I was momentarily taken aback by the Commissioner of Land Affairs’ words.
Snow?
Snow? In this Seventh Month?
Did I hear that wrong?
I asked the Commissioner of Land Affairs again.
“Um, Commissioner of Land Affairs, sir. Are you talking about the snow that falls from the sky in winter?”
“That’s right.”
“…”
Wondering if he was maybe making fun of me, I studied his face, but he was completely serious.
If so, then there had to be a reason.
“May I ask why you’re trying to obtain snow, sir?”
“Sigh, truth is… I have a daughter lying sick in bed.”
Ah, right. That was how it was.
In my previous life, I’d never actually seen the Guizhou Commissioner of Land Affairs’ face, but I did know that much about him.
The story that his daughter died because of a swindler was fairly well-known.
They said the Commissioner of Land Affairs in Guizhou had commissioned one of Guizhou’s merchant groups to grant his daughter’s wish.
Just like we’d often received similar requests, asking a merchant group to procure something was nothing unusual.
That merchant group had been one of the top three in Guizhou, but during the commission they tried to pull a scam, and his daughter ended up dying because of it.
In the end, after earning the Guizhou Commissioner of Land Affairs’ wrath, that merchant group was ruined, utterly wiped out.
It had nothing to do with me back then, so I never heard what the commission had actually been, but now I finally understood.
It had been a request to procure snow.
Setting aside how difficult the commission itself was, what kind of stunt did they pull for that to end with his daughter dead?
The Commissioner of Land Affairs let out a heavy sigh and said,
“My daughter has never once seen snow in her life.”
“By any chance, has your daughter never left Guizhou since she was born?”
He nodded at my question.
In that case, it made sense that she’d never seen snow.
Guizhou stayed warm even in winter, so it rained, but it never really snowed.
Even if a few flakes did fall, they melted away before they ever reached the ground.
“But it seems she read about snow in one of the books I brought her.”
So I understood the reason, but there was something I needed to clarify.
“What your daughter wants is… just to see snow? To touch it? Or to watch it actually falling from the sky?”
“Truth is, what the child really wants is to see a snowfall, that whole scenery of snow coming down… but that’s impossible in Guizhou. She knows that as well as I do.”
He continued,
“So she says she at least wants to touch real snow with her own hands.”
“I see.”
“I know very well it’s an unreasonable request. All the more so since it’s summer right now. But I have no idea when my daughter might die, so I can’t help but hurry.”
In the Commissioner of Land Affairs’ voice, I could clearly hear how desperately he wanted to grant his daughter’s wish.
To get snow at this time of year, the only option was to head toward the North Sea.
For ordinary people, it would be impossible, but for me, it wasn’t.
I knew the route to the North Sea and had the ability to get there. On top of that, I was cultivating an extreme Yin martial art, so I could bring snow back without letting it melt.
In other words, this was an opportunity.
Guizhou was rich in tea, fruit, and livestock, so building ties there would definitely benefit our merchant group.
Even if I failed this commission, as long as I didn’t do anything shady, he wouldn’t retaliate.
He knew better than anyone that this request was close to impossible.
But suddenly, a question came to mind.
“Um, but why us, the Eunhae Merchant Group, of all people? Guizhou has plenty of capable merchant groups of its own, doesn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
The Commissioner of Land Affairs nodded and replied,
“Originally, I did intend to commission one of Guizhou’s merchant groups. But by chance, I ended up getting a recommendation for the Eunhae Merchant Group instead. I went to the Ministry of Works on some business, and the officials there enthusiastically recommended your group, saying you were highly capable and could get me what I wanted.”
At that moment, the back of my neck twinged.
Oh, come on… Those bastards.
The Ministry of Works officials had recommended me to him just to get back at me.
But instead of getting angry, I smiled.
They were surely imagining I’d be in all kinds of trouble over this. Joke’s on them. I wasn’t troubled in the slightest.
If anything, I felt grateful they’d handed me such a nice opportunity.
And a few months from now, when several buildings came crashing down, the Ministry of Works was going to be shaken down to the bones.
Tsk, tsk. Instead of scheming to screw me over, they really should worry about keeping their own house in order.
With an earnest expression, the Commissioner of Land Affairs said,
“I don’t care how much it costs. The sooner, the better. Is it possible?”
“Understood. I’ll accept this commission.”
At my words, he grabbed my hand tightly and said,
“Thank you!”
The Commissioner of Land Affairs from Guizhou handed me a hefty sum as an advance payment and took his leave.
Of course, if I failed this commission, I’d have to spit every last coin of it back out.
First, I wrote a detailed letter to Father explaining the whole situation.
“Kui!”
Geumryeong chomped down a silver tael with gusto, then returned the next day with Father’s reply.
[Well now, that’s a real chicken-rib of a commission – hard to throw away, but not much to gnaw on. Still, if you succeed, it’s obvious it’ll be a great help to us.]
As expected, Father was seeing the situation with perfect clarity.
[If you’ve decided to accept this commission, that means you’re confident you can handle it. Take care of yourself and return safely.]
Smiling, I folded the letter away and called for Palgap.
“Palgap!”
“Yes, did you call for me?”
“When will the box I ordered be ready?”
“It should be ready by tomorrow.”
To carry out this commission, I absolutely needed a special box, so I’d already put in an order to have one made.
It was a custom crate: a box inside a bigger box, the space between them tightly packed with straw.
The structure was designed to insulate as much as possible, so I could pack it full of snow and bring it back.
Strictly speaking, I could create snow with the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art.
Spray water into the air, freeze it, and it becomes snow.
But with my current level of skill, it would be hard to make enough snow for someone to actually hold and play with.
So the best plan was to collect snow from the North Sea and keep the box cold so it wouldn’t melt on the way back.
Besides, my martial art wasn’t something I could casually show others.
Publicly, I was known as the successor to Extreme Heaven Sword Gwak Hoon’s signature technique, the Heavenly Flow Ice Sword.
But the Heavenly Flow Ice Sword wasn’t an extreme Yin martial art strong enough to create snow out of nothing.
Taking everything into account, the most reliable method, even if it meant some hardship, was simply to go to the North Sea myself.
The next day, the box was ready.
We also prepared thick furs to withstand the North Sea’s bitter cold.
Once all the preparations were complete, we set out for the North Sea.
.
.
.
This time we were departing from Beijing, so the trip to the North Sea would be much shorter than before.
In just a few days, we entered the lands of Liaoning.
If we detoured a little, we could have dropped by to see my close friend, Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun of the Gwangjun Merchant Group, but we were in a hurry this time, so I had no intention of stopping by.
However,
“Well now! Who do we have here? Isn’t that Deputy Merchant Lord Eun?”
“Deputy Merchant Lord Bok?”
We’d stopped at an inn for the night and ran right into Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun there.
“What brings you all the way out here without so much as a message?”
At Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun’s question, I answered a bit sheepishly.
“I was on my way to the North Sea on some business. It’s not something I can take my time with, so I didn’t send word ahead. My apologies.”
“Not at all! Why apologize when that’s the situation? I’m not so petty that I can’t understand something like that.”
He laughed, waved his hand dismissively, and went on,
“Then at least share dinner with me this evening.”
“All right.”
So I had dinner with Deputy Merchant Lord Bok at the inn, then we shared some tea afterward.
Deputy Merchant Lord Bok was the first to speak.
“Actually, I was on my way to Beijing.”
“I see.”
“I heard you were in Beijing, so I sent you a letter before I set out, but seeing you here already, it seems you left before my letter could reach you.”
“Oh wow, we almost completely missed each other.”
“Exactly. But since we still managed to meet like this, I’d say this encounter must be Heaven’s will.”
Deputy Merchant Lord Bok continued,
“To be honest, after all the favor I received from you back in Luoyang, I prepared something to express my gratitude.”
“…?”
What did he prepare?
He took a small box from his sleeve and held it out.
“Please, open it.”
I opened the box and blinked in surprise.
Huh? This is a whistle.
“Isn’t this the token that shows someone belongs to your merchant group?”
“That’s right.”
He smiled and continued,
“You seem to visit the North Sea fairly often, and I thought it would come in handy each time, so I had one more made for you.”
“But I heard even your merchant group only has a few of these.”
To be precise, I’d heard only their Merchant Lord, their Deputy Merchant Lord, and two Head Supervisors had one each.
“My father personally ordered one made for you. That’s how grateful he was back then. So please, don’t turn it down.”
Since we were traveling with wagons, our pace was slower than riding on horseback.
I’d been worrying about how to safely pass through the northern tribes’ territory.
I’d felt bad about borrowing a whistle for something that was basically personal business.
And now here I was, being gifted one just like that!
I was genuinely grateful.
“I’ll make good use of it. Please also tell your Merchant Lord I’m grateful.”
“I will.”
“Today’s just a brief encounter, but next time I’ll definitely visit your merchant group properly.”
“I’ll look forward to that day.”
The next day.
Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun headed for Beijing, and I headed for the North Sea.
Unlike the four Escort Guards who had already been to the North Sea before, Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un seemed unsettled by the endless, desolate scenery in every direction.
“When all you can see is endless grassland, it makes you feel a little dizzy, doesn’t it?”
At my question, they glanced at each other, clearly unsure how they were supposed to answer.
I felt the same way at first. You just keep going and going and it’s still nothing but grassland. But after coming here a few times, even this starts to feel familiar.
Beside me, Escort Guard Seo Wu spoke up.
“You’ll get used to it soon enough.”
Following that, Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am chimed in.
“True enough. If you stick with our lord, you’ll be forced to get used to all kinds of things.”
I grumbled at that.
“Hey, are you saying that for me to hear?”
“Oh dear, you noticed? Hahaha.”
Maybe it was because he was the most senior Escort Guard, but sometimes he was so shamelessly slick he put old foxes to shame.
“Still, thanks to you, we get to see places other people could go their whole lives without ever laying eyes on. You’ve no idea how great that is.”
“And just as much hardship to go with it, right?”
“I didn’t say that much.”
“Even so, I really am grateful. No matter where I drag you, you follow without a single complaint.”
“If you say it like that, I’m honestly embarrassed.”
“That’s exactly why I said it.”
“Oh dear! I walked right into that one. Hahaha.”
“Hahahaha.”
Thanks to that exchange, the mood lightened considerably.
“I’ll never forget your loyalty, all of you.”
I meant that.
My previous life had taught me just how big a blessing it was to have escort guards like these at my side.
We camped out under the open sky as we traveled, and eventually left Liaoning behind.
Then we entered the lands of the grassland tribes, where the whistle Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun had gifted me more than earned its keep.
Because we could rely on the friendly tribes allied with the Gwangjun Merchant Group to help replenish any supplies we were short on.
Of course, we nearly ended up in fights with tribes that weren’t so friendly, but the moment they saw my face, they turned tail and ran.
From what I could tell, they remembered me traveling here before with Young Palace Lord Bing Hae-rin.
The North Sea Ice Palace was an object of pure fear to them.
And so we finally arrived at the Eunhae Merchant Group’s branch at the entrance to the North Sea.
“Where have you come from?”
At the gatekeeper’s question, I produced my Deputy Merchant Lord’s token and said,
“I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“Ah! I pay my respects, Deputy Merchant Lord!”
He hurriedly bowed his head and opened the gate.
“Please, come inside.”
We were led to the reception room, and before long, Branch Chief Su came out to greet us.
“It is an honor to see you, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
“It’s been a while.”
Branch Chief Su was by no means a young man, yet he looked far healthier than he had before.
“The qi here must really be something. You look like you’ve been aging in reverse.”
He burst into a hearty laugh at my comment.
“Hunting together with the tribespeople around here does wonders for the body, it seems.”
Even so, that was quite a sudden change.
“So then, what brings you all the way up to the North Sea?”
“Ah, I’ve come to get snow.”
“Pardon? Snow?”
At my words, he looked completely baffled.
Exactly the reaction I expected.
“I received a commission to procure snow.”
“But isn’t it the Seventh Month right now?”
“That’s right. Which is why I’ve come all the way here.”
He was at a loss for words for a moment, then quickly regained his composure and said,
“You have my sympathies. That sounds like a hard task.”
“Think nothing of it. It’s all for the merchant group.”
“Then you’ll have to go further up that way to get the snow.”
“Yes. I need to move as quickly as possible, so I’m planning to leave early tomorrow morning and come right back.”
“I see. In that case, there’s something I should tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Lately, there have been rumors of a human-shaped spirit beast appearing in the North Sea and attacking people.”
That was news to me.
What the hell is that supposed to be?
–TL Notes–
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