Chapter 167: Chapter 167

* * *

The next morning. Adults and children were all gathered having breakfast somewhat boisterously.

Jang Un, who was eating, initiated the topic first:

“Today I’m going to Sun’s warehouse at the pier.”

“Is that so? When are you coming back?”

“Well? Around evening?”

Madam Yeom, who was picking up side dishes for Jang Sang, cast a gaze at Jang Un:

“What are you doing that makes you come back so late?”

“What do you mean late. Checking goods, organizing documents, doing this and that means having meals together… well, it’s like that.”

Madam Yeom’s eyebrows covertly drew an inverted character for eight.

“If you come back completely drunk again, take care of yourself.”

Breaking into a cold sweat, Jang Un shook his head:

“No, what… I will only have a meal and return, wife. Only a meal.”

While Jang Un was in such distress, Dan Sang-woon shoveled rice into his mouth with a slightly blank face and chewed. Seeing him, it seemed he was already thinking about the content he would research this afternoon. Beside him, Chae-yun was naturally taking care of side dishes for him.

The children were whispering quietly among themselves. Since today was not a day the writing tutor came, it seemed they were planning what to do and play. The ones quietly eating were only Jang Geon and Jin Gyeon. Even Seo-ha was quickly drawn by the children’s secret plot and concentrating her attention there.

That slightly noisy scene truly fit well with the words: a family living together under one roof.

Still, when Jang Geon suddenly brought up words, everyone had no choice but to grow quiet.

“I plan to take on a disciple.”

The large dining table where eating had been clattering grew quiet for a moment. Blinking both eyes, Jang Un asked first on behalf of the other people:

“…A disciple?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Seo-ha.”

The adults’ eyes focused on Seo-ha. Chewing on rice, Seo-ha shrank back slightly as if that gaze was burdensome. Jang Un tilted his head slightly:

“Isn’t Seo-ha a secular disciple of Shaolin?”

“Amitabha, being a secular disciple of Shaolin does not mean one cannot become another’s disciple. Furthermore, Warrior Jang is a martial artist this humble monk truly trusts, and his martial arts are also those of an outstanding knight-errant, so he will be a good master to Seo-ha as well.”

At Jin Gyeon’s answer, Jang Un blinked his eyes again. Instead, his son Jang Sang intruded abruptly:

“Then will Sister Seo-ha continue living here?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow!”

The expressions of the children, who were seriously planning today’s play, brightened dramatically. Madam Yeom also said with delight:

“That has turned out truly well. Are you teaching Young Master’s martial arts?”

“Yes. I plan to do so.”

The children, Madam Yeom, and Chae-yun offered congratulations to Jang Geon and Seo-ha with joy. Thinking of something else, Dan Sang-woon hurriedly extended congratulations together at the sight of those people.

Just then, Jang Un, who was rejoicing together, spoke as if slightly concerned:

“I thought the two of you had no ordinary bond. But is the house yard not a bit narrow to do martial practice like that? Should we tear down one warehouse?”

“No. I plan to buy the building next to the merchant guild, clear out the interior, and use it as a martial practice hall.”

“If it’s a building large enough to use as a martial practice hall, there’s only Yang’s building… You plan to buy that? That man will ask for a high price…”

Jang Geon smiled slightly:

“I have saved up a bit.”

Only then did the box Jang Geon held when Seom Ji-young of the Je Clan visited last time come to Jang Un’s mind. Assuming that inside was filled with silver, that level of confidence was not incomprehensible.

“Yeah, you’ll manage things well on your own. In any case, it has turned out truly well that Seo-ha is staying. You two looked so affectionate that I really wondered if Seo-ha was your daughter, ”

Jang Un’s mouth, which was speaking, shut tightly. Madam Yeom pinched his side. Madam Yeom smiled lightly and continued speaking:

“It has turned out truly well. Does this mean I should display a bit of my skills? Everyone make sure to return home early. Today I will boil meat and cook dishes. While at it, I should also make some food for the merchant guild employees to eat.”

“…Y-Yeah. I will also return early today…”

Jang Un held his side and tried hard to act as if nothing was wrong. However, since anyone could see he was struggling to endure the pain, laughter leaked from the children’s mouths.

After such a boisterous breakfast, Jang Un went to the pier, Dan Sang-woon went to work, and Madam Yeom and Chae-yun headed to the market to buy ingredients for today’s cooking. Thus in the Jang residence, only Jang Geon, Jin Gyeon, and the children remained. There were also two servants, but since they doubled in merchant guild work, they had no time to look after the children.

Since the incident where the original wet nurse was swapped for a Dark Dragon agent previously, the Jang couple had not gotten a new wet nurse. Because the death of the wet nurse who had been with them since the past became a wound in their hearts.

Since there was no writing tutor today, the children who got to play all day played hide-and-seek inside the house or played with toys Dan Sang-woon made. What was so fun among themselves, laughter did not cease from the children.

Jang Geon, who thought of joining the children’s play for a moment, quickly dropped out due to those young children’s peculiar and nonsensical rules. Leaving the children squirming in the room, he came out to the yard and found Jin Gyeon sitting on a chair receiving sunlight.

Jang Geon pulled a chair beside him and slumped into it. Seeing that, Jin Gyeon laughed and said:

“Hehe. Children’s play is much more complex than expected, isn’t it?”

“I thought it would be fine since I remembered playing with my siblings when I was young, but it seems that’s not the case.”

“At each age, there is complexity suited to that age. That goes for children as well. To adults, it must be a complexity that is very hard to understand.”

Jang Geon chuckled softly listening to Jin Gyeon’s words. And slanting his head that had been looking at the sky, he spoke:

“Are you not going to view temples today?”

“Amitabha, in truth I looked around them all yesterday. In the rumors heard in the Central Plains, it was said there were several temples, but looking around, they said they were recently integrated into one. Still, it was quite a splendid temple. Though I thought it might be too ornate.”

“So that’s why you were talking about leaving or not this morning.”

Jin Gyeon laughed bashfully and rolled his prayer beads. If there were more temples worth seeing, yesterday evening’s warning might have been delayed by a few days. Jang Geon slowly shook his head and buried his body in the chair backrest. In any case, since it worked out well, he had no desire to press him.

“Come to think of it, what are you doing at home today, Warrior Jang?”

“…Me?”

At Jin Gyeon’s sudden question, Jang Geon was momentarily speechless and scratched his neck. It wasn’t that he had nothing to do. Since he decided to take Seo-ha as a disciple, he had to research what and how to teach her, and he had to go find the building owner to purchase the building to use as a martial practice hall.

Also, he had to meet Princess Yu Seol to fight against The Palace. Because he needed to find out how much the preparations of the Imperial Army and Murim Alliance had progressed, and when an appropriate moment would be for Jang Geon to slide in quietly. On top of that, joining that subjugation army meant separating from Seo-ha again, so he also had to create a method for Seo-ha to cultivate alone during that time.

Organizing it, there was a mountain of things to do. It was not a time to be sullen over not being able to join the children’s play.

“Hearing the question, do tasks come popping up in your mind?”

“…Those words are correct. There is much work.”

Jang Geon slowly straightened his posture from the chair. The work that could be processed fastest was purchasing the martial practice hall. Deliberating on what to teach Seo-ha could be done with his mind, and visiting Yu Seol seemed fine to do a bit later. That was because Jang Geon roughly grasped where his current martial arts level stood in the present Martial World, and when a martial artist of that degree offered to join without pay, neither the Imperial Army nor the Murim Alliance would mistreat him; if anything, they would welcome him.

However, Jang Geon merely straightened his body and did not stand up. That was because if he went out now, the only adult remaining in the house was Jin Gyeon. Of course, it wasn’t that Jin Gyeon had some problem, but simply that leaving a guest to guard the house was not proper etiquette.

At that, Jin Gyeon spoke as if understanding everything:

“It seems you have business outside. Please go ahead. I will watch over the children.”

“…Would that be fine?”

“The meals received from Madam Yeom have already exceeded three. Should I not do at least this much?”

Hearing those words and thinking for a moment, Jang Geon realized it would take time to buy the building and organize its inside. Of course, since he intended to use it as a martial practice hall, it would end at roughly cleaning the inside cleanly, but still, to teach Seo-ha as much as possible before going to attack The Palace, the sooner that organization was done, the better.

Organizing his thoughts, Jang Geon stood up from his chair:

“Alright. It’s just next door, so it won’t take long. Of course, I’ll have to go talk to know.”

“Have a good trip, Warrior Jang.”

Jang Geon right away fetched his outer robe and gold to step outside. Whatever price the building owner asked, he intended to conclude it in cash right on the spot.

Jin Gyeon smiled gently, watching Jang Geon recede. Afterward, when Jang Geon was no longer visible, Jin Gyeon unconsciously closed his eyes. From the house behind his back, the children’s sound of laughing “Wow!” was heard, and from the clear sky, warm sunlight poured down. Rolling prayer beads in his hand, Jin Gyeon unconsciously muttered:

“Amitabha…”

* * *

Jang Geon’s deal was not concluded quickly. That was because the building owner, Yang, was not there. They said Yang usually stayed at an inn he owned in the middle of the New Sichuan street. They heard he rarely even came over to this side.

He could have simply returned, but since he had come out with gold in hand, Jang Geon decided to finish the task now. So tucking that heavy box under his arm, he went to the inn on the street to meet that Yang.

“Sell that? It’s a building used only as a warehouse… What do you intend to use it for?”

Elderly Yang looked at Jang Geon with sharp eyes, suspicious of who he was or whether he was a new competitor in New Sichuan’s business world. Jang Geon’s answer to him was simple.

With a thud sound, the box Jang Geon brought fell onto Yang’s table. And Yang, who guessed the contents of the box just by hearing the subtle sound inside, grabbed the box with a thinly trembling hand:

“…All of this?”

Jang Geon shook his head.

“R-Right. Receiving this entire amount for that warehouse building would make me a thief… Th-Then half?”

At the greedy old man’s gaze, Jang Geon merely stared at him without answering. Only then did Yang ask as if curious about who Jang Geon was:

“Who are you, my good man?”

“Jang Geon.”

“…Azure Dragon Sword!”

Startled, Yang soon nodded his head. Because Jang Geon’s sturdy build and demeanor of showing not a single sign of excitement even while holding this much gold inspired trust. Furthermore, everyone who ought to know now knew that that Jang Geon was a person of the Jang Family Merchant Guild.

“…I will take only the fair price. Instead, may I invite you to dinner later?”

“Later.”

“…Right, later.”

Yang drew up the documents right on the spot and called a subordinate to entrust the work. And from Jang Geon’s box, as he had said, he took the fair price of that building, exactly one ingot of gold. And he quietly closed the box and returned it to Jang Geon:

“You asked to have the interior cleaned neatly? Two days will be sufficient.”

“Thank you.”

Briefly extending thanks, Jang Geon tucked the box under his arm again and left the inn. Looking at that receding back, Yang repeatedly nodded his head. Though he sold that warehouse for the same price as when he bought it, he considered himself to have gained several times that profit simply by opening an acquaintance with Jang Geon, a rising master in the current Martial World.

Whether he was happy like that or not, Jang Geon, who finished his work, intended to return straight to the Jang Family Merchant Guild. However, what caught his eye was a small fabric shop visible between buildings. Among the clothes hung outside to draw people in, there was something that captured Jang Geon’s gaze.

It was blue martial robes, but whether it was for women, the sleekly well-tailored shape was quite stylish. Seeing those clothes, Jang Geon suddenly thought of Seo-ha, and it seemed a place tailoring clothes of that degree could tailor clothes fitting Seo-ha as well.

So Jang Geon stepped inside the fabric shop with the thought of looking around first before bringing Seo-ha.

At the sign of presence near the entrance, a woman who appeared to be the fabric shop owner slowly turned around:

“Welcome, what are you looking for…”

Both Jang Geon and that woman momentarily froze stiffly. Both had frozen in absurdity.

Thus Dark Dragon Agent No. 3 and Jang Geon looked at each other with dazed eyes for a moment.

* * *

A wagon approached in front of the Jang Family Merchant Guild.

Sitting on a small chair before the merchant guild checking documents with a writing board, Sang-pal, a merchant guild employee, slowly stood up upon seeing the person sitting on the driver’s seat of that wagon. And approaching the wagon, he spoke:

“What brings you here so early today? But the Manager isn’t here today, hehe. It was a chance to make a good impression, what a shame.”

That wagon was the wagon that had suffered trouble a few days ago after trying to cheat on quantities with Jang Un. However, knowing the circumstances of that wagon owner, Sang-pal playfully struck up a conversation, pretending to be extra familiar. At those words, the wagon owner’s eyes turned to him.

“No problems today, right? Since I truly trust Brother Mok, today just appropriately…”

Sang-pal’s voice slowly diminished. That was because the gaze of the wagon owner looking at him was strange.

“…Brother Mok?”

Looking at Sang-pal, Brother Mok’s eyes were white as if clouded by cataracts. The moment Sang-pal assumed a disgusted expression upon seeing that, he opened his mouth wide and spoke with a sound of leaking air:

“…Run… away…”

Simultaneously, something thrust out from inside the wagon, pierced through even the wagon owner’s body, and stuck into Sang-pal’s chest.

“Uh… uh…?”

By the time Sang-pal realized that it was a long spear, blood poured in a rush onto the floor as the spear tip exited his body. Grasping his chest dripping with blood, Sang-pal collapsed onto the floor.

As he collapsed, those hidden inside the wagon poured out in a heap. The one emerging at the very end while shaking off the driver impaled on the spear was one covered in a black robe, with nothing visible except pale hands.

The moment he stepped down from the wagon onto the floor, *tinkle, * the sound of a bell rang out.