Cold sweat trickled down my back.
“How… did you find out?”
“Seems Chun-il is more capable than I thought.”
“…”
So Chun-il was the culprit!
But he could even dig up things like that?
I was the one who picked him, but he’s really something.
“Of course I don’t know every last detail of what happened. But couldn’t you at least have mentioned that something like that went on?”
“Of course I wanted to. But Father, this is imperial palace business. If I’m not careful, people could easily misunderstand, so I had to be cautious.”
Father thought for a moment, then nodded.
“That’s true as well.”
“So I was planning to tell you about it separately, in private.”
“I see. Even so, do you know how worried your mother and I were when we heard you were involved in all that?”
“I can only apologize.”
What am I supposed to say here?
I just have to keep my head down.
Luckily, my parents understood that I couldn’t exactly write about those things in a letter.
Even if I sent a letter through Geumryeong, putting those matters down on paper would have been a bit much.
After I paid my respects to my parents and went back to my room, Palgap hurried over in surprise.
“What happened? Why do you look so pale all of a sudden?”
“Father scolded me.”
“…?”
I explained what had happened, and Palgap nodded.
“Well, getting scolded is only natural.”
“…”
I gave him a wounded look, but Palgap stayed firm.
“The real problem is that young master keeps walking straight into dangers other people wouldn’t even dare to think about.”
“I’m not happy about it either. It’s not like I meant for things to turn out that way.”
“…”
But the way Palgap looked at me suddenly felt strange.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
Evening fell, and we headed for the marketplace streets of Luoyang.
Escort Guard Jin Yu would stand out too much if he moved openly, so I left him at the inn.
So right now, my group was just Palgap and the three Escort Guards, five of us in total.
Honestly, I wanted to rest, but I forced myself out because I needed to get a feel for Luoyang’s current mood.
It had been almost a year since I last came to Luoyang.
For a merchant, checking what had changed in Luoyang over that time was something I absolutely had to do.
Luoyang is… pretty much the same as ever.
I suddenly remembered the first time I came to Luoyang in this life.
The Murim Alliance that killed me had its headquarters here.
For that reason alone, I used to hate coming here. But not anymore.
Last time, I snatched up the treasures the Murim Alliance should have gotten, and I even took the talent named Heo Un.
I guess those things worked like medicine for me.
Seeing how I feel nothing standing here now.
Though whenever I see the Murim Alliance buildings, something still boils up inside me.
While I was walking through the streets at night like that, I locked eyes with someone standing in the yard of an inn.
“…!”
Master?
I hurried over to Master and cupped my fists in greeting.
“Have you been well?”
“Ah, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Yes, I came because the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven are holding an assembly here.”
“I see.”
With a calm expression, Master pointed toward the inside of the inn.
“Come in for a cup of tea.”
“Yes.”
I had no reason to refuse Master’s offer.
Come to think of it, this was the inn Changin Escort Bureau always stayed at whenever they came to Luoyang.
I vaguely remembered hearing that the Murim Alliance’s influence didn’t reach this place…
Master led me to his room, brewed the tea himself, and poured it into a cup for me.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
“Go ahead.”
As I took my first sip of tea, Master’s voice transmission reached my ears.
— Yang Eun-jik is dead, isn’t he.
“…”
— Rumor has it the people above Yang Eun-jik had him eliminated…
There were Snow Wind Palace disciples around me.
They must have been watching my every move, so Master definitely wasn’t saying this without knowing.
— It was actually me.
— That was dangerous.
— I know. But when I thought about how many people would die if I left him be, I couldn’t help it.
“…”
— Also, I’m already deeply entangled in that matter. If anything went wrong, both my identity and Master’s identity could have been exposed. So I had no choice but to act. I’m sorry for causing you concern.
Master took a sip of tea and sent another voice transmission.
— Even so… you did well. Truth is, that bastard deserved to die.
Uh… was that supposed to be praise?
— Strictly speaking, killing him should have been my job.
“Huh?”
But Master didn’t offer any further explanation.
— I just wanted to say thank you.
Now that I thought about it, Master’s reaction when I first mentioned Yang Eun-jik had been unusual.
I had felt there was something seriously tangled between them.
He probably couldn’t kill him earlier because he worried about public attention and his own identity being exposed.
“So everyone gathering in Luoyang this time is for the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering, right?”
“Yes.”
So if it’s not something that needs to be kept secret, he just asks out loud. Makes sense—if we kept talking only through voice transmission, that would look suspicious.
“So we’ll probably stay here until the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering ends.”
“I see.”
Master nodded slowly.
“I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ve taken a commission.”
“A commission?”
“A guard commission.”
Master continued calmly.
“Once the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering begins here, countless people will gather.”
“Of course.”
“Some of them are righteous warriors who care only about martial arts and walk the proper path, but there are always others who aren’t. Do you really think those rotten types will leave the young women alone?”
“Ah…”
“So during the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering, they usually have the girls stay with relatives. If they don’t have any suitable relatives, they sometimes stay at Mount Hua Sect.”
Right, Mount Hua Sect took on that role too.
Strictly speaking, the major sect closest to Luoyang is Shaolin Temple. But women are forbidden to enter Shaolin.
So Mount Hua Sect volunteered to take that role.
They’re a Daoist-lineage sect, but they live more like a secular household and accept female disciples as well.
As far as I knew, Mount Hua Sect sheltering young women whenever the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering was held was a tradition almost as old as the gathering itself.
And because of that, Mount Hua Sect gained a few unexpected benefits.
One of them was reputation.
“Normally, Murim Alliance warriors and Mount Hua Sect warriors escort them. But there are always some who, for various reasons, can’t travel with those groups.”
“So you took on their request.”
“That’s right.”
Then tomorrow he would be leaving this place with those young women and heading to Mount Hua Sect.
“Then I guess I’ll see you next in Hubei.”
“Not quite.”
“…?”
“On a personal level as well, the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering is a rather interesting event, so I’m planning to attend as a spectator.”
— However, when we meet again, we might not be able to greet each other, so I ask for your understanding in advance.
“…?”
With that, our conversation ended, and I left the inn with Master seeing me off.
Then I rejoined my group and walked the marketplace streets of Luoyang again.
Those rotten types…
Just thinking about them made the back of my neck tense up.
Honestly, we merchants hated them just as much.
To them, merchants were easy prey, so they made a scene over nothing and flipped over our stalls whenever they felt like it.
And that was the better outcome.
It was common for people to end up injured by drawn weapons.
If anyone stepped in to stop them, ironically, things only escalated.
They were full of competitive spirit and always itching to jump into fights to show off their skills.
So A and B would start fighting, and if A lost, C would come out to fight B in A’s place.
If B lost, then D would come out and fight for B.
And the reasons they gave were truly creative.
“I’m from the same hometown as that martial artist! So I’m here to avenge them!”
“Turns out I ate at the same restaurant as that martial artist. That’s fate too, so…”
“I’m wearing the same color clothes as that person. Isn’t that heaven’s sign that I should avenge them?”
This endless chain of personal grudges never broke easily.
Any excuse would do, after all.
But there were people who cut those chains clean.
They were patrol squads made up of Murim Alliance experts, and their hands were so merciless that whenever they showed up, everyone scrambled to run.
To us merchants, they were very reassuring.
Thinking about that, I couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.
For all the shady things they did, they were surprisingly meticulous about that kind of order.
Well…
No matter how mighty the Murim Alliance is, if they neglected that sort of thing, they wouldn’t be able to keep their position as the Murim Alliance.
They squeeze so much protection money out of merchants that if they didn’t at least do that much, they’d just be plain bandits!
.
.
.
A few days later.
I dressed myself up in style.
Today was the day of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven assembly, so I went more flamboyant than usual.
Palgap and my Escort Guards also dressed up finely, and together we headed for the meeting place.
The venue this time was the same as last time.
Red Orchid Inn.
It was the largest restaurant in Luoyang, and whenever we held a gathering here, this was always the place.
And this time was no different.
When we arrived at Red Orchid Inn and stepped inside, I saw a welcome face.
“Welcome.”
It was Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun of the Gwangjun Merchant Group.
“When did you arrive?”
“I just got to Luoyang today.”
We exchanged greetings with smiles.
“You must have had a hard trip coming all the way here.”
“I’m just glad the meeting place wasn’t farther south.”
If the meeting place had been in Hubei or Jiangnan, he would have had to come all the way from Liaoning…
Ugh, just imagining it is awful.
Just then, Gwangjun Merchant Lord came over, and together with Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun, he greeted my father. Father accepted their greeting.
But it wasn’t time yet to talk at length with Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun.
“Seo-ho, let’s go greet the others first.”
“Yes.”
Exchanging greetings with the Merchant Lords from the other Hundred Great Merchant Groups or people on the level of their successors was extremely important.
In the merchant world, ability matters, but there are just as many things that only happen through connections.
For example, when you take on a big venture, the first people you look for are the ones you can trust.
Most of the people attending here were Merchant Lords or heirs of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven.
That meant they all had a certain level of ability and were trustworthy, so the connections you formed here were incredibly valuable.
Of course, there was also an invisible tug-of-war of nerves going on.
So, with Father’s introductions, I greeted the Merchant Lords of the other merchant groups one by one.
Many of them were people I’d met last time, so I could have acted familiar, but since I was with Father, proper etiquette was to let him introduce me.
So I waited quietly while Father introduced me, and in that way, I greeted everyone.
And then…
“Oh! We meet again, just like last time.”
“I greet Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang.”
Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang of the Baekcheon Merchant Group was here at this gathering as well.
To be honest, he was the last person I wanted to see.
But unlike before, my heart didn’t pound and cold sweat didn’t drip down my back.
I had gained confidence from stealing away the talent Heo Un who had been under him, and from taking the treasures that should have gone to them.
“Well then, enjoy yourself.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I lifted my head and watched his back as he walked away.
Go ahead and look forward to it.
Because I’m going to smack the back of your head nice and hard and slam you into the ground again!
Only after greeting all the Merchant Lords did I finally get to chat with people my own age.
“We meet again.”
“Yes.”
“…”
There was still taciturn Deputy Merchant Lord Sa Gang, Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun who had become a close friend of mine, Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon of the Hongnang Merchant Group, and so on.
At some point, I’d formed quite a few ties with people my age in this life.
“Anyway, I heard they’re going to enjoy that little game of guarding the silver plaque again this time.”
“Yes, that’s what I heard too.”
“Come to think of it, I heard Deputy Merchant Lord Eun guarded the silver plaque last time.”
At Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon’s words, I nodded.
“That’s right.”
“The secret…”
“I’d like to know the trick too.”
I answered with a smile.
“It’s not really a trick.”
Then I glanced around and lowered my voice.
“You just have to doubt everything around you. For example…”
I shot out my hand, grabbed Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun by the collar, and slammed that person straight onto the floor.
Bang-!
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Startled, Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon shouted.
But I just dusted off my hands like it was nothing.
“Because a fake can pretend to be the real one like this.”
“A fake?”
Honestly, I didn’t like having all eyes on me, but I couldn’t let someone imitate my close friend and just swallow it.
I had noticed right away that this one was a fake.
The Qi felt different.
The fact that the real Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun had suddenly been replaced by a fake meant the real Bok Yun was being held somewhere right now.
That was what made me angry.
“M-Me, a fake? How can you spout such nonsense! And doing something like this… I’ll lodge a formal complaint!”
“Shh!”
I raised a finger to my lips.
“Be quiet. If you want to walk away in one piece.”
–TL Notes–
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