729 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

The fake detective, only looking to hear the voices of the deceased, was doomed to failure. I had placed too much faith in my crude intuition and lackluster deductive abilities. I'll employ every trick available to me. I'll leverage every sleight I can muster. Before being a constable, I'm a novelist and storyteller. Immerse myself in the perpetrator, analyze the actions of the criminal. I've become accustomed to inhabiting other characters anyway. Think from the perspective of the criminal, not the victim. I had drawn clues from the dead's whispers. I could quickly arrive at a conclusion. "The culprit was the younger sister's lover?" "It wasn't out of jealousy by the lady of the house?" "I thought it was a robbery or an impulsive crime by an infatuated man!" Heightened to 5 feet 7 inches. Looked like a thug but could be considered handsome. And consistently wore a nervous expression throughout my deduction. The criminal was indeed the younger sister's lover. The room buzzed with shock at the revelation. "Is it true?" Bang Dae-woon asked the suspect, unable to conceal simmering anger. "......" "I asked if it's true!" "Master! It's a misunderstanding! How could I be the perpetrator? It's nonsense! Do you believe the ramblings of this deceitful spawn?" That one insists with a distressed expression that he's genuinely aggrieved. Well, he'd probably feel that way; he was close to committing the perfect crime. "Isn't it odd? He's really distressed." "It is suspicious. How could the sister’s lover kill a family member!" "Kang Po-kwae..." Under Bang Dae-woon's watchful eyes demanding further explanation, I continued my deduction with a wry smile. "To be precise, it’s the ex-lover." "Ex-lover?" "The deceased mistress was a woman who was a role model to others. As a servant, a mistress, and even as a sister. Isn't that so?" I cautiously approached the still-stunned younger sister. "Yes, my sister took my late mother's place, teaching and protecting me with love." "A woman like her wouldn't provoke grudges among others, but she must have been candid with her sister, especially concerning romantic matters." A woman who mourned by all in the estate, more prone to making friends than enemies. Even if she'd earned some spite, the blood she sternly dealt with was none other than her sister. "Th-that is..." The only slight issue was the younger sister's reaction. "The problem was the younger sister didn’t heed her sister's words." "What do you mean by that?" "It's a common tale. A sister, while perhaps not as striking as hers, was nonetheless quite the beauty. At an age where her interest in men was blooming, a man, while appearing rough but handsome, whispered sweet nothings. Who wouldn’t be swayed? Regardless of his poor reputation." "That's correct... We dated despite my sister's objections." The younger sister admitted their relationship, dropping her shoulders in defeat. "It was just an ordinary relationship!" I dismissed the criminal’s protest with a derisive smile and elaborated further. "Ordinary indeed, if one might say. The man had once made advances toward the deceased mistress and been rejected, viewing courtship as mere amusement. If a woman had a pleasing face, he would approach her regardless." "H-how do you know that?" "All the women in the estate have said they've experienced it. Why would the mistress be any different?" When I scrutinized you, too much dirt surfaced. "Grr..." Indeed, it might be a commonplace love story, as the criminal suggested. As long as it's not my family. "Those gathered here will understand. No matter how wrong a parent's guidance may seem, it’s hard to break a daughter's stubbornness." As I continued the deduction, I ensured the situation resonated with them, further engrossing them in the murder case. "It's all too common." "My daughter doesn't listen, either." Parental struggles—unavoidable difficulties when raising children. Even the most capable of sisters faced a problem hard to solve. "What could she do about her sister's romance? Even a sister who acted like a mother had her limits. The mistress came up with a sound method while pondering the situation." "What method?" "Let’s hear it from the sister. What did the mistress say?" "She promised to buy me a house and land, urged me to live happily like a lady. She assured she would arrange a marriage with a good man, advising caution against bad rumors." "Offering a carrot instead of a stick!" A mistress striving for love could now offer her sister options. "Did you part ways as your sister advised?" "Yes, I firmly turned him down when he sought me out again later. But..." The younger sister cast a trembling glance at the criminal, face contorted with the agony of enduring an unspeakable conclusion. "An unimaginable incident transpired." The precursor to understanding why a murder occurred. ——— "Kang Po-kwae, what could possibly have happened? Murdered because of a breakup?" When Jo Pan-gwan asked for further explanation, I summarized, glaring at the criminal. "An unsavory household servant. One who relished the company of women, and drank and gambled without a care for the future, with no concept of saving money, living one worthless day at a time." "You, what are you...!" "I would assume it's what the deceased mistress told you." "......!" How do I know? I heard it from the deceased mistress, too. "Like being struck by lightning from a clear sky, it must have felt. A woman, who thought he could sway with persistence, was presented with land and a house he'd never attain. Just when he believed life was finally turning fortunate. And then, she says to stop meeting." An opportunity to reverse his life through a favorable match had dissolving instantly. Though it wasn’t his, it felt like something had been stolen from his grasp. “We parted amicably. It was already over!” "A man who thinks the story is over doesn't visit his ex-lover's house." "Th-that’s..." Your lingering attachment says otherwise. "The criminal, after persistently pressuring the ex-lover, discovers that behind all these events was not the lover but the lover’s sister." "He did talk about giving up... But could it be that he really...?!" The younger sister probably thought her refusal was commendable. After all, she had a reliable shield to use when the man pushed too hard. Considering her sister like a mother, she couldn't defy it any longer. Isn’t our sister your master’s mistress? Give it up yourself. "For the man, it was an opportunity that would never come again. Instead of surrendering, he resolved not to miss this chance." He only saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "So he went to see the deceased mistress." "Since he was the younger sister's ex-lover, opening the door for him wouldn't have been much of a dilemma. Upon realizing he knew everything, she likely wanted to calm him down and make him let go of the idea. Without realizing what the man had in his possession." "Hahaha..." "The conversation heated up. Although I don't know the exact exchange, the man might have promised to turn over a new leaf, while the mistress, unable to console him any further, might have scolded him to realize his bounds. In the end..." "The incident occurred?" I slowly nodded toward everyone. "He would have asked her again while moving her to the bed. If she consented even now, he wouldn't kill her. They could dispose of the estate and run away for love. However, the mistress's answer was firm." She was losing so much blood that she lost consciousness. If the criminal fled, he wouldn’t be chased. The younger sister might foolishly follow the man. The sister’s face, dear to her as her own life, must have flashed across the mistress's mind. "Haha, hahahaha." What was the mistress's final choice? Bang Dae-woon let out a mixed sigh of rage and desolation. He seemed to already know the answer. "Even for survival, nodding would be possible. But then, when might the blade pointed at her turn towards her sister?" "......." She couldn't lose her only family. "This is why the mistress was killed." It was a choice only someone who was once a sister, prior to being a companion or mistress, could make. —— "Arrest him at once!" Bang Dae-woon, consumed by the fury of losing his mistress, shouted at the criminal. "I'm innocent, Master! It's all that man's manufactured nonsense!" "The circumstantial evidence is clear! Where do you claim deceit? Guards!" Just as the guards from Hosanyakbang moved to seize him, a man intercepted them. "Wait." "Jo Pan-gwan?" The one calming the situation was Jo Pan-gwan. "I, too, think Kang Po-kwae's words are right, but it seems a bit insufficient to drag him to the authorities." Jo Pan-gwan alternated his gaze between me and Bang Dae-woon with a steady demeanor. "What do you mean by that?" Indeed. While Bang Dae-woon was bewildered, I could only respond with a wry smile. The deduction might be persuasive, but there was one puzzle piece missing. "Is there not a lack of evidence? Even if the circumstances match, without eyewitnesses or proof, you can't declare someone a criminal based solely on deduction." Solid evidence. Jo Pan-gwan pointed out, as an experienced magistrate, the puzzle piece I failed to fit. "A confession during interrogation would suffice, wouldn’t it?!" "That's true, indeed. But..." "Jo Pan-gwan...?" Jo Pan-gwan’s eyes fell on me. It was the gaze of a senior filled with trust, not the cold eyes of a magistrate. The criminal may have been unveiled, but he still looked on with the curiosity of a detective novel's reader, eagerly anticipating more chapters. "I believe the detective's deduction isn’t finished here." Tell me. Your remaining deductions. I couldn’t help but smile wryly at Jo Pan-gwan’s expectation. "It’s truly exhausting to unearth the scattered and vanished voices of the dead." "If not a detective, then who could manage that?" "Kang Po-kwae...?" Snap. The fan opened again. Before the literature enthusiasts of Jaegal Seol Rok, let's unveil the remaining chapters of this mystery. "The scene was contaminated. If the younger sister's lover was the criminal, how should we find evidence from the attack in the reception room to the moment she was moved to the bed? What evidence did I miss?" "Huh. There was still more to the tale?" The detective revisits the case. Having identified the criminal, it was again time to hear the voice of the deceased. Let’s immerse once more from her perspective. "The criminal carried the woman over his shoulder. Holding a knife in one hand, he was ready to dominate her anytime, a likely posture. She resisted near the doorpost; perhaps it was a futile resistance. Or maybe, was it truly futile? Perhaps...!" "W-what did you find?" "The mistress was a clever woman. What if she sensed her impending death? What if she sought to deceive the criminal and leave behind evidence?" "Mislead the perpetrator?" At the moment of her death, she sought hope, not resignation. "Last night, with the magistrate's and helpers' assistance, I examined the mistress’s body. It was there I uncovered the voice she left behind." She didn’t seek to live. Wishing her body would reveal evidence, hoping her sister wouldn’t wed the criminal, she hid her final words. "What is that?!" Even if the crime scene was contaminated, it didn’t matter. What couldn’t be tainted remains. "It was the criminal’s hair, swallowed amidst her struggle." "......!" "As it happens, it matches the color of someone’s hair." In a world brimming with every color, the hair discovered in the woman’s throat floats away on a spring breeze. Orange hair. "Damn woman, causing trouble to the very end..." It was the same color as the criminal's hair, who stood in front of me, head bowed in defeat with a look of utter dismay.