Chapter 24 — Mountain Survey (4)
Donggu sprinted with all his strength.
I... don't understand anything.
His head was a mess.
Nothing made sense.
The only thing he could understand, no matter how simple-minded he was, was one clear and undeniable feeling.
Something was terribly wrong.
Why had the Ibang been struck by arrows?
A notice had clearly been posted throughout the county forbidding anyone from entering the mountain.
So what kind of fool had dared climb it anyway?
And after the Ibang was shot...
Why had the Young Master stopped him from rushing out?
Lastly...
Why had the Young Master said this wasn't an accident, but murder?
Donggu slapped himself hard across the cheek.
Smack!
"...This isn't like me!"
His cheek stung, but his thoughts became simpler.
"I just need to trust the Young Master and carry out his order exactly. That's all I need to think about."
Donggu followed the human scent growing steadily stronger.
Before long, he found them.
"G-Gasp! I-Is that a wild boar?"
"N-No! That's... a person!"
The two hunters who had fired the arrows at the Ibang.
Doyul looked at the hunters Donggu had tied up.
"Please! Let us go!"
"There must be some misunderstanding!"
Seoko and Pasu desperately protested.
But none of it moved Doyul.
"Where are you from?"
Seoko and Pasu exchanged glances.
Then they remembered Jeongmu's instructions.
"If, by some chance, you are caught, this is what you must say."
The two shouted almost simultaneously.
"E-Eonyang County! We're from Eonyang County!"
...Hm?
Doyul frowned.
Donggu quietly stepped closer and whispered into his ear.
"They're not from Yeongsan. I've never seen either face before. And since the notice wasn't posted in Eonyang, they really might've climbed the mountain without knowing."
"Hold on."
But that wasn't why Doyul was frowning.
I already expected whoever did this to use outsiders.
Doyul fell into thought.
The real problem is jurisdiction.
Where will the criminal proceedings be held?
Jurisdiction determined which authority handled a case.
What Doyul cared about now was which county would take charge.
[Article 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act — Territorial Jurisdiction: Territorial jurisdiction shall be determined by the place where the crime occurred, or by the defendant's domicile, residence, or current location.]
...This is awkward.
There were several ways to determine jurisdiction.
But the most intuitive was to hold the trial where the crime occurred.
If an incident occurred in Busan, the Busan District Court would handle it.
Likewise, if a crime occurred in Yeongsan County, the magistrate of Yeongsan would ordinarily handle it.
But...
What if the crime occurred somewhere where the proper jurisdiction wasn't clear?
The Ibang died on Mount Yeongchwi.
And because this mountain borders neighboring counties... it's unclear whether Yeongsan or Eonyang should have jurisdiction.
The victim was the Ibang of Yeongsan.
From that perspective, proceedings could reasonably be held in Yeongsan.
But the defendants lived in Eonyang.
From their perspective, Eonyang could also claim the case.
While Doyul thought, Seoko and Pasu continued protesting their innocence.
"...Sir!"
"Hm?"
"S-Scholar! Please listen to us! Like we keep saying, we're just ordinary hunters from Eonyang! Do you really think we'd intentionally shoot and kill a local clerk? It's a misunderstanding! Th-This was an accident!"
Doyul stared at them before speaking.
"You're saying you thought the Ibang was a wild animal."
Both men nodded frantically.
"Y-Yes, that's right!"
"Of course!"
That excuse had also been prepared by Jeongmu.
"If anything goes wrong, say you mistook the man for prey and accidentally shot him."
"Huh? What difference does that make?"
"The punishment for intentionally killing a person is extremely severe. But... if you kill someone by accident, you need only pay for the deceased's funeral."
"Really...?"
"So as long as you act convincingly, there will be practically no problem."
Punishment for murder in Joseon was extremely severe.
But negligent homicide did not have a separate heavy sentence.
In many cases, the offender merely had to compensate for the funeral expenses of the deceased.
So Pasu and Seoko insisted that they had acted without intent.
Unfortunately for them...
Doyul had already reached his conclusion.
"It's very strange to claim you mistook him for an animal."
"...What do you mean?"
Doyul gave a bitter smile.
"Why didn't you approach him afterward?"
"...What?"
"If you truly thought he was an animal, why didn't you go retrieve your prey after shooting it?"
"...!"
"The Ibang must have looked like a very large animal from where you were. What hunter kills such large prey and simply abandons it?"
"Th-That's...!"
Seoko and Pasu's eyes widened.
They had simply been ordered to shoot if someone who appeared to be a person approached.
They had accepted because the payment was too enormous to refuse.
But they had never imagined their target would be the Ibang of Yeongsan.
"We hit him! What do we do now?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? He was struck several times with arrows coated in poison. Even if he didn't die immediately, he'll be dead before he gets down the mountain. We've finished the job, so let's run!"
Their mistake had been fleeing immediately because they couldn't bear the guilt.
Damn it.
Someone was watching us the entire time...!
Doyul continued.
"And even if you only realized after shooting that your target was human, your behavior still makes no sense."
He spoke calmly.
"If you mistook him for an animal and discovered afterward that you'd shot a person, wouldn't you first approach him and check his condition?"
"If only to conceal your crime, you would need to inspect him before deciding what to do."
"If he was still alive, he could report to the government office that someone had shot him."
"And if he was dead, you would have to decide whether to move or hide the corpse."
"Th-That..."
"But instead..."
Doyul's eyes hardened.
"The moment you confirmed that the Ibang had stopped moving after being struck, you hurried down the mountain."
"...!"
"...As if simply hitting him with the arrows was enough to accomplish your purpose."
"There was no hesitation in your actions at all."
"That does not look like an unexpected accident."
Seoko and Pasu's faces turned white.
And only then did Donggu understand why Doyul had stopped him earlier.
The Young Master prevented me from moving because he wanted to see how the shooters reacted...!
Doyul slowly spoke.
"...You can give the rest of your excuses after we descend."
"For now, remain quiet and await judgment."
As expected... the Young Master had a plan from the beginning!
Kim Jiseok was deeply shocked when Doyul returned from the mountain.
Doyul came down carrying the Ibang's corpse, with two hunters bound behind him.
Even Kim Jiseok couldn't remain calm at such a sight.
"......This is going to require a long explanation."
"I understand."
Doyul told him everything that had happened.
That Park Jeongdo and Jeongmu appeared to have been stealing land from local residents.
That there were signs the Ibang had assisted them.
And that Doyul believed the Ibang's death was likely not an accident, but a planned murder.
Kim Jiseok fell into deep thought.
Doyul carefully asked him a question.
"...Magistrate."
"Yes."
"Where will the criminal proceedings be held?"
Kim Jiseok immediately understood the reason for the question.
If Yeongsan handled the investigation, the case could be examined thoroughly.
It would also give Doyul more room to act.
However...
"For serious crimes, the provincial governor is ordinarily responsible for conducting the investigation personally."
"But in murder cases, damage to the corpse can seriously interfere with the investigation."
"Therefore, the local magistrate where the incident occurred usually conducts the initial examination and preliminary inquiry."
Kim Jiseok thought briefly before continuing.
"The governor will probably order us to perform the first examination of the corpse here in Yeongsan because moving it would be unwise."
"But I expect the actual hearing to be conducted in Eonyang."
Criminal proceedings in Joseon shared many similarities with a trial system.
When a serious incident occurred in a province, the magistrate of the relevant county first investigated it.
Afterward, the provincial governor conducted a deeper review.
Finally, the matter could be sent as high as the State Tribunal for final determination.
The exact procedure differed depending on the seriousness of the offense.
But in broad structure, it resembled a modern multi-level review system.
"...May I ask why you believe the governor will assign the case to Eonyang?"
Kim Jiseok smiled bitterly.
"...When an official dies, it is difficult for the magistrate of that official's own county to judge the case personally."
"If the magistrate was close to the local clerk, he might conduct the proceedings with bias."
"And if their relationship was poor, he might deliberately bury the truth of the clerk's death."
"The governor will probably decide that having Eonyang conduct the hearing would create the least controversy."
"I understand."
There was another reason Kim Jiseok believed the governor would avoid assigning the case to him.
But this was not the time to discuss it.
Kim Jiseok asked in a dry voice.
"You truly believe this was murder rather than an accident?"
"Yes."
"Then someone must have ordered them to do it."
"...Yes."
Kim Jiseok's feelings toward the Ibang were complicated.
So he carefully suppressed all emotion before it could enter his voice.
"...The magistrate of Eonyang was once a close friend of mine from our studies."
"It should not be difficult for me to send a trusted subordinate with a letter asking him to give that person serious responsibility in the investigation."
"Do you mean...?"
"Doyul."
Kim Jiseok looked directly at him.
"I intend to uncover the truth of this matter, no matter what."
"...Will you lend me your wisdom once more?"
Doyul bowed.
"...I will."
And... I'm not completely certain, but that friend may be rather pleased to see you.
Kim Jiseok remembered the first time he had seen Doyul.
Wait.
Come to think of it, his face... resembles that fellow quite a bit.
I thought it was a strange coincidence at the time.
And now things have come to this.
A heavy silence settled between them.
Then...
"Magistraaaaaate! Lee Isu must be punished!"
"...!"
What...?
Hearing shouting from outside, Kim Jiseok and Doyul rushed out.
A furious crowd had gathered in front of the government office to protest.
"...What is the meaning of this?!"
"We heard everything!"
"Magistrate, the rumors are already everywhere! That damned Ibang was stealing the people's property!"
"...!"
The enraged citizens had lost their composure.
"They say the Ibang accumulated corrupt wealth so he could make Lee Isu a yangban!"
"...!"
Those sharp words instantly brought an old conversation back to Kim Jiseok.
"So you're Isu. I look forward to working with you. I am Kim Jiseok, magistrate of this county. I am lacking in many ways, so I expect I will need much help from you and your father. Please lend me your wisdom."
"H-How could someone as great as you, Magistrate, need help from me and Father...? We're only ordinary jungin you could find anywhere...."
"..."
Ibang... could that have been why you...?
"The Ibang is already dead, so punish Lee Isu instead and confiscate all his family's property!"
"That damned brat! I always hated watching him swagger around just because he was born to the right parents!"
"Drag that unfilial bastard here right now! Flog him and seize everything he owns!"
The situation was dangerous.
Public anger had ignited almost as though someone had deliberately poured oil over it.
Watching the series of events, Doyul immediately sensed something.
...Did Park Jeongdo arrange this?
Doyul had to stop the situation before it reached the worst possible outcome.
If so, then among the choices available to Park Jeongdo right now, the most likely move would be...
"Magistrate. I need to leave for a moment."
"In this situation... where are you going?"
Doyul answered firmly.
"...I need to protect the Ibang's son, Lee Isu."
