adult men. They say that Korean man subdued all of them alone."

A murmur passed through the gathered military police.

"Alone? Eleven against one?"

"That's pretty impressive..."

One of them, a broad and sturdy-looking military policeman, snorted.

"What's impressive about it? Eleven against one, my ass. Only three of them were adults. Why count eight little brats who still smell like piss?"

An older military policeman shook his head.

"You just got here, didn't you? Take a look at the confiscated items."

"Look at what..."

The sturdy military policeman fell silent. A row of cheap tools lay on the desk, the kind that would give you tetanus if they so much as grazed you.

The older military policeman clicked his tongue.

"Those little brats, sure, if they came at you bare-handed one by one, you could just kick them away. But would it go like that? Imagine them all rushing you in a pack, each holding one of those nasty tools. And they did it in an alley, in the dead of night."

The sturdy military policeman pictured it.

A cramped alley. In that pitch-dark place, little brats no taller than his waist rushed at him all at once.

There was the physical problem of even trying to punch them. It was like trying to punch a wild dog. With that much of a height difference, he would have to bend down to hit them, and if those little bastards ducked quickly, his fist would just sail over their heads.

Unless he had a weapon, he would have no choice but to kick.

But kicks were wide movements too. Before he could swing his legs a couple of times, he would be buried beneath the swarm of brats.

Then, once they closed the distance, some would cling to his legs while others swung whatever they held in their hands... There was no reading the path of those wild, clumsy swings...

The sturdy military policeman clicked his tongue.

"Huh. And he didn't even get grazed once... No, looking again, those brats don't have any broken bones or bruises either. What the... No, how the hell did he do that?"

The man receiving the Inje military police detachment's awestruck stares, Han San, was currently firing off words at Sawada like a machine gun.

"Commander! Seriously, I mean, I caught these bastards and rushed straight here to hand them over to you. Can you see this loyalty? Can you feel the heat pouring out of my burning heart?"

Crack!

Sawada rolled a steel ball in his palm. He wished it were that Korean bastard's heart.

'Or one of that Korean bastard's eyeballs.'

Either way, Sawada found those bright little eyes fixed on him utterly disgusting.

'Disgusting, but...'

The moment he looked past that disgusting Korean, a flicker of excitement rose in Sawada's one eye.

It was like returning to camp after days in the field and finding a lavishly laid-out meal.

Pickled side dish.

The crowd of beggar brats huddled together.

Their sour, stale stench hit him hard, but it did nothing to diminish his appetite.

Rice and soup.

The two Baekbaekgyo members, bound tightly and still only blinking their eyes.

They happened to be dressed in white, making them pale as bowls of rice. One had been beaten bloody, and the blood soaking through the clothes gave them the color of miso soup.

And the main dish.

"From what I can see, that driver is the real prize."

It irritated Sawada that the Korean bastard arranged things as though he were some master chef, but Sawada could not disagree.

That driver, bowing his head and trembling!

A transporter knew the routes. One end of each route had a starting point, and the other had a final destination...

'Hm.'

Sawada Kazuo, the military police detachment commander of Inje, nodded firmly.

'This all counts toward my record.'

Crack!

Sawada rolled the steel ball in his hand and gave an order.

"Tendo."

"Yes, sir!"

The adjutant stepped forward. Sawada clacked the steel ball against his palm as he spoke.

"Bring Kim Gang-cheol from the police constable post. Take those three to the basement, especially the driver. Take extra care with him."

The bound and gagged Baekbaekgyo members' eyes widened. The driver began vibrating so violently that a faint afterimage seemed to trail behind him.

"Yes, sir! And the beggar brats..."

The adjutant saluted and asked cautiously. Sawada's one eye swept over the little beggars.

The beggar brats who had rushed in chanting a three-syllable spell while wielding cheap killing tools shrank back like earthworms sprinkled with salt. A few hurriedly hid behind Han San's back.

Sawada snorted.

"Send them to the backyard. They might be useful for questioning as witnesses."

That meant they would not be going underground.

There were already three people who might yield something after being beaten. What would the beggars produce if they were beaten? Nothing but grime.

Sawada called himself a warrior and did not mind dirtying his hands, but this was not a matter of stabbing an enemy through the guts. He had no desire to get shit on his hands.

Still, the adjutant nodded with a faintly relieved expression.

"Yes, Commander!"

"Quickly. The smell is unbearable."

Sawada waved a hand. The adjutant and military police poured out of the room. The two in white and Driver Kim were dragged underground, while the children were taken to the backyard.

The door closed.

Only Han San and Sawada remained in the room.

"Commander..."

It was time to discuss the long-awaited bonus prize, though Han San honestly was not expecting much.

It was not only because Mister Five Won from his previous life had taught him never to rely on others. The man before him, who could never get ahead, had about as much value as a scratch-off ticket.

'The kind where getting a winning ticket only means you earn enough for the next one.'

Last time, he had won military binoculars. What would come out this time?

'It might be a complete loser.'

It did not matter much.

Han San was no longer the man he had been half a year ago, someone who had to scheme endlessly just to collect a promised bounty.

And if this snake bastard took the gift and pretended nothing had happened?

'I can admit it was a bad investment and cut my losses.'

The next time another gift fell into his hands, Sawada would not get so much as a grain of consideration.

Making friends with the military police to squeeze out information was the same. Was Sawada the only military policeman on this peninsula?

'Come to think of it, this venerable master has already planted his feet in Chuncheon and become an expert of the Chuncheon realm. How much longer must I share a table with this snake bastard, who is no more than a lowly Inje-realm scrub? If he wishes to sever the connection himself, I should welcome it with both arms.'

That was why Han San wore such a warm smile.

And the sight of that smile made Sawada's blood boil.

'Damned Korean bastard.'

It would have been better if Han San had worn an open expression of greed.

But that face, saying it would be nice if Sawada gave him something but fine if he did not, that he had a way to respond no matter what Sawada chose to do... It made Sawada want to jab beneath his eyepatch!

'Still...'

Sawada thought of Oda Nobunaga again. The great ruler who had squeezed every last bit of worth from every capable person within reach. The secret was to reward them according to that value.

Even if they were disgusting.

"Is there something you want?"

Han San answered as if he had been waiting.

"That cargo truck those bastards were riding in, the one I brought here. I think it would be useful for moving goods around."

Sawada's eyebrow twitched. Half contempt for the vulgar Korean bastard, half reluctance.

"It is evidence."

"Yes, if that's difficult, then..."

Han San immediately backed down, and that only made Sawada more annoyed. Of course, he did not cross his arms, turn his head sharply, and blush as he said, "Hmph! Who said it was difficult?"

Sawada Kazuo asked something else.

"Why did you come all the way here?"

"Pardon?"

Han San blinked.

Sawada crossed his arms.

"You caught them in Chuncheon. Why bring them here in the middle of the night instead of taking them to the Chuncheon military police?"

"Oh, that."

Han San wore an expression that said, Is that all? Then he laughed cheerfully.

"Didn't you give me orders, Commander? You said that if I got information about the Gyeongseong Troika, Baekbaekgyo, or the Inwang Gang, I should bring it to you. Of course I have to follow your orders, don't I?"

"My orders."

"Naturally. If someone throws away the Commander's orders, they aren't a person, they're a parasite... No, that's too harsh. An animal... That doesn't sound right either. You know, wouldn't they have no right to complain if people called them a dark hero in Western terms?"

Han San, the self-proclaimed dark hero who had thrown away Sawada's orders long ago and joined hands with his father's friends in the Inwang Gang, spoke with confidence.

Sawada looked as though he had never heard bullshit so salty it could be spread on roads to melt ice. Still, Han San's claim that he had done this to obey Sawada's orders brought something to mind.

'They say capable people who offer their loyalty gather around those who possess the bearing of a great ruler.'

This Korean bastard could be called capable, at least.

Sawada's mood improved. Only a little.

'And if I wrap this up well and hand it over to Chuncheon...'

The faces of the Chuncheon military police commander and the chief of operations came to mind.

Sawada had noticed that after he sent over that photograph last time, their eyes on him had become much gentler.

'Perhaps promotion truly is not far away!'

The military police detachment commander in Hongcheon, who was at his exact level, passed through Sawada's mind. So did the corporals under Chuncheon's chief of operations, men of lower rank but much closer to power.

Especially Corporal Ishihara.

'That arrogant bastard always trying to act like my equal.'

After scoring a decent hit with that religious incident at Mogok School or wherever it was, he had stopped even trying to hide it.

[Soon, the Sergeant Major and I might be of the same rank...]

If Han San's latest [gift] was the real thing, how would Corporal Ishihara's expression change?

The thought made even someone like Sawada feel quite pleased.

Sawada said, "You may keep the truck for now. Hand it over when you are ordered to do so."

"Yes, sir!"

Han San's lips stretched all the way to his ears.

'This is huge.'

It was not because he had effectively earned the nearly 1,500 won value of a used cargo truck.

Han's Myriad Commerce already had one truck.

The unregistered cargo truck taken from the Inwang Gang.

It had gone through Kim Seong-ja's laundering, but it was still too risky to drive far. So they had limited it to the Inje and Sokcho areas, and kept it near the outskirts when in Chuncheon.

But now, they had another cargo truck that the military police detachment commander had tacitly approved!

One washed item might still have some stains left, but wash it twice and it comes out much cleaner.

Even if they acquired more trucks from the Inwang Gang in the future, they could safely drive them farther away.

What? The truck approved by the military police detachment commander belonged to Baekbaekgyo, not the Inwang Gang?

Hm... To the eyes of a seventy-four-year-old man, all cargo trucks looked more or less the same. Their paperwork would probably soon look more or less the same as well. Things tended to grow alike after spending enough time together.

"And."

Sawada leaned back in his chair.

"I will record this as a meritorious service."

"Oh."

"How much merit it will be worth will only become clear after we squeeze those bastards in the basement dry."

Crack!

The steel ball in Sawada's hand roared.

"But it will not be nothing, so rest easy."

"Yes, Commander!"

Han San grinned.

'This Sawada lottery has a pretty decent hit rate.'

He was actually repaying what he received!

It was not the incredible conversion rate of Tono, who gave up an IMCO trench lighter in exchange for a hunting stone, but at least Han San did not need to cut his losses. It might be worth increasing their business a little.

'And merit...'

The year 1937 from his previous life flashed through his mind.

[Extra! Extra! The full truth of the Baekbaekgyo cult has been revealed! The number of excavated bodies has reached 346...]

Of course, this was four years earlier. The three people dragged underground were only a single claw of Baekbaekgyo. As a notorious cult, Baekbaekgyo could very well cut off its own tail along the way.

Even taking all that into account and making the lowest possible estimate, the only regressor on this peninsula knew it would be worth not just merit that was "not nothing," but a considerable amount.

'Considerable merit.'

That was the heart of today's matter!

A cargo truck was only something that could be bought somehow if he had money. The laundering and all that were, at their core, just ways to save a little money.

But merit recorded by the Government-General could be exchanged in this era for [privileges] that money could not buy.

'Even my current assistant forest warden appointment is practically a free pass to Mount Seorak.'

What privilege should he demand?

Several possibilities flashed through Han San's mind.

[Permit to Handle Explosives: You may legally handle a certain quantity of dynamite below a specified limit.]

[Special Night Travel Pass: Unless there is a special reason, you are no longer subject to nighttime inspections. If presented while riding in a vehicle, it applies to everyone in that vehicle.]

[Gold Mine Excavation Permit: You may openly mine the gold vein in the designated area. In truth, it holds even greater power when used to launder gold ore from unlicensed miners than for mining itself...]

Han San let out a low sound.

'This looks exactly like corrupt collusion between the government and private interests...'

But it was fine.

Unlike the evil and selfish government-business collusion committed by others, his was kind and selfless government-business collusion. The seventy-four-year-old man knew very well the principle that flowers blooming in a garbage dump were all the more beautiful...

Anyway.

'It will take some time before I can actually exchange it.'

Putting aside those stray thoughts, Han San rose from his seat.

"Then I'll be going. Thanks to you, Commander, I'll sleep soundly tonight."

The snake nodded, and the mountain hunter headed outside.

By the time he left the building, dawn had arrived.

Driver Wang, leaning against the black-painted cargo truck at one side of the yard, gave him a casual salute.

"How did it go?"

"He says we can use it for the time being."

"Oh-ho."

Driver Wang stroked the cargo bed.

"You're really amazing, sajang. I suppose we'll need another driver now?"

"Yes. When we get back, please pass word to Noona Seong-ja. Tell her to make the paperwork for this truck and the existing truck look similar too."

"Leave it to me."

Driver Wang climbed into the driver's seat with a smile.

Han San started toward the passenger side this time, rather than the cargo bed, then suddenly stopped.

He could see the beggar brats beyond the backyard fence.

"Baek Seon-eung, Baek Seon-eung, Baek Seon-eung, Baek Seon... eung..."

The beggar brats, who had been chanting the three-syllable spell with their heads bowed low, hesitantly looked back at Han San.

Separated by the fence, the eyes of the children who had rushed him with murderous intent only hours earlier met those of the old man who had easily sent them flying.

Han San sighed. He spotted Sawada's adjutant nearby and asked, "Adjutant. Will they get food?"

The adjutant sighed too.

"Of course we won't starve..." After thinking for a moment, the adjutant corrected the ending. "Of course we won't starve them, while they are here."

Under Japanese military rule, the military was the wealthiest organization. What was the issue with feeding a few brats for free? It would be more troublesome if they starved to death.

But Han San understood the implication behind the words, "while they are here."

'Once the questioning of witnesses is over, no one knows what will happen to them.'

Han San thought for a moment, then sighed and searched through his clothes.

"If it becomes difficult to find somewhere to put them, please send them to the Han's Myriad Commerce Inje office."

"To your office?"

"Yes, well... Consider this a little compensation for your trouble. We came so late without warning and caused you trouble."

Han San pulled out a ten-won note and pressed it into the adjutant's hand.

The adjutant looked blankly between the money, the beggar brats, and Han San. Then he let out a short laugh.

"I've never seen a Korean like you."

"Ah, come on."

Han San waved a hand.

"People like me are everywhere."