The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 357

Five days had passed since the inauguration ceremony and the official launch of the Muwi Garrison.

A pigeon flew into the Divine Devil Valley.

It was a homing pigeon, specially trained to communicate with the outside world.

Dan Ahk-seon, who spotted it, immediately ran to the entrance and released the barrier.

As the thick mist that had been obstructing the view cleared, Neung So-mil stepped through.

Each time he visited, Neung So-mil looked around in amazement.

Dan Ahk-seon smiled and approached him.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all. Compared to the Valley Lord, it’s nothing.”

Neung So-mil smiled back at Dan Ahk-seon, who greeted him warmly, and conveyed the news he had brought.

“It seems the Muwi Academy will officially begin its education in ten days.”

“Weren’t you postponing the schedule because the number of participants was lower than expected?”

“The initial hesitation came from the soldiers of the Muwi Young [a military unit], but recently they have changed their attitude and are actively submitting applications for their children to the academy.”

“That’s good.”

Dan Ahk-seon’s expression brightened.

The fact that the academy would be operating without any setbacks was encouraging in itself.

“Is the conflict resolved now?”

“It seems so. Several people have already applied for the instructor positions we were recruiting for.”

“That’s a relief.”

Dan Ahk-seon nodded in relief, then tilted his head.

“But what made them change their minds?”

“It seems the Princess has used her influence.”

Based on the information he had gathered from the villagers, Neung So-mil recounted the Princess’s scolding of the commander.

Dan Ahk-seon looked surprised.

He hadn’t expected her, who had no direct connection to Muwi, to be so proactive in helping them.

“By the way, is she still staying in Muwi?”

“Yes, and she seems to be enjoying her time here. Moreover, it seems her stay will be even longer.”

“She must like this place.”

Neung So-mil chuckled and nodded.

“She’s probably disguised and excitedly wandering around somewhere in Muwi right now.”

“Disguised?”

“I heard that recently, as soon as she wakes up, she disguises herself and leaves the government office. She goes to taverns, and yesterday she even visited the gambling den in the Muwi Garrison. Well, I understand her desire to roam freely outside the Forbidden City [the imperial palace], but…”

“…”

Neung So-mil, recalling the most recent event, sighed softly.

“Yesterday, I barely stopped her from going to a brothel disguised as a man.”

“She must crave freedom.”

“Well, it also serves the purpose of closely examining the lives of the people and inspecting the behavior of the officials. Ah, right!”

Neung So-mil exclaimed as if he had belatedly remembered something.

“And she asked me to put in a good word for her with you, Valley Lord. It seems she likes you.”

“Can you really say such things so openly?”

Neung So-mil grinned at Dan Ahk-seon’s troubled expression.

“To me, you are more important than anyone else. So I told you the truth.”

After a moment of brief contemplation, Dan Ahk-seon sighed softly.

He didn’t like the feeling that things were flowing in a direction beyond his control.

“What should I do?”

“In my opinion…”

At that moment, someone interrupted Neung So-mil’s words.

“Is that Princess planning to marry Dan Physician? Then what happens? Does Dan Physician become royalty too?”

Starting with Beom Gye-wi, Cho Ahk-ryang and Han Seol-hwa, who had approached unnoticed, each added a comment as if they had been waiting for it.

“He has considerable influence not only as a physician but also as a martial artist, so the imperial family must be coveting him.”

“How many times have they even met? Marriage is too early.”

Beom Gye-wi frowned at those words.

“Eing. He looks too weak and not my type at all. Women should be strong. It would be even better if they were confident. Like our Hwa-ryeong.”

Cho Ahk-ryang also nodded.

“Actually, I don’t like it either. A meeting arranged for marriage.”

Han Seol-hwa chimed in.

“I don’t like the fact that the imperial family is involved.”

From Dan Ahk-seon’s perspective, the sight of the three people already making a fuss when there was no concrete marriage proposal, let alone a fleeting glance, was absurd.

“Aren’t you all jumping the gun a bit?”

At those words, the three awkwardly averted their gazes.

They had already had many conversations about this among themselves, so the words came out naturally.

Byeok Hwa-ryeong, who had been silently guarding Beom Gye-wi’s side, asked cautiously.

“What do you think, Dan Physician? Honestly, even if you exclude her background, she doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

“Well.”

Dan Ahk-seon, who hesitated for a moment, replied with a troubled expression.

“We’re not close enough to say anything yet.”

“Becoming close is easy. Just strip naked and mix bodies… Eupeup!”

Beom Gye-wi, who was furious when someone suddenly covered his mouth, soon realized that the hand belonged to Byeok Hwa-ryeong and quickly became quiet.

“There are many different types of people in the world, so there are many different ways of meeting. There are many cases where you start to like each other as you get to know each other, even if you don’t have any special feelings at first.”

As Dan Ahk-seon’s sigh deepened at Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s words, everyone fell silent for a moment.

The silence was broken by Beom Gye-wi.

“Huh? Wait a minute.”

Feeling something was wrong, Beom Gye-wi removed Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s hand that was covering his mouth.

“Come to think of it, Dan Physician has never liked a woman before, has he?”

At those words, Cho Ahk-ryang and Han Seol-hwa finally noticed something strange.

The years they had spent with Dan Ahk-seon were as many as four years.

Dan Ahk-seon, who was a twelve-year-old kid at first, was now a sixteen-year-old, energetic young man.

But no matter how much they retraced their past memories, there was no memory of Dan Ahk-seon falling in love or admiring someone.

“No.”

As Dan Ahk-seon spoke the truth, everyone’s expression hardened.

“Why are you all like that? Is this such a serious matter?”

“It’s serious. He’s turning seventeen soon, and he hasn’t liked a woman all this time.”

“Dan Physician. You can’t do that.”

Beom Gye-wi, seeing Dan Ahk-seon not understanding, turned to Cho Ahk-ryang and asked.

“Cho Hyung, when did you first like a woman?”

“Me? Six years old?”

“Leader Nangong. What about you?”

“I’m a bit late. Eight years old. When was it for you, Senior?”

“Four years old.”

Only then did Dan Ahk-seon begin to wonder.

“Is that how it’s supposed to be?”

“Yeah. That’s how it is. Everyone I know is like that. Even if they’re late, it’s ten years old.”

As Dan Ahk-seon’s expression became serious, Byeok Hwa-ryeong secretly sent a telepathic message to Han Seol-hwa.

“Unnie [term for older sister]. Are men originally like that?”

“…I don’t know.”

Except for the two women, the three men had a more serious discussion.

“Come to think of it… Even though the daughter of the Namgung family openly flirted with him, he didn’t even bat an eye.”

“Excuse me? Are you talking about Young Lady Namgung Hyang?”

At Beom Gye-wi’s words, Dan Ahk-seon smiled and shook his head.

“That’s not it. She was sick with lovesickness. Why would she be lovesick because of me?”

Cho Ahk-ryang frowned at Dan Ahk-seon’s still clueless appearance.

“It’s serious.”

This time, Han Seol-hwa agreed with Cho Ahk-ryang’s assessment.

Cho Ahk-ryang stroked his chin and pondered, but Beom Gye-wi suddenly burst out.

“It’s all because of Cho Hyung and the Witch!”

Beom Gye-wi continued to criticize Cho Ahk-ryang, who couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“You shouldn’t have stopped me back then!”

“…?”

“If you had just let me take him to the brothel, Dan Physician wouldn’t have ended up like this!”

“But that’s not right!”

“What do you mean it’s not right! If Dan Physician had opened his eyes to women back then, he might already have a child…”

As he spoke, Beom Gye-wi trailed off, feeling something strange himself.

“Gaga [baby talk]. I don’t think that’s right.”

Beom Gye-wi flinched at Byeok Hwa-ryeong’s eerie gaze.

“By the way, have you been going to brothels that often?”

“Th, that’s…”

Cho Ahk-ryang and Han Seol-hwa shook their heads as they watched Beom Gye-wi stammering.

At that moment, Dan Ahk-seon, who had been listening silently, carefully opened his mouth.

“Am I… wrong?”

“It’s not that…”

Cho Ahk-ryang smiled awkwardly and looked at Dan Ahk-seon.

“It’s just a pity.”

Silence fell in the room for a moment.

Dan Ahk-seon’s expression also became gloomy in the depressing atmosphere.

But then.

Beom Gye-wi nodded as if he had made a big decision.

“Come to think of it, that Princess might be okay.”

“You said she looked weak and wasn’t your type?”

Beom Gye-wi glared at Cho Ahk-ryang fiercely.

“What’s the most pitiful ghost among ghosts?”

“What?”

“It’s the bachelor ghost. You don’t think we’re going to leave our Dan Physician as a pitiful bachelor ghost, do you?”

“…!”

Those words were decisive.

“Ahem.”

Cho Ahk-ryang, who cleared his throat softly, nodded to Dan Ahk-seon.

“Come to think of it, it might be okay to meet that Princess.”

“Excuse me? Suddenly?”

“At least that person won’t become your weakness.”

Cho Ahk-ryang continued to explain to Dan Ahk-seon, who was puzzled.

“If you were to meet someone now, that person would surely become a target of the Demonic Sect. Somewhere in your heart, there might be a concern that you are tacitly avoiding relationships.”

Dan Ahk-seon nodded unconsciously.

He felt like he was being drawn in, but their eloquence in desperately finding reasons made it difficult to escape.

‘It’s also true.’

Many people are in danger just because they are close to him, who is fighting the Demonic Sect. That’s why he hesitated to make new connections.

As Dan Ahk-seon couldn’t refute, Cho Ahk-ryang continued.

“The Princess is free from that. No matter how reckless the Demonic Sect is, they won’t be able to touch the Emperor’s blood relative.”

However, Dan Ahk-seon had a troubled expression.

“No matter what, feelings of liking don’t arise based on the other person’s conditions.”

“You’re right. But I’m just saying to meet her with a more comfortable mind. Don’t build a wall in advance.”

“Yeah. Dan Physician. Just meet her and kick her to the curb if she’s not the one!”

“It’s not about getting married or dating. It’s just about meeting her with an open mind. What we’re worried about is that you’re so caught up in the current situation that you’re closing off your own heart.”

At this point, Dan Ahk-seon had no other choice.

He knew that everyone was telling him these stories for his own good.

“I understand.”

No one stopped Dan Ahk-seon, who turned around with a somewhat exhausted expression.

After a while.

The people who remained exchanged glances as Dan Ahk-seon disappeared into the main building.

“If we let it pass this time, there might not be another chance until the Demonic Sect collapses?”

“Who knows when the Demonic Sect will collapse?”

“That’s why we need to make him feel curious about the opposite sex on this occasion.”

The three of them joined forces for the first time in a long time.

But there was a very big problem.

“Will Dan Physician even like the Princess?”

“A person who has eaten meat knows how to eat it well [idiom for someone who knows what they like]. How can we expect Dan Physician to know? If we leave him alone, he’ll probably just exchange greetings, ask each other how they’ve been, and that’ll be the end of it.”

Sighs of pity leaked out from everywhere.

“It’s truly heartbreaking. The Valley Lord is so busy caring for everyone here that he’s building a wall against the happiness he should be enjoying…”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Neung So-mil’s lament.

At that moment, Beom Gye-wi suddenly opened his mouth.

“What are you worrying about? Can’t we just make the Princess a charming woman so that Dan Physician will fall for her?”

“What? How do you mean?”

Beom Gye-wi grinned at Cho Ahk-ryang, who asked in surprise.

“We just make the Princess so attractive that Dan Physician will fall for her. Wouldn’t that solve it?”

“Is that as easy as it sounds?”

“What’s so difficult about it?”

With those words, Beom Gye-wi turned around.

Cho Ahk-ryang grabbed Beom Gye-wi.

“Where are you going?”

“I have somewhere to go for a while.”

Cho Ahk-ryang frowned, noticing Beom Gye-wi’s destination.

“Have you forgotten that we’re in training right now?”

“Ah, is training important right now? The new year is just around the corner, and he’s turning seventeen soon!”

Cho Ahk-ryang paused.

Beom Gye-wi shook off Cho Ahk-ryang’s hand with force and flew towards the entrance of the Divine Devil Valley.