NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 8



Only Krnovel

Burn – 1

“Support was sent from Dongdaemun.”

“Oh, send that towards Namsan.”

“I’m telling you to hurry up and send back the people who were dispatched from Jung-gu!”

“It’s more urgent to arrest the suspect, so keep quiet and stop talking nonsense!”

As expected, Jongno was very chaotic.

The surroundings were noisy with the sound of typewriters tapping away as telegrams were sent and received in all directions.

“Hey! Why are you here?!”

“Okay, let me just warm up my body for a bit···.”

“Mr. Lee… Are you here warming up right now? Shouldn’t you go out and catch the suspect or get shot to death or something?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The angry shouts of the police chiefs and chiefs made Jongro-seo even noisier.

“Hey, you dog···.”

“Let me ask you something.”

“What kind of dog is it this time… Inspector Sato?”

The detective who had been beating up a police officer on a rainy day froze when he saw my face.

“Do you know me?”

“I was trained separately in the morning···.”

“Ah! It’s Chief Abe.”

“Yes, that’s right···.”

Abe, who had been like an evil spirit catching police officers like a rat just a moment ago, had become a docile lamb.

“I’m back from the scene right now and I don’t know what’s going on. Brief me on the current situation.”

“What do you mean by briefing···?”

“I saw it, I saw it.”

“As you can see, we are all running around busily because we can’t catch the suspect.”

I tilted my head and looked at Abe, but Abe just blinked and looked at me as if asking what was wrong.

“Is that the end?”

“Is that so…?”

He hit Abe on the head with a file that was next to him.

“Eww!”

“Are you saying that you are seeing it now?”

“Then, how···?”

“Oh my. A police officer can’t even report properly, so he asks his superior?”

“I’m sorry! I’ll correct it!”

“Do you know what you did wrong? And how much are you sorry for, and what are you going to do to fix it?”

“······.”

Abe kept his mouth shut like a mute who had eaten honey.

You’re probably too busy thinking about the answer in your head.

That’s why it stimulated his head.

“100 million!”

“answer.”

“That, that···.”

It gave me another stimulus.

“evil!”

“hurry.”

“Uh···. That···. I···.”

As expected, the reply was late.

“Whew. What is the current status of the investigation? How many reinforcements were sent in the memorandum? Where are they distributed to? Is it that difficult to tell where the family members captured from Go Bong-geun’s house are and what they are doing?”

“Ah! Then I will report it right away!”

When I gave him the answer in a sneaky way, Abe finally came to life and started telling me everything he knew.

To summarize his report······.

“The entire Gyeongseong army is searching Namsan?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Even though he had made a few mistakes in the meantime, the police were still the police, following right behind Mr. Kim Sang-ok like hunting dogs that had been starved for several days.

If things were left as they were, there was a high chance that the teacher would be caught in the net and unable to escape, so they had to turn their attention elsewhere.

“What kind of idiot came up with this stupid plan to surround Namsan?”

“I understand that Inspector Umeda reported to Chief of Police Umano of the Government-General and received permission···.”

“Whew···. This is why they are so funny···!”

In that brief moment, I pondered how I could cause maximum confusion in this organization and disrupt its plans.

“That guy, Kim Sang-ok, was shot.”

“Yes.”

“But you climbed the mountain? What kind of place is Namsan? Even though the soldiers cleared everything out, it’s still a place where wolves and lynxes often pop out.”

“Right… right?”

“You’re going up to a place like that, smelling like blood? A guy so thorough that you wouldn’t have been found if you hadn’t been tipped off?”

Abe tilted his head.

And the other detectives around me who were listening to me also tilted their heads.

“Couldn’t it be that the thought of being chased makes you anxious and makes you climb Namsan?”

“Yes, and especially since he had been shot, he might have thought that the wound needed to be treated immediately.”

“And maybe they were more afraid of us, who were definitely chasing them, than of the wild animals they might or might not meet in the mountains.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Everyone thinks so, that’s why they still haven’t caught Kim Sang-ok.”

“yes?”

Their point was a very common-sensical one.

Of course, I could have refuted each and every one of them, but if I had done so, I might have become the one suspected.

So, for now, it seemed like a good idea to maintain an old-fashioned and overbearing attitude and slightly open the door to their thinking.

“I told you earlier. He got shot! What happens if someone gets shot and climbs the mountain?”

“well?”

“How foolish! There are traces left on the mountain!”

“Oh, that’s right. If you climb a mountain in this winter without receiving treatment… Of course, there will be marks left behind!”

Everyone nodded.

This would have been enough to cause some confusion, but I went one step further and planted poison in their minds.

“If it were me, I would go south like this and cross the Han River.”

“You’re crossing the river? With an injured body?”

“There’s no way I can’t do it.”

“But… there is Yongsan in the south. And there is an army in Yongsan.”

“That’s why you chose that place.”

“There is an army?”

Humans are suspicious animals.

Humans, who were not born with sharp claws, teeth, or strong bodies like wild beasts in nature, have been able to survive and develop civilizations until now thanks to their suspicious and curious nature.

But on the other hand, it is also questionable whether it will destroy the organization.

“What do you think the military will be doing during this time?”

“It’s late at night, so they must have gone to bed… Ah!”

“Yes. I’ll leave behind only a few guard troops and go to sleep.”

“The boundaries will be relatively loose.”

“If he sneaks in during that gap and gets to the Han River… Will the Korean boatmen just sit there and let their fellow countrymen bleed after being shot?”

“!!!”

Suspicion soon became certainty.

I didn’t give any assurance about anything.

I just expressed my thoughts and opinions purely.

In a slightly old-fashioned and overbearing way.

“Oh, come to think of it, the southern border is lax!”

“We need to contact the police in Jung-gu and ask them to send more reinforcements!”

“How can this be…? It’s not Namsan, it’s the Han River?”

The police in Jongro were thrown into confusion.

Everyone was secretly convinced that Kim Sang-ok had fled south across the Han River, not to Namsan.

“We need to strengthen the Han River border immediately!”

“Let’s launch a patrol boat and thoroughly search the river mouth!”

“We must work with the police in each region to completely block Kim Sang-ok’s escape route!”

Everyone was so excited that they seemed like they would run to the Han River at any moment.

But that was difficult.

The search of the Han River had to take a little longer so that I could roam around freely for a little longer.

And in a way that isn’t awkward.

“First, it seems like it would be a good idea to report to Inspector Mi and get approval from the Chief of Police according to the manual.”

“yes?”

“Then it’ll be late···.”

“If we move our troops as we please and the higher-ups find out later… who will take responsibility?”

“······.”

Principle. Principle.

It was a magic word that put cold water on burning passion and silenced people’s mouths.

In fact, everyone was as silent as ghosts.

“Why is everyone so silent?”

The high-ranking detectives who prided themselves on making independence activists shiver were keeping their mouths shut in front of me and just looking at each other.

This was also quite funny, but it was something that couldn’t be left like this.

“Tsk. Are you afraid of reporting to your superiors because you are the remnants of the Japanese Empire? Seriously, tsk tsk···.”

“······.”

“Huh. Okay, I’ll report and get the approval, so you guys just get ready to move.”

The detectives’ faces lit up at my words.

It seems like everyone is imagining themselves catching the evil and corrupt Kim Sang-ok and becoming successful.

“Just in case something dangerous happens, arm all troops and send them to the Han River first.”

“Yes, Inspector Sato!”

“And since it’s difficult to cover the entire wide Han River, leave only the minimum number of troops at the police station, and also take some troops from Namsan and send them to the Han River.”

“yep!”

With a huge target like the Han River, getting people out of the police station was easier than taking things out of their pockets.

The police moved their troops without any suspicion, and I sneaked out of the line under the pretext of writing a report and stayed at the police station.

In that empty Jongno-gu, only the loud sound of typewriters and Morse telegraphs filled the room.

“Is this the case when an empty cart makes the most noise?”

I walked into an interrogation room hidden deep inside the empty but noisy Jongno Police Station.

******

“Ugh···.”

“I guess you have something to say now.”

“I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know anything….”

“Tsk.”

In a dark interrogation room, barely lit by a single light bulb on the ceiling, Kim Sang-ok’s collaborator, Ko Bong-geun, was being ‘interrogated’.

Even in the winter cold, the interrogation room was extremely hot, whether it was because of the steam rising from the hot water kettle or the heat from the brazier next to it.

The detective covered the face of Go Bong-geun, who was tied to a chair and unable to move, with a cloth and picked up a kettle of water that was steaming.

“If you don’t want to live your whole life with a disfigured face, you’d better quickly tell Kim Sang-ok who you met and what you planned.”

“I… I really don’t know…”

“That’s not the answer I want to hear.”

“You’re Korean too, aren’t you?! But how can we act like this between fellow countrymen?”

“Tsk… The word I hate the most is compatriot.”

The detective clicked his tongue slightly and quickly poured water.

Go Bong-geun resisted by squirming, but the detective pressed down on his body and urged him in a strong tone.

“What were those Uiyoldan guys planning to do in Gyeongseong?! Tell them quickly what you know!”

“Keep on! Keep on!”

“Do you think Kim Sang-ok will come to save you just because you said this? Huh? He’s been shot right now and is in a state of need today or tomorrow. Do you think he’ll save you?!”

“Eww! Eww! Kwaaaaak!”

As Go Bong-geun’s struggles became more severe, the detective put down the kettle and beat him mercilessly.

“Speak up! Who are you?! Who are you, the swindler of the Righteous Army!”

“Eww! Eww!”

“What are the Uiyeoldan guys planning? Assassinate Governor Saito? Right? Right?”

“Evil! I, I’m evil! I don’t know… ugh!”

The detective was absorbed in his work.

So much so that his hair was damp with sweat running down his forehead.

I was so focused that I didn’t even notice someone coming in from behind.

“Do you feel like talking now? Huh? If I hadn’t shoved something in your mouth, you would feel like talking now, right, Bong-geun Go?”

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Huh, are you still holding on? It seems like you don’t know the situation yet… I have time to spare, and there’s plenty of water left in Jongno.”

“Ugh… please… please…”

“Don’t beg me, tell me what you know! Then I’ll make it easier for you and your children.”

“Wife and children…?”

When the story of his family was brought up, Go Bong-geun’s body began to tremble slightly and he began to react little by little.

“Yeah, you can’t hear me right now, but… your wife is being interrogated in the room next door.”

“······Your wife?”

“Yes, your wife and Kim Sang-ok’s sister.”

“Madam… Madam… No…”

“Just tell me what you know! Then you and your family will both be at ease.”

“Ugh…”

Go Bong-geun’s body began to tremble again.

I couldn’t tell if he was shaking with fear, with pain, or just really shaken, but even from the outside, the shaking was pretty severe.

The more he trembled, the more a smile appeared on the detective’s face.

“No one will notice you doing this. And even if it weren’t for you, there are plenty of people who would fight for independence. You don’t need to go this far! And you’re not even one of those who devoted yourself to the independence movement in the first place.”

“Ugh… Ugh… Is it true… that you said you would let everyone go…?”

“Yes, Kim Tae-seok from Jongro guarantees it! You’ve heard my name, right?”

“Arrest King…”

Go Bong-geun opened his lips as if to say something, but soon closed them and lowered his head.

“What are you doing now?”

“······.”

“Oh, okay… I see, this is how it’s supposed to come out.”

Kim Tae-seok snorted and raised his fist again.

Then, my elbow felt like it had hit a hard wall.

“Oh my… what is it?”

When Kim Tae-seok turned around, there was a police superintendent with a bear-like build wearing a police uniform standing there.

“What? Can’t you see that I’m being interrogated right now?”

“I can see it.”

“If you know, get out now.”

“Yes, I’ll just take care of business and go.”

“Business? What business? I’ll see you later and get out… Ugh!”

Kim Tae-seok suddenly fell to the floor, clutching his chest, unable to breathe properly due to chest pain.

As expected, the culprit was a police officer with a bear-like build.

“You, you little punk… What the… are you doing…”

“Kim Tae-seok, are you looking for Uiyoldan?”

“······Who are you?”

The police officer, or rather the unidentified person, took off his hat.

But his face was not visible because he was standing outside the full light.

“Who are you? It’s the person you’re looking for.”

“Hey! There’s no one outside…!”

“None. I sent them all out.”

A hand the size of a pot lid emerged from the darkness, grabbed Kim Tae-seok by the collar, and lifted him high into the air.

He tried to resist somehow by grabbing his arm, but the other person lifted him up as if it wasn’t that difficult.

“You, you… you little shit…!”

All that can be seen in the darkness is the pure white sclera with an empty center.

In this situation, all you can tell is that the other person is looking straight at you.

And he said it with a very creepy look.

And here I realized that there was no one to help me.

“No one would suspect anything if they heard screams in the interrogation room, right? Right, Detective Kim Tae-seok?”

“······.”

“Ha, so that’s how it’s supposed to come out.”

Kim Tae-seok took back what he had said a little while ago.

“Now, wait! I don’t know what you want, but I can give it to you. If you want information, I’ll give you information… If you want money or weapons, I can give you what I have in Jongno! I’m the kind of person who can do that! So, please, at least give me your life…”

“The corpse is talking?”

“!!!”