It was finally time to head for Beijing.
This time, I had to travel with Young Hero Peng Gang-un all the way to Hebei, so I couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
So I used the lunch break to head over to the training grounds.
I needed to explain the situation to Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un.
Right now, those two were undergoing group training with the Eunpoong Division.
“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve been here. This really brings back memories.”
At Escort Guard Lee Pil’s words, I asked,
“Now that I think about it, you spent quite a while in the Eunpoong Division, didn’t you?”
“Not that long. I served here for about five years.”
“Isn’t that enough to count as a veteran?”
“‘Veteran’ is a bit much. I’d say just mid-level. To call someone a real veteran, it’d have to be Escort Guard Yeo. That person has been here fifteen years.”
At that, Escort Guard Jin Yu looked mildly surprised.
“It’s not easy for an Escort Guard to stay in one place for over fifteen years. That’s impressive.”
That was because of the nature of the job.
Living by the blade basically meant you could die or get badly hurt at any time.
So retirements tended to come early.
“Well, maybe Escort Guard Yeo’s just ridiculously lucky.”
I said that with a laugh.
“We should’ve brought Escort Guard Yeo along today, too.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am were off-duty today, so both of them were out.
“Anyway, being back here really reminds me of when I trained.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu had also trained with the Eunpoong Division for a month before becoming my escort.
“How was the training? Manageable?”
“Honestly, I was worried at first, but everyone treated me well, and the training itself wasn’t that hard. Compared to the training back when I was a kid… it almost felt too easy. I even wondered if it was okay to train this comfortably.”
At Jin Yu’s words, all of us pulled bitter faces.
It wasn’t just me; Palgap and the other escort guards all knew about Jin Yu’s past.
No matter how tough the Eunpoong Division’s drills were, they couldn’t compare to the assassin training where you walked the line between life and death every single day.
I quickly changed the subject.
“Right, how’s Palgap’s training going these days?”
“If we divide the whole course into ten stages, I’ve completed the fourth stage.”
“Already almost halfway through? That’s impressive!”
“I think so too.”
Palgap spoke with a calm expression while we were talking.
“It’s all thanks to Escort Guard Jin Yu’s good guidance.”
“Palgap.”
“Yes?”
“Either keep a calm face or just let yourself look happy. Your cheeks are flying up to the heavens, but you’re still trying to look calm, and it makes you look really ugly.”
“Ugh! Y-Young Master! That’s too much!”
“What did I do?”
“Good-looking people never understand what it’s like for those of us with average faces. Ordinary folks have to dress up and polish ourselves just to look halfway decent, but handsome people look good even when they’re digging their noses… sigh.”
I snorted at Palgap’s grumbling.
“All I said was pick one—either calm or proud—not both at once.”
“…”
Soon we stepped into the training grounds, and one of the instructors spotted us and hurried over.
“Young Master, you’ve come?”
“Thanks for the welcome.”
“Uh, right now the squad members are in the middle of lunch, so…”
“I know. That’s why I came.”
The Eunhae Merchant Group provided its staff with lunch at a cheap price.
In Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un’s case, I had all of their meal costs billed directly to me.
“Would it be alright if I took a look at the dining hall?”
“Of course. This way…”
“Thank you, but I know where it is. I just plan to quietly look in, so please don’t tell anyone else.”
The instructor seemed to understand my intention and bowed his head.
“Understood.”
One of the best ways to see whether someone has blended into a group is to watch how they eat.
You can tell a lot just from whether they’re chatting and eating with others, or sitting alone in the corner.
Honestly, given that Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un had been part of large sects, it wasn’t like they couldn’t handle communal life.
Still, a strict, by-the-book prestigious sect and the Eunpoong Division of the Eunhae Merchant Group had very different atmospheres.
This place was a lot more relaxed.
On top of that, rumors that the two of them had caused an incident at the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering had already spread through the Eunhae Merchant Group, so I was worried the others might ostracize them.
That’s why I’d come—to check whether they were settling in properly.
Soon, we reached the warriors-only dining hall.
It was understandably intimidating for regular staff to sit and eat next to armed warriors.
“Oh, there are the two escorts over th—”
“Shh!”
I had already spotted them too, so I quickly hushed the speaker.
The atmosphere felt… off.
Unlike the other employees, the Eunpoong Division recruited new members every three months.
There were many who left the job, whether by choice or not.
But the treatment here was pretty good, so there actually weren’t many who quit for reasons other than injury or death.
If a Eunpoong Division warrior died in service, the division would hire one family member to support the surviving household.
And if someone was injured badly enough that they could no longer wield a weapon, they were offered a different job within the group, or one of their family members would be hired instead.
Compared to other places that just tossed a small condolence payment at a dead or crippled warrior’s family and called it a day, these were downright generous benefits.
So whenever the Eunpoong Division put out a recruitment notice, countless warriors applied.
Applicants were evaluated on three things.
Martial arts, literacy test, and character.
For martial arts, anyone at least third-rate passed.
For regular guards, all we needed was for them to be a bit better than third-rate anyway.
The written test had two stages. First, they had to read aloud a sentence randomly picked by the examiner. If they passed that, the second stage was reading and solving a simple arithmetic problem.
More people washed out at the written test than you’d think.
There were more illiterate warriors than you’d expect, so around the Eunhae Merchant Group’s main compound, people who knew how to read were making decent money tutoring would-be applicants.
Those who passed the written test became provisional members and started training.
The training period was three months long, mainly to judge their character.
Naturally, anyone who caused trouble during that time was kicked out.
Only those who completed the three months without incident became full members, then underwent one more month of on-the-job training before being assigned to a squad.
In my opinion, Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu didn’t need the basic drills, so they only went through the practical training. But Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un started from the very beginning together with the provisional recruits.
They had been lashed harshly, but at least they had avoided expulsion from their sects.
And when each sect’s sect leader sent wound medicine through me to them, it was their way of saying the sect hadn’t abandoned them.
They had no intention of wasting this new chance.
So they approached every single drill with utter seriousness.
Still, they were proud of their first-rate skills.
So when they lost to a second-rate warrior during training, the shock hit them hard.
The training instructor explained the reason to them.
“That’s because you lack real combat experience.”
“Real combat? We’ve also…”
“Have you ever fought Forest Bandits with your life truly on the line?”
“We’ve taken part in Forest Bandits suppression a few times.”
“But you always had protectors with you, didn’t you? Even if the fight went bad, you believed someone would step in and save you.”
“…!”
It was true.
Whether it was Mount Hua Sect or the Zhongnan Sect, whenever they mobilized disciples to suppress the Forest Bandits, masters always accompanied them.
“That’s not real combat. True combat is a fight with no safety net. A battle where life and death hinge on the slightest mistake.”
“…”
“Honestly, the reason Third Deputy Merchant Lord had you train with the provisional members was so you could build up real combat experience.”
The instructor spoke with a faint smile.
“From now on you’ll be working with Third Deputy Merchant Lord. That person roams all over the empire. Just think how many dangers you’ll face at that person’s side. So learn everything you can here. There are more than a few people who would grieve if you died young.”
After that, Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un even let go of the arrogance they had about their own martial arts.
They also had no choice but to shed their pride in being disciples of the prestigious Mount Hua Sect and Zhongnan Sect.
Once, they’d been inner disciples. Now, they were nothing more than outer disciples living away from the sect.
Returning to their original mindset and throwing themselves into training, they slowly began to gain comrades.
However, there were some who didn’t like that change in them, and picked fights over every little thing.
Right now, while they were eating lunch, it was happening again.
“Ugh, why do I have to look at those bastards while I eat? Ruins my appetite.”
“Seriously. They almost got our Merchant Lord and spouse killed, and they still have the nerve to show their faces.”
Up until now, their jabs had usually stopped at about this level.
But maybe because the two escorts had kept enduring it and never fought back, today they pushed things further.
They’d also made sure there were no instructors around during mealtime, which was why they dared to act up.
Of course, the instructors were watching everything from where the troublemakers couldn’t see them.
“I really don’t get what was going through Deputy Merchant Lord’s head, saving the likes of you.”
“Probably that hero complex or something.”
“By refusing to expel you, your sects’ names must’ve been dragged through the mud.”
Insulting Eun Seo-ho, who had saved them, and insulting their sects—that hit their reverse scale. They couldn’t just swallow it anymore.
“That’s enough.”
“Don’t insult Third Deputy Merchant Lord and our sects.”
Their reaction only made the troublemakers snicker openly.
“Wow, so scary when they get mad. Heheh.”
“Want us to keep going? What’s wrong, scared we’ll beat you into the ground?”
Their fellow trainees, unable to watch any longer, tried to stop them.
“P-please, stop.”
“We’re all comrades here, aren’t we?”
“Comrades, my ass. You’re the only idiots who’d call criminals comrades.”
The gang grew more and more brazen.
From the start of training, they’d built up their little faction through intimidation, while the two escorts’ friends were the more passive types.
So the gang didn’t care what anyone said.
“If you keep insulting Third Deputy Merchant Lord, our sects, and my comrades, we won’t just sit here and take it.”
“Oh? Yeah?”
One of the sneering thugs picked up a bowl of noodles.
“Then let’s see you try.”
Then the bowl flew.
Everyone in the dining hall gasped—not because the idiot had thrown a noodle bowl.
Thwack-!
It was because the person hit by the bowl was someone they never expected.
“…”
“…”
It was the very man who had thrown it.
Silence fell over the hall, and the one who broke it was a handsome young man’s clear voice.
“I wasn’t expecting everyone to get along, but attacking your own comrades is going a bit too far, isn’t it?”
That man was none other than Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, Chief of the Virtuous Wind Department, and hero of the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering.
Next to him, Escort Guard Jin Yu and Escort Guard Lee Pil stood with their swords drawn.
The sharp aura filling the place made everyone there go pale and tremble.
Then they replayed what had just happened in their minds.
The troublemaker had flung the noodle bowl with force. Just then, Jin Yu appeared in front of them and flicked the scabbard, sending the bowl right back.
It all happened so fast that the thrower couldn’t react before it smashed into him.
But he didn’t even think to wipe away the blood running down his forehead.
As everything he’d just been jeering about flashed through his mind, his head went completely blank.
“Gah!”
The whole gang immediately dropped and prostrated themselves.
“W-we’re sorry!”
“Please forgive us!”
I looked down at the people sprawled flat before me.
In my previous life, those very people had been part of the Eunpoong Division and caused no end of problems.
The one that made my blood boil the most was when they sold our merchant group’s secrets to a rival group.
Honestly, when they threw the bowl at Escort Guard Myeong Jong, I’d considered taking the hit myself.
But that would’ve made things messy.
First off, Escort Guard Jin Yu and Escort Guard Lee Pil, who had followed me here, could get scolded. And the instructors watching from the roof over there would almost certainly be dragged before the External Chief Administrator.
That’s why I had Jin Yu deflect the bowl instead.
Either way, just based on what they’d said and done to the two escorts, they were guaranteed to be expelled.
But with personalities like that… in my last life, they must have caused trouble even during provisional training. So how did they end up as full members?
The question nagged at me, but I set it aside for now and spoke to Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un.
“I’m glad to see you’re both doing well.”
“We greet our lord.”
“W-what brings you here, my lord?”
“I had something to talk about. Are you finished eating?”
“Ah, yes!”
“We just finished.”
“Then let’s go.”
Without so much as glancing at the ones groveling at my feet, I tilted my head up toward the ceiling and sent a voice transmission.
— Handle it however you see fit. I’ll be watching.
–TL Notes–
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