WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 81: Cult (1)

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Meanwhile, around the time Han San was digging up wild ginseng and taking it to Cheonbo Pharmacy to have it appraised...

The Han's Myriad Commerce employees who had been trying to pull the newcomer into the Red Vanguard realized this fellow was not as easy a pushover as they had thought.

"So then, newcomer! What is the Beloved? The Beloved means a socialist paradise, that's what I'm saying!"

As they walked through Inje town, Chuk Hong-cheol spoke with fiery passion.

"In that paradise, there are no worries, no landlords, no kings, and especially none of the sajang's goddamned wordplay! Anyway, all that stuff is gone, and what alone remains?

"Sugar, spice, and all things nice, that's what!"

Im Baechil listened earnestly as he led Nureung-i along. Knowing he was not good with words, he always tried at least to be a good listener.

And because he listened so earnestly, he grew earnestly curious.

"B-but... can someone who isn't nice... get into a place that nice...?"

"Ah! What are you talking about? Of course they can't! People who aren't nice get slapped with an entry ban by the Paradise Mutual Aid Council, just like over there in Meokbawi Valley!"

"Th-then I guess I can't get in..."

"Hm? Ah... no, no! Where are you going to find someone as nice as you? And, uh..."

Chuk Hong-cheol looked at Chuk Jun-ha, and Chuk Jun-ha very much wanted to ask why he was being looked at. This was your story to begin with.

But instead of doing that, Chuk Jun-ha let out a heavy sigh and took the baton.

"It's exactly like Leader Hong-cheol said, just like Meokbawi Valley! There are procedures for joining the Meokbawi Valley Mutual Aid Council, right? If you go through those procedures, then just like that, you qualify to enter paradise."

And so Chuk Jun-ha was about to say that going through those procedures was the most urgent thing of all, and that those procedures meant joining socialist organizations, starting with Hyeongpyeongsa.

But Im Baechil hunched his shoulders.

"Does... that qualification stay with you forever?"

"Huh?"

"If I get into paradise, and then later I lose that qualification..."

Just as there are people who straighten their backs first when they picture someone's happy face, there are people who hunch their shoulders first when they picture someone's disappointed face.

Im Baechil was exactly that kind of person.

"Well, uh... if it turns out you're a reactionary, or it comes out that you're a stoolie, then sure, you'd be expelled..."

"Expelled..."

The man who had fled with his mother, all but driven out, bowed his head lower and lower.

"Ah, hell, exile from paradise... ah, what was it? I think there was a similar passage in that book the Catholic lot read."

Chuk Jun-ha looked at Chuk Jae-seok, and Chuk Jae-seok very much wanted to ask why he was being looked at. This was your story to begin with.

But instead of doing that, Chuk Jae-seok straightened his glasses and took the baton.

"Expelled is right. Lucifer got done that way, and Adam and Eve too."

The Chuk brothers clicked their tongues.

"Ah, really? Then the Catholics' paradise isn't all that different from ours."

"Good grief. Can't you at least just love one another and get along? You're supposed to do your proper work as the opium of the people."

"Maybe paradise is the same no matter where you go..."

Chattering like that as they walked, the Han's Myriad Commerce group arrived at the busy part of town.

"Hyung Hong-cheol. The sajang says to keep the cargo budget under 30 won."

"Isn't that too little?"

"We don't know what state Sokcho's in after the typhoon. And it's been a while too."

"True enough. By the time we go this round, it'll have been nearly a month and ten days."

Murmuring among themselves, they drifted by habit to the bulletin board in front of the police constable post first. It was a necessary ritual if they wanted to update themselves on the latest information around Inje.

"Chief secretary, read it out for us."

"I keep telling you hyungs, one of these days sit down and learn some Japanese properly."

Smacking his lips, Chuk Jae-seok read down the newly posted notices. When he came to one official bulletin, his eyebrows lifted slightly.

"It says to beware of cults."

"Cults?"

"Yeah. The rest is all the usual stuff about typhoon damage, how the Government-General is putting its strength into recovery so everyone can relax and get on with their livelihoods, things like that. But the biggest new notice they've posted this time is about that.

"It says deceivers of the public are running rampant here in Inje too, so don't be taken in by sweet words. Signed, Sawada Kazuo, military police detachment commander of Inje."

If Han San had been there, he would have clicked his tongue and gone [The Dark Fantasy Peninsula of 1933 truly was an age of chaos where everything from greenwood outlaws to the Heavenly Demon Cult, apostate sects, and secret cults ran wild], but the Chuk brothers, not being regressors, responded with more immediate indignation.

"What! Those opium-junkies of the people are running around too!?"

"Newcomer, don't you ever get taken in by them!"

"Exactly! Especially anyone sweet-talking you about some earthly paradise or whatever, you absolutely must not trust them!"

Im Baechil stared blankly at the Chuk brothers. Only Chuk Jae-seok averted his gaze slightly and cleared his throat.

At any rate, after passing the bulletin board and entering the market, the Han's Myriad Commerce group soon wore troubled looks.

"No, this isn't even a Sokcho problem. Inje itself, what is this, a marketplace or a mugwort patch...?"

"Only half the spots are filled. And even the stalls that are open, every single price is insane."

"Seriously. It's been a month since the typhoon came through, and it's still like this..."

They had not really felt it because they had restored an entire village in just one month with Han San, but this was the normal basic pace of disaster recovery in this era.

When they happened to run into the elderly draper who had sometimes set up a stall beside theirs, the draper could only let out deep sighs.

"And this is after it's gotten a bit better over the past month, young men. Half full? Fifteen days ago, forget half. The whole place was practically empty."

Chuk Hong-cheol smacked his lips.

"How long do you think it'll take to get back to how it was before the typhoon, elder?"

"Well now. I've lived a long while, so... if it goes about like the other times I've seen things like this happen, wouldn't it take another month or so?

"By then, the people who were going to disappear will be gone, and new people will come in to fill those places. That's how the world turns."

"Life..."

As the Chuk brothers sighed, the draper gave a light laugh.

"Still, this world isn't entirely cold, young men. When a disaster this big hits and people start struggling, folks who want to help them show up too.

"They hand out rice cakes to the hungry, cook porridge for them... look over there."

The Chuk brothers looked where the old draper pointed, and there they saw two large groups camped out.

"Come now! Relief grain bestowed by the Grand Prince!"

One group was made up of men dressed in animal-hide clothing.

With strips of cloth bearing the character In tied around their arms, they handed steamed rice cakes to the hungry and cried out in ringing voices,

"Our Grand Prince is descended from the bloodline of Kings Taejo, Taejong, Sejong, and Danjong! You all thought King Danjong died at the hands of that wolf Suyang, didn't you?

"Not at all! King Danjong secretly went to Baekdu Mountain and left behind a bloodline there, and after hundreds of years passed, the final descendant of King Danjong to emerge into this world is none other than our Grand Prince, Elder Imok!

"Our Grand Prince is benevolent! Our Grand Prince spares no labor for the common folk! This land, ruled by false kings and invading hordes, shall at last receive a sage ruler and become paradise!"

Across from them stood another group, dressed head to toe in white, with steaming porridge pots hung over the fire.

"White white white, righteous righteous righteous, red red red, answer answer answer..."

"White white white, righteous righteous righteous, red red red, answer answer answer..."

While a droning sound that was neither quite a spell nor quite a song spread under everything, a woman in white lifted up a bowl of porridge and shouted in a voice sharp enough to split the air.

"White-Robed Lady, answer us!

"The all-knowing, almighty Great Magistrate! The Divine Son is watching over you all!

"Everyone, do you know judgment by fire and judgment by water? The judgment by water came this time, didn't it? Everything our Great Magistrate said was right!

"But everyone! An even greater judgment by water is soon to come! Only by following the Great Magistrate's law can you live instead of die!

"Eat this, regain your strength, and come to the refuge! Let us live together! Let us go to paradise and survive together!"

The white-clad group behind the woman all clasped their hands together and recited in unison.

"White white white, righteous righteous righteous, red red red, answer answer answer..."

"White white white, righteous righteous righteous, red red red, answer answer answer..."

The Han's Myriad Commerce employees watched the scene with narrowed brows.

A man from the Inwang Gang spat hard and stepped forward.

"What kind of Great Magistrate is that supposed to be! Folks! Those are the very kind who deceive and bewitch the people! Once our Grand Prince ascends the throne, those frauds will be swept away first of all!"

The woman in white flared up right back.

"Everyone! Don't you listen to that nonsense! What do they mean, Danjong left a seed behind? Left a seed behind, my foot! Only the words of our Great Magistrate are the one true truth! Everything those people spout is fake doctrine!"

The mood between the Inwang Gang and the people in white turned ugly.

"What, you white-clad bastards!?"

"And what are you, you mountain-bandit bastards!?"

Just as a fight was about to break out between the two groups, a whistle shrilled sharp enough to flay the skin and split them apart.

"Stop right there, you bastards!"

The military police had come charging in with police constables in tow.

At once, the people in hides and the people in white alike quickly gathered up their baskets and pots and scattered.

"The Inwang Gang awaits men of valor!"

"If you believe in the Great Magistrate, come to the refuge!"

All of it was so practiced it might as well have been routine. It seemed to be the same game of whack-a-mole every single day.

And the people receiving the "relief" paid that no mind one way or the other, only stuffing the rice cakes and porridge they had gotten into their mouths as fast as they could.

Because they had to eat. Because they had to live.

Eating could not possibly be a sin.

If eating were a sin, then life itself would be a heavenly punishment.

The Han's Myriad Commerce group trudged back to the new house they had rented on the outskirts of Inje.

After they had walked in silence for a long while, Chuk Jun-ha cautiously opened his mouth.

"By the way, I really do think the sajang made the right call deciding to set up an office in town altogether."

Chuk Jae-seok immediately chimed in.

"Of course. Our company has more people now too. If we stay at inns, money just pours away, and with the kind of situation we're in... if a bunch of men like us keep moving around and staying together in a pack, we draw eyes. We can't maintain secrecy at all."

"That's exactly it. Come to think of it, Jae-seok, what do you think about the sajang saying he'd get you a household register if you sign a long-term contract this time?"

"I think it's great. He says he'll dock twenty percent from my wages until the household register cost is paid off, but in the first place, just because you have money doesn't mean you can get one... where are you even supposed to go and ask for that sort of thing?"

"That's what I mean. Even if you've got money, you don't know where to offer it, and even if you ask around and track somebody down, if they swallow it and scam you, there's nowhere to complain. It was never something people like us could do in the first place..."

They traded talk like that, but somewhere in each of their hearts a corner still felt adrift. What they had seen in the market was filling that corner up.

They were just about to fall back into silence.

"Ah, hell!"

Chuk Hong-cheol raked both hands back through his short hair.

"The living have to live!

"Let's live, then!"

He squeezed one eye shut and scratched hard at his head as he went on.

"We make money, we get stronger. Then there'll be more things we can do, right? Of course, sure, like the sajang says, we've got to take care of ourselves first and all that."

Chuk Jun-ha grinned at that.

"Right! What's moping around going to do for us?"

"Mm. Exactly. Isn't it only the person who has saved themself who can finally save someone else?"

When Chuk Jae-seok added that in, the mood immediately revived. Even Im Baechil, who had been walking with his head bowed the whole time, smiled a little.

Chuk Jun-ha slung an arm around Im Baechil's shoulders.

"Anyway, newcomer!"

"Y-yes...!?"

"Tonight is a company dinner! Let's eat and drink and have a proper good time together."

"I, uh, I'm not very good with drink..."

"Ah, who said anybody was forcing you? If you can't drink, then just eat plenty! Looking at your build, you seem like you'd be a good eater.

"You ever had gopchang? Doraechang? It smells a bit, but it's a real delicacy."

After they had set up the town office, Han's Myriad Commerce had basically taken to handling meals in-house.

Of course, not in the sense of Han San's funny wordplay that it was "handled by the men" because the men were handling it. Every time that line came to mind while eating, the Han's Myriad Commerce employees felt as though they were chewing on shit instead of rice. It meant they could buy groceries with company funds and cook for themselves.

So there they were, noisily unpacking what they had bought and about to light the kitchen fire to get the meal started.

"Nobody move!"

The sudden shout rang through the Han's Myriad Commerce office in town.

"W-what!?"

"That voice..."

Wanted men through and through, the Chuk brothers froze stiff in blind panic. Then, bang, the front gate swung open and people came pouring in.

"Silence! On your feet!"

"Receive the Empire's military police!"

Military police in uniform and boots, with Type 38 infantry rifles slung over their shoulders.

At the head of them stood a man in an eyepatch, grinding a wild walnut in his hand with a crack.

The military police detachment commander of Inje.

Sawada Kazuo.

"..."

"..."

Silence fell.

Each time the gaze of the eyepatched military police commander swept slowly across the courtyard of the Han's Myriad Commerce office in town, the employees felt as though they could hear their guts dropping out with a thunderous crash.

Then someone stepped forward.

"U-um... w-what brings you... here...?"

It was Im Baechil.

The Chuk brothers, being wanted Hyeongpyeongsa members, had gone rigid with guilty fright, but Im Baechil was not a wanted man, at least. Terrified and trembling though he was, he could still force himself to step up.

"You."

Sawada did not forget a face once seen. He remembered this bastard had been chopping wood in the back yard when he had stopped by that tavern in the slash-and-burn village.

He asked at once.

"Han San. Where is that bastard?"

At his friend's name, Im Baechil flinched. He was afraid, but now he could retreat even less than before.

"W-why are you... looking for San...?"

Instead of giving the answer he was told to give, the Joseon bastard threw a question back. Beneath the eyepatch, Sawada's left eye twitched.

Everyone gathered there was sunk in the most extreme tension, but in truth, Sawada Kazuo himself was enduring stress to the absolute limit.

Because ringing through Sawada's head were the very words he had heard only yesterday from his direct superior, the Chuncheon military police commander.

["Hey! Sergeant Sawada!

"You know that Joseon youth Ayame mentioned this time, right? Han San, was it? I hear he pulled his villagers together during this wind disaster and did something worth holding up as an example.

"I hear you know the fellow? Why don't you go meet him and have a talk?"]

Which was why Sawada Kazuo, the man who styled himself the lord of Inje, could only grit his teeth and say this.

"That... is none of your business."

Footnotes:

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