Influence, Fort Roberts (5)
The Promised Evening. Li Chingen greeted the unwelco guest with suppressed anger. A stern gaze and tightly closed lips. In a position where he couldn't afford to show any weakness inside or out, it seed he had no room for a smile. He looked noticeably thinner than before. Sitting askew in the seat of a host, he eyed his guest. Gyeo-ul stood still until he was offered a seat.
"In the end, you're making this old man commit a discourtesy. Please, have a seat, sir."
Li Chingen gestured toward the chair set diagonally across from him.
"Thank you, sir."
Gyeo-ul greeted him formally as before, sitting askew to face the old tycoon. The old man, weathered by years in cri, expressed his discomfort with uncharacteristic civility.
"Please, don't bla for the lack of preparation. We're not what we once were."
"Well. Isn't that a matter of perspective?"
At Gyeo-ul's retort, Li Chingen glanced at his daughter out of the corner of his eye.
"I heard what you said to that child. You made a fair point. But I can't deny that you showed a lack of sincerity. We both promised to help one another, but you failed to keep that promise diligently. That's not sothing to be decided by attitude alone."
Now, Li Chingen revealed his anger more openly.
"Still, seeing you arrive here alone, I held out so hope, but if you intend to shirk responsibility again with a few specious argunts, you'll have made a grave mistake. I'm not like my daughter. Don't take for so soft woman easy to bend. A man's honor is sotis more precious than his life. I, and the brothers bound to by blood, are prepared to hold you accountable."
"Are you planning to kill , then?"
"If you persist in ignoring us, sothing even worse could happen."
Murderous intent rose thick in the air. To Gyeo-ul, it was a vivid warning from every form of Perception. Li Chingen had said not to bla him for lack of preparation, yet had clearly prepared sothing else.
As far as Gyeo-ul knew, Li Chingen was not the sort to completely lose reason. Therefore, this situation only ant his situation must truly be dire.
'So it's gotten so bad... that it hardly matters either way.'
Observing Li Ai-ring, one could sense a gloomy resignation. Whether she liked it or not, she too was a senior mber of the criminal organization, bound by that improbable sense of loyalty. She seed to lack the courage to defy her boss and father. Living by inertia? Gyeo-ul felt a faint déjà vu from her.
'No, I'm different than I was then.'
In the past, Gyeo-ul had accepted a brutal deal because he had soone to protect.
"That's odd. I thought I was the one who was ignored."
"What sort of specious reasoning is that?"
"It's not specious at all. Sir, do you rember the conversation we had the first day we t?"
"Conversation? What conversation are you referring to?"
Careful now, Li Chingen wracked his mory—but the suspicion in his expression remained. He couldn't recall. Gyeo-ul provided the answer.
"At the ti, I told you this: if you want a long-term collaboration with the Gyeo-ul Alliance, you shouldn't pursue unjust gain anymore. You might rember—we spoke under difficult circumstances that day. It was about how the Triad picked and chose support troops."
"Hm...!"
Li Chingen groaned through clenched teeth. Feigning ignorance here would amount to suicide. Even if he steeled himself for that path, it was not a conclusion he wanted.
With that hesitation, he'd already conceded in his mind. Gyeo-ul wasted no ti.
"You seem upset that I didn't inform you in advance about the crackdown, but if you hadn't dismissed my request in the first place, there wouldn't have been any losses for the Triad. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I wasn't joking when I made that suggestion, but you've disregarded it all this ti."
Both knew he wasn't truly disappointed. But Li Chingen was the one who first invoked the issue of face. The room was full of listening ears. Surely they didn't want to die either. Gyeo-ul was familiar with Chinese rhetorical style and suspected a gang boss would eventually run out of things to say.
Indeed, Li Chingen's argunt was feeble.
"I didn't ignore you. It was just too vague a request. There was no reason to take offense since we didn't set it down in a specific agreent."
"Let ask, then—was there anything concrete that I neglected among the things we set specifically back then?"
"......"
"The sincerity you first asked of and what I asked from you—they're essentially the sa, don't you think? At least that's my view, but I'm curious what yours is."
An unassailable logic. Li Chingen fell silent. He was angry, but had no grounds to vent that anger. This wasn't soone he could bluff. As the criminal flushed with suppressed rage, Gyeo-ul continued his well-prepared persuasion.
"There were other reasons as well. They say to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your own people. If I had inford you already, could you guarantee the secret would have been kept?"
"Watch your words! Are you doubting the loyalty and unity of our brothers?"
"Unfortunately, yes. At least, I've heard rumors that the mbers of Huashenghua and Shufangbang have different feelings. So say they don't want to follow you because you're from Shinan. After hearing things like that, I was worried. I feared a leak."
Baek Ji-seon's letter had been reimagined as a rumor Gyeo-ul had heard. Li Chingen's face soured, but it wasn't outright hostility toward Gyeo-ul.
"...... Groundless gossip."
"There's a Korean saying: 'There's no smoke without fire.' I'm sure there's a similar proverb in Chinese. It's best to avoid risky possibilities. Besides, as I explained before, I expected you would do as I asked."
Then, Gyeo-ul approached the matter from a different angle.
"One more thing. I don't know exactly how much the Triad lost in the last crackdown. But was that pure loss? Your rivals were hit even harder. I personally put the head of Zhilidang behind bars. When a series of misfortunes befell the Triad's own leaders, I heard people suspected the Anliang rchant Association and Zhilidang were involved. Am I wrong?"
Ai-ring was visibly shaken. She was the one who'd told Gyeo-ul about that. Li Chingen noted his daughter's agitation and realized denial was pointless. Holding his forehead, he spoke.
"So, are you saying we should be satisfied with the idea that we sacrificed so flesh to protect the bone?"
From Li Chingen's deanor, Gyeo-ul had already Perceived that this wasn't easy for him. Gyeo-ul affird with feigned ignorance.
"If you could look at it that way, yes. And I'm willing to help you."
And now he brought up the real reason for the visit. Li Chingen glanced suspiciously at the letter of recomndation from the Distribution Bureau on the table. Soon, a marked change crossed his florid face. The swift change of the Dragon Head drew the attention of Ai-ring and the other senior mbers.
"It's a letter of recomndation for a Civil Affairs Committee mber of the soon-to-be established Central California Refugee Military Governnt Office."
The old gangster was visibly stirred by this.
"I hadn't heard word about such a military governnt office being created."
"It's still confidential. Probably."
"Confidential..."
"That letter—they say if I just write in a na and submit it, the person will be appointed on the spot. No screening, either. Do you understand what this ans? Since you've spoken of brotherhood in the Triad, this ti I'm inclined to trust your unity and camaraderie. There's nothing good to co from news getting out that I'm doling out favors like this."
Of course, his true feelings were different. He didn't mind if it beca an open secret. As long as letters of recomndation were used as bargaining chips for influence, the story would certainly leak sowhere.
But Li Chingen had no way to know what was in Gyeo-ul's heart. Intending to turn the gangster's bravado against him, Gyeo-ul gave as good as he got.
At last, Li Chingen couldn't quell a surge of impatience. He swept his sharp gaze across the assembled senior mbers. Gyeo-ul was slightly satisfied by this.
'If he was desperate enough to threaten , his thinking couldn't be sound.'
No way to guarantee he hadn't been using drugs. If a man dulls that quickly, drugs are the first thing to suspect.
As Min Wan-gi hoped, perhaps the father-daughter relationship would begin to fracture.
Losing his composure, Li Chingen pressed Gyeo-ul for an explanation.
"Mr. Han, what is this? How did you get such authority? Can I really trust it?"
"There's no need to doubt. Colonel Laughlin, the battalion commander, entrusted this to himself."
"Huh, so you've been playing with all along. Troubling, very troubling."
Yet, the Triad boss couldn't help showing his elation. Before his hopes swelled too far, Gyeo-ul made an appropriate clarification.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but it'll be difficult for you to take the post yourself."
"Why is that?"
"You're the Dragon Head of the Triad. The US military doesn't want committee mbers with criminal backgrounds."
With things at this stage, Li Chingen asked for alternatives, not disappointed.
"Right. Aricans may be selfish, lazy, and stupid pigs, but they're not likely to be ignorant of my face or na. I understand. But what now? If they'll reject our ex-criminal brethren, who among us could get the position? Aricans treat anything Koreans do for each other as criminal. I imagine you've got sothing in mind, Mr. Han."
Gyeo-ul offered up his preset excuse with a natural performance.
"In the refugee zone, hardly anyone is truly clean. Even I've dirtied my hands. It's just that the Master is too well known, and it would be difficult to appoint you, but in the case of your daughter, chief Li Ai-ring, I think there's no problem. Sa for other support staff."
"You're guaranteeing this?"
"I am. Consider this my sincerity in keeping our promise."
Gyeo-ul's words circled back to the opening of the conversation. The old gangster ended up giving a hollow laugh.
"When I first t you, Mr. Han, we had a dispute over my daughter's marriage issue, I believe. Even then, I said your youth was a new thing to ... I find myself feeling the sa today. Is this how the river changes course? Very well, let's do that."
"Then please choose a departnt. I'll assign your daughter to whichever post you prefer, except the Inspection Bureau."
The choice was obvious, but Gyeo-ul extended the formal offer. Any future bla for a poor choice would fall on Li Chingen himself. It was a good way to score points too.
'The Chinese have an excessively strong exclusivity... if I want to avoid seeing them all dead later, I have to build connections like this.'
Establishing influence inside such an insular ethnic group was tough enough on its own.
While Gyeo-ul mused, the old gangster, scrutinizing the prospect of the military governnt office, made the predictable materialistic decision in the end. Now Gyeo-ul called the person in question.
"Then, miss Li. Could you co here for a mont? Please show how to write your na."
Ai-ring, sounding a bit unsettled, wrote out her na in elegant Chinese characters on spare paper, then spelled it out phonetically in English underneath. Gyeo-ul then copied it over in his own handwriting.
As they discussed the composition of staff below grade 5, Gyeo-ul brought up the matter of Shufangbang and Huashenghua again.
Li Chingen frowned at the request.
"You want to borrow those people? What for? It's not as though you lack manpower."
"For a show of strength. I want to demonstrate that it's not just Koreans working with ."
If he simply demanded them outright, there would be backlash. So Gyeo-ul had already pointed out that Shufangbang and Huashenghua were unstable elents. It was groundwork for this mont.
It was also important to note that their affiliation wouldn't change—it was just a loan, so the Triad's apparent size wouldn't be affected. Min Wan-gi's worries were allayed here.
'If it doesn't work, I can return them.'
Up to this point, that was Gyeo-ul's built-in safety chanism. After all, shufangbang and Huashenghua were still Triad criminals. Even if their families played a bigger role than the enforcers, their inclinations were anyone's guess.
With a sufficient grace period, he could always see how things turned out before making a final decision.
After so hesitation, Li Chingen accepted Gyeo-ul's request.
---------------------------= Author's Afterword ---------------------------=
#Q&A
Q. Gomseejoo: @Are things like addenda or Q&A not available at other sites where you serialize?
A. Most likely, yes.
Q. Habika: @Oh... so it's available through various channels! I hear even Noblesse offers per-episode purchases aside from subscription. It seems there are limitations though, like a rental ticket system... If Naver Enretoer opens per-episode billing, will you consider alternative paynt options here? I read in soone's review that you plan to finish releasing the series on Noblesse, so I'm asking. Hehet
A. I'll only serialize through Noblesse on Joara. If this already niche, slow-updating novel is split across more boards... it'll disappear into oblivion.
Q. PersonTree: @Will you post your contest work on Noblesse?
A. No, I won't. What's the point of serializing just the written content and leaving it incomplete? Plus, since it's sothing I wrote long ago, it's a bit immature. The ossuary was just as immature, though. :)
Q. WindNoble: In special forces, the team leaders are usually lieutenant colonels and majors?
A. I wrote that there's "no way around it" in the narrative; that's a reference to transfers to special forces.
If that happens, Gyeo-ul would be separated from the refugees, which would be difficult for him.
It is a bit vague, I admit. I'll address it.
Q. Usinyechan: @Ah right... Do you have any plans for a print publication? Collector's edition?
A. Yes. I feel sorry for the trees, but there will be a print edition.
Q. qoewh: @The weather's getting colder lately and it's easy to feel off. We received a box of red ginseng extract this Chuseok, and if you PM your address, I'd like to send so to you... These days, convenience store delivery makes it easy, so you don't need to worry about personal info exposure.
A. Red ginseng extract... It costs over 100,000 won per bottle—you should drink it! Share it with your family.
The reason I don't open a donation account or accept gifts is that I worry you'll lose interest in the novel later. If it's a gift after the story wraps, I'd accept it gratefully... haha.
Thank you always for cherishing my work so much. Have a wonderful day.
Q. Bug: In special forces, Lieutenant colonels and majors are usually team leaders, right?
A. I ntioned in the description that the "no way around it" part referred to special forces transfers.
If that happens, Gyeo-ul would end up separated from the refugees—which would be inconvenient for him.
It is a bit ambiguous. I'll clarify it.
Q. Klurichir: @Any place besides Naver? Ridibooks or KakaoPage, etc.?
A. It's released there too, but apparently with more of a delay than Naver.
Q. guhgyeonghan24: @ 변동들이 ??? 〉 변종들이 달려드는
A. I'll correct it. Thank you for pointing it out.
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