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Episode 54: Business Starts (1)

Jin Myeong, who had been walking aimlessly, stopped walking.

“Huh? Where is this?”

“Well.”

There’s no way Shin Ye-hyang would know. She just followed Jin Myeong.

‘It’s like a slum.’

Perhaps because Yueyang is a famous tourist destination, it had a splendid appearance. But the place he was in now was far from such glamour. There were buildings that could collapse at any moment and people with lifeless expressions scattered about.

“The smell is a bit strong.”

“……”

A foul smell assaulted Jin Myeong’s nose, making him grimace. Instead of answering, Shin Ye-hyang frowned her the pretty brow, not even breathing properly. She must be trying to control her breathing and block out the smell as much as possible.

‘It might be better to do it this way.’

Jin Myeong, like Shin Ye-hyang, controlled his breathing to block out the smell. Yet the smell continued to bother his nose.

“I plan to keep going, but what are you going to do, Young Lady?”

“You want to take a look around here?”

“Yes. Just in case.”

“That’s true.”

Jin Myeong and Shin Ye-hyang didn’t come here to play. Rather, they came to find someone to become a new courtesan. And even though it was a slum, there were still women there. Surely, if you give them just a little bit of money, there will be many people who will follow.

“But I don’t think there’s anyone here who has the skills to play an instrument or dance like that.”

“That’s true. If you don’t have talent, your skills won’t improve overnight.”

The problem is that in these slums, there is no way that Jin Myeong would have the skills he wants.

“I may not be able to recognize talent, but that’s not everything.”

‘I want someone who can also entertain others through conversation.’

“The Four Flowers will do well in education.”

“…You’re more irresponsible than I thought.”

“Isn’t it rare for someone of the highest rank to directly take on this kind of role?”

Jin Myeong continued to look around.

‘Could it be because a man and woman dressed in nice clothes suddenly appeared?’

‘I felt lifeless gazes being fixed on us.’

But no one approached them directly, they just watched from afar. It must be because of the sword and dagger that the two people are carrying.

“Hmm. One person first.”

Jin Myeong continued to walk and began to choose candidates. Of course, they didn’t approach him directly. After looking around, he thought he’d ask all at once.

‘It’s a little pitiful.’

It was heartbreaking to see people in such a place, wearing tattered clothes, not eating properly, their skin and bones visibly damaged, and looking dirty and unwashed.

‘If I had not opened his eyes as the Youngest Disciple of the Heavenly Demon, and had been possessed as a person with no talent for martial arts and no family, I wondered if I would have looked like them.

‘It seems like these feelings still remain.’

Jin Myeong thought that the personality changed to fit the situation.

‘I thought my emotions were becoming duller. Should I say diluted?’

But then again, seeing this emotion makes him think that’s not it.

“I guess it’s almost over.”

“How many people have you decided on?”

“I’m thinking about five people.”

“There are more than I thought.”

Even though Shin Ye-hyang looked around diligently, she didn’t think there would be five of them. Rather, in her eyes, there was no one to take.

“Shall we go back?”

It was when Jin Myeong turned around with Shin Ye-hyang.

“Ahh! Please save me! I was wrong!”

A sharp voice reached both their ears.

“……”

“Why is that?”

When Jin Myeong stopped, Shin Ye-hyang also stopped walking.

“Are you trying to help me?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“I never knew that Young Master Jin was such a compassionate person.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

If Shin Ye-hyang was thinking of Jin Myeong, she should have just ignored this scream and turned away. But Jin Myeong headed towards where the scream was coming from.

And where he arrived, he saw a middle-aged man beating a young woman.

“What should we do?”

“Hmm.”

Jin Myeong quietly looked at the woman, who was screaming.

‘It may look a little difficult, but in some ways it may be okay.’

Even in this situation, Jin Myeong was looking at the woman. Jin Myeong, who had been looking at it for a while, nodded as if he had made a decision.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

Jin Myeong intervened and stopped the middle-aged man.

“What are you?”

The middle-aged man’s face was red, so he seemed to be drunk even in broad daylight.

“Oh my. It looks like this guy went somewhere and got screwed.”

The middle-aged man slowly approached Jin Myeong. He looked ready to swing his fist at any moment.

“That’s not it. But didn’t you learn to watch your mouth? If you do that, you’ll lose your head.”

The middle-aged man who was approaching Jin Myeong shivered from the sudden cold. The energy flowing out of Jin Myeong’s body began to weigh on his body.

“Ugh, ugh!”

He couldn’t even breathe properly because of the oppressive aura. The eyes of the middle-aged man looking at Jin Myeong with a pale face were filled with fear.

‘What, a martial artist? Why is a martial artist here?’

Suddenly, he sobered up. Only then did he see the sword hanging from Jin Myeong’s waist.

“What’s going on? Even though you are a martial artist, is it against the law for me to hit my daughter……”

“That’s true. I don’t need to interfere.”

Jin Myeong turned his head and looked at the woman. The woman lying on the floor was looking at Jin Myeong with an anxious expression. A look of resentment, wanting to be saved, but also wondering why he interfered. It may stop for now, but it’s probably because she knows that if Jin Myeong leaves, it will come back even worse.

“What about your mother?”

“Why are you curious about that……”

The middle-aged man quickly shut his mouth at Jin Myeong’s cold gaze.

“Young Master, she is dead.”

“Really? Then I can only do it for you?”

Jin Myeong took out five silver coins from his bosom and threw them in front of the middle-aged man.

“Uh, Young Master?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes shook greatly at the sudden appearance of the silver coins.

“Sell me your daughter.”

“Yes?”

“That should be enough.”

A middle-aged, poor person could live on one nyang of silver for a year. It’s an absurdly cheap price for buying and selling people, but here it’s overflowing. In poor families, it was common to sell children for a silver coin, or perhaps even less.

“Hehe. That would be nice, but……”

With this amount of money, he can drink for a while without worrying about money. He can continue to drink expensive alcohol, not just the cheap alcohol he often used to drink.

“It’s not just because she’s my daughter, but because she’s not ugly… Her mother was so beautiful.”

The eyes of the middle-aged man who picked up the silver that had fallen on the floor were full of greed. It seemed as if his greed for money had overcome his fear, and that his fear of Jin Myeong just a moment ago was a lie.

“Okay?”

Jin Myeong took out five more silver coins from his bosom and threw them at the middle-aged man.

“Eek!”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened as five more appeared. He never thought the young man in front of him would want his foolish daughter this much. Even if he had asked for a little more, it seemed like Jin Myeong would really give him more money.

“If you pick that up, you die.”

A cold voice came into the ear of a middle-aged man who was bending down to pick up money while grinning. When he heard that voice, goosebumps appeared all over his body and his head started to get cold. He began to regret what he had done.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The middle-aged man quickly straightened his back. Then, the five silver coins that had fallen on the floor floated up.

“Don’t be so greedy.”

The middle-aged man was so surprised by the sight that he could only open his eyes wide and nod his head repeatedly.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah. Yes?”

The woman looked up at Jin Myeong blankly.

“Get up. I bought you, so you don’t have to be here anymore.”

Even though she saw herself being traded right before her eyes, the woman still hesitated. She wondered if she could follow this strange Young Master. She wondered if it was really okay to leave her father, the scariest man in the world, and follow someone who made him so scared that he couldn’t do anything.

“It’s the same whether I die like this or like that, so why are you so concerned? I want to go back now.”

At Jin Myeong’s words, the woman hurriedly got up from her seat.

But is it because she was beaten too much by her father?

Her legs gave out as all the strength left her body.

“Ugh.”

It seemed as if she would fall at any moment, but something soft wrapped around her body and supported her.

“Let’s go. There are people I can take with me besides you.”

“Yes, yes.”

“But what is your name?”

“Yes? My name is Yuran.”

Yuran began to carefully follow behind Jin Myeong.

Then she glanced back occasionally. She wondered if her father would come after her, but he was just smirking while looking at the silver coin Jin Myeong had given him.

“Do you know anyone among them?”

Jin Myeong pointed to the women he had seen so far. And thanks to Yuran, he was able to easily approach the candidates.

“Instead of living here like this, how about following me and earning some money? It’s not a good job, though.”

Only after hearing Jin Myeong’s words did Yuran realize that Jin Myeong was taking her to be a courtesan.

‘Would it be better than now?’

She had heard that the treatment of courtesans was not good, but she wanted to escape from the hell that was her father. She thought it would be better than it is now. And it seemed like the other women were the same. Even though they knew they were going to be a courtesan, they readily nodded and followed Jin Myeong.

“No, did you really bring me here? But the condition is really……”

Yang Jeon looked at the women Jin Myeong brought with him with suspicious eyes. It was a headache to see them wandering around in such shabby clothes.

“Wash them and feed them well. But you still spent close to ten nyang of silver.”

“Huh? You even used a silver spoon to bring these kids here?”

Only Yuran received five nyang, and the other five families received an appropriate amount of money as well. Yang Jeon was frustrated that Jin Myeong had wasted money again and hit his chest.

“What happened after that?”

“I have received the introduction. I have made the request as the Young Master instructed.”

“Really? Then tell him to come back later. I need to decide on a general look.”

Jin Myeong called the four women of the Four Flowers.

“Wash these kids, feed them well, and if they seem talented, teach them skills.”

“Yes.”

The Four Flowers took the women that Jin Myeong had brought out. Now, all they could do was hope that the Four Flowers would properly educate the courtesans until the building was torn down and rebuilt.

“There’s another problem.”

But as if he had been waiting for them to leave, Yang Jeon did not give Jin Myeong a chance to rest.

“What else? The courtesan issue has been resolved, the chef issue has been resolved, and the building issue has been resolved.”

Jin Myeong frowned at the thought that there was another problem even though the biggest problem, the courtesan, had been solved.

“Alcohol is the problem.”

“Alcohol? Suddenly?”

‘Come to think of it, the alcohol that Im Sa-gyeong gave them was cheap rice wine. That too was extremely tasteless.’

“Is that all there is to it?”

“Yes. Since they have no money, they have no suppliers for alcohol.”

“Whew. Right. So I guess I’ll have to find a new supplier.”

Realizing that Jin Myeong was feeling uneasy, Im Sa-gyeong began to slowly back away, keeping an eye on him.

“Where are you going?”

“Yes? No!”

“Bring me a list of places you’ve transacted with before.”

“All right!”

At Jin Myeong’s words, Im Sa-gyeong quickly left the place. (Consistency.) “What the hell is wrong with this place? We haven’t even started yet.”

“What can we do? Since Young Master has done something big, we must endure it.”

“Yeah. It’s my fault for doing this, it’s my fault. Phew.”

Jin Myeong sighed and began to look through the list that Im Sa-gyeong had brought, hoping that the other disciples would also be suffering like he was.

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