Chapter 128 : Market Logic

The man, after a long bout of contemplation, nodded his head.He had nowhere else to go anyway. But at the same time, it wasn’t as though he could live doing nothing.

He neither had the money for that nor the temperament to waste away idly. His entire life had been spent running toward his goals, so doing nothing like some loafer simply didn’t suit him.

“Then what kind of work can I do at the inn?”

“That, we can think about later. There’s always plenty of work, and we’re always short on hands. You might start off as an inn waiter, or perhaps I could even employ you as a manager.”

“I’ll start as an inn waiter. It’s been ten years since I cut myself off from commerce. If a man like me suddenly becomes a manager, those who’ve been working here all along may grow resentful.”

Jin Seong-un nodded with great satisfaction. As expected of someone who had experience running a trading company, his perspective was different from others.

Thinking briefly of Seomun Ak, Jin found the man’s words reasonable. Hadn’t Jang Gwang been fuming with competition just from being taken in as an inn waiter?

‘He probably won’t accept it otherwise.’

Besides, it would have been an unkind thing to Seomun Ak. After all, he had been working here longer than anyone else except for Seo Yu-gyeom.

While the two men nodded to one another, the man spoke.

“I’ll stop by Uiseong, then head straight for Yichang.”

“Good. Let’s meet then.”

Without lingering regret, the two turned their backs on one another. As they were walking apart, Jin Seong-un suddenly sensed something strange and halted.

“Wait a moment.”

The man stopped at the same time and turned his head.

Jin Seong-un asked,

“This question comes a bit late.”

“……”

“What’s your name?”

Not just a bit, but quite late indeed.

Regardless, Jin Seong-un gazed at the man intently. After a brief expression of bewilderment, the man replied.

“Lee Ji-san.”

“Lee Ji-san. I’ll remember it. I am Jin Seong-un.”

“……There isn’t a single person here who doesn’t know your name.”

Jin Seong-un merely shrugged.

So what? Just having secured someone who looked capable made it a very satisfying day.

.

.

.

Right after Lee Ji-san left.

Jin Seong-un approached Hwa Yeon-seol, who was surrounded by merchants—whether it was harassment or camaraderie was hard to tell.

The men who had been flattering Hwa Yeon-seol now began directing all sorts of comments at Jin Seong-un as well.

“Guest Dragon, how are you so strong at that age? I too wanted to be a martial artist when I was young.”

“Look at your belly. A martial artist, really.”

“Ah, I said when I was young, young!”

Most of the remarks were praises of Jin Seong-un’s reputation. Jin nodded, then turned his gaze to Hwa Yeon-seol.

“Miss Hwa, thank you. If not for you, dealing with Song Jae-mun would have been troublesome.”

“Compared to how you helped us in Deyang, this is nothing.”

But Jin knew full well that Hwa Yeon-seol had borne a considerable cost.

There were hardly any places in this land where one could stand against Myriad Gold Manor without consequence—perhaps only the imperial palace.

As the two conversed with ease, the surrounding merchants gave them strange looks.

Jin Seong-un recognized those expressions. It was the same look No Sang-won had whenever he read books about men and women’s frivolous affairs.

So, he said,

“Miss, I have something to tell you. Actually, it concerns the Demonic Cult……”

At that, all the nearby merchants vanished in an instant.

Left alone, Hwa Yeon-seol looked at Jin with an expression as though she wished she could wash her ears with water.

“D-D-Demonic Cult?”

Though she had been confident even before the chief steward of Myriad Gold Manor, this was another matter entirely.

Jin said,

“Actually, it was a joke. I just wanted to talk more comfortably. Everyone seemed to be having strange thoughts.”

Seo Yu-gyeom was like a brother to him. To be seen as being in that kind of relationship with his sister was far from pleasant.

Hwa Yeon-seol let out a sigh of relief.

“……Please never joke like that again. I thought my heart was going to leap out.”

“Anyway. Truly, is it alright? I may not know much about trading companies, but I worry there will be future clashes with Myriad Gold Manor.”

The Hwa-un Trading Company was just stepping onto a new path. In such a crucial time, there was nothing good about making enemies of the greatest trading company under heaven.

Hwa Yeon-seol simply shrugged.

“I nearly lost the entire trading company once already. I nearly died a few times too. What’s Myriad Gold Manor compared to that?”

“Oh.”

Jin thought to himself that she was indeed Seo Yu-gyeom’s sister, and nodded.

Suddenly, Hwa Yeon-seol’s eyes gleamed with a different light. What was it? They sparkled as if brimming with ambition.

“To become the number one trading company in the Central Plains, it was inevitable that we’d clash with Myriad Gold Manor someday. In fact, this was a good thing. If we were to clash, then doing so now, before many merchants, was the perfect chance to show that the Hwa-un Trading Company still stood strong.”

She had not simply acted recklessly.

Though young, she too ran one of the greatest trading companies under heaven.

While the merchants at the Merchant Festival were all doing their own calculations in their heads, there was no way she had not done the same.

Jin, feeling somewhat reassured, nodded.

“Even so, if there’s anything I can do to help, tell me. Of course, if Young Master Seo knew of the situation, he would gladly lend his aid as well.”

“Do you think so?”

“He already has.”

Hwa Yeon-seol recalled the incident in Deyang.

At the time, she had been too frantic to realize it, but in hindsight, Seo Yu-gyeom and Jin

Seong-un’s intervention had been purely out of goodwill.

Neither of them had ever demanded any price from the Hwa-un Trading Company.

She smiled brightly.

“There’s also the Tang Clan. Strangely enough, the Tang Clan doesn’t seem to like Myriad Gold Manor much.”

“That sounds about right.”

Judging from what he had seen earlier of the chief steward of Myriad Gold Manor and the bold character of the Tang Clan’s people, it was only natural that they would clash.

After chatting for a while longer, the two parted ways with brief farewells.

Jin looked around at the bustling, complicated scene of the Merchant Festival, then let out a long sigh.

It was time to return.

The next morning.

After exchanging farewells with Oh Jeong-san, Jin Seong-un quietly slipped out of the Merchant Festival without drawing the merchants’ attention.

Jingzhou and Yichang were fairly close. If Jin ran at full speed, it would take less than half a day.

Jin Seong-un ran and ran, going against the current of the Yangtze River.

Along the way, he saw a few river bandits, and strangely enough, he almost greeted them with delight.

Departing in the morning, Jin arrived before the sun had set.

Seong-un Inn (星雲客棧).

He stood for a moment on the street, gazing at the signboard.

Perhaps because he had just returned from the Merchant Festival, the fact that this great inn was his own felt particularly satisfying.

As he lingered there, several guests who had finished their meals exited the inn.

Oddly enough, their eyes looked half-unfocused.

It wasn’t as if they were drunk, but as though intoxicated by something else entirely.

At the same time, Jin was startled.

‘So Chef Seo finally went and did it.’

Seo Yu-gyeom had once said something like this.

Among the bandits of the Southern Barbarians, there was a drug that intoxicated far stronger than wine.

He had once foolishly suggested that if they procured it and mixed it into the food, they could quickly grow the inn, only to be met with Jin’s scornful glare.

Jin hurriedly rushed into the inn. If they were caught using such a drug, not only the Murim Alliance but even the imperial palace itself would personally come to destroy Seong-un Inn.

Soon, the inn’s lively scene came into view.

Jin stopped at the entrance, staring blankly in astonishment.

“How is it, refreshing?”

Seomun Ak was pressing the edge of his hand along a man’s neck. By subtly circulating his internal energy, he was unblocking the man’s obstructed meridians.

The man wore a blissful expression, as though experiencing paradise itself.

Elsewhere, Jang Gwang was listening to the concerns of some young men.

“No, no. To gain a fine upper body, one must also train the lower body. From weak roots, how could a great tree grow?”

“Oooh…!”

“Go to the riverbank, fill a sack with fine sand, hoist it over the back of your neck, and then…”

It was an external arts training method passed among river bandits. The vigorous young men yearned to build their muscles, and to them, Jang Gwang was the most masculine man in the world, blessed with the finest physique.

Even with Jin’s arrival, the two only greeted him with their eyes before continuing their work.

Seomun Ak even wrapped thick cloth around his hands when massaging women, displaying a level of extreme consideration. The traces of his old delinquent days were nowhere to be seen.

Jang Gwang quietly taught women a secret exercise method for quickly losing weight, whispering it like an invaluable secret.

After watching them for a while, Jin realized something. At the Merchant Festival, there had been one phrase repeated endlessly.

Market Logic (市場論理).

Through intense competition, the two had ended up developing their own ‘skills.’

Right here, at Seong-un Inn, the logic of the market was in full effect.

The attendants competed with each other, finding ways to satisfy the customers better than their rivals.

As a result, the overall satisfaction of the inn rose.

In such cases, there was only one thing for Jin to do.

‘……Soon, I’ll have to distribute Bonhwaseo.’

When the inn achieved results above its goals, part of those gains must be shared with the companions who toiled together.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jin headed toward the kitchen.

As always, Seo Yu-gyeom and Han Seong-chun were battling against blazing fire.

“Oh, you’re back. Was it fun?”

“It was fine.”

Relieved, Seo Yu-gyeom and Han Seong-chun turned back to their cooking.

Seo Yu-gyeom in particular loved to imbue his internal energy into the flames, turning the kitchen into something like Avici Hell, the Buddhist inferno.

Fwoooosh—!

The flames roared up as if to reach the ceiling.

Yet strangely enough, the kitchen was not so hot.

Jin suddenly sensed an unusual aura with his energy perception. Turning his head, he saw large chunks of ice scattered around the kitchen.

‘……Ice Arts.’

They had obtained Ice Arts thanks to the ice crystal acquired from the Hwa-un Trading Company. It was being used to cool the sweltering kitchen.

Seo Yu-gyeom was no different from the two attendants.

Seomun Ak’s Massage Arts, Jang Gwang’s External Arts, and Seo Yu-gyeom’s Ice Arts had all evolved in ways suited for the inn.

Jin felt a strange mood arise.

At the Merchant Festival, most merchants had drawn very strict lines separating themselves from martial artists.

Especially Yoo, the general manager of Myriad Gold Manor, had been like that.

But here at Seong-un Inn, merchants were martial artists, and martial artists were merchants.

That steward had warned that breaking the boundary between the two would bring disaster, but at least here at Seong-un Inn, there was no problem at all.

‘What matters is not martial arts, but mindset, isn’t it?’

Such a thought crossed his mind.

Had Song Jae-mun committed his crimes because he was a martial artist? No. Until the moment he died, he was a merchant. And yet, he had lived constantly violating the laws of the trade.

While Jin was thinking such things, a sharp, irritated voice from Seomun Ak rang from outside the inn.

“What kind of bullshit is this?”

Jin turned his head.

Were they fighting again, he wondered?

But Seomun Ak was standing at the inn entrance, facing a man. Jin knew that face well.

Won Gi-sang, branch leader of Wuhanzhuang’s Yichang branch.

He had been beside Sima Hwi when they first met.

Scratching his head with an awkward expression, he said,

“Ah, do you think I want this either? Let me at least meet the innkeeper in person. This isn’t something to discuss in front of a crowd…”

His expression looked deeply troubled.

Jin suddenly recalled.

Wuhanzhuang’s funding came directly from Myriad Gold Manor.

There was never a day of peace at this inn.

Sighing lightly at the thought, Jin saw Seo Yu-gyeom draw his Heaven-Slaying Dagger with a casual air as he asked,

“Shall I?”

“……Do not.”

Seo Yu-gyeom nodded.

His expression looked somewhat sullen.