“The mastermind we’re looking for seems to have deep ties to an assassin organization.”
First, he had to inform his father and Hwi of the situation accurately.
“Why do you think so?”
Hwi was asking whether it might simply have been a commission placed by the Geumryong Family.
“As far as I know, large assassin organizations like Myeongbu prioritize a thorough investigation of their targets. Especially for a large-scale killing like today’s.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Hwi nodded and replied.
“That is correct.”
“Considering the date we arrived here, they wouldn’t have had time to investigate properly. Nor does it seem they sent them knowing our identities.”
This time, he added while looking at his father, who was standing by the window.
“If they’d known the target was Father, they never would have accepted the commission. If they had still forced it through, every top-class assassin in the Central Plains should have come.”
Would his father possibly enjoy getting entangled in a fight with assassins? Even the smell of blood wafting in from the window right now must be irritating him. That was why he had said it. So that he might feel a little better, at least like this.
“Therefore, this was not an ordinary commission. The mastermind must have deep ties to an assassin organization. Whoever it is, they must be someone in a position to skip the investigation and mobilize Myeongbu’s assassins in a short time.”
Hwi nodded as if he agreed.
“When it comes to assassins, you’re the expert, Uncle, so I’ll be counting on you from now on. In particular, please educate me about assassins.”
If he had learned about the merchant world from the head of the Eunha Merchant Guild, he intended to learn about assassins from Hwi.
Normally, Hwi would have politely declined, but given the situation, he accepted readily.
“Very well.”
Geom Mugeuk did not miss this chance and threw a joke at his father, who was standing by the window.
“Father, Uncle Hwi will take care of everything. Let’s go fishing.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s joke, Geom Woojin spoke without turning around.
“If you’re going to put Hwi in front, then you take responsibility and protect him.”
Both Geom Mugeuk and Hwi were surprised by the unexpected words.
There were times when his father startled people like this.
“No, please take a joke as a joke! How am I supposed to protect the person who’s best at protecting others in this entire world?”
His father kept looking out the window as if it had not been a joke, and Hwi gave Geom Mugeuk an awkward smile.
This was the first time the Cult Leader had expressed concern for his safety in such direct words.
The heart of a man like Hwi could not be moved even if one divided a huge fortune into three and gave him a share—no, even if one gave him all of it. But a single remark like this from the Cult Leader made his heart sincerely happy.
The person he was grateful to was the Cult Leader, but he had to acknowledge this much.
This is all thanks to the Young Cult Leader.
“Uncle, now you’ll have to teach me not only about assassins, but also about escort warriors.”
Looking troubled, Hwi excused himself.
“I will clear away the corpses.”
Then Geom Mugeuk stopped him.
“Leave the corpses as they are.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze went out the window, far toward the Family Head’s Hall.
“The person who sent them should be made to clean them up.”
* * *
“You sent assassins?”
Geum Cheonbang was truly dumbfounded.
His son had learned martial arts, yes, but it was only the level of martial arts the eldest son of a thriving merchant guild might learn. If anything, Geum Arin’s martial skill was stronger.
“How could you…….”
There was no need to hear the answer. That absurd incident surely had “him” involved. But he had not imagined his son had been influenced to the point of calling in assassins without hesitation.
“You did something this important without even discussing it with your father?”
Geum Cheonbang shouted, but his son showed no sign of apology.
“It was to protect him.”
Geum Cheonbang was stunned, but what mattered now was not the reason, but the result.
“Fine. Let’s say that is so. But do you even know what kind of people assassins are? They are the sort who use the fact that you commissioned them as leverage to extort money from you for the rest of your life.”
“That is only third-rate assassins. The people I sent are not third-rate.”
“You have no experience using assassins, do you?”
Geum Ahyeok looked into Geum Cheonbang’s eyes and asked in return.
“Why do you think I don’t?”
“You wretch!”
Geum Cheonbang roared. He was so furious he did not know what to say. He was a man who had not been easily agitated even by all manner of disputes in the merchant world. After all, he had spent his life fighting battles in which the side that lost its composure first was the loser.
But now he had lost. Against his own child, it was a complete defeat.
Unlike the agitated Geum Cheonbang, Geum Ahyeok was calm.
“By now, they should be dead.”
As if the matter were already over, Geum Ahyeok rose from his seat.
“Please rest, Father.”
The moment his eyes met those of his son, who was bowing politely, Geum Cheonbang’s heart sank.
Eyes colder and more frigid than anything. Recently, he had seen that unfamiliar look several times, but today it felt the most unfamiliar of all.
With that, Geum Ahyeok left the Family Head’s Hall.
Crash!
The teapot and teacups on the table fell to the floor and shattered. It was the first time he had ever broken something out of anger.
He was a man so good at enduring things. Yet when it came to his child, enduring was difficult.
Geum Cheonbang brought out liquor kept in a cabinet on one wall and gulped it down straight from the bottle.
Whenever he heard that the hardest thing in the world was raising children, he had thought it had nothing to do with him. He had been too proud raising children others envied.
But as if to make him pay the price for every moment he had boasted of his son to others, that son had suddenly changed.
He restrained the urge to throw even the liquor bottle and set it down on the table. Now was not the time to smash things, but the time to handle the aftermath.
‘What am I to do about this?’
Whether the assassination succeeded or failed, it was a problem. If this assassination succeeded, then from now on, whenever his son faced difficulty, he would try to solve it this way. No, perhaps he was already in such a state.
And if it failed? If it was revealed that his son had hired assassins?
Both possibilities were things he did not want to imagine.
Just then, the door to the main hall opened.
Creak.
Looking at the door, Geum Cheonbang hoped.
He hoped his son had come back and would say, “I am sorry for handling it without consulting you, Father.” If he did, then somehow they could join forces and devise a plan.
“There’s no one standing guard outside.”
The person who stepped inside was Geom Mugeuk.
Seeing him, Geum Cheonbang’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘The assassination failed.’
Geum Cheonbang struggled to calm himself and received Geom Mugeuk.
“I had dismissed my men for a while.”
It was a situation in which he had sent all his subordinates away to have a private talk with his son.
‘Surely not? He didn’t overhear everything we said, did he?’
If he had heard that his son sent assassins? If so, his son’s life was in danger.
“I happened to see someone on my way here. A young gentleman was leaving the Family Head’s Hall. Was that perhaps the eldest young master?”
“That’s right. I had a talk with my eldest.”
When Geom Mugeuk mentioned his son, Geum Cheonbang’s heart began to pound.
‘Is he probing me? Or is he hinting that he heard our conversation?’
Because he had a guilty conscience, all sorts of needless thoughts came to him.
“As I’d heard, he was truly tall and handsome. He really had the bearing of a great hero.”
Those were words that had always made him feel pleased, but not today. The unfamiliar look with which his son had gazed at him came back to mind.
“So? Did you exchange greetings?”
“No, I only saw him from afar.”
“And yet you saw his face in such detail?”
“I have good eyes.”
Geom Mugeuk looked around, then pointed at a distant wall.
“Can you see the leaves in the flower pattern on that wall?”
“They’re too small. I can’t see them.”
“There are nine. Go and check.”
This man had collected money from Baekseonbang and made the assassination fail.
And now he was telling him to go count flower petals.
This incomprehensible specialness truly seemed to exist in a realm that was, quite literally, beyond comprehension.
“Never mind the petals. But what brings you here at this hour?”
“I came because I had something urgent to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Assassins entered my quarters.”
Geum Cheonbang pretended to be shocked.
“Assassins? Is that true?”
He acted like someone who truly knew nothing. He was a man who had experienced all sorts of things in the merchant world, where deceiving and being deceived were everyday matters. If nothing else, he was more confident than anyone in hiding his true feelings.
“Were you hurt anywhere?”
“Fortunately, I’m fine.”
“And the assassins?”
“I dealt with them all.”
“I’ll send people at once to clear away the corpses. I’ll also prepare a new guest hall for you.”
“Thank you.”
Ordinarily, he should have said that he would investigate the corpses and find out where the assassins came from. But he omitted those words. He was in a situation where he had to hide even the evidence that existed.
Geum Cheonbang called his subordinates and sent them urgently to the guest hall.
“Clear away the corpses and move those staying there to a new guest hall.”
“Understood.”
Before the subordinates left, Geom Mugeuk stepped in.
“But shouldn’t you not simply clear them away, but examine the corpses to investigate which organization they came from?”
Geum Cheonbang was inwardly flustered, but he forced himself to speak calmly.
“Of course we should.”
“And you should sound the alarm and strengthen the guard around the Family Head’s Hall as well.”
“I was going to do so.”
As though that were truly the case, he repeated Geom Mugeuk’s words and gave the order to his subordinate.
A short while later, the sound of bells rang noisily outside.
Geum Cheonbang felt as frantic as those bells that kept ringing without rest. He knew full well it was something his son had done, and yet.
‘Assassins entered the main house?’
Just the fact that assassins had entered made his whole body tremble. Thinking that men who made a living killing people for money had roamed inside the Geumryong Family made his chest feel tight.
Rage and bewilderment. At least those two emotions required no acting.
“You should be careful from now on as well, Family Head.”
“What do you mean?”
“There were quite a number of assassins. If no one allowed them to infiltrate, doesn’t that mean the Geumryong Family was breached?”
Was he probing? Or was it a warning? Geum Cheonbang could not tell what Geom Mugeuk was thinking. It seemed as though he knew nothing at all, and yet also as though he knew something.
“From now on, I will strengthen the guard thoroughly.”
Geum Cheonbang had always had a pathological fear of martial artists.
No matter how difficult matters with merchants were, he was confident he could overcome them somehow, but once martial artists became involved, he grew deeply uneasy.
Reason did not work on them, calculations did not work on them. Those people who drew their swords first had frightened and repulsed him since childhood.
He was even afraid of the martial artists of his own family. What if someone recruited by a rival merchant guild suddenly drew a sword and stabbed him? This life he did not want to lose even if he died would end with that single thrust.
It must have been because of this fundamental fear.
That he had wanted his sons to handle affairs with martial artists in his stead.
That he had attached an expensive martial arts master to his daughter, who had the greatest martial talent among his three children.
That he had entrusted matters concerning him to his eldest son.
Even though he knew well that escape always demanded such a costly price.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I was only a little startled.”
Geom Mugeuk asked as if speaking to himself.
“Who in the world tried to kill me?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s meaningful question, Geum Cheonbang forced himself to answer calmly.
“Wouldn’t you know that better than I?”
“True! I have lived a life with many enemies.”
The reason Geom Mugeuk had come here at this hour was to confirm whether Geum Cheonbang was involved in sending the assassins.
If he showed up alive and well on the very day the assassins were sent, and right after the killing had been carried out, something would surely reveal a clue.
And Geom Mugeuk was able to tell who had sent the assassins.
It was not because of Geum Cheonbang’s bewilderment, which he had failed to hide completely no matter how experienced he was.
It was because of that.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze went to the teacups and teapot shattered to pieces on the floor.
“Did you throw them?”
“No. I dropped them by mistake.”
“It isn’t easy for them to break this completely, though.”
From those broken teacups, he could tell. The one who had sent the assassins was Geum Ahyeok, his son. Geum Cheonbang must have realized that fact only a short while ago and revealed his rage.
“Raising children isn’t easy, is it?”
Geum Cheonbang was flustered by the sudden question.
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
He must think I threw them because I was angry at my son!
Unlike Geum Cheonbang, whose urgent desire was to keep the topic from focusing on his son as much as possible, Geom Mugeuk turned the subject toward himself.
“I was talking about myself. I’ve caused my father quite a lot of grief.”
“A son who truly causes grief doesn’t even know that he does. Still, what can one do? No matter how much trouble they cause, they are still one’s children, are they not? They say there is no parent who can defeat their child.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk suddenly said,
“Are there not times when a parent must become one who can best their own child?”
“!”
The moment he heard those words, Geum Cheonbang was certain.
‘He seems to know something. He thinks Ahyeok sent them.’
All this pressure had been deliberate on Geom Mugeuk’s part. Mistakes always came when one was hurried and flustered. And that mistake would guide him to the one behind it all.
“In that regard, my father is the best there is.”
“Your father?”
“You should ask him for advice sometime.”
Geom Mugeuk added with a smile,
“When it comes to parents who can beat their children, he’s the foremost expert.”
* * *
The next day, Geum Ahyeok greeted the two people entering his office with a stiff expression.
“I know you’re usually displeased with me, but is there any need to glare like that?”
It was not because of his younger brother that Geum Ahyeok’s face had hardened. It was because of Geom Mugeuk, who had come in with Geum Ajong. A man who should have been dead had arrived.
Up until the emergency bell rang last night, he had been in a good mood. He had been thinking that soon, news would come that the Seodo Sect staying in the guest hall had been annihilated.
But he had truly never imagined hearing that all the assassins had been killed.
“This is the expensive gentleman my younger brother brought in for two million nyang. You know him, right?”
At Geum Ajong’s introduction, Geom Mugeuk greeted him politely with a cupped-fist salute.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Geom Yeon.”
As if nothing had happened in the night, Geom Mugeuk was facing Geum Ahyeok calmly.
“I have heard much about you, Eldest Young Master. That is why I wished to meet you at least once.”
“What did you hear?”
“That you are the most likely to become the next family head.”
Geum Ahyeok looked at his younger brother. There was no way that bastard had said anything good about him.
“That is something we’ll only know once it happens. I’m busy today.”
It was an order to leave as soon as they had exchanged greetings.
Geum Ahyeok lowered his gaze back to the desk and did not raise his head again.
Geum Ajong knew his elder brother’s temperament well, so he understood that saying anything here would be pointless. So he sent Geom Mugeuk a look telling him they should leave for today.
“Then let us meet again another time.”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been about to turn after saying farewell, turned back as if something had just occurred to him.
“Ah, our Eldest Young Master does not ask, I see.”
Geum Ahyeok looked at Geom Mugeuk with eyes that asked what he was trying to say.
“Did you not hear the news that assassins entered the guest hall where I stayed yesterday?”
“I heard.”
The emotion contained in Geum Ahyeok’s cold gaze was this: And what, am I supposed to worry about you?
“Aren’t you curious? What sort of assassins they were, why they came to kill us. What kind of fool sent them.”
Seeing Geum Ahyeok’s eyes sharpen in that instant, Geom Mugeuk leisurely cast out his fishing line, baited with curiosity.
“I think I know who it was.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 481