Chapter 44
Of course.
If the enemy was as easy as they looked, they wouldn’t have sent the hostages first without having some backup to rely on.
Those who blocked my way just now were exactly that backup — the ones they trusted. The character 會 (hoe) was stamped large on their clothes; anyone could see they were warriors of the Gujunghoe.
I warned those Gujunghoe warriors sternly.
“Anyone who comes at me recklessly will be dealt with the same way.”
I pointed my sword at the one whose neck I’d just cut. I hadn’t attacked first — he’d sprung an ambush on me, and I’d simply responded. He wasn’t the only one like that. If I hadn’t reacted properly, the others present would have attacked me together. Yet they stood there like scarecrows, frozen. Sometimes it’s necessary to show decisive skill.
“Was killing his neck… really necessary?”
The man who seemed to be their leader protested. I answered him with a question instead.
“Do you really think it was excessive?”
The leader flinched. He couldn’t argue — his eyes darted away. Of course he would be at a loss: the subordinate who died had charged at me intending to kill. I hadn’t seen any orders given; that meant they’d planned to eliminate me beforehand. When their plan failed and they were counterattacked, they had the gall to blame me. It was absurd — I could only laugh. At the same time, the future course of events drew itself clearly. When people like this were provoked with words, they always tried to press their numbers.
“—Attack!”
There. Despite the enemy being laughably bad, a smile tugged at my lips. I preferred that — it’s easier than endlessly arguing with dimwits.
“I warned you. I said I’d make whoever attacks me like the one who went ahead.”
They’d ignored my warning; now they’d pay. Swoosh. One down. Swoosh. Two down. Swoosh. Cutting a third, I shouted at the rest.
“I’m tired of cutting you one by one. If you’re going to come at me, do it all at once.”
But after that there was no one else bold enough to attack me.
‘Looks like about ten or so left.’
There were still quite a few people, but the remaining men exchanged glances between me and their leader. As for that leader — he didn’t try to assess the situation or bring it under control; he panicked and spat curses in confusion.
“Damn it, how can this be! How did some bumpkin from a backwater trading guild learn such skill? This is nothing like what we were told.”
One thing became clear: despite the Gujunghoe’s reputation, these men were decidedly below par. The leader, in particular, was worse than the rest. It seemed likely he held his position because of school ties, hometown ties, or blood ties rather than actual ability. When it looked like they wouldn’t fight anymore, I stepped forward, and the man reacted like a startled animal and answered my doubts himself.
“Y-you! Do you know who I am?”
“Who are you?”
“My father-in-law is Elder Dusanbaek! He’s a senior elder of the Gujunghoe and the teacher of your juniors — you can’t possibly not know him, can you?”
Ah. Of course.
“No wonder you seemed incompetent and unlucky. Your father-in-law is Dusanbaek?”
But then—
“Don’t you even have a name? You ask who someone is, but you can’t answer with your own name — only with the name of your father-in-law?”
I asked out of sheer incredulity, and the man’s face flushed scarlet.
“…Someone like you doesn’t get to have a name I’d tell you.”
Oh, come on. After acting like you’ve got no pride, now you try to salvage it? Well, a man who loses his pride isn’t worth much. I decided to give this name-less fellow a chance out of some twisted respect.
“If you stand and fight instead of running away, I’ll believe what you say.”
I gave him the chance to claim his pride. But he rejected it from the start.
“I surrender.”
“What?”
“Of course it’s a temporary surrender, don’t think you’ve truly beaten me.”
What a load of nonsense. Was he trying to stall by confusing me? Watching him, I didn’t think so. He seemed genuinely miserable about this “temporary surrender.”
“Ugh! To think I’d bow my head in this backwater trading guild. I’ll be ashamed to face my ancestors.”
He wasn’t just incompetent — maybe a bit too soft-headed. Still, his constant references to “backwater” grated on me.
“How great must you think you are to call a family listed among the Thirty Great Trading Guilds a backwater?”
He had nothing to say except his father-in-law’s name, yet he acted like he was something. The man smiled as if waiting for something.
“You’d be surprised if I told you.”
His stubbornness in this situation was ridiculous. Frankly, I wasn’t very curious.
“Don’t tell me.”
“I’ll tell you my family name.”
“I said don’t.”
“My family is the Taepyeong Trading Company, proudly listed among the Thirty Great Trading Guilds.”
The man wouldn’t listen. If he was like this at home, I already knew the answer.
“Now I see — you’re your family’s offspring. Not a real son-in-law, but a live-in son-in-law.”
A live-in son-in-law is someone who joins his bride’s household and continues their line. Had I hit the mark? The man staggered, momentarily disoriented.
“H-hey, don’t spout nonsense! Dusanbaek wouldn’t take a child given up by their family as a son-in-law!”
That denial was too late to be convincing.
“Even a child given up by their family is still their child — a parent would give money or whatever to secure a place for them.”
That seemed to be the knockout blow.
“You bastard!”
Unable to take it any longer, the incompetent fellow drew his sword and charged. The clumsy swing made me exhale. Without needing to dodge, I grabbed his wrist and forced the sword from his hand.
“Aaah! L-let go of me!”
I paid him no mind and pressed a pressure point on his neck; the noisy man finally quieted. With fear shaking his pupils, I told him my plan.
“Still, Dusanbaek must have had his reasons to accompany you here, so I’ll spare your life for now.”
I truly didn’t intend to kill him immediately. The Geumhwa Trading Company had suffered heavy losses because of the Gujunghoe and Dusanbaek; someone had to compensate for that damage.
“Some of the Thirty Great Trading Guilds must have accumulated a fair amount of wealth.”
Of course, they might not hand it over for this man. Even if they didn’t, I had no intention of harming them. The Taepyeong Trading Company’s only fault was raising a poor child. Did any parent raise a child like that on purpose?
“As you can see, your leader was quickly subdued. Will you continue?”
A normal organization would have tried to rescue their leader the moment he was subdued. But with a leader like that, could the organization be normal?
“We surrender.”
Their surrender played out exactly as expected. First I checked their pulse points, then had men fetch ropes and tie them up. Geumhwa Trading Company had no prison, but it had many warehouses used by the guild; locking them up wasn’t difficult.
After dealing with them, I asked:
“You said some were beaten and locked in a warehouse — is that true?”
Songgok and Chief No had been said to be the victims. Since I hadn’t seen them, I asked; one of the trading guild’s warriors who knew their whereabouts stepped forward.
“I believe those people were taken by Shinui to be treated.”
“What’s their condition?”
“If Master Shinui hadn’t intervened in time, they might have been truly dead.”
It seemed even the Gujunghoe’s warriors had not acted recklessly toward Jegalmyeong. His reputation aside, their influential backing — the Jegal clan — couldn’t be ignored. The influence of the Jegal family across the land was something the Gujunghoe couldn’t simply dismiss. After sending the people away since it was late, I stayed alone and thought.
‘I owe a debt to Shinui.’
If Shinui hadn’t been there, as the warriors said, there might have been a far worse outcome. He reached out first even though I hadn’t asked — for that I was grateful. I resolved to express my thanks to Shinui separately. More than that, I worried about the future.
‘There’s no guarantee an incident like today won’t happen again.’
This had happened while I was away. If Shinui hadn’t been there, I might have lost my people — the thought sent shivers down my spine.
‘The problem is I can’t stay at the guild forever.’
If I only proposed activity ranges and stayed put, I’d eventually become a frog in a well. I’d accomplish nothing and could protect nothing. So I needed a way to safeguard the Geumhwa Trading Company even when I wasn’t present. A few ideas came to mind.
The first was to eliminate the source of trouble. Even if it required effort, quickly settling the issue with the Gujunghoe would remove the immediate threat; if the enemy disappeared, Geumhwa wouldn’t be exposed. It seemed rational at first glance but wasn’t a fundamental solution.
‘For now the Gujunghoe are the only enemy.’
Would that still be true later? I was certain it wouldn’t.
‘There are just as many greedy people in the world as the Gujunghoe.’
Some day others would bare their teeth at Geumhwa. People like to romanticize the martial world, but it’s actually survival of the fittest — a harsh world of conflict between people and organizations.
‘So I must prepare force that can respond to any situation.’
That was the fundamental solution I had in mind. But compared to the first option, it could be even harder. The strength of an organization ultimately depends on how many high-level fighters it has. Masters are rare.
‘Even starting right now, I’d need at least ten years to train masters to the level I want.’
It wouldn’t just take time. It would require massive wealth and countless matters to manage. Nevertheless, it had to be done; giving up because it’s hard would mean no future.
‘Time is the biggest problem.’
Ten years until masters were trained. During that time there wouldn’t be any miracle from the ancestors to protect the Geumga household, so I’d need another way to bridge those ten years. Fortunately, I already knew one method — something I experienced today.
‘Bin-gae k.’
Bin-gaek referred to invited guests. Larger sects or clans usually accepted invited guests. The organization provided money or support, and the guests lent their abilities in return. Shinui could be seen as precisely such an invited guest for the Geumhwa Trading Company. And the one who helped Geumhwa this time was such a guest.
‘If I could bring in more guests…’
If I could invite more masters that way, then ten years might be manageable. Of course there were conditions. One was:
‘Would masters of that caliber even come to the Geumhwa Trading Company?’
True masters would receive solicitations from many factions. I wasn’t confident I could court them like that. But there was the flip side.
‘I can offer things they can’t get elsewhere.’
For example: wealth? I wasn’t confident I could win them over with money alone. Not because the Geumhwa Company lacked capital — rather—
‘If they wanted, I could even give them treasures, rare items.’
After all, I had been creating things to make money. Of course I couldn’t give them away carelessly.
‘Top-tier masters.’
If I could attract that level, things might just balance out.
