Departure (1)
The man trailing behind Namgung Kang, the head of the Baekcheon Merchant Group, was Song Un, the sub-leader of the Changhae Merchant Group.
But his expression was utterly different from what I'd seen before.
Having received a commission from the imperial palace to trade with foreign nations, he stood to gain immensely from the venture.
Of course he'd be grinning from ear to ear. Even if not genuinely thrilled, he'd at least pretend for the sake of the officials.
Yet here he was, wearing a face like the world had ended—and it was clearly because of Namgung Kang.
I turned to glance at the Baekcheon head.
What the hell is he doing here?
As far as I knew, the Baekcheon Merchant Group had no ships.
That's why they hadn't applied for this announcement either.
Unless...?
For now, greetings came first.
I couldn't openly show hostility.
"Greetings to the head of the Baekcheon Merchant Group."
"Well, if it isn't the sub-leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group?"
He remembered me.
Well, we'd crossed paths a few times now. Forgetting would make him a real idiot.
"Thank you for remembering."
Just then, an official from the Ministry of Rites entered.
"Is everyone here? Then let's begin the second meeting."
Today's agenda was discussing each group's preferred trading partners.
"The Eunhae Merchant Group will trade with Dai Viet."
"Noted. Next... the Baekbuik Merchant Group will go with Mara Island Nation, I presume."
"Yes."
"Changhae Merchant Group..."
Song Un glanced furtively at Namgung Kang before speaking with a complicated look on his face.
"The Changhae Merchant Group will head to Dai Viet."
A short while later.
We filed out of the Ministry of Rites building after the meeting.
"Ahem, I'll be off now, so handle the rest yourself."
"Yes, understood."
"Do it right! Fail, and you might find yourself replaced too!"
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
Namgung Kang strutted off arrogantly, joining his waiting escorts in front of the palace.
The others from the various groups exchanged farewells and departed one by one, leaving just the Baekbuik Merchant Group and us.
"Hey, Sub-leader Song."
Ji Seok-mun, the sub-leader of Baekbuik, approached him.
"What in the world is going on? Why are you kowtowing to that Baekcheon head?"
"Sigh..."
Song Un let out a deep breath before replying.
"The merchant group... it's been taken over."
"What do you mean? The Changhae Merchant Group isn't huge, but I thought it was solid enough."
"That's true. But... a debt we took from Baekcheon about a dozen years ago came back to bite us."
Rage filled Song Un's voice as he spoke.
But it didn't sound like anger over losing the group—more like a sense of injustice?
I ventured a careful question.
"So, you haven't paid off that debt from ten years ago yet?"
"No!"
He shouted firmly.
"The Changhae Merchant Group clearly paid off that debt! But..."
He gritted his teeth.
"A few days ago, people from Baekcheon showed up claiming they never received the payment we made just a month prior... and they swallowed our group whole."
Paid the money, but they never received it?
This smelled fishy.
"But Changhae has been steadily repaying the debt all along—you wouldn't have mixed up the recipient, right?"
"Of course not!"
He clenched his fist tight.
"We've been going directly to the assigned handler every time to make payments. When the final installment was due, he came to us himself, said to hand it over to him... and we did."
"Did that handler run off with the money or something?"
He nodded at my question.
But that made even less sense.
Baekcheon was backed by the Murim Alliance. Even if the guy bolted with the cash, it wouldn't help him.
They'd catch him in no time.
And the handler would know that.
"Something's off. Didn't Baekcheon track down that runaway handler?"
"They came back after three days or so, saying they couldn't find him anywhere."
This was nonsense.
Baekcheon, who hounded public enemies for over fifty years—give up after just three days?
Lies.
This was clearly a scheme cooked up by Baekcheon, and Changhae had fallen right into it.
Namgung Kang headed to the Baekcheon branch in Beijing. He felt like dancing a jig.
Oh, you clever bastard! How'd you even think of this?
Namgung Kang had to elevate Baekcheon to one of the world's top three merchant groups within three years.
Fail, and...
Anyway, he had to boost their ranking somehow.
That's why he'd schemed against the Baekyeom Merchant Group last time.
Plan was to cripple or kill Ho Kyung, their golden boy, and shake them up.
But it failed.
Word was, Eun Seo-ho had sacrificed his own artifacts to save the kid.
Damn it! That guy's always in my way.
He pictured Eun Seo-ho's smiling face, greeting him all friendly-like.
He wanted to eliminate him like Ho Kyung, but he couldn't.
The guy was a Murim Alliance hero.
Meaning the higher-ups cared about him.
They didn't see him as a target like they did Namgung Kang.
Plus, his skills were no joke—worshipped as a hero for good reason.
So here Namgung Kang was, sweating bullets alone.
Damn it!
Someday he'd love to see that smug face twist in agony, but first, secure his own position.
While gathering intel to grow the group fast, news came of recruiting merchant groups to buy grain abroad.
A chance to trade under imperial protection.
But Baekcheon lacked large merchant ships.
Thinking of the massive profits to be had made his stomach ache.
"Head, this isn't something you can just stomach and move on from."
His newly appointed deputy said.
"What do you mean?"
"Our ranking could be threatened."
"That big a deal?"
"Yes."
"So what do we do?"
"Best is for us to join this trade."
"But we have no large ships."
"True. But where there's a will, there's a way, right?"
A few days later, the deputy hatched a brilliant scheme.
Use the Changhae Merchant Group, participating in the trade.
They'd borrowed from Baekcheon and hadn't paid in full.
"One more payment, and their debt's cleared."
"But miss it, and per the contract, failure to pay within a month triggers default."
"Exactly."
"Perfect."
It was shady loan-shark stuff, but Namgung Kang was desperate.
No time to be picky.
"But if word gets out, our reputation tanks."
"As long as we don't get caught."
"But..."
"Tch!"
As Namgung Kang glared, the advisor wisely backed down.
He sighed inwardly.
Sigh... If Chief Advisor Heo Won were still here, things wouldn't be this reckless.
It wasn't always so upright before, but never this messy until Heo Won's death.
He felt the loss keenly now.
He wanted to stake his life to stop this, but couldn't.
Life was precious, and he didn't want to be booted in disgrace.
So he yielded and followed orders.
"Fetch the handler in charge of their debt."
And so they seized Changhae.
Curious how the meeting would go, he'd attended today—and spent the whole time fighting to keep his grin in check.
Smart move grabbing Changhae. Heh heh heh. This trade will rocket us up.
Then a face flashed by—Eun Seo-ho's.
Hm... that bad feeling? Probably nothing.
Back at the Beijing branch, I headed straight to my office.
Seo-hyang Lady hadn't come with me today; she was handling work there.
"You're back?"
She stood to greet me as I entered.
"Yes. Any reports?"
"Three items."
I took the documents from her, listened, and handled the tasks.
"I'll take a short walk."
"You seem lost in thought."
How'd she know?
She smiled and saw me off.
"Take care."
I left the office and began strolling.
Palgap, Seo-u Warrior, and Myeongjong Warrior followed silently.
In my previous life, those who joined this trade had all risen greatly.
Trading abroad was that lucrative.
One of them was Changhae Merchant Group.
I didn't know their faces, but I'd heard the name.
Not top hundred, but close enough to aim for it.
But if things stayed like this, it'd just fatten Baekcheon.
Their ranking could surge into the top three.
Couldn't have that.
Not even for revenge.
And no way I'd tolerate gains from such despicable means.
Sigh. Plus, Changhae's mess felt partly my fault.
Me thwarting Baekcheon left and right had Namgung Kang walking a tightrope between dismissal and retention.
So the guy who'd once been content supplying goods to traders was now pulling desperate stunts to climb ranks.
Changhae got caught in the crossfire.
So it was only right I helped.
Best to resolve it before departure.
The fix was simple: Prove Baekcheon got the money from Changhae.
So, find their debt handler.
Per Song Un, he'd taken the cash and vanished immediately.
I turned to Seo-u Warrior.
"Good at tracking people?"
"Pardon?"
"Need to find someone."
"For that, Jin Yu Warrior's better suited."
True enough.
I returned to the office and summoned Jin Yu Warrior.
"You called?"
"Yes. Got a job for you."
"Command me. I'll stake my life on it."
No need to go that far...
I briefed him on the debt handler, via Song Un's info.
"Find him. Two likely scenarios."
I ticked off on my fingers.
"One: Baekcheon's hiding him. Two: They eliminated him."
"Given their methods, two's more probable."
"I agree. If this leaks, their prestige crashes. Honor matters more than lives to them. Killing one loyal handler? Trivial."
Jin Yu nodded in agreement.
He'd executed 'unofficial deaths' for the Alliance himself.
"Bring him here alive if possible; evidence of death otherwise."
"Understood. Deadline?"
"Sooner the better. Latest, two weeks before the ships sail."
"Got it."
I handed him a plaque.
"This gets support from all Eunhae branches—funds, goods, manpower. Show it anytime."
"Tha..."
"Save the thanks. It's standard for my people on my tasks."
He clasped hands solemnly.
"Understood."
No need to be that dramatic...
As he pocketed the plaque, I added one last thing.
"Truth is, I'm tasking you because there's a third possibility."
"Which is?"
"They tried to eliminate him, failed, and he's still on the run."
He'd served over ten years; likely prepared for contingencies.
"Personally, I rate this highest."