They all came back with the same answer.
“They say they’ll follow Deputy Merchant Lord Eun’s wishes.”
So the final say is up to me now.
I could feel Young Master Ho Gyeong’s gaze on me, his eyes practically shining.
Ugh, how am I supposed to turn him down when he looks at me like that? And he’s already given me all sorts of things too.
“All right. Let’s go together.”
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll see you later at Golden Rooster Pavilion.”
Ho Gyeong watched Eun Seo-ho’s back as he saw him off.
The reasons he’d given Eun Seo-ho for wanting to join tonight’s gathering weren’t lies.
He really was someone Ho Gyeong wanted to get closer to.
For a while, he’d stopped attending the Hundred Great Merchant Groups’ gatherings. Everyone who approached him only did it to use him.
Honestly, he knew the scions of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups all got close for mutual benefit anyway.
If that’s all it is, they could just meet and talk openly, but the way they pretended it was friendship felt so pathetic.
Then this year, his merchant group was named the Number One Under Heaven Merchant Group, and during the Hundred Great Merchant Groups’ gathering in Shandong, he met Eun Seo-ho for the first time.
After that, he quietly watched his every move.
He was curious about what the man, famed as a hero, was really like.
Thanks to that, he saw how Eun Seo-ho warmly embraced the deputy merchant lord of a group that had just barely broken into the Hundred Great Merchant Groups.
Back then, he’d just thought, ‘So that’s the kind of person he is…’
But in the end, Eun Seo-ho had gone as far as to save his life.
And he’d even used an artifact to do it.
Ho Gyeong couldn’t help but be impressed by Eun Seo-ho’s character.
‘And thanks to him, I avoided an even bigger disaster.’
That was when he learned, from the quiet hint Eun Seo-ho had given him…
…that the Baekcheon Merchant Group had been plotting something filthy behind the scenes.
Being the Number One Under Heaven Merchant Group meant their information network was that outstanding.
Especially in Shandong, where the White Flame Merchant Group had everything locked down, it was basically impossible to move without their eyes on you.
They had tracked Namgoong Gang’s movements, and at the same time, they’d tracked Eun Seo-ho’s as well.
It hurt to have to doubt the intentions of the one who saved him, but what else could he do?
Thinking of all the fake friends who’d approached him until now, he couldn’t not be suspicious.
So he’d investigated Eun Seo-ho’s movements, only to find there hadn’t been a single lie in what he’d said.
After interrogating everyone involved and piecing the information together, it became clear that day’s incident had been meticulously planned.
“Ah, that day? Of course I knew it was the day of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups’ gathering. But that mess happened all of a sudden, so I was in a bind too. Huh, you’re asking who loaded the iron ore that was supposed to be delivered to your merchant group, the batch that had a problem? Well… it suddenly just vanished.”
“I– I only did it because someone asked me to…”
And the clincher: Mak Du, the one who had set everything in motion that day, was found dead in his prison cell before they could even interrogate him.
A perfect silencing.
But thanks to Eun Seo-ho’s warning, they had already figured out who the real culprit was.
The problem was that they had no confession from that culprit, and it was hard to expect they’d ever get one.
Realizing all this, Merchant Lord Ho Ju-shin, his deputy merchant lord son, and Young Master Ho Gyeong all felt deeply sorry for having doubted Eun Seo-ho.
“Heh heh, I was wondering why a merchant was being called Handsome Young Hero. Turns out there was a reason.”
“It’s true, Grandfather. I knew my eye for people wasn’t wrong.”
At their words, the deputy merchant lord spoke up in concern.
“But the ones who gave Deputy Merchant Lord Eun the heroic title Handsome Young Hero are that Murim Alliance itself.”
“Even so, from what I can see, he isn’t tied to them. If he were, there’d be no reason for Deputy Merchant Lord Eun to go out of his way to tell us about Merchant Lord Namgoong.”
“…”
“And he’d earned that Handsome Young Hero title even before all this. I heard that when an epidemic broke out some time ago, he personally went into the afflicted area and worked on relief efforts.”
“Ah! So that’s why…”
Only then did the deputy merchant lord and Young Master Ho Gyeong understand why Eun Seo-ho’s title was Handsome Young Hero.
If it were just because of what he’d done at the Dragon–Phoenix Martial Gathering, a title about courage would have fit better than the word “virtuous” in “Handsome Young Hero.” (TL Note: His title is 선협미랑, in which 선 stands for Virtuous, instead of 용협미랑, in which 용 stands for Corageous.)
Or he might have been given a title that praised his martial arts instead.
“Thinking that we doubted someone like that… I can’t help but feel sorry.”
“Then Father, why not raise the grade of the artifact we were planning to give him as compensation? Honestly, he saved my son’s life. What could possibly be too precious after that? Besides, Gyeong is the future of our merchant group.”
“You’re right.”
Merchant Lord Ho Ju-shin nodded and called out to Young Master Ho Gyeong.
“Gyeong.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“I haven’t lived an especially long life, but I do think I have some eye for people. It’s thanks to that we’ve built this merchant group up to where it is now.”
“…”
“In my eyes, Deputy Merchant Lord Eun is someone who’ll rise even higher in the future. And he’s also someone who could become the kind of genuine friend you’ve been looking for.”
“I think so too.”
“If you want to make someone like that your closest confidant, you have to treat him with real sincerity.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Remembering that conversation, Ho Gyeong smiled faintly.
He was already looking forward to dinner.
As the sun slowly started to set, I headed for Golden Rooster Pavilion.
Since I was the host, it was only proper to get there first and wait.
But on the way there, I sensed a familiar presence.
Hm? This qi… it’s the Head Cook from Golden Rooster Pavilion.
Why would he be out here when he should be busy preparing food? And why is he with someone else?
Escort Guard Jin Yu seemed to sense it too.
“My lord, that’s Golden Rooster Pavilion’s Head Cook’s qi.”
He’d reached a realm where he could even sense other assassins’ qi, so of course he noticed.
“I can feel another person’s presence besides his.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu answered, his expression hardening.
“From the one with him… I smell blood.”
“Blood… you smell blood?”
It felt like the incident that had happened at Golden Rooster Pavilion in my previous life was drawing near again.
“What should we do?”
I thought for a moment at his question, then said,
“What do you think that person’s realm is like?”
“Seems lower than mine.”
“Then can you tail him?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
He nodded, then immediately erased his presence and slipped away.
Watching that, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
“No matter how many times I see it, Escort Guard Jin Yu’s technique is really amazing.”
“…”
Everyone looked at me like they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
Why?
Palgap sighed as he looked at me and said,
“Young Master, are you a dragon right now, admiring an earthworm?”
“Huh?”
“Honestly, if you seriously decided to hide, Young Master, nobody would notice. Nobody would ever find you.”
“It’s not like no one at all could find me–”
“Kui!”
At the sound of Geumryeong’s little “Kui” from my sleeve, I quietly shut my mouth.
“Ahem.”
Just then, Escort Guard Lee Pil spoke up.
“Palgap… I mean, you’re not wrong and it’s a decent comparison, but calling us earthworms…”
“Then I’ll call you snakes.”
“N– no, if you think about it, that’s still…”
“How about loaches or eels then?”
“…”
The escort guards were left speechless.
Watching them, a random thought crossed my mind.
Maybe my true formidable opponent was actually Palgap…
A little while later, we arrived at Golden Rooster Pavilion.
“Welcome. Ah! You’re the one who reserved the third floor today, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I must have come here a few times, because it seemed they’d remembered my face.
“I’ll take you upstairs right away.”
We went up to the third floor.
Up there, five tables had been set up just as we requested.
We couldn’t just feast and have fun by ourselves while leaving our attendants and escort guards out.
So we’d prepared seats for them as well.
The plan was for the deputy merchant lords and me to sit in the middle, with the attendants and escort guards seated all around us.
I’d have to set aside a separate place for Escort Guard Jin Yu later.
After we waited a bit, I saw the Head Cook returning to Golden Rooster Pavilion.
Judging from his expression, it was clear that assassin hadn’t approached him with good intentions.
Honestly, normally this wouldn’t be something I’d get so involved in.
But I’d never eaten braised chicken this good before, and maybe because I wanted to keep eating that dish, I couldn’t help but take an interest in him.
So if there was some trouble, I wanted to help.
I wanted to be able to eat this place’s spicy braised chicken every time I came to Jinan from now on.
Before long, the people I’d invited started arriving one by one.
The first to arrive was Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun.
“Welcome.”
“Looks like I’m late.”
“Not at all! I just got here early. I can’t have my guests waiting.”
Next came Young Master Ho Gyeong.
“I caused you all trouble by suddenly asking to join.”
“Don’t say that. I’m just one of Deputy Merchant Lord Eun’s invited guests as well. Besides, isn’t it nice for all of us to gather together?”
“Hahaha, that’s true.”
After that, Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin and Deputy Merchant Lord Sa Gang arrived.
The last to show up was Deputy Merchant Lord Han Baek-geon.
Of course, being last didn’t mean he was late; he’d still arrived earlier than the appointed time.
Once it was about time for our reservation, the servers began bringing out dishes.
“Please enjoy.”
“Thank you for the food.”
“We’re truly grateful that you’ve taken care of not just us but everyone else too.”
“It’s only fun when everyone eats together.”
As I said that, I glanced over at Palgap.
Quick on the uptake, Palgap raised his voice at once.
“Young Master’s right. Just staring at people while they’re eating is really embarrassing, you know.”
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am immediately agreed.
“Palgap is right. Honestly, we’re people too. Why wouldn’t we want to eat?”
At those words, the other escort guards all nodded.
“Exactly. Then everyone, enjoy the food.”
“Thank you.”
Everyone picked up their chopsticks, and a warm, lively atmosphere settled over the room.
We chatted about this and that, hardly noticing the time pass.
The attendants and escort guards seemed just as happy, probably thanks to the delicious food.
“I’m going to step out for a bit.”
Saying that, I went down to the first floor. It was to settle the bill mid-way.
At this kind of multi-story restaurant, once the bill passes a certain amount, you have to pay part of it in the middle.
After all, some people might eat and run or later pretend they know nothing.
Rather than having a server come upstairs in the middle and awkwardly say, “Um, could we get a partial payment…”, it was better for me to come down on my own so it wouldn’t disrupt the mood.
So I’d picked a good moment and slipped down naturally.
“I’d like to pay part of the bill.”
“Yes, up until now…”
I listened to the amount, then pulled out silver taels from my robe and handed it over.
“Huh? This is way too much…”
“I know. Just hold onto it for now. When we settle the bill at the end, you can give me the change if there’s any left. If it’s not enough, I’ll pay the rest then.”
“Understood.”
Honestly, I could’ve just paid in advance and gone up, but I’d come down now on purpose for this mid-way payment.
That was so I could check the Head Cook’s expression.
“I guess the Head Cook is in the kitchen.”
“Ah, not quite. This place is a bit out of the way, so we don’t really get customers late at night. All the dishes that needed to go out are already done, so he’s probably taking a short rest.”
“I see.”
Now that I looked, it seemed the customers who’d been on the first and second floors earlier had all gone home.
“Looks like everyone’s getting off work late because of us. I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t say that. Thanks to you, we get a bonus again today. How could that be a bad thing?”
“A bonus?”
“Yes.”
The server nodded with a smile.
“Our proprietress gives us servers extra pay whenever the day’s sales go over a certain amount. It’s like a little bonus for our hard work.”
“She’s a wonderful proprietress.”
“Yes, not even an immortal fairy could be that good. Of course, if we mess up, she scolds us sharply, but she never nitpicks us for no reason.”
From his words and expression, it was clear the Golden Rooster Pavilion’s proprietress was highly respected.
And that she knew how to handle people quite well.
Almost nothing collapses from the outside first; most things rot from within.
If nothing went wrong, Golden Rooster Pavilion would become famous not just in Jinan but across all of Shandong.
“Do you happen to know where the Head Cook is right now? I wanted to thank him. The food was excellent again today.”
“At this hour, he should be under the tree behind the main building.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked the server and headed toward the back.
Sure enough, I spotted the Head Cook standing under the tree.
“Oh, what brings you all the way out here?”
Noticing me, he asked in surprise, and I cupped my fists with a smile.
“I came to thank you for the wonderful meal today.”
“I only did my best, that’s all.”
“Putting your heart into it is what matters.”
He gave a wry smile and changed the subject.
“By the way, it seems that escort guard of yours didn’t come.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean the escort guard who used to be an assassin, the one who passed along your message.”
“Ah, you mean Escort Guard Jin Yu. Something came up, so he couldn’t make it.”
Escort Guard Jin Yu couldn’t come here because I’d ordered him to keep an eye on that assassin.
At my words, he hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“…But is it really all right to keep someone like that as your escort guard?”
“Sorry? What do you mean?”
He let out a sigh and said,
“Sigh… he must have already told you about me, so I’ll be frank. Assassins are people who have lived their whole lives to kill. Doesn’t it bother you to keep someone like that at your side as a guard?”
“That spicy braised chicken you, a former assassin, made was incredibly good, you know.”
“Well, like I said, I just put my whole heart into…”
“Escort Guard Jin Yu is the same. He also serves me with everything he’s got. Does that answer your question?”
At my reply, he let out a small laugh, as if something had just clicked.
“It does, more than enough.”
That was when it happened.
A server came running up to us.
“Head Cook! Something terrible’s happened.”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt