Chapter 334
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 334
Chapter 334. This is a problem (3)
It all started when Po Jeong-sa visited the imperial palace to study because a new building was being constructed in Gyeongju.
“Why do you look so gloomy, Your Highness?”
“It's nothing... I need to find something, so I need a capable trading company. Do you know of any good ones?”
“What kind of items do you need?”
“I need some snow.”
“What? In the summer?”
“Hahaha. It's a bit strange, isn't it? Let's just pretend you didn't hear that.”
“May I recommend someone?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know a capable trading company that can find something like that.”
“Where is it?”
“They just opened a new branch in Beijing. It's called Eunhae Trading Company, and I don't know how powerful the captain is, but he's very capable. Ha ha ha.”
Upon hearing this, the Gyeongju City official went to the Eunhae Trading Company and made a request.
What was even more maddening was that the Eunhae Trading Company's Captain Eun Seo-ho had actually brought the eye.
If he brought the eye to Gyeongju City safely, he would have no face to show himself to Maeng-yeom.
Then, he happened to overhear a conversation.
“Did you hear? They say there's a magical item in that box.”
“A magical item?”
“Yes. It's a toy that spreads cold air around it to prevent snow from melting.”
Hearing the words of those who had gone to the North Sea branch of the Eunhae Trading Company with the official, Pyung-tak had an idea that he shouldn't have.
That was to steal the magical item.
Without that artifact, the snow would melt instantly under the hot summer sun.
“I'll just report them for negligence and cancel the order, then request Insight Trading Company to do it again. Hehehe.”
With that in mind, Pyung-tak sneaked out onto the deck and looked around.
Fortunately, no one was there.
“Well, it is the hour of the ox (1:00-3:00 a.m.).”
The ship was sailing on calm waters, so the sailors were not paying much attention.
He entered the cabin where the goods were stored. Fortunately, no one was guarding it.
That was because everyone on board was a member of the Pojeongsa.
There was no need for guards because there was nothing to steal.
Inside the cabin, there was a box with eyes on it.
He carefully opened the box.
Squeak.
He was startled by the loud noise.
He looked around, breaking out in a cold sweat, but there was no sign of anyone else.
“Phew...”
He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the box completely, finding a small box hanging on the inside of the box.
“This is it!”
He reached out and took the small box.
Since he had already opened the box, he thought about pouring water inside to melt the snow, but quickly changed his mind.
There was a small bell inside the box, and he knew that if he touched it, it would ring.
“How thorough.”
The snow would melt anyway without the bell.
He put the bell in his sleeve and closed the box.
He left the cabin and was about to throw the bell into the river, but stopped.
“It's too valuable to throw away! I'll find a good use for it.”
It was a device that spread cold air.
It was perfect for hot days like these!
Moreover, Guizhou was insanely hot in the summer.
With that, Ping Tak returned to his seat, hoping that his crime would be buried in the depths of darkness.
*
When I woke up, it seemed like it was still early morning.
I immediately did some simple breathing exercises.
Since reaching my peak, the time required for this had become shorter, and now it was over in no time.
Still, I couldn't skip my physical training.
My Master believed that as one's level increased, one's physical strength had to keep pace.
Otherwise, he said, the imbalance between my inner arts and my body would cause problems at any time.
I agree with him.
Thanks to my Master's teachings, I have never experienced any side effects from the disconnect between my body and my inner arts.
At that moment, Jin-yu Musha entered the room.
“Did you cough?”
“Yes. Good morning.”
“I have something to tell you. Last night, one of Pojeongsa's aides took the toy.”
He must have thought that no one was around the box containing the eyes, but would I really have withdrawn the guards from around the box?
No way.
I withdrew the guards publicly and asked Jin-yu to secretly guard the box.
Then, during the day, I raised my spiritual energy to protect it.
If I had openly protected it, they would have complained that I didn't trust them.
Now I have a reason to openly protect the box.
But who is the culprit? One of the deputy commanders of the Pojeongsa?
“I never thought of that.”
Then why did he do it?
We haven't done anything to make him hate us. Even so, would he risk his life to screw us over?
No matter how hard I think about it, there's only one reason he would do something so bold.
He was bribed.
The person who bribed him is probably one of the merchants in Gijoo Castle.
It was by chance that I was asked to take on this case because of the study officials, but if that hadn't been the case, I would have been asked by the Trading Company of Guizhou, just like in my previous life.
Then the answer is obvious.
They must have done this to break the contract by blaming our negligence and to win the contract for themselves.
But they underestimated me.
When I smiled, Pal-gap, who was standing next to me, flinched and asked.
“Why are you smiling so scary?”
“What?”
“...No, nothing.”
I got up from the bed and said.
“Then shall we catch the culprit?”
“If they threw the toy into the river, there won't be any evidence, will there?”
Pal-gap was worried, but I had a different idea.
“He didn't throw it away. He probably thinks it's worthless.”
If he had thrown it away without hesitation, he would be someone I could trust. Someone I would want to have on my side.
“Let's go.”
“Yes.”
As I walked out the door, Seo-woo and Myeong-jong, who were on guard duty, followed me.
We entered the cabin where the box was kept and opened it. Sure enough, the toy was gone.
I took a deep breath and shouted loudly.
“Ugh!”
One by one, the people on the ship rushed to the cabin.
“I think the sound came from here.”
“What's going on?”
“Huh? Captain? Are you all right?”
When they entered the cabin, I shouted with a panicked expression.
“It's terrible! The norigae! The norigae is gone!”
“What? Norigae?”
“It's a device that spreads cold air.”
This incident was immediately reported to the chief minister, who rushed over in a panic.
“What do you mean? A device that spreads cold air is missing?”
“Actually, I had a bad dream last night. Just in case, I woke up early in the morning and came to check on the eyes. But... the device was gone.”
I said with a gloomy expression.
“I trusted everyone on this ship and didn't even post a guard, but something like this happened...”
Before he could reproach me for my negligence, I beat him to the punch.
“You were too careless. You should have posted a guard!”
I laughed inside at someone's rebuke.
It was just as I expected.
“Who was it who said they didn't trust me when I said I would post guards?”
Who else could it be? It was you who asked that question just now.
“Hm, hm...”
He looked embarrassed and backed away.
Then someone said,
“Perhaps bandits broke in last night.”
“That's impossible. There are almost no bandits in this area of the Yangtze River.”
“That may be true, but...”
“Besides, if bandits had broken in, they would have taken other valuables or attacked someone. They wouldn't have come into this cabin and opened a box that looked so ordinary.”
Hearing my words, the person who had suggested the bandit theory turned away with a red face and a cough.
The magistrate said with a perplexed look.
“In any case, I apologize. I'm sorry.”
“No, how could you apologize, Magistrate?”
“Thank you.”
The chief of police sighed and then realized something and exclaimed.
“Wait a minute, doesn't the fact that the equipment is missing mean that the snow is melting?”
“That's okay.”
“Huh?”
He asked me in response to my words.
“It's okay? What do you mean?”
“I said, ‘Be prepared for the worst.’ I used a few more tricks besides that ornament, so the snow won't melt right away. But we need that ornament to move it in perfect condition.”
“That's a blessing in disguise. But we still have to find it.”
“Yes, sir.”
I said with a clasped hands greeting.
“I apologize for reporting this, but judging from the fact that only the items in the box were taken, there are two possibilities. First, the crime was committed with the intention of stealing those items. Second, the crime was committed with the intention of melting the snow.”
I continued.
“Whatever their intention, they are someone who wants to harm His Majesty. We must find the culprit.”
“Of course. How dare they do such a thing when I am desperate to save my eyes!”
The chief minister clenched his fists in anger.
“May we search for the items?”
“You have my permission.”
“Thank you.”
“Then we will begin searching the luggage. Everyone, please gather on the deck.”
At my command, everyone gathered on the deck. I ordered my bodyguards to guard them.
I began searching the luggage myself, together with the chief of police.
Or rather, I pretended to search.
That's because I knew where the trinket was.
While searching,
I deliberately fell down.
“Oh no! Are you all right?”
“You're fine.”
“Be careful.”
“I'm sorry. Something seems to have caught my foot.”
My bodyguard next to me responded appropriately. He was quick-witted, as usual.
“The floor is smooth. What do you think you caught your foot on?”
As he said that, my bodyguard looked at the floor and tilted his head.
“Huh? The floor is slightly raised here.”
The floor of the cabin was made of long planks joined together.
But the plank that Pal-gap pointed to was slightly raised.
Of course, it was only slightly raised, so everyone thought it was nothing.
Then Pal-gap looked surprised.
“Huh? Why is there frost here?”
“Frost?”
Hearing that, I quickly peeled back the floorboards and found a toy.
“Oh no!”
“Why is there a toy here?”
“It looks like it was hidden here. Who uses this cabin?”
A moment later.
Ten people entered the cabin. They were the ones who used this cabin.
They were not soldiers, but people with their own positions.
When only those people were called, the police officer stepped forward.
“This item was found in this cabin. And since this cabin is not accessible to anyone, it means that one of you here did this.”
The police chief began to pressure them.
“Who is it? Tell me who did this despicable act! If you confess now, I will take extenuating circumstances into consideration.”
“...”
However, no one spoke.
Of course not.
If they confessed to those words, they would not have done this in the first place.
The Pojeongsa was not as good at interrogation as he looked.
Actually, I knew who the culprit was, but that alone was not enough. It was important to convince everyone.
I expected that he would hide the toy somewhere else.
Unless he was stupid, he would have expected his luggage to be searched and hidden it somewhere else.
However, due to the limited space on the ship, the only place to hide it was in the cabin where the culprit was staying.
There was someone everywhere else.
But in this cabin, there were few people, and they were busy with their own work, so there must have been an opportunity.
The role of the toy was to narrow down the list of suspects for reasons that everyone could understand.
What caught my attention was other evidence.
Evidence that couldn't be ignored.
“Sir. May I say something?”
He nodded, and I took a step forward and said,
“This object has the ability to spread cold. That means it contains cold itself. It's okay to touch it for a moment, but if you touch it for a long time, you'll get frostbite.”
I continued.
“Let's think about it. You opened the box and took this artifact out. But it's very cold to the touch. Furthermore, you can't close the box while holding it in your hand. But if someone sees it, you'll be in trouble. So you can't put it down on the floor either. Then what did you do?”
“...”
“Everyone, roll up your sleeves.”
At my words, they rolled up their sleeves, and I examined them as I spoke.
“You may not know this because you live in a hot climate, but the fabric you are wearing is made from plants.”
There are certain plants with particularly tough bark, which is woven into fabric and used to make clothing.
Gui Zhou Province is hot and humid, so people need to wear clothes that allow air to circulate to avoid skin diseases.
“The characteristic of such clothes is that they discolor and deteriorate when they freeze.”
I smiled and said.
“Well, you've probably never experienced cold weather that would freeze the clothes you're wearing, so it's natural that you don't know.”
“...”
“Here is the answer to my question earlier. You put that item inside your sleeves.”
The sleeves were all wide to allow for ventilation.
“That's why the fabric deteriorated.”
I grabbed the wrist of one of them and said.
“Like this.”
The sleeve of the garment had discolored.
Caught. The culprit.
(Continued)