SERIES: Return Of The Divine Thief
CHAPTER: 23
Yu Hosang, his face a picture of complete satisfaction after two days of lavish treatment, prepared to board the ornate carriage waiting in front of the merchant guild's main gate.
His face was still flushed red from the lingering effects of the banquet's wine.
“Haha! Indeed, there is no one I can rely on but you, Elder Jinman!”
Gone was the sullen, gloomy expression he wore when he first arrived at the Heumju Merchant Guild; his face now shone with undisguised contentment.
“Please, make sure that the ‘Northern Trade’ deal goes through. If this one thing succeeds, even my father will have to see me in a new light.”
“Of course, Young Master.”
Muryang responded with Yu Jinman’s characteristic smile—a blend of benevolence with a hint of servility.
“Please, be careful on your journey back. And… until you arrive at the main family estate, please take care of yourself and do not, under any circumstances, get into any other trouble.”
“Don’t you worry! I’ve finally come to my senses.”
Then, as if sharing a secret only he knew, Yu Hosang lowered his voice.
“How could I be so thoughtless as to ruin the grand plans you’ve prepared for me? I will wait quietly. Very quietly.”
“Hoho. I trust you, Young Master. It was merely this old man’s needless worry.”
Yu Hosang smiled in satisfaction and boarded the carriage.
Along with Ma Daechim and the entire staff of the Heumju Merchant Guild, Muryang stood with his waist bowed deeply until the carriage procession passed through the Heumju city gates and vanished completely from sight.
The moment the last wheel track of the carriage disappeared into the dust.
The fawning smile vanished from Muryang’s face.
He slowly turned to look at Ma Daechim, who still stood beside him, tense.
A sharp, cold voice, completely different from the one he used with Yu Hosang, emerged.
“What of the preparations I ordered?”
What Muryang had ordered to be prepared were the laborers and guards who would head to the counterfeit medicine workshop in Nannyeong under the guise of the ‘Northern Trade’.
Ma Daechim hurriedly reported.
“We’ve hired every man of considerable strength in Heumju.”
Muryang had ordered a significant increase in the number of guards, citing the need to transport the medicinal ingredients safely.
“Good.”
Muryang patted Ma Daechim’s stiff shoulder, a habit of Yu Jinman’s.
“Once this job is successfully completed, I will be heading up to the main family estate.”
“C-Congratulations.”
Ma Daechim didn’t know the details of the main family’s situation, but he knew the guild master and Yu Hosang had a close relationship.
Therefore, he anticipated that something big was about to happen.
Muryang continued, a hint of Yu Jinman’s arrogant smile playing on his lips.
“When that happens, the master of this Heumjin Merchant Guild will naturally be you.”
‘Master…!’
Ma Daechim’s eyes shook violently with an irrepressible mix of greed and fear.
“There must be absolutely no negligence in this matter.”
At those words, Ma Daechim swore in a booming voice, looking as if he might drop to his knees on the spot.
“Guild Master! I, Ma Daechim, will risk my life to complete the mission I have been assigned!”
“Good. We depart at dawn tomorrow, so ensure all preparations are made without error.”
Muryang dismissed him.
Alone in the office.
All preparations to leave Heumju were finally complete.
* * *
The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the gates of Heumju opened and a massive procession of carriages began to pour out.
Nearly twenty heavy carriages.
To guard them, warriors from the Heumju Merchant Guild and dozens of sellswords hastily hired by Ma Daechim surrounded the carriages without a single gap.
Their procession, kicking up clouds of dust as it advanced, resembled the march of a small army.
However, their pace was less of a march and more of a forced march.
“Damn it, I’m completely out of breath!”
One of the newly hired sellswords grumbled, sweating profusely.
“What kind of medicinal ingredients requires such a rush? At this rate, the wagon wheels will break first.”
Hearing his complaint, a companion walking beside him chuckled.
“Did you not see the money pouch we got as an advance yesterday? That’s the fattest advance I’ve ever received in my life.”
At that, another companion chimed in.
“Exactly. It’s just running, but I feel like I could do this for a whole month. A month of this, and I’d have more than enough to buy a house back home.”
The man who had been complaining fell silent at his companions’ words.
Muryang had spared no expense for this transport.
Citing the forced march, he paid three times the usual rate, with half of it given as an advance.
Thanks to this, despite the grueling schedule, no one dared to voice a complaint.
On the contrary, thinking they had hit a windfall, their morale was sky-high.
It was the same for Ma Daechim, who rode on horseback in the middle of the procession, urging them on.
‘Just a little longer, just a little more patience!’
His eyes burned with greed and ambition.
The sweet promise the ‘Guild Master’ had whispered to him last night.
The master of this Heumjin Merchant Guild will be you. Those words alone made him forget all his fatigue.
He was consumed with the thought of perfectly completing this mission, proving his loyalty, and taking control of this entire massive guild.
And at the very head of the entire procession.
Inside the most luxurious carriage, Muryang sat with his eyes closed, listening to all the sounds from outside.
‘Money is indeed a convenient tool.’
Muryang had emptied Yu Jinman’s entire safe, not his own money, to prepare this grand play.
The mercenaries blinded by money, and Ma Daechim blinded by ambition.
They were nothing more than puppets dancing to Muryang’s tune, unaware of where they were even heading.
‘I can’t keep my senior brother waiting for long.’
His mind was ceaselessly calculating the time.
Before striking the main force of the Yu Family, he would secure the forces of the Heumju Merchant Guild, the military power of the counterfeit medicine workshop, and all of this ‘evidence’.
That was his plan.
The carriage, carrying Muryang’s cold calculations and the burning desires of his followers, raced toward Nannyeong without stopping.
* * *
The Yu family's medicinal ingredient manufactory, nestled at the foot of a deep mountain on the outskirts of Nannyeong.
Though it was late at night, a lamp still burned brightly in the manufactory's innermost warehouse.
“……It must be perfect. These are the funds for His advent. Not even the slightest error can be tolerated.”
Gwak Chan, the general manager of the manufactory, muttered as he meticulously inspected the color of the newly made ‘medicinal ingredients’.
He was not of the Yu family's bloodline.
But his faith was more fanatical than that of anyone in the Yu family.
A devout believer who served only the great Heavenly Demon.
In recognition of his near-fanatical faith, he had married into the family.
And he had risen to the position of manager of their most important and secret medicinal ingredient manufactory.
The work entrusted to him was not merely for profit, but a part of a holy war for the revival of the Demonic Cult, to witness the advent of the great Heavenly Demon.
That was why he sacrificed sleep to personally oversee everything, ensuring not a single defective product was made.
And so, just as he finished his work for the day and was about to close the ledger, it happened.
“General Manager!”
His direct subordinate burst into the room, looking frantic.
“What is all this commotion at this hour?”
“It’s… Guild Master Yu Jinman of the Heumjin Merchant Guild is outside, requesting an audience.”
“Guild Master Yu Jinman?”
Gwak Chan’s brow furrowed.
‘What is someone who should be in Heumju doing here at this hour without any notice?’
Although Yu Jinman was from a collateral branch, he was an important figure who controlled the family’s purse strings.
He couldn't be ignored, but a visit this late was certainly suspicious.
‘Has some kind of problem arisen?’
Gwak Chan was lost in thought for a moment before rising from his seat.
“Very well. Show him to the guest hall. I will be out shortly.”
A short while later, Gwak Chan met Muryang and Ma Daechim in the guest hall.
“What brings you here so suddenly in the middle of the night, Guild Master Yu?”
Gwak Chan did not hide his wariness of Yu Jinman, who had appeared so abruptly in his territory.
But Muryang, as if paying no mind to his attitude, got straight to the point in Yu Jinman’s smooth voice.
“The thing is….”
The moment Gwak Chan focused on the conversation, Muryang, wearing Yu Jinman’s face, shot forward like an arrow.
‘Wha-what!’
Gwak Chan was horrified.
An attack without any warning.
Gwak Chan instinctively tried to draw the sword at his waist to block, but Muryang’s sword was already plunging toward his heart.
Puk!
“Kuh… heok…!”
Muryang’s sword had precisely severed his heart meridian.
Gwak Chan clutched his chest, staring at Muryang with eyes full of disbelief.
In his eyes was the question ‘Why?’, along with a sense of betrayal by the family he had trusted.
He coughed up blood and collapsed to the floor.
“……!”
“……!”
Gwak Chan wasn't the only one in shock.
The manufactory's middle managers, and even Ma Daechim who had come with Muryang, were too stunned to even make a sound.
Muryang calmly wiped the blood from his hand and spoke to them.
“I have executed Gwak Chan for his crimes.”
At those words, a middle manager from the manufactory, barely regaining his senses, asked,
“Cr-crimes! W-what do you mean?”
The other middle managers stared at Muryang with distrustful eyes.
Instead of answering, Muryang took a letter from his robes and unfolded it for them to see.
One of the middle managers who saw the letter said,
“Th-this is from the First Young Master?!”
On the letter was a single sentence, scrawled by a pleasantly drunk Yu Hosang.
[Elder Yu Jinman’s will is my will.]
“Gwak Chan was a traitor who betrayed the main family and tried to smuggle out the ‘goods’ on his own.”
Yu Jinman’s actions now were the will of Yu Hosang.
Even if Yu Hosang hadn't become the young master of the family, he was still the eldest son.
They had no grounds to stop him from executing a traitor.
No, if they tried to interfere, they could be branded traitors as well.
“As far as I know, Gwak Chan was the only traitor. However, to prepare for any contingency, you will all be investigated one by one.”
“An in-investigation? What kind….”
“I had to act quickly in case Gwak Chan tried to flee, but I will report to the family head, and someone will come from the main family to conduct the investigation.”
At those words, the middle managers showed looks of relief.
Since they were truly innocent, they were confident their innocence would be proven in a proper investigation by the main family.
“Of course, your freedom within the estate is guaranteed. However, until the investigation team arrives from the main family, anyone who steps outside this gate will be considered a traitor and executed on the spot.”
He called over to Ma Daechim, who was frozen, seemingly overwhelmed by the situation.
“Master Ma.”
“…….”
“Ma Daechim!”
“Y-yes! Guild Master!”
Ma Daechim jumped in fright at Muryang’s shout and replied.
“Get a hold of yourself! While I go to the main family, I’m leaving you in complete control of this place.”
Then, Muryang whispered low enough for only Ma Daechim to hear.
“You remember the promise I made you last night, don’t you?”
“……!”
“Control this place perfectly. Do that, and you will become the master of the Heumjin Merchant Guild. But, if you let even a single one of them escape….”
Muryang’s eyes flashed with killing intent.
“Then I will consider you a traitor as well.”
“I-I will keep that in mind, Guild Master!”
And just like that, Muryang swallowed the Yu family’s most important source of income and its poison manufactory.
This manufactory would serve as proof that the Yu family had committed a capital offense.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
Poison and medicine are separated by a paper-thin margin.
With just a slight change in their methods, this poison factory could become the finest manufactory of life-saving medicine.
I’ll use them to supply medicinal ingredients to the alliance I will form in the future.
Muryang gazed at the manufactory’s unlit warehouses, picturing a distant future.
A source of funds for war and a massive supply depot capable of treating soldiers.
A corner of the grand picture was slowly being painted in.
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