Ji Taek-mun trudged his way back to his quarters.
Honestly, everything that had happened today felt like a dream.
No, he was actually wishing it had all just been a dream.
It made sense – in a single moment, every hope he had had been wiped out.
“Damn it!”
He stopped walking and swung his fist straight into the wall in front of him.
Thud–!
“Argh!”
He heard bone crack and immediately clutched his hand as a wave of pain crashed over him.
“Damn it! Damn it! Daaamn it!”
After screaming his lungs out like that, he finally managed to calm himself down.
‘What the hell am I going to do about this?’
He didn’t even need to imagine how the Merchant Lord would react once he reported all this.
There’d be insults that shredded his dignity, and he’d probably get beaten half to death on top of that.
But from his point of view, the whole thing was unbearably unfair.
‘No, there should’ve at least been some kind of sign so I could’ve done something about it.’
There hadn’t been even the slightest hint.
The truth was, Ji Taek-mun was a cautious, meticulous sort. He’d even gone so far as to bribe Deputy Merchant Lord Song Un’s close aides so they’d report to him if Song tried anything funny.
But nothing suspicious ever happened.
‘He just seemed to be meeting merchants he knew and venting his frustrations.’
Anyway, it had been a bolt from the blue, completely out of nowhere.
“Haa… should I just run for it?”
In his heart, he wanted to bolt right now and crawl into some hole where no one would ever find him again.
But he couldn’t do that.
Where did he belong?
To the Baekcheon Merchant Group under the Murim Alliance. Just thinking about the Murim Alliance warriors’ inescapable net made him shudder.
“I don’t have a choice. Haa…”
If he put off reporting this, he wouldn’t just be beaten half to death – he’d really be beaten to death.
He let out a long sigh, went back to his quarters, immediately wrote a letter to Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang, and sent it off by courier hawk.
The Baekcheon Merchant Group’s Merchant Lord’s office.
Namgoong Gang was mulling over what gifts to send the Murim Alliance elders.
He was planning to use goods brought in through this latest foreign trade – or skim off a portion of the profits – and present those as gifts.
Obviously, they were gifts meant to make them look favorably on him.
Getting the Baekcheon Merchant Group into the top three merchant groups under heaven would be ideal, but he had to prepare in case they didn’t make the cut.
If this venture went well and everything afterward fell into place, it was more than possible – but there were no guarantees things would go exactly as he’d planned.
‘Those fickle old fogeys in the Murim Alliance could replace me anytime they feel like it…’
Of course, since they’d given him a three–year term, he wasn’t going to be dismissed before then – it was what came after that that worried him.
Right then, his bodyguard’s voice came from outside the door.
“Lord, a courier hawk has arrived. It’s from Nanjing, sent by Supervisor Ji.”
“Bring it in.”
The door opened, and the bodyguard handed him the letter.
‘What could be so urgent he had to send a courier hawk…’
Namgoong Gang opened the letter, thinking little of it – but his face hardened almost immediately.
There was a very good reason to send a courier hawk.
[We’re in a situation where we have to return the Changhae Merchant Group. Supervisor Mo Cheong’s ledger has been found, and…]
He furrowed his brow.
“Supervisor Mo Cheong! That utterly useless bastard!”
But there was an even bigger problem.
[…and Provincial Commander Ak Yeong-gyeong of Nanjing says he will personally go to the Murim Alliance to lodge a complaint.]
“What?”
Bang!
He slammed both hands down on the desk.
Having to hand the Changhae Merchant Group back was bad enough – it meant not only losing the profits he’d been counting on, but also losing a prime chance to raise the merchant group’s ranking.
But the Provincial Commander was a far bigger problem.
Provincial Commander Ak Yeong-gyeong.
Anyone could see he was a man of the Shandong’s Ak Clan.
And what kind of place was the Ak Clan?
They were famous for being righteous and hot–blooded.
Which meant his talk of going personally to the Murim Alliance to protest was definitely not an empty threat.
On top of that, the Ak Clan held major influence not only in the martial world, but also within the military.
They were a power the Murim Alliance couldn’t afford to ignore.
And the Provincial Commander was a high official of the Second Rank.
Even the Murim Alliance elders wouldn’t be able to just brush him aside.
According to Supervisor Ji Taek-mun’s letter, other officials had witnessed everything as well.
Returning the Changhae Merchant Group was unavoidable, but what truly scared him was how the Murim Alliance would react to what he’d done.
If he got off with just being dismissed, he’d be lucky.
Just imagining the punishment waiting for him made cold sweat trickle down his back.
Just then his deputy stepped into the office, saw how pale he looked, and asked,
“Merchant Lord, has something happened?”
The moment he saw that deputy, Namgoong Gang’s eyes flashed.
“You bastard.”
“Sir?”
“Because of you, we’re all about to die! Who told you to start doing things I never ordered?”
“W–what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I know you’re blinded by the thought of achievements, but really? To kill Supervisor Mo Cheong? Guards! Arrest this bastard and throw him in the dungeon!”
“Yes, sir!”
“And toss the warriors that escorted Supervisor Mo Cheong into the dungeon as well!”
“Yes, sir!”
Of course, the plan had been the deputy’s idea, but Namgoong Gang had been delighted with it and ordered it carried out.
But right now, he had to erase his own guilt no matter what it took.
So he had no choice but to make the deputy who’d suggested the plan and the warriors who’d escorted Mo Cheong into scapegoats.
But that was only the bare minimum; he needed a much more fundamental solution.
After a moment of thought, he made up his mind.
‘Right. As long as I get rid of the Provincial Commander, I can avoid the worst–case scenario.’
Once the matter was resolved, the Changhae Merchant Group was returned to its original owners, including Deputy Merchant Lord Song Un.
From here, they just needed to handle things well on their own…
But seeing Deputy Merchant Lord Song Un’s face as he invited me to a meal, I could tell things weren’t going smoothly.
“You didn’t call me here just to share a meal, did you?”
At my words, Deputy Merchant Lord Song nodded.
“You’re right.”
Then he let out a deep sigh – and I could hear anger in that breath.
“Did something happen?”
“…Thanks to you, we were able to get our merchant group back. But cleaning up afterward hasn’t been easy.”
“Saying it like that doesn’t tell me what’s going on.”
“I didn’t explain enough. Sorry.”
He laid out the whole story for me.
“I inspected the goods that were supposed to be loaded onto the ship this time. And… every last one of them was subpar.”
“You’re saying the quality’s bad?”
“That’s right. I rushed over there immediately and demanded to know what the hell they thought they were doing!”
“And what did they say?”
“They said that was the best they could do.”
“What in the world was Supervisor Ji thinking, choosing a merchant group that supplies goods like that?”
“I asked around separately… turns out he took a bribe under the table.”
In other words, Supervisor Ji Taek-mun had secretly pocketed money on the side.
“So what should we do about this?”
In this situation, you could say the safest option was just to load the goods as per the contract and set sail for the trade.
But that wasn’t really the best option – it was barely avoiding the worst.
The people of the Great Yue Kingdom weren’t fools.
Bringing goods like that over there would only make them a laughingstock.
They might even end up facing accusations of looking down on them.
“Could I see the contract?”
“I brought it with me just in case.”
He slid the contract over to me, and I carefully looked it over.
When I got to the last part, a smile crept onto my lips.
Well now, how very considerate of them.
I spoke to Deputy Merchant Lord Song.
“If you look here, you’ll see the contracting party isn’t the Changhae Merchant Group. It’s in Supervisor Ji Taek-mun’s name. My guess is he did it this way so he could later claim a share of the profits from this trade for himself.”
Or, since he thought the Changhae Merchant Group would soon disappear, he might’ve done this so it would be easy to shift the contract over to the Baekcheon Merchant Group.
“In a case like this, the responsibility lies with Supervisor Ji Taek-mun.”
I went on.
“Don’t load those goods onto the ship. If anyone questions it, just put the responsibility squarely on Supervisor Ji Taek-mun.”
“Got it.”
Deputy Merchant Lord Song nodded readily.
I let out a small laugh and asked,
“But it doesn’t seem like you didn’t already know this, Deputy Merchant Lord Song. Am I wrong?”
The fact that he’d even brought the contracts with the other merchant groups made his intentions clear.
“What is it you really want?”
At my question, Song Un burst out laughing.
“I knew it! This is why I acknowledge you. So yes, entrusting our merchant group’s future to someone like you is the smart choice.”
“Huh?”
He spoke with a serious expression.
“We, the Changhae Merchant Group, want to place our merchant group under the care of the Eunhae Merchant Group you’re with.”
It was something I hadn’t even considered.
“You’ve helped us all this time and never once brought up any sort of reward.”
That was… only because I kept missing the chance to bring it up.
“To help a rival like us without asking for anything in return! I was honestly impressed by how generous you were.”
Um… that really wasn’t it, though.
“So after a deep discussion with my father and the senior members of our merchant group, we decided to entrust the Changhae Merchant Group’s future to the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
But I responded calmly.
“No. You’ve only just gotten the Changhae Merchant Group back. You should build it up even more.”
“Of course! And we will. But we’ve realized that’s only possible while we’re under the Eunhae Merchant Group’s wing.”
“…”
Tap.
He slid something out onto the table.
“It’s the Changhae Merchant Group’s seal. Please, don’t turn down our request.”
I couldn’t refuse any longer.
And Deputy Merchant Lord Song’s character wasn’t bad either.
And just like that… the Changhae Merchant Group came under the banner of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Seriously, all I’d wanted was to screw over the Baekcheon Merchant Group a little, and look how things turned out.
.
.
.
Preparations for departure were in their final stages.
The ship would set sail tomorrow.
I was having dinner at a restaurant with Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin of the Mudong Merchant Group.
“You’ve provided us with such high–quality porcelan, I don’t even know how to thank you properly.”
This time, the Mudong Merchant Group had supplied fine teacups along with other excellent ceramic ware.
Thanks to that, we could load them not only onto the Eunhae Merchant Group’s ship, but also onto the Changhae Merchant Group’s ship.
Deputy Merchant Lord Dam Jin smiled and shook his head.
“Please don’t say that. We only did it because we know that, with the Eunhae Merchant Group, our wares will be sold at their proper value.”
He continued,
“And there’s a bit of gratitude mixed in for the help you gave me at that gathering in Shandong last time.”
Ah, he meant when he was being harassed by those lowlifes back then.
“That was just what anyone should’ve done.”
“You may say that, Deputy Merchant Lord, but from my side I can’t tell you how grateful I was.”
Well…
For the one being bullied, it must have been really rough.
Rough enough that he’d want to pay it back to his tormentors in full.
“I’ll be heading back to our main branch tomorrow morning.”
“I see. Have a safe trip on your way back.”
After finishing the meal and seeing him off, I returned to the inn.
Then I called for Palgap.
“Palgap, could you go bring Captain Yong Eung-wan here?”
“Got it.”
Before long, Captain Yong arrived at my room.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes, sir.”
He sat down across from me, and I asked,
“You’re going back to your homeland after so long – how do you feel?”
He took a moment to choose his words, then spoke.
“I’m… really nervous. Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe this feeling. It’s great to be going back looking so dignified, but I can’t help worrying whether my family is safe…”
I smiled and nodded.
“I think I understand that feeling, at least a little.”
I went on,
“First, I’ve asked the official traveling with you to personally vouch for your status.”
“Thank you.”
Until he paid his redemption money, Yong Eung-wan was legally a slave. This was to prepare for any situation where someone might try to force him.
“He’ll also serve as a witness when you pay your redemption money and become a free man.”
Even if he went with the money ready, there was always the possibility his owner might take it and then refuse to acknowledge it.
Well, since Captain Yong’s owner was the King of the Great Yue Kingdom, he probably wouldn’t stoop to something that petty… but it never hurt to be prepared.
I lifted the chest that had been sitting by my feet and set it down on the low table.
Thump!
The sound alone was enough to hint at how heavy it was.
This thing was seriously heavy.
“Here, this is the redemption money I promised you.”
Then I opened the chest myself and showed him. Captain Yong’s eyes went wide at the sight of the money inside.
“Ah…”
“With this, you and your family can all become free people.”
“Thank you. I’ll definitely repay this money.”
“What are you talking about?”
He tilted his head at my response.
“Huh?”
“Why would you pay this money back?”
“B–because… you’re lending it to me, aren’t you?”
At that, I shook my head.
“When did I ever say I was lending you the redemption money? I said I’d pay it for you.”
“Th–then you’re really just giving this to me?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“What in the world do you see in me to show me this kind of grace?”
At that question, I answered with a calm expression.
“Because I know you’re someone who’ll bring our merchant group profits far greater than this.”
I continued,
“Is this amount really too little to buy Captain Yong’s loyalty?”
He bit his lip, rose from his chair, knelt flat on the floor, and said,
“I, Yong Eung-wan, warrior of the Guho Clan of the Great Yue Kingdom, offer my soul and my bravery to Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho.”
As far as I knew, a warrior of the Great Yue Kingdom could only swear to offer their soul and bravery once in their entire life.
That was how precious a vow it was.
Hey, why are you making this so overwhelming?
–TL Notes–
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