Everyone has an ambition of power, and Kanghyok is no exception.

Back in modern Korea he sometimes dreamed of running for the National a.s.sembly elections.

'Mayor's suggestion is tempting.'

And there was a high possibility that his suggestion could come true.

But there were many pitfalls for him to accept right now.

Above all, Kanghyok, who lived as a free and liberal man, was not sure if he could adapt himself to the closed and narrow world of the royal court in Hanyang.

“Don't you feel up to it?” asked the mayor.

It seemed that the mayor already read his troubled mind.

With an uninvited smile, Kanghyok answered, “I really appreciate your generous offer very much, but I don't want to take it now.”

“Oh, I see. You can change your mind later.”

“Yes, mayor.”

“Just remember that I'm going to Hanyang as the minister of the government administration department.”

“Yes, master.”

And then the mayor kept drinking in a cheerful mood with Kanghyok.

“By the way, I hear Changkwon's daughter is staying at your house.”

Given the way that he asked with a sinister smile, he seemed to think Kanghyok had some romantic relations.h.i.+p with her.

As Kanghyok stayed with her all along from Ansung to Otan village, the mayor naturally came to form such a rational suspicion.

“Well, my father gave her a guest room, saying he felt uncomfortable about letting her stay at his late father's empty house.”

“Got it. Yea, I think she could be your good wife as Changkwon's daughter.”

Now, it was clear that the mayor misunderstood their relations.h.i.+p.

Kanghyok waved his hand strongly at that.

If he was destined to settle in Joseon, he would have to get married someday. But he didn't want it now.

“No, no, sir. My father has taken that measure because she is the daughter of his disciple.”

“Hahaha, I understand.”

At that moment his chief secretary Jungbok Lee came in cautiously.

“Daegam (Lord), I've got something to discuss with you.”

“Oh, no! Don't call me Daegam now!”

But the mayor made a hearty laugh as if he still liked the way Jungbok called him by the t.i.tle 'Lord,' which was usually reserved for a government minister.

But Jungbok firmly confirmed once again by saying,

“You have been already appointed as a government minister, so I can call you Daegam.”

“Haha. Not only you but also Kanghyok are too hasty to call me so.”

Kanghyok laughed loudly once again and said,

“Congratulations!”

Three of them giggle like that for a long time and then suddenly stopped.

“By the way, Kanghyok, I've got some business to do now.”

“Yes, mayor. Let me leave now.”

“Good. Don't worry about the medicinal herbs you mentioned.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Then he came out of the room and found Dolsok boasting of his fight with the j.a.panese recently to some soldiers in the yard.

“You must have seen that bag of my master's at that moment, right?”

“Of course.”

“Are you talking about that black bag?”

Kanghyok overheard Donsok's conversation with them.

Of course he knew Dolsok was exaggerating a bit, but he didn't care.

“I saw a j.a.panese raider knocked down when your master hit him with that bag.”

“So, what happened next?”

“Well, I stabbed him right away.”

“Oh, I see. That's great.”

Dolsok was so eloquently boasting that he didn't know Kanghyok was right beside him now.

“What are you doing now, Dolsok?”

“Ooops, master!”

Dolsok turned his head embarra.s.sedly as if he was caught watching adult s.e.x videos.

Other soldiers lowered their heads before him.

“Prince Paek!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Dr. Paek!”

Though they called him by different t.i.tles, they showed immense admiration of him.

Each of the soldiers showed him small and big scars on his body.

Some of them were treated by Dolsok, while others were cured by Kanghyok.

Dolsok ran to the stable as if he was ashamed of his exaggeration a moment ago.

Getting on a horse that he led, Kanghyok opened his mouth,

“Hey, Dolsok?”

“Yes, master.”

“So, did you have great fun when you lied to them?”

“What the heck? How could you say I lied?”

“Forget it, man. By the way, can you climb a mountain well?”

“What?” Dolsok asked back without knowing his own fate.

With a hearty laugh, Kanghyok pointed at the mountain in the back.

As it was quite wooded, n.o.body wanted to climb it.

“I mean, can you climb that mountain well?”

“Ugh… I used to in the past to cut firewood.”

Before he became Kanghyok's personal servant, Dolsok did lots of ch.o.r.es like other servants.

But not these days, of course.

“Good.”

“Are you going to climb a mountain, master?”

“Nope. I'm going. I have something to do, and I need to take a break, too.”

He already obtained the medicinal herb Choh, poisonous herb, without any difficulty.

As long as they could catch toads, Kanghyok could test them on animals.

He chose dogs as the target of animal testing.

Though it was a primitive testing method, there was no other choice.

“Am I climbing the mountain alone?”

“No, several soldiers here are joining you.”

“What?”

“Take them with you and catch toads, okay?”

From that day on, they began to hunt toads in the mountains.

And some of the dogs in the village disappeared sometimes, which spread the rumor that tigers ate them.

The toads as well as dogs they caught were piled up in Kanghyok's clinical office.

On that day as well, Dolsok asked again, “What are you going to do with these toads, master?”

“Wait a minute. Don't you see I'm busy now?”

“Why are you doing the surgery on toads?”

“I'm separating the poison sac from the toads”

Dolsok simply thought that catching toads was all he needed to do, but it was not.

Joon Huh specifically mentioned to Kanghyok about the use of toads.

Dolsok had to separate it with a knife everyday.

“Then, are all these toads…?

He pointed to the poison sacs of toads being dried out in the yard.

As there was quite a large catch of toads, the yard was filled with the dried poison sacs.

“Yes, all these are the poison sacs.”

“Do you want to kill somebody?”

“d.a.m.n it. Do you think doctors want to kill people, not save them?”

“Well, I just can't understand why you want to use poison sacs to save patients' lives, master.”

In fact, it was not strange that Dolsok showed such reaction.

Kanghyok felt it strange, too, when he first heard from Joon Huh about the use of toads' poison.

But he could understand it when he thought of its medicinal action.

'I may call it anesthesia before neurotoxin causes paralysis.'

Of course, it could be terrible.

“That's what I heard from doctor Joon Huh. And it's worth testing.”

“Then, I don't need to catch any more toads, right?”

“No, you can stop now.”

“Thanks, master. There is a rumor that tigers are appearing in the village.”

Of course, Kanghyok was aware of the origin of the rumor. He just smiled because he was responsible for the rumor anyway.

'Makbong did a great job!'

Thanks to the nice collaboration of Kanghyok and Makbong, Dolsok and the soldiers caught lots of dogs, too.

Kanghyok could collect dogs easily, while Makbong couldn't be happier because dogs didn't bark at him while he was moving around to please widows in the village at night.

“By the way, how come there are so many dogs in the clinic, master?”

“I was busy catching them while you're out to catch toads, Dolsok. Let me take one of the dogs anyway.”

“Are you going to kill a dog? Well, we might need dog meat soup for stamina as we had a hard time at the temple during the summer, master. Hahaha.”

Dolsok followed him with a cheerful laugh.

The s.p.a.cious yard was full of dogs.

“Hmmm. Let me take that one.”

Kanghyok pointed at a dog barking at him up front in the dog fence.

“Good. It looks like a delicious one.”

Though the dog was barking ferociously, Dolsok approached and took it by the neck quickly.

“Do you want me to kill it now?”

“Nope. Let me feed the dog first.”

“Killing it after feeding it? Oh my G.o.d…”

Dolsok took the big dog out to the yard, along with a side dish bowl with leftovers.

“Dolsok, mix this herb with the leftovers.”

“Feeding medicinal herbs? To increase your stamina?”

Doslok laughed merrily, thinking of delicious dog meat soup.

He seemed to have forgotten all the hards.h.i.+ps he experienced while catching toads.

But Dolsok's face became more and more gloomy.

For the medicinal herb Kanghyok put in the bowl was unusual.

“Didn't you say that's poison?”

“Yes.”

“If you give it to the dog, we can't eat it, master.”

“If you really want to enjoy dog meat soup, I can give you some.”

“Oh my G.o.d! You want to kill a loyal servant like me, master?”

“Wait a moment. I want to make anesthetic with this.”

By using a syringe, Kanghyok mixed with the dog food some poison powder of toads and Choh he brewed in advance.

“Can you feed it to the dog?”

“Do you think this dog can eat it? It looks like scared…”

“It should.”

“Huh? It's eating, master. Yes, this is a mutt.”

Obviously the dog must have been very hungry as it quickly emptied the bowl.

“It looks okay, master. Are you sure it's poison?”

“Yeah, it's strange. I put a certain amount of poison that could kill even a human being… Oh, look at that, Dolsok.”

“It's foaming at the mouth!”

Dolsok clicked his tongue with a sorry face.

In no time the dog that had poisoned food became still and died.

“Hmm… It looks like poison was too strong. Bury it, Dolsok.”

“Bury it?”

“Yeah, you should as this is part of our efforts to save people's lives.”

“Where should I bury it?”

“No idea. Just dig in the ground.”

“Now you want me to dig up the earth.”

With some grumbling Dolsok took an frame and a spade to carry it.

Looking at him, Kanghyok shouted in an annoying tone.

“Hey, hurry up! We can't spend too much time on this test.”

“Why is that, master?”

“Brother Soonsin asked me to come up to Seoul as soon as possible. I have to be there by next month.”

“Got it, master. Let me hurry it up.”