That evening.
I headed toward my quarters with weary steps.
“You’re back, Young Master?”
Palgap, who was cleaning my quarters, came out to greet me.
“Yeah.”
“What shall I prepare for dinner?”
“Tonight…”
After a brief thought, I said to Palgap,
“Just keep it simple. I need to eat quickly and head somewhere.”
“Where are you going? Should I call for an escort?”
“No, I’m just heading to the annex.”
I had to share today’s news with the person who created the self-dancing puppet.
“To the annex… Ah! You’re going to see Artisan Gong?”
Though Gong Mil was only ten years old, Palgap always referred to him respectfully as Artisan Gong due to his remarkable talent.
“That’s right. So prep a light snack too, something appropriate.”
“Understood.”
After dinner, I set out with Palgap toward the annex quarters where external guests stayed.
As we approached the annex housing Artisan Gong’s family, Gong Lae came running out from the yard.
“Young Master!”
“What were you doing?”
“I was drawing pictures on the ground.”
The yard was filled with various drawings—
Wait, those weren’t drawings, they were written characters.
“You were practicing your writing?”
At my question, Gong Lae twisted shyly and replied,
“I was just copying from my brother’s study book.”
But for just copying, the handwriting was surprisingly neat and accurate.
The characters Gong Lae wrote was the final phrase of the Thousand Character Classic: ‘Predicate particles — ye, zai, hu, ye (焉哉乎也).’
I asked, just in case,
“You’ve finished memorizing the Thousand Character Classic?”
She smiled and nodded, then quickly pressed a finger to her lips.
“Shh!”
“Hm?”
“If my brother finds out, he’ll feel bad.”
Right, Gong Mil had said he hadn’t finished the Thousand Character Classic yet.
But for a five-year-old to have already memorized it…
A pair of prodigies, no doubt.
And yet these genius siblings had once been unable to bloom and had died, thanks to that dog of a Jinkyeon Merchant Lord.
I could feel my blood pressure rising again.
…Sigh.
He’s already dead. I need to stay calm.
Just then, perhaps having heard our conversation, Artisan Gong’s wife came out from inside.
“You’re here, Young Master. Please come in.”
“Good evening. Have you had dinner?”
“Just finished, actually.”
I glanced at Palgap, and he immediately handed her the bundle he was carrying.
“I thought the children might enjoy this. Please, take it.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
As she accepted the bundle, I asked,
“By the way, where’s Gong Mil?”
“Oh, he’s in his workshop.”
“His workshop?”
“His personal one.”
A small room in the annex had been set up as Gong Mil’s personal workshop.
They said he spent almost all his time there, except when eating or studying.
Still, he should move around a little more if he wants to stay healthy.
I headed toward the workshop, Gong Lae trailing behind, clinging to my robe.
“Are you in there? It’s Seo-ho. I’m coming in for a moment.”
With that, I quietly stepped inside.
Scrape, scrape, scrape—
Gong Mil was sitting at his workbench, carving wood with a small blade.
He was so focused that he didn’t even notice me enter and kept shaving away at the wood.
“Oh…”
“Shh.”
I held Gong Lae back.
It wasn’t urgent, and I didn’t want to interrupt his concentration.
So I just watched.
I was curious what he was making.
As the moments ticked by, my eyes slowly widened.
I knew what he was making.
After the self-dancing puppet and the automatic cart, it was something nearly every household eventually owned.
A device that spun its wings to stir the air and cool the room. I’d used one every summer myself.
The name was…
“A windcraft fan (作風機)?”
At the sound of my voice, Gong Mil finally looked up, startled, and jumped to his feet.
“Y-Young Master! When did you get here?”
Gong Lae quickly answered.
“About one shikgyeong ago.” (TL Note: About 15 minutes)
“Ah! I’m sorry. When I’m focused, I tend to lose track of everything around me…”
I waved off Gong Mil’s apology.
“No, I wanted to see your work. Don’t worry about it. So, what were you making just now?”
“Oh, this?”
He scratched his cheek.
“Last summer, Lae was suffering from the heat. I thought it’d be nice if something could fan her automatically. Back then, I didn’t have the materials, but now I thought I’d try making it.”
He lowered his head.
“I’m sorry. You gave me such a great place to work, but I ended up wasting materials on something useless…”
I reached out and grabbed his hand.
“No—you’re amazing.”
“…Huh?”
“Keep making things just like this. Keep experimenting and building. That’s what the workshop is for.”
“Thank you, Young Master. But…”
He tilted his head and asked cautiously,
“You called it a windcraft fan just now…”
“Oh, it just seemed like a device that would stir the wind, that’s all.”
I deflected, but Gong Mil looked pleased and nodded.
“Windcraft fan… I like that!”
“And let’s try selling it too.”
“This? You think people would buy it?”
“Of course!”
I said it with confidence.
It’d sell even better than the self-dancing puppet. It would become such a staple that every household except the poorest had one during summer.
“Oh, right—I almost forgot why I came here.”
I gave a gentle smile.
“The one thousand self-dancing puppets you made—they’re all sold.”
“…What?”
Gong Mil’s expression froze in disbelief, then slowly twisted into shock.
“R-really? You mean they really all sold?”
“Yep.”
I told him,
“You’re a real artisan now. Congratulations.”
A few days later.
I headed out into the marketplace.
All Eunhae Merchant Group employees had one official day off every ten days.
And today was my rest day.
It was precious time off, but instead of lying in bed, I’d come to the marketplace because there was something I needed to get.
Palgap looked at me nervously and asked,
“Young Master, isn’t this West Street?”
West Street was home to places like the Blue Pavilion and Red Pavilion, as well as gambling dens. (TL Note: One is a Pleasure House and the other is a Brothel)
That’s why Palgap looked so uneasy.
“Why? I’m an adult now. Am I not allowed to come to places like this?”
“It’s not that, but… what I mean is… this place is unpredictable. You never know what might happen here, so…”
“It’s dangerous?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Palgap nodded. I let out a soft laugh.
“You’re worried I might head to a wine house to have some midday drinks?”
“…Honestly, I’d prefer that.”
Huh? What kind of response is that?
When I gave him a confused look, he sighed.
“Other Young Masters are always drinking and chasing women, but not you. You just work all the time…”
“I like drinking too. And I like women.”
“But I’ve never seen you drink or chase after women.”
Well, in my past life, I did enjoy drinking and even visited brothels—
Ah, no, I only went to brothels for business.
Was there a girl I liked?
If I can’t remember, probably not.
Can’t argue with that.
“Still, isn’t it great that I don’t get into trouble like the others? Don’t take your blessings for granted.”
“Of course I know that. But when the worst thing you say is that you’re going to drink during the day…”
Oof. That stung a bit.
“Anyway, I’m just saying I’m worried because it feels like you’ve suddenly become an adult.”
Palgap really had good instincts.
I chuckled and replied,
“I can’t be a kid forever.”
With that, I headed toward a small miscellaneous goods shop with no signboard.
It was called a general store, but in truth, it was where people sold off their belongings to afford entertainment.
As I stepped inside, Palgap and the two escort guards behind me looked puzzled.
And understandably so—I had no reason to be here.
“Who’re you?”
An old man came over and looked me up and down before asking.
“You’re not here to sell, are you? So what brings you?”
“How’d you know I wasn’t here to sell?”
At my question, the old man replied,
“I’ve been running this shop for years. I can tell with one look. But to explain it—your eyes give you away.”
“My eyes?”
“They’re calm. But the ones who come here desperate for fast cash are always fidgeting with anxiety.”
“I see.”
He had a sharp eye.
I smiled.
“I just saw some interesting items and thought I’d take a look.”
“Take your time.”
The old man sat down, and I began browsing the shop’s wares.
He looked like an ordinary old man, but the fact that he ran a general store in the middle of the pleasure district meant he was anything but ordinary.
There was once an Escort Chief named Ghost-faced Constable (鬼面捕).
He always wore a ghost mask and became known by that name.
He was in charge of homicide cases and, with his exceptional martial arts, captured every murderer in his jurisdiction and threw them into prison.
But there was one killer he never caught.
After retiring, he made it his life’s goal to catch that last murderer.
So he opened a general store here, where the killer was said to be hiding, and ran it for many years.
That very man was now the old man in front of me.
I’d learned this from a conversation with an inspector a few years before my death.
Unfortunately, the old man passed away before ever catching the murderer.
In a way, he was an extraordinary man, and with that thought, I began looking around the shop.
That’s when something caught my eye.
“Oh! Palgap, isn’t this amazing?”
“Isn’t that just an inkstone?”
“This isn’t just any inkstone—it’s a Duan Stream Inkstone (端溪硯). See this faint blue pattern?”
“You mean this design?”
“Yeah. If you wet it or soak it, it becomes even more vivid.”
“But an inkstone’s an inkstone. What makes this one better?”
“It grinds ink smoothly—not too rough, not too fine—and the ink doesn’t dry quickly. Anyway, once you use it, it’s totally different from ordinary ones.”
“Have you used one before?”
“…”
Ah… I haven’t.
I’ve never actually used a Duan Stream Inkstone before.
They’re so expensive that even someone like me couldn’t casually buy one.
In fact, my commemorative gift when I became Deputy Merchant Lord was a high-grade Duan Stream Inkstone.
I turned my head and muttered vaguely,
“I haven’t used one, but that’s what they say.”
Still, judging by the wear, someone must’ve used it for quite a long time…
How’d you end up here, buried in dust like this?
Something about it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Honestly, most of the items here had similar stories.
They weren’t sold to make ends meet—they were sold to fund entertainment.
This was a pleasure district, which meant it was a high-crime area.
And this shop was right in the heart of it.
There were other general stores where you could sell things for money. No one would come to such a dangerous place unless they had a reason.
I chatted with Palgap as I picked out a few items.
But I didn’t choose the Duan Stream Inkstone.
It’s not like I had any calligraphy contests coming up, and I’d probably get one as a gift from my brothers later anyway.
Instead, I chose a mirror, a bracelet, and a fan.
“How much is this?”
“Hmm… five silver taels.”
Palgap’s eyes widened at the price—about the same as a commoner’s monthly salary.
“What? Why’s it so expensive? These are all old and used!”
But I stopped him and pulled out silver from my coin pouch.
“Here.”
The old man counted the coins, then looked at me in surprise.
“This isn’t five taels.”
“I paid the right amount.”
What I gave him was ten taels.
Someone who didn’t know the value of these items might say five taels was too much, but to me, it was ridiculously cheap.
Most people would jump at the chance, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
As a merchant who followed my ancestors’ will to be just and honest, I didn’t want to make an unfair profit.
I only gave ten taels because that’s all I had on me.
Some might call me foolish, but in truth, this was an investment in my future.
Because everything I’d bought was a crafted item. A treasure. A relic. A tool. A legacy.
–TL Notes–
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