Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 10

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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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I had returned to Cheon Ma.
Minor Investment (5)
“A refusal? Unexpected. The way you looked so desperate, I thought you’d snatch up my offer without hesitation.”
“That you would think so—it seems you know quite a bit about me.”
The truth is, I don’t know much.
I’m just pretending I do.
I learned his true name only moments ago, from his own lips.
The name I knew him by was the Former King, Baek Mun-gyu.
What I know now is only the trajectory of his future actions and the few fragments of words he has left me.
“How could anyone truly know another person? It’s all mere conjecture. I simply know what you want—you need someone to front the money, don’t you?”
I glossed over it smoothly enough.
“Yes.”
“I’m the Financier who found your proposal intriguing.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then why did you refuse? If you knew who I was, I would have been certain you’d find me a Financier worth satisfying.”
“I believe it to be dangerous money I’m not yet prepared to handle. You’d be investing funds embezzled while playing the role of Hwanggeum-jang’s second young master. I don’t wish to involve myself in work that might later make me an enemy of Hwanggeum-jang—the sort of thing that could become a public crime through collusion between certain factions.”
“There’s truth in that.”
This is my mistake.
I exposed the risk myself, and drove him back a step.
But the Baek Mun-gyu I know is a man who would have moved readily enough if the profit exceeded the loss.
I’d wager this is a test of sorts—him taking my measure.
In all this, there’s something rather admirable about it.
“If the deal goes sour and I opt for massacre, what then? You’ve seen my true face, and unless we share the same boat, you’re a liability to me.”
“Then that would be my fate. Far better than being dragged about powerless and without choice. Besides, you won’t be able to kill me.”
“Why?”
“There are surely already talents at your side who rank higher than I do. Yet you passed over them to seek me out with such difficulty—you must have had your reasons. For a merchant, time is gold, is it not? It would be wasteful to dispose of me outright.”
“Rash assurance becomes arrogance, and arrogance tightens the noose around your neck.”
“But grounded conviction can open the door to new opportunity.”
“So what is it you truly wish to say?”
“That you cannot sway my course, nor treat me as a subordinate. However, if you agree to invest not in me, but in my ventures, and to wait until results bear fruit, then I am willing to accept. It is no common opportunity for me either.”
Looking at him.
A fragment of something Cheon Ma once said drifted through my mind.
What would she have done?
The fact that I’ve walked a different path from her doesn’t mean that what I learned and followed from her would vanish.
She was my greatest teacher.
—I am a vessel capable of commanding you even without being Cheon Ma. Cheon Ma is merely one of the wings I find useful to exploit.
Yes, just as Cheon Ma had done for me.
In this life, whose hand I command is my responsibility and my capacity.
I wish to trust and command Baek Mun-gyu’s qualities, as I would have in his youth.
But that was my greed.
Baek Mun-gyu is uneasy and concerned about my position—how I haven’t cleanly resolved matters with Hwanggeum-jang either.
The eyes of the outside world seeing me anew.
In other words, my position suddenly became tangible to my skin.
Unlike Cheon Yu-wol, whom I was confident in, I am still insufficient.
I came to realize it was impossible to have Baek Mun-gyu under my command.
I had to acknowledge what’s true and think about what I can actually do.
“Fine. I’ll abandon the idea of keeping you under my direct command.”
Baek Mun-gyu’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Whether he was surprised that I accepted this so calmly, I couldn’t say, but there was no denying that his gaze upon me had grown subtly more complex.
“However, I too have conditions.”
“Please state them.”
“I cannot step openly into the foreground, so I’ll raise someone in my stead. And investing in a single venture is far too meager an opportunity cost compared to the value I recognize in you.”
…….
“I trust your value and have faith in the continuity of the ventures you will undertake. In that spirit, I make this pledge: the matter with Hwanggeum-jang will end on my end, and until then I will appoint another in my place.”
I continued.
“Seol Ha.”
Seol Ha responded to my call and entered the room. She regarded me with a stern expression. She had clearly heard what we were discussing inside.
“My sister. If you need to stay in contact, you can send messengers or correspondence through her. Furthermore.”
As Seol Ha’s eyes grew wider and wider, I pressed on without hesitation.
“All contracts pertaining to business and profit distribution will be divided through her. In exchange, take sixty percent of business revenue, and we’ll discuss the reinvestment ratio as needed each time. I will review most proposals favorably.”
“I need more time to think.”
“A few more days won’t change anything. Besides, I’m a busy man myself. And frankly, I’m not so dull with numbers that I’d need days to decide on a matter like this.”
“This is a decision that will stake my life on it. I don’t know how you see me, but I carry that weight myself.”
“Then let me make it simpler. If you don’t decide now, I won’t sail in the same boat as you.”
“So you’re giving up on keeping me as your subordinate, and instead you’ll hold the purse strings in place of a leash?”
“Well, they say the start is half the battle. I’ll put that half in your hands, but I expect something in return. For a merchant, what bond is more solid than a shared purse? As long as we profit each other, we’ll be the finest of partners. As business associates, that is.”
Baek Mun-gyu looked between me and Seol Ha in turn.
“It seems your companion—the elder sister—never considered this choice.”
“I’ll settle the decision here first and convince my sister later. Don’t trouble yourself with that. We’ve covered enough ground for one evening.”
I washed down the burning in my throat with another drink.
Truthfully, I wasn’t certain he’d accept my proposal.
Then, after a long silence, he asked me directly.
“How much are you willing to invest in me at present? Speak plainly.”
“A Hwang-pyo Jeon-jang Treasury Certificate from Hwanggeum-jang. The amount this certificate can yield is twenty-five hundred silver taels in coin, or the equivalent in gold. Enough to purchase some five hundred pyeong of land on the outskirts of Seong-do. A substantial sum, wouldn’t you say?”
Honestly, he seemed more than satisfied—surprised, even. There aren’t many who would spend money on this scale for a stranger they’ve just met.
“My undertaking will require an equal amount of capital beyond what you’ve offered. You’ll need to secure another sum of this magnitude within three months at the latest. Can you manage it?”
“Hmm.”
“Once the venture begins, there’s no stopping midway. Opportunity slips through your fingers the moment you hesitate. Securing the capital to push forward is essential.”
I know nothing of Baek Mun-gyu’s past under his former name, but I know precisely the incident that marked his emergence as a prominent figure under the name he’s known by now.
It was the acquisition of hidden underground mining land, purchased as if he possessed foresight of the future itself.
Vast quantities of Blood Jade Stone lay buried there—an unprecedented event that brought his name to the attention of countless powers in the land.
And the faction that invested in him transformed overnight from a group that merely observed the powerful, to one that wielded genuine strength.
The faction known as his right arm.
“Excellent. I pledge additional capital as well. So set Ha-o-mun aside from your plans for now. I’ll prove a better connection than they ever could.”
Something shifted in Baek Mun-gyu’s eyes at my words.
He held my gaze and let out a hollow laugh.
“Remarkable. I’d heard you were like a bird in a cage at Hwanggeum-jang—without support, without prospects—yet here you are……”
“Not entirely wrong, but you needn’t be so blunt about it.”
“My apologies.”
“No use crying over spilled water. The cage was simply too small for me, so I flew the coop.”
“Impressive.”
“If that’s genuine and not flattery, I’m grateful.”
“Take it as you will.”
I smiled and brought the brief exchange to a close, driving home the point.
“Listen—if you couldn’t find anyone better than me in the Sacheon Yongbong-hoe, seize this chance. I’d say we’ve settled more than enough for one night, yes?”
Baek Mun-gyu nodded carefully.
“In fact, I’d already decided to stop searching for another financier this year.”
I allowed myself an inward breath of relief.
Layers of chance had shifted our meeting into something fated after all.
“That said, don’t make the mistake of dismissing Ha-o-mun as useless. In my judgment, they’d make fine associates if you extended your hand to them.”
Ha-o-mun is a collective of those whom the world deems vulgar and beneath station.
Courtesans, pickpockets, thieves, beggars—their eyes and ears are scattered among the common crowds that pass by, unseen.
A dotted network bound by their mutual need to survive, they lack strong cohesion, yet if the right moment came, they could provide substantial support in information and manpower.
In time, I intended to open a path through Baek Mun-gyu to forge ties with them as well.
The more capable hands at one’s disposal, the better.
“How could a person of distinguished birth consider joining hands with Ha-o-mun, a place filled with such lowborn and harmful elements?”
“There’s no high or low in making money. If both parties gain, it’s mutual benefit. Anyone who doesn’t grasp that should quit the merchant’s trade.”
“……”
Watching his expression fall silent, I felt a peculiar satisfaction, and I promptly had Seol Ha retrieve the items she’d prepared from the bundle she carried.
“Think of it as an advance payment. I’ve prepared the documents to accompany it—simply affix your official seal to the Mutual Agreement Contract. A man seeking a financier surely has a personal seal.”
“Were you so confident I would accept your proposal?”
“I didn’t know you’d be here. Merely prepared, that’s all.”
“Despite everything I’ve weathered, I find myself no match for you.”
“Spare the flattery. Let’s just sign the contract.”
We affixed our seals to the midpoint of the agreement, then split the Halbu seal contract, each taking half.
At last, after all the push and pull, the contract was done.
“When spring arrives, come see me again. I’ll have the promised capital prepared in advance as certificates. I’ll send them through my sister.”
“Understood.”
“Before that……”
He gestured toward my wine cup.
“Will you keep drinking alone?”
It seemed he’d been hoping for a share all along.
I let out a hearty laugh and pushed my cup toward him.
The moment I poured, he drained it as swiftly as closing an eye, then took a deep breath and rose from his seat.
“Before I leave, I have one more question.”
“Ask away.”
“Why was it me? Even if your decision rested on profit and loss, I’ve proven nothing—yet you chose me. I can’t reconcile myself to it.”
……
“Honestly, you don’t know my business, do you? I’ve never shared my plans with anyone.”
Perhaps I’d sought him out a touch too early.
His question was sharp enough.
But I was someone who knew the future.
“If someone is already planning with drive the very enterprise I was considering, they’d have to be quite perceptive. There aren’t many with the foresight to notice an outlying city plagued by frequent droughts—especially one sitting atop a hidden underground mine.”
Baek Mun-gyu trembled, speechless.
There was no law preventing someone else from conceiving the same venture he was building.
Of course, not knowing that I did, he was staring at me as if I were a ghost.
“I feel stripped bare. This is the first time I’ve ever felt so exposed.”
“Ambitious plans, drive, the connections you’ve cultivated—add my capital to that, and you’ll accelerate everything considerably. How long are you looking at for return on investment?”
“Within three years.”
“Faster.”
“Just over a year.”
“Satisfactory.”
“Thank you for your generosity.”
“Next time will be your turn. I hope you’ll become not a solitary stone standing in the wilderness, but a mountain range with forest and earth spreading around you.”
“Then what will you become?”
“Something higher still. For instance.”
I rose and opened the door for him instead.
“The sky that encompasses the mountain range?”
I’d made a promise to show it to Cheon Ma, who had sent me to the past.
Perhaps thinking it grandiose, Baek Mun-gyu smiled faintly.
“Until we meet again.”
He nodded back to me and bowed with utmost deference.
“Master.”
The moment I looked down upon him.

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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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