"My lord! This humble one has already inspected the hull and planking, and patched the cracks in the bilge. As long as the storm isn't too strong, there won't be any problem. Right now the wind is blowing southeast; we can set full sail and make two or three hundred li in a day..."
The cold wind of Siberia blew in from the northwest, whooshing down their collars, freezing and dry. Aboard the Zheyang Ship, the shipwright Kim Seon-su bowed his head respectfully, bent at the waist, wrapped tight in his furs, and saluted the two lords before him. He was not tall, with a dark, swarthy face that made his age hard to tell. Only his pair of thick, nimble hands, covered in calluses, hinted at his status as a veteran craftsman.
"Watanabe-shi, what did he say?"
"Oh! Murakami-kun, Shipwright Kim says there's nothing wrong with the ship, and we can put to sea!"
The monk-soldier Watanabe Masumi smiled at the corner of his mouth and translated in two brief sentences, clearly leaving out a great deal. Ship magistrate Murakami Suemichi frowned in dissatisfaction and gave a snort, but with the language barrier between them, there truly was nothing he could do. He pondered for a moment, glanced at the monk-soldier Watanabe, then took out two fine deerskins and handed them to the shipwright Kim Seon-su.
"May the Buddha protect us! Shipwright Kim, you have helped us greatly on this journey north! These two deerskins are a gift to you from me, on behalf of the house lord!..."
"Uh?"
Seeing Magistrate Murakami's gesture, the shipwright Kim Seon-su froze for a moment and looked toward the monk-soldier Watanabe.
"Shipwright Kim, this is a reward from Murakami-kun!"
Watanabe Masumi smiled and said it simply. He knew what Magistrate Murakami meant; it