Chapter 152: If We're Doing It, Might as Well Get the Others Too [3] Moritaka's neck pain was not something that had started yesterday or today.
It was not exactly something to be proud of, so he did not go around talking about it everywhere.
But everyone close to him knew.
Even in the middle of battle, he often threw off his helmet.
And the reason was obviously the pain in his neck.
"How strange…"
The one-eyed man let out a sigh of admiration as he looked at Moritaka.
Moritaka was smiling even with a boulder balanced on top of his head.
Under normal circumstances, it was a sight no one could have imagined.
"Are you really all right?"
"I told you, I am. No. Wait, no."
Moritaka nodded, then hurriedly shook his head.
At that, the boulder resting on his head fell to the side with a thud.
The one-eyed man nimbly dodged it and asked.
His expression plainly said, I knew it.
"So it does hurt after all, doesn't it?"
"No, no. It's not that it doesn't hurt, but…"
Moritaka tilted his head and looked around nearby.
He was already drawing attention as it was.
After all, he had been performing the bizarre feat of carrying stones on his head since the crack of dawn.
"What are you trying to do?"
The one-eyed man asked, blinking his only remaining eye.
Unlike his fierce appearance, he had a rather cute side to him.
Of course, that only applied to allies.
Meeting him as an enemy was almost like hell itself.
"There."
"Uh, you can't possibly lift th—"
"Hup!"
"Damn."
Even while Moritaka was suddenly putting on a strongman show, Makbong and Dolseok still had not returned.
Growing anxious, Sayaga came looking for Kanghyeok with soldiers in tow.
"Shall I go and look for them myself?"
He looked ready to search not just the Red-Light District, but every corner of Tsushima if he had to.
Ever since arriving on Tsushima, he felt as though he had done nothing but cause trouble.
What in the world was this situation?
He was supposed to be asking for treatment for the domain lord, yet incidents kept happening one after another.
By contrast, Kanghyeok did not look especially concerned.
Dolseok, maybe… but Makbong isn't the type to go somewhere and get beaten up.
If there was a problem, it would have been the other side picking the fight.
Unless they had gotten into trouble with Kuki Yoshitaka's group.
But that was unlikely, was it not?
They had already become acquainted.
Well, still… we should go look for them.
There was no need for him to act personally, anyway.
He looked around and saw that Sayaga had brought no fewer than fifty men.
That should be enough to search that tiny Red-Light District without taking too long.
Kanghyeok let out a grunt and hauled up his heavy backside.
"Let's go together for now."
"So you are worried after all."
"No… well. Yes."
Kanghyeok nodded with an indifferent expression.
In truth, he was also going because he was planning to stop by the place where Yoshitaka was staying.
But there was no reason to let Sayaga know what an indifferent master he was.
Besides, with how much Sayaga kept fussing, Kanghyeok was beginning to feel a little concerned as well.
Makbong's not the kind of guy to get beaten up…
Still, if someone had clubbed him in the back of the head right in the middle of comforting a girl, then there was nothing to be done.
When he stepped out into the courtyard, Yeoju and Yeoni were already prepared.
Yeoni in particular had, in addition to the large sword she usually carried, also strapped on two small blades.
"Young Master, let's go."
"You're worried about Makbong too?"
"Not really… but you never know."
"Right, well…"
Kanghyeok nodded and climbed onto the horse.
Unlike usual, the saddle felt strangely high.
Hmm. Our Dolseok.
Only then did it occur to him that Dolseok was not by his side.
If Dolseok had been there, he would have offered his back as a step for Kanghyeok's foot, would he not?
A peculiar tenderness rose in him, and suddenly he began worrying about Dolseok.
"Then let's go quickly."
"Yes, Physician Baek."
Kanghyeok left the domain lord's residence alongside Sayaga.
Behind him followed nearly fifty soldiers.
It truly was a proud and imposing march.
Moreover, Kanghyeok's attire was unmistakably that of a Joseon yangban.
The residents, who had received severe orders to treat the diplomatic mission from Joseon well, each began cheering loudly.
And Sayaga, who held considerable status on Tsushima, was accompanying him as well, which only stirred the residents up further.
"This is… a bit much."
"They are probably reacting that way because they find it fascinating. If even one of your disciples opened a clinic, Physician Baek, it would probably be packed."
"You think so?"
Kanghyeok scratched under his chin as if it were no big deal.
But in his mind, many thoughts were racing.
If war breaks out, it won't just be the professional soldiers who go out.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say that more than half the soldiers would be ordinary people like the ones welcoming him here.
Deliberately ruining even these people… that doesn't sit quite right with me.
No matter how close war might be, Kanghyeok was still a doctor.
He thought it was enough to personally give false diagnoses and turn people into drug addicts only to that barbaric group he had seen yesterday.
But that line of thought soon came to an end.
"That place is the Red-Light District… but are there usually this many people there in the daytime?"
"No. Not usually… I will look into it."
At Sayaga's order, one soldier dashed off like an arrow.
Then he came back looking puzzled.
"I think… the people we are looking for are over there."
"What?"
"What kind of nonsense are they up to that there's such a crowd?"
"Let us go see."
"Let's."
There were so many people that it was no longer possible to ride in on horseback.
Kanghyeok and Sayaga, with Yeoni and Yeoju following behind, started pushing their way through the crowd.
"Ah, be careful… ah."
It seemed most of the people gathered there were of very low status.
Just facing Sayaga, who belonged to the warrior class, made them tremble and retreat.
It looked somewhat similar to how commoners in Joseon avoided the yangban, but the feeling was slightly different.
They're genuinely afraid of him… maybe because he carries a sword instead of a brush.
Kanghyeok was so unbothered he could reach Makbong and Dolseok without much difficulty, even while lost in thought.
"What are you two doing?"
Hearing the familiar voice from above, the two looked up.
Judging by their appearance, they did not seem to have stayed up all night.
Their faces looked fresh enough that it was obvious they had been treated quite well.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah… well…"
"You've opened a clinic?"
The relationship between Makbong, Dolseok, and Kanghyeok was not a simple master-servant one.
Makbong, for one, had not originally been tied to him that way at all.
Even if he did serve him as his master now.
"There's no answer? Isn't this a clinic stall?"
There was a reason the two, who had been loudly chattering a moment ago, now lowered their heads completely.
A disciple setting up a stall without the master's permission.
Was that not a clear act of defiance?
But Kanghyeok did not look upset at all.
If anything, he looked amused.
The problem was that they were too busy hanging their heads to notice.
Right. I didn't order it. I'm not the one doing it. If they are the ones handling the treatment on their own… then I've got nothing to feel guilty about.
These two had never taken the Hippocratic Oath, had they?
So unlike Kanghyeok, they had no reason to feel any pangs of conscience.
"Hey, lift your heads."
"Yes, yes."
Only then did the two raise their heads, looking like men guilty of a capital offense.
Even so, they kept sneaking glances toward one corner of the stall, where there was a pile of goods that seemed to have been offered by the local residents.
For a business aimed at people from the Red-Light District, who lived hand to mouth, it was quite an impressive profit.
These bastards. They're good at business.
Kanghyeok swallowed his private admiration and spoke.
"You didn't even have medicine, so what were you using to do business?"
At that, Dolseok swayed a little and answered, "Yesterday… didn't I bring licorice root and gobon?"
"You did. I told you to. Didn't you leave it at that Kurushima gisaeng house?"
"I loaded it onto the oxcart and carried it on my back and on my head, but somehow I ended up still carrying the bundle myself."
"Hmm."
Kanghyeok nodded briefly.
It meant, Go on.
Dolseok scratched the back of his head, though nobody had hit him there, and continued.
"But then, the person I was… with… happened to say her lower back was aching."
"With? With what?"
"You know… that thing."
"What thing?"
At Kanghyeok's relentless questioning, Dolseok only kept scratching the back of his head.
Then Makbong, looking frustrated, stepped in.
While thrusting his hips back and forth.
"This thing, sir."
"Wow, did you have to be that vulgar… Anyway, so you gave her the medicine."
"Yes. And by morning, didn't she get better immediately?"
"Hmm."
"But that wench has a loose tongue… so she blabbed to everyone, and that's how this happened."
Dolseok finished speaking and pointed at the stall they had laid out.
Just as he said, the only medicine there really was the steroid decoction.
It seemed they had adjusted the dosage in their own way, but to Kanghyeok, it looked meaningless.
To begin with, adjusting doses with herbs was never especially precise.
"I see. So that's how you made money too."
"Yes, well… is this money really ours? It all belongs to you, Young Master."
Dolseok answered while subtly trying to shield the mountain of wealth with his body, apparently embarrassed by it.
"See? I knew there was no reason to worry."
"That's true… to think they'd even come up with the idea of doing business here."
Sayaga also nodded, looking dumbfounded.
"They work under me, but they really aren't ordinary men. Dolseok."
"Yes, Young Master. I'll shut it down right away."
"No, no. You can keep doing business. And everything you've taken so far, you keep it."
"What?"
"Do whatever you want. I'm going over there, so until I get back, fight, squabble, whatever you like."
"Uh… you're not going to scold us?"
Dolseok kept touching the back of his head, as if it were itching terribly.
But Kanghyeok had no intention at all of hitting him.
Why would he stop them when they were willingly handing out steroids on their own?
If anything, he felt like encouraging them to do more.
Still, there was no reason to praise a man who was already groveling on his own.
Smack.
By his own standards, Kanghyeok lightly smacked both Dolseok and Makbong on the back of the head, then headed toward the gisaeng house.
Leaving behind one cool remark.
"Call it even with that. Keep up the good business."
"Uh… thank you, Young Master!"
The two bowed repeatedly, having completely forgotten they had just been hit.
That was because when they first saw Kanghyeok in the Red-Light District, both had thought, We're dead now.
Sayaga looked back at the two, who were still bowing for quite some time, and spoke.
"You treat your subordinates very leniently."
"Hah."
At that, Yeoni, who had been silent until now, let out a dry laugh.
Kanghyeok, lenient? Was that not enough to make even a dog laugh?
But Kanghyeok was exactly the kind of man from whose mouth lies flowed as soon as it opened, so he did not hesitate in the slightest.
His expression did not even change.
"That is rather how I am."
"Then do they not disobey you or anything?"
"Haha. I treat them so well that they are simply loyal. At least, that is what I choose to believe."
"Urgh."
Yeoni and Yeoju forced themselves forward while suppressing the urge to vomit.
Fortunately, the Kurushima gisaeng house was not very far from the Red-Light District.
"There it is. Seeing it in the daytime makes it feel a bit different, doesn't it?"
"It does. It really just feels like a garden…"
"Fortunately, the domain lord is likely to remain busy for the next few days, so it should not be a problem even if you keep coming here for a while."
"Yes, that's right."
Kanghyeok nodded as he recalled his scheme.
Elder Hwang Yungil is touring Tsushima right now… travel time, roughly five to ten days. Then, well…
That would be more than enough time to persuade those stubborn warriors and let them get a taste of steroids.
Thinking that, he opened the door to the gisaeng house, only to be met with quite a strange sight.
"Young Master Moritaka, try lifting this too!"
"No problem!"
"Wow… what is this… when is that physician coming?"
All the warriors who had been utterly stubborn just yesterday had now thrown open the doors of their hearts and were waiting only for Kanghyeok.
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