Chapter 69
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Request for Support (2)
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* * *
“W-Welcome. Thank you so much for coming.”
Gi Cheolhwan, the head of the Unjeong Escort Agency, genuinely welcomed Jinmyeong.
Although he had requested help, he hadn't expected someone to come so readily.
Even though Jinmyeong had come alone, he felt as if he had gained an army of thousands.
“I heard you often travel with Lady Shin, but it seems you've come alone today.”
“You look disappointed. Because Lady Shin isn't here?”
“Ah, no, not at all.”
The agency head waved his hands, but he had to struggle to hide his disappointment.
Jinmyeong had only recently started to become famous, so there were quite a few who doubted his martial prowess.
However, the martial skill of Shin Yehyang, the Vice Cult Leader's only daughter, was known to everyone within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Although he had requested Jinmyeong's help, he had secretly hoped Shin Yehyang would come.
“Lady Shin has to protect the Myeonghwaru Pavilion. Don't be too disappointed.”
“Yes. It's truly fine.”
The agency head had also heard all about the Black Tiger and Black Dragon gangs, as well as the Heretical Young Master.
“Those kinds of scoundrels haven't shown up recently, but you never know.”
The incident with the Heretical Young Master, Sama Geuk, was two months ago.
Nothing had happened since, but he couldn't be sure that things would remain peaceful forever.
That was why Jinmyeong had no choice but to entrust the Myeonghwaru Pavilion to Shin Yehyang.
*‘That guy is completely useless.’*
He had now completely given up on Gu Jahong.
Since he had no expectations, he couldn't entrust the Myeonghwaru Pavilion to him.
From Jinmyeong's perspective, it seemed Yang Jeon would soon surpass Gu Jahong.
“Now, shall we get into the details?”
“Understood.”
He had heard that the goods needed to be transported to Sichuan, but he hadn't heard the exact details.
“The Namho Merchant Guild has acquired some rather fine goods from the Western Regions.”
“Hmm. I see.”
To Jinmyeong, the items might not seem all that impressive, but to the people of this era, they must have appeared merely brilliant and novel.
“We are to deliver them to a high-ranking official in Sichuan.”
“Why Sichuan?”
“Pardon?”
“I was just wondering why you have to go all the way to Sichuan when there are closer places.”
Jinmyeong's question was reasonable.
After all, government officials weren't only found in Sichuan.
Moreover, considering the cost of using an escort agency, it would be more profitable to sell to a nearby official at a reasonable price.
“It seems that by giving him these goods, their Sichuan branch receives considerable help from that official.”
“Sichuan? They should be worrying about this place.”
Though he said that, Jinmyeong had no intention of prying further.
The head of the Namho Merchant Guild and the head of the Sichuan branch might have a personal connection, or there could be some entanglement with that official in Sichuan.
There was surely some hidden reason for selling it all the way in Sichuan, but he had no intention of digging into it.
It wasn't as if he was dying to know the reason, anyway.
“Because it's quite an important job, fifty escorts and five porters will be dispatched.”
Five porters meant the amount of goods wasn't enormous.
However, fifty escorts was a significantly large number for the volume of goods.
“How many of the Cult's people are among them?”
“Ten of them, including the lead escort, are our strongest men.”
“Ten? That's not many.”
There were fewer members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult than he'd expected. It meant that everyone except those ten was an outsider.
“…We couldn't help it, as quite a few have died.”
“Died?”
Although the martial artists sent here weren't exceptional, it wasn't as if the agency's escorts would be fighting formidable opponents.
Bandits, at most.
“That's why we keep failing our commissions.”
For some reason, they began to fail commissions repeatedly, and the escorts from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult returned as corpses.
With their stronger escorts continuously dying, succeeding in commissions became even more difficult.
“In the midst of that, a new escort agency has even opened here in Hunan.”
“An escort agency?”
“The Unjeong Escort Agency wasn't the largest in Hunan, but we never lacked for work.”
But suddenly, a new escort agency appeared in Hunan.
“It's called the Odang Escort Agency. Its head, Oh Dang, is a lay disciple of Shaolin.”
Being a lay disciple of Shaolin, he was able to freely establish an agency even in Hunan, where the Heretical Alliance's power is stronger.
They once had a dispute with the Blood Killing Sect, but Shaolin stepped in and mediated between them.
“Since then, they've had no further contact with the Blood Killing Sect.”
It likely wasn't just because Shaolin intervened.
The Blood Killing Sect was one of the top sects in the Heretical Alliance, so they wouldn't have been intimidated by Shaolin.
“The agency might have given them something.”
“Yes. We believe so.”
If the Blood Killing Sect wasn't bothering them even though the work for Heretical-affiliated agencies was decreasing, that must be the only reason.
After all, the Unjeong Escort Agency was also paying a considerable sum to the Blood Killing Sect.
“Things like this are complicated.”
The Righteous Faction, the Heretical Faction, the Demonic Cult.
They were completely different powers, so one would think they'd never intertwine, yet it was fascinating to see them giving tributes and bribes like this.
“For Shaolin to visit so often for a lay disciple's agency…”
Unless he's the disciple of a famous elder from Shaolin, he must be paying them a sum of money so large that even Shaolin can't ignore it.
“So, you're losing clients to that agency?”
“Precisely.”
The suddenly-appeared Odang Escort Agency succeeded in every commission.
Even the difficult ones, by borrowing Shaolin's power.
“And this place started to fail more and more commissions.”
“Yes.”
“And since the Odang Agency keeps succeeding, you must be losing clients and escorts too.”
“…That's right.”
It wasn't just clients we lost.
Most of the skilled escorts who weren't affiliated with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult moved to the Odang Escort Agency.
“Then the incompetent ones must have demanded more money.”
“…Have you ever run an escort agency, by any chance?”
“It's something you can figure out with a little thought.”
There would be escorts who followed the skilled ones, but there would also inevitably be those who tried to use this opportunity to make a lot of money.
“That must have seemed strange.”
“Yes. It was suspicious, so we tried to investigate, but…”
“Nothing came up?”
“It wasn't that there were no suspicious points, but they seemed completely unrelated to the mission failures.”
The Unjeong Escort Agency is the branch responsible for gathering information in Hunan.
While not on the level of the Underworld Sect, it's a place that handles a considerable amount of information.
If even the Unjeong Escort Agency couldn't find anything, it was possible there really was no connection.
*‘Or they hid it really, really well.’*
Besides, there wouldn't be anyone with outstanding martial skill in a branch like this, so it would have been difficult to resolve things with force.
That's why, to the agency head, Jinmyeong must have been like a ray of light.
“By the way, do officials really like this kind of stuff?”
“Pardon?”
Arriving at the location of the goods with the agency head, Jinmyeong immediately began to examine them.
“I was just wondering if they really need to buy things like this for a high price.”
There were European-style dishes, tea, clothes, and accessories.
*‘It used to be things like antiques.’*
Jinmyeong recalled the mission where he had recovered a treasure under the Heavenly Demon's order.
Wasn't the Yukga Escort Agency, affiliated with the Mount Hua Sect, also on its way to present a treasure of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to a high-ranking official?
“It must be a kind of luxury. There's no way for us to know what they're thinking.”
“That's true.”
And he had no desire to understand the minds of officials who wanted such items anyway.
“Are my things ready?”
“They are. You can depart immediately.”
As Jinmyeong lifted the baggage from the floor, the agency head looked flustered.
“I'll have the escorts carry that.”
“I'm not so weak that I can't even carry this.”
At Jinmyeong's firm reply, the agency head had no choice but to back down.
“What about the others?”
“Everyone is ready.”
The agency head said, calling someone over.
A young man then approached them.
“This is Gi Yun, the lead escort who will be in charge of this mission.”
“Gi Yun?”
“Yes. He's my son.”
“I'll be in your care.”
The lead escort greeted Jinmyeong with a cupped fist salute in a very respectful manner.
He showed no signs of reluctance in bowing his head to Jinmyeong, who was younger than him.
If anything, a strange excitement seemed to flicker in his eyes, perhaps because he was meeting Jinmyeong.
Seeing both the agency head and his son, the lead escort, act so respectfully toward the suddenly appeared young man, the other escorts and porters looked puzzled.
“This is the person who will be helping us on this mission.”
The members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, who had already heard about Jinmyeong from the agency head, nodded, but the other escorts did not.
To them, the young Jinmyeong who had appeared so suddenly did not seem trustworthy at all.
“Is he really a master?”
“…Are you doubting me?”
The agency head scowled and glared at the escort who had asked the question.
“Of course, we trust you and the lead escort, sir. But trusting you two is different from trusting that young kid, isn't it?”
“Are you saying this person is a fraud?”
“It's not that, but we're saying this because we don't even know his identity.”
The escorts snickered amongst themselves as they looked at Jinmyeong.
Even though both the agency head and the lead escort were being respectful, they still maintained their defiant attitude.
“Can I kill him?”
“Pardon?”
Just as the agency head was looking bewildered by Jinmyeong's question.
A sudden *splat!* was heard along with the sound of something bursting.
The head of the escort who had been snickering while questioning the agency head had exploded.
“Hic!”
The escorts standing next to him stared at Jinmyeong, their faces pale.
“Any more complaints?”
The escorts swallowed hard as they looked at Jinmyeong, who had his index finger extended forward.
“No?”
“……”
No one answered.
They didn't want to run their mouths and end up with their heads exploding like that escort.
“Clean that up.”
“Yes!”
At Jinmyeong's command, the escorts moved quickly and began to clean up the body.
“It seems they've mostly cleaned it up. Shall we get moving?”
Seeing that the escorts had roughly cleared away the corpse, the agency head asked Jinmyeong.
“Go ahead. I'm not the one leading this.”
“Understood.”
Jinmyeong was here to help them, not to lead the escort mission.
Therefore, he intended to follow the lead escort's commands as much as possible.
“We're departing.”
Having received Jinmyeong's permission, the lead escort immediately began to lead the escorts and porters.
“I see you have no carts or horses.”
“Yes. The agency is struggling, so we can't help it.”
While the luggage was light enough for the porters to carry, they kept losing their horses and carts whenever they went on a mission, which ultimately led to this shabby procession.
*‘True, for a branch of the Cult, the agency was rather shabby.’*
It was incomparable to the Yuyun Escort Agency back in Shaanxi.
They must have been struggling that much to have requested help from Jinmyeong, no matter the cost.
If it had been any of the other disciples instead of Jinmyeong, they might have lost their heads for such a request.
They might not have even been able to meet them.
“You don't need to be so conscious of me. Just act as you normally would.”
“Yes. I'll be in your care.”
No matter how much he was told not to worry, from the lead escort's perspective, he couldn't help but be conscious of Jinmyeong.
However, at the thought of finally being able to succeed in a mission after so long, the lead escort's steps felt incredibly light.