Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 564

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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 564
In films, chimneys appear beautiful, elegant, and somewhat fairytale-like, but reality is a bit different.
Chimneys of this era allowed 70-80% of heat to escape and generated ash that caused respiratory diseases.
Not all smoke escaped through the chimney, so the increase in carbon dioxide was significant as well.
‘I see. And in this brutal cold, they must have burned fuel like madmen.’
Even when burning fuel, two-thirds of the heat whooshed straight up into the sky.
“Well… so you might as well enjoy this popularity. Thanks to it, I’ve gained some recognition as a fellow Middle Kingdom Man. People who used to come at outsiders with axes to split their heads open have started talking to me, wondering if I’m perhaps an ondol technology expert.”
I decided to think of it positively.
‘Right. Maybe it’s similar to K-pop. Let’s think of it that way.’
If I gathered the handsome men of Gangho and choreographed a group dance, it might actually catch on.
‘But I had no idea Aisha Kingdom’s history was like that.’
The innkeeper spoke.
“See that large wooden barrel over there? Come help me carry it.”
“Surely you didn’t call me here for sightseeing but to put me to work?”
At my words, the innkeeper responded shamelessly.
“Listen carefully. Which story do you think would go over better at a drinking table—that I met the Radiant One of All Under Heaven, or that I actually had the Radiant One carry my luggage?”
“…Ah, the latter, I suppose.”
“Exactly.”
“I understand the great man’s intentions, but what benefit do I gain from this?”
“Word will spread that you turned out to be a kind and obliging young man.”
“And if I refuse?”
“No problem. I’ll tell everyone at every drinking table that I asked you to carry my luggage and you refused.”
Damn it, is this why Gongseon Yeong got played like that?
This fellow already drinks well and lounges comfortably at the inn like he owns the place.
One wrong move and I’d be the perfect target for Seok the Great Master’s tricks.
“I’ll do it out of respect for the commoners.”
I said this and carried the luggage for him. At the sight, Seok Jung-ho laughed heartily.
“I’ll tell everyone at every drinking table for the rest of my life that you’re even more handsome in person than the rumors suggest.”
“…You mustn’t forget that.”
The two men carried the luggage back to the inn.
“Seeing that my lifeline extends long on my palm, I’ll easily live to eighty-eight. This is quite the profitable venture.”
“So you’ll be telling this story until then.”
“Of course.”
Thus, innkeeper Seok Jung-ho put me to work three more times.
“Do you really need to live to eighty-eight? After working me like this.”
“My lifeline extends all the way to my wrist. Believe me.”
* * *
After spending a day warming my body on the inn’s warm ondol floor,
Gongseon Yeong and I headed straight to Maskova, the capital of Aisha Kingdom.
“We’ll pass through the kingdom and then head to the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“The North Sea Ice Palace was the original target. Yet the Imperial Palace certainly knew how to make use of us.”
“I intend to extract proper compensation, so the Imperial Palace should prepare itself.”
Jin Cheon-hee exhaled sharply through his nose.
“That fur hat—is it shaped after bear ears? You’ve decorated that ferocious beast quite well.”
“Isn’t it cute?”
“…Cute? Have you never seen the scalp of someone whose head was torn off by a bear?”
Perhaps in this world, bears were symbols of savagery and brutality.
Since there were no teddy bears to embrace as a child, nor polar bears on cola bottles, the meaning seemed to translate differently here.
“It’s bear fur bestowed by the Imperial Palace.”
“Then it’s an imperial tribute, and such things are usually presented with a story behind them. This was likely presented to the Emperor after successfully capturing some ferocious beast that had devoured several people.”
This was the eighteenth tribute letter.
You couldn’t exactly tell the Emperor, ‘I found this lying around.’
Since you were presenting something special, you had to write out the circumstances in tedious detail to receive praise later.
Gongseon Yeong continued speaking.
“Since it’s white bear fur, the pattern might not be obvious, but looking at how the tan markings follow the grain of the back without any seams, this was made from a single hide. It must have been an enormous bear.”
“Wow, you can see that?”
“Yes. Working in trade, you naturally learn how to examine hides. The problem is I keep getting swindled despite knowing better.”
Somehow, despite the cold, it felt warm.
I wasn’t even circulating much inner energy, yet it was pleasantly warm.
“Literally the finest wind-blocking garment. I’m not sure why they attached bear ears to the hat, but if it symbolizes valor, I understand it.”
…I see.
Gongseon Yeong had studied quite diligently according to her elder sister Gongseon Hyeon’s teachings.
She had painstakingly learned the Aisha language, and learned how to appraise such items.
Yet she still managed to spectacularly ruin her business ventures.
Still, Gaju Gongseon Hyeon was torturing herself with false hope.
And so we arrived at Moskova.
“The buildings are more grand befitting a capital. The city walls also have a style similar to the Middle Kingdom, yet different in some aspects.”
The Gatekeepers standing at the entrance were also dressed somewhat more formally.
‘This reminds me of that anime I watched as a child.’
The clothing and architecture of the people there had the feeling of blending multiple cultures, and this was no different.
Gongseon Yeong handed the Gatekeeper the letter and credentials Jin Cheon-hee had received from the Emperor, saying something on his behalf.
They guided Jin Cheon-hee to the royal palace, and thanks to that, we were able to enter quickly without much procedure.
My first impression upon entering was.
‘It’s incredibly cold?’
I hadn’t expected the interior of the building to be this cold.
‘Is it because the palace is so large, or is this a problem from not renovating the ancestral fortress built long ago and using it as-is?’
The tragedy of cultural heritage preservation?
Circulating the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong to quickly survey the surroundings, the ceiling height was about five jang—roughly fifteen meters.
The walls were all carved from stone, and the windows were very large, but this wasn’t something fireplaces scattered throughout could solve.
‘Installing ondol would require rebuilding everything. But the building is too massive to rely on raw firewood, and chimneys would waste too much heat.’
I wondered if the people of this nation were in good health.
As a Doctor, that was the first thing that came to mind.
When I arrived at the Separate Palace designated for distinguished guests….
‘Hmm, even the Separate Palace is cold! I’ll need to bundle up.’
One bedroom was warm enough that I wondered why, but it turned out to be an ondol heating system.
“They forcibly modified this place, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, seems like it. People need to actually live here.”
In this ornate Separate Palace, bedding was laid on the floor instead of on a bed. A curious localized adaptation.
Hwang-gu had already pressed his belly flat against the floor like injeolmi, sticking fast.
“At this level, Aisha could manufacture and sell these separately.”
“Yeah. I believe most of the ondol systems circulating around are locally produced by Aisha itself. But since the stonemasons from the Bota Merchant Guild have superior techniques, we can’t keep up. That’s why when Middle Kingdom people see them here, they think all ondol workers are from here.”
Ah, that’s what the innkeeper had said.
So Jin Cheon-hee and Gongseon Yeong unpacked their belongings in their respective rooms.
* * *
Not long after unpacking, an attendant came to deliver a message that the King was calling for us.
Jin Cheon-hee and Gongseon Yeong immediately adjusted their formal robes and followed the attendant toward the Grand Hall where the King resided.
The Grand Hall was large and ornate, with floors entirely paved in marble, and the royal throne sat atop a four-tiered staircase.
Guards lined both sides in formation, which seemed to be a gesture of welcome toward Jin Cheon-hee as an envoy of the Hwa Empire.
‘This isn’t a temple, so I bend one knee, right?’
I performed the proper salute as I had learned and presented the sealed letter.
An official immediately took it and handed it to the King.
The King read the letter and fell into thought for a moment. Soon after, he nodded.
When he said something, Jin Cheon-hee asked Gongseon Yeong through sound transmission.
[If I treat the Prince, he’s saying that according to our agreement, the Hwa Empire will expand trade and become an even more reliable ally, something like that, right?]
[You’ve already learned that much? Or did you guess it from context? He also mentioned helping to check the mounted tribes.]
[Foreign languages always start with intuition anyway. The mounted tribes… ah…. So you’ve been both making peace and preparing countermeasures since the Suksin Tribe war.]
The war had left deep scars on the Hwa Empire.
Gongseon Hyeon and I could return to the Medical Guild and Sega to do our work, but the Emperor had to remain there. It was the duty of a ruler to ensure such things never happened again.
Outwardly, he was making peace with the mounted tribes and pursuing appeasement policies through exchange, but behind the scenes, he seemed to be befriending these smaller kingdoms, gathering intelligence on the mounted tribes, and preparing countermeasures.
For some reason, passages from world history textbooks came to mind.
Whenever I memorized the achievements of kings I thought ruled well—whether European history, West Asian, East Asian, or Korean history—such phrases always appeared.
‘Well, he’s been working diligently. Since I’m going to the North Sea Ice Palace anyway, he probably thought this was a good opportunity to use me.’
Whether he sent me because I was already going or because he orchestrated this scheme behind the scenes, I couldn’t say.
How would a mere Doctor understand where the Emperor’s true intentions lay?
The only certainty was that even amid reckless, haphazard, spinning administrative affairs, teeth could still rot.
And at the Emperor’s level, even the insane request to scrape down a spiritual core and have it inlaid was possible.
‘I just need to treat the patient. If I can treat them, that is.’
So I paid my respects to the King and headed toward where the attendant was guiding me.
This time, it was an even colder Separate Palace.
[This place is colder than outside, Sister?]
[Indeed. Even an ice vault isn’t this cold.]
As I opened the door deep within the Separate Palace’s inner chamber, a lukewarm current of air rushed toward me.
The attendant said something and bowed. I asked.
[You mean the Prince, correct?]
[Did you guess from intuition, or did you already know?]
[A bit of both.]
I spoke thus and bowed respectfully.
The Prince wore only thin garments as if he were in a southern land, yet a massive ice formation occupied the center of the chamber.
He had deliberately created a kind of ice vault to fill the room with frigid air.
Already a cold region, yet he was making it even colder still.
‘And yet this lukewarm air…’
I immediately understood what meridian condition afflicted this Prince.
The meridian opposite to the Nine Yin Meridian.
The Nine Yang Meridian.
This was the meridian I had come to treat.
The Prince rose to his feet.
“Has the Doctor arrived to treat me?”
Remarkably, the words that emerged from his lips were in the language of the Fire Empire.
* * *
Even bears grow massive when the cold sets in, their frames expanding.
Perhaps that’s why the people of Aisha Kingdom are taller on average than those of the Fire Empire. Yet this Prince surpassed them all.
A frame that reminded me of my Master.
No, perhaps he might even exceed my Master’s stature.
‘At this rate, he’s pushing past eight feet, nearly reaching nine?’
Combined with his thick, corded musculature, he was a weapon incarnate.
Due to the heat radiating from him, he had cropped his hair short, yet even so, visible waves of warmth emanated from the Prince’s body.
‘What… this is a walking human furnace.’

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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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