Chapter 3 : A Tough Nut to Crack
"Is my brother inside?"
"Yes. But..."
Before Siu could finish, Jin Gahyeon pulled a pinkish shell from her bosom.
"What is this... Hah! Y-Young Lady! Don't tell me this is...!"
"It's nothing special, just a cosmetic called Seashell Moon Powder. I was on a boat trip with Mother and thought of you, so I bought it."
Seashell Moon Powder was a high-end cosmetic that was out of reach with iron coins, and one would be lucky to get it even with silver.
This small item was so precious that rumors circulated about young ladies from renowned families pulling each other's hair out to obtain it.
With such a precious item in her hands, Siu spoke with a resolute expression and voice.
"Just say the word, Young Lady! This humble servant will dedicate herself to you!"
"Then, will you open the door for me?"
"Is there any question! The Young Lady is entering!"
Siu threw the door open like a gatekeeper welcoming a triumphant general.
Thanks to her, Jin Gahyeon easily entered the room and walked straight to the bed.
There lay Jin Sohyun, looking as if he were dead.
"Is he still sleeping?"
Siu quickly answered.
"No. He's pretending to have lost his mind."
"Hey!!"
Jin Sohyun shot up and glared at Siu.
Betrayed twice by the maidservant he had trusted, Jin Sohyun felt like he would burst from the injustice.
"I'm definitely going to get you fired!"
"Waaah! Young Lady! Am I going to be thrown out onto the streets and live a life like a beggar now?"
As Siu hid behind her and her eyes welled up with tears, Jin Gahyeon gently stroked her head.
"Don't worry. Siu will never be fired."
"Says who!"
As Jin Sohyun fumed, Jin Gahyeon gave a light laugh.
"Says me, of course. Siu's salary comes from Father's pocket, not yours, brother."
"..."
It was so true that Jin Sohyun had nothing to say.
With a deep sigh, Jin Sohyun peeled the cloth from his forehead and asked with anxious eyes.
"Why did you come looking for me? Don't tell me... Father sent you to fetch me this time?"
"No. Does a younger sister need a reason to see her older brother?"
Perching on the edge of the bed, Jin Gahyeon gently placed her hand over Jin Sohyun's.
"It's just that, it seems I won't be able to see you much longer, so as your younger sister, I came to see your face."
"Ah... so it's finally begun."
Jin Sohyun nodded as if he understood.
Large merchant families like the Jin Family, which dominated a region, tended to start their successor training early.
Jin Sohyun, who naturally thought that the talent to lead the future of the Jin Family was his diligent and smart younger sister's share, lightly patted Jin Gahyeon's shoulder.
"I have no doubt that you will lead the Jin Family splendidly."
"Me too, brother."
"Yeah!"
Smiling and encouraging Jin Gahyeon, Jin Sohyun realized that his sister's gaze upon him was unusual.
"No... it can't be, right?"
As Jin Sohyun stammered, Jin Gahyeon's head moved very slowly from side to side.
And in the next moment, through the wide-open gap in the door, numerous servants entered, their arms full of bundles of documents and books.
There were so many that the room was filled to the brim with documents and books.
"Wh-What is all this!?"
The flustered Jin Sohyun's lips trembled.
"What do you mean? It's the basics of business that you, brother, who will lead the future of the Jin Family, must learn. For starters, that's the list of clients. There are a total of one thousand five hundred clients, and eleven merchant guilds to manage. And that is..."
Jin Sohyun got up from the bed.
"Brother, where are you going?"
"I have to go see Father! It seems Father has gone senile!"
Jin Sohyun's two feet, which hadn't even walked at a fast pace, let alone run, for the past few years, moved busily today.
Watching him with a pleased expression, Jin Gahyeon giggled.
"I like that my brother is so simple."
***
"Family Head! The Young Master has come to see you."
"Let him in."
As the door opened, Jin Sohyun appeared through it, panting for breath.
Staggering from side to side, Jin Sohyun approached Jin Seomok and bowed his head in greeting.
"Did... you... have a... good... night... heok! heok! ...sir."
His words were interspersed with gasps for breath.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of our dear son, who is rumored to have a heavier butt than I, the Family Head, visiting this distant place?"
"I have... hoooo—! something urgent to tell you."
Jin Seomok put down the brush he was holding and folded his hands.
"Speak."
"Just now, I heard something from Gahyeon that I simply cannot believe."
"Something you cannot believe... This father is truly curious as to what that is."
"This is a terrifying story that could bring ruin to the Jin Family!"
"Hoh! Such a big deal!? Don't beat around the bush and tell me quickly."
"It was the unbelievable and absurd statement that I would be receiving successor training!"
Jin Sohyun spoke with a trembling voice as if he were about to deliver terrifying news, but Jin Seomok looked at him with an expression that said, 'so what?'
"As you were born the eldest son of the Jin Family, it is only natural that you receive successor training."
"Whaat!? But there's Gahyeon, not me!"
"That child still has things to learn, and with you, the eldest son, here, how could I make Gahyeon the young family head?"
"But look to the future. Father, if you had to invest all the family's assets and future between a product with absolutely no future value and a product with the potential to one day dominate all markets, which would you choose?"
True to being a merchant's son, Jin Sohyun posed the question by comparing himself and Jin Gahyeon to products.
'Of course, I'd invest in the latter. On what grounds would I entrust the family to a lazy bum like you?'
The words he wanted to say rose up to his throat, but Jin Seomok, befitting the head of a family, exercised strong self-control and swallowed them back.
In a stern voice, Jin Seomok said.
"The value of any product cannot be known until it is put on the market. Wouldn't even the laziest person in the world become diligent if placed in a situation where they have no choice but to move?"
"Father! Are you truly determined to ruin the family!?"
"If you become the family head and the Jin Family is ruined, that too is the family's fate."
At Jin Seomok's unyielding firmness, Jin Sohyun collapsed and sat down on the spot.
The piles of documents that filled the room swam before his eyes.
"Ah! And start preparing to go on a merchant trip soon. Since it's your first time, I've prepared a light trip that's only about two months round trip, so don't worry too much."
"T-Two months..."
It was a merchant trip of a duration that Jin Sohyun could not even imagine.
'At this rate... I have no choice but to run away!'
"It would be best not to think about running away. The family's outstanding bodyguards will be watching you day and night."
"Father...! What on earth did I do wrong?"
"Wrong? You are only doing what you are supposed to do. Did you really think you could play and eat for the rest of your life? In this world, there is no such thing as happiness without a price."
Like a merchant, Jin Seomok put a price on happiness.
As Jin Sohyun, with nowhere left to retreat, stared blankly with a half-dead face, Jin Seomok, who had been waiting for this moment, spoke as if in passing.
"Well, it's not like there aren't other ways."
At the single sentence Jin Seomok threw out, Jin Sohyun reacted with uncharacteristic lightning speed.
"What is it!?"
That's right. To avoid successor training, Jin Sohyun was prepared to do anything.
"Learn martial arts."
"...M-Martial arts?"
Except for martial arts, that is.
As Jin Sohyun, who had no confidence in living the life of a martial artist, spaced out again, Jin Seomok soothed him and continued.
"Elder Kang is one of the most skilled masters in the Central Plains, so it won't take you long to learn his martial arts. If you can achieve a level of skill that Elder Kang acknowledges, then after that, I will not interfere with whatever life you choose to live."
"Does that mean... you won't make me the successor?"
"That's right. If you become a martial artist with outstanding skills, Gahyeon will lead the family, and you will help her by her side. But if you dislike even this, then we have no choice but to start the successor training from today."
To show his resolve, Jin Seomok crossed his arms and slowly closed his eyes.
When no answer came from Jin Sohyun for a while, Jin Seomok peeked with one eye.
Jin Sohyun, who had been sitting collapsed, was biting his lip with a pained expression.
If one didn't know the circumstances, he would have looked like a warrior contemplating a life-or-death decision.
After much deliberation, Jin Sohyun finally opened his mouth.
"I've decided."
***
"Huhuhuhu...!"
Kang Cheon waited for his disciple on the mountainside with a pleased face.
'What a windfall.'
Not only had he received a large sum for tuition from the Jin Family, but soon, a disciple with the talent of a Heavenly Martial Body would be coming to see him.
Kang Cheon, who had already planned for years how he would teach a disciple if he got one, eagerly awaited Jin Sohyun's arrival.
—How long will it take? Will this really cure Sohyun's laziness?
To the worried Jin Seomok, Kang Cheon had declared with a confident voice.
—To freely wield my Flying Heaven Ten Swords, one must train for at least twenty years. Besides, the reason Sohyun has become lazy is that he has never used his body. So, if he learns martial arts from me and moves his body, Sohyun's slothfulness will naturally be cured, so don't worry!
—Elder! Please take good care of my son.
Jin Seomok, befitting the master of a large merchant guild, handed over a heavy money pouch filled with his sincerity, and Kang Cheon, who received it, had to struggle to calm his twitching lips.
—Don't you worry about a thing!
Having gained a large tuition fee and trust from the head of the number one merchant family of Shanxi, and also getting a genius disciple born with a Heavenly Martial Body, Kang Cheon had achieved not just two, but three birds with one stone overnight.
In a good mood, Kang Cheon hummed a tune and, for the first time in a long while, took out all ten of his flying swords and carefully wiped them with a dry cloth.
Until his disciple came to find his master.
"Huhu. Come quickly. I will let you taste a new world."
***
A week passed.
The ten flying swords placed on the rock were so polished that their blades were not just sharp but gleamed brightly.
Nevertheless, there was no one before Kang Cheon.
"Th-Th-This damn brat!! When the hell is he coming!"
It had already been a week since he said he would visit soon, but there was no sign of Jin Sohyun.
Just as Kang Cheon, whose patience had reached its limit, was about to storm into the Jin Family fuming, someone appeared at the foot of the mountain.
It was none other than Jin Seomok's bodyguard, Mu Yonghu.
He came up the mountain with a bundle slung over one shoulder.
"...I'm sorry, Great Master."
Upon meeting Kang Cheon, Mu Yonghu immediately offered an apology and put down the bundle he was carrying on his shoulder.
"What is this?"
As the furious Kang Cheon fumed, Mu Yonghu quickly untied the bundle.
Inside it was none other than Jin Sohyun.
"Kkeung—!"
Jin Sohyun, who appeared with a half-dead face, was looking around with a dazed expression, as if he hadn't fully woken from his sleep.
"Young Master Jin showed no signs of waking up, so I brought him myself."
"..."
Only then did Kang Cheon realize that Jin Sohyun was an even bigger lazy bum than he had thought.
'He's a tough nut to crack!'
Kang Cheon encouraged the weary Mu Yonghu.
"You've worked hard."
"Then, if you need anything, please call me anytime."
After finishing his words, Mu Yonghu went down the mountain, and Kang Cheon cleared his throat in front of his new disciple.
"Ahem—! You may already know a certain amount about me, but as I have become your official master from today, I will tell you about myself. I am Kang Cheon, the creator of the Flying Sword Technique, which did not exist in the Central Plains, and I have risen to the ranks of the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains with the martial art called the Flying Heaven Ten Swords. The Central Plains calls me the Flying Sword Hero."
At this point, anyone's eyes would sparkle.
Especially when they heard the words 'Five Great Masters of the Central Plains,' they would drool and bow their heads.
Thinking that Jin Sohyun would be no different, Kang Cheon looked at his disciple with expectant eyes.
However, Jin Sohyun was staring blankly into the air with the dead eyes of a pollack.
"Where are you looking?"
"I'm not looking at anything."
"Why?"
"Just because."
At Jin Sohyun's absurd answer, anger welled up in Kang Cheon, but he had to suppress it.
He couldn't get angry on the first day with a disciple he had worked so hard to get.
"From now on, you are my disciple, so you will call me Master."
"Yes, Master."
When Jin Sohyun unexpectedly complied, Kang Cheon, feeling pleased, picked up the flying sword he had placed on the rock and said.
"Seeing is believing! It's better to see it with your own eyes than to hear about it."
Kang Cheon said with a confident voice.
"This is a flying sword.”
(End of Chapter)