I ran over in high spirits, but once I assessed the situation, I realized there was something I had to take care of first.

Quickly, I darted in and tucked Heukhwa into my arms.

The man who had fallen seemed not to have fully grasped what had just happened.

It was better to make it look like I had thrown a dagger than risk exposing Heukhwa.

'Good, that was swift and skillful.'

The man sat trembling, clutching his right hand in a daze. But when he got a look at my face, he flinched and screamed in terror.

"Hiiieeek! S-someone help! Help me!"

He must’ve thought a martial artist had suddenly thrown something at him—understandably frightening, given how people here sometimes died after getting caught up in martial artists’ fights.

All eyes turned to me, so I quickly stepped beside the man and helped him up.

"P-please calm down. I acted on impulse because I was afraid the little softshell turtle might die. I wasn’t trying to harm anyone."

When I apologized, the man finally seemed to regain his senses—and with that, he found the courage to get angry.

"You threw something at a person just to save a damn creature... What kind of nonsense is that?!"

"The turtle just looked so pitiful... I’m very sorry."

"And that justifies throwing something dangerous at a person?! What kind of martial artist harasses civilians like this?!"

"I-I’m sorry. I reached out without thinking because I was afraid the turtle would die. I’ll pay handsomely for it in return."

It was a reaction that made sense from a regular person’s perspective.

He probably didn’t know what had deflected his blade, but I figured he assumed it was a dagger, just as I intended.

If someone suddenly appeared and flung a dagger at you to save a turtle, your first reaction would be shock and confusion, but once that wore off, of course you’d be furious.

Especially since the man’s palm had been torn.

When Heukhwa jumped in to protect the turtle’s neck, she collided with the man’s qi-enhanced body, causing the blade to bounce back and tear his hand.

"I’m sorry. I truly am."

I kept apologizing until Geum Gi-ryung and the others arrived.

Stepping forward, Geum Gi-ryung spoke to the fish vendor.

"My apologies. Allow me to apologize on his behalf."

He was clearly trying to mediate the situation.

"Apologize on your behalf?! Who do you even think you are—wait, Master Geum?!"

The man was about to blow up but froze mid-outburst when he realized the person apologizing was Geum Gi-ryung.

Geum Gi-ryung respectfully cupped his fist and said,

"This man here is my friend, and he has a deep fondness for such small creatures. It seems he acted without thinking out of concern for it, so I beg you—please forgive him. I sincerely apologize."

Thankfully, it looked like Geum Gi-ryung’s influence worked here.

I reached into my clothes to offer financial compensation—but realized I was completely out of money.

'Ah, crap. I spent it all earlier...'

Right—I'd used it all up buying those souvenir daggers for Hwa-eun, Gun Hye-rin, and the Princess.

I gave Gi-ryung an awkward look, and he smiled gently, pulling out his coin pouch and placing it on the fishmonger’s cutting board.

Clink.

'You bastard. You’re my brother for life!'

Silver coins spilled out of the pouch.

Even at a glance, there were at least ten of them. As expected of a merchant, Geum Gi-ryung knew exactly what mattered.

He knew how to treat a furious customer.

After all, the best kind of treatment is financial.

And that amount of money? Enough to raise the dead.

Well, maybe not for me—I've handled that much before—but for the average person, it was a lifetime’s fortune.

One silver coin was worth a thousand iron coins, so this was roughly ten thousand iron coins’ worth.

"This is an apology on my behalf. Please accept it."

"Gasp! N-no, no, I couldn’t! I’m only allowed to sell here thanks to your grace, Master Geum—please, just take the turtle!"

Flustered, the man shoved the silver back toward us, then grabbed the knife still stuck in the wall behind him.

Still looking dazed, he glanced at the overturned turtle and muttered,

"L-let me clean it up for easy carrying..."

"Uwaaah!"

I hurriedly grabbed his arm, but maybe because of his injured hand, the knife slipped out of his grasp.

The blade spun in the air—and landed right beside the turtle’s head.

Thud.

The turtle’s eyes bulged impossibly wide, and yellow liquid trickled out from its rear.

Looked like it had been scared stiff. Literally.

"A-are you okay?"

Startled, I checked on it. The little guy was limp, foaming at the mouth.

It must’ve thought its head was about to be chopped off and blacked out from the shock.

And honestly? In that situation, passing out wasn’t such a bad idea.

I quickly removed the knife and told the vendor,

"I’ll be taking it alive."

"O-oh, yes, of course. I-I’m terribly sorry. Just a moment!"

At the mention of taking it alive, the man started tying it up with straw rope and even made a little handle for easier carrying.

After forcing the money on him and walking away, Geum Gi-ryung asked me,

"That thing’s a spirit beast, isn’t it?"

"Yes, I think so."

"A spirit beast?"

"A spirit beast?"

Geum Gi-ryung must’ve picked up ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) on my reaction quickly, while Gun Hye-rin and the Princess both looked a little surprised.

They must’ve thought I’d just tried to save a normal softshell turtle.

And to be fair, the one now tied up in straw didn’t look any different from your average softshell turtle.

Even as I held it and examined it from all angles, its outward appearance was utterly ordinary.

"It looks so... plain. Are you sure this thing is a spirit beast?"

"Yeah, it really does look unimpressive for a spirit beast."

But I had seen it—something unmistakably different.

I lifted the straw-bound turtle and rubbed its plastron.

"Take a look at its belly."

Everyone leaned in and looked at the belly I held up—and saw the clearly imprinted character: 王.

It had been hard to see under the moss earlier, but now, with a bit of rubbing, the mark stood out.

A large 王—the character for "king"—was engraved right on its plastron.

As if to declare, I am the Turtle King.

"Huh? There really is a 王 character."

"My, could it be the king of turtles or something?"

"Whoa... it’s got the character for ‘king’ on its belly? I’ve never seen a turtle like that."

"Yes."

A turtle with the character for king engraved on its belly.

No matter if it’s low-, mid-, or high-grade—this had to be a rare, top-tier spirit beast.

The limp little guy soon came to and looked up at me. I smiled gently and said,

"Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. I know you’re scared, but you’re safe now."

'Squeee...'

It made a strange little sound.

Then, as if to say thank you, it bowed its head repeatedly.

Seeing that, I became certain—

This one was definitely a spirit beast.

'Ah, too cute.'

***

After filling one of the water jugs used by the sailors and bringing it into the cabin, I placed the little guy in the water and was able to get the gist of the story.

Apparently, he lived here in the Yellow River, but a few days ago he was caught in a net and had been waiting to die ever since.

He claimed that he had begged the fisherman to let him go, promising to repay the favor, but the fish vendor didn’t understand him. Just before we walked by, someone asked to have a softshell turtle prepped, and he was the one who got grabbed.

According to him, the vendor said, “Oh, looks like you’re ready to go first,” with a creepy smile as he picked him up.

Ready to go first?

To where—heaven? Someone’s stomach?

Now I understood why he’d been lying there on the cutting board like that when we saw him.

It must’ve looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Slrrrrk. 『Poor thing!』

Shaa. 『Seriously. That must’ve been terrifying.』

The kids listened to his story and comforted him for a good while. While they were talking, I reported our current situation to Hwa-eun.

『“Hwa-eun, are you at your station?”

“Yes, So-ryong. Did you meet with Master Geum?”

“Yeah. Met him just fine. Turns out Geum Gi-ryung had a spirit beast all tied up.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“What kind? What’s it like?”』

She immediately lit up when I said Geum Gi-ryung had caught a spirit beast.

The way she got excited—at this point, she was basically my wife already. I chuckled and replied.

『“Nope. I thought it was a spirit beast, but it wasn’t.”

“Oh... that must’ve been disappointing, So-ryong.”

“Heh. But I still managed to buy one from the market.”』

She blinked in confusion.

Who wouldn’t be caught off guard hearing that I bought a spirit beast from the street like a pack of gum?

『“Huh? You picked up a spirit beast turtle? No, wait—bought one at the market?”

“Yes, Hwa-eun.”

“What do you mean, a spirit beast from the market...?”

“Well, when you’re lucky, spirit beasts show up like pebbles on the road, you know? Ahaha.”』

After roughly explaining the events, I gave her a detailed description of the creature and asked if she could help identify it.

Since she was with her grandfather at the Beast Palace, I figured if I gave enough details, they might be able to figure out what it was.

『“Hwa-eun, could you try identifying this guy for me? He’s about the size of an ordinary softshell turtle, but there’s a clearly etched 王 character on his belly.”

“The character for king?”

“Yep. Very distinct.”』

While I waited for her answer, Gun Hye-rin’s voice came from beside me.

“So, does it have any abilities or not?”

“Yeah... seems kind of underwhelming for a spirit beast.”

Both Gun Hye-rin and the Princess were staring at the turtle with vaguely disappointed expressions.

Even Hwayang, who looks the most useless out of all my crew, has some crazy powers.

Then, as if it couldn’t take the disrespect, the turtle in the water let out a determined-sounding cry.

Byururup. Byubt!

Slrrrk. 『Really?』

Slrr! 『Do it! Show us!』

It sounded like it was saying it did have a power. And as the kids cheered him on, he dipped underwater and then raised his head, preparing to demonstrate.

He squirted water from his mouth.

Pssssht!

A thin stream of water shot into the air.

About the strength of a squirt gun.

“Whoa! That’s awesome!”

“...Wait, that’s it?”

“Seriously? That’s supposed to be impressive?”

Gun Hye-rin and the Princess looked completely dumbfounded. But that’s just because they didn’t understand.

A turtle that can spit water from its mouth? That’s absolutely not something a normal turtle could do.

Only a true spirit beast could have a power like that.

Just as I was admiring his ability, Hwa-eun’s voice came through again.

『“So-ryong, neither Grandpa nor I have ever heard of a spirit beast like that. It’s not in the Tang Clan records either.”

“Could it be an undocumented new species?”』

So what if he looks lame?

If it’s an undocumented new species, that’s even better!

I stared at the little guy and immediately came up with a name.

“Then let’s call him Wanggap Byeoljon. A noble softshell turtle clad in king-engraved armor.”

So what if he looks unimpressive? I’ll make him noble.

And I thought “Byeollang” would be a cute nickname.

***

Right around the time our call ended, Hwa-eun followed up with some good news.

『“The Emperor has re-declared the Five Venoms Sect and the Blood Cult as enemies of the realm—traitors. He said anyone in the Central Plains who trusts or helps them will have their entire lineage erased.”』

The Emperor had formally branded the Five Venoms Sect as traitors again.

This time, he was so furious that he declared a three-generation extermination order.

He was truly enraged.

And on top of that, the Tang Clan had received a request. They wanted me to take care of it.

『“Also, So-ryong, the Tang Clan got a request. Could you stop by and handle it?”

“A request?”

“Yes. Something’s going on in Sichuan. It sounds like we’ll need your help.”

“What kind of help?”

“There’s been a problem at one of Sichuan’s silk production sites. I don’t know the details, but the main house is taking losses. My father’s really worried.”』

A silk site, huh?

Could be some kind of silkworm disease?

Well, if it’s a bug problem, who better than me—Spicy Fabre?

With confident cheer, I answered:

『“Hwa-eun, please tell Father-in-Law that his son-in-law will take care of everything. He has nothing to worry about.”』