3
0
4.
And on the way back, I met a welcome flag.
“Huh? Daecheon Merchant Guild!”
While trying to enter the inn, I discovered the flag of the Daecheon Merchant Guild on the carriage.
“Ah, Young Master Jin.”
As I entered the inn, the warriors and merchants who were eating all stood up at once and acknowledged me.
Are you on your way back from the Galaxy Merchant Guild?
I nodded at Jang Gye Go Jung-tak’s question.
Then, he asks cautiously.
“……
Did you finish the work you left for?
True to his character, he seemed very interested in the deal made with the Galaxy Merchant Guild.
“yes.”
I handed the contract I brought from the Galaxy Trading Company to Go Jung-tak.
Go Jung-tak carefully examined the documents and could not hide his surprised expression.
“It really worked out……!”
It seems you were expecting that?
“Don’t even get me started. I was already so distressed that I couldn’t find the money lying around in Hangzhou.”
Go Jung-tak made a pained expression, and we shared a good laugh.
“But… why are you out here, Janggye?”
The long rail usually does not move far from the top.
Determining the value of goods and calculating transportation or distribution costs is generally their job.
“Furthermore, there was no flag of the鏢局 (Pyo-guk). Did you not use the Pyo-guk?”
“Ah… that.”
Go Jung-tak scratched his cheek with his finger.
To reduce costs, I usually handle short distances directly within the trading company. Moreover, since most of the items on this trip were high value relative to their volume, I also handled the movement myself.
“okay.”
Indeed, it was customary not to use escort agencies for safe trade over short distances or on official roads.
Because using a courier service itself adds to the cost, it reduces competitiveness.
“That’s perfect timing. Since you are heading to the Daecheon Merchant Guild anyway, why don’t you come with us? Sangjasu is an excellent cook.”
The servant who came along with the Galaxy Merchant Guild was also quite skilled at cooking, but I readily nodded.
“I also wanted to see how the Daecheon Merchant Guild operates. It’s truly a complete transformation.” When I recall what I was doing around this time in my previous life, I was looking for a job to earn even a few pennies.
Because Gye Cheol-yeong entered the Murim Academy through special recruitment, the disciples of Taeeulmun did not even dare to think about taking the Murim official examination.
There are a few years left until my mandatory service with the Murim Alliance.
“I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing every day at the sect, so I looked for a job. But as the saying goes, ‘the best thing you can do is steal,’ so I naturally sought out a job as a bodyguard, a profession where one makes a living by the sword.” “But it was no use.” I tried my best to find a job as a bodyguard, but no place would hire me.
What escort agency would hire someone with meager skills, experience, or connections?
Eventually, while working as a peddler at the Gyeryong Merchant Guild, he barely managed to make ends meet and earned just enough to bring money to the sect.
However, in this life, there is a Daecheon Merchant Guild established in the name of Taeeulmun, and countless people work and earn money at that Daecheon Merchant Guild.
There is no longer any need to worry about the sponsorship money from Gyeryong Merchant Group decreasing.
There was no need to stand in front of those who disliked me and whine.
We could feed the children training at the sect three meals a day, and there was no need to make them mend their torn martial arts clothes.
Thinking that made me feel better, so I called the waiter.
“What is the best liquor here?”
There is Sohongju and Geumjoncheong.
Ten diseases with Geumjoncheong.
“Ah! Yes!”
The waiter bowed his head so low it felt like his back would break, then darted into the kitchen like an arrow.
The people at the top who were listening to my order from the side could not erase their surprised expressions.
“Young Master, we are still on our way up…”
“Yes, I am aware. So, let’s just keep it simple and add it as an accompaniment.”
Go Jung-tak finally let out a small sigh at the expectant stares of the people.
You all heard that, right? Drink only enough so you don’t get drunk.
“““Neeee!””
Even Go Jung-tak, whose face had been stiff, had his expression softened before he knew it after smelling the scent of Geumjoncheong.
While the warm and friendly meal continued like that.
Clunk!
The door burst open roughly, and a group of burly men entered the inn.
The waiter, who had been coming out of the kitchen wondering if they were guests, sighed before serving them and returned to the kitchen, while the hulking men looked around the inn instead of finding seats. ‘Those bastards look filthy.’ With their menacing faces and the way they blatantly displayed their large weapons, it was obvious at a glance that they were scoundrels of the Black Bandit. ‘Did they come looking for a debt collector?’ As he glared at the crowd with piercing eyes while exuding a menacing aura, everyone eating in the inn tried their best to avoid making eye contact with them.
I stayed quiet because it wasn’t something I needed to worry about either.
“Here! Where is the Daecheon Merchant Guild!”
Huh?
Swoosh
-Huh??
“Suddenly, Go Jung-tak, who was sitting next to me, stood up. ‘What’s going on?’ Go Jung-tak politely grasped his fist.”
“Greetings to the great heroes. I am Go Jung-tak of the Daecheon Merchant Guild.”
“Right. What about the money?”
Here it is.
Then, he handed over a small pouch.
And the giants opened the pouch and looked inside.
“It looks like the Daecheon Merchant Guild is doing well these days. Drinking expensive liquor since midday.”
The giant’s gaze, having checked the pouch, turned toward the Golden Buddha placed on our table.
“That is all thanks to people like you, Great Hero.”
bang-!
Damn, that startled me… … No, more importantly, my Golden Serpent… … !
As a thick hand slammed down on the table, I instantly checked the Golden Serpent bottles.
Phew, I’m safe.
But did that bastard just slam the table?
“Then shouldn’t I have to pay more in tolls!”
Soon, a booming voice echoed throughout the inn.
Even in the face of an ignorant shouting, Go Jung-tak did not lose his polite attitude.
I will discuss this with the Head of the Merit Group.
“Very well. Then I will tell our Ark the same.”
“thank you.”
Then, the hulking man and his gang turned around as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As I watched the series of events unfold, I thought.
What kind of bullshit is this?
I rubbed my forehead and called out to them.
“Wait… wait, wait, wait.”
Go Jung-tak was stunned by my voice and quickly came over.
“Young Master Jin, I will explain it to you.”
“No. Janggye, you wait a moment. Hey, you! Come here.”
The giant opened his eyes wide and pointed at himself with his finger.
“You brat, were you talking about me?”
“I’m gonna fuck off, I’m gonna die…….”
“P-Confucius!”
I grabbed the acupoint of the long knee that clung to me like a leech and walked forward.
“Give me that money.”
what?”
“That’s the Daecheon Merchant Guild’s hard-earned money, so hand it over here.”
A brief silence falls over the inn.
The atmosphere had become so heavy that even the sound of swallowing sounded like a roar.
Then the giant burst into maniacal laughter.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
As the giant looked at the group with a smile, the group also burst into laughter, just like him.
“Hahahahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
“How dare this lunatic… He must be insane to want to die!”
Then, he immediately swung a fist as big as a watermelon.
puck!
Instead of blocking or dodging, I just took the punch.
however.
“Ugh…….”
The groan came from the huge man’s mouth, not mine.
The guy looked like he was trying hard not to show the pain he was feeling in his fist.
First, loosen your wrists.
“I hit you once. Now it’s my turn, right?”
I don’t know what’s going on.
Hmm, there must be some circumstances I don’t know about.
Yeah. I get it.
“That madman has lost all sense of fear…!”
Never mind.
Still, seeing my hard-earned money taken right before my eyes makes my anger surge.
Clench your teeth.
A rage incomparable to when I met Mine. #Toll
It typically refers to the fee paid by a user when passing through a path occupied by an owner.
The government office that built the main road collects tolls at the entrance of the castle, and the Green Forest Village that built the mountain road collects tolls on the mountain path.
I heard that the waterway guides people and collects tolls, but I don’t know about that.
I absolutely couldn’t understand the tolls these bastards were charging.
“You didn’t even build this road, so why are you charging a toll?”
The huge man, kneeling with his eyelids turning deep blue, frowned and answered.
Passenger.
“Why can’t you speak properly, you bastard! Do you want me to run my teeth a bit more?”
I wonder if he wanted to protest that he couldn’t pronounce things properly because he had lost his teeth.
The giant looked at me with eyes that seemed to say he was dying of injustice, but so what?
As I glared at him, Go Jung-tak, who was standing next to me, spoke up instead.
“Young Master Jin, protected tolls are a recent development.”
“Protected toll?”
Go Jung-tak lets out a small sigh and nods.
I heard that the Heukdo Bangpa has been living by collecting protection money only in places where they have a solid base of power.
Since starting a fight in the area where the White Path martial arts sects affiliated with the Murim Alliance were located would immediately lead to the subjugation of the Black Path, they dared not encroach upon their territory or engage in power struggles.
However, ever since the Black Alliance was formed, there have been many Black Dao factions stealthily encroaching upon the White Dao’s sphere of influence.
The fact that they began to gradually expand their power is that simply being affiliated with the Black Alliance allows them to avoid the possibility of being unilaterally exterminated for the time being.
However, since the Black Alliance does not intervene in incidents where a fight without justification was initiated or a pretext was provided, they could not arbitrarily seize the existing White Path sphere of influence.
The solution proposed as a desperate measure is a protected toll, which falls somewhere between a protection fee and a toll.
Wow, what kind of strange bullshit is this?
“No, I mean, I don’t understand! You aren’t protected, and the road isn’t even yours, so why are you charging a protection toll?!”
“…….”
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
“Eom Amhi, are you disgracing the Ui Hangmungbang?”
“Anus Room? Is your sect’s name Anus Room?”
“Ee! Hyeonjungil Om-i!”
Seeing the giant glare, the black swordsman behind him quickly answered on his behalf.
“I, this is Sangmunbang.”
“Sangmunbang?”
It was a martial arts sect I had never heard of before.
“Jang Gye-nim.”
“Yes, Confucius.”
Does this happen often?
Go Jung-tak hesitated for a moment, then confessed as if he had given up.
It has been continuously increasing since the Black Alliance was established.
“her…….”
So, you’re saying these damn bastards found a new business field thanks to the Black Alliance.
I tapped my temples and asked.
“How much do you usually get ripped off?”
It doesn’t cost much. It is also much cheaper than using a courier service directly, so other merchant groups tend to do it this way as well.
So, how much is it?
“About ten times in one castle…….”
So, that means you get ripped off at least once in every village you visit.
I turned my head toward Wang So-so.
“Do you guys pay the same amount?”
“Uh… I understand that we aren’t paying.”
Wow. Look at these bastards.
So that means they only accept the easy targets.
Damn, did creating the Black Alliance cause these side effects?
Hah, how dare you empty my pockets!
“Young Master Jin. I know you are angry, but wouldn’t it be better if you stopped?”
“No, why? With this money, couldn’t we pay the mercenaries their performance bonuses and stay at a better inn?”
“It is okay now because the Master is here, but…… later on, harm… no, isn’t it true that one never knows how things might turn out?”
What Janggye is ultimately concerned about is the continuous stability of the ascent.
They might not get ripped off right now, but they could turn into bandits later on.
That is what I worry about the most.
I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders.
Wouldn’t it be enough as long as it remains safe later?
“yes?”
So, conversely, that means if we can prevent these guys from ever turning into bandits, we won’t get robbed and can conduct business safely.
I lightly kicked the toothless big guy.
“Hey, anal room.”
“……!!!”
Then the giant glares at me like he’s going to die.
Guide your ark.
“Eom, do you really want to die?”
“Why would I die? I just want to talk.”
“Huh?”
The big guy and his henchmen wear blank expressions, as if my message wasn’t properly conveyed.
Instead of the hulking guy with a strange pronunciation who had lost his teeth, a henchman cautiously asks me.
“Um… do you happen to know the Ark?”
“How would I know a worthless piece of the Black Sect!”
A Black Bandit henchman falls into deep thought, as if he hadn’t anticipated something.
Then, hesitating again, he asks me.
“By any chance, what is your name…?”
“Jin So-un.”
The Black Bandit’s face turned pale at the mere mention of three letters.
“H-Hell, the Divine Black Flame Dragon of the Black Path?!”
“No way……! H-Are you talking about the Black Maitreya?!”
그래, 그게 나다 씹새끼들아.
