The next day.
I was in the Carriage Yard, preparing to leave.
“Are you leaving now?”
I looked up and saw Brother Jeong-ho.
“Yeah.”
“Good grief. How many days has it even been since I shouted that I was finally free? And now you’re leaving again?”
“I don’t want to go either. But what am I supposed to do? The Murim Alliance told me to go.”
Brother Jeong-ho clicked his tongue at that.
“This is the problem with being too exceptional. People from every direction refuse to leave you alone.”
I gave an awkward laugh.
How did he manage to pick out exactly what I wanted to hear right now?
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my head down, stay out of trouble, and come back quietly.”
Brother Jeong-ho snorted.
“I’ve decided not to believe you anymore when you say you won’t cause trouble.”
“Huh?”
“Trouble always follows you around. What can a mere human do against that? That’s up to the will of the Heavens.”
A playful smile spread across his face.
“And if the people traveling with you happen to get caught up in some difficulty along the way, wouldn’t that also be the will of the Heavens?”
“Hehehe. That’s right.”
I immediately understood what Brother Jeong-ho meant.
It seemed Brother Jeong-ho had quite a bit piled up against the Murim Alliance too.
“Then go and come back safely.”
“Yeah.”
And so I left the Beijing Branch with only Palgap and three Escort Guards.
As I did, I recalled the Emperor’s reply that Warrior Jin Yeong had delivered to me last night.
[Remember that you are Our subject.]
A single line.
To others, it would have sounded like a warning that said, ‘You belong to Us, so don’t even think about running away,’ but to me, it carried a different meaning.
‘You are Our subject, so if you need anything to trample the Murim Alliance, We will support you.’
I chuckled as I remembered that letter.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to go, sir? Then why are you suddenly grinning like that?”
“There are reasons.”
When I gave him a vague answer, Palgap tilted his head.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
Before long, we arrived at Yuryeon Inn.
Martial artists who appeared to belong to the Murim Alliance were packing their belongings and preparing to leave.
“It is an honor to meet you, Great Heroes. Is Team Leader Won inside?”
At my question, they nodded.
“He’s inside.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Was the subordinate just like the team leader? They looked every bit as arrogant as him.
The man who answered me looked extremely young, yet he spoke to me casually from the start.
Regardless of age, shouldn’t a person show at least some basic courtesy when meeting someone for the first time?
More importantly…
For people sent on an important mission, they all looked far too young.
Why?
With that question in mind, I stepped inside.
“Oh! You’re here.”
It was Team Leader Won Eop, still speaking casually as ever.
“Did you have a peaceful night?”
“Of course. Hahaha. It was a very satisfying night.”
I glanced at the inn worker in charge of receiving guests, who was looking this way.
He nodded with a satisfied expression.
As expected, he had squeezed every bit of information out of them.
“Are you leaving now?”
“That’s the plan.”
I carefully asked,
“May I ask how many times you and your team members have taken on a long-distance mission like this?”
“Ah, this is our third time.”
“…”
Only their third time… They were novices.
Among merchant groups and escort bureaus, anyone with fewer than ten long-distance missions under their belt was treated as a novice.
That was how poor they tended to be at dealing with unexpected situations.
A suspicion occurred to me. Perhaps the Alliance Leader had assigned me this task not only as a test, but also because he wanted me to clean up after these bastards.
Hah… Still, the Murim Alliance really was the Murim Alliance, wasn’t it?
Normally, when someone entrusted you with a mission, proper compensation was only natural.
But.
[This matter is necessary for the peace of the martial world, and it will be an opportunity to raise your name. I hope you will not refuse.]
Judging from the letter, the reward the Alliance Leader had offered was the peace of the martial world and fame.
I was a merchant. Merchants were beings moved by money.
That made this all the more unpleasant.
But what could I do? My safety and the Eunhae Merchant Group’s safety were at stake, so I had no choice but to move.
However, who was I?
I was Eun Seo-ho, the man who would pick up a coin even while sinking into a swamp.
“My team members and I have plenty of experience with matters like this. It isn’t that difficult.”
“Of course. Then would it be all right if I simply followed behind you, Great Hero? This humble merchant and his companions have never carried out the Alliance Leader’s orders before, so we are not quite sure what to do.”
“Don’t worry. We will protect you. Hahahaha!”
I cupped my fist in thanks while quietly forcing down the corners of my mouth with my sleeve before they could rise.
It was irritating enough that I had been forced to move under the Alliance Leader’s orders. There was no need for us to pointlessly shoulder any sacrifices.
So we decided to ride on their backs.
.
.
.
Clop, clop.
The sound of horse hooves rang out lightly.
I observed the group traveling ahead of us.
There were ten of them in total, including Team Leader Won Eop.
From what I heard, the remaining half of the team was still at the Murim Alliance with the Deputy Team Leader.
They belonged to the Dragon Fang Division’s Sixth Team.
Seeing as the Alliance Leader had sent only half of one combat team, it seemed he did not consider this mission all that difficult.
However, thanks to Young Lady Seohyang’s advice, I knew better.
This matter would not be that simple.
The Alliance Leader probably did not know that either.
If he had, he would have sent the entire team, or even more than that.
But why was the simple task of retrieving a Golden Buddha Statue a test aimed at me?
I had received advice from Young Lady Seohyang, but nothing was certain yet.
I would simply need to stay calm and respond according to the situation.
We traveled like that for several days, and tonight, we ended up camping outdoors.
“We will prepare our own camp and dinner ourselves. We couldn’t possibly inconvenience the Great Heroes.”
Camping outdoors was tiring enough as it was. If we slept at a campsite those people arranged for us, I felt as if our exhaustion would only build even more.
At my words, Team Leader Won readily agreed.
That was a relief.
We quickly prepared our campsite and waited for Palgap to make dinner.
When I saw them preparing their own camp, a quiet laugh slipped out.
As expected, their preparations were clumsy beyond belief.
Some of them had not even managed to start a fire yet.
It depended on the situation, of course, but generally speaking, the most important thing when camping outdoors was starting a fire.
You needed fire to maintain body temperature, drive off wild beasts, and cook.
That meant starting a fire should have been an essential and basic part of outdoor camping training.
“Shouldn’t we help them?”
At Escort Guard Lee Pil’s question, I shook my head.
“If we step in first and help them, they will look down on us.”
“Given how they’ve behaved so far, that does seem very likely.”
“Yes. Usually, people would naturally feel grateful. But they are not ordinary people.”
I continued,
“They don’t know how the world works yet. They have lived their lives believing it is only natural for others to support them.”
“They did seem that way, somehow.”
While traveling with them, I had figured out how the team was composed.
It was a team made up of children from martial families friendly to the Murim Alliance.
They were probably trying to broaden their standing through a mission that was relatively easy, yet important.
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am said,
“And yet they somehow managed to complete two long-distance missions before this?”
“Exactly.”
Well, they probably stayed at inns the whole way.
“So until they ask us for help, we will not move either.”
“Understood.”
Soon, the porridge Palgap made was finished.
While we were eating, someone approached.
“Ahem, give me a bowl too.”
It was Team Leader Won.
He must have been hungry, and when people beside him were eating so well, there was no way he could endure it. Just as I had expected.
“Ah, my apologies. We made exactly enough, so there is none left over.”
His face filled with bewilderment.
“If you don’t mind, would you like what I’ve already been eating?”
“N-no! Do you think I’m a beggar?”
“Of course not. Besides, even a beggar wouldn’t get to eat this.”
At that, he grumbled,
“Still, isn’t this a bit too much? If you were going to prepare food, shouldn’t you have asked whether we wanted any too?”
“I did ask.”
“When?”
“I clearly told you earlier that we would prepare our own camp and our own dinner ourselves. And what did you say then? Did you not tell us to go ahead? If the Great Heroes wished to eat with us, you should have asked at that time. Am I wrong?”
Team Leader Won seemed at a loss for words.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, he said,
“Come to think of it, this isn’t your first time camping outdoors.”
“No, it is not.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“When did we lie?”
“You clearly said it was your first time…”
“What I said was that this was our first time carrying out the Alliance Leader’s orders. I never said this was our first time camping outdoors.”
“…”
Perhaps because he had no reply left, he suddenly shouted,
“Fine! From now on, you people take care of yourselves! We will not protect you!”
“Then you are saying we should act separately.”
I asked with a smile,
“Will that be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Alliance Leader clearly said we were to ‘move together.’”
“Then we will travel together from now on, but we will not interfere in each other’s affairs whatsoever!”
“Very well. Then what about giving and receiving help?”
“I refuse! We will not give help either!”
“Understood. If that is what you say, then there is nothing to be done.”
“Hmph!”
Unable to contain his anger, he turned away.
Tsk, how petty.
Team Leader Won began scolding his team members.
“Will this be all right?”
Escort Guard Seo Wu wore a worried expression.
He must have been concerned about what kind of trouble they would cause us from now on.
“It will be fine.”
I grinned and sent a Voice Transmission to Escort Guard Lee Pil.
At my Voice Transmission, Escort Guard Lee Pil smirked.
“I was getting tired of them too.”
He quietly slipped into the forest, then returned and placed a single medicinal root in front of me.
As expected of someone from the Sichuan Tang Clan.
He had brought back the herb I wanted this easily.
— Geumryeong.
— Kui!
— Can you put this into their pot?
— Kui!
Geumryeong immediately scattered those herbs evenly into their pot.
The little one moved so quickly.
There was no way they would notice Geumryeong’s movements.
Just as I expected, they began eating without realizing that herbs had been added to their pot at all.
“Oh! I made this myself, but it’s incredibly good!”
“Whoa!”
“Huh! It is delicious!”
They kept exclaiming how delicious the food was as they ate, while Escort Guard Lee Pil and I watched them with expectant expressions.
Yes, enjoy it while you can. Hehehe.
Soon enough, you would be begging for someone to save you.
The herb I asked Escort Guard Lee Pil to get had pain-relieving effects if eaten raw or applied to the skin.
However, if heat was applied to it, it turned poisonous.
That did not mean it would take a life or damage the body, but it would cause severe abdominal pain.
Some might wonder whether a person had to be insane to deliberately give his allies stomach pain in the middle of an outdoor camp, but I was perfectly sane.
Even with just my companions and me, our safety was more than secure.
Besides, the antidote was extremely simple.
They only had to eat the same herb raw.
It was an interesting herb.
If boiled into food, it made the taste unbelievably good, so they would enjoy themselves for a while.
After that, though, it would be hell.
I explained the situation to everyone except Escort Guard Lee Pil through Voice Transmission.
— Do I seem too much like a villain?
At my question, every one of my companions shook their head.
— I feel quite refreshed myself.
— Ahh! This is good!
My companions must have been building up quite a lot of resentment too.
.
.
.
And half an hour after they finished eating.
“Ugh…”
“Uuuugh… My, my stomach…”
It finally began.
Starting with Team Leader Won Eop, every one of his team members clutched their stomachs and began groaning.
Seeing them break into cold sweat, it seemed the pain truly felt as if they were dying.
However, we merely watched them with pitying expressions.
Team Leader Won approached us.
“W-why are you only watching? Shouldn’t you call a physician at once?”
Tsk, tsk. He did not even remember what he had said earlier.
Maintaining my pitying expression, I said,
“Even if I wanted to help, after what you said earlier, I cannot touch this matter carelessly.”
“What?”
“Did you not clearly say earlier that we should not interfere with each other in any way, and that we should neither give nor receive help?”
“…Th-that was…”
“How could I dare disobey the Great Hero’s command, as stern as autumn frost?”
He spoke with difficulty, stammering through the pain.
“I-isn’t the situation different now?”
“Earlier, when you said that, you never mentioned that your statement would be withdrawn if the situation changed. I would never dare refuse that command of yours, Great Hero.”
“…”
I let out a sigh.
“And to be honest, my companions and I were deeply wounded. Do you think we acted that way because we did not want to prepare food for the Great Heroes?”
Of course, we had acted that way precisely because we did not want to prepare their food.
“We only behaved that way because of what had been said beforehand. Yet you used that to push us around so unreasonably… Sigh.”
After some hesitation, he eventually apologized to me.
That must have meant it was truly painful.
“Th-that was… I-I am sorry. I misunderstood without meaning to…”
“I accept your apology.”
That made me feel a little better, but not enough.
“Please help us.”
“I will check your pulse.”
I grabbed Team Leader Won’s wrist and pretended to take his pulse.
“Our merchant group mainly handles medicinal herbs, so I have a guess as to what this might be. Judging by your symptoms and the situation, it seems you ate something bad.”
“S-save us!”
I shook my head.
“It is all right. It may hurt badly enough that you can barely move right now, but your lives will not be in any danger at all.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. The abdominal pain will continue for about five days, but after that, you will be fine. You are Great Heroes of the mighty Murim Alliance, are you not? Surely you can endure that much.”
“F-five days?”
“Yes.”
“H-how am I supposed to endure that?”
He cried out in pain, and I grinned as I answered,
“Of course, there is a way to detoxify it.”
–TL Notes–
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