Chapter 39: Infectious Diseases Together [4] Kanghyeok was in a very foul mood.
This was an age without even proper soap.
He had washed with water dozens of times, yet it still felt as though the smell clung to him.
Damn it all.
Sniffing at his hands, Kanghyeok shook his head.
The man who had caused the trouble was kneeling in the corner.
Kanghyeok had never told him to do that, but somehow it felt like that was what he ought to do.
No, looking at Kanghyeok's face, he felt he ought to prostrate himself fully to the ground.
The room was too cramped for that, though.
"So, satisfied now?"
"What? Yes. No, I'm sorry."
Kanghyeok glared at the man in displeasure, then turned his head away from the ugly sight of his bare legs.
What else could be done with trousers full of germs?
The man had insisted on washing and reusing them, but Kanghyeok had forcibly burned them.
"Fine. From now on, do your business in here. I'll give you this."
Kanghyeok set down a washbasin.
It was actually one he himself had used, so it was rather high quality.
In other words, it was never the sort of thing meant to hold excrement.
Goddamn it.
It was a waste of a good basin, but there was no helping it.
He hated cleaning up afterward even more than death itself.
The man who had caused the incident nodded readily.
After all, he had already relieved himself once in full, so he had no urge left.
"What, do it in here? There are women here too..."
The others, who could easily become the next offender, were full of discontent.
Of course, Kanghyeok had no intention of negotiating.
If one thought in terms of human rights, this was unacceptable, but he could not let them go outside and spread the virus either.
"For now, do it in here. People should be arriving soon... and once they do, things will be much better."
"People?"
"Yes. I sent word to the Busa. He should send soldiers."
"The Busa... my lord... huh."
At those words, the people who had been voicing complaints all lowered their heads.
The man before them was not merely some ordinary yangban. He was someone who could exchange word directly with the Busa.
They had no choice but to obey without complaint.
No matter how unfair the order felt.
"Anyway, that's how it is. As for medicine... for now, just take this."
The only medicines left for the mild cases were the antibiotic and the anti-inflammatory.
The Seonbang Hwalmyeong-eum had long since run out because the ingredients were so precious.
Even the relatively common Yanggyeok-san was nearly gone.
It was unfortunate.
The Seonbang Hwalmyeong-eum had worked better than expected.
Some of the patients in the storeroom already had their pus settling down.
That was too fast to credit entirely to the cowpox method.
It was a pity they lacked enough herbs to make more.
Makbong will do well enough.
No matter how slow he was on foot, he was still a member of a performance troupe.
He was probably walking steadily without rest.
He might even have arrived by now.
The red sun was already rising.
"Huff, huff."
Just as Kanghyeok had hoped, Makbong had not rested for even a moment.
Thanks to that, he managed to reach Kanghyeok's house around dawn.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
Seungmun asked with a face still hazy from sleep.
If this had not been someone sent by Kanghyeok, he likely would not even have granted him an audience.
Makbong's appearance was that extraordinary.
As instructed by Kanghyeok, he was still wearing gloves, a mask, and a surgical cap.
"This humble one is called Makbong."
"Makbong?"
"Uh... I serve the Young Master."
"That is true, madam."
Okseok confirmed his words.
He had seen him go about with Kanghyeok more than once.
Come to think of it, Seungmun also found the face somewhat familiar.
"Very well. Why have you come at this hour?"
"Well... the Young Master said smallpox..."
When would Makbong ever have stood before a proper yangban like Seungmun?
He had done nothing wrong, yet sweat poured from his hands.
He forgot all the words he had practiced along the way and only blurted out the important term.
It had an effect.
Just not in the direction he intended.
Seungmun came rushing down barefoot.
"What? Smallpox? Are you saying our Kanghyeok has caught it?"
"N-no. The Young Master, um... has immunity."
"What are you talking about?"
"He said if you get injected with cow pus, then something happens..."
"Injected with what?"
Seungmun glared at Makbong.
He did not look like a bad fellow, but he was clearly rather lacking.
It seemed if he started bickering with him, there would be no end to it.
"So then, why did Kanghyeok send you?"
"Ah."
Once the question became more specific, Makbong found it much easier to answer.
Still wearing the mask, he pulled out the paper Kanghyeok had given him.
It was a letter Kanghyeok had written with great care so it would not become contaminated.
"He asked for the herbs and people written here to be sent."
"Herbs and people?"
"Yes. The smallpox..."
Judging by how often he kept repeating the word smallpox, something serious really had happened.
"Are you saying smallpox has broken out where Kanghyeok is?"
"Yes, yes. That is exactly it, my lord."
Seungmun already knew that Kanghyeok had gone to the foot of Gwanggyosan.
It was not far, and that meant the smallpox might spread here before long.
Seungmun's expression darkened at once.
"That is grave. Okseok, we must prepare to go out."
"Yes, madam."
"We are going to the Busa. We will need the magistrate's help."
"Yes."
No matter how many servants Seungmun might command, they could not outnumber the Busa's soldiers.
And there was no comparison when it came to the quantity of medicinal herbs either.
At best, he had some licorice and perhaps a bit of deer antler received as gifts.
While Seungmun busily prepared, Makbong also busied himself.
"Ugh, cold."
Following Kanghyeok's instructions, Makbong went to a corner of the kitchen and scrubbed himself all over.
This was a man who usually took pride in his lice.
Watching the grime wash down onto the floor, he felt oddly regretful.
It even gave him the strange impression that his life was growing shorter.
Well, if it's the Young Master's order, there's no helping it...
Kanghyeok had said that if he did not do this, Suwon itself might descend into chaos.
"I was told to burn this too, right?"
Makbong threw all the clothes he had been wearing, as well as the gloves and everything else, into the hearth and burned them.
Then he changed into one of Dolseok's outfits that Kanghyeok had prepared.
Their builds were similar enough that it fit reasonably well.
"Where has that fool gone?"
By then, Seungmun had fully dressed in official attire and called out.
Makbong had no choice but to come running out, wet hair flying.
"Has this fool gone mad? What exactly have you been doing all this time?"
"Well... the Young Master told me to wash."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Come to think of it, Kanghyeok bathed almost every day.
He had even subtly pressured Seungmun to do the same.
"Well, honestly. Fine. Let us go first."
"Yes, my lord."
At Seungmun's word, a whole group of servants followed behind.
Okseok led the way holding the horse's reins.
After mounting his horse, Seungmun instructed the remaining servants,
"You lot take the licorice and rice and go to Kanghyeok."
"Yes, madam."
It was still deep night.
The curfew had not even been lifted yet.
Seungmun looked back at Makbong, whose hair was still dripping with water.
Come to think of it, how did this fool even manage to move around at night?
He would likely never know even in his dreams.
That Makbong's rather vulgar part-time work was now being used to save multiple lives.
Tilting his head, Seungmun then urged his horse on.
His status was far too high for him to waste time asking a commoner questions.
"Come, let us go."
Their group was so large that it quickly caught the attention of the patrol.
"H-halt!"
Seungmun paid no heed to the patrol's call and rode on.
His face flickered in and out of the dim torchlight.
"Ah? My lord?"
"Yes. I have urgent business with the Busa, so guide me there."
"Yes, yes!"
With patrol men now escorting them front and back, their bearing became imposing indeed.
Caught among them, Makbong felt a strangely odd sensation.
To be escorted by the patrol he normally spent his life avoiding.
"We have arrived, Daegam."
"Good. Announce me inside."
It was an extremely early hour.
No matter that Seungmun was older than Busa Kim Yungil, he could not simply barge in.
Fortunately, Kim Yungil was properly respectful toward his elders.
He soon appeared before Seungmun in hastily arranged clothes.
"No, Lord Baek. What brings you here at this hour?"
"Did you pass the night in peace?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, I slept soundly."
Though it also meant he had been woken up by him.
"You know Kanghyeok went to the foot of Gwanggyosan."
"Of course."
Only a few days ago he had even sent someone to fetch 'Viagra.'
At the time, nothing had seemed amiss.
"I hear that village has been struck by smallpox. He has sent word that he needs help."
"What? Smallpox?"
The Busa cried out in shock.
His reaction was inevitably stronger than Seungmun's.
This had happened within the territory under his authority.
If true, this was the sort of matter that would have to be reported upward immediately.
"That is right. It seems Kanghyeok made the diagnosis himself, so it is probably certain."
"Huh. This is grave. That won't do. I must go there myself."
"Here, these are the herbs he said he needs."
"Yes. I will order them prepared."
The Busa quickly put on his official robes and mounted a horse.
The reason he did not ride in his sedan chair as usual was that the matter was so urgent.
He aligned his horse beside Seungmun's and headed toward Gwanggyosan.
Behind them followed servants carrying bundles and soldiers.
There were also shamans in strange attire and a cow to be used as an offering.
A few members of the Aeogae troupe were mixed among them as well.
Seungmun shook his head, clearly displeased by the sight.
"Must those people really come too?"
"What can we do? At the very least, we must try to appease the Smallpox Deity."
"Do you think it truly has any effect?"
"It will help calm the people's hearts."
Smallpox was a calamity.
Even if the things people could do against it were limited.
Still, did those in authority not have to be seen doing something?
"That is true as well. I did not think far enough."
"I am only considering what must be done as a local magistrate."
Seungmun and the Busa rode on again.
Deng, deng, deng.
Only then did the bell lifting the curfew ring, and dawn itself was near.
"There, that is the village."
Makbong, now at the front, pointed toward the place with smoke rising from it.
"It is not all that small."
The Busa muttered darkly.
It looked like a village of at least two hundred households.
If the surrounding settlements were included, it might well exceed a thousand households.
"We must hurry."
"Y-yes!"
Makbong's stamina really was astonishing.
It was hard to believe he had walked all night.
As he quickened his pace, the whole group's speed rose with him.
There were so many of them that the ground itself seemed to rumble.
Thud-thud-thud.
The vibration soon reached all the way to where Kanghyeok was.
Since most of the group there were practically lying on the bare floor, the sensation felt even stronger.
"An earthquake?"
Kanghyeok, who had been dozing lightly, sat up in confusion.
Yeoni, who had been guarding the room in place of Dolseok, shook her head.
"No. Soldiers are coming in."
"Already?"
For a moment he wondered whether he had slept longer than planned, but that did not seem to be the case.
The morning dew had not even dried yet.
Since I'm awake anyway, I may as well finish the injections.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Kanghyeok opened his bag.
As expected, the syringes had refreshed.
"Now then..."
When he looked at the cow they had brought yesterday, pus was indeed flowing from it once again.
"Very good."
As he steadily filled the syringes with pus, Heo Jun approached.
"May I help now as well?"
His expression was so earnest that Kanghyeok felt he might cry if refused.
He really did remind him of that pediatrics professor.
Honestly. Was some ghost of a man who died from not seeing patients clinging to him?
Tilting his head, Kanghyeok thought for a moment.
It hasn't even been a full day since he was given the cowpox method...
Still, he had received it at least.
And he was very healthy.
Not to mention, he was wearing gloves, a mask, and a cap.
"All right. But you must never touch them with bare hands."
"Oh. Thank you. Then what shall I do?"
"Let's start by injecting the mild cases. And then..."
Just as he was about to continue, the brushwood gate burst open as though it would break apart.
Then the Busa and Seungmun rode in on horseback, bringing the soldiers and medicinal herbs Kanghyeok had been waiting for so desperately.
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