Soon, Palgap came into the room carrying a bowl of cold water. I took it and drank.
“Young Master, are you sure you’re alright?”
At Palgap’s question, I nodded.
“I’m fine. Really. Don’t worry about it.”
“You probably feel that way because you trained too hard yesterday.”
At that, I let out a laugh.
Come to think of it, I’d trained so intensely yesterday that I barely managed to wash up before collapsing into bed.
“It’s tough, but I can’t afford to skip training.”
“You definitely complained to me last night about not wanting to train.”
“…Forget about that.”
After breakfast, I headed straight to the Geumseon Market with Palgap and two escort warriors in tow.
I’d told Father I wanted to see the local markets in Jiangxi.
No doubt he’d ask the escort warriors what I did and what caught my interest.
That’s why I deliberately chose to go to the bustling Geumseon Market.
Of course, I’d been here many times in the future I’d lived, but being back after so long, it felt surprisingly exciting.
‘Is it because I’ve started a new life, or is it just that I see things differently now?’
Either way, it didn’t matter.
What mattered was the present.
‘Let’s see…’
Some of the items weren’t popular yet, but I recognized them as ones that would take off in a few years.
I needed to secure those in advance.
As I wandered around, full of energy, I eventually started feeling hungry.
“Shall we try Baek-eo Jinmi (白魚眞味), the local specialty of Geumseon Market, for lunch?”
One of the escort warriors responded.
“We’ll follow your lead, Young Master.”
“But where’s a good place to eat?”
“There’s a place called Jade River Restaurant (碧江飯店) over there. I came here once on an escort mission and ate there. It was decent.”
“Then let’s go there.”
We entered the restaurant the escort warrior had recommended.
Jade River Restaurant.
In fact, I knew this place too. I’d eaten here myself during a past escort mission.
Their Baek-eo Jinmi, the house specialty, matched perfectly with this region’s alternate name, Eomiji-hyang.
It was a dish made by mixing freshwater fish with plain white rice, without any strong seasoning. It wasn’t fishy at all and had a clean, light taste.
Highlighting the natural flavor of the ingredients was a hallmark of Jiangxi cuisine.
“Your order is here.”
Soon, Baek-eo Jinmi was placed before each of us, and we all dove in without a word.
“It really is good.”
It tasted even better since it had been a while.
Having explored the Geumseon Market all morning, I was ready to leave the restaurant and begin the real reason I’d come—to find the craftsman.
I knew the craftsman lived in Geumseon Village, where the market was located, but I didn’t know the exact address.
All I had to go on was that there were a few paulownia trees next to his house.
I’d found that out when I once commissioned the Hao Clan to investigate. I’d intended to hold a proper funeral for the craftsman and his family, who’d died unjustly.
But I never got to do it. The Jinkyeon Merchant Group had incinerated the bodies.
The more I thought about it, the more vile those bastards seemed.
Even the Hao Clan hadn’t been able to dig up anything more. That’s how thoroughly the Jinkyeon Merchant Group had erased any trace of them.
If I commissioned the Hao Clan to look into craftsmen in Geumseon Village now, I could probably find him easily, but I couldn’t afford to do that.
Even if I was just fifteen, I was still the son of the Eunhae Merchant Lord. Every move I made was under the scrutiny of rival merchant groups.
The man eating beside me, the one behind me… they were tails.
Even the escort warriors had noticed, and one signaled me discreetly.
If I contacted the Hao Clan now, with tails on me?
That’d be like feeding my enemies valuable information.
It could bring even more danger to the craftsman.
‘This is the problem with using the Hao Clan.’
They had branches across the country, which made them useful for getting information that the Trade Pavilion couldn’t obtain.
But the flip side was the risk of information leaks.
That’s why, when commissioning the Hao Clan, you either had to conceal your true goal or make sure they didn’t know who you were.
‘Times like this make me wish I had a personal intelligence network.’
That was for the future. Right now, I needed to deal with the tails on me.
So I deliberately raised my voice a little and said to Palgap,
“Let’s walk around the village a bit.”
“Huh? You’re done looking at the market?”
“I’m planning to come back tonight. I heard the night market here is really something.”
One of the escorts nodded. Whether he understood my intent or not, he played along.
“That’s right. Geumseon Market at night is quite the sight.”
“There’s nothing else to do until then, and it’d be boring to just sit around the inn.”
“Understood.”
We finished our meal and stood up. At the same time, the tails shadowing us also rose from their seats.
With Palgap and the two escort warriors, I wandered all over Geumseon Village.
Outwardly, I was just taking a leisurely stroll, but my eyes were scanning everything nonstop, searching for paulownia trees.
When I found a house with them, I watched its residents for a while.
I remembered the craftsman’s face.
After going through ten, twenty houses, I could see that the tails were growing visibly exhausted.
They had no idea what I was doing, which must’ve been frustrating.
One by one, they began to fall away. They probably concluded that I was just here to broaden my experience.
Two shichen later—
“Phew… This is tiring.”
I sat down on a nearby rock.
I’d scoured the village for two full shichen, and I now knew just how many paulownia trees there were in Geumseon Village.
About a hundred.
Since they were tall trees, spotting houses with them hadn’t been hard.
But I still hadn’t found the craftsman.
That’s when one of the escort warriors spoke.
“All the tails have dropped off.”
“So they’re finally gone.”
“Ah, so that’s why you wanted to wander the village. And that winding route too.”
“Hahaha.”
I let out an awkward laugh.
Truthfully, the route had only gotten complicated because I was looking for houses with paulownia trees…
But I didn’t correct him. It was better he thought it was intentional.
The real problem was that the sun was beginning to set.
This is bad…
It’s taken far more time than I expected.
Tomorrow is the day of the merchant group’s transaction, so I won’t be able to move freely.
Which means today is the only chance I have to find the craftsman.
I thought it’d be easy to find him…
Guess I’d been too naive.
Still, I can’t give up.
If I do, then just like in the future I experienced, that craftsman and his family will fall into tragedy all over again.
And I can’t allow the Jinkyeon Merchant Group to profit unjustly once more.
I got up from my seat.
“Let’s get moving again.”
“Understood.”
It was then.
I heard a man shouting.
“Thief! Damn it, someone catch the thief! That money’s for my family’s living expenses, you bastard!”
And then someone came sprinting toward us at full speed. I unhooked the gourd I carried for water.
A water flask was a must-have on an escort mission.
I froze the contents using Ice Qi, then tossed the gourd right in front of the oncoming thief.
“Ah!”
As if I’d dropped it by mistake.
Clatter—
The gourd rolled across the ground, and the thief—who happened to run right over it—stepped on it.
Normally, it would’ve shattered on impact.
But the gourd, frozen solid, didn’t break.
Slip—
Instead, the thief slipped on it and lost his balance, crashing face-first into the ground.
If you asked how I timed the throw so perfectly, I’d say—I just knew.
Honestly, even I wasn’t sure how I did it. But I did, and that was enough.
“You punk!”
Not missing the opportunity, the escort warriors rushed in and subdued him completely.
“P-Please, have mercy, sir!”
The thief begged, but I chuckled and said,
“Talk about luck. Dropped a gourd by accident and caught a thief with it.”
“Ain’t that something.”
Just then, a man came running over, panting. When he saw the thief we had pinned, he shouted,
“Give me back my coin pouch, you bastard!”
“W-What are you talking about…”
The thief tried to play dumb, but I cut him off.
“Hand it over.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
One of the escorts struck his thigh with the scabbard.
“Gyaaah! Alright, alright! Here! Here it is! Please, I’m dying!”
I took the pouch and asked the man,
“Is this yours?”
“Oh! Yes! Yes! It’s mine, absolutely!”
“How much was inside?”
“My monthly pay. So it should be…”
He gave me the amount, and I opened the pouch to count it.
The sum was exactly as he said.
“Here you are. Be more careful from now on.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Just then, the patrol constables arrived, and I identified myself before handing the thief over.
Turned out he was already well known in the area.
The constables, happy to have scored a case, grinned and headed back to the office.
With that settled, I tried to resume my search for the craftsman.
Or I would have—if the man who’d lost his pouch hadn’t stopped us.
“I can’t let my benefactor leave like this. Please, come to my home and have a drink with me.”
I waved it off.
“No need. We’ve already eaten, and I’m in no position to drink.”
“Then at least have a cup of tea. I can’t let you go without showing some gratitude.”
Turning down his offer repeatedly would just be rude at this point.
Refusing again would only embarrass him.
“Then I’ll have a cup of tea.”
“Thank you.”
The man led us to his home.
“This is my house. It’s humble, but please, come in.”
The moment I saw the house he pointed to, I froze slightly.
There were four modest paulownia trees growing beside it.
“Paulownia trees…”
“Oh, yes.”
The man nodded.
“I planted them when my son and daughter were born. Thought I’d give each of them a tree when they married. Hahaha.”
“…”
Now that I thought about it, the info from the Hao Clan only mentioned a few paulownia trees—it never said how big they were.
And there’s been a time gap since then…
“It’s a local custom, you see.”
So that’s why there were so many paulownia trees in Geumseon Village.
I felt oddly deflated.
Hao Clan, you bastards.
Even with such vague intel, you still charged me three silver taels for it?
I swear I’m founding my own intelligence division someday.
If nothing else, I learned a valuable lesson from all this.
Just because I have information doesn’t mean it’s correct, and I mustn’t make things sound simpler than they are based on that alone.
Just then, footsteps sounded from beyond the gate.
“Father! I’m back!”
I turned at the young voice, and my eyes widened in surprise.
A boy around ten came in holding a bundle of books.
When he saw us, he quickly bowed his head.
“Hello.”
“…”
“That’s my son.”
“…He looks very bright.”
Why I was so shocked—
It was because this child had appeared in my dream.
The one who had grabbed my wrist and begged me to save him and his family—this was him.
This boy was the craftsman who would one day create the wooden martial dolls.
For a moment, I doubted it.
Could this boy really be that craftsman?
He looked nothing like the image in my memory.
Back then, I’d visited under the pretext of an inspection from the Jinkyeon Merchant Group, and managed to see him when no one else was around.
He had bloodshot eyes, skin clinging to his bones, and kept muttering, “Something new. A new artifact…” over and over again.
Compared to that, the boy in front of me had chubby cheeks and looked completely innocent.
Wait… wasn’t that craftsman twenty years old back then?
And I met him about ten years after the wooden martial dolls first appeared.
Then…
Suddenly, the merchant lord’s words came back to me.
“Oh, that little brat’s hands are amazing! He just whips up these strange gadgets like it’s nothing!”
Those damn bastards.
They were exploiting a child.
The Jinkyeon Merchant Group discovered this boy and abducted him half a year from now.
So this ten-year-old kid walked straight into a hellscape for the sake of his family.
–TL Notes–
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