Absolute Regression Chapter 468

468
“Are you okay?”

Lim Hyuk asked worriedly.

After meeting the Geommu Theater and returning, Geum A-rin immediately began writing a contract. A clean contract with no hidden intentions, such as paying two million nyang and joining hands with them.

“Are you okay? You’re doing something crazy.”

Im Hyuk felt fortunate after hearing Geum A-rin’s answer. At least she had a proper grasp of the situation.

“Why do you trust that person so much?”

The answer was just one letter.

“persimmon.”

Her writing hands paused for a moment.

“I didn’t know. That I would be deciding my fate by feeling.”

Contrary to her words, she began finalizing the contract with a confident look in her eyes.

The moment Geommugeuk signs the contract, he must give two million nyang.

The lifeblood of the Sanggye is trust. No matter how secretive the organization is, since its leader is the daughter of the head of the Geumryongsega family, it is like a contract with the Geumryongsega family.

“To give two million nyang, we need to add up all the operating funds and profits our organization has made this year. It may still not be enough.”

“I will pay even if I have to borrow money from the battlefield.”

Lim Hyuk said worriedly.

“Secondly, the prince will not just sit there.”

“I guess so.”

Objectively speaking, not only my second brother but anyone would consider this decision to be reckless.

She raised her head and looked at Im Hyuk and asked.

“You think so?”

Although he had not yet seen even a single bit of their martial arts, Im Hyuk thought of Hwi. The gaze and calm advice he received while looking at him were not easily converted into money.

“no.”

So Im Hyuk respected her feelings. The feeling that Geommu Geuk gave her must have been the same.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Geum A-rin revealed that this choice goes further.

“When that person said he would definitely be on my side, I decided that I would use them to become my successor.”

Im Hyuk finally felt that the time had come. She had been taking a step back from the succession battle of the Geumryong family. Up until now, she had only been watching the fight between her two older brothers from across the river. Now, she was about to jump into the full-scale succession battle.

She expressed it as a feeling, but it must have been a stroke of fate.

“Take this, get it signed, and give me the money.”

She said, handing me the completed contract.

“What I bought with two million nyang was neither our lives nor the Seodo faction. It was the position of successor.”

* * *

“I made some money!”

Geommugeuk put three envelopes down on the table.

“I received two million nyang and divided it into three parts: six hundred and sixty-six thousand nyang each.”

As if he was paying attention, Geum Woo-jin was the first to put away the envelope containing the receipt.

“Well done.”

Then, Hui emerged from hiding and showed himself.

Although he could not possibly accept receiving the same amount of money as the leader, the leader’s order to receive the money was more important than that.

“Okay, this is your turn.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Whiga carefully put the envelope in his bosom.

“Father, let’s come out often, at least for Uncle Whi’s sake. What would you do with money? You don’t have time to spend it.”

Hwi smiled awkwardly at Geommugeuk’s words. Even without this money, he had accumulated a lot of money while being a member of the Shinto religion his entire life. However, as Geommugeuk said, he had no time to spend the money.

Geommugeuk spoke to Yongjamyeong, who was standing next to him.

“Could you tell me a little bit about how to spend money?”

Yongjamyeong hesitated to answer the sudden question. He could have talked about money for three days and nights without stopping, but since the leader was listening, he answered humbly.

“There are many people in the world who earn a lot of money, but there are few who spend it well. I am one of those who earn a lot, but I am not one of those who spend it well.”

Then he asked about the thoughts of the Geommugeuk.

“Does the leader have any thoughts?”

“What can I do? Later, I will find someone who is good at spending money and make him my subordinate. I will treat that subordinate the best. That’s about it.”

“You knew the answer to spending money wisely.”

The two people looked at each other and laughed.

Geommugeuk expressed his gratitude to Yongjamyeong.

“This work was easy thanks to you, sir.”

Because everything happened because the leader of the galaxy came to see me in person.

But the fact that things went well also meant that it was time for him to leave. He had received the money from them, so now it was time for him to leave.

Several days had passed since the first three days I had caught him. Since Geumwoojin had told me to stay a little longer, I spent a few more days feeling good.

It was truly a dreamlike time.

Since Geum Woo-jin gave me a lot of time, I had a lot of conversations with him.

I really enjoyed the time I spent with him.

“It was an unforgettable time in my life. If you need me again, please call me anytime.”

“Let’s do that.”

The last greeting that Geum Woo-jin gives to him.

“Contact us anytime you need us.”

Where in the world can you find a more solid word than this?

Yongjamyeong said goodbye with emotion showing on his face.

“Then, take care until we meet again.”

The sword dance came out to the front gate to see off the departing warrior.

“Thanks to you, my long-time dream has come true. Thank you so much.”

“You are lucky, Danju. You are the one who remembered my father.”

I really wanted to fulfill his wish, and fortunately, things worked out well. But that doesn’t mean I only gave him things.

“Thank you so much for the teachings you gave me.”

At Geommu-geuk’s request, Yongja-myeong gave a lecture on the affairs of Sanggye. He thought that since the enemy they had to deal with was the Sanggye family, the more they knew, the more advantageous it would be in battle.

Thanks to that, I learned a lot from listening to his lectures.

Give, take. Now it’s time to give again.

“Contact your father often.”

“To the leader?”

“I noticed that you like being with the lord.”

“If that’s the case, then that’s really fortunate.”

“By the way, my father likes playing Go. Next time I see you, if you bring him a good Go board and stones, he will be very happy.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

Yongjamyeong looked at the sword dance for a moment.

I saw the little cult leader in the rumor, and now I can talk about the rumor. The rumor was reduced. The little cult leader was underestimated.

Yongjamyeong, who had boarded the carriage, said his final goodbyes.

“Take care.”

The little sect leader, who gave us easygoing laughter throughout our time together, was no exception until the very end.

“Isn’t there a final lecture?”

Although it was meant as a joke, Yongjamyeong left something to say.

“Until the moment you die, money will try to expose your true nature. Don’t let him find out.”

And so the sword dance disappeared from sight.

Baek-chong, who was riding along, saw Yong-ja-myeong sticking his head out of the carriage and saying goodbye for the first time. He was the one who always sat solemnly when riding in the carriage.

“I’m glad it ended safely.”

I had really risked my life with a sense of urgency until I came here.

But the actual meeting with the Demon Lord was the first break he had had in a long time. It was the same for Yongjamyeong and Baekchong.

“I have to see all the kids when I go back.”

I can’t remember when I last had a conversation with my sons. I was busy with work and it was awkward when we actually met. So I kept putting it off until it became a chore to even see them once.

But after meeting this rich man, I started missing my children.

Yongjamyeong suddenly had this thought.

Maybe this time I met my old benefactor and at the same time I got a new benefactor.

* * *

“Get ready to go back to Sega.”

Geum A-rin, who gave orders to Im Hyeok, was already feeling her heart pounding. Although she was doing things with great momentum, her father’s scolding was expected.

I had nightmares that kept me up at night.

It was a dream that they just took the money and disappeared. I also had another nightmare. They showed off their skills in front of my father, and it was really bad.

“I’ll meet that person and set a departure time.”

Just then someone walked in and said,

“There is no need for that.”

I turned around in surprise and saw a man entering the place.

Geum A-rin’s expression hardened when she saw him.

He was Geum A-jong, the second older brother of Geum A-rin.

He was the one I was most worried about when carrying out this task, and he showed up here first.

Although he had a rather handsome appearance, resembling Geum A-rin, his personality did not live up to his looks.

He was selfish, greedy, and full of desire for success.

“How did you get here?”

“How did you come here? I came to stop Sega’s money from leaking out.”

The fact that he came so quickly meant that he was watching his every move.

“My brother is always waiting for me to make a mistake.”

Of the two brothers, Geum Ah-jong was particularly wary of her.

He had been suspecting that one day his father might pass on Sega to his daughter.

“Two million nyang? You! Are you out of your mind?”

Indeed, my brother had a clear understanding of the situation.

“I’ll take care of my own work. You, brother, just do your own work.”

“I didn’t even know I was being played by a scammer.”

Geum A-rin was startled by the word “swindler.” It was something she had never expected to hear.

“A fraud?”

“You spent so much money without even getting to know the person you were dealing with?”

There was nothing I could say about that. This decision was entirely instinctive, based on feeling.

“Did you know that the Seodo faction produced a winner in the Little Dragon Tournament held by the Murim Alliance?”

Geum A-rin flinched because she had not known about this. Up until now, it had been a mysterious sect, but now it was the moment when it would become a realistic sect that participated in the Little Dragon War.

At that time, I thought that since it was a competition to determine the final score, I would naturally win.

“I barely won after a fierce battle with the granddaughter of the martial arts leader.”

At those words, Geum A-rin’s heart sank.

‘You said it was a close match with the granddaughter of the martial arts leader?’

Even though she is the granddaughter of the leader, she is still only a junior.

A worry reared its head in a corner of her mind.

‘Isn’t it just a case of all talk and no actual performance?’

She said, trying to suppress her rising worry.

“You won, right? You might have hidden your skills.”

Geum Ah-jong raised his voice with a refreshing expression, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“What are you talking about? The guy named Geomyeon, to whom you gave two million nyang, did not participate in the Soryongjeon. The person who won the Soryongjeon was Seoryong.”

“Then what about the sword?”

A thunderous voice came out of Geum Ah-jong’s mouth.

“Geumyeon is the servant of Seoryong.”

“!”

Geum A-rin suddenly got up from her seat.

Her eyes twitched.

That guy is a servant?

“It is already a well-known fact that the granddaughter of the leader of the martial arts world brought her servant and stirred up a commotion by saying she would marry him. That granddaughter must have been a victim of the same thing as you.”

He treated me like a conman who was fooling women. But what if that was true? What if he was really just a servant?

The image of the sword dance came to her mind. Was it because he was a conman that she couldn’t figure out his true nature? Was the nightmare becoming reality?

“I have to meet him.”

Geum Ah-jong stopped her from running out.

“Don’t rush. I’ve already sent people to collect the money.”

Geum A-rin was surprised.

“Who?”

“The money bugs are gone.”

“no!”

The words, “It really can’t be done,” just burst out on their own.

The original name of the money bugs was Golden Bug. They were the masters of the underworld raised by Sega and put to work doing rough work.

They were mainly involved in work that should not be revealed to the world, such as tracking down and killing those who attacked the upper class, or fighting over vested interests when developing commercial rights in new areas. They mainly did rough and dangerous work.

So they were arrogant and disrespectful within the Sega. The workers and the unmanned people feared and hated them.

What was critically scary about money grubbers was that they would not hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve their goals. Furthermore, they did not even spare their own lives.

That’s why I hated those things, but at the same time, they were people that the Geumryongsega absolutely needed.

“They’re all going to die.”

“To whom? To the servant?”

Although she was confused, she still had great faith in the sword dance.

“Yes, to the servant.”

“Are you sick? Well, if you were of sound mind, you wouldn’t have done something like this.”

Geum A-rin flew out of her residence.

The golden bell and the light bell ran together into the sky.

“You’re going to be completely out of favor with your father because of this.”

The words of Geum Ah-jong did not enter her ears. Several scenes came to her mind.

I really thought of the con artist, who was being treated badly by the money bugs and died. Then I also thought of the money bugs reporting that he had already run away.

On the contrary, a scene came to mind where all the money bugs were dead and their corpses were strewn about.

If he kills them all, his father will never forgive the Westerners. In other words, he will ruin his plan to use them to become his successor.

Everything I could imagine was the worst.

“It was my brother’s mistake to send them without consulting me.”

“You were the one who made the mistake of giving me money without asking for advice.”

The two people who ran like the wind arrived at the garden where the Geommugeuk resided.

It was quiet inside, as if the situation was already over.

As I approached the front door cautiously, I heard a sound from inside.

Crunch crunch.

What does this mean?

It sounds like something hitting the floor.

Swish swish.

There was also a sound of something being wiped.

Then I heard someone whispering.

Don’t touch that.

Not only Geum A-rin, but even Geum A-jong, who had come leisurely, had a puzzled expression. It seemed as if they had come to the wrong place.

“Is this the right place?”

“I’m sure.”

Geum A-rin opened the door carefully.

When the door slowly opened, an unimaginable sight unfolded inside the room.

Money bugs were sweeping the yard with brooms. Other money bugs were cleaning the walls with mops. They were clearing away broken furniture and filling in holes in the ground.

Their eyes were bruised and black, and some limped as they carried their loads. Some were collecting hammocks from trees, blood streaming from their foreheads bandaged. Some were carrying their loads out of the building.

The money bugs suddenly stopped moving and their gazes turned to the two people who entered the door.

The awkward and embarrassed expressions of the money bugs.

Geum Ah-jong felt like he was seeing things now.

“What on earth are you doing now?”

In response to Geum Ah-jong’s question, the money bug near the entrance bowed and said hello.

“He told me to clean up because he was leaving soon.”

This was the first time I’d seen money bugs with such kind faces.

“Who? Who the hell!”

At that moment, a sword dance came out of the building in front of me. He looked at Geum A-rin and said happily.

“Thank you for sending the cleaning people.”

At that moment, Geum A-rin’s heart was filled with emotion. All the bad thoughts she had had while coming here were washed away by that emotion.

I was so thankful that he only beat up the money bug and didn’t kill it.

It didn’t matter anymore whether he was a servant or not. I wouldn’t doubt it anymore. Yes, my choice was right.

Geum A-rin spoke to Geum A-jong, who was standing next to her, with a bright face.

“Thank you, brother. I couldn’t bring myself to ask a servant worth two million nyang to clean the place for me.”

Absolute Return Episode 469