Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Dark Fragrance's Offer
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"Hoo..."
A weary young man let out a deep sigh in his office.
His name was Geum Hyeon-mong, the current head of the Myriad Gold Bank.
He set down the letter and grimaced.
"Another refusal."
A few days earlier, he had sent a letter to the Tae Yong-seop Clan, and its reply lay before him now.
To sum it up:
Our clan shares deep ties with your ancestors.
Truly, I wish I could rush to your aid at once, but circumstances make it impossible.
Regrettably, we cannot provide the funds you seek.
A lengthy message.
But most of it was verbose flattery; in the end, they too were refusing.
'It's getting harder to hold on.'
With the Myriad Gold Bank on the brink of collapse, he had reached out to allied clans and sects—not to mention other banks—scrambling on foot to borrow money.
Yet every one dragged out excuses before delivering the same conclusion.
A polite rejection.
None had funds to lend the Myriad Gold Bank.
Each cited different reasons.
A recent poor harvest had strained their finances.
Expanding branch sects had depleted their reserves.
Their main business had tanked, leaving them in dire straits.
They had spare cash, but nothing to loan.
Having heard them all, even the refusals grew curt and sharp.
Some even sneered to his face.
—Even if we lent it, could you repay us?
Despite such insults, he could only trudge back without retort.
'Father, how am I supposed to overcome this dire crisis?'
Geum Hyeon-mong closed his aching eyes, swollen with fatigue.
He was the son his childless predecessor had at last begotten in old age.
From youth, his brilliance was renowned; whispers abounded that there was no need to worry about succession, that the Myriad Gold Bank's golden era was at hand.
But calamity strikes without warning.
Before he even reached fifteen, the middle-aged bank head died suddenly.
That sparked the trouble.
Major investors who had trusted the old head pulled out upon hearing the news.
The bank's funds shrank dramatically, leaving it reeling.
And it didn't end there.
As the Myriad Gold Bank reeled from the blow, rivals seized the chance to press their attacks.
Then came the worst blow.
Two of the three chief managers—who were the bank's pillars—defected to other banks.
And brazenly, to two of the realm's Three Great Banks: the Supreme Treasury and the Heavenly White Bank.
Thus, barely past twenty, Geum Hyeon-mong ascended as head with only one chief manager left at his side.
That lone manager was the elderly retainer who had served since the time of the grandfather head.
'That's not all.'
Not only had the number of chief managers dwindled, but the bank's staff had shrunk too.
Branches closed, the head office's compound shrank, and many employees departed until few remained.
Now it felt eerily desolate inside.
The situation was dire, with no way out in sight.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred in his shoes would lose heart.
But he burned with resolve, sought a path forward, and made his choice.
—Close all branches outside Sichuan Province.
He shuttered every precarious outpost beyond Sichuan.
Then pooled all funds into the head office and select branches.
His decisions were swift and precise.
Soon after, the branches he had closed a touch too late collapsed entirely.
Had he hesitated even slightly, the Myriad Gold Bank would surely have vanished into history.
Those who knew its plight said the head had proven his exceptional talent just by surviving that crisis until now.
But relief was fleeting.
As the proverb goes, mountains upon mountains of hardship; no sooner had one crisis passed than a greater one loomed.
Recently, a rumor of unknown origin spread through the markets.
The Myriad Gold Bank had run dry of funds.
It was false.
The bank still had enough to last two or three years at least.
'I can guess the source, but...'
There was nothing he could do.
True or not, it hardly mattered.
The rumor spread, and frightened depositors flocked to withdraw their money.
—The rumor is false! We have ample funds, so please return home without worry!
No matter how the head explained, it fell on deaf ears.
gripped by panic, they demanded only their money back.
The situation worsened.
Pulling out all that cash at once would slash the bank's lifespan.
In the worst case, it wouldn't last days.
"Surrounded on all sides."
Driven to the cliff's edge, he sighed bitterly.
Then a subordinate knocked from outside.
"Head, I have a report."
"Come in."
The subordinate entered at his permission, face grim.
"The crowd at the entrance is growing rowdier. Even some martial artists have gathered, shouting they'll force their way in if we don't open up."
"...Understood. I'll go soon; step out for now."
The bank's sole remaining chief manager was away drumming up outside investment, touring Sichuan on foot.
Thus, as the only one left in charge, Geum Hyeon-mong had to deliberate alone.
He shut his eyes tight, then slowly drew out a letter from under the desk.
'Must I really accept their offer?'
Three months prior, a different missive had arrived—one not rejecting him outright.
It proposed acquiring the Myriad Gold Bank.
But their offer was insultingly low.
He tried negotiating to bridge the gap, but they refused flatly.
They had nothing to lose.
They already dominated Sichuan as overlords; they didn't need to buy it.
So he had shelved their unyielding proposal, but now at the precipice, no other path remained.
"Damn it..."
Geum Hyeon-mong clenched his teeth, shoulders trembling.
No choice.
To save those loyal subordinates and the chief manager who had held on this far, this was the only way.
With shaking hands, he gripped a brush to write his full acceptance.
Then.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked from outside.
'Something else to report?'
Assuming it was the prior subordinate, Geum Hyeon-mong called out.
"Come in."
But contrary to expectation, a woman he had never seen entered.
"Gah—!"
Glancing up indifferently, he jolted in shock, face paling.
"Wh-who are you?!"
She wasn't strikingly beautiful, yet she exuded a calm, enigmatic aura that drew the eye.
She closed the door calmly and approached.
With a faint smile, she bowed politely.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Jo Sa-hyeon."
Raising her head, she continued.
"And I serve as master of the Dark Fragrance."
His eyes shook as if in an earthquake, shock and confusion mingling.
How had she entered here?
Even in decline, the bank kept enough guards to deter martial riffraff.
Yet she had slipped through unseen?
Nor was that the only surprise.
'Dark Fragrance, no less.'
The Dark Fragrance was indispensable among the world's top intelligence networks.
Smaller and harder to reach than the Beggars' Sect or the Hao Clan, but its prowess was universally acknowledged.
It dealt in secretive, precise intel and buried secrets—domains where no rival could compete.
Unallied to any faction, it traded info between righteous and evil alike, making its name known to all—including him.
For its master to appear unannounced was unprecedented in his life; no wonder he froze, unsure how to respond.
Moments later, his lips parted cautiously.
"How can you prove you're from the Dark Fragrance?"
Jo Sa-hyeon sat opposite and produced the organization's token.
"...It's real."
Confirming it, he muttered gravely.
Then, glancing sidelong at the letter on the desk, Jo Sa-hyeon spoke.
"No need to be so wary. I am precisely the person you need most right now."
"What do you mean?"
"I wish to acquire the Myriad Gold Bank."
"...!"
His eyes widened.
Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth—but she pressed on.
"Will you accept the offer from Sichuan's overlords?"
He started, raising his voice.
"How do you—!"
"We are the Dark Fragrance."
She smiled faintly and stated plainly.
"Handing it to them solves your immediate woes, but in the end, you and the Myriad Gold Bank gain nothing."
"..."
"Moreover, entrenched as they are, they offered little compensation. Am I right?"
Pierced to the bone, he fell silent before admitting.
"You are."
"But cowering like this won't save you long."
Even holding out without yielding to them, with rivals pressing, collapse was inevitable.
"I know other banks spread vile rumors lately and even hired fiends to squeeze you."
"That too rings true."
The unnatural surge of evil sect rabble at their gates and rampant slander—far from normal, he suspected rival interference.
But knowing changed nothing; it only gave him headaches.
"We can resolve all that cleanly."
"What?!"
"So hand over the bank. We'll pay tenfold what they offered."
"Tenfold?!"
Jaw dropping at her bold proposal, he asked.
"Do you even know their figure?"
"No."
Her candid reply drew an incredulous look.
"Then what gives you such confidence...?"
"But we possess at least this much now."
She produced a bank note from her bosom; his eyes bulged.
It exceeded their offer by far more than ten times.
Staring through it, he soon calmed himself.
'Too generous.'
Doubt was natural.
Offering such a sum for a near-bankrupt name-brand shell was absurd to anyone.
Unresolved, he posed the question.
"...Hate to say it myself, but what's the reason to buy our bank for this much?"
"A reason to acquire it?"
Jo Sa-hyeon smiled faintly at his query.
When the Cult Leader first ordered the takeover, she had wondered the same.
Why buy a failing bank?
Wouldn't acquiring a solid mid-tier one—or founding a new—be better?
She had thought so.
But investigating via the Secret Affairs Hall flipped her view.
'The Cult Leader was right.'
The Myriad Gold Bank was bound to rebound.
Though reeling from major investors fleeing after the old head's death, countless smaller ones quietly stayed.
They hadn't bet on the man, but on the Myriad Gold Bank's name and storied history.
Its foundations were unmatched; survive the crisis, and it would soar again.
'And the head has the talent to support it.'
Per the Secret Affairs Hall's report, it should have collapsed long ago.
Yet the current head's swift restructuring of branches across the Central Plains had bought it time.
With solid ground and a pillar in the head, ample funds would make its value explode, she was certain.
"Right now, the Myriad Gold Bank is but a hollow shell, yes."
"Then why...?"
"But we see value in the ties built over centuries with clients—and your fine handling of crises. We're investing in the future."
"...An investment in the future."
Geum Hyeon-mong closed his eyes, pondering the bank's prospects in silence.
At length, he opened them and declared.
"Very well. I accept your offer."
Nodding, he added cautiously.
"But one request."
"Speak freely."
"Please, keep the bank's name unchanged."
Even if losing the bank, he hoped to preserve his house's legacy.
Yet he expected little; acquirers typically rebranded to erase the past.
Her reply stunned him.
"No need to worry. We'll keep the name, the current setup intact. We won't meddle in operations at all."
"What? So the current staff can stay on?"
"Of course."
Jo Sa-hyeon curved her lips.
"If it's your wish, so be it."
"...!"
His face filled with astonishment.
'Funds and positions preserved, no interference?'
If it failed, they'd only lose.
But backed by the Dark Fragrance, the offer was genuine.
So generous it aroused suspicion; he couldn't hold back.
"What on earth is behind such terms?"
Jo Sa-hyeon answered simply.
"Not my decision."
"...?"
"My lord's will."