Chapter 44
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 044
Chapter Title: Violation of Human Decency (4)
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I was an idiot.
That's all there is to say.
I'd been underestimating the 19th century just a little.
- A little? Really, just a little?
Let me correct that.
I'd seen it as a ridiculously easy world.
- I knew your nose would get broken someday. Serves you right, you reckless fool. I saw this coming.
Do you even know what the situation is, you mangy mutt?
- I'm more of an expert at this than you, you dimwit.
Suddenly, the old man stench wafts off him from the saddle. No, since he's a mutt, maybe it's just old dog smell...
- You think humans snarling and threatening to kill each other is anything new? In the end, the way people live is all the same. When someone like you struts around poking every corner, trying to freeload off everything, of course a bunch of guys will want to smash the back of your head! Are you better than Wang Anshi? Do you have as much power as Zhang Juzheng?
After that, he kept yapping on endlessly like he was paddling furiously with the tide, in full variety-show mode, but I had nothing to say even if I had a hundred mouths.
After the British Empire rebuilt Joseon's nose bridge, a ton of interests fell into my hands.
And the key point here isn't Britain's interests.
It's mine.
Sure, I ripped them all off the backs of British redcoats, but didn't I shake down the foxes so thoroughly that most of them ended up snug in my own pockets?
Which means shaking the individual Arthur Leigh might legally pry those gold bars out of my pocket.
You see it all the time even in wuxia novels.
"That guy who's not even a peak master has a peerless divine art manual?!"
"I must take his head and claim that divine art!"
"For an unworthy fool to possess supreme techniques is a crime worthy of death!"
Then splat—they get skewered. That's the usual fate for anyone who's not the protagonist.
How much like a treasure goblin must I look in their eyes? Even with goblins, the loot you get is random, so you pray while catching them. But Arthur Leigh, weaker than a goblin, guarantees a drop of Joseon's interests if you nab him! Gotta catch him, right?
Looking at the situation calmly and objectively once more, the picture comes into sharp focus.
It happens even in the 21st century sometimes.
Everyone talks like it's just business between private companies, but the moment national interests are at stake, bureaucrats get involved, shady guys in black suits show up. You think companies pull off industrial espionage or dirty tricks without any backing?
Does the U.S. government want to take me down?
Who knows.
It's a grand term—"government"—but it's packed with countless individuals.
Some hothead might've gone rogue, or the U.S. government, fumbling to control even one of its own states, might not even know about it.
But one thing I can be sure of.
If they see a profit, they'll swoop in to grab it.
If it looks like it'll blow up, they'll say, "Crooks acted on their own; we knew nothing," and play innocent.
Want more?
What if they're not even American? What if some Brit's behind them, just trying to slap a fraud record on my name out of spite?
I got too cocky.
The bigger problem is, when I think about who might want to gut me, there are too many suspects.
I keep saying it, but everyone wants to catch the treasure goblin. Everyone.
I'd strutted around thinking, "How dare these primitive 19th-century savages challenge the future hero Park In-ho?"
Looking back, I was out of my mind. What confidence let me sail across the ocean to someone else's country, figuring I'd hog all the MPs' connections without using a single one, making money hand over fist by myself? I must've been possessed... Yeah, possessed for real.
That's right! Jar ghost, it's all your fault!
- What? Me? Why??
I wouldn't have done something like this without being possessed! Your fault! You must've manipulated me!
Exactly.
The jar ghost was the real culprit!
- Quit taking it out on innocent folks, you jerk. I'm the one slaving like an ox or horse for your success! Don't live so wildly! Or I'll kill you myself before you die!!
Sorry... *sob*.
As the old saying goes, "daily renewal, renewed daily."
To become new, you don't just become new once—you renew every single day.
Which means I'd gained a new lesson, snapped out of it, so hero Arthur Park In-ho Leigh had overcome a life-threatening crisis like a survivor and grown even stronger. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger...
I'd already planned to head back soon anyway, but the moment I returned to the hotel that day, I halted all outside activities and holed up. I only dealt with visitors who came to me.
One exception.
"It's wonderful to see you again like this, Miss Robinson."
"Oh, please. The moment I said that one word, your face changed completely. I bet you would've figured it out on your own soon enough even without me saying anything."
"Not at all. By then, things were already tangled up. You're no different from my lifesaver."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Then, would it be all right if I made a small request?"
"What wouldn't I do for my lifesaver? Just say the word. I'll do anything I can."
The woman who'd yanked me back from the cliff was Elizabeth Howland Robinson.
A year younger than me. Not like Korea where age dictates hierarchy, so we're practically the same.
But what matters isn't her age or looks—obviously her family background.
Her father, Edward Mott Robinson—I'd met him once in passing—is a famous businessman here in the East no one hasn't heard of.
Whaling, China trade. Our business spheres overlap a lot.
Elizabeth hadn't met me face-to-face, but my name as this great writer and adventurer must've come up at their dinner table now and then. So when Joseon business came up, she gave me a little help.
My fame really is something. Proof that it echoes across the world, enough for a noble daughter who'd only heard my name to gladly lend a hand.
But this is bad.
If she asks for an autograph because she admires me, or an inscription in my book, or heaven forbid marriage—what do I do? I have to leave this den of immorality and crime called New York soon for righteous, shining London—
"Let me invest in your Joseon business."
"...Pardon?"
"Let me invest. In the Joseon business."
"One more time, please."
"You said I was your lifesaver?"
"No, I mean. Uh."
Fooled again?
Is this a setup too? Whale King Robinson siccing his daughter on me to snatch the interests?
"You're overthinking it. Let me say upfront: my father knows nothing."
"Hahaha. Of course not. I was just surprised that a young lady like you would mention investing."
"I've been looking at charts and graphs since the cradle. Business stories about promising companies are way more fun than dancing. Near-monopoly rights in the Far East? It'd be foolish not to invest."
They say if you're startled by a gourd, you'll jump at a pot lid.
It's amusing to see her so excited about investing, but no matter how I think about it, I can't shake the feeling someone's pulling strings behind the scenes.
"Well, I can't take investments on my own whim. But selling some of my shares is possible. If you're talking investment, how much...?"
"For real? No take-backs?"
She rummaged briefly in her fancy, sparkling handbag and pulled something out.
A very worn, tattered wallet.
"Here. Six hundred dollars."
"......"
"It's all the money I got from Dad."
"All of it?"
I keep repeating myself.
Something's happening that utterly surpasses my imagination. The only one who's beaten my imagination lately is Daniel.
"Ah, not really all of it. Dad gave me 1,500 dollars. But I spent 100 on living expenses and bought some decent bonds with 500."
"Then it's not all your assets?"
"Who goes all-in on one stock? Even if it looks good, that's disastrous. You need to study investing more."
She nudged the six hundred dollars on the table with her manicured nails. Like, what are you waiting for?
"Understood. I'll sell shares equivalent to six hundred dollars."
Six hundred dollars. About 100 pounds, roughly.
In 21st-century Korean terms, 20 to 30 million won—decent money, but for a chaebol heiress's investment, awfully modest. If this was really Robinson's scheme, they wouldn't stir up this fuss for just six hundred dollars' worth of stock.
Money's innocent anyway, so I took it.
"That do it?"
"You called me your lifesaver, and that's all? Just selling stock? Not a gift?"
"What else should I do?"
"Now that I'm a shareholder, as CEO, give me a company briefing. I'm dying to know. What's promising in Joseon? How will Japan's opening affect the Joseon market? I think laying railroads is best—any issues with starting construction I don't know about?"
- Born in the 21st century, she'd be a ruthless Wall Street financial warrior. Stuck in the 19th instead.
The moment I heard the jar ghost mutter that,
I felt like I'd been struck by lightning.
- What now? What's up this time?
Noble daughter.
No sons in the family.
Huge interest in investing and business.
Jackpot.
A winning lottery ticket rolling around a New York café.
I have to snag this woman!
"Sorry, but I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
Miss Robinson's face sours immediately.
"Too many listening ears here. What you want isn't just talk—it's exclusive insider info, right?"
"Wow. Do ladies in England do stock investments too? You're so natural at it."
"I don't care about that. What matters is if you're trustworthy and understand the value of information."
"Then let's go somewhere private."
I nodded.
And soon after.
"No!!"
"You really don't get it!"
"You don't know Joseon, miss—that's why! I'm telling you, it won't work there!"
"Hear me out. Listen. I'll say it big and clear, so clean your ears. Instead of building a port at Nampho, develop Incheon right next to Hanyang and lay tracks connecting Incheon and Hanyang."
"You think Incheon's bay is like New York harbor?! Building a port there is easy, huh?! Develop Nampho first, squeeze profits out of it, then use that cash for Incheon—I'm telling you!"
We fought.
We fought big time.
This greenhorn who knows nothing about the field. All chart-jockeys are the same. The ones making money for the company are frontline salesmen sweating it out, factory workers, and R&D researchers. But you chart nerds parrot "Why doesn't it work?" and spout idiocy like "Profits down? Cut labor costs," when going back in time, it's as simple as making muskets and soap. Sitting in offices twiddling pens, you don't respect the field—and you need to respect us. With the connections I've built—
- Calm down, Park In-ho! You're having a PTSD episode!
Whew. Gotta calm down. I accidentally hit the freakout button.
True to American hick form, she doesn't even know Incheon's tidal flats are the first hurdle. Infuriating.
"Never seen tidal flats, have you? No clue how fucked they are?"
"What? Massachusetts right here has them!"
"Typical hick... Joseon's are on another level."
"You limey keep calling me hick—got scurvy on your boat? Want me to shove a lime up your yap?!"
We fought like dogs.
I canceled my London ticket, shipped the Nobel first, rekindled my fire, wrote a perfect report to convince this Joseon-noob rookie, and prepared thoroughly.
But this woman.
She was stifling.
"Sitting on Wall Street staring at charts—think you know everything? You gotta see the field."
"That's why I'm sitting here—I can't!"
"Why can't you go to Joseon? Just go."
"For real?"
"Who's stopping you? Go if you want. How do you invest without seeing it?"
"Convince Dad for me."
"Think I can't?"
"Shareholders bossing the CEO around is normal. Convince Dad instead of your lifesaver-me. Let me see Joseon."
How much mileage does she get out of that "lifesaver" title?
I set up the meeting, entered the Robinson house, handed over my prepared gift, greeted Mr. Robinson.
"Arthur, your main businesses are all in the Far East, right? Planning to settle there?"
"No. Once the framework's set, back to Europe."
"I see. Food? Can't compromise on opening in both America and Britain."
Set up a U.S. branch too? Planning to invest?
"Yes. Well—"
"Her and Hattie too, both wild girls—I thought I'd never marry them off... Sending one out like this. Take her quick before she changes her mind."
Pardon?
Huh?
Something's off.