Volume 1 Chapter 15 – Family

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The head of the Administration Department was a person who was no different from a father to Jeong-ah.

After losing her father early when she was young, she was cut off from her remaining blood relatives as she came to the Luoyang Sword Family.

The head of the Administration Department did his utmost to teach and guide Jeong-ah.

Since even she, who was outstanding, was also a person, she made many mistakes and caused a few accidents.

Every time that happened, the head of the Administration Department shielded her and always helped her walk a good path.

Had it not been for him, she was sure that Jeong-ah would have been swept away and vanished in the rapid current of the Luoyang Sword Family.

He was the only person she could trust in this giant organization called the Luoyang Sword Family.

The report that such a person had sent to the Eldest Young Master, and the story contained at its very end, was content that she had no choice but to receive a great shock from.

“If she cannot discard her innate disposition and tries to make a deal with you, Eldest Young Master…”

Her father was recommending that if she did not seem helpful to the Eldest Young Master, she should be killed and eliminated.

Her legs faltered, and she lost strength in her entire body and sank down.

Her face turned pale, and her hands trembled.

“Ugh-!”

She grabbed the railing and vomited onto the dirt ground.

Even after throwing up all that was inside, she kept dry heaving for a long time.

As the dry heaving subsided, she pulled out a handkerchief with her finely trembling hand.

She wiped her face, which was a mess with tears and runny nose.

Even while wiping, new tears flowed out, and a sob tried to leak from her tightly shut mouth.

She took a deep breath and collected herself.

The clenched fist had no color at all.

“…Do you know the reason why I showed you that report?”

Yeon So-hyeon’s voice was leisurely just like before.

But Jeong-ah felt the icy darkness flowing deep within that voice.

“…Yes, Eldest Young Master.”

She corrected her posture, turned toward Yeon So-hyeon, and bowed her head.

“What is contained in this report is the loyalty of the head of the Administration Department. I dared to guess that you showed me what that true loyalty is, master.”

Even a child who was as good as one’s own blood relative was nothing in front of the lord.

“Loyalty…”

Yeon So-hyeon leaned back in a comfortable posture and looked up at the ceiling.

“I regard that as madness.”

How would one explain making one discard even one’s own child?

Jeong-ah bowed her head deeply.

“Generally, it might be so.”

She continued in a voice that had stopped trembling.

“But if it is here, if it is the center of the Luoyang Sword Family, which is called the world’s number one family, where all conspiracies and desires for power ultimately gather…”

She once again realized where she was.

She once again confirmed her own situation.

“This is loyalty.”

Yeon So-hyeon downcast his eyes and slowly looked at Jeong-ah.

“…Do you still wish to offer loyalty if I accept you?”

Jeong-ah gave a smile.

That smile was as beautiful and radiant as a flower blooming under the bright sunshine after the rain stopped.

“No.”

She prostrated and pressed her forehead to the floor.

“Whether to accept me or not is solely the master’s share. I will only serve the master with loyalty.”

Yeon So-hyeon had an intuition that the flower called Jeong-ah had bloomed fully.

That flower harbored a thick and dense fragrance.

A fragrance by the name of madness.

“You are my sole master, Eldest Young Master.”

Yeon So-hyeon smiled.

It was a quite satisfying answer.

* * *

Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment’s night was quiet and peaceful as usual.

As the wind brushed past, colorful petals scattered and danced in the air.

It was thanks to the temperature maintained relatively warm by the barrier surrounding Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

Jeong-ah lit the oil lamp provided and sat near the hearth to continue the story.

“…In that way, our family’s merchant group, which had been so harmonious, collapsed in an instant.”

“Yama Debt and bad luck…”

Yeon So-hyeon still held the book in his hand, but he was listening to her story, occasionally throwing questions.

“Yes, that is right. My older sister, who was full of business talent, made several decisive moves with my father, but in the end, as bad luck overlapped, there was no choice.”

“Even if she is your older sister, the age difference between you and her would not have been large, yet was she to the extent of participating in the merchant group operation?”

Jeong-ah moistened her throat with a sip of alcohol and replied.

“My sister is truly a great person. Since she was young, she was as good as the pride of the family, and she is still my pride.”

She said that her sister, like Jeong-ah, was sold to some family, but she demonstrated her skill and quickly bought herself back.

“Currently, she is an information merchant in Luoyang. It seems she has settled down now and is making a name for herself.”

From Jeong-ah’s appearance as she talked about her sister, it could be fully felt how proud she was of her sister.

“…And according to the letter my sister sent not long ago, she said she found the culprit of the bad luck that befell our family.”

Her face turned dark.

“That culprit was none other than the very person who made us use the Yama Debt.”

Strength entered her hand holding the cup.

“I still cannot forget him. That fellow ‘Geum-jil’ who had that grease-dripping face and fat body, and ruined our family…”

Yeon So-hyeon’s eyebrows shot up.

“Geum-jil, you say?”

Jeong-ah looked at Yeon So-hyeon with curious eyes.

“Yes, it was definitely that name. It does not seem to be his real name, but I remember everyone called him that. Is it a name you know, master?”

Instead of replying, Yeon So-hyeon turned his head and looked far away.

“Geum-jil…”

The memory of last night surfaced in his head.

* * *

“Great man! Thank you! Thank you!”

“Stop the greetings, and guide the direction properly.”

“H-Here it is, this way!”

The middle-aged man managed to guide Yeon So-hyeon despite limping and having an extremely uncomfortable body.

It was none other than the very middle-aged man who was being beaten by the men Yeon So-hyeon had eaten.

“If you save my family, I will not forget that grace even after death! I will repay the grace even across generations!”

He repeatedly offered thanks to Yeon So-hyeon, then clung to him, asking to help his family.

“I know it is a shameless request, but please!”

“…I understand, so just guide me.”

He tripped several times, but every time Yeon So-hyeon tried to help, he refused, stood up, and continued to guide.

“Look, it is over there!”

Soon, his shop and house came into view.

His shop, illuminated by the dim moonlight, was a mess.

“Oh dear, honey! Honey!”

The middle-aged man was startled by the sight and rushed into the inner yard.

“Husband?! What is this state?!”

“Father!”

The vivid sounds of a warm family reunion were heard from the inner yard.

As Yeon So-hyeon took steps inside, sighing slightly, something was stepped on and crushed under his foot.

“…A mask?”

The things rolling around the messy shop were all masks.

There was a mask used in weddings, and a mask hung up wishing for blessings for the house.

‘He was a mask craftsman.’

As Yeon So-hyeon stepped into the inner yard, the sight of the family hugging each other and crying came into view.

“Great man…!”

As he made his appearance, the mask craftsman prostrated at his feet and bowed deeply.

However, as if misunderstanding something from that appearance, his wife knelt in front of Yeon So-hyeon and began to beg.

“Oh dear, sir! We will pay the interest soon, so please forgive this man just once! Must his limbs not be intact for him to pay the debt?”

Then, she wailed on the spot.

“No…”

Before Yeon So-hyeon could say anything, his children also ran out, grabbed his pants, and clung to him.

“Please save our father! We did wrong! Please forgive him just once!”

Then, they even rolled around on the floor.

“No, people! This sir is not ‘that kind of sir’! He is the one who saved my life!”

Apparently, the mask craftsman had usually called the debt collectors ‘great men’.

As the mask craftsman hastily controlled his family, the wife and children stood up with embarrassed looks, and now they began to bow deeply before Yeon So-hyeon could say anything.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Thank you!”

At that chaotic yet orderly sight, Yeon So-hyeon ended up letting out a chuckle.

* * *

“It is humble, but please sit here for a moment.”

The mask craftsman, who guided Yeon So-hyeon to the inner room, settled him in the warmest spot, then stirred the hearth to revive the flames.

And while his wife brought hot water, he searched deep inside the wardrobe and brought out a small jar he had hidden.

“It is tea leaves. They are merely cheap ones, so I worry they will only ruin the sir’s palate…”

“It is fine. Put it away.”

It was because tea leaves were an immensely expensive item, not the grain tea commonly drunk.

Although the mask craftsman said they were cheap, any tea leaves were equally expensive enough to make one’s mouth gape.

“How could I do that.”

Before Yeon So-hyeon could stop him, he poured out all the tea stored in the jar into Yeon So-hyeon’s cup and poured hot water.

Subsequently, the children entered carrying a wooden bowl filled with snacks.

The children placed the bowl on Yeon So-hyeon’s table as politely as possible, then withdrew and sat kneeling on the floor.

Then, the mask craftsman and his wife also sat kneeling in front of the children.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Thank you!”

Yeon So-hyeon shook his head as if he could not help it, and raised the teacup in an elegant manner.

“…It is good tea.”

At his praise, the children, who looked to be six or seven years old, rejoiced and smiled brightly.

“Great man, how can we repay this grace as deep as the sea…”

Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand to stop the mask craftsman’s words.

“Enough. It is not something I did expecting something.”

“But sir…!”

“More than that.”

Yeon So-hyeon set down the teacup.

“Who was it that persecuted you and caused a ruckus here?”

The mask craftsman bowed his head and replied.

“…I understand those guys to be people who have a contract with the Black Bone Gang.”

“The Black Bone Gang?”

The mask craftsman began to tell what he knew.

“Yes, that is right. The Black Bone Gang is a terrible underworld crowd headed by ‘Geum-ju’, who is known as the daughter of the one called Geum-jil.”

Geum-jil, and Geum-ju, who was said to be his daughter.

“The Black Bone Gang is a group that moves on behalf of the one called Geum-jil, and they are a massive group that does not fail to get involved in any place where there is a smell of money, from private lending to gambling dens.”

“What was the reason you went to the gambling den?”

The mask craftsman pressed his forehead to the floor and replied.

“That is their method!”

“Method?”

The mask craftsman spoke as if venting the resentment he had accumulated.

“Yes, that is right! Since interest rates on private loans are strictly limited by law, it is a method of forcing those who use the private loans to participate in gambling to increase their debt!”

“Ha…”

At those words, Yeon So-hyeon gave a bitter smile.

Luoyang’s interest limit was a past achievement that his father had achieved through consultation with the government office.

And the person who first investigated, researched, and formulated the law in detail was none other than the young Yeon So-hyeon himself.