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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Debt Party
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"W-Well... we've been in a severe financial crisis for some time."
"Right. I suppose so. It's impressive you've survived this long without begging. Now that we're on the topic, I suppose we should start with a debt party."
"A debt party?"
"The Defense Ward. We owe each other a lot, don't you think we should settle it?"
"..."
Chief Steward Do didn't know what to say.
He couldn't decide what to do first: try to stop him, or return to the family and send word for those who left to come back immediately.
"Chief Steward Do, you head back first."
"I-Is that alright?"
"A debt party is nothing to brag about. Go on."
"Th-Then I'll head back first."
As the still-dazed man turned to leave, Mujin added one more thing to his back.
"Ah! About Elder Jo and the warriors."
Chief Steward Do flinched and stopped in his tracks.
"I have no intention of arguing or trying to stop them from leaving the family. But it would be wise not to try and separate my two siblings from me. It would be best for everyone if this ends as just a little outing."
"I-I'm not sure what you mean."
"Is that so? I suppose I was worrying for nothing."
"Then I'll be on my way."
Without looking back, Chief Steward Do finished his reply and hurried back to the family estate.
The Chief Steward was frantic, afraid that if he turned around, Mujin would see the unconcealable expression on his face.
As he watched the man's back, Masok asked.
"What was all that about just now?"
"Nothing. I must have been mistaken."
Mujin fell silent and started walking.
"Are you really going to the Defense Ward's place like this?"
"I have to. That way, everyone can be happy with my 'mistake'."
With Masok in the lead, Mujin headed for the gambling den he had visited before.
A few thugs guarding the entrance recognized Mujin from afar and rushed inside.
He walked slowly through the open doors and found the gambling den, unlike last time, completely deserted.
"This place is dead. Why is no one here?"
"W-Welcome."
The man whose shoulder muscles had been torn to shreds by Mujin still had bandages wrapped under his clothes.
"It's been a while. I told you I'd stop by to collect my debt, didn't I?"
"Yes..."
The man avoided Mujin's gaze and bowed his head.
His eyes were strangely different from last time.
They were the eyes of a master, filled with killing intent.
Living in the underworld, one inevitably meets many martial artists, whether one likes it or not.
Naturally, some of them were masters.
The opponent, who last time had shown no trace of martial arts training, was now staring at him with the murderous glint only a master could possess.
The most frightening kind of master was a lunatic who thought nothing of killing.
Facing such a madman again, the man's limbs were already trembling.
"No customers. Did the business go under?"
"N-No, it's just... all the gamblers in Seochang went to watch the Young Master's duel..."
"Ah. Is that how it is? But... surely you didn't set up a betting pool on my duel, did you?"
At Mujin's words, the man looked guilty and avoided his gaze.
"You're not the kind of shameless scoundrels who would bet on someone risking their life with a blade. Right?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
The man dropped to his knees and prostrated himself, and the dozen or so large men behind him bowed their heads in unison.
"So. Did you make a lot?"
"Pardon?"
"You heard me. Don't pretend you didn't. The odds were surely high on me, so you must have taken a nice cut from the middle, right?"
"S-So I've heard. The other members are settling things over there now."
"Is that right? You're not thinking of stiffing me after making a fortune off me, are you?"
"O-Of course, we were planning to visit you and offer our gratitude."
Mujin smiled and placed the sword from his back onto a table.
-Thud!
He pulled out a chair, sat down, and his smile vanished as he looked at the kneeling man.
"So... where's your boss?"
!!!
The man swallowed hard, looking at Mujin, who was searching for their leader with eyes glinting with killing intent.
As far as he knew, the madman before him was a man of his word.
If he said he would kill, he would kill.
It was clear that the talk of debt settlement from last time was not something to be taken lightly.
Back then, he hadn't thought for a moment that the second son of the Cheonghwa Merchant Guild would lose, but he had heard the news that the man had been left a cripple.
'Can I maintain my loyalty to the boss?'
Mujin's brow furrowed as he spoke.
"I don't like asking twice..."
He trailed off, and just as he was about to stand, the gambling den's door opened.
Bronze skin, a rough beard, and a shiny, bald head.
Mujin looked at the burly middle-aged man from his seat.
"Are you the head of the Defense Ward?"
The bald man glanced between his kneeling subordinates and the young warrior he had seen in the plaza in front of Dae-yeong Pavilion, immediately grasping the situation.
"You must be the Young Master of the Yeomhwa Family."
"If you know, then come here and kneel. I'm here to settle a debt. And the fellow behind you would be wise not to interfere."
"Heeheeheeheehee."
A bizarre laugh echoed from behind the burly Defense Ward leader.
A small-statured man, who had been hiding behind the larger man, peeked out and looked at Mujin.
"I didn't expect to see you here again. Heeheeheeheehee."
The man's voice, thin and high like a eunuch's, was repulsive, as was his pale face.
Though his face was full of wrinkles, the lack of a single strand of beard was strangely sickening to Mujin.
'A master.'
The aura he had felt even before seeing him, and the killing intent in his smiling eyes, told him everything.
"The Sosal Sect, I believe it was. If you're thinking of interfering, you should think carefully."
The small, middle-aged man feigned indecision as he looked at the back of Mujin's head, who spoke without turning to face him.
"Well now, what should I do..."
-Whoosh!
"Young Master!!"
Masok screamed in alarm as the middle-aged man trailed off, his blackened fingertips shooting out with incredible speed.
-Stab!
In an instant, red blood splattered across the room, and the middle-aged man retreated.
He stared for a long moment at the small hole in his palm.
He had intended to pierce the arrogant brat's head with five holes.
But the brat, as if expecting it, had twisted his body to evade the attack and was now smiling.
It was the smile of a child with a new toy.
And...
"You pierced my hand with a chopstick? Heeheehee. What an interesting child."
"I don't need to hear that from a brat like you."
The middle-aged man's smile vanished as he looked at the youth pointing a blood-stained chopstick at him.
"I've decided. I'll kill you!"
Mujin's smile widened as he saw his opponent's blackened fingers.
Mujin thrust his own chopstick forward.
Though he held nothing but a mere chopstick, what emanated from his body was unmistakably the First Form of the Nine Swords of Dugu.
-Plunge!
"Kuaaaargh!"
As a scream erupted from the middle-aged man's mouth, Mujin spoke with a smile.
"So you can make a manly sound after all."
-Thud!
The middle-aged man collapsed to the floor with a chopstick embedded in one eye.
He gripped the chopstick tightly as a demonic Mujin slowly pushed it deeper, and terror began to consume him.
"S-Stop!"
"I'm the one holding the chopstick. Who are you to give orders?"
"Please... spare me!"
"Why should I?"
"If I die, the Sosal Sect will..."
-Grind!
Mujin pushed the chopstick in further, and along with the pain came a sound that should not be heard.
"I was wrong! Please spare me just this once!"
"And why should I?"
This time, Mujin twisted the chopstick.
'He's insane. He's not normal!'
He himself had often been called that, having castrated himself to master the Virgin Arts, but in this moment, he realized something.
He was perfectly normal.
Facing a true madman, he could feel with acute clarity just how normal he was.
"I'll give you anything! My fortune, my concubines, I'll give you everything, so please just spare my life!"
-Yank!
As if pleased by his words, Mujin pulled the chopstick out.
The men who had been kneeling and trembling since Mujin first picked up the chopstick kept their heads bowed, as if they knew this would happen.
"I don't need the concubines, but the talk of fortune is intriguing."
The middle-aged man managed to get to his feet and looked at Mujin with his remaining eye.
"C-Can I go?"
"Leave the fortune."
"It's all at Deokchang. I will... I will bring it."
"If you don't keep that promise... I'll come find you."
The man vowed to himself as he saw Mujin's parting words, delivered with the same smile as when he'd pierced his palm.
"I will! I will come back."
Mujin nodded, and the middle-aged man clutched his bleeding eye and fled as if his life depended on it.
'I will be back! Definitely!'
"Alright. Shall we begin settling the debt?"
-Thud!
At Mujin's single phrase, the burly, bald, middle-aged man dropped to his knees and prostrated himself on the floor.
"Please spare me!"
"Why should I?"
As if prepared for the repeated question, the burly man spoke.
"I will give you all my wealth!"
"The debt you owe my family already means everything you own is mine."
!!
"W-What do you mean..."
"You dare claim the money you swindled from a martial family as your own fortune?"
"Th-That's..."
"The value of the businesses you stole through trickery is 7,000 gold pieces. Add to that the lives of you scoundrels for all the trouble you've caused. Doesn't that sound about right?"
The man's bright smile and words felt like the Grim Reaper beckoning him to hell.
"A-And all the wealth I possess..."
-Thwack! Thunk!
A chopstick left Mujin's hand, pierced the big man's forehead, and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
His life instantly cut short, the middle-aged man collapsed, silent.
"I already told you once. Your fortune is already mine."
With those words, Mujin turned and sat back in his original seat.
"When is the next-in-command coming?"
At Mujin's question, the man whose heart had sunk to his stomach spoke with a trembling voice.
"I-I am... the vice-leader."
"You are?"
Mujin asked, surprised, as he looked at the man he had shredded last time.
"Yes! Please spare me."
"Hmm... what should I do?"
The man prayed desperately to the heavens as he watched Mujin, who had the lighthearted expression of a child deciding between candy and a skewer.
'...If you give me just one more chance, I will live a truly good life from now on.'
"Alright, fine. You can live."
!
Color finally returned to the man's deathly pale face.
"Then let's finish the accounting. First, how much is the fortune of your dead leader over there?"
"His house, the brothel, and all his cash should amount to about 4,000 gold pieces."
"And the Defense Ward's assets?"
"All the businesses combined should be worth at least 10,000 gold pieces, and the cash on hand, including this tribute payment, is about 500 gold pieces!"
"Tribute payment?"
The man answered Mujin's question without a moment's hesitation.
"We pay a tribute of 500 gold pieces to the Sosal Sect every two months."
"Ah! So that eunuch fellow from before came to collect the tribute."
"That's right!"
"Alright, let's see... The businesses you stole must naturally be returned to my family. Add to that your dead leader's fortune of 4,000 gold pieces, and compensation for our mental distress... The 500 gold pieces you have on hand and all your remaining businesses should just about cover it."
"I-I will immediately process the transfer deeds for the businesses and bring them. The boss'... no, that villain's assets will also be liquidated and brought to you swiftly!"
Mujin nodded at the man's proactive response.
"You're a good worker. It's not that I don't trust you, but shall we handle the documents and cash right here?"
"Dong-seok! Hurry up and go..."
The rest was settled in a flash.
Most of the Defense Ward's profitable businesses had originally belonged to the Yeomhwa Family.
Naturally, Mujin got every single one of them back and looked on with satisfaction at the men stacking up heavy chests of gold.
"These are the notarized documents."
"You've worked hard. Now, shall we haggle over the price of the remaining lives?"
At Mujin's words, the faces of the Defense Ward's men turned white.
"I said I'd spare this fellow here, but I never said I'd spare the rest of you."
-Please spare us!
Mujin shook down the remaining members for every last silver coin they had hidden away.
Escorted—or rather, guarded—by the former members of the Defense Ward, he returned to the Yeomhwa Family estate.
-Creeeeak.
Passing through the main gate, which opened with a familiar, worn-out sound, the Defense Ward members began to stack the chests of gold they had struggled to carry into the Yeomhwa Family's courtyard.
Cleaned out to the last coin, the Defense Ward disbanded and vanished after that day.
"Y-Young Master! What is all this?"
Chief Steward Do asked in shock, looking at the tall stacks of wooden chests.
-Slap!
Mujin pulled dozens of documents from his robe, placed them on top of a chest, and answered with a smile.
"I just finished the debt party."
"D-Don't tell me..."
The Chief Steward hurriedly forced open one of the chests.
Tearing open the nailed box with a single pull, he was mesmerized by the brilliant yellow glow within.
"They say each chest holds 400 gold pieces."
"Th-Then... all this is..."
As he was busy calculating, he noticed the documents Mujin had placed on top and examined them.
"Th-This is!!"
"Ah, yes. The businesses that were stolen. From now on, don't be so stingy and feed us tough cuts of meat. That stuff is for stew. I want that... what was it?"
As Mujin pretended to forget, Masok chimed in from the side.
"Tenderloin, Young Master."
"Right. That. Tenderloin. I quite like that cut."
As he finished speaking and started to head inside, the Chief Steward called out to him.
"D-Do you know who is behind the Defense Ward?"
"Some group called the Sosal Sect, they said?"
"...And do you know who the master of the Sosal Sect is?"
"No. Do I need to?"
Mujin asked back with an indifferent expression, and the pale-faced Chief Steward answered.
"He is Blood-Red Robe, who has the Black Bird of Slaughter and the Blue-Faced Reaper as his brothers."
"Blood-Red Robe? Never heard of him."
"Of course you haven't! He is an incredible first-rate master!"
Even at this, Mujin remained indifferent as he spoke.
"That Black Bird of Slaughter fellow... are you by chance talking about the eunuch with ten blackened fingers?"
"Y-You met him?"
"I did."
"But how..."
Chief Steward Do barely managed to stop himself from asking how he was still alive.
"He was acting up, so I stuck a chopstick in his eye. Chief Steward Do."
"Yes?"
"He might have been a difficult opponent for you or Elder Jo to handle, but don't apply your standards to me. If annoying pests like that swarm in, I'll just kill them all."
"..."
The Black Bird of Slaughter was an infamous figure in the evil sects of Sichuan.
He was a master feared by all for his bizarre deeds and his readiness to take a life. And this man before him just referred to such people as 'annoying pests.' Who in the world was he?
'Is this truly Young Master Hwa Mujin?'
"Anyway, manage the money well. Don't go on a spending spree just because we have a lump sum. Make sure to get tender beef. And finally... when my siblings get back, tell them to come to my quarters to learn lightness techniques. I'm going now."
Watching Mujin return to his quarters after those words, Chief Steward Do had no idea how to process what had just happened.