NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 142



Only Krnovel

The Hunter and the Prey (1)

Today, too, the Sparrow Cafe was peaceful.

I sat in the same spot from early morning until late at night, not moving an inch, but as always, there were not a single customer.

In the past, there were quite a few brats who would try to talk to the madam or try to trick her, but these days, it’s hard to find customers, perhaps because Gyeongseong is so dangerous or because the economy is in a slump.

“Isn’t it because this teacher beat up all the guests and chased them away?”

“A courageous woman who ran a teahouse alone in a city filled with injustice and sin was a pitiful woman who could only look upon the helping hands offered by others with eyes mixed with injustice and sin.”

“You’re saying strange things again. Again.”

“The woman did not like what the man said. Every time his thick, attractive lips moved, her heart wavered like a dogwood swaying in the spring breeze… … .”

-Thud.

Something flew in front of me.

There is no doubt that it is damp, full of water, and has a musty smell… … .

“It’s a rag.”

“Sit still and stop talking nonsense. Why don’t you wipe down the table? We have to close the store.”

“What are you going to do with me after you close the store?”

“Oh my… … . If it weren’t for what Mr. Baekbeom said, I would have kicked him out a long time ago… … .”

“Oh, Madam! Isn’t that a bit harsh to say to a Korean independence fighter who is currently supporting South Korea? If you think about it, my Madam’s salary and the operating expenses of this store come out of my own pocket?”

Instead of answering, Madame just grabbed my cheek.

“Oh my… … This mouth! Mouth! Mouth!”

“Madam, what kind of woman touches a man’s body so carelessly? Don’t you know the saying that men and women should not sit together under the age of seven?”

“Would you please keep your mouth shut and wipe the table?”

Madame’s hands were sharp, but who am I?

These agents are thoroughly trained to not submit to even the most unexpected torture situations.

No matter what the madam said next to me, I sat still without uncrossing my arms.

“How could a man who works hard outside get his hands wet? For something like this, call Inspector Sasaki or Guncheol and have them do it.”

“You have to do it.”

“None?”

I turned my head and looked around the tea house, but the two people I always saw were gone.

“The people who always showed up on time were absent today?”

“Looks like something has come up.”

“I guess so.”

Sasaki and Hwang Geon-cheol are people who usually don’t have much to do, but by coincidence, something happened at the same time.

It’s something that could be dismissed as just a coincidence, but for someone like me who doesn’t mind dying at any time, there’s no such thing as coincidence.

‘What happened again?’

I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but if something’s wrong with those two, it means there’s a good chance that something’s wrong with me too.

“Madam, can you close the store now?”

“We were closing up after work today.”

“That’s not the story.”

At first, the madam was grumbling as if asking why I kept asking, but all the annoyance disappeared from her face at my serious tone.

“I don’t mind throwing away everything else, but the funds that need to be sent to Shanghai are still tied up in Gyeongseong.”

“Assuming you just grab what you can and leave as quickly as possible?”

“It’s not just a penny or two. How can you manage that much money in a short period of time?”

“How much does it cost?”

“Fifty thousand won.”

“hmm.”

When I first tried to buy the Chosun Ilbo, the money I got after negotiating with Governor-General Saito was 50,000 won.

And the money I spent to buy the Chosun Ilbo was 80,000 won.

Of course, at that time, the Chosun Ilbo was not as popular as it is now, crossing over from Korea to Japan, but it was still one of the representative newspapers in Korea, competing with the Dong-A Ilbo.

It’s about half the cost of buying such a newspaper… … Madame or the provisional government will never be able to give up this money.

“Besides, all the roads out are blocked right now, so how are you going to get to Shanghai?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

To make matters worse, I personally blew up Geumchon Station and Jemulpo Port, causing the Gyeongseong and Gyeonggi-do regions to lose their land and water routes to the outside world.

At that time, friction between the military and the Governor-General’s Office escalated into battle, making passage between the occupied territories on both sides difficult, and Gyeongseong was suffering from an unexpected shortage of supplies.

“Ugh… … I ended up getting out.”

It seems like it will be difficult to get out of Gyeongseong.

If I were alone, I could probably get out by rubbing it together, but it would be nearly impossible to get out with all the money from the provisional government packed up and taken away by Madam.

“Mr. Guncheol and Inspector Sasaki were arrested?”

“It’s not certain yet, but it’s possible, so let’s prepare in advance.”

Even as I said this, I wasn’t sure about what I was saying.

It seemed like something had happened to them both, but I needed to find out exactly what happened.

A heart that was surprised when it grew up, and a heart that was surprised when it saw a pot lid. Maybe I’m making a fuss over something trivial.

‘I wish that were true.’

A sound of someone rushing up the stairs could be heard from outside the teahouse.

Madame quickly retreated to the counter, and I took out my pistol and placed it on the table.

And in my head, I made a plan to escape from here along the escape route I had planned in advance.

‘There must have been a separate police station at the emergency exit behind, so I’ll have Madam escape through the ventilation shaft, and I’ll buy some time and then escape.’

I quietly collected my thoughts and picked up my teacup.

At the same time, the front door of the teahouse opened and someone ran inside.

Without hesitation, I threw the steaming hot coffee at the other person.

“Teacher! We’re in trouble… … . Ah, it’s hot!”

I was thinking of immediately smashing the other person’s head with a teacup, but somehow the voice and the impression I had seen somewhere before seemed familiar.

“Geoncheol? Is that you?”

Whether you looked left or right, or up or down, it was Hwang Geon-cheol.

“Oh my god!”

“Ah, hot… … .”

“Oh, Madam, here’s some cold water and ice! It’s urgent!”

Guncheol got hit in the face with a rag-soaked glass of water… … and a cup of coffee that tasted good, and rolled around on the floor.

It was quite some time later that he finally came to his senses.

“… … .”

“That’s why you should have observed your opponent carefully and then made your move.”

“It was urgent.”

“No matter how urgent it is, what are you going to do if you make people like this?”

However, if I had noticed Geoncheol just a little later, his head would have been smashed in the teacup, but fortunately that wasn’t the case, and the coffee in the teacup wasn’t as hot as I thought, so he wasn’t seriously hurt.

However, Geoncheol was suddenly hit in the face with something hot and started shaking, fell over, and got bruises all over his body from bumping into things here and there.

“It’s because I’m not trained enough.”

“Here you go again.”

Madam took a deep breath, brought out some burn ointment, and applied it to Guncheol’s face. I asked Guncheol, whose eyes and eyelids were swollen and red.

“So what were you trying to say a little while ago?”

“… … A person named Kuroda Kyuichi from the Chosun Ilbo… … So, the person named Kim Chun-sik and Ms. Kim Hu-dong, who were planted by this teacher, were arrested by the police!”

“Chunshik?”

First of all, why are those guys being arrested?

There was something strange about this.

“Have you not heard why they are being arrested?”

“CEO Namgung questioned the police, and they said they were taking him in for investigation because it was related to the explosions that occurred at Geumchon Station and Jemulpo Port.”

“That’s right… … .”

The police didn’t take those two away simply because of some mistake or investigative error. They figured out that those two had some kind of connection to me, and they wanted to confirm that… No, maybe they took them away to lure me.

‘It looks like Miwa and that guy found a clue somewhere… … .’

I guess I stayed in Gyeongseong too long.

Just like the last time we ran into each other in Jemulpo, that crazy guy is starting to suffocate me more and more.

‘Fortunately, those two people know almost nothing about me.’

The information that comes out of their mouths is nothing more than that of some rich young nouveau riche who is interested in the independence movement.

Other than that, it’s just adding details about kidnapping and harming the former police chief, blowing up the Jongno Police Station, and fighting the Black Dragon Society?

‘Kim Hu-dong is a woman who really doesn’t know anything, so no matter how much you try to dig into it, there won’t be an answer. The problem is that guy Kim Chun-sik.’

Even before he started working with me, Chunsik was someone who had been on the police investigation list while doing various things with Sangok Kim.

That’s why I gave myself the alias Kim Chun-sik instead of my real name Jeon Woo-jin in order to avoid being tracked by the police.

‘He doesn’t know much about the specifics, so my information won’t be exposed… … .’

However, if this happened, Gyeongseong would lose one hand and foot that could be used in an emergency.

Kim Chun-sik wasn’t the kind of person who could do the work of ten people on his own or easily take down two or three Japanese, but he was a native of Gyeongseong and knew many people there, so he was a good guy to use when gathering information on the streets, getting things done, or cleaning up after things.

To sum it up in one word, it was a guy who wasn’t of much help if he had it, but was a bit disappointing if he didn’t have it.

“Teacher, are Kim Chun-sik and Kim Hu-dong really people related to you?”

“For now, that’s true.”

“oh my god…….”

Hwang Geon-cheol looked at me with an expression as if the world had collapsed, and Madam asked me with the same surprise she had when she had welcomed Mr. Ba, who had peeked out from the corner of the kitchen.

“If they were caught, wouldn’t your identity be exposed to them?!”

“are you okay.”

“What’s okay? If you’re arrested now, the provisional government and the independence army will all crumble down like a sand castle hit by waves!”

“That never happened.”

After hearing my relaxed answer, Madam’s voice gradually became louder as if she was so frustrated.

“Why are people so peaceful!”

“It’s peaceful because there’s no rush.”

“Teacher Lee!”

“Madam.”

I comforted Madame in a leisurely voice.

“Madam, how much do you know about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s true. Madam or Guncheol, how much do you know about me?”

Madame and Guncheol looked daunted.

“I don’t know much about you because I’ve only known you for a short time. At best, I think you’re someone from Shanghai with the last name Lee.”

“Madam?”

Madame hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth cautiously.

“You are the ghost of Gyeongseong, the teacher of Shanghai, who appeared in dark times and helped the Korean people who were in sorrow and those who never lost hope until the end.”

“What’s your name?”

“……yes?”

“My name. Does anyone here know or have heard of my name?”

“… … ?”

“No?”

I took a pack of cigarettes out of my coat pocket.

And then he picked up one of the three cigarettes left in the pack and put it in his mouth.

“And now that I say it, my last name isn’t Lee either. I just said Lee So-and-so from Gyeongseong because I needed a suitable name in Shanghai, and that’s how it spread.”

“???”

“Use… … . Phew… … .”

Last time, I lit a cigarette with a lighter I had stumbled upon in the office of the Chief of Police, and immediately a pungent cigarette smoke rose up.

“I have nothing to give you, so what is he taking from you? That’s ridiculous.”

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 143