Chapter 1018: Tangerine Caramel — Shanghai Love (9)

A ship’s doctor. A doctor who sailed aboard a ship.

If there was no doctor on board, all kinds of difficulties were bound to bloom in every direction, and there was only so many times one could get lucky by yelling, “Is there a doctor on board?” and having it work out.

But they were already one beat too late.

The Magistrate’s son had already been treated.

Still, hmm. Dutch barbarians.

Dutch barbarians... it did make her a little curious, but that didn’t mean she could say something like, Well, I’m curious what they look like, so why don’t we have a look at their faces.

That would be racist....

“My son’s illness has already been cured, so send them back. Hmm. Yes, yes, still, tell them I appreciate that they came all the way here, even if it was unnecessary. Tell them I will remember it.”

It seemed she would not be getting a look at the Dutch after all.

And honestly, Westerners were people she had occasionally seen even back in her homeland, and through screens she had seen enough of them to grow sick of the sight.

And yet?

“—H-hey, what do you think you’re doing? Wait, wait!! I said it’s already all taken care of! Hey!”

Voices rose outside, voices raised louder and louder, and from the sound of it, one could roughly guess what kind of situation it was.

What? Looks like they’re trying to push their way in?

And then, right away—

RATTLE!

The door opened, and several Westerners came into view, along with servants wearing thoroughly flustered, troubled expressions.

Two Western men. One Western woman.

Qing’s gaze turned toward the Dutch woman among them.

Well, if there were two men and one woman, it was only natural, perfectly natural, for one’s eyes to go to the woman first.

But more than that, the bright-red number above her head was—

Oh. Was she the kind of bitch who really knew how to rack up bad karma?

She was a woman dressed in the kind of old-fashioned clothes one might only see in movies from Qing’s homeland.

The way the black vest over the linen clothes came together with the jet-black leather trousers and the long boots pulled tight all the way up below the knees was, one might say, impressively stylish.

Beneath the wide-brimmed hat were curly red locks, and her unusually ruddy face was sprinkled with freckles befitting a Westerner.

But her large eyes were gentle, giving her an oddly deer-like impression, and so that woman who had barged into the room smiled shyly and said,

“[Look at all these yellow monkeys huddled together in here. We could make decent money if we opened a zoo just like this. Maybe I should’ve brought bananas.]”

Qing’s face soured at once.

Racist remarks from the very first meeting!

Of course, it was not something she could condemn outright.

To Westerners of this era, racial discrimination was as natural an act as breathing and sleeping.

In other words, for Westerners, history itself was racism, and it was an age in which they even dressed it up as the will of God and broadly encouraged it.

“[That’s what she said. Just smooth it over somehow.]”

“Velly solly fo’ comin’ so late. Please forgive rude, but it was ulgently needed. Must save life, yes?”

Then the middle-aged man standing furthest to the left spoke up in the distinctive curled accent of a Westerner, but his Central Plains speech was fluent enough that there was no real difficulty understanding him.

And the occupation of a Westerner who spoke the Central Plains tongue was obvious at a glance.

He was covered head to toe in black clothing, and tucked against his chest was a large book with a gleaming leather cover and a gold cross stamped squarely on it.

A primitive ancient Jesus-freak. A missionary!

Missionaries, by nature, were the spearhead of civilian diplomacy and masters of language besides.

“This is ship’s doctor sent by East India Company of our country, and she has velly great skill. Surely be big help.”

At that, Qing tilted her head.

East India Company? That sounded familiar. But wasn’t the East India Company British?

These Dutch barbarians—so, in the language of her homeland, they were from the Netherlands, weren’t they? They did not even speak British words—English—in the first place.

If knowledge was power, then ignorance was Qing.

For reference, the East India Company was not a company named after East India itself; “East India Company” was a collective term for companies that handled trade with Asia.

“We heard noble sir’s son is velly sick, and were much worried. So we came, though shameless.”

At that, the expression of the County Magistrate, which had reddened so much it looked ready to explode into a thunderous bellow at any moment, eased slightly.

Because people, as a species, tended to become generous with pronunciation and grammar when it came to foreigners.

A long-nosed foreigner stumbling through the Central Plains tongue looked admirable and endearing, and foreigners were always praised with, “Wow, your language is so good!” so long as something resembling words came out of their mouths.

Bolstered by that little bit of endearment, the Magistrate’s fury softened somewhat.

“It is indeed something for which gratitude is due, that you rushed here on hearing word of his illness, but my son has already been completely cured. That said, in these Central Plains, barging in without the master’s permission is considered an enormously grave discourtesy. Still, as the matter was urgent, and the customs of the West must differ, I will overlook it this once.”

“[What’s he saying? Ah, do you see that porcelain over there? You can tell at a glance the quality is different. Expensive, right? If we put that up for auction, those noble lords would foam at the mouth and start throwing gold around. We should strip the place and sell things like that. Ask him whether we can have it if the treatment works.]”

“[Shut your mouth, witch! Truly, the only thing that ever enters that wicked mouth of yours is gold! Hah, and the treatment is already finished. There is no need for the medical arts of some wicked witch.]”

“[What? The treatment’s finished? That can’t—]”

The woman had been looking around the room, prattling on about how much the hanging scrolls and porcelain might fetch. For someone calling herself a ship’s doctor, she had spent the whole time showing interest only in valuables, not the patient.

But at the missionary’s words, she whipped her head around, and only then noticed Jo Ryung lying on the bed. Her expression hardened instantly.

“[What? No way. They treated him? These uncivilized monkeys? Ask how. Ask how they did it, quickly.]”

The woman pressed the missionary.

But the missionary merely pretended not to hear.

Then, in the meantime, the other Dutch man—dressed much more shabbily than the first two—let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.

“[Father. Our captain wants to know how those monkeys treated that monkey, so she’s asking you to ask.]”

Seomun Cheong, transcendent humanity whose ears came preinstalled with automatic translation and who could surpass even listening exams by human standards, had no idea what country the language was from, but she could hear it all perfectly well anyway.

Hmm. So it wasn’t a ship’s doctor after all. It was the captain.

But in this era, was a female captain even possible?

Wasn’t it supposed to be like, having a woman on a ship brought bad luck, and everyone would hate it so much they’d throw her overboard or something?

Well, in the history of Qing’s homeland, that would have been impossible.

But this pseudo-Central Plains world was only similar, not identical—a counterfeit Middle Ages.

No matter what happened, it was not especially worth being surprised over, and honestly, compared to people firing qi out of swords, what in the world could possibly count as more surprising than that?

“[Hmph. Fool. Even if you ask, do you think they’d tell you?]”

“[Tell him to shut up and ask.]”

“[That’s what she says.]”

“[Can you understand what a doctor says? You cannot understand even when the same words are used, so how could you possibly understand if it were said in a foreign language?]”

“[What, so in the end you’re saying it won’t work because your language skills are lacking? Then how exactly do you explain the Lord’s glorious words to these monkeys?]”

“[You sacrilegious harlot! How dare you! A thing like you dares put the Lord upon your lips!]”

Mm. What a complete mess.

The way the missionary treated the female captain was absolutely vicious, and contempt dripped from him just from the look in his eyes.

Though, seeing the female captain’s attitude, Qing could sort of understand why.

Of course, even if they could not understand the words the way Qing could, anyone with eyes and ears could tell that the atmosphere among these Westerners was extremely ugly, and that they were bickering and snapping at one another.

So the County Magistrate’s expression gradually hardened as well.

“Ahem. We apologize. Truly glad son is safe. May God bless you. We shall take our leave now.”

In the end, the missionary said exactly that, then promptly turned and strode out first.

“[That bastard, seriously. Should I just kill him?]”

“[Please restrain yourself. What do you think will happen if word gets back to the homeland? If you’re determined to burn alive, I won’t stop you.]”

The two Dutch barbarians who had been making noise for a while also pretended to bow their heads in greeting—where had they even learned that?—and then followed after him and withdrew.

In any case, they really were deeply disappointing and offensive bastards.

Even when they thought no one understood them and they were spouting whatever they pleased, that bitch kept calling them monkeys every other sentence. Naturally, there was no way that would feel good.

Still, well, it was not as though they would ever meet again anyway.

You could not just start beating someone up on the spot because they’d been a bit racist.

Or could you? Maybe it would be fine to hit her a little?

Looking at the evil stacked on her, if she dropped dead any time at all, it would be a death well earned. The very picture of a good death.

But it was not her business anyway.

It was not as though she had caught the woman in the act of doing something evil. It was not as though someone had come weeping that the woman was wicked and laying out some wronged story.

So Qing, waiting for the right moment, finally said,

“I think I should be going back now as well.”

“No, how could you simply leave like this? If I send my benefactor away just like this, how much finger-pointing do you think the world will direct at this Jo?”

“I gained something from it myself, so it was hardly enough to call trouble. I am grateful that you would spare the thought, Magistrate, but I do have companions waiting for me. My child is among them.”

“In that case, would you come with your companions tomorrow? I intend to hold a great banquet in the evening to repay your kindness, however little. Please, do not refuse, and honor us with your presence.”

When he pressed this far, refusing for no reason would instead have become the discourtesy.

Besides, a great banquet?

Could she really resist that? Resist delicious food?

“Then... would it be fine if we came by tomorrow afternoon?”

“Haha! Any time is fine. No, rather than that, I shall send someone this very moment to escort your companions here!”

“No, that much is really unnecessary. We were planning to look around the market this evening as well...”

And only after sweating through the effort of talking down the County Magistrate, who kept insisting gratitude, absolute gratitude, was she finally able to make it back to the inn.

*****

When she returned to the inn and pushed aside the bead curtain to step inside, the table where her companions were seated over there immediately leaped into view.

Well, if a sparkling silver-haired beauty and an extraordinarily handsome woman were sitting together at the same table, of course they were bound to draw the eye.

But Jayeo, wedged in between them—

She was sprawled flat over the table with both arms stretched straight out, looking utterly bored to death.

It was almost as if Qing could see a smoky, acrid little tangle of thread hovering above her head. Or maybe a skull floating there.

Only then did Qing think, Ah.

Neither Gunyeong nor the Gongsun young lady were exactly the sort of figures one could easily imagine playing with a child.

These things had become mothers, and yet they’d just left the child to stew in boredom while she was bored.

What if the child died of boredom...?

Jayeo, who had been drooping there all limp, suddenly spotted Qing, her eyes widened, and in the next instant she jumped off the chair and came pattering over, then hurled herself forward in an attempted body tackle.

Of course, against a transcendent master beyond the Transformation Realm, such a petty scheme could never possibly succeed.

As punishment for that insolent attempt, Qing snatched her up and spun her around in circles, and at once Jayeo burst into delighted giggles.

No, really, it was this easy. Playing with a child was difficult?

For the sake of emotional development it would have been terrible—since the child must not grow up like her—but should she have brought Heema after all...?

In any case, one could not possibly miss touring the marketplace while wandering the Central Plains.

So they went out, got some snacks, and some snacks, and some snacks, and wandered around in a great loop before coming back, and by then Jayeo had already fallen fast asleep in someone’s arms and drifted off to dreamland.

And so the first day of touring Shanghai came to an end.

The next day.

Qing woke, washed up quickly herself, washed Jayeo not at all quickly, and while thinking, What should we eat for breakfast? What do you have to eat to earn a reputation for having eaten well?, she came downstairs to the first floor with a huge yawn.

The interior was sparse in the late morning, and there was one man sitting in a chair, nodding off.

Then his head dipped sharply, he startled awake, and the instant he saw Qing holding Jayeo, every trace of drowsiness vanished from his face. Looking suddenly fully alert, he hurried toward her.

The moment Qing tensed, pulled Jayeo behind her, and prepared to send his jaw flying with a spinning kick if necessary, the man dropped flat to the floor on the spot.

Then he immediately bowed and said,

“Great Hero, something terrible has happened! The young master collapsed again in the night, and though I am ashamed, I beg you, please, help us just once more! Please...!”