Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 563

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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 563
I steered the conversation in a different direction.
“Rather than that, could you ask how much further it is to the next village or city? And what its name is?”
I pulled out a map and handed it to Gongseon Yeong.
Gongseon Yeong accepted the map and continued her conversation with the shepherd.
Even though I couldn’t understand everything the two of them were discussing, I continued to memorize their words and context using the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.
Then I recalled the words Gongseon Yeong had taught me and tried combining them.
“The village is about a day’s ride from here. And the village name is… Khabarovsk? Khabarofsk? Khabarofski? The pronunciation is really difficult.”
“Let’s just call it Khabarovsk.”
“Fine, let’s do that. We’re foreigners anyway. The merchants’ speech was easy to understand, but this place has dialects mixed in, so it’s harder.”
Gongseon Yeong grumbled and pulled out a pouch of dried meat from her pocket, tossing it over.
The shepherd caught it.
Gongseon Yeong said one more thing and then turned her horse around.
“What did you say?”
“I thanked him for teaching me kindly. Food is precious wherever you go, so I gave it to him.”
“Oh…! That sounds like something a dam would do.”
At those words, Gongseon Yeong let out a soft laugh.
“Not a dam. A dam leader. Traveling itself isn’t unfamiliar to me.”
Saying so, Gongseon Yeong urged her horse forward.
“Come on, let’s head to Khabarovsk then. Kid.”
And she confidently took the lead.
* * *
We arrived at Khabarovsk.
Stone walls came into view.
The people’s clothing was a mixture of 14th-century European style, Central Plains style, and the garments of nomadic peoples like the Suksin Tribe.
In short, it meant as long as you dressed warmly, you’d fit right in.
White hair, silver hair, blonde hair—eye colors ranged from black to blue.
My Master wouldn’t stand out much in a place like this, I thought.
When Gongseon Yeong said something to the gate commander, the guards let us through surprisingly easily.
As we entered, she spoke.
“Everyone’s envying Hwang-gu.”
“They’re envying him instead of finding him strange?”
“All the dogs in this area are huge, aren’t they? Apparently there are dogs as big as Hwang-gu around here too.”
“Maybe he’s a spiritual beast. Or maybe he’s just that big without being one. It’s interesting.”
At those words, Hwang-gu barked happily.
“I’ve been to Khabarovsk a few times before. The name they use in the Central Plains is different, so I got confused. Once I saw the familiar scenery, I finally recognized it.”
“What do they call it in the Central Plains?”
“Hanoksi.”
“The first character is similar, but it’s a completely different word!”
“That’s just how it is.”
She said this and naturally turned the horse’s head in a new direction.
“There’s an inn operated by someone from the Hua Empire. Let’s go there.”
That was fortunate.
After camping for so long, I craved a proper meal at an inn.
When we arrived, a haphazardly constructed stone inn revealed itself—a chaotic blend of Hua Empire architecture, European style, and nomadic design.
The moment the door opened, a wave of steam rushed out, carrying with it the mingled aromas of countless dishes.
The smell of alcohol was equally potent; the people of the Aisha Kingdom seemed to favor strong spirits overall.
The establishment was quite spacious, with the dining and drinking area easily spanning about four hundred square feet.
What greeted us immediately upon entering was the counter and the innkeeper.
A well-built man who resembled a bandit leader sat there. He looked at us and spoke in the Central Plains tongue.
“Welcome. What brings you? Isn’t that the little one from the Gongseon Family?”
He had recognized Gongseon Yeong standing before him.
“It’s been a while, Mister Seok.”
“Come to get swindled again? Your older sister is truly shameless. If it were me, I’d have cut off her hands.”
“Sigh… I have no interest in business. My sister forced me into all that… Anyway, that’s not why we’re here this time.”
“It must be because of that absolute beauty in the back, yes?”
Indeed, as befitted an innkeeper, his perception was sharp.
I removed the fur hat from the wind cloak and brushed the snow from my eyes.
“Sister, it’s quite warm in here, isn’t it?”
“You noticed? Hehehehe. That’s because ondol heating is installed. I was the first in this village to lay it down.”
“Really?”
“The Sojakju of Baekrin Uiseon created it, they say? The one with the alias Veiled Madman. Truly a lunatic. There’s a reason the character for ‘madness’ is in his alias.”
“Hahahaha!”
Gongseon Yeong clutched her belly in laughter.
“Mister, these days that Veiled Madman is called the Celestial Radiance instead.”
“Has it come to that? Well, I suppose that makes sense.”
“Kheehaha!”
As Gongseon Yeong continued laughing, Seok Jung-ho raised one eyebrow.
“What’s wrong with this girl?”
“Well…”
As I hesitated with an awkward expression, Gongseon Yeong spoke.
“He is the Celestial Radiance. The Sojakju of Baekrin Uiseon.”
“What?!”
He stared at Gongseon Yeong and me in shock. And he realized that what had entered with me was not a horse, but a massive dog and an enormous bird.
“Oh, oh, oh? My goodness. My apologies, Sojakju… My mouth has no filter.”
Truly, his reversal was dramatic.
His previous casual demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by respectful courtesy.
Watching this, Gongseon Yeong found it hilarious and laughed again. I handled the situation calmly.
“It’s fine. Please speak freely. We’re close with Miss Gongseon Yeong here, and she’s like a sister to me…”
“…Is that so?”
He accepted without even the customary three refusals?
But then the people around us began shouting something.
It was the Aisha Kingdom’s pronunciation, but it sounded like they were saying “Veiled Madman.”
“Veiled Madman?”
“Veiled Madman!”
Countless people grew excited and spoke rapidly with one another.
“Um… why are they doing that?”
Before I could even answer, others suddenly stood up and thrust thick cups toward me.
“Veiled Madman! Thank you!”
“Thank you…”
The only word I barely understood.
Seok Jung-ho continued speaking.
“It means ‘thank you.’ In fact, the ondol heating system is treated as a savior in this region.”
“Oh, really?”
“Indeed. I was the first to introduce it here, but everyone followed suit after seeing it.”
Many people approached me and began offering cups of drink.
I couldn’t understand the rest, but the first part was definitely “thank you” or “Veiled Madman.”
When Elder Seok corrected it to “Ilgwang,” they began chanting “Ilgwang! Ilgwang!” instead.
‘I never imagined my epithet would spread this far…!’
Golden-hued liquor filled my entire field of vision.
The people, each thoroughly intoxicated, offered me drinks and expressed their joy.
Amid such generous hospitality.
I had no choice but to drink.
“Me too, me too!”
People also offered drinks to Gongseon Yeong, who had come with me.
The two of us ended up thoroughly drunk from the very first night.
* * *
The innkeeper insisted on showing me around the neighborhood and dragged me here and there.
“This town can’t live without ondol anymore. Thanks to ondol, the number of people losing limbs to frostbite each year keeps decreasing. Especially among the elderly—the sudden deaths in the mornings have dropped significantly.”
I’d once seen an article on Earth about ondol panels selling like hotcakes in Russia.
Of course, since ondol panels weren’t manufactured only in Korea, China, Germany, America, and Poland also exported them, and Korea ranked fifth.
That’s globalization.
For some reason, boilers were particularly popular from Italy, so the ranking was Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, and Korea—Korea in fourth place.
In any case, Korea was exporting solidly in both categories.
Fortunately, in this Middle Kingdom realm, there existed no Earth-based China, Germany, America, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, or even the Republic of Korea.
So Baekrin Uiseon and…
“You have to be careful of counterfeits. They’re cheaper, but they can kill people if you’re not careful.”
…various unnamed knockoffs were dividing up the market like this.
Then I heard the Middle Kingdom language occasionally and turned to see people in thick fur clothing carrying something.
“They’re workers dispatched by the Bota Merchant Guild. They handle installing new ondol systems and repair work.”
“Ohhhhh!”
The laborers had all become locals.
“Ah, now that I think about it, there’s a clay figurine on the roof that looks rather similar to my hair ornament.”
“Ah yes, the craftsmen attached it to ward off illness, I’m told. It’s a symbol of So Ui-seon. If you look closely, you’ll see a dog figurine up there too. That’s Hwang-gu, the one I travel with.”
Woof?
Looking more carefully, I could indeed see a dog-shaped clay figurine.
“There’s a bird up there too. That’s Noe Jin-i.”
Chirp?
“…Placing those as clay figurines on the eaves doesn’t actually prevent illness.”
“Well, that’s true enough. But isn’t it more about the feeling? I’ve seen merchants from Hangzhou carve them quite seriously.”
‘Folk beliefs spreading faster than soap….’
He spoke.
“Of course, everyone knows you’re not a deity. Just a martial master and a doctor. But they place them because they’re cute, and if there’s even a chance of better fortune, people will try anything. Look closely and you’ll see a fox-shaped figurine too. That’s the ‘Yoo Ho’ figurine.”
A yellow fox with its front paws raised was visible as a clay figurine.
“Hmm?”
An unexpected name had appeared.
“The one who first personally crafted ondol heating was called ‘Yoo Ho,’ but since there’s no martial reputation attached to the name, he doesn’t seem to have been a martial master. Still, since his name was written as Yoo Ho, the craftsmen simply began molding them in the shape of a fox.”
“Oh, I’ll buy a Yoo Ho figurine too.”
I’ll use this to tease him.
He’ll grumble and get annoyed, but if I wrap it nicely and give it as a gift, someday it’ll end up on a roof somewhere at the Medical Guild.
That’s the kind of person he is.
“The craftsmen from Hangzhou sometimes get a bit frightened when someone curses at you, but even they know you’re not a deity. It’s just… some of them believe you heard the voice of a deity and created medicine from it…”
‘What? I’m basically a fraudulent cult leader.’
“I see.”
“Indeed. They say you eliminated smallpox in Hangzhou? How did you manage it?”
“Are you genuinely curious?”
“Yes. Tell me honestly.”
“….”
Jin Cheon-hee furrowed his brow and whispered mysteriously.
“…Human wisdom and effort, along with a touch of inspiration, were transmitted across planets and dimensions.”
“You should have just said the voice of a deity. They call you the Radiance of All Under Heaven, and you really are mad.”
Ugh.
Jin Cheon-hee grumbled.
Deciding that he needed to promote fox-shaped soap instead.
‘The new product name is Yoo Ho Soap!’
The innkeeper laughed heartily seeing Jin Cheon-hee’s pouting lips.
“This popularity might feel strange to you. Well, come along for now.”
He showed me an old building on the outskirts.
It was a European-style house with mud plastered over bricks.
“The ancestors of these people supposedly came from the Western Continent in the past, crossing over frozen glaciers. That’s why they differ from Middle Kingdom people in hair color, eye color, and bone structure. They’re all quite tall, aren’t they?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“This house was built in the Western Continent style, though it would be different from the Western Continent now. If I had to be precise, it’s the Western Continent style from when our ancestors first migrated here long ago.”
He spoke thus and opened the door. I hesitated, uncertain if it was safe, but discovered the house was completely abandoned and uninhabited.
“Since it’s only used as a storage room now, there’s no problem. Come inside.”
He pointed toward the wall.
It was a fireplace.
“We would light fires here and hang furs on the walls to keep warm. But come morning, the elderly and children would often freeze to death or die suddenly from the smoke.”
‘Ah, this is the heating method from ancient Europe.’

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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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