The marketplace of Clear Mirror Town was brimming with more life than usual.
“Ah, what a load off my chest!”
Hwang Byeong-su shouted in a booming voice.
The sound of his cleaver cutting meat also rang against the chopping board more cheerfully than usual.
“Ever since the Principal gave those damned dark path guys a good thrashing, the waters of the market have turned nice and clean!”
The reason the market was so lively was clear.
The dark path thugs, who would usually prowl about like wolf packs to wring the lifeblood out of the merchants, were now nowhere to be seen.
“Not a single one of them can be seen?”
At Cheon Su-rin's question, Hwang Byeong-su nodded vigorously and answered.
“Yes, not even a shadow of them. There's even a rumor going around that all the dark path sects that had taken root in Clear Mirror Town fled in the middle of the night after that day.”
Cheon Su-rin had vaguely sensed it when he set foot here, too.
But he had not imagined their power would be pulled out by the roots in one stroke.
Then again, the overwhelming martial power Cheon Hyeong-do had shown that day must have been like a calamity to them.
There would be no one bold enough to show their face in the market again after tasting such intimidation.
“That's a relief. There won't be any trouble for a while.”
“It's all thanks to your father. Of course, I'm deeply grateful to you as well, Young Master!”
“.......”
“Hohoho! I'm in a good mood! Starting today, everything is half price for three days!”
It was a startling announcement to celebrate the disappearance of the dark path thugs.
Half price. It seemed just how elated Hwang Byeong-su was showed plainly in the discount rate.
“So hurry and take some at half price, Young Master. This is my token of goodwill, so you mustn't refuse it, all right?”
“I appreciate the thought, but I didn't come to buy meat today.”
Hwang Byeong-su tilted his head.
If he had not come to the butcher's to buy meat, what business could he possibly have?
“Then what brings you here?”
“Actually, I'm thinking of getting something started, and I came to hear your valued opinion, Uncle Hwang.”
“I don't know if the insight of a guy who just cuts meat will be of any help.”
“No, it's something only you can be of great help with, Uncle.”
Hwang Byeong-su put down the cleaver he had been holding.
If it was to help Cheon Su-rin, he seemed ready to hand over even his liver.
“Then of course I'll cooperate! What is it?”
“I'm thinking of organizing a merchants' association in Clear Mirror Town. I'm curious how the merchants would react.”
“A merchants' association?”
“Yes. The dark path has withdrawn for now, but there's no telling when another group might appear. If the merchants cooperate to protect themselves, they won't be easily shaken by outside winds.”
Clear Mirror Town was a key spot whose commerce was quite developed for the area.
There could be no prey more tempting to hungry wolves.
He had already confirmed that even the Golden Might Trading Company was targeting this place, so a storm would sweep through again before long.
“Hmm...... I see. I was also worried that those bastards would be running wild again before long.”
“That's why we need to band together. If there's a center to rally around, even the dark path bastards won't dare reach out their claws so recklessly.”
“The intent is excellent, Young Master. But in truth, there's one long-standing problem with that.”
It was not as if Clear Mirror Town had never had a merchants' association in the past.
It had simply become an empty name when the lawless Era of the Black Forest arrived.
In the end, for a merchants' association to have power, it needed teeth to protect itself.
A merchants' association without martial power was nothing more than a rice ball pressed together to make it easy to plunder.
“Back then, a place called the Guardian Star Sect played that role. But it's a sect that no longer exists. To create a new merchants' association, at the very least, a place with influence or martial power on the level of the Guardian Star Sect would have to back it.”
“How much martial power did the Guardian Star Sect have?”
“It was a small-to-mid sect with about thirty disciples.”
That was a place of considerable size.
Especially around Clear Mirror Town, its influence must have rivaled that of the Nine Sects One Gang.
“But it can't be too big, either. Places like that demand a lot of money.”
Rather than entrusting it to a place like that, paying tribute to the dark path would be better.
Of course, it would be a disaster if money were not their goal, as with the Black Tiger Gang, but all sorts of complicated circumstances like that were tangled together.
“I'm glad I asked you after all, Uncle.”
“I may not look it, but I've been doing business here since I was a runny-nosed kid. Was I of some help?”
“Of course. A great deal.”
It had become clear what the merchants truly wanted.
It was the so-called ‘value for money.’
Enjoying maximum stability for minimum cost.
It was a thoroughly practical, merchant-like calculation.
“What if our Heavenly Way Martial Arts Academy took on that role?”
“You mean the Heavenly Way Martial Arts Academy would become the merchants' association's sword?”
“That's right.”
“Ohh! Then there won't be a single merchant who'd object!”
Had not everyone in the market witnessed the overwhelming martial power Cheon Hyeong-do had recently shown?
There was no longer anyone in Clear Mirror Town who would doubt the martial power of the Heavenly Way Martial Arts Academy.
“By any chance...... how much are you thinking for the protection fee?”
Hwang Byeong-su's voice grew cautious.
What a merchant was most sensitive to was, in the end, price.
Mixed in was the worry that, since their martial power was certain, the price they demanded might be enormous as well.
“Ten copper coins a month.”
“T-ten coins?”
“Is it too much?”
“No, quite the opposite! I'm surprised because it's so absurdly cheap!”
Ten coins was merely the price of a tray of dumplings.
To be able to do business free from the threat of the dark path for just the price of a bowl of dumplings.
It was an offer that went beyond value for money and was practically the same as giving it away for free.
“Actually, I was thinking of not taking a single coin, but I thought that without a price, the merchants might feel burdened instead.”
“Young Master.......”
“If I'm properly paid, I'll have a legitimate reason to step in without hesitation, won't I?”
In the end, the purpose of organizing the merchants' association was so that Cheon Su-rin could protect Clear Mirror Town openly.
Those who needed his help would join the merchants' association.
Through this incident, Cheon Su-rin had realized that helping someone blindly might not actually help them.
“You truly are a chivalrous hero, Young Master.”
“I'm trying to be.”
“You're truly admirable, you are.”
At some point, Hwang Byeong-su's eyes had reddened, and he was dabbing away a tear.
In a short time, the trust between the two had grown considerably deeper.
“So, Uncle, would you be willing to take the position of President of the merchants' association?”
“M-me?”
“Yes. That's actually the favor I came to ask.”
“Uh...... Could I handle such a weighty task well?”
“Few people have been settled here in Clear Mirror Town as long as you, Uncle. And you're well trusted among the merchants, too.”
“Hahaha! You flatter me.”
At the compliment, Hwang Byeong-su's face quickly brightened.
Cheon Su-rin went on as if driving in a wedge.
“And I think you're a chivalrous hero as well, Uncle Hwang.”
“Oh, come now, a chivalrous hero? I'm just a butcher who cuts animal meat.”
“What does your trade matter? What matters more is your mindset.”
“Mindset.......”
“When the merchants were being trampled by the dark path, weren't you just as furious as I was? That heart that can't stand injustice is the very essence of a chivalrous hero.”
Now he was only wielding a cleaver in a butcher's shop, but Hwang Byeong-su, too, had once dreamed of roaming the martial world with a sword in hand.
A boy who had longed for the days of saving the weak and being called a chivalrous hero.
That spark, long forgotten, began to burn once more at a single word from Cheon Su-rin.
“All right! I'll take the position of President!”
“Really?”
“Yes! At heart, I'm a chivalrous hero who commands the world too!”
Hwang Byeong-su raised his kitchen cleaver in a fit of excitement.
As if he had picked up a thing or two from somewhere, he mimicked a rather convincing technique, and Cheon Su-rin burst out laughing.
“At this rate, it'll be you protecting Clear Mirror Town instead of me.”
“Maybe so! Young Master, would you teach me some useful martial arts too?”
“Come to the academy when you have time. You're always welcome.”
“That's a promise!”
Elated, Hwang Byeong-su swung the kitchen cleaver through the air, working up his spirit.
But that spirit did not last long.
Suddenly his expression twisted, and his posture bent over.
“M-my back.......”
He was past the age of no more doubts (forty).
At heart he was a young chivalrous hero, but his body was an honest middle-aged one.
.
.
.
After a short rest, Hwang Byeong-su's back was thankfully all right.
Only then, relieved, did Cheon Su-rin turn his steps toward the academy.
In his left hand he held a hefty bundle of meat.
He had firmly refused, but Hwang Byeong-su had once again insisted on pressing free meat into his hands before sending him off.
“Coming back from the market?”
When he entered the academy, Cheon Hyeong-do, who was out in the yard, greeted him.
“Yes. As I told you before, I'm planning to organize a merchants' association.”
“You move fast.”
“Those Golden Might Trading Company bastards won't give up on Clear Mirror Town so easily. I think it's better to prepare our defenses before they reach out their claws again.”
Cheon Su-rin conveyed in detail the plans for the merchants' association he had discussed with Hwang Byeong-su.
“The Heavenly Way Martial Arts Academy will be the merchants' association's shield. I set the protection fee at ten copper coins a month.”
“Ten coins...... Isn't that too stingy?”
“The bar has to be low at first so the merchants will gather. Once the numbers fill out, it won't be a small amount either.”
“Well...... it wasn't something we started to make money in the first place, so do as you see fit.”
In that instant, a shadow of deep worry settled between Cheon Hyeong-do's brows.
“The Golden Might Trading Company...... That's no easy enemy. Do you truly mean to fight them?”
“I've already killed one of the Golden Might Trading Company's Head Traders. They'll surely try to find whoever killed him, and before long, they'll pick up our trail.”
“.......”
“It's a fight we can't avoid anyway.”
Cheon Hyeong-do let out a heavy sigh.
“I drifted all the way to Clear Mirror Town so you wouldn't get caught up in a bloody storm like this. Trying to avoid the rain, we've ended up facing a massive tempest instead.”
It had been a desperate measure to keep from awakening the slaughter nature dormant within his son.
He had believed that even though the dark path ran rampant everywhere under heaven, in a quiet backwater like Clear Mirror Town, they could live peacefully without ever having to swing a blade.
“I never imagined Clear Mirror Town would prosper like this. When I first settled here, all the townspeople put together numbered only five hundred.”
“The land is so good that it's only natural for people to flock here like clouds.”
If even the Golden Might Trading Company was showing its greed, that said it all.
If anything, the fact that this much peace had been kept until now was close to a miracle.
“Su-rin, are you perhaps thinking of leaving here and going somewhere else?”
There was worry in Cheon Hyeong-do's voice as he asked.
Cheon Su-rin knew well why his father was asking this question.
The more fights he went through, the more blood would stain his hands, and his father must be worried that it would eventually awaken the slaughter nature he had been suppressing.
“I'm sorry, Father. I want to stay here.”
“.......”
“Clear Mirror Town is practically my hometown. I can't just stand by and watch dark path bastards run wild in a place like that. Don't you feel the same way I do, Father?”
It had already been more than ten years since they had settled here.
Clear Mirror Town was the place where Cheon Hyeong-do had finally found rest after wandering the martial world aimlessly with the infant Cheon Su-rin in his arms.
To Cheon Hyeong-do as well, this place meant more than a mere residence, so he did not truly want to leave either.
“I understand. If you're that set on it, I'll gladly go along.”
“Thank you.”
Then as now, the only one who quietly stayed by his side was his father.
Cheon Su-rin smiled faintly and bowed his head.
Glancing around, Cheon Su-rin suddenly asked, puzzled.
It was the time the children would usually be gathering for martial arts training, but the yard was far too quiet.
“Haven't the children come yet?”
“I sent them all home.”
“Sent them home? Why all of a sudden?”
“I'm thinking of closing the academy for a while.”
Cheon Su-rin tilted his head.
It had been unavoidable when things were chaotic because of the Black Tiger Gang, but there was no reason to close the doors now, was there?
“How long are you planning to keep it closed?”
“Until your martial arts are on track.”
Cheon Su-rin looked blank, as if he could not understand his father's words at once.
“From now on, I will pass on to you the true essence of our clan.”
The air changed. The atmosphere enveloping the yard grew so solemn it was almost chilling.
The man before him was no longer the Principal of an academy who merely taught children in Clear Mirror Town.
As the Young Master of the Thousand Righteousness Clan, one of the pillars of the orthodox sects, that dignity was revealed in his eyes.