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chapter 14
‘The exam has probably already started. Sigh… aren’t the examiners way too obsessed with riddles?’
Seorin recalled what Monk Hyegwang, the supervisor of this exam, had said earlier.
‘He said that if I think of myself as the master of Hye-eumwon, the questions will unravel easily, right?’
From the standpoint of operation and management, what would be the most important concern for someone running Hye-eumwon?
“What else would it be? Money, obviously.”
National institution or charity, whatever—nothing runs without money.
And since they had placed her here, in front of this desk, it was clear they wanted her to find something on it.
Seorin began examining the desk more carefully.
On the left was a bookshelf with several account books neatly placed. On the right wall hung a board—secured with thin wooden pegs—showing something like a stable management chart.
And on top of the desk were only a few books.
Seorin checked the account books first. One of them immediately caught her eye.
“Cash Ledger (出納簿)? In hotel accounting, cash-flow management is the core of operations!”
The ledger contained everything—from guest room usage to income and expenses from purchases—allowing a clear overview of operating funds.
‘But Hye-eumwon hasn’t even opened yet. How is there already a detailed cash ledger?’
As Seorin carefully reviewed the entries, an odd expression crossed her face.
“…W–Wait. This is…?”
Meanwhile, Hyegwang had returned to the examiners’ waiting room carrying snacks when Go Jang-nam plopped down beside him.
“I was bad too, but you were also pretty ruthless, you know.”
Hyegwang chuckled.
“Didn’t you start the fun first, Master Cook?”
Go Jang-nam rubbed his neck awkwardly.
“At least I told them what they were supposed to do.”
Hyegwang didn’t bother denying that point.
“Most applicants probably think managing a guesthouse is just taking in guests and cleaning rooms. I merely wished to show them that it’s not so simple.”
He sipped his tea and continued:
“And that girl earlier… I have a feeling she’ll give us something interesting again.”
Seorin approached a young monk who had been standing by and requested several things. When the monk returned with the information she requested, a confident smile spread across her lips.
“Hm… Just as I expected. I think I’ve found the answer. What should I do now?”
“W–What?!”
The monk jumped in shock. No wonder—until now, not a single examinee had solved the question.
“P–Please wait here a moment!”
He dashed off to the examiners’ waiting room.
The examiners looked puzzled when he returned so quickly—barely any time had passed since the last examinee began.
“Did something happen?”
“N–No, that is not the case.”
“Then what?”
“The final examinee says she has solved the question.”
“What?!”
“Oh-ho! Finally?!”
Hearing that the answer had been found in less than half an hour, Hyegwang looked truly surprised.
“Well, well. She didn’t even give me time to enjoy a cup of tea in peace.”
Hyegwang stood and followed the clerk, with the other examiners trailing behind with a mix of excitement and curiosity.
They even brought all the other examinees along as they hurried into the office.
“So, you say you’ve figured out the answer?”
Even before stepping fully inside, Hyegwang asked urgently, unable to hide his excitement.
“Yes.”
“Well then, tell us—what have you discovered?”
Seorin took the ledger from the desk and spoke carefully.
“This is the cash ledger regarding guest room operations at Hye-eumwon.”
The examiners—except for Hyegwang—looked at her as if to say, ‘And so what?’
“Through this ledger, I discovered that corruption is occurring within Hye-eumwon.”
“W–What?! Corruption?!”
The examiners gasped, jaws dropping. What an outrageous thing to claim!
“That is not something you can accuse lightly! You’d better have solid proof!”
Hyegwang raised his voice and scolded her, his expression stern.
Only then did the examiners realize the truth.
Hyegwang wasn’t truly angry—he was acting.
Besides, Hye-eumwon hadn’t even opened to the public yet. There was no way real corruption involving guests could exist.
Which meant this was part of the test.
The examiners grew eager, while the examinees who hadn’t solved the problem listened in envy and curiosity.
Seeing Hyegwang’s expression, Seorin became certain her deduction was correct, and she put appropriate emotion into her voice.
As if an actual incident had taken place.
“There is indeed proof.”
Flipping several pages, she turned to the section with guest-room usage records.
“Anbingak has a total of 40 guest rooms. All check-ins and check-outs are recorded here.”
She tapped the ledger.
“Yesterday, 15 rooms were newly occupied. Today, 5 guests checked out. Therefore, 10 rooms should currently be in use. That means there should be 30 room keys remaining. But…”
She paused for emphasis.
“As you can see, only 26 room keys remain. Four sets of keys are missing.”
Go Jang-nam began counting on his fingers, murmuring:
“That means… there are more occupied rooms than recorded?”
“Correct. So I asked the monk to confirm the actual number of rooms in use. And indeed, there are 14 rooms currently occupied.”
“Which means…”
“The ledger was falsified. The usage of four rooms was omitted.”
“It could have been a simple mistake, could it not?”
Hyegwang countered with a smile.
“I considered that. However, it was not a mistake.”
“And what makes you think that?”
Seorin pointed toward the stable management chart on the right wall.
“I mentioned earlier: ‘Four rooms are occupied but not recorded.’ Therefore, I suspected similar manipulation in the stable usage records, since guests’ horses affect expenses.”
The examiners were so focused they forgot to interrupt.
“Feeding horses costs money, and the ledger records every feeding. Horses are fed twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening. All guests checked in at noon yesterday. Thus, they should have received two feedings: yesterday evening and this morning. It’s not yet evening today.”
Go Jang-nam clutched his head as if his brain had overheated.
“So here is the next question. According to the ledger, there are five horses in the stable. In that case, how many total feedings should have been recorded?”
She looked around. Go Jang-nam had even taken out ink and paper to calculate.
Then Eunchun, who had been silent until now, answered calmly:
“If there were indeed five horses, there should be ten feedings.”
“Correct~!”
“….”
Seorin had raised her hand like a game show host, but since Eunchun gave no reaction, she awkwardly lowered it.
“Ahem. As the chief said, the ledger states five horses and ten feedings. However, when the monk checked the stable for me, there were eight horses, not five. And according to the clerk in charge of feed, from yesterday afternoon onward, the number of feedings was sixteen.”
Finishing her explanation, Seorin gave a triumphant smile.
