A Close Friend's Marriage (3)
While I was flustered, the conversation continued.
"Are you really sure about this? We'll pay a fair price for the Yuseong Sect's absolute arts."
"No deal."
"Who else will repay that massive debt if not us? The interest on the borrowed money has already ballooned enormously, hasn't it?"
"...I said no deal!"
"Hmph! You'll regret this."
With that, the man stormed off.
Now I can go see the sect leader, right?
I waited a moment before stepping forward, only to lock eyes with the sect leader.
"......"
A brief silence fell, and then the sect leader spoke.
"Come up and sit."
"Yes, sir."
I headed to the pavilion where he sat and took a seat across from him.
"I showed you an unsightly side. My apologies."
"Not at all."
"Someone of your caliber must have heard our entire conversation."
Would he believe me if I said I didn't hear anything?
I had only one possible response.
"My apologies. I ended up overhearing it."
"Hoo. I suppose some explanation is in order."
"No need."
I waved it off.
"It's fine. I'll just forget I heard it."
Of course, I was curious.
What on earth is going on?
The sect leader opened his mouth with a heavy expression.
"Truth be told, our sect is saddled with quite a lot of debt. It piled up over the years while my late father suffered from a long illness."
"I see."
"And the man I was just talking to is the head of the Daegong Merchant Group. For some reason—he wouldn't say—he offered to pay off our debt in exchange for our sect's absolute arts."
He gave a bitter smile.
"As you know, a sect's absolute arts are everything to it. How could I accept such a proposal?"
He was right.
A martial clan or sect's absolute arts were its spirit and strength.
"If I may ask something like this..."
"What is it?"
"How much is the debt, exactly?"
He answered my question directly.
"Thirty thousand silver taels. But with the interest, it's swelled to fifty thousand."
Whoa, these outright bandits.
"So... our situation is a bit precarious right now."
Ah, so that's why In Jeong-yeon entered the Yongbong Martial Tournament.
I'd been too busy at the time to attend and had only heard about it from Jeong-ho hyung.
She'd been extremely determined, fighting desperately, he'd said.
With the sect on the brink of ruin, they desperately needed financial backing.
But suddenly, a question arose.
Bok Yun, the sub-leader, was the head of the Gwangjun Merchant Group—one of the largest within the Baekda Merchant Alliance.
Would someone like him be unaware of the Yuseong Sect's plight?
"Sect Leader, have you ever mentioned this to my close friend?"
He shook his head at my question.
"No. How could I sell off my daughter to pay the sect's debts?"
"......"
"And if we repaid the debt with help from our son-in-law, it would become a chain around his heart. He's finally able to live happily in a well-off family—how could I hold him back?"
Hmm...
Bok Yun must be agonizing over this too.
Fifty thousand silver taels was something Bok Yun could cover with a little strain if he wanted.
But repaying it would bruise his father-in-law's pride, and just watching idly would gnaw at his conscience.
"Anyway, why did you want to see me?"
"Ah..."
The sect leader smiled awkwardly.
"The conversation veered off course somehow. The real reason I called you here was... to entrust my daughter to your care."
He continued.
"If anything should happen, you're the only one she can rely on."
"How can you say that? Doesn't she have her own family?"
He shook his head slightly.
"I have a feeling someone is targeting our sect."
His instincts are sharp.
Having lived my previous life, I knew his premonition was spot on.
"That's why I'm asking you to look after things if the worst happens."
But isn't this something to discuss with Bok Yun, his actual son-in-law? I'm practically a stranger.
I said carefully,
"Sect Leader, forgive me, but is it alright to reveal such intimate matters to an outsider like me?"
He gazed at me steadily before replying.
"For some reason, I wanted to tell you. But I couldn't do it somewhere with so many people around. That's why I called you here... only for that man to show up and make me reveal a side I didn't want seen."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
"Thank you. You may go now."
But instead of leaving, I made a proposal to the sect leader.
"Sect Leader, let me lend you the money."
"What are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said. I'll lend it to you."
The Daegong Merchant Group surely had the Murim Alliance backing it.
According to my memories from my previous life, the Yuseong Sect's absolute arts ended up in the Moyong clan's hands.
The price of loyalty, no doubt.
The man In Jeong-yeon was to marry was the Moyong clan's second young master.
He was a scoundrel with neither character nor talent.
There was no way such a marriage could be happy.
The sect leader I'd just seen wanted only his daughter's happiness. No matter how much the Alliance Leader pushed for it, he wouldn't have wanted to send her off to that wretch.
No, come to think of it, I don't like the Alliance Leader either.
Why pair her with that loser if he's playing matchmaker!
In any case, they'd still ended up allied with the Moyong clan through marriage because the sect's situation was that dire.
Clearing the debt now would sever the noose aiming for the Yuseong Sect's absolute arts.
"Borrow from me and pay off the debt."
"What collateral do you want?"
"The collateral I want is the peace of the Yuseong Sect."
As the sect leader looked puzzled, I smiled softly and continued.
"I'm Bok Yun's close friend. I can't stand by while he worries over his wife's family. How could a son-in-law be happy if his wife's home isn't at peace?"
"...You're right."
"So, let me lend you the money. You said accepting help from your son-in-law would be burdensome, but I'm an outsider, aren't I?"
"......"
"Besides, fifty thousand silver taels isn't a huge sum for me. No need to feel burdened. Interest is one silver tael per year, with no time limit. How does that sound?"
He pondered briefly, then nodded.
"That's an incredibly generous offer."
"It's not that generous. The interest compounds by one tael each year."
"Even so, thirty thousand won't become fifty thousand, will it?"
...I have nothing to say to that.
At that moment, an attendant approached and whispered to the sect leader.
"Please wait a moment. A guest is asking for me. I'll be right back."
And so, I was left alone in the pavilion.
Hmm, deciding to lend the money... was that the right call?
I can afford it, at least.
"Kkwi."
Just then, Gold Spirit poked out from my sleeve.
"Hm? You want to look around the garden too?"
"Kkwi?"
Gold Spirit emerged fully and began toddling around the pavilion.
Then it plopped straight into the pond.
Really, why the sudden water play? I'll have to dry you off if you get wet.
I grumbled as I pulled out a handkerchief.
— Kkwi! —
Why the sudden excitement?
The main reason this guy gets thrilled is when it spots something expensive...
"Gold Spirit, come out!"
"Kkwi!"
Gold Spirit surfaced from the water.
"Is there something valuable inside?"
"Kkwi! Kkwi-kkwi!"
Gold Spirit wagged its tail excitedly as it explained. Something under the pavilion?
What could it be?
I didn't know exactly, but if Gold Spirit called it valuable, it had to be something helpful to the Yuseong Sect.
"First, let's dry you off."
Gold Spirit shook itself to shed the water, and I wiped the rest with the handkerchief.
"Back in the sleeve for now."
"Kkwi."
Gold Spirit slipped back in, and soon the sect leader returned.
"Sorry for stepping away so suddenly."
"No problem."
"Shall we continue our talk?"
"No rush. The wedding banquet hasn't ended yet. More guests might come looking for you, so why not finish after the rites?"
"True enough."
I picked up my teacup and stood.
As I walked to the pond's edge, I remarked,
"What a truly beautiful garden."
The sect leader nodded proudly.
"It was built in my great-grandfather's time. Over a century old now. Back then, our sect was quite prosperous."
"It's still a promising sect today."
He shook his head and continued.
"I'm grateful you say that, but it's worlds apart from now. We were counted among Yoneung's three great fortunes. Then... my great-great-grandfather made some bad investments, and the family fortunes declined sharply."
"I see."
"Anyway, gazing at this garden eases my worries a bit. Though the water rarely thaws in this cold weather."
"That's a shame."
As I replied, I deliberately dropped the teacup I was holding into the pond.
Splash!
"Oh! My apologies."
"No harm done."
"I'll go in and retrieve it. In my family, they say if you don't recover a teacup you were drinking from after it falls in a pond, you won't get married."
Of course, that was a lie I'd made up on the spot to justify diving in myself.
Going into the water for no reason would look suspicious.
"Then call a servant to fetch it."
"No, I have to do it myself."
I took off my outer robe and slipped into the pond. Good thing I wasn't in formal wedding attire.
Palgap's going to nag me for this.
Right now, Palgap and my guards were waiting outside the gate. This inner garden was private; no one could enter without permission.
I sent a sound transmission to Gold Spirit.
— Gold Spirit, where's that valuable thing? —
— Kkwi! —
Gold Spirit emerged from my sleeve and guided me.
Thud.
Something hard bumped my hand.
A box?
Whatever it was, I'd found it. Time to get out.
"Sect Leader, something's sunk down here."
"What do you mean?"
I lifted what I'd grasped.
The box, about three feet long and made of stone, was quite heavy.
I hauled it up and placed it on the pavilion.
"Any idea what this might be?"
"No clue."
I brushed the moss from the top of the box. Clear letters emerged.
"I'll open it."
He nodded, and I carefully pried open the box.
Hm? This is...
We both fell silent.
A brilliant light burst from the box, illuminating everything around us.
Night-luminous pearls. And top-grade ones at that.
There were five inside the stone box.
Far larger and brighter than the ones I'd found in Luoyang before.
The sect leader grabbed my hand, expressing his gratitude over and over.
"Thank you! Truly, thank you! You've recovered our family's treasure!"
"The family treasure...?"
At my question, his eyes welled up as he nodded.
"The records mentioned night-luminous pearls passed down through generations, but no one ever found them. To think they were here!"
Sealed in a stone box and sunk beneath the pavilion—it looked deliberately hidden.
And with "[To the Descendants of the Yuseong Sect]" inscribed on the lid, no less.
He'd said his great-great-grandfather's bad investments had toppled the family...
Someone must have hidden them, fearing even these pearls might be sold off.
Truth be told, night-luminous pearls outlasted gold in water.
"Can you appraise these? Any idea of their value?"
"Each one's worth about twenty thousand taels."
"Gasp! Th-that expensive?"
"Yes. A merchant like me would haggle for a better deal, but how could I with you, Sect Leader?"
I smiled and said,
"Looks like we can skip the debt contract and save you the trouble."
His asking the price meant he was open to selling.
"I'll buy them for twenty thousand taels each."
From my previous life's memories, I'd never heard of these pearls, so they must have stayed buried, undiscovered.
The Yuseong Sect was wiped out in my memories, everything here reduced to ruins.
The sect leader sold me three of the five pearls.
I paid him sixty thousand silver taels.
With this, he could finally sever the noose strangling the Yuseong Sect.
.
.
.
As expected, Palgap chewed me out thoroughly.
"I know there must've been a good reason for our neat-freak young master to dive into a pond himself, but... please take better care of yourself, sir."
"Got it."
"Imagine our shock when you came out of the sect leader's meeting soaking wet."
"Sorry."
Palgap, who had been nagging away, suddenly smirked.
"So, was diving into the pond worth it, sir?"
"Yeah. Obviously."
"But why's this little guy rolling around like that?"
Palgap pointed to Gold Spirit, who was gleefully tumbling on the bed while hugging a golden orb.
I chuckled and replied,
"Because I did something worth celebrating."