Chapter 185: I’ll Make You a Condom [3]
Chapter 185: I’ll Make You a Condom [3]
After that, Kang Hyeok kept staring at the sundae.
Because of that, Dolseok felt extremely uneasy.
His one and only master was not even eating, only watching.
It would have been much better if it had been food placed on his master’s table.
But it happened to be sitting squarely on Dolseok’s table.
“Y-Young Master. Shall I give this to you?”
Dolseok repeated the same question yet again, though he had already asked it several times.
Kang Hyeok shook his head, just as he had all this time.
“No. Keep eating.”
“You keep staring, so I feel like I’m going to get indigestion.”
“Then give it here.”
“You’re just going to fiddle with it again.”
Dolseok pointed at the peeled sundae casings Kang Hyeok had set aside.
More than ten casings were piled up on Kang Hyeok’s plate.
The sight of a fully grown man toying with food instead of eating it was not exactly pleasant to watch.
Really now... what is Young Master doing?
With a darkened expression, Dolseok glanced around.
Quite a few people were looking at Kang Hyeok uncomfortably.
That was only natural, since there were already plenty who did not like him.
They might have been able to understand him getting dropped into the diplomatic mission by sheer patronage.
After all, it had clearly been a grueling journey.
But Kang Hyeok had shattered everyone’s expectations. He had lived comfortably, and on top of that, he had done too well.
More than enough to earn the envy and jealousy of petty men.
“I thought he only acted like that in Japan, but he’s doing it even in the palace.”
“He’s from a respectable family, but he sure is insolent.”
“To think he’s fooling around with food bestowed by His Majesty...”
“Enough. Doesn’t he have powerful backing? That’s why the Chief Envoy and Vice Envoy can’t do a thing about him.”
“That’s right. People don’t avoid shit because they’re scared of it—they avoid it because it’s filthy.”
Dolseok turned to look at the whispering men.
Most of them were the sort of unremarkable yangban who had simply joined the diplomatic mission.
They had not achieved any notable merit, but neither had they caused trouble.
Officials who were about average, no more.
To be honest, they had no right at all to criticize Kang Hyeok one way or another.
So Dolseok pouted.
If it bothers you so much, why don’t you try being as capable as Young Master yourselves? All you do is stand behind people and gossip like bastards.
But if one thought about it carefully, Kang Hyeok’s performance really had been extraordinary.
From the moment he boarded the ship, it had looked like he climbed aboard Kim Seongil’s line, then charmed the lord of the domain, and even made the Kanpaku fall head over heels.
Compared to Kang Hyeok’s short career in office—so short that even calling it short felt insufficient—it was an astonishing achievement.
So of course he could only feel like a thorn in the eyes of petty men.
But Kang Hyeok had little interest in the fact that his behavior was feeding their jealousy.
“Hmm.”
His mind was already no longer in the palace, but in an examination room.
It’s much thinner and stronger than I expected. The sensation too...
Kang Hyeok slid his finger inside the empty pig intestine, then pressed down on the finger from the outside.
Naturally, it did not feel quite like direct contact, but the sensation transmitted well enough.
This is decent enough.
With the intestine still fitted over his finger, Kang Hyeok scratched his chin.
It felt a little awkward, but he could still more or less feel himself touching it.
If I make this, it’ll be an absolute smash hit.
Had venereal disease not been inseparable from human history?
People had not known prevention, and treatment was practically nonexistent.
Once caught, one simply remained a host for life and kept spreading it to others.
Maybe I really am a genius after all.
To come to Joseon, a wasteland of medicine, and create a method of preventing venereal disease.
If the Nobel Prize existed right now, would he not deserve not only the Prize in Medicine but even the Peace Prize?
Of course, to someone living in twenty-first-century South Korea, venereal disease would feel quite unfamiliar.
But in this era, it was one of the major illnesses that gnawed away at a person’s lifespan.
“Y-Young Master. Someone’s here.”
Dolseok called out to Kang Hyeok, who had failed to notice even the eunuch standing right in front of him.
At that moment, Kang Hyeok was so carried away by the imagined commercialization of the condom he had not even noticed Dolseok calling out to him.
In the end, only when the eunuch before him opened his mouth in a refined tone did Kang Hyeok finally lift his head.
“Chief Jikjang Baek, it is I.”
“Hm? Ah, Elder Sangchaek.”
The eunuch who had come looking for Kang Hyeok was none other than Kim Gyehan.
At Kang Hyeok’s words, Gyehan laughed heartily and waved his hand.
“I’ve risen one step more now. I’m Sangon now.”
At that, the petty men who had been whispering earlier widened their eyes even further.
It was infuriating enough that a eunuch had come personally looking for Kang Hyeok, who was still only a Jikjang.
But to think he was Sangon.
“Huh.”
“This really is...”
It was enough to make a sigh escape without intending it.
It was a far from graceful reaction, but once one knew the circumstances, it was not excessive at all.
Who was Sangon?
A eunuch who managed the wine presented to the king.
Above him there was only Sangseon, and he was a eunuch with a bright future who would have countless opportunities to stand before the king.
And yet Kang Hyeok showed no sign of feeling burdened even in front of such a Kim Gyehan.
He only looked glad.
“So you’ve risen in the world. Ha ha.”
Saying such nonsense.
Normally, given Kim Gyehan’s temperament, a reprimand should have flown out at once, but the current Gyehan only laughed.
“That’s right. It’s all thanks to you.”
“But what brings you here?”
“Ah. His Majesty has just heard of your merits in Japan. He has bestowed wine upon you, so compose yourself from now on.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kang Hyeok knelt at once.
It was quite a disciplined posture, and there was a secret behind that.
They said something like this might happen, and as expected, Elder Hwang was right.
It had already been obvious that Hwang Yungil and Kim Seongil would lavish praise on Kang Hyeok.
So it could also be taken as a given that Kang Hyeok would receive a reward from Seonjo.
The two men, who knew Kang Hyeok’s freewheeling nature well, had worried about precisely that.
So while sharing drinks, they had hurriedly taught him the proper etiquette.
Fortunately, Kang Hyeok had an exceptional memory and could at least imitate it well enough.
“Jikjang Baek Kang Hyeok, listen.”
Kim Gyehan changed even his tone of speech.
Even the smile he had been wearing until now disappeared.
Shrrk.
At the same time, the royal decree Kim Gyehan had been holding unfurled.
At that, even those who had been whispering nearby had no choice but to fall silent.
To face a royal decree was the same as facing the king himself.
No matter how high their envy and jealousy soared, they had to restrain themselves now.
The pettier the man, the more dearly he valued his own life.
Kim Gyehan’s reading of the decree continued for quite some time, but the core of it was this:
“Having learned that your merits are not small, We find it difficult to let them pass unnoticed, and therefore bestow upon you a new office and wine.”
Kim Gyehan was a eunuch who knew how to stir anticipation in his audience.
He paused there once, then only resumed after taking a few breaths.
“From this day forth, We appoint Naeuiwon Jikjang Baek Kang Hyeok as Cheomjeong of the Royal Medical Bureau. We also bestow wine and dishes, that he may commemorate his new office.”
Kim Gyehan smiled with satisfaction after reading that far.
From Junior Seventh Rank to Junior Fourth Rank.
It was such an extraordinary appointment that people might well call it parachuting.
But since the deal had already been arranged beforehand, Kang Hyeok was not especially surprised.
He merely recited the line he had been taught, calmly.
“This unworthy subject is overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s boundless grace.”
“Good. Congratulations.”
After finishing the reading of the decree, Kim Gyehan returned to his usual self.
Then he pushed the wine bestowed by the king toward Kang Hyeok.
Seonjo was more generous than expected, and the amount of wine he had bestowed was enormous.
He gave me a washbasin.
Even for Kang Hyeok, who never refused alcohol, the amount was too much.
It was a basin large enough to hold at least two full sunflower heads.
Did they really give this to a person to drink?
While he was wondering that, Kim Gyehan whispered, “It is discourteous to refuse or leave behind Seonon—the wine bestowed by the king upon his subject.”
“I see.”
“There are many eyes watching, so drink boldly and then collapse. I’ll take responsibility for what happens after.”
Gyehan pointed at the eunuchs standing by in the rear.
There were quite a few of them, and it seemed they planned to carry Kang Hyeok off somewhere quiet if he collapsed.
Leaving behind the wine was irreverent, but causing a disturbance in the palace was equally irreverent.
“Then I’ll drink it.”
Kang Hyeok nodded once and picked up the basin.
It was so large that even Kang Hyeok found it difficult to hold with one hand.
Seonjo...
To think that at this age he would be chugging wine from a basin in one go.
It felt like he had returned to the orientation party for new pre-med students.
Back then I emptied a bowl in one go and all the upperclassmen were shocked.
And not long after, he had been dragged to the physiology lab to have his enzyme levels tested.
As a result, one fact had become clear.
Kang Hyeok possessed so much alcohol- and aldehyde-degrading enzyme that even among Westerners he would have been considered a mutant.
So this much alcohol was not a major problem for him.
The only catch was that his stomach might be too full, but luckily he had not yet filled up because he had spent so much time playing with sundae casings.
Gulp, gulp.
Kang Hyeok lifted the basin straight to his mouth and began drinking it down in one go.
The momentum was like a whale swallowing water, and every gaze gathered in Gyeonghoeru turned toward him.
“Uh... it isn’t irreverent to rest partway through.”
Kim Gyehan was so startled that he even tried to stop him.
But Kang Hyeok waved his hand and drank the whole thing in one shot.
“Ah. As expected of wine bestowed by His Majesty, the taste is excellent.”
“A-are you all right? Come here.”
“I am not. I’m perfectly fine.”
Without so much as a change in complexion, Kang Hyeok bowed his head in thanks.
The sight of him was so bold and open that it was enough to win the favor of the palace’s military men in the future.
“Uh... are you really all right?”
“I told you I am.”
Kang Hyeok not only nodded but even rose to his feet.
There was not the slightest sway in the movement, so only then was Kim Gyehan able to relax.
“You really are fine. Good heavens... you’re a monster when it comes to drink.”
“There’s not much I can’t do.”
“Ha ha. That’s true enough.”
“Then... I’ll be going now.”
“Yes, yes, go ahead. But... are you taking that with you?”
Kim Gyehan pointed at the sundae casings stuffed thickly into Kang Hyeok’s sleeve.
His face was full of bafflement.
If it had been the sundae itself, that would be one thing, but he had never seen anyone covet the casing like that.
“Yes. There’s something I absolutely have to do with this.”
“With that...?”
“Yes. It’s for a medical purpose.”
“Medical? Hm.”
Kim Gyehan looked doubtful, but soon nodded.
It did not seem like Kang Hyeok was about to do anything bad.
“All right, then. Go well.”
“Yes, Elder. Dolseok, Makbong, you two come with me.”
“Huh? I haven’t... finished...”
“You eat plenty all the time anyway. Stop talking and follow me.”
“Yes...”
To commemorate becoming Cheomjeong, Kang Hyeok strode proudly out of the palace.
With Dolseok and Makbong in tow.
The two thought he was naturally heading for the clinic, but unexpectedly, that was not the direction at all.
“Y-Young Master. Where are you trying to go...”
“Let’s go to a gisaeng house first.”
“Huh... a gisaeng house?”
“Yeah. I’ve got something I really want to test.”
“On whom?”
“You two.”