Chapter 226
Clap, clap, clap!
Seong Geon-u clapped his hands.
Jang Mok-hwa immediately narrowed her eyes and glared at him, then turned to Baek Sae-byeok.
“Sae-byeok, what do you think?”
“If we return to the company, we should request materials related to this. In this area, the company will have a much clearer grasp of things than we do. It’s safer to investigate after understanding more.”
Baek Sae-byeok replied coolly.
Jang Mok-hwa picked up the thread.
“Hmm, but we can’t go back to the company right away. We only get answers from them when we’re facing a concrete problem. I think that through this exploration, the Boundary Sect will send a strong expert to investigate that shrine.
We do have a good relationship with Watcher Song, but we’re carrying quite a few secrets. There’s no need for us to meet a powerhouse from the Boundary Sect.
Anyway, we’ve already achieved our main purpose for coming to Redstone Market. Once we get the materials on Machine Heaven, the job is basically done. After that, we leave immediately.”
Yong Yeo-hong and Baek Sae-byeok raised no objections. Seong Geon-u hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.
Jang Mok-hwa sighed and smiled.
“Until then, we still need to find the real culprit who killed Helvik. We’ve already received weapons—there’s no way we can leave the job unfinished.”
After hesitating, Baek Sae-byeok spoke.
“I think we need to reorganize the list of people who might have held a grudge against Helvik.”
“Right.”
After answering, Jang Mok-hwa’s gaze shifted toward the door.
Soon, Seong Geon-u also turned to look in that direction.
About ten seconds later, someone knocked.
Seong Geon-u, wearing his monkey mask, opened the door. The visitor was Watcher Song Ha-gyun, draped in a black cloak. Along with him was Weller, the flirtatious forensic doctor from the security office.
Once inside, Song Ha-gyun looked at Jang Mok-hwa and the other members of the rescue team and spoke in a sincere voice.
“There’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
Jang Mok-hwa asked.
Song Ha-gyun glanced at Weller and spoke.
“We suspected that someone sold information to the merfolk and the mountain monsters—specifically, the fact that Bishop Renato had been urgently summoned back to headquarters. And now, we’ve identified one suspect. We’d like you to secretly investigate him.”
Jang Mok-hwa nodded as if she understood.
“And who would that be?”
Song Ha-gyun let out a deep sigh and answered solemnly.
“Han Myeong-ho.”
“Captain Han?”
Yong Yeo-hong and Baek Sae-byeok, as well as Jang Mok-hwa, were all startled.
Jang Mok-hwa recalled the countless corpses and the scorched ruins she had seen when she and Seong Geon-u returned to the defensive line under Han Myeong-ho’s command.
Like any other village guard, Han Myeong-ho could have died at any time. Bullets and shells wouldn’t avoid him just because he was a security officer.
If Han Myeong-ho really was the one who sold the information about Bishop Renato returning to headquarters, there would have been no reason for him to go to the front lines. He could easily have found some excuse and moved somewhere safer. Yet he had been there. That was dangerously foolish behavior.
‘Unless Han Myeong-ho is far more powerful than he appears, confident that he could survive even a frontal assault by the pseudo-human coalition… But if he had that level of strength, would he really need to resort to any means necessary for such a small gain?’
As Jang Mok-hwa was still reeling from the shock, Seong Geon-u spoke in a firm voice.
“That’s impossible.”
Song Ha-gyun, who had been about to explain further, was left speechless.
Beside him, Weller couldn’t hold back and asked,
“You say it’s impossible without even hearing the reason? Why?”
“I trust him.”
Seong Geon-u offered his justification.
“Why do you trust Captain Han?”
Weller was burning with determination to get to the bottom of this.
“Male intuition.”
Seong Geon-u replied, looking straight at Weller.
“……”
For a moment, Weller felt a contradictory sensation—that his opponent was full of openings, yet somehow flawless.
Then Seong Geon-u spoke earnestly, as if instructing him.
“At times like this, you’re supposed to retort with, ‘What kind of man are you?’”
“And then?”
Weller asked unconsciously.
Seong Geon-u proudly rattled off what would happen next.
“I’d take off my pants and clearly show that I’m a man. Feeling deeply humiliated, you’d fly into a rage, and then, with music blaring, we’d have a big brawl.”
‘What the hell is this…?’
Weller was utterly confused.
Seeing Seong Geon-u successfully derail the topic, Jang Mok-hwa sighed helplessly and turned to Song Ha-gyun.
“Watcher Song, what’s the reason?”
Because Weller was present, their conversation was conducted in Red River Common.
Song Ha-gyun’s expression turned solemn again.
“He might be a pseudo-human.”
“A pseudo-human?”
Jang Mok-hwa’s eyes widened. It was an answer she had never even considered.
Suspicion also darkened Yong Yeo-hong’s and Baek Sae-byeok’s faces. Then they recalled that the whites of Han Myeong-ho’s eyes had a slightly yellowish tint, and they fell into thought.
“Pseudo-humans are still human.”
Seong Geon-u continued trying to argue his point.
Song Ha-gyun completely ignored him and pointed to Weller.
“The reason we suspect this—Doctor Weller will explain.”
Naturally taking the floor, Weller sighed first.
“Honestly, I want to believe he isn’t. Captain Han and I are on pretty good terms. He even told me which smuggling caravans were carrying prostitutes. But here’s the thing—Captain Han was injured in this battle. His left arm.”
At this point, his expression grew serious.
“That’s right.”
Yong Yeo-hong, who had witnessed it himself, replied.
Baek Sae-byeok also nodded slightly.
Weller continued.
“I’m a doctor, after all, so I wanted to examine and treat his wound. There’s no benefit in letting it get infected, right? But he refused my offer, said he could handle it himself.
A while later, he went into an inner room of the security office, saying he needed to change his bandages. I figured it would be inconvenient with one hand, so after finishing the water I was drinking, I went in to help. We’re both men, so I didn’t bother knocking—just flung the door open.
And then I saw it. There were pieces of something attached to his arm—pale amber, like sparse scales. Captain Han ignored his wound and hurriedly pulled down his sleeve to hide it.
Then he looked at me and asked why I’d barged in like that. The look in his eyes was extremely dangerous—like a boss catching his subordinate in bed with his wife.
I pretended I hadn’t seen anything and said I’d come to help change his bandages. Captain Han quickly returned to his usual expression and said he’d already finished.
After I came out, the more I thought about it, the stranger it felt. So as soon as I got off work, I went to the church to find Watcher Song. He told me to stay calm, pretend nothing had happened, and secretly keep observing him.”
When Weller finished, Song Ha-gyun added,
“Then today, there was a change. We reached a point where we could no longer just sit and wait regarding the matter of the information being sold to the merfolk and mountain monsters. That’s why we had no choice but to ask for your help.”
After listening quietly, Jang Mok-hwa smiled.
“Watcher Song, wouldn’t it have been fine for you to go and see him yourself? What could he possibly hide from you?”
There was no way Han Myeong-ho would dare act unfriendly or hostile toward Song Ha-gyun, an awakened one. But Song Ha-gyun sighed.
“Han Myeong-ho left a very good impression on me. Over the past three years, he’s achieved quite a lot. As you know, as a clergyman, doctrine prevents me from making the residents of Red River Market trust one another and unite against external enemies. But Han Myeong-ho at least achieved the latter.
I know well that he approached his work with sincerity and a strong sense of responsibility. If I were to go and confront him directly, no matter the outcome, it would leave deep wounds on both sides. We might never be able to coexist again. But you are different. You’re outsiders. Even if you learn something, you’ll soon leave, and the secret will be buried.”
Weller and Seong Geon-u nodded deeply in agreement.
‘So… this is giving Han Myeong-ho one chance? As a Boundary Sect clergyman and the de facto village head of Redstone Market, he can’t break the law due to personal feelings—but we outsiders can act freely. Is that the real reason he’s assigning this mission to us?’
After thinking for a moment, Jang Mok-hwa organized her thoughts and spoke.
“There’s one thing we need to make clear first. Whether Captain Han is a pseudo-human or not has nothing to do with whether he sold the information. Even if he really is a pseudo-human, that doesn’t mean he betrayed Redstone Market. At the time, he truly held back the enemies amid a storm of bullets and shells.”
Song Ha-gyun gave a gentle smile.
“Indeed. I think so as well.”
‘As expected.’
That answer confirmed Jang Mok-hwa’s earlier suspicion.
“Then this mission splits into two parts. One is to confirm whether Captain Han is a pseudo-human. The other is to find the person who sold information to the merfolk and mountain monsters.”
“Agreed.”
Song Ha-gyun concurred.
“And what will the reward for this mission be?”
Jang Mok-hwa asked with a smile.
Song Ha-gyun swept his gaze over the masked rescue team members and spoke meaningfully.
“You might be interested in knowledge related to awakened ones. I can’t share anything too secret, but I can tell you as much as Do Je-hun knows.”
‘After seeing us kill the awakened merfolk and return safely from the forbidden shrine, he must think at least one of us is an awakened one. Awakened ones often display bizarre traits—so it wouldn’t be hard to figure out that it’s Geon-u.’
Without even turning her head, Jang Mok-hwa could imagine Seong Geon-u brimming with excitement. She cleared her throat and spoke.
“Knowledge is always valuable. That’s a reasonable reward. Watcher Song, we trust you. There’s no need to go through the Hunters’ Guild.”
Song Ha-gyun smiled again.
“Very well.”
Having accepted the mission, Jang Mok-hwa immediately spoke with the decisiveness of a relic hunter.
“Watcher Song, we need a list. A list of everyone who knew, before the merfolk and mountain monsters attacked, that Bishop Renato had been urgently summoned back to headquarters. That information was classified and shouldn’t have been widely known.”
Song Ha-gyun took out a neatly folded piece of paper from the pocket of his black cloak.
“Yes, I’ve already prepared it. The list is divided into two parts. One includes those who directly witnessed the incident at the church, and the other includes those who were informed afterward.”
Those in the former group knew that Bishop Renato had contracted the Sleepless Disease.
‘It’s so convenient talking to smart people.’
Jang Mok-hwa accepted the paper with satisfaction. Instead of examining it immediately, she saw Song Ha-gyun and Weller out and stated that they would begin their investigation starting the next morning.
