Lee Chu was faithfully following Geom Mugeuk’s orders.

―“Now they will ask if you can obtain the antidote for Heukbi. Answer that you can.”

―“Understood.”

Just as Geom Mugeuk expected, Geum Ajong sent a message.

―“Can you get the antidote for that mountain poison?”

―“I believe I can.”

―“Use whatever means you can as quickly as possible to get it!”

―“Understood.”

―“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go!”

Lee Chu, about to leave, glanced back at the two men.

Their drinking looked as if Geum Ajong was dancing on the palm of a demon painted on the side of a carriage.

Still, he did not worry about Geum Ajong. Not because he treated him carelessly usually.

‘It’s the same for both of us.’

Perhaps it was because he felt he might also be dancing together on the palm of that enormous demon so huge he might not even realize it was a palm.

“Did you ask what kind of person my older brother is?”

Geum Ajong poured liquor into Geom Mugeuk’s cup.

After uncovering the secret of how the money worms were defeated, Geom Mugeuk felt a little less intimidating.

Mountain poison is a toxin that disables internal power for a certain time, not one that kills instantly. If the antidote is prepared in advance, it is possible to counter it well. A poison worthy of a con artist.

“My older brother is a remarkable man. Smart, diligent, and handsome. He is the one to inherit the main family.”

Geom Mugeuk noticed that when Geum Ajong spoke the words “handsome” especially, a slight emotion leaked out despite the rest being empty flattery. Did he feel some inferiority about his appearance compared to his brother?

“Since you say so, I want to meet him once. Could you introduce me?”

Geum Ajong thought his guess was correct.

‘As expected, the target was the older brother!’

The ones planning a big hit at the family headquarters were aiming at him.

‘If those guys get to my older brother?’

He would be the one to catch the con artists who plundered both his younger sister and older brother’s money at the last moment.

Not catching the con artists but grabbing the successor position instead.

Geum Ajong stepped back slightly at the request for introduction.

“Is my introduction really necessary? If you want to meet him, just go meet him. You are family now.”

Then Geom Mugeuk refilled his cup and said,

“Do you think he would welcome me if I went to meet him?”

“Well, given his personality, he probably wouldn’t like you. He’d think you embezzled two million nyang from the main family. Ah, don’t misunderstand. That’s not my opinion.”

Now Geum Ajong was starting to show his true colors.

“Speaking of my brother, if I were you, I’d help the older brother, not the younger.”

“May I ask why?”

“A true man must do great things, right? The younger brother has no chance of becoming successor anyway.”

Geom Mugeuk stared at Geum Ajong and asked,

“Then you? Are you confident you will be the successor? You seem ambitious.”

So this con artist really has quick wit.

“I’m a castoff. Pushed by my brother, pushed by my younger brother. Reality is harsh.”

“If ambition is great, then the wings must be large too, right?”

Geom Mugeuk looked up as if he could see large wings behind him.

Geum Ajong laughed. It was a small reaction, but not unpleasant. If my ambition looks big, what’s wrong with that?

“What joy is there in helping someone who would become successor anyway to make them successor? It’s problematic to be near someone who will never be successor. I wish I had met you earlier.”

Geum Ajong was tempted by Geom Mugeuk’s regret. So he thought he might as well reveal everything to this guy and join hands to scheme together. Somehow he felt they could do well together.

But then Geum Ajong flinched.

‘What am I thinking right now!’

A con artist is a con artist. He had thought nonsense about joining hands with this guy without realizing it.

He was born with a face, voice, and expression that melts hearts. Listening to him loosens my heart again and again.

“Let’s go together tomorrow. I will introduce you to my brother.”

“Thank you.”

“I will tell you one special thing.”

Not only because he felt good, but because if he was to bring in his brother properly, he needed to know well about him.

“There is something my brother absolutely cannot tolerate.”

“What is that?”

Geum Ajong emptied his last drink and said,

“Losing to money.”

At the same time, a report awaited at the Geumryong family’s main hall.

“Baekseonbang was completely empty.”

At his subordinate’s report, Geumcheonbang asked in surprise,

“No corpses at all?”

“No, not a single one.”

“Any traces of fighting?”

“Traces remained everywhere. Only the bodies were all cleared, so it was impossible to tell how the fight went or the outcome.”

When he sent the subordinate initially, he never dreamed he would ask such questions upon return.

“Is there a possibility Baekseonbang staged this?”

Suspicion arose from the claim that all corpses disappeared. What if they all pretended to be defeated and disappeared?

“The possibility remains open. They could all be dead, or they could have left traces pretending to fight.”

Seeing Geumcheonbang’s grimace at such meaningless talk, the subordinate quickly added,

“If they were all defeated, one thing is certain. They would not have had much time to clean up, so whoever handled the cleanup must be very skilled in martial arts or an expert in such tasks.”

The report ended there.

“Withdraw.”

“Yes.”

Geumcheonbang felt this matter was no ordinary one.

“A staged act by Baekseonbang? Or the work of Eunhasangdan?”

He still found it hard to believe that Geom Mugeuk had done it.

Right then.

“Neither.”

The person who entered was the eldest son Geum Ahyeok.

He looked like a noble duke.

A look that gave off a great knightly aura.

While the second son Geum Ajong displayed his sly and selfish nature openly, Geum Ahyeok was someone who thoroughly hid himself behind the knightly appearance.

“Everyone else withdraw.”

Geumcheonbang ordered even the hidden subordinates to leave.

Now only these two remained in the main hall.

“Neither? What do you mean?”

“Geomyeon killed all the immortals of Baekseonbang.”

“How do you know that?”

Geum Ahyeok did not answer, but Geumcheonbang knew why.

“Did you hear it from that person?”

He could tell from his son’s expression.

“Didn’t I tell you to avoid contact with him? I said I would handle it personally.”

Then Geum Ahyeok asked with an incomprehensible expression,

“Why do you dislike that person?”

Even in this atmosphere, calling him ‘that person’ instead of ‘him’ angered Geumcheonbang. So his voice rose naturally.

“Because he is dangerous!”

At first, he did not feel such danger from him. At first, he was polite and calm. He gave faith that it was okay to join hands for a long time.

Like being soaked by a drizzle, he slowly permeated their family.

After being drenched, they realized it was not rain but blood.

“We must endure it! Jeong Sama brought us greater benefits than anywhere else. What merchant could ask for a better reason?”

Geumcheonbang was a lifetime merchant. He had enough experience to roughly guess and price almost anything in the world and human nature.

But recently, there were two things he could not understand. Or two people.

His son and that person. He did not understand either well. When he first met him, he analyzed and studied him thoroughly, but after more than ten years, he felt he understood less. Like an old son’s heart.

“If you speak of danger, the Seo Do faction men Lin brought are more dangerous. They must have come to target him.”

“How can you be sure?”

Geum Ahyeok did not answer.

“Again, that is what he said.”

Geum Ahyeok looked at Geumcheonbang intently. From some time ago, his son looked at him with such a strange gaze.

Geumcheonbang had always been proud of his eldest son. How did such a son come from a frail and plain self? Such pride arose every time.

When he took his son out, everyone praised and envied him. So he boasted quite a bit, feeling sorry for the second son.

And he trusted like this.

His son’s nature would match the knightly appearance.

He really believed that. In fact, his son grew up well without big trouble.

But from some time on, it changed. He wished it were after meeting that person, but he knew well it was not. He felt a strange feeling about his son even before that.

So cold?

So selfish?

So greedy for money?

Because of that, he thought that might be why that person approached.

Nevertheless, he trusted his son.

Though he did not answer the previous question, he trusted him. Because he was his son. If he grew a little older, he would judge situations more coldly.

“Father, didn’t you say you wanted to become the richest man in Central Plains? That was your dream, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, yes. But…”

“What are you afraid of? Aren’t we making progress toward that dream?”

He did not deny that Geumryong family grew faster thanks to joining hands with that person. They made enormous money thanks to him.

But the money he demanded was also snowballing.

“Someday he may swallow us whole.”

“He will make us the best before swallowing us.”

His son’s eyes said this.

If you are scared, get out of the way.

Because of that gaze. Because of that gaze, he told his daughter she could not be successor. That gaze that would even remove a younger brother if he interfered with his own path.

“The Seo Do faction men brought by the younger brother will disappear before this night ends. Just like Baekseonbang disappeared.”

“No!”

Geumcheonbang’s heart raced. Killing someone meant retaliation that could lead to death on their side too. How could he make such a decision so easily? Hey, we are merchants!

“If what you say is true about those who erased Baekseonbang, they are not to be trifled with!”

“Didn’t you always say, Father?”

Geum Ahyeok added with a relaxed smile,

“There is nothing money can’t buy in this world.”

Geumcheonbang was speechless because he had said that so many times himself.

No matter what… he never expected such a day.

After finishing the drinking with Geum Ajong, she went to see her father.

Father and Hwi had moved from the inner house to this Geumryong family residence.

Like the conversation they had in the inner house, they judged that because of handling Baekseonbang, they would soon move seriously. They would try to protect the enormous funding called Geumryong family.

She hesitated briefly in front of father’s room.

Was it because of the light drunkenness? She had come because she wanted to see father, but then realized it was already bedtime.

“Father, your second son!”

She wanted to knock loudly, even as if she were drunk, but dared not.

‘Martial artists would never know that Cheonma would sleep this early. Usually, Cheonma would be awake even at dawn, wouldn’t he?’

Just as she was quietly turning without making a sound, the door opened.

Startled, she turned around and saw father standing there.

Before asking if he wasn’t asleep or apologizing for waking him, this was the first thing she could say.

“Another floral pattern? Exactly how many sets do you have?”

Father was wearing floral pajamas.

Surely Cheonma wouldn’t wear such pajamas? The best anti-assassin pajamas.

He did not wear them at camp, so she did not know. He did not stay at the inn overnight, so she did not see.

Though he might have felt awkward or shy, father was not embarrassed by these pajamas at all.

Could he really wear these pajamas proudly even in front of the Martial Alliance Leader or the Satan Alliance Leader?

“What is it?”

He asked bluntly, and she did not know what to answer. ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ She had just come on a whim, drunk and wanting to see him.

“I just came to say sleep well.”

“Wake someone up and say sleep well?”

Father, baffled, received a bow from her. This was the only thing she could say now.

“Thank you.”

What I feel during this trip is that father is enduring. He usually stays at the main branch, so how could this trip be only fun after a long time?

Besides, I am acting as I please trying to do everything I couldn’t with father. Waking father up tonight is probably a test of his patience.

I wondered if he would slap the back of my bowed head.

After looking down at me briefly, father closed the door and went in.

Though I woke father, I felt good seeing his face.

Even this trivial moment will be a memory for me. The title could be called a small drunken moment in the middle of the night.

My true victory in life isn’t killing enemies, but moments like this.

‘Even if father finds it bothersome, I will keep making such small memories.’

Even if Hwamu draws his sword right in front of me, I will banter with father. I will build memories with my Mazons and my subordinates.

So I will comfort my past, who fell asleep alone with terrible loneliness and awaited only this moment. I always vow.

‘Not for father, but for myself.’

Because only then will I truly care for others.

Standing in front of father’s room by the corridor window, I looked up at the dark night sky. The stars and moon were all covered by clouds.

Then my gaze fell like a shooting star, staring down into the darkened yard.

Slowly, I put my index finger over my lips and whispered.

“Shh! Father is sleeping.”v