“What? You’re saying we need to go fetch Lee Tae?”

“Yes, we’ll go bring him right away! We can make the round trip in two days! Since we’re serving Lord So-ryong, of course the chieftain himself should come in person.”

“That’s right.”

“Wait, is that really necessary?”

“What do you mean, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Lord So-ryong? How could the likes of us be enough? The chieftain must come himself. We’re introducing you to his sworn brother.”

“Yes, Lord So-ryong.”

‘Wouldn’t it be enough just to introduce me to the guy? Huh, or... maybe not?’

I thought they were just guiding me to that so-called sworn brother of Lee Tae’s, but now they’re saying we have to go get Lee Tae himself.

Come to think of it, that might actually be more appropriate.

Not in the sense that I’m somehow higher ranked than Lee Tae and he has to come bow to me.

But how would it look for me to show up with these guys and ask that sworn brother to give me an introduction?

Would I say I’m the guy who beat Lee Tae to a pulp and became his superior?

That I turned him into a slave?

That I boss him around?

That I took him in?

The lines I could use were all awkward and unclear.

‘Yeah, this is super awkward.’

If Lee Tae couldn’t come himself, at least a written introduction would’ve helped.

“Well then, let’s take our boat together. That should be fastest.”

“Oh, are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yes, I think it’ll get things done quicker.”

“Understood, Lord So-ryong. Our ship is nearby. Would it be alright to bring it over?”

“Let’s do that.”

We quickly finished our late-night meal and boarded the Geumdo.

Then I immediately gave the order to the steersman.

“You’re probably all tired, but we’ll have to set off tonight. We need to make good time to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze. I’ll ask Geumdo to go quickly, so please make preparations.”

“Understood, Lord So-ryong. Call everyone up from the cabin! Pull up the anchor and fold the sails!”

“Yes, sir!”

Drrrrrrrk.

Without a word of complaint, the steersman summoned the crew at my request and gave his commands.

The crew, roused from rest, came running to pull up the anchor and quickly folded the sails.

Truthfully, our sail does function, but when Geumdo swims, it just gets in the way.

The sail is only useful when Geumdo’s floating on buoyancy to conserve strength.

And since we were going upstream across the Yangtze now, we didn’t need it anyway.

As soon as everything was ready, I climbed up to Geumdo’s head and gave the word.

“Let’s go, Geumdo. We’ve got to head upstream. Let’s make it quick.”

Bububururur.

Bubbles rose as people grabbed onto the rails of the ship.

The crew shouted in all directions.

“We’re departing! Everyone, grab onto something!”

“Grab onto something, everyone!”

The two pirates blinked cluelessly, not understanding why everyone was grabbing the rails, so I shouted to them quickly too.

“Hold onto something!”

“Uh? Y-Yes, Lord So-ryong!”

Still confused, the two of them grabbed onto the rail just as—

Screeeeech.

The ship launched forward against the current with a loud whoosh.

That was because Geumdo had kicked off the riverbank with powerful force.

A lurching sensation slammed into our bodies.

“Wh-Whoa!”

“Aaaarghhh!”

As Geumdo began surging upstream, the two pirates, clearly not holding on properly, flailed in panic.

They were nearly thrown off but managed to cling to the railing at the entrance to the cabin.

“W-What is this?!”

And then, when they saw the ship—sails folded—rapidly climbing upstream, their eyes widened in shock.

Well, this was probably their first time on a spirit-beast-powered turtle ship.

‘How much would this cost to run on magic power alone?’

“You’ve never ridden a spirit-beast-powered ship, have you?”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

As I grinned and asked, the two pirates looked startled—and just then, Bini and Cheongyu Sojeo crawled up onto the deck.

They must’ve come out to see what was happening when the ship suddenly took off, but the moment they saw the two men, the pirates screamed and passed out clinging tightly to each other.

Sssrrrk. 『Dad, are we going somewhere again?』

Shia? 『So-ryong, where are we going?』

“Eeeek! Cough!”

“Aaah!”

Of all things, they’d been standing right at the stairway to the cabin, and when Bini and Cheongyu Sojeo passed by with their eerie vocalizations, the men dropped like logs.

Lee Tae had surely told them everything, but seeing them for the first time was clearly terrifying.

I mean, a centipede larger than a person, and a girl with a human upper body and a serpent’s tail—Cheongyu Sojeo.

‘Why are these pirates so weak-willed?’

I figured I’d have to drag them into the cabin and lay them down, when suddenly Bini said something that made me freeze.

Sssrk. 『What are these uncles doing? Making a baby?』

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Startled by her comment, I quickly asked,

“W-What are you talking about, Bini?”

Clearly someone had taught her some seriously incorrect sex education.

And then Bini answered calmly,

Sssrk. 『Well, I was curious because of Auntie, so I asked Mom how babies are made, and she said if you hold each other close and sleep together, then a baby comes out. But those uncles were hugging tightly and sleeping...』

I had been so relieved the kids didn’t ask me about babies after Seol kept going on about them, but turns out they’d directed those questions to Hwa-eun instead.

And in her awkwardness, she must’ve said, “Just hold hands and sleep and you’ll have a baby.”

I was seriously debating whether I should correct that misunderstanding... when suddenly another question made me want to jump into the river.

Sssssrk? 『Dad, but Mom said if two people who love each other sleep holding each other, a baby will be born. I don’t get it. You and I have done that lots of times, but why don’t we have a baby? We love each other too, don’t we?』

“Uh, w-well... you see... that’s...”

I needed a reply that covered species, blood ties, ethics, and human biology.

My brain spun out of control, and only two answers came to mind.

‘Should I say a stork brings them? Or from under a bridge?’

I seriously debated whether to go with the bridge or the stork.

***

Sweating buckets, the answer I finally chose was: “Go ask your mom again.”

The creativity to give a third answer in a yes-or-no situation—

That was my true talent.

‘S-Sorry, Hwa-eun.’

But hey, she started this snowball rolling.

As someone who loved her, I wanted to defuse this bomb for her, but... this one was out of my league.

“Uh, Bini, could you maybe ask your mom again?”

Sssrrrk. 『Then I’ll sleep and ask her in the morning. Good night, Daddy.』

“Y-Yeah, good night, my girl.”

With that comet of a shock vanishing into the cabin, we arrived at Lee Tae’s base just as dawn mist began to rise from the water.

As we passed through the reeds hiding the base’s entrance, the sight of the previously scorched mountain peeked through the mist.

Burned bare to get rid of the bedbugs, the mountain now had green shoots and low trees growing again.

Though here and there, charred remnants of trees still lingered among the fresh greenery.

“Welcome, Lord So-ryong. It’s been a while.”

As we approached the docking point, Lee Tae came running out, having heard of our arrival.

He looked quite fair-skinned now—must’ve been eating well.

“You’ve been well, I hope, Lee Tae?”

“Thanks to your care, always well, sir. But more importantly... you two idiots! Why were you on that boat? Did you screw something up?”

In the middle of greeting me, he spotted his two men aboard my ship.

Seeing the men he’d sent on a mission returning on my vessel, Lee Tae narrowed his eyes, and I quickly gave him a rough explanation of what happened in Akyang.

That we’d run into each other by chance and came together.

“Nothing like that. Just a coincidence.”

“Ah, you met in Akyang?”

“Yeah. I heard you sent them personally to get things done properly.”

“Ahem... I was so ashamed last time...”

At my comment, Lee Tae looked visibly embarrassed.

He was definitely walking on eggshells after what happened before.

And he should—he’d probably work better with a bit of that guilt hanging over him.

Which reminded me—

‘Wasn’t it something about the literate guy dropping dead, so he couldn’t send a message?’

“So, did you find someone who can read and write?”

When I asked if he’d solved that issue, Lee Tae answered with a “of course” face.

“Of course, Lord So-ryong. Ah, by the way, did you change ships? That’s quite the vessel.”

His next question, naturally, was about the ship.

Being a pirate, it made sense he’d notice the ship first.

Smiling slyly, I replied,

“Picked up a new member of the family.”

“Sorry? New member?”

Calling the ship a “family member” left Lee Tae blinking in confusion.

I patted Geumdo’s shell and added:

“Mm... returning to Akyang is urgent, but since we’re already at your base, maybe I should let Geumdo sunbathe for a day?”

Akyang was indeed pressing, but I figured I’d let Geumdo get a little sunlight first.

I was planning to give him about a week of sunbathing anyway, and since I promised he’d get some if we came here, I figured I’d let him have a taste.

Strike while the iron’s hot—so I immediately gave the order.

“Steersman, can you release the bindings between Geumdo and the ship?”

“Understood, Lord So-ryong. Everyone, release the hooks!”

“Yes, sir!”

Clank.

Clatter.

The rings secured to Geumdo’s shell came off one by one by the sailors’ hands.

Then I called out to Geumdo.

“Geumdo, dive and come out to the side. You’re unhooked from the ship. Let’s wash up and soak in some sun today.”

Bububururu.

With a rumble of happiness, Geumdo responded.

He started to dive out, but since the water was shallow, he turned toward a deeper area.

Poooh.

A moment later, Geumdo emerged from the water—and the pirates and their families, who had come out to greet us, practically had their eyes pop out of their skulls.

That massive head rose from the water.

“A turtle!”

“A... a gigantic turtle!”

It was covered in moss, sure, but clearly identifiable.

Everyone was frozen in disbelief.

When would they ever have seen a turtle the size of a ship?

I patted the stunned Lee Tae on the back and said:

“Lee Tae, do you think you could have your men scrub down my turtle?”

“Sorry?”

I figured I’d get his pirates to give Geumdo a good shell bath.

It was a safe place here, and that was the plan all along anyway.

***

“A... a golden turtle?!”

Dozens of pirates climbed up with bamboo brushes and scrubbed vigorously, and before long, Geumdo’s mossy shell was gleaming.

We brought him up onto the sandbar at Lee Tae’s base, scrubbed him down to the skin, and even had him puff up so we could get under the hull and clean the belly shell.

The pirates freaked out at the idea of being crushed while cleaning his underside, but when I took the lead and crawled under myself, they followed reluctantly with sour faces.

Shwaaa.

With a final rinse of fresh water, Geumdo sparkled under the sun.

He seemed pleased, his eyes gently closed, soaking in the light.

His back legs stretched out like a ballerina—clearly content.

Just then, I heard Lee Tae’s voice full of awe.

“A-Amazing, Lord So-ryong.”

I used to scoff when I heard that rich Arabs gilded their luxury cars, wondering what kind of money-wasting nonsense that was.

But now that I was basically in that position myself, I got it.

When people look at you like you’re divine, it’s hard not to feel ten feet tall.

“It’s nothing special.”

In Asian cultures, golden turtles symbolize wealth and longevity, but a turtle this size? Not in this life or the last.

As I basked in the sight of Geumdo with pride, Lee Tae asked,

“Ah, when will we be departing?”

I’d said earlier we’d head to Dongting Lake after sunbathing, and I guess he remembered.

“Once the sun sets. Then we’ll arrive by midnight.”

“Understood. I’ll make preparations.”

With Geumdo freshly bathed and this being the Yangtze River, I figured it’d be better to move at night.

His legs might shine underwater in daylight—

Though I could always say we just painted the ship gold or something.

‘No point explaining what doesn’t need explaining.’

“Do I need to give any advance message or token?”

“No need for that, since he’s my sworn brother. Just say I’m requesting to see the chief, and he’ll guide you to Dongting Lake.”

I asked just in case I needed to send word ahead, but Lee Tae said it wasn’t necessary.

With that settled, I figured I’d sneak in a nap while Geumdo sunbathed—

But just then, a resentful voice echoed in my head.

‘So-ryong! Why did you tell Bini to ask me again!? It was such a pain to answer! Where are you, So-ryong!?’

Ah. Crap.

Sounds like Hwa-eun had just now received the fallout from my bedtime bombshell.

I turned quietly to Lee Tae and asked,

“Lee Tae, is there a quiet place to rest around here?”

“Sorry? Quiet?”

“Somewhere I can take a peaceful nap.”

‘Maybe if I sleep it off, this will all blow over?’

I decided to lay low until Hwa-eun’s anger passed.

‘Yesterday’s So-ryong tossed the bomb to today’s So-ryong, and today’s So-ryong will pass it to tomorrow’s So-ryong... Something like that.’

Geumdo looked especially shiny today.