Last Step

It took just three days to prove my worth to the Cheongun Merchant Guild.

On the first day, I used my ability to pick out undervalued items from the warehouse.

I did drop one while moving it, rendering it useless, but considering I hadn't had a stroke of luck in fifteen days, it wasn't exactly strange.

On the second day, I checked the ledgers, pointed out losses the Guild Leader was about to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠overlook, and even identified a deal that was guaranteed to result in a massive loss.

I didn't bother answering when asked how I knew.

And on the promised third day, I created a contract by exploiting a feud between two nearby merchant guilds.

I didn't exactly use my ability.

I just played a little prank between two merchant guilds that used to be one, all while riding on the coattails of the Cheongun Merchant Guild's influence.

Since they were once the same, their clients and transport routes overlapped.

That led to squabbles, which were turning into emotional feuds.

I exploited that.

I told one side the other was trying to pull strings at the government office, and whispered to the other that the first was trying to expand their business.

For the record, neither was a lie. They actually intended to do those things.

I just added a bit of omission to make them think the other was out to get them.

As a result, their relationship turned sour in a single day.

Some tried to verify the truth, but since the higher-ups already expected as much, reasonable doubts were dismissed.

Then, it was just a matter of stepping in as if the Cheongun Merchant Guild were a mediator.

Even if they didn't like each other, they needed each other, so it wasn't hard to land the contract.

As a result, one of our idle warehouses became a storage facility for both of their goods.

They didn't trust each other, yet they stored their goods in each other's warehouses—but now, both were using our warehouse.

I collected storage fees, fees for verifying their ledgers, and even separate fees for spying on each other.

That evening, the Guild Leader called me in.

In front of him lay the ledgers, contracts, and a list of what was in the warehouse.

"Did you do all of this by yourself?"

"It would have been impossible without the Guild's name."

I buttered him up to put him in a good mood, but he didn't seem to hear a word of it; his lips didn't move an inch.

"...Who on earth taught you?"

You did.

You taught me by beating me like a dog, cursing at me, and starving me.

Though, I was a bit slow on the uptake back then.

"I've told you time and again. There was no one behind me. Anyone can do it if they watch closely and listen well. Isn't that how business is supposed to be?"

The Guild Leader was still looking at me with an expressionless face.

It was obvious he still hadn't decided whether to kill me or keep me alive.

He must have been skeptical.

Even I wouldn't want to bring a suspicious guy into my guild who talks about his dreams and shows skills unbecoming of his age.

"...I don't know if you're a monster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or something else. I've never seen anything as dangerous as you in my life."

"So, are you going to cast me out?"

He returned the short sword to me and said,

"No, how could I let something like you out into the world? You might become a viper that bites me."

"You are wise."

I received the short sword with both hands, and from that day on, I became a member of the Cheongun Merchant Guild.

At first, I was a grunt.

Of course, I didn't just obediently sweep floors and wash dishes. Every now and then, as if talking to myself, I'd point out loopholes in deals or losses they were about to overlook.

After a few months, I was allowed to touch the ledgers.

After a year, I could choose the clients.

After two years, I was the one deciding what to buy, where, and which region to sell it to.

After three years, I finally heard those words from the Guild Leader.

"How would you handle this crisis?"

From the moment those words left the Guild Leader's mouth, I was the de facto owner of the Cheongun Merchant Guild.

After that, I made money like a madman.

I hoarded grain before a bad harvest and gouged prices when the famine hit.

Some called me a savior because they survived when they were about to starve to death, while others called me a demon for putting a price tag on hunger.

I broke the trust of those who lived by relying on each other and extracted money from their distrust.

I simply directed the ugliness that was only aimed at outsiders into their own society.

I made merchant guilds compete until they bled, then devoured the ones that had shrunk in size.

I gave them a light nudge, and they fought so viciously.

I made an item look valuable, and when everyone was blinded by it, I cashed out at the peak.

Those who dreamed of striking it rich fell for the fantasy that it would rise even higher and willingly handed over their money.

I upheld the nobles' 'face' and charged them for it.

The way they threw money away on vanity and pretense—no matter how many times I saw it, I couldn't understand it.

Whether it was ability, information, or silver-tongued persuasion, I mobilized everything possible.

I didn't care about the methods.

Walking the line between legal and illegal was a basic requirement, and I even bought and sold items that would cause huge trouble if sold without the Imperial family's permission.

Still, I could say I never bought or sold people.

Up until now, all I had bought and sold were the things debtors put up as collateral and their bonds.

In the name of doing it for Hwari, I bought and sold anything that could be valued.

Thus, five years after joining the Cheongun Merchant Guild, in the year I turned eighteen.

I was wearing silk clothes, wearing gold rings, and sporting a high-end jade pendant on my waist that was worth whatever price one called for it.

And I was being called the Vice-Guild Leader of the Cheongun Merchant Guild.

No one called me the Guild Leader. The original Guild Leader was still alive and kicking, after all.

However, there was no one who didn't know whose hands held the keys to the guild's warehouse, whose will determined the clients and transport routes, and who was the person one had to curry favor with.

It wasn't just the merchant guild.

The various merchant guilds tied under the name of Cheongun, the families whose necks were tightly gripped by debt, and the martial artists or Taoists who had willingly grabbed the noose without knowing it was a trap and were now hopelessly bound—everyone knew well who they had to bow to.

Among those bowing their heads, the Jujak Family, where Hwari would be, was included.

How careful I had been to include the Jujak Family on my list of debtors.

No matter how much of a tycoon I had become, enough to catch the eye of the Imperial family, it was quite difficult to suddenly grab the throat of a Four Divine Beasts family that guarded the empire's frontier.

Even if they were ailing due to various circumstances, they were still a family that inherited the blood of a Vermilion Bird, so if I touched them the wrong way, I could be hit by a backlash and burned to a crisp.

So, I carefully wrapped a thread around their necks, one strand at a time.

I sent fertilizer to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠farmers supplying them with grain, supplied raw materials and dyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the weavers sending them cloth, and attached guides to the herbalists sending them medicinal herbs.

Only after slowly strangling them under the mask of goodwill was I finally able to place the yoke of debt around their necks.

I found it quite laughable that they were so obsessed with 'face' that they would even go into debt to maintain it.

There was resistance, of course.

Trying to come to their senses and escape the yoke, or trying to escape by borrowing the power of others.

But every time that happened, 'truly coincidental events' would overlap, so they would naturally bow their heads.

Then, one day.

While I was busy wrestling with numbers, an urgent message arrived from the southern branch.

Since the southern branch also handled the surveillance of the Jujak Family, I unfolded the paper, wondering if they were trying to pull some shallow trick again.

However, the sentence written on that paper was completely different.

A great fire had broken out at the Jujak Family.

I stared at it blankly.

The moment I saw it, the memories from before my regression surfaced.

Hwari didn't enjoy talking about herself.

Even when asked, she tried to gloss over it, and even on days when she was drunk, she adamantly avoided talking about herself.

However, once. She had mentioned it in passing.

That when she was young, there had been a very big fire at home.

She didn't remember why the fire started, but because of that fire, her right arm had been burned black, just like it was now.

And that the way her family looked at her had changed.

She didn't say how it had changed.

I could guess, though.

Even if they were debtors, it was rare for parents to sell their children.

Hwari must have been ostracized by her family for some unknown reason.

But I just guessed and left it at that.

Because I didn't think it was particularly important at the time.

Regardless of the truth of the past, I had already bought Hwari, and the deal was already done.

Unless I was looking into the history of a product to haggle the price before buying it, I thought it was a waste to look into the history after paying for it, so I just thought, 'I see,' and moved on.

I should have looked into it.

I folded the message neatly and put it down, then took a deep breath.

I felt that, finally, the time had come.

If my guess was right, from the moment the fire started, her life would have turned into a downhill path, slowly descending into the abyss.

Her family would avoid her, and the family would try to cast her out somehow.

She would probably dedicate herself to her family, combining literary and martial arts, or honing the power she possessed, begging them to look at her.

But all she would get in return would be gazes contemplating how to cast her out.

If I assumed that was how things were looking from now on...

Buying Hwari wouldn't be impossible.

This wasn't the first time I had tried to extract Hwari from the family.

I had made several plans, and a few had actually gone to the brink of being attempted.

However, I just couldn't do it.

Because the family looked so happy together.

Thinking she would be happier if I left her as she was, I just watched from the sidelines, even thinking that maybe this time, a fire wouldn't break out.

If that happened, I intended to just let her live like that.

However, now that the fire had broken out, there was no choice.

Before she fell into that miserable state, I had no choice but to take her away, even if it meant being hated.

If the Jujak Family said they would sell their daughter, I would just pay the price and bring her.

If they said they wouldn't sell, I would just make it so they had no choice but to sell.

I had saddled them with countless debts solely for this moment.

"Hoo..."

It had been five years.

During that time, which was long if you considered it long and short if you considered it short, I had prepared things for her while accumulating money.

I bought a house for her, bought people, and bought fame.

Everything I had built was prepared for you.

Now, only you needed to come.

"Prepare the carriage."

As I rose from my seat, I ordered my confidant, Woojin, to do so.

"Where are you heading?"

"To the Jujak Family. There is a noble person I must go fetch."

A laugh escaped me, but I didn't bother to hold it back.

There was no one left who would think it strange if I laughed now.

"...Please wait."

My laziness in moving only after you started to fall—please, forgive me.