Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#173

“Six hundred and thirty thousand silver?”
“I heard from the steward. Ten thousand silver would be more than enough for interest.”
Gam Dae-cheon made a deliberate effort to speak respectfully to the young Geom U-bin.
“It seems Father misheard the terms.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“We agreed I’d set the interest as I see fit.”
“What kind of transaction in this world works that way?”
“Every beginning has to start somewhere, doesn’t it? I burned that five hundred thousand silver draft your father gave me once—surely you’ve heard about that?”
He had heard. It was the reason Gam O-heung had gone on a drinking binge for the first time in ten years, consumed with rage.
“But this is all the Daseong Merchant Association can provide right now.”
Geom U-bin opened the box and verified the gold ingots inside.
“You still don’t know me very well, do you? I haven’t brought all the gold I possess, and there are treasures beyond gold that I doubt you realize I have.”
It wasn’t certainty, only a guess—but it was likely correct. He could read it in the shock spreading across Gam Dae-cheon’s face.
“The interest comes to one million five hundred thousand silver. You’re still short three hundred and forty thousand silver. If you don’t make up that sum by today, the interest will grow, and you’ll have to carry it all the way to Hangju. Time is money, after all.”
“No—no such predatory rate exists!”
“If you’re going to gouge someone with interest, it might as well be this steep.”
Gam Dae-cheon wanted to drive his fist into Geom U-bin’s smiling face. But violence wouldn’t solve this—and it couldn’t, either.
He’d heard often enough from Gam O-heung that Geom U-bin was a master.
‘That cursed boy—what has he done to us!’
Since only Geom U-bin could resolve this crisis, Gam Dae-cheon had no choice but to accede to the demand.
“I’ll return within one double hour.”
The moment Gam Dae-cheon hurried away, Hyeolpung Saja appeared.
“There’s our brother! Squeezing every drop, aren’t you? Ha!”
“While we’re at it, why not extract another million silver?”
“We shouldn’t corner them completely—we might back them into a corner. Go Seo-bang!”
The door opened at Geom U-bin’s call, and Go Seo-bang entered. Hyeolpung Saja couldn’t hide his shock.
“Wait—didn’t you send him to Oseong Jang-won?”
“I was going to, but something came up that needed doing first.”
“So he’s been somewhere else all this time? Without us knowing?”
Go Seo-bang waved his hands urgently.
“I wasn’t avoiding you, sirs. I went to Weenam County briefly on an errand from Lord Seo.”
Before Hyeolpung Saja could press for details, Geom U-bin spoke quickly.
“Right. Now he really does need to get back to Oseong Jang-won.”
Geom U-bin handed Go Seo-bang a draft for one million silver.
“On your way, give this to Jegal Hoon of the Jegal Family. Tell him it’s for flood relief—he’ll know what to do with it.”
“Understood. I’ll leave at once. Sirs! This time I’m really going!”
Go Seo-bang vanished like an arrow before Hyeolpung Saja could say another word.
“Our brother’s just too kindhearted, I’m telling you.”
At Do Pyeong-su’s words, Geom U-bin gestured toward the draft and box on the table.
“You call me kindhearted after seeing this?”
Do Pyeong-su paused, then corrected himself.
“Kindhearted to our own side, ruthless to our enemies—is that better?”
“That’ll do. Once Gam Dae-cheon brings the money, we head back.”
True to his word, Gam Dae-cheon returned before the full double hour had passed, carrying a box. Inside lay not just gold ingots but Night-Luminous Pearls as well.
“This should far exceed three hundred and forty thousand silver.”
A rough tally showed he’d brought at least three hundred thousand silver over the amount. Having dealt with Geom U-bin once, Gam Dae-cheon had learned that abundant margin was wise. He was a man with good judgment of character.
Without a word, Geom U-bin returned the debt certificate. Gam Dae-cheon then asked,
“When will Father be released?”
“That’s for the authorities to decide.”
“Lord Geom!”
“He has committed crimes. He should serve at least a fortnight, shouldn’t he?”
“A fortnight?”
“The evidence alone would warrant fifteen years, so a fortnight is rather lenient.”
Had Geom U-bin not intervened, Gam O-heung could have walked out today—he’d paid enough bribes over the years to make that possible.
Gam Dae-cheon was hoping that Geom U-bin would refrain from lifting a finger to prevent Gam O-heung’s departure.
But once a date had been fixed—a fortnight hence—there was no choice but to abide by it.
After sending Gam Dae-cheon off, Geom U-bin was about to arrange for a carriage when Do Pyeong-su spoke up.
“Let’s just use the Lightness Technique.”
“But we have luggage.”
“How much could a few things weigh?”
Gold ingots, night-luminous pearls, and a box containing the ledger from the Daseong Merchant Association that Geom U-bin had copied—all of it was no heavier than pebbles to Do Pyeong-su. So they decided to return by Lightness Technique.
After being away for several days, Oseong Jang-won felt more precious than ever.
“If that fool Go Seo-bang arrives even a moment later than us, I swear…”
Geom U-bin’s kindness to Go Seo-bang seemed destined to return as misfortune—or so a dark premonition whispered.

***

When Se-hwa saw the money and the box that Geom U-bin had brought, her eyes grew wide as lanterns.
“You truly retrieved all of it?”
“The debt certificate was there, so of course we did.”
If money could be collected simply by producing a debt certificate, there wouldn’t be a single moneylender left in the world.
“But why are you giving this to me?”
“Then who should I give it to?”
“It should be yours to use, Lord.”
“I’ve no use for money. You keep it safe, Se-hwa. And those Oseong people who were killed by the Nok-rim bandits—remember them?”
“Yes. We’ve already provided comfort money to their families. Though it hardly seems sufficient.”
“Prepare a Mourning Ceremony. Make it grand.”
It would serve both to honor the dead and comfort the living, but it would also announce to all what had become of the Seventy-Two Nok-rim Factions that dared touch Oseong Jang-won.
“Understood. I’ll have it ready within three days.”
“Use all of it if you must.”
Se-hwa’s voice turned sharp.
“If we spend all this money, we could hold Mourning Ceremonies for every person who died in all of Zhongyuan.”
“Is… is that so?”
Se-hwa shook her head in dismay.
“If even you lose all sense of money, I truly will despair.”
Geom U-bin didn’t lack a sense of money—he simply had no desire for it.
Stepping outside, Geom U-bin told Gal Ma-pyeong to summon Bae Do-sang, the lord of the Daseong Merchant Association.
He needed to discuss how the Oseong Merchant Association could establish itself in Shaanxi Province.
Watching the Bloodwind Saja emerge from the back courtyard, Geom U-bin asked O Tong-su, “Go Shin-ji hasn’t arrived yet?”
“No. Though I don’t think she’s deliberately dawdling.”
Of course not—but once she arrived, the Bloodwind Saja would certainly scold her for tardiness.
“You’ve traveled far and worked hard. Thank you.”
The person accompanying the Bloodwind Saja was Go Shin-ji. Despite her identity as imperial blood being revealed, she bowed respectfully to Geom U-bin.
“Thanks to you, it all worked out smoothly. I’m grateful.”
“Does it matter that I’m of imperial blood? Will you treat me differently?”
Geom U-bin scratched his head in thought before responding.
“Differently? I don’t think I’d treat you any other way.”
Do Pyeong-su added, “I certainly don’t intend to show deference just because you’re imperial blood.”
“The eldest here at Oseong Jang-won is still our leader. That doesn’t change even if the Emperor himself were to walk through that door.”
Seo Seok-san waved his hand.
“I don’t expect such treatment. What worries me is whether you might treat me differently now. Will you really treat me as you did before?”
Go Shin-ji shook her head.
“If Ji-u’s mother treats us as she always has—a bit proud, sometimes crude—then yes.”
“Was I like that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I understand. I am of imperial blood, after all.”
“That’s true. We’ve received help from you, and we will again.”
After Seo Seok-san spoke, silence fell for a moment before laughter erupted. Questions tumbled forth—’How did an imperial princess become an assassination target?’ and even jabs like ‘If you’d told us sooner, we would’ve protected you properly’—but Go Shin-ji deflected it all with humor.
She was reassured that no one at Oseong Jang-won would treat her any differently than before.
It seemed that imperial blood had never contained the ingredient of family to begin with. Everyone there had scrambled for power and shown goodwill only to those who served their interests.
Go Shin-ji had never once in her life felt the warmth of family.
But the moment she stepped into Oseong Jang-won, she finally understood what a home was.

Not merely a roof and walls, but a place brimming with comfort—somewhere beautiful to behold, where someone would always take her side no matter what, where she felt sheltered from any enemy.
No matter how splendid the call from elsewhere, Go Shin-ji never wished to leave Oseong Jang-won.
“Mother of Ji-u. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
At Do Pyeong-su’s gentle summons, Go Shin-ji spoke before he could say another word.
“No!”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“I’ve learned that whenever you call me in that tone and with that expression, the right answer is to refuse.”
“Haha! Mother of Ji-u has read you perfectly, Pyeong-su.”
“But this truly would be good for Mother of Ji-u as well.”
“Good for me, you say? I’m listening.”
“Don’t you think it’s time we began teaching Ji-u Martial Arts? Children who start young learn faster and reach higher levels.”
“I still say no.”
“Why not?”
“You want to turn our Ji-u into a Murim Martial Artist? It’s quite enough that his father is an assassin.”
“Come now, learning Martial Arts doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a Murim Martial Artist. Look at our senior—can you really call him a Murim Martial Artist? Senior, isn’t that right?”
“Eh? Well… I suppose, for now, yes.”
“But he’s still going to become a Murim Martial Artist, isn’t he? Isn’t that right, Lord?”
“Eh? Well… I imagine so.”
“Our senior didn’t learn Martial Arts in order to become a Murim Martial Artist, did he? Senior, that’s true, isn’t it?”
“Eh? Well… I’d have to say yes.”
“But once Martial Arts reach a certain level, one naturally ventures into Murim, don’t they? Lord, isn’t that so?”
“Eh? Well… don’t ask me. You all figure it out yourselves.”
“What do you think, senior?”
“What do you think, Lord?”
Geom U-bin sighed and said only that he hoped Ji-u would grow up healthy, then turned away.
There could be no answer to the future of a child who had only just begun to take his first steps, and yet the more one tried to find one, the longer the words became.
“You can live to be two hundred years old!”
“Or you could take a blade at twenty and die!”
“Ji-u’s teacher would be the Bloodwind Four Lions! There’s no way anything like that would happen!”
“So blades don’t go into the Bloodwind Four Lions’ belly?”
“That’s right! They don’t! If you don’t believe me, try stabbing!”
As Geom U-bin moved away from the quarrel, O Tong-su happened to come by, leading Bae Do-sang. Geom U-bin took Bae Do-sang to his own quarters and laid the Ledger of the Daseong Merchant Association upon the table.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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