Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 461

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 461
I chuckled softly.
“Nothing grandiose. I simply intend to exchange the cattle and milk that the nomads possess cheaply to make dried curds and eat them on top of potatoes.”
I wanted to eat cheese layered on potatoes, butter melted over them.
I wanted to eat more of it, cheaply and abundantly.
That was all.
“From there, I’ll need to discuss it with Eun Wang-ya.”
“Either way, such trade will only be possible with tribes friendly to the Empire, and once those tribes begin cultivating potatoes, they’ll have to abandon some of their nomadic ways.”
The Khan spoke.
To subjugate the other tribes, he would certainly need achievements of that magnitude.
Among the tribes, there were surely some that did not support this mad conquest war. So why not start with them?
“And some of those tribespeople will come to learn this language to earn greater wealth. If the Hwa Empire appoints them as diplomats or educators and provides them salaries….”
“How peculiar… a most unusual form of exchange.”
It was not like the Empire’s plantation system.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the opponent’s military strength was too formidable for such an approach.
The Hwa Empire could never defeat them on the grasslands.
‘If I had to name it, it would be capitalist trade.’
Just as on Earth, could peace be maintained here through profit?
‘But that’s thinking too far ahead… Let me focus on what’s practical before my eyes. I should just secure my own earnings.’
I spoke.
“One thing is certain.”
“Hmm?”
“Baekrin Medical Guild will make an enormous amount of money in the middle of all this. And we’ll have an incredible abundance of delicious potatoes. Ah… Jerusalem artichokes… they really taste amazing.”
“If you’re referring to the small tubers, they have another name… but you call them Jerusalem artichokes.”
‘They really do look similar, you know?’
On Earth, those things originated from North America.
Small as they are, they taste delicious roasted, steamed, and even brewed as tea.
‘I’ll feed them here. What will it taste like with butter on top? Kahahaha!’
Laughing in Dang-a’s manner, I suddenly missed her.
Of course, I would see her soon.
The victory banquet.
Now that the war had ended, a celebration of merit was the natural course of events.
Several martial artists of renown who had distinguished themselves were also invited. Among them were my Master, my sworn siblings, Dang-a, and friends like Wang Gak-yeon, as well as myself.
‘Hmm… And it seemed Eun Wang-ya knew something about my origins.’
There was something he had said in the heat of battle.
A member of the imperial family with an ability that ‘does not grow’.
Merely that single ability.
He had spoken of it while looking at me right there.
If I assumed the worst scenario… no… the fact that he spoke of it having come this far suggested a high probability that I was that imperial family member.
‘No wonder no one knew who I was, even after winning the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament and Sama Hyeon selling my portrait.’
With such fame, even abandoned parents would likely resurface.
If not parents, then distant cousins seeking a share of the fortune would surely appear.
Yet Jin Cheon-hee had none of that.
‘When I tried to open the Dantian, the Baihui acupoint was already pierced through.’
I couldn’t fathom what kind of body this was.
When I met Eungryong in the underground, I’d heard he was a descendant of Boggi.
The clues were far too numerous.
‘Hmm…. Perhaps the sack isn’t the real problem here. This is.’
If he’d known all along and simply pretended otherwise.
Then what could his reason be?
And.
-Long live the lord. Long live the lord. Long live the lord. I, Han Gwang, serving as Eunuch General, offer my respects to my benefactor.
-Indeed…. This old servant made a mistake. Hehehehe! My heart raced too eagerly upon meeting the benefactor who saved my master’s life.
That damnable cunning Eunuch General Elder.
Once all the pieces fell into place, this was clearly a probe to gauge my reaction.
The most frightening person was that Elder himself.
* * *
Only after completing all the aftermath could Jin Cheon-hee and my Master finally travel to the imperial capital for the victory banquet.
I granted the Doctors a vacation and gave them generous bonuses so they could reunite with their families.
War PTSD isn’t something only Kang Ho-in experience.
Doctors experience it too.
In some ways, PTSD that emerges late is more terrifying, and for Doctors, it typically manifested in such ways.
One of the middle-aged Doctors had something to say about this.
“Usually such things are…resolved by children’s kicks.”
“Pardon?”
“When I’m sleeping, they headbutt my belly asking why Dad won’t wake up. Wow…. They come charging in so hard my insides shake…. I thought I was dying from the pain.”
The middle-aged Doctor next to him chimed in.
“My child kept grabbing my mouth and eyelids to wake me up…. While feeling anger and self-loathing, I can’t even get mad because they’re my own kid, and every human emotion under the sun wells up.”
“Hahahaha, that’s fortunate then. I once had my child sit on my back while I was sleeping, saying they’d step on my back since I’d asked them to before when it was sore. The child had grown so much that their weight pressed down on my belly—I thought I was dying from that nap….”
“My child just steps on me asking why I won’t wake up. The moment they learn to walk, they stop walking normally. They just run, and while running they step on Mom too.”
Perhaps the path of parenthood is ultimately the path to becoming a Buddha.
“I endure it because they’re my own child. Sigh.”
“But then things do get better afterward, don’t they?”
“Blood debt and all that—there’s no time to think about it.”
“Well, it’s not that I completely forget. But there’s a big difference between having family nearby and having time to rest versus not having that.”
Then what about Doctors without families?
I recalled my past life self.
Succulents would greet me when I came home, but while plants served as interior decoration, they didn’t provide conversation.
“What if you have no parents or children? Then what, aunts or grandmothers…?”
He shrugged as if to say why would you ask that.
‘Well… I suppose that’s true. It’s an agricultural society, after all. Extended families are the norm here.’
But what about the children from Baekwhanhoo?
Ha Uiwon answered.
“Us? Well, we still have siblings to feed, and the children who came as complete orphans… they end up catching each other’s eyes and getting married.”
‘Right, in this era where marriage comes early, that’s possible.’
It was strange that my Master remained unmarried, as did I.
Especially my Master—marriage, family…
Beyond such things, I can’t even imagine him finding human beings themselves bothersome.
Still, there must be some doctors who never married and live completely alone, right?
“Ah, but people who grew up together are still there, aren’t they? Even just going to the dormitory where the Baekwhanhoo children gather—it’s so loud. The ones who can be alone are actually the ones we envy. Sigh.”
That was true.
The very words loneliness and solitude were distant concepts in this era.
In this age without machines, human labor was a vital resource, and every person was necessarily connected to someone else.
It was an era where you knew how many rice spoons your neighbor’s household possessed.
Jin Cheon-hee scratched the back of his head.
Still, he’d told them to contact the Medical Guild if things became difficult.
The doctors didn’t understand the meaning behind those words.
This was also an era without psychiatry.
Jin Cheon-hee had merely used terms like heart demons or fire illness as analogies.
After tidying up so meticulously, he proceeded to burn the wasteland where the corpses lay with fire.
Flames spread across the dry grass of the plains.
He’d casually mentioned creating farmland, but it was truly to prevent plague from the bacteria emanating from the corpses.
‘I’ll do everything I can. If it still doesn’t work, then there’s nothing to be done.’
With this, the movements of the Suksin Tribe and the Mongol forces became separate stories. Thus, the history of plague itself might change.
However, that was ultimately not something one person’s strength alone could prevent.
Still, since I was the Patriarch, I would do what lay within my reach.
After the arrangements were complete and I boarded the carriage, my Master looked at me with an expression of exasperation.
“You’re probably the first person in imperial history to handle war’s aftermath in this manner.”
“Plague usually breaks out after war, so I should do what I can.”
Plague respects no borders, no people, no age, no status.
Jin Cheon-hee smiled wryly.
“If we can prevent plague from breaking out after handling it this way, I plan to compile it separately and send it to the imperial palace.”
“Hmm. How did such a fellow become my disciple?”
If he’d wanted to earn money through this report or sought status and fame, that would fall within the understanding of ordinary people.
But Jegalling knew that this disciple wanted something different.
He simply hoped that the next person, when war ended, would solve this problem using the same or better methods than what he had done.
‘Infinitely compassionate, yet self-destructive—a genius. That’s my disciple.’
Still, it was acceptable.
This time, Jegalling had preserved his body far more than he’d initially anticipated.
In exchange, his younger brothers’ bodies were worn down alongside his, but since they seemed to understand the meaning of fighting together, that was enough.
My disciple grasped other concepts readily enough, yet stumbled endlessly over matters like these—a frustration for any master.
“I won’t be riding in the carriage.”
“Will you just be going on foot, Tugoe?”
“Horses are tedious. Slow, irritating, defecating along the road.”
I see.
Tugoe dislikes horses.
“I’ve received the letter of credit, so that settles it. Don’t forget about the one-hit instructor. If you can’t teach properly, next time there won’t even be scraps left.”
My master replied.
“I’ll treat you with the utmost care. Have no worries.”
“Hmm, good. On the way back, I should buy something my granddaughter would like. What do children enjoy these days… I heard they play a lot of Red Jade…”
I spoke with surprise in my eyes.
“Red Jade? That’s hardly a game for children…”
A mad life game where you start as a palace maid and climb upward through nobility and concubines, cracking skulls one by one.
Why would children play something with such a spicy flavor?
“There’s also Blue Jade—why not buy her that instead?”
I spoke urgently.
Tugoe said.
“She’s already getting tired of that. Besides, it’s not like anyone actually dies in it, so what’s the harm? All those characters in it are villains anyway—what difference does it make if they really died?”
That’s just how K-style card games are.
‘Perhaps the standards of wholesomeness differ by circumstance.’
I had certainly seen child soldiers drawing bows.
The heterodox sects would behead someone and display their head at the village entrance.
That was simply how the times were.
‘What counts as wholesome must vary depending on one’s environment.’
Still, just to be safe, I hadn’t included anything indecent.
Among the strategy cards, there is one about exposing infidelity.
“By the way, I heard talk of silk—does Baekrin Medical Guild receive any?”
“We’ll send whatever arrives. For your granddaughter, I presume?”
“Of course! She’s been fond of pink lately. Her second favorite is black.”
“Black?”
“Hyeolpyeon-wang has become quite popular with children these days.”
Well… Dang-a does have a certain star quality.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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