The World’s Strongest Is from a Third-Rate Martial Clan [Novel] Chapter 76

Jin Geumbo was a merchant whose business centered around Muju in Jiangxi Province.

Although he had yet to establish a merchant guild bearing his name, he was a merchant who worked tirelessly for his dreams.

Today, like any other day, he hurried his steps early in the morning.

‘Considering the deadline, I need to entrust my goods to an escort agency today.’

One of a merchant’s most important virtues was selecting a good escort agency.

Without an escort agency to safely protect and transport their goods over long distances, merchants couldn’t travel for trade.

In that sense, Jin Geumbo intended to take another step forward as a merchant today.

In other words, he planned to build a connection with a new escort agency.

‘Phew. I wonder if the Gaechen Escort Agency will accept goods from a small merchant like me.’

The Gaechen Escort Agency. A flagship business of the Baek Family that had recently been making a name for itself throughout the Muju region.

It was an agency steadily building trust in the merchant world, thanks to the growing rumors that it escorted goods safely and delivered them on time.

Jin Geumbo traveled to Agan County, where the Baek Family was located, to request an escort commission.

‘Haha, to think the Baek Family would grow this large. If I’d known, I would have established a connection with them years ago.’

Jin Geumbo had spent over ten years simply working as a peddler.

Naturally, he had set foot in Agan County quite a few times and knew exactly what kind of place the Baek Family was.

It had a long history, so many people knew of it, but it was a third-rate martial family that had declined as far as it possibly could.

At that time, the Baek Family truly had nothing to show for itself.

‘To think a place like that would grow large enough to employ well over a hundred martial artists.’

It sounded easy enough to say ‘over a hundred people,’ but it cost twenty silver taels just to feed and house one adult male for a month.

In other words, the current Baek Family had grown wealthy enough to spend over two thousand silver taels a month without breaking a sweat.

‘Just looking at the buildings right now, they’re all brand new.’

Moreover, there were countless people coming and going.

This, too, was proof that the Baek Family’s reputation had risen to an incomparable level.

‘Phew. I just hope the Baek Family accepts my commission.’

Jin Geumbo patted his chest as he went through the procedures to submit a commission to the Gaechen Escort Agency.

“What is the nature of the goods?”

“It is a single letter.”

“A letter? It will cost quite a bit to entrust that as a good. Are you sure you are okay with that?”

“I am aware. I plan to pay a handsome escort fee as well. About ten times the customary rate.”

“Ten times! If that is the case, you must have a specific condition in mind.”

“That is correct. I… want the Young Master Sword Dwarf to accompany the escort as a guard.”

Instantly, the receptionist’s face stiffened.

For some reason, he even started looking around nervously.

Just as Jin Geumbo felt puzzled watching him…

“You desire a rather unique condition.”

A voice called out from behind. Turning his head, Jin Geumbo spotted a boy.

A physique that clearly showed he had trained in martial arts at a glance.

Furthermore, a clever and handsome face.

‘Could it be… is he the Young Master Sword Dwarf himself?’

“Who might you be, Young Master?”

“Chu Dal… ah, oops.”

For a moment, Jin Geumbo doubted his ears.

“Ah, crap. Damn it. It just slipped out.”

It was because the boy, who looked every bit a child of the Orthodox Path, mumbled to himself like a street thug from the Black Path.

“What did you just say?”

“It was nothing, haha.”

Jin Geumbo concluded that he must have misheard.

Meanwhile, the boy continued speaking.

“I am called Yi Hu. It seems we need to discuss the escort mission separately, so please come this way.”

It seemed he wasn’t the Sword Dwarf himself after all.

Jin Geumbo followed behind the tall, striking boy.

“May I ask for the merchant’s name?”

“I am Jin Geumbo of the Jin Family.”

“Merchant Jin, why do you seek the Sword Dwarf…”

The boy trailed off and chuckled.

“Why are you suddenly laughing?”

“Ah, my apologies. May I ask why you, Merchant Jin, want the Young Master to join the escort mission?”

Before answering, Jin Geumbo fell deep into thought.

The current Baek Family was one of three factions fighting for the position of overlord in Muju.

They had gone through numerous battles with Black Path gangs to reach their current standing.

And the Baek Family’s Sword Dwarf was the alias of the very person who had made brilliant contributions toward helping the Baek Family attain its current towering reputation.

‘I heard a fifteen-year-old boy has already reached the first-rate realm. Moreover, he is said to be a genius who learns ten things from hearing just one.’

He was an indispensable talent for the success of this escort mission.

That was exactly why he demanded him, even going as far as offering ten times the standard fee.

However, revealing one’s true intentions honestly went against a merchant’s nature.

“I plan to accompany the escort mission myself. I made the request out of a desire to personally see and converse with the famous Sword Dwarf.”

The boy’s response to this was straightforward.

“I see. Then it is impossible.”

“Hmm? Why is that?”

“The Sword Dwarf… *snicker* The Young Master is currently undergoing closed-door training.”

Martial artists in closed-door training devoted themselves entirely to honing their martial arts, substituting regular meals with fasting pills.

Therefore, going on an escort mission was out of the question.

‘Ugh. This has become troublesome. I thought offering ten times the fee would be enough to draw the Young Master Sword Dwarf out.’

Just then, Chu Dal’s sweet-talking whispered into Jin Geumbo’s ears.

“There is one method, however…”

“What is it?”

“Haha, well. You must keep it a secret that I told you.”

Seeing the boy act troubled, Jin Geumbo quickly spoke up.

“Of course. If you can make it so I can travel with the Young Master Sword Dwarf, I will reward you separately, Young Master.”

“Oh, really?”

“Of course.”

Flashing a grin, the boy continued.

“Actually, the method isn’t anything grand.”

The boy read the paper containing the information about the escort mission and spoke again.

“The destination of the escort mission is Gyesu. Furthermore, the good is a single letter, under the condition that you accompany it, Merchant Jin.”

“That is correct. The Jin Family Estate in Gyesu is the destination.”

Gyesu. A region located on the border between Anhui and Henan Provinces.

And the Jin Family Estate was the most renowned martial family in the Gye region.

“In that case, do you agree to use the Yangtze River canal for the escort route?”

“I don’t just agree; I was going to request it.”

There were two ways to travel from Jiangxi Province to the destination, Gyesu—meaning the border of Anhui and Henan Provinces.

The first was the land route cutting through parts of Hubei and Anhui.

The second was the water route using the Yangtze River canal.

While the first route traveled in a straight line, the second took less time.

“Then I believe I can bring this up to the Young Master Sword Dwarf.”

“That is a relief, but why?”

The boy smiled warmly.

“Because he would have to travel along the Yangtze River to get near Yangzhou anyway. The details are a secret.”

“If that is the case… I understand.”

“Excellent!”

The boy shouted clearly and stood up.

“I will go call the Sword Dwarf, snicker, Young Master right away. Ah, would you care to accompany me?”

“May I?”

“Yes. But in exchange, as soon as you see the Young Master, please just say one thing: ‘It is an honor to meet you, Young Master Sword Dwarf.'”

That level of empty flattery wasn’t difficult at all.

…Though it was a bit puzzling how the boy kept snickering after he spoke.

Jin Geumbo followed the boy once again.

Soon, a stone door heavily barred with thick bolts came into view.

By the looks of it, it seemed to be the entrance leading to an underground training cave.

The boy leading the way stood before the stone door and knocked on it with a peculiar rhythm.

Thump, thump-thump-thump-thump, thump.

With a pounding heart, Jin Geumbo waited for the Young Master Sword Dwarf to emerge.

When looking at the entire martial world, the Jiangxi martial world was considered the absolute outskirts.

And the person being hailed as the absolute greatest rising star in this very Jiangxi martial world was the Young Master Sword Dwarf.

From the perspective of Jin Geumbo, a native of Jiangxi, meeting the Young Master Sword Dwarf was a luxury perfectly suited to be used as a bragging story over drinks later.

‘He must surely look incredibly striking and dignified.’

The Jiangxi martial world was truly the fringes among fringes.

Compared to the Northern Martial World, which housed the Shaolin Temple, Wudang Sect, Namgung Family, and Paeng Family, the Southern Martial World had strong Black Path influences and few renowned, massive martial factions.

Thus, even if one was the greatest in Jiangxi, they likely wouldn’t even rank among the top hundred rising stars if you looked at the entire world, but…

‘You never know. Reaching the first-rate realm at fifteen… isn’t that something only those called geniuses in Shaolin or Wudang can achieve?’

But why isn’t he coming out?

They said you lost track of time during closed-door training. Was he asleep?

Just as Jin Geumbo began to feel puzzled.

Craaash!

The stone door exploded, sending rock fragments scattering in every direction.

Instantly, Chu Dal scowled.

“Brother! What are you doing breaking the door?! Do you have any idea how much one of those costs?!”

Regardless, a Lion’s Roar echoed from within the thick cloud of dust.

“Aaaargh! Who called me?! Is it you, Chu Dal?!”

Soon, the dust cloud settled. The silhouette of a boy revealed itself.

For a moment, Jin Geumbo doubted his own eyes.

‘He came out of the training cave, so that young master must be the Young Master Sword Dwarf, but…?’

“I feel like I just needed a little more time! Aaargh!”

The Sword Dwarf he had heard about in rumors was a genius among geniuses.

But what was with his appearance right now?

Let’s just excuse his filthy, unwashed, and smelly state.

He had just come out of closed-door training, so in a way, it was to be expected.

However…

“Damn it! This better not be something trivial! I won’t let you off! I’ll shove you into a cesspit, Chu Dal, you bastard!”

“Hey, I didn’t even do anything wrong, and you’re already threatening me the moment you see me?!”

The boy scratched his disheveled hair aggressively and shouted irritably.

“Shut up!”

“Kikiki! No, I won’t!”

Jin Geumbo remained silent, simply watching the scene unfold before his eyes.

Why was this happening? The boy who had seemed polite and clever just moments ago was now acting like an utter delinquent.

“Anyway, did your closed-door training yield any results?”

“Does it look like it did? Can’t you tell just by looking? Are you that dense?”

“I figured as much, so I was just teasing you.”

“This punk’s gotten way too loose. Haa, back in the day, you used to listen to me so well.”

“Didn’t you say you preferred it when I acted casual?”

“I didn’t mean I wanted you to become this loose, you punk.”

“My ass. Anyway…”

Chu Dal looked at Jin Geumbo.

‘Ah, come to think of it, he asked me to say a word when I saw the Young Master Sword Dwarf.’

Jin Geumbo immediately cupped his fists in greeting.

Although the boy looked completely different from his expectations, it was still best to win his favor for now.

“Young Master Sword Dwarf! It is an honor to meet you!”

Right after he shouted, Jin Geumbo realized something had gone terribly wrong.

A cross-shaped vein popped on the forehead of the boy called Young Master Sword Dwarf, Yanghwi.

“Sword Dwarf? Sword Dwaaarf?”

Seeing Yanghwi stride over and stand right in front of him, Jin Geumbo panicked.

Didn’t they say he was fifteen?

For a fifteen-year-old boy, his body was… excessively well-built, wasn’t it?

Because of his filthy appearance and childish… irritable attitude, he hadn’t noticed until now.

But the boy– no, young man standing before him possessed a truly masculine physique.

‘A body like a fine stallion!’

Muscles packed tightly across his entire body. Broad shoulders and a solid waist.

It elicited admiration just looking at it.

Truly beautiful.

And that very young man was growling at Jin Geumbo.

“Hey, mister. Do I look like a dwarf to you?”

“Ah, mister…?”

“Yeah, mister. Think about it. How would you feel if someone you didn’t even know called you an Old Fat Pig?!”

In short, it meant a middle-aged man with a potbelly.

“Aargh! I even ate those disgusting fasting pills while in closed-door training, and I’m already dying of frustration because I couldn’t break through the wall, but the first thing I hear is Sword Dwarf?!”

Whether Jin Geumbo panicked or not, Yanghwi began venting his frustration.

“I should have beaten the crap out of all those bastards! I’m young, so of course I’m a bit short! What? Sword Dwarf? Sword Dwaaarf?!”

What was even more annoying was that the alias Sword Dwarf had become famous in an instant.

He already had a cool-sounding first alias like Hidden Dragon of the Baek Pond, so why was everyone calling him Sword Dwarf?!

“I’ve made up my mind. From now on, anyone who calls me a Sword Dwarf to my face gets a beating. So, with that in mind…”

Yanghwi glared at Jin Geumbo with an incredibly chilling expression.

His eyes looked exactly like someone contemplating how to beat the living daylights out of the person in front of him.

“Brother, hold on, hold on. Merchant Jin is a guest.”

“Guest?”

“Yeah, the one you specifically instructed me to watch out for before you went into closed-door training. It seems this is the man.”

Instantly, Yanghwi’s expression changed drastically.

Not just his expression, but his entire attitude and appearance completely transformed.

How could his appearance change when he hadn’t even bathed or changed clothes?

The reason was simple.

Paaah!

With a burst of qi, all the grime stuck to Yanghwi’s body was blown away entirely.

The clothes, fluttering in the fierce wind, became as clean as new.

Having performed an astonishing feat of martial prowess as if it were nothing, Yanghwi looked at Jin Geumbo and rubbed his hands together.

“How much were you thinking of offering, honored guest? Hehehe.”

Jin Geumbo was simply left speechless.