Chapter 49. Dream of the Jade-Blue Sea (6)
Meanwhile, Bam had safely returned to the Lang Merchant Guild’s carriage.
Now she was arguing with her servants.
She stared toward the darkness where Cheongyeon had disappeared.
“What a ridiculous country Hui Kingdom is.”
She clicked her tongue.
“I’ve experienced every strange thing imaginable since coming here.”
The servants lit lanterns while calming the horses, which were stamping their feet in panic.
Once the lights were raised, visibility improved enough that they could at least recognize one another’s faces.
“I’ve never seen fog like this in my entire life.”
“My Lady!”
One servant suddenly jumped.
“Something just grabbed my ankle!”
As the servants began panicking, Bam shouted sharply with all the authority of the Lang Merchant Guild’s young mistress.
“You survived storms at sea, yet this is enough to make all of you panic?”
The servants, however, were becoming increasingly desperate.
“My Lady, we need to leave immediately.”
“Please think about our position too!”
“If you get hurt while Captain Hoyeon isn’t here, the captain will punish us so badly that there won’t even be bones left to bury!”
If Mercenary Captain Hoyeon had been beside Bam, perhaps they would have been calmer.
But in this strange and dangerous situation, the servants could not stop worrying.
“And it isn’t only him!”
“Master Lang and the young masters are terrifying too!”
“You know how much they treasure you.”
“Please stop being stubborn and get into the carriage!”
Merchant Lord Lang openly said that he would not trade his youngest daughter Bam even for the most precious jewel in the world.
Her three older brothers, each much older than her, felt the same.
There was a painful reason they had always protected Bam so carefully, making sure she never received even the smallest injury.
Bam remembered the final night before she left Gyao Kingdom and traveled to Hui Kingdom.
[You want me to lend you a ship?]
Her third older brother, Lang Gong, looked at Bam with clear displeasure.
[You help your brothers most by staying quietly where you are.]
The siblings looked extremely alike.
Both had narrow, cold blue eyes.
Both frowned in almost the exact same way.
Bam snapped back.
[Are you telling me to be satisfied playing merchant like some child?]
The men of the Lang Merchant Guild family did not want Bam becoming seriously involved in dangerous business.
They wanted her to treat merchant work as a hobby.
Selling luxury products to noblewomen.
Wearing pretty clothes.
Drinking tea and talking pleasantly.
Remaining safely inside a display case like a beautiful doll.
Gong narrowed his eyes.
[Do you not understand what the main business of our guild actually is?]
His voice became stern.
[It is not something you can casually involve yourself in without understanding the danger.]
Bam scoffed.
[You seem to misunderstand something.]*
She folded her arms.
[I am your competitor.]
Her gaze became fierce.
[I might defeat every one of you and become the next head of the guild.]
Gong finally burst into laughter.
[Competitor?]
Still, perhaps it was only natural.
Their youngest sister had inherited their mother’s adventurous nature.
Perhaps this was simply the call of fate.
Bam had barely learned to walk when Merchant Lord Lang’s wife was kidnapped and brutally murdered.
The dangerous way the Lang Merchant Guild conducted business had earned the hatred of powerful enemies.
As Bam grew older, she came to resemble her mother more and more.
Looking at her, the family made a silent decision.
They would never lose her the same way.
Then Gong had said,
[Very well. Your brother will make you an offer.]
He leaned back against a large, beautifully embroidered cushion.
His long, lean body and wild eyes made him resemble a panther.
[Recently, Mercenary Captain Hoyeon has been acting suspiciously.]
Bam’s eyes narrowed.
Gong continued,
[I heard he has been gathering slaves separately to train them.]
[He has also been purchasing old military books containing army regulations and tactics.]
Bam immediately defended him.
[Isn’t that normal? He’s responsible for leading those people.]
Whenever the subject involved Hoyeon, Bam could not hide her emotions.
Her expression became sharp as she searched for the intention behind Gong’s words.
Gong smiled.
[What I mean is that your mercenary captain is becoming their leader.]
His eyes turned cold.
[Why would a mercenary captain, whose only duty is to obey his master, need to win the hearts of the people beneath him?]
Bam became silent.
Gong leaned forward.
[If you truly possess the qualities required to become a great merchant capable of leading our family...]
A cold smile appeared on his lips.
[Sell Hoyeon in the slave market.]
A chill ran down Bam’s spine.
In truth, conversations like this were not unusual among members of the Lang Merchant Guild.
They could laugh while sharing alcohol one moment, then calculate each other’s value or propose a trade the next.
That was simply normal for them.
Bam frowned.
[Stop joking.]
Her eyes narrowed.
[Do you think saying something cruel will make me give up this expedition?]
Gong shook his head.
[Why would I joke?]
He raised a hand.
[If you can prove that you possess that level of determination, I will give you part of the trading rights along the Tuima Coast.]
Bam’s eyes widened.
Gong continued calmly.
[I will also give you dozens of flat-bottomed ships filled with treasure.]
Gong was one of the three great leaders of the Lang Merchant Guild.
If he was willing to surrender part of his trade rights, then this was not simply a joke meant to tease his younger sister.
Merchant Lord Lang had always taught them one principle.
Place everything in the world upon a scale.
Then make certain that its proper price was paid.
That was the virtue he valued most.
But sometimes...
There were things that could never be placed upon a scale.
Bam looked directly at her brother.
[Hoyeon is not a slave.]
Her answer came from the memories of the enormous jade-blue sea she had seen with Hoyeon while traveling along the Tuima Coast.
Together, they had encountered the cultures and systems of countless nations.
They once spent months following a master metalworker until they finally succeeded in developing a delicate silver-inlay technique.
They used it to make swords, spears, rings, and all kinds of ornaments more beautiful.
When those products sold for high prices, Bam had been so happy she almost jumped into the air.
The blue sea had given them dreams.
Perhaps...
With their own hands, they might create a completely new world.
A faint smile had appeared on both their faces back then.
Bam glared fiercely at Gong.
[I will prove that I am a great merchant in a way completely different from all of you.]
Before Gong could persuade or stop her, Bam jumped up and stormed out.
Gong clicked his tongue and shrugged.
[That terrible personality of hers...]
He smiled to himself.
[She doesn’t understand her brother’s feelings at all.]
Bam probably never realized something.
It had been deep in the middle of the night.
A young lady dressed in expensive clothing had stormed out of the estate.
Yet strangely, the guards had been careless enough that nobody stopped her.
She also never realized that the ship waiting for her had already been filled with soldiers.
Food.
A generous amount of money.
And every supply she could possibly need.
Back in the present, the servants looked at Bam, who still stood frozen in the darkness.
“My Lady!”
One shouted again.
“We really have to leave now!”
Another looked suspiciously at her.
