WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 113: Gangwon Province Flag Festival (1)

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The Soyang Bridge completion ceremony was a resounding success.

“Wow! That was an incredible completion ceremony, San!”

“You're right, Miss Ayame. If it were a novel, I think describing that scene alone would fill fifty manuscript pages.”

“What an interesting comparison! The readers would like it too, wouldn't they? The enormous crowd, the ribbon-cutting ceremony, people and automobiles crossing the bridge for the first time, the Soyang River flowing beyond it... You can see the whole ceremony vividly in your mind.”

“Well, I'm not so sure about that...”

At least Han San himself probably would not have enjoyed it. Even when he read wuxia novels, he skipped every description of the dueling grounds before an Assembly of Dragons and Phoenixes[1].

‘The fights are what matter.’

Once the ceremony ended, Han San and Ayame attended a separate banquet prepared for the distinguished guests.

What was a social gathering?

If someone answered that it was a place to get acquainted, build friendships, and broaden one's connections, that would of course be correct.

Yet the seventy-four-year-old man who had lived through the golden age of wuxia and accompanied six-term Assemblyman Han Bada to so-called [formal functions] had a more practical answer.

‘A place to throw your weight around!’

Whenever Han San had stood in a banquet hall full of men in suits in his previous life, he had always thought of one thing.

A herd of deer during mating season.

The deer did not recklessly lock antlers. That was the last resort, and eighty percent of the contest was decided before then. They circled each other, scraped the ground with their hooves, and compared the volume of their calls.

This banquet hall was exactly the same.

The deer who had made names for themselves across Gangwon had gathered to put on a grand show of swagger.

‘I recognize every face here.’

There was Gye Myeong-ung, the old chicken magnate who controlled the poultry farms around Chuncheon. Kim Seong-ja, mistress of the Blue-Gold Pavilion and one of Chuncheon's rulers of the night. The Chuncheon Merchant Association chairman, along with the Inje Township Merchant Association chairman, who was like a younger brother to him, and so on...

Han San clicked his tongue as he scanned the room.

‘Of course, there are faces I don't know too.’

Still, most of the names were familiar.

His eyes stopped at the Soyang Bridge completion ceremony contribution ledger displayed near the banquet hall entrance.

Chosun Ilbo[2] vice president Lee Gwang-su[3], Hwashin Department Store's Park Heung-sik, Boseong College principal Kim Seong-su...

The regressor felt strange when he saw [Han's Myriad Commerce, Han San] among those names.

He knew he had risen higher than expected after saving the Cross Society and building a relationship with Namgung Eok, but he still wasn't used to it...

“San, you gave quite a lot, didn't you? Ninety-nine won.”

Ayame stood on tiptoe to look at the ledger. Han San smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

“This is my first time at a gathering like this. What do you call it, a debut? I wanted to show some sincerity.”

“That's right! Today is San's debutante ball.”

“Debutante... Hmm.”

Just as he thought it sounded like the name of an anti-government organization, Ayame tilted her head.

“But why ninety-nine won? Why not a hundred?”

“Ah. I heard that odd numbers are lucky for congratulatory gifts.”

He had heard that too while accompanying his younger brother to formal gatherings. Odd numbers were luckier than even ones, while four and six were especially unlucky and should be avoided.

“Oh? Is that a custom?”

Seeing Ayame tilt her head, Han San realized his mistake.

‘Maybe that custom didn't exist in this era?’

Who knew? He would have needed to attend gatherings like this in this era to know. Around this time in his previous life, Han San had been holed up in Sebeom Valley, acting like a pouting good-for-nothing.

Then Ayame clapped her hands.

“Ah, you're right. I suppose there must be such a custom. Someone else gave the exact same amount as you.”

“What?”

Han San looked where Ayame pointed.

[Myo's Myriad Commerce, Myo San]

Han San's expression turned odd.

‘What's with that company name and that name?’

The amount of a congratulatory contribution was a kind of contest of wills too. The more someone gave, the higher their name was listed.

Those who gave the same amount were listed in Korean alphabetical order, which meant Myo's Myriad Commerce, Myo San was written exactly one line above Han's Myriad Commerce, Han San.

He had never heard of either the company or the man, but the strange feeling creeping over him would not go away.

‘Is someone already trying to pick a fight?’

Just as Han San was about to square his shoulders like a stag, someone firmly slung an arm around his shoulders.

“Han San! Fancy seeing you in a place like this!”

Han San flinched at the clear voice.

When he turned, a monocle gleaming like gold under the banquet hall lights stood before him.

The Empire's Silver Fox, Baron Kannoizuna Toono.

“Baron, you came too?”

“Yes! I was invited while making the rounds for the Baekbaekgyo investigation!”

As lively as ever, Tono tapped his lips with a hand covered by a black leather glove.

“Now that it has come up, Han San! You've scored major achievements one after another! The photograph you took with Kazuo last time and this Baekbaekgyo tip have both been mentioned several times at headquarters!”

“Ahahaha...”

Han San awkwardly scratched the back of his head. It felt unfair that the world kept failing to recognize his sincere intentions and pushing him toward the Committee for the Investigation of Anti-National Activities.

“So, how is the Baekbaekgyo investigation going? I haven't heard anything at all...”

“Hm. That matter.

I shouldn't really say, but Han San could be considered involved...”

Tono paused, then looked at Ayame beside Han San.

“Miss Hajama Ayame?”

Ayame blinked.

“Ah, yes! That's me.”

“Can I trust you to keep this off the record?”

Ayame's eyes widened, then she snapped her notebook shut.

“I'm a lady before I'm a reporter. I promise.”

“Aha! Yes, excellent!”

Tono nodded in satisfaction and lowered his voice slightly.

“To give you the conclusion first, it will not grow any larger than this.”

In other words, the case would be wrapped up at the level of the organization under Do-yusa Mun, who had supposedly committed suicide.

Han San had more or less expected that, but Ayame raised her eyebrows.

“It won't go as far as the cult leader?”

“Yes. The people above don't wish to expand it.”

Tono held up his fingers.

“Han San, Miss Ayame. The Government-General prefers the status quo! Unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

Ayame looked unconvinced.

“But...”

“Ginsei was precisely one of those exceptional circumstances.”

Hajama Ayame hesitated and closed her mouth.

Tono smiled brightly.

“Ginsei's victim was your uncle, Mr. Tsuchimaru, wasn't he, Miss Ayame?

If they had not considered elder Hajama's standing, do you think they would have posted such a bounty and mobilized that much security?”

“...”

“This Baekbaekgyo incident.

Many bodies were found at the Hongcheon mine, of course. The bodies were in a terrible state as well. Yet few of them were ordinary citizens who paid their taxes, and above all else.

There was not a single Japanese victim.”

In that situation, Baekbaekgyo itself had beheaded its second-in-command and offered up his head, and it had continued to bend over backward to please the Government-General ever since.

Unless the scale was too large to cover up, as it would be four years later in his previous life, or Japanese victims had appeared, it was only natural for the Government-General to pause and catch its breath.

The value of human lives was not equal. Especially in this era.

Ayame, whose life was valuable, lowered her eyes without saying a word.

Han San, whose life was cheap, remained calm.

“Administrative and security resources are limited. They're like the arrows we use when hunting.”

“Mm! Exactly! Han San really sees straight through to the heart of things.”

Tono smiled and took out a handkerchief to polish his monocle.

“A considerable portion of the Government-General's limited resources is currently going toward rice control[4]. Railways come next. Communist organizations would come after that.”

“Rice control...”

Come to think of it, Han San vaguely recalled there being some sort of Chosun Grain Control Act around this time in his previous life.

‘Not bad.’

It was a shame Baekbaekgyo had not been uprooted all at once, but Han San did not dwell on it.

What mattered more was that he had confirmed the Government-General's position and priorities directly from Tono, who had established himself at the center of power.

‘Information like this isn't easy to get, even when you go looking for it.’

As Han San organized what he had gained, Tono looked back and forth between him and Ayame.

“Hm! But you two look quite good together, don't you?”

Ayame, who had still been looking down, froze at those words.

“What?”

“Miss Ayame in particular. The last time I visited elder Hajama, I heard many worries about you!

They said you run too fast. That it would be nice if there were a man beside you to protect you, but no one could keep up. They said you had never even come to a social gathering with a man unless he was a senior from work.

But seeing you with Han San today, you two are a truly handsome pair!”

“No...”

Han San quickly waved his hands.

“Come on, Baron. What are you saying? You know how it is.

I'm Korean. I'm just some slash-and-burn settler who dug up potatoes and chased animals through the mountains...”

“Oh? Your household register has become quite clean for that, though.”

“Mm.”

He had looked into him.

Well, of course he had...

“It's just, I couldn't keep living as someone with no registered ties who paid no taxes forever...”

“Ah, I'm not blaming you! That would be terribly inflexible of me. It's not as though I'm Kazuo!

I'm saying, what does it matter if you're Korean?”

Tono laughed cheerfully.

“In truth, the distinction between Koreans and people of the Mainland is itself crude. Wouldn't it be strange to divide Tokyo people, Osaka people, and Kyoto people into ranks? Before long, words like people from the peninsula or people from Manchuria will all disappear.”

The Empire's Silver Fox went on at length, saying that when one was dealing with the world, dividing the ranks within one's own household was beneath one's standing.

Amazingly, he meant every word.

And Han San thought he understood the nature of that sincerity.

To the real privileged class of this era, men like Tono, the distinction between the peninsula and the Mainland was [a thing already settled].

It was like how Han San no longer considered Upper Hamlet an opponent worth fighting. The Japanese Empire had already moved on to the next game.

That game's name was the world.

Korea and Manchuria were no more than conquered footholds for the Japanese Empire of this era.

That was why Han San could only smile bitterly.

‘The Japanese Empire will be delisted in twelve years...’

This was the superiority of the time class.

Put another way, in the eyes of people who knew the future, the so-called privileged class of this era were nothing more than retail investors pouring every last asset they owned into a stock while shouting, [This stock is guaranteed to go up another tenfold!]

[You guys should hurry and collaborate with Japan. Money will pour in.]

[Power just keeps printing more power!]

‘The Japanese Empire is going under, you idiots...’

Of course, Han San did not say any of that aloud. He only cleared his throat.

“After hearing that the Baekbaekgyo case is being wrapped up here because there were no Japanese victims, it really puts my mind at ease to hear that distinctions between Japanese and Koreans don't matter.”

“Ah! That one hurts!”

For once, Tono became visibly dejected.

With his hands behind his back, he dragged the tips of his shoes across the banquet hall carpet.

“Real politics! It truly is sad and tiresome... They are all the same Imperial subjects[5]...”

Han San snorted.

‘In the way they are both so sincere about harmony between Japan and Korea, this man and Miss Ayame are oddly alike.’

Tono was simply much smoother with people.

‘Then again, this man entered politics too.’

A memory from his previous life passed through Han San's mind.

Kannoizuna Toono had slipped past the war crimes trials after Japan's defeat, entered politics, and served as secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party[6] several times.

Then, after Korea entered the military dictatorship era, he had worked hand in hand with Assemblyman Han Bada through connections they had made long ago and concluded the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea[7].

‘That damned Claims Agreement...’

Even as an era sank, he was the kind of genius at getting ahead who sat alone in a boat and popped champagne.

The lot of someone who could not get ahead, on the other hand, was miserable.

Han San's gaze suddenly stopped at a corner of the banquet hall.

Sawada Kazuo, the Inje military police detachment commander.

He sat upright in the lowest-ranking seat of the banquet hall in full uniform.

Click, click.

That genius viper, whose miserable fate was his own doing, had remained stuck in Inje until just before liberation in Han San's previous life. After the Japanese Empire collapsed, he had even missed his chance to return to the Mainland.

Now, he was casting Level 99 Solo Play as he rolled a steel ball around in his palm.

Naturally.

He had been invited thanks to the photograph Han San had produced for him and the credit from the Baekbaekgyo case, but that was all. How could someone naturally born incapable of getting ahead dare find anyone to talk to at a gathering like this?

‘Perfect.’

Having gotten all the information he could, Han San decided it was time to pass off the Silver Fox clinging to him.

“So, Han San. Miss Ayame. The two of you look quite good together...”

“Ah! Commander! There you are!”

Han San strode toward Sawada.

Sawada's lone eye widened.

For a brief moment, he was delighted at the thought, [Someone greeted me!], then his face immediately crumpled when he realized it was Han San. Soon after, he remembered [What would a man destined to rule the realm do?], composed his expression, and spoke.

“You came too.”

“Yes! It's all thanks to you, Commander. More importantly, Baron!”

Han San smoothly shoved the Silver Fox into the viper's arms.

“This is perfect. You two should say hello.

The three of us together like this, wow. Hasn't it been almost half a year? The Mount Seorak trio who caught Ginsei together! At this rate, we ought to swear brotherhood in a peach garden someday.”

“Oh!”

Tono's monocle flashed. The Silver Fox's curiosity swiftly shifted to Sawada.

“That photograph! That heartwarming tale of harmony between Japan and Korea! Aha, Kazuo! You've been undergoing such fascinating changes lately, haven't you? Even headquarters is buzzing about you!”

“No...”

Sawada's lone eye turned helpless.

Han San quickly waved as he turned away.

“Then, you two! Have a nice chat!”

“Yes! Han San! See you next time!”

“W-wait...”

Click, click! The sound of a steel ball rolling behind him grew faster like an SOS signal, but Han San paid it no mind as he left with Ayame.

After passing off unwanted work, the golden rule was not to look back.

[1] The Assembly of Dragons and Phoenixes is a stock wuxia gathering where martial artists assemble to compete and display their standing.

[2] Chosun Ilbo is a major Korean-language newspaper founded in 1920, which operated under Japanese colonial censorship.

[3] Lee Gwang-su was an influential Korean novelist and journalist whose later collaboration with Japanese colonial rule remains deeply controversial.

[4] The Chosun Grain Control Act was a colonial policy that regulated Korea's rice distribution and trade to secure supplies for Japan.

[5] “Imperial subjects” was the Japanese Empire's official designation for people under its rule, used to promote political loyalty and assimilation.

[6] Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is the conservative political party that has dominated much of Japan's postwar politics.

[7] The 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea normalized diplomatic relations between the two states; its accompanying claims agreement remains contested in Korea.

Footnotes:

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