“Benefactor!”
Yong Jamyeong sprang to his feet. A thrilling shudder ran through his entire body. Never in his life had he been so shocked.
‘My benefactor was the Demonic Cult Leader?’
His heart pounded wildly. Of all people, the Demonic Cult Leader? It was truly unbelievable.
‘Could I be mistaken?’
But he was not. The figure of his benefactor he had seen that day and the figure of the Heavenly Demon he had met today fit together perfectly, as if they were one person. They were most certainly the same man.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been looking at the portrait sketch, looked up at Yong Jamyeong.
Geom Mugeuk could tell. Yong Jamyeong had realized that the person who had saved him in the past was his father.
Yes, there was no way he would fail to recognize someone like Father.
Geom Mugeuk carefully folded the paper on which his father in his youth was drawn and wrapped it back in silk. Then he held it out to Yong Jamyeong again.
“I have seen it well.”
But Yong Jamyeong did not take it.
“Young Cult Leader, you should keep it.”
Geom Mugeuk pretended not to know and asked him.
“Why are you giving this to me? This drawing must be precious to you, Guild Master.”
Then came an answer that told him his guess had been exactly right.
“From now on, it may become something even more precious to you, Young Cult Leader. Now, let us return to the residence.”
* * *
Geom Woojin was drinking tea in his quarters.
“Father, we have returned.”
Geom Mugeuk and Yong Jamyeong stepped inside.
Geom Woojin sensed that the way Yong Jamyeong looked at him had changed from before. He knew full well where the intense emotion filling those eyes came from, but Geom Woojin feigned ignorance and asked his son.
“Did you have a good talk with the Guild Master?”
“Is there any conversation more interesting than one about money? On top of that, I even heard stories about the Guild Master’s younger days.”
Geom Woojin looked at Yong Jamyeong and spoke calmly.
“How was it for you, Guild Master?”
“It was a time more precious than any other.”
Ever since entering the room, Yong Jamyeong had been staring only at Geom Woojin’s face. When they had met earlier, such a thing would have been absolutely unthinkable.
“Cult Leader.”
Yong Jamyeong’s voice trembled. In the process of raising the Eunha Merchant Guild to the very top, he had gone through all manner of things, but never had he trembled as much as he did at this moment.
“Do you remember me?”
His father looked at him in silence for a moment.
From that reaction, Geom Mugeuk could tell.
‘Father knew.’
Thinking about it, of course he would have known. Yong Jamyeong could never have imagined that the person who saved him was the Heavenly Demon, but his father was different.
When he had heard what happened that day from Yong Jamyeong, he had said that Father had seen the contract that Eumhyeolgwi and Manso had tried to force him to sign.
At that time, Father must have realized that the person he had saved was the young guild master of the Eunha Merchant Guild.
Since that day, the Eunha Merchant Guild had grown while maintaining balance among the demonic, orthodox, and unorthodox factions.
If he had wanted to, Father could have revealed that he was the one who had saved him and turned the Eunha Merchant Guild into a merchant guild that followed the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but Father had never revealed that fact at all. He must surely have received reports that Yong Jamyeong was desperately searching for the benefactor who had saved him.
The richest man in the world had been searching to repay a debt of gratitude, yet he had not contacted him?
How very like Father. How could one not respect him?
Yong Jamyeong asked about that day long ago.
“By any chance, do you remember the day in your youth when you punished Eumhyeolgwi, who had been committing evil deeds?”
Even at his trembling question, Geom Woojin still gave no answer.
Rather, because of that, Yong Jamyeong became certain that the benefactor from that day was the Cult Leader before his eyes. If he had not been, he would have said, “I have never done such a thing,” or reacted with, “I do not remember.”
But Geom Woojin merely listened to him without the slightest change in expression.
And those eyes gazing at him in silence.
‘Those are the eyes.’
They were unmistakably the eyes from that day. Now that he thought about it, even on the day he had saved him, the man had not said a single word. He had left behind only those eyes.
“That day, Cult Leader, you saved me when I was being held there. If not for you, I would have died that day.”
It would have been an unbearably unjust death. It was not as if all his wealth had been stolen; he would have lost his life because one warehouse had been plundered for a lecher’s escape funds. Even in death, he probably would not have been able to close his eyes.
Yong Jamyeong slowly prostrated himself on the floor and offered a bow.
“First, please accept my bow.”
He bowed with utmost sincerity. Since the Eunha Merchant Guild had risen to the highest position, had he ever lowered his head to anyone?
“To think I only meet you now… I truly wished to see you all these years.”
In truth, until now, he had been bewildered, afraid before the Heavenly Demon, and still held a sliver of doubt that perhaps it might not be him. His feelings had been indescribably complicated.
It was right then.
Geom Woojin rose from his seat and walked over to him.
Then he bent down before him, took Yong Jamyeong by the arm, and helped him up.
Geom Mugeuk, watching, was startled. He had never imagined that his father would help him rise.
Then how shocked must Yong Jamyeong have been?
But his shock began now.
“I remember you.”
“!”
At that single sentence that flew into his heart and lodged there, Yong Jamyeong’s eyes widened.
‘It really is the Cult Leader! He remembered me!’
His entire body trembled. The person holding his arm and helping him up was the one who had saved his life, and at the same time, the Heavenly Demon of this era.
“Then did you know it was me from the beginning?”
Geom Woojin nodded.
“You knew that I was the one you saved back then!”
Then, from Geom Woojin’s mouth came the words Yong Jamyeong had wished to hear all his life.
“I have been hearing news of your successive victories in the world of commerce.”
“Ah! You knew!”
Yong Jamyeong’s heart swelled, and his throat tightened.
He did not ask why he had not come to find him. Was the Heavenly Demon an ordinary person? Just because the person he had saved had become the owner of the greatest merchant guild under heaven, would he be someone who went there to boast of his favor? What mattered now was this.
‘My benefactor remembered me. He knew that I became the greatest merchant in the world.’
Only then did true joy surge in. The clear, moving relief of having everything revealed with certainty wrapped around Yong Jamyeong’s entire body.
Most of all, what made him glad was that the years past had not simply flowed away in vain. He knew that he had kept his promise. Because the man had been watching his life.
Geom Woojin gave him a precious sentence.
“You have endured much.”
At those words, he could bear it no longer.
Tears welled in Yong Jamyeong’s eyes.
He had lived a ruthless life without showing tears, but he could not suppress the passion surging up from deep within his heart.
No matter how much praise he received from those around him, a corner of his heart had always felt empty. Yes, now he knew for certain that it had been because he wanted this man’s acknowledgment.
“…I truly wished to see you.”
You cannot know how much I wanted to tell you that I kept the promise I made that day.
“Now I have no regrets, even if I die.”
In the end, tears streamed from Yong Jamyeong’s eyes.
He had two long-cherished wishes.
To become the owner of the greatest merchant guild under heaven, and to find his benefactor and repay his grace.
Now was the moment he fulfilled the second wish.
Yong Jamyeong took something from his robes. The thing he had carefully kept was an ornate key.
At a glance, it was no ordinary key. It was a key made of ten-thousand-year cold iron. The object itself possessed tremendous value.
“It is the key to a secret vault where I gathered the things I intended to give you once I found my benefactor.”
Yong Jamyeong offered it respectfully to Geom Woojin.
His father refused at once.
“No repayment is necessary.”
The reason for his refusal was also very much like Father.
“The heart with which you have tried to find me until now has been enough repayment.”
Because of that, Yong Jamyeong could give it to him with even greater pleasure.
“Because you are the Cult Leader, my heart is actually at ease in giving this to you. After all, you are someone who can obtain anything you desire in this world. So please accept it comfortably. To you, Cult Leader, these are insignificant things.”
Just from this alone, Geom Mugeuk could tell that Yong Jamyeong was no ordinary person.
How many people would try to repay a debt of gratitude for so many long years? Moreover, someone who had prepared like this for the day they might meet again would be even rarer.
Because he was such a person, he must have been able to achieve such great success.
“If Father does not want it, I will accept it in his stead.”
When Geom Mugeuk moved to take it, his father accepted the key one step faster.
“No, I said give it to me. Your son, the incarnation of material greed, is right here!”
With an expression that said there was no chance of that, Geom Woojin placed the key in his robes.
Watching this, Yong Jamyeong smiled faintly. He could tell that Geom Mugeuk had deliberately stepped in to help Geom Woojin accept the key.
“If you go below Yuhua Mountain in Chongqing and find a herb gatherer named Zhong Song, he will guide you to the secret vault.”
“I will gladly accept your sincerity.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Geom Woojin. Chongqing was between Shaanxi and the main cult anyway. They could stop by on the way there or back.
What could be in the secret vault opened by that key? Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed to contain gifts prepared over a long period of time.
‘Father, I really do seem far more worldly than you. I want to run there right now and see what is inside.’
Then again, as the master of the Heavenly Demon Treasury, what would Father be curious about?
And the greatest gift to Father was probably not that key.
It was the fact that Yong Jamyeong had learned Father was his benefactor.
Until now, the Eunha Merchant Guild had walked a tightrope well among the demonic, orthodox, and unorthodox factions, but now it had become a Eunha Merchant Guild that followed the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Yong Jamyeong did not deliberately state such resolve aloud. Just as Geom Woojin had not come to him and demanded something, he did not reveal his heart with words.
In the future, he would still operate the merchant guild as if he were walking a line among the demonic, orthodox, and unorthodox factions, but he would treat Father with a deep loyalty unknown to anyone.
Geom Mugeuk looked at his father.
‘Father, did you perhaps foresee this result? Is that why you introduced me to this man? Because you hoped that man’s loyalty would be passed on to me.’
After all, his words that he would introduce him had been truly unexpected.
Maintaining a good relationship with Yong Jamyeong would be a great strength in leading the cult. When Father introduced him, he had said this to Yong Jamyeong.
—It will not be such a bad thing for you either.
Because he hoped that the connection between Yong Jamyeong and him would continue. Because he knew this situation would come to pass.
“Father, would you take a look at this?”
Geom Mugeuk took out the paper with the portrait sketch he had received from Yong Jamyeong and showed it to his father.
“This is you from back then.”
His father rarely revealed his feelings, but at this unexpected image of his own youth, a strange light flashed through his eyes.
Yes, how could Father not miss his past youth?
“Guild Master Yong seems to have mistakenly remembered Father as more handsome than I am.”
At that, his father said firmly,
“As expected of the greatest merchant, his memory is excellent.”
“He may have presbyopia.”
At the exchange between the two, Yong Jamyeong laughed and looked at the faded drawing.
“I miss those days so much.”
For a long while, his father’s gaze did not leave the drawing.
A moment later, Geom Mugeuk received the drawing back from his father and folded it carefully.
“This is mine. I may yield that key, but not this.”
A faint smile formed at the corners of Geom Woojin’s mouth. To Geom Mugeuk, it was a smile more precious than the treasures of a secret vault.
* * *
That night, Yong Jamyeong was walking in the front yard.
His heart was restless, and sleep would not come.
“Can you not sleep?”
When he turned, Geom Mugeuk was walking out.
“Perhaps because my heart is stirred up, I cannot sleep.”
The look with which he regarded Geom Mugeuk was incomparably gentler than when they had first met.
Now, with his mind much more at ease, Yong Jamyeong asked,
“May I ask why the Cult Leader summoned me this time?”
He clearly felt that he had been called for reasons unrelated to the past.
Geom Mugeuk revealed the reason they had come here.
“The reason Father and I came here this time was because of the Golden Dragon Family.”
“As expected.”
Yong Jamyeong was not surprised at all, as if he already knew something.
“We also obtained information that the Golden Dragon Family has recently been operating a secret organization in concealment, and have been keeping an eye on them.”
The information wars waged in the commercial world were no less fierce than those of murim. As the greatest merchant guild under heaven, their intelligence on rival guilds would surely be extraordinary.
“Yes. We detected signs that the money earned through that organization was flowing into a murim organization that threatens murim, so we came to investigate.”
And where would their intelligence be limited to the commercial world alone?
“The tripartite meeting was connected to them as well, wasn’t it?”
At Yong Jamyeong’s low question, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“It seems the woman we saw during the day is the one leading that secret organization.”
“So that woman was the reason you called me here.”
“That’s right. They will consider our meeting with you, Guildmaster, to be major intelligence. The leader of the Eunha Merchant Guild came in person, after all. I intend to use that to enter the heart of the Golden Dragon Family.”
“Is there anything more I can do to help?”
“You have already helped enough simply by coming in person.”
“I would like to help more.”
He was clearly reluctant to leave just like this.
“It may be dangerous.”
“Do you think I only walked safe roads in building the greatest merchant guild in the Central Plains?”
Yong Jamyeong did not want to return like this. How long had it been since he had met his benefactor again? He wanted to spend even a little more time with him. If he truly were not the Heavenly Demon, Yong Jamyeong would have asked him to come with him to the guild and wanted to stay with him for a month, even a year.
“Very well. Then please stay three more days and help me. It will be of great assistance to me.”
Yong Jamyeong’s expression brightened radiantly.
In truth, Geom Mugeuk was confident he could deal with that woman and create an opening even without Yong Jamyeong.
That was why telling him to stay was consideration for Yong Jamyeong. He fully understood the desire to spend a little more time with one’s father.
You waited for decades, so enjoy three more days.
As befitted someone who had lived as a merchant for a long time, Yong Jamyeong was quick-witted.
“Thank you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know this decision was made for my sake.”
Geom Mugeuk answered with a smile.
“To be honest, it is for my sake. When else would I ever get to spend time with the greatest merchant under heaven?”
Yong Jamyeong wanted to say this to him.
‘From now on, as much as you like.’
Because he was no longer the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, but the son of his benefactor.
The fact that his benefactor was the Heavenly Demon made him even happier. It made him feel that he had not become the owner of the greatest merchant guild under heaven simply through good fortune.
It felt as though he had become another destiny created by a great destiny.
“Now then, just say the word. What should I do now?”
Three days with the Heavenly Demon and the Young Cult Leader—this would be a time he would never forget for the rest of his life. As if to prove that already, the Young Cult Leader before him asked with a smile.
“Pardon me, but do you have some money?”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 465