Chapter 114: Chapter 114
Jojo descended the pass along the road with leisurely steps.
Puffing tobacco smoke, Jang Geon swayed his body along with the beast’s gait. He did not yet know whether what was visible far off was truly a native military camp as he thought. Perhaps it was originally a distinctive characteristic of this Plateau City, and if an actual army was stationed there, the people traveling the road right now wouldn’t seem this calm.
Moreover, Jang Geon was currently a man anticipating a comfortable inn and a soft bed. If possible, he wanted to think positively.
Walking along the road like that for a long while, a cluster of people gathered closely to one side of the path leading into Plateau City caught his eye. People were passing by beside them, yet they had even lit a bonfire and were boiling and eating something.
As Jang Geon puffed the remainder of the tobacco stick left to the length of a finger joint and looked at them, both their appearance and attire seemed to be New Continent natives. Furthermore, armed with bows or spears and blades, and even clad in what clumsily appeared to be armor, they did not look like ordinary hunters.
Just then, a native who was smacking his lips after scooping boiled food into a bowl suddenly met eyes with Jang Geon. Having no desire to pick a quarrel for no reason, Jang Geon grabbed his bamboo hat and subtly nodded his head.
At that greeting, the native wore a blank expression and reflexively nodded his head in return, and the other natives nearby saw that and all turned to look at Jang Geon. Then suddenly, the fiercest-looking native sprang to his feet and pointed his finger at Jang Geon.
That native roared something loudly.
“What is it this time…”
The language was different from the western coastal tribes. The pronunciation was roughly similar, so he might understand if he listened a bit more, but the natives had no intention of saying anything further as they swarmed over and blocked Jang Geon’s path.
Spitting out the tobacco to the side and raising both hands, Jang Geon spoke in the language of the western natives as best he could.
“I have no intention to fight. I am merely a traveler.”
Hearing those words, the natives turned to one another, chattered a few words, and burst into hearty laughter. Jang Geon quietly memorized only the pronunciation. Since he had to communicate to avoid getting ripped off at an inn later.
Just then, among the laughing natives, the fierce-looking one from before completely stiffened his expression and shouted again.
“You! Suspicious guy! Dismount from your horse and hand over your sword!”
It was western speech that Jang Geon could understand as well. Hearing that, Jang Geon gave a small smile as if troubled.
“Telling a martial artist to hand over his blade like that. Isn’t that too coercive?”
“What? Central Plainsman! If you do not obey my words, you will get hurt!”
At his threat, the smile vanished from the corners of Jang Geon’s mouth. Surprisingly, his posture of raising both hands and practically lounging atop the horse remained unchanged, yet merely by erasing his expression, an inexplicable chill began to flow between him and the natives. Flustered for a moment, the natives flinched, but soon subtly reached for their respective weapons.
Seeing that confrontation, people passing along the road were startled and either fled back along the way they had come or stepped aside to watch the situation.
However, Jang Geon, whose face had hardened, soon let out a small sigh. Although he had grown slightly angry because they behaved rudely, he couldn’t actually draw his sword and slaughter them all. This was not the martial arts he had mastered to become such a murderer. As he had seen from atop the hill, if they possessed something resembling an army, they would capture him and take him to their commander, so he decided to roughly resolve the misunderstanding there.
Just as he was about to obediently dismount from Jojo, someone subtly approached from among the people who had stepped aside from the road.
“Oh! Brother! What are you doing here?”
When Jang Geon turned around, it was a Central Plains woman. To be precise, she was a girl who looked barely twenty; her round, chubby cheeks were cute, but she was a face Jang Geon did not know.
Approaching with a smile as if truly delighted to see Jang Geon, she chattered away to the natives with that very smiling face. Seeing her laugh cheerily and speak a few words, those who looked ready to draw their weapons relaxed their tension and laughed along.
The fierce face even chuckled with a sheepish grin and apologized.
“I didn’t know he was San-san’s cousin. Because he was an unfamiliar face and spoke western tongue, I thought he was a suspicious fellow. I’m sorry.”
“…It is fine. Such things happen.”
Jang Geon gave a lukewarm reply and subtly looked at the girl named San-san. Bantering with the natives with a smile, she caught Jang Geon looking at her and secretly winked one eye so no one would notice. Having nothing to say in return, Jang Geon merely kept his lukewarm expression as it was.
Afterwards, through the girl’s mediation, Jang Geon dismounted from Jojo, exchanged greetings with the native warriors, and then began walking toward Plateau City together with her. Even without Jang Geon holding the reins, Jojo followed along smoothly.
The native warriors returned before the bonfire to pick up the bowls they had been eating from, and the frightened people continued on their respective ways.
Jang Geon and the girl walked along the road for a while without speaking. That quiet stride continued on until Plateau City’s streets were before them.
Only after arriving that far did the girl open her mouth as if somewhat puzzled.
“…Aren’t you going to ask?”
“Ask what.”
“…What do you mean, ask what. You’re not my cousin, right?”
“You’re not my younger cousin either.”
The girl’s face was dyed with bewilderment.
“Huh? Uh-uh? I wasn’t expecting such a shameless reaction?”
Seeing that, Jang Geon gave a smirk. He stopped in his tracks, cupped his fists lightly to the girl, and spoke.
“Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, I passed through a troublesome situation.”
“Whaaat? A sudden reversal in attitude?”
Plunged into fluster once more, the girl fumbled before cupping her fists in return.
“Well, um, what was I going to say… Ah, fellow Central Plains people should help one another! I am called San-san!”
“I am Jang Geon.”
The girl who revealed herself as San-san scratched her head upon seeing Jang Geon’s calm demeanor, then simply grinned.
“…Good grief. Why did such a slick person bare his fangs so sharply against those warriors earlier?”
“Because I didn’t like them snickering right off the bat.”
“Ah, ‘Burning Foothills’ has a bit of that tendency. Looking down on unfamiliar Central Plainsmen or western natives…”
Jang Geon glanced back subtly and continued.
“You seem to know them well?”
“Not that well. Those warriors stand guard at the entrance of Plateau City, filtering out suspicious individuals. By the order of ‘Raging Horse.’”
At the extraordinary name, Jang Geon’s eyes returned to her.
“Raging Horse?”
“He is the leader of Plateau City’s natives. An outstanding warrior as well. Since Plateau City is a place where native influence is stronger than Central Plainsmen, there is no separate Murim Alliance branch, so he takes charge of public order. Warriors like Burning Foothills are beneath him.”
“For someone merely in charge of public security, the scale seemed rather large.”
San-san smiled brightly and said.
“The streets with tall buildings on this side are mainly built by Central Plainsmen, while that side is the district where natives live. In truth, that place is the real Plateau City. Because while natives can enter the Central Plainsmen streets as they please, Central Plainsmen cannot enter the native district freely.”
“…A peculiar city.”
Jang Geon did not ask further. Since natives originally did not build tall buildings like Central Plainsmen, mistaking that cluster of huts for a military camp from afar was understandable. Even so, being bound together as a city called Plateau City while stubbornly adhering to their way of life—specifically, living in huts—was indeed strange. After all, the valley tribe Jang Geon knew well lived perfectly fine building both huts and log cabins together.
Still, he couldn’t hold this girl named San-san and interrogate her to reveal all the hidden relationships of the city, so he let it pass moderately. In fact, finding out such things held little meaning for the wandering Jang Geon anyway.
Just then, San-san asked in a cheerful voice.
“Looking at you, it doesn’t seem like you came to visit real relatives in Plateau City for fun. Did you perhaps come looking for work?”
“First, an inn. I am not lacking money on hand.”
“Oh, what a fortunate meeting. Shall I introduce you to a place to stay?”
As if she had intended to do so from the start, she naturally guided Jang Geon to an inn she knew. Jang Geon could have shaken it off, but since it was true that he had overcome trouble earlier thanks to her, he obediently let himself be led along.
Only Jojo followed the two ahead with a sullen expression.
* * *
The innkeeper and cook were Central Plainsmen, while the waiter was a native. The dishes served were fried wheat dough and well-roasted beef. A small knife was even provided to slice and eat it. Fried dough was a dish frequently eaten in the west as well, and the beef was a dish thoroughly to Jang Geon’s liking just by the meat itself. Furthermore, on one side of the platter was a sauce made by mincing various fruits, so spreading it over the meat kept him from growing tired of it.
As Jang Geon sat before the table munching away, San-san, who was sitting opposite him with her chin propped in her hands, suddenly asked.
“Is it delicious?”
“Mm.”
Seeing that Jang Geon seemed pleased, she smiled warmly and continued.
“They say there aren’t many roasted dishes in the Central Plains, right? I heard they prefer frying, steaming, and boiling over roasting. Most people here like roasting meat directly over fire. Central Plains people from the west sometimes see that and say the food here is too barbaric, but after eating properly roasted beef, they seek only that every day.”
Putting meat into his mouth and chewing, Jang Geon raised his eyes. Across from him, San-san was looking down at the meat.
“…I’m from around here. I’ve never been to the Central Plains. I have visited coastal cities, but they were far more bustling with many more people than Plateau City, so it was exhausting. In the end, I couldn’t stay long. Still, sometimes I think I’d like to ride a ship to the Central Plains. I also want to see Chang’an, the Imperial City…”
Muttering so, she suddenly realized Jang Geon’s gaze watching her while chewing, and smiled with her eyes once more.
“I talk too much, don’t I? So don’t just eat, tell me some of your story too. You said you were Jang Geon, right? You’re from the Central Plains, aren’t you?”
Swallowing the chewed meat, Jang Geon spoke.
“How did you know?”
“Because among Central Plains people, someone born and raised in this land and someone who came over from the Central Plains are slightly different. Especially their way of speaking.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Having guessed Jang Geon’s origins, San-san playfully laid half her body over the table and tapped her fingers with a patter. It looked as though the thoughts and feelings she currently had naturally revealed themselves through gestures.
“Then tell me other things too. Frankly, Central Plainsmen who come to Plateau City are almost always the same people, so one can’t easily meet new people.”
Hearing that and pondering for a moment, Jang Geon took a sip of the tea poured beside him and said.
“Then tell me a bit about yourself first. You said you were San-san, right? What do you do to make a living in Plateau City?”
Lowering her posture to look up at Jang Geon, San-san blinked her eyes at that question, then slid back into her chair, glared coyly at Jang Geon, and replied.
“…So you’re telling me to spill first?”
However, she quickly changed her attitude and nodded.
“Well, true. It’s right for the person being asked to spill first. I am, well… simply put, a broker. I find rightful owners for goods whose ownership has vanished, in exchange for appropriate compensation. In truth, ownership is like that, isn’t it? Just because something is held in someone’s hand doesn’t unconditionally mean ownership belongs to that person…”
“A thief?”
She turned serious.
“A thief? I don’t steal.”
“Then a fence.”
She tried to deny it seriously this time as well, but she merely mouthed her lips and couldn’t continue. And in the end, dropping her head abruptly, she spoke.
“Somehow, at this young age, I ended up doing such work… But besides that, I do many other things, you know? Land brokerage, commodity trading, sometimes negotiating contract disputes caused by payment issues, and defending legal and moral disputes between Central Plainsmen and natives. There’s nowhere in this Plateau City where my feet aren’t involved. So would you call that a fence or a fixer?”
Her head slowly rose as she delivered her defense, and Jang Geon nodded.
“People would call you a fence and fixer.”
“…That is also true.”
Moistening his lips with a sip of tea, Jang Geon looked at the sulking girl. He seemed to understand why she hadn’t left after introducing the inn.
“Tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“You have something you need a hand with, don’t you? It seems Plateau City’s fixer didn’t help a swordsman seen on the road for nothing.”
Her eyes rounded into circles. And then, she even pulled up the corners of her lips into a grin.
“…Was it that obvious?”
Lifting his teacup again to moisten his lips, Jang Geon nodded.
It seemed ordinary sightseeing had flown out the window once again.