Sharti, standing in front of the entrance to the village surrounded by solid log walls, exchanged glances with Ren.
‘It will be fine.’
To show that there was no need to be afraid, Sharti took a step ahead of Ren.
Looking up at the village entrance from the fog-cleared mountain, it was majestic, but Sharti walked forward without any sign of shrinking back.
Although she could feel watching gazes, not a single person’s shadow was visible.
‘If they were going to drive me out, they would have thrown stones from the entrance like last time.’
Rather, the atmosphere seemed to be daring her to enter if she dared.
Sharti slowly entered the village.
“Master.”
Ren followed behind Sharti, deliberately using the title.
As Sharti had carefully instructed, Ren did not look around the village or roll his eyes.
‘It’s been a while since I felt this.’
Sharti swallowed dryly.
As the watchful gazes clung to her, she felt as if her robe had become heavier. It still seemed like hostility towards outsiders permeated the air.
At least with Ren behind her, she felt a sense of mission and stability that she wasn’t alone this time, making it quite bearable.
‘This must be difficult for Ren?’
It could be an overwhelming atmosphere for Ren, who was suffering from amnesia.
The atmosphere familiar to her would be stifling and intimidating for Ren.
Unable to contain her concern, Sharti glanced back.
“Why are you looking back?”
Ren seemed fine. Without any change in complexion, expression, or breathing, he was just calm.
He appeared unaffected by others’ gazes or the surrounding atmosphere.
Rather, he seemed stable and composed, as if familiar with it.
Thanks to that, Sharti also relaxed her tension.
“Teacher−.”
Before long, Ashu appeared in front of the two of them.
Not just Ashu, but several tough-looking villagers were also with him.
“I believed and waited. Thank you so, so much for coming.”
Ashu smiled brightly with smiling eyes.
Sharti and Ren each sensed the anxiety and welcome in Ashu’s eyes behind his glasses.
However, Sharti couldn’t immediately find the patient.
“……”
It was because of the white-haired old man with an intense presence standing behind Ashu.
The white-haired old man, who looked much older than Bireta, was emitting such a hostile aura that Ren felt the urge to reflexively block in front of Sharti.
While Ren was calming his muscles tensing with nervousness, Sharti looked at the old man without trembling.
“Grandfather, you must keep your promise. The teacher has come to our village as a doctor, so please don’t be rude like last time.”
Ashu turned to his grandfather and demanded confirmation.
The white-haired old man with a very long white beard that stood out was Ashu’s grandfather. The deep wrinkles indicated the years he had lived.
“……”
As advised by Sharti, Ren, who was not wearing bandages, slightly raised his head when he felt the old man’s gaze.
He was deliberately showing his bare face without any special measures.
He had to show an attitude that there was nothing to hide so they wouldn’t make an issue of his unexpected presence as an assistant.
“Teacher−.”
As expected, Ashu’s grandfather turned his gaze away from Ren and opened his mouth towards Sharti.
His weak, sunken voice came across surprisingly sharp.
“Have you come saying you can cure our village’s illness?”
Strong distrust and wariness were conveyed in just one sentence.
“If you can’t cure it, you won’t be able to leave this village. Even if you do cure it, you might have a reason not to leave the village.”
Ashu’s grandfather looked at Sharti while stroking his long beard.
“If you’re going to leave, now is the only time.”
Isn’t this a threat?
Ren’s lips twisted.
They were people who cared more about the village’s existence than the village’s patients.
“……Master.”
Ren softly called out to Sharti, who wasn’t saying anything.
He meant to leave right away, not caring what happened to this kind of village.
“……!”
However, Sharti answered by tightly grasping Ren’s hand.
Ren, who had taken a sharp breath, glanced at Sharti who was only staring straight ahead.
Strangely, his chest felt tingly from his solar plexus to his heart at her look that said it was okay, to just trust her.
While Ren was struggling with this unknown symptom, Sharti took out a note and handed it to Ashu.
“Th-they’re over there!”
Ashu, who had been fidgeting worried that Sharti might leave right away if offended, brightened up and stepped forward.
The white-haired old man’s white eyebrows twitched.
“You’re staying?”
Sharti straightened her back and nodded.
“There are often foolish people who believe their meddling is goodwill. Do as you please.”
With those final words, Ashu’s grandfather turned back, supported by the villagers.
Ren clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched the old man walk away.
Aren’t they more twisted in their humanity than he had expected, than what Sharti had told him?
It was behavior beyond rudeness, showing a lack of basic decency towards someone who had come a long way to save people’s lives.
“Teacher, I apologize on their behalf.”
Ashu carefully spoke while watching Sharti’s reaction.
“I convinced my father, but my grandfather is very strict about village rules……”
To Ren, Ashu’s excuse sounded pitiful.
Ren wanted to sarcastically ask if rules were more important than people’s lives, but he suppressed his temper because Sharti was holding his hand.
Sharti shook the note again, seemingly unaffected as the reaction was exactly as she had expected.
Ashu hurriedly guided them to the patients afflicted by the disease.
“Yes. We suspected it might be an infectious disease. Of course, seeing that isolation hasn’t helped, it doesn’t seem to be contagious.”
Ashu explained that even residents who had no contact with the patients and hadn’t interacted with others for a while were collapsing.
He added that there still hadn’t been any deaths.
“So my grandfather and the village elders say not to make a fuss, that it might be an illness that time will naturally resolve……”
“It’s quite pitiable to see them trying not to empathize with others’ pain.”
Unable to hold back, Ren harshly criticized in a mutter.
Sharti, who was also feeling dismayed, didn’t particularly stop him.
‘What’s so important about the village’s secret.’
Their stubbornness in insisting on overcoming it somehow on their own without seeking outside help was selfish to the point of being grotesquely cruel.
“Is this village’s doctor still in hiding?”
At Ren’s question, Ashu glanced at Sharti and then shook his head.
His face showed he was barely swallowing his complicated feelings.
“……It’s over there.”
“……”
Putting aside her questions about this village’s doctor for now, Sharti looked at the several huts Ashu pointed to.
Sharti took out a cloth from her bag and handed it to Ren. Following the two of them, Ashu also covered his nose and mouth on his own.
“I’ve brought the doctor.”
Ashu briefly introduced as he opened the door and entered.
Sharti skipped greetings and quickly examined the patients.
“Ugh, ugh…… uhuk……”
“Ah, ugh……, urgh……”
As Ashu had described, blue fluorescent spots were spread all over the bodies of the patients who were moaning without being able to open their eyes.
Ashu, who had been standing back, approached with an anxious face.
“……Teacher, do you know the name of the disease?”
“Please don’t speak while the Master is treating.”
Ren immediately blocked Ashu’s view by standing in front of him.
As a flustered Ashu apologized and stepped back, Sharti slipped her hand into her bag.
Buzz−. The ore inside the bag was vibrating strongly.
The ore that had been constantly vibrating since arriving at the village was now reacting most intensely.
‘……I found it.’
Besides the ore, Sharti also discovered one commonality among the patients.
It was the sense of discomfort she had felt when treating Ren in the cave.
‘Hmm…….’
Having roughly guessed the cause of the disease, Sharti fell into contemplation.
The treatment method was unexpectedly simple.
The problem was that convincing them for treatment would be difficult.
‘What to do.’
Sharti’s downcast eyes scanned the patients one by one.
‘They won’t die right away, but they’ll eventually die if we drag this out.’
After checking the patients’ pulses, Sharti swallowed a sigh.
They were just barely holding on by burning their life force for now.
‘They’ll probably argue about how to believe me and start a war of words. No, will they try to shut me up before that?’
The scene that would unfold as soon as she revealed her medical opinion as a doctor was vividly imagined.
The threat made by Ashu’s grandfather wasn’t particularly worrying.
She was only concerned about missing the timing while wasting time on useless arguments.
‘But I came here to save people, not to sit helplessly doing nothing.’
Once she made her decision, what she needed to do became clear.
Sharti gestured to Ashu.
“Teacher, perhaps……”
A glimmer of expectation flickered in Ashu’s cautious eyes.
Sharti shook her head for now.
Ashu was a good person.
He sincerely worried about the villagers and prioritized others’ pain over secrets.
But separate from that, Ashu was the eldest son of the village chief.
While it would be reassuring if Ashu lent his strength, it was equally cautious.
“I understand. Temporary lodgings and meals are prepared for you, Teacher. I’ll guide you when you want.”
Perhaps because he trusted Sharti, a small hope nestled in his clear face.
Ashu bowed and left the log cabin so as not to interfere with the treatment.
“I’ll bring anything you need.”
As soon as Ashu left, Ren immediately spoke to her.
While doing so, he tactfully stood with his back to the windows and door. Pretending to point at the bed where a patient was lying, Ren discreetly held up three fingers.
It was a prearranged hand signal with Ren.
‘Three people watching.’
As Sharti pretended her shoulder was stiff and tapped it, Ren immediately brought a chair without a backrest.
Sharti naturally sat with her back to Ren. Thanks to this, the watchful gazes were still blocked by Ren.
“Don’t overdo it on the first day, Master.”
His stiff tone conveyed his current feelings.
To put it plainly, it meant he didn’t like their attitude from the first day.
“I believe in you, Master.”
It meant he found their distrust of Sharti very irritating.
“You are all that matters to me.”
It meant he wouldn’t hold back if they crossed the line.
Sharti smiled softly, feeling incredibly reassured by Ren’s firm attitude.
Thanks to that, her tension eased.
“I’ll massage your shoulders.”
Glancing at Sharti’s note, Ren carefully placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Please tell me if it hurts.”
Even though he could have just pretended, Ren diligently massaged her shoulders.
Thanks to that, her shoulder muscles that she hadn’t been able to relax gradually loosened under his firm touch.
‘Mmmm…….’
Although she needed to continue the written conversation, it was hard to focus as she felt herself melting from head to toe from Ren’s massage.
Ren was feeling that as well.
Ren put even more effort into the massage.
“Ugh, ugh……”
“……!”
Then, hearing the groans of the surrounding patients, Sharti quickly grabbed hold of her senses.
Ahem, feeling embarrassed, Sharti continued the written conversation.
“I’m not sure if you’ll like my skills.”
It meant he doubted he could figure anything out with his observational skills.
It was a self-doubting response from someone who couldn’t even distinguish between medicinal herbs and weeds.
“I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.”
Ren finished massaging Sharti and received the ore while pretending to kneel in front of her and bow.
“Then I’ll go check where you’ll be staying, following that person from earlier.”
Using Ashu as a good excuse, Ren left the log cabin.
Watching Ren’s retreating back, Sharti wrinkled her nose and rubbed her cheek.
With Ren away from her side, embarrassment belatedly washed over her.
‘What’s the use of all that practice.’
It was no easy task to be called “Master” by Ren and be waited on so attentively in a real situation.
It also made her ears tingle strangely that Ren was using formal speech instead of casual speech.
‘Somehow Ren seems not just skilled but enjoying it.’
Although Ren deliberately maintained an expressionless face to avoid showing any gaps to Ashu and the villagers, Sharti saw Ren’s composure that flashed in moments.
The composure shown only in front of Sharti was like a signal allowed only to her.
‘……A signal that I’m not alone.’
Sharti clenched her fist as she stood up.
‘I can do this well.’
Because Ren was here. Because she was with Ren.
As her heart settled, she became certain.
Her crimson eyes flashed brightly.
And that night, Sharti called for Ashu.
Ashu’s face went blank.
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
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