The Guest Official’s Ledger
Baek Harin, the guest official of the Murim Alliance’s outer hall, looked at the women standing before her and said with faint irritation, “So, let me get this straight... What was it again? Ah, right. You want to request a mission for Baek Harin, don’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And you want to quickly earn merit so you can rank up your badge?”
“Yes.”
“Then are you planning to go alone?”
“No. This humble one will be going as well.”
“I’ll be going too.”
“Me too.”
Chu In-geol, who handled assignments all day long, knew exactly who all of them were.
Jik-seon Maehyang-ok, Baek Jin-ah the young palace lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, and Dang Yeong-young, the granddaughter of the Sichuan Dang Clan’s family head.
“Chief Ma is a white-gold badge bearer, isn’t he? And the young palace lord and Miss Dang both hold gold badges, yes? But here, Miss Baek is only a iron badge holder. In that case, I don’t have any mission I can assign. Even if I did, Miss Baek’s merit would amount to almost nothing. It would be a pointless exercise.”
What Chu In-geol said was entirely reasonable.
As long as Jik-seon was involved, they couldn’t just hand out any random task. They couldn’t make someone with a white-gold badge do menial work.
So if they set the standard by Jik-seon, then even if the mission was completed, Baek Jin-ah and Dang Yeong-young would end up with almost no merit at all. The credit would simply be deemed to belong to Jik-seon.
In other words, Harin, who only had an iron badge, would be nothing more than a straw dummy someone had propped up for decoration.
Jik-seon had already anticipated that to some extent.
So when she heard Chu In-geol’s explanation, she gave a small, displeased snort and spoke up.
“Then leave me out of it. Give the hardest mission you can entrust to this child.”
“Ah! Then please leave my name off as well. I don’t need merit or anything.”
“Me too.”
After hearing Jik-seon, Baek Jin-ah, and Dang Yeong-young all say the same thing, Chu In-geol looked genuinely puzzled.
“No, then you mean only Miss Baek would be receiving the mission? Chief Ma, the young palace lord, and Miss Dang wouldn’t be taking part?”
“No, that’s not it. This humble one will be joining as well. Didn’t I say so? Give us the hardest mission.”
At those words, Chu In-geol had to force down the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise, and confirmed it one more time.
“So just to be sure I understand correctly: the mission is assigned only to Miss Baek here. But everyone will be helping?”
“That’s right.”
Seeing how calmly Jik-seon answered, Chu In-geol inwardly cheered.
What was this, heaven sending him a melon while he was still on the vine? It was practically a phoenix flying straight into his arms.
He could have the white-gold-badge Jik-seon, the gold-badge young palace lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, and a daughter of the Dang Clan working for free, almost free, all at once? Seriously?
Chu In-geol felt like doing somersaults in the air, but he was a man seasoned by years in this line of work.
There was no reason to tip his hand and ruin everything. He could celebrate after he’d secured the mission agreement.
“Ahem, ahem. If that’s how you wish it, then I can provide a mission. However, if Miss Baek here takes the assignment and then suddenly washes her hands of it, the Alliance will be left in an awkward position. Especially if something goes wrong.”
“That won’t happen. So just give us the mission.”
Jik-seon still sounded calm.
Watching her, Chu In-geol grew curious.
Who exactly was this young lady, that even the great Jik-seon would go this far for her?
Still, this wasn’t the time to satisfy his curiosity.
They’d already made their answer clear, so what mattered now was quickly giving them a mission suited to their abilities.
Which meant he had to turn his mind fast.
He needed to find the task they could be used for most effectively.
“Good! Coincidentally, I have just the right mission. There are three in total... choose one. First, there’s...”
Chu In-geol explained all three missions in detail.
After listening to everything, Harin thought for a moment and then said to him, “I’ll do all three.”
And at that answer, Chu In-geol finally couldn’t hold back and broke into a broad grin.
* * *
The Murim Alliance cost a great deal of money.
That was just the nature of martial artists. They didn’t plow fields or weave cloth.
In other words, they were people who did no productive work at all. That was true of most sects as well.
So it was vital for each sect or organization to secure its own source of income.
The Murim Alliance’s biggest source of money was a place called Mangeum Merchant Guild.
Located in Kaifeng, it held great influence over the trade routes of the entire Central Plains.
And as you’d expect of such a company, they donated a considerable amount to the Murim Alliance too.
Yeo Jong-wi, the head of Mangeum Merchant Guild, was furious when he read the letter sent from the Murim Alliance.
He had asked the Murim Alliance to provide guards for his daughter’s birthday celebration, which would begin five days from now and last ten days.
But when he looked at the reply he’d received, it said that a woman he had never even heard of had been assigned to the duty.
Yeo Jong-wi had many enemies.
His family had not originally been wealthy.
He was a man who had risen entirely by his own efforts, building himself into the greatest merchant house in the Middle Plains.
With that came enemies—there was no helping it. He knew that better than anyone.
That was why he had donated so heavily to the Murim Alliance.
He had rivals and people who bore him a grudge, so when the time came, he wanted their protection.
Besides, there had almost been trouble during his daughter’s birthday celebration last year.
So this year, he had specifically asked them to pay even more attention to his daughter’s security.
And he had increased his donation compared to the previous year as well.
Yet until now, with only five days left, they had said nothing about who would be guarding her, and only now had they assigned some woman no one even knew.
How could he not be angry? That was only natural.
Yeo Jong-wi stormed and raged, then shouted at his underling that he was going straight to the Murim Alliance.
Bang!
“Guest Official! How can you do this!”
Yeo Jong-wi arrived at Chu In-geol’s office and shouted sharply, making no attempt to hide his anger.
“Heh heh. Sir Yeo, what brings you here so suddenly without even sending word? Please, have a seat. A fine Longjing tea has just come in, so it seems like the perfect time to bring some out.”
“Do I look like I’m in the mood for tea? After receiving a letter like this!”
With that, Yeo Jong-wi flung the letter he had received down in front of Chu In-geol.
But Chu In-geol remained calm. He had anticipated something like this to some extent.
“Sir, I understand that my explanation was lacking. But didn’t I write in the letter that you would be surprised? That you absolutely would not be disappointed?”
“I’m already disappointed, so what’s the point of saying I won’t be? You expect me not to be disappointed when all you’ve done is stick some iron-badge girl on escort duty!?”
“Sir, please calm down and sit first.”
“Sit? Sit where, exactly!?”
Yeo Jong-wi was still breathing hard, his anger plain for all to see.
Watching him, Chu In-geol sighed as though he couldn’t help it.
“Sir. The Alliance has not forgotten that you have given the Murim Alliance tremendous aid.”
“And yet this is what you do!?”
“Sir, can’t you trust this guest official and wait a little? I cannot speak recklessly, which is why I’m doing this. Still, I guarantee you this: you will not be disappointed by this matter in the slightest. Once it’s over, you’ll be asking me how I could possibly have arranged such a thing.”
At Chu In-geol’s unfailingly calm manner, Yeo Jong-wi finally let some of his anger go.
“No! What are you plotting? If you’ve got something up your sleeve, why not just say so plainly!?”
“Did I not already say it? I cannot speak recklessly. So please trust me. The Murim Alliance will never treat Mangeum Merchant Guild lightly.”
Yeo Jong-wi felt stifled by Chu In-geol’s refusal to explain himself, but he was not foolish enough to miss the signs when the man had already gone this far.
He had, after all, personally built the greatest merchant house in the Middle Plains. So he let out a long breath and reined in his temper.
“Fine. Since the guest official says so, I’ll believe you! But if I’m disappointed again this time, then even I don’t know what I’ll do, so keep that in mind!”
“Of course. You needn’t worry.”
Yeo Jong-wi still looked dissatisfied, but there was nothing more he could do, so he flicked his sleeves and left.
And Chu In-geol watched him go with a faint smile.
At the same time, he wondered whether he should go visit Mangeum Merchant Guild five days from now.
Just to see Yeo Jong-wi’s stunned expression.
* * *
Five days later. The birthday banquet of Yeo I-ryeong, the jewel of Mangeum Merchant Guild.
A suspicious group had gathered in a huddle near the place where the banquet would be held.
Yeo Jong-wi had many enemies, so he was always meticulous about security in the area around him.
But on days like this, vigilance was at its weakest.
Himself, above all. And especially his family.
Yeo Jong-wi knew his daughter could be in danger, so he always kept her tightly protected.
That was why, unless it was this yearly celebration, opportunities were hard to come by.
The ones who had failed last year when they tried to kidnap that daughter.
So this year, they had taken even greater care.
“What exactly is the Murim Alliance thinking? Why on earth did they assign a woman with only an iron badge as the escort?”
“Looks like Yeo Jong-wi must not have thrown around much money this year. He must’ve fallen out with the Murim Alliance for sure.”
The reason they had such high expectations this time was precisely because of this.
Information supplied by their man who had infiltrated Mangeum Merchant Guild. Once they heard it, they could only scoff.
So they assumed Yeo Jong-wi had become disappointed in the Murim Alliance, cut his support to the minimum, and hired guards out of his own pocket.
Nothing else made sense.
“There they are.”
One man spoke, and the others turned their eyes toward the banquet venue as well.
Yeo I-ryeong appeared amid the warm welcome of many guests.
The people watching her sneered at the sight of her in her ornate silk robes and jeweled ornaments.
Every bit of that luxury had been earned by trampling over people like them and climbing higher.
The men searched her surroundings with fierce, glowering expressions.
They wanted to see what kind of escort she had.
“Th-tha...”
One of them began to stammer, pointing a finger at a woman.
And when the others looked that way too, they muttered in disbelief.
“I-isn’t that Jik-seon of Mount Zhongnan... Maehyang-ok!?”
Their voices shook. Their expressions were completely dumbfounded.
They probably would have understood the feelings of Jeokwol, the underling of the Sado Alliance’s leader.
Of course, the two sides would never know a thing about each other.