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Chapter 21
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Lee Seon looked around.
“Now, it should be alright for me to join you, right?”
The escorts glanced at Yoo Yeong-mok.
Since he was the person in charge of this mission, bringing in a new member was also his decision.
Even if everyone agreed to Lee Seon joining them, if Yoo Yeong-mok opposed, it wouldn’t happen.
Yoo Yeong-mok, too, seemed to be considering it seriously.
Lee Seon had proven his skills.
However, that did not mean he was qualified to join them.
Being an excellent doctor did not necessarily make him an excellent escort.
“We need to move quickly. I’m sorry, but we can’t slow down. Are you still alright with that?”
Lee Seon accepted with a smile.
“No problem.”
Until now, whenever there was an injured person, they would leave the injured in a nearby village before continuing.
Now that they had a doctor to treat injuries, there would be no stragglers.
Moreover, since his abilities were already proven, it was an ideal situation.
From Yoo Yeong-mok’s perspective, he almost wanted to ask Lee Seon to join them.
“Then, there’s no reason not to accept you.”
Yoo Yeong-mok held out his hand.
“Looking forward to working together.”
Lee Seon took his hand without hesitation.
**
“…Didn’t you say you were a doctor?”
Yoo Yeong-mok was getting surprised by this young man before him again and again.
“I did.”
“Then why are you so skilled at climbing mountains?”
Lee Seon smiled silently.
After all, he’d grown up climbing mountains since he was young.
The mountain was practically his front yard and back yard.
For others, Hyeokmun Mountain might have been an insurmountable challenge, but to him, it was like a playground.
When it came to mountain climbing, he certainly didn’t fall behind the escorts.
“Oh, come to think of it, I have a question.”
As they travelled together, Lee Seon realized he had forgotten to ask something.
“Where is this mission heading?”
At that moment, Yoo Yeong-mok staggered slightly.
“You mean, you decided to follow us without even knowing that?”
Yoo Yeong-mok was baffled.
He had assumed that Lee Seon had insisted on joining because their destinations overlapped.
“We are headed to Shaanxi.”
Shaanxi.
Not too far from Sichuan.
Though it couldn’t be called close either.
“And where was your original destination?”
“Sichuan.”
Sichuan was a region known for its skilled doctors.
For a physician, it would be a place worth visiting at least once.
“Do you have business in Sichuan?”
“Not really business, but there’s someone I want to meet.”
Yoo Yeong-mok’s eyebrows twitched in curiosity.
“A person? Perhaps a lover?”
Lee Seon chuckled awkwardly.
“A friend. I just wanted to see them.”
A friend.
Yoo Yeong-mok nodded knowingly.
After the Yoo Family Escort Bureau’s influence had declined significantly, many of his friends had vanished quickly.
He had plenty to say about friendships.
“Friends are like that – they can disappear in an instant over the smallest things.”
“Is that so.”
Lee Seon responded, agreeing.
He knew it never ended well to interrupt an elder while they were speaking.
Yoo Yeong-mok raised his voice.
“Honestly, it’s almost as if there are no true friends in this world. Of course, once in a while, in rare instances, you might meet a truly good person, but that’s nearly impossible.”
At that point, Lee Seon showed a hint of curiosity.
“And what kind of person would you call a truly good friend?”
Without hesitation, Yoo Yeong-mok answered.
“Someone who empathizes with a friend’s pain. Someone who listens when their friend is in trouble. Someone who steps up to solve their friend’s problems.”
Lee Seon fell deep in thought.
One person came to mind.
The face of a girl with sharp eyes and green pupils, her gaze filled with determination.
“Then, what about someone who would risk their life for you? Would you consider that person a good friend?”
Yoo Yeong-mok clapped his hands together.
“Of course! That kind of person is indeed a good and admirable friend.”
Lee Seon chuckled.
Then, I guess I’m a lucky person.
“What about you? What do you think?”
Ga-jin, who had been listening to the conversation nearby, sighed.
“…Don’t talk to me.”
Since receiving medicine from Yoo Yeong-mok, her attitude had softened somewhat.
She still pouted and had a surly expression, but at least she wasn’t drawing her sword anymore. It was quite an improvement.
“Did the medicine not work well?”
“…What did you say?”
“I mean, isn’t it rather rude to be so hostile toward a doctor who’s traveling with permission from your leader?”
Ga-jin stared at Lee Seon with her mouth agape.
Yoo Yeong-mok smirked at the sight.
So, he’s not one to simply take things lying down.
For someone as prideful as Ga-jin, it was rare for her to be at a loss for words.
“The medicine… was effective.”
“Then, was there something other than the medicine you didn’t like?”
“……”
Ga-jin sharply turned her head away.
She clearly had no intention of saying anything more.
Yoo Yeong-mok nodded, impressed.
“Are all doctors as eloquent as you?”
But I only know one doctor.
It was a tricky question to answer lightly.
As Lee Seon pondered how to respond…
“Curse it! At this rate, I’m going to die!”
The procession came to a brief halt.
“Stop for a moment!”
Lee Seon stuck his head out to see what was happening.
The face of the guard moving a box was filled with anger.
With bloodshot eyes, he was cursing intensely, looking quite fierce.
He placed the box on the ground and sat down right where he was.
“That person looks really angry.”
Upon closer look, he seemed somewhat familiar.
It felt like he had exchanged a few words with him before.
At that time, he had seemed like a good person, even thanked Lee Seon for making his steps feel lighter.
But now, his face was as hostile as if he were a completely different person.
“I suppose it’s understandable for complaints to surface since the forced march continues.”
Yoo Yeong-mok sighed deeply.
Even on flat terrain, when traveling continuously, it’s natural to need breaks.
Although their steps felt a little lighter, it was merely a stopgap, and the fundamental issue was chronic fatigue.
“Is that really all there is to it?”
It felt like there was something more.
Even if one assumed it was just the forced march, a few guards seemed to be struggling exceptionally hard.
And all of them were, notably, positioned in the middle of the procession.
Lee Seon observed the state of the guard who had sat down.
Indeed, it seemed difficult for him to continue moving right away.
Whether due to mental or physical exhaustion, he looked uncharacteristically drained.
But given that not much time had passed since they left the clearing…
The rapid accumulation of fatigue seemed peculiar.
“In fact, there is something strange going on.”
“Something strange, you say?”
Yoo Yeong-mok hesitated for a moment, then spoke up.
“Other cargo is fine, but the guards carrying this particular cargo keep complaining of fatigue.”
Hmm.
Lee Seon’s eyebrow twitched.
“Are you saying it only happens with this cargo?”
Yoo Yeong-mok nodded.
“……”
It’s not a contagious disease.
There can’t be a disease that manifests specific symptoms only in those carrying certain cargo.
Nor is it poisoning.
If it were poisoning, he would likely have been the first to notice.
Then, there was only one possibility left.
‘I smell something.’
An odour strong enough to draw creatures from afar.
And, by now, it was not hard to guess the reason.
As the silence stretched on, Yoo Yeong-mok’s face grew darker.
“Do you not know either?”
Lee Seon finally spoke up.
“There is one guess that comes to mind.”
“Is that so?”
Yoo Yeong-mok’s face lit up.
“A guess is fine. Please share your thoughts.”
The fatigue accumulating among the guards assigned to carry this cargo was visible.
Merely rotating the guards wouldn’t resolve the issue.
At this rate, they might not be able to deliver the cargo by the agreed deadline.
That was something he absolutely had to prevent.
However, Lee Seon couldn’t readily speak out.
Although he had a suspicion, he wasn’t certain.
To confirm his guess, he would need more conclusive evidence.
“What kind of symptoms did those carrying the cargo show?”
“Symptoms… There was nothing unusual. Just extreme fatigue.”
That alone wasn’t enough to make a judgment.
“Would it be possible for me to carry the cargo, just once?”
Yoo Yeong-mok looked troubled.
“That would be difficult, due to the contract. As the head of the escort, adding you to the escort was within my discretion, but entrusting the cargo to another person is a different matter.”
“I assume you also can’t reveal what the cargo is?”
“Apologies. We, too, have no knowledge of what we are transporting.”
If they were transporting medicinal herbs, yet failed to manage them properly, could that still be considered a successful escort?
The answer was no.
Normally, it was the duty of the guards to manage the cargo based on its contents.
However, in this escort mission, they hadn’t been given any such information.
The client only wanted the cargo delivered to its destination in the shortest time possible, as quickly as possible.
It was unusual, but the amount they offered was too large to question it.
In the end, that very factor had come back to bite them.
It was frustrating for Yoo Yeong-mok as well.
A possible solution was within reach, but due to safety concerns, they couldn’t address the problem.
He clasped his head in frustration.
“I’d like to propose a suggestion.”
“As I said earlier, you carrying the cargo would be…”
“No, not me.”
Yoo Yeong-mok looked puzzled.
“Then who?”
It didn’t have to be him personally carrying the cargo.
The main point was that it should be handled by a member of the escort team.
Lee Seon pointed a finger towards someone.
“Huh?”
The person at the receiving end of his gesture let out a startled sound.
“Escort Ga, why don’t you take over the cargo temporarily?”
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