Century Spirit Mushroom (2)
Jeong Ho hyung tilted his head at my question.
"What do you mean, what did I pick up and eat?"
"Besides what I sent you from here, what else did you eat?"
Jeong Ho hyung nodded.
"I ate this and that. The one I ate the most of was mushrooms?"
"Mushrooms?"
At my echo, hyung nodded again.
"The guy who delivered your letter to me brought along a companion. Ah, there he is."
Hyung pointed to one spot, and I spotted a shaggy creature standing ramrod straight beside a tree.
Huh? A raccoon dog?
Why's that guy here? They usually live in the eastern parts of the empire.
Looking closer, unlike a regular raccoon dog, the fur on its chest was pure white.
Ah, a spirit beast.
But it somehow looked like it was full of tension, brimming with resolve.
"So why's that raccoon dog...?"
"That raccoon dog brought me the mushrooms. It showed me it eating them first, then offered them to me, so I figured it meant they were safe."
"Ah......"
"Still, just in case, I checked they weren't poisonous before eating."
Well, Jeong Ho hyung is the sub-leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group, so he's pretty knowledgeable about herbs and medicines.
"But honestly, how's a mushroom or two gonna fill you up? So I pretended to be hungry in front of the raccoon dog, and it started wagging its tail like it wanted me to follow. When I did, there was a ton of the same mushrooms there."
"Where was that?"
"Over there."
Hyung led me to the spot.
"Here."
Purple mushrooms grew in abundance there.
Just then, Geum-ryeong's sound transmission rang out.
- Kkwi!
Ah, you were gonna tell me later?
Good boy.
I slipped my hand into my sleeve to stroke Geum-ryeong and said to hyung,
"Hyung, did you know what this was when you ate it?"
"How would I? It was the first time I'd seen it. And I was starving to death—long as it wasn't poison, I was grateful."
Fair enough. Even combining my past life and this one, I'd only seen it once before. In my previous life, at that.
"Hyung, this stuff's expensive."
"What is it? Just a mushroom, right?"
"It is a mushroom, but not just any mushroom. Century Spirit Mushroom."
Century Spirit Mushroom.
A mushroom that blooms only once every hundred years.
"One Century Spirit Mushroom lets you build up a full year's worth of inner power."
"Huh? So it's a spirit medicine?"
"Exactly."
"Weirdly, there was nothing else edible around here except grass. If that raccoon dog hadn't shown me this, I'd have really starved to death."
Right—that's one of the Century Spirit Mushroom's traits.
It monopolizes nearly all the nutrients around it, so no fruit-bearing plants can grow near a colony of them.
Even Jeong Ho hyung, so well-versed in medicines, had fallen into dehydration—it made sense once I saw the Century Spirit Mushrooms.
There really wasn't anything else to eat.
And he didn't seem too shocked to learn he'd eaten spirit medicine, so hyung must have suspected as much.
"So how many did you eat, exactly?"
"A ton. About fifty? Weirdly, just a few filled me right up."
"......"
I was speechless.
Fifty meant nearly fifty years of inner power newly accumulated.
In other words...... Jeong Ho hyung's inner power, stuck at third-rate, had jumped to first-rate warrior level.
Actually, ingesting spirit medicines is risky business—you have to be cautious.
The lucky break for hyung was that each mushroom held only about a year's worth of power.
Most spirit medicines boost you by decades at a go.
Like the Frost Plum Blossoms I ate right after returning, which gave me a full decade.
But the Century Spirit Mushroom was just one year, so it didn't strain the body much.
And hyung's body had been in such critical exhaustion that it absorbed every bit of the mushrooms' energy without backlash.
"Wait a sec. Does that mean this kid ate some too?"
"Yeah. A bit less than me, but still dozens."
I quickly knelt and said to the child,
"Excuse me, may I hold the young master's hand for a moment?"
At my question, the child looked to Jeong Ho hyung, who nodded, and then the child nodded too.
I took the child's wrist and gauged his energy.
"......"
Roughly second-rate warrior level inner power.
I stood, giving a wry smile.
"Getting swept into the rapids turned out to be a blessing in disguise."
Anyway, can't just leave a treasure like this behind.
But first, permission.
- Geum-ryeong.
- Kkwi?
- These mushrooms—nobody owns them or anything, right?
- Kkwi?
- Just checking in case they were feed for that raccoon dog under you.
- Kkwi! Kkwi!
Geum-ryeong said something to the raccoon dog, which frantically waved its paws and shook its head.
- Kkwi! Kkwi!
- Ah, so we can take them all?
The raccoon dog's reaction somehow seemed like take it all, just never show your face here again......
Whatever. Permission granted......
"Let's harvest 'em!"
"Yes, sir!"
If hyung and the kid were in bad shape, moving them would come first, but thanks to this spirit medicine, they're fine.
So we can spare the time to pick these.
These mushrooms are super rare, and beyond boosting inner power, they have some pretty useful applications.
That's why they're so damn expensive.
We harvested a ton of mushrooms.
"Aren't you picking that one?"
At Palgap's question, I nodded.
"Nah, it's payment for guarding hyung and the kid. Gotta leave half out of conscience so the raccoon dog doesn't starve."
I gave the raccoon dog a light smile.
Probably not my imagination that it looked touched.
"Alright, let's go."
I looked to the convoy captain. He was overjoyed that the kid was alive.
"Everyone will be thrilled to know you're safe, young master. Thank you so much."
He kept bowing to me with clasped fists.
"Any Myeongmyeong Merchant Group search parties around here?"
He shook his head at my question.
"They wouldn't think we'd drifted this far...... Probably not."
"Got it. Then let's build a fire nearby, warm up, and rest."
"Yes, sir."
No inns around here, so we'd camp out.
As we moved to find a good campsite, Jeong Ho hyung lightly tugged my sleeve.
Something he wants to say privately.
I sent the others ahead and fell back, whispering to hyung,
"What's up?"
"That convoy captain guy—can we trust him?"
"Why do you ask?"
"About me and Yu-jin falling into the river. How'd you know about that?"
Yu-jin? Ah, the merchant group leader's grandson is Seong Yu-jin.
"Ah...... The Myeongmyeong group leader sent a letter."
I explained what I knew. But hyung shook his head after hearing it.
"No."
"Huh? No?"
"I did fall in trying to save Yu-jin, that's true. But Yu-jin didn't fall playing around."
"What? It wasn't an accident?"
"Right. Someone pushed Yu-jin from the boat's edge."
Someone pushed him?
"I'm not saying I don't believe the kid, but......"
"I saw it."
"......"
Hyung saw someone shove the kid?
"And the rope I tied around Yu-jin for safety in the rapids? It was untied at some point."
.
.
.
Crackle, pop, snap.
The campfire roared, wood popping in the flames.
Thanks to Palgap boiling up some hearty soup, we could leisurely fill our bellies with emergency rations and pillowed cakes.
Jeong Ho hyung and Young Master Yu-jin, starved for so long, made do with porridge.
Good thing I'd brought ingredients for it, expecting to feed hyung.
With tension eased, hyung and Yu-jin were asleep.
Young Master Yu-jin clung tight to hyung's chest.
In this place where you couldn't relax for a second, hyung must have been the kid's one reliable person.
He might feel guilty that hyung nearly died saving him, but that would only make him cling harder.
Still, someone tried to drown Young Master Yu-jin in the river......
As the merchant group leader's grandson, he'd have been tied securely with rope.
Yet not only was the rope untied, but someone pushed him in......
Who the hell was it?
No, more than that—isn't that too much? What crime did a kid commit to deserve being murdered like that!
Whoever it is, they won't die easy.
The next day.
We packed up camp.
"Phew, my guards and the merchant group folks must be worried sick."
Jeong Ho hyung said, looking concerned.
That boat had had his guards and plenty of Eunhae staff aboard.
"That's why we gotta get back quick."
But first, something to handle.
Jeong Ho hyung is basically kind-hearted and full of compassion. That's why he'd jumped in to save the kid.
But he's also cautious and trustworthy enough that I'd happily hand him the merchant group leadership.
And that hyung was saying someone tried to kill Yu-jin.
Sending the kid back to the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group right now would be dangerous.
The culprit's backer might target him again.
But we couldn't just keep the kid with us on our own whim.
The one to resolve this was the convoy captain.
I quietly called him over.
"A word, if you would?"
"Ah, yes."
"This way."
I led the convoy captain into the woods a bit, with Seo-u Warrior, Jin Yu Warrior, and Yi Pil Warrior—forewarned—following behind.
"What's this about, sir?"
"How much ransom should we demand for Young Master Yu-jin?"
"What do you mean?"
I deliberately smirked sleazily.
"C'mon, no need to play dumb. Looks like the group leader dotes on the kid plenty—might as well make a killing. Five thousand nyang doable?"
The convoy captain bristled at my words.
"How dare you think such filthy thoughts! You misjudged me!"
"Still don't get it, huh? Does this look like a request to you?"
Shing.
My guards drew swords behind him, aiming at him.
The captain froze a moment, then drew his own sword and swung at us.
Clang!
Clang clang!
We exchanged a few blows, but a mere first-rate warrior couldn't handle us.
"Urk!"
In seconds, he was disarmed, subdued, and forced to his knees.
"So, what's it gonna be? Cooperate nicely, and we can cut you in for half."
"Shut your mouth! I'm an honorable warrior guarding the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group's leader's family! I'd rather die than harm the young master!"
He pulled a dagger, aiming it at his own chest.
Thwack!
But the dagger never reached his heart. I'd grabbed the blade.
"......?"
I softened my expression at the captain's stunned look.
"Sorry for testing you, Captain."
"Testing? What do you mean?"
Still full of distrust.
I took the dagger and handed it to Seo-u Warrior, then gave the captain a formal clasped-fist bow.
"My deepest apologies. I had to test your loyalty, so I acted rudely."
"What for......?"
"Now that you've proven you won't betray Young Master Yu-jin, I can explain."
I continued.
"This incident wasn't an accident. Someone pushed him off the boat."
"......!"
He stared at me in shock.
"I-is that true? Really?"
"Yes. Yu-jin said so. And my hyung saw it too. Plus, the rope tying him for safety came untied."
"......"
"Sending Yu-jin straight back to the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group seems risky. Whoever's behind the culprit will target him again."
"I see."
"And I won't stand by while the kid my hyung barely saved dies in vain. If hyung saved him, he needs to live all the way to honor that effort, right?"
I went on.
"So for now, we're taking Yu-jin to the Eunhae Merchant Group's Sichuan branch."
"And you needed my cooperation for that."
"Yes."
"I'll follow your lead, young master."
The answer I'd expected.
"That's all I needed."
We finished up and returned to the group.
"Heard sword clashing earlier—was everything okay?"
At Jeong Ho hyung's question, I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, just stretched out some stiffness."
"Good."
I said to Jeong Ho hyung and Young Master Yu-jin,
"From here on, we're heading to the capital. And we'll drop Yu-jin off with the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group first."
At my words, Yu-jin's face fell, and he clutched hyung tight.
"But Yu-jin needs rest......"
I met hyung's eyes and gently asked the boy,
"Young Master Yu-jin. What do you want to do?"
"Uh......"
"You're ten, right? Old enough to speak your mind. Whatever you choose, I'll respect it. What do you want?"
"I miss my family. But it's not safe there now."
Pretty mature response.
"I want to stay with Uncle Jeong Ho a bit longer. He's the safest place for me right now."
"Understood."
I stood and said to the captain,
"To the Eunhae Merchant Group Sichuan branch."