A short while later, Mun Ju-seong entered my room carrying a tray with a teapot and teacups.
After confirming that no one was around, I greeted him warmly.
“Have you been well?”
“Thanks to you, benefactor, I’m living well.”
“But… what happened? How did that inn become so large?”
“Well, it just turned out this way.”
He explained the entire story.
“Thanks to so many customers, it became a situation where I wouldn’t be suspected even if I used the money you gave me, benefactor. So I combined that money with the wealth I brought and built this five-story pavilion, but…”
Mun Ju-seong scratched the back of his ear sheepishly.
“The number of customers has increased even more, so I’ve been busy every day.”
As he spoke, his face was full of smiles, and I felt proud seeing this.
In my previous life, Mun Ju-seong had returned to the Fortune Merchant Group with the Fruit of Renewal and became the Merchant Lord, but the man I saw back then didn’t look happy at all.
Then again, because of the Fruit of Renewal he had brought, the Fortune Merchant Group had gone to the brink of collapse, and even his mother had passed away, so there was no reason for him to be happy.
Was it because of that memory?
I found myself saying without thinking.
“You look happy.”
“Ah, yes.”
Mun Ju-seong nodded and answered.
“I am happy.”
It seemed that the remarkable growth of this inn wasn’t just due to good luck.
I had never seen an inn this kind and clean before.
My business sense was telling me something important.
This Springtime Inn was not an establishment that would stop at being famous only in this region.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
I wonder what the Merchant Lord of the Fortune Merchant Group will think when he eventually sees Mun Ju-seong’s success.
I heard that when the Fortune Merchant Group casts out an unlucky descendant, they even sever the bond between father and son for fear that the bad luck will spread…
“That’s a relief. It’s good to see you living happily and well.”
“It’s thanks to you, benefactor. You saved me when I was about to be in big trouble with the tiger back then, and you also gave me advice.”
At his words, I simply smiled.
I wasn’t certain, but he probably would have survived even then.
Considering that he had returned to his family with the Fruit of Renewal in my previous life.
.
.
.
That afternoon, after having a meal, I walked in the garden next to the pavilion.
Seeing that they had created such a wide and beautiful garden for the inn’s guests, I thought that Mun Ju-seong had a real sense for business.
As I strolled through the garden accompanied by Palgap and the Escort Guards, someone approached.
Seeing the woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, I quickly cupped my fist and greeted her.
“It’s been a while.”
It was Granny Skullbreaker.
“Yes, have you been well?”
“Yes, have you been well too, elder?”
“Me? What could have happened to me? By the way, I’ve heard a lot about you. You’ve earned the title of Handsome Young Hero, haven’t you?”
“Yes, it just happened to turn out that way.”
“I thought you would make a name for yourself someday, but it was faster than I expected.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I scratched my cheek.
“But, what happened? The inn has grown quite large.”
Granny Skullbreaker chuckled and replied.
“The fellow you asked me to take in turned out to be quite resourceful.”
“He said he was just lucky.”
“Nonsense. I’ve run an inn before, so I know. You can’t make an inn this big, nor can you maintain it, just by being lucky.”
“That’s true. And it’s also thanks to you, elder.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You must have taken care of unwelcome guests or problems when they arose, didn’t you?”
When a business grows this rapidly, there are often interferences from the surroundings, and quite a few cases of martial artists causing trouble.
At my question, she smiled and replied.
“Well, there were some ill-mannered fellows, so I quietly dragged them away and smashed their heads. But didn’t you ask me to?”
I had asked Granny Skullbreaker to protect Mun Ju-seong for five years in exchange for the Fruit of Renewal that would save her husband’s life.
About three years had passed since then, so there were about two years left?
But even after the period we had agreed upon passed, it didn’t seem like Granny Skullbreaker would leave this inn.
Just then, a young man approached from a distance.
“Wife, what are you doing there?”
“Ah! Husband.”
Seeing the young man, Granny Skullbreaker smiled like a young girl.
“He’s that young man Eun I told you about before.”
“Ah! This young man!”
He smiled gently and cupped his fist to me.
“Thanks to the grace you have shown, I was able to live. Thank you for saving my life.”
“Uh…”
I didn’t know how to react to his more polite greeting than I had expected.
Thwack!
Granny Skullbreaker slapped my back with her palm.
“What are you doing, not accepting his greeting?”
“Ah. Yes. I’m glad you’ve become so healthy. May you two live a hundred years together?”
“Our ages are almost a hundred years old.”
“Uh…”
I was momentarily flustered, but I smiled sheepishly and continued.
“Then you can live a thousand years together.”
“Thank you very much, you brat.”
A question suddenly occurred to me.
“By the way, what is your name, elder?”
“Me?”
Granny Skullbreaker smiled and replied.
“Yeon Ga-hwa (淵佳花).”
It meant beautiful flower.
For a moment, I was flustered by the name, which was completely different from Granny Skullbreaker, which meant skull-smashing old woman.
But I soon nodded.
What woman would want to have such a title? The world must have just made her that way.
And it must have been a world where she had to survive that way.
“And my husband’s name is Yu Geon (柳健).”
“Please forgive my rudeness for only now asking for your names.”
“Not at all. Honestly, we’re grateful that you asked for our names.”
As they spoke and looked at each other, I could feel that they deeply loved each other.
And I felt something else too.
Elder Yu Geon’s internal energy.
Even though he hadn’t deliberately emitted his aura, I could feel its presence.
It was like facing a huge cliff.
When had I felt this kind of feeling before?
Ah, it was like this when my Master had recently said he had gained enlightenment.
Then, is my Master also at this level?
Then it’s even more of a mystery. For someone like him to be injured, he must have had a tremendous fight.
Just then, people began to approach from a distance, and seeing that, Granny Skullbreaker—no, Elder Yeon Ga-hwa—said.
“Then we’ll be going now. I don’t know where you’re going, but be careful and have a safe trip.”
“Yes.”
Then Elder Yu Geon added a word.
“If anyone bullies you, let me know.”
“Yes. I will definitely let you know.”
As I bowed, the two of them turned around and went into the inn.
“Hoo!”
“Hooo!”
As soon as the two of them entered the inn, my Escort Guards let out sighs of relief and wiped their cold sweat.
“W-who in the world are those people?”
Especially Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu, who had reached the Peak level, seemed to feel even more fear.
It was complicated to explain, so I answered simply.
“Ah, they’re people I met by chance before.”
.
.
.
After spending a night at the Springtime Inn, the next day, we packed our things and came down to the first floor.
“Are you leaving, customer?”
“Yes.”
Mun Ju-seong didn’t say anything, but his expression was quite sad.
— I’ll stop by again next time. Until then, stay healthy and happy.
At my telepathic message, Mun Ju-seong nodded.
We left the Springtime Inn.
Everyone tries to find good luck. But good luck is just good luck.
Good luck is like paper, and when the wind of hardship blows, it flies away.
To catch that paper-like good luck and enjoy happiness, there had to be something heavy.
Whether it’s family, friends, responsibility, or effort, I think that kind of heavy something allows good luck to remain as happiness.
The image of Mun Ju-seong running around frantically to leave a good memory for the customers came to mind.
Because he was like that, wasn’t it that good luck didn’t end at good luck but remained as happiness?
And so, after leaving the Springtime Inn, we soon arrived at the pier.
We also had to take the horses, so we took a large boat and headed for Shandong.
It was a downstream route, so the speed was very fast.
But, while a boat is comfortable, it has a somewhat boring side to it.
Palgap was already squirming.
“Even if it’s boring, isn’t it better than riding a horse all day?”
At my question, Palgap let out a deep sigh.
“That’s true, but still, just sitting here like this is suffocating and I’m getting antsy.”
“Really?”
I suddenly thought about calling Escort Guard Jin Yu and having him train, but the martial art Palgap was learning was not something others should see.
And it was also not ideal to train in such a small space.
A good idea suddenly came to mind.
Because there was a guy here who would play with Palgap.
“Geumryeong. Come on out.”
“Kui?”
“Palgap is bored. You’re bored too, right?”
“Kui!”
At my words, Geumryeong’s eyes lit up as if it was a good idea, and it immediately rushed to Palgap and kicked him in the face with its hind leg.
Whack!
“Ugh! W-what?”
Even though Palgap had become quite nimble since he started learning martial arts, he was still slow compared to Geumryeong.
And Geumryeong’s provocation was very effective.
“You little rascal!”
“Kui! Kui!”
“Hah! You! Just you wait until I catch you!”
Thanks to Geumryeong, Palgap didn’t say a word about being bored after that.
.
.
.
As we were traveling by boat, a familiar mountain came into view.
It was Mount Tai. (TL Note: Confirmed, MC has eyes and can see it)
In the Central Plains, there were five mountains called the Five Great Mountains (五岳).
Mount Tai in the east, Mount Hua in the west, Mount Heng (衡山) in the south, Mount Heng (恆山) in the north, and Mount Song in the center. (TL Note: Yep, both read as Heng, but the South one is Balance and the North one is Permanent)
It was said that the most important one of the Five Great Mountains was Mount Tai.
Because it was in the east where the sun rises, it was the most sacred.
They say that for every time you climb Mount Tai, you become ten years younger and your wishes come true, but in my opinion, it seemed to be because climbing the mountain was hard.
Honestly, it looked easy because its height wasn’t that impressive, but it was by no means an easy mountain.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to cross that mountain but would go further down the river that circled Mount Tai.
The sight of Mount Tai meant that we had entered Shandong, so we slowly began to prepare to disembark.
And after getting off the boat, we decided to spend a night nearby.
Because while traveling by boat was comfortable, it was also unknowingly a tiring task for the body.
And sometimes, after being on a boat for a long time, you can get landsick when you get off.
Those who practiced martial arts didn’t have much of that, but still, we had to ride horses again, so we needed to conserve our energy.
And since a horse is a very sensitive animal, it needed time to adjust to the land.
We also had to replenish necessary supplies such as emergency food.
There was an inn near the pier where I had often stayed before, so we headed there.
It was a place I had frequently stayed at when I passed through Shandong to go to other places.
“Let’s stay at that inn.”
“Understood.”
We unpacked our things at the inn.
Everyone quietly rested their fatigue and departed the next morning.
.
.
.
It was the second day since we had departed from the inn near the pier.
“My lord, it would be best to prepare to camp here.”
“That would be good. There’s no need to overdo it.”
At Escort Guard Seo Wu’s suggestion, I nodded.
Since we were in the mountains, the sun was setting quickly.
“Then I will look for a suitable place.”
“Yes.”
The Escort Guards looked around and chose a flat place to start preparing for camping.
Thanks to their organized movements, such as tidying up the place and starting a bonfire, we were able to prepare for camping quite quickly.
For dinner, we ate the rabbit meat we had hunted nearby and the leftover dumplings from lunch, warmed up.
“Then, let’s set the night watch.”
At Escort Guard Seo Wu’s words, when the other three martial artists and Palgap were deciding the order, I cut in.
“I will also stand for the night watch.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean, my lord, that you will also stand for the night watch?”
“That’s right. You can just sleep soundly, Young Master.”
I shook my head firmly.
“It’s fine. It’s right for me to stand for the night watch too. Everyone must be sleepy, so if I also stand for the night watch, we can all rest a little more.”
When I strongly expressed my opinion, everyone reluctantly nodded.
Palgap and I became a pair, and our turn was the second.
The first and last shifts were less tiring, but that was also why.
It was better for me and Palgap to be tired than for my Escort Guards, who were protecting my safety, to be tired.
It was obvious that the first watch, Escort Guard Jin Yu and Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am, would not wake me, so I woke up on my own at the promised time.
“Uh… are you up?”
Seeing their flustered expressions, it was just as I thought.
I said firmly.
“Go to sleep.”
“Ah, yes.”
They glanced at me and lay down on the ground, and soon fell fast asleep.
I chuckled to myself.
They didn’t have to push themselves that hard, but honestly, that would be a difficult thing to do.
And so, as I was standing for the night watch with Palgap, tending the bonfire, it happened.
Jingle,
Jingle,
Jingle,
At the sound of a handbell from a distance, Palgap, terrified, asked me.
“Hiek! W-what is this sound?”
–TL Notes–
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