The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 421

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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 Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 421

Chapter 421. A Wedding Gift (3)

At my words, Bok Chief Merchant tilted his head quizzically.
“You, personally?”
“Yes. As someone who has become Jin-u through Bok Yun Sub-leader, how could I simply stand by and watch Gwangjun Trading Company’s troubles? I wish to lend my strength as well.”
Bok Chief Merchant nodded readily.
“Then do so.”
“Thank you.”
“No, it is I who should thank you. You exert yourself for my son—I am the grateful one.”
And Bok Yun Sub-leader grasped my hand, his eyes glistening with tears.
Ah, really.
Why must you make this so burdensome?
I quickly changed my clothes and headed toward Cha-jang.
“I apologize for deciding matters on my own authority.”
At my apology, my guards shook their heads.
“Please do not speak such words.”
“We are your guards. It is our duty to follow wherever you go without complaint.”
Seo-woo Warrior spoke.
“Of course, we follow because we judge it poses no danger to you. Should we deem it dangerous to you, we will not hesitate to stop you.”
“I am careful with my own safety as well, so please do not worry.”
“Truly… is that so?”
At the gleam in Seo-woo Warrior’s eyes, I flinched without meaning to.
I feel a bit guilty, truth be told.
This matter was not entirely free from calculation and self-interest.
I had simply stepped forward with the desire to help an old friend.
Then someone approached me.
“I am Bok Deok Haengsu.”
Seeing the surname Bok, he appeared to be a family member of the Chief Merchant.
“I am Eun Seo-ho of the Eun Hae Trading Company. If I may ask, what is your relationship to the Chief Merchant?”
“I am the second son of the eldest son of the brother of the Chief Merchant’s grandfather.”
Ah….
Close if you call it close, distant if you call it distant.
“I see. I look forward to working with you.”
“Likewise. Are you prepared?”
“Yes.”
“Then let us depart.”
And so we set out on horseback from the Gwangjun Trading Company.
We rode and rode, following the markers left behind by the advance scouts who had begun the pursuit.
Indeed, the plains of Liaoning were vast.
When heading to the Northern Sea Ice Palace, we had traveled northeast, but this time we were moving in the opposite direction entirely.
As we did, endless grasslands stretched before us instead of white snow.
While letting the horses rest for a moment, I asked Bok Deok Haengsu a question.
“Has something like this happened before?”
“Of course, horses running away is fairly common. But most of the time it amounts to nothing. Cases where they flee this seriously are truly rare.”
“I see.”
“Moreover, this time we can’t even determine the reason.”
I see. I’ll have to look into it later.
For now, recovering the horses is the priority.
And so we rode for more than half a day again.
They really did go far.
Since time was of the essence, we rode through the night, and barely managed to reach the military camp.
It was the camp of those who had begun the pursuit first.
“Whoa there!”
As we approached, someone guarding the camp came running out.
“Are you Bok Deok Haengsu?”
“I am. Who are you?”
“I’m Gu Eul, serving under Shim Manager. I’ll inform Shim Manager of your arrival.”
Soon a man emerged from within the camp.
“Bok Deok Haengsu.”
“The Merchant Guild Leader has sent additional pursuit squads. What is the current situation?”
“My apologies. We lost the trail during the pursuit.”
“Lost the trail? You, Shim Manager?”
He nodded with a grave expression.
“Yes. There are suspicious aspects to this. It feels as though someone deliberately manipulated the trail.”
Hearing that conversation, I asked him a question.
“You say someone seems to have manipulated the trail?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked.
“Who are you?”
At this, Bok Deok Haengsu introduced me, and he quickly bowed his head.
“I greet Jin-u, of the Small Guild Master.”
“Yes, pleased to meet you. First, please answer my question.”
“Ah, yes.”
He continued.
“I’ve been working for over thirty years tracking horse trails. Wherever horses flee, I can follow their traces.”
His words were filled with pride in his own abilities.
“Unless a horse vanishes into the air or sinks into the earth, it must leave traces. Since horseshoes are made of iron, they naturally leave marks in the ground.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
“Moreover, since this is grassland, traces tend to persist quite clearly. That’s the problem.”
He continued.
“There are far too many traces. And they scatter in all directions….”
“Then….”
“Yes. Someone deliberately orchestrated this.”
I pondered the matter carefully.
Horses that fled suddenly, and traces deliberately manipulated by someone.
This smells of foul play.
“Would it be acceptable if I examined the area myself?”
“Please come this way.”
I followed him forward and arrived at the location where the traces remained.
Beneath the torchlight, the sight revealed traces scattered chaotically in all directions.
And the aura I sensed.
“…!”
This aura… faint though it may be, it is unmistakably the aura of the Black Path.
Someone from the Black Path had undoubtedly involved themselves in this matter.
Though I could not yet discern their identity, their cowardice made my blood boil.
To commit such an act mere days before the wedding!
I would find the culprit without fail.
“Let us rest for now and resume our search once daylight breaks.”
“Understood.”
Everyone responded in unison with a fist salute to Bok Deok Haengsu’s command.
A barracks was assigned to me as well. However, given the circumstances, our entire party had to lodge together in a single barracks.
I quietly summoned Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior.
“I have a request for both of you.”
“Please speak.”
“From what I can discern, this appears to be a deliberate act intended to harm the Gwangjun Trading Company.”
“We share that assessment.”
“Do you have a suspicion of who the culprit might be?”
“We cannot be certain yet, but we do have a suspicion.”
I continued.
“It is possible that another merchant guild hired the Black Dot Gang to do this.”
“The Black Path, you say?”
At Seo-woo Warrior’s question, I nodded.
“As I mentioned before, thanks to the nature of my martial arts, I can sense the aura of the Black Path quite well.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I sensed the aura of the Black Path in this location. And the Black Path typically does not target large-scale merchant guilds.”
Large merchant guilds possess considerable military strength of their own, and they have the wealth and connections to seek revenge.
For this reason, they are rarely targeted.
“But if they were acting under orders from another merchant guild, that changes things entirely.”
I looked at the Two Warriors.
“That’s why I’m asking the two of you. Please return to the Gwangjun Merchant Group. There’s a strong possibility that someone involved in this incident still remains there.”
“You’re concerned about your old friend, then.”
“Yes.”
“What should we prioritize?”
“First, focus on protecting Bok Sub-leader and his family. And if you discover anyone collaborating with the Black Path, subdue them.”
I continued.
“If you two do this, I can focus entirely on pursuing the horses without worry.”
“Understood.”
The Two Warriors immediately headed toward the Gwangjun Merchant Group.
Now then, shall I begin searching for the horses in earnest?
“Geum-ryeong.”
“Kwee?”
Geum-ryeong poked its head out from within my sleeve.
“It’s time for an errand.”
At my words, Geum-ryeong’s eyes sparkled.
“You caught the scent of the horses on the way here, didn’t you? Find out where they are.”
At my request, Geum-ryeong immediately dashed off with a whoosh.
And shortly after, Geum-ryeong returned.
Judging by the time, they must be nearby.
But I noticed something red smeared on Geum-ryeong’s body.
Blood?
I quickly scooped Geum-ryeong into my arms in alarm.
“Geum-ryeong? Are you hurt anywhere?”
At my call, Geum-ryeong shook its head.
“Kwee! Kwee-i! Kwee-i-kwee-i!”
“Huh? This isn’t your blood? We need to go right now?”
“Kwee-i!”
I hurriedly prepared and rushed out with the Guard Warriors. I instructed Palgap to inform the others of the situation.
“Hyah!”
At my shout, the horse burst forward.
Geum-ryeong guided us ahead. Though all around was dark, the light emanating from Geum-ryeong’s body allowed us to advance without difficulty.
How long did we ride like that?
Soon I understood why Geum-ryeong had called me so urgently.
Several campfires illuminated the surroundings, and the horses we had lost were gathered there.
But…
Something about the situation seemed off.
Several of the horses were rearing wildly and attacking people.
These must be the Black Path gang members who had taken the Gwangjun Merchant Group’s horses.
“Neigh!”
“What the hell, these crazy horses!”
“Where did they even come from…”
The men were in complete chaos under the horses’ assault. Utter pandemonium.
But they weren’t taking it lying down either—the horses were bleeding.
Ah, that blood on Geumryeong’s body must be from them.
“Squeal! Squeal! Squeal!”
Geumryeong was crying out.
Asking why we weren’t helping those horses right now.
“I was about to.”
We immediately drew our blades and rushed at them. Then we began subduing the Black Path members one by one.
Even the strongest among them was only at the early peak stage, so subduing them wasn’t particularly difficult.
“Who are you…… Ugh!”
I didn’t bother answering his question—just kicked him in the face.
Meanwhile, the other men were subdued by the Guard Warriors.
Thus the situation was resolved. We bound the Black Blade Warriors and even removed any poison they might have carried for suicide.
I glanced back.
About ten horses, bleeding.
The foremost horse and Geumryeong were facing each other.
“Neigh!”
“Squeal! Squeal!”
“Snort.”
“Squeal!”
Hmm, they were having a conversation.
I counted the horses.
Fifty in total.
Excluding the ten bleeding ones, that made exactly forty.
So what about those ten horses?
Geumryeong answered my question.
“Squeal! Squeal! Squeal!”
After finishing the conversation, Geumryeong returned to me and explained.
“So those horses aren’t runaways?”
“Squeal.”
“Those horses are…… Spirit Creatures?”
At those words, I lifted my head and began examining the horses properly.
Their sweat…… milky white? Could it be!
The highest-ranked horse most people know of is the Han Blood Horse—the Heavenly Horse.
But there exists another, superior breed that most people don’t know about.
The Han Milk Horse.
A horse that sweats milky white, whose formal name is the River-Running Horse.
It means a horse that runs across rivers.
A horse capable of such tremendous speed.
If a Heavenly Horse runs a thousand li in a day, a River-Crossing Horse can cover three thousand li in the same span.
That’s why the River-Crossing Horse isn’t classified as an ordinary mount—it’s a Spirit Creature.
Ten of these horses? Truly?
“Coo-ee, coo-ee.”
Geumryeong seemed to sense my bewilderment and offered an explanation.
“So you saw those horses being dragged away and stepped in to help them? They called out to you for aid?”
“Coo-ee.”
All forty of those horses had perceived it as well.
They understood that the Black Path gang members hadn’t brought them here with benevolent intentions.
I approached the ten River-Crossing Horses and bowed respectfully with cupped fists.
“Thank you for your assistance. Because of you, I was able to protect my old friend’s assets.”
“Whinnny.”
An expression suggesting it was nothing of consequence.
“I’d like to treat your wounds if you don’t mind?”
The horses nodded, and I retrieved a bottle from my possession, applying its liquid contents to their injuries.
I’m using this quite frequently these days.
The liquid was none other than Geumryeong’s saliva.
As expected, its efficacy was remarkable—the horses’ wounds healed in an instant.
“It was a fortunate meeting. Go well.”
At my words, the horse tilted its head. Confusion evident in its expression.
“Neigh? Whinnny?”
“Coo-ee!”
Geumryeong provided the translation.
“Why won’t you claim them for yourself? Don’t you desire them?”
I grasped the horse’s meaning.
“Of course I’m tempted. But I’m content with the mounts I already possess. Besides, riding a horse against its will is extraordinarily dangerous. I don’t engage in such reckless acts.”
I continued.
“Now hurry and go. If others arrive, it will become troublesome.”
I gestured for the horses to depart. Yet instead, they approached me.
And then…
Wait?
The horse knelt before me.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Geumryeong spoke.
“Coo-ee! Coo-ee.”
“So… you’re saying you wish to entrust yourselves to me?”
“Coo-ee.”
“Why?”
“Coo-ee.”
“So… you’re saying that because you have a lot of money, you can feed them well and keep them warm and comfortable?”
Well, even if they’re Spirit Creatures, food and shelter are important matters.
Surely these creatures don’t eat money like Geum-ryeong does?
As if noticing my doubt, Geum-ryeong spoke again.
“Kwui! Kwui!”
“Hay will do? And they’d be even happier if you gave them sweet candy occasionally?”
Ah, so they don’t eat money after all.
From Geum-ryeong’s attitude, it seemed she was telling me to take care of these creatures.
After all, they’re Spirit Creatures of considerable power.
“Very well.”
A brilliant idea suddenly struck me. I had brought a gift of monthly tea, but something far better had just appeared.
“I have a favor to ask—would one of you be willing to stay at my old friend’s house?”
“Prung?”
“Of course, he’s wealthy, so you’ll eat well and live comfortably.”
The creatures nodded at my words.
Excellent.
Now I could give Bok Yun Sub-leader a truly wonderful gift.
But then doubt crept in.
No matter how well-fed they could be or how warm they could sleep, would Spirit Creatures classified as such powerful beings really submit to me so easily?
I asked Geum-ryeong.
“Geum-ryeong.”
“Kwui?”
“You didn’t threaten them, did you?”
“…”
Geum-ryeong, why are you avoiding my gaze?

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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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