Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Herb Gatherer's Plea
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I glanced around and swept my hand through the air.
‘Fractures, bruises, minor organ rupture, internal bleeding…’
As expected of an eccentric apothecary's shop, there were all sorts of ingredients here.
‘Just as I expected. The ingredients aren't just plentiful; it's quite the sight.’
Since it was a shop run as a hobby, it had things other places didn't normally carry.
After all, I can completely cure any injury or illness I've treated once before with my medicine.
The water moved on its own with a swish. Though, in reality, I was the one sorting and bringing the ingredients.
It moved like multiple hands and feet before seeping into the water.
I watched calmly as a blue and golden light bloomed from the water.
For others, however, it was a different story.
“Eat it.”
“Pardon?”
“Hurry.”
Finally, the completed pills, tablets, and potions were placed on the floor.
“You know herbs well.”
I stared at him with clear eyes.
“Because… you're an herb gatherer, mister.”
The middle-aged man's eyes widened.
“How did you…?”
“Fwist, eat and dwink it. You'we huwt.”
At my calm words, the man hesitated, looking bewildered.
“Should I make him drink it?”
As my father, who had been standing by, was about to step forward, the man hastily took the medicine.
Why is Dad acting like a thug? Though it was helpful…
“Watew is hewe.”
I offered him my water bottle. The pills were a bit potent, so he'd need water.
Finally, the man swallowed all the medicine. Even though it wouldn't taste sweet, he took it without issue.
Then again, he was a man who had lived his whole life surrounded by bitter roots.
Soon, the scratches and scabs on the man's cheek vanished.
This is where the medicine of ordinary apothecaries and physicians differs from that of us Heuk Family ability users.
It's not for nothing that people seek us out.
“I didn't make the fwactuwes heal all at once on puwpose.”
My healing medicine isn't a cure-all.
For injuries like fractures that require natural healing, it's better for one's health to treat them slowly.
“Th-thank you…!!”
The middle-aged man knelt and bowed his head deeply.
“I apologize for doubting you, it was just so unbelievable… You must be a noble person. Thank you, truly, thank you.”
This man's name was Tak Woon-deok.
A second-generation immigrant who had come here with his family from the Eastern Continent to earn money, and a decent enough herb gatherer.
And in the future… he would become the most famous herb gatherer in the empire.
‘People tend to look down on herb gatherers.’
But to physicians and apothecaries like me, they were, along with merchants, incredibly important.
This man, in particular, possessed a weak ability to handle plants, a nature-based power.
But at some point, this ability exploded, and he later boasted incredible herb-gathering skills.
‘And because he didn't trade with just anyone… his goods were monopolized by a single merchant guild.’
I looked at the man's—no, at Mister Woon-deok's—beard with a complicated expression.
He was someone who had always treated me warmly when I struggled or stayed in this market.
But we were never able to grow close.
Back then, the man was obsessed with mountains, forests, and medicinal herbs. I knew the reason why.
“I-I'm truly grateful. And I know this is… shameless of me, but…”
“…”
Mister Woon-deok slammed his head on the floor.
It seemed he misjudged his strength. Even though it must have hurt, he begged earnestly.
“If you are a physician, young miss, could you help me? Please, help my son…!”
That son was the reason this man became the greatest herb gatherer.
Around the time his ability surged, he lost his treasured only son.
He had painstakingly saved money to get treatment for his son, who suffered from a severe chronic illness, and went to the Heuk Family, but they refused to see him.
‘And then he died.’
Because of this, the man came to despise the Heuk Family.
‘…Child, I don't hate you, but I cannot bring myself to like you either.’
‘…Child, I don't hate you, but I cannot bring myself to like you either.’
Afterward, the Heuk Family found it difficult to obtain not only the highest-quality herbs from Mister Woon-deok.
…but even the high-grade herbs gathered by the herb gatherer's guild under him.
The already struggling family declined significantly.
One might ask how a family could falter just because a single herb gatherer turned his back on them.
But that's how great Mister Woon-deok's influence was, and behind him was the merchant guild he exclusively traded with.
A formidable guild that was one of the top three in the empire.
‘This time, I'm here to help.’
If his son doesn't die, the man can live a happier life.
And I can join hands with the man who will become the empire's best herb gatherer and a future great merchant guild leader.
“If you save him, I'll do… I'll do anything. I don't have much money right now, but…”
“Okay.”
“Still, anything! Right?”
“I said okay. Is youw son not hewe?”
Mister Woon-deok seemed too distraught to even notice the change in my speech.
Hmm, I pondered.
“The tweatment needs to be done whewe thewe awe lots of ingwedients. This place seems good…”
In any case, my method of treatment was to create medicine. I absolutely needed ingredients.
“Ah, if that's the case…!”
Mister Woon-deok reached a hand toward me. But before his hand could touch me, my body was lifted into the air.
“This doesn't seem like an appropriate place.”
It was the wind. I saw my father approaching while I was suspended in mid-air. It was my turn to be bewildered.
“We don't know when those guys from before will return. Besides, it looks like a crowd is gathering outside. Is this really okay?”
“Of course… it's not okay!”
Mister Woon-deok stared at me with a tearful expression.
Oh dear, it's not that I won't help you, mister.
‘If we move from here, a suitable place would be…’
“What's this? Who's acting like they own the place?”
Just then, an unfamiliar voice cut in.
A woman's voice, one that I should say was familiar.
“What's this situation?”
When I turned my head, I saw a woman with red hair. It was the person who had collapsed on the ground in front of the shop a moment ago.
I suppressed a surge of delight.
She was an old acquaintance, after all.
‘Though this is the first time in this life.’
The woman had her hair styled to exquisitely cover one eye.
She was smiling fiercely at us.
At the same time, her breathing was ragged, as if she had been running.
“I'm Jeok Yunha, the owner of this place. And who might you be?”
The woman rushed over in a single stride and stood in front of Mister Woon-deok.
“How dare you make our Mister Woon-deok cry?”
“M-Miss Yunha!”
“If I went through the trouble of luring you here by rolling on the ground, you should have just followed me quietly. Why are you harassing a helpless man and taking him hostage! Damn it, I told you I wasn't a thief!”
“No, oh my! Miss Yunha, wait, just a moment!”
“It's okay, mister. Stay somewhere safe.”
Oh, that woman. She still doesn't listen to others when she's pissed off.
Jeok Yunha.
Someone I met in my third life. The owner of the merchant guild I did business with.
Her personality was as fiery and straightforward as her red hair, you could say.
It seems Dad's wind helped her properly. Seeing her show up in decent shape, that is.
‘More importantly, is she so exhausted from running that she can't see the scratches on Mister Woon-deok's face have completely disappeared?’
At that moment, my eyes met Jeok Yunha's.
The woman's eyes widened as if she were just now noticing me.
Soon, her face twisted into a grimace.
“…Hah, taking a child hostage too?”
“Oh dear, Miss Yunha!!”
“For someone so handsome, your personality is absolute trash!”
I was about twelve when I met her.
She had a hot-headed side even then, but she herself said she was much worse when she was younger.
‘Haha, I was a bit single-minded and blunt when I was young! When I saw red, I couldn't see anything else! Ahaha.’
‘Haha, I was a bit single-minded and blunt when I was young! When I saw red, I couldn't see anything else! Ahaha.’
‘She did say she saw nothing when she got excited, didn't she.’
I think I also heard that's why the businesses she started in her youth all failed in a row.
“Come at me, you trash who even uses a child!”
…I can see why they failed.