Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 572

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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 572
Jin Cheon-hee grumbled as he raised his cup alongside me.
Prince Han-bing gazed at both of us with evident satisfaction.
“I envy that. This must be what camaraderie in the Gangho looks like.”
“Don’t you get along well with your younger siblings?”
“When they were young, they followed me around readily enough… but as they grew older, they said my room was too cold for them to visit. And so we drifted further and further apart.”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee reflected.
‘That’s not really about the room being cold…’
Then Gongseon Yeong spoke up.
“How rude of them. To say such things right to your face like that. Your Highness didn’t choose to have this illness.”
“Ugh, sister!”
She was being remarkably blunt about it.
Gongseon Yeong answered as if to say, what’s the problem?
“I understand because I’m a younger sibling too. When my older sister was in poor health, I found it difficult to play with her—many times. But there’s a difference between thinking that and saying it to her face. And then not apologizing, not even showing your face afterward—that’s something else entirely!”
She struck the table.
Bang!
Clearly the alcohol had gotten to her; she wasn’t controlling her strength well.
“I’m speaking as a younger sibling myself, Your Highness. Your younger siblings are despicable.”
“Haha, you’re right about that. When they were young, they weren’t like that…”
The prince sighed and sipped his tea.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“Because I fell ill, Father and Mother focused their attention solely on me. I suspect that became a great wound for them.”
“…”
“It seems So Ui-seon has a different perspective on this.”
Jin Cheon-hee furrowed one brow.
“Well… in an ordinary household, that might hold some truth. But this is a prince of the kingdom. Isn’t there far too many people around for him to feel lonely?”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“Yes. Besides, love doesn’t have to come only from parents. A prince would surely have a dedicated master as well.”
“How cold.”
“Perhaps. But…”
Knowing what happened with the Hyeolseonggyo, it was difficult to take his side.
After all, when Yeo Ha-ryun came to Aisha, this prince was already a dead man.
I knew what the two sons who inherited that throne had done.
If this man hadn’t been a prince of a nation, one might excuse his unfortunate circumstances, his loneliness, and all that.
‘But he already slaughtered the people. What shield is there to raise now?’
I couldn’t view him favorably at all.
In any case, we spent the night that way.
The next morning.
As the three of us were having breakfast, visitors arrived from the North Sea Ice Palace.
The warrior from the North Sea Ice Palace carried considerable dignity.
He had come to serve the North Sea Ice Palace Master’s disciple.
“I came to serve upon hearing that the Prince had arrived.”
* * *
Entering the North Sea Ice Palace.
I immediately unpacked my belongings in the guest quarters, then went to the grand hall to meet the Palace Master.
Whether the saying that it was no different from a small nation was true, the Palace Master sat upon a magnificent throne that rivaled the royal seat of a great kingdom.
Beside the North Sea Ice Palace Master stood a woman wearing a veil, though she differed slightly from the other martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace.
Her attire was too ornate to be called scholar’s clothing. She looked like a divine priestess who read fortunes.
The North Sea Ice Palace Master—known by the Aisha name as Vladimir Ivan—had a separate name in the North Sea Ice Palace tradition.
Gunbaekju.
“Welcome, my disciple. Is the King in good health?”
“My father the King is in excellent condition.”
“That is fortunate. And you, disciple of Hyeolrin who carries the Bing Jeong Sword—originally I would have neither welcomed nor rejected you. Yet I welcome you as well.”
Everyone released a breath of relief at the welcoming words.
There was no one who didn’t know of the debt between Hyeolrin Gwangssal and the North Sea Ice Palace Master.
The North Sea Ice Palace Master continued speaking.
“My master killed my son, and his successor saved my disciple—thus another debt has been inscribed.”
Though my son died in martial combat, emotions could not be easily resolved.
Yet given his nature, he had not pursued vengeance or assassination.
He had simply left Baek Rin’s fate to heaven.
Time passed, emotions gradually settled, he sent the Bing Jeong Sword, and afterward, when Baek Rin’s disciple—who possessed the Bing Jeong Sword—saved his own disciple, he seemed to have developed his own reflections on the matter.
Jin Cheon-hee bowed deeply to him.
The North Sea Ice Palace Master examined Jin Cheon-hee carefully from feet to head, then spoke.
“I heard you brought a gift in return for the Bing Jeong Sword I sent before. However, that is not your true purpose, is it? Unlike those from the Middle Kingdom, I despise roundabout speech. What is your real reason for coming?”
He was a man who valued time like gold.
If he approached it that way, there was no need for me to hesitate either.
Jin Cheon-hee answered.
“I have come to ask that you reconsider your alliance with Sadoren.”
“Why would you ask such a thing? The ‘great righteousness’ that those from the Middle Kingdom speak of is ultimately nothing but empty delusion. If we continue our partnership with Sadoren, great benefits will surely come to our North Sea Ice Palace in the future. What reason does this palace have to refuse Sadoren’s hand?”
He rose to his feet.
He continued speaking with cold, piercing eyes.
“What can the Martial Arts Alliance offer? The debt of saving my disciple alone is insufficient to sever an alliance already made with Sadoren.”
“….”
He spoke plainly and directly.
My blue eyes blinked once.
‘The Martial Arts Alliance sent me to persuade him, but they never actually said they would give me anything to offer.’
At the time, I had tried to view it positively, thinking it might be due to emotional considerations.
Of course, part of me also wondered if they had sent me here as a sacrificial pawn from the start.
‘Ak-jin isn’t particularly intelligent, and it’s more likely the great families blocked information beforehand. Or perhaps they simply chose not to investigate at all.’
How troublesome.
So many people desire a righteous confrontation.
A dove of peace proves rather useless in this situation.
The blade is what they’ve devoted their lives to mastering, and refusing to wield it feels, in a sense, like a fundamental denial of oneself.
Martial artists fear their swords growing rusty.
I drew a deep breath.
If the dove of peace won’t work, then perhaps I should send forth the raven of schemes instead.
If that prevents deaths, then it’s the right course of action.
“Haha, I’ve come concerned not with gains, but with losses.”
“The Jegallim Family is known for manipulating people with their three-inch tongue. Your master in his youth had no such tendency, yet the disciple’s tongue seems even more slick.”
I considered this.
I too, even in my twenties on that distant Earth, was likely the same.
All the sharp edges and soft parts had been worn away, leaving only what was hardened.
What becomes of an angular stone as it tumbles and tumbles?
“Sadoren has already lost half its original military strength, which is why they’ve recently expanded their alliances. If war breaks out with the Martial Arts Alliance as things stand, the damage will inevitably fall upon the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“Hmm?”
“Since the losses would outweigh the gains, wouldn’t it be wise to reconsider?”
“And here stands the very architect of Sadoren’s catastrophic losses, speaking so freely.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow. This doctor has never killed anyone. The blood spilled here comes abundantly from the Gongseon Family and the Namgung Family.”
I continued speaking without hesitation, my composure unshaken.
“Rather, Baekrin Medical Guild has been conducting trade with the North Sea Ice Palace through the Bota Trading Guild, and I worry that a righteous confrontation might sever these vital exchanges.”
“Are you threatening this Palace Master?”
At those words, I deliberately feigned shock, waving my hand in denial.
“How could that be? If trade with the North Sea Ice Palace were cut off, Baekrin Medical Guild would suffer immediate losses. Especially since I’ve recently received a title—albeit nominal—from the Aisha Kingdom, I had planned to expand our trade goods.”
At that moment, Prince Han-bing beside me quickly chimed in.
“The developer of the ondol heating system is none other than this Ilgwang of the world and So Ui-seon, Jin Cheon-hee.”
At those words, the North Sea Ice Palace Master stroked his chin and let out a thoughtful sound.
“I’ve heard rumors of it, and it seems they’re true. I was skeptical since he was so young at the time to have created such a thing.”
I spoke.
“Rather than saying I created it, I merely adapted methods used in distant lands to suit the Middle Kingdom.”
“Master, So Ui-seon is trustworthy. He possesses a humble and straightforward nature.”
….
The North Sea Ice Palace Master fell into thought.
Then he spoke thus.
“I shall consider your proposal for now, Jin Cheon-hee. You may withdraw.”
The order to dismiss guests had been given.
‘Even this much shaking can accomplish quite a lot.’
I deliberately bowed respectfully and departed.
* * *
The moment I returned to the guest chamber, the prince asked.
“You killed his son? What do you mean?”
They say the area beneath the lamp is the darkest.
The prince, whom I thought would know best, turned out to be the only person in that room who understood nothing of the situation.
‘Yet he still helped me well.’
I gave the prince a brief account of what had happened during my master’s time with the Hyeolrin Gwangssal.
After hearing the entire story, the prince fell into thought for a long while before speaking.
“That was before I was born. I know of it through records. It states: ‘A plague ravaged the land, and a physician from the Hwa Empire resolved it.’ But the records contain no details whatsoever about what truly transpired.”
“What about Gongseon Yeong?”
“I learned about it from my sister before coming here. She said if things went wrong, she’d grab you by the ribs and flee. If you didn’t cooperate, she was prepared to knock you unconscious and drag you away. But the atmosphere seemed fine, so it worked out.”
That’s Gongseon Yeong for you. She doesn’t hold back. And she doesn’t hide things either.
Is that truly the case? Hmm.
My expression showed no sign of brightening.
Gongseon Yeong spoke.
“What’s wrong?”
Prince Han-bing opened his mouth.
“It will likely be difficult. I question whether human emotions can truly be eliminated through calculation, and besides—they are parent and child. Though I am called a disciple, I am not the only one.”
….
I fell into thought.
Living through both past and present lives, had I not felt keenly that people are never just what they appear to be?
I could never know for certain whether someone would move exactly as I calculated.
‘Since this isn’t the personality from the novel, this is what happens.’
I had understood people through the Jicheon Cheonma all this time. And most of my assessments were correct.
There might be unknown pasts and hidden truths, but the essence of a person never deceived me.
Because that was precisely what a novel and its characters were.
‘Ah, I see. Everyone living in this world grapples with the same dilemma as I do.’
They knew nothing of novels.
They could only infer from the information visible to them.
“So that is Your Highness’s assessment.”
“How could it be otherwise? No matter how much Baek Rin-ui-seon saved Baekho City, the death of the successor is a grave matter. Ah, is that why? Is that why your sister was designated as the successor?”
“Sister?”
“The one standing to the right of the Palace Master. She is also the Saint of the Suho Sect.”
I pondered this.
“Then I must gather more information.”
It is frustrating.
Without access to Gaebang or Hao-mun here, obtaining even a single piece of information is not easy.

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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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