Chapter 155
When I opened the door to the reception hall, Jang Miryeo looked at me with red-rimmed eyes.
“M-Miss Tang?”
She called to me in a hoarse voice and hurriedly wiped her face. It seemed she had burst into tears the moment I left.
She tried so hard to act tough, but she must have been terrified.
Pretending not to notice, I walked past her and dropped into a chair.
“Please give us two rooms until your situation is resolved.”
“Pardon?”
“No, one should be enough. It would be better for me to stay in the same room as you.”
“Y-you intend to stay with me?”
“I have a feeling something truly terrible will happen if we leave you alone under these circumstances. And it isn’t as though I can have that one stay with you.”
I folded my arms and shot Yang Gyojin a look. She beamed, ran over, and threw her arms around me.
“Sohae!”
“Hey. You’re heavy. Get off.”
“Miryeo, you won’t have to worry about poison with Sohae around. She’ll stop any assassins too.”
“Why are you deciding that? Ah, move your head. I said you’re heavy.”
I shoved Yang Gyojin’s head away and looked at Jang Miryeo.
“I still think this fool should withdraw from the tournament... but she clearly isn’t going to listen to me, so I won’t interfere anymore.”
“Miss Tang? Wh-what exactly are you saying...?”
“My fee will be two silver coins a day. In return, you only need to feed my brother and me.”
I held up my index and middle fingers. Yang Gyojin stared at me as though she could not believe that was all.
“That’s it? Isn’t that way too little?”
“Do you think silver comes out of the ground? One silver tael can buy five sacks of rice.”
“Really? Mine was gone after two days at an inn.”
“That’s because you eat too much...”
Had she been staying only at the most luxurious inns? From the sound of it, people had probably overcharged her everywhere she went.
“Anyway, that’s enough. It’s what I was taught.”
“...There really is no stopping you.”
Yeon Ryang muttered under his breath. I thought I heard a quiet laugh in his voice.
Jang Miryeo blinked at me blankly before asking with care,
“Miss Tang... are you offering me a protection contract?”
“Yes. As for the duration... judging by the situation, it seems we may need to stay for some time. How about until you reclaim what is rightfully yours?”
Jang Miryeo covered her mouth and hiccupped.
She scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeve, hurriedly drank some tea to soothe her throat, then turned her back to straighten her clothing.
In an instant, she reined in her emotions and put on the face of a merchant again. She smiled and shook her head.
“I am grateful for your kindness, Miss Tang, but I cannot accept those terms.”
Her unexpected response made me narrow my eyes. I had not expected Jang Miryeo to refuse.
“Are you saying you do not need protection?”
“No. I would like to change the terms. A transaction in which only one side suffers a loss can never become more than a one-time arrangement.”
Her eyes shone as she answered clearly.
“That sounds as though... you wish to maintain a relationship with me even after the contract ends. But I have nothing with which to continue trading with you.”
When I asked in confusion, Jang Miryeo interlaced her fingers and replied gently.
“Most ordinary people could live their entire lives without ever forming a connection with someone from the martial world. Any merchant who let such a rare opportunity slip through her fingers would be unworthy of the profession.”
I smiled at the strength it took to remember her duty as a merchant even with her life at stake.
She did not want to be the passive recipient of my pity. She wanted to enter an employment contract with me as an equal.
I straightened my posture and gave her a formal clasped-fist salute.
“I have been discourteous to you, Miss Jang. State your terms. I will listen.”
“I am simply grateful that you understand.”
Jang Miryeo gave a light bow with a soft laugh, then her voice turned serious.
“My life will serve as collateral for this transaction. Naturally, I must pay a price equal to the value of that life.”
She considered her words for a long moment before raising her head with resolve.
“At present, I possess no real authority, so there is nothing I can promise you immediately. Instead, please accept a future stake in the trading company.”
“A future stake?”
“Once I become Trading Company Master, I would like to contract with you on the condition that you receive five percent of the company’s annual profits. Since my life is the collateral, the arrangement may continue until the day I die.”
My eyes widened at the astonishing offer.
Five percent of the trading company’s profits?
Even a small trading company handled sums no ordinary person could dream of touching. I stared at her dumbly and began stammering before I realized it.
“F-five percent?”
“Yes, Miss Tang. Based on last year’s profits, that would come to slightly less than five hundred gold taels.”
F-five hundred gold taels?
Every year?
I swallowed hard. The enticing offer left my throat dry.
This was a goose that laid golden eggs—no, gold ingots! It was a lifetime lottery payout!
I pressed my lips together to hide my excitement, but the corners of my mouth kept creeping upward. Yeon Ryang had been silently watching me, and I heard him finally burst out laughing.
Struggling to control my expression, I clenched both hands inside my sleeves.
“That, um... is an extremely attractive sum.”
“Only a merchant capable of presenting attractive terms can close a transaction. How would the two silver coins you requested serve as an advance? I can prepare fifteen days’ worth immediately.”
“Yes. That sounds good.”
“Then I will have a formal contract drawn up.”
When I nodded, Jang Miryeo’s face brightened, and her eyes curved with her smile.
For a deal that had begun almost by accident, it was remarkably satisfying.
*****
While we waited for the ink to dry after signing the contract, Jang Miryeo worked herself into a frenzy trying to treat us with the utmost hospitality.
Her excessive courtesy apparently made Yeon Ryang uncomfortable. He quietly slipped outside the reception hall and waited for me while polishing his sword.
Perhaps his lack of any visible reaction bothered her. Unlike when she had confidently renegotiated the contract, Jang Miryeo had shrunk in on herself.
“It is nearly time for the evening meal. Are you hungry? I will have the kitchen bring us something... Ah.”
She had been asking kindly when she remembered that poison had already begun appearing in her food. She faltered and closed her mouth.
I waved a hand to reassure her.
“They won’t be foolish enough to poison a martial artist’s food. And I’ll be able to tell if anything has been added, so don’t worry.”
“...Having you here is very reassuring, Miss Tang. Jinjin, go to the kitchen.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Jang Miryeo’s personal maid answered respectfully and hurried away.
Jang Miryeo glanced sideways at Yeon Ryang as he tended to his sword, then cautiously asked,
“Miss Tang... if it would not be too much trouble, could your brother show us his face so that my people and I can recognize and properly attend to him? I would like to inform everyone in advance that he is my guest.”
“Of course. Brother, come over here and take off your bamboo hat.”
“Hm?”
At my call, Yeon Ryang rose, removed his bamboo hat, and approached.
Jang Miryeo went deathly pale and covered her mouth. Trembling all over, she darted behind Yang Gyojin.
“Miryeo, what’s wrong?”
Yang Gyojin patted Jang Miryeo, who had hidden behind her, as though she had no idea what had happened.
I thought I knew why.
I glanced up at Yeon Ryang. He shrugged as though deeply wronged.
“I didn’t do anything, Sister. You called me, so I came.”
“I know. Your face is the problem. I’m sorry, Miss Jang. My brother may look rather vicious, but he isn’t a bad person.”
At my words, Jang Miryeo cautiously peeked out and looked up at Yeon Ryang’s face.
Then Yeon Ryang smiled with his eyes, and she immediately hid again.
“Brother. Don’t smile like that. It looks like you’re threatening her.”
“Now I’m not even allowed to smile as I please. Ah, the hardships I endure. Come here, Furball.”
Looking aggrieved, Yeon Ryang picked up Cane and buried his face in its belly.
He wouldn’t say that if he knew what his face looked like. That human-skin mask could probably give someone a fatal heart attack if they saw it at night.
As I sighed and put Yeon Ryang’s bamboo hat back on him, Yang Gyojin began spouting nonsense.
“Brother, are you in a bad mood? Your expression looks awful.”
Was his expression really the problem? He looked like an entirely different person.
I answered her ridiculous question in disbelief.
“Gyojin. You really have no interest in anything except swordsmanship.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, idiot.”
Apparently, her entire world was divided into two categories: things related to martial arts and things that were not.
Meanwhile, Jang Miryeo’s personal maid returned from the kitchen with several other maids.
“My lady, we will serve the evening meal.”
Jang Miryeo gestured, and the waiting maids carried dish after dish into the reception hall.
Despite our concerns, the meal from the kitchen was clean. It was also good enough that I understood why Yang Gyojin had been whining for a snack earlier.
I chuckled at the sight of Yang Gyojin happily rubbing her stomach, then turned to Jang Miryeo.
“If we are going to protect you, I think we should begin by learning the layout of the inner compound. Where are your rooms?”
“My annex is located at the point farthest from the gate leading to the outer compound. The women’s residences are all gathered in roughly the same area.”
“Yes. I think I understand. That also means the guards would have a long way to run if anything happened.”
Jang Miryeo nodded with a grave expression. She pushed away the plate before her and set out paper, brushes, and ink.
Then she began drawing a plan of the inner and outer compounds.
“This is my residence. The reception hall where Young Hero Yang and your brother will stay is here. It takes me about fifteen minutes to walk between them.”
The reception hall lay to the right of Jang Miryeo’s residence. Yeon Ryang examined the plan and rubbed his chin.
“If it takes Miss Jang fifteen minutes on foot, then the distance itself isn’t much of a problem with lightness skill. It would be even closer if we crossed the wall. The problem is that if an assassin approaches from the left side of the annex, it will be difficult to notice them...”