Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 113: Lost Sword of the Great General (3)

“Oh… I just wanted to know because you know so much about antiques.”

Haejin had that feeling. A student finding that important text at a library was too unrealistic.

Let’s say it really happened. Then, that student would brag about it on SNS or notify people from return of cultural property organizations.

How could she or he have known that the NIS would not ignore it? Honestly, not many Koreans had 100% faith in the NIS.

Nevertheless, Haejin had believed what Sanghun told him because he thought that kind of information couldn’t be known without that kind of chance.

However, seeing Momoko helping at the side, Haejin thought maybe that could be the case. And, he was right.

She told the NIS where General Lee Sunsin’s lost sword was. That was probably why they had accepted her.

She wouldn’t have been so trusted without that kind of information. But from who had she heard about it? Had she really found out about it at the library?

“What are you thinking?”

Eunhae’s question woke him up. Haejin was about to say something, but then they heard a knock at the door.

Knock knock….

“Yes, please wait.”

Eunhae opened the door. A beautiful woman in her early 30s and a man in his 60s came in, looking around. And after them, another man in his 50s came in with his hands politely folded together.

The old man was bald, without a single strap of hair. Although he was very thin, his gaze was strong.

Haejin immediately realized he was Hanoda Sake.

“Where have I seen you before?”

The moment he saw Eunhae, he glared at her. Haejin saw the doubt and desire in that gaze and stood up.

“Then, who do you think you are to act without manner? You think this is your home?”

This was clearly bad. If Eunhae had known Hanoda sake himself would be there, she would have left.

She had met him before, so she couldn’t meet her.

However, they met, and the moment Hanoda Sake saw him, he recalled that he had seen her before.

It was a bad start.

Haejin felt him and warned him to let him know he didn’t have the control of the situation. At his fierce words, Hanoda Sake turned to him.

“You are a Korean with courage. But will that courage last till the end? Nakayama!”

He yelled, and a man in his 20s quickly came in. He looked at least 190cm tall and was huge. He probably could handle the average man with one hand.

And he wasn’t alone. Two more buffy guys came after him to arouse fear.

Eunhae felt it wasn’t going well. She took a step back toward Haejin. She must have thought this could be dangerous, but she hadn’t thought it would be this serious, so Haejin felt sorry for her.

However, Momoko was behaving strangely. She was sitting on the sofa and looking at Hanoda Sake without blinking an eye.

Hanoda Sake proudly glared at Haejin, but he crossed his arms and snorted.

“What, you want to steal the buddha? Please, be my guest.”

Hanoda Sake didn’t say anything. He sat down opposite to Haejin. And the beautiful woman, who was supposed to be the main guest, sat next to him.

She looked at Eunhae and then Haejin. She pointed at the box on the table.

“Is the buddha inside?”

“Yes. But I don’t recall hearing anything about so many people coming with you.”

Eunhae had guts, too. She held back her fear and said what she had to say.

But before the woman could answer, Hanoda Sake frowned and snapped as if he found them annoying.

“This is no place for girls to talk. You, speak. You’re the owner, right? You can’t fool my eyes.”

He hadn’t changed at all, that made Haejin even more enraged.

“If you want to threaten me, take out the swords. Or just shut up and let your appraiser do his job.”

That was extremely violent. He could feel Eunhae flinch. However, she didn’t turn back and show her surprise. Haejin admired her for that.

“Huh! You’re showing off your guts? Fine?”

Hanoda Sake waved his hand. The men behind him disappeared. Next, he was about to say something, but then he suddenly turned to Eunhae.

“Oh… my… Director Lim Eunhae of Saeyeon Gallery?”

“It is me.”

Eunhae sat down next to Haejin and crossed her legs. She looked a little pale, but she was a little relieved to see Hanoda Sake remembered her.

“Oh… I failed to recognize the princess. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m getting old…”

He looked surprised, he then bowed to apologize. Eunhae was a member of the family that owned Hwajin, so he couldn’t ignore the power she had.

Of course, he wouldn’t lose if they had a power struggle in Japan, but Hanoda Sake was a businessman. He didn’t do anything that could bring him negative consequences.

“You used to stand up to greet me… you have changed.”

Eunhae showed how she was feeling, and Hanoda Sake slyly smiled.

“My knees are getting weak as I get older. Haha… but why have you come here? What about your gallery? I thought you were a nakama (middle merchant) who came to enchant me with your beauty.”

Actually, Eunhae couldn’t really answer that question. If she said she had quitted the gallery that practically belonged to Hwajin and became a director of a small private art museum, this skeptical old man would immediately change his attitude.

She couldn’t say she had come all the way to Japan to help the buddha’s owner, and saying she was there for sightseeing would be even worse.

Haejin was about to speak for her, but then, Momoko opened the box and took out the buddha. Then, she started speaking as she carefully put it on the table. She spoke in Japanese, of course.

“If you have finished greeting each other, let’s start the deal now. Five Standing Buddha statue of the Northern Wei period. 500 thousand yen.”

Haejin almost turned back to Momoko, but he restrained himself. He couldn’t show his surprise.

Eunhae controlled herself quite well as well while Hanoda Sake yelled at her with a red face.

“Nonsense! Are you saying I should accept that crazy price?”

Momoko continued calmly.

“The posture of the small bodhisattvas on each side are rarely seen in other Northern Wei buddha statues. And, although the hard folds in the clothes that are stretched to the side is the style of Northern Wei, judging from the round faces with a smile and halo of the main buddha, it was probably made in the Eastern Wei period. As it is in perfect condition and elegant, it must have been ordered by an aristocrat and was donated to a temple. 500 thousand yen is not at all too much.”

Perfect. She must have received professional curator education, but what mattered was that she had claimed the control of this conversation.

She wasn’t trying to get 500 thousand yen, but she distracted Hanoda Sake and made him watch her instead of Eunhae.

Hanoda Sake’s appraiser came, and after 10 minutes of examination, he nodded. It meant it was real.

“Huh! This is absurd. I can see your strategy is to demand a high price and sell it at the price you want, you think I would agree to that kind of deal?”

At least he was restraining himself because of Eunhae. He would have called his guards again if it hadn’t been for her.

Now, Haejin wondered about Momoko’s negotiation skills. How was she going to make Hanoda Sake mention the Terracotta Soldier?

But Momoko chose the most unexpected strategy.

“Then the negotiation is over.”

She stood up, then Eunhae and Haejin followed, surprised but looking grim.

They didn’t know why Momoko was doing it, but they both thought they had to get along for now.

“Hahaha! Well, you think there is someone out there who would buy that at 500 thousand?”

In a way, that strategy was easy to see. Haejin thought so, too… that’s why Hanoda Sake snorted as he saw them stand up.

However, Momoko coldly stared at him and said, “There is. In Nagoya…”

Hanoda Sake’s face immediately hardened.

“Nagoya…”

“Should we sit or leave?”

Haejin tried to think who was in Nagoya. However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t recall an antique collector who was even more powerful than Hanoda Sake.

It meant it was someone Hanoda and Momoko knew but Haejin didn’t. Haejin wondered who he was.

At first, Haejin had found Momoko’s presence burdening, but now, to think that he could have gotten into real trouble if it hadn’t been for her, he thanked the NIS for sending her.

“Fine. I’ll buy it.”

Eventually, Hanoda Sake surrendered to Momoko. However, she didn’t sit down and looked at Eunhae instead.

She knew that Eunhae was the one who Hanoda Sake had to be careful with and showed that she was the leader.

“Please, sit.”

Eunhae sat and Haejin and Momoko sat after her. Things were going strange, but this wasn’t bad.

“500 thousand yen is nonsense. This kind of buddha is worth 300 or 400 thousand at most.”

Hanoda Sake spoke as if he couldn’t pay more, but Momoko was as firm as a stone buddha.

“I think the one in Nagoya would be happy to buy this at 500 thousand yen.”

“Hmm…”

Hanoda Sake seemed to agree to that. He thought about it for some time, then spoke to Eunhae.

“How about a trade, with an artifact as good as this buddha? I’m sure you would like it.”

Finally, he spoke what they had been waiting for. Of course, Eunhae asked back as if she didn’t like that proposal.

“I don’t know. Whether I’ll like it or not, no one knows that.”

“There is nothing better than this for a secret exhibition for the VIPs. Let me show it to you immediately.”

Haejin thought it couldn’t be. It wasn’t Hanoda Sake’s hotel, how could he bring that huge soldier figure to a decent five-star hotel? Of course, he couldn’t. Instead, he played a video on his tablet PC.

It was about the Terracotta Soldier. Although they had known what it would be, they reacted as if they were shocked. He talked to Eunhae with confidence.

“This Terracotta Soldier is real. This used to belong to Cultural Artifact Bureau of Shanxi Province. There are only a few soldiers in such good shape.”

“How much do you think it is?”

Haejin thought even though Hanoda Sake had no conscience, he couldn’t be trying to sell it at 500 thousand. It wasn’t like he could sell it later.

It had no value as property.

“I think it is worth 300 million.”

Eunhae shook her head as if it was impossible.

“200 thousand. 300 thousand more in cash. Those are my terms.”

Eunhae bravely offered her terms, probably influenced by Momoko, and after some discussion, they agreed on the Terracotta Soldier and an additional 270 thousand yuan in cash.

Of course, they were supposed to make the trade at the same time after the soldier was appraised to be real, so they immediately went to Hanoda Sake’s Nezu Museum.

And, in the basement, they finally met the soldier protected in a glass box.

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