Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 169 - I, Muk Hui-yeong (6)

Chapter 169 – I, Muk Hui-yeong (6)

Peng Chae-hyang was trembling all over. From that alone, I realized one thing.

I did not know how extraordinary a martial artist Peng Gyeong-seung was, or how fine a Clan Head he might be, but as a father he was a truly terrible person. If he could make such a pretty daughter shake like this, there was not much else to say.

“When did he arrive?”

Since Peng Chae-hyang was all but broken at the moment, I asked the servant instead.

“J-just now. Right now the Vice Hall Master is receiving him.”

“I see. The Vice Hall Master must be having a hard time.”

“When I served tea, I heard him say that once the Hall Master arrived, he would also hear the interim report on the accounts.”

Peng Chae-hyang’s face had gone beyond pale. It was now white as paper. I nodded. Peng Gyeong-seung had come for a surprise inspection.

“Young Lady Peng.”

“…”

“Young Lady Peng, Young Lady Peng.”

I took hold of Peng Chae-hyang’s shoulders and shook her. Only then did the focus return to her runaway eyes. “Wh-what is it? Do not shake me. I am dizzy.”

“We need to go in and organize the materials right away. They said he is going to hear the interim accounting report.”

“…I know. I know I have to.”

Though she understood it rationally, she seemed unable to make her feet move. I could only wonder how severely Peng Gyeong-seung must have hounded her to leave her in this state.

“Come on, quickly.”

I grabbed Peng Chae-hyang by the wrist and dragged her along by force.

“M-m-m-Mister Muk?”

Peng Chae-hyang was so flustered that even her voice broke, but I ignored it. The moment we entered the pavilion, there was a huge floor map on display, so it was easy enough to find the Hall Master’s office.

Peng Chae-hyang was dragged along helplessly. Only after entering the Hall Master’s office did I let go of her. She rubbed at her flushed wrist and protested at me,

“I could have walked here on my own.”

“No, you could not have. Anyway, discuss that later. Right now, organize the documents you need to report to the Clan Head.”

“…Alright.”

Peng Chae-hyang knew what mattered at the moment. She hurried about in confusion, pulling documents from the shelves one by one. Looking over the shelves myself, I saw that they were actually well organized. Which meant Peng Chae-hyang’s office ability was not nearly as bad as I had expected.

I was someone who had spent a whole lifetime buried in documents in my previous life. Just by looking at someone’s office, one could tell whether they were good at their work or not. Peng Chae-hyang was not bad at all. “May I look over a few of the documents too?”

“Y-yes. As long as they do not say confidential.”

Peng Chae-hyang answered without even looking at me. I pulled one document from the shelf and examined it.

As expected, the document itself was not bad. Of course the format was not standardized and the arrangement was somewhat rough, but it was still well within the range of being understandable.

I wrote several revisions in brush on how to improve the quality of the paperwork and handed it to Peng Chae-hyang.

“I think it would be better if this were revised like this.”

“You finished reading it already? That document is over ten pages long.”

“Yes.”

Peng Chae-hyang looked at the document, then at the revisions I had added, and her eyes widened.

“…So you really do know office work.”

“You really cannot trust a person’s word, can you?”

“N-no. It is just hard to believe. At your level, it feels like you should spend all day doing nothing but practice martial arts.”

Peng Chae-hyang stammered. She truly had not expected that I would be good at office work. Since things had turned out this way, I decided to properly donate my talents.

“Then let me conduct an audit of the documents. Do you have an auditor’s pledge?”

“We do have one, but this would be the first time giving it to an outsider to the clan.”

“Is there a rule saying you cannot?”

“Not exactly, but…”

“Appointing an auditor is the Hall Master’s right. Hurry up and appoint one.”

At my urging, Peng Chae-hyang half against her will handed me the auditor’s pledge. I stamped my seal on it casually and became Iron Origin Hall’s temporary auditor. Even the pledge itself was nothing much. Its main contents were simply that one would not reveal to outsiders, or make use of, anything learned during the audit.

The moment I stamped it, I began going through the documents at speed. In truth, Peng Chae-hyang’s paperwork had been recorded fairly well, but there were still a few mistakes.

“Where is the inventory receipt and issue register for this? It looks like it is missing.”

“Pardon? Ah, it must be somewhere. Just a moment.”

“Attach it to this document as supporting material.”

“Ah, yes!”

Following my directions, Peng Chae-hyang began supplementing the documents. Little by little, the papers became something worth looking at.

Even the troublesome file she had been carrying when she dragged the Supreme Elder away did not require us to go all the way to the supplies storeroom. The storeroom inventory had already been recorded in paperwork. “Should we not go check this in person?”

“You are being needlessly diligent. There is no time for that. First make sure the documents do not contradict one another. After the report is over, you can inspect it personally and revise it then.”

“I see.”

And while I was at it, I might as well teach her how to cut a few corners intelligently too.

That way, in less than half a gak, the documents were organized. After reviewing them one more time, everything that had contradicted itself had been aligned, and all the supporting materials were attached as well. At this point, I felt I had fully repaid the share I owed for her saving me from Gwan Seo-ye.

“…Wow.”

Looking at the neatly ordered documents, Peng Chae-hyang’s mouth fell open. Judging by her usual pace of work, this should have taken half a si-jin. Once I stepped in, it had taken less than half a gak. That was the difference experience made.

“Y-you really are amazing.”

Peng Chae-hyang even stammered. Raising the quality of documents to that extent in under half a gak really was nearly a form of sorcery.

It was just then, right after we finished organizing the paperwork.

Someone flung the door to the Hall Master’s office wide open without even knocking.

A gigantic man with the head of a lion looked down at us.

I knew at a glance who he had to be.

This was none other than Peng Gyeong-seung, the current Clan Head of the Hebei Peng Clan. “I greet the Clan Head.”

Peng Chae-hyang immediately dropped to one knee in greeting. At that point it was hard to tell whether this was a greeting between father and daughter or emperor and subject.

I had no intention of kneeling, so I simply saluted with clasped fists.

“Muk Hui-yeong of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”

“You must have known I had come to Iron Origin Hall, and yet instead of coming to see me first, you ran off into the Hall Master’s office.”

Without even acknowledging my greeting, Peng Gyeong-seung spoke in a low voice. Peng Chae-hyang’s narrow shoulders trembled once. Then a shaky voice came from her lips.

“I heard you would receive the interim accounting report, so I was organizing the documents needed for that report.”

“Hmph. As if what you prepare would matter. Very well, and who is this gentleman beside you? The Merchant King of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, was it?”

Rather unexpectedly, Peng Gyeong-seung spoke politely to me. He clearly looked as though this was the first he had ever heard of me. The Supreme Elder had known me, but the Clan Head did not, which suggested a difference in closeness or interest between them.

“Yes. I am staying for a short while as a guest, having received a favor from Young Lady Peng.”

“I see. That explains the guest status. But why are you in the Hall Master’s office?”

“Because I became the temporary auditor of Iron Origin Hall.”

“…Temporary auditor?” Peng Gyeong-seung rolled the unfamiliar phrase around as though testing it. Since, as Peng Chae-hyang had said, they had never used an outside auditor before, it seemed he had not expected it either.

“Were you the one who appointed him?”

Peng Gyeong-seung turned his gaze on Peng Chae-hyang. The moment his eyes pierced into her, she seemed to shrink.

“…Yes.”

“Even though you knew there is no precedent for an outsider auditing an internal pavilion of the Peng Clan?”

“He signed the auditor’s pledge…”

“Who are you to make that decision in the first place!”

Peng Gyeong-seung roared in a low voice. Peng Chae-hyang instantly stiffened and turned pale. It became clear at once why she had dreaded entering Iron Origin Hall. I glanced at Peng Chae-hyang and opened my mouth.

“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but does the clan have a rule forbidding a Hall Master from appointing an outside auditor?”

“Not precisely. But traditionally…”

“If there is no rule against it, then Young Lady Peng has done nothing wrong.”

I cut him off flatly. Peng Gyeong-seung’s thick brows twitched once.

“You are a young man indeed. Your manners leave quite a bit to be desired.”

“My apologies. That was not my intention.” “Enough. If this is someone my daughter brought in, then the responsibility lies with my daughter. Very well, let the auditor matter pass. Is the accounting report prepared?”

Once more Peng Gyeong-seung’s gaze stabbed into Peng Chae-hyang. She nodded.

“Yes.”

“Present it here, right now. I will hear it.”

Peng Gyeong-seung said.

“From here on, this concerns the internal affairs of the clan, so I would prefer that Merchant King Muk step outside.”

“That will not do.”

“…What?”

My blunt refusal left Peng Gyeong-seung momentarily dumbfounded. It seemed he had never in his life imagined a mere guest within the Hebei Peng Clan would dare disobey the Clan Head’s words.

“I altered some of the documents in my capacity as auditor. If those are to be explained, then I need to remain.”

“You are rather bold. Fine, then. Do as you please.”

Peng Gyeong-seung sat down heavily, folded his arms, and crossed his legs. Since I had stepped over the line quite a few times by then, his discomfort was obvious.

I knew perfectly well that I had crossed the line.

But that was fine. So long as I proved it with ability.

“T-then I will begin the report.”

Peng Chae-hyang started speaking in a trembling voice. The first thing to do was hand the report materials we had just organized to Peng Gyeong-seung.

“These are the report materials.”

“Very well. Begin.”

Peng Chae-hyang’s voice filled the Hall Master’s office. The report progressed smoothly. Fortunately, when faced with the real thing, Peng Chae-hyang was not the sort of person who completely fell apart.

As he listened, Peng Gyeong-seung also began reading through the documents.

“Hmm.”

Peng Gyeong-seung occasionally threw out sharp questions while reviewing the papers. Hearing those questions made one thing clear.

He truly was a capable manager.

Every question he asked struck at the heart of the matter.

Peng Chae-hyang stammered, but she defended herself well against his questions. Because every single question he raised was one I had already asked while organizing the paperwork.

Yet strangely enough, the better Peng Chae-hyang answered, the uglier Peng Gyeong-seung’s expression became. It was almost as if he wanted her to make a mistake. With a face as though he had bitten into filth, Peng Gyeong-seung kept flipping through the papers until he seemed to find something.

Then he lifted a document.

“Wait. Why was this arranged this way?”

“Pardon?”

Peng Chae-hyang stepped closer to look at the document in his hand. It was related to Iron Origin Hall’s accounts. Instead of being entered on a cash basis, it had been entered according to the transaction that caused the cash movement. Originally Peng Chae-hyang had done it on a cash basis, but I had told her to change it.

We should have explained at the time why it was being changed that way and moved on, but because I had been short on time, we had skipped over it, so Peng Chae-hyang could not explain it herself.

When she hesitated, Peng Gyeong-seung raised his voice exactly as if he had been waiting for this.

“How can you handle matters in such a way! If you cannot even explain how you handled the work, what will you do when you become Clan Head later?”

The booming force of Peng Gyeong-seung’s voice was enough even to crush my own presence. For the one standing before him, Peng Chae-hyang, it must have felt far worse.

“Just a moment. I will explain that. Young Lady Peng originally handled it on a cash basis, but I was the one who changed it.”

“This does not seem to be a place for Merchant King Muk to interfere.”

“Even so, I think I need to.”

“Absurd!”

Peng Gyeong-seung’s temper finally began to flare. To be honest, he had already exercised a great deal of restraint. Soon his overwhelming presence began pressing into me. Apparently he was treating me like an ordinary commoner, because the pressure was not all that strong. So I was able to disperse it easily. “Huh. So the Merchant King has studied martial arts as well?”

Seeing me dissolve his aura, Peng Gyeong-seung let out a contemptuous smile.

“Yes.”

“Is that why you have been so rude? Because you trust in that paltry level of skill?”

“Would I really rely on a little martial skill before one of the Three Great Sabers Under Heaven?”

“Then why are you interfering in the internal affairs of the Peng Clan? Do you have two lives?”

I wanted to say that I actually did have two and was living my second one right now, but that felt like the sort of answer that would truly get my neck cut off. So I cleared my throat and said,

“As I already explained, I speak in the capacity of an auditor.”

My tone remained calm.

“To explain, new equipment was brought into the ironworks, and because the price of that equipment was high, if it were handled on the basis of cash outflow, too much would be recognized as expense at once, so I handled it on the basis of the transaction itself. I also entered the equipment as an asset accordingly. That will make it more favorable when Iron Origin Hall seeks outside investment later. Would it not be better for Iron Origin Hall to attract more investment, Clan Head?”

“I have never heard of such a method!”

“Merchants use it from time to time. When one buys land or expensive equipment, it becomes burdensome to expense it all immediately. Cash-basis bookkeeping is not wrong. It is simply that I arranged the accounting in a way that would make Iron Origin Hall more attractive to investors. Surely that is what you want as Clan Head.”

Peng Gyeong-seung fell silent. No matter how well he managed a great clan, he could not contend with me in this field. Of course, even among merchants there would be room for debate over such matters, but since Peng Gyeong-seung did not know this area well, he could not seize on my words any further.