Chapter 85
A few days later, the Moran Caravan Agency finally left our Mountain Stronghold.
They hadn’t succeeded in their escort mission to Qinghai, but they had signed a new investment contract with us instead and returned with rather bright expressions.
They said they would contact us as soon as they settled back in Guangxi Province and regained their former reputation, so it would probably take some time.
After the Moran Caravan Agency guys returned, my daily routine continued as monotonously as before.
I would wake up in the morning, follow the Imugi around to care for it until the afternoon, and if I had time left over, I’d oversee the Subordinates' Martial Arts Training a bit before going back to sleep.
I think I repeated that for about a month.
Quite a lot changed in that one month.
First of all, the Imugi went from hating humans to becoming rather human-friendly, to the point where it could run its business alone without me.
Its name was also decided through the contest drawing.
“From now on, you are Yongyong.”
“I will never accept this! Who came up with such a name!”
It seemed someone had come up with it while wishing for the Imugi to become a dragon…, but it definitely felt like a brat had named it.
However, I liked the disgusted look on its face, so we decided to call the fellow Yongyong from then on.
The Haomun Leader must have also thought it was shameless to continue staying at the Mountain Stronghold, so she finally descended the mountain.
That didn’t mean she went far; she said she would stay at the Haomun Branch in Hunan Province to ensure smooth communication.
She even said she would build the Haomun Headquarters in Hunan Province.
“Wait, you didn’t have a Headquarters originally?”
“Haomun was originally a decentralized network, so there was nothing you could call a central hub. Since the other executives and I happen to feel the need for one, we might as well build it in Hunan Province.”
I wondered if it was really okay to build such an important place as a Headquarters in the backwaters of Hunan Province, but well…, it wasn’t something I needed to care much about, so I just nodded.
Anyway, our winter was passing by just like that.
The Mountain Path gained even more word of mouth, increasing the number of users, and the Imugi became the trademark of our Green Forest, to the point where merchandise was being produced.
The establishment of the Haomun Headquarters seemed to be progressing well, and positive news continuously arrived from the Moran Caravan Agency.
Money poured into the Green Forest Vault (my Vault) like rain.
“Wow…, how much is all this…”
…So much money had gathered that I was bewildered.
I had originally hoped to become rich, but how should I put this…, it felt like I had wanted to become the boss of a few cell phone stores, but ended up becoming the chairman of Samsung.
[…Was this year just a lucky year?]
Come to think of it, from robbing the Shanxi Yu Family this year up until now, it had been a time of Great Fortune.
Money rolled in with every step I took, I became a Leader commanding numerous Subordinates, and in the end, even an Imugi flew into my embrace.
Even though I hadn’t intended for this situation at all.
“I guess there really was something about this year.”
I just thought of it simply like that. That I had some great luck this year,
That it was the kind of year where rice cakes would fall into my lap even if I just lay still.
I wrapped up the year thinking just that.
And…, that where there is Great Fortune, there is also great misfortune.
That if this year was good, next year might be bad.
That in the end, life’s fortune is unpredictable.
I was able to realize this immediately after crossing into the next year and the first sun dawned.
* * *
“Huh? What did you say?”
I was rolling around in my room on the first day of the new year when the Youngest suddenly came in.
And then…
“Elder brother, please do my work for me.”
…He boldly asked me to do his work.
For reference, the Youngest’s arm still hadn’t fully healed. He could move it a little, but not enough to carry on with daily life, or so he said.
Still, he had recently returned to his daily duties using only one arm…
“Why, does your arm hurt?”
“Yes, it feels a bit achy, so I’m going to visit the Physician down the mountain. So please do my work for me, elder brother.”
“…”
On the first day of the new year, the Youngest dumped his shift on me…
The Youngest really has a peculiar side to him. I mean, if he’s sick and can’t work, he should just ask the guys below him. Why come to me, the top Leader, and do this?
Normally, I would have told him to plant his head on the ground or beat the crap out of him under the guise of Sparring.
However…
“Sure, whatever.”
…Being no different from a veteran soldier nearing discharge in our Green Forest, I was already incredibly bored with nothing to do all day.
The Imugi said it didn’t need me anymore…, and the Subordinates were doing their individual Training…
Sick of just rolling around, I decided to just do the Youngest’s work for him.
“Alright, what were you originally supposed to do today?”
“I was just supposed to help the attendants at the Pavilion.”
“Got it. I’ll go instead, so hurry up and go to the Physician.”
“Yes! Thank you, elder brother,”
With that, the Youngest bowed to me and brightly headed outside.
I watched him go, and then…
“The Pavilion, huh…”
…After stretching for a moment, I headed to the Pavilion the Youngest was supposed to be in charge of.
* * *
“L-Leader! Welcome!”
“Welcome! General Stronghold Master!”
“Uh, yeah.”
When I went to the Pavilion the Youngest was supposed to manage, the Bandit Subordinates and the attendants dispatched from Haomun greeted me while sweating profusely.
“W-What brings you here…”
“I’m going to do some work here today.”
“…Pardon?”
To them, it probably felt like Jae-Yong hyung showing up at a cell phone store offering to sell phones for them.
The guys were flustered, but I didn’t really care.
Right now, I held the unfitting title of Green Forest General Stronghold Master, but I was originally someone who started from doing odd jobs.
Before the Mountain Path was established, I had actually run around the Pavilion playing the role of an Attendant for a bit.
“Don’t mind me and just do your work.”
“…Ah, yes sir.”
They hesitated at first, but when I put on an indifferent expression, they focused back on their duties.
I also followed their lead and started working.
“Yes, please sit here.”
The work I did was no different from what any other Attendant did.
Guiding customers to their seats when they arrived, bringing them food when it came out, and handling the payments.
“Oh, isn’t that the General Stronghold Master?”
“Why is he working directly…”
Among the Merchants who came as customers, there were some who recognized me and some who didn’t.
I didn’t pay attention to that and just worked hard.
The place I was at right now was the Central Pavilion, famous for having the most customers among our mountain paths, so if I didn’t stay alert, I would be swept away by the crowd.
Because of that, even though my body quickly grew tired…
[I feel rather proud.]
…Thinking that I was doing productive work for the first time in a while, there was a rewarding aspect to it.
“General Stronghold Master! Give us some Wild Boar Meat and two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green liquor here!”
“Yes, Wild Boar Meat and two bottles of Bamboo Leaf Green liquor coming right up.”
While I was frantically taking customers and working hard like that…
“…Over here.”
“Yes, I’ll be right…”
…I flinched for a moment upon seeing someone raise their hand.
[Ah, damn it, I told them not to accept single customers.]
The customer who had just raised his hand and called me was sitting alone at a table. I had told them not to accept single customers since we already had so many people.
Still, I couldn’t exactly kick out a customer who was already seated, so I endured it and approached him.
He was an ordinary young male customer who didn’t give off any special feeling.
“Yes, I’m here. What can I get you?”
“…I would like to have a word with the owner of this place.”
“…Pardon?”
…Cancel the 'ordinary' part.
What is this?
Is this one of those “Bring out the manager!” type of things?
I first scanned the table where the man was sitting with my eyes. There didn’t seem to be any grounds for a complaint.
[Is he a troublemaker?]
If he was a troublemaker, I planned to just smash his jaw right away.
Still, he might just be a regular customer, so I calmly asked the man for now.
“Why the owner?”
“…I have something I must discuss with the owner of this place. Therefore - “
“I’m the boss, so what.”
But why is this bastard speaking so informally?
I was just going to listen quietly, but since the bastard was spouting informal speech to someone he was meeting for the first time, I ended up losing my temper.
Tap-.
I placed my hand right on the man’s shoulder and was about to forcefully continue speaking…
“I said I’m the boss, you bastard. Who do you think you are, some young punk spouting informal speech and looking for the bo -, hmm?”
…I felt something strange and couldn’t finish my sentence.
Tap, tap.
This person has an incredibly skinny frame and doesn’t even seem to have learned internal energy, yet his body is solid.
As if it were made of steel.
“…”
“Ah, are you the General Stronghold Master of the Green Forest?”
Come to think of it, there was something incongruous about his tone. His outward appearance was clearly that of a young man, but the way he actually spoke reeked of an old geezer…
And at his following words, I almost lost my mind for a moment.
“I have come from the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
“…”
…I knew I would face them someday. But I didn’t expect them to come so openly like this.
“Huu…”
As I sighed and sat in the seat across from him, the guy spoke as if there was no need to drag things out any further.
“I would like to discuss the item belonging to Our Cult that you took.”
If it was an item of the Heavenly Demon Cult, he was obviously talking about Yongyong.
If so…
“Are you the Blood Demon Corpse King?”
“…You know of me?”
…It seemed I was right, as the Blood Demon Corpse King made a flustered expression for the first time.
And that flustered expression…
“…Fascinating.”
…Changed into the gaze of a scholar looking to study me.
“To know my identity means you are well-informed about Our Cult…”
“…”
“Who are you?”
That gaze clearly revealed both wisdom and madness.
From here on out, I had to focus too.
The guy right in front of my eyes was someone who couldn’t be defeated even if hundreds of Dokgoyeongs came at him, and who could easily chew up someone on the level of Somyung-i’s dad…
Because he was one of the elders of the Heavenly Demon Cult who would turn the world into a sea of fire in the future.