WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 304: The Black Flame Dragon, Sacred One of the Dark Path (2)
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The carriage that had departed from the Eunha Merchant Group headed back toward Hefei.
On the way back, I spotted a welcome flag.
“Huh? The Great Heaven Merchant Group!”
As we were about to enter an inn, I saw the Great Heaven Merchant Group’s flag hanging from a carriage.
“Ah, Young Master Jin.”
When I stepped inside, the martial artists and merchants who had been eating all rose to greet me.
“Are you returning from the Eunha Merchant Group?”
I nodded at Manager Go Jungtak’s question.
Then Manager Go cautiously asked, “...Did everything go well?”
As expected of a merchant group manager, they seemed very interested in the deal with the Eunha Merchant Group.
“Yes.”
I handed Manager Go the contract I had brought from the Eunha Merchant Group.
Manager Go carefully examined the document and could not hide their astonishment.
“It really went through...!”
“You were hoping it would go through?”
“Don’t even mention it. I was sick with frustration because we couldn’t get our hands on all the money lying around in Hangzhou.”
Manager Go made a pained face, and we all laughed.
“But... why are you all the way out here, Manager Go?”
Merchant group managers did not usually travel far from their headquarters.
Their work generally involved appraising goods and calculating transportation and distribution costs.
“Also, I didn’t see an escort agency’s flag. Didn’t you hire one?”
“Ah... well.”
Manager Go scratched their cheek.
“To reduce costs, we usually handle short distances ourselves. Most of the goods on this trip are valuable for their size, so I came along personally.”
“I see.”
It was customary not to hire an escort agency for short trips or safe trade routes along official roads.
Hiring an escort agency added to the cost and reduced competitiveness.
“This worked out well. Since you’re headed to the Great Heaven Merchant Group anyway, why don’t you travel with us? Our chief horse handler is an excellent cook.”
The servant who had accompanied us to the Eunha Merchant Group was no poor cook either, but I readily nodded.
I wanted to see how the Great Heaven Merchant Group operated.
‘The changes really are earth-shattering.’
At this point in my previous life, I had been trying to find work just to earn a few coins.
Gye Cheolyeong had entered the Martial Arts Academy through special admission, while Taeul Sect disciples had not even dared to consider taking the regular examination.
There were still years left before mandatory service in the Martial Alliance.
I couldn’t spend every day eating and loafing around the sect, so I looked for work. Escort work was what I naturally knew from experience, so I sought a job as an escort warrior.
‘But I didn’t stand a chance.’
I tried hard to find a position as an escort warrior, but no escort agency would hire me.
What escort agency would employ someone with poor skills, no experience, and no connections?
In the end, I only earned enough to keep myself fed while working as a horse handler for the Gyerong Merchant Group. I could barely bring any money back to the sect.
Yet in this life, the Great Heaven Merchant Group existed, founded in Taeul Sect’s name. Countless people worked there and earned their living.
There was no longer any need to worry that the Gyerong Merchant Group’s support funds might shrink.
Nor did I need to stand before people I disliked and grovel.
We could give the children training at the sect three meals a day, and no longer had to make them wear patched martial uniforms.
That thought put me in a good mood, so I called over a waiter.
“What’s the best liquor you have here?”
“We have Little Red Liquor and Golden Goblet Clear.”
“Bring ten bottles of Golden Goblet Clear.”
“Ah! Yes!”
The waiter bowed so deeply it looked as though their back might break, then dashed into the kitchen.
The merchant group’s people, who had heard my order, could not hide their surprise.
“Young Master, we’re still in the middle of a trade journey...”
“Yes, I know. That’s why we’ll just have a little with the meal.”
Under the hopeful gazes of the others, Manager Go finally let out a quiet sigh.
“You all heard him. Drink only enough to keep from getting drunk.”
“Yes!”
Even Manager Go’s stiff expression relaxed after smelling the fragrance of Golden Goblet Clear.
The cheerful meal continued.
Bang!
The door flew open, and a group of huge figures entered the inn.
The waiter coming out of the kitchen seemed to realize they were not customers. After starting forward to serve them, the waiter sighed and returned to the kitchen. Rather than finding seats, the hulking figures looked around the inn.
‘Those bastards are ugly as hell.’
Their savage faces and the large weapons they displayed openly marked them as Black Path scum at a glance.
‘Did they come looking for debtors?’
As they swept the room with fierce, bulging eyes, everyone eating at the inn tried to avoid meeting their gazes.
It was none of my business, so I stayed quiet.
“Hey! Where’s the Great Heaven Merchant Group?”
Huh?
Swoosh-
Huh??
Manager Go, who had been sitting beside me, suddenly rose to their feet.
‘What’s this?’
Manager Go respectfully cupped their hands.
“Greetings, great heroes. I am Go Jungtak of the Great Heaven Merchant Group.”
“Good. Where’s the money?”
“Here it is.”
Manager Go handed over a small money pouch.
The hulking figures opened it and checked what was inside.
“The Great Heaven Merchant Group must be doing well these days. Drinking expensive liquor in the middle of the day and all.”
One large figure’s gaze shifted from the pouch to the bottles of Golden Goblet Clear on our table.
“That is all thanks to people such as yourselves, great heroes.”
Bang!
Fuck, that startled me... No, more importantly, my Golden Goblet Clear...!
When a thick hand slammed down on the table, I checked the bottles on reflex.
Whew, they were fine.
But did that bastard just slam my table?
“Then shouldn’t you pay more transit fees?”
The booming voice rang through the inn.
Despite the crude shout, Manager Go did not lose their respectful manner.
“...I’ll discuss it with the Merchant Group Leader.”
“Good. I’ll relay that to our Sect Leader as well.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The large figure and the others turned away as though that were only natural.
Watching the whole thing unfold, I had one thought.
What kind of bullshit is this?
I rubbed my forehead and called out to them.
“Wait... Wait, wait, wait.”
At my voice, Manager Go went pale and hurried over.
“Young Master Jin. I’ll explain.”
“No. Stay there for a moment, Manager Go. Hey, you! You, come here.”
The large figure’s eyes widened, and they pointed a thick finger at themself.
“Brat, are you speaking to this exalted one?”
“This exalted one my ass. Do you want to die...?”
“Young Master!”
I tapped the paralysis acupoint of the manager clinging to me like a leech, then walked forward.
“Hand over that money.”
“...What?”
“That’s the Great Heaven Merchant Group’s hard-earned money, so hand it over.”
Silence fell over the inn.
The atmosphere grew so heavy that even the sound of someone swallowing seemed thunderous.
Then the large figure burst into laughter.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
The large figure looked toward their companions, and they began laughing too.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Kahahaha!”
“This crazy bastard dares... You must be desperate to die!”
A fist the size of a watermelon came swinging at me.
Thud!
Rather than blocking or dodging, I took the punch head-on.
But.
“Urgh...”
The groan did not come from my mouth, but the large figure’s.
They tried to hide the pain shooting through their fist.
First, loosen up the wrist.
“You hit me once. Now it’s my turn, right?”
I didn’t understand what was going on here.
Well, there must have been circumstances I didn’t know about.
Fine. I understood all that.
“You crazy bastard, you’ve lost your fear of death...!”
“Enough.”
Still, seeing my hard-earned money taken right in front of me made rage surge up.
“Clench your teeth.”
A rage incomparable to what I had felt when facing demonic beings.
#
Transit fees.
They generally referred to fees paid by travelers passing through a route controlled by someone.
Government offices that maintained official roads collected transit fees at city entrances, while Green Forest strongholds that maintained mountain paths collected them along those mountain roads.
I had heard that waterway strongholds guided people through waterways and charged transit fees too, but that was beside the point.
The transit fees these bastards were collecting made no sense to me.
“You didn’t build this road, so why are you collecting transit fees?”
The large figure, kneeling with blackened eyes, frowned and replied.
“...Pwotection twansit fee.”
“Why can’t you speak properly, you bastard? Want me to knock out more teeth?”
The large figure looked at me with aggrieved eyes, as though they wanted to protest that I had knocked out their teeth, making proper pronunciation impossible.
So what?
As I glared at them, Manager Go, standing beside me, spoke in their place.
“Young Master Jin. Protection transit fees are a recent development.”
“Protection transit fees?”
Manager Go let out a quiet sigh and nodded.
From what I heard, Black Path factions had survived by collecting protection fees only in areas where their influence was firmly established.
Starting fights where White Path martial sects affiliated with the Martial Alliance were present would lead directly to a Black Path purge, so they had not dared to encroach upon others’ territory or fight over influence.
But ever since the Black Alliance was formed, more and more Black Path factions had begun creeping into White Path territory.
Simply belonging to the Black Alliance meant they were no longer likely to be purged unilaterally, so they had gradually expanded their influence.
The Black Alliance would not intervene in fights without justification or incidents they had provoked, so they could not recklessly seize existing White Path territory.
Their desperate solution had been protection-transit fees, something between protection money and transit fees.
Wow. What kind of creative bullshit was that?
“No, that’s exactly what I don’t understand! You aren’t protecting anyone, and the road isn’t yours, so why are you collecting protection transit fees?”
“...”
“Are you not going to answer?”
“Awe you twuly insulting ouw Anus Sect?”
“Anus Sect? Is your sect called the Anus Sect?”
“You impudent bastawd!”
As the large figure’s eyes bulged, one of the Black Path scum behind them hurriedly answered instead.
“It’s the Sangmun Sect.”
“Sangmun Sect?”
I had never heard of it before.
“Manager Go.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Does this happen often?”
Manager Go hesitated for a moment, then finally admitted it as though giving up.
“It has continued to increase since the Black Alliance was formed.”
“Ha...”
So these fucking bastards had found a new line of business thanks to the Black Alliance.
I tapped my temple and asked, “How much do they usually take?”
“Not much. It is far cheaper than hiring an escort agency directly, so other merchant groups tend to pay it as well.”
“How much?”
“About ten times while passing through a single province...”
So they got extorted once in every town they stopped at.
I turned toward Wang Soso.
“Do you pay it too?”
“Uh... As far as I know, we don’t.”
Wow. Look at these bastards.
“So you only collect it from easy targets.”
Did creating the Black Alliance bring about this kind of side effect?
Hah. They dared to pick my pocket!
“Young Master Jin, I understand that you’re angry, but shouldn’t you stop now?”
“No, why? With this money, couldn’t we give bonuses to the horse handlers and stay at better inns when we rest?”
“You are here now, but later they may retaliate... I mean, there’s no telling what might happen.”
What Manager Go worried about was the continued safety of the trade route.
We might not be extorted now, but these people could turn into bandits on future trade journeys.
That was the real concern.
I looked at Manager Go and shrugged.
“Then we just need to make sure it stays safe later too.”
“What?”
In other words, if I made sure these bastards never turned into bandits, we would not lose money and the trade route would stay safe.
I lightly kicked the toothless figure.
“Hey, Anus Sect.”
“...!!!”
The large figure glared at me as though they wanted to kill me.
“Take me to your Sect Leader.”
“Awe you weally asking to die?”
“Why would I die? I just want to talk.”
“Huh?”
Perhaps they had not understood what I said, because the large figure and their lackeys wore blank expressions.
One lackey cautiously asked in place of the large figure, whose pronunciation had become strange after losing teeth.
“Um... do you know our Sect Leader?”
“How would I know some Black Path nobody?”
The Black Path lackey seemed not to have expected that and fell into thought.
Then they hesitantly asked again, “M-may I ask your name...?”
“Jin Sowoon.”
Despite hearing only those three syllables, the Black Path lackey’s face turned white.
“B-Black Path divine prodigy, the Black Flame Dragon?!”
“Don’t tell me... B-Black Maitreya?!”
Yeah, that’s me, you fucking bastards.
Footnotes:
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