Chapter 19

Jun-gyeong headed straight for the black van.

Had this been Hell, he would have started by cutting them down.
But this was the mortal world. This was Seoul.

Jun-gyeong tapped on the window.
To his surprise, the man immediately stepped out of the vehicle.
His demeanor was nothing like the watchful gaze Jun-gyeong had sensed.
The other man in the driver’s seat also got out and approached him.
Then both men immediately bowed.

“Good day.”

Instead of answering, Jun-gyeong furrowed his brow.

“We’re Team Five from Samo Group’s Secretary’s Office. The CEO asked us to remain here and make sure you weren’t inconvenienced in any way.”
“…Samo.”
“Yes. If our presence bothers you, shall we move the vehicle?”

Jun-gyeong looked at them and shook his head.
They must have had their own difficulties.
He didn’t know how often they rotated shifts, but he had sensed something continuously for the past week.
And all day today as well.
Granted, he had only recently realized that sensation was someone’s gaze, but the fact that it had persisted meant they had spent the past week waiting around in this empty place, keeping watch over him.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll call him.”
“Ah! We’ve already contacted the CEO. He said he’s coming over.”

Jun-gyeong tilted his head slightly.
‘Report to the CEO? Why?’
That was the question written across his face.

“The CEO specifically asked us to contact him. My apologies. We acted on our own without asking your permission.”

For whatever reason, CEO Yang Seung-ho wanted to meet with him.

“Then…”
“Yes. We contacted him when you came down, so he should be almost here… Ah! There he is.”

Just as he said, a black sedan was making its way up the hill.
A large body bearing a three-pointed star.
Jun-gyeong found himself wondering whether he could split it vertically in two.
It would have been impossible before.
But now, if he infused his sword with internal energy, it should be entirely possible.
A small smile appeared on his face.

The car stopped, and Yang Seung-ho and Kim Hyeon-seok stepped out.
Seung-ho extended a hand to Jun-gyeong and bowed his head.

“It’s been a while.”

Jun-gyeong took his hand.

“Yes. It has.”

Chief Secretary Kim Hyeon-seok stood behind his CEO, watching Jun-gyeong with a smile.

“But what brings you here…?”
“Ah! You haven’t been using the card, so I was wondering if something was wrong.”

At Seung-ho’s words, Jun-gyeong pulled the black Three-Legged Crow Card from his pocket.

“This?”
“Yes. That.”
“I was planning to go to the department store and buy some clothes today anyway.”
“Ah! I see. Perfect timing, then. I’ll take you.”
“You? Me?”
“Yes.”

Jun-gyeong gave Seung-ho, who was grinning from ear to ear, a strange look.
‘Why you? To a department store?’
The thought was written plainly across his face.
But Seung-ho merely kept smiling without answering.

“Aren’t you busy?”
“I am. But education is more important.”
“Education? I have money too. I know how to buy clothes.”

Jun-gyeong pulled the bundle of fifty-thousand-won bills Ok-hee had given him from his pocket.

“Haah~ See? I told you he wouldn’t know.”

When Seung-ho glanced back as he spoke, Kim Hyeon-seok nodded.

“Looks like you really didn’t.”
“This won’t do. We need to teach you properly today. Please, get in.”

Following their lead, Jun-gyeong climbed into the sedan.

Vrooom-

Having been dragged to the department store almost before he knew what was happening, Jun-gyeong found himself experiencing an entirely new world.
It was a style of shopping completely absent from his knowledge.
First, he got out of the car at a separate entrance on one side of the department store, where a crowd of staff rushed out to receive him, ushering him straight inside and into an elevator bound for the top floor.
He was then shown into a spacious lounge overlooking Seoul through the windows.
Soon, staff began coming and going, filling the table with coffee, juice, all manner of drinks, and finger foods.

“Please sit down and have something first. You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”

Jun-gyeong nodded.

“We’ll have lunch together in a little while. For now, just have enough to take the edge off your hunger.”
“All right.”

When Jun-gyeong answered Seung-ho so casually, everyone in the room except the chief secretary widened their eyes.
Who would dare speak down to CEO Yang Seung-ho, the crown prince of the mighty Samo Group?
In all of Korea, only the elders of the Yang family did so.
And even among them, aside from his father, the chairman, and his eldest brother, the vice chairman, no one spoke to him casually.
Yet Jun-gyeong’s casual manner came so naturally, and the sheer presence radiating from him was so formidable, that somehow it didn’t seem out of place.
That didn’t make it any less shocking.

Seeing this, the department store’s VIP Protocol Director hurried outside and began making calls.

“Top-tier VVIP. Don’t prepare anything halfheartedly.”

Before long, managers from luxury brands entered the lounge in white gloves, pushing clothing racks before them.
Before Jun-gyeong stood the managers of Italian high-end Brands L, B, and G, along with managers from French formalwear houses, all lined up in a row.
Behind them came rack after rack of new pieces that had arrived by plane that very morning, along with jewelry cases.

“Why don’t you try some on first?”
“Here?”
“Yes. The fitting room is over there.”

Jun-gyeong was bewildered.
The shopping he knew involved walking through stores, looking at clothes, and buying them. He had never imagined the stores themselves coming to him.
He took a shirt into the fitting room and changed.
When he emerged after shedding his straining T-shirt for a soft shirt that seemed to flow over his body, the luxury-brand managers’ eyes lit up.

“Oh my! That’s a perfect fit. I’ve never seen ready-to-wear look this good on anyone.”
“Exactly. How can someone have a body like this? Our brand is cut for Italian proportions, so it usually doesn’t fit Koreans very well. My goodness. Would you try this one too?”

The managers crowded around, holding clothes against him and helping him directly.
Jun-gyeong was still flustered, but he could sense their genuine enthusiasm and did not push them away.
He obediently changed clothes before them like a doll being dressed.
Every time he changed, fresh exclamations and praise erupted.

“Oh my! Oh my! Look at you. Perfect! Absolutely perfect.”
“How does it feel?”
“Comfortable. I like it.”

The moment Jun-gyeong said he liked it, Seung-ho nodded and addressed the manager of that brand.

“Prepare that in every color.”
“Yes, sir.”

Price was irrelevant.
If something fit Jun-gyeong and he liked it, the entire line began being prepared for him in every available color.
And his shopping didn’t end there.
Once several shirts and pairs of trousers had been selected, the managers withdrew, and a man with a measuring tape around his neck entered with several apparent assistants following behind him.

The man approached Jun-gyeong, who had already chosen his shirts and trousers, and bowed with impeccable courtesy without the slightest trace of servility.

“I’ll take your measurements. Would you spread your arms, please?”
“Hm. All right.”

Jun-gyeong obediently did as the man asked.

“He’s the finest tailor in the world. An Italian master who settled in Korea to make clothes for elves. It wasn’t easy getting him here.”

At Seung-ho’s introduction, the man shrugged.

“I don’t know about the best in the world, but I am rather good at making clothes.”

Jun-gyeong gave the tailor a slight nod.
Shoulders, chest, thighs, calves, forearms, neck, even the dimensions of his hands and feet.
As he took each measurement, the white-haired tailor spoke in admiration.

“I’ve never seen proportions this perfect. Not even elves are this perfectly proportioned.”

The tailor continued marveling as he measured Jun-gyeong, while one of his assistants recorded each number he called out.

“In the past, armor was battle attire. In the modern age, suits and coats are battle attire. Which makes the material every bit as important.”

Seung-ho found himself agreeing and nodded.
The quality of armor depended on the leather used and on the blacksmith who hammered the steel.
In that sense, Jun-gyeong agreed completely.

“For your bespoke pieces, I’ll be using vicuña, made from the fleece of a wild animal native to the Andes. It produces the lightest and warmest clothing in the world. Of course, we’ll also prepare fittings in cashmere and Supima cotton. They will be the finest battle attire. I stake my life’s work on it.”

After measuring every part of Jun-gyeong’s body, the white-haired gentleman bowed and withdrew.
Once the tailor and his assistants were gone, the Protocol Director approached and bowed.

“Mr. Jun-gyeong, you can give her the card.”

At Seung-ho’s words, Jun-gyeong took the Three-Legged Crow Card from his pocket.

“This?”
“Yes. That.”

The moment Jun-gyeong handed over the Three-Legged Crow Card, awe entered the Protocol Director’s eyes.
It was a card no chaebol, National Assembly member, or even President of the United States could possess.
A top-tier VVIP card issued only to the immediate family of Samo Group.
She accepted it with trembling hands and left the lounge.

Once everyone withdrew, only Seung-ho, Hyeon-seok, and Jun-gyeong, now dressed in perfectly fitted trousers and a shirt, remained.
Jun-gyeong sat on the sofa and spoke quietly.

“It felt less like choosing clothes and more like inspecting the armor that would protect my body before going to war.”
“So that means you didn’t dislike it?”

Jun-gyeong gave a faint chuckle at Seung-ho’s question and nodded.

“Yes. Far too extravagant and excessively soft, but not unpleasant.”
“Khh! That’s the pleasure of spending money!”

Before long, the Protocol Director returned with the card.
She had carried it away in her hand, but brought it back resting on a small gold tray.
There was no receipt.
The card was used for payment, but receipts were not given to its holder.
The shopping habits of Samo Group’s VVIPs were themselves corporate secrets, so every receipt was immediately collected by the Secretary’s Office.
That was why none were issued personally.

“All right! Now let’s go eat.”
“Hm? That’s it? What about the money?”
“It’s already been paid with the card. That card functions as money too.”

Jun-gyeong examined the black card again, nodded, and rose from his seat.

“I see. So this is a credit card. Then allow me to buy lunch.”

Seung-ho smiled and shook his head.

“No. Leave today to me. I’ll make sure you learn exactly how that card is meant to be used.”

Their next destination was the Samo Hotel on the outskirts of Seoul.
On the second floor was the fine-dining restaurant Three-Legged Crow.
It was the only restaurant in the world to earn three Michelin stars for a course menu based on Korean cuisine.

Even on weekdays it was fully booked, with a waiting list over six months long. Securing a reservation was like plucking a star from the sky.
Yet the mere presentation of the Three-Legged Crow Card made a private room and seats appear where none had supposedly been available.

That was the function of the Three-Legged Crow Card.
It made what didn’t exist appear, and made things come to its holder rather than forcing its holder to seek them out.
To a VVIP, time was more precious than gold.
The Three-Legged Crow Card existed to save that time. That was its most important function.

When they were shown into the VVIP room, floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides overlooked the garden.
Pine trees that looked over a century old and the elegant tiled roofs of traditional hanok stood at Jun-gyeong’s eye level.

“That hanok over there is the guesthouse. From the twenty-third floor, its roof looks like a toy. But from here, you can fully appreciate its dignity.”
“I see. True power isn’t about climbing so high that you can look down on everyone else. It’s about keeping the most beautiful things before your eyes and admiring them as though they belonged to your own garden.”
“Kya~! As expected! You understood at once why this restaurant is on the second floor.”

Seung-ho nodded and gave him two enthusiastic thumbs-up.
He had dined here with foreign buyers, famous politicians from Korea and abroad, and leading figures of the business world, yet no one had understood why the restaurant occupied the second floor rather than the top.
They had merely admired the beauty. Jun-gyeong was the first to connect it with power.

“Good. High in the sky may be glamorous, but the wind is always blowing, and everything feels unstable. This height is the last place the earth’s energy still reaches. Words exchanged here would never scatter lightly.”

Jun-gyeong turned his gaze toward Seung-ho.

“This would be the place for truly important and confidential discussions. Very carefully calculated.”
“As expected, you noticed. That’s right. Which is why most negotiations held here end in signed contracts.”

Soon, elaborate dishes began arriving on beautiful, elegant plates.
To Jun-gyeong, the aromas were familiar yet subtly different, and the flavors were exquisite.
It was meant to be lunch, but the shopping had run long, so they arrived rather late.
It was naturally a time when the kitchen and staff should have been resting between services, yet everyone did their utmost to serve Jun-gyeong and his party.
Finally, the chef personally brought out dessert, greeted them, and brought the three-hour meal to a close.

Seung-ho asked with a bright smile.

“How was the meal?”
“Excellent. Everything was delicious. And the sunset is beautiful here.”

Just as he said, a magnificent sunset spread along the Han River beyond the windows.
More than anything else, it was this view that elevated the restaurant’s elegance.
Close enough to the ground to embrace the garden, yet built upon land high enough to overlook the Han River flowing below.
It possessed both the grandeur of a top floor and the intimacy of the second.

At Jun-gyeong’s words, Seung-ho gazed outside for a moment, a smile appearing on his lips.
Jun-gyeong smiled as well, looking between Seung-ho and the view outside.

“Thank you for today. It was quite an experience.”

The smile already filling Seung-ho’s face deepened.
It was brimming with mischief.

“We’re not finished yet.”
“Hm? There’s more?”
“Yes. We still have the highlight.”

Still wearing that mischievous smile, Seung-ho continued in a calmer voice.

“There’s an auction being held where the richest people in the world gather.”
“An auction?”
“Yes. The finest works of art and antiques, along with top-tier contemporary pieces. It’s the world’s premier private auction.”

He pulled out his own Three-Legged Crow Card and nodded.

“This card also serves as an invitation to the auction. If you hadn’t come down today, I was planning to contact you and visit you myself because of it.”
“An auction…”

Jun-gyeong’s reaction was somewhat lukewarm.
He had little interest in art, and he doubted there would be anything there worth acquiring.
But after hearing what Seung-ho said next, Jun-gyeong’s eyes began to gleam.

“The highlight of this auction is supposed to be a Goryeo-era artifact excavated in Kaesong. They haven’t disclosed exactly what the item is, but a lot of people are after it. Nothing like this has ever appeared on the market before.”
“Goryeo?”
“Yes. Since the artifacts come from North Korean territory, people expect things even Koreans themselves have never seen before.”
“…That does sound interesting.”

The palace in Kaesong surfaced vividly in his mind.
He had burned it down, of course, but the dynasty must have continued afterward.
He had killed the king, then taken his own life.
But the king’s child had survived.
A royal line that hadn’t been extinguished would have continued.
And now an artifact excavated from that place was appearing.
That stirred Jun-gyeong’s curiosity.

“Then perhaps…”

There was no telling.
Perhaps his Mukhwa was still blooming somewhere.
Of course, it was only a faint hope, something almost dreamlike.
But Jun-gyeong didn’t give voice to that hope.
He merely looked at Seung-ho with shining eyes.