Chapter 65
When I appeared, the three faces before me split into different expressions.
From Geum Danmok came gladness and relief.
The man who had scolded looked annoyed, as if to say, “What is this now?”
Mrs. Seol’s look changed instead of her face—and it was not a pleasant look.
What that look meant was nothing other than lust.
Mrs. Seol’s blatant gaze swept over my entire body.
She didn’t even bother to hide it.
At a glance I felt I knew what kind of person she was.
A woman who stands above power and puts her desires and pleasures first.
That was how I saw Mrs. Seol.
Maybe because of that—
“How dare you barge in here, not even knowing who’s present, and insert yourself however you please!?”
The man who’d been shouting was promptly reprimanded by Mrs. Seol.
“You look like a scion of the Geum family; is it really necessary to be so cold to him, General Byeong?”
The mouth of the man called General Byeong drew in, very unbecoming of a general.
A quick apology followed.
“S-sorry, madam.”
“Since General Byeong is repenting, I will not scold him further.”
“Thank you!”
No matter how much she was treasured by the Mid-King, it was humiliating to see a military commander behave in that way.
Yet the fact that General Byeong did not seem to care about the humiliation suggested—just as I had heard at Hao-mun—how great Mrs. Seol’s power truly was.
And that sank my estimation of the woman in front of me even lower.
Someone with that much power, and that was all she had to show for it.
I didn’t want to talk much longer.
But my mouth moved quite against my feelings.
“Madam Seol’s beauty and intelligence I have long heard of and admired deeply. But seeing you today in person, the impression is beyond words.”
She seemed pleased by my sudden praise.
“You speak so sweetly.”
For the first time that day, a smile appeared at the corner of Mrs. Seol’s mouth.
And the smile did not leave until the conversation ended.
Partly because Mrs. Seol liked me, but also because I had accepted their requests from start to finish.
The loyalty between the Heukjeon faction and Heukjeon Lord?
There was no way Mrs. Seol came all this way for the lowly people mentioned by General Byeong.
What they wanted was only one thing.
Since the ones who used to bring bribes were gone, someone to take their place was needed.
I promised them.
I would bring more wealth than the Heukjeon Lord had brought.
That was why Mrs. Seol left smiling until the end.
She even leaned in and whispered in my ear before she left.
“Soon I will send someone to bring you—know that and wait.”
A voice that was hardly pleasant—sticky with feeling.
I disliked it so much I almost drew the Melyak Divine Sword without thinking.
But apparently someone envied that sticky voice.
“Don’t get cocky. Madam Seol prefers a sturdy man like me to a showy entertainer-brother like you.”
It was General Byeong.
But him saying that made it sound like they had something going on.
When I shot him a look that said “What nonsense is this?” he gave a guilty little cough and followed Mrs. Seol out of the reception room.
At the same time Geum Danmok, who had been holding his breath, let it out.
When he met my eyes he gave a wry smile and said,
“You endured and stayed composed even though you must have felt wronged and angry. And it was right to agree to their demand. If you’d resisted, they would have called you insolent and demanded more.”
Apparently Geum Danmok thought his child had bowed to them.
I had of course acted to make it look that way, so I did not feel particularly wronged.
On the contrary, I smiled.
That my clumsy performance had fooled even a seasoned merchant like Geum Danmok meant something.
Still, if left that way he’d worry, so I decided to clear up the misunderstanding a bit.
“I will not be bringing them anything.”
That would never happen, even in death.
Unless it was the opposite—then maybe.
No, that wasn’t right.
They wouldn’t even have the chance.
Because I was going to make it so.
“So you, Lord, do not worry and devote yourself only to recovery.”
A son who had lived for a long time with a time limit on his life.
From Geum Danmok’s perspective my words might have sounded fanciful.
But Geum Danmok smiled without speaking and nodded.
What filled his eyes was trust for his child.
“Alright, I believe you.”
With those words, Geum Danmok rose from his seat.
He was not yet roaming about, but he had recovered enough to stand up.
However, the strain of coming here and all he had been through showed; his body trembled thinly as he rose.
I did not hesitate to support him.
I personally helped him all the way back to the lord’s hall, because there were still things to discuss there.
I sent for Geum Ja-un and Geum Ja-seong, and when the two arrived I spoke directly.
“Du San-baek is dead.”
Telling them Du San-baek had died overnight was apparently hard for the three to accept.
“Is that true?”
Ja-un and Ja-seong, and even Geum Danmok who had trusted me because of Mrs. Seol, all seemed unable to believe it easily.
But I wasn’t upset or hurt.
If I were in their shoes I would have reacted the same.
All I needed was to tell a story suitably tailored so they could believe it.
“Using the information Hao-mun gave me, I located him and personally cut off his head.”
Just like that.
What Sah-hun had given me had been transformed into information from Hao-mun.
If I’d said a Grim Reaper had given the information, they’d call me mad, so I had at least taken care to adapt the story.
Still, they seemed not entirely convinced.
“I have seen your skill, but Du San-baek was a famous master even within Gujung-hoe. That you would have dealt with such a man is hard to accept.”
Ja-un spoke for the group with that comment.
Geum Danmok and the others nodded in agreement.
I wasn’t troubled.
In fact, I had prepared for such a situation.
“This should help you believe.”
I produced the insignia that had been attached to Du San-baek’s clothing.
It was a distinctive piece I had kept just in case, and when Geum Ja-un and Ja-seong saw it they were stunned.
“I remember. Du San-baek’s garments definitely had this insignia.”
“My goodness, to think your claim that you beheaded Du San-baek is true.”
When Ja-un and Ja-seong reacted that way, Geum Danmok had no choice but to believe as well.
He was more astonished than the two.
“You’ve returned a far greater master than I expected.”
It could have sounded arrogant, but I simply nodded calmly.
“If it were another master from Gujung-hoe instead of Du San-baek, the result would have been the same.”
I even added that needless comment.
I thought it would dilute their anxiety a little.
And as expected, it worked.
“Maybe if I train hard I can become a master like you?”
“I want to train hard so I can be like you!”
The faith in me that had been inspired by my claim about Du San-baek had disappeared in an instant and was replaced by praise.
If they kept on, they’d probably start worshipping me, so I lightly rapped both of their heads to calm them.
But—
“Do you think if I train hard I could become like our eldest?”
Geum Danmok’s question left me unsure how to answer, and I scratched the back of my head without knowing what to say.
Ha ha!
At that moment the three of them all burst into laughter as if by agreement.
Only then did I realize Geum Danmok had been teasing me.
Even though I’d been fooled, I laughed along with them.
Family.
In that moment I felt I understood, a little, the meaning of that name.
After discussing how to respond to Gujung-hoe and finishing our meal together, when we returned to the lodging it was already past evening and night had fallen.
Even after returning I didn’t plan to rest much.
I still had things to think about.
Specifically, matters related to Mrs. Seol I had met earlier.
Originally I had intended only to recover the wealth taken by the Heukjeon faction from the Mid-King’s house.
But after meeting Mrs. Seol today my thinking changed completely.
Not only return the stolen wealth, but empty out the Mid-King’s storehouses.
And to neutralize any threat to the Geum Hwa trading house.
And the obvious threat to remove was Mrs. Seol herself—who had come today in person to fleece the Geum Hwa.
“If I were to remove Mrs. Seol, it would have been easiest to do it before returning to the Mid-King’s house today.”
But there was a reason I had not done so.
Doing that would have put me in great danger.
No matter how secretly I carried it out, if I acted now the Mid-King’s palace would inevitably suspect the Geum Hwa trading house.
Even with no physical evidence, given that the Heukjeon faction had vanished, suspicion would fall on the storehouses closest to the scene—namely, Geum Hwa.
And that alone could put Geum Hwa in danger.
The Mid-King would be willing—and capable—to destroy Geum Hwa on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone.
I could not start a fight with the entire Mid-King’s administration just to quickly remove one Mrs. Seol.
So I needed to be cautious.
Either wait until the link between Mrs. Seol and Geum Hwa faded, or eliminate Mrs. Seol at a time when no suspicion would fall on Geum Hwa.
My choice was obviously the latter.
Even if it meant taking some risks.
“I cannot go after every evildoer in the world.”
I couldn’t stand to see the villain who had ties to me parading about.
Even without Hao-mun’s information, Mrs. Seol’s behavior I’d seen today was enough to infer how wickedly she had lived.
“Still, today might be tough.”
I would not act rashly out of emotion.
Although part of me wanted to charge in right away, if I left even the smallest trace that could be tracked back, everyone connected to Geum Hwa could be annihilated.
The law of the world was to execute without question anyone who harmed royalty; and anyone even tangentially related could face extermination.
Of course the chance I’d leave any trace was very small.
But a very small chance was not a gamble I could stake my family and household on.
“If only Sah-hun were here.”
The emptiness left by Sah-hun—who should by now be in the netherworld—was larger than I’d imagined.
When would he return?
I was lamenting the absence of Sah-hun when, as if to fill that void himself, a presence popped its head out in front of me.
Pii!
Geum Du looked at me as if to say, “Don’t you need me?”
