The next day.
I was having tea after breakfast when a maid came to find me.
“The Young Clan Lord wishes to see me?”
“Yes. That's correct.”
“Understood.”
I tossed back the rest of my tea, rose from my seat, and headed for the Young Clan Lord's office.
I had a pretty good idea why he'd summoned me.
The Young Clan Lord had been away yesterday, and by the time he returned, it was already too late for us to meet.
So on the surface, he probably just wanted to formally greet me.
But I doubted that was the only reason.
I was shown to a reception room near the Young Clan Lord's office. As I waited over tea and refreshments, the door opened and a middle-aged man stepped inside.
He bore a striking resemblance to Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu.
So this was the Young Clan Lord.
I quickly rose and gave him a fist-and-palm salute.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. It is an honor to meet the Young Clan Lord of the Hwangbo Clan.”
“Good to meet you. I am Hwangbo Seok-gil, Young Clan Lord of the Hwangbo Clan.”
He gestured for me to sit.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes.”
He sat across from me and got straight to the point.
“My father told me about the matter this morning. I hear you brought an Imperial Decree from His Majesty?”
“That is correct.”
I continued.
“We came to recruit instructors for the Martial Arts Academy our merchant group is currently funding.”
“I know. As it happens, the matter has been handed over to me, so I've been nursing quite the headache over it. Hahaha.”
“I apologize for putting you to so much trouble, even if unintentionally.”
He waved a hand.
“Nonsense. It is His Majesty's command. How could fulfilling it be considered trouble?”
“I'm grateful you see it that way.”
“Mm. More importantly…”
He took a sip of tea, then cautiously brought up the real subject.
“I heard you used my son, Uk, as a porter yesterday… Is that true?
I knew it.
I confidently nodded.
“Yes. It is.”
“Hmm. I did order him to attend to you, but I certainly didn't mean for you to use him as a porter.”
“Of course. I had no intention of making the Young Lord carry my luggage either. But he insisted, so there wasn't much I could do.”
The Young Clan Lord looked taken aback.
“What? He insisted?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“He said he'd be in trouble if he disobeyed his father's order, and that since he'd been told to attend to me, I was free to use him as a porter if I wished.”
“Hmm…”
“So I decided to test whether he'd actually stand by his own words. I apologize for that.”
“No, no. If that's what happened, then you've nothing to apologize for. A man's word is worth its weight in gold. If he is a man of the Hwangbo Clan, then he must learn to take responsibility for what he says.”
The Young Clan Lord continued.
“So I'll leave whatever happens from here on out to him.”
“Understood.”
I took my leave from the Young Clan Lord.
Still, I wondered if Young Lord Hwangbo Uk would volunteer to be my porter again today.
When I returned to my quarters, Young Lord Hwangbo Uk was there waiting for me.
“You're back?”
“Yes. I just returned from meeting the Young Clan Lord. And I plan to go out again today, so please make the necessary preparations.”
His eyes visibly wavered.
“Do I… need to prepare the handcart again today?”
“You're asking something rather obvious.”
“…”
His gaze darted around as a complicated expression crossed his face. Then he cleared his throat.
“Actually, there is something I neglected to mention. I have an important matter that absolutely must be handled today. I'm afraid I won't be able to attend to you, Deputy Merchant Lord. My apologies.”
“I see. If you have something important to do, then it can't be helped.”
“Then I'll be going…”
He practically bolted out of my quarters, and I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched him flee.
“Was I really that bad last night?”
At my question, the Escort Guards glanced at one another and laughed.
“To be frank, you did take it a little far.”
“You bought an enormous amount, after all.”
“And you kept loudly calling the Young Lord's name.”
“Do you really think a young lord like him has ever done that sort of work before?”
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am smiled.
“So, what were you really trying to accomplish?”
As expected of someone who had been with me for so long. He knew me far too well.
“There's something I need to take care of, but secrecy is extremely important. I'd like all of you to pay close attention as well.”
“Understood.”
“And Palgap.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Bring a handcart and follow me.”
Just in case, it would be better to make things look much the same as they had yesterday.
And so, just like the day before, we headed into Jinan's market and began wandering from stall to stall, buying all sorts of things.
That was when I spotted someone familiar in the distance.
“Hm? Young Lord Ho Gyeong?”
“Ah! Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho!”
It was Young Lord Ho Gyeong of the Baekyeom Merchant Group.
He approached me with obvious delight.
“It's been a long time.”
“Ah, yes. It certainly has.”
“I received the letter. I hear you're getting married this fall.”
At that, I gave him a slightly embarrassed smile.
“Hahaha. That's how things turned out. But… you don't look particularly well.”
He flinched at my question.
“Uh… Is it that obvious?”
“Don't worry. I doubt anyone else would notice.”
Young Lord Ho Gyeong was nearly flawless at controlling his expression. But he couldn't fool my eyes.
“That's a relief. Haa…”
Young Lord Ho Gyeong let out a breath of relief.
I casually tested the waters.
“Is this about the whetstones, by any chance?”
“…!”
He jolted and asked in a trembling voice.
“H–how did you know?”
I knew it.
There was no chance the Baekcheon Merchant Group, which was aiming to become the greatest merchant group under heaven, would pass up the chance to drag down the merchant group currently occupying that position through some petty scheme.
The Baekyeom Merchant Group's business revolved around ironworking.
For them, whetstones were an indispensable consumable.
If their supply of whetstones were cut off, the damage to them would be far greater than anything the Hwangbo Clan might suffer.
I spoke as though it were nothing.
“According to information I received recently, the Baekcheon Merchant Group has monopolized the major sources of whetstone.”
“That's right.”
He nodded.
“I'd been wondering what they were plotting after staying so quiet lately… It turns out this was what they had in mind.”
Young Lord Ho Gyeong looked deeply bitter.
I casually asked him another question.
“If I could supply you with high-quality whetstones, would you be interested in purchasing them from me?”
“What do you mean? High-quality whetstones? Do you have a stockpile of them hidden somewhere?”
“Nothing like that. I'm simply asking whether you'd be interested.”
“Of course. If we could secure high-quality whetstones at a reasonable price, nothing could be better.”
“Understood.”
Well, this was convenient.
I briefly remembered the dagger he'd given me before as thanks, but this wasn't serious enough to warrant anything like that. I could probably ask him for a small favor.
“In that case, may I ask you for one favor?”
“Anything. You saved my life. How could I possibly refuse a favor from my lifesaving benefactor?”
“Then please lend me some workers and warriors. And if possible, I'd also like a few stonemasons who know how to quarry and work stone.”
“Don't tell me…?”
“Yes. We're going to quarry stone. So please make absolutely certain that word of this doesn't get out.”
“Understood.”
After parting ways with him, I immediately got moving.
I had work to do.
A short while later.
Young Lord Ho Gyeong arrived at the agreed-upon meeting place with a group of workers and warriors, then introduced me.
“You all know who he is, but this is Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho, the man who saved my life. Just follow his instructions.”
“Understood.”
At Young Lord Ho Gyeong's words, all of them looked at me with obvious goodwill.
It told me plenty about the position Young Lord Ho Gyeong held within the merchant group and just how much trust its people placed in him.
“Let's go.”
“Yes.”
I led them deep into a mountain in Shandong.
“This mountain is enormous.”
“It is. That's why buying it cost me quite a bit.”
The first thing I'd done after parting from Young Lord Ho Gyeong was purchase this mountain.
It was a fair distance away, but that hardly mattered when I could use Lightness Skill.
In the end, I bought the entire mountain for a staggering five hundred silver taels.
Fortunately, the owner happened to be in desperate need of quick money, so the transaction had gone smoothly.
As we made our way deeper into the mountain, I suddenly raised a hand and stopped everyone.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“What is it?”
“It seems there's something here that doesn't appreciate our visit.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than something began slithering toward us with a soft rustle.
A snake with a horn growing from its head – a One-Horned Snake.
The moment they saw it, the workers and warriors recoiled in horror.
“Th–th–that thing! Isn't that a One-Horned Snake?”
“It is.”
But neither I nor my Escort Guards panicked. We calmly drew our swords.
Shing.
A One-Horned Snake carried extraordinarily potent venom, making it a terrifying creature for ordinary people.
Come to think of it, seeing that thing reminded me of the One-Horned Snake the Sichuan Tang Clan had been raising.
The One-Horned Snake had been steadily slithering toward us when it suddenly froze.
What was that? I could've sworn I heard something snap just now.
Then it hurriedly averted its gaze from me and flattened itself against the ground.
Something similar had happened at the Sichuan Tang Clan before.
Geumryeong, was that you?
– Kui?
What, you didn't do anything? You were just sitting there minding your own business?
Well, so was I.
Whatever the reason, if that thing was going to cower in front of me, all the better.
It would save me a great deal of time.
Still, with it trembling like that and pressing itself flat against the ground, killing it felt a little…
Then a good idea suddenly occurred to me.
I could capture it alive and sell it to the Sichuan Tang Clan for research.
Some might say that was cruel, but as far as I was concerned, it was the best option.
It had harmed plenty of people over the years. It was only fair that it pay the price.
With that thought, I kicked off the ground and rushed toward it.
I grabbed its horn, launched myself into the air, and sent a Voice Transmission to my Escort Guards.
– I'll be back shortly.
Once I'd reached a secluded place, I opened my Hidden Vault and spoke.
“Get in.”
Shhk! Shhk!
“If you don't want to, I can just take your inner core and horn and be on my way. Are you really going to make this difficult? Geumryeong, translate.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong climbed onto my shoulder and began letting out a string of kuis.
At Geumryeong's words, the One-Horned Snake hurriedly shook its head before obediently entering my Hidden Vault.
I then created a separate space inside the vault and confined it there.
All right. That took care of the One-Horned Snake.
I returned to where the Escort Guards and workers were waiting.
“Young Master! You're back?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened to the One-Horned Snake?”
“I killed it. But just as I was about to take its horn and inner core, they dissolved, so I couldn't recover either one. Haa. What a waste.”
“I heard that a One-Horned Snake only leaves behind its horn and inner core if it dies without realizing it's about to die.”
“Right. That's how it works.”
The reason I claimed I'd failed to recover the horn and inner core was simple. I wanted to cut off any greed they might harbor before it had a chance to grow.
Those things were worth quite a bit of money, after all. Better not to take unnecessary chances.
“All right, let's keep moving.”
We continued onward for another thirty minutes or so before finally reaching our destination.
“This is the place.”
“This is our destination?”
“Yes.”
I turned toward Seok-du, who was leading the stonemasons.
“Seok-du, try breaking open any rock you like.”
He tilted his head at my words, then walked over to a nearby rock. Taking out a chisel and hammer, he began striking it.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After several blows, the rock split apart with a sharp crack.
The moment he saw what was inside, his eyes widened. He stumbled backward in shock and nearly fell flat on his back.
I quickly caught him.
“Are you all right? You should be more careful.”
“Th–th–this… This is…”
“Yes. It's stone used to make whetstones.”
Exactly.
This was why I'd been so confident when I offered to supply whetstones.
In my previous life, this deposit wouldn't be discovered until roughly six months from now.
But developing this mountain hadn't gone smoothly back then.
The One-Horned Snake I'd just dealt with had made its lair here.
The mountain's previous owner had probably known that and deliberately kept quiet when selling it to me.
In my previous life, someone had also purchased this mountain with plans to build a manor here, only for the One-Horned Snake to claim numerous victims.
It wasn't until the Hwangbo Clan intervened that they finally managed to kill it.
That was when people discovered that the mountain contained stone suitable for making whetstones.
In the end, the Hwangbo Clan developed the deposit and began producing whetstones to supply the surrounding region, allowing both the Hwangbo Clan and the Baekyeom Merchant Group to regain their stability.
But perhaps such sudden wealth had simply been too much, because it eventually brought a serious problem to the Hwangbo Clan.
Disputes over how the profits from this place should be divided led to a vicious internal feud in which blood relatives turned on one another.
That was why I felt no guilt whatsoever about taking this mountain for myself.
In the future, this mountain would only weaken the Hwangbo Clan.
There was also a reason I hadn't interfered despite knowing that the Namgoong Clan intended to monopolize the existing sources of whetstone.
This deposit had only just been developed and could continue producing stone for a very long time, while the deposits monopolized by the Namgoong Clan would be exhausted within just a few years.
By the time the Baekcheon Merchant Group finally realized that, it would already be in serious trouble.
In my previous life, Merchant Lord Namgoong Gang had been the one forced to deal with that disaster. This time, his younger brother, Merchant Lord Namgoong Seok, would be the one facing quite the headache.
Why did that thought feel so satisfying?
Suppressing my smile, I turned to everyone.
“All right. Let's make some whetstones.”
“Yes!”
At my words, everyone took out their tools and got to work.
.
.
.
Two days later.
With our carts loaded to the brim with whetstones, we headed back to the Hwangbo Clan.
“Just where the hell have you been running off to all this…”
Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu came toward me grumbling, only to fall silent when I pulled the cloth off the cart and spoke.
“I brought back whetstones.”
“Gasp!”
Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu's eyes went wide as he stared at the carts packed with high-quality whetstones.
“H–how did you get all of these?”
“I'm a rather capable man. More importantly, where is the Clan Lord?”
Now it was time to collect my reward from the Hwangbo Clan Lord.
–TL Notes–
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