The Tea Bookstore is a place where it’s truly hard for a big thief to enter.
A thief should come in lightly and leave lightly, but books are big and heavy.
Of course, in the world of martial arts, incidents can occur due to a manual or a martial arts treatise, but if such a book existed in the Tea Bookstore, we would have resolved the long-term mortgage on the building long ago.
To steal books from the Tea Bookstore and leave a profit, one would need to move them in boxes, which honestly isn’t an easy task just thinking about it.
Anyone who has accumulated a lot of books will know this.
Every moving season, you realize the value of non-ownership as you move one box, two boxes, three boxes, endlessly shifting boxes of books.
“It’s time for me to let you all go. The weight I’ve been carrying isn’t the weight of knowledge or fun, but the weight of greed. Let’s discard these useless desires.”
Unknowingly, I attain a moment of enlightenment.
“A thief has entered, please inform the Merchant Association.”
I didn’t worry too much about a big thief at the bookstore, yet here we are with a real thief.
I quickly informed the merchant from the neighboring building. I could go directly to the government office, but I needed to hold my position, so it was better to inform them through the Merchant Association.
“A thief at the Tea Bookstore? Understood!”
I returned to the Tea Bookstore, muttering as I looked at the broken lock on the box in the middle of the printing room.
“They really took it.”
The box was empty where the books should have been.
I can’t believe it. I only worried about a preview of The Shadowless Thief, never imagining that a real thief would come.
I looked at the thief, who was unconscious and bound. The thief, knocked out by Im Ha-yeon’s technique, remained unresponsive even when poked.
Should I wake up this tied-up thief and interrogate him? If we can’t catch the escaping thieves, it might get troublesome.
A thump!
As I was deep in thought, the door to the Tea Bookstore opened vigorously.
Entering through the door was a woman holding two people by their necks.
“I caught them all!”
It was an enraged reader, Im Ha-yeon.
——-
“Where did you come from? I don’t recognize your faces around the Tea Bookstore or nearby.”
I lowered my voice, trying to intimidate the three bound thieves.
“……”
“Do you think silence will save you? Step aside.”
Im Ha-yeon stepped in front of me with an angry face.
“Do you know how to interrogate?”
“I’ve learned martial arts that include methods to extract information.”
“Show me.”
Is there a method of extracting information from a thief’s mind? No matter what, it will certainly be a rare sight to witness a thief interrogating another thief.
I nodded and stepped aside.
“You thieves! How did you know that the third volume of The Rise of the Tang Family was being printed? Tell me quickly!”
“Uaaaah!”
Ohh. Now she’s torturing them by messing with their Qi. Truly a martial arts-style interrogation.
There’s a famous interrogation method called ‘Breaking Bones and Sifting through Flesh,’ where they could even break joints or twist limbs; it’s said to be a cruel method.
Im Ha-yeon’s method seems to be a relatively gentle one, touching on their Qi like that.
“Im Ha-yeon. Yes. No. Starting with simple questions that allow for yes or no answers makes it easier to extract information.”
Seems like her technique is just fine; I suggested she employ a more refined modern interrogation approach.
“That’s a good idea.”
Im Ha-yeon nodded at my suggestion and looked at the thieves.
“Uuugh.”
Starting with yes and no, moving on to basic questions about their hometown or names, breaking down their mental barriers bit by bit through this refined interrogation method.
I wonder what questions Im Ha-yeon will ask.
“Tell me! Does the character Du Eung-hyang appear in the third volume of The Rise of the Tang Family?”
Huh?
“Please don’t tell me that, angered by the slow release of the next volume, Du Eung-hyang isn’t mentioned even once?”
Im Ha-yeon asked, prodding their Qi in a desperate tone.
“Uuugh!”
“Please don’t tell me! Is Gu Suk-jung mentioned instead? That’s even more unacceptable! If that concubine appears, then Du Eung-hyang should definitely be mentioned two or three times more!”
“Uuugh!”
“Are you incapable of answering? How disappointing! So you’re thinking of hoarding the entire third volume for yourself, huh? Thieves with no loyalty are better off with a club! Manager! Bring me a club!”
“Im Ha-yeon.”
“Don’t tell me, Manager Kang, that you’re one of those people who say you shouldn’t hit thieves?”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Then?!”
“You need to remove their gag before they speak.”
“Oh….”
Im Ha-yeon awkwardly released the gags from the thieves’ mouths, her face flustered.
“Sniff! I haven’t read the book. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for stealing.”
“We only did as we were told. Please spare us!”
The thieves finally started spilling their guts, as if their interrogational savings had been broken.
“Who ordered you?”
“Uh….”
“Hey! Stop being so quiet!”
The oldest looking thief yelled at the other two in fear. So he’s the leader.
“Speak honestly. If you don’t, you’ll end up dragged to the government office and won’t escape punishment. You might even be unable to walk for the rest of your life.”
I pressured the thieves in a voice meant to instill fear.
“Brother!”
“Shut up. If we bribe them a bit from outside, we’ll be released anyway!”
Oh, now they’re talking about bribery. So there’s someone who ordered them.
“These punks! Manager, come here!”
Im Ha-yeon, her anger still not subsided, stepped forward again. Step aside. This is enough.
“Are you refusing to confess?”
I asked the thief who looks like the leader.
“Are we stealing gold and treasures? No! We only stole a single book! If it were a martial art manual or a great work, maybe we’d get a severe punishment!”
“Ha ha ha. Is that really what you think?”
“Did the black-haired barbarian lose its mind? What are you asking us?”
I looked at the brazen thief and laughed.
Yes. There are people outside who might bribe you. They think of The Rise of the Tang Family as just one book, so they think they can act like common criminals and escape without punishment?
And here I am, a black-haired barbarian.
Once, when I went to the government office after being stolen from, I got tossed out after getting hit because a barbarian asked what I was doing in the office.
That would usually be true elsewhere.
But this is the Tea Bookstore in Yichang.
“Is it truly true that a thief entered the Tea Bookstore?!”
As the door to the Tea Bookstore opened, a group of people rushed in energetically.
“Manager! It’s the Merchant Association!”
The one who entered through the door was the official in charge of security, the constable, along with his subordinates and members of the Merchant Association.
“I just happened to see the constable off and rushed here.”
“The constable from Yichang, why are you here?”
The thieves stared agape, unable to close their mouths, gazing at the constable.
Why is the constable here?
“Because my public duties kept me from stopping by the Tea Bookstore. In the meantime, have you all been well?”
“While I was in Sichuan, I really missed hearing your boisterous laughter at the Tea and Book Club, so I’m quite sorry to see you again in such a flustered state.”
The constable from Yichang is a member of the Tea and Book Club.
“This man! Why is that something to be embarrassed about! It’s these damn thieves! Are these punks the thieves?”
“Do you mean to say you know the constable and the black-haired barbarian?”
“Because of these guys, The Rise of the Tang Family’s third volume might never see the light of day!”
Sighing deeply as if on the verge of losing everything, I complained to the constable.
“What?! Because of them, the third volume?”
“They say there’s a mastermind behind it all, but they won’t spill, so I’m just very worried that another thief will come before the third volume gets published.”
“Do not worry! I will make sure these ne’er-do-wells can never steal again! It extends to uncovering even the mastermind’s eighth cousins!”
“Please, execute them thoroughly!”
“Goodness. Unbelievable.”
“They were sure it would be fine because it’s a bookstore run by a black-haired barbarian!”
With their last ray of hope fading, the thieves’ faces crumbled.
“Please! We only did as we were told! That guy is the mastermind!”
Who could that be?
The thieves finally began to reveal the mastermind.
——–
“I sent Po Kyu and the constables right away. Relax and get back to business!”
The culprit was a merchant from another city who visited.
It seems he overheard something I said today while visiting bookstores regarding printing and thought there was profit to be made, so he devised the plan.
“Good job.”
After sending off the constable and the Merchant Association, I turned to Im Ha-yeon, whose energy seemed somewhat depleted.
“And Manager Kang as well.”
“I thought we had set up security well, but who would have thought they would brazenly enter?”
I muttered in amazement, looking towards the broken window.
“That window might have appeared loose from the outside. Honestly, it probably looked fine to open. Of course, there was a big alarm and a trap set off when they entered.”
Im Ha-yeon, looking as though she were the head of a security service, stared at the broken window.
“So it was a problem that it looked loose.”
Having been away for a few months, perhaps I didn’t pay enough attention to the details.
“Yes. For rookies, the appearance is important. The security of the Tea Bookstore isn’t actually that lax. One must be careful to enter through the third window on the second floor; otherwise, they’d be discovered.”
“Im Ha-yeon?”
How do you know that so well?
Im Ha-yeon seemed to realize she had slipped up, as she averted her gaze, looking flustered.
“Ah…. That. I went in to get dinner, and I had no intention of going into the printing room at all….”
“Are you not hungry?”
“Yes?”
I smiled casually at the flustered Im Ha-yeon, who seemed at a loss.
Anyway, I know well that I wouldn’t be able to stop The Shadowless Thief if it came in a proper form.
In fact, I wanted to compliment Im Ha-yeon for managing to hold back her desire to see the next volume, despite her capabilities to steal.
Thanks to her coming back to get something to eat, we were able to capture the thieves all at once.
“Ah, um…”
Im Ha-yeon suddenly clutched her stomach as if recalling her hunger, turning away her gaze in embarrassment.
This is a good opportunity.
‘Let’s shoot my luck as a manager once.’
With the credits for catching the thieves and the fan passion for The Rise of the Tang Family, and with this level of self-control, it’s worth casually suggesting something.
“Let’s go out together.”
For now, I’ll treat her to a delicious dinner and see how it goes.
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