Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1295. Discussing (5)

“Regrettably, unfortunate news has forced me to invite the two of you like this,” said Kim Myeong-Chan.

Kang Jin-Ho silently stared at the Prime Minister. He wasn’t trying to be intimidating. Not only did he not release his killing intent, but he also didn’t go out of his way to appear imposing, either.

Of course, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t care how others perceived his still gaze. That was entirely up to the other side.

“Earlier in the day... Mm, my apologies.”

Kim Myeong-Chan faltered a little, then rubbed his throat. He even fake-coughed twice in an attempt to lower the pitch of his voice.

“I’ve already explained the situation to Chief Lee. Has he updated you on the situation yet?”

Kang Jin-Ho replied flatly. “Yes, I’ve heard the gist of it.”

“Ah, that’s good. Then we can save time and...”

“However, hearing it from the horse’s mouth is different, wouldn’t you say?”

Kim Myeong-Chan nodded slowly. “Then, allow me. The police were investigating the new drug circulating within the country. Even if the drug vanished from circulation abruptly, the crime has already been committed, after all.”

“Of course.”

“Various things happened, and... Well, the investigators discovered the evidence of your Assembly people’s involvement.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently held Kim Myeong-Chan’s gaze. The first one to avert his gaze was the Prime Minister.

While looking down at the table, Kim Myeong-Chan tried to sound as laid-back as possible.

“Assembly Master. We understand the uniqueness of the martial world. As such, we’ve been looking the other way, to some degree, to crimes perpetrated within the martial world and the people in it. I’m sure you’re well aware of this.”

“Of course.”

“However, this crime is on another level of severity,” said Kim Myeong-Chan in a firm tone.

“Drugs are like cancer that eats away at the country. The ordinary, innocent citizens are forced to pay the price of drugs ravaging our country, Assembly Master. As such, we judged that turning a blind eye this time will be difficult. Not only that, but...”

Kim Myeong-Chan suddenly stopped there to build suspense.

“...My superior is greatly displeased by this development, too.”

The Prime Minister’s superior? There could be only one person fitting that description.

“Yes, there are unwritten rules we abide by. However, we can stick to those rules only when your side does not break the existing laws and common sense of the people. If unwritten rules are at odds with the laws of the land, of course we must abide by the law. Do you agree, Assembly Master?”

Although that line of thinking was logical, neither Lee Hyeon-Su nor Kang Jin-Ho could reply in the affirmative.

“Prime Minister, you can just tell us what you have in mind,” said Kang Jin-Ho to cut Kim Myeong-Chan off.

A subtle smirk floated up on Kim Myeong-Chan’s face. Not answering meant his opponent had tacitly admitted to their fault.

“I’ll keep it simple, then. We demand that you allow us to arrest those involved,” said Kim Myeong-Chan.

“That will be difficult,” Kang Jin-Ho replied instantly as if he didn’t even have to think about his answer.

Kim Myeong-Chan’s brow furrowed. “...Assembly Master.”

“Don’t misunderstand me, please. I’m not trying to imply that we’re above the law. Even though we wear the facade of martial artists, the Assembly’s members are still South Korean citizens. As such, they are subjected to this country’s laws.”

Of course, Kang Jin-Ho had to... conveniently omit that a sizable chunk of the Assembly was not Koreans.

“But I still have to refuse your demand, because the unique quirks of martial artists means they cannot be punished by the surface world’s systems.”

“That is for us to worry about, Assembly Master.”

That was when Lee Hyeon-Su joined the discussion. “No, sir. You’re wrong on this one.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, sir. It’s not as if the police haven’t arrested martial artists before. But that could only happen with the cooperation of the martial world. With rank-and-file Korean police officers carrying firearms as a deterrent more than anything else, they have no realistic methods of subduing martial artists.”

“That might be so. However, our side already has plans to...”

“The problem doesn’t end there, however. Even if the police have successfully arrested the martial artists, keeping them locked up in the South Korean prison system is practically impossible, sir.”

“...”

“In short, you can’t keep martial artists locked up behind bars.”

“I heard that you can seal a martial artist’s strength somehow?”

“Yes, that is indeed possible. But that’s not really a silver bullet-like solution you’re thinking of, sir,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. “What you’re hoping to propose is no different from locking up de-fanged tigers along with the rest of the inmates. You can even pull out the claws of all the tigers, too. But one swing from a tiger’s front paw should still be enough to kill a person instantly.”

“Mm...!”

“Prime Minister, sir. You don’t lock up tigers in a prison, but in a cage. In order to facilitate that, you need to construct a different type of prison. For instance, something on the level of, or even surpassing, the ADX Florence Penitentiary in the United States. Can you construct something like that?”

Kim Myeong-Chan chuckled wryly. Of course that would be impossible.

Stories of human rights abuse regarding the prison system often made headlines in this country. So, imagine what might happen if the government built a secret prison. The whole country might get flipped on its head if the public got wind of its existence.

Lee Hyeon-Su continued to explain. “The only way to imprison a martial artist is to destroy their dantian, which will seal their cultivation, and sever the tendons in their arms and legs, which will prevent them from exerting full physical strength.”

Kim Myeong-Chan frowned deeply. That sounded inhumane to the extreme.

Lee Hyeon-Su asked, “Sir, do you think you can do that in this day and age?”

“...No, I don’t think I can.”

Of course that kind of punishment was unthinkable. These days, a cop assaulting a criminal would lead to the Commissioner General bowing before the cameras and apologizing, while several people would lose their jobs. So, for the government to mete out punishment where the criminal got their tendons severed?

Kim Myeong-Chan didn’t even want to imagine the backlash from such a thing. Besides, it was realistically impossible to carry out such punishment, anyway.

Lee Hyeon-Su wasn’t finished yet.

“Worse still, a martial artist past a certain level of strength can still easily defeat a pro MMA fighter even after getting their tendons severed and their dantian sealed. Also, considering that a dantian-less martial artist can become more volatile and reckless than a predator that lost its fangs, well...”

Kim Myeong-Chan didn’t need to hear the rest.

“Sir, we also don’t want to punish the criminals by ourselves. Those inhuman bastards still need to get fed to survive, no? The manpower and the cost of keeping them alive are quite considerable. If I had my way, I’d have executed them all, but that’s also easier said than done.”

Kim Myeong-Chan slowly nodded in agreement.

Spending tax money on keeping the convicts alive was a dilemma all countries had to suffer from. Money collected from society to keep those who harmed said society alive seemed rather ironic, didn’t it?

“Prime Minister.”

Kang Jin-Ho stopped Lee Hyeon-Su and rejoined the discussion.

“Yes, Assembly Master?”

“I’m sure you already knew all this before coming here.”

Kang Jin-Ho came out swinging, pushing Kim Myeong-Chan on the back foot in the process.

This was precisely why Kim Myeong-Chan found it so hard to talk to Kang Jin-Ho. All conversations had a flow. But Kang Jin-Ho didn’t bother to go along with such a thing. He had this ability to speak what he had in mind whenever he wanted.

Whether he did this intentionally or not was unknown. But one thing was certain—for someone like Kim Myeong-Chan, who was more used to hiding behind a facade while attacking his opponent, this way of negotiating troubled him greatly.

“Demanding something that cannot be fulfilled means you have another reason for making such a demand,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“That’s not always true, Assembly Master.”

“Please tell me straight what you really want from us.”

Kim Myeong-Chan sighed. He did all the work to lay out the table, yet Kang Jin-Ho simply kicked said table away.

If it was only Lee Hyeon-Su, the Prime Minister wouldn’t have had this much trouble. In fact, he would still be able to hold his position if his opponent had been Kang Jin-Ho alone. But both of them together? Now that was asking a lot out of Kim Myeong-Chan.

Things could have been easier with another person advising the Prime Minister. Regretfully, though, he couldn’t carelessly expose the matters related to the Martial Assembly to many people.

Besides, Kim Myeong-Chan also didn’t have anyone personally to help him out on this occasion, anyway. Because he didn’t have anyone he trusted, like Kang Jin-Ho trusted Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Assembly Master?”

“Yes?”

“The Assembly people breaking the law must be dealt with by the full might of the law. The Republic of Korea is a country governed by its laws. Wouldn’t that concept become meaningless if some of its citizens brazenly broke said laws?

Kang Jin-Ho coolly nodded. He also had been pondering this problem for a while.

The martial world used the excuse of its special circumstances to escape the fetters of the law governing the surface world, but the consequences of such an attitude were bound to rear their heads sooner or later.

Various interests aligned with each other in the current era, which led to the surface world largely leaving the martial world alone, but no one could predict how the trends would shift in the future.

“Indeed, Prime Minister. I promise you, we’ll carefully reflect on this matter.”

“Assembly Master. I’m sure you can already guess that many people were harmed in this incident. As such, the investigators won’t just stop what they are doing, even if the Assembly has already dealt with the problem internally. Besides, resolving such a thing internally is strictly prohibited by this country’s law.”

“It’s... Shall we say a pragmatic issue?”

“Indeed. But the Assembly never has been willing to discuss such pragmatic issues with us until now.”

“Isn’t that the same story with the government, too?”

Kang Jin-Ho’s sharp gaze collided with Kim Myeong-Chan’s mid-air.

When the atmosphere grew a little too volatile for his liking, Lee Hyeon-Su tried to intervene. However, even before he could say something, Kang Jin-Ho raised his hand and stopped him.

Kang Jin-Ho then bowed his head slightly.

“I’d like to apologize for failing to manage my people and allowing them to harm ordinary civilians.”

Kim Myeong-Chan shook his head. “Please don’t apologize like that. I don’t have the qualifications to accept it as the representative of the people, after all.”

“We at the Martial Assembly are considering various ways to compensate those who were harmed by this crime. Since it’s most likely that this matter won’t be resolved via the law, allow us to make things right through our hard work. With that, I hope we can close the book on this saga and move on.”

“...Assembly Master.”

Kim Myeong-Chan sighed deeply.

“I’d love to do that, but we can’t. That’s not how the government operates.”

Kang Jin-Ho stared silently at Kim Myeong-Chan before sighing himself.

“Fuu...”

He had half a mind to shout at the Prime Minister to stop beating around the bush. However, he knew he shouldn’t do that. Not because he was scared of Kim Myeong-Chan, of course.

No, it was because Kang Jin-Ho respected the Office of the Prime Minister. As long as he called this country his home, he must respect the representatives elected by the country’s people. That rule should be blindingly obvious.

“Then, what should we do as compensation for the problems our people caused?”

“Mm...!”

Kim Myeong-Chan sneakily glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su, then at Kang Jin-Ho, to gauge their moods. Since this fruit had ripened enough, now seemed like the right time to bite into the tender flesh.

“Although I didn’t exactly invite you both to discuss this particular topic, there is something I’d like to bring to your attention.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well, you see...” Kim Myeong-Chan spoke falteringly. He even hesitated a little. “We’re currently facing a very delicate situation at the moment.”

Lee Hyeon-Su quickly chimed in. “Does your superior have full knowledge of this matter, sir?”

“No, not at all. My superior does not know we’re here. You could say my office is independently initiating this matter.”

“However... Your superior is pissed. Am I right?”

Kim Myeong-Chan nodded. “Indeed. Very much pissed. But my office can appease that anger.”

Lee Hyeon-Su narrowed his eyes. He could tell that the Prime Minister was lying. But it meant the thing they were about to discuss was grave enough to necessitate a lie like this.

Did that mean the Prime Minister was prepared to fall on his sword if things went awry somewhere? The more Lee Hyeon-Su studied the Prime Minister’s behavior, the more serious this matter seemed.

Kang Jin-Ho calmly asked, “I see. Then, what do you want from us?”

“Mm...!”

Kim Myeong-Chan’s face cramped up in awkwardness as he stared back at Kang Jin-Ho. He eventually reached into his pocket.

“How about we take a quick smoke break?”

It seemed the Prime Minister wanted to lessen the tension in the room.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded back. The phase in the negotiation where each side tried to turn the atmosphere to their advantage was over, at least for now.

When Kang Min-Ho mouthed a cigarette, Kim Myeong-Chan reached across the table and lit it up. Then, the Prime Minister sat back on his spot and lit his own cigarette up.

“Fuu-woo...”

The gray cigarette smoke lazily drifted in the air.

Kim Myeong-Chan slowly puffed away a couple of times to ease the tension in the air before making a sheepish face.

Just what was the Prime Minister trying to say here? Lee Hyeon-Su furrowed his brow deeply. It was as if Kim Myeong-Chan was forcing himself to speak some things he didn’t want to.

Sure enough, what the Prime Minister said next was enough to open Lee Hyeon-Su’s eyes as widely as humanly possible.

“We... would like you to eliminate a certain individual.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression stiffened instantly.