A Day Out in Moda (2)
Chatting with the girl, I got a detailed picture of how ordinary people actually lived.
"So, Mira, what's your dream?"
"I want to study mathematics."
Whoa. Mathematics? They say there are people out there who actually enjoy math... so it's true. I can't believe it...
"Then you'll have to go to Sinsi, won't you?"
"Yes! I'm planning to go to Sinsi once I come of age!"
"Then contact me later. I'll help you out."
"Really!?"
A girl like this? I could easily serve as her patron. Mira, my dear, there's no bigger hill to lean on in this country than me. You picked your sponsor well.
Her eyes were sparkling so brightly I'd have believed it if someone told me there were actual stars in them.
Creeeak.
"Hm? Looks like Mira got here first."
"Dad, Mom went on ahead. She always comes in with me."
Shouldn't I at least do the first greeting standing?
"Hmm? And who might you be?"
"Hello. My name is Ha-eun. Mira introduced me—I've come looking for a room."
"Oh? Welcome, welcome."
Hm? He seems a bit dazed. Was this not a house that took in boarders to begin with?
"Mira told me about the room and about staying here, but would it be all right if I stayed too?"
"Are you sure that's all right with you?"
Yep, confirmed. This is his first time running a boarding house.
"Yes. Mira's lovely company. She's like a little sister to me."
"That's remarkable. She's so shy around strangers, I never imagined she'd do something like this."
Huh? She hesitated a little at first, but she talked to me just fine? Pretty outgoing, actually.
Glancing over at the girl blushing beside us, though—maybe not so much.
"She was very kind to me. It feels like I've gained a little sister."
"Ohohoho. Then please, make yourself at home."
"Thank you. I'll help with any housework I can manage, too."
"Yes, we'll be in your care as well."
And so began my life at Mira's place. When evening came, it turned out there were a truly staggering number of siblings.
"Wow...."
"Kyaa...."
"..."
Men and women alike—one and all, utterly smitten. And what's with that kid standing over there, frozen solid? Breathe, you fool. Keep that up and you'll die.
Still, with this many people around, no one recognizes me? If glasses ever get invented, I could just wear those and no one would ever know it was me.
Starting the next day, I went to watch how Moda's blacksmith workshop operated.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"More charcoal, hurry, bring more!"
So they're still working with bloomery iron. Well, a blast furnace isn't exactly easy to build. But there was one thing I found genuinely interesting.
The kilns. Unlike before, the kilns were churning out charcoal almost mechanically now. Apparently there were dedicated charcoal-burners—people whose whole job was just that.
"Huh? What's that?"
After wandering around for a while, what should I spot but an enormous furnace? Why would you need something that big just to make bloomery iron?
Wow, how many bellows do they have? That's insane. Don't tell me they're actually trying to melt iron?
"Right! Now we load in the charcoal powder and the iron filings!"
Wow. Is this actually going to work? It looks like they've repaired it any number of times—are they still in the experimental stage?
"All right! Either you die or this iron melts—one of the two, you bastards! Let's go!"
"UWAAAAH!"
No. I told them to use animals for this. Why are they still doing this? That's exactly why you all end up bedridden, throwing your bodies at the problem like that!
Still, I suppose there's a certain romance to it.
"Enjoying the sight, are you?"
Ugh, that startled me. This must be Moda's current market chief. I did tell people in advance I'd be coming to look around, you know.
"Nobody else can seem to recognize me, but you figured it out right away?"
"Only when you came close. That hairpin of yours is rather rare."
My yellow copper hairpin—a gift from Akta, my very first blacksmith—had somehow turned green along the way.
"Ah, I'd better be careful."
Back into the pouch you go, my treasure number one.
"Yes. Best not to wear it in public if you can help it. Quite a few people would recognize it."
He's right, actually. Ever since we skipped the Bronze Age entirely, everyone's been making things out of gold or silver these days. Something like this, bronze or copper—I'm probably the only one who owns it.
"By the way, why are they doing it like that? I told you to use waterwheels or animals."
"He says he likes it that way. What can I do? Haha."
No, you scoundrel. This is not the sort of thing you do for flair!
"You idiots! The whole point of using them is that you need to push in lots of air for it to work!"
These muscle-brained fools! Their brains must have turned to muscle too.
"Eh!? Is that true?"
"Good grief..."
This is eating at me. Really eating at me...
"And yet, doing it that way, they've actually had some successes..."
"So one or two collapse each time."
"Five, actually...."
No. Is that something you can say? Are you picking a fight with me?
"Look, try making the furnace walls thicker."
"Thicker than now?"
"The better you block the heat from escaping, the easier and faster it'll be."
Can't make an insulated blast furnace out of some special material, so thick walls will just have to do.
"Ah, and one more thing I've been wondering—why does iron made that way break so easily?"
Excuse me? You people! Why don't you just tell me to make it for you and hand it over?
"Are you only going to do what I tell you?"
Time to stop teaching them soon enough. They're too busy doing only what I say to think for themselves? These people...
"Ah... no... of course not..."
"Last lesson, then. There's something bad mixed into the iron—something you can't see. And that bad thing is what makes iron hard. Right now it's too hard, so it cracks."
Going on about carbon content would just fly over their heads. How on earth do I explain this?
"Try mixing in various things, or failing that, blow some air into it."
"How, though?"
"Hmhhh?"
"Ah! N-never mind!"
Can't I just punch someone? My fist is itching. Ugh, the stress!
Judging by the market chief's expression, that attempt would fail too. I'll have to come back later.
Well, it's not time to be greedy yet. The population isn't large enough to justify a blast furnace anyway.
"Whew..."
"Hyaaah!"
I take a deep breath to calm myself, and why does he startle and run away?
There really ought to be more clever ones around...
Is this a population problem too? More people means at least one more clever kid showing up, right?
"Sister Ha-eun?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you heading home?"
Ah, it's Mira. She mentioned she often stops by the library to read—coming back from there again, probably.
I should build schools where children can study, shouldn't I? That's right. Raise clever children and more clever children will come. Running schools only in Sinsi won't do.
"Sister?"
"Ah! Oh, yes, I'm heading home."
I must have been lost in thought a little too long.
"Let's go together. I'm headed home too."
"Shall we stop by the market? Let's buy something tasty—I'll treat you."
"Oh! Let's hurry!"
Did her mother really call this child shy around strangers?
"Sister, have you ever eaten tteok?"
Tteok? What tteok? Whatever it was, I'd brought small-denomination bills this time. What I handed Ian last time turned out to be an enormous note—the modern equivalent of a million-won check?
So that's what tteok was—rice flour dough pressed thin and griddled, topped with stir-fried vegetables and meat. You could almost call it a grilled dumpling, couldn't you?
Munch munch.
"Mm, delicious!"
Is it, though? I find it a bit bland. Do they go light on seasoning around here?
Oh? What's that over there? Accessories?
"Mira, what's that? Accessories, right?"
"Yes! Accessories made from pretty, sturdy stones!"
What kind of stone could this be? Reddish, with waves running through it—a strangely beautiful stone?
She must have good hands—the craftsmanship is excellent.
Hairpins and combs, even rings. Looks like she's selling to the womenfolk.
"Mira, pick one out. I'll buy it for you."
"Gasp! But those are expensive!"
"It's fine. I can afford to buy you that much."
"Still..."
She hesitates, sneaking glances at them—she must want one badly.
"Now, young miss~ when someone buys you a present, you say 'thank you' and accept it graciously~"
The grandmother at the stall knows her business. If Mira kept hesitating, knowing her personality, she'd have ended up not buying it at all.
She quietly picks up a ring, but oh my... her eyes won't leave the hairpin.
"This ring and that hairpin together, please. They're truly beautiful."
"My, what a pretty young lady, and with such a fine eye for goods~"
The craftsmanship was genuinely good, but the price was steep for a stall like this.
But then, who am I? The only thing I have plenty of is money.
"Mira, do you know how to put up a hairpin?"
"What? Eh? No?"
"Watch closely."
Combing the hair with care and fixing the pin in place—I'd done it more times than I could count.
"Wow. How do you even make a hairpin look that pretty?"
"Does it suit me?"
"Yes!"
"Now then. You try it, Mira."
"Me?"
I've shown her how, so maybe she'll manage. She does seem clever, but dexterity is a whole different domain.
"Um... uhh... this is hard..."
Yep. Terrible at it, just as expected.
"Here, I'll do it for you."
Swish, swish. Pat, pat.
Her hair's in decent condition. I'll arrange it nicely and pin it up for her, shall I?
"Wow. Sister, is there anything you can't do?"
"You get good at anything if you do it enough."
"Anything at all? Even mathematics?"
Ha... math terrifies me... I'm sorry.
"W-well, yes. If you work hard, you'll find your answer in math too."
Doesn't math only give you answers if you solve it properly? I've said something awfully careless...
"There! How's that? The hairpin suits you too, Mira. This one's yours to keep."
"What? No, I can't. You already bought me the ring!"
"I don't want to wear any other hairpin."
Other things I could give up, but the hairpin—there's no replacing that one~
"That greenish hairpin? You're fond of it?"
"Yes. It's a gift a friend made for me by hand. Someone I can't see anymore."
"Oh... it must be precious to you."
Huh? It's not a sad story, though? That friend did everything she ever wanted and left this world happy in her old age?
"I bought this hairpin for you, Mira. You couldn't take your eyes off it, could you?"
"Eh? Ah... Aw! Thank you so much!"
"There we go. That's the spirit."
"I'll treasure it all my life."
"Then the honor is mine."
This girl might become a great mathematician someday—best to stay on her good side.
First, I'll have to go home and speak with her parents.
"Mother, Father, I have something to discuss with you."
"Yes, yes?"
"Is something... wrong?"
Ah... I lowered my voice and opened far too gravely, didn't I? Their worry is plain as day.
"Oh? No, nothing to worry about. Mira wants to study—did you know that?"
"We do, but it's difficult here."
"Would it be all right if I took her with me?"
Does that phrasing sound a bit off? Something like hand your daughter over to me?
"Still, she's so young..."
"I'll arrange a place for her to stay and find her a school as well."
"Ah. You did seem like a young lady of high standing, so that's it, is it."
Hm. Fair enough? Even studying in Sinsi takes connections, after all.
"Besides, Moda isn't that far from Sinsi. A day's journey by wagon. Don't worry—let her go, won't you?"
"Let us speak with Mira first."
"Of course. Talk it over and let me know."
Well, argue this way or that—no parent ever beats their child, as they say, and in the end Mira would be coming to Sinsi with me.
And then came the day of our departure.
I ought to put Mira's family's minds at ease, at least a little, shouldn't I?
Dugudak dugudak dugudak.
A carriage drawn by eight horses. There is exactly one of its kind in all of Daehan.
"Wow. Didn't they say the Holy Maiden was coming today?"
"Maybe? If she had, you'd think word would've spread."
People stepping aside to one side, worried they might somehow be in the way.
Neigh!
Clatter.
"Please, board."
The carriage door swings open before me—and what now? Why is the man called the Chancellor here of all places? Hasn't he got work to do?
"Come along, Mira~"
"..."
Mira's soul has left her body. I'll have to haul her in by force.
"Gasp!"
"Huuurk!"
Oh dear, the whole family's about to have a heart attack.
"Don't worry about Mira. I'll take good care of her. Come visit the Temple later if you want to see her."
"Gasp! Th-the... the H-Holy Maiden! The Holy Maiden!"
Oh dear, she really is going to faint. Leaving her parents behind, we departed Moda.
Staying any longer would just mean an enormous crowd gathering.
"Uhh... Sister? No, I mean—Holy Maiden?"
"Sister is fine. No need to be so formal all of a sudden."