Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: [Secret Clinic] Constantine's Dilemma
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The marketplace bulletin board was packed with a sea of people, and amid the hubbub of murmurs, sharp accusations blended with curious whispers.
"My god, an eunuch stole royal goods?"
"What nerve. Daring to lay hands on the king's property."
Squeezing through the crowd, I checked the notice.
On yellowed paper, thick ink letters proclaimed the following.
Kim Naegwan's full name was Kim Man-seok.
The charges: theft of royal property and disruption of national order.
In summary, it was about beheading him for losing royal goods and trying to cover it up.
The execution date was three days from now.
'So things turned out like this.'
A hollow laugh escaped me.
The plot had completely diverged from the original story.
In the original, Kim Naegwan loses the box, panics, hounds Heo-seol's master, and eventually tries to pin all the blame on him.
He frames the master by claiming the quack physician used the wrong medicine or botched the inspection, gets him thrown in prison, and slips away scot-free. That's the original route.
But in this world where I intervened, Kim Naegwan admitted his guilt outright and took full responsibility for failing to procure the medicine.
The reason was obvious.
'It's because of me.'
I'd warned him as Taoist Yi Gil-dong, my alias.
Told him to be grateful to his benefactor.
Threatened that if he pulled any funny business, I'd incinerate him with heavenly fire.
The image of Taoist Yi Gil-dong haunting him nightly, beating him with a three-section staff, spewing fire from his hands, and watching him with clairvoyance must have terrified him.
That fear was seared into his brain, so the moment he thought of framing Heo-seol's master, he believed Yi Gil-dong would appear and turn him to pulp.
Instead, he took the fall himself, even if it cost him his head.
"Tsk tsk, serves him right. Always strutting around so arrogantly."
"Those eunuchs thought their power made them untouchable. Poetic justice."
"Especially that Kim Man-seok guy. Word is he was a total scumbag. Good riddance."
The common folk were reveling in Kim Naegwan's downfall.
Which made sense...
Just looking at what he did to me, or what he did to Heo-seol's master in the original, was enough to justify it.
"...Ha, damn."
But...
For some reason, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Then, a memory from my childhood flashed back—a movie I'd seen on TV.
Constantine.
The protagonist, Constantine, exorcises demons and performs countless good deeds, yet he's forever barred from heaven.
Because he committed suicide, a grave theological sin, and doesn't merely believe in God—he knows.
'He learned about the afterlife when he attempted suicide in the past.'
No matter how many good deeds he does, no matter how much karma he accrues, no matter how many demons he slays, it's all tainted as self-serving. Constantine's actions go unrewarded.
He can never achieve true salvation.
'That setup always bugged me as a kid.'
If merely knowing about God and demons creates this dilemma barring heaven, isn't it God's design flaw to let a human glimpse the afterlife just for attempting suicide?
An omniscient, perfect God should've built it right from the start.
No wonder he gets betrayed by his own son.
'And so what if he knows?'
Good deeds are still good deeds, right?
Most modern people learn morality and law through compulsory education and society from childhood.
They avoid crime out of good hearts, fear of punishment, respect for the law, or various other reasons.
But per Constantine, the moment you know about punishment, you're out.
From the point of mandatory education, where you learn about legal consequences, everything you do—however law-abiding or virtuous—is dismissed as lacking sincerity.
As an elementary school kid, that's what I thought watching that movie.
Of course, like most films I saw young, I didn't watch it all the way through.
Still, it stuck with me.
'Of course, Kim Naegwan's still trash.'
He got robbed blind while boozing with courtesans, and in the original, he even sold out Heo-seol's master.
But is getting pickpocketed while drunk with courtesans his fault?
Having a few drinks and groping some tits—what's the big deal?
And selling out the master?
Even if that's what happened in the original, it didn't in this world.
He was branded to the bone that lying brings divine retribution.
Better to lose his head than incur the Taoist's wrath and lose his soul.
Like Constantine, Kim Naegwan refrained from the evil he would've done because he knew of Yi Gil-dong's existence.
By that point, by my standards, he wasn't a bad guy anymore.
And above all...
'In this incident, the real thief of the medicine was the Chief State Councillor and me.'
If I'd given the medicine to Kim Naegwan or Heo-seol's master, the Queen Consort would've been cured long ago.
But I wanted it, so I kept quiet and swallowed it whole.
'Others might not know, but I do.'
Kim Naegwan didn't commit a capital crime, and I'm partly why he's dying.
In the original, Heo-seol's master cures the Queen Consort, and no one dies. My intervention changed that flow, leading to a death.
"Man, if I just let this slide, it's gonna haunt my dreams."
Letting him die like this would leave me with this nagging guilt forever.
Like when I saved Old Man Hans and Lisa in Abyss Miner, I hate loose ends.
Imagine lying down to sleep, closing my eyes, and seeing Kim Naegwan's aggrieved face floating in my peripheral vision. Total mood killer.
'Yeah, let's save him.'
Decision made, my head cleared.
To get [Trait: Royal Physician], I need to cure the Queen Consort anyway and take down the mastermind, the Chief State Councillor.
Saving Kim Naegwan is just a natural side quest bundled in.
'The fortnight isn't up yet...'
I still had days before meeting Cheon-bong and Jang Tae-su.
But time was tight.
Three days until Kim Naegwan's head decorates the marketplace.
Time to activate the emergency network.
I pushed through the crowd and headed to a rundown soup house in a back alley of Hanyang's Unjong Street.
Cheon-bong had told me about it.
Leave a mark here for emergencies.
Creeeak, clack.
I drew a circle with a triangle inside on the soup house's wall using charcoal.
Signal for: come to the rendezvous tonight.
'That'll do.'
Then I headed straight for the city gates.
'Got one stop before the meetup.'
Something to grab before seeing Cheon-bong and Jang Tae-su.
Outside Hanyang's walls, in a deserted mountain valley.
The same stream from before.
Where I'd recently made the [Divine Pill: Fengyang Pill].
"Where was it again..."
Rummaging around, I spotted the dug-up traces from evidence disposal.
"Perfect."
Mana Coating (F)
Coats hands with mana for enhanced digging.
Thud, thud.
Digging into the earth revealed the familiar box.
It was empty now.
The contents were in my stomach.
"But I need this now."
I grabbed the empty box and shoved it into a corner of my inventory.
This shell would play a crucial role.
Now I had all the prep.
I waited for nightfall, then headed to the rendezvous—the abandoned house.
I opened the door to the abandoned house shrouded in darkness.
As the rotten door creaked open, two presences stirred in the gloom.
"Master Taoist, you've arrived."
"You've come."
Stepping inside, Cheon-bong and Jang Tae-su were waiting.
Cheon-bong rushed over and bowed low, while Jang Tae-su lowered his head.
"We were startled by the sudden summons. Has something happened?"
"You could say that. You saw the notice, right? Kim Naegwan's head rolls."
"Ah, yes. We did."
Jang Tae-su nodded.
I let out a short sigh.
"Yes. Hanyang's in an uproar."
"Master Taoist, is this... because of what we stole?"
Cheon-bong asked hesitantly.
Stealing was routine for him, but a man's life on the line had him spooked.
"Precisely, the old Chief State Councillor cut off a tail."
"Pardon?"
"Think about it. The Chief State Councillor stole royal goods from me—well, technically. He was plotting to kill the Queen Consort. Her illness didn't improve. Plan worked."
"Indeed."
"To divert eyes from his scheme, he needed a scapegoat. Kim Naegwan was convenient. Probably under orders to move the medicine box too."
Of course, in the original, Kim sells out Heo-seol's master to survive... no need to mention that.
"Astute, as expected of the lord."
Jang Tae-su nodded.
He knew his former master's ruthlessness better than anyone, so my words hit hard.
"I need to block that tail-cut."
"Pardon?"
"Meaning, save Kim Naegwan."
"I-is that possible?"
Jang Tae-su eyed me skeptically.
More than possible.
"Before explaining, homework check. Show me the map."
At my words, thief Cheon-bong pulled a crumpled paper from his bosom.
The palace map I'd requested.
Detailed, with building layouts and guard shift times in neat handwriting.
"Impressive. Cheon-bong, you're going places."
"Heh heh. Once I see it twice, I never forget."
Cheon-bong grinned awkwardly at the praise.
Great artist, great calligrapher too.
Old scholars mastered poetry, calligraphy, painting as basics.
As I thought before, Cheon-bong's definitely from a good family.
Drawing the palace layout from memory like this? Innate talent plus training.
No easy feat.
'Not important right now.'
I spread the map on the floor and explained the plan.
"Listen up. Tonight, we split up."
I looked at Jang Tae-su first.
Ex-Chief State Councillor bodyguard, decent fighter, but lousy at stealth infiltration.
"Jang Tae-su, you stick with me, then wait outside the Royal Inspectorate prison."
"The prison?"
"Yeah. I'll bust in, grab Kim Naegwan, you take him and bolt to a safe hideout. They might sniff us out and chase, so I'll need your sword skills."
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Next, Cheon-bong.
"And Cheon-bong."
"Y-yes, Master Taoist!"
"Two tasks. First, sneak this into the Chief State Councillor's residence and hide it."
I pulled the empty royal medicine box from my inventory.
"Eek! M-magic!"
Cheon-bong freaked out.
Again.
"A technique to fold space and retrieve items. You've seen it before."
"Ooh... As expected of Taoist Yi Gil-dong... Incredible!"
Compared to the reserved Jang Tae-su, Cheon-bong's reactions were over the top.
He wanted to learn sorcery, but it felt genuine.
Even now, Jang stayed quiet while Cheon-bong hyped it up.
Gotta give him this much for using 'sorcery' to feel good.
'Not actually sorcery, though.'
Calling myself a Taoist so much, now even I'm getting sorcery attributions.
Wonder if I'll get a fraud skill or something.
"Hide this in the Chief State Councillor's study or bedroom—somewhere that'll rattle them. If the 'lost' box turns up in his house, it's evidence to nab him, right?"
"Got it! Sneaking and planting is my specialty!"
"Good. Second task."
I pulled a bundle of papers from my bosom and said,