Chapter 24: When Spring Arrives At The Crossroad (3) (1/2)
Book 1 Chapter 24: When Spring Arrives at the Crossroad (3)
Translator: Hwarang
Editor: Kidyeon
The next day, Song Hwa Rin visited me once again.
“Did you tell your father?”
I could tell from her rash behavior that her heart was uneasy. It seems that Song Wu Kyung is going to make a decision either today or tomorrow.
“No, I didn’t tell him.”
Her face expressed her disappointment.
“Eh? Oh well. I’m sorry that I asked you a favor then.”
She turned around, about to leave.
“Your way of thinking is wrong.”
“What?”
“The more that you prevent someone from doing something, the more that they’ll want to do it. Let’s say that my father were to talk him out of it; it would leave a lasting impression on your father.”
She couldn’t say anything back, considering the fact that she hadn’t thought that far through.
“Not only that, but it could create a crack in their relations.h.i.+p. You don’t want that, right?”
“Of course not. I definitely don’t want their relations.h.i.+p to change because of this.”
“Therefore, I think that this isn’t the proper way to go about this. We should make your father give more thought to this—like giving him a reason to decline the offer.”
“Giving him a reason to decline the offer?
Yeah, you’re right, but … how do we go about finding that reason?”
“Have you looked any further into it?”
“What?”
“Have you looked any further into the people involved and the hidden resentment that they bear? Have you found a proper reason to stop these people?”
“What do you mean?” She tilted her head and gave me a funny look.
“I decided to look further into it. I learned more about it from our Financial Officer, Elder Jong.”
“What did you find out?”
“A couple of months ago they were about to make a big financial breakthrough. However, it suddenly came to a halt.”
“What financial breakthrough?”
“I don’t know, as there weren’t any ways to look further into it. However, I have a feeling that we need to investigate what happened. If we know what happened then, we might know what they’re up to now.”
“But we don’t have time! My father said that he’ll give them his answer today!”
“There’s a way to look into it before then.”
“How?”
“By buying information from the information brokers. This is both the fastest and most reliable way to learn what happened.”
“Information brokers?”
Her voice was shaky. It seems that she’s never used an information broker before.
“However, to do so, I need some money.”
“How much?”
“A thousand nyang? Two thousand? Even I don’t know. However, I’m sure that the more you pay them, the more accurate the information will be.”
“Are you crazy? Two thousand nyang is a huge sum of money!”
“I’ll leave the final decision up to you.”
Two hours later she came back with the money. I didn’t ask her where she’d gotten it from. Since she was the heir to the Song Clan, getting two thousand nyang shouldn’t have been a problem for her.
While we were on our way to the information brokers, I bought two straw hats and cloaks to disguise ourselves with. She must’ve been a bit scared considering this was her first time doing this sort of thing.
She didn’t have a good impression of the information brokers, as she thought that they lived in dark places and did dirty things . She thought that they were greedy, dirty people who would try to trick her. It was understandable since she had never used their services before, and there were still people who would try to trick you. However, if the price is right, they’ll give you whatever information you need.
Kang Ho had a few different types of Information brokers. They ranged from private merchants all the way to large broker guilds. However, I knew all about them since the sect that Kal Sa Ryang manages is the information sect.
There are many information guilds in Kang Ho, but the three major information broker guilds in Kang Ho are The Heavenly Net Guild, The Ghostly Eye Palace, and The Thousand Crossroads Guild.
I had already looked into the different information merchants of San Dong, asthere were two things I needed in order to enlarge my Clan: Money and Information.
Without these two things, there was no way for me to enlarge the Clan. Thus, I’d already looked into the information network of San Dong.
Because of this, I knew where the Heavenly Net Guild was, and took her with me to one of the Heavenly Net Guild’s offices.
When we arrived at the entrance, she was hesitant.
“I’m nervous since this is my first time here....”
“Don’t be.”
“What?”
“Don’t show that it’s your first time here.”
“...Ok.”
After taking a couple of deep breaths and slapping her cheeks a couple of times, she managed to calm down.
A man with a goatee met us. He seemed very uptight, and didn’t seem to have any flaws, making him have the perfect appearance for this sort of work.
“What sort of Information are you looking for?”
“Information about the San Dong Merchants.”
There’s a price on all information. Just like other merchandise, the price of the information will fluctuate rather quickly. What was a hundred nyang the day before, could very well rise to be a thousand nyang the very next day.
“A thousand five-hundred nyang. Originally it was only worth two hundred nyang, but it just rose a little while ago.
His words weren’t without reason. Which meant that this information was worth its price.
Song hwa Rin looked at me hesitantly.
I turned towards the Merchant and told him, “Give us some time.”
“Of course.”
The merchant left in a rather excited mood, as if he’d already sold the information.
“Is this information worth its price?”
“I don’t know”
You would never know if the information was worth it until you heard it from the merchant.