Chain Reaction of Good Deeds

The clack of abacus beads, the rustle of a brush racing across mulberry paper, and stacks of documents awaiting approval—the office of the Eunseong Merchant Group was as busy as ever.

"How are the escort preparations coming along?"

"They're nearly finished."

The merchant leader and Chief Steward Jin were still buried in work, wracking their brains to get the Eunseong Merchant Group back on its feet. Eun Hwaran tapped her slender chin with her folding fan and pressed on.

"And the sericulture venture?"

"Thanks to Mujin, it's sailing along smoothly. Once the silk production process settles into place, we should be set."

The silk-binding process had been a nightmare of complications and setbacks. But the silkworm rooms were finally producing cocoons at a steady rate.

"How are the moneylenders reacting?"

"Well… for now, the mood is wait-and-see. There were too many twists and turns with the sericulture, and whether the escort runs succeed is still uncertain, so they're holding back."

They clearly intended to wait until the silk business was properly settled and generating real cash—and until the escort runs succeeded—before pouring any more money back in. After all, if a merchant group went under, collecting on the debt was no easy task. As a result, the Eunseong Merchant Group was currently scraping by on what little capital remained, wringing a dry towel for every last drop.

"No trust at all. None."

"They're always like that, aren't they? And Geum Yado's malicious rumors have been doing their part, too."

Ever since the expulsion order, the Mangeum Money House had been feeding the moneylenders a steady stream of ugly gossip. Eun Hwaran's grip tightened on her fan until it nearly snapped. Whenever that repulsive young master's name came up, a storm of fury seemed to whip through her chest.

"When Father was the merchant leader, people still believed in us even in situations like this. They didn't get swept up by vicious rumors like that."

Merchant Magnate Chunhwi—the man who had taken a middling merchant group and, through sheer business insight and vision, elevated it into one of the Ten Great Merchant Groups under heaven. His influence over the commercial world had been truly staggering. The mere mention of a new venture was enough to send people scrambling to invest.

"Haa… A green girl sitting in the merchant leader's seat, plus a few failures already. I suppose it's only natural they won't trust me."

Eun Hwaran let out a sigh, her face clouded with the hurt of that unmistakable difference in treatment. Trust, once lost, was hard to recover. People were questioning her business acumen.

"Chief Steward Jin… if it had been Father, how would he have gotten through a situation like this?"

So she asked the man who had looked after her since birth—and who had served Merchant Magnate Chunhwi longer than anyone.

"He would have showered even those who distrusted him or looked down on him with excessive kindness, and made them his people."

Commerce is people; people are commerce. He had lived that maxim to the letter—the conviction that people themselves were the greatest profit a merchant could ever gain. A truly remarkable man.

"I don't think I could ever follow that. Putting credit ahead of profit…"

It was a decision few merchants could make. Especially Eun Hwaran, whose head was full of calculations in the middle of a crisis.

"It's because it's so hard to follow that he was called Merchant Magnate Chunhwi and earned such respect, isn't it?"

The ones who moved the money, the ones who decided every deal—in the end, they were people. Embrace those people, and business would flow according to its proper principles without going awry. That was what Chief Steward Jin meant.

"I have no doubt that one day, Merchant Leader Eun Hwaran will build that same renown and become a great merchant whose name alone is enough to command credit."

His eyes held absolute trust. Eun Hwaran found that gaze so heavy she turned her head slightly aside. Was this how a sparrow felt when it tried to keep up with a stork and tore its own legs? Standing in this seat, the gap between herself and her father felt all the more stark.

"…I'll try."

She lifted a teacup steeped with dry leaves, hoping to soothe her tangled thoughts. A bitter taste lingered in her mouth—in more ways than one.

Scritch.

A slender hand opened a drawer in search of a sweet snack. She rummaged a few times, but nothing caught her fingers.

"Ah, right. Mujin ate them all…"

Whether he took after his master or not, that boy's appetite was truly astonishing. And the maids had apparently forgotten to restock.

"Come to think of it… Mujin's back, isn't he? With those children he mentioned last time."

The hangers-on from his beggar days, or so he'd put it.

"Yes. I just came from arranging work for them. As expected of kids he brought in—each of them has a sharp edge somewhere."

Especially the boy named Ohchil, who possessed an uncommon ferocity. Chief Steward Jin was already talking about raising him properly into an escort.

"And I heard Mujin's body took quite a beating."

"Yes. It seems he came back after fighting a rival beggar gang he'd already had friction with."

Apparently the other gang had plenty of big brutes, and nearly three times their numbers.

"Goodness. With a gap like that, even knowing martial arts wouldn't make it easy. Did he lose and come home?"

"According to him, he won. He claims he crushed that gang, smashed the Gwanghae Faction they were connected to, and even defeated a Second-class Realm martial artist called Beom Cheon-eumjeok…"

Even as he spoke, Chief Steward Jin trailed off, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself.

"Heh. He's at the age where he wants to inflate his own heroic tales. Let's just be understanding."

Eun Hwaran said it with a playful twitch of her eyes. Winning, at best, probably meant thrashing a pack of beggars. Of course, even that was an impressive feat for his age.

"Send him my personal physician. I'm worried, if he really is that badly hurt."

"Merchant Leader, he's such a sturdy boy that an ordinary physician would do just fine."

"He's my one and only sworn little brother."

Her father was gone, her older brother had severed ties with her, and this boy was the only one in the household she could treat without reserve.

"Hah… even that level of favor… Very well."

What a fortunate little rock that boy is, Chief Steward Jin thought. But just as he rose to summon the physician, a commotion broke out outside, and the office door was shoved open roughly.

Rattle, thud.

"Is Merchant Leader Eun Hwaran here?"

The visitor was a refined middle-aged man in elegant silk robes, with neat salt-and-pepper hair. It was clearly an unannounced, high-handed visit; two servants came rushing after him, crying, "You can't just barge in like this!"

"Merchant Leader—that man is Gang Hoche, master of the Hebei Money House."

Chief Steward Jin, recognizing the face, whispered the man's identity into Eun Hwaran's ear. The guest was so unexpected that surprise flooded her expression.

"Master Gang Hoche… what brings you here?"

The Hebei Money House ranked among the top ten money houses even in Beijing—and not long ago, it had refused the Eunseong Merchant Group's request for financing. On top of that, the man looked thoroughly agitated for some reason. She had no idea what this visit meant, whether it was auspicious or ominous.

"I'm not sure what the matter is, but why don't you first have a cup of tea ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and catch your breath?"

Eun Hwaran smoothly offered a teacup tinged with green, her tone soft and measured. The middle-aged man seemed to agree that he was not entirely composed himself; he nodded and steadied his breathing. Only after draining the cup and gathering himself did Gang Hoche finally speak.

"Merchant Leader Eun Hwaran. I have a worthless son."

He said it while glancing at the approval documents and traces of financial strain scattered around the office.

"Your son, you say."

An abrupt mention of blood kin. The end of Eun Hwaran's sentence softened slightly. Surely he wasn't about to pull some scheme like the Mangeum Money House, pushing a greedy marriage proposal to take over a merchant group a woman was holding up alone?

"At his age, he's already full of foolish notions. An absurd boy who slips out in rags whenever the mood takes him and runs away from home."

Yet for someone with an ulterior motive, he was tearing his own son down quite harshly right in front of her. When his father banned him from going out, the boy had disguised himself as a beggar, escaped, and gone out to enjoy his little rebellions. Eun Hwaran's confusion only deepened.

"But he is my one and only precious son."

"…I see."

And what am I supposed to do about that? The words rose all the way to her throat, but as the merchant leader responsible for countless dependents, Eun Hwaran exercised patience and held them back. She had no idea where this was going, but she nodded and kept listening.

"That boy went missing not long ago. Even after I hired wandering martial artists, we couldn't find him. Those were dark days, full of grim imaginings."

Ugly things often happened in Beijing's back alleys. Kidnappings, robberies, murders—people vanished without a sound all the time. But why bring this story all the way to the Eunseong Merchant Group?

"Yet for all that worry, he came back unharmed not long ago. From what I hear, he was kidnapped by members of the black path, and a young hero wearing the Eunseong Merchant Group's clothes rescued him…"

Kidnapped by the black path, recently freed, and a boy in Eunseong clothes had played a role. Eun Hwaran felt pieces click together in her mind.

"Master, those black-path men… were they by any chance the Gwanghae Faction?"

At her question, the master of the Hebei Money House's eyes flew wide, and he slapped his knee.

"…So it was someone you sent after all! Thank you—truly. I nearly lost my only son to those black-path bastards."

He seized Eun Hwaran's hands and shook them up and down, pouring out his gratitude. She accepted the thanks with a dazed, half-bewildered expression. Good heavens. She had dismissed it as a child's inflated heroic tale. Had he really taken down a black-path faction and a Second-class Realm martial artist all by himself?

"My son said the opponents were adults, and there were many of them, but that young hero never yielded. He fought on even as he was covered in blood."

The spirit and valor of a character straight out of a chivalric ballad. Eun Hwaran could only nod along with a blank face.

"He was so impressed that he swore he'd become just like that young hero and turn over a new leaf! Hahaha. Thanks to you people, even my son has been reformed."

The ongoing testimony about her sworn little brother continued. Listening, Eun Hwaran decided the misunderstanding needed clearing up and raised a hand to intervene.

"Master, I think there may be some kind of misunderstan—"

Just then, a hand jabbed her arm as if telling her to get a grip. She turned to find Chief Steward Jin standing there. Silently mouthing the words, he told her the damage was already done—so just shut her eyes and climb on board. And share the reward with the boy afterward. Think of all the dependents looking to the merchant group, he urged. Don't let this chance slip away.

"…He is a boy we have been training with the goal of making him our chief escort, given his exceptional talent in the martial arts. Whatever the case, I'm very glad he was of help, Master."

"Indeed. So you'd already marked him as the next chief escort. Now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his prowess makes sense."

Gang Hoche nodded, assuming the boy had been trained in martial arts from a very young age by an escort agency. Then he went on.

"I heard on my way here that the Eunseong Merchant Group recently took in thirteen orphans with nowhere to go, even giving them work. The moment I heard that, I thought of Merchant Magnate Chunhwi, who always prided himself on upright righteousness."

That, too, had been Dan Mujin bringing in kids from his beggar days to look after them. The boy seemed to form quite an attachment to anyone who had once been one of his people.

"At that point, I felt ashamed of myself for rejecting your request for financing out of hand on the grounds of insufficient credit, when you were in difficulty."

"Ah."

The atmosphere was shifting. Eun Hwaran, who had been gasping for capital like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert, clenched both fists at those ominous, promising words.

"A friend in need is a true friend. To clear my own fault and repay the grace of saving my son, I would like to grant the financing you requested before."

"…!"

Eun Hwaran shot to her feet with her mouth open before she knew it. Everywhere else had kicked her away saying no—and now one of Beijing's top ten money houses had walked in of its own accord offering to lend them funds.

"Yes! Yes! Please do!"

Afraid the man before her might change his mind, she grabbed both his hands and cried out. A wheel of fortune Dan Mujin had rolled in from a place she never expected. It felt like discovering an oasis in the middle of the desert.

Mujin! Just what are you…!

She had simply let him loose, and he had brought luck like this. Apparently she hadn't picked up a lucky charm—she had picked up a pure, gleaming gold bar itself.

The Eunseong Merchant Group's miscellaneous warehouse.

It wasn't for important cargo like escorted goods—just a place where odds and ends were piled. From there, I was watching a bunch of little kids.

"Even for grunt work, they're putting in more effort than I expected."

Wiping, sweeping, stacking—the kids moved about busily.

"They always had that persistence, taking after you, Boss."

Ilhong, watching beside me, added her two cents. They had received my life-is-battle-and-survival mental training and become properly fierce little monsters, true enough.

"Ohchil says he's going to work hard and become an escort. The weight of those third-rank escorts' money pouches he stole must've made an impression."

The work was a bit hard on the body, but it was a stable job. Once they ate a little more, filled out, and grew, they could become laborers—and if they had talent for martial arts, escorts. Their futures definitely weren't as foggy as before. Work hard, and there was a ceiling high enough to aim for. And they had me, with my ridiculous connections, on their side. Nothing to worry about now.

I turned my gaze instead to Ilhong, who was chattering about this and that beside me.

"…What?"

When I just kept looking at her without a word, she shyly slid her eyes away from mine.

"Nothing. Just thinking how wild it is."

Even when she was disguised as a boy, I'd thought she was pretty in a sharp way—but with the disguise gone, it didn't make any sense. In three years or so, people on the street would be turning their heads for a second look. That kind of beauty in the making.

"Hey, but how did you hide your voice?"

I'd just assumed her voice hadn't broken yet, but thinking back, it had been strangely androgynous.

Ilhong pulled a skewer-like medicinal herb from her robes.

"If you extract the juice and drink it, your throat swells up. That distorts the voice, so it's good for deception."

From body correction to skin masks and voice—it was the professional disguise work of someone who'd been properly taught.

"You really don't know anything, do you?"

"I don't know everything. I just know what I know."

A line that sounded vaguely familiar. Anyway, she seemed like the kind of partner who'd be useful in all sorts of ways if I kept her close.

"But Ilhong—what's your real name?"

"…Honggeum."

A name that sounded like some sweet apple variety.

"Pretty name."

"Hehe. Really?"

I'd said it without much thought, so why was she twisting her fingers like that? I was tilting my head at the strange phenomenon when a sudden, headlong presence slammed into me from behind.

"My little brother!"

"Guh."

An impact like getting hit by a deer. Except a faint scent of lotus tickled my nose. I turned, wondering what lunatic it was, and found Merchant Leader Eun Hwaran's crescent-eyed, beaming face.

"My one and only little brother—here you are!"

"…Noona, what are you doing all of a sudden?"

I'd felt it last time too, but the physical contact was still wildly disorienting. Did she actually see this body as a little kid or what?

"Uh—that's the merchant leader of the Eunseong Merchant Group…"

True to her information-savvy nature, Ilhong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had recognized the leader of one of the Ten Great Merchant Groups under heaven. Her eyes went round. Her mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Why is she calling Boss her little brother…?"

It was exactly the look of the female lead in a melodrama discovering a secret of birth.

The moon was bright.

The Northern Dipper Star Lord, the Southern Dipper Star Lord—the constellations glittered like jewels. A silence so deep not even the chirp of a grass insect could be heard; if a feather had drifted down, you might have heard it land.

In my dantian, the energy of the spiritual medicine I'd just taken was thrashing like a wild bull.

…!

I had no idea what for, but Merchant Leader Eun Hwaran had insisted I'd helped her catch her breath and had forced it into my pocket. It was a He Shou Wu that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠absorbed forty years of natural energy from a spiritual mountain range, so the power was fierce.

Hesitation would only dull the efficacy. I cast off stray thoughts and sank my consciousness. I simply observed myself without end—watching, discerning.

The merit I had stacked up even while taking blades for it. And a spiritual medicine whose years were short, but whose natural energy was rich. Those two energies were pouring tremendous force into the power of the Seongun Simbeop.

Thoom—

A jolt that made my body rock. A merciless strike hammered the already weakened evil star. The Heavenly Killing Star's movement stopped. The sacred energy of the stars began, little by little, to steal power from the outer surface of the evil star.

To that thing it was barely a speck—but to one person, it was an immense amount of internal energy.

What pierces the eternal ages is only a straight heart-mind…

The Heavenly Killing Star snapped back to its senses and spewed red energy as if to tear the intruder in my mind to shreds.

Tssssht—!

Hwang Geolgae had told me never to let that thing catch hold of me. So I immediately pulled the star energy back down into my dantian.

But in the middle of reclaiming it, I saw something strange.

…Huh?

On the body of the evil star that had been blazing like a crimson sun—

Crack—

A hairline fracture, tiny as it was, was spreading.