Her Majesty’s Secret Service

072. The process of becoming a legend on a sword

A month in Goa passed quickly.

The sugar and buffalo horns collected over the past month were being packed into boxes and being transported one by one to the lower deck.

I couldn’t hide my smile as I watched them move boxes full of buffalo horns and sugar across the deck.

As soon as Goa merchants heard that ‘buffalo horn’ was not a commercial product, they had their sailors spread the rumor that buffalo horn was valuable.

just as expected. In less than 15 days, the number of buffalo horns for sale is endless.

“After all, there’s nothing you can’t do with money, right? Isn’t that right, Stan?”

“yes. But is buffalo horn really that valuable? I used half a 100-pound gold bar to buy ten boxes of buffalo horns. I wonder if this useless thing is really worth half a gold bar… .”

“Don’t worry. Because it’s more than worth the money. I bought saltpeter and took it with me when I returned later, and I also took some pepper and cloves to sell in China… . So now all that’s left is… Yes, Drake! ‘black?”

I looked at Drake standing behind Captain Stan. Drake also had something special to do.

“As you said, I put some gold leaf on it and carved a pattern that looked as complex and mysterious as possible.”

“Ok, fine. Well, that’s it. That knife can easily cut a piece of wood, right?

“It’s a steel sword from Toledo. There’s no way I can’t do that… .”

“Have you ever cut iron?”

“I tried it once at the blacksmith shop. “When I hit it with a little force, the cheap iron bar broke easily.”

“good. That’s it then. “Take care of it.”

“All right. “Captain.”

He stayed in Goa for a month and was making preparations step by step to resolve the ‘Joseon’ issue.

‘Sword decoration’ was also one of the preparations.

“Drake, bring Lieutenant Flint to my room. “As usual, without the French and Swedish people knowing.”

“Lieutenant? ha… Yes, I understand.”

At my command, Drake sighed and went below deck in search of Lieutenant Flint. Captain Stan and I also made her way towards the captain’s office.

A total of 350 people were on board the ship: 100 people directly moved the ship, and 150 people filled empty seats in case of emergency, operated cannons, and participated in battle.

If an emergency occurred, a total of 250 sailors, including 100 people operating the ship, could engage in close combat on board.

Excluding these 250, the 100 people included were carpenters to repair the ship in case it broke down, a doctor whom I had insisted on deploying even though it was an unfamiliar concept in this era, and ‘royal agents’ dispatched from Sweden and France, as well as mercenaries to escort them. It was made up of fields. Agents monitored us to make sure we weren’t wasting money and siphoning off profits.

Well, no matter how I looked at it, it seemed like they were more interested in the spices they were going to buy than spying on us.

Oh, originally, we had planned to bring a few missionaries on board as well. However, they could not board this ship due to my active opposition. The goal was to avoid any possible friction as much as possible.

When I arrived at the captain’s office, I searched the bottom drawer of the captain’s desk and took out the hidden map. The ‘world map’ that will be hanging in the Queen’s room was revealed.

Of course, in extreme secrecy, an artist was called in and only the parts of Asia and Northeast Asia were copied, so nothing other than the map of Asia was revealed.

No one but me, the captain, Lieutenant Flint, the navigator, and Captain Stan, the helmsman, knew of the existence of this map.

When telling others, ‘agents’ or ordinary sailors, of our destination, we would use an ordinary 16th-century map to illustrate our destination, but when it was just the three of us, we would take out this map and determine our destination.

Originally, I didn’t want to tell these two, but I need to know how to read the sea road.

I had no choice but to show this map to these two under the pretense that it was a ‘secret map that the English government had spent a long time making.’

Fortunately, the two people seemed to believe me. It seemed that they thought it was because otherwise the queen would not have shown interest in ‘Eastern trade’.

As I was sitting in the captain’s cabin with Captain Stan, sipping wine and emptying half of the bottle, I heard Lieutenant Flint’s voice outside the captain’s cabin door.

“Did you find it, Captain?”

“Come in. “I have to decide on a route.”

Lieutenant Flint saluted me and sat down, perhaps still retaining some of the habits from his soldier days.

When I filled the empty glass with wine and handed it to Lieutenant Flint, the lieutenant slightly bowed his head in gratitude, took a sip, and took a sip of the wine in his mouth.

“First, we will go from here to Macau via Manila. “I don’t know if the Portuguese will give us permission to enter the port.”

“Do we not have a right of anchorage guaranteed by the King of Portugal and the King of Spain? “Will they still refuse entry?”

“Macau is a city of merchants that Portuguese merchants took over by roasting and boiling Ming officials. “If they think it will cause even the slightest problem to their interests, what kind of permission to enter the port will they be able to fire a cannon at?”

“Isn’t the ‘Mary’ a ship based on the design of ‘Catherine’, even called the Witch of the North Sea? Even though she said she took out more than half of the po… I am confident that I can destroy any number of merchant ships. “Don’t worry, Captain.”

“No, if you come all the way here and there is conflict with the Portuguese merchants, what are you going to do when you return? “I’ll leave the joke aside, if we don’t dock in Macau, we’ll turn the bow and go straight to Nagasaki.”

As Captain Stan and I were talking, Lieutenant Flint, who had already finished his glass of wine, asked me a question as if he were puzzled.

“Naga—Saki? Wouldn’t it be better to go straight to the captain’s hometown?”

“thing… What is it, ocean currents? Yes, that’s because of the ocean currents. Without even knowing it. Do you know that someone doesn’t want to go straight away?”

“I’m sorry, Captain. I made a mistake… .”

“It’s because I don’t know, but it’s okay. So, after anchoring in Nagasaki for about a month, we will go up here to ‘Busan’, or rather, ‘Dongrae’.”

I could have gone straight to Joseon, but if I did that, all my plans would have been in vain.

“Don’t you think the captain knows the sea here better than we do? “Please do so.”

“Once we arrive in Manila, we just need to take directions once to the northwest and once to the northeast.”

As I was deciding my course, I heard Drake’s voice from outside.

“Captain! All cargo was loaded without problems. We supplied plenty of water and baked some sheep biscuits and bread. Oh, we also loaded it up with plenty of dried and fresh fruits.”

Because of the scurvy problem, whenever we stopped at a port of call, we loaded up as much vegetables and fruit as we could carry and distributed them to the sailors. Thanks to this, no sailors suffering from scurvy have yet been found.

“Once the loading is complete, let’s set sail. Check the number of crew members. The ‘agent’ also checked to see if the French and Swedish hoarding spices were there. “If everyone has arrived, let’s set sail immediately, and if anyone hasn’t arrived yet, let’s wait a bit.”

“Yes, I understand.”

A little while later, Drake came to see me again and reported that no one was missing.

Finally, after checking the status and supply status of the loaded cargo, I left Goa, where I had stayed for a month, and continued my journey to Manila, Philippines, and then to Macau, China.

* * *

Off the coast of Nagasaki on the last day of December 1559.

Kuroki, a samurai who served Takanobu Ryuzoji, the ruler of Hizen, and was granted a portion of the Nagasaki fiefdom for his contribution in the Hizen Unification War, launched his boat to the sea off Nagasaki today as usual and was leisurely enjoying boat fishing.

Kuroki, who was originally a pirate, found it burdensome to suddenly take on the position of ‘samurai’ and did not get along well with his lord’s vassals.

Instead of hanging out with them and becoming friends, Kuroki would launch a boat and go fishing every day.

Of course, to save face, he did not forget to leave a boastful remark to the people around him, saying, ‘I am launching a boat to sharpen my swordsmanship on the sea.’

“count… “Oh my god, what is that?”

Today too, Kuroki, who was killing time with his fishing rod in the sea off Nagasaki, witnessed a scene he had never seen before in his 35 years of life.

“west… west… The castle is floating on the sea… .”

Kuroki stuttered without realizing it. When he went to Hirado in the past, he could not find a ship that large among the Namman ships he had seen. With such a huge ship floating in the ocean, it felt as if a small castle had been built on the sea.

Kuroki was staring blankly at the boat, not even realizing that a bite had come to his fishing rod.

Kuroki, who was standing blankly watching the huge ship approaching him, soon realized that the huge ship had arrived near his ferry boat.

The shadow of the huge ship swallowed up his ferry and blocked the sunlight that had been shining just moments before. Then, Kuroki looked at the ship in confusion as he heard a voice coming from the huge ship.

“Hey, Hisashiburi!”

The pronunciation was a bit awkward, as if it were some kind of rural dialect or something women used, but it was clearly the same language Kuroki used.

When I tilted my head towards the ship where I heard the voice, I saw a man with black hair looking down at me.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the man’s face, and saw that it was a familiar face I had seen many times.

“Korean… ?”

Kuroki had been a pirate for a long time, so he was able to tell just by looking at his face which country he was from.

The man, who was probably speaking in an awkward dialect, was dressed strangely, no different from those of Southern Mandarins, but his appearance was no different from that of Koreans.

* * *

January 1560.

Takanobu Ryuzoji, the head of the Ryuzoji family, was smiling with satisfaction as he reaffirmed the loyalty of his vassals at a New Year’s banquet to commemorate the destruction of the Shoni family, the family he had served in the past, and the unification of the Hizen state last year.

“My lord! “Master!!”

As the banquet continued, the door was opened roughly, causing a commotion.

Takanobu didn’t care about the uproar and opened his mouth in a playful voice.

“Kinoshita, there is no need to announce so loudly that you are late for the banquet. Now, come here and take a seat. “Pour me a drink.”

“I’m sorry, my lord, I’ll get the drinks later. “There is something I need to show you right away, right away, so I rushed over here.”

The man called Kinoshita was a vassal so trusted that he was called the Four Heavenly Kings of Takanobu.

Takanobu, who thought that if his henchman were to say something in a hurry and risk his rudeness, it would definitely be a big problem, he immediately straightened his expression and opened his mouth to Kinoshita.

“What do I need to show? “What is that?”

“that is… This is it. Hey, bring it.”

Kinoshita signaled the men standing outside the door to bring the items.

The item the men brought was a large box decorated with silver foil.

“Is this a gift you prepared?”

In response to Takanobu’s question, Kinoshita shook his head and continued speaking.

“No, it is said that there is a Nanman ship the size of a small castle floating in the sea off Nagasaki right now, and it was put out by the captain of that Nanman ship.”

“On the South Manchurian Line? But a ship the size of a small castle? “Where in the world is a ship like that?”

Takanobu scolded Kinoshita and opened the box. After checking the contents, Takanobu unconsciously let out an exclamation.

“Hiyaa… .”

Inside the box was a sword with a colorful pattern engraved on it.

The complex patterns gave off a mysterious feeling, and the sword parts decorated with gold leaf were truly dazzling.

“this… What on earth is this? I have never seen such a beautiful sword in my life. “Where is the captain of the Namman Ship who gave me this sword now?”

“I am currently waiting for my lord’s call inside the castle. But what’s unusual is that the person the Southern Mandarins regard as their captain… “They look like Koreans.”

“Korean?”

“yes. I was able to communicate using both broken Korean and broken Korean. “Could it be someone who sent it from Joseon?”

“You idiot, even if Joseon sends someone, they send it to Mr. So in Tsushima over there. Why are they sending someone to us?”

Takanobu clicked his tongue and looked at Kinoshita as if he was frustrated. Kinoshita scratched her head slightly and continued.

“ah… “My thoughts were short.”

“You should get into the habit of thinking twice or three times.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Takanobu, who scolded Kinoshita, turned his head once again with his sword and smiled in satisfaction.

“It is truly a stroke of luck to get such a rare treasure starting from the new year. It’s so bad! “You said you could speak Korean, right?”

The vassal who was called immediately bowed his head and answered Takanobu’s question.

“yes! “I learned a little bit while I was a ronin in Tsushima.”

“Is communication possible?”

“of course! “If you just leave it to me, I will do my best, my lord!”

“Okay then. “Kinoshita.”

“yes! “My lord!”

“Bring in the Korean captain and the Southern Mandarins who are waiting outside. “I offered such a rare treasure, but I have to give them at least what they want.”

“four! “I understand, my lord!”

After checking the gift, Takanobu stopped the banquet for a moment and called Kuroda, a retainer who had been chosen as an interpreter, to his room.

Not long after ordering Kinoshita to bring in the ‘Southern Man’s party’, I heard the sound of the door opening.

“Sir, I brought the people I told you about.”

Takanobu looked at the faces of the group of people standing behind Kinoshita.

There were about a dozen Southern Manchurians standing behind the Koreans, and their captain seemed to be the Korean in the lead.

As soon as the Korean at the head of the group of South Manchurians saw Takanobu, he bowed his head and started spouting incomprehensible Korean.

“Kuroda, what is the author saying now?”

Takanobu wondered what on earth that Korean was talking about. Just by looking at his facial expression, it seemed like he was saying something good, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying, so it was extremely frustrating.

“Yes, my lord. His name is ‘Logan’ and he says it is an honor to meet the unrivaled hero in the world. that… “The sword offered to the lord is said to be a famous sword that can cut through iron, and was used by a southern hero named Cortés who defeated man-eating monsters.”

“Is this the sword used by the hero who defeated the monster?”

Hearing that it was a sword used by a hero, Takanobu began to like the sword in front of him more and more.

And the ‘Namman people’ who brought this sword, especially the ‘Korean people’ who praised themselves as heroes of the first generation.

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[[painting]]

The black arrow is ‘Mary’s’ route. The arrow pointing up to Hirado is usually the route of Portuguese merchant ships, and the small arrow pointing towards Nagasaki is the route of the ‘Mary’.

You can think of it as ‘Hizen’ where the red border is unified.

*Portuguese merchants who arrived in Macau in 1553 entered Macau under the pretext of drying up their cargo. The Portuguese merchants who landed gained the favor of Ming officials and obtained the right to build a city and trade, and four years later, in 1557, the Portuguese even obtained the right to reside in Macau. Thus, Portugal ruled Macau for 446 years from 1553.

*Japan became known to Portugal in 1543 when a Portuguese merchant ship drifted to Tanega Island. Portugal traded with Japan on an island called Hirado, and formal trade began in 1561 with permission from the shogunate. It was not until 1570 that a Portuguese superior was established in Nagasaki, the Nagasaki Castella we know well. It would be correct to say that trade was still taking place on Hirado Island in 1560, during the period of the war.