Chapter 10: Continuing the Connection (1)
Thus, the ties between Huayeon Pavilion and the Eunhae Merchant Group were severed, and Huayeon Pavilion struck a deal with another merchant group.
A month later, word came that the pavilion master had changed.
The pavilion master had died suddenly.
A voice pulled me from my brief reverie.
"You've arrived?"
At that moment, a young errand boy from Huayeon Pavilion rushed out and bowed his head.
Father spoke to him.
"I am Eun Gil-sang, leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group. Is Pavilion Master Baek in?"
"P-Pardon? Well, that is..."
The boy hesitated, glancing furtively toward the pavilion master's office.
Without waiting for a reply, Father headed straight for the office.
Behind him followed me, Chief Steward Yu, and the Silver Wind Squad members.
Not everyone needed to go, so the leaders of the Three Wind Divisions and the Upper Escort Division stayed behind at the caravan.
We soon reached the pavilion master's office.
A guard stood at the door. As Father approached, the man asked,
"Who might you be?"
"I'm the leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group. Is the pavilion master inside?"
A voice called from within.
"Come in."
The guard quickly opened the door, and we entered.
A man with an oily sheen to his face and a slight paunch greeted us.
His name was Baek Bok.
He was the pavilion master of Huayeon Pavilion.
"What brings the leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group all the way here?"
"I've come to collect something."
"Pardon? Collect what?"
"A year's worth of payment for our goods is now overdue as of today."
"What are you talking about? Payment for goods? When have we ever done business?"
As expected, Pavilion Master Baek responded with brazen denial.
Father and Chief Steward Yu let out hollow chuckles at his shamelessness.
"It seems the pavilion master is suffering from maebyeong—senility, perhaps. And at such a young age..."
At Father's words, Baek Bok erupted.
"What nonsense is this!"
"Otherwise, how could you have forgotten all the deliveries we've made up to now? We delivered just a month ago."
"Deliveries! I said we never did! If you're going to claim that, show me a delivery receipt or something. You can't just demand money out of nowhere... Have you lost your mind?"
"A delivery receipt... Well, that is..."
Father feigned distress, and I had to suppress a laugh.
His top-tier acting was proof that Father was a born merchant, through and through.
"Keep causing a scene like this, and I'll call the guards! Get out!"
His impudent outburst suggested he was convinced we had no delivery receipt.
How perfectly predictable.
"Chief Steward Yu, I think I forgot to bring it."
"I figured as much, so I brought it along."
Chief Steward Yu pulled a document from his robes and held it out.
"Here's the delivery receipt."
"......"
"And here's the contract as well."
"......"
Baek Bok froze solid upon seeing the papers.
He snapped to his senses and hurriedly examined them.
They were genuine—the delivery receipts bore his own seal, and the contract matched the one he'd seen before.
The real deal.
"H-How is this possible?"
"Why the long face?"
"B-But I was told they burned up!"
"What are you talking about?"
"There was a fire at the Jaekyung Pavilion recently, and all the documents inside went up in flames—including the ledgers related to Huayeon Pavilion..."
"Yes, there was a fire."
Father chuckled dryly in response.
"It only scorched the floor. The documents related to Huayeon Pavilion's deliveries are perfectly intact."
He tapped the delivery receipt on the table as he continued.
"Just like this. Falling for idle rumors—hardly befitting a pavilion master."
That was right.
There had been a fire.
But it was one we'd set deliberately.
To spread the rumor of a blaze in the first place.
And we'd circulated false whispers that the Huayeon Pavilion ledgers had burned in it.
In short, Pavilion Master Baek had fallen neatly into our trap.
Father gathered the documents and handed them back to Chief Steward Yu, who then produced another set and said,
"Then, per the contract, Huayeon Pavilion belongs to the Eunhae Merchant Group as of today. Seal it."
Thud.
"I-I can't do that!"
Baek Bok resisted fiercely, but Father paid him no mind.
"A contract is a contract."
"Y-You think I'll just take this lying down?"
He bellowed toward the door.
"Seize these thugs at once!"
The door burst open at his shout.
Bang!
"Gah!"
But the ones who rushed in weren't Huayeon Pavilion's guards.
It was Ko Il-pyeong, the Eunhae Merchant Group's external chief steward.
A sword gleamed in his hand.
"We've already cleared the outside."
"Good work."
Realizing the situation, Baek Bok collapsed to the floor.
But I felt no pity for him.
He was merely paying what he owed.
.
.
.
Baek Bok had no choice but to seal the contract transferring all rights to Huayeon Pavilion to the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Watching him, the humiliation he'd inflicted on me in the future I'd endured washed away.
Huayeon Pavilion's employees stood in line nearby, eyeing the Silver Wind Squad warriors warily.
'Huh?'
For a moment, I doubted my eyes.
There, trembling among them, stood a man.
A bruise on one side of his face made me hesitate at first, but up close, there was no doubt.
'That guy!'
The young man in clerk's robes was Seo Su-chang.
In my memories, he wasn't the steward here but at another pleasure house.
With his exceptional talents, he'd dragged that struggling establishment back from the brink.
It soon became one of Hubei's three great pleasure houses.
I knew him well because I'd tried to recruit him.
He'd politely turned me down.
When I visited again, the pavilion master there claimed him as a lifesaver, forcing me to back off.
Yet here he was.
Suppressing my delight, I approached him.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Eun Seo-ho, third son of the Eunhae Merchant Group."
"Ah, y-yes. I'm Seo Su-chang, steward of Huayeon Pavilion."
"The steward, eh? Could I take a look at Huayeon Pavilion's account ledgers?"
He glanced nervously at Baek Bok.
Swish.
Stepping in front of him, I said,
"Huayeon Pavilion's new owner is the Eunhae Merchant Group. The seal's already done."
"......Understood."
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
With Father's permission, I assigned four Silver Wind Squad warriors to accompany him.
We had to prepare for any surprises, and there looked to be plenty to carry.
Soon, Steward Seo and the warriors returned, arms full of documents.
I began examining them.
"......"
They'd stripped the ledgers clean, it seemed. His arrogance had utterly crumbled.
That meant we could bring him over to our side.
From the looks of it, Baek Bok wasn't his benefactor anyway.
"Hmm......"
Reviewing the ledgers, I saw that finances had plummeted sharply since Baek Bok became pavilion master.
And the fund flows had grown increasingly suspicious over time.
"This, this, and this. Something's off."
Steward Seo flinched at my words.
"Did this guy pocket them, by any chance?"
"......"
To someone like me, who'd seen it all, reading ledgers and grasping the situation was child's play.
No matter how cleverly falsified, I knew every trick in the book.
He'd embezzled to run an illegal gambling den, no doubt.
Did it even make money?
As if. Running an underground operation is no picnic.
Hence the mess of these books.
Chief Steward Yu, peering over my shoulder, looked up at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Then something odd caught my eye.
A recent expenditure.
Building a new annex out of the blue!
No matter how I crunched the numbers, it didn't add up.
"What's this?"
"Ah, that annex was at Pavilion Master Baek's orders."
I turned to Baek Bok, who averted his gaze.
Suspicious.
They could barely keep the current operations afloat, let alone build a new annex.
Yet here it was.
Something was definitely up.
"Pavilion Master Baek. Why build an annex?"
"That annex is... lodging for the errand boys."
"Lodging?"
"Th-The old dorms are worn out..."
He stammered excuses.
A man who'd embezzled even the money owed to the Eunhae Merchant Group, now claiming he built it for the boys?
Right.
Believe that if you want.
I pondered briefly, then asked Father,
"Father, may I step out for a bit?"
"Where to?"
"To check out that annex they're supposedly building."
Whether he'd caught on or not, Father nodded readily.
"Go ahead."
"Yes, sir."
I turned to Steward Seo.
"Can you show me that annex you're building?"
"Of course. This way."
With two bodyguard warriors, I followed Steward Seo's lead to the construction site.
We arrived quickly at the new annex.
It looked ordinary from outside, but no workers were in sight.
"The laborers haven't arrived yet."
"He told us not to call them until tomorrow."
"I see."
Tilting my head, I stepped inside the half-built structure.
Flinch—
Before I'd taken a few steps, I ran into someone.
'I didn't sense a thing...!'
A black-clad, masked figure—suspicious as they come.
"......!"
"Who goes there!"
One bodyguard shielded me while the other drew his sword and charged to subdue the intruder.
The masked figure drew steel in response.
Clang! Clang clang!
Swords clashed repeatedly.
Poof!
A smoke bomb exploded.
The masked one had detonated it.
"Young master, fall back!"
I retreated swiftly at the bodyguard's shout.
"I'll pursue!"
The bodyguard who'd crossed blades yelled and gave chase.
Leaving the pursuit to him, I approached the spot where the masked figure and bodyguard had fought.
'Hm?'
A strange, unfamiliar scent wafted suddenly.
Like some wild flower. I asked those around me,
"Do you smell something fragrant?"
"Fragrant?"
"Maybe it's the wood? It's still under construction."
"Not me."
Only I caught it.
'Odd.'
But the thought didn't linger. The bodyguard had found something.
"There's something here."
What he pointed to was a trapdoor in the floor.
Likely why the masked figure had been here.
I asked Steward Seo, who trailed behind.
"What's this?"
"I'm not entirely sure. It's a passage leading underground. All I know is the pavilion master ordered it separately."
Suspicious.
"Let's open it."
The bodyguard said,
"I'll stand guard, just in case."
My senses detected no one, but better safe.
Especially after that encounter.
Steward Seo stepped forward astutely.
"I'll open it."
The bodyguard held his sword ready as Steward Seo lifted the door.
A tunnel to the basement appeared.
Then the pursuing bodyguard returned.
"Sorry. He got away."
As expected.
The masked figure was a master I hadn't even sensed.
I hadn't stopped the bodyguard because explaining it would be tricky.
Plus, with the focus on escape, I figured the bodyguard would be fine.
"It's okay. Couldn't be helped. We'll head down. Keep watch up here for anyone approaching."
"Got it."
We descended inside.
It was fairly spacious, much of it already finished.
Several rooms branched off, and in one, I spotted something peculiar.
A crest on the wall: clouds merged with peach blossoms.
'This is... the Do-un Merchant Group?'
No mistaking it—the Do-un Merchant Group's emblem.
I couldn't help but smirk inwardly.
Why?
The Do-un Merchant Group had been a puppet of the Baekcheon Merchant Group.
Which meant the Jaekyung Pavilion fire involved Do-un—and thus Baekcheon.
Now I knew the name of the mysterious merchant group Huayeon Pavilion had dealt with after cutting ties with us.
It was Do-un.