The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 10

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

The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company – Chapter 10

Chapter 10. Continuing the Thread of Fate (1)

Thus, the connection between Hwa Yeon Pavilion and the Eunhae Trading Company was severed, and Hwa Yeon Pavilion entered into a contract with another merchant guild.
A month later, I heard news that the Manager had changed.
The Manager had died suddenly.
A voice pulled me from my reverie.
“Welcome, sir.”
The Shop Attendant of Hwa Yeon Pavilion rushed forward and bowed.
Father spoke to him.
“I am Eun Gil-sang, the Master of the Eunhae Trading Company. Is Manager Baek Ruju present?”
“Yes? Well, that is….”
The Shop Attendant hesitated, glancing toward where the Manager’s office should be.
Rather than wait for an answer, Father headed directly toward the Manager’s office.
I followed behind him, along with Yu Chief Manager and the Eunpung Corps members.
Since not everyone needed to go, the Sefung Director and Sangyu Director remained at the headquarters.

We soon reached the Manager’s office.
A Guard stood before the door, and as Father approached, he asked.
“Who are you, sir?”
“I am the Master of the Eunhae Trading Company. Is Manager Ruju inside?”
Then a voice came from within.
“Please, come in.”
The Guard quickly opened the door, and we entered.
A man with a greasy, shining face and a slightly protruding belly greeted us.
His name was Baek Bok.
The Manager of Hwa Yeon Pavilion.
“What brings the Master of the Eunhae Trading Company all the way here?”
“I have come to collect what is owed.”
“Owed? What do you mean?”
“As of yesterday, one year’s worth of payment for goods has fallen into arrears.”
“What are you talking about? Payment for goods? When have we ever conducted business together?”
Just as expected, Manager Baek Ruju responded with shameless audacity.
At his brazenness, Father and Yu Chief Manager let out hollow laughs.
“It seems the Manager has developed dementia. And at such a young age….”
At Father’s words, Manager Baek Ruju flared up.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“Or perhaps you’ve conveniently forgotten about the shipments we’ve delivered until now? We made a delivery just a month ago, did we not?”
“A shipment? There was no such thing! I told you there wasn’t! If you’re going to make such claims, then produce a delivery confirmation. But to demand payment so brazenly like this… Have you lost your mind?”
“A delivery confirmation… That is….”
Watching Father struggle with his words, I felt laughter bubbling up inside me.
Such a masterful performance. Father truly was born to be a merchant.
“If you keep causing such trouble, I’ll call the authorities! Leave at once!”
The way he turned the tables on us suggested he was certain we had no delivery confirmation.
How perfectly predictable.
“Yu Chief Manager, I believe I forgot to bring that with me?”
“I anticipated as much and brought it myself.”
Yu Chief Manager withdrew documents from his robes and presented them.
“Here is the delivery confirmation.”
“….”
“And here is the contract as well.”
“….”
At the sight of the documents, Baek Ruju’s face went rigid.
He collected himself and hurriedly examined the papers.
The delivery confirmation bore his own seal. The contract matched what he had seen before.
They were genuine.
“H-How is this possible?”
“Why do you look so troubled?”
“B-But you said they burned, did you not?”
“What do you mean?”
“The fire at Jae-gyeong Pavilion destroyed the documents inside, including the ledgers regarding Hwa Yeon Pavilion….”
“There was indeed a fire.”
Father chuckled softly as he replied.
“But it only scorched the floor. The documents related to the Hwa Yeon Pavilion shipment remain perfectly intact.”
He then gestured toward the delivery confirmation on the table and continued.
“As you can see. To believe such rumors—that’s unlike you, Ruju.”
He was right.
The fire had indeed occurred.
But it was a fire we had deliberately set.
To spread word of the blaze.
And we had fabricated and circulated the false rumor that the Hwa Yeon Pavilion ledgers had been consumed by the flames.
In other words, Baek Ruju had fallen perfectly into our trap.
Father collected the documents and handed them back to Yu Chief Manager, who then produced another document and presented it.
“According to the contract, Hwa Yeon Pavilion now belongs to the Eunhae Trading Company as of today. Sign.”
Tap.
“Th-This cannot be!”
Baek Ruju protested vehemently, but Father paid him no mind.
“A contract is a contract.”
“Y-you think I’ll just sit back and take this?”
He shouted toward the outside.
“Seize those bastards at once!”
At his cry, the door burst open violently.
Crash—!
“Gasp!”
But those who answered his summons were not the Guard Warriors of Hwa Yeon Pavilion.
Go Il-pyeong, External Chief Manager of Eunhae Trading Company.
A sword hung from his hand.
“I’ve already secured the outside.”
“Well done.”
Understanding the situation, Baek Ruju collapsed onto the floor.
But I felt no pity for him.
He had simply received the price he deserved.
.
.
.
Baek Ruju had to affix his seal to a contract transferring all rights to Hwa Yeon Pavilion to Eunhae Trading Company.
Watching him do so, the humiliation I had suffered at his hands in that future seemed to wash away.
Beside him, the employees of Hwa Yeon Pavilion stood in formation, nervously watching the Eunpung Corps warriors.
‘Huh?’
In that moment, I doubted my own eyes.
I saw a man standing there, trembling visibly.
The bruise on one side of his face made me uncertain at first, but looking closer, I was certain.
‘That man…!’
The young man wearing a hat was named Seo Su-chang.
According to my memory, he was the Chief Manager of a different establishment, not this one.
With his exceptional abilities, he had seized that struggling establishment by the collar and lifted it to prosperity.
That establishment would soon become one of the three greatest pavilions in Hubei Province.
I knew of him well because I had sought to recruit him.
He had politely declined my offer.
When I visited him again, I had no choice but to give up upon hearing that the manager there was his benefactor.
Yet to meet him here of all places.
I suppressed my delight and approached him.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Eun Seo-ho, the third son of Eunhae Trading Company.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I am Seo Su-chang, Chief Manager of Hwa Yeon Pavilion.”
“Chief Manager, might I take a look at the account ledgers of this pavilion?”
At my words, he glanced toward Baek Ruju.
Whoosh,
I stepped forward to block his path and spoke.
“Hwa Yeon Pavilion now belongs to the Eunhae Trading Company. We’ve already sealed the agreement.”
“…I understand.”
After a moment of deliberation, he nodded.
With Father’s permission, I sent four Eunpung Corps warriors along with him.
We needed to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, and there appeared to be much to retrieve.
Soon, Seo Chief Manager and the warriors returned laden with documents.
I began examining those documents.
“…”
Seeing that they had brought every accounting ledger, it was clear his pride had already crumbled completely.
If that was the case, it seemed he could be made one of ours.
It appeared Baek Ruju was not the benefactor Seo Chief Manager owed his life to.
“Hmm…”
Looking at the accounting ledgers, I could see that since Baek Ruju became manager, the financial situation had deteriorated sharply.
And the flow of funds had grown increasingly irregular.
“This, this, this. Something’s off.”
At my words, Seo Chief Manager flinched.
“Did the owner perhaps embezzle this?”
“…”
For someone like me who had weathered countless storms, reading accounting ledgers and grasping the situation was simple.
No matter how skillfully they were written, I knew every trick in the book.
So he had embezzled funds and operated an illegal gambling house.
But had he made money doing so?
Hardly. Running an illegal gambling house is no easy feat.
That’s why the ledgers look like this.
At my words, Yu Chief Manager, who had been examining the accounting ledgers alongside me, looked up and met my gaze.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Then something strange caught my eye.
An expenditure from not long ago.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, constructing a pavilion!
No matter how I examined it, something was amiss.
“What is this?”
“Ah, that pavilion was constructed under Baek Ruju’s orders.”
At those words, I looked at Baek Ruju. He turned away, avoiding my gaze.
Suspicious.
We were already struggling to operate, let alone construct anything new.
Yet suddenly he’s building a pavilion!
There was definitely something more to this.
“Baek Ruju. Why are you constructing this pavilion?”
“That pavilion is a dormitory for the Shop Attendants.”
“A dormitory?”
“W-well, the old dormitory was deteriorating, so….”
He stammered out his excuse.
A man who embezzles money meant for the Eunhae Trading Company’s goods would construct a pavilion out of concern for the Shop Attendants?
As if that were true.
I needed to trust those worthy of trust.
I pondered for a moment, then asked Father.
“Father, might I step out briefly?”
“Where do you intend to go?”
“I wish to visit the pavilion that is being constructed.”
Father, sensing something, readily nodded his head.
“Very well. Go ahead.”
“Yes.”
I turned to Seo Chief Manager.
“Could I see the pavilion currently under construction?”
“Of course. I shall guide you.”
I proceeded toward the pavilion under construction, accompanied by two Guard Warriors and guided by Seo Chief Manager.

We arrived at the newly constructed pavilion shortly.
It appeared ordinary at first glance, yet no workers were visible.
“It seems the workers have not yet arrived.”
“That is because you instructed us not to summon them until tomorrow.”
“Is that so?”
I tilted my head curiously and stepped into the pavilion, which was still under construction.
A faint sound—
Before I had taken more than a few steps, I encountered someone.
‘I sensed nothing at all…!’
A figure clad in black garments with a mask—clearly suspicious in appearance.
“…!”
“Who goes there!”
One Guard Warrior moved to shield me while the other drew his blade and rushed forward to subdue the intruder.
The Masked Intruder likewise drew his sword in response.
Clang! Clang clang!
Steel met steel repeatedly.
Boom—!
A smoke bomb detonated in an instant.
The masked figure had triggered the smoke bomb.
“Young Master, fall back!”
At the Guard Warrior’s command, I quickly retreated.
“I’ll pursue them!”
The Guard Warrior who had crossed blades with the intruder shouted and began the chase.
I left the pursuit to him and approached the spot where the Masked Intruder and Guard Warrior had clashed.
‘Hmm?’
A strange fragrance suddenly filled my senses.
Detecting what seemed like an orchid-like scent, I asked those around me.
“Don’t you smell something fragrant?”
“A fragrance?”
“Might it be the smell of timber? The construction is still ongoing.”
“I don’t notice anything.”
Only I had caught that scent.
‘How peculiar.’
Yet that thought didn’t linger long. The Guard Warrior had discovered something.
“There’s something here.”
What he pointed to was a trapdoor on the floor.
It seemed the Masked Intruder’s presence here was likely connected to this.
I turned to Seo Chief Manager behind me.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know much about it either. I only know it’s a passage connecting to the underground, and that Manager Luzu gave separate instructions regarding it.”
Something felt off.
“We should open it.”
The Guard Warrior spoke at my words.
“Just in case, I’ll keep watch.”
My spiritual sense detected no one nearby, but one could never be too cautious.
Especially after what had just happened.
Then Seo Chief Manager, quick-witted as ever, stepped forward.
“I’ll open it.”
The Guard Warrior drew his sword and stood ready while Seo Chief Manager lifted the trapdoor.
A passage descending into the underground revealed itself.
Just then, the Guard Warrior who had chased the Masked Intruder returned.
“My apologies. I lost them.”
It was as I had anticipated.
The Masked Intruder was a master of such skill that even my spiritual sense had failed to detect them.
I hadn’t stopped the Guard Warrior precisely because explaining this would have been difficult.
Moreover, since my priority was the Masked Intruder’s escape, I had expected the Guard Warrior would come to no harm.
“It’s fine. There’s nothing to be done. We’ll go down below and return. Please keep watch here to see if anyone arrives.”
“Understood.”
We entered the passage.
It was quite spacious, and much of it was already completed.
It consisted of several chambers, and in one of them, I discovered something peculiar.
The emblem on the wall depicted clouds and peach blossoms woven together in a single design.
‘This is… Doun Trading Company?’
It was unmistakably the emblem of Doun Trading Company.
I couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
Why?
Doun Trading Company had always served as Baekcheon Trading Company’s subordinate, acting as their hands and feet.
This meant that behind the Jae-gyeong Pavilion fire incident was Doun Trading Company—or rather, Baekcheon Trading Company.
After the trade agreement with Eunhae Trading Company was severed, I had been searching for the identity of the mysterious trading company that began dealing with Hwa Yeon Pavilion, and now I finally understood where it came from.
That company was Doun Trading Company.

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