Yeomje sank down beside the grand tutor’s chair and squeezed his eyes shut.
He hoped that when he opened them again, he would be in his own bedchamber. He hoped all of this was nothing more than a nightmare from the night before.
But when he opened his eyes, the nightmare had come right up before him.
The gaze with which Geom Mugeuk looked down at him was calm. Yet because it was calm and courteous, it was all the more terrifying. With those clear eyes, he had killed every one of his men. Speaking politely all the while, he had killed them all.
Now it was his turn to fight. But he could not summon the will to do so.
‘So this day has come after all.’
Yeomje raised his voice in resentment.
“What grudge do you have against me? You’re going this far just because I cheated you out of some money?”
As if anyone had killed them merely for cheating him out of money.
The evil deeds they had committed until now were so great that, from the moment he came here, Geom Mugeuk had already resolved to kill them all.
If he left them alive and let fate flow as it originally had, then far too many warriors of the Martial Alliance would die in the process of wiping them out.
Those who had to die would die, and those who should not die would live. The conviction of his regression was being applied here in Baekseonbang as well.
“It’s money you can’t even take with you when you die. Why be so greedy over it?”
Yeomje looked down at the blood pooling thickly on the floor and clenched his teeth. Those were the sort of words only losers said. Words spoken by bastards who couldn’t make money. What value in the world could possibly be greater than money?
In the end, he hurled abuse at him.
“You damned son of a bitch! It’s my money! It’s all my money! Whether I scatter it in the marketplace or fill my coffin with it, what business is it of yours?”
Geom Mugeuk saw the madness in his eyes. He had lived his entire life this way; how could a few words bring repentance?
Suddenly, he recalled what the head of the Eunha Merchant Guild had said.
—I’ve seen far too many people get swallowed by the creature called money after falling in love with the fun of making it.
The one who had reached that extreme was none other than Yeomje. And right now, he had no right to stand there so brazenly.
“It isn’t your money, is it?”
Struck where it hurt, Yeomje clenched his teeth. There was only one thing he could say in reply.
“Who the hell are you?”
The answer came at once.
“How many times must I tell you? I’m the man who came to collect the money.”
The reason he kept asking was probably this: he was a man who had no concept whatsoever of repaying money he had borrowed.
“Open your personal vault.”
If not for that purpose, he would not have been worth even a single word of conversation.
“I told you, there’s no such thing.”
Even after all ninety-nine of his subordinates had died, he still would not open his personal vault. He valued money more than his own life. That was the kind of man he was.
‘Do you know what I did to earn that money?’
He had truly done every manner of thing to make it. Beaten people, kidnapped them, sold them off, killed them. Even if he was bound for hell in the end, he had done anything and everything to eat well and live well in this life.
He had been determined never to hand it over, even if he died.
“I know your vault is in this main hall.”
Yeomje tried to feign composure, but who could he fool? To Geom Mugeuk, the sound of his heart pounding was as loud as thunder.
“Did you not say it yourself when you opened that vault? That Baekseonbang’s vault was in this place where you spend the most time. Then your personal vault must be here as well.”
Geom Mugeuk gave him no time to think and pressed him.
“I’ll find the money myself.”
Geom Mugeuk drew his sword. He was just about to cut him down in one stroke without hesitation when—
“I’ll open it! Spare me!”
Geom Mugeuk’s sword stopped in midair.
Even then, Geom Mugeuk did not miss it. Yeomje spoke as though he had given up, but in his eyes there flashed a venomous will that knew no surrender.
“You’re right. The vault is here.”
Yeomje rose from his seat and walked toward the back. He entered the empty vault he had opened earlier and felt around the ceiling. It was a plain, featureless wall with no visible mechanism, yet a hidden device was concealed there.
Ziiiiiing.
One wall inside the vault opened, revealing an abacus.
This vault had been a disguise meant to conceal the real vault.
A double vault.
The money and gold ingots in the first vault had served as the mechanical devices and guards protecting the true vault.
Anyone would be dazzled by the money and gold there, and would never think that another vault lay behind it.
Yeomje flicked the abacus beads. It was an intricate mechanism that would only open the door if the exact numbers were entered.
“Not a single number can be wrong.”
For some reason, he let Geom Mugeuk watch as he entered the numbers on the abacus.
Three, two, four.
And before raising the final number, Yeomje suddenly spoke with his back turned.
“I know you won’t spare me even if I open this.”
Yeomje looked back at Geom Mugeuk, his eyes smiling meaningfully.
He raised the last abacus bead.
The number was four.
At that very moment—
Chiiiiiiik.
Smoke sprayed down from the ceiling where the two men stood. Because he had intentionally entered the wrong number, the mechanism prepared for intruders had released poisonous smoke.
Within the poison smoke, Yeomje spoke with a smile.
“The last number wasn’t four. It was three.”
His eyes were incomparably vicious as he said,
“It’s the most agonizing poison in the world. You’ll suffer the pain of every organ in your body melting away. Anyone who comes after my money ought to die feeling the torments of hell!”
He burst into laughter, only to let out a scream of agony a moment later. Truly horrific pain surged through him, but it was fine. He was going to die anyway, and now he could take that bastard with him.
‘Let’s die together, you son of a bitch!’
Writhing in pain, he looked at Geom Mugeuk. The final sight of this world that he would take with him would be Geom Mugeuk writhing in agony.
But the sight he had expected was not there.
‘What?’
Geom Mugeuk was still standing in the same place, silently looking at him.
‘Why?’
He had clearly been enveloped in the poison smoke along with him. It seemed as though he was looking at Yeomje with contempt, or perhaps with pity.
He was confused. Even amid the excruciating pain of his entire body melting away, he was truly curious. Why was he not dying?
Then, just before his breath was cut off, Geom Mugeuk’s voice reached his ears.
“The last number was three?”
Hearing those words, Yeomje screamed.
‘No!’
He had shown him the numbers because he had thought they would die together anyway. But if this happened?
‘It’s my money! That’s my money!’
More than the pain of his organs melting, he suffered at the thought of his money being taken from him, and then his breath ceased. Until the very moment of his death, he died as a slave to money.
Leaving his collapsed corpse behind, Geom Mugeuk entered the correct numbers on the abacus.
Then the hidden vault opened.
Inside the vault, there were only promissory notes stacked in piles.
All of them were high-denomination notes issued by the Three Great Banks of the Central Plains. They had been prepared so that he could take them and leave at any time.
Geom Mugeuk gathered them all and left the place.
He did not spare even a glance for Yeomje’s corpse. As always, he attached no meaning to the deaths of villains.
Splash, splash.
In his life, he let them flow away like the blood beneath his feet.
* * *
Geum Arin was anxiously pacing back and forth through the courtyard.
Waiting in her room had been so stifling that she simply could not stay still.
“Should I go now, even at this point?”
At her words, Im Hyeok, who was standing a little distance away, answered firmly.
“No.”
As the man whose duty was to protect Geum Arin, there was no way he would accept such a thing.
“He might die.”
“Even so, no.”
After a brief pause, Im Hyeok added,
“Young Hero Geom will be fine.”
Yes, she thought so too. If not for one thing.
“But the opponent is Baekseonbang.”
The answer that rose in Im Hyeok’s heart was:
‘Yes, even if the opponent is Baekseonbang.’
Even so, he did not say it aloud, perhaps to protect Geum Arin’s heart. If she got her hopes up for nothing and then…
Just then, the rank smell of blood drifted in on the wind.
Im Hyeok sprang forward and blocked Geum Arin’s path.
The smell of blood grew thicker and thicker.
Then the gate opened, and someone entered the inner courtyard.
“You?”
For a moment, Geum Arin could not continue speaking.
The person who had entered was Geom Mugeuk. His clothes and body were soaked entirely in blood.
“Are you hurt?”
At her startled question, Geom Mugeuk staggered over, clutched his chest, and sat down on a rock.
“I have one last request. If I die, please be sure to tell my father. This son of his, at the request of a woman, went into the jaws of death to collect money and…”
“It’s not funny, so please stop.”
“Was it obvious?”
Of course. Because his acting was exaggerated, she could tell at once.
But even if his acting had been truly realistic, she felt she would not have been fooled. This man did not seem like someone who would leave any words behind when he died. He seemed like someone who would lean against a small rock, look out over a windswept plain with those clear eyes, and quietly die.
She had never once thought about such a thing before, but seeing him pretend to die made that thought occur to her.
Only belatedly did she feel relieved.
“You came back safely.”
“Were you worried?”
Geum Arin did not answer, but he could feel how worried she had been while waiting for him.
“Here, take these.”
Geom Mugeuk pulled out a pile of envelopes from the leather pouch he was carrying.
“What are these?”
“The money that had to be recovered from Baekseonbang. Go return it.”
The envelopes had the names of merchant guilds and sects written on them. Among them was an envelope with the name of the Geumryong Clan written on it as well. When she checked inside, there was a promissory note for one million five hundred thousand nyang.
Geum Arin’s eyes widened.
“You really recovered all the money?”
“It’s the money after taking half, as promised.”
She had wished for Geom Mugeuk to return safely.
Please, just come back safely. You don’t have to bring the money back, just come back safely. She had prayed so earnestly. And yet he had even recovered all the money?
“What happened to Baekseonbang?”
To her trembling question came a shocking answer.
“Baekseonbang no longer exists in this world.”
Aghast, Geum Arin could say nothing. Im Hyeok, standing behind her, also stared wide-eyed in shock.
Of course, that must have been why he had recovered the money. But hearing it directly made her heart pound.
He destroyed Baekseonbang all by himself? Is that truly possible?
Then Geom Mugeuk held out one more envelope.
“This is money I’m giving you out of my own share.”
When she saw the amount, it was an enormous sum she had never expected.
“I don’t need it.”
“I’m not giving it to you for you to use.”
“Then?”
“There must be merchant guilds and residents whose lives have become difficult because of Baekseonbang’s tyranny.”
Of course, such people were everywhere.
“Use this money to help them.”
Geum Arin was startled. After staring at Geom Mugeuk for a moment, she asked carefully,
“Why are you asking me to do it? You could do it yourself.”
Then he could monopolize all that good deed as well.
“Didn’t you ask me to make you the successor? I’m keeping that promise.”
“What do you mean?”
“By recovering the money for each merchant guild this time, your reputation will rise greatly. If you also help those in need on top of that, you’ll take another step closer to the position of successor.”
For a moment, Geum Arin was unable to speak.
“Even I, the person directly involved, had not thought that far.”
Then Geom Mugeuk gave an unexpected answer.
“That is why I think you are worthy of becoming the successor.”
“What?”
“Because that desire is still pure.”
After looking at Geom Mugeuk for a moment, Geum Arin spoke her honest thoughts.
“That desire will soon be sullied.”
“If your connection with me continues, then at the very least, it will not be sullied.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“Because I’ll introduce you to my friends. I have some friends who are quite pure for the positions they hold. If you spend time with them, you’ll think, If even those people are pure, then what about me?”
For the positions they hold? Who on earth was he talking about?
From the moment she first saw him, Geom Mugeuk had been no ordinary person, but the more she learned about him, the more mysterious he seemed.
“You paid a high price to hire me, so I should at least do this much for you.”
Even though he had done something that would not have been excessive to boast about all day, Geom Mugeuk soon left that place.
Looking down at the envelopes Geom Mugeuk had given her, Geum Arin muttered as if to herself,
“I thought so too.”
But now, this thought came to her.
Had she not hired him for far too cheap a price?
* * *
I placed two envelopes on the table.
“I’ll divide the money I earned from this matter equally as well.”
After checking the amount of money in the envelopes, Father looked at me. He was surprised by how much money it was.
“You had amassed quite a lot. There was more originally, but I had some of it used for those who had suffered until now.”
Hwi spoke cautiously.
“The money I received earlier is already enough for me.”
Of course, I had expected Hwi to react this way.
“If you keep it, there will surely come a time when you need it.”
“No, I do not need it. Please give it to the Cult Leader.”
I persuaded him, still looking troubled.
“You have to prepare for the day when your blades no longer have strength. Travel a little, too. You’ve spent your whole life as a guard, so when that time comes, Uncle, you should have guards of your own. Very expensive ones, at that.”
From Hwi’s expression, I could tell it was something he had never once considered in his life.
Father looked at me as if to say I was getting cheeky, then said to Hwi,
“Take it.”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
Hwi put the envelope away as well.
“Then I will accept it gratefully. I will use this money for my juniors.”
He meant he would use it for the younger guards of the Heavenly Demon Hall.
“You can’t! That’s your retirement fund, Uncle!”
At that, Hwi smiled faintly and asked me,
“Young Cult Leader, you do not intend to use that money on yourself either, do you?”
Hwi knew. The money I had earned this time would also all be invested in Eunwol and the Ghost Shadow Unit.
“I’m still young, aren’t I? Retirement planning can wait……”
“It begins when you are young.”
Seeing Hwi say something like that made me feel good.
In your past life, you lived as rigidly as ten-thousand-year cold iron, so in this life, please live more gently and joyfully.
Then Father suddenly asked me,
“Are you all right?”
It was a single sentence that struck deep into my heart.
Father had asked me the same thing last time as well.
Even after staining your hands with so much blood, is your heart all right?
Though I had washed clean and changed my clothes, it seemed I had not been able to erase all the scent of blood clinging to me.
For a moment, I examined my own heart, my own feelings.
“I think I’m all right.”
Father probably did not know how much strength that single question gave me.
And in that moment, I thought the important thing was not whether the answer was that I was all right or not.
“If it becomes difficult later, I will be sure to tell you, Father.”
Conveying this feeling—that his son was relying on his father—was surely far more important.
“For this matter, I am pushing ahead while trusting only in you, Father.”
“And what will you do if they find out we came?”
I thought that would be fine in its own way.
“Well, if things get tangled, you will untangle them for me, Father. Did I not tell you on the way here? Those people who only plot from behind the scenes need to be shown at least once. That you exist in this murim.”
It was not mere flattery, but my sincere feeling.
So, on my first journey through the martial world with Father, this was the message I would deliver to them.
“If they’re confident, let them come out and try fighting us.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 477