The Gold Plaque
The news that Byeok Ungang had died stirred up quite a commotion inside the Byeokun Merchant Group.
For a moment, suspicion even fell on me.
But thanks to Byeok Unseong stepping forward and explaining the situation, nothing came of it.
More than anything, the fact that Chuhongeom, the one I had captured, was alive and well proved my innocence for me.
And then, as the uproar gradually began to settle,
"Come to think of it, didn’t you say there was a condition?"
Byeok Unseong drifted up beside me and asked.
"...A condition? Ah, right."
A condition—I'd been so busy I’d completely forgotten.
I’d already taken quite a bit, though.
I’d gotten an entrance pass to the library, the liquor and poison I’d used for this job, and even the silver coins paid as the request fee.
Honestly, I had already taken more than enough.
But opportunities like this didn’t come around every day, and when you could make money, you were supposed to grab it while you could.
"I need as many lotus flowers as you can get, and black dye too."
"Lotus flowers? What do you need lotus flowers for all of a sudden?"
"I’ve got a use for them."
I gave him a short answer.
If I tried to explain in detail, it would only get complicated.
"Hmm. That’s sudden."
"I’m asking you to handle it for me. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?"
If Byeok Unseong didn’t do me this favor, I’d have to take a rough road again for a while.
"In that case, well."
Byeok Unseong nodded.
Lotus flowers and dye weren’t exactly hard to come by if you were willing to put in the legwork.
Compared to the sort of favor he’d imagined, this was easy enough.
"Thanks."
"Think nothing of it. Compared to what you’ve done for me, this is nothing. I’ll send someone over before long."
"Sure."
The road was opening up.
I’d be able to do things I’d never even dared to imagine doing alone.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
Byeok Unseong gave me a sidelong glance and asked.
"Well, thanks to you, I’ve got some breathing room. I’m going to rest from work for a while."
The silver coins I’d been paid for this job were roughly enough money to keep me eating and sleeping less for two months while I worked myself to the bone.
Thanks to that, I had bought myself a little economic freedom.
"But do you have something you want to say?"
"Do I look like it?"
"Yeah."
Normally I would’ve ignored it.
But he kept hanging around beside me with that strange expression, buzzing uselessly at my side.
It was so distracting I couldn’t possibly let it go unmentioned.
"I-I... I’m s-sorry."
Byeok Unseong’s face turned red as a ripe tomato.
It was the first time I’d ever seen someone’s face go that red.
"Ahem. So, I was wondering if you’d consider joining the merchant group?"
"Me? I hope that’s a joke."
"It isn’t."
Byeok Unseong’s voice was downright serious.
His eyes were serious too, so it didn’t seem like he was lying.
That made it worse. If he wasn’t joking, then this was not the sort of thing you could dismiss lightly.
"...I can tell you’re serious from your face. I appreciate the offer, but the Byeokun Merchant Group probably wouldn’t want to make an enemy of the Hebei Paeng Clan."
From the moment I’d been cast out of the Hebei Paeng Clan, the tie between me and the family had been severed.
Still, there’s one bastard in the Paeng Clan who seems to want to screw me over.
There was the fact that he’d introduced me to Byeok Unseong for no reason when I’d be no help in this matter.
So he certainly wouldn’t just sit back and watch me live well.
I need to keep a low profile for now.
Which meant joining the Byeokun Merchant Group was a good opportunity—
but one that would surely end in mutual ruin.
"I... I hadn’t thought about that...."
As if he had never once considered the fallout of making me one of his retainers, Byeok Unseong visibly wilted when I pointed out reality.
Look at him like this, and he really is just a kid.
Most of the time he acted like some old soul, but every now and then he’d show this childish side, and the contrast was enormous.
"Still, I suppose keeping personal ties would be all right."
The friend in the Paeng Clan who hated me with a passion probably wasn’t flush enough with free time to manage every single personal connection I made.
"S-so then?"
"Let’s be friends."
The moment the words left my mouth, Byeok Unseong made a confused face.
"Friends?"
"Yeah, friends."
"You’re a little young to call that friendship."
"Ah-ah. Age has nothing to do with friendship."
"Is that so... If you’re going to put it that way, then all right. Friends."
After a moment of confusion, Byeok Unseong seemed to make up his mind and nodded vigorously.
It was just the word friends—why did that require such a grave decision?
"Yeah, let’s keep getting along."
I’d wrapped things up well enough. It was about time to go.
"Wait a moment. As thanks for how well you handled this request, there’s something I’d like to give you."
Just as I’d finished getting ready to leave, Byeok Unseong hurriedly grabbed my sleeve.
"Again?"
As I’d said before, I’d already been paid double the agreed amount, and I’d pocketed plenty besides.
It was no exaggeration to say I was already overflowing with rewards.
"However you look at it, I’m still a man with some shame. Taking more than this feels a bit...."
That being the case, even I felt the need to be modest.
And beyond that, I worried that more compensation might turn into shackles, so I made my refusal clear.
"Take it."
But Byeok Unseong moved faster than I did.
By the time I realized it, he had already shoved something unknown into my arms.
"What is it?"
"Check it later. Later. It’s nothing too big."
He waved both hands frantically in front of me, blocking me when I tried to check the item on the spot.
What the hell is it that he’s acting like that?
For now, I decided to hold off. I wasn’t going to die if I didn’t check my pocket this instant.
If this younger friend of mine was begging so earnestly, it wouldn’t hurt to let him win this one.
"Fine. See you next time."
"Yes. Until next time, then."
At my question, Byeok Unseong gave an awkward smile and waved.
* * *
It didn’t take long to find out what had ended up in my pocket.
"...So this was the ‘small gift.’"
The moment I checked what it was, a dry laugh escaped me.
If this was a small gift, then just what the hell did Byeok Unseong consider a big one?
Welcome!
Byeokun Inn
A high-class inn ranked among the finest in Beijing.
As the name suggested, it was run by the Byeokun Merchant Group.
Since they did business with large-scale customers like martial artists and escort bureaus, everything here was on a completely different level from an ordinary inn.
It was the kind of place a scoundrel like me would never have dared to set foot in.
"We were told to give the young master our utmost care!"
The innkeeper of that luxurious establishment was bowing deeply to me.
And there was only one reason why.
"This is awkward enough to return that I don’t even know what to do with it."
It was the little token Byeok Unseong had practically forced into my hands not long ago.
A gold plaque from the Byeokun Merchant Group.
The gold plaque of the Byeokun Merchant Group carried powerful privileges in and of itself.
Anyone who possessed one was treated as a first-class guest at any place run by the merchant group.
That’s why it’s such a burden.
However shameless I might be, I still had my limits.
Like the story of the frog that greedily ate until it burst, this thing was too big for me to swallow.
I wanted to return it right away, but the timing was terrible.
The situation’s bad.
Byeok Ungang, the pillar of the Byeokun Merchant Group, was dead.
His death was enough to shake Beijing to its core and leave the streets heavy with silence.
However, the true details surrounding Byeok Ungang’s death hadn’t been made public.
Well, it wouldn’t exactly be easy to tell the truth.
Who would believe that Byeok Ungang had been killed by Chuhongeom, who then stole his skin and pretended to be him?
So it has to stay hidden.
If revealing the truth would only bring pointless chaos, then sometimes the truth was worth nothing at all.
And so it was buried in darkness forever.
"That sly little brat. He should’ve just been satisfied with being friends—this is him making sure he’s got a leash on me."
The moment I saw the gold plaque, I knew what Byeok Unseong had been thinking.
This wasn’t simply an act of goodwill.
He clearly intended to restrict my range of movement while keeping me under his eye.
It was a strategy so transparent it was almost pure, the sort of thing a child might do to get hold of a toy he liked.
"Well, I suppose it can’t be helped."
For the time being, returning it was impossible anyway.
He’s probably up to his ears right now.
Byeok Unseong would be busy sorting through the mourners coming to pay respects to Byeok Ungang and the enemies of the merchant group.
So even if I returned the gold plaque, he’d no doubt come up with some excuse to slip away.
"Well, it does save me the inn bill."
Better to think positively.
There was such a thing as enjoying what you couldn’t avoid, wasn’t there?
Since I couldn’t return it for now anyway, I decided to enjoy the chance to stay at the finest inn in Beijing.
"I’ll think of it as borrowing it."
So this gold plaque wasn’t something I was accepting—it was something I was borrowing for a while.
All I had to do was pay it back properly someday.
Once I’d finished rationalizing it, I felt much better.
"Can I get something to eat?"
"Yes, sir. What would you like us to prepare?"
"Bring me whatever comes out the fastest."
If it filled my empty stomach, anything would do.
That was a lesson I’d learned surviving at the bottom of Beijing.
"Please wait a moment."
The innkeeper raced off to the kitchen the instant I finished speaking.
Before long—hardly even a minute later—
he burst back out, carrying something in both arms.
"Here you are, sir!"
In an instant, a feast so lavish it made the table legs tremble was spread before me.
"...You didn’t need to give me this much."
Whether I could even finish it was beside the point; the sheer amount of food was overwhelming.
"We can’t disappoint a guest of the inn."
The innkeeper said with a broad grin.
They say you can’t spit in the face of someone who’s smiling, and this was exactly the sort of moment they meant.
"I’ll eat well, then."
What was I supposed to do now that he’d gone this far?
I could only eat what had been set before me.
At this point, refusing it felt more rude than accepting it.
Still, it didn’t take long to finish everything.
The rich, greasy food I hadn’t tasted in so long melted in my mouth, quite literally.
"Please show me to my room."
"Yes, y-yes, sir."
The innkeeper hesitated for a moment.
Apparently he hadn’t expected me to eat it all, because his voice trembled slightly.
I was surprised too.
Maybe there really was something to the idea that stomachs have separate spaces reserved for delicious food.
"Right this way. Please use it as you please."
The room the innkeeper led me to was simple, yet elegant.
It wasn’t too flashy, nor did it feel cheap; it had somehow landed perfectly on that subtle balance.
"Not bad."
The furniture was arranged just where it should be, and the room was about the size of a single at a college district apartment.
And best of all, I didn’t have to clean it myself.
What more could I ask for?
"A bed."
The thing I liked most was the bed.
A sturdy bed made of fine wood felt like heaven compared to the straw mattress I’d lived on before.
"Very nice."
My conclusion after looking everything over was simple.
I liked it.
Everything about it suited me.
I wanted to pile on even more praise with fancier words, but my meager command of language could only take me this far.
"Then rest well."
"Ah, before you go, may I ask one favor?"
I called the innkeeper back just as he was about to leave.
Since I’d seen everything I needed to see, it was time to do what needed doing.
"A favor?"
The innkeeper tilted his head.
He didn’t seem to have the slightest idea what I was asking for.
"It’s a simple one."
"If it’s that much, I can manage it."
The innkeeper nodded lightly.
As an innkeeper, it was only natural to grant a guest’s simple request now and then.
"I want you to spread a rumor."
"A rumor?"
"Yes. Spread the rumor that the Paeng Clan’s brat got drunk and saw Black Lotus."
"Pardon?"
The innkeeper was momentarily at a loss for words.
What on earth was this man saying?
Instead of answering, I let a faint smile settle on my lips.
Now, it was time to reel in a big fish.