Chapter 147: The Japanese Commander Will Only Be Half Saved [1] "W-Wait a moment."
At Kanghyeok's and Dolseok's words, Sayaga quickly stepped forward.
Was Kuki Yoshitaka not originally from a pirate background? Moreover, he was one of the warriors who had made a name for himself during the Warring States period. Every man around him was extraordinary.
If things go wrong, they'll draw their swords. Though... they probably won't actually swing them.
He was, after all, one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's trusted men. This Joseon Tongsinsa mission had been dispatched at the request of Hideyoshi, the Kanpaku. So under normal circumstances, they would not do anything that harmed them.
Even so, it still won't be a pleasant experience.
Men born from piracy and hardened by brutal war. It was a mistake in itself to expect them to be normal human beings. There was no telling what they might do.
"Physician! Find a physician!"
While Sayaga tried to hold the party back, the uproar in the next room only grew worse. With a crash, the closed door was torn open, and several warriors rushed noisily outside. Then they snarled at everyone they met.
"Where's the physician?"
By common sense, there was no way a physician would be stationed in a gisaeng house. In that sense, the Kurushima Family were rather sensible people, and naturally had not kept one there.
"Th-there isn't one..."
A small female employee answered in terror.
At that, the warrior drew his sword and slashed without a moment's hesitation.
"There isn't? There isn't?"
Then he shouted furiously in all directions. That was not going to make a physician appear out of nowhere. What good was there in cutting down an employee just because there was no physician?
All it did was provoke one hot-blooded young woman from Joseon.
"You..."
The one gripping a sword hilt with an angry voice was, of course, not Yeoju, but Yeoni.
"Ah—"
Startled, Sayaga tried to stop her. No, he tried to. But his movements were nowhere near enough to stop Yeoni.
"That filthy bastard."
Yeoni slipped past Sayaga's hand as smoothly as water.
Even while that happened, the warrior prowled through the garden with a vicious expression.
"Where's the physician?"
The warrior's next target was the woman who had guided Kanghyeok to the room. The chances she had managed to fetch a physician in that short time were slim to none, and the chances the warrior's rotten temper had improved were equally slim. If this continued, another victim would obviously appear.
"I... I'll look for one."
She gave a somewhat better answer, but the warrior did not seem to care. His eyes had already gone wild. He swung his sword again just as before, but something blocked him.
Clang.
The one who flew in like a hawk was Yeoni. Ever since the masked wokou incident, she had not missed a single day of sword training. With her natural agility backed by effort, even a seasoned warrior found her difficult to handle.
The warrior was forced back helplessly and snarled with fury.
"What is this, you brat!"
At that, the samurai scattered all around came rushing in. There were not just a few of them. No matter how skilled Yeoni and Makbong were, it did not look like they could handle this.
"Oh no."
Sayaga, who had been watching the sudden turn of events in shock, let out a groan. It seemed best to quietly withdraw, but the water had already been spilled.
"Oh no."
Groaning again and again, he hurried into the yard. He had to put out the fire before things got worse.
"W-Wait!"
"What?"
The warrior who had first crossed blades with Yeoni snarled. Apparently, he did not recognize Sayaga. But the man standing behind him certainly did.
"Sayaga?"
"Ah, greetings, Lord Kuki Moritaka."
"What brings you here, when the lord should be busy welcoming the Tongsinsa? As his guard warrior, shouldn't you be with him?"
Kuki Moritaka was Kuki Yoshitaka's son, and he too was a fairly renowned warrior. Naturally, he was someone with considerable standing within that group. Once the grim-faced warriors saw him treat Sayaga with familiarity, they lowered their swords. Even so, the battlefield-like tension did not subside at all.
Feeling cold sweat creep down his spine, Sayaga slowly opened his mouth.
"I am escorting guests from Joseon."
"Guests? And the lord is not the one receiving them?"
Even while speaking, Moritaka glanced toward the room where he had been. It seemed he was no small amount worried about his father. Kanghyeok, whose habit was to observe people, did not miss the man's unease.
My Japanese is a bit rusty...
Still, it was enough to get by when traveling. That was thanks to the porn and games he had devoured in his youth.
"I am a physician who came to treat the lord."
At Kanghyeok's sudden voice, everyone in the courtyard turned to look at him. Most of them were holding swords, so it would have been natural to flinch, but Kanghyeok hardly cared. He merely focused on stringing together enough short Japanese phrases to complete the sentence.
"Someone seems to be sick. Do you need help?"
"A physician from Joseon?"
"That's right."
"Hm."
At the time, Japan was in an era where anything brought from across the sea was automatically considered good. And in truth, there was a real difference. Anyone comparing Japanese pottery to Joseon pottery before the Imjin War would understand immediately. So the words a physician from Joseon naturally made their eyes light up.
"My father has collapsed. Can you help him?"
Kuki Moritaka bowed his head no less. Even the warriors who had still been holding their swords looked shocked and hurriedly shoved them back into their scabbards. Then they all bowed in turn.
If Kanghyeok had not just seen them cut down an innocent woman moments earlier, it might have been a deeply moving sight. They were the kind of men who would do anything to save their lord's life.
But Kanghyeok secretly shook his head.
They're just lunatics.
To slash someone down without hesitation just because there was no physician.
With cold eyes, Kanghyeok looked down at the woman collapsed sideways on the ground. The swordsmanship had been so precise that she was already dead.
So these are the ones who'll soon come flooding in?
Just imagining it made his chest feel tight. They were on a completely different level from the wokou he had seen at Eotan-myeon. Those men had been savage and rough too, but compared to these, they were a disorganized rabble.
This feels like... almost all of them are masked wokou level.
When Kanghyeok only nodded to himself without answering, Kuki Moritaka bowed his head again.
"You will be rewarded well."
His attitude was respectful to the utmost, but the violence mixed into his tone was difficult to hide. If Kanghyeok refused, it was obvious they would become even more ferocious than they had already been. Now that even the samurai guarding the grounds had joined in after the garden fell silent, the number of samurai surrounding the party had easily passed twenty.
Unless Yeoni suddenly attained enlightenment and began casting sword aura, there was no way they could handle that number.
There's... no need to refuse.
Kanghyeok grinned as though he had just thought of something amusing. Then he nodded briskly.
"Alright. I'll take a look first."
"Thank you. This way."
Moritaka led Kanghyeok toward the room where he had originally been. The samurai also began returning to the places where they belonged. Because of that, not many followed all the way into the room. Even without a separate order, their chain of command flowed with natural smoothness.
Just watching it made goosebumps rise along Kanghyeok's arms.
Damn it.
They were qualitatively different from the soldiers he had seen in Suwon. Perhaps only Yi Il's elite captains could have moved like this. There was no small difference between men who had experienced war and those who had not.
I definitely can't just sit by and watch this.
Having made up his mind, Kanghyeok shouted before he had even looked at the patient.
"Dolseok!"
"Y-Yes? Yes, young master!"
As expected, the one who had never experienced war looked like that. Though part of it was simply because he had the guts of a mouse. Still, trembling that badly in front of the Japanese made Kanghyeok sigh inwardly.
Well, people are different. Nothing to be done about that...
When Kanghyeok stopped walking, Moritaka, who had been leading the way, turned around. His face plainly said, Why aren't you coming already? His fingers twitched again and again as though he were barely holding back from reaching for his sword.
Ignoring the movement, Kanghyeok continued speaking.
"You, go and bring me as much licorice root and Saposhnikovia root as you can find."
Licorice root and Saposhnikovia root were Dongpa's secret prescription. Was he not the very man who always made a huge fuss whenever that medicine was about to be used? So it was strange that he was suddenly asking for herbs he normally treated almost like a crime.
Because of that, Dolseok could not answer right away and only hesitated. He wondered if he had heard wrong.
Smack.
Of course, Kanghyeok had no interest whatsoever in Dolseok's inner conflict. He smacked the back of Dolseok's head, then shouted again.
"I said bring me all the licorice root and Saposhnikovia root you can find!"
"Uh... y-yes, yes."
"Bring everything there is!"
"Yes!"
At Kanghyeok's roar, Dolseok darted back the way they had come.
Naturally, Moritaka found it strange.
"What sort of medicinal herb is that, for you to ask like this?"
"You'll find out soon enough. For now, let's go see the patient first."
"Mm. He's this way..."
Moritaka pointed inside the room.
Inside, Yoshitaka was plainly visible, already lying there completely stripped of his clothes. Two women attending him were nervously rubbing his arms and legs. They had probably done it because they thought he would die if they did nothing, but it was actually rather appropriate first aid.
"You three, assist."
"Yes, young master."
At Kanghyeok's words, Yeoni, Yeoju, and Makbong moved at once in orderly fashion. The main assistant was Yeoni. She sat facing Kanghyeok and waited for his orders. As always, Makbong was in charge of the airway. He too waited for commands, holding the metal airway tube in his hand. Yeoju, as expected, was backup.
"Hmm."
Holding the stethoscope he had already drawn, Kanghyeok tilted his head.
The heart... is fine?
In fact, the moment he heard someone had suddenly collapsed, one diagnosis had immediately come to mind.
Acute Myocardial Infarction.
But the heart was beating just fine.
If that's the case, this is a bust...
Up until now, he had simply assumed he would be able to treat it. That was why he had been able to stay so bold even in front of drawn swords, but faced with an unexpected situation, he finally felt some tension.
Only then did Moritaka's hand playing with the sword hilt catch his eye. The other samurai also started coming into focus. None of them looked easy to deal with, but the one missing an eye was especially striking. That one, it seemed, would not care in the slightest whether Kanghyeok was a Joseon noble or not.
Is this how I get screwed?
After about one second of freezing, Yeoni tapped his arm.
"Young master, could it perhaps be a problem with the head?"
"Hm?"
"The pulse is fine... but there is no consciousness at all, so I think we ought to consider the head."
"Oh."
She truly had the skill worthy of being the main assistant out of the three. Kanghyeok quickly dragged back the reason that had drifted for a moment and picked up the penlight.
"Hm."
There was almost no pupillary reflex in the left pupil. Which meant something was wrong in the right hemisphere. Of course, there was also a slim possibility that the left eye itself or the optic nerve had been damaged, but that was very unlikely.
And I can't fix that anyway.
In a place like this, the best move was to go in based on a diagnosis he could actually do something about. Moreover, the papilledema visible in the sclera of both eyes suggested a problem in the brain.
Open him up first. Lower the intracranial pressure... then I'll look for the problem after that.
Having made up his mind, Kanghyeok called out in a much calmer voice than before.
"Yeoju, get the IV in, and prepare the narcotic injection. Makbong, intubate him. Yeoni... put on gloves. We're opening the head."
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