Chapter 83 : Chivalrous Sword
Outer Demon.
It was a term used to refer to those who had left the Demonic Cult for committing a crime, or by their own will, or to carry out a mission, and had lived in the Central Plains and had eventually assimilated.
"Outer Demon… what is the name of the person who became an Outer Demon?"
Jang Baekseo shook his head and said.
"Other than the story that my grandfather was an Outer Demon and his martial arts, I have not heard his name, let alone what kind of person he was… I think he intentionally did not tell me."
"Hmm, is that so…"
Of course, it was a lie.
Nevertheless, there were two intentions behind him calling himself a descendant of an Outer Demon to the Cold Demon.
The first was, of course, an explanation for having learned a demonic art.
And the second was…
'The assassination of the Heavenly Demon, which is the cause of the Righteous-Demonic War! To prevent that, a collaborator within the Demonic Cult is necessary!'
Although he had prevented the kidnapping of Madam Ma, which had been a crucial part of the Heavenly Demon's assassination in the world before his regression, there was no way the Hundred River Association would give up on the Heavenly Demon's assassination just like that.
As such, since he did not know what would happen in the future, it was essential to create a line with the Demonic Cult.
Ma Jeonghu, who did not know such thoughts of Jang Baekseo, nodded her head and soon turned her back.
Jang Baekseo asked Ma Jeonghu, who was about to leave, at her back.
"Are you not going to see your daughter?"
At Jang Baekseo's question, Ma Jeonghu snorted and said.
"Nonsense! I have no more business with a shameful daughter who has broken the laws of the Demonic Cult and has entrusted herself to a hostile organization!"
'Such a blatant lie…'
Jang Baekseo, who had been quite close with the Cold Demon in the world before his regression, could tell at once that Ma Jeonghu was lying now.
"Hyeon, give that to that child."
"I understand."
At Ma Jeonghu's call, a woman walked out from the darkness.
"Please take it. Young Master."
"This is…"
"It's called a Snow Demon's Token. If you come to the Demonic Cult with this in the future, you will be treated as an important guest of the Cold Demon."
Of course, although Jang Baekseo had recognized the Snow Demon's Token at once, he just pretended not to know and listened to the explanation of the woman named Hyeon.
"If you come with this token in the future, I will give you a proper reward for this matter. If you wish, I can even accept you as a member of the cult."
Looking at the Cold Demon, who was making a rather unconventional proposal, Jang Baekseo thought that she was still a dishonest old hag, both before and after his regression.
Finally, Jang Baekseo asked the Cold Demon one question.
"Those who tried to kidnap your daughter… what do you plan to do about the Hundred River Association?"
In the world before his regression, since they had kidnapped Madam Ma long ago, the Hundred River Association had hardly revealed their traces. But in the world after his regression, due to the interference of Jang Baekseo's party, they had exposed their traces in a big way.
Thanks to that, Ma Jeonghu, who had been chasing her daughter, also came to know about their existence and the unknown group that had infiltrated the Demonic Cult.
In a way, this could be seen as the biggest harvest of this escort mission.
"…There must always be a price for an action."
One word from the Cold Demon, who was in charge of the law enforcement of the cult. That one word contained various meanings.
"I believe you will handle it well."
Jang Baekseo cupped his fists for the last time, and with that, the Cold Demon disappeared into the darkness again.
'Hoo, she's a hag with a murderous atmosphere, both then and now…'
***
After that, the Chivalrous Alliance discussed Madam Ma's whereabouts for several days.
Although Jang Baekseo had been prepared to overturn the table if the story went in a strange direction, fortunately, under the leadership of the Divine Monk Hyeon-gong and the Heavenly Dao Han Baekho, Madam Ma was treated as a bereaved family member of the Chivalrous Alliance who had died in the line of duty, but her special position was taken into consideration.
Thus, Madam Ma's whereabouts were stabilized, and Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran, and Hwa Mokyeon said their goodbyes to Madam Ma and Ma Jinseo and set off on the road home under the escort of the martial artists of the Chivalrous Alliance.
"Hahaha! Don't make such a sad face, brother!"
"No, I'm not making a sad face…"
"If you make such a sad face, the farewell will become sad, won't it! Shaanxi and Sichuan are right next to each other, so we can meet again anytime!"
"No, I'm not making a sad face… sigh, whatever."
At the sight of Hwa Mokyeon, who was not listening to him, Jang Baekseo, who felt a sense of regret, thinking that this was the last time, decided to just accept it.
"It was fun being together, and let's definitely meet again."
"B-brother!!"
"A man crying over something like this…"
Although Jang Yuran was scolding the tearful Hwa Mokyeon, tears were also welling up in her own eyes.
"Of course! We have to meet again! We have to meet again and go see Madam Ma and Jinseo again!"
Thus, Jang Baekseo, who had had a tearful farewell with Hwa Mokyeon in Shaanxi, was able to set foot on the land of Sichuan again after half a year.
"Thank you for escorting us this far."
"Not at all. It was an honor to be able to escort a hero like Young Master Jang."
Jang Baekseo, who had parted with the martial artists of the Chivalrous Alliance who had escorted Jang Baekseo's party to Gangjeong County, asked Jang Yuran.
"What do you plan to do now?"
"…What else? I have to try to revive the escort agency again…"
Although the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency had succeeded in the escort mission and had received the remaining balance from Madam Ma, the situation was not very good.
In the two attacks, many of the escort warriors and the escort warriors had died, and although they had succeeded in Madam Ma's request, they had failed in the escort of the other goods, so they had to pay a considerable penalty.
"Would you like to do a job with me?"
"…What?"
Jang Yuran had a question mark floating above her head at Jang Baekseo's sudden proposal.
"I have a business that I'm thinking of, and I need some people who can work with me stably, you see?"
"No, what on earth are you talking about?"
To think of such a big thing, when on earth? It was Jang Yuran and Jang Baekseo who had been on an escort mission together for nearly half a year.
But when on earth had he thought of such a business?
"…Ha, let's at least hear it out."
At Jang Yuran's answer, Jang Baekseo grinned and told her his plan.
"…So… um, you know where the secret vault of the Hegemon's Fortress, which shook the Central Plains martial world 30 years ago, is?"
"Yes."
"…If it's a lie, tell me quickly. I'll let you off with a punch to the face."
"It's ten-tenths true."
"…Ha, this is definitely an eighteen-tenths lie… but why is it so convincing when you say it?"
Jang Yuran, who had been pondering for a moment, eventually accepted Jang Baekseo's proposal.
"No, but… where are we going now?"
As Jang Yuran accepted the proposal, Jang Baekseo immediately led her and moved somewhere.
The problem was that the direction was neither the Mysterious Profound Sect nor the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency.
"You'll know when we get there."
The place where Jang Baekseo, who had said so and had headed, arrived was…
The Geumjo Merchant Guild.
It was the best merchant guild in Sichuan, where Geum Gadong, Geum Hyeonah's father, was the master!
"Wh-why are we suddenly here…?"
For Jang Yuran, who had lived as a person of the merchant world rather than as a martial artist, the meaning that the Geumjo Merchant Guild had was much greater than what Jang Baekseo felt.
Not caring about such a flustered Jang Yuran, Jang Baekseo said something to the gatekeeper who was guarding the main gate of the Geumjo Merchant Guild.
Although the gatekeeper was puzzled after hearing the story, he soon relayed the story inside.
And.
"Oh my! Welcome, Young Hero! Please come inside."
At the guidance of the servant who had rushed out, Jang Baekseo and the still dazed Jang Yuran entered the inside of the Geumjo Merchant Guild together.
What was waiting for Jang Baekseo and Jang Yuran, who had been guided to a pavilion deep inside the Geumjo Merchant Guild, was…
"Hahaha! It's been a long time, Young Master Jang. No, should I call you the Chivalrous Sword now?"
"…Please, just spare me that. Lord Geum…"
Geum Gadong, the master of the Geumjo Merchant Guild and Geum Hyeonah's father, welcomed them.
The Chivalrous Sword!
Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran, and Hwa Mokyeon, who had become the main characters of the Path of Chivalry, each had a nickname attached to them. And the nickname attached to Jang Baekseo was the Chivalrous Sword.
"Hehehe, why, isn't it cool, Chivalrous Sword?"
"Haha! And the young lady next to you must be the Cold Smile Chivalrous Phoenix, Young Lady Jang Yuran, right?"
"…Just call me Jang Yuran…"
The Cold Smile Chivalrous Phoenix. This was the nickname attached to Jang Yuran.
"Keu, keuk, the Cold Smile Chivalrous Phoenix… nice. Yes, it's killer."
"…Shut up…"
As if her nickname were so embarrassing, Jang Yuran, not caring that she was in front of Geum Gadong, became serious and started cursing.
"Haha, it would have been the icing on the cake if I had met the Plum Blossom Sword Dragon together as well…!"
"…Why does only Young Master Hwa have such a cool nickname…"
"I know, right…"
For a moment, Jang Baekseo and Jang Yuran were jealous of Hwa Mokyeon's cool nickname. Geum Gadong got to the point.
"Well, will you tell me what brings you to see me today? And leaving your sect behind at that."
As expected of the richest man in Sichuan, Geum Gadong already knew that Jang Baekseo had come to see him without even stopping by his sect.
"It's because there's something I must do before returning to my sect."
"Ho ho?"
Geum Gadong, who had shown interest in Jang Baekseo's words, looked at Jang Baekseo with eyes that said to continue.
"Lord Geum…"
Jang Baekseo, who had paused for a moment, continued.
"How long do you plan to be satisfied with Sichuan?"
At those words of Jang Baekseo, Geum Gadong's eyes sank deeply.
"…Will you tell me what you mean by that?"
"It's the literal meaning. I'm asking how long you will be satisfied with Sichuan."
Geum Gadong, who had paused for a moment as if to savor Jang Baekseo's words, continued.
"I'm not satisfied. I'm just waiting for the right time because I lack the strength now."
The richest man in Sichuan, the best merchant guild in Sichuan. Although the words were good, on the other hand, it also meant that they were settling for Sichuan.
"In particular, although I can somehow manage the Western martial world, I am in a situation where I am quite lacking in both military power and financial power to extend my influence to the Eastern martial world."
Putting aside the military power, it might sound strange that the Geumjo Merchant Guild, the best merchant guild in Sichuan, was lacking in financial power.
But that was not the case either. To expand one's influence, it was natural that one had to take away the commercial rights of the existing merchant guilds that were rooted there, and what was needed for that was financial power.
And of course, as much as they were taking away the place of the existing commercial rights, they had to endure a certain amount of loss.
The problem was that the loss they would see in that way was at a level that even the best merchant guild in Sichuan could not easily see.
The matter of military power was much more blatant.
Although the Western martial world was also like that, the Eastern martial world, in particular, often had a strong relationship between the merchant families and the martial families.
In a word, the famous merchant guilds of the Eastern martial world were mostly merchant guilds that had a martial arts sect behind them, or were even run by a martial arts sect.
Of course, although the Geumjo Merchant Guild also had its own military force, since its origin was a merchant family, its level was not very high.
"What would you do if I told you that I could solve those two problems at once?"
At Jang Baekseo's question, Geum Gadong's eyes widened as if they were lanterns.
"…What do you mean?"
"It's nothing. It's just that I have a very~ good business opportunity, and if this works out well, Lord Geum will be able to get both financial power and military power at the same time."
At those words, Geum Gadong was lost in thought for a moment.
"What do you want from me?"
Jang Baekseo, who had smiled at Geum Gadong's question, said.
"First of all, what I want is… that's right. It's trust."
(End of Chapter)