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Chapter 108: Secret Independence Society 【Cross Society】 (2)

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Chuncheon Military Police Headquarters, situation room.

"There was nothing new."

After finishing the house searches of Mogok School affiliates, Sawada reported to his superiors.

"Of course, someone may have overlooked something during the earlier investigation. If you entrust the questioning of the detained affiliates to me as well, I'll look into it..."

While Sawada spoke, someone sat shoved into a corner, pointlessly leafing through documents. It was Corporal Ishihara, the one who had first brought in the intelligence on Mogok School.

The operations chief glanced at Corporal Ishihara, then cleared their throat toward Sawada.

"Enough. They've learned their lesson by now. Take them away."

"Yes, sir."

Sawada saluted and left. On his way out, he made sure to shoot Corporal Ishihara a look and let out a derisive snort.

Militarist army politics was a daily contest of intimidation, a gathering of dragons and phoenixes among those gifted at throwing their weight around.

The operations chief sighed and gave the cowed subordinate a reassuring pat.

"Forget it, idiot. It's not like you accomplished nothing. The Mugunghwa Incident wasn't some minor matter."

Corporal Ishihara knew that too.

Still, it was disappointing.

As with everything else in life, military ranks were limited-edition goods.

Corporal Ishihara sighed.

'If the Baekbaekgyo case hadn't broken out, or if this Mugunghwa Incident had grown just a little bigger... either way, promotion would've been guaranteed. The world's just not on my side.'

It stung, but there was nothing he could do.

All he could do was regret how he had strutted around before his peers and superiors who had lost their backing, like Sergeant Major Sawada, because he had been sure of a promotion.

Of course.

Corporal Ishihara was perhaps the greatest victim of the history Han San had changed, though Han San naturally did not know that. Even if he had, he would have applauded.

The Mogok School[1] people were more important.

They had been escorted from the Hongcheon police constable post to Chuncheon Police Station. Not a constable post! A proper police station, because this was Chuncheon! There, they had been questioned by the Special Higher Police[2] of the Gangwon Provincial Police Department before being released.

They were still under all sorts of restrictions and warnings. They were being watched, had to come in at regular intervals to report on their circumstances, needed permission to leave designated areas, had to work with designated businesses on poor relief and street cleanup, and were never to even dream of another rose of Sharon project.

Still, they had been released.

Gomchi danced with delight.

"Pastor Nam Cheon-u has been released! I keep telling you, our sajang's divine powers are something else! Caesar of Inje, no, Caesar of Chuncheon!"

Han San waved him off.

"Divine powers, my foot. And what's this Caesar nonsense? Stop talking rubbish. If you know anyone among the people who got released, go explain things to them. Spread the word about what work they'll be doing from now on."

"Got it, sajang!"

Gomchi did exactly that.

The Methodists of Hongcheon and Inje who had been swept up in the Mogok School case soon learned how they had been released. They could understand the ban on rose of Sharon projects, and they also learned why conditions such as poor relief had been imposed.

That night, an old man with a long white beard and thick glasses came to see Han San.

"Did you need us?"

Namgung Eok[3].

Emperor Gojong[4]'s interpreter. The construction supervisor of Tapgol Park.

He had held several provincial administrative offices, and it was said that he took the post of magistrate of Seongju only after Gojong gripped his wrist and begged him to do so.

Still, he was better known as one of the fourteen initiators listed at the founding of The Independent, an executive of the Independence Club, and the founder of Hwangseong Newspaper.

"Hm."

Since regressing, this was Han San's first encounter with what one might call a [historical figure].

'No, wait. There was Kim Yu-jeong.'

Still, he had never met him face-to-face, and Kim Yu-jeong likely had not yet become such a famous writer. This had to count as his first time.

'Well, either way...'

Han San composed himself.

Before his younger brother had mentioned the cemetery relocation business in his previous life, Han San had never once heard of the historical figure standing before him. He had only learned of all those accomplishments then.

Namgung Eok's influence was no longer all that great, either. Age and the long Japanese occupation had worn it down.

'He's about on the level of a local notable in Hongcheon.'

Honestly, he was comparable to Gye Myeong-ung, Chuncheon's chicken grandpa. Gye Myeong-ung probably had far more money, too.

'Though this man's [standing] is much higher.'

All those thoughts passed through his mind in an instant.

Han San spoke calmly.

"Yes. I was thinking of looking after the beggars in Chuncheon. It's more than I can handle alone, so I asked someone to find me workers who'd be easy to put to work."

Namgung Eok's eyes widened. After blinking a few times, he asked,

"The beggars?"

'Hm.'

Han San took note that Namgung Eok had not frowned at the words "workers who'd be easy to put to work." He had reacted first to the part about looking after beggars.

'He's a good man.'

Han San welcomed the historical figure into his office.

"Come in and let's talk. Hyeong-don! Uncle Gomchi! Bring us some tea and something to eat."

The conversation that followed was smooth.

"Why do you want to look after beggars?"

"Because I'm too kind for my own good. I can't stand seeing children go hungry."

"What do you intend to use us for?"

"You're church people, aren't you? Helping those in need is your specialty. You're organized, and you have a decent level of literacy. You used to run a school too, so you'd be good at teaching children."

"How did you get us released?"

"I'm fairly close with the military police. Sawada. He's the military police detachment commander in Inje, and he falls over himself to do whatever I say."

Namgung Eok studied Han San in silence. Han San only smiled kindly.

A moment later, Namgung Eok smiled as well.

"You're wary of me."

Han San scratched the back of his head, still smiling.

"We've only just met..."

"I'm not blaming you. Being circumspect is a good thing, especially at your age."

When the seventy-year-old Namgung Eok praised his maturity like that, the seventy-four-year-old young man accepted praise from someone four years his junior with a slightly awkward feeling.

Namgung Eok continued with a smile.

"Yi Wan-yong[5] once said this. The person you can entrust a secret to isn't someone who won't betray comrades under torture. It's someone who doesn't get arrested in the first place."

Han San blinked.

He did not know whether it was because a name every Korean knew had casually appeared, or because it sounded exactly like something a genius traitor would say.

Naturally, Namgung Eok had no idea Han San was lost in such thoughts. He continued in a rueful tone.

"When I first heard it, I resented those words. But now, regardless of what that man did, I think they were right.

"How many times have I been arrested? Even at this age, I still end up looking like this. I suppose I'm not someone fit to be entrusted with secrets..."

Han San closed his eyes for a moment at the sight of him shaking his head with a bitter smile.

Then he spoke.

"Please clear the room for a moment."

The Han's Myriad Commerce employees in the office quickly excused themselves.

"Sir."

Sitting across from Namgung Eok alone, Han San spoke.

"I'll deny ever saying what I'm about to say. I won't say much, either."

Namgung Eok blinked.

Han San pulled a notebook from his coat.

It was an old diary.

He placed it on the desk. Namgung Eok looked at it with a puzzled expression, then reached out and opened it.

Namgung Eok froze.

Only then did Han San speak.

"Tell them not to write things like this."

Namgung Eok looked up. Understanding slipped from his lips before he knew it.

"You..."

Until then, he had only seen Han San as a capable young businessman with depth.

"So it was you."

Namgung Eok had known that Han San had helped them, and he had been grateful from the start.

Now, though, he knew exactly what kind of help it had been.

And how great that help was.

"If you had... if you had handed this diary to that military policeman you said you knew..."

A bitter smile formed on Han San's lips.

It wasn't as though he had never considered it.

There were many reasons to turn it in.

This had happened anyway in a history he had not been involved in. What would be wrong with skimming a few crumbs for himself?

There were many reasons not to turn it in, too.

Had he not sought out the diary in the first place to keep the Mugunghwa Incident from growing into the Cross Society Incident? Because that would keep the fallout from reaching Han's Myriad Commerce?

Yet there were also many reasons to turn it in.

He, the sajang of Han's Myriad Commerce, would be the one handing it over. Why would there be an investigation into him? He could earn merit points from the Government-General with this, then use them to do better things for his people and the world.

Still, there were also many reasons not to.

Because Japan would fall in twelve years?

Because earning too much merit too quickly might make people suspicious?

Those were big reasons, surely.

But were they the only reasons?

Could they have been?

During that brief moment beside Sawada, when he hid the diary, countless thoughts had crossed Han San's mind. There were plenty of reasons he could use to convince himself, and plenty of ways to deal with any unexpected consequences.

After considering all of it, Han San had chosen not to do it.

The regressor knew he would make the same choice if he went back. The seventy-four-year-old man knew he would make the same choice if a similar situation arose again.

"Sir."

He took the IMCO trench lighter from his coat. It was the item he had received after giving a hunting stone to a baron of the Empire.

He could give away the hunting stone.

He could not give away this diary.

It was the same principle.

He could sell out Baekbaekgyo followers with a smile, but he would not sell out the Cross Society.

A clear line had been drawn.

Click!

Han San lit the IMCO trench lighter.

The diary caught fire.

"The Empire will fall."

Through the burning diary on the desk and the smoke rising from it, Han San spoke.

"It'll fall."

Then he said it once more.

"It will fall without fail."

The regressor spoke not of a wish, but of a certain fact. Only then did Han San give voice to one wish.

"Live to see that day."

Namgung Eok looked down at the burning diary.

Now, no one could inform on them.

"But."

A lament escaped the wrinkled lips of the secret society leader who had watched his homeland fall.

"Even if they fall, does that mean we have won?"

Han San looked at Namgung Eok.

Normally, he might have made a joke, asking whether it mattered how one got there as long as one reached Seoul. But he did not want to say that to an old man around his own age.

He did not want to say that winning and losing mattered less than making the people around you happy, either.

Nor did he offer comfort by saying that someone had to act, that otherwise no government could have stood after liberation, or that dictatorships could not have been overthrown in the future.

He had already said everything that needed to be said. Han San had never placed much value on words in the first place.

Words were best used for wordplay.

So Han San answered by brushing over the ashes of the diary after it had burned away.

A bitter smile formed on Namgung Eok's lips. He quickly composed himself and offered a formal bow.

"My apologies. To act so childish before a young man like you."

Only then did Han San grin.

"I suppose that's how life's cycle works. You get old, then turn back into a child."

"What? Nonsense. A man with his whole life ahead of him, what could you possibly know about getting old?"

After giving him that light rebuke, Namgung Eok adjusted his glasses.

"I will never bring trouble upon you."

"Ah, it's fine as long as it isn't fatal. Honestly, even if it is, if it was a mistake... People have to be patient with each other and help each other. That's how the world works."

"Haha."

Namgung Eok laughed again. His face looked lighter, as though he had set down something heavy.

Then, over that eased expression, a determination as firm as a cross appeared.

"Your name was Han San, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"If you ever need my help, say the word. My comrades and I will come running with everything we have."

Han San did not say that it would be better if such a day never came. He only smiled and saw the historical figure out of his office.

[1] Mogok School was a Methodist school and reform network in Hongcheon whose affiliates became entangled in the colonial investigation described here.

[2] The Special Higher Police, commonly called Tokkō, was Imperial Japan's political police, tasked with surveilling and suppressing dissent.

[3] Namgung Eok (1863-1939) was a Korean educator, journalist, and independence activist active from the late Joseon period through Japanese colonial rule.

[4] Emperor Gojong (1852-1919) was the last king of Joseon and the first emperor of the Korean Empire.

[5] Yi Wan-yong (1858-1926) was a prominent Korean official remembered for collaborating with Japan and helping facilitate Korea's annexation in 1910.

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