Chapter 84 – Temple of the Dragon (5)

It was a cliché.

An ominous premonition flashed through Se-min’s mind.

The third race, the Trolls, was a wise race. The Troll in front of him was not an ordinary person, but likely a mad psycho doctor renowned even in Hesse. It was common knowledge in the industry that such characters had a eccentric personality, but their skills were guaranteed.

And Se-min himself was a Raider who came to another world with Earth’s fate on the line, and the Emperor.

He was in a position where it would not be strange to meet a tragic death due to a sudden illness just before the final war.

He wanted no part of a melodrama.

“I want to live a long life!”

Se-min shouted.

The Troll grinned.

“Yes. You want to live a long life. But I am no ordinary doctor. The treatment fee is no joke to begin with…”

“I am the Emperor. My people will pay the money. Please cure me!”

“Uhu-hu, yes, yes.”

The patient Troll, who was watching that sight, frowned.

“Shut up and quickly finish what you were doing.”

“Alright.”

The doctor Troll waved his hand while continuing to grin. Then the door closed by itself. The Troll’s voice was heard from inside.

“Wait out there. Hygiene is the life of surgical operations.”

Se-min’s companions looked at each other’s faces and shuddered.

“To slice open the stomach of a living compatriot, is he in his right mind?”

“We must flee. If we associate with guys like that, we will die.”

“Splitting the stomach open to kill, yet talking about hygiene?”

“But how is that Troll speaking so calmly even with his stomach split open?”

“Is it hypnosis?”

“Tsk, tsk. Fools who know nothing.”

Only Se-min, who had experienced modern medicine, admired the Troll’s high level, and at the same time trembled his legs, worrying about his health condition.

“I met a famous doctor of the Troll world. He’s Hua Tuo, Hua Tuo. Could it be that I have a disease I didn’t even know about? Did cancer cells grow because I suffered so much? Damn it, why is heaven giving me such a trial again?”

The other companions were not paying any mind to Se-min’s nonsense.

Se-min’s group spent time catching fish at the place where they had moored the canoes.

While Kubar was contemplating whether to light a fire, a noisy sound came from inside the house, indicating that the surgery was finished.

“I was indebted to you again today, Muraka.”

“From next time, I will double the price.”

“I will be careful.”

The doctor’s name was Muraka, as called earlier.

The patient Troll winked at the doctor, then simply nodded at Se-min’s group, and began to walk on the water.

“Oh.”

Although it was something Se-min could also do, seeing him walk on the water so calmly elicited an exclamation.

“But is it okay for a patient who just underwent open abdominal surgery to walk around so quickly?”

Se-min muttered. Perhaps hearing those words, Muraka raised one brow.

Se-min added.

“Is it okay, Muraka?”

Se-min used the secret technique of human relations once again.

Calling someone by name has the power to break down people’s guard and make them feel intimacy. Perhaps it worked, as Muraka’s expression softened.

“Do not treat me like any other quack. My wisdom is as deep as the sea, my sorcery reaches the sky, and my knife skills are as unwavering as the movement of heavenly bodies.”

“The movement of heavenly bodies!”

Se-min was impressed. At that, Muraka bragged and spoke.

“Right, what do you know about the universe?”

“The universe!”

Se-min came to trust Muraka even more.

Se-min was a master of Tai Chi Wisdom and the successor of Cosmic Flow. He harbored awe for the infinite mysteries of the universe that constituted the principles of the world.

Se-min nodded.

“Indeed, you were a great doctor. No, just calling you a doctor is insufficient. I met a divine physician today.”

“Indeed, you are a fellow chosen by the Imperial Throne. Seeing your eye for people, you must surely be the Emperor.”

They looked at each other and nodded contentedly.

“Come in.”

Muraka invited Se-min’s group to his house.

Unlike the house of a doctor who sliced open people’s stomachs, it was well-decorated.

Although there were a few bloodstains in the operating room, it was clean enough to make the fact that someone had just undergone abdominal surgery pale in comparison, and going further in, there was even a guest room for visitors.

Se-min sat beside Muraka and asked with a subtle expression.

“So about my body…”

“Ahem, your body…”

“Is it very bad?”

“It is a mess. Your body, Emperor, is like a time bomb that doesn’t know when it will explode. Although you are an unprecedentedly strong human, how could it be otherwise since you forced yourself to contain what cannot be contained? It is no different from a situation where cracks have formed here and there, and the joints have drifted apart.”

Se-min looked at Muraka.

As expected, he was extraordinary.

He was the Emperor. As he had heard repeatedly until his ears were calloused, the previous Emperors had gentle and righteous personalities, and were those with no connection to combat. Thus, although Se-min carried Lupus, almost no one recognized how strong he was.

Yet Muraka said in a single breath that he was strong, and even diagnosed his condition. Se-min was currently feeling that managing Cosmic Flow with his strength might have been premature lately.

Muraka continued.

“If you want to live a long life, do not use excessive power for the time being. Groveling flat on the ground is the secret to longevity.”

“I can’t do that…”

“Why?”

“I must kill Badurbarok. To do so, I must fight hard. I need that power to face that guy.”

“Won’t you show that power to me?”

Se-min stroked his chin, then nodded.

“I will show you just a small taste.”

Se-min, who had grown increasingly skilled in Cosmic Flow, became able to operate Cosmic Flow at a minute level without raising the output.

Se-min raised his index finger. Tai Chi Wisdom arose, and Cosmic Flow began to be manifested. As Se-min recited the formula of Cosmic Flow in his mind, a small but infinite microcosm slowly floated above his index finger.

It was a mysterious sight that even his companions watched with interest.

Watching the sparkling galaxy, Muraka nodded.

“I see.”

And Muraka stood up, rummaged around for something, and returned. He approached Se-min and had him spread his hands.

“Oh, are you giving me that panacea?”

Se-min spread both hands and held them out to Muraka.

Muraka struck something onto Se-min’s palms.

“Ugh!”

It was a cane.

Muraka began to strike Se-min’s palms.

Se-min stared at Muraka in bewilderment, but he continued to strike his palms with an expressionless face.

“Ah, is this perhaps a blood circulation prescription using acupressure?”

Se-min interpreted it as positively as possible, but Muraka shook his head.

“Emperor. You might be fine as an Emperor, but you are the worst patient.”

“Pardon?”

“I dislike guys like you very much, but since you are the Emperor and the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, I will prescribe medicine. But in the future, do not pretend to be an earnest patient in front of me. This is simply venting anger.”

Muraka struck Se-min’s palm hard again.

“Then wait.”

Muraka left the cane behind and went back inside.

Se-min couldn’t understand the meaning of his words, so he looked back at his companions.

“Did I make some mistake?”

Everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Se-min looked at Bi-ryu. It was a habit that had developed at some point. When something unknown arose, he looked at Bi-ryu. He felt that he would somehow know the answer.

“……”

Bi-ryu was harboring a vague smile.

“Your Majesty. Trolls always see the reality.”

“And?”

“The reason that Troll is doing that must be because he saw something in Your Majesty.”

Soon Muraka returned. He was holding a cubic wooden box.

Muraka handed it to Se-min.

“Great Restoration Pill?”

Se-min muttered. It had an appearance as if a refreshing energy would surge from within and a Murim’s Great Restoration Pill would appear.

But when he opened the wooden box, it was filled with things he had not expected at all.

“This is…”

“It’s called a pill.”

Of course he knew it well.

“But do not rely too much on this. If pain arises or if you feel difficulty using power, consume one then. This is also an expedient, so it can have a negative impact in the long term.”

“Where exactly is the problem with me?”

Se-min asked while holding the wooden box.

Muraka stared at Se-min quietly, then spoke.

“The ferryman’s words were not wrong.”

He mentioned the ferryman. It seemed the Trolls were in contact with each other.

“What do you plan to do after killing Badurbarok?”

It was the topic that had come up when they spent time on the shore before coming to Hesse. At that time, Se-min could not answer properly.

Se-min spoke.

“Well… I want to build a picturesque house on a green meadow and live with my beloved for about a hundred years.”

“Do not talk nonsense.”

“It’s the truth…”

“You try to pass it off casually, but you must feel it too. The reason your body is collapsing is because you have no will to live.”

Muraka stood up.

“Losing precious things to Badurbarok, the only force driving you must have been hatred. You probably haven’t even imagined the end of this fight. Since you yourself are the most keenly aware of how powerful Badurbarok is, you have no expectation of surviving. Since you do not mind life or death, your body is like dispersing itself.”

Se-min looked at Muraka. Muraka raised his index finger.

“Perhaps you wish to vanish into that vast flow of the universe you showed.”

Se-min tilted his head. He did not think of himself as such a pessimistic human. However, thinking about it quietly, his words seemed to be correct in a way.

Se-min had nothing more besides the goal of killing Badurbarok.

He was also thinking that it couldn’t be helped even if he died in the process.

“When the universe flows through your body, you must hold onto your soul with the will to live. Only then can you continue life.”

Se-min understood Muraka’s words.

Every time he used Cosmic Flow, the vast flow connected to his body. Se-min could not control them.

He vaguely felt that if left as it was, his body would be worn down by the torrent, and in the end, it might be completely swept away and dispersed by the flow.

Muraka was saying that only the will to live could block it.

“Thank you.”

Se-min expressed his gratitude. At that, Muraka shook his head in disapproval.

“Look. Since you agree so easily, it means you lack what is important.”

“I suppose so.”

Se-min smiled. He did not fully acknowledge Muraka’s words, but he did not deny them either.

He had absolutely no desire to die. However, if he clung to life while seeking to kill an existence like Badurbarok, wouldn’t he be unable to achieve his goal?

Sometimes, there were things that had to be achieved by any means necessary.

“I will take these medicines whenever they are needed.”

“Since you came all this way, I will do a health checkup. Enter the examination room in turn. Oh, as a side note.”

Muraka pointed at Bi-ryu.

“That guy does not need to enter.”

And the Troll went into the examination room connected to the guest room. The other companions tilted their heads, staring at Bi-ryu.

“Bi-ryu, you are amazing. Are you healthy to that extent?”

“As expected, a mage is a job with a sound body. Since warriors fight with blood splattering every day, how can their bodies be sound?”

“You have a healthy constitution that cannot even be compared to that Emperor fellow.”

“Indeed, they say dry firewood burns well…”

Bi-ryu shrugged his shoulders.

“Thank you.”

First, Shozen entered. As soon as he entered, the sound of him being scolded was heard.

Se-min looked down at the wooden box held in his hand, ruminating on Muraka’s words.

“Hey.”

Kaorak was standing beside him.

“Emperor. From what I see, Muraka’s words are not wrong. Pathetic human!”

“Are you also lacking the will to live? Do you want to die?”

“That doctor is a bookworm so he might not know, but I know the solution to your symptom.”

“I know it will be nonsense, but let’s hear it.”

“Tsk, tsk. Listen well.”

Kaorak whispered in Se-min’s ear.

“It’s love.”

Se-min snapped his ear away and stared at Kaorak. Kaorak continued speaking with a cackle.

“If you love, you want to live. Keep it in mind. That love is always the answer!”

Love.

Such a thing existed for Se-min too. A certain face and scene flashed over Se-min’s head.

Se-min was surprised by his own cheeky imagination and pushed Kaorak away.

“Cackle cackle, is there a woman you think of?”

“S-Shut up. Y-You too have never even dated once, and you discuss love?”

“Must one date to know the greatness of love? I couldn’t date, but I have loved. If so, let’s ask that friend.”

Shozen, who had just finished his examination, was coming out.

“If you are the Emperor, you must know well about your vassal. What is the number of datings for that Shozen fellow?”

“Ugh…”

It was an exercise of force.

However, since Se-min himself had a past of brandishing his sword and intimidating with force at a moment’s notice, he could not dare to neutralize Kaorak’s logic.

Se-min dropped his head and spoke.

“F-Fifteen times…”

“That fellow is a Casanova whose dating has never stopped since he became double-digit in age. Shozen, I ask you. What would this pathetic Emperor need to obtain that ridiculous thing called the will to live?”

The quick-witted Shozen immediately grasped the topic and offered his answer.

“It’s love, Your Majesty.”

Se-min shrugged his shoulders, avoiding Shozen’s serious gaze. Gullard also let out a chuckle and added his words.

“Not knowing love! Emperor, you have lived in vain. When you love, you can truly sacrifice your entire self. Since you do not know such a thing, you only show early symptoms of depression. Love. You will want to live more than anyone else.”

“You bastards. In my prime, women who liked me were…”

Se-min tried to protest in vain, but shut his mouth when past memories suddenly came to mind.

The face of the deceased, the last appearance of her whom he had personally burned away, overlapped on his eyelids.

So he just nodded.

“Right. I will…”

Muraka shouted from the examination room.

“Next! Come in! Wolf tribe greenhorn!”

Gullard opened his eyes wide.

“How did he know I was from the wolf tribe? As expected, Trolls are indeed different.”

Thinking this was his chance, Se-min smirked.

“Right. He pointed it out perfectly. The wolf tribe greenhorn, I mean, greenhorn.”

“Sigh, because he doesn’t know love, his heart is twisted like that.”

“……”

He couldn’t even break even.

Turning his head, Kubar was smiling with a subtle expression. This guy was the same.

Se-min looked last at Bi-ryu, his faithful friend who was always on his side.

“Bi-ryu. You, my heart…”

Bi-ryu looked away.

Kaorak spoke.

“You must not have heard yet. Bi-ryu is even worse than Shozen. That guy’s heroic tales are truly…”

“Damn it…”

Everyone was examined and came out in turn.

Muraka finished the examinations and lined them up.

“Everyone’s body is not sound because you couldn’t rest properly for a long time. There is nothing serious, but if left alone, trouble will occur. First, I will treat you in order of severity.”

Muraka spoke so and called Se-min. Everyone’s attention was focused.

Muraka scanned Se-min up and down with a serious expression.

“A defective fellow like this doesn’t matter if he just dies, but since you are the Emperor and the fate of the world is at stake, I will issue an additional prescription besides the medicine. You…”

“Me?”

Muraka spoke.

“Love.”

He spoke so and immediately turned around.

Se-min saw that the corners of Muraka’s mouth were raised. He had heard everything in the examination room. As Se-min groped the handle of Lupus, Muraka quickly moved away.

“Cackle cackle! Cackle!”

Kaorak clutched his stomach and cackled. Se-min kicked Kaorak, but he laughed even after being hit.

Muraka continued his prescriptions.

“Next is Shozen. Your knee joints are not good. The cartilage has worn away. It cannot be helped since you are a swordsman, but be more careful with your lower body when operating aura. Wait in the operating room for now.”

“S-Surgery?”

“Yes.”

Shozen hesitated, then turned his steps toward the operating room.

Next was Gullard. He was diagnosed with a shoulder issue. The explanation was that a rotator cuff tear was feared from swinging his sword at an excessive angle.

He too went to the operating room.

Kaorak was also said to have some issue, but Se-min couldn’t understand because the terminology was difficult. At any rate, Kaorak also went to the operating room.

Kubar was also headed to the operating room.

Everyone except Se-min and Bi-ryu went to the operating room.

Se-min looked at Muraka with a dubious expression.

“Excuse me, are you doing this properly?”

“Just watch. If it looks strange while watching, brandish that ignorant sword of yours. I don’t even have the martial power to block it.”

Se-min watched Muraka’s operation by his side.

He did not wear any particular surgical gown, only white gloves. As he chanted a spell, an unknown energy began to fill the operating room.

Se-min realized that his magic power was purifying the room.

He was truly a magic doctor.

Muraka then picked up a music box in the corner of the operating room and wound the spring to the end. Quiet music was played.

With a smile on his face, he swayed his body and sliced open the affected area.

It was incised in an instant.

Strictly speaking, it was not an incision. Only then did Se-min learn of his surgical method. When he placed the knife on the skin, the skin began to open by itself.

Shozen, the first surgery subject, was staring only at the ceiling in a state of tension, unaware that his interior had been exposed.

At Se-min’s expression, he rolled his eyes.

“Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. I am looking at your kneecap.”

“Pardon?”

Shozen tilted his head as if wondering what that meant. Although he said it was ticklish whenever Muraka fiddled with the inside of his knee, there seemed to be no pain.

Muraka carefully caressed the inside of the knee. Gradually, Shozen’s expression grew comfortable.

Soon, his surgery was finished.

“Next.”

Se-min watched Shozen’s knee, followed by Gullard’s shoulder, Kaorak’s heart, and Kubar’s intestines in turn.

“It is finished.”

As he finished the surgery and covered the affected area, the skin stuck together as if nothing had happened. There was no trace of the shape that had been open just a moment ago.

Everyone stood up immediately and stretched.

“This is incredibly refreshing.”

“My shoulder rotates well.”

“Somehow, my blood pressure feels stabilized.”

“It seems my digestion has improved. I can eat twice as much.”

They evaluated their physical conditions positively.

Muraka spoke.

“Life is made up of accumulated trivial things. Consider meeting me today to be heavenly luck. You will each survive a life-threatening crisis thanks to me.”

Se-min acknowledged those words. He had seen numerous people die. The end arrived without notice.

Because of a difference of a span, by a moment’s misalignment, and due to a lacking step, life and death were divided.

If they could foresee the future branching in various directions, they would surely be in greater danger in a future where they hadn’t met Muraka.

“Same to you.”

Muraka pointed his index finger at Se-min and spoke.

Se-min nodded.

The will to live.

It was an issue he himself hadn’t recognized. The determination to use even death as a means might have become poison to him.

“Since there will be many answers you must seek here, just depart.”

“Thank you.”

Se-min’s group expressed their gratitude.

Right before leaving his house, Se-min asked Muraka.

“How should we pay the treatment fee?”

“……”

Muraka stared at Se-min with an expressionless face.

About the time his gaze felt burdensome, Muraka turned around, entered his house, and spoke.

“The payment…”

“Yes.”

“I will receive it by you killing Badurbarok.”

The door closed.

Looking back, Se-min knew nothing about Muraka. All he knew was that he was a magic doctor with mysterious medical skills.

What kind of past did he have that made him suppress his anger like that while speaking Badurbarok’s name?

“That doctor also seems to have a grudge against Badurbarok.”

“Indeed.”

Se-min smiled.

“Even if we cannot persuade the sage, at least one person will stand with us.”

***

They paddled the canoes to advance through the lake again.

One more island appeared.

The house on that island was larger and taller than Muraka’s. In front of the house was a small cultivated field, where a Troll was tending to the crops.

“Has everyone arrived only now?”

He was the Troll who had undergone surgery by Muraka earlier. The one who had abdominal surgery was immediately doing field work. Muraka’s skill was great.

Se-min waved his hand in greeting.

“It seems everyone got their broken parts fixed. Although Muraka has a dirty personality, his skills are good.”

“That’s how it turned out. We wish to meet the sage. Could we perhaps know the way?”

“The sage…”

He patted his lower back and grinned.

“It is not difficult. Before that, since the sage can be seen at any time, won’t you chat for a bit on my island? Has everyone eaten?”

The Troll invited Se-min’s group. Se-min looked at each of his companions’ faces. No one had any particular objection.

Kubar, who was hungry, even urged the group with an expression that said let’s get off quickly.

They moored at the Troll’s island.

“Then, excuse us.”

Though it was simply another island within the island, the climate and the air of the land were different. Even the touch of the earth seemed disparate.

Se-min stepped and jumped lightly. He had a habit of grasping the environment so he could fight at any moment.

“The reason I invited you is none other than that I want to talk.”

“Talk?”

“I am curious about things like how you grew up, and what kind of things you experienced.”

“That’s not difficult.”

“Everyone wait here. I will bring the meal out. You all must be hungry.”

A large table was placed in front of his house.

The Troll went inside the house and brought various foods. They were not just meat, but dishes cooked with vegetables and crops in several ways.

Perhaps because their tastes were similar despite different races, everyone was satisfied with the flavor.

“Thank you for the hospitality.”

“It’s nothing.”

The Troll smiled. His name was Skara.

“Trolls welcome guests. Although the ferryman filters them moderately, anyone who wishes to seek the wisdom of the Trolls can visit Hesse Island. Do you know why?”

“Why is that?”

“A very long time ago, thanks to welcoming a guest, our race escaped a major crisis. We remember the lesson obtained then. Trolls do not forget anything easily.”

He spoke while offering more food to Se-min’s group.

“Looking at that guest makes me think of you.”

“Me?”

Se-min, who had his mouth full of food from eating proper dishes for the first time in a while, raised his eyes.

“Yes.”

“He must have been very handsome?”

“I don’t remember his appearance, but he wore clothes with a dragon drawn on them like you, and contained the principles of the universe in his sword. Come to think of it, they are truly similar.”

Se-min swallowed the food.

“Did he perhaps carry a wolf with him?”

“That’s right.”

Se-min looked at Kubar. Kubar also shrugged his shoulders.

It was similar to the legend of the dragon and the wolf heard from the Orcs. Even the part about the legendary figure resembling Se-min was the same.

At Kubar’s reaction, Skara burst into laughter. Skara seemed to know about the Orcs’ legends as well.

“There is a legend passed down among the Orcs. Yes, the legendary figure also saved us Trolls.”

“What kind of person was he?”

“If you ask that, how should I answer… I can explain it like this. This must be a fact even the Orcs didn’t know. Emperor, though I don’t know how you will receive it.”

Skara looked into Se-min’s eyes and continued.

“He was someone who came from another dimension, just like you.”