Chapter 163: Start Preparing for War [2] Kanghyeok, of course, did not know Yoshitaka's name at all, but Kim Seongil apparently did.
After all, was he not the Vice Envoy of the Joseon diplomatic mission?
Before coming, he naturally should have studied who Toyotomi Hideyoshi's trusted retainers were.
Kim Seongil was not the sort of person to neglect such things.
So when that name came out of Kanghyeok's mouth, he could not help being greatly surprised.
From Kim Seongil's point of view, Kanghyeok was a man who had come here having prepared nothing except his medical skills.
There's no way this fellow could have known Kuki Yoshitaka beforehand. But he's not the sort to lie either, so it seems he really did meet him…
Kim Seongil looked at Kanghyeok, who was sitting there with an utterly confident face.
Yes. What benefit would there be for him to lie? Surely he couldn't have gotten in step with the Japanese…
Judging only from old rumors, Kanghyeok was certainly the sort of person for whom even a hundred or a thousand such suspicions might have remained.
But the Kanghyeok Kim Seongil had met in person was not that hopeless.
Moreover, was he not the son of the renowned Baek Seungmun?
There was no way his very foundation could have rotted through.
"My lord, here it is."
While Kim Seongil was lost in such thoughts, a Japanese servant brought in brush, paper, and ink.
They were Yoshitoshi's personal items, and even in Kim Seongil's eyes, they were of sufficiently fine quality.
"Hmm. It seems the lord enjoys writing quite a bit."
"In my inadequate way, I try to follow the teachings of the ancient sages."
"Mm, mm. That is a good thing."
Kim Seongil nodded and recalled the time he had wandered around Tsushima Island together with Yoshitoshi.
It was true that he had not lacked a certain tendency to look down on him simply because he was Japanese.
But what was this?
Once they spoke, Yoshitoshi's learning was by no means shallow.
Of course, there were differences in how they interpreted the same passages, but those came from differences in culture, not from any lack of scholarship.
Yes. The lord here does have aspects unlike those of ordinary Japanese.
Then the words of such a man were worth listening to.
"Then… Chief Envoy Hwang, how should we compose the memorial?"
"To begin with, much of our itinerary still remains, and we must observe Japan's circumstances further… so I think it would be best to make it a warning, at least."
"A warning. Well, yes, it would not do for His Majesty to be too alarmed."
"Even now, the court is in turmoil because of the purge, and public sentiment is poor… If talk of war spreads as well, nothing good will come of it. Still, it would be best to urge the magistrates of places like Busan to rebuild the fortresses and strengthen their war preparations."
"I understand. Seojeonggwan, I shall write this myself. You check for errors, then see that it is sent to His Majesty."
Kim Seongil turned toward Heo Seong, who had only been keeping his place behind them.
How could Heo Seong dare step in when the two elders from opposing factions were, for once, working together so smoothly on their own?
He could do nothing but nod.
And so the memorial to be submitted to the king was completed.
Mm. It mentions the one hundred fifty thousand matchlocks. It mentions Yoshitaka too. This should do.
Kanghyeok, who could now read a fair amount of writing, nodded with a satisfied smile.
He felt it might have been better to frighten them a little more, but he decided to set that regret aside.
After all, even this much was something that had not existed in the original history.
For now, it was fortunate enough that even Kim Seongil had become alert to the danger of war.
"Mm. Then I will see that this is delivered properly together with Seojeonggwan here."
"I can send it through my nephew. His body is all healed now, but… it felt a bit wrong to keep dragging around a boy who had been so badly injured. This works out well."
"Ah. Then I am relieved as well."
Yoshitoshi accepted the memorial Kim Seongil had written with such care.
Kim Seongil still could not fully hide his unease, but once he heard that Heo Seong would accompany it all the way to the ship, he let out a sigh of relief.
In any case, since his nephew would deliver it personally, it should be fine.
"Good. I leave it in your hands. I will not forget this favor."
"Yes. Rather, I am the one asking a favor. If matters go wrong… I will certainly die. The Kanpaku is not a man of generous disposition."
"I understand. You need not worry about that at all."
"Yes. Then please get some rest. It will be tiring once you cross over to the mainland soon."
"Ah, another ship. I am sick of it now…"
"We will accompany you as far as Iki Island, so you need not worry too much."
Yoshitoshi nodded as he looked at Sayaga.
It had not been long since the surgery, so going personally was still too much for him, but there was no need to worry if Sayaga went.
In any case, Sayaga had learned a great deal, enough that he was fully capable of standing in for him.
The ship carrying the memorial and Kim Seongil's nephew was safely sent out toward the Korea Strait under the supervision of Yoshitoshi and Seojeonggwan Heo Seong.
That was thanks to the repeated caution of Kim Seongil and Hwang Yungil.
Though in truth, there was little to worry about, since Yoshitaka's party had already left Tsushima long ago.
"That land you can see over there is Iki Island."
Standing at the prow, Sayaga pointed toward the faint trace of land in the distance.
At a glance, it was hard to tell whether it was land or something else.
It only looked like Iki Island because Sayaga said it was.
"Ah. So you can see it directly from Tsushima."
"That's because the weather is good. On a day like this, crossing isn't all that difficult."
"You said that before too, and then we nearly died."
Kanghyeok thought of Kim Seongil's nephew, who was now completely fine again.
If Kanghyeok had not been there, he surely would have died helplessly.
"Haha. Well, that day…"
Sayaga scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
No matter how many mouths he had, he would still have had nothing to say about that day.
"Anyway, today should be fine."
"Yes, I guarantee it."
"Then I'll go say goodbye to the lord."
"Let's go together."
"Ah, shall we?"
Yoshitoshi was not aboard the ship, but was seeing off Hwang Yungil and Kim Seongil from outside.
Compared to before the surgery, his gait and the speed with which he turned his head had improved tremendously, but boarding a ship was still too much for him.
That was a judgment Kanghyeok himself had made directly.
"Not yet. You need to keep walking and practicing for about six more months."
"But propriety…"
"If you try to keep propriety and get hurt, the treatment will all be for nothing."
"Is that so… very well."
Recalling that conversation from the night before, Kanghyeok stepped up in front of Yoshitoshi.
"Mm. Physician Baek."
Yoshitoshi greeted Kanghyeok with a different attitude than the one he used for Hwang Yungil or Kim Seongil.
Those two were only tied to him through official business, but with Kanghyeok, he stood in the position of owing a great debt.
He had repaid some of that debt by warning them about the war, but he still felt that was not enough.
"Yes, Lord Yoshitoshi."
"I hope there will be a day when I may see you again."
"Well… so long as it isn't because you've come to see me for something bad, that would be fine."
"That will not happen. I promise it."
"Understood. Then take care of yourself… and let us exchange letters from time to time."
"Very well. Go safely. You have my thanks."
With that, Kanghyeok left Yoshitoshi behind and boarded the ship.
All the while turning over Yoshitoshi's words in his mind.
What is he planning to do? Surely he doesn't mean to take Joseon's side and fight…?
It would certainly be a good thing, but it would be impossible.
If he did that, Tsushima would obviously be burned down in an instant.
And without even being able to provide that much help.
Well… as long as he doesn't do anything bad, that's enough for me.
In any case, was it not good enough simply to have someone among the enemy who held goodwill?
Thanks to that, they had safely sent off a memorial carrying a warning.
"All right, then, let's go!"
After confirming that all members of the diplomatic mission had boarded, Sayaga gave the order to depart.
At his command, the Japanese sailors and the Joseon naval men began moving vigorously.
In the middle of all that, Kanghyeok called his group together.
"Hey, all of you, gather up."
"Yes, Young Master."
Kanghyeok looked over Dolseok, Makbong, Yeoni, and Yeoju, who had gathered in an instant.
Yeoni and Yeoju had stuck close to him the entire time they were on Tsushima.
But Dolseok and Makbong had been running around outside almost every other day.
That was because Kanghyeok had ordered them to sell the steroid decoction all over the place.
"You didn't drink it yourselves, did you? Why do your faces look so good?"
"Pardon? Ah, no. It's just…"
Dolseok scratched the back of his head hard, unable to answer properly.
Indeed, both Dolseok and Makbong had filled out quite a bit.
At least Makbong, who had not neglected martial training in addition to his nighttime activities, was in somewhat better shape.
By contrast, Dolseok no longer looked sturdy so much as simply fat.
To the point that Kanghyeok was not wrong to suspect moon face from excessive steroid use.
"Ah, is it because I told you to spend all the money you made from that?"
"Well… yes, that's right."
"Good. Sayaga told me a bit about you two as well. I heard you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves in the Red-Light District."
"Uh…"
"Well done. You sold a lot of it, then?"
"Yes. We even taught them how to make it."
For some reason, Dolseok turned back with a rather guilty expression.
By coincidence, the ship was passing right by the Red-Light District.
"Well done. If they wanted to drink it, that's their business."
"Yes, yes."
"You bought back as much licorice root and gobon as you used up, right?"
"Yes. We loaded it onto the ship."
"Then when we get to Iki Island, unload it as is and sell it there too."
"What? It's not even that great a medicine…"
Dolseok and Makbong stared at Kanghyeok in shock.
When he had first told them to sell it on Tsushima, they had thought he must have some grudge against the island.
But now he was telling them to sell it on Iki Island too.
Their faces clearly said, What in the world is wrong with this man?
"You little punk. Don't argue. If I tell you to sell it, sell it."
"Well…"
"You can keep all the money left over."
"Well then… heh heh."
The moment money came up, both Dolseok and Makbong burst into laughter.
After all, the two of them neither knew nor wanted to know anything about medical ethics.
"All right, then…"
After taking his gaze off the two grinning men, Kanghyeok looked at Yeoni.
Hadn't she unexpectedly shown herself to be quite weak against rough seas before?
Of course, today's sea route would probably be much calmer than that.
Still, it was better to prepare in advance.
A grown young woman retching all over the place was not exactly a pleasing sight.
"Yeon-ah, from what I saw before, you get seasick badly. Take some of this medicine."
"This is…?"
"It's a sedative I adjusted the dose of myself. It should work pretty well."
It was a medicine he had dose-adjusted from Seomsu and Cho-o, intending to use it for Yoshitoshi's post-surgical management.
The reason Yoshitoshi was able to get around more easily than usual right now was precisely because of this medicine.
No matter how skilled Kanghyeok was, he could not get a patient whose skull had been opened up on his feet again in just one week without the help of medicine.
"Ah, thank you."
"Yeah. We're getting close now."
"What kind of island is Iki Island?"
"No idea. It's extremely small… and I heard we'll be leaving quickly."
As he had heard, Iki Island really was small.
You could practically see the daimyō's residence straight from the harbor.
The residence itself was incomparably shabbier than Yoshitoshi's.
According to Sayaga, who had bid them a tearful farewell, the difference in scale was more than tenfold.
That bastard… a grown man crying.
Kanghyeok shook his head and urged his horse forward.
Around them, the islanders mobilized on Iki Island had gathered as well.
Their reaction was even more intense than Tsushima's, but there was still a clear difference in scale.
Small island…
There was not much to see in the scenery either.
It was truly just an ordinary fishing village.
Nothing worth sightseeing here… good thing the schedule's short… hm?
As Kanghyeok looked around indifferently, something unusual caught his eye.
It was inside the local lord's residence.
A group of men had gathered in a spacious courtyard.
Some were busily boiling a pitch-black decoction in a large cauldron, while others were gulping it down.
The rest were all exercising.
It looked strangely familiar.
That smell… that color… isn't that steroid decoction?
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