Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Uncomfortable Truth
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't have time to ask Tak Minjae what he meant.
The water, tinged green with medicine, was already seeping toward the child.
The boy slowly closed his eyes.
"M-Minjae!"
"It's a sleeping draught."
The boy suffered from insomnia, too. I looked over at Jeok Yunha.
"It's more sewious than I thought... I fink I'll need a few more ingwedients."
Jeok Yunha quickly snapped out of her daze and gave me a thumbs-up.
"Use whatever you need! My warehouse has everything!"
Jeok Yunha declared with confidence.
"And if I don't, I'll scour the market. You can find anything here!"
Indeed, 'Heukrim' was one of the three largest medicinal markets in the empire.
It sold not just herbs, but anything and everything related to healing.
She looked ready to search every shady corner of the market to find what I needed.
A moment later, the ingredients arrived, proving her confidence was no exaggeration.
*Wow... I can understand the other things, but how in the world did she get her hands on a hundred-year-old tiger's liver so quickly?*
There shouldn't have been any on the market. She's just as impressive now as she was later. I pushed the thought aside and focused on preparing the medicine.
Fortunately, I was familiar with Tak Minjae's illness, its complications, and the poison.
*It's the same poison I encountered in my third life.*
It really hits home just how hard I've worked to live.
I guess I'll have to work even harder to get back home. When I finally get back to Korea, I'm going to live as a total freeloader for a few years...
"Hah..."
I poured the medicine into the sleeping boy's mouth, administering some of it with needles and a syringe.
*That person was so good with acupuncture...*
I thought of a certain physician—too distant to be a friend, yet too close to be a mere acquaintance—then pushed the memory away.
I'll have to bring them over someday.
The boy opened his eyes again around dusk. Bathed in the light of the setting sun, he blinked slowly.
"You're awake? Can you take this for me?"
"Ah? ...Yes!"
Tak Minjae gulped down the medicine.
*Hah, I'm exhausted.*
The room was a mess, filled with traces of colorful light and water from my abilities, along with sopping wet ingredients.
I guess I made a mess by focusing only on the treatment.
*Once I get more used to my abilities, I won't get unused herbs wet like this. Such a waste... Tsk, it's because I'm still so young.*
I glared at the soggy herbs.
Do you know how much these cost? What a waste! I could have saved another person with these!
"Is he all right now?"
"Ah, Papa."
I nodded in response to my father's question.
"Mhm. Not wight away. It'll take about fwee days for a full wecovery. Since he's a child, I can't use medicine that's too stwong..."
"I'm talking about you."
I stopped talking.
"Look, you're exhausted."
My body was suddenly lifted into the air. My father's face was close, his expression sullen.
"I came here to protect Lady Heuk Biyu. What does it matter what happens to that boy?"
Well, of course *I'm* fine... Although I can't deny that I'm tired.
Feeling awkward, I darted my eyes around.
Just as Uncle Woon-deok and Jeok Yunha strode over.
"Minjae...!"
"Father! Look! My cough... my cough is gone!"
"Your complexion..."
I performed a quick detoxification as an emergency measure, so it was only natural that his complexion had cleared up.
Though Tak Minjae seemed most delighted that his coughing had stopped.
"My legs don't hurt as much, either...! Can I finally run? And feel the wind...!"
"Minjae... *sob*, I can finally see you... smiling with such relief..."
Uncle Woon-deok looked at me, his eyes red and welling with tears.
"This is the first time... I've ever seen my son's face look so healthy."
He then bowed deeply to me.
"Thank you. Thank you so much... I would have given my own life for him..."
I gazed at Uncle Woon-deok for a moment, then simply smiled.
I once wondered what that kind of love felt like, both in Korea and here.
*I guess it's just not in the cards for me.*
I glanced at my father, and for some reason, his expression was rigid.
With his free hand, he pressed firmly against his temple.
*...Oh no, does he have a headache?*
"Papa?"
Our eyes met, and the cloudy look in my father's gaze cleared.
My father shook his head as if to say it was nothing.
I wanted to say more, but the recovering boy was watching us and Uncle Woon-deok cautiously.
*Young patients tend to be one of two things.*
Either they become little tyrants, or they become far too mature for their age.
I leaned against him, a wave of fatigue washing over me.
"That medicine over there is a fwee-day course. You have to take it at the pwescwibed times."
There are always patients who don't listen, no matter how many times you tell them.
"You have to take it pwoperly. That's the only way the wemaining symptoms will heal in fwee days."
Fortunately, Jeok Yunha nodded with a look of grim determination.
"Don't you worry. I'll wake him up and force it down his throat, even if it's the crack of dawn."
"...Why would you hit a child?"
*Honestly.* I don't prescribe medicine for such ridiculous hours.
After giving her a few more instructions, I told her to contact me if any symptoms persisted after three days.
Not that they would.
"And..."
I whispered to my father.
"Papa, can you make it so the boy can't hear us?"
My father snapped his fingers. I felt a gentle breeze.
"It is done."
"Gweat."
The boy looked bewildered, saying he could hear music, while Uncle Woon-deok looked on in surprise.
I looked between them and finally fixed my gaze on Jeok Yunha.
It was time to reveal the uncomfortable truth—something the boy shouldn't hear.
"Listen carefully. That boy was poisoned."
I pointed at the boy, and Jeok Yunha's eyes widened as if they would tear from their sockets.
"It's a rather malicious poison. You must find the culprit."
I hesitated before adding.
"If he's exposed again, he might die."
* * *
*Caw.* Somewhere, a crow cried out, greedily eyeing the merchants' wares.
The sun was setting.
"Haaah..."
I stretched languidly in my father's arms.
"Let's buy just a few more things before we head back."
After leaving Jeok Yunha's warehouse.
We had been wandering around, buying up ingredients.
*"Take this."*
*"Take this."*
Jeok Yunha had given us a platinum medallion.
She said it would be honored anywhere the White Dragon Merchant Guild held influence.
*"This isn't nearly enough, I know. Please allow me to give you the rest of the reward in three days."*
*"This isn't nearly enough, I know. Please allow me to give you the rest of the reward in three days."*
She even told us to put anything we bought on the White Dragon Merchant Guild's tab.
I didn't exactly... refuse.
*Why look a gift horse in the mouth? I'd never turn down a freebie.*
In other words, I was on a shopping spree, like someone who'd just been handed a black card.
"Ooh, Papa, next, let's go over there!"
Shopping for high-end ingredients? Thrilling! An unboxing haul? I can't wait!
My father glanced at the stall I was pointing to and frowned slightly.
It was swarming with people.
"...Must we buy from that one?"
"That's 'cause you don't know, Papa. Someone with amazing dweeing skills is selling herbs over there."
"And how would you know... Never mind. Go on."
My father set me down. Then, he conjured a small whirlwind to float around me before walking off.
*A whirlwind for an escort... How cute.*
I crouched down and watched my father.
*My father, squeezing his way into a clearance sale. What a rare sight.*
I couldn't help but grin.
He seemed like the type who would just scowl, blow everyone away with his powers, and demand the goods.
Yet here he was, patiently waiting in line.
I lifted my head to watch the slowly setting sun, then suddenly turned.
*...Is that an animal?*
I could hear a faint whining sound, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't see anything.
The stalls that didn't operate at night were being packed up, casting a gloomy atmosphere over the area.
After looking around for a while, I finally found the source.
An alleyway.
I hesitated for a moment before walking toward it.
I have my little whirlwind with me, so I should be fine, right?
At the mouth of the alley was an abandoned stall, swarming with flies.
I wrinkled my nose at the foul stench.
*...This smells a bit like a corpse.*
It was a smell I recognized from places ravaged by plague.
Anyway, there's nothing here. I thought I'd find something...
Just then, I stepped on something soft.
"Eek!"
I leaped back, my heart pounding in my chest.
*That startled me. What was it?*
I finally found the source on the ground. It was...
"*Whimper...*"
I blinked.
*An animal? A puppy?*
Hmm, no.
"Looks... like a fox?"