The escort guards I first chose weren’t really ones I selected myself.
They were men the External Chief Administrator picked out for me.
But in the end, they betrayed me.
No, it wasn’t betrayal.
They never served me as their master in the first place, so calling it betrayal isn’t right.
They were spies planted by rival merchant groups, and because of them, the business I was running suffered losses.
I recovered quickly, but when I dug into the cause, I found out my escort guards were the rats.
The External Chief Administrator felt incredibly sorry when he learned about it later.
That won’t happen this time.
I soon arrived at the training grounds.
The reason I came here was simple—there were two warriors I had in mind.
They were Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil, who accompanied me during the Sichuan trip.
Their coordination was solid, their skills were decent, and they had good judgment.
Most importantly, based on what I knew from the future, they never caused any problems.
But the most crucial thing… was that they kept their mouths shut.
The gold taels I swiped when I stirred up discord between Yeongpo, the rat of the Dan Clan, and the Dan Clan Lord in Sichuan… are still with me.
Even though they knew about it, neither of them breathed a word to anyone.
That alone already qualifies them.
After all, in the work I’d be doing from now on, maintaining secrecy was everything.
Right now was the training time for Squad One and Squad Two, the squads Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil belonged to.
I’d checked through Palgap earlier when I visited the External Chief Administrator.
On the platform, Deputy Squad Leader Yun Chung-jin was leading the training.
“Seems like you’ve all gotten slack ’cause I’ve been going easy lately… but not today! I’m gonna hammer it back into you for real!”
Deputy Yun’s voice was sharp as a blade.
It looked like he was still fired up about how Father, Jeong-ho, and I nearly died because of the Blast Thunder Bomb during the trip to Beijing.
Watching the warriors roll in the dirt at his command made me chuckle.
They were training with real fire in their eyes.
I should treat them to some meat and drinks later.
I told Palgap,
“Try not to make any noise. I wanna watch them secretly.”
“Understood.”
At my words, Palgap nodded. And just like that… his presence vanished.
Huh? What the…
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time.
When we dealt with Oh Dae-deuk, I hadn’t sensed Palgap’s presence at all.
Suddenly, something I’d heard in my past life came to mind.
Some people are born with a natural talent where their presence gets hidden by the environment itself when they try to conceal it.
It’s the trait of someone destined to become the King of Assassins (殺王).
When I first heard that, I thought it was an exaggeration.
But it wasn’t.
There really were people born with that ability.
And one of them… is my attendant.
It was honestly shocking that I never realized this in my past life.
“Huh? Something wrong?”
Noticing my odd expression, Palgap’s presence flickered back, and he blinked at me.
Seeing that made me grin.
Even if he’s got the talent of the King of Assassins… Palgap is still just Palgap.
My most trusted attendant.
“It’s nothing. Just remembered something. Let’s keep watching.”
“Got it.”
Palgap’s presence vanished again, and I also suppressed my presence as I continued observing their training.
The session ended, and a short break followed.
My plan was simple.
Walk up to them looking as cool as possible.
Then, in the coolest voice I could muster, say, “Warrior Yeo Eung-am, Warrior Lee Pil, join me.”
I wanted them to feel proud that I came all the way here to personally pick them.
If they were gonna be my people, I should take care of them properly from the start.
And I could use this chance to reward their hard work and maybe move them a bit.
But then… the situation took a weird turn.
“Sigh… what the hell is all this.”
One of the warriors wiped his sweat and grumbled.
“This all started ’cause Young Master Seo-ho went and saved that Merchant Lord Jin U-rim, right?”
“How does that make sense?”
“Think about it. Young Master Seo-ho saves Merchant Lord Jin, and that blows the cover off the criminal. Turns out the culprit’s the Dong Merchant Group. Then their second son holds a grudge, launches an attack, and detonates the Blast Thunder Bomb. That’s why Deputy Yun’s all fired up.”
“Oh… that’s how it went?”
“If Young Master Seo-ho had just minded his own business, we wouldn’t be stuck doing this hell training right now.”
Hearing that left me with a bitter taste.
Honestly, I didn’t expect things to escalate like that either.
Father, Jeong-ho, and I nearly died because of it… but these folks ended up paying a price too.
Maybe this is the price of the future I changed.
I’ve got no complaints about paying that price myself.
But hearing this made me hesitate… because others were paying for it too.
Right now, it’s just grueling training. But in a worst-case scenario… that price could’ve been their lives.
Just like Father and Jeong-ho nearly lost theirs.
And then—
“Hey, why don’t you shut your mouth?”
A familiar voice.
It was Yeo Eung-am.
“What’s this nonsense about Young Master Seo-ho? Mind your words. It’s Deputy Merchant Lord Seo-ho.”
“Well, he’s not officially—”
“Oh, stuff it. Everyone at Eunwol Council already acknowledges him. Who are you to argue with that?”
“That’s…”
“And blaming Deputy Merchant Lord Seo-ho? You piece of crap. The ones who were scum are the bastards from the Dong Merchant Group, not the Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Yeah… guess he’s not the bad guy…”
“That bastard almost got Deputy Merchant Lord Seo-ho killed.”
That’s when Lee Pil jumped in.
“You said earlier he should’ve stayed out of it. Are you sane? Anyone who carries a sword should act with chivalry. The Deputy Merchant Lord did exactly that. And now you’ve got the nerve to criticize him? What does chivalry even mean to you?”
“You little— That’s it!”
“Can’t believe I’m in the same squad as you. Shameful.”
“This happened ’cause we didn’t train properly!”
“Exactly! If we’d done our jobs right, this wouldn’t have happened! You know full well they’re always exposed to danger!”
“This guy should be kicked out right now!”
“Damn right!”
“But… what if I die?”
“Then you die! Anyone who lives by the sword lives with death hanging over them!”
“If we die protecting the merchant group, then it’s an honorable death.”
“Why overthink it?”
I came here intending to move them… but in the end, I was the one who got moved.
I was grateful.
In that state, I couldn’t step out and show myself. No, it wasn’t because my eyes were getting teary.
It was… because I didn’t want those warriors to feel embarrassed.
“Let’s just head back.”
I decided to skip picking them in person and instead told the External Chief Administrator to bring those two warriors over for me.
Honestly, since I’d chosen to change the future of the Eunhae Merchant Group, a lot of things tied to it were bound to change as well.
But since I’d already taken the first step…
What I could promise was this—I’ll do everything I can to minimize the collateral damage, and I’ll give them a future full of glory.
“Hm?”
As I was heading back to my residence, Squad Four and Squad Five were walking into the training grounds for their turn.
And then, my eyes landed on a few familiar faces.
So… they were already part of the Eunpoong Division.
Well, that explains why the External Chief Administrator recommended them as my escort back when I became Deputy Merchant Lord.
I chuckled, thinking about what I should do with them.
Now that they were within my grasp, it felt like a waste to simply kick them out.
I’d just work them hard… squeeze every drop of use out of them.
Ah…
There’s a saying, if you cry and laugh back-to-back, you’ll grow horns on your butt.
.
.
.
A short while later.
I went to the External Chief Administrator and told him the names of the warriors I’d chosen.
“Warrior Yeo Eung-am and Warrior Lee Pil, huh? They’ve got decent skills and sharp senses.”
“They guarded me during the Sichuan trip, and they worked really well with me.”
“Hahaha, exactly. That’s what matters in an escort. Doesn’t matter how skilled someone is—if the coordination’s off, it’s useless. Understood. I’ll take care of it just as you requested, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Thank you.”
I continued,
“By the way, Deputy Yun Chung-jin’s been putting the warriors through some seriously intense training.”
“Ah…”
The External Chief Administrator nodded.
“Yeah, hearing about what happened during the trip to Beijing… it pissed me off. And the Deputy Merchant Lord’s appointment ceremony is coming up too. So, I had a little sparring match with Deputy Yun.”
“…”
That explained everything.
The External Chief Administrator was a master known as One Sword Sweeps the Sky.
No matter how skilled Deputy Yun was, if he sparred with the External Chief Administrator… he probably got beat black and blue.
He’d taken that frustration and dumped it all on the warriors.
So, the real culprit behind today’s madness… was the External Chief Administrator himself.
“I see… but still, if they overtrain in this heat, I worry they’ll be too drained when they actually need their strength. I’m thinking of sending them some meat and drinks later.”
“Our Deputy Merchant Lord’s really got a kind heart. Hahaha.”
After wrapping up the conversation, I returned to my residence.
I flopped onto my bed and sighed.
The appointment ceremony wasn’t even done yet, but I already felt exhausted.
That’s when Palgap spoke.
“Young Master, is there anyone else you’d like to send extra invitations to?”
The invitations had already been sent out.
He was just double-checking to make sure no one had been accidentally left out—’cause if someone important didn’t get one, that’d be a huge insult.
“Did you send one to the Zhuge Family?”
“Of course.”
“And to Merchant Lord Jin U-rim and the other merchant groups, we handed them out before leaving Beijing…”
I sat up from the bed.
“What about the Changin Escort Bureau?”
“Already sent.”
“Good.”
I stood up.
“How many of the extra invitations I set aside are left?”
“One. It’s for the old man at the General Store.”
The retired owner of the General Store, who used to be the Ghost-faced Constable… he’s someone I’ve been investing a lot of effort into building ties with.
Someone like that deserves a personal delivery.
I’d already given one to Master yesterday morning, and he promised he’d definitely attend.
I fixed my clothes, took the invitation from Palgap, and tucked it into my sleeve.
“Let’s head to the General Store.”
.
.
.
A little later.
I arrived at the General Store near the library.
The old man, the retired Ghost-faced Constable, was sitting there leisurely with his pipe. When he saw me, he stood up.
“Back again?”
“Back again? We haven’t seen each other in a while.”
“Every day’s the same to me, brat.”
“Hahaha.”
I sat down in front of him, pulled the invitation from my sleeve, and handed it over.
“The day after tomorrow, I’ll officially become Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“I know, brat.”
“You’ll come, right?”
The old man opened the invitation. I could tell from the twitch at the corner of his mouth that he was holding back a grin.
You’re obviously happy… why pretend you’re not?
“How old are you anyway? Becoming Deputy Merchant Lord already?”
“Fifteen.”
“Well… with your skills, I guess it’s not too strange.”
Mumbling to himself, the old man stood up.
“Wait here a sec.”
“…?”
He went inside and came back out holding something, which he tossed onto the table.
“A gift.”
“Huh?”
“A congratulatory gift for becoming Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“Ah… thank you.”
I was a bit stunned. I never imagined the old man would actually give me a gift.
It was a red silk pouch.
But when I felt it… it was empty.
Usually, pouches like this come with something inside, right?
“A… pouch?”
At my question, the old man replied,
“Yeah. It’s a pouch.”
“Is… the pouch itself the gift?”
“Exactly.”
He sat back in his chair, staring at me.
“Doesn’t matter what you put inside, the weight won’t change. And… it’ll hold about a hundred times what it looks like.”
“…Huh?”
I was floored.
If that was true—and it is, because the old man isn’t someone who jokes or lies—then…
This thing… is a treasure.
“This is… way too big of a gift!”
“So you do get it. But you deserve it.”
The old man continued,
“Thanks to you, I accomplished the biggest goal of my life.”
“…”
Well… a gift’s a gift. I’ll gratefully accept it.
“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”
“It ain’t free.”
“Huh?”
“I heard you pulled off something pretty flashy in the Imperial Palace.”
Of course he knew.
“Is it… going to be a problem?”
“Nah. If those bastards had straightened up earlier, none of this would’ve happened. Right now they’re busy scrambling to survive amidst the chaos. You think they’ve got time to bother with you? But.”
“…?”
The old man grinned as he looked at me.
“Seems His Majesty’s keeping an eye on you.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah. Watching you grow… so he can eat you later.”
–TL Notes–
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