The Protagonist’s Guardian Angel

I quickly circled around Hongseong with Sayoon, burying the precious jade tablet in places where the demons were lurking. After finishing the task, I headed towards the building near the entrance of Hongseong.

“Are you done?”

It seemed like Ryuhyun was resting after her training. She was drenched in sweat.

Maybe it was because her appearance was pretty, but the way her hair clung to her face looked quite enchanting; however, that wasn’t the important part right now.

“I heard the Sword Saint had an encounter with the followers of the Demonic Cult. I would like to speak with the Sword Saint…”

In an instant, Ryuhyun’s expression turned dark. She seemed to want to cooperate with me as much as possible, but sending the Sword Saint out seemed to be something she really disliked.

But there was no avoiding that meeting. Besides the task given to me by Hyeonryeong, I had things I needed to say to her as well.

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Ultimately, Ryuhyun nodded and stepped outside. Sayoon, who was sitting beside me, looked flustered, but there was no stopping now.

How much time had passed waiting?

The door abruptly swung open, and seeing the Sword Saint enter made me grit my teeth.

Her attire was markedly different from before.

Pure white clothing.

The chest area was embroidered with plum blossoms, wrapped tightly around her body, and the lack of leg sections revealed her snow-white thighs.

Perhaps to accentuate her figure, her voluptuous bosom stood out in an oval shape, while her slender waist was cinched tightly.

The contrast of her one long pant leg that flowed from her oval hips down to her legs drew admiration from onlookers.

A woman with long, dark navy hair gracefully sat in front of me.

I could hardly face the Sword Saint dressed in the ceremonial robe of the Hongseong Clan Leader.

How could I?

For me, and for all of us, that attire was nostalgia, affection, and love.

It was proof of the suffering Sayoon had endured.

I glanced at Sayoon, who was holding a tray, dressed in her worn martial outfit.

Imagining her rising to become the leader of Hongseong and wearing that outfit made my mind go as white as the fabric itself, solidifying my resolve.

Having come this far,

Carrying the will of everyone,

I knew that Sayoon must not wear that attire while shedding tears of pain.

A tumult of complex emotions clouded my thoughts.

Nonetheless, I had to collect myself.

What I needed to do now was essential for achieving our goals.

“I should introduce myself. I am Yu Wol, the owner of the Seomhwa Village Inn. Please feel free to speak comfortably.”

“I am Na Yerin, the Clan Leader of Hongseong. I look forward to working with you.”

She mentioned herself as the Clan Leader, not the Sword Saint; that spoke volumes about her pride in being the leader of Hongseong.

That meant the conversation could flow more easily.

“Let’s get to the point. I have a proposal.”

Now it was business talk. Thus, I shifted my tone, knowing that our interaction should pivot around pure profit rather than familiarity.

That’s when I noticed the spark in the Sword Saint’s deep eyes.

“Are you saying you have another proposal aside from the investigation?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that Hongseong cultivates medicinal herbs.”

“Oh. That.”

It seemed she was already aware of it. She slightly nodded and shot a glance at Ryuhyun.

“We’re looking to supply the medicine shop in Seomhwa Village.”

“Supplying to the medicine shop, huh? Not a bad idea. Earlier, thanks to Sayoon’s attention, I visited the herb field while suffering from demon-related ailments. The fragrant scent of the fresh herbs was quite lovely. It seems your disciples have put in great effort, and those herbs look first-rate to me.”
“Andara. It’s not bad. Thanks to Sayoon’s consideration earlier, I went to the herb garden while suffering from the evil spirit. The refreshing scent of the herbs was quite nice. It seems the disciples have put in a lot of effort. Those herbs look like top-notch goods to me.”

“Ah. T-thank you.”

Joy lit up Ryuhyun’s face. Sorry, but that joyful expression needs to be put on hold for a moment.

“So, how much do you think it will cost in total?”

“According to the market price… I think we can make at least one gold coin a month…”

“Yes. That sounds about right. However, there’s one problem…”

“Problem?”

“There’s no guarantee it will continue to sell.”

“Ah.”

Ryuhyun bit her lip, realizing her mistake. I continued calmly explaining to her.

“Do you know the characteristics of Seomhwa Village? There aren’t many injured people, and monsters or bandits don’t show up much either. Plus, there aren’t many people eating health tonics, and the actual ones who use medicine are the local government and the Hongseong disciples…”

The local government cultivates its own herb garden and uses it to create specialized medicine for officials.

And the Hongseong sect doesn’t really use medicine.

“Supply without demand drives prices down. Of course, if Cheolnoya is a patient, he may continue to buy at the same price despite losses…”

It’s true that the chance of those herbs affecting market prices was relatively low.

The amount of herbs supplied to the Hongseong sect wouldn’t be enough to cause a market crash.

Of course, there might be pressure from inventory piling up in the pharmacy, but at least Cheolnoya, the owner of the Seomhwa Village pharmacy, wouldn’t consider that a burden.

However, that’s probably not what the Hongseong sect wants.

If they wanted to impose a burden on Cheolnoya for their own profit, they might as well accept donations from their clan.

“Do you know about the Nakil Geomdo’s herb sales?”

Ryuhyun shook her head and explained what she hadn’t asked.

The disciples involved in herb cultivation were either children of martial artists or farmers, so she hadn’t thought about that.

Right there, blinded by the hope that selling the herbs would contribute to Hongseong’s operating costs, she overlooked that aspect.

The reason she hadn’t informed Hongryeon was that she had way too many other things to focus on, and she didn’t want to tire her out with unnecessary concerns.

In other words, she got so caught up in the happy circuit that she didn’t consider the risks.

That could happen.

People tend to look at the positive side rather than the negative.

Plus, the Hongseong disciples probably hadn’t even tried their hands at business before, so this kind of mistake was something they could laugh off.

But Ryuhyun didn’t think so; she bit her lip repeatedly, her face pale.

Alright.

Now that we’ve dropped the ball, it’s time to throw the rope.

“So, here’s the thing. How about we partner up?”

“Y-yes? Partner up?”

“Yes. I’ll buy all of the herbs cultivated by Hongseong, and the aromatic pouches… You’re planning to make those, right? I’ll take them all.”

“Um… but the store doesn’t manufacture herbs, right?”

That’s correct.

In Heavenly Bright Moon, you could create medicine only after learning the recipe and having the technology for combining herbs and medicine.

While I knew where to find the recipe, I couldn’t just go searching for it right now, and even if I did find it, I lacked the ability to manufacture it.

I had once tried to buy ingredients and make medicine, but it didn’t work. There clearly had to be someone with the recipe and the ability to make it… but for now, I just let that slide in my memory.
Anyway, that’s not the important part.

“So, here’s my suggestion.”

I grabbed the paper sitting on the table and quickly sketched with the charcoal I found in the kitchen earlier.

As I was doing this, the Sword Saint and Ryuhyun, along with Sayoon, watched with increasingly wide eyes.

“…Huh? Innkeeper, you know how to draw?”

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

“This… is it me, Master, and Sayoon?”

The drawing I made was a sketchy portrait of the Sword Saint, Ryuhyun, and Sayoon.

Why do I know how to draw, you ask?

Because there are so few people creating fan art for our poor, cute little buddy, I practiced whenever I had the chance.

Also, while promoting the Sayoon Corps, there’s nothing better than fan art, so I worked hard.

While the three of them stared blankly at my somewhat decent drawing, I tapped on it.

“I’m thinking of attaching the disciples’ drawings to the medicinal herbs to sell them a bit more uniquely.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Medicinal herbs lovingly cultivated by the beautiful disciples of Hongseong. We’ll give it that name.”

Hongseong is a prestigious sect, and thanks to the noble yet moneyless activities they’ve done so far, they’ve gained quite a reputation. So using that name would allow us to sell these herbs at a higher price than average.

At my suggestion, the Sword Saint’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Shall we discuss Hongseong’s policies? Hongseong believes it’s natural for the strong to care for the weak, and that one shouldn’t expect payment for acts of kindness. They’ve also insisted on acting in accordance with the sect’s name. There are other regulations and guidelines within the sect, but the important thing is to not sell the sect’s name through deceitful means and not be swayed by desire, right? So what’s wrong with what I’m proposing?”

I don’t think Hongseong’s teachings are wrong. Of course, among the Sayoon Corps members, there are people who mock those teachings.

But what’s wrong with pursuing ideals?

If that’s the case, let’s choose a method that doesn’t touch on them directly.

So.

Do the herbs indeed come from Mount Hongseong?

Yes.

Are the disciples of Hongseong beautiful?

Absolutely.

Did the Hongseong disciples cultivate these herbs with care and dedication?

After their training, the disciples who couldn’t go on missions poured their hearts into nurturing them during their break times.

Speaking purely in facts, the Sword Saint was left without any strong rebuttals.

After all, I wasn’t breaking any rules.

“What do you plan to charge?”

“I’ll process them a bit before selling, so they’ll be more expensive than what they sell for at the pharmacy in Seomhwa Village.”

If you add storytelling to the product, it naturally demands a higher price.

Especially since it’s a limited edition.

“Items with history inherently carry that kind of value. Even a cheap brush can be sold at a high price if it was used by a famous person. If we factor in the name value of being cultivated by the disciples of Hongseong from Mount Yeongsan… we could charge double, maybe even triple the price.”

“…Isn’t that too excessive?”

Excessive?

Honestly, depending on how you present it, mixing words like limited edition, specialty, and premium, and selling it in a gacha style could yield a hundred times more profit.

After all, this way, it wouldn’t be swayed by desire, so it wouldn’t contravene Hongseong’s policies either.

So let’s save that for Season 2.

“If it means profiting from the lives of ordinary citizens of Seomhwa Village, then yes, the head elder is right. But for those who will buy this, that’s not really the case.”
“They probably won’t care much about it.”

After taking a sip of tea, I continued speaking to the Sword Saint.

“They are superstitious folks. For them, the herbs cultivated by the Hongseong Sect, raised honorably on Mount Yeongsan, and the scented pouches meticulously crafted by the Hongseong disciples, will hold greater value. We will charge them for that. Triple? Quadruple? They would gladly pay even more, knowing how much peace of mind the names ‘Hongseong’ and ‘Mount Yeongsan’ will bring them.”

“Is that really enough for peace of mind?”

When Ryuhyun asked, I shrugged instead of answering.

Come on! Don’t you know about the placebo effect?

“…Who are they?”

The Sword Saint asked somewhat skeptically, and I just laughed.

“They’re officials from wealthy noble families.”

Just like Superman can’t save the world alone, I couldn’t save Sayoon and protect Hongseong on my own.

So the first thing I did was build connections.

I leveraged not just Hyeonryeong, but also the Empire’s conscription department, disguised as the Cheonghoe Merchant Guild, near Seomhwa Village.

And then there were numerous others like Hao-mun, which was used like a courier service in Heavenly Bright Moon.

As I built these connections and drew from the information I obtained, while it might be tough to reach the Imperial Family, I had a good chance of getting in touch with wealthy officials.

And among them, there were quite a few who were superstitious.

I didn’t have many cards to play in this world where I was suddenly dropped, so I focused on gathering cards, and I was now holding a decent hand.

I fiddled with the cards I’d acquired through my efforts and gazed at the Sword Saint.

Alright. It’s time for persuasion.

“If you reject this, there’s nothing I can do. But you must also consider the disciples of Hongseong. While bad laws are still laws, if you get too caught up in the rules, life becomes unbearable. The disciples of Hongseong right now…”

I spoke for a while, using my sharp tongue honed from sparring with those who conspired against Sayoon, and the persuasive skills I’d studied to spread the truth about Sayoon as the rightful hero.

I rattled on based on the essential qualities the Sayoon Corps should possess.

Though there were moments when the Sword Saint and Ryuhyun tried to say something, they were still far from the level of the conspirators.

At least these folks understood each other.

After a long talk, the Sword Saint, who had been listening without an argument, smirked and interrupted me.

“While there was a bit of a personal interpretation with some forcefulness, it’s true that we didn’t break any rules. In that case, I can’t refuse your proposal. Moreover, if it can help lighten the burden on my disciples, I can’t stand in the way either.”

The Sword Saint stood up and deeply bowed to me.

Ryuhyun, Sayoon, and I were all surprised by that.

“Soon, Innkeeper Yoon. I sincerely hope for your guidance.”

The Sword Saint…

One of the famous figures in the martial world, a renowned expert…

Was bowing to me.

For the sake of her disciples.

For the sake of Hongseong.

So I quickly got up and returned the respect to the Sword Saint.

“It’s I who should be grateful.”

For our pride.

“But…”

Our discussion was over. Of course, we hadn’t signed a contract yet, but that could wait for later.

As I was getting ready to leave after taking care of business, the Sword Saint stopped me with a single remark.

“What if the items don’t sell? What will you do if they refuse?”

I responded to her question with a laugh.

That wouldn’t happen, but even if it did, it wouldn’t matter.

I’d just take it all!

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