Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 114: Lost Sword of the Great General (4)

People who’ve seen the Terracotta Army only on TV think that most of the soldiers have been preserved well, but the number of soldiers that still had a face, hands, and feet are a lot smaller than those of the damaged ones.

Additionally, the soldiers who have been preserved in perfect condition are each put in a glass box, and what Haejin was in front of was a perfectly preserved soldier.

It was about 170cm tall and was wearing light armor. It was probably standing in front of its commander, so his hands were politely put together.

Every stitch that connected each iron plate of the armor with others had been depicted with great care. Even those who don’t know much about the Terracotta Army would exclaim at seeing this.

“Where did you get this?” Eunhae asked, but Hanoda Sake smiled slyly.

“Haha… sometimes, such question tires us both. That doesn’t matter in this situation. As you said earlier, you are not going to exhibit this. I think one man would love this even if others don’t, Chairman Lim.”

“Oh… I see,” Eunhae nodded and agreed. Haejin couldn’t understand and gave a questioning look.

Eunhae then explained in Korean, “As you know, rich people buy expensive works of art because of taxes and also to invest, but those are not the only reasons. It is also because of some kind of desire for collecting or for one’s own satisfaction. They want to have what others can’t have. What only you can have, even if you cannot show it to the others… my uncle isn’t the only one with that kind of need.

Other trillionaires also have that.”

“Oh… I see.”

“It is to maximize one’s self-pride, so if I bring it to Korea and show it to my uncle…”

“He will be delighted.”

“Enough to let me become Saeyeon Gallery’s director again, probably.”

Haejin thought she was exaggerating, but she was serious.

Then, how did Hanoda Sake know that Eunhae’s uncle was that kind of man?

“He is very informed about your uncle.”

“Of course. My uncle was the person who introduced him to me, saying he would find me places for rent exhibitions in Japan. They have probably worked together for a long time. To think about it, they must have done lots of illegal things, too. Like smuggling…”

Eunhae spoke as if that didn’t matter to her anymore.

However, seeing Eunhae and Haejin talk, Hanoda Sake, asked with suspicion, “But maybe…”

Haejin’s heart dropped. What was he about to ask? But again, Momoko put down the box and took out the buddha.

It dragged everyone’s attention again with its mysterious aura. While Hanoda Sake was distracted by it, Momoko asked, “How should we transport this?”

Hanoda Sake looked puzzled, he didn’t know why she was asking that to him.

“Well, you should take care of it…”

“We didn’t know we would leave Japan with such a huge artifact. I hope you are not saying we should find a ship and take care of the customs?”

Hanoda was about to yell, but he glanced at Eunhae again and coughed.

“Khmm… okay. I’ll take care of the ship and the Japanese customs. But you should get the container to carry it to the port yourself.”

“We will prepare it on our own.”

Hanoda disappeared to somewhere and soon came back. Then, he gave a business card to Momoko.

“At Niigata, there’s a fishing vessel that leaves at 11 p.m. Although it is a fishing vessel, it is big enough so you would be able to leave with this without a problem.”

Hanoda agreed to the deal and cooperated thanks to Eunhae and Momoko.

“Our deal will be over after you send the rest of the money.”

Momoko immediately got a container and spoke to Hanoda Sake. He then called all the appraisers he had.

Apart from the appraiser who had been present at the hotel, two more appraisers came, but as it was a real artifact, they didn’t say much.

They tried to find a flaw, but as Momoko made it clear that they should break the deal if they didn’t like it, they couldn’t lower the price.

Haejin thought Hanoda was less suspicious because of that. In fact, the money he would gain wasn’t his, so if he were to lead the deal, he wouldn’t have been so strict.

And that kind of attitude could have made Hanoda think something was wrong, but as Momoko acted as if they would leave immediately if he tried to lower the price, he got nervous as well.

While the appraisers examined the buddha, Haejin quietly went to the Terracotta Soldier and used magic. It was to check if it was real and to find out where the other artifacts were. The soldier turned out to be real.

Haejin relaxed only after seeing the soldier was carefully put inside a non-vibration special container.

“Let’s not see each other ever again.”

Hanoda Sake couldn’t understand the hostility Haejin showed as he left. He looked at Haejin as if he had never met such a crazy man after a good deal, but Haejin ignored that and left the museum.

“Hu… you’ve done well. Both of you.”

In the car that followed the container truck with the Terracotta Soldier, Haejin complimented Eunhae and Momoko.

Eunhae’s face was slightly red. She sighed and fanned herself with her hand.

“Oh… I almost got a heart attack. When those sumo athletes came in, I was… I thought I was about to get killed!”

“Haha, that would have never happened.”

If something dangerous had happened, Haejin would have used his magic. He didn’t have a powerful attack magic that appeared in novels and movies, but he had prepared magic that could defeat all of them at once.

Like a spell that made everyone fall asleep instantly, and the spell that made people laugh hard… he had had many spells in his mind.

That’s why he wasn’t afraid at all even when fighters threatened him.

“What, you were preparing something great without me knowing?”

“Of course.”

“Really? What is it?”

“If I tell you, your reaction might reveal it to the others, so I’ll just keep it as secret. But don’t worry. I would never expose you to danger.”

Eunhae was both disappointed and touched by this, she blushed and looked away.

The mood turned awkward in a second. Haejin thought he had to say something and talked to Momoko who was driving.

“You were impressive. Have you done some kind of practice with the NIS?”

“Yes. I prepared.”

Unlike her Japanese, her Korean was still quite awkward.

“Then, why didn’t you tell us in advance? I was so surprised.”

“I didn’t know he would actually show up.”

However, Haejin felt she was lying. Was it because she checked Haejin’s gaze through the rearview mirror?

“Anyway, congratulations. I think the NIS got back the money they have spent on me. 270 thousand yen would be enough…”

Haejin said that because he felt somewhat bad about it, but Momoko’s answer surprised him.

“That money isn’t ours, it is yours.”

“What? Why? Aren’t you supposed to retrieve that money?”

“I wasn’t told anything about retrieving it. It is yours.”

Wow… Haejin had planned to ask Wang Mingwan for the money he had spent on the Terracotta Soldier later, but now, he could take all 500 thousand.

He was so happy. He then looked at Eunhae and saw her eyes were wide open while she grinned widely.

“Great!”

“Wow! We just won a fortune!”

They clapped and rejoiced. Next, Haejin asked Momoko again, “Then, what happens now? Will you give it to China at Niigata Port? Or at Busan?”

“It will be immediately moved to a Chinese ship as soon as it arrives in Busan. We just have to check if it is loaded at Niigata Port, and our part would be over.”

“Oh, but I am a little worried as it is a ship that Hanoda prepared… what if it changes direction in the middle and runs away?”

“Don’t worry. We’ve got another ship. It will leave at Niigata Port, but it’s a different ship.”

“Oh… I see.”

She was thorough.

“Are you going to move to another hotel?”

Haejin had stayed at the hotel Wang Mingwan had booked for him, but that part was done now.

As he would get the money he had spent to buy the soldier and Wang Mingwan would give him an additional 800 million won later, he would earn more than 6 billion won with this deal with China.

“I should. Ms. Eunhae here has prepared another accommodation and a car.”

“Okay then, when are you going to start?”

Haejin had told Eunhae only about the Terracotta Soldier. He hadn’t said anything about robbing a grave to find the missing sword of General Lee Sunsin.

“I’ll start tomorrow. But first, tell me something. Do you know anything about General Lee Sunsin’s sword?”

Eunhae immediately looked at Haejin, she hadn’t heard anything about it.

Momoko, who had remained calm ever since they met at the airport, showed her emotion for the first time.

Her eyes shook, and she bit her lips. That probably looked strange to Eunhae.

“I…”

She hesitated, so she knew something. Haejin pressed her once more.

“If you know something, tell me. You know how the situation is now.”

Haejin was saying she had to know how serious things were, but Momoko didn’t take it that way.

She recalled what had happened at Hanbit Gallery. She turned pale and her hands shook. She was clearly afraid of Haejin.

“Ms. Momoko?”

Haejin was worried this might end in a car accident, but then, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Hu… yes, I did tell them about it.”

Haejin’s heart started to beat fast. The person with the most important clue was right in front of him.

“Then, is that true that you found it at Waseda University?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Of course… Haejin had found it hard to believe that such an important document was in the library of a university.

“Then…”

“Mizno Toru… I saw it in his study.”

“Do you know the location of the tomb? If you don’t know, is there any clue?”

“As I told the NIS, no one knows the location of the tomb. Not even Mizno Toru. There was just one line about it.”

“What was it?”

“Just a riddle. ‘I will rest where I can protect the house.’ There was nothing more…”

She spoke as if it was impossible. And in fact, as she said, there was almost no clue.

However, this wasn’t the first time Haejin encountered such a riddle. There was even a tomb with a clue saying, ‘Red ume flowers cover the sky. Ravens and magpies fly and come. The Milky way floods down from the far, far sky.’

His father found the tomb with that clue after searching for more than two weeks.

It all depended on Haejin’s patience and persistence now.

“Very well. All the better for me, it means not anyone can do it.”

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