Kang Yu-jung, Part 3
In Jeron's memory, Kang Yu-jung's childhood had been incredibly passionate.
She had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Even while learning blacksmithing from her father, Mr. Kang, she had never neglected her academic studies.
At one point, she had even harbored the grand ambition of building a safe shelter and gathering survivors together.
Of course, that had been a naive dream, but the knowledge she acquired back then was now bringing about a massive wave of change here.
First was the most fundamental task: organizing the ledgers.
She converted all the records into Arabic numerals.
Then, using basic arithmetic, she calculated everything in the blink of an eye.
She didn't even need a calculator. Doing it all in her head, she organized the thick stack of ledgers in just a few hours and brought them to him.
"Uncle, I think a lot of money is leaking out."
"Leaking?"
"If you look at this chart, there are some suspiciously empty entries. I'm pretty sure someone is skimming off the top."
She was right.
It was something they never would have noticed if she hadn't organized the items into a clean, modern spreadsheet.
The ledgers of this era were written in a completely haphazard, rule-of-thumb manner.
The issues were especially glaring in the expense reports. By averaging out the percentage of funds used and flagging any excessive spending, she exposed every single discrepancy.
Modern mathematics truly was magnificent.
Jeron passed this information to Lord Birken. After reviewing it in his temporary office, Birken flew into a rage, summoned the merchant group's executives, and tore into them.
True to a world devoid of human rights, wooden clubs were swung on the spot. The embezzlers were beaten half to death and kicked out of the merchant group.
"They got what they deserved," Yu-jung remarked casually.
"If you do wrong, you pay the price."
Yu-jung's mental fortitude was even stronger than Jeron had expected.
Even as people were being carried out after being beaten within an inch of their lives, she simply thought it was a good riddance.
For Jeron, this was a relief.
If she had started preaching about human rights or the rule of law, it would have been a massive headache.
But Yu-jung had likely witnessed all kinds of horrors back on Earth.
Since they weren't torturing innocent people but merely punishing criminals, she saw it as only natural.
As for Jeron, having lived in this primitive world for so long, his mindset had already adapted to the locals, leaving him completely unfazed.
Lord Birken and the remaining merchant executives rushed into Jeron's temporary office and fell to their knees.
"My Lord, please execute us!"
"Please spare our lives, My Lord!"
The weather was already sweltering, but cold sweat poured down their foreheads.
If they had committed this much fraud on just this single trading trip, it meant they had skimmed a fortune while managing the territory's merchant group over the years.
Depending on the lord's temperament, they could all have been sent to the gallows.
However, Jeron simply laughed it off.
"See to it that this never happens again."
"Yes, My Lord!"
Yu-jung's momentum didn't stop there.
Just as she had suggested earlier, she temporarily halted all sales, categorized the goods, and bundled them into sets.
Writing utensils with writing utensils, jewelry with jewelry, and local specialties with local specialties.
After elevating the presentation of the products to make them look premium, she drew sketches on sheets of A4 paper.
Beneath the sketches, she wrote promotional copy detailing the functions and advantages of each product.
She distributed these flyers to the wealthy merchants, and word of mouth spread like wildfire.
"Hey, did you hear? The Farrow family brought some goods this time, and apparently, they're made by dwarves!"
"Dwarven-made?"
"Yes! Pens with built-in ink, high-quality paper, and dwarven-crafted jewelry. If we're late, they might sell out completely!"
"Damn it! If it's dwarven-made, we have to buy it all!"
Once lunchtime passed, wealthy merchants lined up in droves. Yu-jung then pitted them against each other to buy the goods.
It was, in essence, an auction.
Lord Birken did the shouting, but he was merely repeating the words Jeron translated for him from Yu-jung.
"We will start the bidding for a dozen magic pens at one hundred gold! These are no ordinary pens. They would make the perfect gift for nobles or even royalty!"
"I'll take ten dozen for one hundred gold each!"
"I'll take fifteen dozen for one hundred and fifty gold each!"
"Two hundred gold for twenty dozen!"
In the end, a single dozen pens sold for a whopping five hundred gold.
As the other goods began to sell out, even the territory's standard specialties—like monster hides and byproducts—fetched much higher prices than before.
Within just a few hours, they achieved the spectacular feat of completely clearing out their inventory.
Lord Birken was utterly astounded by her business acumen.
"A net profit of two hundred thousand gold! It is simply unbelievable. Our trading trip is already complete!"
"Two... hundred thousand?"
"Yes! And we haven't even sold all of our local specialties yet. If everything sells out, we will have earned three hundred thousand gold from this single trip."
Looking over the ledger, Yu-jung asked,
"How much is three hundred thousand gold actually worth?"
"A sack of wheat usually fluctuates between twenty to forty silver," Jeron explained.
"So the profit is pretty good then?"
"It's more than 'pretty good.' That's equivalent to the entire annual budget of the Farrow Territory right now."
"I guess it sold decently well, then."
Her ideas and methods were brilliant, but she still lacked a proper grasp of the local currency's value.
Then again, having lived in a lawless wasteland without currency for so long, she couldn't yet fully comprehend the immense power and influence that kind of money held.
Lord Birken, the territory's financial officer, was highly covetous of Yu-jung's unexpected financial prowess.
"My Lord! It seems the blood of a master merchant flows through this young lady from the East. Why not appoint her as a financial official and have her oversee the merchant group's operations?"
"She is actually a blacksmith by trade," Jeron replied. "She is simply multi-talented."
"A blacksmith?!"
Not only Lord Birken, but all the merchant executives gasped in shock.
They looked utterly bewildered to hear that Yu-jung, who possessed such a natural talent for finance, was actually a blacksmith.
It was true that Yu-jung had a knack for mathematics.
Furthermore, looking at commerce through the lens of a modern person naturally made her seem like a business genius.
Her thinking was remarkably flexible, especially compared to Jeron, whose mindset had grown somewhat rigid over the years.
It would be a waste of her talents to keep her solely as a financial official.
Yet, confining her to a blacksmith workshop would also be a waste.
"She will be assigned to the workshop, but she will also serve as a financial official and act as an advisor to the merchant group," Jeron decided.
"An exceptionally wise decision, My Lord!"
Lord Birken looked even happier than Jeron.
The moment they rescued her father, Mr. Kang, he was destined to become the territory's chief engineer. Yu-jung, too, would inevitably be worked to the bone across multiple departments. However, Jeron kept that grim reality to himself for now.
It was a late lunch.
Since they had eaten a late breakfast, it was only natural that their lunch was delayed.
Through Sir Layla, Lord Birken had already heard rumors that Yu-jung's cooking was superb.
Sir Layla and Yu-jung had gone to the market to buy groceries.
Looking at the ingredients they brought back—milk, tomatoes, eggs, and flour—Jeron had a strong feeling she was going to make pasta.
Sure enough, his hunch was correct.
She whipped up a rose pasta. By adding butter and spices she had brought in her backpack, she created a flavor that felt entirely out of this world.
Both Sir Layla and Lord Birken couldn't help but give her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"I thought My Lord's cooking was the best on the continent, but this young lady's skill is truly exquisite! So, this dish originated from the East!"
"Something like that," Jeron replied with a wry smile.
Sir Layla ate the pasta in silence, but her face was painted with sheer astonishment.
She had been surprised at breakfast, but lunch must have been an absolute shock.
However, Yu-jung, the chef herself, didn't seem entirely satisfied.
"The flour here is practically inedible," Yu-jung grumbled. "Once we get back to the territory, I'll have to build a thresher and a grinder."
Jeron's eyes widened.
Hearing her words, he was utterly stunned.
A thresher and a flour grinder.
If those two machines were built, the quality and marketability of their flour would skyrocket.
'I knew it! What this territory really needed was an engineer!'
Or in Yu-jung's case, a female engineer.
Either way, it didn't matter.
Yu-jung looked ready to whip up several highly useful inventions for the territory on the spot.
If they could rescue Mr. Kang and bring him to the territory as well, what kind of revolutionary changes would unfold?
In a way, Yu-jung was like Mr. Kang's apprentice.
Mr. Kang was capable of building machines with far more complex mechanisms than the ones she was currently imagining.
After all, he was a specialist in advanced materials and mechanical engineering.
Since Jeron was the one rescuing his daughter, Mr. Kang would surely work himself to the bone out of sheer gratitude.
'I've really become a politician,' Jeron thought with a self-deprecating chuckle.
Of course, even without those practical benefits, he genuinely wanted to rescue Mr. Kang.
While they might not be equals in public, privately, they could still share a completely equal, comfortable friendship just like in the old days.
"Uncle."
"Yeah?"
"When I looked around the market, the wheat and rice seeds seemed different. They looked... lifeless, I guess?"
"That can't be helped," Jeron replied. "Earth's seeds have been selectively bred and managed for generations. That's exactly why I'm trying so hard to bring seeds over from Earth."
"Were those flowers we sold also from Earth?"
"Yes. This world doesn't have flowers with such vibrant, diverse colors."
"So Earth is basically a treasure trove, then?"
"If you ignore the mutants, yes."
Yu-jung nodded thoughtfully.
At that moment, she looked as if she had made a firm resolution.
Whatever it was, it would undoubtedly be of great help to Jeron.
On the way to the blacksmith workshop.
Ever since Yu-jung had crossed over to the Karen Continent, it felt as though a continuous whirlwind had been blowing.
From her accounting skills and business tactics to her culinary expertise.
Even though she hadn't even shown her full potential yet, Jeron could already feel a massive tectonic shift coming to his territory.
However, Jeron worried that she might be pushing herself too hard.
"Yu-jung, you don't have to push yourself so hard."
"I'm not pushing myself."
"Then?"
"I actually feel alive for once. I've never really worked like this in my entire life."
Her life on Earth had been a daily struggle for survival.
She had fought tooth and nail just to stay alive, but happy moments had been few and far between.
In short, she had lived a subhuman existence. But coming to the Karen Continent had finally given her a chance to live like a proper human being.
"Honestly, I'd prefer it if you gave me even more work."
"Once we rescue your father, you'll be able to take things a bit easier."
"No. I think it'll be fun to help you develop the territory, Uncle. Proving my worth like this... it makes me feel like my life has meaning."
Jeron had to fight to suppress a grin.
There was absolutely nothing bad about Yu-jung volunteering to work herself to the bone.
However, for her to fully focus on her work, they absolutely had to rescue Mr. Kang first.
Once the father-daughter duo began working together in the territory, the resulting synergy was bound to be nothing short of legendary.