Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 737

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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 737
Since I had sent word in advance of my arrival at the royal capital, crowds had already gathered outside the city gates.
‘It blends Eastern and Western aesthetics, doesn’t it? The rounded roofs resemble those of Wannong, but the colors are entirely different.’
The roofs were beautiful.
‘I’m curious how they achieved that color. How did they create such a sky-blue hue?’
The sky-blue roofs beneath the heavens were extraordinarily beautiful.
Had I possessed a modern smartphone, I would have photographed them immediately and set them as my wallpaper.
But this world had neither cameras nor phones, so I committed everything to memory as if copying it with my eyes.
The pungent aroma of spices and the sound of voices.
Even the tangible weight of the air against my skin.
‘Now whenever I close my eyes, I can return to this place.’
The Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong preserved everything.
A man dressed in unmistakably refined garments emerged and waited for our party.
“Honored emissary of the superior nation, you have traveled far and endured great hardship. I am Prince Radan.”
And he spoke in the language of the Hwa Empire.
His courteous demeanor gave me cultural shock. And then I understood.
‘Ah! The Hwa Empire truly is a bully!’
Tributary diplomacy.
Tributary diplomacy meant the Hwa Empire was treated as the superior nation by surrounding states and received tribute from them.
The Suksin Tribe were nomadic peoples, and since they rarely gathered in large numbers, they weren’t even recognized as a proper nation.
They were viewed as a tribe rather than a state. This was why wars broke out so frequently.
However, other nations surrounding the Hwa Empire possessed territories and had maintained their states for long periods, so naturally they had no desire to wage war against the Hwa Empire.
‘The Hwa Empire’s true strength lies in its population.’
Thus, pre-modern conventional diplomatic methods.
Offer tribute and accept the position of inferior state. This was tributary diplomacy!
This was why they received me with an official honor guard.
To treat the superior nation with proper respect.
‘This is rather like when Ming Dynasty emissaries came to Joseon on Earth and caused a commotion, isn’t it?’
The Republic of Korea was a nation of records.
The Ming emissaries never imagined their every action on a given day would be preserved in the historical records.
Having been registered as a UNESCO Memory of the World, they would remain preserved until humanity’s extinction.
‘Well, I have no intention of causing such a commotion even here on the martial arts planet. Still, now I understand why the Eunuch General insisted I learn these strange protocols.’
I dismounted and performed a fist salute, then bowed my head slightly.
This was the proper etiquette a superior nation’s emissary from the Hwa Empire should display toward the people of the inferior Damjin Kingdom, and the same applied before the king.
Officially, I was one who had received a portion of the Emperor’s authority.
I must never bow my head too deeply!
“I am Jin Cheon-hee, holding the position of Prefect in the Empire. I am grateful for this reception.”
“How truly glorious that one renowned for integrity graces our nation with their presence. Please, come inside.”
A palanquin had been prepared.
It was one spacious enough for two people to sit side by side, yet required sixteen men to carry it.
‘I think I’ve seen something like this in an old movie… wasn’t there some emperor or king of a certain empire who kept shouting about how magnanimous he was?’
As I climbed into that luxurious palanquin, Radan naturally settled in beside me.
It seemed to have been specially crafted to receive envoys coming as diplomats.
Once I boarded the palanquin, Hwang-gu naturally followed alongside.
And there, Yeo Ha-ryun had already climbed up with a black cat perched quite naturally on his shoulder.
Noeji had somehow become very small and taken a seat on my shoulder.
“You possess quite remarkable divine beasts. We have never seen such creatures in our kingdom.”
“Haha. Our Hwang-gu is rather impressive, isn’t he?”
The dog received the praise, but the master’s mouth fell open in response.
“Hwang-gu, say thank you. Thank you~”
I mimicked Hwang-gu’s voice to answer on his behalf. That’s how it always works.
Squeak!
Noeji protested indignantly, as if asking why he wasn’t being praised.
There was nothing to be done about it.
With his smaller frame and fur turned black, he was easily mistaken for a crow at first glance. As a result, the people here had difficulty recognizing him.
I considered having him unleash lightning, but that seemed somehow undignified for a spiritual being’s pride.
Poooooo~!
A trumpet fanfare echoed out. As we passed through the massive gates of the royal palace, an orchestra had emerged and was performing.
Even though it was a utopia, I wondered if this was really appropriate.
“By the way, Lord Jin.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Is there a particular reason you arrived separately from your escort?”
A sudden, piercing attack!
‘As expected… he’s no paper tiger.’
A single nation. Those who command a vast collective organization. It would be absurd to claim they lack intelligence networks.
Moreover, since the kingdom had cooperated in capturing the utopia, this was only natural.
“I have some knowledge of sorcery as well, so I traveled a bit to learn from it. Moving with an escort would have been troublesome for them, so I traveled alone.”
The truth. But not the complete truth.
However, the prince did not press further, and instead nodded with a subtle smile.
“Indeed, you are worthy of being called a sage. Come, let us go. I shall guide you to the guest quarters.”
The palanquin entered the royal palace.
* * *
Royal palace. When we arrived at the guest quarters, the sun was already setting.
“Ah… I’m exhausted.”
“So even you get tired sometimes, hyeong.”
“I hate this sort of thing. But I do it because it’s unavoidable.”
“You’re a high-ranking official of the Empire now, hyeong. It would be good if you got used to it.”
“Hey, that’s someone else’s problem… or is it? Come to think of it, you’re a Soegooju, so you must have these kinds of affairs too.”
“…”
Yeo Ha-ryun smiled faintly instead of answering.
“That’s right. It will certainly be different from when I was moving alone.”
I rolled across the bed with a soft rumble.
This region was adorned with embroidery and carpets—so beautiful and luxurious. Simply lying atop the bed felt extravagant.
“…Still, what should we do?”
“What do you mean?”
At Yeo Ha-ryun’s question, I cut straight to the point.
“Should we split up and investigate separately? I’ll handle the royal palace. You take the city.”
With just those words, Yeo Ha-ryun grasped my intentions.
Between us, lengthy explanations were unnecessary.
“That does seem best. Our sect brothers are already scattered throughout this capital anyway.”
“Good. Then I’m counting on you.”
“Understood.”
Yeo Ha-ryun said this and perched upon the window sill.
“Take care of yourself, brother.”
“Worry is just fate.”
In that instant, Yeo Ha-ryun’s body fell backward through the window.
Startled, I peered outside, but Yeo Ha-ryun had already vanished without a trace.
“Whew~”
I couldn’t fathom how a being of flesh and blood could merge so completely with the darkness, but then again—this was Yeo Ha-ryun.
I decided to accept it as such.
‘Well then…. I’ll rest today and meet with the King tomorrow, shall I?’
I began contemplating how to present my proposal tomorrow to secure even more favorable trade terms.
No matter how crucial treating people’s ailments was.
After struggling so intensely, I couldn’t return empty-handed.
* * *
“We welcome the envoy from the Upper Kingdom.”
The King of the Damjin Kingdom.
His name was Radant.
Since the Prince’s name was Radan, I deduced they must follow a naming convention of passing down generational characters.
“It is truly an honor to meet the benevolent King of the Damjin Kingdom.”
The elderly King smiled gently at my words.
This was because I had spoken not in the Imperial tongue, but fluently in the Damjin Kingdom’s own language.
The King reflected.
‘Typically, Imperial envoys arrive boasting of their status as representatives of the Upper Kingdom, speaking only in the Hwa Empire’s language.’
Yet I had spoken directly in the Damjin Kingdom’s language and even praised King Radant himself as benevolent—so he could not help but find me both remarkable and admirable.
“Tell me, what brings you to our kingdom? It is too early for tribute, and our kingdom’s circumstances are quite dire.”
Our house is in shambles with nothing to eat—why have you come?
We already knew why each had come.
Yet such deliberate reiteration was merely diplomatic formality.
“His Imperial Majesty harbors grave concern regarding the cattle plague—the murrain—spreading through the Damjin Kingdom. Learning that this kingdom produces minerals essential to our Empire, I have been dispatched to resolve the murrain and establish trade relations.”
The aged and weathered King’s eyes blazed with a keen, piercing light that belied his appearance.
“Resolve the plague? I have received reports of your actions, but can you truly eliminate the plague completely? It is a heavenly curse and calamity. We can barely suppress it using the rituals of Grand Sorcery itself… Are you suggesting there is a way to accomplish this?”
Grand Sorcery!
As I traveled through this kingdom where deserts and wastelands covered more than half the land, I came to understand how this place truly operated.
Sorcery omnipotence!
There certainly existed sorceries of the type that cured illnesses.
Such practitioners were called Healing Sorcerers, but the problem lay in the fact that their disease-curing abilities were hardly remarkable.
Even a renowned Healing Sorcerer would exhaust their sorcerous power after treating three critically ill patients in a single day.
If such was the case for the renowned, what of ordinary Healing Sorcerers?
For this reason, the Healing Sorcerer from whom I learned sorcery in the Dadu Kingdom was certainly someone who loved money, but their sorcerous power was tremendous.
‘To the extent that even Jasi acknowledged it.’
In that sense, suppressing the plague with Grand Sorcery would likely…
‘In a country where human sacrifice occurs so commonly, they would probably conduct a large-scale human sacrifice.’
Had I not studied sorcery, I would not know, but through Jasi, I already understood how sorcery flowed in this land.
However, because I had read novels and thus knew the future roughly, and because I had learned sorcery and understood it, I knew this was not proper disease prevention.
‘It will likely break out again.’
Even grinding people for sorcery was unbearable, and success was impossible.
‘Perhaps there is no other way.’
First, I handed the King the pamphlet I had prepared in advance.
“Please examine this first, Your Majesty.”
It contained basic knowledge about vaccination and the statistics resulting from it.
However, the King answered thus.
“I understand. I shall have my officials examine it separately at a later time.”
It meant he would not look at it. And on the other hand…
‘He is determined to conduct human sacrifice no matter what.’
His mind was already set to some degree.
I had to stop this by any means.
But how could I persuade someone who would not even examine basic statistics?
One thing was certain.
If I failed to persuade him here, people would become kindling.
In the end, I decided to deploy the secret weapon passed down since ancient times.
“Will you bring that out?”
I gestured backward, and my attendant brought out an object. It was a centrifuge.
“What is that device for?”
“Please observe.”
I drew blood from myself and placed it directly into a cylindrical glass vessel.
“Is it sorcery?”
“Are you demonstrating a new form of sorcery?”
This was the reaction I expected.
My face burned with embarrassment, but since it was better than people dying, I spoke with a shameless expression.
“Just… look at this.”
I grasped the handle firmly and spun it rapidly in circles.
Adding my inner energy to the rotation, I turned it with a whooshing sound, and the blood gradually began separating into three distinct layers. At first glance, it appeared to be only two layers to the naked eye.

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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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