The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 294

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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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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 294

Chapter 294. The Poetry Thief (7)

The Five Warriors were running using lightness of body technique.
Throughout their flight, they suffered from muscle soreness, but they could not afford to slow their pace.
They were fleeing, after all.
Of course, they understood their own fault.
Drinking alcohol during their shift was undeniably their mistake.
But…
“Ugh! I feel like I’m going to vomit from exhaustion.”
“I can’t do this anymore! I really can’t!”
They thought they would truly die at this rate, and so they seized the moment when their guard was lax to make their escape.
“But… is this really okay for us?”
“What else can we do?”
“We hide until someone from the Main Headquarters comes to relieve us, then we return. What more can the Small Guild Master do?”
“If the Small Guild Master reports this to the Guild Master, he might impose severe punishment!”
“Still, it’s better than carrying that metal weight and doing basic training!”
“I’d rather take a salary cut!”
“Right!”
They honestly believed that a year of salary reduction was far preferable to enduring a month of the training Eun Seo-ho had commanded.
It was that grueling and exhausting.
Even now their muscles ached, but it was much improved compared to the beginning.
On the first day, even returning to their quarters had been difficult.
As warriors of the Eun Pung-dae, they performed basic training for two hours daily and were accustomed to using their muscles regularly.
Yet even for them, this training had been so harsh they could barely walk.
“Huh? There’s someone over there!”
As they ran, one of them suddenly pointed ahead in alarm.
A handsome man dressed in brilliant crimson robes.
There were so few men of such exceptional beauty in the world that he was instantly recognizable.
“Gasp!”
“Oh no! S-Small Guild Master?”
In that instant,
Thwack—!
Crack—!
“Oof!”
“Argh!”
Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior swung their sword sheaths at them as instructed by Eun Seo-ho.
Thus, the Five Warriors, having gained momentum from the lightness technique, tumbled across the ground from the impact of my strike.
“Oof!”
“Ugh!”
Covered in dirt from rolling, they quickly prostrated themselves before Eun Seo-ho as he approached.
Though they had taken the impact, they had instinctively employed falling techniques, so they bore no injuries.
Knowing this, Eun Seo-ho had issued his command accordingly.
“W-well, you see….”
“The thing is….”
They racked their brains desperately, searching for excuses to explain the situation.
But Eun Seo-ho already stood above them in every sense.
“Were you planning to flee and hide, then reveal yourselves when someone arrived from the Main Headquarters?”
“…!”
“You thought a year’s half-salary reduction was preferable to a full day of endurance training.”
“…!”
As their intentions were laid bare, they gasped in shock, their skin crawling with goosebumps.
“But here’s the thing.”
Eun Seo-ho’s voice shifted slightly.
“You’ve come far further than expected. And you still appear quite fresh. If you’d been running since then, you should be considerably exhausted by now.”
“….”
Now that he mentioned it, something did seem odd.
No matter how much they employed lightness technique, there were limits to what warriors of their caliber could achieve.
Yet despite covering far greater distance than they had anticipated, they hardly felt fatigued at all.
“Don’t you think the training I prescribed has proven effective?”
“….”
“A warrior’s effort is never wasted. And though you erred, I hoped you would be reborn as the elite of the Eunhae Trading Company. That is why I issued such a command—was I asking for too much?”
Their consciences began to prick painfully as they met Eun Seo-ho’s melancholic gaze.
“Merely five years ago, our Eunhae Trading Company ranked at the very bottom of the Baekdae Alliance. Yet now we proudly claim a place in the top forty.”
Eun Seo-ho continued.
“The Greatest Under Heaven Trading Company.”
“…!”
“That is my dream. To achieve it, the Eun Pung-dae must undergo tremendous transformation. The role of our warriors is paramount, and without constant growth, we cannot realize this dream—nor even preserve what we have already accomplished.”
“….”
“I selected you five warriors to lead this transformation—did you truly have no intention of sharing in this glory?”
The Five Warriors reeled as though struck by a hammer.
‘We thought he issued that command merely to torment us….’
‘To think such noble purpose lay behind it!’
‘We lacked perseverance! We failed to answer the Small Guild Master’s hopes!’
‘And we call ourselves warriors of the Eun Pung-dae? What rotten men we are.’
‘Besides, if he wanted to torment us, there were other methods—why did we think this was torment?’
The Five Warriors felt they might die from shame. They wished they could bury their heads in a mouse hole and disappear.

* * *

I gazed down at the Five Warriors prostrated before me, their foreheads pressed into the earth.
“We have erred. We were foolish.”
“Please forgive us.”
“We were worthless. Sob!”
“If you would grant us another chance, however undeserving, we swear our unwavering loyalty.”
“Please, just one more opportunity.”
Yes, they understood the message well enough now.
Sigh. What a tiresome ordeal this was. Truly!
Part of me wanted to strike them a few more times, but I settled for the beating Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior had already administered with the flats of their blades.
However…
“Still, desertion is a grave offense, and I must impose additional punishment. If I were to overlook this, discipline would crumble entirely.”
“We accept our fault.”
“We will accept the punishment.”
Good. Then.
“Henceforth, you will train while wearing one hundred forty jin instead of one hundred thirty jin. And you will add an additional half shichen to each of the three fundamental training regimens.”
By now, they should be accustomed enough to training for six shichen while wearing one hundred thirty jin that this would be entirely manageable.
“Now, let us return.”
.
.
.
And so I led the Five Warriors back.
“Thank you for your efforts.”
At my words, Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior bowed their heads slightly in response.
“Not at all. We are your guards.”
“It is our duty to follow you wherever you go.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
Even as I spoke, I grumbled.
“Still, this is like having a nursemaid. Sigh, it’s not as though I’m coaxing children to come along…”
At my words, the two warriors laughed.
“With respect, we were genuinely impressed today. That you could make those troublesome warriors return of their own volition…”
“We are fortunate that our lord is a good man.”
At that, I smiled bitterly.
“I am not a good person. I use others for my own purposes—how could I be good?”
Jin Yu Warrior shook his head and spoke firmly.
“That is not true. You are indeed a good person. Everyone uses others for their purposes. Even asking someone blocking your path to step aside is, in a sense, using them for your own goal, is it not?”
“But that is a false equivalence.”
“Please do not trouble yourself over it. Besides, you do not simply abandon those you have used, do you?”
Seo-woo Warrior nodded and accepted Jin Yu Warrior’s words.
“Because you guide things in a good direction. That’s why our lord is a good person.”
Hearing such comfort from the two warriors, something tickled deep within my chest.
So I absently stroked Geumryeong’s tail.
“Chirp!”
.
.
.
Dawn broke.
It was the third and final day of the Imperial Poetry Competition.
Sixty-four competitors remained from yesterday’s results.
Today, the champion of the Poetry Competition would finally be decided.
I went to see Song Rok.
He had already finished his preparations and was leaving his chamber.
“I do hope for a favorable outcome.”
At his wife’s words, Song Rok’s expression became awkward. That expression held so much within it.
Gratitude, apology, embarrassment, shamelessness, and more….
Song Rok himself felt sorry for putting his wife through such hardship.
At times, he must have lamented his own lack of ability. But as time wore on, that lament transformed into resignation, and resignation gave way to complete despair.
“That is not an expression you should show your spouse.”
“Pardon?”
I tapped my lips with my fingers as I spoke.
“You should smile. And you should tell her you will return with good news. You compose poetry so well—why can’t you find the right words at times like these?”
At my words, Song Rok cleared his throat.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Then he looked at his wife and spoke.
“I shall return. And I promise to win this competition and dedicate that glory to you.”
“I will wait for you.”
Now the moment of reckoning had arrived. We headed toward the Competition Venue.
“Your attire is magnificent.”
“Pardon? Ah….”
Song Rok wore the clothes I had gifted him. Though simple white garments, they were crafted from fine silk that gleamed with a subtle luster.
“I’m not sure I deserve to wear such fine clothing.”
“That is not merely clothing.”
“Pardon?”
“It is battle attire.”
I continued.
“Right now, you are entering into battle against a man named Chu Il-gong. And today, you must appear impressive in the eyes of others.”
“….”
“People say not to judge by appearances alone, but the first thing humans see is outward appearance. No matter how wicked one’s heart, if one’s appearance gleams brightly, people praise them just the same.”
I smiled.
“The times are deplorable, but what can we do? That’s simply human nature.”
I brushed the dust from Song Rok’s robes as I spoke.
“And what’s wrong with a good man like Song Rok wearing fine clothes? Even Chu Il-gong drapes himself in silk when he comes around.”
At my words, flames of vengeance ignited in Song Rok’s eyes.
The fire of retribution.
“Today, I will settle this once and for all.”
Excellent. A most admirable resolve.
.
.
.
Shortly after, we arrived at the Competition Venue.
Chu Il-gong was in the Waiting Area, and his face looked rather haggard.
The dark circles beneath his eyes suggested he hadn’t slept.
Small wonder—he must have been terrified of losing his life to an assassin in his sleep.
According to the servants of Chu Il-gong’s household whom I had paid, he awoke to find a dagger planted beside his pillow, and the moment he stepped outside, an arrow came flying at him.
Well, he brought it upon himself.
That’s why one shouldn’t commission murders in the first place.
Meanwhile, among those who had heard the poems of both Song Rok and Chu Il-gong, suspicion was spreading.
Death threats alone were unbearable; with suspicion added to the mix, he must be wishing for death.
Then Chu Il-gong noticed us and rose from his seat, approaching.
His eyes gleamed with sinister intent.
Until yesterday, the tents used as waiting areas had been in different locations, so we hadn’t met directly.
But today we found ourselves in the same place.
With suspicion deepening around him, what Chu Il-gong had to say to Song Rok was predictable.
It certainly wouldn’t be encouragement or support.
“You there… no matter what, to copy me so perfectly! Hahaha! I’m impressed!”
How shameless.
Yet Song Rok, now filled with venom because of me, was no pushover.
“You say I copied you?”
“Anyone can see that…”
“Then this is quite a problem.”
He laughed coldly.
“Everyone else says my poem is genuine and yours is an imitation… so has your skill already deteriorated?”
“Ugh!”
“Before you’re humiliated with even more degraded skills, perhaps you should retire.”
“…”
Remarkable. So Song Rok was capable of such cutting remarks.
As I marveled at this, Palgap was watching me with narrowed eyes.
That gaze clearly conveyed: “What exactly have you done?”
I’m being treated unfairly.

* * *

The competition had begun.
On this final day, instead of four competitors, two would ascend at a time to engage in genuine poetic duels.
As expected, the matches proved intensely competitive.
And then,
when sixteen competitors remained, Song Rok and Chu Il-gong found themselves facing one another.
In a sense, this was a remarkable occurrence.
Song Rok had advanced this far by submitting a poem that remained incomplete.
This only testified to the exceptional quality of Song Rok’s poetry.
Today, there were no dividing screens.
Thus, the two competitors bowed before the Emperor.
“Let us present the poetic theme.”
Until thirty-two competitors remained, the themes had been drawn randomly.
And until just moments ago, four themes had been presented at once.
Now sixteen remained, and this was the first round.
From this point forward, the method of presenting themes would be altered.
The Emperor spoke.
“Compose a poem from the perspective of Yu Gong’s son, as depicted in the classical tale of Yu Gong Moving Mountains.”
At that theme, Chu Il-gong’s mind went blank.
‘Was there such a poem among those he wrote?’
There was not.
Faced with this unprecedented difficulty, Chu Il-gong’s vision darkened. Having not slept a wink the previous night, his head felt heavy and sluggish, his thoughts scattering like mist.
“Huh?”
When he came to his senses, he realized he had already written and submitted his poem.
“What… what did I even write?”
He could remember nothing.
Seeing the assistant announcer’s face pale with dismay as he read what Chu Il-gong had written…
It was certain.
He had failed.

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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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