Assassination – So-un's Interrogation (2)
He truly was a boy who knew how to speak.
When one thought about it calmly, everything he said was correct.
He seemed to pay little regard to the fact that they stood on opposing sides, yet every sentence that left his mouth made sense.
The scout found himself nodding before he realized it, drawn in by the boy's ability to point straight toward the most direct line that benefited everyone.
"Ask whatever you want. I'll answer it all. I like you. After that, you can kill me if you want—or better yet, let me live."
"I'll let you live, ajusshi. They told me to kill you. Said we couldn't let our information leak. But I'll let you live."
So-un spoke as though he were granting a favor.
As though sparing a life were something light.
"You're quite the great man."
"I am something, yes. But not a great man."
"You answer cleanly, too."
"I figured that way I might get something out of this."
"Fine. Then ask. What do you want to know?"
"So, ajusshi, you don't want to climb back up there again, do you?"
So-un pointed toward the ridge from which the man had fled and where he had begun rolling down.
At the sight of the steep hill, the scout let out a long sigh and nodded.
There was nothing in the world more unpleasant than climbing back up the path one had just descended.
Even money would not make it desirable.
"Then tell me everything. About that bastard."
"Yang-sigi? Jang-sigi? Whatever—him. Why?"
"To kill him."
"Say something that makes sense. You can't kill a man like that just because you've gathered a few scraps of information."
The scout clicked his tongue in disbelief.
So-un sat upright in the saddle, perfectly composed.
The horse, having nothing better to do, lowered its head to graze before lifting it again.
"What's his hobby?"
"Mine? My hobby's romance."
"Not you. Him. From now on, everything I ask is about him. If you tell me, I won't follow you anymore. I won't kill you either."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"You won't kill me?"
"Of course. So tell me. His hobbies first."
"I'm not sure… but he likes liquor and women. Keeps one or two in his carriage. I've heard the giggling—definitely not eunuchs. At every town he passes through, he picks up new women and takes them along."
"What else does he like?"
"He eats like a pig. And if it helps him climb higher, he won't hesitate to wade through fire or water. A cold bastard."
"Where's he from?"
"Me?"
"No. Him."
"Huaiyin, I think."
"Huaiyin? As in Marquis Huaiyin—Han Xin's hometown?"
"Han Xin was from Huaiyin?"
"Yes."
"Then that's it. Huaiyin. That's where he's from."
So-un imagined sweeping that hometown away with a broom.
He pressed on with question after question and gathered more than enough.
The best source of information was always a subordinate who harbored resentment.
He learned:
That the man ate excessively and moved often for that reason.
That he loved liquor and women and kept them in his carriage as he traveled.
That in every town he passed, he summoned famed courtesans and entertained himself along the march.
That he owned the largest house at the third property from the end of Bukchon in the capital.
That despite his filth, his martial skill was formidable—ordinary soldiers could not match him—and that he wielded a spear with uncanny mastery.
When the conversation seemed finished, the scout asked,
"What are you going to do with all that? That kind of man."
It was obvious he held no affection for Jang-sigi.
The other common soldiers likely felt the same.
"To kill him."
This time, the scout nodded.
After describing him out loud, even he felt such a man deserved to die.
"Yes. Please kill him. A bastard like that—better he not exist. Maybe the Emperor needs him. I don't. I'm leaving."
The scout turned north.
So-un blocked him.
"Thank you. But you can't go that way. Returning to your main force isn't allowed. If you try, I'll have to kill you."
"I can't not return. If I don't, I'm dead."
"If you try to return, you'll die before you get there. Ga Daeju ordered it. It's an order. I don't have a choice."
"Fine. Then what do I do?"
"Go somewhere untouched by war. Just for a few days. Until that bastard dies."
"When will you kill him?"
"Soon."
"Really?"
The boy's words were hard to believe.
But there was no reason to die immediately.
The scout slowly turned his steps in another direction, toward where the boy had indicated.
He could always pretend and then circle back later.
He had said everything. The boy would not follow.
So-un turned his horse.
And vanished like the wind.
So quietly that it felt unreal—like he had never been there at all.
A fully armored child.
The scout stopped, forgetting his duty to report.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether that small boy might truly kill Jang-sigi.