Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Somyung Doesn't Know About That
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Don't worry, I'm just an ordinary bandit.
As soon as day broke, I finished preparing to head into Hunan city where the Hao Gate branch was located.
It was still early enough that my subordinates hadn't started their daily routines yet, so they all came out to see me and Yu Somyung off.
"Big bro."
"What now?"
"Are you sure it's okay to go alone?"
"Good grief."
Dongryong's nagging really was... even worse than my mom from my previous life. He'd fretted like this when I went to Sichuan, and now he was doing the same just for a quick trip down the mountain.
"Dongryong, you worry too much—it's gonna kill you. And why would I be alone? I'm going with Young Lady Yu here."
"Uh... true, but..."
Dongryong glanced behind me with an awkward look on his face.
"Is that... really 'going together'?"
At the end of Dongryong's gaze was Yu Somyung, bound tight from head to toe and slung over my back.
"Let me go—! I can walk on my own, so why...!"
"Young Lady Yu, didn't I tell you to stay quiet? Keep making noise and I'll gag you too?"
*Smack.*
As I said that, I gave Yu Somyung's butt a light smack.
"Ugh..."
Whether from embarrassment or pain, she let out a groan and shut her mouth. After silencing her like that, I turned back to Dongryong.
"Safety first. What if I untie her and she stabs me in the back? Better to keep her trussed up like this, just in case."
"If big bro says so..."
Dongryong nodded, but his eyes still showed unease about me heading off alone with just Yu Somyung.
I found the whole thing ridiculous.
"Hey, Dongryong. Who's worrying about who here?"
"...Pardon?"
"I'm worried about you."
"...Why?"
Was this guy seriously asking because he didn't know?
"Don't you remember what you got up to while I was gone for a month heading to Sichuan, you bandit king wannabe?"
"That wasn't..."
I grabbed the shoulders of the flustered, sweating Dongryong and whispered in his ear.
"Dongryong, you're already the bandit king. There's nowhere left to climb unless you wanna be Bandit Emperor. So stay put and keep quiet while I'm away."
"...Yes, got it."
"Remember what I said before? One more screw-up like that, and I'll personally drag you to the Murim Alliance myself."
"...I'll keep it in mind."
"...Sigh."
...Well, Dongryong wasn't a complete idiot, so he'd get my point at this rate.
Looking at his heavy expression, I lowered my voice more solemnly than usual.
"While I'm gone, you're the boss, so take good care of the guys."
"Yes."
"No big issues should pop up, but handle whatever comes up on your own."
"Yes."
Next, I turned to my other subordinates.
"Jeokyeom, train hard in your martial arts while I'm away."
"Got it, boss."
"Bang Sam, no slacking off or playing hooky while I'm gone—work hard."
"Of course."
"Right now, the most important spot in our whole bandit crew is the front entrance hall. So don't get pissy about dirty work and take responsibility..."
"Ah, I get it already! Why are you talking so much today, boss? You're not usually like this."
"......"
Only after hearing Bang Sam's words did I realize it myself.
Huh... yeah, why am I?
Why was I talking so much today?
Well, if I had to pinpoint it, it wasn't just the talking—it was that my feet felt heavy, reluctant to move.
'Something's...'
Off? My gut feeling wasn't good.
If I left the stronghold like this, I'd regret it somehow...
"Hey, don't worry so much—we'll be fine on our own without you, boss."
"...Right."
But a hunch was just a hunch.
It wasn't smart to get anxious over something that hadn't even happened yet. At Bang Sam's urging, I finally dragged my heavy feet forward.
"Alright, I'm off, you bastards—!"
"Yes! Safe travels! Boss—!"
"Come back safe! Boss!"
With that, I left the stronghold amid their send-off.
**
It takes half a day on foot to reach Hunan city, where the Hao Gate's Hunan branch was.
Since it was a long walk that could get boring, I occasionally chatted with Yu Somyung tied to my back.
"Young Lady Yu, if you need to pee, just say so. I'll let you down."
"......"
Of course, most of it was me teasing her to get under her skin like this. After enduring my jabs a few times, she finally spoke up.
"I've been wondering for a while now—are you always this mean? Or are you doing it on purpose to make me hate you?"
"Does it make you hate me?"
"......"
Yu Somyung didn't answer my question.
To be precise, both things she said were true. It was my personality, and I was also trying to make her lose any affection for me.
"Don't forget what I said yesterday. You grab the manual and elixir, then we head straight back."
"...Don't wanna."
"Then go back empty-handed."
"......"
She probably couldn't afford not to retrieve the manual and elixir, so Yu Somyung clammed up. Then, as if another question popped into her head, she asked me.
"...But why are we going to the Hao Gate?"
"Because I sold your clan's stuff to them."
"What...? To the Hao Gate...?"
Yu Somyung sounded puzzled at my answer, like something was off. I glanced back and saw her face was pretty confused.
"I... stopped by the Hao Gate before looking for you..."
"Oh? You did? The Hao Gate?"
Did she try to track me down through them? The Hao Gate handled information brokering too, so I figured that was it and let it slide.
But her next words surprised me a bit.
"I met the branch chief there, but she didn't mention anything about the Yu Clan manuals or elixirs from Shanxi when she saw me."
"What? The branch chief met you...?"
"Yeah."
"......"
Why...?
Did she change her style lately? No, this woman who didn't even show her face in the original story—why would she suddenly appear to some righteous sect junior?
'No clue.'
"The branch chief talked about you too."
"She mentioned me?"
"Yeah, she said you..."
Yu Somyung gritted her teeth as she continued.
"...were a lecher who sleeps with multiple courtesans every night."
"......"
...What the hell did that bitch say?
"And she said you'd gone to Zhejiang Province, so I believed her and headed there."
"...You went all the way to Zhejiang? That's the complete opposite direction."
"Yeah, struck out there, then heard rumors about the bandit king and came here—and found you."
Only after hearing all that did I piece it together.
'Yu Somyung didn't hide that she had feelings for me, so the branch chief must've stirred the pot seeing that.'
Suddenly, I recalled what the branch chief had said to me.
'I've never failed to get what I want. And... Hero, you're what I want most in life.'
'I'll make you mine for sure.'
That sly vixen...
Compared to her, Somyung was...
"The branch chief lied to me about you...? Why?"
"......"
...a total naive dummy.
"How much did you pay for the info at the Hao Gate?"
"Info fee? No, she gave me the info first, before I could pay..."
"What? So you took unpaid info at face value and went all the way to Zhejiang? What were you even trusting...?"
"The branch chief's... goodwill?"
"......"
Goodwill my ass. Fuck, is the Hao Gate a charity?
"Sigh."
How the hell has she survived this long...? Yu Somyung was way too clueless about the world.
"Young Lady Yu, whatever you do, don't invest in anything later. No joke—your Yu Clan will go bankrupt in half a year."
"Th-that's not..."
"It is. You naive fool."
Frustrated, I gave her my sincerest advice.
**
It was deep into the night by the time we finally reached Hunan city and the Hao Gate's Hunan branch.
The branch had been established in Hunan for a while, but this was my first time visiting. My impression upon seeing it...
"This place is a total backwater..."
...wasn't great.
There was a market street, but most shops were closed for the night, and even the few open ones didn't have many people.
Compared to Sichuan, which I'd visited recently, it was a real podunk town.
'Makes me realize just how flashy Sichuan is.'
I wanted a drink at a decent tavern, but everything looked cheap and unappealing, so I didn't feel like going into any.
On top of that...
"Oh my, how indecent."
People around us were whispering and staring at the sight of me carrying a grown woman on my back.
So I headed straight for the Hao Gate branch.
The already rural area got even more secluded as I walked, and Yu Somyung spoke up in an anxious tone.
"...Where are we going? Didn't you say the Hao Gate?"
"We're on the right track. These guys are shady types, so you gotta meet them in dingy spots like this. Oh, there it is."
An inn that looked so rundown it might collapse any second.
The way to meet the Hao Gate branch chief was the same everywhere: head to the rendezvous point and give the local passcode to the owner.
Recalling the code I'd been given, I stepped inside the inn. But...
"Welcome..."
"Hm?"
The waiter froze the moment he saw me. Then...
*Bow.*
"The branch chief is waiting for you."
"Oh ho."
...he bent at a perfect right angle and led me inside.
Seeing that, Somyung quietly asked from behind.
"...What the hell are you really? Some big evil faction boss I don't know about?"
"Nah, nothing like that..."
More like a Hao Gate VIP.
Actually, VIP didn't even cover it. With just the branch chief's ring in my pocket, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted with a whole branch.
Anyway, following the waiter's courteous guidance, we headed to the basement, as expected.
But one thing was different this time: when I opened the door, someone was already waiting there.
The moment he saw me, he raised a hand and smiled.
"Long time no see—good to see you."
"You look well. This place suiting you?"
"It's so rural, the air's great. Hahaha!"
Due to the Hao Gate's nature, they usually kept smiling faces on the surface. But the smile he gave me now was genuinely bright, like he was truly glad.
Feeling that sincerity, I smiled back.
"Been a while, old man."
"It's not that long, but I like seeing you often."
Yeah... it wasn't that long, really...
Seeing Uncle Mun-seok's beaming face didn't feel half bad.