Chapter 16: The Sword Demon Is Shocked (劍鬼驚愕)

‘Who am I? Where is this place?’

The merchant Man Hong-gi looked around in a daze.

The shop he had followed the young master of the Namgung family into was strange.

There were flat, round mooncakes; small, ball-shaped tangyuan; and candy stretched into fine threads resembling a dragon’s beard called yongsudang.

‘Huh… Is this shop only selling snacks for kids? That’s not going to be profitable at all.’

How much money could they possibly make from pocket change scraped together by children?

Property in Hapbi wasn’t exactly cheap, and running a business like this would surely lead to ruin.

“Ah! Young Master Hoyeon, welcome!”

As soon as Hoyeon entered the shop, the bored-looking shop owner leapt up like a puppy finding its owner.

“Yo. What’s up.”

“Hehe, Young Master! This humble Fil Mo has created a brand new dessert for you!”

“Oh? Really?”

“Right this way!”

The shop owner dashed away and came back carrying a tray.

Man Hong-gi took a peek and saw something stacked up inside—a black, semi-transparent, rectangular treat that looked a bit like a rice cake but shinier and softer.

“…What is this? It doesn’t look appetizing at all.”

“Ah, Young Master! It might look like that, but it tastes amazing!”

“Yeah?”

“Please, try it!”

The shop owner handed it over with pride, and Hoyeon, his face filled with curiosity, picked one up and popped it into his mouth.

Just moments later—

“…Are you trying to kill me? It’s bitter as hell.”

“B-Bitter, sir?”

“Did you put bile in it? You trying to teach me to endure bitterness and seek revenge? Want me to start with you?”

Frowning hard, Hoyeon growled at the shop owner.

“I-it’s called nokjeonggo! It’s a jelly-like dessert made from turtle shell and herbal medicine!”

“Herbs? What kind of madman puts that crap in a dessert?”

“M-my father said it tasted really good…”

The shop owner shrank back, crestfallen. Hoyeon clicked his tongue, then said:

“Well… I guess old folks might like it.”

“R-really?!”

“Send some to the Elder Council.”

“Will do!”

As the shop owner pumped his fist in joy, Hoyeon narrowed his eyes and warned,

“You keep experimenting like this just because it’s not your own money… From now on, only make things that are sweet, sour, and punchy. Got it?”

“Y-yes sir!”

“Fil, ever since tanghulu, you haven’t made anything worth mentioning. That’s a problem.”

“I’ll do my best!”

“And the stuff I asked for?”

“All prepared!”

At Hoyeon’s words, Fil ran like a colt with its tail on fire and dragged out a huge bundle, huffing and puffing.

But when Hoyeon picked it up—

Thump!

—it floated effortlessly like a feather.

“Take care!”

The shop owner bowed so deeply his head nearly hit the floor.

Outside, Man Hong-gi turned and studied the shop’s sign carefully.

[Dangdangdang (糖噇堂)]

“…‘The Hall of Eating Sweetness’? Huh. I’ve never seen a shop like this.”

“Of course not. I made it.”

“Eh? You made this shop?”

Man Hong-gi looked baffled, and Hoyeon gave a small laugh.

“Just now, you were probably thinking I was wasting money, weren’t you?”

“N-not at all!”

“Haha. Well, it’s running at a loss right now.”

“‘Right now’… meaning?”

When Man Hong-gi asked curiously, Hoyeon held up the bundle and replied,

“What do you think goes well with snacks like these?”

“Well, they’re typically served as tea treats… Oh?!”

As realization dawned, Man Hong-gi’s eyes widened.

Hoyeon nodded.

“Our tea leaves are kind of top-tier. I’m planning to open a teahouse later. But you know how many ordinary teahouses already exist, right?”

“Oh! Since you already have the tea (茶), you’re creating unique desserts (菓) to differentiate your place!”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Honestly, he hadn’t thought that deeply about it.

Uncle Fil had made a masterpiece with tanghulu, but eating that all the time got boring, so Hoyeon gave him funding to make something new.

‘It just sort of happened.’

After using the Heavenly Thunder King’s Divine Art to transform the western wasteland into fertile land—

He had been unsure what to plant, but someone recommended tea.

Tea was one of the highest-value crops per unit area.

‘Besides, Anhui Province is famous for its tea.’

Four of the Ten Famous Teas of the World (天下十大名茶) came from Anhui.

Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui, Liu’an Guapian, and Keemun black tea—all had their origins there.

‘The teas we grow are said to have rich aroma and deep flavor. Maybe it’s the abundant qi?’

Frankly, Hoyeon knew nothing about tea, but the land was just too good.

If you planted beans, you didn’t get red beans, but you’d still get enormous, sturdy beans.

Treasure, no matter how hidden, always draws eyes.

The word spread, and before long, he couldn’t keep up with demand.

With money flowing in, he finally indulged his hobby: snacking.

People started asking if he was preparing to open a teahouse, and he figured—why not?

‘Maybe I’d have succeeded even if I’d been born a merchant?’

As Hoyeon chuckled to himself, the Heavenly Thunder Sword grumbled in his mind.

—You fool. Don’t get cocky just because of a little luck. Honestly, what did you even do? Even the tea idea came from your clan’s advice.

‘So what? I gave the clan a fifty percent cut in return.’

Hoyeon shrugged.

The day he paid off the land, he tried to offload the tea fields onto his father, but was refused.

Instead, they agreed the clan would receive half the profits in exchange for covering operational costs.

‘Tsk, I wanted to retire and slack off, but now I’ve got even more work.’

It felt like he’d fallen into his father’s trap, but… he didn’t hate it.

A sword demon turned entrepreneur—just thinking about it was bizarrely amusing.

And then…

“Hm? Is this a… children’s shelter?”

Man Hong-gi had arrived in front of a wide manor and looked confused.

Dozens of children were playing in the yard, and inside, they could hear them reciting Confucian texts.

“Yeah, it’s called Hoa-won—Garden of Child Protection.”

“A place to protect children… Impressive.”

Man Hong-gi was amazed.

Running an orphanage? As expected from the Namgung Clan, paragons of justice.

“Hehehe. It’s just called Hoa-won. Truth is, this place is a terrible hell.”

“Hell…?”

As Man Hong-gi looked at him suspiciously, Hoyeon smirked at the kids and replied,

“You need people to work tea fields, right? So I picked up some orphaned brats from the slums and put them to work. Isn’t that creative?”

“Uh… They look really healthy, though?”

“Well, duh. They’ve got to eat three meals a day to work.”

“They don’t look tired either…”

“They need sleep, too. So they can work harder the next day.”

“Do they need to study Thousand Character Classic to pick tea?”

“They’ve got to manage ledgers, don’t they?”

“…Aren’t those snacks in your arms gifts for the kids?”

“You’ve gotta treat them with sweets sometimes. Keeps morale up.”

“……”

Man Hong-gi fell silent.

Ask a hundred slum orphans:

A place that gives you three meals a day, lets you sleep on time, teaches you to read, and even buys you snacks—what would you call it?

Every single one would say, “Heaven.”

“Oh! It’s Young Master!”

“Ehhh?”

“Wow!”

“Big bro!”

The kids saw Hoyeon and squealed with delight, running toward him.

“Haha, foolish brats. Don’t even know they’re being fattened up to be eaten. Isn’t that funny?”

“Uh… sure.”

Man Hong-gi gave up trying to understand and just played along.

“Here, share these.”

“Yay!”

“Tanghulu!”

“There’s yongsudang too!”

Hoyeon tossed the bundle, and the children swarmed it like ants, grabbing treats.

While they were distracted, Hoyeon led Man Hong-gi into Hoa-won.

A middle-aged man approached and bowed.

“Young Master, you’re here again.”

“Director Tak, long time no see.”

“It’s only been three days, sir.”

“That’s a long time.”

Director Tak laughed softly at Hoyeon’s reply.

‘He’s an amusing one.’

He did good deeds but hated having them called that.

‘The first day we met, he told me he needed cheap labor.’

He was offering to fund the orphanage, it turned out.

Thanks to him, the kids who used to starve could eat their fill. Hoa-won was even registered under the Namgung Clan’s education division.

From there, things progressed fast.

They moved to a bigger place, took in more kids, and improved their education.

‘A young master worth serving, indeed.’

As Director Tak looked on with fondness and admiration, Hoyeon cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ahem. Director, show this man our tea fields.”

“The tea fields?”

“Yeah. He’s new in town and doesn’t know what products to buy. We should start promoting anyway.”

Director Tak glanced at the hesitant Man Hong-gi.

The merchant awkwardly introduced himself.

“I’m Man Hong-gi, a merchant. I lead a small firm called the Mansu Trading Company.”

“You’re a head merchant?”

“Oh, no! Just a traveling peddler. Please, call me plain old Man.”

“Then, I’ll leave you two to talk. I’m off.”

Hoyeon turned and left.

“W-wait a moment…!”

Man Hong-gi tried to call out, but Hoyeon vanished like the wind, just as he’d appeared.

“Sigh…”

“Haha. Seems you’ve caught Young Master Hoyeon’s favor.”

“Me? I just made a few comments about the Namgung Clan at the inn…”

“That’s probably all it took. The Young Master loves his clan dearly.”