MP 03

Chapter 3: Tomb Robbing (Part 2)

“Ah, I’ve heard some rumors about this. They say it’s going to be a tough fight.”

“Yeah, everyone seems to think so.”

“If it’s a war, it might drag on longer than expected. I’ll have to be away for a while. Will you be okay?”

Dan asked with concern, and Yeomuk lowered his gaze, smiling bitterly.

“War pushes many people to death…”

“No, it’s money causing all this trouble,” Dan thought to himself.

The place where the most dangerous money gathers is, of course, war. But next to that, it’s the slave market.

Dan, who inherited the beauty of the mermaid Yeonbi, was bound to catch the eye of cruel traders who often visit such places.

“Well, maybe this is a chance for a new life.”

“Ha, it’s better than running wild after money.”

“Ha! Running wild for money? I just like it a little more than others. But how much are they paying? Since it’s for transporting war supplies, there should be extra danger pay, right? Heh, just thinking about it makes me feel good.”

“Ha. If you don’t control money, money will control you.”

“Hehe, in this world, with enough money, you can buy anything—even a dog or a woman. How can you not like it? But how did we end up taking such a big job, even though we’re not a big agency?”

“Well, it’s because our ally, the Wol Kingdom, offered the war supply distribution job. From Jemyeong Kingdom’s side, it wasn’t a bad deal. They selected several agencies, and we, ‘Gwangyang Escort Agency,’ were picked.”

Dan nodded, understanding now.

Yeomuk gave him a long, serious look and said:

“Dan, you’ll assist Chief Yu in this job. Even though we’ve known each other since we were young, don’t act too careless. Can you handle it?”

“Yes! I can do it, Father. Leave it to me. Hehe.”

“I’ll get going now. Rest well.”

Yeomuk tried to hide his loneliness as he left the room. Dan finally sighed in relief.

“Phew, I was going to leave tomorrow, but it looks like I can’t. If it weren’t for Noback’s constant chatter, I would’ve finished the job already. That coffin below was too suspicious.”

It was still late at night, just past the third watch.

Dan set off again toward the ancient tomb on Mount Taeak.

Money, the more you have, the better, right?

And if it’s free money, who cares if the tomb owner shows up? It wouldn’t be scary.

“The scariest thing in the world isn’t ghosts. It’s people. Ha, scaredy-cat Noback. Dumb Madong.”

The chilly night air seemed to signal that summer was coming soon.

The insects, having lost sleep, were chirping loudly in the backyard of the Gwangyang Escort Agency.

It had been thirteen years since they moved from the Daewon Empire to Jemyeong Kingdom.

It had also been that long since Dan had been with them.

Dan had never been sent alone to another country before, so it was hard for him to sleep at night.

While walking through the lonely backyard, he noticed an old man sitting alone in a pavilion, watching the moon. Seeing his familiar back, Dan felt relieved.

“Old Huang, is that you?”

“Hm, Yeomuk, you’ve come. Looks like Dan got into some trouble.”

“Old Huang, I thought you only studied medicine, but did you also learn mind-reading?”

Yeomuk frowned, and Old Huang smiled.

“I didn’t learn mind-reading, but looking at your face, it seems like you’ve aged ten years. What’s going on today?”

“It’s all because of you, Old Huang! You taught me medical skills, but instead of learning that, Dan learned how to dismantle machines and decode ancient scripts. He’s been digging around other people’s tombs, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Haha, it’s not my fault. Even after ten years of learning medicine, he still couldn’t tell the difference between licorice and three-leaf herbs. Dan has no talent for medicine. He skipped the classes, but found my old books on decoding scripts and dismantling mechanisms. He’s a genius, even if he’s wasting his talent.”

Yeomuk sighed deeply.

“That’s true. Dan never paid attention to the lessons and wasted his time on other things.”

Looking up at the night sky, Yeomuk thought about how, thanks to Dan’s obsession with money, the full moon looked like a golden button.

“By the way, Old Huang, what brings you here so late? Is Chief Yu’s condition worse?”

“Chief Yu’s illness is just from old age. Everyone has to face death eventually. I heard they brought in some fine tea from the Western Regions, so I thought I’d stop by and chat.”

“Ah, I’m glad it’s not serious.”

“By the way, Dan seems to be getting to the age where he might need a match. I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but no matter how much you try to hide it, a flower’s scent will still attract bees. If there’s a good match, you should arrange it soon for Dan’s sake.”

“Sir, it’s getting late. Let me have someone escort you home.”

“Haha, what, are you going to send me off? Don’t worry, I’ll think about it. I see your third child seems like a good match for Dan. Ha, ha. But you must have thought about it already. Perhaps you’ve already taken action. Hahaha. I’m going to head home now. Be careful with Dan. He’s obsessed with money, and I’m worried he’ll get into trouble. Be careful with him, Yeomuk. Hahaha.”

As Yeomuk watched Old Huang leave, he sighed deeply.

“The old ginger is really sharp. I see…”

Crunch, crunch.

Dan entered the ancient tomb alone, moving quickly as he had already been there before.

It felt a bit lonely without Noback and Madong chattering around, but the reason he didn’t bring them was because of the corpse beneath the coffin.

It looked ancient, but strangely, it seemed to have been killed only a few weeks ago.

The brutal method used made him wonder if it was related to a cult or evil forces.

Dan silently hoped it wasn’t.

“Hmm, this is strange. This scratch doesn’t look like mine. The thickness of the dagger seems different.”

Standing in front of the stone wall, Dan paused and thought carefully.

Most of the marks were his, but something about it felt off.

Looking around, everything was eerily silent.

“Hmm, maybe I’m just being paranoid?”

Dan started dismantling the mechanism again, faster this time since he had done it before.

“Wow! It’s almost done!”

The stone door opened with a loud noise, revealing a narrow staircase.

Now, he just needed to descend into the underground chamber and finish dismantling the mechanism.

He was excited about awakening the treasure beneath the coffin.

The skeletons guarding the coffin would need to be moved out of the way first.

“Living people are scary, but the dead aren’t. I don’t know why you guys died, but once I’m done, I’ll take care of you. Just stay here for now. Oops!”

The cold touch of the metal armor, the rattling bones—it wasn’t as heavy as expected, but after doing it several times, his back started to hurt.

“Ha, ha, I did it. I should have brought Madong along. Anyway, let’s decode this code.”

Dan checked the coffin closely and started decoding the script.

It was written in ancient language, briefly telling the story of the tomb’s owner.

“So, this tomb belongs to the first prince, Prince Ma, of the Guangmu Emperor from 1,200 years ago. He died at 25—what a tragedy. But why was the princess sacrificed with him? She was only 15… tsk, tsk. Well, if this is really the prince’s tomb, it should be worth something. Thank you, Monk Daeryum! I’ll sell the offerings and donate a lot to the temple!”

Dan carefully scratched at the strange symbols decorating the coffin.

Since it was an ancient tomb, decoding it was like eating cold porridge.

The coffin slowly opened, and dust from thousands of years flew into the air.

“Cough, cough. Ugh, my eyes hurt.”

The shaking ground finally stopped, and Dan lit the torch to reveal a thick staircase leading down.

It felt like there was a treasure vault down there.

“Hehe. I bet there’s treasure down there. What kind of treasure, I wonder?”

Just as he took a step down with light steps, a cold sensation ran down his neck.

Something felt wrong.

Thump, thump.

Dan tried to steady his racing heart and slowly turned his head.

Unexpectedly, his pupils widened.