Chapter 295
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 294
Chapter 294. The Thief of Poetry (7)
The five warriors were running using their movement arts.
They were suffering from muscle pain the entire time, but they couldn't slow down.
That was because they were running away.
Of course, they knew they were in the wrong.
It was clearly their fault for going out drinking during work hours.
But...
“Ugh! It's so hard, I feel like I'm going to throw up.”
“I can't do this anymore! I can't do this anymore!”
They thought they were going to die, so they took advantage of a moment when their guards were down and made a run for it.
“But... is this okay?”
“Then what should we do?”
“Let's hide until someone from the main station comes to relieve us, and then we'll go back. What can the captain do to us?”
“The captain might tell the captain, and then we'll be severely punished!”
“Hey! It's better than doing basic training with that piece of metal!”
“I'd rather have my salary cut!”
“Right!”
To be honest, they thought it would be much better to have their salaries cut for a year than to undergo the training ordered by Eun Seo-ho for a month.
It was that hard and exhausting.
Even now, their muscles still ache, but it is much better than when they first started.
On the first day, it was difficult to even return to their lodgings.
As members of the Eunpungdae, they underwent an hour of basic training every day, so they were used to using their muscles.
Even for them, the training was so grueling that it was difficult to walk.
“Huh? Who's that over there?”
As they were running, someone pointed ahead in surprise.
It was a handsome man dressed in a gorgeous red outfit.
There weren't many men that handsome in the world, so he was instantly recognizable.
“Huh!”
“Huh! Captain So?”
At that moment
Puk!
Puk!
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
Seo Woo and Jin Yu swung their swords at them as instructed by Eun Seo-ho.
The five warriors rolled on the ground from the impact of the blow, which was accelerated by their movement arts.
“Ouch!”
“Ugh!”
Eun Seo-ho approached them as they rolled around on the ground, covered in dirt. Seeing him, the five warriors quickly prostrated themselves before him.
Although they were shocked, they instinctively used their falling techniques, so they were not injured.
Eun Seo-ho knew this, which is why he gave that order.
“So...
”What happened here...
They desperately racked their brains to come up with an excuse for their situation.
However, Eun Seo-ho was already standing above them.
“Did you plan to run away and hide, then show up when someone from the headquarters arrived?”
“...!”
“You thought it would be better to have half your salary cut for a year than to undergo physical training all day long.”
“...!”
When their thoughts were seen through, they were shocked and their whole bodies broke out in goose bumps.
“But you know what?”
Eun Seo-ho's voice changed slightly.
“You guys came farther than I thought. And you still look fine. You must have been pretty tired if you've been running since then.”
“...”
Come to think of it, something was strange.
No matter how much they used their movement arts, there was a limit to their abilities.
However, even though they had come much farther than expected, they didn't seem very tired.
“Don't you think the training I ordered was effective?”
“....
”The efforts of a warrior are never in vain. And even though you made mistakes, I wanted you to be reborn as the elite of Eunhaesangdan. That is why I gave you that order... Was I asking too much?"
Eun Seo-ho looked at them with a gloomy expression, and their consciences began to prick them.
“Just five years ago, Eunhae Trading Company was nothing more than a small company ranked at the bottom of the top 100 trading companies. But now, we are proudly ranked in the top 40.”
Eun Seo-ho continued.
“The world's best trading company.”
“...!”
“That is my dream. To achieve this, the Eunpoongdae must undergo many changes. The role of the Eunpoongdae warriors is extremely important because if we settle for the status quo, we will not be able to achieve our dream or even protect what we have already achieved.”
“...”
“I chose the five warriors to lead this change... Are you really not willing to share this honor with me?”
Hearing this, the five warriors were shocked as if they had been struck on the head with a hammer.
“I thought you gave us that order just to torment us...”
“That order had such a great meaning!”
“We were so impatient! How could we fail to fulfill the Captain's wishes!”
“Are you still warriors of Eunpungdae? You rotten bastards.”
“There were other ways to torment him... Why did we think that was torment?”
The five warriors were so ashamed of themselves that they felt like they were going crazy. They wanted to bury their heads in a hole.
***
I looked at the five warriors who were prostrated in front of me with their heads on the ground.
“We were wrong. We were foolish.”
“Please forgive us.”
“We were trash. Ugh!”
“If you take us back, we will be loyal to you.”
“Please give us another chance.”
Yeah, they should understand now.
Ugh. What kind of trouble is this? Really!
I wanted to beat them some more, but I decided to let it go since Seo and Jin-yu had already beaten them with their sword sheaths.
But...
“However, you are still guilty of fleeing, so I will impose additional punishment. Even if I wanted to let you off, it would undermine discipline if I did so.”
“It was our fault.”
“We will accept the punishment.”
All right.
“From now on, you will train with an additional ten jin added to your 130 jin, for a total of 140 jin. And you will add that time to the three basic training sessions, adding half an hour to each.”
By now, they should be used to training with 130 jin for six hours, so it should be possible.
“Let's go back.”
.
.
.
And so, I returned with the five warriors.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Seo-woo and Jin-yu bowed their heads slightly and replied to my words.
“No, it is our duty to protect our Liege.”
“It is our duty to follow you wherever you go.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Saying that, I grumbled.
“By the way, it's like I have a babysitter. It's not like I'm just calming them down and bringing them back...”
The two warriors laughed at my words.
“You say that, but to be honest, I was impressed today. You made those samurai return willingly.”
“I'm glad your liege is such a good person.”
I smiled bitterly at his words.
“I'm not a good person. How can I be a good person when I use others for my own purposes?”
Jinyu Musha shook his head and said firmly.
“No, you are a good person. Everyone uses others for their own purposes. If you are walking down the street and someone blocks your way, asking them to move aside is also using them for your own purposes, in a way.”
“But that's a stretch.”
“Don't worry about it too much. And you didn't just abandon the people you used, did you?”
Seo Woo nodded and agreed with Jin Yu.
“You are leading him in the right direction. That is why your lord is a good man.”
Hearing such words of comfort from the two warriors, something stirred inside him.
So he absentmindedly played with Geum-ryeong's tail.
“Kui!”
.
.
.
It was morning.
It was the third and final day of the poetry contest hosted by the royal family.
Sixty-four contestants remained based on the results from the previous days.
Today, the winner of the poetry contest would finally be decided.
I went to Song Rok, the poet.
He had already finished getting ready and was leaving the room.
“I hope you get good results.”
Song Rok made an awkward expression at his wife's words. That expression conveyed many things.
Gratitude, regret, embarrassment, shame, and so on...
Songrok himself felt sorry for causing his wife so much trouble.
At times, he must have lamented his own incompetence. However, as time passed, he became resigned to his fate, and eventually gave up on himself.
“That's not an expression you should show to your wife.”
“What?”
I tapped my lips with my finger and said.
“You should smile. And you should tell her that you will bring back good results. You are so good at writing poetry, so why can't you say the right words at times like this?”
Song Rok coughed at my words.
“Hm, hm.”
Then he looked at his wife and said,
“I'll be back. And I'll win, and I'll give you all the glory.”
“I'll be waiting.”
The moment of truth had arrived. We headed to the competition venue.
“Your clothes look nice.”
“Huh? Oh...”
Song Rok was wearing the clothes I had given him. They were simple white clothes, but they were made of high-quality silk and had a subtle sheen.
“I don't know if I should wear such fine clothes.”
“Those aren't clothes.”
“What?”
“They are battle armor.”
I continued.
“Poet Song, you are about to engage in battle with a man named Chu Il-gong. And today, you must look impressive to others.”
“...”
“People say you shouldn't judge by appearances, but the first thing people see is the outside. No matter how bad someone is on the inside, if they look good on the outside, people praise them.”
I smiled.
“It's a damn shame, but what can you do? That's how people are.”
I brushed the dust off Song Rok's clothes and said, "And what's wrong with a good person like Song Rok wearing nice clothes?
“And what's wrong with a good person like you wearing nice clothes? Even Choo Il-gong wears silk.”
My words made Song Rok's eyes flash with fire.
It was the fire of revenge.
“Today, I will finish this.”
Good, very good attitude.
.
.
.
A short time later, we arrived at the competition venue.
Chu Il-gong was also in the waiting area, and his face looked quite dark.
The dark circles under his eyes made him look like he hadn't slept.
That was understandable. He must have been afraid that he would be killed by an assassin in his sleep.
According to a servant in Chul-gong's household whom I had bribed, when he woke up, there was a dagger stuck in his pillow, and just as he was about to leave the house, an arrow flew toward him.
He got what he deserved.
So why did he hire someone to kill him?
And among those who heard the poems of Song Rok and Chul-gong, suspicion gradually spread.
It must have been painful enough to receive death threats, but with the suspicion added to that, he must have felt like dying.
At that moment, Chul-gong saw us, stood up, and approached us.
His eyes were shining sinisterly.
Until yesterday, we had been waiting in different tents, so we hadn't had a chance to meet him directly.
But today, we met him in the same place.
With suspicions about himself growing, it was obvious what Choo Il-gong wanted to say to Song Rok.
He wasn't going to cheer him on or encourage him.
“You... Even so, you followed me so perfectly! Hahaha! I'm surprised!”
How shameless.
However, Song Rok, who had become bitter because of me, was not to be outdone.
“You said I copied you?”
“It's obvious to anyone...”
“Then this is serious.”
He smiled wryly.
“Everyone else says that my poems are the real thing and that Chu Gong's are imitations... Does that mean your skills have already declined?”
“Ugh!”
“Then you should retire before your skills deteriorate further and you are disgraced.”
“...”
So even Song was capable of such harsh words.
As I was admiring him, Pal-gap narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
His gaze seemed to say, “What on earth have you done?”
I feel wronged.
***
The competition began.
Today, the last day, instead of four people, two people would compete in a real battle.
As expected, it was a very fierce battle.
Then,
when there were sixteen people left, Song Rok and Chu Il-gong met.
In a way, this was a big deal.
Songrok had made it this far by submitting an unfinished poem.
This meant that Songrok's poetry was truly exceptional.
Today, there was no screen.
Therefore, the two bowed before the emperor.
“I will give you the theme.”
Until there were thirty-two contestants left, the themes were chosen at random.
Until just now, four themes were presented at a time.
Now, there were sixteen people left, and this was the first theme.
From this point on, the theme presentation would be changed.
The emperor said,
“Write a poem from the perspective of Wugong's son in the ancient story of Wugong Moving Mountains.”
Choil-gong's head spun at the theme.
“Was there such a poem in that guy's poems?”
No, there wasn't.
The difficulty of the task was unprecedented, and Choo Il-gong's mind went blank. Perhaps because he hadn't slept a wink the night before, his head felt heavy and he couldn't think straight.
“Huh?”
When he came to his senses, he had already written the poem and submitted it.
“What did I write?”
He couldn't remember a single word.
When he saw the assistant's face turn pale as he looked at the poem he had written, he knew for sure.
He had failed.