Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign

Chapter 66: The Good Do Not Come (2)

The man found himself at a loss for words.

Who was he?

In this region’s underworld, there wasn’t a soul who didn’t know his name.

Even those who strutted around the back alleys with a puffed-up neck would tuck their tails and flee if they heard the name "Black Bear" Jwa Geol, so infamous was his brutality.

In a world where most couldn't survive even three years, Jwa Geol had endured for over ten—wasn’t he the living proof of the underworld itself?

And yet, he was being treated like this?

Anyone who knew his name would have been shocked out of their wits.

‘What’s with this kid?’

There wasn’t anything particularly threatening.

To describe the feeling precisely, it wasn’t discomfort—more like he was being "irritated."

He was momentarily flustered upon seeing this person, who seemed like a patient but also somehow didn’t. It was absurd for him to feel any sense of tension toward some pale-faced boy.

Jwa Geol forced himself to ignore that brief moment of unease and opened his mouth.

“Who the hell are you?”

“...Wi Yeonho.”

And the boy clearly had no sense of fear.

Even grown men would freeze up at the sight of Jwa Geol’s massive frame, his bursting muscles, and the jagged scar across his face.

Yet this kid—was he blind? Or had he buried his liver somewhere and just walked around without it? He showed not a flicker of reaction even upon seeing Jwa Geol.

‘Is this one something special?’

A person who didn’t cower at appearances was either confident they could handle the violence hidden behind the façade—or completely unhinged.

“I don’t care who you are. Get out. This place isn’t the medical clan anymore.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

Wi Yeonho tilted his head.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Because it’s not the medical clan anymore!”

“That’s a shame.”

With those words, Wi Yeonho leaned his head back onto the pillow.

Watching this absurd scene unfold, Jwa Geol shouted in disbelief.

“You deaf, kid?! I said this place no longer accepts patients!”

“I’m not a patient.”

“Huh?”

Jwa Geol dumbly repeated.

“I said I’m not a patient.”

“Then what are you?”

“A guest.”

“...A guest?”

A guest?

As if a guest would come to this wrecked clinic.

Prosperous houses were always overrun with visitors, but in a failing one, guests were rarer than money.

So what guest?

And why would a so-called guest be sprawled out in a room meant for patients?

It made no sense at all.

“A guest, huh?”

Annoyed that his nap had been disturbed, Wi Yeonho’s face twitched.

The world was strange—never letting people rest in peace. No matter where you went, there was always someone who took offense at seeing another person lying down in peace.

“Mister, are you hard of hearing or something? I said I’m a guest.”

Wi Yeonho parroted back Jwa Geol’s own petty tone.

But the reaction was anything but mild.

“What did you say?!”

Furious at being talked back to by some punk, Jwa Geol roared loud enough to shake the thatched roof.

“Get up! You brat, I’ll fix that rotten attitude of yours today!”

When Jwa Geol barked like that, most people would flinch, hang their heads, or feel their knees buckle. His savage face and booming voice alone usually bent others to his will.

But the brat in front of him wasn’t most people.

“Do I really have to?”

“What?”

“Unless it’s something that has to be done outside, I think it can be handled in here. No need to go out and make a fuss. It’s cold and windy, you know.”

“......”

Jwa Geol was speechless.

Just what the hell was this kid?

Did he think Jwa Geol was making a suggestion?

“Fine then. Stay right there. I’m coming in!”

Jwa Geol stepped inside.

He figured he'd haul that cocky brat out, blanket and all, and slam him to the ground to blow off steam.

“Wait a moment.”

Jwa Geol instinctively froze.

“Too late to beg now, brat!”

“That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a person with a conscience, you know.”

Jwa Geol’s face went blank.

What was this kid trying to say now?

“For someone who mooches food and just lounges around, if I also leave the room dirty, people’d have every right to call me a bug, not a person. So if you don’t mind, could you at least take off your shoes before coming in? I’m worried the cleaning folks might have a hard time.”

“......”

Wi Yeonho was remarkably polite.

“Sorry if that upset you. But still, there are things people should uphold, right? Don’t you think?”

Jwa Geol began seriously reconsidering everything.

Was this brat really in his right mind?

If he were sane, he should’ve shown at least a little awareness. But everything he’d done so far was far too strange.

Come to think of it, the very idea of a “guest” in this rundown place was strange.

Not all patients had to be physically ill, after all.

With a mix of suspicion and dawning certainty, Jwa Geol asked in a voice halfway between doubt and belief:

“You… does your head hurt or something?”

Jwa Geol looked at Wi Yeonho with a pitying expression.

Physical illnesses could be treated somehow. But if the boy’s mind had already gone, then there might be no saving him.

And that suspicion steadily turned into conviction.

No wonder he’d thought it odd seeing a perfectly healthy kid lying around in a clinic...

“Nope.”

“…Poor kid.”

To Jwa Geol, Wi Yeonho's excuses no longer registered. After all, a crazy person never says they’re crazy.

So there was no need to listen to the nonsense of someone insane.

“I said I’m not!”

“Sure, sure.”

Jwa Geol nodded and slowly pulled back the foot he had halfway pushed into the room.

He prided himself on being a man without blood or tears, but even he didn’t want to get involved with lunatics. He had dealt with enough of them lunging with their tongues hanging out to know how troublesome they could be.

And thinking about how young the boy looked, it did make him feel a little sorry.

“Well, get your rest.”

“Huh?”

Creak.

Once the door closed, Wi Yeonho tilted his head.

What kind of situation was this?

“Did… did I just get pitied?”

A strange sense of futility washed over him.

“How should I put it…”

After squeezing out what little brainpower he had, Wi Yeonho reached a conclusion.

“He’s a kind man.”

He looked like someone who could eat a cow raw, but turned out to be surprisingly kindhearted. That’s why you couldn’t judge a person by appearance alone.

Wi Yeonho closed his eyes again.

Something sounded noisy, but that was Jin Soa’s problem. Even a three-year-old knew that meddling in someone else’s affairs only brought trouble.

Wi Yeonho sank once more into deep sleep.

He was curious, sure—but everything just felt too bothersome.

“What a strange brat.”

Shaking his head, Jwa Geol closed the door.

The boy was pitiful, sure, but that wasn’t something Jwa Geol needed to worry about.

He’d just kick everyone else out and leave that one behind. One brat lying there wasn’t going to revive the medical clan anyway.

And there was no way a lunatic like him had any money. A person with money wouldn’t come to a place like this to get treated.

Without hesitation, Jwa Geol swung open the door to the next room.

“We’re closed! Get out!”

Jin Soa rushed in upon seeing the commotion.

“H-How can you be so heartless!”

“What’s this rat-sized brat yapping at a grown man for? Move!”

“Urgh!”

Jwa Geol kicked without hesitation, and Jin Soa tumbled to the floor.

“T-The person in that room is in critical condition! What if they die because you threw them out!”

“Oh, someone so worried about others’ lives—why haven’t you paid back other people’s money, huh? Hey, brat! You think you’re the only one on the verge of death because of debt? Who are you to act all virtuous when you’ve skipped out on payment?”

“I said I’d pay! But what am I supposed to do if I don’t have the money right now?!”

“And I need to get paid, but you’ve got no money—so what do you expect me to do? Try to understand my side a little, won’t you?”

Jwa Geol grinned mockingly and resumed dragging patients out.

“Damn it!”

Jin Soa regained his composure.

‘Charging in won’t solve anything.’

Appealing to someone who came here with their mind made up wasn’t going to work. He had to find a calm and rational solution to resolve this mess.

‘A way…?’

Jin Soa looked at the room next to where Jwa Geol was yelling. Seeing the tightly closed door, he bolted inside without a word.

“Young hero Wi!”

Without hesitation, Jin Soa yanked off the blanket covering Wi Yeonho.

“Nngh.”

Deprived of his blanket—his spiritual partner—Wi Yeonho looked up at him with hollow eyes.

“Can’t a guy just get some sleep…”

“You think this is the time to be sleeping?!”

“And why wouldn’t it be?”

It wasn’t like the sky was falling or the ground collapsing.

“Don’t you hear all the chaos outside? That guy came into this room earlier too!”

Wi Yeonho yawned.

“So what?”

Jin Soa trembled in frustration.

Shouldn’t he at least show some concern given the uproar?

He was freeloading off their food, after all!

If the situation had come to this, then shouldn’t he at least try to help—if only enough to repay the meals he’d eaten?

“That thug is making a mess out there!”

“Thug?”

“Yes!”

“He seemed like a good guy…”

Wi Yeonho tilted his head.

He came off as a kind man, so why call him a thug?

“A good guy?”

Jin Soa couldn’t help but doubt whether they were even talking about the same person.

If Wi Yeonho was referring to Jwa Geol as a good person, then he had to be out of his mind.

If someone causing mayhem at a relief clinic could be called kind, then what was left to define as evil in this world?

Wi Yeonho didn’t strike him as a bleeding-heart idealist, so he really must have lost it.

Jin Soa stared into his eyes.

Unfortunately, from a medical perspective, there were no signs of madness or insanity.

“W-What part of him seemed like a good guy to you?”

Wi Yeonho tilted his head slightly and replied.

“He was worried about me. Seemed like a kind-hearted person…”

“Even while causing a ruckus like that?!”

“...He must have a reason.”

Jin Soa felt like tearing his hair out.

“What kind of reason?! What reason?!”

“Well, I should be asking that. What’s his deal anyway?”

Jin Soa flinched and finally spoke up.

“There’s some debt.”

“Debt?”

“My father left behind some unpaid loans. He’s here to collect the rest.”

“That so?”

“Yes.”

Wi Yeonho nodded slowly and then spoke. Once he knew the situation, everything was clear.

“You’re the one at fault, then.”

“What?”

“Why borrow someone’s money and not pay it back? That’s one of the filthiest things a person can do.”

Jin Soa foamed at the mouth.