The Flower Carp Ferry successfully completed its move to the new premises.
“Thank you so much.”
“Then all you have to do is work hard and make money.”
“Of course.”
We handed out mooncakes to everyone around Dongting Lake to announce the expansion and relocation.
Inside the mooncakes was a slip with well-wishing words for the Double Ninth Festival.
“Looks like we handed them all out. Shall we eat some mooncakes too?”
We each took one mooncake and began to eat.
“By the way, what slip came out of your mooncake, Shopkeeper Gang?”
At my question, Shopkeeper Gang showed me his slip.
[If you don’t lose your conviction, everything turns out well in the end.]
Coincidence.
It was exactly what I wanted to say.
I spoke to him.
“To be frank, the Daegun Merchant Group will probably pick fights over every little thing and try to obstruct you again and again.”
“I suppose so.”
“But if you stick to principles until the very end and keep trusting the conviction you’ve held so far, you’ll be fine. Then just as this blessing says, it’ll all turn out well.”
I looked into his eyes and asked.
“Can you promise that?”
“I’ve already pledged to the Deputy Merchant Lord. Trust is a merchant’s life. How could I betray it?”
“Thank you for saying that.”
.
.
.
Just as I expected, the Daegun Merchant Group opened a new boat shop right in the old premises of the Flower Carp Ferry.
The shop’s name was Daegun Ferry.
And to celebrate the opening, they offered a route around Dongting Lake at an absurdly cheap price on a big boat.
Of course people flocked to the Daegun Ferry.
I nodded as I listened to Escort Guard Lee Pil’s report on that.
“I see.”
“Young Master. Why aren’t you jumping into a price war this time?”
Palgap’s face clearly said he was curious.
I smirked.
“Because it’s a price war that doesn’t need to be fought.”
I said that and rose from my seat.
“Where’s Shopkeeper Gang?”
“He’s at the Flower Carp Ferry right now.”
I left the inn and headed to the Flower Carp Ferry.
As expected, there were no customers at the Flower Carp Ferry.
“Anybody here?”
“Ah. You’re here.”
Shopkeeper Gang welcomed me warmly.
He must be troubled because no one wanted to ride thanks to Daegun Ferry’s shock pricing, yet he didn’t show it. He really was remarkable.
“Shopkeeper Gang.”
“Yes, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“I’d like to ride the boat today too. Is that possible?”
“It is. When did you have in mind?”
“I think today at the hour of the dog (7-9 p.m.) the moon will be clear and it’ll be nice.”
“Then I’ll prepare for that time.”
“See you later.”
I parted with Shopkeeper Gang and stepped out of the Flower Carp Ferry.
“Palgap.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Are you good at swimming?”
“Of course. They used to call me the Catfish of Sunyang County back in the day.”
Catfish.
That somehow suits him.
“Good.”
In my memory, the accident happens today.
That’s why I said I’d board the Flower Carp Ferry’s boat.
The people who died in that accident all had heartbreaking circumstances.
It couldn’t be helped since none of them were that well off.
This time I’d save them for sure.
The best method would be to prevent the boat from sailing at all, but if you try a reckless method that ignores safety, you’ll just cause an accident for sure.
We could end up with an even bigger disaster.
Better to let the accident occur and then rescue them.
It’s not an explosion type of accident, so if we prepare well, we can save everyone.
.
.
.
Around sunset I headed to the Flower Carp Ferry with Palgap and the Escort Guards.
“You’ve come.”
“Yes. Is the boat ready?”
“Of course.”
I handed him a few silver taels.
“The fare.”
“N-no.”
“Please take it. Each time the boat sails there are costs, and I don’t want to cause you a loss.”
“…I’ll accept it with thanks.”
He tucked the money inside his robe and spoke.
“Then allow me to guide you.”
The Flower Carp Ferry’s boat was big enough to take over fifty passengers even excluding the polers and crew.
Besides our party, around ten others boarded that boat.
I wondered why they boarded the Flower Carp Ferry’s boat and not the Daegun Ferry’s.
“I first went to the Daegun Ferry, but their boat was about this size and they loaded about a hundred people.”
“…”
“So I got a refund and decided to ride this boat. I heard they never exceed capacity here.”
Said one guest.
“Why do you think there’s a saying that the old official is the good official.”
Said another.
“I used this boat before, and the memory was so nice I came back to ride it again.”
Said another, and so on.
The reasons varied, but they all said this boat was good.
A little later,
I watched as Shopkeeper Gang boarded personally and checked that there were no safety issues, and the captain spoke.
“Didn’t you just inspect it?”
“There might be something I missed… check everything.”
Shopkeeper Gang spoke to the captain.
“Tell the guests the precautions once more, then depart.”
“Understood.”
The captain in a booming voice emphasized the precautions to the passengers aboard.
“Then we’ll depart shortly.”
Shopkeeper Gang dipped his head to me.
“Have a pleasant time.”
“Yes.”
Once Shopkeeper Gang got off, the boat departed right away.
Since it was a night run, lanterns were hung here and there, and thanks to that there was no trouble admiring the moon reflected on the lake.
“With a dip net, I feel like I could scoop up the moon.”
“Really looks that way.”
As we enjoyed the scenery, I sidled up to the captain steering the boat.
“I understand the route overlaps a lot with Daegun Ferry.”
“That’s right.”
“It must be awkward when you meet their boat.”
“Not really. The Shopkeeper told us if they try to overtake, just let them go first. I think the same.”
The captain spoke earnestly.
“The place closest to death is atop this boat. A single plank splits the boundary between life and death.”
“That’s true.”
“In a place like that, showing competitiveness is foolish.”
I nodded to show I agreed.
“I heard the Daegun Ferry’s boat is overloaded to an unreasonable degree.”
“Maybe because crowds rush in, I hear they do that every time.”
“In that case, which part of Dongting Lake would you name as the most dangerous section?”
“No need to go far. Right there.”
He pointed ahead with his hand.
“That spot has strong currents and a sharp turn. So every passenger has to grip the safety rail tight and hold on.”
The captain continued.
“But if they’ve loaded too many, there won’t be enough safety rails for everyone to grab, and if those who can’t grab get pulled to one side in a rush, the boat will lose balance.”
“…”
“No matter how reckless, no one’s foolish enough to load people to where there aren’t enough rails to hold.”
No.
There is such a fool.
Just then.
Clang clang clang-!
A loud clanging bell rang out from behind. I turned to see a boat about the same size as ours bearing down at high speed.
“It’s the Daegun Ferry’s boat.”
“So it is.”
It looked threatening, as if to say it would ram if we didn’t move.
The captain gave a wry smile and signaled the polers, and our boat yielded to the side.
As it passed alongside, it was obvious even at a glance that it was running with an absurd number of passengers aboard.
The captain clicked his tongue at the sight.
“They loaded even more than usual today. If that crazy bastard wants to be a drowned ghost, he should jump in alone. This ×× is ××ing ××…”
A stream of rough curses burst from the captain’s mouth.
“Gasp. Forgive me. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s fine. I feel the same. But wouldn’t the captain and crew of that boat know it’s dangerous to load that many?”
“There’s no way they don’t. But what can they do? If they don’t do as ordered from above, who knows what they’ll suffer.”
“…”
“That’s how absolute the Daegun Merchant Group is around here. I don’t care since I’m under someone else’s flag. Hahaha.”
He looked at me as he spoke.
“That’s why I’m grateful. For not giving up on our Flower Carp Ferry.”
“Don’t mention it. I didn’t want to give up either.”
Just then, Palgap shouted.
“Uh-oh? That boat… something’s wrong.”
We all ran to the deck and looked ahead.
A boat listing heavily.
Rough, fast-running current.
It was the sharp turn section the captain mentioned earlier.
“Kyaaaaa!”
“Uwaaa!”
Screams rang out, and the boat flipped completely and began to sink.
“Damn. Let’s go rescue them.”
“Of course.”
The captain nodded at once and steered our boat that way.
Then those used to the water jumped into the lake first.
You mustn’t approach a drowning person carelessly.
They thrash by instinct and restrict the rescuer’s movements.
So I chose to knock them out to get them out as fast as possible.
Tap-!
I pressed acupoints to knock them out, then brought them to our boat.
And those remaining on deck hauled them up and checked their condition.
Those who swallowed a lot of water had their chests pressed so they’d spit it out, and those who only fainted were laid down comfortably.
I glanced at Palgap.
His claim of being called Catfish in his youth wasn’t bluster, and he cut through the water extremely fast.
And he must’ve learned a fair bit of martial arts from Escort Guard Jin Yu, because he used the same method as me.
Escort Guards Seo Wu, Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil and the Flower Carp Ferry’s crew all moved busily too.
As a result, we saved everyone who fell in… or so I thought.
“Ah. My son. I can’t see my son In-seon.”
At a woman’s words, the man who looked like her husband panicked and searched around.
A man raised his hand and spoke.
“I think I saw a child going down toward where the polers are.”
I asked him.
“Is that true?”
“Y-yes.”
By now the boat had sunk so far you couldn’t even see its shape.
That meant we’d have to dive all the way down to search, which is hard unless you’ve trained water techniques professionally.
Even Escort Guard Seo Wu, a Peak warrior with rich experience, looked troubled.
But I was fine.
“I’ll go.”
“My lord, it’s dangerous.”
I spoke to Escort Guard Seo Wu as he tried to dissuade me.
“I’ll be fine.”
Then I sent him a voice transmission.
— I’ll use the water techniques I learned.
— But…
— We can’t pretend we didn’t see the child, can we? Every moment counts.
— …I will master water techniques without fail.
I gave him a smile, then dove straight into the water.
Then I performed the Ice Sea Assimilation Method and executed the Ice Sea Water Severance Technique Master taught me.
I saw the boat sinking down below.
As I approached the boat, I focused my Qi-sense.
A faint trace of someone’s Qi.
It wasn’t too late yet.
I hurried after that Qi and entered the boat.
Luckily I found the child quickly, but he had swallowed a lot of water and had lost consciousness.
As I hurried out of the boat with him, I saw a rock that felt strangely familiar.
Hm?
It looked similar to something I’d seen when I’d gone to the North Sea not long ago.
But this wasn’t the time to check that.
I hurried and brought the child above the water.
“Puh-!”
“He’s out.”
I handed off the child and climbed onto the boat. People rushed to him and pressed his chest and patted his back and moved busily.
“Hurgh-!”
Thankfully the child spat out water and came to.
“He’s alive. He’s alive.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Truly thank goodness.”
Seeing that, I felt satisfied.
“Good work.”
At Palgap’s words, I nodded.
“Yeah, that was really tough.”
Then the child’s parents and many others approached and bowed their heads to me.
“Thank you so much.”
“Thank you.”
“Great hero, you’re my lifesaver.”
“As expected of the Handsome Young Hero.”
Huh? Where did that title Handsome Young Hero even…
I turned my head and saw Palgap’s proud face.
So it was you.
Anyway, I was glad we saved everyone without a single death.
Phew.
We stopped the accident for now, and it was time to do my work.
With things shaped like this, I couldn’t just let it pass.
Then one passenger spoke to the captain.
“Excuse me, but please take us to the Daegun Ferry.”
“We need to lodge a complaint about this.”
I was skeptical at those words, but I told the captain to do as they wished.
For what came next, I needed their anger.
–TL Notes–
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