Chapter 1023: The World Is a Kaleidoscope (5)

Four days passed after the East India Company’s visit.

During that time, the magistrate’s son had shown no relapse either, which was rather regrettable for Qing.

Mm. Maybe she should have started by grabbing her by the collar after all?

But without evidence, or at least any clear certainty, it was hard to interfere recklessly.

If it had been a matter involving a martial sect or one of the great houses instead of a magistrate’s son, that would have been one thing. Or even if it had not been that, if at the very least it had not involved Western barbarians.

It could turn into some sort of international problem, after all.

If not for that, she would already have seized some suspicious spellcaster dripping with bad karma by the collar and shaken her down.

If she was the culprit, then Qing could enjoy a bit of slaughter for the first time in a while.

And if she was not?

Then she should have lived more kindly in daily life. If her bad karma looked like that, then being mistaken was only natural. When someone’s bad karma was that high, no matter how they died, it counted as death by natural causes anyway, so in any case it would not be Qing’s fault.

So what else was there to do.

For now, all she could do was loaf around the city and wait, amusing Jayeo when the child got bored sitting between Gongsun Yoye and Seol Iri.

And so, by the fifth day, this unforeseen situation of Shanghai sightseeing getting extended without end was starting to feel a bit tiresome.

In the first place, this primitive ancient Shanghai was not even all that prosperous a city, so there had never been that many sights to see or amusements to enjoy.

They had already gone around everywhere there was to go, and since they were not even leaving the city walls for fear that the magistrate’s son might relapse again, all the more so.

So, what else was there to do.

She was sprawled out in a seat at the inn with a good view outside, her heavy lump of flesh propped on one hand, when a servant from the magistrate’s household came rushing into the inn in a frantic panic, urgently asking for Qing.

“Great Hero! Great Hero, are you inside?”

“Great Hero” was what they called Qing.

If she had given them her name, then in this already utterly ruined family record she was liable to wind up with a son old enough to be her father, so she had brushed it off by saying she was just some passing martial wanderer. Ever since then, had they not kept calling her Great Hero?

“Ah. Has the young master perhaps...?”

“No, no, sir, it’s not that. That red-haired-devil physician has come and is taking his pulse right now.”

“Ah. Really?”

It meant the Dutch barbarians, who had tried to open a smuggling route by taking treatment hostage, had come walking in on their own.

“That red-haired-devil female physician says she wants to meet you, Great Hero. She says she needs to know what treatment has been used so far before she can do anything herself.”

“Hm.”

In truth, treatment or no treatment, all Qing had really done was suck up the evil qi.

Outwardly, however, the story was that she had burned it all away cleanly with a secret internal-energy art that was especially effective against such evil qi.

And since the Gold-Worshiping Divine Physician could explain that setup perfectly well himself, why insist on finding Qing?

Mm. It looked like she was getting a bite after all.

And if one was a fisher, then whether the bite was a minnow or a trophy catch, one still had to set the hook.

*****

Following the servant into the side building, she found her eyes meeting, all at once, those same three Dutch barbarians—the missionary, the sailor, and the woman with the innocent-looking face sprinkled with freckles.

Of course, Qing was wearing a face veil, so it was not as though they actually met gazes directly.

“[That’s the bitch? But why do so many of these Eastern female monkeys go around hiding their faces? Is it some heathen custom?]”

“[From what I’ve heard, there’s some very famous female warrior in the East who goes around with her face covered. Apparently it’s fashionable right now.]”

“[A female warrior? Well, that explains it. How ugly would she have to be to go around hiding her face?]”

“[They say she’s the prettiest woman in the world. Her nickname is supposedly something like the most beautiful sword in the world.]”

“[Ha, what a joke. A pretty woman never hides her face. Look at this one—she’s covered her face, sure, but don’t you see how tightly she’s cinched that belt around her waist? She’s bragging that even if her face is ruined, at least her tits are big. Ha, what has she got, three heads? What is she, Cerberus?]”

For reference, Cerberus was an imaginary creature from Western mythology, a watchdog that guarded the gate of hell.

Except it had three heads.

Its combat power probably did not become three times greater just because it had three heads, but in the sense that it ate three times the meals and snacks and was therefore an extremely inefficient creature, one might say it was a very apt comparison.

At that, Qing’s brow twitched.

She had just been insulted repeatedly to her face.

And to make it worse, they were smiling sweetly toward her all the while, speaking behind her back—no, not even behind her back, but proudly to her face.

These bastards had clearly done this sort of thing more than once, the way they so naturally badmouthed people right in front of them on the assumption they would not understand.

Well, that was exactly why they could spout rude nonsense so casually even with the woman herself standing right there.

Though really, foreign languages were the sort of thing where one learned the curse words first, so if you cursed at people on the assumption they would not understand, they usually understood just fine. She could not help thinking these people were truly thoughtless.

At that, Qing turned her head toward the missionary.

Body language was one of those things that transcended spoken language and communicated universally across humanity, and her posture quite plainly asked just what exactly these people were saying.

“It, it’s just small talk....”

The missionary answered with his gaze lowered, making it obvious to anyone that it was not small talk at all.

Whether he could not bear to tell her, or whether he himself was ashamed—judging from his good karma, it was probably both.

“So, I heard these people were looking for me? To ask about the treatment I used.”

“Ah, that matter has been resolved. That Dutch physician says my son is already completely cured, so there is no need for any further intervention.”

“Oh. Then that’s good.”

Behind the face veil as she said it, Qing’s big eyes narrowed dramatically.

He had summoned her here, only to say now that everything had already been resolved?

In the first place, the Gold-Worshiping Divine Physician could explain the treatment she had used well enough. So if they had bothered to call her only to then say it was already settled—

Then it looked like summoning her here had been the real objective.

A trophy catch?

“[Darling, Lady Keroberos?]”

Joanna—the fleet captain and physician of the East India Company—called out to Qing.

When Qing looked over, Joanna, with that innocent face full of a gentle smile, pulled a small box from her arms, opened it, and held it out.

“[This is an item my master bestowed upon me. Do you see this pearl? Soft as cream, luminous as moonlight. And with these rose-cut diamonds adding starlight to it, do you see the beauty of the night sky itself? It is a treasure that will shine brightest in any place, making you the mistress of every banquet.]”

At that, Qing looked at the necklace with a dry face.

Well, yes, it definitely did look expensive. Really, truly expensive.

What was this? Suddenly showing off a necklace? Sorry, did you drag her here just to show that off and demand admiration?

Trying to put on an act in front of someone who could not even understand?

Or had Qing done something to tip her off that she understood?

And yet Joanna’s voice wound itself around Qing’s ears like some kind of sweet and seductive perfume.

“[If you want, this could be yours from now on. There’s no need to be so wary, you know? Just a gift. A gift that becomes yours the instant you receive it. All you have to do is say one word. That you’ll accept it. Then this treasure is yours, Lady Keroberos.]”

It sounded suspicious beyond belief.

She was just giving it to her? Something that expensive-looking?

Across all ages and lands, if some stranger offered you something and you snatched it up without thinking, disaster was bound to follow.

Someone had once said there was no such thing as a free lunch, and someone else had said there was no such thing as happiness without a price.

For the moment, Qing pretended not to understand and looked toward the missionary with deliberate innocence.

“Uh, what is she saying?”

“Khm. It, it is... it is to say....”

And just then, while the missionary fumbled and could not answer, Joanna abruptly opened her mouth and very crooked Central Plains speech came out.

“Gipt. I give dis to you.”

“Huh. You could speak Central Plains speech?”

“Gipt. I gib? To you? Dis? [Was that the pronunciation? These monkey bastards, for monkeys they make noises like crows.]”

The pronunciation sounded different from before, so maybe she had hastily memorized only a few syllables by rote? That much she could confirm easily enough.

To check, Qing feigned innocence once more, speaking in a loud voice with simple words pronounced slowly.

“I have no money. I can’t buy this. I have no money. And I have nothing to give in exchange.”

“[What’s she saying? What is she saying?]”

“[...that is what she says.]”

“[She says she has no money, so she can’t buy it.]”

“[What? Did I pronounce it wrong?] Gift. [Wasn’t that right? I practiced, you know?]”

“[...that is what she says.]”

“[You were right, but I think she’s asking what you want.]”

“[Tell her it’s a pure gift, so she should accept it without burden.]”

“[...that is what she says.]”

The missionary, stubborn in his own way, absolutely refused to relay Joanna’s words as though he had not heard them at all, and only after the sailor lazily added an explanation did he finally speak.

He was making it painfully obvious he could not stand the idea of associating with her, the sort of person who seemed practically desperate to show how much he despised her.

“[Pastor. Think of the church. Aren’t they heathens who will end up in hell anyway? We should hurry and spread the word of the Bible and guide these heathens to heaven.]”

“Khm. Lady Joanna here... says she will give it to you as a gift. No payment is needed. She wishes to be on friendly terms going forward.”

At that, Qing looked at the pearl-and-diamond necklace again.

This was suspicious. Really, really suspicious.

Still, Qing’s origins were what they were.

Back in her homeland, countless stories of every imaginable sort were consumed naturally through every kind of medium.

In other words, here in this primitive ancient Central Plains, Qing was practically a story expert—a person to whom the kinds of tales no one in this age could even imagine had already become routine.

At a glance, this was obviously some kind of cursed object. Or something along those lines.

Come to think of it, that was only natural.

If this woman really was a witch, then it was not as though witches could just go around hurling curses at anybody they pleased.

If she could cast a distant curse and drive someone into a severe condition like Jo Ryung’s whenever she wanted, then the Western Regions would long since have been conquered by witches.

A long-range attack with no restrictions and no way to identify the attacker? That would be far too broken....

But then, what was the method?

Had she stuffed this necklace with some kind of tightly compressed evil qi, like Heaven-Crushing Demonic Energy, and planned to inject it into the owner?

Or was it something more witch-like, some kind of sorcery that let her identify the owner and curse that person specifically?

Well, whatever it was, she could find out just by checking.

After all, evil qi posed no threat whatsoever to Qing. No, more than no threat—it was actually beneficial.

Truly, was this not free spiritual medicine delivered right to her doorstep?

An expensive necklace and an unlimited supply of free spiritual medicine?

Was she supposed to turn that down? There was no reason to turn it down.

*****

After gifting the necklace and returning toward the flagship, Lady Joanna stepped into the captain’s cabin and casually tossed out a remark to the first mate who followed behind her—also the ship’s accountant.

“[Tonight. We perform the ritual tonight. Tell everyone not to waste their strength for no reason today and to wait quietly.]”

“[Understood.]”

“[Hmph.]”

The first mate answered politely enough, but then the captain’s cabin door slammed shut with a cold little snort and a sharp bang.

At the same time, the first mate’s expression blossomed bright.

As though he had just heard joyous news, he clenched a fist and raised it before hurrying off at once, thinking there was no way he could keep it to himself and had to spread the word quickly.

When Lady Joanna said everyone, she meant everyone.

But there was no need for the first mate to go all over the ship personally passing along the order.

The moment they heard the news, the sailors began bouncing with excitement and rushing off in a flurry to spread the glad tidings themselves.

We’re performing the ritual tonight!

We’re doing the ritual tonight!

At that, the sailors who had been sitting in a circle playing cards threw them into the air all at once and broke into cheers.

The sailors who had been drinking shouted, “To Lady Joanna!” and raised a loud toast.

Even the sailors who had been getting ready to leave the foul-smelling men’s quarters at sunset and head out for nighttime entertainment turned right around and went back inside.

What kind of ritual it was that could make the sailors so delighted, like children, was impossible to know, but while the entire fleet sank into a fever of excitement—

The whole sky was dyed bright red by the setting sun.

Hidden within the scarlet glow of sunset, a blood-red baleful star suddenly flashed, giving off a somehow unpleasant and dissatisfied gleam.

But no one noticed.

Because the sky was already far too red.