TSBIRBV Ch 19

Chapter 19 Grand Ambition (3)

“Oh?”

As she stepped into the room, Samrang’s expression turned peculiar—specifically, right after her gaze landed on the “motto” posted on the wall.

“What a… modest dream you have.”

It could have been mistaken for a sneer, but it sounded more like genuine admiration.

“I can sense your firm resolve to achieve your goal right from your very first day on the job.”

After all, calling it “modest” could also be an expression of confidence—saying it was something easily attainable.

“Well, I am rather proactive.”

Samrang let out a light laugh in her slow, languid tone, the kind that would make even a sloth call her “noonim” (big sister).

“So, Guild Master, what are your plans from here?”

“Well, since I heard the Qinghai Trading Company mainly handled middle distribution, I thought I’d look into that first—like, what kind of goods we send and where…”

If his strongest subject in school had been Second Language, his weakest had been mathematics. He had only just learned the basics of Central Plains bookkeeping yesterday, so accomplishing anything major right away was impossible.

It wasn’t as if he could suddenly dig up a secret double ledger the previous manager had hidden away, or plug leaks where money was escaping.

Intending to get by with hands-on learning, he now found himself having to actually use his brain.

“But… the more I look, the stranger it seems.”

Flipping quickly through the company ledgers on his desk, Yegyeol frowned.

“What’s bothering you?”

“It’s just… there’s not a single recorded failure in any of the past trading journeys.”

Even in modern times, there were always logistics mishaps. How much more so in the Central Plains—a lawless land crawling with both armed and unarmed thieves.

Travel by mountain, and you met bandits of the Green Forest (녹림). Travel by river, and you ran into river pirates like the Long River Water Alliance (장강수로맹). Take the official roads, and you faced corrupt officials.

In an age with no street addresses and extremely limited paved roads, to have zero delivery failures was almost unbelievable.

“Do they just use some incredibly competent escort agency?”

At this, Samrang laughed.

“They cooperate with escort agencies (pyo-guk, 표국) that are like entrenched local lords in each region, allowing us to conduct our trading journeys safely. These agencies have ties with the Green Forest or the Long River Water Alliance, and they maintain friendly relations with various officials, so they protect our caravans well.”

“If I mess with a company that’s already running so smoothly, won’t I just ruin it?”

No matter how capable your people, if the one at the top was incompetent, the results would be disastrous.

If it were an escort agency he was running, that might be different—Yegyeol would have been confident he could guarantee success in every guard transport.

After all, I have an invincible Baembeam.

But trading was a different matter. You had to anticipate what goods would become popular, where, and when. The Central Plains was vast, and it was impossible to check commodity prices in every region in real time.

Though he had taken Jinyoung’s crash course “Guild Master—Everything You Need to Know,” the flood of information crammed into his head in such a short time was leaving him more confused than enlightened.

“Hmm…”

Samrang’s eyes flickered sideways before she murmured,

“As long as you achieve your goal, does it matter what path you take?”

“How do you mean?”

“As you know, I am the ‘Divine Physician of Qinghai’ (청해신의). There’s a truly extraordinary remedy I have…”

Yegyeol, who had been momentarily intrigued at the words “extraordinary remedy,” immediately leaned back, recalling Jinyoung’s assessment that Samrang was the sort of person who would use any means necessary to help him.

“No—nothing improper.”

“It’s for the chronic ailments of escort guards or soldiers who spend long hours on horseback, and of scholars who sit for extended periods studying. It works wonders.”

Samrang added this with a bright smile. Yegyeol, feeling as if he’d been swept along, fell into thought.

“If you can properly prove its effectiveness, we can add it to the company’s products.”

“All right.”

Samrang clasped her hands together.

“Now then—please give your next instructions.”

“Ah…”

Yegyeol hesitated. He realized why she had brought up this “extraordinary remedy.”

Seeing that he didn’t know what to do, she had skillfully maneuvered him into taking the reins.

“You really are capable…”

“Oh, compared to Jinyoung I’m as slow as a turtle,” she replied, making a gesture of crawling along, which made Yegyeol laugh.

“Thanks for the help. I can’t just sit around doing nothing, so I think I’ll start with something small.”

He pulled out a bundle of bamboo slips tied with red string—completed contracts—and spread them out.

“This one’s a trade run to Sichuan. I’d like to go along.”

He had thought this over carefully—it meant crossing from Qinghai into Sichuan, but among the contracts, it was the shortest route. Every step of the process was already planned out.

It was the perfect job to observe and learn from.

“I’ll inform my lord first. Given what happened at Kunlun, I don’t know if he’ll approve immediately.”

Yegyeol nodded.

In truth, he simply didn’t want to be apart from Haryang. But if he wanted to stay by his Senior Brother’s side for the long term, he had to find a way to plant roots there.

Having been suddenly handed a trading company, he needed to digest it without choking to earn Haryang’s trust.

The Senior Brother he had reunited with was wrapped in layers of secrets. If Yegyeol remained just a disciple to be looked after, Haryang would keep those secrets forever, remaining only a protective guardian.

Yegyeol couldn’t be satisfied with that. He wanted more than guesses and investigation—he wanted Haryang to open up and tell him those secrets of his own accord.

It was needlessly roundabout and difficult, but espers had that kind of twisted streak by nature. When it came to their guides, there was no such thing as compromise.

Samrang’s eyes gleamed.

“Before I go to the lord, could I have a quick look at the Millennium Thunder-Horned Python? I’ve heard it can wield thunder qi—but I’d like to see how it does it. Since it doesn’t use venom, I guess it doesn’t have venom sacs?”

Pouring out these words in a rush, she looked more excited than Yegyeol had ever seen her. He lifted his wrist slightly.

The golden snake, quietly masquerading as a bracelet, shook its head slightly when their eyes met.

“My word—can it really communicate? That’s incredible. And so small—it could probably slip through a slightly open door or window easily… Oh, but its color is so conspicuous… No, wait—if you smudged soot on its scales…”

Greed dripped from her eyes. Her rapid-fire words were more like a muttered monologue.

“It’s my guardian spirit beast, so no.”

His firm answer made her shoulders slump.

“But it’s so rare for a spirit beast to follow human words so well…”

Her gaze turned rather pitiful.

“Go on—back to work. Until the day Qinghai Trading Company becomes one of the Three Great Trading Guilds of the Central Plains!”

It was far more cheerleading than scolding.

As she looked back at him, Samrang’s expression twisted into something oddly complicated.

“This is the first time I’ve been unable to keep my expression straight.”

“It’s fine. We can definitely do it.”

Yegyeol beamed encouragement at her.

“The lord isn’t here?”

“He stepped out for a bit. Why are you here so early?”

Jinyoung, scanning bamboo contracts, looked up with surprise at Samrang’s unexpected arrival.

“Well, I figured I was done with my part…”

Her voice trailed off, and Jinyoung gave her a look that demanded an explanation.

“Do you think the Guild Master even knows what’s fallen into his hands?”

Already irritated by the interruption to his work, he now had to deal with these cryptic remarks.

“I mean—his aim is to make us one of the Three Great Trading Guilds. He said we should work hard until that day comes.”

“What?”

The muscles under Jinyoung’s eyes twitched.

“So yeah—I’m unemployed now.”

Samrang spread her hands in exaggerated helplessness, muttering half to herself that maybe she should have just been a physician. But the words barely registered with the stunned Jinyoung.

“He definitely saw the company ledgers, right? I even taught him how to read them.”

True, illiteracy was common in the Central Plains, but Yegyeol could read and write—and do arithmetic. He had even handled some calculations mentally.

Jinyoung had been quietly impressed by the Senior Brother’s foresight in bringing in such a smart “student.” But now—was he saying Yegyeol couldn’t even tell gold bullion from copper coins?

“No way… The Qinghai Trading Company is basically a front we use for plausible deniability so we can’t be linked directly, right? Rich men across the Central Plains go crazy for goods coming from the Western Regions beyond Xinjiang! Even the vaunted Five Great Clans pretend not to notice and use the Qinghai Company.”

Jinyoung looked ready to grab her by the collar.

“Spices, glassware, all kinds of exotic goods—they’re so popular we can’t keep up with demand! And the only trading guild handling their distribution is in his hands—and what? His goal is just to be one of the Three Great Trading Guilds…?”

“Hey, I didn’t set that goal—it’s not on me!”

Samrang’s voice turned small. Jinyoung’s eyes went wide and sharp.

“And you think you could bring this up to Master Wen?”

“Of course not.”

Her answer was firm—and his was the same.

For all that Wen Yegyeol sometimes seemed like an ornery ferret, he was manageable. The truly frightening one was the man behind him—Je Haryang. While he behaved like the perfect gentleman before his life-saving disciple, Je Haryang in truth was a dangerous man.

“The cult’s money laundering is run through the Qinghai Company—its readily deployable funds put entire gold-filled war chests to shame…”

On top of that, the Qinghai Company had the black market locked down. Partnering with the Hao Clan, they ran hidden shops whose profits could feed every cultist in the Ten-thousand Great Mountains.

They only kept themselves off the list of the top Three Trading Guilds by underreporting sales—otherwise, they could easily claim the title of the Number One Trading Guild in the world.

A dazed look spread over Jinyoung’s face.

It was like giving a cherished piece of pottery to a friend… only to see it used as a dog bowl.

Notes:

Pyo-guk (표국) — escort agency or armed escort bureau in wuxia/murim settings, contracted to safely transport goods and people.

Green Forest (녹림) — collective term for mountain bandits in Chinese/Korean martial fiction.

Long River Water Alliance (장강수로맹) — a large-scale river pirate organization.

Three Great Trading Guilds of the Central Plains — the most prestigious merchant guilds in the marketplace of the martial world.

Jondaetmal (존댓말) — honorific and polite speech used in Korean; significant when shifted to or from in relationships.

Ten-thousand Great Mountains (십만대산) — vast mountainous region, here the headquarters of the “cult” referred to in the story.

Hao Clan (하오문) — influential underworld and information network.