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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: For the Family (1)
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"Alright. Let's draw up the contract."
Dang Yu-wol stepped right into the escort agency.
The servants were flustered by the sudden influx of people but bustled about busily.
"Agency Head! You're here?!"
"Yeah. No issues?"
"None, sir. Just more people than usual. Oh, and Escort Warriors Yang Jin and Jin Ho-gang have returned."
"Oh?"
The two he'd sent to the Tang Clan for training were back.
Now it was time to put them to real work.
"Agency Head!!"
"We're back!"
-They've improved a lot in just a few days.
'If taught properly, reaching first-rate isn't too hard. Plus, I asked the elders to guide them personally.'
Some elders had lost their martial prowess.
But they hadn't lost their ability to teach it.
So instructing those two wasn't difficult.
-Not a renowned orthodox sect for nothing.
'Even in decline, the Tang Clan has accumulated no small amount of knowledge over the years.'
Moreover, both Yang Jin and Jin Ho-gang were motivated.
It was no wonder their skills rose so quickly.
-The next step will be tougher, though...
'Breaking through to peak level is a matter of talent.'
But it wasn't impossible.
Just like with Yu Hwa and Gi Cheol, he could pass on martial arts suited to them.
"Reaching first-rate isn't the end. You two have much more ahead."
"Yes, sir!!"
"We'll devote our lives to serving you, Agency Head!"
"That's the spirit. Things will get busy from now on. So... for now, I'm making you both escort leaders."
"Thank you, sir!"
"We'll give it our all!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Thanks to Magistrate Jang Ung, they could now handle official government shipments too.
Not only that, but they were also tasked with delivering goods to Taeseong Pavilion.
As escorts began in earnest, others started commissioning the Sacheon Escort Agency as well.
The agency grew busier by the day.
"That shipment goes to Yangseong!! Carry it properly!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
"Escort Leader Yang! What about this one?!"
"Send it here!!"
Dang Seong-u watched intently as goods flowed in and out of the agency.
It was a sight he'd never seen as agency head himself.
"...You're truly remarkable."
"It's nothing."
To Dang Yu-wol, it really was nothing.
Compared to what lay ahead.
"Hahaha. I feel like an old man relegated to the back room."
"If you think so, Father, why not take on some duties yourself?"
"You want me to go on escort runs?"
"No. I have a separate request."
Dang Yu-wol pulled a letter from his bosom.
It was one of the things he'd asked Sanggwan Ryu for recently.
"I heard there's a rare poison found in Yunnan."
"A rare poison... Yes. Collecting poisons is important work too."
"Would you fetch it for us?"
Yunnan lay further south from Sichuan.
It was hot and lush with vegetation, home to many venomous creatures.
And.
It was where the Five Poisons Sect had once built its power.
"You know not just anyone can be sent, Father."
He wasn't wrong.
Poisons could grow stronger or weaker depending on handling.
Someone knowledgeable had to go.
"I've heard you're skilled with medicines and poisons."
"True. You can trust me on that."
"So, I'd like you and the elders to go together."
"And in the meantime?"
"I'll have to act as clan head."
Worry filled Dang Seong-u's eyes.
The Sacheon Escort Agency was growing and demanded much of the agency head.
Now to take on clan head duties too?
"Aren't you overdoing it?"
"It's fine. This much is nothing."
"Alright... I'm sorry."
"No need."
Dang Yu-wol still felt indebted to Dang Seong-u.
His apology brought a bitter smile to his face.
'Compared to what Father did for me... This is nothing.'
"A lacking father like me has little to offer."
"If you think that way, then please handle this poison transport well."
"Alright. I will."
"And Elder Dang Jung-hyeop should come too."
"That guy's the Tang Clan's prime fighting force. If I take him, what about you?"
The Sacheon Merchant Alliance wouldn't sit idle.
They'd said they wouldn't make an issue of the Gihwan Escort Agency's fall.
Officially, at least.
Unofficially, they'd strike any way they could.
"There might be ambushes."
"I know."
Dang Yu-wol smiled.
"And I'm not worried."
In the end, he couldn't ignore Dang Yu-wol's firm urging.
Dang Seong-u departed the Tang Clan with Dang Jung-hyeop and several strong disciples.
-By the schedule, it'll take at least a year.
'Yes. Long if long, short if short.'
-Planning to clean up the Sacheon Merchant Alliance in that time?
'Yeah. No need to drag it out.'
-Won't be easy. The Crimson Merchant Group head already commands a transcendent expert as a limb.
'Ah, that.'
A smile tugged at Dang Yu-wol's lips.
'There's an easy way to handle it.'
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One pillar of the Sacheon Merchant Alliance.
Go Cheok, head of the Crimson Merchant Group, lifted his silver chopsticks with a sullen face.
In case poison lurked in the food.
"It's fine."
The silverware showed no reaction. No poison.
Only then did Go Cheok put the dish in his mouth.
"The taste... is awful."
"They're renowned chefs, you know."
"Maybe my stomach's uneasy... Sigh..."
In the end, Go Cheok set down his chopsticks after barely eating.
He scowled at the middle-aged man with him.
His bodyguard, Ji Gong.
"Ji Gong. How about hitting the Tang Clan now?"
"The clan head and threatening elders are away, but it's still too risky."
"Is the Tang Clan that strong?"
"The clan itself is no problem. The issue is Dang Yu-wol."
Ji Gong calmly explained the situation.
"Even the Medical Immortal Sect couldn't identify what poison killed Gi Yeong-gyu."
"Urgh..."
"If we attack and miss Dang Yu-wol..."
That poison might turn on him.
Go Cheok spat a quiet curse.
"...Then cooperating with others?"
"Hmm. Even weakened, the Tang Clan still has teeth."
"Sigh. Really?"
"If they resist using all their poisons, the first aggressor takes the biggest hit."
"Ugh..."
"And Dang Seong-u is different from Dang Yu-wol."
Ji Gong continued gravely.
"Dang Seong-u would be manageable. He hates escalating casualties."
But Dang Yu-wol?
He was different.
"That punk uses poison without hesitation. And he kills without blinking."
"...That wastrel is that capable?"
"Yes."
Just look at the Gihwan Escort Agency incident.
He poisoned the guards and killed Gi Yeong-gyu in such a gruesome way.
No ordinary killer could do that.
"...Hmph. So antagonizing the Tang Clan now gains us nothing?"
"Exactly."
Advice from a transcendent expert like Ji Gong.
What could he, a mere first-rate, know?
Just accept it.
"Um... sir. About this month's..."
"Ah, right."
As Ji Gong cautiously asked, Go Cheok nodded.
He took a small box from the safe.
"This month's medicine."
"Thank you."
"No need for thanks. Here."
Ji Gong took the precious box and left.
Watching him go, Go Cheok smacked his lips.
'Damn. Should've used someone stronger if I knew it'd be like this.'
Go Cheok sipped his tea.
These days, everything tasted bitter.
'Wasted the Heavenly Net Earth Poison I bought dearly through the Black Alliance.'
To control the transcendent expert Ji Gong, he'd secretly used it on his daughter.
Then covered the treatment costs to be treated as a benefactor.
'He's been reliable so far... But damn.'
Still, in this situation, playing it safe didn't sit well.
A demonic expert might've offered a decisive plan.
'Great to control a hard-to-buy transcendent with money, but it's not all good.'
"Should've gotten someone stronger. Tsk. Guess I'll request more poison from the Black Alliance."
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"Hey! Ji Gong! How about a match today?!"
"Transcendent expert, huh? Let's settle it properly!!"
The merchant group's experts taunted him.
But he ignored them and kept walking.
His steps stopped at a small thatched house not far from the Crimson Merchant Group.
Experts from the Crimson Merchant Group guarded the entrance.
"Ji Gong, why not just enter the merchant group proper?"
"Yeah. It's better that way. Guarding till you arrive every time is a chore."
"Didn't Head Go say he'd prepare a room in the inner quarters?"
Ji Gong bowed slightly apologetically at their grumbling.
They were weaker than him.
But they protected his daughter.
"Sorry. But my daughter is sensitive to the smells of the herbs and goods the group handles."
"It's the head's order, but we're peak experts too."
"Guarding a single thatched house is a bit..."
"Got it. Tell Head Go I'm grateful."
The guards departed.
After watching them go, Ji Gong entered.
"Ah... Father. You're here?"
"Seon-ah."
A girl sat in the spacious courtyard of the thatched house.
Pale complexion.
A body much smaller than her peers.
A pitiful flower of a child that might wilt away at any moment.
"Father..."
"Don't get up."
Seeing his daughter struggle to rise pierced his heart.
Even standing was hard for her. It tore him apart.
But he never showed it.
"How are you today?"
"I'm fine. I think I'll recover soon."
"Hahaha. I hope so. Here, time for your medicine."
It was completely different from facing Go Cheok or the other experts earlier.
No stern face remained.
Only the visage of a father who loved his daughter.
"...Father. Because of me..."
"It's okay. For you, I can do anything."
"But..."
"Really, it's fine."
"Even your sect's matters..."
"It's truly okay."
He stroked his daughter Ji Seon's hair.
His touch on the small child was exceedingly gentle.
"Father..."
Ji Seon felt so fragile under his hand.
As if she might flicker out at any moment.