episode_0029

8. Aftercare (5)

After a night of confusing stories, a new morning begins again.

The sound of people coming and going and materials being moved from early in the morning.

And the heartbreaking voices of those searching for their lost families wake me from my sleep.

Yeonseo was still sleeping, breathing softly as if she was in dreamland.

In the meantime, I quickly headed to the sink to take a shower, washing away any remaining sleepiness and heading out the curtain.

Hyunseok was cooking.

‘You’re amazing from so early in the morning. You even cook. Are you a capable man?’

” Hello. Did you sleep well? ”

” Yeah, Hyunseok, you’ve been diligent since morning. Are you already making breakfast? ”

” Oh, it’s nothing. Since I woke up first anyway, I was just making enough for me to eat. If you want to eat it too, Charlotte, just tell me and I’ll make it right away. ”

” Then I’ll ask you something. ”

Hyunseok made a simple fried rice using the remaining ingredients with a hand movement that seemed familiar to him and served it to me.

” Oh! This looks delicious. Thank you! I’ll enjoy it! ”

” No problem ”

The fried rice he made was quite tasty.

Of course, no matter how bad it is, if you fry the ingredients and add rice, it can’t be tasteless, but for some reason, his fried rice tastes more delicious and I couldn’t help but smile.

After that, I decided to wash the dishes in return for the meal I got, and Hyunseok said it was okay, but shouldn’t he do this much?

” Oh, I’ll finish this and go to the gentlemen. I think I should tell them about the pill I told you about yesterday. ”

” I see. Then I’ll wait until Yeonseo wakes up, and once she wakes up, I’ll go help the others, so please take good care of Yeonseo even when I’m not around.

Yeonseo won’t be going out anyway. ”

” Yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be back, but leave it to me. ”

After that, I put on my new hoodie and shorts and quickly headed towards the men.

*****

The old men thought it would be in the ‘village hall’ (which everyone else called it, so I decided to call it that too) at the center of the settlement, and they passed by.

The surrounding atmosphere was quite dark.

Perhaps the cause was the heartbreaking crying heard since morning.

Most of them were people I had seen before in the shantytown.

Yesterday must have been hell for them. It must have been a shock to see the people around them suddenly change like that.

There wasn’t much time to grieve properly because the attack started right after that, but now that the situation has been resolved, there will be time to grieve.

As I slowly looked around with that thought in mind, I began to feel a sense of guilt for some reason.

Of course, I turned into a monster and took up the sword to protect them, but in a way… I killed those who were my ‘family’ until just now, right in front of my eyes.

They might be resenting me for moving like that without any emotional agitation, or they might be expressing gratitude, thinking that I saved them.

At that moment, I was standing still, clenching my hands in the front pockets of my hoodie, and imprinting the current scene in my mind again.

When I turned my head at the sound of ‘Sister!!’ next to me, Ara was waving her hand and approaching me.

Maybe that’s why some of the people around me started looking at me, and I lowered my head to their gaze.

I clearly thought that what I did was right, but maybe it was because my thoughts changed a little after talking to Hyunseok, but their gazes felt a little heavy, so I lowered my head.

” Sister! Did you sleep well? ”

” Oh, yeah. How about you? Are you feeling okay? ”

” I’m feeling great thanks to my sister recovering! Ah! My shoulder that Uncle Doosik helped me with is still a little sore haha. But why is your expression like that? ”

” Huh? Why is my expression like that? ”

” Hmm, he looks dark, like he’s committed a sin. ”

” Oh, no. I just looked around and felt sorry for those people because I couldn’t protect them properly. ”

At my words, Ara slapped me on the back and said:

” You too, unnie! Everyone is grateful to you! Rather, who would hate you for protecting them like that? So don’t worry and just run around with your back straight! ”

” Huh? Yeah. More importantly, why are you here? ”

” I was just helping other people when I saw you. Where are you? ”

” I was on my way to your dads, Mr. Hancheol and Mr. Dusik. You know the pills from yesterday? I think I need to talk to you about that. ”

At the mention of the pill, Ara covered her left wrist with her right hand, trying to hide her slightly trembling body from me.

” Sorry. I made you remember something bad. ”

” It’s okay. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now. In that case, let’s go together. I was planning on going back anyway. ”

Talking to Ara, I learned quite a bit about the Mokdong settlement.

Why it was built around the stadium, what each person does, and how it plans to expand in the future.

As we were talking like that, we arrived at an office where we could hear the voices of the old men.

*****

I knocked on the office door and went in, and a stranger was talking to some old men.

” Then we will take you. The damage must have been severe, but thank you for your cooperation. We will send you items for reconstruction as compensation. That’s all for now. ”

The man was wearing a fairly neat black suit and black sunglasses, even for this era.

Of course, I couldn’t talk to him any longer because he left right away, but the old men explained to me about him.

He is said to be a person belonging to the management department of the Blue House, as the old men said.

Currently, you can operate a radio or website through the device, but functions such as the ‘call function’ have not been unlocked yet, so it is said that if you post on a separate site, you will receive a quick response.

Anyway, it is said that he ran all night to bring Han Jin-oh, who might have some important information.

” So those guys are taking you now? ”

I said this as I watched them move outside the window, tying up Han Jin-oh and locking him in an iron cage, then pulling a cart.

” Yeah, sending them away quickly is good for them and for us. So what did Charlotte want to say? ”

Mr. Hancheol asked me while drinking warm tea, and Mr. Dusik sat on the sofa with an expression on his face that said he didn’t want to think about Han Jinoh and looked at me with Ara.

” Well, first of all, since there’s Ara, I think the story will be easier. First of all, when I went to save Ara. ”

So I showed the behavior of the guys I saw when I went to rescue Ara, and the pill that was placed in front of Ara.

I told the men about the strange events that had occurred in the settlement and the reason why they had become stronger during the raid.

Mr. Hancheol soon began to sigh, placing his right hand on his forehead, and Mr. Dusik began to tap his desk, stroking his rough beard as if he had heard some serious news.

Ara said that she felt a bit uneasy about staying there any longer because of what had happened back then, and then she left, saying that she would help the ladies.

” So I’m going to go to the Blue House and talk about this. But since I don’t have any connections with the people there, I’m thinking of going to the settlement where Yeonseo and Hyunseok live for now. ”

” Hmm, this is a pretty serious story, so I guess I can just go straight to the Blue House. ”

Mr. Doosik said that it would be better to head straight to the Blue House settlement, and that if he had known this would happen, he would have caught that management person earlier.

” But since I don’t know anyone, I don’t know if they’ll believe me, right? That’s why I tried to tell the Garam settlement where I have some connections. ”

” You don’t have to worry about that. Do you remember that guy named Yujiseong I told you about before? ”

Yu Ji-seong, wasn’t he the first to conquer the tower and is currently the highest ranking person in the Blue House settlement for his achievements?

“Yes, but why that person? ”

” Actually, I’m a little close with that guy. No, rather than close, he was a regular customer. ”

” Huh? What is that…? ”

” Ah, that guy Doosik used to be the owner of a chicken restaurant. It was a pretty successful restaurant. ”

” When are you talking about? Brother. Haha! Anyway, I’m close with him and we keep in touch sometimes, so I’ll let you know in advance… Charlotte..? ”

After listening to the old man’s story, I gradually began to remember where I had heard the name Yu Ji-seong.

” Oh! Yes. So you’re saying that you’ll contact me in advance so that I can make a time for us to talk? Okay. ”

” Yeah, I’m a little sad that you’re leaving, but the situation is so serious that I think it’s right for you to go. ”

” Oh, but I’ll be here for about a week. I heard you’re checking out the situation at the ‘Paris Park’ area, so I’ll go with you. ”

When Mr. Hancheol heard that we would be staying for about a week, his face lit up and he thanked us.

” If you do that, we’ll be grateful. First, we plan to expand the settlement area from the park to the mountain where the tower was.

There are quite a few buildings around, so it should be easy to get resources. Looking at the current situation, it doesn’t seem like the shantytown alone will work. ”

” Okay, I understand. Then I’ll go back. ”

” Okay, if you need anything, just let me know. ”

After that, Mr. Hancheol started working while looking at the documents on the desk, and I asked Mr. Dusik to spare some time, and we left the office together and headed to the break room.

*****

” So what do you have to say to me, Charlotte? ”

” I wanted to thank you for the comfortable rest. And I brought this because I thought you might need it. ”

I handed the man the photo I had in my pocket.

The old man who saw the photo gradually shed tears from his eyes.

” This… picture… yeah, this was it. Thank you. ”

” No, I’m sorry for giving us a place with such memories. ”

” It’s okay. I’ll continue to manage you anyway, so don’t feel sorry. ”

” Then that’s great. Then I’ll really go. ”

” Okay, take care. ”

Afterwards, I heard a ‘sob’ sound in the break room, so I quietly closed the door.

Leaving that behind, we left the village hall and headed towards the camper van.

*****

More importantly, it’s Yujiseong… I wondered where I heard it, and it turned out to be ‘hyung’s name’.

After spending so much time in another world, it seemed like I was gradually losing my memories of my family.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t remember their faces or names, but it’s just that most of the memories I had with them have disappeared, so it’s a little difficult to remember them.

Oh, but I remember that one. So I guess I remembered my brother’s name and thought of it first.

Yoo Ji-seong, my brother often bought chicken to eat.

What about the price of chicken? Is it cheap? If anything, it’s expensive.

But my brother was a ‘puppy baby’ who would always take money out of my wallet while I was sleeping and eat chicken by himself without me knowing.

‘If the Yoo Ji-seong you know is my older brother,

First of all, I’d feel better if I hit him right away when we meet! ‘