So, you’re all gathered here. (4)

With his hands clasped behind his back as he stepped out the door, Do Yeonwi [도연위(道聯瑋)] clicked his tongue in displeasure, and frowned deeply as he asked. 

“Tsk. Are there no customers again today?”

“Yes, Physician. My apologies.”

The chief administrator [총관(摠管)], who had scurried over, bowed his head awkwardly. Do Yeonwi couldn’t quite bring himself to scold such a man.

It wasn’t the administrator’s fault, but those damned Sapa scum’s. With the nearby residents having all fled, how could there possibly be any patients?

“Hmmm…. I misjudged. They said a war had broken out, so I thought the wounded would be lining up. If I’d known we’d be swatting flies like this, I would have packed up long ago.”

Just as Do Yeonwi clicked his tongue loudly once more and turned his body to go back into the room, that was when…

Thud, thud, thud.

“Is anyone there? Is anyone there?!”

Someone was pounding on the closed main gate.

Do Yeonwi’s face lit up as he spun around. At last – after seven nights without so much as an ant crawling through – the clinic had a visitor.

“Yes! Yes, there is someone here!”

Forgetting the dignity due a physician, Do Yeonwi shouted in haste.

“Quickly, open the gate! Hurry!”

“Y-Yes, yes, Physician. Right away…!”

Before he could even finish his reply, the chief administrator ran towards the door. Even the female medics [의녀(醫女)*], who had been keeping out of sight inside the infirmary under Do Yeonwi’s watchful eye, cautiously poked their heads out.

But something unexpected happened.

Bang!

Before the administrator could open it, the closed gate burst open with such force it nearly shattered, and a swarm of beggars poured in frantically. 

“Huh?”

At the unforeseen turn, Do Yeonwi’s mouth slowly fell open. His long beard** quivered.

“W-What is the meaning of this…?”

“Are you Physician Do?”

The abrupt question made Do Yeonwi furrow his brows.

A clinic is, by nature, a sacred place. Even the government office does not treat a physician lightly. And yet where did these ragged beggars come from, barging in, cutting him off mid-sentence, and brazenly demanding answers?

“How dare you commit such discourtesy in a place like this…”

Thud!

At that moment, the beggar’s foot sank about a chi into the packed earth grounds. Do Yeonwi’s mouth snapped shut as if it had never been open.

“I asked if you’re the physician!”

“Y-Yes, I am.”

The beggar who had driven his foot into the ground nodded.

“Take him!”

“Yes!”

The beggars immediately swarmed in, surrounded Do Yeonwi, and hoisted him up.

“W-What do you think you’re doing! Help! Uwaaaaah, the beggars are kidnapping a man!”

“Hey, keep quiet! Tsk, this fellow. I told you to hold still!”

“Eeeeeeeek!”

Despite Do Yeonwi’s fierce struggle, the beggars paid it no mind and carried him straight out of the clinic.

“Uh……”

Those left behind could only stare blankly at the scene, their faces dazed with shock. The one beggar who remained spoke quickly, a strangely anxious look on his face.

“We’ll make proper use of him and return him, so please understand.”

“….What?”

“Then.”

Having finished saying only what he wanted, that last beggar dashed out as well.

For a moment, silence fell, as if a storm had just swept through. Those left at the clinic stared vacantly at the tattered main gate.

“…Shouldn’t we inform the authorities?”

“Inform them of what? That a horde of beggars rushed in, carried off the physician, and they should go find him?”

It was exceedingly hard to explain the situation. After pondering for a moment, everyone shut their mouths again.

“Uh… Do they happen to have a beggar who is terribly ill?”

It was, after all, the most natural conclusion to draw.

“Physician! Here is a new one!”

“Over there!”

“Ah, no. Wait, waaaaait!”

Do Yeonwi, who had been flopping like a freshly caught fish, started to yell the instant his feet touched the floor.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing? Why would you…! At least tell me the reason! Why did you drag a person here like this?”

As Do Yeonwi panicked, darting his eyes about in fright, Tang Soso’s own eyes blazed with fury.

“What exactly did you say when you brought him here!”

“Well… You said it was urgent, so we just hurried and brought him over…”

“‘Brought’ him? Do you even know what ‘to bring respectfully’ means? Is this what it means to bring someone? Isn’t this kidnapping?”

“Physicians… well, when they start explaining things, they tend to go on and on, so we thought it best to…”

The beggar, fumbling for excuses, trailed off and quickly lowered his head as Tang Soso’s glare grew even more menacing.

“……I’m sorry.”

“Ugh, seriously”

As if her insides would burst, Tang Soso shot the beggar one last glare, then snapped her gaze back towards Do Yeonwi.

“We were rude.”

“No…”

“But the truth is, there’s no time to explain. I beg you. We’re far too short-handed. Please help us first. I’ll offer you a proper apology later.”

“……Even so.”

“Quickly! Even at this moment, people are dying. Please!”

“Ah, very well.”

Overwhelmed by her forceful tone, Do Yeonwi found himself nodding before he realized it. Hastily pulling his needle case from his robes, he rushed towards the patient – then froze mid-step.

‘Wait? Is this really the right way to give in so easily?’

As if he were under some kind of a spell…

“Here, here.”

“Yes?”

“Hold him down here first.”

Just then, an elderly physician called to Do Yeonwi and gestured with his chin towards the patient’s leg. A long gash ran down it, the flesh within already turning a sickly greenish blue. Do Yeonwi’s face went pale.

“W-What kind of wound is this…”

“Quickly.”

“Ah, understood.”

Do Yeonwi held the patient cautiously. Without the slightest hesitation, the elder physician set to work, carving away the infected flesh with a small knife.

Slice. Slice. Slice.

“Ugh… Urrrrgh…..”

At the gruesome sight before him, Do Yeonwi shuddered. The elder physician, catching his reaction, shook his head.

“A man who calls himself a physician, so startled by this?”

“M-My apologies.”

“Just hold him steady.”

“…Yes.”

“When you’ve stitched wounds torn to shreds by a tiger’s jaws, something like this is hardly worth mention. Still, this one wasn’t cut cleanly.”

Do Yeonwi inwardly clicked his tongue in awe and tightened his grip on the patient. Before someone like this, it was only natural to feel small.

‘But why is that young woman giving orders when a man of his skill is here?’

A peculiar sense of resentment welled up within him. The elder physician, noticing Do Yeonwi’s shifting expression, chuckled faintly as if he could read the man’s thoughts.

“Why? Do you feel wronged?”

“Rather than wronged… This isn’t proper, is it? Kidnapping a person all of a sudden is a problem, and using me as you please like this is also a problem. The more I think about it, the harder it is to endure. I should meet the person in charge.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Pardon?”

“Do you know where you are?”

“I may be slow on the uptake, but I know at least that much. From the looks of it, this is where those people of Gangho, the so-called Cheonumaneg, have gathered.”

“So you do know.”

“Even so, this isn’t the right way to do things….”

“That’s true as well.”

The elderly physician nodded slowly as if to say he wasn’t denying it.

“However.”

The old man paused for a moment, then shifted his gaze towards the tent’s entrance.

“Nnngh….”

“Hold on just a bit longer! We’re here now! They’ll treat you!”

Members of the Alliance, carrying on a stretcher someone whose condition was critical even at a glance, burst hurriedly through the tent flaps.

“He took a sword strike to the chest.”

“Over here, quickly!”

Tang Soso shouted without even turning her head. A few of the physicians sprang to their feet without asking a single question and rushed to the patient.

“Stay with us! Don’t lose consciousness!”

“You are absolutely not going to die, so hold on to your senses and grit your teeth!”

Standing at the brink of life and death, they desperately examined the wound. In the meantime, another stretcher was carried in.

Now that he looked more closely, even the physicians themselves were extremely haggard. They looked as if they might collapse at any moment, yet their eyes flared red once more as they threw themselves at the new patient.

Watching the scene, the old physician asked again.

“Principles and propriety….. here, in this place?”

Do Yeonwi could not say a word.

“Even propriety must be weighed according to the situation, must it not? With people dying before us from fighting those outlaws, quibbling over principles and propriety is a laughable thing.”

Do Yeonwi let out a deep sigh. Then he focused on the patient before his eyes.

“Now, is it only a matter of suturing?”

“That’s right. If you have hands to spare, it would be good to help with the stitching as well.”

“Understood.”

Without another word, Do Yeonwi began closing the patient’s wound. The old physician wore a faint smile.

“Yes. That’s how a physician should be.”

Once again, the tent flap swung wide open.

“Soso! We came to help…”

“Hands! Wash your hands before you come in, you damned idiots!”

The tent flap that had opened snapped shut again in a hurry. Do Yeonwi’s hands, as he sutured the wound, moved a little faster.

❀ ❀ ❀

“The wounded?”

“The Alliance members have spread out in all directions to search. We’re transporting them as soon as they’re found.”

“…..We should have searched a bit more last night.”

“No, that would have been impossible.”

Baek Cheon firmly shook his head.

“Even among the search parties now, many are collapsing. Quite a few couldn’t even get up after resting last night and had to be carried back themselves.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung scratched his cheek with a dissatisfied look.

“What does Soso say?”

“They’re somehow getting those with severe external wounds under control, but now the ones with severe internal injuries are the bigger problem. As you know, those aren’t something ordinary physicians can deal with.”

“Right.”

“Merely stabilizing their energy has its limits. I hear the number of those worsening isn’t small.”

“Really?”

Baek Cheon let out a heavy sigh.

“Elixirs, perhaps… No, that’s no good.”

Having blurted it out in frustration, Baek Cheon shook his head as if taking the words back.

Given the number of those with internal injuries, it isn’t a situation that can be solved with an elixir or two. They would need at least hundreds…

“Ah, then that will do.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Chung Myung clapped his hands with a refreshed look. Then he tapped his own head a couple of times.

“I swear my brain is getting worse by the day. If the internal injuries are severe, you just feed them elixirs, and I couldn’t think of something that simple. Tsk, tsk. I’m really done for.”

“…Seems you really are getting dull. You idiot, do you even know how many wounded there are? Where are we supposed to get enough elixirs to feed them all?”

“We don’t need that many. We only have to give them to the critical cases, right?”

“……That’s true.”

“Even if it’s not enough, we can just throw it all into one pot and boil it. Add a bit of water, the amount will increase, and if we portion it out properly, won’t it still help?”

“‘Properly’? How is that even supposed to make sense…”

Baek Cheon, who had been about to scold him, suddenly wore a strange look on his face. 

If they did as Chung Myung said, they couldn’t hope for any enhancement of internal energy from the elixirs at all. It would literally turn into a hodgepodge. But even if it became just that, an elixir is still an elixir.

‘For the critical cases… Might it be possible?’

This shouldn’t be possible… This shouldn’t make sense…

“Well? Sounds plausible, doesn’t it?”

“W-Wait a second!”

Unwilling to admit there was any merit to this nonsense, Baek Cheon shook his head desperately. But in the end, his head drooped helplessly.

“It… does make sense.”

“Right?”

“B-But it’s impossible all the same. We can’t procure that many elixirs. We’ve already used up the Jasodan we had at Hwasan, so where on earth are we going to get that many elixirs? We’d need dozens…” 

Baek Cheon trailed off, seized by a sudden ominous feeling.

“You, don’t tell me… No, right?”

“Who knows?”

“Seriously? Tell me you’re not.”

At Baek Cheon’s words, Chung Myung only smirked.

❀ ❀ ❀

“So……”

Jongli Gok, who spoke as their representative, wore a devastated expression. Of course, he wasn’t the only one whose face had soured, but Jongli Gok’s was especially bad.

“E… E-Elixirs – hand them over?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, how many?”

“Come on. Why ask something like that? You already know.”

Chung Myung’s face lit up with a gentle smile as he swept his gaze around everyone gathered. After meeting each gaze one by one, he spoke clearly and distinctly.

“All of them.”

“…”

“If anyone gets caught holding back even a single pill, you’ll be holding a funeral that very day. Think it over carefully.”

Everyone had the same thought then. Perhaps… it might have been better if Sapaeryeon hadn’t fallen after all.

And thus, through such ‘amicable’ discussion and consensus, each sect’s elixirs were obediently(?) handed over.