Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Southern Jiang Merchant King (3)
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The Southern Jiang Merchant King, Eun Se-pyeong, seemed to have a slight misunderstanding about me.
Based on that misunderstanding, he kept firing questions at me.
"Ha Yeon-i must have asked the young hero to join the Silver Radiance Merchant Group—more precisely, the Radiant Prosperity Hall under my direct command, right?"
Hm.
The request she'd made after our reunion this time was a bit different in nature.
But her initial proposal had indeed been exactly that.
I silently nodded, and Eun Se-pyeong continued with his questions.
"Considering the financial situation of the Radiant Prosperity Hall at the time and back-calculating the messes that girl had caused, the amount she offered you must have been around a thousand taels of gold, give or take?"
It's like he has a ghost's intuition.
His prediction was spot-on, so I had no choice but to nod again.
But as I nodded like that, a low, voice leaked from Eun Se-pyeong's mouth.
"Tch. That immature girl. Even if things were hectic, for someone aiming to inherit the hall to make such a paltry offer."
Eun Se-pyeong's gaze, with its deeply furrowed brow, was directed not at me but toward the Radiant Prosperity Hall beyond the hall master's chamber.
From that, I could guess that the target of his low voice wasn't me, but Yin Xia Lian.
At his tone, a question arose in my mind.
'...Immature?'
Well, compared to the original Yin Xia Lian, she did seem a bit immature in some ways, but the proposal itself hadn't been bad no matter how I thought about it.
It was something anyone in her situation would have tried, and it had even exceeded my expectations enough to make me go 'Oh!'
'Come to think of it, the Southern Jiang Merchant King seems to hold her to a much harsher standard than the one he applies to me?'
Yeah, he must have raised her strictly. That seemed to be the case.
Suddenly, I recalled how Yin Xia Lian had seemed subtly intimidated when Eun Se-pyeong appeared at the Radiant Prosperity Hall earlier, and a pang of pity welled up in me.
"If I may say something presumptuous?"
"Speak."
"...Isn't the standard you apply to Miss Yin a bit too harsh?"
"May I ask why you think that?"
It's not like there's some grand reason.
"Isn't a deal fundamentally something done to achieve mutually satisfying results?"
"Continue."
"Compared to the magnanimity of the Merchant King, who burns a thousand taels just for a cup of tea like this, it's nothing, of course. But the thousand taels Miss Yin offered me—when you break it down—was a modest token of gratitude that included escort fees and danger pay. For something received without burden, it was certainly tempting enough. I was fully satisfied."
The person involved—me—was satisfied, after all.
But here, Eun Se-pyeong wagged his index finger at me.
"What you're saying is the mindset of an ordinary merchant. Someone who wishes to lead a hall must know how to sell not just what they have, but even what they don't. Ha Yeon-i is particularly lacking in that regard. She fears incurring debt or taking losses. Anyway, no need to be modest."
No, a thousand gold is tempting to most people—how is that modesty?
"If you're the eldest son of the Eon Family, your maternal grandfather must be Taiyuan Golden Peng, the pinnacle of Shanxi merchants. A man who shoulders infamy and even abandons his clan for his ambitions wouldn't be swayed by a mere thousand gold, would he?"
Ah, right.
Now that he mentioned it, in the story, Eon Yong-myeong's maternal grandfather was an old monster who served as the spiritual pillar of the Shanxi merchants, one of the two great merchant houses of the Central Plains alongside the Yin family that led the halls.
- ...Shanxi merchants? Taiyuan Golden Peng? Your maternal side is Taiyuan? The ones leading the Shanxi merchants?
...Oh.
Yeah, that was the case.
'But even during Master's time, was Taiyuan the head of the Shanxi merchants?'
- Of course! Do you know what era my time was?! The Taiyuan household received a mandate from heaven itself. Anyway, that's not the point! You brat! What's with that 'I think so'?!
'?'
- You fool! You should have told me sooner! Didn't I not know that half the blood in your veins is merchant blood, and I was calling you a yellow-skinned whatever?!
'...Why apologize while getting all worked up like that?'
- ...Because I'm sorry!
'No need to apologize to me over something like that, Master.'
I'd genuinely forgotten about it myself, after all.
'I'd completely forgotten about this.'
I'd unconsciously separated Eon Yong-myeong from my little brother into a story character, and since leaving home, I'd focused solely on Master and completely ignored anything north of the Yellow River without realizing it.
But it wasn't a bad thing.
Thanks to forgetting it, my attitude had come across as modesty to Eun Se-pyeong.
'Come to think of it, I wonder how the family is doing.'
It was a short time, but people like Mother, Yong-myeong, and Chief Steward Gam had their warm sides.
It was then.
As I was suddenly reminded of my maternal family setting and thinking of the Pearl Eon Family I'd briefly left behind—
Eun Se-pyeong spoke to me.
"Anyway, I'll make the proposal now that Ha Yeon-i should have made back then."
Oh.
Big one incoming?
"Judging from your age and the recent trends among young later-generation experts in the martial world, you're probably preparing to enter the Righteous Martial Academy or a subsidiary academy of Shaolin, right?"
"Yes."
"The reason you came to my household was to prepare in a more affluent environment, correct?"
"That's also correct."
"Entering such a place while having abandoned your clan and bearing the infamy of a wastrel would be a thorny path, but you're doing it because you harbor ambitions in your heart."
...Well.
This wasn't exactly true, but I'd just let it slide.
"So, I won't ask you to join the Silver Radiance Merchant Group. However, if a day comes when you need to borrow the power of merchants, or—even less likely—if you find yourself with nowhere to turn, just remember the Silver Radiance Merchant Group and this Eun Se-pyeong then, as you do now."
Eun Se-pyeong's proposal was indeed far more refined than Yin Xia Lian's.
He had seen through the fact that I had no intention of joining anywhere right now and was leaving a good impression for the future.
For me, it was a proposal with no downsides, so of course it was fine.
However, my creed was that in any deal, you had to push once at least, so with the intent to probe, I added one more line.
"But isn't this a bit one-sided for a deal? Ah, was it included in that thousand taels you spent on this tea?"
"How could it be? That's simply the price for borrowing your time."
"Pardon? Then what's the rest?"
But then—
My probing hooked a monster fish far bigger than expected.
"In exchange, I'll procure the Cloud-Obscuring Elixir Water for you."
Pardon?
What?
Cloud-Obscuring Elixir Water?
If extending life is the dream of future humanity, then increasing inner force is the dream of martial artists.
The way to increase inner force is to cultivate heart arts, refining the qi naturally present in the world and storing it in the dantian.
However, there's also the method of consuming spiritual herbs or elixirs to build it up.
Of course, it's not like inner force accumulates infinitely the more you eat; there are clear limits.
Moreover, there are many caveats. You have to check if it clashes with previously consumed herbs, and since excess of anything becomes poison, you must mind rest periods and such.
The Cloud-Obscuring Elixir Water wasn't a spiritual herb containing inner force in the setting of the Murim Academy's sword genius.
But it was particularly effective for shortening the rest periods needed when consuming spiritual herbs.
'As the original story's herb sage said, it unblocks stagnant meridians, dissolves toxins naturally accumulated in the body with age, and aids absorption of any residual inner force left within—something like that, right?'
It had appeared when protagonist Jeong Hyeon sucked the venomous blood of a millennium-old serpent and entered a critical state, completely neutralizing the poison and allowing only the vital essence to be absorbed.
My situation wasn't as dire as Jeong Hyeon's back then, but it was similar.
For me, with tons of residual inner force from the Manbak Heart-Protecting Pill still left, it was something I'd desperately wanted if I could get it.
But it was too expensive to buy right away, and the source was too far to procure myself.
Yet Eun Se-pyeong was essentially saying he'd just give it to me.
'...No, it does make my mouth water.'
For me, there was no reason to refuse.
But it was almost too good, so my brows furrowed instinctively.
Seeing that, Eun Se-pyeong chuckled and spoke.
"Why? Don't like it?"
"Of course not. It's just..."
"Just?"
"Life is unpredictable, yet the Merchant King sees so far ahead and gives so generously. From my experience, this kind of thing usually comes with a poison clause later."
"As expected, my eyes didn't deceive me. Any ordinary person would have bitten already, but you even thought that far. Well, you're right. I do have a small favor to ask of you. Probably not quite a poison clause, though. So, will you hear it?"
After finishing my conversation with Eun Se-pyeong and leaving the hall master's chamber, Yin Xia Lian, who had been pacing nearby, came to greet me.
"Eon young master!"
"...You've been waiting here the whole time?"
"You're my guest, after all. Even if you consented, from my view, Father's actions carried a coercive element. If something happened to you, it would tarnish my honor. And..."
"No need to list reasons so elaborately. Nothing much happened. He just asked a small favor."
"A favor? Even if it's Father, you're my guest and an honored guest who brought a token of gratitude. He can't arbitrarily burden you with heavy labor. If you've agreed to something you dislike, this girl will ask Father to void the promise."
"No need. I agreed because I wanted to."
"I-is that so?"
I was the one who accepted Eun Se-pyeong's request, but Yin Xia Lian was also a party to it.
Instead of explaining further, I handed her the scroll Eun Se-pyeong had given me.
"...Hm? This is the roster of new porters and escorts from our main branch? It even lists their heights and measurements? Did Father perhaps ask the Eon young master to train them?"
Taking the scroll, Yin Xia Lian immediately grasped Eun Se-pyeong's proposal.
"That's right, Hall Leader of Radiant Prosperity."
"Pardon?"
"Yes. He said that despite calling in everyone the Eon Family's influence could summon to fix that guy's temperament, he's never seen him like today. So, he asked if I could train the young porters and escorts while staying here. It's not a difficult task for me."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense. And you've secured proper compensation, I assume?"
"Of course. He promised solid payment, so no reason for me to refuse. I was going to train my physical conditioning anyway for the Righteous Martial Academy's martial course, and having company makes it less lonely."
"But one thing I'm curious about. What do these measurements have to do with the training?"
"I saw the uniforms the Silver Radiance escorts wear, and they don't suit my training style. The sleeves flap too much and are too white. Since they'll be crawling on the ground and climbing mountains, shorter sleeves and tougher, drabber material—like frog skin color—would be better."
"...Ah, crawling on the ground and climbing mountains. Yes, durable fabric and colors that don't stain easily would be ideal."
"The Merchant King said to tell you about training uniforms and you'd help. Right after going to Radiant Prosperity Hall, I'll sketch designs with brush and ink, so prepare them accordingly. Including ones for you and the hall leader."
"Understood... Pardon? W-who's did you say to include?"