At the returning warrior’s words, Cho Seok was thrown into confusion.
“W–what? Th–there’s no such person?”
“Yes.”
He’d clearly been told to contact that place if anything happened, so he’d done exactly that…
But the news that came back hit him like a bolt from the blue.
In other words, it meant he had to protect his own neck himself.
“…Find out right now if we can get Ice Lotus Seeds, Snow Plum Fruit, Snow Ginseng, Ice Dew Plums, Mulberry Leaf Herb.”
“Huh? What do you need those for?”
“When I tell you to check, just check! Do the job you’re being paid for!”
“Yeah yeah, fine.”
The mercenaries he’d hired scattered all over Liaoning and started asking around.
Fortunately, since Liaoning was close to the North Sea, the chances of finding Yin–type elixirs like that were relatively high.
And around lunchtime that same day, good news arrived.
“Apparently, the North Sea Ice Palace’s Young Palace Lord just happened to come to Liaoning with those very elixirs in tow.”
He let out a sigh of relief, even as his brows pulled together.
Of all places, it had to be the North Sea Ice Palace he hated, and he had to meet their Young Palace Lord.
But his own life mattered a lot more than his hatred.
Just thinking about that bone–grinding, tendon–rending agony he’d gone through earlier was enough to make cold sweat run down his back.
And even in that state, he hadn’t dared dream of running, because he’d long heard of Phantom Market’s infamous reputation.
“Get in touch with that damned Young Palace Lord right now. Tell her I’ll buy those elixirs.”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin quietly moved her lodgings to a nearby inn, just as I’d planned.
For this plan to work, it was best if no one found out she was staying with the Gwangjun Merchant Group.
While we were eating breakfast at the inn, a group in martial robes arrived.
They were the North Sea Ice Palace disciples we’d summoned this time.
“We greet the Young Palace Lord!”
As soon as they saw Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin, they hurriedly cupped their fists and bowed in salute.
“Have you eaten?”
“We ate some dry rations on the way. Thankfully we still had a little left…”
All of their faces were gaunt, which really drove home just how short on supplies the North Sea Ice Palace was.
I told them,
“How are dry rations enough? Shouldn’t you at least have a proper meal?”
I ordered warm porridge for them.
“B–but…”
“How can we be the only ones…”
They clearly felt they couldn’t be the only ones eating something nice when everyone back at the North Sea Ice Palace was going hungry.
“If you don’t want to interfere with our work, you need to eat.”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you planning to broadcast our palace’s situation to our enemies?”
At Bing Hae-rin’s words, they seemed to realize something and nodded.
“Understood.”
“We’ll follow your orders.”
I wanted to heap their bowls with meat, but if people who’d been starving like that suddenly ate oily food, they’d almost certainly get sick.
Couldn’t let that happen, so porridge it was.
Then I decided to rent out the entire inn for the Ice Palace group.
There happened to be only a few other guests, so I asked for their understanding.
When I paid them double their lodging fee, they happily moved to a nearby inn.
After settling the disciples in to rest, I waited on the first floor of the inn, sipping tea.
Right then, Palgap came into the inn.
“Young Master, Second Deputy Merchant Lord is asking when we’ll be departing.”
“Ah, we’ll leave within two days.”
Brother Jin-ho was probably beside himself with worry over his mother–in–law and his sisters–in–law’s aunts.
But this matter was even more important than that.
Right now they were only a little hungry, but if we couldn’t stop this, the North Sea Ice Palace really would starve to death.
That afternoon.
A warrior visited the inn where Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin was staying.
“The one I serve wishes to purchase those elixirs.”
In response, Bing Hae-rin answered exactly the way I’d coached her.
“Then tell him to come here in person this evening.”
“Understood.”
The big fish had taken the bait.
Once he left and I walked over to Bing Hae-rin, she asked,
“Is that man the underling of whoever plotted against the North Sea Ice Palace?”
“Just a hired mercenary.”
“Is that so?”
“You remember what I told you, right? When he comes to trade, I’d really appreciate it if you put as much pressure on him as you can.”
“Oh, that won’t be hard.”
She spoke with a smile.
“I already want to tear apart whoever did that to our palace.”
Night fell.
And a fairly well–dressed man came to the inn with a few warriors in tow.
“I’ve come to trade for elixirs.”
At his words, one of the North Sea Ice Palace’s disciples spoke to him.
“Please come this way. The Young Palace Lord will be out shortly.”
He sat down at one of the tables on the inn’s first floor. I watched him from a hiding spot in the distance.
The facial sketch Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun had given me was pretty accurate.
He was the very man who’d orchestrated this whole affair.
But… why could I sense an Unorthodox Sect Qi on him?
He didn’t seem like someone who’d trained martial arts.
I thought it over for a moment and came up with a likely reason.
There was someone behind him, someone backing him up. That would be how he’d gotten his hands on the fake elixirs.
And the aura I was sensing now was probably just residual from that backer.
Which meant this entire scheme to starve out the North Sea Ice Palace had definitely been orchestrated by that someone.
The man they’d called Mr. Cho was growing more and more uneasy; it showed plainly on his face.
And no wonder — he’d already been waiting more than fifteen minutes, but Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin still hadn’t appeared.
I was the one who ordered that.
It was to make absolutely clear who was above whom.
Only after about half an hour did Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin finally come down the stairs.
And she walked over to him.
“Are you the one who said you wanted to buy the elixirs?”
“Hrm, yes. But isn’t this rather discourteous? How can you keep a guest waiting like this?”
In an instant, the temperature inside the inn plummeted.
“A guest?”
“…”
“You’re someone who’s come to buy elixirs, not a guest. Isn’t that right?”
“B–but…”
“And the North Sea Ice Palace does not wait around for anyone.”
Arrogant words, yes, but not wrong.
As a single power, the North Sea Ice Palace was one of the top forces in the entire martial world.
Ironic, really, that a place like that was struggling because of something as simple as food.
“A–all right, I understand. My apologies. Hrm.”
Her aura made him shake so hard he eventually tucked his tail.
I had no idea why he’d say something that couldn’t benefit him at all.
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin spoke.
“The elixirs I’ve prepared are Ice Lotus Seeds, Snow Ginseng, Snow Plum Fruit, Ice Dew Plum, and Mulberry Leaf Herb. Shall we start with the Ice Lotus Seeds?”
I sent her a voice transmission.
– Ask for six thousand silver taels.
At my voice transmission, she said,
“Six thousand silver taels.”
“Gasp! I–is it really that expensive?”
“If you don’t like it, you can walk away. There are plenty of others looking for these.”
“N–no, it’s just…”
It was about time for me to make my entrance.
I slipped outside, then kicked the door open as if I’d just sprinted over.
“Hah, huff, I heard there were elixirs here.”
One of the disciples naturally stepped up to greet me.
“You’re the one who contacted us about making a deal.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Please wait a moment. Someone else is in the middle of a deal right now…”
At that, I asked,
“What kinds of elixirs do you have on hand right now?”
“Ice Lotus Seeds, Snow Ginseng, Snow Plum Fruit, Ice Dew Plum, and Mulberry Leaf Herb.”
I widened my eyes and shouted,
“I’ll buy all of them for twenty thousand silver taels!”
At my words, Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin smiled and said,
“Twenty thousand taels?”
“Yes. They’re easily worth that much.”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin turned to Mr. Cho and asked,
“This gentleman says he’ll buy everything for twenty thousand silver taels. What will you do?”
He bit his lip, then suddenly picked a fight with me.
“How can you rudely butt into someone else’s deal?”
“Isn’t what’s really rude trying to steal away the seller’s chance to get a higher price?”
“What?”
“And I don’t know about any of that. Anyway, I’m buying the lot for twenty thousand silver taels.”
At this point, he had to be getting desperate.
It wasn’t about the money — if he didn’t bring those things back, something terrible would happen to him.
“Twenty–one thousand silver taels! I’ll buy all of them for twenty–one thousand!”
“I’ll take them for twenty–two thousand silver taels.”
“Twenty–five thousand silver taels!”
“Gh…”
Time to stop here.
“D–damn it!”
I slammed my fist on the table with a frustrated look. Watching me, he laughed in satisfaction.
“Bold young man, but it didn’t work out for you.”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin said,
“Then I’ll sell them for twenty–five thousand taels. Pay up first.”
“May I examine the elixirs first?”
“As much as you like.”
When she signaled a disciple with her eyes, the disciple went upstairs and brought the elixirs down.
Then she set them on the table.
“Please, look them over. However…”
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin let killing intent roll off her toward him.
“By insisting on examining them, are you saying you don’t trust our North Sea Ice Palace?”
“Gasp! N–no, that’s not what I meant…”
Her killing intent carried the biting chill of the northern seas.
He trembled so hard he could barely string words together.
Watching him, Bing Hae-rin spoke in an icy tone.
“Not long ago, we went through something extremely unpleasant, you see. Someone dared claim our North Sea Ice Palace’s elixirs were fake. Anyone who tries to swindle us like that will be caught and cut to pieces…”
Horrifying stories spilled from her lips.
The culprit, Mr. Cho, had gone completely pale and was shaking like a leaf. So he’d gone through with it, but he was still terrified.
“So, are you still thinking of examining them further?”
“N–no, I’m not.”
His intentions were obvious.
He’d planned to nitpick something and force the price down somehow.
But after facing that kind of killing intent, could he really still try it?
“Then pay up.”
“For the payment… I’ll write a promissory note.”
He took out a note and held it out. It was a bearer note.
Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin handed it to her disciples and said,
“Go to the money exchange right now and have this converted into cash.”
“Understood.”
There was a branch of Geumsan Money House here in Liaoning, and since this was a fairly large town, they should have that amount of funds on hand.
About two hours later, the disciples came back carrying large chests.
“We’ve converted it into silver.”
Bing Hae-rin personally opened the chests and checked the silver inside.
“Good.”
She packed the elixirs into a box and handed it to him.
“These are yours now. It was a good deal.”
“A g–good deal… yes, it was.”
And with that, he staggered out of the inn. Seeing in person how much money he’d handed Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin, he was probably worrying about what came next.
That amount was probably close to his entire net worth.
Still, I’d won all of that at auction for a little over ten thousand silver taels, and now I’d sold it for a full twenty–five thousand. Guess I really was born to be a merchant.
I let out a long sigh and followed him outside.
“I’m jealous.”
“…Nothing to be jealous of. My life’s on the line here, so I simply couldn’t yield.”
“Ah, are you perhaps that person?”
“Hm?”
“There are all sorts of rumors about you around here, you know? About how someone tried to scam the owner of Phantom Market and got caught.”
“S–scam? It was just a small misunderstanding.”
“Anyway, good luck. I’ve got a close friend here in Liaoning, and from what I hear, if you get on that person’s bad side, you’re in real trouble.”
“I–is that so?”
“Ah, and I’m sorry for cutting into your deal earlier.”
“You must have needed elixirs too.”
“Yes. Someone hired me to find them, so I was planning to make a little profit in the middle, but what can you do.”
I continued,
“Take care on your way.”
Then I turned and walked off without looking back, as if I really were going my own way.
And I sent a voice transmission to Escort Guard Jin Yu.
– Are you on your way?
– Yes. We’re moving in.
– Then let’s move on to the next phase.
– Yes.
We put on the goblin masks Palgap had made and dressed in red.
Palgap really did have skillful hands for this sort of thing.
Cho Seok let out a sigh.
“Damn it, I must’ve been insane… to pay twenty–five thousand silver taels for this…”
It was practically his entire fortune gone, which only made his gut twist more.
But he’d had no choice.
He had to save his life first.
Call it fate’s cruel joke — the already ruined Cho family was being ruined even further because of the North Sea Ice Palace.
Though honestly, he’d brought it all on himself.
Right then, figures in red clothes and goblin masks appeared.
“We’ve come to collect the goods, as promised.”
“H–here they are.”
But something felt off.
Their clothes and aura matched, but they were wearing goblin masks.
“Why are you wearing goblin masks right now, though?”
“It’s night. If it were daytime, we’d have come openly like before.”
“…I see.”
“By the way, judging by how you handed it over before the day was out, you must have really enjoyed our tender care.”
They even knew about that! They had to be the same people who’d come earlier.
“Hand over the goods.”
“Here.”
They took the parcel and checked it.
“Don’t try to cheat us again.”
“Yes.”
When he lowered his head and raised it again, they were already gone.
And that wasn’t all.
The two warriors who’d accompanied him as guards had vanished as well.
With a dazed look like he’d been possessed by spirits, he returned to his quarters to find the auction manager waiting for him.
“The goods?”
“They just… came and took the elixirs, didn’t they?”
“Are you still half asleep?”
“J–just now, I clearly handed them to people in goblin masks. You saw them t…”
But the two hired warriors who could have backed him up were gone.
And he realized it. He’d been tricked.
It was like he’d truly been bewitched by goblins.
But one thing was certain — he was utterly ruined.
–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