The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 514

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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 514

Chapter 514. Ice and Fire (2)

I tilted my head in confusion upon reading the message.
Bok Chief Merchant had something to tell me about Seolpung Palace?
What connection could he possibly have with that place?
I would need to hear him out directly.
“May I visit him now?”
“Of course. He should have returned by this hour.”
I made my way to the Gwangjun Merchant Group Guild Leader’s Office alongside Bok Yun Sub-leader.
“Father, it’s Yun. Eun Seo-ho Sub-leader wishes to pay his respects.”
“Come in.”
We entered the office.
Bok Chief Merchant, who had been seated before the wooden table, rose to greet me.
“Welcome.”
I had heard he had business to attend at a nearby merchant guild and had apparently just returned.
That explained his absence from the banquet.
He would have received reports about Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master’s visit, but given the late hour, he likely intended to exchange greetings tomorrow.
Yet as I arrived unannounced, his expression mingled welcome with bewilderment.
Even between close associates, paying respects at such a late hour was unusual.
“I have been remiss in my visits.”
“I know you’ve been swamped with work, so think nothing of it.”
He shook his head as he spoke.
“It seems you’re heading to the Northern Sea.”
“Indeed.”
I then glanced at Bok Yun Sub-leader.
Bok Yun Sub-leader nodded and addressed his father.
“I recalled something you mentioned to me previously, so I came to visit with him.”
I picked up from there.
“The Sub-leader mentioned that you had something to tell me.”
As I spoke, I withdrew a tablet from my pocket and showed it.
“Ah, my apologies. That’s not what I—”
I apologized and returned the tablet to my pocket.
It was the proof tablet of succession to the Meat-Loving Duke that Bang Hyo-myung had given me not long ago.
It was intricately carved from red jade, though from a distance it resembled raw meat.
Surely they hadn’t fashioned it in this shape to represent the Meat-Loving Duke’s nature.
Still, seeing how Geum Ryung-i coveted it, it was undoubtedly a valuable item.
In any case, I produced the white identification badge that proved my status as the Lesser Palace Mistress of Seolpung Palace.
“That, that is…!”
Bok Chief Merchant’s eyes widened at the sight, but he soon composed himself and asked me.
“Since when?”
“It’s been a while now.”
“Heh heh… To overlook it right before my eyes! But your father surely….”
I sent a transmission before he could finish his words.
– My Master is the Palace Master of Seolpung Palace.
“I see.”
Bok Chief Merchant, who had been nodding again, spoke.
“If I were in your position, I would entrust the succession to someone as capable as you.”
“My abilities are hardly noteworthy.”
“You jest too much.”
Bok Chief Merchant chuckled softly, then spoke again with a serious expression.
“Follow me.”
“Yes.”
“Yun-i will remain here.”
I followed Bok Chief Merchant as we walked.
Yet even after walking for quite some time, Bok Chief Merchant showed no sign of stopping.
“Must we go further?”
When I asked cautiously, the Guild Leader nodded.
Ah, we must continue.
Still, even after walking this far, we remained within the Gwangjun Merchant Group building—it was truly vast territory.
Well, Liaoning does have considerable land relative to its population.
Being a frontier region with mostly barren wasteland, it specialized in pastoral industries.
Thanks to this, the impact of successive famines had been somewhat mitigated.
Rice was never the staple crop here anyway.
How much further did we walk?
A pavilion appeared in the distance, and Bok Chief Merchant stopped before it.
A pavilion in this barren wasteland!
It seemed incongruous, yet surely it held some significance.
He would not have brought the Lesser Palace Mistress of Seolpung Palace here otherwise.
“The current Palace Master of Seolpung is Myeong Hyun Prince, correct?”
I flinched at the question, but soon realized no one was nearby and nodded.
This place was a barren wasteland.
There was nowhere to hide.
Is that why we came here?
I asked Bok Chief Merchant in return.
“Do you know my Master?”
“I’ve only seen him once.”
“May I ask what relationship you have with Seolpung Palace?”
“It’s simple enough. To conduct business here in Liaoning for any length of time, one cannot do so without ties to Seolpung Palace.”
So that’s how formidable Seolpung Palace’s influence once was.
“We received considerable assistance from Seolpung Palace… and my father would often share drinks with the Previous Seolpung Palace Master right here in this very place.”
Bok Chief Merchant said this, then climbed up to the pavilion and retrieved a walking stick.
Shwing.
A blade slid out from within the staff. He began jabbing it repeatedly into the ground around the pavilion.
Thunk!
The sound of striking something solid.
Bok Chief Merchant pointed to that spot and spoke to me.
“Dig here.”
“Sir?”
“A young man should do the digging. Ah, my back.”
I let out a quiet laugh watching him jest while rubbing his back.
Bok Chief Merchant, at least look in a mirror before saying such things.
A man who can subdue a wild horse with a single hand!
In contrast, Bok Chief Merchant’s wife possessed truly refined and graceful bearing.
Bok Sub-leader must have taken after his father’s side.
“Do you have a shovel?”
Bok Chief Merchant retrieved a shovel from near the pavilion’s pillar, and I began digging with it.
What emerged was a small iron box.
Seeing that Geumryeong showed no reaction, it didn’t appear to be anything of great value.
“What is this?”
“Something my father hid away.”
“Sir?”
“It’s been more than twenty years now.”
Now that I thought about it, it had been roughly twenty-one years since Seolpung Palace was annihilated.
“At that time, my father returned from the Northern Sea with a melancholy expression.”
“He must have witnessed the remnants of what happened there.”
“Likely so. He said he found this there and placed it in this box. He never told me what it was, only instructing me to keep it secret and to reveal it only to someone trustworthy and connected to Seolpung Palace.”
“So you’ve kept this secret all this time.”
“Indeed.”
“To maintain such a secret for over twenty years—it’s remarkable!”
“My father said it was repaying the debt of gratitude our Merchant Guild owed to Seolpung Palace. And our Gwangjun Trading Company takes such repayment of debts seriously.”
So that’s why you sent those fine horses before, saying you were repaying a debt.
And there have been many other kindnesses besides.
“Looking at your expression, I suspect you want to ask why one would be so thorough in repaying debts when one could simply pretend ignorance.”
“Because many people do exactly that.”
“True enough. But here in Liaoning, one cannot afford such behavior. If we don’t remain tightly bound together, survival becomes difficult. That’s why we never forget our debts and repay them thoroughly.”
“I understand your meaning.”
“Take the box to your quarters and examine it. Father instructed me not to look inside either.”
“Understood.”

A short while later.
I returned to my quarters.
“What in the world is this?”
Palgap tilted his head at the sight of the dirt-covered box.
But I offered no explanation, merely saying:
“If you don’t want the wooden table getting soiled, you’d better lay down a cloth beneath it quickly.”
“Oh! Yes, of course.”
Palgap swiftly spread out a cloth, and I set the box down.
Then I exhaled deeply.
“What troubles you?”
At Seo Hyang’s question, I scratched my cheek and replied:
“I’m equally bewildered—I have no idea what this is.”
I wished Seo Hyang would tell me what lay inside before opening the box, but her Bing Jeong Eye, while capable of revealing things hidden by special power, cannot see what is merely contained within a box.
Right then. As the Lesser Palace Mistress of Seolpung Palace, I must examine this myself.
Those present in my quarters now know I am the Lesser Palace Mistress of Seolpung Palace.
That is why I did not send them out. They would learn of this anyway, and explaining seemed tedious.
I carefully opened the box.
Creak.
The rusted hinges groaned.
Inside lay something wrapped in an old, faded white cloth.
I gently unwrapped the cloth.
“…!”
What lay within was entirely unexpected.
“Is that… a whetstone?”
A whetstone is one of the essential tools for warriors.
During combat or training, weapon blades grow dull, and to maintain their sharpness, they must be regularly honed.
Yet what is curious is that a whetstone retains considerable information about the weapon its user wielded and their habits.
But why would the Former Guild Master of Gwangjun Merchant Guild conceal this so carefully?
And why instruct me to show it to someone trustworthy from Seolpung Palace?
It seems he must have discovered it within the Ruins of Seolpung Palace, but why did he regard it as so important?
In truth, I have seen many whetstones, but I have rarely used one myself.
This is because the inner strength accumulated through the Taiyin Ice-Sea Divine Art is inherently sharp.
The cutting power of my blade grows formidable as well, so the edge rarely dulls.
Moreover, frequent exposure to the Taiyin Ice-Sea Divine Art’s qi prevents rust from forming on the blade.
Ah!
Realization struck me like lightning.
The Previous Bok Chief Merchant, who had maintained relations with Seolpung Palace for so many years, must surely have known this as well.
So you concluded that this wasn’t from Seolpung Palace, but rather from Hyung-su, who attacked Seolpung Palace.
Then is this evidence to find Hyung-su?
Master and the Palace Master of Northern Sea Ice Palace said there was virtually no evidence to speak of within those ruins.
It was quite a feat to uncover this.
And it was truly wise of the previous Guild Leader to conceal this so carefully.
Afterward, it seems Hyung-su’s faction continued to surveil the area where Seolpung Palace once stood.
Gwangjun Trading Company could have easily been swept up in that danger as well.
And this evidence would have disappeared too.
I showed the whetstone to Seo-woo Warrior.
“Seo-woo Warrior.”
“Yes.”
“Is there any information we can infer from this whetstone?”
Seo-woo Warrior accepted the whetstone and began examining it carefully from every angle.
“Hmm, the owner of this whetstone likely used a standard longsword. The stone is considerably worn, but judging by the practiced manner of use, I’d say the owner falls somewhere between second-rate and first-rate skill.”
“I see.”
“However, this whetstone is quite high quality.”
From this, we could deduce that the whetstone’s owner was fairly wealthy.
For those who live by the sword, whetstones are essential, yet they’re a significant consumable.
That’s why impoverished swordsmen had to be frugal with their whetstones.
“And based on the traces left on this whetstone, the owner is one of two things: either someone who uses heat-based martial arts, or someone who lives in an extremely hot region.
Seo-woo Warrior continued.
“See how this part of the whetstone is cracked? Whetstones crack like this when exposed to heat, but whether that heat is environmental or artificially induced makes a difference.”
“I understand.”
Then this must certainly be evidence of Hyung-su.
Hot regions and heat-based martial arts have nothing whatsoever to do with the Northern Sea.
“That concludes my assessment.”
At those words, I asked the other warriors.
“Does anyone have additional thoughts?”
The other warriors shook their heads. There was nothing more to add.
Seo-woo Warrior truly is exceptional.
With such extensive experience, he proved invaluable once again.
It seems we must meet with those from Chuyong Palace first.
This journey now had one more objective.
.
.
.
The next day.
“Please, take care of yourselves.”
“Yes, understood.”
We departed from Gwangjun Trading Company with Bok Sub-leader’s farewell. Thanks to the generous supplies Bok Sub-leader had provided, our spirits were lifted as well.
We raced swiftly across the Grassland Territory.
Thanks to Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, none of the tribal settlements dared approach us.
We galloped peacefully across the grasslands and arrived at the Northern Sea Branch.
Since we were heading to the Northern Sea anyway, I intended to deliver operational funds to the branch.
The Northern Sea Branch Master, whom I hadn’t seen in some time, had become entirely acclimated to this place.
“It’s been quite a while, Sub-leader!”
His hearty laugh upon seeing me seemed capable of striking down even the wolf packs of the Northern Sea in a single blow.
Had he been doing nothing but physical training here?
His arm muscles were as thick as Palgap’s legs.
“You’ve changed considerably. You seem to have regained your youth.”
“Please, don’t say such things. You’re mocking this old body.”
No, I’m being sincere.
Who would look at you and think retirement was drawing near?
“First, please accept this.”
I withdrew a pouch of money from my garment and offered it to him.
“These are operational funds. I look forward to your continued service.”
“I shall dedicate myself to your cause.”
“Ah, and one more thing….”
I spoke to him.
“If there are any spiritual medicines obtainable in the Northern Sea, could you procure some for me?”
“Spiritual medicines?”
“Yes. If you happen to discover any ice lotus, please be sure to secure it.”
Thanks to Young Gu Jin Master, I could now produce White Crane Wine, and if I could obtain ice lotus, I intended to attempt making Ice Lotus Wine as well.
“And I shall examine the conditions of the Northern Sea Branch.”
“Understood.”

After inspecting the Northern Sea Branch and addressing its shortcomings, dawn had already broken.
With the Ice Flame Conference drawing near, we set out for the Northern Sea Ice Palace the very next day.
“Sub-leader, the Snow Wind may prove difficult for you.”
To the Branch Master’s concern, I spoke reassuringly.
“This is a journey undertaken with the Young Mistress of the Ice Castle. Why would I fear mere Snow Wind?”
“True enough. Then travel safely.”

And so we advanced toward the Northern Sea.
Whiiiiiing—!
We encountered the Snow Wind blowing fiercely before us.
“You mean we have to push through that?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm….”
Palgap trembled as if his courage had abandoned him. The others wore expressions of concern as well.
But I harbored no such worries.
My Master had taught me a method to traverse the Snow Wind and walk the Northern Sea without attracting the assault of Spirit Creatures stained in foreign blood.
It was a secret technique only the Lesser Palace Mistress of Seolpung Palace could employ.
I drew Eun Moo-geom and thrust it toward the Snow Wind before us, releasing my inner force.
Whoosh!
In that instant, a passage opened before us.
Wow!
How incredible!

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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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