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Chapter 304
Chapter 304. Black Path Rising Star, the Black Flame Dragon (2)
The carriage departing Silver River Merchant Guild headed for Hefei once more.
And on the way back, we encountered a welcome sight.
"Oh? Great Heaven Merchant Guild!"
We were about to enter an inn when we spotted Great Heaven Merchant Guild's flag on a carriage.
Е n̂ ùmӑ . і̀d
"Ah, Young Master Jin."
As I stepped inside, the warriors and merchants who'd been eating all rose at once and greeted me.
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"Are you on your way back from Silver River Merchant Guild?"
At the question from Chief Clerk Go Jung-tak, I nodded.
He then asked carefully,
"......Did everything go well?"
Е n̊ ŭmа
True to a Chief Clerk's nature, he seemed very interested in the deal struck with Silver River Merchant Guild.
"Yes."
I handed Go Jung-tak the contract I'd brought from Silver River Merchant Guild.
He examined the documents cautiously, then couldn't hide his surprise.
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"It really went through......!"
"You seem to have been hoping."
Е̌n u m̊ ӑ . їd̆
"You have no idea. There's money practically rolling around in Hangzhou and we couldn't scoop it up—it was agonizing."
Go Jung-tak pulled a pained face, and we shared a good laugh.
"But...... what brings a Chief Clerk all the way out here?"
A Chief Clerk typically didn't travel far from the guild.
Appraising the value of goods and calculating transportation and distribution costs was generally their work.
"Moreover, I didn't see an escort agency flag. You're not using an escort?"
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"Ah...... well."
Go Jung-tak scratched his cheek with a finger.
"For short distances, we usually handle things internally to cut costs. Besides, most of the goods on this run are high-value relative to size, so I came out personally."
"I see."
Well, it was customary not to hire escorts for short distances or safe routes along the main government roads.
Using escorts added to costs and cut into competitiveness, after all.
Еńuḿà .і_d̀
"The timing works out perfectly. If you're heading to Great Heaven Merchant Guild anyway, why not travel with us? Our Cart Hand is an excellent cook."
The servant who'd accompanied us to Silver River Merchant Guild was no slouch in the kitchen either, but I readily agreed.
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I wanted to see how Great Heaven Merchant Guild operated in action.
'It really is a total sea change.'
When I thought back to what I was doing at this point in my previous life—I'd been scrambling to find any work to earn a few coins.
Gye Cheol-yeong had entered Murim Academy through Special Recruitment, and the disciples of Taeul Sect couldn't even dream of attempting the Murim Regular Exam.
Ěń ù m̃а̊ .id̈
There were still years before the Murim Alliance's mandatory service period.
I couldn't just lounge around the sect every day doing nothing, so I looked for work—and naturally, having learned nothing else, I gravitated toward escort work, making a living by the sword.
'But fat chance of that.'
I'd tried my hardest to find escort work, but no agency would hire me.
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What escort agency would take on someone with pathetic skills and no experience or connections?
In the end, all I managed was Cart Hand work for Gyeryong Merchant Guild—barely keeping myself fed and scraping together a pittance to send back to the sect.
Е̄ ñ.ü m̆ ä
But in this life, Great Heaven Merchant Guild existed, founded under Taeul Sect's name, and countless people worked there earning money.
No more fretting over Gyeryong Merchant Guild's sponsorship drying up.
No more standing before people I despised, whining for help.
I could put three meals a day in the mouths of the children training at the sect, and no longer had to make them patch and re-patch their torn martial arts uniforms.
Those thoughts put me in such a good mood that I called over the server.
"What's the best wine you've got here?"
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"We have Shaoxing wine and Golden Cask Clear."
"Ten bottles of Golden Cask Clear."
"Ah! Right away!"
The server bowed so deep his back might break, then shot into the kitchen like an arrow.
The guild people sitting beside me, who'd overheard my order, couldn't wipe the surprise off their faces.
"Young Master, we're still in the middle of a trading run......"
Ӗ n um̆а . ї d
"Yes, I know. So let's just have it as a light accompaniment with the meal."
Go Jung-tak caved under the hopeful gazes of his people and let out a small sigh.
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"You all heard him. Drink only enough not to get drunk."
"""Yes!!!"""
Even Go Jung-tak, whose face had been stiff, loosened up once he caught a whiff of the Golden Cask Clear's aroma.
And so, the convivial meal continued—
We̊bńov̀ ê l Еn̊ ù m̀а̂
BANG!
The door flew open roughly and a group of hulking men strode into the inn.
They apparently weren't customers, because the server who'd been coming out of the kitchen started to greet them, then sighed and went back in. The hulking men, too, instead of finding seats, surveyed the interior of the inn.
'Ugly-ass bastards.'
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The menacing faces and oversized weapons on brazen display—clearly Black Path scum.
'Debt collectors, maybe?'
Ẅ è b̊ńо v е̇ l̃. Еn̊ū mа
As they exuded a threatening air and scanned the crowd with bulging eyes, every patron in the inn did their best not to make eye contact.
I wasn't about to get involved either, so I sat still, when—
"Hey! Where's Great Heaven Merchant Guild!"
Huh?
I looked over.
Huh??
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Go Jung-tak, who'd been sitting right beside me, was standing up.
'What the hell?'
Go Jung-tak offered a courteous clasped hands greeting.
"Greetings, great heroes. I'm Go Jung-tak of Great Heaven Merchant Guild."
"Yeah. The money?"
"Here it is."
Е.nù mă
He handed over a small money pouch.
The hulking men opened it and checked the contents.
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"Business must be good at Great Heaven Merchant Guild these days. Drinking expensive wine in broad daylight."
The hulking man's gaze, having confirmed the pouch, drifted to the bottles of Golden Cask Clear on our table.
"That's all thanks to great heroes like yourself."
BANG—!
W̌ ё b n̈ о v̌ е l Ë_n ũ ḿӓ
Fuck, that scared...... No, more importantly, my Golden Cask Clear......!
As a thick hand slammed down on the table, I instinctively checked on the Golden Cask Clear bottles.
Phew, they're safe.
But that bastard—did he just pound the table?
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"Then you ought to be paying more for the toll!"
His booming voice thundered through the inn.
Е̂ n ü m̂ä
Despite the brutish shouting, Go Jung-tak didn't lose his composure.
"......I'll discuss it with the Guild Master."
"Good. Then relay that to our Gang Chief as well."
"Yes. Thank you."
Then the hulking man and his lackeys turned to leave, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Watching the whole thing unfold, I thought—
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What the fuck kind of bullshit is this?
I rubbed my forehead and called out to them.
"Hold on...... hold on, hold on, hold on."
At my voice, Go Jung-tak blanched and hurried over.
"Young Master Jin. Allow me to explain."
"No. Chief Clerk, please stay there for a moment. Hey, you! You, come here."
Е̃ n ǔṁ ӑ.іd̆
The hulking man opened his bulging eyes wide and pointed at himself.
"Brat, are you addressing this lord?"
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"'This lord'? Fuck, are you trying to get killed using 'this lord'......"
"Y-Young Master!"
I pressed the Numbing Acupoint on the Chief Clerk, who was clinging to me like a leech, then walked forward.
"Hand over that money."
W̊ ėb̆ ṅ o v̂е ĺ Ē n̆u m̆ a
"......What?"
"That's Great Heaven Merchant Guild's hard-earned money, so give it back."
A brief silence settled over the inn.
Even the sound of swallowing seemed to echo like thunder in the heavy atmosphere.
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Then the hulking man burst into raucous laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Ёñ u m̊a
When he laughed and looked at his crew, they followed suit.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Bwahaha!"
"This crazy bastard dares...... You must be out of your mind wanting to die!"
Then he swung a fist the size of a watermelon.
THWACK!
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Instead of blocking or dodging, I let the punch land squarely.
However—
"Nggk......"
The groan came not from my mouth, but from his.
He was trying hard not to show the pain shooting through his fist.
First, let me loosen my wrist.
Е̌ n̆um a.і̊_d
"You threw one punch, so now it's my turn, right?"
I had no idea what was going on in this situation.
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Hm, there was probably some context I wasn't aware of.
Yeah. Sure, I got all that.
"This crazy bastard must've lost his goddamn—!"
"Enough."
Е̂num̌а̀
But watching my hard-earned money being taken right before my eyes sent fury surging through me.
"Clench your teeth."
A fury incomparable to when I'd faced Demonic Practitioners.
***
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Tolls.
Typically, it meant fees paid by users when passing through a road that had an owner.
E ň ü mа̄
Government offices that maintained the main roads collected tolls at city gates, and Green Forest strongholds that cleared mountain paths collected tolls on the trails.
Apparently some waterway strongholds also charged tolls for guiding people through water routes, but whatever, that wasn't relevant.
What I couldn't wrap my head around was the "toll" these bastards were charging.
"This road wasn't built by you, so why are you collecting tolls?"
The hulking man, kneeling with his eye sockets turning dark purple, scowled and answered.
"......Pwotecshun toll."
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"This bastard can't even talk straight! Want me to knock out more teeth?"
He probably wanted to protest that he couldn't pronounce properly because his teeth had been knocked out.
The hulking man stared at me with eyes that screamed injustice, but so what?
When I kept glaring at him with dagger eyes, Go Jung-tak stepped in to explain on his behalf.
"Young Master Jin. Protection tolls are something that started recently."
"Protection tolls?"
Wе b̌ñо v̆е̌ l Е n̈ ū m̆а
Go Jung-tak sighed softly and nodded.
According to him, Black Path gangs had long been collecting protection fees only in areas where they held clear territorial control.
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Since starting fights in areas held by Orthodox Path martial sects under the Murim Alliance would immediately lead to Black Path suppression campaigns, they hadn't dared encroach on territory or engage in turf wars.
But ever since the Black Thought Alliance was formed, Black Path gangs had begun creeping into Orthodox Path territory more and more.
Simply belonging to the Black Thought Alliance gave them a degree of protection against being unilaterally suppressed, so they'd gradually started expanding their influence.
However, since the Black Thought Alliance wouldn't back them in disputes where they started the fight without justification or provoked the incident, they couldn't outright seize existing Orthodox Path territory.
E ṅ umä
Their compromise solution was this—protection fees, tolls, and a hybrid of both: the so-called "protection toll."
What the hell kind of bullshit was this?
"That's what I'm saying—I don't get it! You don't protect us and this isn't your road, so why the hell are you charging a protection toll!"
"......"
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"No answer?"
"H-how d-dare you inshult our Upper Gate—"
W̊_ѐ b̌ ń o v̂ е̌_l̊ Е n̄u m ã
"Upper Gate? Your sect is called 'Asshole Gate?'"
"Ish Upper! Upper Gate!"
The hulking man's eyes bulged, and the Black Path lackey behind him quickly answered in his place.
"I-it's the Upper Gate Gang, sir."
"Upper Gate Gang?"
A gang I'd never heard of or seen before.
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"Chief Clerk."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Does this sort of thing happen often?"
Go Jung-tak hesitated briefly, then seemed to give up and laid it all out.
"It's been steadily increasing ever since the Black Thought Alliance was formed."
"Damn......"
E n u̇ m̂ а . і d
So these worthless bastards had discovered a whole new line of business thanks to the Black Thought Alliance.
I tapped my temple and asked.
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"How much do they usually squeeze out of you?"
"Not much. It's actually much cheaper than hiring escorts directly, so other guilds do the same thing."
"How much exactly?"
"About ten times per city......"
W̄ ẽ bǹ о̆ v̈ е l Ӗ ṅum̌а
So they got shaken down roughly once at every town they passed through.
I turned to Wang So-so.
"Do you pay the same thing?"
"Uh...... I don't think we do."
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Wow. Look at these bastards.
"So they only squeeze the easy marks."
Е̌.n̂u mа .і d́
Fuck, did creating the Black Thought Alliance cause this kind of side effect?
Hah, how dare they pick my pocket!
"Um, Young Master Jin. I understand you're angry, but wouldn't it be better to let it go?"
"Why? With this money, we could give the Cart Hands performance bonuses and stay at better inns."
"That's true while you're with us, Young Master, but...... later, they might retali—...... I mean, there's no telling what might happen."
What the Chief Clerk was worried about was the long-term stability of their trading runs.
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Sure, they might not get squeezed while I was here, but on future runs these thugs could turn into outright bandits.
That was his biggest concern.
I looked at him and shrugged.
"Then it just needs to stay safe later too, doesn't it?"
"What?"
In other words, if I made it so these bastards could absolutely never turn into bandits, then we'd stop getting squeezed and keep the trading runs safe.
Ẁ е b̂ ǹ о̌ v̊ еl̀ En̈.um̈ а̌
I nudged the toothless hulking man with my foot.
"Hey, Asshole Gate."
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"......!!!"
The hulking man glared daggers at me.
"Take me to your Gang Chief."
"D'you truly wish to die?!"
Е̊ṅu m̊ à
"Why would I die? I just want to talk."
"Huh?"
Either my message didn't get through, or he simply couldn't process it—the hulking man and his lackeys wore blank expressions.
Instead of the toothless hulk, a lackey cautiously asked me.
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"Um...... do you happen to know the Gang Chief?"
"How the hell would I know some Black Path nobody!"
Ẁ е̄ b̆ n̈ о̇ v̊е ľ Е n ů m а̃
Apparently not expecting that, the Black Path lackey fell into thought.
Then, hesitantly, he asked again.
"Might I...... ask your name?"
"Jin So-un."
Three syllables were all it took for the Black Path lackey's face to go white.
"The B-Black Path Rising Star, the Black Flame Dragon?!"
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"No way......! Y-you mean the Black Maitreya?!"
Yeah, that's me, you little shits.
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