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Chapter 61
The Terminally Ill Baby Doctor Doesn’t Hide That He’s a Genius
“Are you listening? I said I felt terrible.”
“Waaah! I-I didn’t—!”
I didn’t understand the reason either! But that rude tone! It’s exactly like Uncle!
“Let go of me, you!”
“You said you recalled the day you were born.”
“Recalled what?!”
“And just now… something else came to mind.”
I stopped, looking down as my father withdrew his hand.
Suddenly?
“What came to mind?”
“…An empty building.”
My father lightly pressed his temple and murmured.
“It was on the east side… You were standing alone.”
My father’s eyes darkened.
He had come to see me?
“I met your eyes.”
“Huh?”
Did that really happen? I frantically searched my memories.
No, it never happened.
“You met my eyes and I didn’t notice? I didn’t see it?”
“That’s probably it. You were hidden.”
Even more questions arose.
Then why didn’t he acknowledge it at the time? A purely innocent question.
“That’s not the main issue. That’s not all that came to mind.”
My father’s expression grew serious.
“Behind you… there were people targeting you. By all appearances, assassins.”
“Eek… targeting me?”
Likewise, while I was abandoned in the east wing, I had never seen an assassin.
‘Did he really see me? Maybe his memory is all mixed up.’
I became serious too.
“Then why….”
It was at this moment that someone shouted:
“Clear the way!”
The area in front of the clinic erupted in commotion.
We were talking near the door, so we could immediately see what was happening.
The crowd parted like the parting of the Red Sea.
Those who appeared were wearing familiar black attire.
‘…What, the warriors of the Black Family?’
In this district, those wearing black with gold and silver accents are none other than the Black Family.
That was the uniform of their warriors.
At the very front was someone I had seen once before in a previous cycle.
I could barely remember his name.
“Is this the so-called ‘Black-Piu Clinic’ that recently opened?”
…Damn, even the name is embarrassing. I was too lazy to change it, but I should’ve replaced the sign!
“That’s correct.”
I felt uneasy watching the Black Family warriors scrutinize the inside of the clinic with hawk-like eyes.
Our proxy, Jeok Yun-ha, had briefly left with two patients who had been poisoned.
Although my father had formally obtained permission and stepped outside, it didn’t look like he had good relations with the main building.
No good results were expected.
‘Ah, I recognize that face.’
“Stop! I said stop! Don’t step on it!”
“Regrettable? It’s inevitable.”
“…!”
“You should have made it a well-known clinic.”
That warrior was the one who had looked down on me in the second cycle.
In the Black Family hierarchy: doctor, pharmacist, warrior, then attendants and servants.
However, sometimes the hierarchy is reversed.
When competent warriors face incompetent doctors and pharmacists, this is what happens.
‘In my case, it wasn’t incompetence, just no backing.’
The moment I saw that face, I could roughly guess what was about to happen.
‘I expected this situation to happen at least once.’
The man at the front glared sharply at my father and me.
Then he took out a piece of paper and extended it.
“We are from the Black Family.”
A paper stamped with the family seal.
“There’s supposedly an imposter pretending to be from the Black Family here?”
The warrior’s gleaming eyes turned to me, a smirk flashing in his gaze.
“We are here to catch the imposter.”
He shouted boldly, as if for everyone to hear.
Of course, the crowd reacted.
‘Wow, how many times today are the spectators going to see some drama?’
I sneered inwardly.
If I weren’t the protagonist, I would’ve been munching popcorn and enjoying the show.
‘And they’re saying this in front of my father…’
I secretly curved the corner of my mouth.
‘A trap, huh?’
What else would it be, calling someone an imposter while standing in front of the actual Black Family?
There must be someone behind that warrior.
Good. Very good.
‘This is how the Black Family operates.’
I silently applauded.
Impressive, you damn fools!
The Black Family
A revered and noble family of healers in the city.
Beneath them operate countless doctors and pharmacists.
Outwardly, they appear clean, noble, and elegantly authoritative.
But in reality, the inside has long since decayed.
‘They were always supported by the charisma of absolute power.’
The strength of a doctor-pharmacist lies in overwhelmingly superior healing ability.
When they first arrived in the Western Continent, the then head of the Black Family, Heuk Ah-hwa, possessed superhuman abilities.
She could heal using water, and rumors even claimed she could bring the dead back to life.
When she appeared on the battlefield, there were no casualties or wounded.
Patients fully healed by Heuk Ah-hwa were captivated, following her like shadows.
Her brilliance still echoes in the Black Family to this day.
Rumor even has it that the guardian dragon of the Eastern Continent accompanied her.
But that’s not all.
She could also control wind and summon lightning.
‘A total overpowered genius.’
According to friends, in the original story, the heroine Heuk Ah-yan resembled this famous Heuk Ah-hwa.
Moreover, she was often regarded as her successor due to her extraordinary healing skills.
Anyway, back to the story.
After Heuk Ah-hwa settled in this land, the head of the family was always someone with tremendous charisma and healing ability.
This continued with the current head, Heuk Moran, but…
‘Ten years ago, when the emperor fell ill, they couldn’t cure him.’
Since then, the Black Family quietly declined.
However, they struggled behind the scenes to avoid showing weakness.
Above all, they were the lighthouse for Easterners living in the Western Continent.
If the Black Family’s influence waned, discrimination against Easterners could intensify across the continent.
And it did.
‘Hence, in the original story, the heroine had to work hard.’
A family rotting from within cannot self-correct until the heroine grows up.
What this means:
‘They don’t tolerate geniuses who aren’t sanctioned by them.’
Exactly what I had suffered.
By now, the Black Family had become a hotbed of politics and manipulation.
The overall skills of doctors and pharmacists had declined.
Moreover, no charismatic genius like the previous heads had appeared.
It was even said that the next head would be the one most skilled at politics.
“The Black Family doesn’t grant their surname to just anyone.”
In the second and third cycles, I had tried to open a clinic in this market.
And I had been crushed.
‘This person is not recognized by the Black Family! Imposter!’
After experiencing that twice or thrice, anyone would be foolish to try again.
In the third cycle, there weren’t competent warriors nearby, so I just left—but now it’s different.
“Why am I an imposter?”
I asked calmly, still held in my father’s arms, leaving the warriors flustered.
