Bossing Around a Third-Gen Chaebol (3)
Huh?
She's telling me to choose whether to get dragged away or not? This bitch is really—
"What do you think you're doing to my guest right now?"
A chilling voice cut through the air. The female employee flinched at the sudden appearance of Gyeon Geumsu, the owner of this establishment.
"Boss!"
But she immediately threw on a shameless mask.
"This woman was stealing our merchandise, and we caught her red-handed!"
Gyeon Geumsu looked at the smartphone the employee held out as "evidence."
"You mean this thing?"
"Yes! I pulled it right out of her pocket!"
"...Keep talking."
"She was standing here looking around all suspiciously. So I kept a close eye on her, and the exact moment she slipped it into her pocket, I nabbed her!"
"..."
"And?"
"Pardon?"
"Keep going."
"M-more...?"
"Yeah. Keep talking. What exactly did it look like when she stole it?"
"Uh... she was standing right about here, touching them one by one, and then she looked around to see if anyone was watching and slipped it into her pocket like this..."
Lies always fall apart when pressed for details. Sensing her narrative crumbling, the employee began to grow hysterical.
"Boss, why are you being so casual about this? Aren't you angry?!"
It was a calculated outburst. Realizing she was losing the logical battle, she was trying to pivot to pure emotion.
"If we just let a thief like her—"
Gyeon Geumsu's eyebrow twitched.
"—go, the Ohsung Group's reputation will be dragged through the mud! We have to punish her severely to make sure this never happens again!"
"...Ye think so? If they wrong Ohsung, they gotta be punished?"
"Of course! Frankly speaking, with the government forces barely managing to protect Hanseong, isn't our Ohsung practically the co-ruler of Gaeseong? We need to show them the power of the Songdo merchants!"
"...'Our'?"
Gyeon Geumsu growled. "Who the hell do ye think ye are?"
"Boss...?"
The employee finally realized things were going horribly, horribly wrong. But it was far too late.
"Ye're just a hired hand paid to do chores. Who the hell are ye to talk like ye're one of us Songdo merchants?"
"Boss, that's not what I meant—"
"As for this guest!!" Gyeon Geumsu pointed a finger at Cheon Doyeon. "I had already promised to give her any two phones she wanted for free."
"...What?" The employee's eyes went blank with shock.
"And yet you're claiming she tried to steal this bottom-tier piece of trash? When she could have had literally anything she wanted?!"
"B-boss. I... well, it was a misunderstanding—"
"It wasn't a misunderstanding," I interjected. "She told me to cough up settlement money if I didn't want to get dragged to the magistrate. She asked me who people would believe—the word of Ohsung, or the word of a petty thief. Didn't seem like her first time doing this, either."
"...Not her first time, you say." A murderous glint flared in Gyeon Geumsu's eyes.
"—!" The employee grit her teeth and tensed her ankles.
She's going to run.
But I wasn't the only one who noticed.
"You crazy bitch!!!"
Gyeon Geumsu's fist buried itself deep into the employee's stomach.
"Gah...!"
"Did ye say the guild's reputation would be dragged through the mud if we didn't punish crimes against Ohsung?! Fine, then! I'll do exactly as ye said!!"
He pulled his fist back and unleashed another brutal blow.
"—!" The employee collapsed like a sack of potatoes. The wind completely knocked out of her, she couldn't even scream as she writhed on the floor.
Gyeon Geumsu grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up.
"Do ye know what the single most important value of a Songdo merchant is?!"
"Cough...!"
"It's trust!!"
"P-please, forgive...!"
"And ye just stole my trust right inside my own place of business!! How the hell does a piece of trash like ye plan to pay that back?!"
Gyeon Geumsu slammed her back down onto the floor.
"...And." He turned a cold, piercing glare toward the two guards.
They were two burly men of similar build, but one of them had a split ear, making him easy to tell apart.
"Ye expect me to believe this woman pulled off a stunt like this all on her own? Spit it out. Ye three split the settlement money after shaking people down, didn't ye?"
"...Heh."
"Hehe." The two guards chuckled. It was as good as a confession.
Gyeon Geumsu's voice dropped to a low, dangerous register. "...Ye boys wanna die?"
Before anyone realized it, Gyeon Geumsu was holding a dagger in each hand.
"I took in a couple of mercenaries who live by the blade, and ye try to rob my storehouse? My reputation must be absolute garbage right now because of ye bastards, huh? I bet I've been made out to be some lowlife piece of shit who frames innocent people as thieves to shake 'em down!"
"Looks like we're past the point of talking." The two guards drew the sickles from their waists and fell into martial arts stances. Their weapons were identical, as were their stances. They had clearly trained in the same martial art.
"We're all Murim martial artists here. Why don't we settle this cleanly? Let our martial prowess decide who's right and who's wrong."
"Are ye out of yer minds? Ye think the two of ye combined can even touch me?"
"Only the heavens know the outcome of a battle. If you think you have the advantage, all you have to do is accept."
"Ha! Fine by me, let's see what ye—"
Before Gyeon Geumsu could even finish his sentence, the split-eared guard lunged forward, swinging his sickle. "Hup!"
Not at Gyeon Geumsu, but at me.
"Miss Doyeon!!" Gyeon Geumsu cried out in panic, turning back to look at me.
And that was exactly what they had planned. The guard with the intact ears lunged straight for Gyeon Geumsu's blind spot.
"Tch!!"
Two sharp metallic clangs rang out. One was the collision of Gyeon Geumsu's daggers against his opponent's sickle; the other was my hastily drawn sword parrying Split-ear's strike.
Holy crap...!
"Ha! So you actually know how to use that thing on your waist!" Split-ear sneered at me with smug confidence.
"Miss Doyeon!! Ugh!"
"You shouldn't be looking away when blades are drawn! That's why they call you a vulgar, lowborn merchant!"
Gyeon Geumsu roared, "You cowardly bastards!! Do ye even call yerselves men?!"
"Cowardly? This is the joint formation of our Wild Boar Mantis Style!"
"To look down on another clan's unique martial art... No wonder Ohsung is always dismissed as vulgar merchants, no matter how much time passes!"
Even as he endured their insults, and even though he knew it was exactly what the enemy wanted...
Miss Doyeon...!! Gyeon Geumsu couldn't help but keep checking on Cheon Doyeon.
Dammit...!! What a pathetic mess. What an absolute embarrassment.
He had invited her here to apologize, only to subject her to extortion in his own shop. And now, he had dragged her into cleaning up his own mess.
As a man—no, just as a decent human being—he felt so humiliated he wanted to die on the spot.
At least, thank goodness, Miss Doyeon isn't hurt yet!
The skill of Miss Cheon Dohwa he had witnessed last night was easily First-Class. Miss Cheon Doyeon's skill seemed to be on a similar level to her younger sister's.
No, is she actually a bit better? Ah! He realized why there was a difference. Unlike her younger sister, who had injured her eye, the older sister had never been wounded. That was why her movements were so much more fluid.
But he couldn't afford to be complacent.
In the end, she's still only at the First-Class realm. I need to finish this guy off quickly and go help her—
A sharp sickle sliced through Gyeon Geumsu's clothes.
"Tch!!"
"Haha! I told you not to look away, you vulgar merchant dog!!"
Cheon Doyeon also barked at Gyeon Geumsu. "Hey, you dumbass!! Stop worrying about me and watch your own damn back!"
That snapped him out of it.
"Miss Doyeon is right...!"
He would deal with the enemy in front of him first!
The daggers in Gyeon Geumsu's hands crossed, tracing a dazzling trajectory through the air. The Twin String Fang Method. The signature martial art of the Ohsung Group, utilizing two daggers connected by thin, sharp metal strings.
Its origins lay in the self-defense techniques of merchants who had to protect themselves from constant threats of ambush.
Darting here and appearing there, feinting in one direction only to strike from another—its unpredictable, ever-changing nature was like the silver-tongued eloquence of a seasoned merchant.
"Tch...!"
A sickle was also an unconventional weapon. But in a clash of unpredictability, Gyeon Geumsu's Twin String Fang Method was vastly superior.
With every exchange of blows, Gyeon Geumsu's dominance became more pronounced.
Now!
Finally, a dagger thrown by Gyeon Geumsu pierced the guard's throat.
The guard dropped his sickle and clutched his neck, blood spurting through his fingers.
"Miss Doyeon!"
Although he hadn't been watching closely, he could sense how the fight next to him was unfolding.
And it was entirely one-sided.
A sickle swung, a sword parried. One side was relentlessly attacking, while the other was purely on the defensive.
And at the exact moment Gyeon Geumsu's battle was decided, Cheon Doyeon's fight also came to an end. One of them collapsed with a dull thud.
"Miss Doyeon!!" Gyeon Geumsu hurriedly threw himself forward to save the endangered Cheon Doyeon—
—only to freeze mid-stride. "...Miss Doyeon?"
A scene completely contrary to his expectations unfolded before his eyes.
The one who had collapsed was not Cheon Doyeon, but Split-ear, the one who had been relentlessly attacking her.
His eyes met Cheon Doyeon's.
"What?" She looked perfectly relaxed and unbothered.
"No... how did this happen?"
"How should I know? He just kind of fell over on his own."
"..."
"What are you staring at?"
"Nothing... I was just thinking that your face is ridiculously pretty."
"Blegh..."
A third-generation chaebol, gagged at by a woman.
He was hurt. Quite deeply.
No, seriously. Jokes aside, it actually hurt. It was a critical hit—to his psyche.
Split-ear, groveling on the floor, raised a trembling finger to point at Cheon Doyeon.
"W-what kind of monstrous internal energy do you possess?! No matter how many times I struck, the recoil was so immense that I was the one who suffered internal injuries...!"
"...Am I really that strong? Hey, hit me."
"Are ye insane?!"
"Come on, kid. You think your big sis can't handle a single hit from you? Strike my sword with that dagger of yours."
"Are ye seriously insane...?"
Just then.
"Ugh... Urgh...!"
The collapsed employee's body suddenly began to spasm violently, and blood started trickling from her nose.
"Hey, what's wrong with her? What did you do?"
"...I didn't do anything."
"Mmph...!" The employee's face turned a sickly, pale blue.
"Urgh...!" And the exact same symptoms began to manifest in Split-ear, who was writhing on the floor.
"—Miss Doyeon!!" Gyeon Geumsu urgently grabbed Cheon Doyeon.
"Hey, you crazy bastard! Let go of—"
"We have to get out of here right now!! It's poison!!"
"Hahaha!! It is already too late!!"