THE MERCHANT WHO COUNTED COINS
646 Words
*EPISODE 8: "THE MERCHANT WHO COUNTED COINS"*
_∼2080 words_
_5/12. The one who put a price on life._
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*1. THE LIST*
Peach tree. Midnight.
Tae-hyun: "5/12. Merchant Baek. Minister of Trade."
Min-ho: "What’s his crime?"
Tae-hyun: "Sold medicine during the plague. 10 gold per bottle. Poor district died first."
Min-ho: "How many?"
Tae-hyun: "He kept count. In a ledger. 4,117."
Min-ho’s scar twitches.
"Then we make him count too."
*2. THE GOLD HOUSE*
Baek doesn’t live in the capital.
He lives 2 hours out. In a house made of gold leaf and greed.
Walls. 20 guards. Dogs. And a vault.
"He won’t come out," Min-ho says.
"Good," Tae-hyun says. "We’re going in."
They don’t go as ghosts.
They go as buyers.
*3. THE BUYERS*
Black cloaks. Hoods low.
Gold bags. Heavy.
The guard at the gate looks at the bags.
"Business?"
"Plague medicine," Tae-hyun says. Voice cold. "We heard Baek has some left."
The guard lets them in.
Greed > Fear.
Inside, the house smells like incense and coins.
Baek is in his counting room.
Surrounded by chests. By scales. By ledgers.
He’s fat. Soft hands. Rings on every finger.
He looks up and smiles.
"Ah. New customers. What can I do for you?"
*4. THE LEDGER*
Tae-hyun puts the gold on the table.
"Medicine."
"Of course," Baek says. Opens a chest. Empty.
"All sold out. Shame. But I can get more. For the right price."
Min-ho steps forward.
"How much is the right price?"
Baek laughs. "Depends. How desperate are you?"
Tae-hyun picks up a ledger from the desk.
Opens it.
Page 1: _Plague Year. Medicine Sales._
4,117 names. With prices next to them.
_Kim Family - 3 bottles - 30 gold. Died anyway._
_Lee Widow - 1 bottle - 10 gold. Died._
_Child, unnamed - 1/2 bottle - 5 gold. Died._
Tae-hyun closes the book.
"Desperate enough to pay," he says.
Baek sees the scar on his palm.
His smile drops.
"You... you’re—"
"Glass Boys," Min-ho finishes. "Remember us?"
*5. 5/12*
Baek reaches for a bell.
Min-ho’s dagger is already in his hand.
Not thrown.
Just shown.
"Don’t," Min-ho says.
Baek freezes.
"Please. I was just doing business. Supply and demand—"
"You put a price on life," Tae-hyun says.
"Now life is putting a price on you."
He opens the ledger to the last page.
Blank.
Puts it in front of Baek.
"A quill," Tae-hyun says.
Baek shakes. "What—"
"Write," Tae-hyun says. "Every name. Every price. Out loud."
For 2 hours, Baek reads.
His voice breaks.
4,117 names.
He cries by name 200.
By name 1000 he’s begging.
Min-ho and Tae-hyun don’t say anything.
They just listen.
*6. THE COUNT*
When he’s done, Baek collapses.
"Please... I paid my dues to the empire..."
"You did," Tae-hyun says.
"And now you pay ours."
Min-ho steps forward.
On the wall, in gold ink:
_“5/12. For the 4,117. Counted.”_
On the desk: The ledger. Open.
And a scale.
With 10 gold coins on one side.
And nothing on the other.
They leave the gold.
Take nothing.
Outside, they light one torch.
The house doesn’t burn.
The vault does.
All that gold, melted.
*7. THE AFTERMATH*
News spreads fast.
_The Merchant Who Counted Coins was made to count his sins._
In the poor district, people leave 10 gold coins at temples.
With notes: _“For the ones who couldn’t pay.”_
The Emperor is losing it.
_“They’re not just killing us. They’re shaming us.”_
Back at the peach tree.
7 names left.
Min-ho looks at Tae-hyun.
"You okay? 2 hours of that..."
Tae-hyun flexes his scarred palm.
"I’ve been listening for 14 years," he says. "I can listen for 2 more hours."
They press scars.
_“Blood oath?”_
_“Blood oath.”_
*END OF EPISODE 8*
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