The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 189

The towering edifice stood at the heart of Muwi.

The recently completed five-story building was so large and majestic that it could be seen at a glance from anywhere in Muwi.

It was none other than the main headquarters of the Shinma Merchant Guild.

The main headquarters, which had naturally established itself as a symbol of Muwi, was bustling with people, as always.

Only the top floor, the fifth floor, which housed the Guild Leader’s office, was relatively quiet.

A man carrying a stack of documents to receive approval from Neung So-mil was about to ascend the stairs to the fifth floor.

However, he was stopped by someone.

It was the staff member in charge of managing Neung So-mil’s schedule.

“It’s best not to go in right now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The Guild Leader is in a particularly foul mood today.”

“Still, these matters need to be approved before noon…….”

“I’ve warned you, so don’t blame me later if things go wrong.”

As the man with the documents hesitated, a roar erupted from above the stairs.

It was Neung So-mil’s voice.

The startled office worker looked towards the fifth floor.

Fortunately, the words were not directed at him.

“The head of the Pasa Kingdom Merchant Guild is here.”

At his colleague’s explanation, the man with the documents sighed.

“What trouble did he cause this time?”

“Go up and see if you’re curious.”

“No thanks. I’ll come back later when the atmosphere is better. Can you please take these up for me?”

“Not without a price.”

“……I’ll buy you a drink.”

The staff member who had received the desired answer grinned.

“Leave them here.”

After placing the documents on his desk, he grumbled and turned away, the man seeing him off with a smile as he cast a glance towards the fifth floor.

“It seems there’s never a quiet day.”

Neung So-mil stared at Maha-ma, who was sitting across the table with a cold expression.

The middle-aged man with a red beard and striking blue eyes was the owner of a trading company with whom they had recently conducted several transactions.

Next to him, an interpreter opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“Maha-ma apologizes repeatedly. He says that he has come in person to apologize and asks that you reconsider your decision. He also offers this small gift as a token of his sincerity…….”

“A gift? More like a bribe.”

Neung So-mil cut off the interpreter and cast a glance at the box placed on the table.

Inside the box were three cat’s-eye stones.

Transparent radiance with a bluish hue and distinct black crystals within.

It was clear at a glance that they were top-quality cat’s-eye stones.

Neung So-mil had declared a cessation of trade with his company for violating their mutual agreement, which was why he had hurriedly come with expensive gifts.

However, Neung So-mil pushed the box back towards the Westerner without hesitation.

“I made it clear.”

As Neung So-mil spoke, the interpreter quickly began to translate his words.

“It doesn’t matter if individuals buy a few, but I don’t tolerate hoarding. I made it clear that if you try to control the market and arbitrarily manipulate prices, there will be no further transactions, didn’t I?”

Maha-ma wore a troubled expression at the interpreter’s words.

“He says that such a thing will never happen again……. He says that the problem arose from mutual misunderstandings due to differences in language and culture.”

Neung So-mil scoffed at the interpreter’s words.

“Misunderstanding? Do you think I didn’t know that you even hired people to secretly sweep up all the goods from the pharmacies?”

“……He apologizes.”

The Westerner apologized repeatedly with a much more respectful attitude, and the interpreter’s voice also lost its strength.

“He says that he will never break his promise again.”

However, Neung So-mil had no intention of reversing his decision.

“There are plenty of trading companies. If I make an exception for you, others will look down on us. I won’t say it twice. Take this and leave.”

As Maha-ma continued to make excuses, refusing to give up, Neung So-mil suddenly spoke.

“Hey, Muhammad.”

“……!”

Maha-ma was surprised when Neung So-mil unexpectedly spoke their language fluently.

Neung So-mil continued to speak calmly to him.

“Go and repent. If you violate your Sharia law [Islamic religious law] and do not repent, you must drink hot molten iron in the burning hell, right? No, what kind of punishment did you say was given to those who deceive others for profit? Since you have uttered lies, should I pull out your tongue? Since you coveted what belongs to others, should I cut off your hands? Or both?”

Maha-ma was speechless.

He never imagined that Neung So-mil would even know the contents of their Sharia law.

“I won’t inform other trading companies out of respect for our past transactions. That’s the last bit of kindness I can offer. So, leave while I’m being nice.”

Neung So-mil issued a warning at Maha-ma’s face, which was turning red and blue with embarrassment and anger.

“If you’re thinking of doing anything foolish, you’d better stop. Remember clearly where this is.”

Maha-ma flinched at Neung So-mil’s fluent Persian.

In the end, he had no choice but to turn back without achieving his purpose.

His face was as red as if burning coal dust had fallen on it as he left the Shinma Merchant Guild.

The more he thought about it, the more unpleasant and angry he became.

He had spent half his life traveling around the world trading, but he had never felt so humiliated.

Above all, he was tormented by the current situation in which he could not seize the initiative in trade.

As he stomped away, he kicked the box in front of him irritably.

Coincidentally, a fragment of the broken box flew towards a passing woman.

“Ah!”

The woman screamed and collapsed on the spot, struck in the ankle by the suddenly flying piece of wood.

At that moment, Maha-ma paused, sensing the killing intent pouring in from all directions.

His skin tingled from the eerie gazes that flew in from all directions as if to shred him.

He raised his head and looked around, his face turning pale in an instant.

On the roof, a man repairing the eaves was glaring at him with a tool in his hand, and a man biting into a dumpling at a street stall was watching him with a clenched fist.

In a butcher shop in an alley, a butcher was walking out with a large knife in his hand, and a passing peddler stopped and pulled out a long, sharp claw from behind his back.

Maha-ma swallowed hard without realizing it.

His face turned ashen as he belatedly realized that this place was a dragon’s den filled with monsters.

At that moment, the butcher who had walked out of the butcher shop wiped his bloody hands on his apron and approached the fallen woman.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a slight scratch.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than killing intent surged from all directions.

“What? A scratch?”

“A commoner of Muwi was injured?”

Although it was just a small injury, no more than a scratch, its significance was not light to the heretics [foreigners or those of different faiths] who had established themselves in Muwi.

“Then we should cut off one of that bastard’s legs.”

“Isn’t that how those red-haired devils’ laws work? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Maha-ma began to tremble like an aspen in the wind at the sight of the heretics approaching with eerie eyes.

He was about to pay too great a price for an act of momentary anger.

Maha-ma quickly prostrated himself on the spot and apologized.

However, there was no one here who could understand his words.

“What is he saying?”

“Sa… what? Is he asking us to kill him instead?”

“That’s not a bad idea either. It’s been a while since we’ve seen blood anyway.”

Just as Maha-ma’s face was turning black with the ominous atmosphere.

The interpreter, who had belatedly rushed over, quickly translated Maha-ma’s words.

“He says he’s sorry. He says he sincerely apologizes and begs for your forgiveness.”

He had initially treated Maha-ma politely, but now his attitude had changed.

How dare he try to trick the Shinma Merchant Guild.

Even though he was his employer, he couldn’t look favorably upon him.

“Hmph! Not without a price.”

When the interpreter conveyed those words, Maha-ma quickly took out money from his pocket.

One of the heretics sneered.

“What is it? You look like you have some money, is this all your ankle is worth?”

Maha-ma couldn’t hide his embarrassment when he heard those words through the interpreter.

Of course, it was his fault, but he was afraid that he would lose all his business capital, and his vision darkened.

At that moment, a man entered the scene.

“Stop it, friends. If Guild Leader Dan finds out that you demanded excessive compensation, he might be displeased.”

It was Jang Gok, now an ardent follower of Dan Ak-seon.

At those words, the heretics each cast regretful glances.

“Brother Jang, then what should we do?”

At that moment, Jang Gok’s eyes fell on an object.

It was the box that the Westerner had dropped on the floor.

The material and craftsmanship of the box were extraordinary at a glance.

Jang Gok approached Maha-ma and opened the box, his eyes gleaming.

“This will do.”

Jang Gok picked up one of the cat’s-eye stones in the box and handed it back to the woman.

There was no woman in the world who disliked jewelry.

The woman’s eyes widened.

“Is it really okay for me to accept this?”

“Consider it compensation for medical treatment and damages.”

At that moment, the interpreter translated Maha-ma’s words.

“He asks if this settles everything?”

“Settle? Now he has to apologize.”

Jang Gok grabbed Maha-ma by the scruff of his neck and dragged him in front of the woman.

“Kneel down and bow your head in apology.”

Maha-ma’s face contorted when he heard those words through the interpreter.

In their culture, kneeling before a woman was one of the greatest dishonors imaginable.

But unfortunately, he was now in Muwi.

“An apology without remorse is the same as insulting the other person.”

Jang Gok’s eyes flashed with lightning-like brilliance.

“Did we……. No, does this place, Muwi, look so easy to you?”

Maha-ma’s legs trembled and he collapsed on the spot at the terrifying killing intent that poured out in torrents.

He had also experienced the divine power of the martial artists several times while traveling in and out of Muwi.

Fighting those inhuman monsters was like jumping into a fire with gunpowder.

Maha-ma prostrated himself and slammed his head into the ground.

And he chanted words of apology.

However, Jang Gok’s expression remained cold.

“Good, we’re almost there.”

Jang Gok cast a cold gaze at the puzzled Maha-ma.

“Finally, the person involved must forgive you. If you do not obtain the forgiveness of that woman, you will pay the appropriate price.”

Maha-ma pleaded with the woman with desperate eyes.

Jang Gok gave the flustered woman a gentle look.

“You can decide as you wish. No one will object to your decision. We will take care of the aftermath, so you don’t have to worry about any repercussions.”

The woman looked back and forth between the cat’s-eye stone she was holding and Maha-ma, then slowly nodded.

“I’m okay now.”

At those words, Jang Gok shouted to the heretics surrounding them.

“Brothers, did you hear? She says she forgives him.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the killing intent disappeared as if it were a lie.

Then they scattered and continued doing what they were doing as if nothing had happened.

Of course, some people couldn’t hide their disappointment, but since the parties involved had resolved the matter amicably, there was no room for them to intervene.

“You’re lucky. Be grateful that you met someone so generous.”

Maha-ma, who heard Jang Gok’s words through the interpreter, hurriedly left as if he were running away.

Jang Gok shouted with internal energy to the people who had gathered due to the unexpected commotion.

“Whether you are a Westerner or a Central Plains person, anyone who treats the people of Muwi carelessly will surely pay the price! Remember! Those who do not show respect as guests do not deserve to be guests!”

The voice filled with majestic inner strength echoed loudly through the marketplace.

At Jang Gok’s words, the natives of Muwi nodded with moved faces.

On the other hand, those who came from other places became more cautious.

“Then take care.”

Jang Gok greeted the woman and turned around.

But at that moment, the woman reached out and grabbed Jang Gok’s sleeve.

“Excuse me…….”

“Why? Are you perhaps uncomfortable with your injured ankle?”

“No, it’s not that…….”

The woman hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth cautiously as if whispering.

“Thanks to you, I was able to resolve this matter safely, so I would like to treat you to a meal.”

“I was just doing what I had to do. I didn’t do it for a reward. Even if it wasn’t me, someone would have stepped up for the people of Muwi who accepted us.”

“Then at least have a cup of tea…….”

Someone couldn’t stand it any longer and shouted at Jang Gok.

“Ah, geez. You’re so dense. That’s why you haven’t gotten married yet.”

“What?”

“She’s saying she has a crush on you, Brother Jang.”

Jang Gok froze in place, flustered.

The heretics burst into laughter at the sight.

“You must be happy, Brother Jang. Looks like you’re getting married in your old age.”

“Be sure to invite us to the wedding. I’ll drop everything and run there.”

The atmosphere in the arena was more than warm, as if no killing intent had ever swept through it.

The season when the spring spirit was in full bloom.

Spring had come for the first time to Jang Gok, who had wandered the world alone for his entire life with the title of Gu Yu-eumso [Wandering Hermit].