Chapter 33
Tap.
Drip.
Whooosh—!
Raindrops began soaking the ground.
At first, one or two drops fell, but in the blink of an eye, torrential rain began pouring down.
“It’s raining!”
“The rainy season has finally begun!”
“Phew, we can finally breathe a little easier now!”
Sighs of relief escaped from all around the market.
The merchants spread their arms wide and welcomed the rain with their entire bodies.
The scorching heat that had continued for more than a month was finally over.
“Hmm…”
But the merchants’ expressions were not entirely bright.
Now that the heat had broken, all that remained was for the number of customers to increase.
That was a good thing.
It was definitely a good thing, but…
The merchants of Eun-pyeong Market subtly turned their heads.
There, Hayun was standing in the rain with a blank expression.
“So… does that mean you have to leave now?”
Someone finally asked the question no one wanted to bring up.
“…….”
Instead of answering, Hayun slowly looked around the market.
In just one month, Eun-pyeong Market had changed beyond recognition.
The buildings that had been little more than haunted houses had been neatly repaired, and all the leaking roofs had been patched up.
It was finally beginning to look like a proper market.
This was not a change Hayun had ordered. It was something the merchants themselves had accomplished.
Thanks to that, the number of customers visiting Eun-pyeong Market had increased, and even during the daytime, the market was full of life.
Hayun turned her head and looked at each of the merchants’ faces one by one.
A faint smile appeared around her lips.
“Yes. It can’t be helped.”
The sound of rain briefly filled the silence.
“I was only assigned to this place until today, after all.”
“I see…”
Hayun was, after all, a haengsu of Mansang.
Her role was to travel around markets throughout the country, not just Eun-pyeong Market. It was regrettable that Hayun did not actually belong to Eun-pyeong Market.
“So what happens to the Goblin Market now?”
Someone cautiously asked.
“You’re not going to close it down just like this, are you?”
At those words, the entire market fell silent. Only the sound of the pouring rain rang heavily through the air.
After a moment, Hayun slowly shook her head.
“No.”
With those words, Hayun took something out from her waist.
“The Goblin Market must continue even without me.”
What Hayun took out was a goblin mask. With practiced hands, Hayun put the mask over her face.
“Would it be right for a goblin to disappoint the customers who come to the Goblin Market?”
A brief silence followed.
Then someone shouted loudly.
“Of course not! We can’t let that happen!”
Following Hayun, he began putting on a goblin mask.
“We are goblin merchants!”
With that as the starting point, the other merchants also began taking out their masks and putting them on.
“Once a goblin, always a goblin!”
One-horned goblins, goblins with three eyes, goblins with long protruding buck teeth, and goblins of all kinds of colors and shapes quickly filled the market.
“Selling goods here is our destiny!”
“We won’t allow the Goblin Market to close just like this!”
Hayun looked at the sight with deeply moved eyes.
She had not expected this at first.
She had never expected them to step forward this actively.
They had been people who simply dragged themselves through life without any motivation. But as the night market opened and customers began flooding in, their hearts, which had been frozen solid, gradually began to melt.
It was then.
“……Every night, at eight!”
Suddenly, someone began singing.
At first, it was just one person.
“……Eun-pyeong Market! Goblin Market!”
“Open for just one hour!”
“Come late, and it’s over!”
Then the voice gradually grew louder, and before long, all the merchants began singing the song Hayun had composed at the top of their lungs.
♪ Every night, at eight!
♪ Eun-pyeong Market Goblin Fair!
♪ Open for just one hour!
♪ Come late, and it’s over!
The sound of rain and singing mixed together and echoed throughout the entire market.
Something hot trickled down Hayun’s mask.
“Everyone…!”
She could not tell whether it was rainwater or tears.
Hayun wiped away the flowing liquid and desperately called out,
“I’ll come back someday when the sun has set!”
With those words, Hayun turned her back.
Then she bid them farewell.
“Until then, everyone, take care!”
“We’ll be waiting for you!”
“Thank you! Goblin Haengsu!”
“Goodbye! Haengsu Im!”
Cheers from the merchants of Eun-pyeong Market poured out behind Hayun.
And those cheers did not stop until Hayun had completely disappeared from sight.
***
Mansang. The Main Hall.
It was the day when all the haengsu had gathered together in one place for the first time in a very long while.
“Greetings.”
“How has everyone been?”
“It’s good to see everyone again.”
The haengsu entered the main hall, exchanging greetings and asking after one another.
“Haha. Look at this fellow. Your face has become completely black as charcoal!”
“I almost failed to recognize you.”
“Heh heh, this is all proof that I worked hard.”
Having spent the entire summer traveling around under the scorching sun, all their faces had been deeply tanned.
There was no need to single anyone out; the marks of their hardships were plainly visible.
They were returning after a full month.
Stories they had not had the chance to share came pouring out endlessly.
“Our side almost ended up in a huge fight. People started arguing over who got to occupy the shade, and it became a complete mess.”
“Don’t even mention it. Our well dried up, so we had to fetch water every single day.”
“You call that hardship? The market I went to was a fish market. Half the fish and everything else spoiled, so we had to throw it all away!”
As expected, the topic was the markets each of them had been assigned.
A heated debate broke out over who had suffered the most.
But strangely, talk about sales was nowhere to be heard.
There was no need to bring it up aloud. Everyone already knew that their results were all roughly similar.
Just then…
Rattle.
The main hall’s door opened, and someone entered.
“…….”
The person who entered through the door was Song Do-hyeon.
While everyone else had faces blackened by the sun, Song Do-hyeon had maintained his clean complexion.
He had spent most of his time beneath the shade canopy, so he had barely tanned at all. The contrast made it even more noticeable.
As Song Do-hyeon appeared, the noisy main hall instantly fell silent.
‘He’s here. He’s here.’
‘You’ve all heard those rumors, right?’
The haengsu whispered among themselves about the rumors concerning Song Do-hyeon.
‘I heard Daegyo Market decided to stop doing business with us.’
“What?”
The haengsu who were hearing the news for the first time could not hide their surprise.
‘Daegyo Market? That’s the second-largest market in Uiju, isn’t it?’
‘How did things come to this?’
‘How would I know? Chairman Old Man Woo over there was so furious that he declared he wouldn’t do business with us anymore.’
‘Heh, heh. What on earth happened for things to get like this….’
The haengsu glanced sideways at Song Do-hyeon.
Song Do-hyeon also seemed to have only recently heard the news, as his expression was somewhat stiff.
Just then…
Rattle.
Once again, the main hall’s door opened, and someone appeared.
“Greetings, seniors!”
With a booming greeting, Hayun appeared.
Hayun’s skin was also barely tanned.
Thanks to taking care of herself whenever she had the opportunity, as well as spending the entire time wearing a goblin mask, she had avoided getting much sun.
“Oh my, Haengsu Im.”
As soon as Hayun appeared, the haengsu gathered around her as though they had been waiting for her.
“Congratulations. I heard that this Goblin Market, or whatever it’s called, was a huge success?”
“A night market. I never would have imagined such a thing.”
“As expected of Haengsu Im. I never thought you’d even manage to bring Eun-pyeong Market back to life…”
“Exactly. I never thought I’d live to see Eun-pyeong Market bustling again…”
The Goblin Market was currently the hottest topic in all of Uiju.
The things people bought there, the food they ate there, or whether they had visited the place at all. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all of Uiju was buzzing with talk about the Goblin Market.
Men and women of all ages, regardless of whether they were yangban, commoners, or slaves, set out on the road every evening before night had even fallen.
To visit the Goblin Market.
The matter had become so significant that even the local government office had extended the curfew.
Hayun’s reputation as the person who had planned the Goblin Market was now spreading beyond Uiju and throughout the eight provinces of Joseon.
The congratulations directed toward Hayun did not stop.
“After the dried yellow corvina for tribute, now the Goblin Market… You really are something.”
“We’re lucky to have Haengsu Im in Mansang. What would we have done if you had gone to a competing merchant guild?”
“There must have been a reason Daebang-nim personally brought you here.”
“I knew it from the beginning. Haengsu Im is simply in a different league.”
Jealousy was something people felt when they were roughly equal.
Once they realized that the gap between themselves and their opponent was impossible to bridge, a new emotion blossomed: respect.
Everyone looked at Hayun with admiration.
Everyone except one person.
“Tch….”
‘I can still reach her.’
‘If I work just a little harder, I can reach that point too.’
‘I can make that glory and those cheers mine.’
Song Do-hyeon, who still could not let go of his lingering attachment, stared intently at Hayun.
Just then…
“How has everyone been?”
“Daebang-nim!”
The main hall’s door opened, and finally, Im Sang-ok appeared.
“Looking at your faces, I can plainly see how much hardship you have endured.”
Im Sang-ok slowly looked over the haengsu.
The hardships they had endured were evident from their faces, blackened by the sun.
“There are many things I would like to praise each of you for, but….”
Im Sang-ok’s gaze rested on Hayun for a moment.
The rumors about the Goblin Market had reached Im Sang-ok’s ears as well.
In fact, he had secretly visited the market himself. And he had been deeply impressed.
He had been troubled by the succession issue for so long. Yet now, it felt as though the talent he had been searching for had finally appeared.
But Im Sang-ok did not reveal those feelings outwardly.
“Each market and each situation you were responsible for was different. How could I possibly do that?”
He turned his head and looked over all the haengsu.
“What matters is that you shared your intentions with the merchants of your respective markets. Is that not so?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Im Sang-ok did not ask about the weight or importance of their accomplishments.
How much they had sold.
How much the market’s sales had increased.
How they had helped the merchants.
He asked about none of it.
“You have all worked hard.”
He simply praised their efforts with a warm gaze.
Then Im Sang-ok raised his head and looked at the sky.
Because the rainy season had only just begun, the sky was covered in thick clouds as though another heavy downpour could come at any moment.
“It seems the rainy season will continue for the time being, so everyone should rest until further instructions are given.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“Then we shall conclude this meeting.”
Just as the meeting was about to come to an end…
“Haengsu Im.”
Suddenly, Im Sang-ok called Hayun by name.
“Yes, Daebang-nim.”
“Come to my room after this. There is something important I wish to discuss with you.”
Im Sang-ok requested a one-on-one meeting with Hayun.
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