Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Market Clinic
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“That bird was trying to harm you.”
Huh? Me? When? Is he talking about when the bird showed its displeasure with my arm?
“That’s jus’ how he is!”
He might be a little dumb and selfish, but he’s a good boy…
“Do you realize your clothes are singed?”
Only then did I notice my clothes. There were holes burned through them in several places.
“Ah…”
But it would be a pity for it to be extinguished here.
Not only that, but my relationship with Jeok Yunha would go down the drain.
“Still! He’s a good boy!”
“You speak as if you know him well.”
“I’ve only jus’ met him, of course, but since fire ability users tend to be willful, maybe the Divine Beast has a willful personality too?”
Gyewon, who had quietly sidled up next to me, suddenly reached out and stroked his firebird.
“…You heard her. Behave.”
-*Chiiirp!*
“Good. It seems you won’t be hated.”
Is this really the time for that, brother! And why is the firebird chirping back so cheerfully?
…This isn’t what’s important.
I barely managed to send the firebird away.
“Daddy, we have plenty of time on our permit, right? Let’s go outside today.”
I glanced at my cousin, who had started to hesitate.
“You come too, big bwother.”
If we left today, Heuk Gyewon would be left all alone in the eastern wing.
That wouldn’t be good.
‘This is the spirit of co-parenting!’
I nodded, thinking a thought quite unfitting for a three-year-old.
***
“Hello, Physician.”
Jeok Yunha greeted me warmly. Her demeanor was friendlier than last time.
“Have you been well these past three days? You look much healthier. And your family… has grown?”
It was only natural for her to be surprised by my appearance. A fox was peeking its head out of the bag I was wearing.
‘I couldn’t just leave him at home.’
Leaving just Gyewon and the baby fox behind was out of the question.
“Oh my, how adorable! But isn’t this a white fox? Where did you find such a rare treasure?”
“It’s a secret.”
Besides, the baby fox would start wailing mournfully—*kyeng, kyeng, kyeng!*—if he was even slightly separated from me.
‘That’s strange. I heard that foxes look like dogs but act like cats.’
They’re supposed to be curious and get into everything.
That’s why Dad had wrapped him in a layer of wind, just in case. But for some reason, he was calm even though we were outside.
“Where are Uncle Woonduk and Tak Minjae?”
“Ah, they’ll be here soon. Minjae, too.”
I was currently sitting on my father’s lap.
Though unseen, the baby monoceros snake, Bambaemi, was coiled around my wrist inside my sleeve.
‘I’ll have to give him a proper, cool name when he gets bigger.’
Thinking this, I turned my head. A middle-aged man with a bewildered expression sat before me.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Oh, not at all, Physician…!”
“I’ll give you three days’ worth of medicine. If you leave it, it’ll get infected, so be sure to wash it with clear spirits or clean water.”
“Ah, yes, yes…!”
This middle-aged man was a patient, and this place? It was a small apothecary.
Jeok Yunha couldn’t hide her dumbfounded expression.
“…So, I’d like to ask now.”
I was fulfilling my role as a physician and apothecary for the first time in a while.
Standing beside me, Jeok Yunha pressed a hand to her forehead, her expression one of utter confusion.
“Why on earth are you here?”
The place Jeok Yunha had summoned us to was a quiet building. Someone acting on her orders was already waiting on the first floor.
I had gone there earlier than the appointed time to tell them something.
‘I’ll let you know the time and place. Please tell them to come here.’
‘I’ll let you know the time and place. Please tell them to come here.’
And then I turned away without a second thought.
The next place I arrived at was a small apothecary right next to the building.
The owner of the apothecary was a moderately materialistic person. I gave him money, and he quickly lent me the space.
I gave him more money, and he quickly gathered patients from the neighborhood.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve treated people in an apothecary.’
Lately, I’d only treated my eldest uncle, my other uncle, my father, and Tak Minjae.
The news that a physician—and not just any physician, but one with a nature ability—had appeared spread like wildfire in a short time.
Since I was using the market’s nature to my advantage, it was only natural that a line formed, reminiscent of a store’s grand opening.
‘Of course, I’m treating them for next to nothing, so who wouldn’t come?’
The apothecary owner was all smiles, getting paid for the medicine and an additional fee on top of that.
For the record, when I told Gyewon to go enjoy the market for a change, he insisted he was a warrior and volunteered to be my assistant.
‘I was surprised by how competent he was…’
Perhaps because he was smart, he never forgot what I told him and quickly memorized the frequently used medicinal herbs.
And Dad?
Dad was basically a trophy.
While holding me, if some troublemaker tried to cause a scene, he would summon a gust of wind and blow them away.
‘A nuisance. Banishment it is.’
‘A nuisance. Banishment it is.’
‘W-wait, gyaaaah!’
‘W-wait, gyaaaah!’
I clapped my hands.
Wow, those nuisances that were so hard to get rid of when I worked alone…!
I’m finally getting to savor the feeling of having a competent warrior by my side!
I had suffered so much on my own after one bad rumor…
‘Daddy, you’re really too…’
‘Daddy, you’re really too…’
‘Too harsh?’
‘Too harsh?’
‘No?! You did great! Keep chasing them away! Throw them out of the market! Give them a lump on the head, too!’
‘No?! You did great! Keep chasing them away! Throw them out of the market! Give them a lump on the head, too!’
‘…I’ll keep that in mind.’
‘…I’ll keep that in mind.’
In no time, a story about a beautiful ogre here also started to circulate.
Jeok Yunha arrived three hours later.
“Excuse me, I’m pretty sure I was told a time and place… Why here?”
Her face was bewildered, and her hair was quite disheveled. Apparently, there had been a dispute outside about people cutting in line.
It was absurd.
“Weren’t you… a famous figure in this market?”
“Me? Um, I am, but being too familiar is also a problem… That’s not the point. Little Physician, please answer me. What are you doing?”
I spoke while nonchalantly diagnosing the next person.
“Now, this isn’t scary. Please stay still.”
“Aah, water, water…! Ooooh!”
I watched the person trapped in the water blankly before turning my gaze away.
Information flowed endlessly into my mind, and my streams of water moved through the apothecary as if they had been waiting.
Heuk Gyewon and Raon quickly picked up the medicinal herbs and materials dropped by the water, shaking them dry or putting them back in their proper places.
‘Forget my cousin, but Raon… why are you so good at this?’
Is he really a fox?
Are foxes this clever? I’d heard they were cunning, but…
I tilted my head but was pleased. Thanks to Bambaemi coiled around my wrist, the grade of the medicine I made had improved.
As I diligently made medicine like this, I glanced at Jeok Yunha.
“You ask why I’m doing this?”
“Yes.”
“To become famous.”
“Yes… What?”
The more experience I gain, the more ridiculously overpowered my ability becomes.
‘I practically become a medicine factory.’
Even now, making a simple cold remedy takes less than thirty seconds. Plus, the effects are guaranteed and fantastic.
After all, it’s infused with the experience of three lifetimes.
I’m basically a hidden master.
“It’s a simple cold, so take this and get a good night’s sleep. But this cold is very contagious, so if you have children, sleep separately tonight.”
“Gasp, yes…! I have a child. Thank you, thank you so much, Phy-Physician…?”
If the patients had one thing in common, it was that they couldn’t look me straight in the eye or were bewildered.
When they didn’t understand, they would glance at my father.
‘They look at him as if he’s the main body.’
I suppressed a laugh and sent the patient on their way.
Before the next patient came in, I looked up at my father.
“Daddy, can you make it so only one person can hear my voice?”
I signaled to my father, and my voice reached only Jeok Yunha.
“You must have done a background check on me.”
This was my answer to Jeok Yunha’s question.
“Then you should know. At this rate, I can’t even go to the main estate, let alone become a candidate for family head like the other kids of my generation.”