I smiled as I looked at the Eunhae Merchant Group’s Beijing Branch in the distance.
“We’re finally here.”
“Are you pleased, Young Master?”
At Palgap’s question, I readily nodded.
“Of course. It means the journey’s over.”
“That it does, sir.”
“Of course, once I’m back, I’m sure there’ll be a mountain of things waiting for me to handle. But still, there’s something important about the comfort of being where you’re supposed to be.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu agreed with me at once.
“You are absolutely right, my lord. I feel that same sense of comfort when I’m at your side.”
When the others also nodded along, I scratched my cheek and said,
“I’m grateful you all think that way. Still, being with your families is probably the best place to be.”
“Hahaha.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu laughed awkwardly.
Honestly, since we had gone all the way to Hubei this time, I had wanted to stop by Headquarters and see my family.
But there was too much work piled up, and there were things I had to deal with immediately, so I had no choice but to swallow my regret and head for Beijing.
Next time, I’m definitely stopping by.
Before long, we arrived at the Beijing Branch.
“Welcome back, sir!”
The gatekeepers recognized me and quickly opened the way, and we entered the carriage yard.
“Welcome back.”
The supervisors inside the carriage yard came out to greet us.
“Has anything happened at the Beijing Branch?”
“No, sir. Nothing in particular.”
“That’s a relief. What about Brother Jeong-ho?”
At my question, Senior Supervisor Mun, who was in the carriage yard, answered.
“He is in his office.”
“I see.”
“Ah, and the Clan Lord of the Se-eul-gyeong Clan came by.”
“Pardon?”
When I tilted my head, Senior Supervisor Mun said,
“He said you rescued a child of the Se-eul-gyeong Clan from a carriage that had fallen off a cliff. Is that not true?”
I smiled bashfully and answered,
“Ah! That did happen.”
“How could you forget something like that?”
Senior Supervisor Mun laughed as though he found it absurd.
“Still, that is very much like you, Third Deputy Merchant Lord. You must have forgotten because you did it without expecting any reward.”
“To be honest, yes.”
“My apologies for holding you up. Please go see the First Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Right.”
I told Palgap to guide Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du and his party to their lodgings, then headed to Brother Jeong-ho’s office.
“Ah! You’ve returned?”
Brother Jeong-ho’s Escort Guard, who had been standing in front of the door, recognized me and quickly greeted me with a cupped-fist salute.
“I made it back safely. Brother’s inside, right?”
“Yes, he is inside.”
I called toward the room.
“Brother Jeong-ho! It’s me, Seo-ho.”
“Come in.”
But Brother Jeong-ho’s voice sounded anything but normal.
He sounded like he was barely clinging to life.
I hurriedly opened the door and was about to go inside, only to stop without meaning to.
“B-Brother…? Are you all right?”
Was it just my imagination, or did it feel as though some kind of black Qi was slowly seeping out of Brother Jeong-ho?
“You’re back.”
“Yeah. But are you really okay?”
“He has not collapsed yet, so I suppose he is still fine, no?”
At the sound of another familiar voice, I turned my head and saw Young Lady Seohyang rising from her seat.
Unlike Brother Jeong-ho, who looked half-dead, Young Lady Seohyang still looked perfectly alive.
Deputy Gal Hyeon, seated beside her, looked no different from Brother Jeong-ho, so was Young Lady Seohyang the unusual one here?
It might be because she had learned the Heavenly Flow Art.
After all, the Heavenly Flow Art did have the effect of making it hard to tire easily.
“There was that much to do?”
At my question, Brother Jeong-ho nodded.
Ah… he didn’t even have the strength to explain.
Young Lady Seohyang explained in his place.
“The new Grand Windcraft Fan that Artisan Gong made has become extremely popular.”
The Grand Windcraft Fan was an enormous Windcraft Fan, made mainly for people who worked together in places like workshops.
“But as you know, only a limited number of Grand Windcraft Fans can be produced.”
“That’s true.”
“So we put out an announcement saying we would take applications and deliver them in order, but the applications came flooding in. Sorting through them took quite a lot of time.”
“I see.”
Then I didn’t even need to look to know what state the other Virtuous Wind Department employees were in.
Brother Jeong-ho looked like that, after all.
I said to him,
“I’ll handle everything from here.”
“I’m free at last! Hahahaha!”
Brother Jeong-ho’s face brightened all at once.
“Nothing happened on the journey this time, right?”
“You ask that pretty late. First of all, everyone’s healthy.”
“That’s a relief. Ah, the Clan Lord of the Se-eul-gyeong Clan came by.”
“Yeah, I heard from Senior Supervisor Mun.”
“You did a commendable thing. He said that thanks to you, his second son’s bloodline did not end.”
“I couldn’t just leave a living child behind…”
“Well, of course you couldn’t. In any case, the Clan Lord asked us to inform him once you returned. He said he would come personally.”
“There’s no need for him to do that.”
“His feelings on the matter are probably different from yours. More importantly, you didn’t cause any other incidents I don’t know about, did you?”
At those words, I unconsciously turned my head.
“…What is it? Why aren’t you answering?”
I cleared my throat.
“Ahem, well, it’s not like I wanted it to happen… It just ended up that way somehow…”
I gave him a brief explanation of what had happened this time.
“So I rescued them, then requested help from the Murim Alliance and had the Black Cat Sect dealt with.”
“…Something enormous happened, didn’t it?”
Brother Jeong-ho chuckled dryly.
“Well, I asked that way, but I never actually believed you’d have a journey without any incidents. In any case, you came back healthy. That’s enough.”
Brother continued.
“Then you protected your Epithet as the Handsome Young Hero too?”
“Yeah.”
“Well done.”
As expected of Brother Jeong-ho.
This was the kind of person he was, and why, in my past life, he had been called Hubei’s Hyeondeok.
And I liked Brother Jeong-ho.
That afternoon.
I introduced Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du and his party to Brother Jeong-ho. Then I informed the Crown Prince that I had invited Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du.
The Crown Prince came to the Beijing Branch the very next day, and I introduced Young Lord Zhuge Cheon-du to him.
He was extremely satisfied, and immediately began working on the preliminary framework for establishing the Martial Arts Academy.
Then I could focus on my actual work for a while.
Originally, I had planned to immediately visit other sects or clans and bring back people suitable to serve as instructors, but it seemed better to wait until the framework was complete and then recruit talent according to that plan.
The Murim Alliance Leader’s office.
The Alliance Leader was listening to the report of Tiger Justice Division Commander Geon Man-seok, who had recently returned.
“…And so, the Black Cat Sect has been completely dealt with.”
“What about evidence?”
“What do you mean by evidence?”
“The Black Cat Sect Leader is a man like a cunning rabbit. They say a clever rabbit has three burrows. He must have left something behind.”
“The Black Cat Sect was burned down completely and disappeared. There is nothing left. We confirmed it again and again.”
“If so, that is fortunate, but…”
The Alliance Leader fell into thought for a moment, then opened his eyes and asked him,
“Did the people rescued by that man Eun Seo-ho know why they had been imprisoned?”
“No.”
Commander Geon Man-seok shook his head.
“We asked them several times, but they had no idea at all.”
“Is there any chance they deliberately pretended not to know?”
“None. We questioned them in various ways, but they showed no sign of knowing anything. It only proves that the Black Cat Sect did its job well.”
At those words, the Alliance Leader sighed.
“That makes it all the more unfortunate. It is not easy to procure people like that again.”
He asked again.
“But how exactly did that Eun Seo-ho discover the underground prison?”
“Ah, that truly was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence?”
“Yes.”
Commander Geon Man-seok explained what he had heard from Eun Seo-ho.
“And so, his curiosity about that mushroom eventually led him to the underground prison.”
“If it truly was a coincidence, then there would be nothing to worry about.”
But for some reason, the man named Eun Seo-ho continued to weigh on his mind.
A very long time ago, he had once tried to establish a secret Murim Alliance branch in Hubei.
To that end, he had proceeded through a merchant group under his control called the Doun Merchant Group, but that affair had ended in an unexpected result.
The Eunhae Merchant Group had taken possession of Lotus Pavilion.
Since then, the name Eun Seo-ho had reached his ears whenever he was about to forget it.
And always in a way that interfered with the Murim Alliance’s affairs.
But as long as Eun Seo-ho knew nothing about them, he had no reason to do so.
That was why it kept bothering him.
“Are you not paying too much attention to him? He helped us during the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering.”
“He did.”
In that situation, thanks to Eun Seo-ho, the Murim Alliance had avoided great humiliation and loss.
The Alliance Leader’s thoughts were complicated.
Unlike what the Tiger Justice Division Commander said, he had a gut feeling that Eun Seo-ho had noticed his secret.
The problem was that Eun Seo-ho had taken no particular action.
There was no sense at all that he was hostile toward the Murim Alliance.
‘For someone who has noticed the secret, he shows no signs of it.’
As the Alliance Leader pondered, Geon Man-seok said,
“If he troubles you that much, would it not be better to remove him? For the Murim Alliance’s greater cause, I believe anything suspicious should not be left alone.”
At those words, the Alliance Leader shook his head.
“No. Removing him immediately is realistically difficult.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the Emperor favors him. On top of that, we cannot ignore his backing as a member of the Eunhae Merchant Group, or the reputation carried by the name Handsome Young Hero.”
He continued.
“If we move carelessly against someone like him, it will cause trouble for this Alliance’s plans. And he is valuable talent.”
“That is true.”
The abilities Eun Seo-ho had shown so far had been real.
“If someone like that could serve the greater cause, it would truly be pleasing.”
“Indeed, it would.”
Commander Geon Man-seok nodded.
He too had observed Eun Seo-ho this time and realized that he was an exceptionally capable talent.
Since he also commanded a division, he could judge another person’s ability simply by watching how that person handled people.
“Before that, we must first determine why that boy is interfering with this Alliance. If it truly is all coincidence, then we should recruit him.”
“As expected of you, Alliance Leader. I am once again deeply impressed by how much you cherish talented people.”
“Hohoho, enough of such embarrassing flattery.”
“Then how do you intend to confirm his intentions?”
At that question, the Alliance Leader pondered before his eyes fell on the documents lying on his desk.
He picked them up and said,
“We can entrust this matter to him.”
“A wise decision.”
“You may leave now.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
The Alliance Leader looked at the door Commander Geon Man-seok had exited through.
Commander Geon Man-seok currently believed that the work he was doing served the Murim Alliance’s greater cause.
Because he had brainwashed him that way.
‘There is nothing easier than using someone filled with blind conviction.’
It did not require any great skill.
One merely had to gently point that conviction in the right direction.
That was why, even with an imperfect technique, he had been able to brainwash him.
The Alliance Leader licked his lips.
What mattered to him was whether Eun Seo-ho had discovered his secret.
The Eun Seo-ho he had seen was intelligent, and his talent in martial arts was outstanding as well.
If he had discovered the secret, there were two options.
Win him over, or remove him.
On the other hand, if he had not discovered the secret, then there was only one option.
Brainwash him like Commander Geon Man-seok and use him.
‘Wait… didn’t he inherit the Extreme Heaven Sword’s ultimate art? Damn it!’
He suddenly realized a problem had arisen.
Those who learned the Heavenly Flow Ice Art, the ultimate art of Extreme Heaven Sword Gwak Hun, could not be brainwashed.
Just like the Snow Wind Palace he had destroyed.
Since that was all there had been to it, he had not bothered to take action against him before.
‘First, I must find out whether he has discovered the secret. I can decide what to do with him afterward.’
He sat at his desk, wrote a letter, and called to the people outside.
“Is anyone there?”
“Did you call, sir?”
“Call Team Leader Won.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was meeting with the Clan Lord of the Se-eul-gyeong Clan.
I had intended not to inform him of my return, but somehow, he had learned of it and come to see me.
“That matter was truly… heartbreaking.”
The Clan Lord’s eyes were full of sorrow.
Of course they were.
His second son and daughter-in-law had died. There was no way he would not grieve.
“Please accept my deepest condolences.”
“Even so, thanks to you, I was able to recover their bodies and hold a funeral for them. I was also able to save my grandson’s life.”
“I am only glad I could be of help.”
At my words, the Clan Lord shook his head.
“Do not say it that way. I am so grateful that I do not even know how to repay this grace.”
Instead of answering, I lowered my head slightly.
“And so, as a token of our gratitude, my clan intends to replace every item we use with goods from the Eunhae Merchant Group wherever possible.”
“I am truly grateful for the offer, but there is no need for you to go that far. Other merchant groups must make a living too. If you suddenly cut off your transactions with them, they will have a difficult time.”
I appreciated the offer, but doing that could needlessly earn us other merchant groups’ resentment.
“Mm. That may be true.”
“And as I said to the people there at the time, if the child I rescued grows up upright and bright, that will be the greatest repayment I could receive.”
Honestly, I had helped the Se-eul-gyeong Clan, but I had no intention of gaining anything from it.
Taking something from people who had already lost their son and daughter-in-law just felt wrong.
I would be satisfied if they could endure this grief and live happily.
“So please, I hope you will understand how I feel.”
After saying that, I barely managed to persuade him and send him back.
“Whew, that was exhausting.”
When I let out a sigh, the guards around me were looking at me with oddly moved expressions.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was thinking that it is an honor to serve you, my lord.”
At Escort Guard Myeong Jong’s words, I gave a small laugh.
“Young Master!”
Just then, Palgap ran over, urgently calling for me.
“What is it?”
“Someone from the Murim Alliance has arrived, sir.”
–TL Notes–
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