Geumryeong was up on the tea table, and a transparent orb lay in front of it.
“What's this?”
I examined the orb and was startled by what I saw.
Inside it was unmistakably the castle I'd built out of snow.
The orb was about the size of a fist, and the snow castle had been shrunk to fit inside it.
“Kui! Kui! Kui!”
It was a gift from the Patriarch?
He'd thought I would be terribly sorry to leave it behind, so he'd put just the snow castle I'd made into an orb like this.
The arrangements I'd encountered were usually meant to be used only once. Once I passed through an arrangement, the space inside it disappeared.
That was why I'd been so sorry to leave.
I'd spent more than ten days working on that castle, after all. And it held happy memories of the fun I'd had.
Yet he'd put it in an orb for me like this.
“It must have taken quite a lot of strength to do this…”
“Kui! Kui!”
Ah, I'd left the arrangement sooner than expected, so there had been enough power left in it to make this possible?
I see.
It felt good to know I'd come out sooner than the Patriarch had expected.
Still, this orb meant something to me. Should I give it a name?
Snow Castle Orb. It would mean an orb containing a castle made of snow.
How was that?
“Kui?”
Was I serious?
That hurt. You know I have no talent for naming things. Did you have to do that?
“Kui! Kui!”
It thought Joyful Memory Orb would be better, meaning an orb filled with happy memories?
“All right. Let's call it that.”
I nodded and examined the orb.
The Qi I sensed inside it was anything but ordinary… Should I try it out?
I drew on the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art and touched the orb. In an instant, I slipped inside.
Huh?
My surroundings changed, and before I knew it, I was in the snow castle I'd built.
I touched the castle wall.
The snow felt cold against my hand.
It really was the snow castle I'd made.
But how was I supposed to get out of here?
Hmm… Should I try leaving the castle first?
I walked out of the castle, and after going a little way, I bumped into a transparent wall.
I should try drawing on the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art again, as I had before.
I slipped back out. In that instant, I was in my bedroom again.
Wow… What was this?
Didn't this mean I could hide inside the orb for a while?
I'd acquired an Artifact I hadn't even imagined.
Could Lady Seohyang come inside with me too?
If she could, we might have fun sledding together in here.
.
.
.
After breakfast, I headed to the office as usual.
We'd agreed to hold formal discussions today about the whetstone supply arrangement we'd discussed provisionally at the Imperial Palace last night.
For that purpose, the Minister of Works and the other officials were coming to our Beijing Branch.
The reason we weren't meeting at the Ministry of Works was simple.
For the Eunhae Merchant Group's staff other than me, entering the Imperial Palace involved complicated procedures that took time.
The same was true of bringing in the whetstones we'd brought as samples.
The Ministry of Works wanted to get this done as quickly as possible, so we'd chosen the Beijing Branch as the venue.
There were no particular procedures to go through when officials entered the Beijing Branch.
“I'd like the documents on this, please.”
“Yes.”
“What should we do with this?”
“Ah, you can give that to me.”
While we were hard at work, Father came to the office.
“You're working hard.”
“You've come right on time.”
“Of course.”
With Father were Senior Supervisor Seong and the Supervisors who would be handling the whetstone business.
Brother Jeong-ho came hurrying in after them, panting.
“I'm sorry I'm late!”
“It's all right. We've only just arrived.”
We'd gathered like this to prepare in advance for today's whetstone supply discussions.
I was the one who'd brought in the whetstone supply deal, but I wouldn't continue handling it myself.
As Chief of the Virtuous Wind Department, I handled all sorts of work and had to travel from place to place.
I was something of a troubleshooter, one might say.
Father and Brother Jeong-ho would then take the lead in completing and managing the work I brought in.
That was why Father, Brother Jeong-ho, and Senior Supervisor Seong's group needed to take the lead in these discussions too.
“These are the points we discussed in general yesterday. Today we'll go through them in detail and settle the terms.”
“I see.”
Father sat at the tea table and nodded as he looked over the documents I handed him.
“You've done a fine job of putting this in order. Thanks to you, today's meeting should finish early.”
“Ha ha ha. Thank you for the compliment.”
After lunch, as we worked and waited, the officials from the Ministry of Works arrived at the Beijing Branch.
The Minister of Works was there, along with the ministry's officials.
We welcomed them with courtesy.
“This humble merchant, Eun Gil-sang, pays his respects to you, my lords.”
“Ho ho. Thank you for such a welcome.”
The Minister of Works smiled as he returned Father's greeting.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I am So Dae-won, the Minister of Works. Thank you for inviting us to your merchant group.”
“We're delighted to welcome you. Please come into the meeting room.”
We moved to the meeting room.
Once everyone was seated, the maids set tea and refreshments in front of each of us, then withdrew.
One official looked back and forth between his refreshments and those of the other officials, then asked a question.
“Excuse me, but why are my pastries different from everyone else's?”
I answered him.
“Ah, today's pastries contain chestnuts. Yours were made separately so you wouldn't be served any chestnuts, and we decorated them with jujubes to distinguish them.”
“How did you know I break out in hives when I eat chestnuts?”
“That's how seriously our Eunhae Merchant Group takes this business.”
At my words, the Minister of Works spoke with a smile.
“To think you'd take such care of us. You have my thanks.”
“You're very welcome.”
I'd deliberately arranged things to prompt a question like that.
It was meant to tell them not to underestimate the Eunhae Merchant Group.
It was also a warning that we already knew everything about them, so they shouldn't try any tricks.
Yet… their reaction was a little different from what I'd intended.
“Impressive! Just what you'd expect of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“Indeed.”
Father looked at me and chuckled.
Why?
.
.
.
After the meeting, our family had dinner on our own.
As a courtesy, we'd offered dinner to the officials who'd attended the meeting, but the Minister of Works had politely declined.
“Thank you for the offer, but let us leave that for another time. With a contract like this still ahead of us, it would be improper to accept hospitality from the other party. I hope you'll understand.”
True, His Majesty was fairly strict about such things.
And in this case, he'd personally summoned the Minister of Works and given the order. The minister had no choice but to be especially careful.
“Still, today was quite a new experience for me.”
Father's words made me tilt my head.
“I've never been treated like that by a high official such as the Minister of Works.”
In truth, it was hard to say that officials treated merchants well.
Talking down to us was a matter of course. Often, they saw us as moneybags that would spill coins if given a shake.
This was no ordinary official; it was the Minister of Works himself. Seeing someone so important treat us courteously seemed to strike Father as both remarkable and a new experience.
“I have my fine son to thank for that.”
“What?”
I questioned Father.
“It wasn't because our merchant group's standing has risen?”
“Our standing has risen, but we're still seventeenth. We're not one of the top ten merchant groups, whose lords get invited to the Imperial Palace to dine with the Emperor.”
Ah… That was true.
“They were courteous to us because of you, Seo-ho. Is there an official in the Imperial Palace who doesn't know you're favored by His Majesty?”
“…No.”
Only then did I understand why the officials hadn't reacted as I'd expected to the refreshments I'd prepared to tell them not to look down on the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Now I also understood why Father had laughed.
That was right.
The reason they'd been so courteous was none other than me.
Besides, the Emperor had summoned the minister himself and ordered this done. They could hardly fail to handle it properly.
For a moment, I felt a small sense of satisfaction in having become the Emperor's faithful worker.
Every time I faced the Emperor, I felt as though years were being shaved off my life. There ought to be some benefits too.
.
.
.
Two days later, Father was busy with the whetstone supply deal, while Brother Jeong-ho headed to the quarry in Jinan, Shandong, with Senior Supervisor Seong and the officials from the Ministry of Works.
They needed to inspect it in person. And since it would be supplying the Imperial Palace, guards had to be stationed at the quarry as well.
Young Lord Yeon Ju-hyeok spoke as he handed me some documents.
“It's getting hotter outside, but strangely, it isn't very hot in here.”
I nodded and explained.
“That's probably because of my martial arts. As you know, the Qi in my martial arts is Yin in nature.”
Since it was publicly known that I'd learned the Heavenly Flow Art, there was no harm in explaining that much.
“Come to think of it, Deputy Gwak said she'd learned the Heavenly Flow Art too, didn't she?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“That explains it! With two people who practice the Heavenly Flow Art here, this room must stay cool. This sudden heat has been making things difficult for everyone.”
A cool drink at a time like this would make people feel much better.
I stood up and called Palgap.
“Palgap!”
“Yes! Did you call, Young Master?”
“Come help me with something.”
“Just tell me what you need, Young Master.”
He was as dependable as ever.
I asked him to bring some large jars from the kitchen and washed them thoroughly.
Then I had him cut the fruit that was in season into small pieces and put it inside.
“Now add honey and pour in boiled water.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The male and female servants saw me working with several jars and offered to help, so we finished quickly.
Once we'd poured the boiled water into the large jars, it was my turn.
I used my Ice Art to chill the water inside them.
The honey water in the jars soon grew cold enough for a thin layer of ice to form, crackling as it froze. The chilled fruit punch was ready.
“All right! Send someone to each department and tell them to come take a jar.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
I took a separate bowl of chilled fruit punch to Father.
“Father.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“I've brought you some fruit punch.”
“Fruit punch?”
Father looked a little surprised when he saw the fruit punch I'd brought.
“My, you've put in so much of this precious ice!”
I smiled and shook my head.
“Don't worry. I didn't pay a fortune to buy ice.”
At this time of year, in the Fifth and Sixth Months, ice was extremely expensive.
Even the Imperial Household and high-ranking dignitaries allowed to harvest ice used it sparingly.
“Then how did you get the ice?”
“Isn't your son's martial art an Ice Art, Father?”
“Ah… That's right.”
Father chuckled.
“Thanks to my capable son, I get to enjoy cold fruit punch in the middle of summer!”
Father lifted the bowl and took a long drink, then smiled in satisfaction.
“This makes me feel cool all the way through.”
It probably did.
Since I'd frozen the ice with my Internal Power, it would be even more refreshing.
It also had the ability to remove poisons and purify, which would make him feel better still.
After bringing Father his fruit punch, I headed back to the office. Along the way, I saw people enjoying the coolness of their own fruit punch.
When they spotted me, they thanked me.
It was a small satisfaction, and yet it didn't feel small at all.
Then Palgap approached.
“Young Master, they say Escort Chief Gwak Myeong-hyeon has arrived.”
“Ah! Has he?”
I'd thought he would come soon, and now he was finally here.
I went straight to the Reception Room.
A bowl of the fruit punch I'd made earlier sat in front of my master.
“Your disciple pays his respects, Master.”
“It's good to see you. It's been a long time.”
“Yes.”
I nodded and spoke.
“Did you like the fruit punch?”
“It was wonderfully refreshing. I could feel your progress in it, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
That was my master for you.
He'd realized the ice was something I'd frozen myself.
I sat down in front of him, took out the martial arts manual Rejoicing in the First Snow, and set it on the table.
“This is the copy of Rejoicing in the First Snow I found.”
“I see.”
My master spoke calmly, but the hand reaching toward Rejoicing in the First Snow was trembling.
When his fingertips touched the manual, he bit his lip as though holding back tears.
“Rejoicing in the First Snow was my introduction to martial arts as a child too. Perhaps that's why memories of the old days keep coming back to me.”
My master lifted his head and looked at me.
“You should have begun learning martial arts through Rejoicing in the First Snow as well, Deputy Merchant Lord… But even now, it's not too late. As you'll have seen from reading it, this isn't something you can understand easily.”
“That's right. It certainly isn't.”
“Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you Rejoicing in the First Snow.”
At that, I found myself scratching my cheek.
“Well, Master… The truth is, I've already learned it.”
“What? You've already learned it?”
“The Patriarch had left an arrangement in Rejoicing in the First Snow too.”
“In this martial arts manual?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and told my master what I'd heard from the Patriarch.
“He said that was why he'd left an arrangement in Rejoicing in the First Snow.”
“I see. You must have had a hard time.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“A hard time? I just played to my heart's content and came out. And I realized that the joy of it was the foundation of Snow Wind Palace's martial arts.”
“You've learned well, as I expected. Then I'll take this with me.”
“Yes.”
“And I'll come here tomorrow morning.”
“What?”
My master smiled at my question.
“You need to train, of course.”
“…”
–TL Notes–
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