WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 167: Epilogue: This Is No Ordinary First Meeting (3)

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Han San, Ayame, and Fusataro sat facing one another again in the reception room.

As the servants busily laid out food and drink, Fusataro looked at Han San.

Han San.

A young businessman whose influence was rising fast in Gangwon. He had even received a commendation in Governor-General Ugaki's name in Gyeongseong not long ago.

He had warned Fusataro to prepare for the flood, had ties to his nephew, had avenged him, and had even prepared a stuffed bear as a gift...

'At this point, being close to Aya...'

Just as Fusataro was thinking that.

"Mr. San! Open wide."

"No, Miss Aya. I can eat it myself..."

"Mm-hm?"

"...Ah..."

"Good!"

Fusataro watched his granddaughter put an oden[1] skewer into an outsider's mouth, then gulped down his drink.

'Hm.'

That was how a grandfather's heart worked. He had only had sons while raising his children, so he had never known. But now that he had a granddaughter, something just felt... somehow... well, it felt that way.

"Sir, let me pour you a drink."

Perhaps the outsider had noticed how he felt, because he tried to refill Fusataro's cup with an ingratiating smile.

Fusataro composed his expression.

"Ahem. All right. Strange, my cup is empty though nobody even called for a toast. Go on, then..."

"Oh, Mr. San! Isn't 'sir' rather distant? Try calling him Grandfather~."

Fusataro gripped his cup tightly.

Of course, breaking a cup was not something his grip strength could accomplish. His hand merely hurt terribly.

Han San cleared his throat.

"Miss, that's not something I can just decide to do..."

"Mm-hm? Grandfather, it's fine if Mr. San calls you Grandfather, right?"

Fusataro cleared his throat as well. Soon, a smile formed at the corner of his lips.

"Ho ho. Well... if the choices are fine or not fine, then at least in the latter case, I cannot say this young man Han San has any grave disqualifying flaw..."

That was when voices rose outside.

"Sir! Please, just let us see you once!"

"You're here, aren't you?"

One of the Tsuchi household members trying to stop them could be heard as well.

"Not today. We have guests from far away."

The murmuring only grew louder.

"So he is here! Sir!"

"Sir! Elder Fusataro! Please hear us out!"

Han San and Ayame looked at each other, while Fusataro sprang to his feet.

At his gesture, the servants opened the doors. Where the stuffed bear had been moved, a crowd of poorly dressed farmers had gathered. One of the Tsuchi household members who had tried to stop them stepped back with slumped shoulders.

Fusataro asked, "What is it?"

The murmuring farmers hesitated into silence. They looked at each other without speaking, until the farmer at the front bowed at the waist.

"P-please lower our tenant rents!"

Fusataro said nothing.

The farmer watched his expression and continued.

"J-just for this year! The paddies down below are still full of mud. When the embankment burst, the rice plants, well..."

Fusataro's fields had fared better than most because he had accepted Han San's warning. But better than the surrounding fields did not mean unharmed.

Fusataro leaned on his cane.

"We are assessing the damage."

"Yes, the young masters of the Tsuchi household are surveying it. But while we wait, our food supplies are running out, and the people..."

The farmer rummaged inside his clothes and pulled out several sheets of paper.

The dirt- and sweat-stained sheets bore the names of fields and people. It was plain that many hands had passed them around.

At Fusataro's glance, one of the Tsuchi household members took the papers and handed them over.

As Fusataro read them line by line, his brows flattened.

"You want all these reduced by this rate?"

The farmers hunched their shoulders.

"If you would do that, we would truly..."

"I understand the paddies farther uphill were not flooded."

"W-well, even so, this rain was just too much... And because of that Chosun Rice Control Act[2] or whatever, rice prices keep changing..."

"That is something to take up at the rice exchange[3]. We have already exchanged contracts. I spent money trusting those contracts. Is it right to demand that they be changed overnight?"

Fusataro did not raise his voice.

The farmers' voices gradually rose.

"No! The words of those rice-selling bastards keep changing, so why can't our rents change too?"

"Do not mix the issues. Merchants forcing down prices and changing the tenancy contract between you and me are different matters."

"Aren't all the bastards selling rice in Busan your underlings, sir?"

Fusataro's face hardened.

The farmer looked as though he realized his mistake, but did not take the words back.

Unable to bear it any longer, Ayame hesitantly tried to speak.

"Grandfather..."

Han San caught Ayame by the sleeve.

Ayame paused. She looked at Han San, and Han San gave the slightest shake of his head.

The situation had already become an emotional confrontation. If the granddaughter added her voice now, it would spiral out of control.

Ayame had spent a long time with Han San. She had seen how he got things done.

Drawing a deep breath, she stepped forward and spoke to the farmers.

"It must have been very hot on your way here. How about a cool cup of tea?

Grandfather, I'll serve these people some tea."

Fusataro looked at his granddaughter. Then at Han San, who had held her back by the sleeve.

The farmers looked between Fusataro and Ayame, then lowered their heads deeply.

Fusataro sighed and waved his hand.

"Come. This way, everyone."

Ayame led the farmers away. The Tsuchi household members went with their niece as well.

In an instant, the garden was empty, leaving only Han San and Fusataro.

Fusataro sighed.

"I've shown an ugly sight to someone who came such a long way."

Han San took Fusataro by the hand and seated him again. As naturally as flowing water, he refilled his cup.

"What are you saying? If you're Miss Aya's grandfather, then it concerns Miss Aya too."

Fusataro no longer twitched his brow at those words. He only sighed.

"Thank you for stopping Aya earlier. Her feet and her mouth are both equally quick..."

"Ha ha."

Han San did not add anything.

Whether in agreement or criticism, one should not pretend to know things too readily at a time like this. As the older brother who had sighed whenever he read newspaper articles about his younger sibling in his previous life, he knew that well.

After waiting a while, Fusataro raised his cup. Han San raised his own in a toast, and they each took a sip.

"I hear you run a large business in Gangwon."

"Yes."

"What would you do in a situation like that?"

"Hm."

Han San stroked his chin. What would he do?

"What magic is there to it?

Assess the situation. If the damage is truly severe enough to ruin a household, lower the rent or lend them money. If it seems like they're exaggerating, just ignore them.

While I'm at it, I'd take a look around the rice exchange too. If my employees are being too harsh, I'd set them straight."

Fusataro smiled faintly. It was not an offended smile.

"You're kind."

Han San smiled as well.

Normally, he would have made a joke about how that was what protected his own interests in the long run anyway. But today, he did not particularly feel like it.

He took another sip and spoke easily.

"It's my land and my underlings. I need to keep a firm grip on them."

"Land, huh."

"I rather fancy myself the king of that land. And isn't Miss Aya practically the princess of Busan at this point? It's the princess's land, so you need to keep a firm grip on it."

"Ho ho. Then I would be the king of Busan?"

"Aren't you?"

Han San asked as he refilled Fusataro's cup.

Fusataro could not help but smile as he drank the liquor Han San had poured.

That was the very moment it happened.

"Sir! Please let us see you!"

"Sir! Elder Hajama!"

Another wave of murmuring rose outside. There were fewer people than before, but they sounded even more urgent.

Fusataro's face hardened completely.

His precious granddaughter had only just led the earlier visitors away to serve them tea herself, and now more people were barging in already?

This was an insult to his granddaughter!

Before Han San could say anything, Fusataro sprang to his feet. He strode over, flung open the paper sliding doors, and looked out at the garden.

Then he paused.

The people gathered outside were not the farmers from before. They smelled strongly of fish and oil, and were dressed like fishermen.

The fishermen shouted urgently toward Fusataro.

"Sir! You're here, sir!"

Fusataro realized that the earlier farmers had not abandoned his granddaughter to come looking for him. His expression lightened a little, though it did not entirely relax.

Whether farmers or fishermen, their reason for coming at a time like this was obvious.

The farmers had clung to him asking for lower tenant rents, so the fishermen must have come to petition for lower boat fees.

Thinking that, Fusataro asked in a stiff voice, "What is it?"

"A shark!"

?

"A shark! A shark has appeared!"

Ten million question marks sprang up in Fusataro's head.

Fusataro turned to Han San and saw that he wore a similar expression. That confirmed he had not misheard, yet he still could not process the information.

So Han San asked, "A shark?"

The fishermen did not know who Han San was, but he was well dressed and standing beside Elder Fusataro, so they decided he must be someone they could rely on and nodded vigorously.

"Yes! A shark has appeared in the North Harbor!"

"A fucking enormous shark!"

"It won't leave no matter how we try to chase it away!"

"It's truly, completely gigantic!"

Busan was truly Gyeongsang Province's wicked mistress, driving everyone mad.

A shark had appeared. As abruptly as a ninja.

Han San and Fusataro rode by car to see the shark.

The coastline was indented as though someone had pressed a plump cheek with a finger. Inside it lay a long inlet and a small makeshift pier.

There were already many people at the scene. The onlookers gathered in a crowd, peering out at the water and throwing out remarks.

"I'm telling you, it's fifteen cheok[4] long!"

"You said ten cheok before! How did it grow by five cheok?"

"I couldn't see its tail then!"

Han San and Fusataro got out of the car.

The chattering onlookers turned at the sound.

"What? Who drove a car all the way..."

"Gasp! Elder Hajama!"

The onlookers naturally parted to either side. Their murmuring naturally shifted from the shark to the two men.

"The shark must be something else if the elder came so quickly."

"Who is that young man standing beside the elder?"

"A new servant? He doesn't look dressed like one..."

"Come to think of it, that young lady at the elder's house came with some young man, according to Mr. Park who works at the dock..."

As the murmuring continued, Fusataro cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

The onlookers fell silent.

By then, Han San had already walked to the end of the pier. A Murata hunting gun was slung across his back.

The water was murky. Muddy water and seawater mixed together, tangled with twigs and foam. The surface reflected the sunlight as though covered with a thin layer of plastic, making it impossible to see beneath.

Then, below it, a large black shadow passed like a submarine.

Han San exclaimed without meaning to.

"It really is big."

Footnotes:

[1] Oden is a Japanese simmered dish of fish cakes, tofu, and other ingredients in light broth, often served on skewers.

[2] The Chōsen Rice Control Act was a colonial measure regulating Korea's rice distribution and prices amid market instability.

[3] A rice exchange was a market where rice contracts and futures were traded, often driving speculative price swings.

[4] A cheok is a traditional Korean unit of length, roughly 30 centimeters, though its exact measure varied by period.

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