That same evening.
Taesu’s cell phone rang as he waited at the lodging.
Ttararan!
The caller was Hakuna’s representative.
Taesu had been waiting, so he answered right away and asked first.
“Has the dispatch location been decided?”
“We’ve selected one place, but there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“There are rather a lot of villagers for just the three of you to be dispatched. Roughly……”
Hakuna gave him the details.
Taesu’s expression, which had been relaxed at first, stiffened slightly.
“There really are a lot of them. And you’re saying the severity of the injuries is quite serious too?”
“Yes. Among ourselves, we’re cautiously expecting that there will be many surgeries.”
“Then the personnel…… Ah, we have them.”
Taesu thought of the right people.
Curious, Hakuna immediately asked.
“Who?”
“The Korean medical staff. The people who were recently added to Surgical Team 2.”
“Ah, on Dr. Schmidt’s side…… Yes. I remember.”
“I’ll ask them if they’re willing and contact you right away.”
Taesu asked for his understanding and ended the call.
Then he was about to call Yun Juseong.
Taesu, who had been moving his hand, tilted his head.
Because in that brief moment, a message had arrived.
When he saw the sender, a smile appeared on Taesu’s hardened face.
“Raku.”
He had said he would give an interim report, so it seemed to be that.
Taesu immediately checked the message.
- After arriving in Jammu, avoiding those people’s eyes and secretly……
Raku’s interim report had been written in detail.
In particular, since Jo Jeongmin and Bak Huinam had traveled with him, it seemed there were difficulties in proceeding secretly.
Even so, he said the merchants had made plans among themselves and were moving quietly.
Among all that, there was one part Taesu liked.
“They’ve already secured the cattle?”
The moment he said it out loud—
Sasak.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon suddenly appeared on either side of him.
“Is that true?”
“Really?”
It was sudden, but Taesu was used to it and answered without being startled.
“Yes. Apparently, the place they happened to be dealing with had some good-breed cattle.”
“If they have that many cows, it’s probably run by a foreigner or someone of mixed blood.”
“Really?”
“People of pure Indian origin don’t trade sacred cows commercially. Even if Jammu is a big city, it’s not exactly a scale locals would run either.”
For once, Kim Hyeokgwon offered some erudite information.
Taesu nodded and replied.
“Then we should leave the possibility open for people other than locals.”
“It doesn’t really matter to us, but just know that. I’m saying don’t go picking a fight with a cow and end up in trouble for no reason.”
“We’re not going to run into cows often, so it doesn’t matter. Then I’ll send a reply first.”
Tododok.
Taesu skillfully worked his phone, sending his thanks and asking him to keep up the hard work.
Now it was time to call Yun Juseong again.
But this time too, his phone rang first.
Ttararan!
The caller was Raku.
“Huh?”
“Well, looks like he has something to say directly.”
“Then Minsu, you call Dr. Yun for me.”
“Okay.”
Seuk.
Jeong Minsu immediately moved away and took out his phone.
Meanwhile, Taesu answered the call.
“Raku, you must be working hard.”
“Not at all. The budget is generous, so things are proceeding without much trouble.”
“Yes. I just checked and sent a reply.”
“I’m calling after receiving that. You wouldn’t be in surgery right now.”
Raku’s voice as he answered was a little subdued.
Taesu was concerned by that and asked.
“Is there perhaps a problem you couldn’t convey by message?”
“It’s not a purchasing problem, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Then?”
“I don’t think Dr. Choi said those things to me yesterday for nothing.”
Raku’s words were meaningful.
Without realizing it, Taesu instinctively glanced at Kim Hyeokgwon.
Meeting that gaze, Kim Hyeokgwon shrugged.
“Why me?”
“No. I hope it isn’t something I need to apologize to you for.”
“Something you’d need to apologize to me for? Don’t tell me you made another promise on your own…… No, well, Raku is a bit different. I’m suddenly getting tired.”
Scratch, scratch.
Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to be overcome with anxiety.
Taesu felt the same way.
With a face full of tension, he carefully called Raku again.
“Raku, is this about the matter I asked you to be careful with?”
“It is in that area. But although I don’t know much, I don’t think it’s serious enough for you to be that tense.”
“Since it’s come to this, just tell me plainly.”
Taesu simply let go.
It felt even stranger to sit there anxiously, fretting and tensing up for no reason.
When you let go, everything tends to become easier.
That was exactly how he felt right now.
Raku’s voice reached Taesu’s ears as he became detached.
“It was when I was at the lodging, writing the message to send to Dr. Choi.”
“Yes.”
“I got a call from one of my companions, and when I answered, he said they’d caught a cattle thief.”
At those words, the corners of Taesu’s eyes shot upward.
“Someone targeted our cows?”
“What bastard!”
Beside him, Kim Hyeokgwon flared up several times more fiercely.
Seuk.
Taesu first raised a hand to calm him down, then focused his ear on the phone.
Soon, Raku’s voice continued.
“I was shocked too, so I rushed downstairs in a panic. When I did, a farm owner named Bask was beating someone.”
“Bask? That name makes his nationality hard to place.”
“He’s of mixed European and Middle Eastern blood.”
“I see.”
Taesu nodded, realizing Kim Hyeokgwon’s prediction had been correct to some extent.
What mattered was what came next.
Raku seemed to think the same, as he returned to the topic.
“I approached and stopped him first. Then I looked at the cattle thief, and it was an employee who worked there.”
“An employee laid hands on a customer’s cattle?”
Taesu immediately showed doubt.
But Kim Hyeokgwon did not.
“Seriously, no matter where you go, why do people think someone else’s things are their own?”
His nuance suggested he had experienced similar things many times.
Considering the rough life Kim Hyeokgwon had lived, that could well be the case.
But Taesu did not agree blindly.
Was it really something similar?
For some reason, a chill ran down his spine.
At that moment, Raku’s voice continued.
“Bask said he was shaking with a sense of betrayal. Apparently, it was an employee who had worked diligently for about five years.”
“He had no problems for five years, and now a problem suddenly happens?”
“I thought it was strange too, so I asked more. According to Bask, recently he had asked for several months’ wages in advance. And then this happened.”
“A trusted employee suddenly needed a large sum of money. Where do you report gambling addiction around there?”
Taesu felt bitter, but he had more or less reached a conclusion.
It was something he had often heard about in Korea as well.
After saying it, Taesu himself felt something was a little odd.
‘That has nothing to do with medicine.’
Then there should have been no reason for them to be having this call right now.
The moment Taesu’s brow furrowed, Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been listening beside him, said a word.
“What kind of story is this now?”
It seemed he had reached a similar conclusion.
And Raku’s voice turned their guess into certainty.
“His daughter is sick.”
“His daughter…… is?”
“Yes. The child is five years old.”
The moment he heard her age, goosebumps rose all over Taesu.
Five years ago, five years old.
It matched in a strange way.
“That man……”
“His original name is too long, so I think it would be easier to call him Hanto.”
“Yes. That Mr. Hanto. Didn’t you say he’s worked there for five years?”
The moment Taesu asked the question—
Kim Hyeokgwon’s answer, full of speculation, came first.
“His wife probably didn’t pass away for some reason, then he spent every penny he had on her funeral, and then started working because he had to keep the kid alive.”
At the same time, Raku’s voice came through as well.
“Mr. Hanto suddenly lost his wife five years ago and……”
As the story continued, Taesu’s eyes gradually widened.
Hwik!
Taesu’s startled eyes immediately turned to Kim Hyeokgwon.
“Do you know him?”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard his name.”
“Then how did you get it exactly right?”
Taesu’s eyes even trembled as he asked.
But Kim Hyeokgwon was just as surprised.
“I guessed, and it was right?”
“Almost perfectly.”
“Wow. Ah! Ooh…… Damn.”
Kim Hyeokgwon looked dumbfounded at himself.
Then Raku’s voice called for Taesu.
“Dr. Choi.”
“I’m listening. So the child is sick?”
“Yes. And apparently, her symptoms are similar to those of the wife who passed away first.”
At those words, Taesu instantly thought of Elder An and An Hyeonguk from the Korean village.
‘Damn it.’
His chest ached for no reason.
Quickly pushing aside the bitter thought, Taesu let out a short breath and continued asking questions.
“Whew! So he took his daughter to the hospital and had her examined?”
“With the money he had saved, plus the money he had borrowed in advance.”
“I understand why Mr. Hanto is penniless. Did the results come out properly?”
Taesu had no interest in the money and focused on the illness.
As if in line with that thought, Raku’s answer came.
“They said it was hepatomegaly and cholelithiasis…… I wrote it down separately here.”
“Liver enlargement and gallstones?”
“I suppose they are surgical diagnoses after all. It reminds me of Sarubia clutching her stomach.”
Suddenly, Raku’s voice began to carry a wistful tone.
Taesu immediately understood what that meant.
However, there was a problem that made it a little ambiguous to accept easily.
“What’s certain is that she received a full examination at Jammu Hospital.”
“Yes. And what he needed was the surgery fee. I don’t want to forgive anything else either, but this kind of case is an exception, isn’t it?”
“I understand what you mean, but is the surgery fee the price of one cow?”
That was what Taesu was curious about.
If that was the case, he felt like simply throwing in one cow.
That would be the most efficient path for both sides to restore the patient’s health.
But Taesu’s expectations were quickly shattered.
Raku seemed to ask about the surgery cost again, as his reply came a little late.
“If we compare it to the price of cows, I think quite a lot of cows would be needed.”
“And yet with one cow…… He must have been hoping to plead somehow.”
“This man is crying right now.”
Raku was practically giving a live commentary on the man named Hanto.
The end of his voice trembled slightly too.
Taesu felt a sense of dissonance there.
He had long known that Raku was a warmhearted merchant.
Even so, when it was time to draw a line, he did so clearly.
There were times when that boundary collapsed, and most of them had to do with daughters.
‘Raku isn’t exactly within the normal range either.’
There was certainly some hidden circumstance.
It was not the time to ask about it right now, so Taesu focused on the main point.
“Raku, do you know why NGOs don’t go to big cities?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t known until now, and I won’t know in the future either.”
“It seems you do know. In a situation like that……”
Taesu was about to add more explanation.
But then Raku spoke in a voice full of resolve.
“Dr. Choi, I called because I intend to transfer that promise to this man.”
“Are you really all right with that?”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be calling you like this at this hour.”
“Honestly, if it’s only surgery for hepatomegaly and cholelithiasis, I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
Taesu was sincere.
Compared to Kang Songhui’s case, the difference stood out even more.
There was no way Raku, who was also dealing with the Korean village, wouldn’t know that.
Taesu’s promise would not end as a one-time thing, but even so, it was quite unexpected.
However, Raku’s answer was firm.
“My mind hasn’t changed.”
“Good. Then……”
Taesu was about to accept.