We’re Screwed Now

Seeing the mood turn vicious in an instant, the young gentleman’s brow furrowed.

“I have yet to properly receive office. It does me no good to be tangled in needless rumors. I trust you understand, my lord.”

At the young gentleman’s words, Bang Ho-gwak burst into laughter.

“As expected of a man of study, you don’t know this side well. There are only two. Besides, our merchant guild runs this scene, so no harm will reach Scholar-official Yeom. What are you doing! Escort the scholar-official!”

At Bang Ho-gwak’s bellow, the women came up and took his arm.

“Please, this way.”

But the young gentleman’s expression did not ease.

Instead, he pushed the women away and let out a deep sigh.

“We’re screwed now.”

“Mm? What did you say?”

“I said we’re screwed now, you fool. You lot won’t finish those two anytime soon.”

“What?”

At the suddenly changed manner of speech, Bang Ho-gwak looked bewildered.

It wasn’t just the speech that changed; his once-lofty poise had turned cocky and rough.

Soon Bang Ho-gwak’s eyes filled with anger.

“…You cur! You’re no scholar-official!”

“Please. You think someone smart enough to be a scholar-official would fall for that sweet talk of yours?”

The young gentleman looked at him as if he were absurd.

At that, the guards beside Bang Ho-gwak moved first.

A guard swung his sword.

But it had to stop before the young gentleman’s throat.

A fan had caught the blade. Kkirik, kkirik. He pressed harder, yet the fan didn’t budge. Looking closely, iron was set into the fan’s spine.

The guard and Bang Ho-gwak were startled.

Then the young gentleman moved.

Peok, peok!

He swung the folded fan, and the guards dropped to the ground.

It happened in a flash, like lightning.

The fallen men’s heads swelled an angry red.

“W-what…”

The young gentleman curled his lip at the flustered Bang Ho-gwak.

“You thought I came here without any tricks up my sleeve? You should’ve just let me go when I offered.”

Then he grabbed the collar of Bang Ho-gwak, who tried to bolt.

The startled women fled, but he didn’t bother to stop them.

“You’re my hostage until the brawling’s done. I can’t stand getting my clothes dirty.”

As if to prove it, the young gentleman brushed dust from his clothes.

The nearby guards couldn’t easily rush in with Bang Ho-gwak seized.

If any tried to creep closer, he sensed it like a ghost and set the fan to Bang Ho-gwak’s nape.

He smiled gently at the stiff-frozen Bang Ho-gwak.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”

Just as Bang Ho-gwak had said.

But the meaning was different. The young gentleman turned his gaze to where the fight raged.

“Mm. He didn’t seem that good last time.”

With a curious look, the young gentleman watched the fighters.

Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang also noticed the young gentleman’s betrayal.

Wielding his blade, Moon Ryang glanced at Gyo-ha.

“Do you know him?”

“…Sorta, I guess.”

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek. Should he say he knew him?

At Gyo-ha’s reaction, Moon Ryang nodded.

With that, his blade sped up.

He had been wary of the young gentleman all along. The most dangerous person here wasn’t one of Bang Ho-gwak’s guards.

It was the young gentleman himself.

He didn’t know the circumstances, but once he confirmed the young gentleman had no intent to attack, there was no need to hesitate.

Focusing on the fight, they cleared the area in no time.

When all was done and the young gentleman let go, Bang Ho-gwak collapsed onto his rear.

Leaving the dazed Bang Ho-gwak, the young gentleman waved cheerily.

“Young hero, long time no see. You’ve grown even more dashing.”

To a stranger, it would have looked like old friends reunited.

Moon Ryang looked to Gyo-ha, the question “who is he?” in his eyes.

“A swindler.”

“A swindler? That’s rather hurtful to hear.”

“Then are you not?”

When Gyo-ha asked crookedly, the young gentleman only smiled in reply.

It was a smile beautiful enough to daze a woman, but it meant nothing to the two.

At the word “swindler,” Moon Ryang quietly set his hand on his blade’s hilt.

“H-hey, hold on. I only scam bad people.”

Moon Ryang knit his brows.

But Gyo-ha looked at the young gentleman as if to say, what nonsense.

Hadn’t he saddled them with the tavern bill?

Reading Gyo-ha’s expression, the young gentleman spoke nonchalantly.

“That was a finder’s fee. The food was good, wasn’t it?”

Unthinking, Gyo-ha nodded. It had been tasty.

The young gentleman smiled as if to say “see?”

“Besides, if not for me, others would’ve latched onto you long ago.”

Gyo-ha blinked, but Moon Ryang studied his face a moment and nodded.

Only Gyo-ha didn’t understand, merely tilting his head.

“Anyway, you did trick me.”

At Gyo-ha’s retort, the young gentleman snorted.

Then he straightened his clothes and spoke with a serious face.

“There are two ways to swindle. One is to pick a target and approach with meticulous care. That’s what a pro like me does.”

At his words, Gyo-ha recalled.

The young gentleman had run off with the widow’s money in Mudo.

He’d stayed in Mudo so long that nobody suspected him.

“The other way is to scatter bait and wait for someone to bite. Like Grand Lord Jiang¹. That’s what caught you. I didn’t particularly aim to trick you. You just bit.”

The young gentleman said it proudly.

Gyo-ha mulled it over and tilted his head.

‘In the end, he did cheat me.’

The fact didn’t change.

When Gyo-ha clenched his fist, the startled young gentleman waved his hand.

“W-wait. Now isn’t the time to fight me. I’ll apologize for back then and return the money.”

At his words, Gyo-ha raised his fist, then lowered it.

“You don’t have to return the money. Instead, fight me once this is over.”

It would have gone to sparring fees anyway.

The fighting spirit that didn’t stir for the guards responded to the young gentleman.

‘Strong.’

When Gyo-ha smacked his lips looking at him, the young gentleman’s face went thin.

“…Can’t I just pay you? With interest.”

Gyo-ha didn’t answer and turned his head.

There lay Bang Ho-gwak, his eyes rolling.

When his eyes met Gyo-ha’s, Bang Ho-gwak hurriedly spoke.

“Y-you think you’ll get away with this? The Justice Gate won’t leave you be.”

Despite the content, his voice held no strength.

He wasn’t without sense—he’d survived long as a merchant.

Sure enough, Gyo-ha snorted.

“If you cover for thieves, doesn’t that make you thieves too? More importantly, where’s my stuff?”

“…I don’t know.”

There was no need for Gyo-ha to ask again.

Before they knew it, Moon Ryang’s blade was at Bang Ho-gwak’s neck.

Startled by the flashing edge, Bang Ho-gwak spoke up.

“It’s true. I haven’t even seen it today! It should be at the Justice Gate with my elder brother.”

At his words, Moon Ryang looked to the young gentleman.

He sought to confirm it wasn’t a ploy to crash them into the Justice Gate.

“He’s probably not lying. I heard something like that earlier.”

At the young gentleman’s words, Moon Ryang looked at Gyo-ha.

The question was, what now? Gyo-ha swung his fist.

Peok!

Bang Ho-gwak dropped where the fist hit.

“We go find it.”

As Gyo-ha rose to his feet, the young gentleman, after checking the fallen Bang Ho-gwak, spoke.

“Hey, is knocking him out enough? It’ll be a hassle.”

“I don’t care.”

It seemed he hadn’t even known Gyo-ha’s belongings were stolen.

He had hindered Gyo-ha, but that wasn’t enough to kill over. If he came seeking revenge later, that wasn’t bad either.

He could take care of it then.

“Yeah? Then do your best. Nice meeting you.”

The young gentleman patted Gyo-ha’s shoulder and turned to leave.

Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang stared at him.

“What is it?”

“…”

“What?”

“…”

“Dammit. Fine. Let’s go, let’s go.”

With that, the young gentleman strode out front.

The two had only been deciding what to do about him, but he seemed to take it another way.

The young gentleman already owed Gyo-ha a debt.

And the fact that he was a swindler still remained.

They had been weighing whether to let him go as is.

“What are you doing? Weren’t we going? Not coming?”

At his words, Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang looked at each other.

The young gentleman’s name was Jong Dae-woon.

He was neither Seo Chil nor was he of the Yeom clan. No, it wasn’t even certain if Jong Dae-woon was his real name.

“You’re not seriously going to fight the Justice Gate with just the two of you, right? Don’t think of the Yeo-un Merchant Guild being the same as them. That’s a real sect.”

They weren’t riffraff.

They were one of the two powers ruling the city of Lanzhou.

At his continued explanation, Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang looked strangely at Jong Dae-woon.

He knew that, and still tried to swindle the Yeo-un Merchant Guild?

And it didn’t seem he was ignorant of the ties between Yeo-un and the Justice Gate.

Under their gaze, Jong Dae-woon spoke.

“Who gets fooled more easily? The smart, or the stupid?”

Isn’t the answer obvious?

At their faces, Jong Dae-woon chuckled.

“The answer is the smart one. The stupid know they’re stupid, so they don’t trust their own judgment. The smart know they’re smart, so they think they can’t be fooled.”

“Oh.”

At the plausible line, Gyo-ha blinked.

Spurred by Gyo-ha’s reaction, Jong Dae-woon went on.

“It’s the same with the Yeo-un Merchant Guild. ‘Who would be crazy enough to dupe us at a time like this?’ Precisely because they think that now, they’re easy to fool.”

Even Moon Ryang showed surprise.

“And if others find you suspicious?”

There were more than a few coming to the Yeo-un Merchant Guild at this time.

Some among them might find Jong Dae-woon suspicious.

Jong Dae-woon looked at Moon Ryang as if to say, what was he talking about.

“Who would share a gold mine? Everyone hoards it. Even if they can’t sell now, of course they hide it. All the more when they might soon become Lanzhou’s top Merchant Guild with the Justice Gate’s help…”

Then he’d have the means to sell the gold mine.

It wouldn’t be too late to verify then.

Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang were impressed. He was a swindler, but meticulous.

“Not that it matters now. It’s all ruined now because of you two.”

They looked at Jong Dae-woon as if to say “what now?” and he clicked his tongue.

“Because you two made a scene, the Justice Gate had to step in. That means I get dragged into an inquiry too.”

His identity being exposed was only a matter of time anyway.

So he could betray them at once.

Talking like that, they arrived at the Justice Gate.

It wasn’t that they recognized the Justice Gate.

It was because men in training robes waited for the three below the wall.

Word must already have reached them.

Jong Dae-woon flinched to a stop, but Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang walked toward them without hesitation.

Couldn’t he just run here?

But he hesitated. It wasn’t because he was afraid of Gyo-ha and Moon Ryang. If he wanted to flee, he easily could.

For some reason, it weighed on him.

After a moment’s wavering, Jong Dae-woon sighed.

“I hate getting dirt on my clothes.”

Muttering that, he followed after the two.