After several days of investigation with the Head of Guards, we reached a conclusion. I declared this conclusion to the creditors.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Are you messing with us right now?!”
“Lady Tang is merely a representative. All real authority and debt lie with the absent mother of Lady Tang.”
I stated the undeniable truth to the angry creditors.
“So what?! That mother of hers ran away! Then the daughter has to pay it back!”
I knew they would say that. They must have thought the same thing before coming here. But here’s the deal: your claims and reality are different.
“For Lady Tang to inherit the debts, her maternal grandfather would have had to pass on the property through a succession to his granddaughter. However, how can a succession occur when the heirs are alive? There is no such law in this country’s code.”
A succession means that the parent must be deceased for the granddaughter to inherit. Therefore, Lady Tang cannot inherit the debts in the first place.
“Is this punk trying to play word games with us?! You think we’re easy to take down?”
“You think you’ll come out ahead if this goes to trial?”
“The law? Do you think I’m going to just let your runaway friends’ debts slide?! You’re hilarious!”
Of course, reality is different. If this world operated by laws, would there be a Martial Arts World? The law is far away while fists are close by. The furious creditors looked as if they would rise up against us at any moment.
I looked at them and secretly chuckled.
“If you’re looking for debt repayment, let’s go to the government office together. If you want a knife fight, I’ll bring some witnesses from the Sichuan Tang Family.”
You may be angry, but both the law and force are on our side.
“Stop it. Just stop. We’ll definitely lose in court. This judge received support from Lady Tang’s maternal grandfather during his tough times.”
“Well, Sichuan Tang Family is… well, you know, right?”
At my words, the creditors began to panic and murmur among themselves.
From what I heard from the Head of Guards, the judge in Yichang was supported by Lady Tang’s grandfather. Debt may be a personal matter, but if it goes to trial, justice will be served fairly.
Also, Lady Tang has tremendous power through her lineage, as one can tell from her appearance. Of course, being a bastard child poses issues, but they probably don’t know that, and the fact that she is a disciple of Tang Geoh doesn’t change.
That’s why connections are so important!
“Wait! I know her granddaughter inherited the bookstore! Doesn’t that mean she inherited the debts too?”
One of the creditors raised their hand and pointed out the flaw in my logic. I hoped they wouldn’t, but here we are.
“How can you inherit property while renouncing debt obligations? Lady Tang intends to renounce her share.”
I spoke words that were far from my true thoughts, as if asking why such a basic question was being posed.
To break free from the power dynamic, we need to keep what we want hidden. They must believe that they’re the only ones who want something.
“Tch! So you’re saying you won’t pay? Why did you invite us here?!”
“To resolve the debts.”
“What?!”
“Originally, Lady Tang has no responsibilities or obligations. She possesses the strength and background to endure your anger. However, she’s here out of a sense of duty to fulfill her responsibility to clear your debts.”
You can’t just mess with Lady Tang legally, physically, or otherwise. Yet here she stands. Impressive, right?
I continued to transform Lady Tang from a debtor into one with noble responsibility.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Anger is temporary, but financial loss is eternal. Just a short while ago, her grandfather passed away and her mother vanished—an unfortunate series of events. However, Lady Tang stands here to fulfill her moral obligation. Now let’s calm down and give her a round of applause!”
Clap clap clap!
In an instant, every creditor was clapping, something quite unlike before.
——
“I’ve broken the power dynamic. Now it’s time to turn the tables.”
Having detached myself from this relationship, I was ready to bring forth an easy plan to refute their claims for the sake of debt repayment.
“I plan to dispose of all the assets of the bookstore through auction.”
The situation had shifted in our favor. I brought up a strategy that would be simple yet hard to come up with in this world.
“Auction? What do you mean ‘auction’? It’s not like we’re dealing in ancient books or paintings!”
“We need quick cash! We sell to those who need it at a fair price fast! What auction are you talking about?!”
Opposition was to be expected. Auctions are typically associated with art dealing in this place.
In modern times, when a debtor defaults, selling assets at auction to settle the debt is a reasonable approach, but even appealing to that rationality can be problematic.
“They probably want to acquire the bookstore’s assets at a bargain price.”
Even if people understand a rational method, if they can gain from the unreasonable and unfair, they’ll choose that option without hesitation.
To those who want to acquire the bookstore’s assets at a steal, an auction is of no benefit. But I had thought this through.
I took out a book and held it high, starting to read it to the crowd.
“The Samgeori Poem Shop. The creditor Mr. Lee here picked up for about 70% of the market price. If he had managed to get an additional 30%, he could have cleared everything owed by creditor Mr. Ok.”
“What? Mr. Lee? Is that true?!”
The man called Mr. Ok asked Mr. Lee while pointing at him with a bewildered expression.
“Oh, n-no. I just meant we should dispose of profitable things quickly.”
“This punk! You said you didn’t receive a cent!”
“The 500-year-old celadon from the bookstore. Mr. Choo took that but only treated it as half its worth based on market price. And the shop at the dock…”
I mentioned the unreasonably seized assets as organized by the Head of Guards.
“Spit it back out!”
“This punk! Why should I spit it back out?!”
In an instant, the scene shifted to a brawl.
“Enough! What’s this disgraceful scene?!”
An elder with a sharp countenance shouted, and his guard swiftly settled the chaos.
I was looking forward to seeing some more brawling before trying to use my hired goons, but alas.
“As you heard, many debts could be repaid given the situation, yet many instances have occurred where that hasn’t happened. Fortunately, only a small portion of the bookstore’s assets have been disposed of so far. In order to prevent such situations moving forward, I would like to proceed with public auctions! Debtors in favor, please raise your hands.”
Using the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique, I made my words penetrate the ears of the brawlers, and they started looking at each other nervously.
“Is auction a good idea?”
“Sounds somewhat reasonable.”
It’s hard to oppose freely in this situation, isn’t it? Humans are like wounded beasts when it comes to hearing others gain unfairly.
Come on, raise your hands. Let’s keep this easy.
Hehe. “Interesting fellow has pulled a clever method. Good. I’m in favor.”
The elder who had previously organized the situation smiled and raised his hand first.
“N-no! Now that I look closely, who is that! Why are they here…”
“That person supports this? Yes! It’s support! Unconditional support!”
“Me too! In favor!”
“Me too!”
“Support!”
It’s no wonder people are surprised. Once the elder raised his hand, others began to follow suit until eventually, everyone was raising their hands.
————
Hehe. “Even if debts are cleared through auction, what will you do about the remaining debts?”
As the creditors lowered their hands, the elder who had raised his hand first inquired.
That’s a valid point. Even if we receive fair value through auction, it won’t be enough to clear all debts.
This is it.
I’ve prepared all this to get here.
I didn’t just volunteer to mediate. Thanks to the atmosphere we’ve built today, I was able to lay down an argument. If debts remain, who knows what kind of harm will befall Lady Tang?
Even if we were to let go of the bookstore and clear all debts, the woman with a skin disease and the black-haired barbarian would have to roam the world broke.
We need to protect the bookstore.
And it must be done under the guise of pure responsibility while hiding our selfish interests.
“I will take responsibility.”
I declared to the elder with a firm expression.
I announced that I would shoulder a burden I didn’t have to.
“I will take responsibility? For what?”
“Of course, for the remaining debts!”
“Of course!”
While I had stated that Lady Tang had no debt responsibilities, we would take responsibility! However,
“But?”
“For only half of the remaining debts. In exchange for inheriting the bookstore left by Lady Tang’s grandfather, I will take on that half.”
From the outside, it might seem like a minor consideration I’m receiving.
