Chorororok.

The golden-hued tea that Geum Gi-ryung personally poured slowly filled the teacup.

At the same time, a fragrant aroma began to spread around the room.

The pleasant scent rising from the teacup filled my nose.

“The aroma is truly lovely.”

“If you like it, I’ll set some aside just for you. Now, please—have a cup.”

“Thank you, Merchant Lord Geum.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ve been curious since last time—I should try it now.”

This time, no one declined the tea that Geum Gi-ryung offered.

They’d heard it was more precious than gold, had come to realize he wasn’t a bad person, and we’d built a fair amount of rapport by now.

“Hmm. This is nice.”

“The fragrance is delightful.”

Sister Seol and Hwa-eun both voiced their satisfaction.

The reason we were sitting together again with Geum Gi-ryung like this was to discuss the remainder of the payment for removing the island and eradicating the grain pest infestation.

We’d already settled that removing the island would be paid with one thousand silver nyang and long-term information exchanges with the merchants. That part was done.

For solving the grain pest issue, the loan that had been prepaid on behalf of the Ak Clan was converted into an interest-free, indefinite-term loan. The bridal gifts loaded on Geum Gi-ryung’s ship were transferred to the Ak Clan under Peng-hyung’s name.

But that was more like a down payment for taking care of the grain infestation.

It wasn’t huge, but there was still compensation due to me.

“First off, I’d like to propose a change in the terms.”

The conversation, which had started pleasantly over warm tea, suddenly turned when Geum Gi-ryung mentioned altering the terms.

I tilted my head at that.

Aside from Peng-hyung’s wedding gifts and the pledge he made with the Ak Clan, the thousand silver nyang I was to receive and the long-term information-sharing contracts with the Taean merchant lords hadn’t even been concluded yet. And now he wanted to change terms?

‘No way...’

Was this that classic “different going into the bathroom and different coming out” trick I was worried about?

‘Tch... this Spicy Fabre's personality can get real spicy, you know. You sure you wanna do this?’

I slowly nodded, keeping calm.

He was a merchant, after all—maybe he just wanted to haggle.

“How exactly?”

“I reviewed the conditions you requested, Young Master So, and I feel like they’re a bit of a loss on our side.”

“A loss?”

‘Come on, asking for info isn’t even a big deal. A loss?

You sure you want that harbor gate slammed shut in your face?’

As I was starting to get annoyed, Geum Gi-ryung smiled and continued.

“That information—if none exists and we can’t provide anything to Young Master So, then that person walks away gaining something for nothing, right?

Doing something for free doesn’t sit right with me. So we did collect a thousand nyang from the Taean dock merchants in advance, but divided among them, that’s practically nothing.

So I’d like to change the conditions a bit—to be more favorable to you, Young Master So. We’ll keep the original parts, of course.”

“Ah, I... I see.”

At his words, I quickly apologized to him in my heart.

So this guy actually was an honest merchant.

Middle Plains merchants, having a conscience? In my past life, I’d never have believed it.

‘I’m sorry, Gi-ryung. I shouldn’t have doubted you, man.’

As I offered a mental apology, he posed his next question.

“Is there anything else you need, or an amount you had in mind?”

Normally, I’d toss it back to him with a “you name your price,” but I couldn’t do that to a guy this decent. I gave a sheepish look and answered honestly.

There was something I had in mind—just hadn’t brought it up because it sounded expensive. But judging from what he said, it seemed like he might actually agree.

“Would it be possible for you to build a ship for me?”

“A ship?”

Geum Gi-ryung looked surprised.

Didn’t seem like he’d expected me to ask for a ship.

“Yes. And if it’s not enough, I’d be grateful if you added that thousand silver nyang you promised to the ship as well.”

“If you’re talking about a ship like the one you’re currently using, I can provide one immediately. And you’d still get change, of course.”

It seemed he thought I just needed a second boat. But that wasn’t it.

“No. I need a ship big enough to cover that giant turtle’s back.”

“Ah... to conceal the turtle’s appearance?”

“That’s right.”

If it were a regular turtle, some months of recovery might fill in the hole in its shell, but with Elder Geumdo, we didn’t know how long it would take.

He was already over two hundred years old and didn’t seem to be aging much physically—so his body probably aged slowly overall.

That meant the shell could take years, even decades, to fully regenerate. So we needed something to cover it.

Since the shell had once developed shell rot, we’d have to remove all the sand and clean it thoroughly. That would leave Elder Geumdo’s golden shell fully exposed—an obvious magnet for unwanted attention.

But if we disguised him with a ship, we could even pretend his head was a statue on the bow. That’s why I wanted to place a ship on top of his shell.

Building any kind of structure would be too heavy and burdensome for him. It had to float on its own, cover the shell entirely, and be light enough. The answer was a specially made ship.

Geum Gi-ryung started doing calculations on his fingers as he listened.

“It’ll need to be at least twice the size of a regular boat and contoured to fit the turtle’s back. That’s a lot of labor. The boat you’re currently using is worth about a thousand nyang... This would be even bigger and custom-made. Even at the lowest price, we’re talking around two thousand five hundred nyang.”

“Two thousand five hundred?”

“Yes, Young Master So. That’s the discounted estimate. Realistically, most would ask for three thousand to thirty-five hundred.”

‘Kuh... that’s... that’s expensive.’

I was stunned by the number—I’d never even heard of such an amount before. But this was necessary. Time to negotiate.

“If it’s not enough, I’m willing to include the ship I’m currently using in the total. We can sell it and add that to the cost.”

It was my first ship, but for the sake of this turtle-carrier aircraft carrier, I was ready to let it go.

When I said I’d throw in the current boat, Geum Gi-ryung thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Understood. If it still falls short, I’ll ask the merchants to pitch in more.”

“But the island’s already gone—would they really agree to pay more?”

Even if he asked them to pay more, I’d already removed the island. Would they cough up more money now?

When I posed that question, Geum Gi-ryung grinned with a mischievous smile.

“Hard to say there aren’t idiots out there. But if I say the harbor might get blocked again, wouldn’t they definitely pay up? Don’t you think?”

‘Hurk. So he knew?’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He hadn’t shown any signs of being calculating until now—so much so that I doubted his qualifications as a merchant—but no, he was definitely one of them.

I laughed awkwardly, feeling like I’d just been caught trying something shady.

“Haha... ha. D-dangerous way of thinking. Anyway, how long would it take?”

“You probably want it soon, so I’ll do my best to rush it. The time frame depends on how many workers I can assign.”

That answer really hit the spot.

Then he looked at me and carefully asked one last question.

“Young Master So, I feel like I’ll need your help again in the future... and if we continue building this connection, perhaps one day... we could be friends?”

He wanted to know if we could become friends since we were getting along so well.

I answered with a serious expression.

“Tch... I’m disappointed.”

“Huh? W-was I too forward?”

He flinched at the word “disappointed.”

I looked straight at him and said,

“No. It’s just... I already thought of us as friends. Seems I was the only one.”

‘Dude. Come on. I’m not that stingy.’

He couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted,

“Gyaaaak!”

‘Hey—that’s my line!’

He said he wanted to be friends, but he ended up screaming just like me.

***

Tang tang tang!

As the sound of the hammer echoed, Elder Physician nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s done. Now let’s seal the gaps with glue and lacquer.”

He had just nailed down the patch on Geumdo’s cracked shell.

It had to be sealed. Mold could get in, and we couldn’t rely on oil paper forever.

The treatment process went like this: first, the hole was stitched shut with Yoha’s silk threads to prevent infection or rejection.

Spider silk is a safe material—no side effects or rejection in either animals or people.

Then a thin sheet of copper was placed over it.

Yoha’s silk was there, sure—but using iron might risk rust or iron poisoning, so copper was the better option.

And in this era, copper was one of the few soft and relatively cheap metals available.

I wanted to use gold, but the damaged area was just too big.

‘Sorry I couldn’t give you a gold shell, Geumdo. Sniff...’

Was this how it felt to be a parent who couldn’t afford gold teeth for their kid?

Even if Geumdo was way older than me, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad as I expressed my thanks to Elder Physician.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Hard work... You gave me the venom of a spirit beast, I had to earn it somehow.”

Back in my previous life, surgeons were jokingly called repairmen for people.

Screwing in metal rods to bones, sawing through joints—just like on a job site. Only the target was different. Same tools, same hands-on labor.

Elder Physician felt like a craftsman too.

After all, this was his idea.

When I was agonizing over how to cover Geumdo’s shell, he had suggested this approach.

Make a copper plate, nail it over the shell, and seal the gap between the copper and the shell with glue and lacquer.

It was possible because the shell was so thick.

Come to think of it, even in my previous life, when turtles had cracked or pierced shells, people sometimes treated them with adhesives or even things like bra hooks. It was a solid idea.

That’s how the treatment went, and honestly, aside from the fact that it wasn’t real gold, it looked fantastic.

Since the shell was gold-colored to begin with, the match was good.

Now we just had to seal the remaining gaps.

“Then I’ll go to Bojeong to gather materials for the glue and lacquer.”

Bojeong was a city upriver along the Yellow River and the closest port city to Beijing, where Hyung-nim’s original Peng family resided.

It was a bit of a distance, but until the new ship was finished, the farthest Geumdo could go while camouflaged as a bamboo raft was Bojeong.

“Yes, and for now, let’s cover the gap again with Jiju’s thread so nothing gets in.”

“Yes, sir.”

Incidentally, Bojeong was also near the intended destination of the two masters, Elder Physician and the Immortal of Herbs—Unghyeon.

“Now that the treatment is done, I’ll let everyone know to be ready to depart tomorrow.”

“Alright. I’ll go get some rest too.”

Stepping off Geumdo’s shell, I headed straight for our boat.

Once inside the cabin, I checked if we were short on anything.

Just confirming that we were ready to depart tomorrow.

“Now that Geumdo’s treatment is complete, are we good on supplies?”

“Yes, young master. Everything sent from the Geumjeok Merchant Guild has already been loaded.”

So the ship’s master confirmed there’d be no issues with the launch.

“Then please ensure nothing causes delays tomorrow.”

“Understood, young master.”

Preparations were nearly complete. Now I just had to inform everyone boarding.

When I stepped off the boat and walked into the Ak Clan grounds, the guards greeted me politely.

“Have you finished your task, young master?”

“All done. Do you know where Hyung-nim is right now?”

“Ah, he should be at the pavilion in the rear garden.”

“Thanks.”

When I arrived at the pavilion, I found the Five Dragons of Ak—and Hwa-eun and Sister Seol—all enjoying tea together.

As I approached, Sister Seol ran over and pulled me to sit between her and Hwa-eun.

“Ryong, is everything done?”

“Yes, Sister Seol.”

“Then we’re departing tomorrow?”

“Yes, everyone should prepare.”

As I looked around and spoke, the Five Dragons of Ak all nodded.

Sister Seol said excitedly,

“They say people there are suffering from anemia. What kind of spirit beast could it be? If they’re short on blood, maybe it’s a Bloodsucking Flying Rat?”

She had been talking with Elder Physician yesterday and had discussed that if people were suffering from anemia, something might be affecting their blood—and as with Taean, there might be a spirit beast involved.

Sister Seol seemed to be thinking it might be something like a vampire bat.

But at her words, I grumbled internally.

‘Come on, Sister. Why are you ruining the mood?’

I was excited too, and... a bat? Really? A bat?

I felt deeply betrayed by her.

That kind of speculation was just plain bad luck.