“And I need to standardize the measurements to our Medical Pavilion’s standard.”

Jin Cheon-hee stared at the documents before him, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Taxation required precise measurement of land area. Yet, in the current system, if one official’s stride was long, the tax burden lightened; if another’s stride was short, the tax increased. The inconsistency was a cancer upon fair administration.

“The answer is to use the same ruler and measure everyone equally. Yields are easy to manipulate, so this is the only way.”

He organized the data into charts, compiled statistics into graphs, and posted them on the wall for an at-a-glance view. Using this visualized data, he divided population production and income by region with ruthless efficiency.

Administration came first.

No matter how many new technologies were introduced, if the administrative framework did not support them, the wealthy would simply monopolize the benefits.

Master entrusting me with the Deputy Magistrate position must have meant for me to implement this kind of virtuous governance, Jin Cheon-hee mused. Surely he didn’t assign it just to stash his disciple away for a good two years. He must have given this huge task to impart a great lesson.

Thus, another few months passed in White Qilin Prefecture.

The changes were palpable.

“It’s become hard for government employees to pocket bribes now.”

“Isn’t it the same for officials like the Assistant Magistrate? They come running immediately now, so there’s no way around it.”

“Feels a bit too strict, maybe.”

While some constables grumbled about the loss of their illicit income, the voice of the people told a different story.

“Taxes were lowered? Does that make sense?”

“They say the taxes we paid didn’t go to the country but only fattened the bellies of the officials. Now that they measured properly and we paid tax… this seems enough to live on without trouble?”

“Oooooh! I must buy a wooden statue of the Pure Virtuous Mad Physician today and offer prayers!”

Public support began to soar. In some circles, a fervor combining gratitude with folk beliefs started gaining popularity.

“The Architecture Department! The Architecture Department under the White Qilin Medical Pavilion has arrived in White Qilin Prefecture!”

“Architecture Department? Aren’t they the civil engineering masters who built the Training City in a flash?!”

“Then will we get a Training City too?”

“I heard that’s not it.”

“What? Then why did the Young Divine Physician call the Architecture Department?”

“It’s One Light. He must have some mysterious plan… right?”

The Architecture Department had been created due to the strong insistence of General Manager Mu Wol as the White Qilin Medical Pavilion expanded. Numerous buildings within the Pavilion were the fruit of their labor.

“So, you want us to build public baths and a sewer system?” the head architect asked, looking over the blueprints.

“We have them in the Training City, so it shouldn’t be too difficult,” Jin Cheon-hee explained. “I reinforced the design a bit. Since volcanic ash is easy to get, let’s do the mortar properly this time.”

Greco-Roman concrete.

Implementing this in the Gangho itself might be considered madness. But who would know where he got the idea? He wasn’t some protagonist from a novel, broadcasting his secrets.

With that thought, Jin Cheon-hee issued his instructions one by one.

Looking at the terrain, he considered Roman aqueducts. Ah, construction will take too long, he decided. But using the hot spring terrain, public baths and sewers are certainly possible.

On top of this infrastructure, he mandated the distribution of soap and the implementation of cowpox vaccination.

Even if soap was manageable, transferring a cow’s disease to a human body to prevent smallpox was bound to face opposition from the traditionalists of the Central Plains.

“It is the order of the Young Divine Physician!”

“The Young Divine Physician said doing this ensures long life without illness!”

To his surprise, there was no resistance.

Was it because he had lowered taxes? Or perhaps because he had flogged the corrupt officials who ripped off the commoners, making an example of the first Assistant Magistrate? Or maybe it was simply because he treated the poor for free.

He had planned to call an official to persuade the populace if the mandate failed, but there was no need.

I-I see. Is this public sentiment…?!

While marveling at the blind trust, a darker thought crossed Jin Cheon-hee’s mind.

Is this why the Demonic Cult and Blood Immortal Cult gain power? Is it okay for these people to be so naive?

He was doing this burning with the ambition to make everyone healthy without exception, but was it truly safe for them to follow orders without a shred of suspicion?

When he voiced these concerns to Mu Wol, the General Manager merely tilted his head.

“Are you suggesting they disobey the Magistrate’s order?”

I see.

In a hierarchical pyramid society, obedience was the natural order.

“Mu Wol. I intend to retire soon.”

“Pardon?”

“Having laid this much foundation, I think I can entrust the Deputy Magistrate position to the most reliable Assistant Magistrate and just return to the Medical Pavilion.”

Mu Wol’s eyes widened slightly.

He had expected the Young Pavilion Master to be stuck here for two years, or at least a year and a half. Seeing him trying to leave already, wearing a refreshed expression, was startling.

Certainly, Jin Cheon-hee had accomplished three years’ worth of work for an average Magistrate in a fraction of the time. But the Pavilion Master probably expected to hold his disciple longer. Was this acceptable?

However, Jin Cheon-hee was efficient to the bone, a human who embodied the spirit of ‘Hurry-Hurry.’

“I finished the ledgers and reports to show Master. With this, just dropping by once before the next harvest should be enough.”

“I-I see.”

“Will you go up to the White Qilin Medical Pavilion headquarters with me, General Manager?”

Mu Wol’s hesitation was brief. He answered with lightning speed.

“I plan to go up slowly after organizing the work you left behind, Young Pavilion Master.”

“Understood, Mu Wol.”

Thus, the typhoon returned to the White Qilin Medical Pavilion headquarters.

***

“Young Master has returned?”

“Hey, Yoo Ho. You look well-fed while I was gone? Must be nice having less work.”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s cheeky greeting, Yoo Ho immediately locked him in a chokehold.

“Gag, aaack!“

Strangling Jin Cheon-hee, Yoo Ho spoke calmly.

“Recently, decent talents were sent to the White Qilin Medical Pavilion headquarters. I don’t know where you tricked those poor humans from, but thanks to them, the workload decreased by more than thirty percent.”

Jin Cheon-hee managed to push Yoo Ho’s arm away, gasping.

“Tricked them? You make me sound like an evil employer! I just brought some unemployed kids who couldn’t get jobs. And thanking me by strangling… Kueeeek!“

This damn Young Master.

Yoo Ho knew what Jin Cheon-hee had done in White Qilin Prefecture. He had to know. Not just because of the personnel draft, but because the stories flowing in were tremendous.

Why go this far?

Since this young man was a mere boy, even before he held a sword, Yoo Ho had watched him. Even to a non-human, it was obvious that something was strange about this child.

With hands half the size of Yoo Ho’s, he struggled to do something, struggled to learn something. Perhaps that observation came from the perspective of one who watched humanity from a step away.

“Did you want to be indispensable there too?”

“What?”

Jin Cheon-hee looked at him, his expression betraying that the words had cut close to the bone.

“Even if you don’t work harder, Master won’t abandon you, you know?”

“…What nonsense is that? Do you think I’m a child…”

“…….”

Silence hung between them for a moment.

Yoo Ho released his grip on Jin Cheon-hee.

After all, he was just a human, destined to perish before living a hundred years. Whether the Six-Horned Spirit Venomous Serpent’s prophecy existed or not didn’t matter.

All humans died. A tiny minority who didn’t die might Ascend. Cases like the Thieving Phantom were extremely rare, and the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric was already closer to beings like Yoo Ho than to humanity.

The Bloodborne Elder Eccentric had abandoned humanity, obsessed with truth—a madness only possible because she was human.

But ultimately, the human Jin Cheon-hee was a being different from the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric at the root. Born human, he would live less than a hundred years and disappear. Even if by some chance he saw the extreme of Martial Arts and Ascended, becoming a divine being meant discarding the human body, so that could not be seen as human.

Originally, Yoo Ho’s contract was to watch over the White Qilin Divine Physician’s short remaining life. But because of this boy, the contract period had extended at least two or three times.

Clinging like a leech, struggling to squeeze out even one more thing.

In the end, all humans went to the same place.

Suffering, agonizing, lacking, craving, filling, filling… then just aging and decaying.

This boy’s future was obvious too. Those who tried to do something so urgently usually had a hole in their chest, compelled to do something to fill it. Usually living in a moment and dying in a moment.

If he dies quickly, I’ll be comfortable.

Knowing this, stabbing at his sore spot was probably out of spite for the mountain of work this guy would bring in the future. In short, he stabbed because he was annoyed. No matter how strong a human looked, guys like this always had unexpected weaknesses.

“I’m leaving now.”

“Yoo Ho—ah-cha-cha—Yoo Ho! You have to go to the research building with me.”

“Ah, get lost. I’m assigned to another task now.”

Saying that, Yoo Ho strode away with long steps. Jin Cheon-hee thought about chasing him to the end and beating him up to make him come, but when he looked back, the fox was already gone. Probably went to meet the White Qilin Divine Physician.

Who said what… thinking I care about such things at my age.

Saying he wouldn’t be abandoned if he became indispensable? Didn’t the whole world know how much Master cherished his disciple?

Master acknowledges me enough even without struggling so hard. What nonsense.

He had saved Master’s life and contributed immensely to the White Qilin Medical Pavilion. He had compiled medical texts, raised people, and performed the tasks Master assigned well enough to be renowned in the Gangho.

Yoo Ho bastard. Physical attacks don’t work, so he’s trying to confuse me with mental attacks.

It couldn’t be helped. Since Yoo Ho was essentially a college student who couldn’t graduate, Jin Cheon-hee decided to be understanding.

Before seeing Master, I should bathe and purify myself.

Until now, Zhuge Rin had always come out to greet him at the entrance, so Jin Cheon-hee had only ever shown his shabby, travel-worn appearance. But now, his Master seemed busy. He could take this chance to bathe and change into fresh clothes before seeing him.

So, Jin Cheon-hee rushed to the grand bathhouse, scrubbed his body clean, and changed into his finest robes. Then, carrying a pile of gifts, he headed to the study.

“Master! I’m he… Huh?”

In the study, his Master was dozing with his chin resting on his hand.

It was a first.

Master dozing while working? Wasn’t he a person who always lived like a sharp blade?

Jin Cheon-hee walked on tiptoe, waiting for Zhuge Rin to wake. The mountain of bamboo strips and papers piled in front of the desk testified to the volume of work he was handling. The tea was completely dried up, indicating he had been working continuously without even time to wet his throat.

In that stillness where time seemed to stop, the disciple waited for the Master to wake from his nap. Dust motes dancing in the shafts of light were visible.

How much time has passed?

The Master’s large eyelids slowly opened.

And then.

Realizing something was beside him, Zhuge Rin reflexively grabbed the nearest object and swung.

It was a fan.

Infusing Wind Qi into the paper fan, he fired a blast of Hardened Qi instantly!

Uwaaak?! Master?

“…!”

Zhuge Rin opened his eyes wide in surprise, too. He had thought it was an assassin; seeing his disciple must have startled him even more.

Jin Cheon-hee used the profundities of the Divine Bow’s Elastic Shadow to deflect the Hardened Qi created by his Master’s fan.

Clang!

The problem was that what he held in his hands was the bundle of gifts for Master.

“Uwat!”

Slice!

He succeeded in changing the trajectory of the Hardened Qi, but the gift bundle was smashed to pieces.