episode_0036

11. Seonyudo Settlement (3)

” Then, shall we start talking about work? ”

Ryu Jin-seong lowered his sunglasses slightly and his slightly excited voice lowered to a serious tone.

Although he was a little nervous about the sudden change, Hyunseok soon opened his mouth.

” You mean work? First of all, Wonkyung told me that you were planning to conquer the tower about a week ago. ”

Then he smiled brightly and said, ‘Oh really? ‘ and showed his cheerful demeanor again.

” Then the story will be faster. Did you hear about our settlement from Brother Hancheol? Our settlement doesn’t have many combat personnel. Rather, there are many special personnel related to daily life.

So, it was something that I started by persuading the small settlements nearby, but man~ this is really getting difficult! Hahahaha! ”

Hyun-seok smiled faintly at the sight of him laughing so hard that it was hard to tell if he was really in trouble or not, and continued talking.

” So you asked us for help? After hearing that the tower was cleared by just three people? ”

” Honestly, I can’t believe it, but Hancheol hyung wouldn’t lie. If it’s true, it’s a good thing. So, what I’m asking of you is for you to help me conquer the tower.

If only there was a problem… ”

” Are you talking about the ‘strange demon’ that suddenly appeared? ”

When I suddenly opened my mouth, Ryu Jinseong looked at me as if he was surprised and started whistling.

” Whee~ Is that girl over there the ‘Charlotte’ that got a lot of compliments? Yeah, that weird demon guy is a bit of a problem. Ever since he showed up, the harpy guys that wouldn’t leave their nests are coming all the way here. ”

‘ Hmm, what on earth were those old men talking about that made that guy get so many compliments… ‘

Feeling a little embarrassed by his words, I scratched my cheek and decided to get his answer on confidentiality before I started talking.

” First of all, this story is not one that should be widely spread yet. So I think you should keep it to yourself. Is that okay? ”

” Hoo, if you say so, you know something about that weird guy, right? Alright. I promise. I don’t want fear to spread among the people, since I’m leading the settlement anyway. ”

From my experience as an ‘Inquisitor’ in another world, I could tell that he was not lying, from the waves of magical power I saw, enhanced by divine power, along with his gaze, expression, and body movements.

So, accepting his promise, I got up from my seat and walked over to his desk, took out the steel feather I had picked up along with the pills contained in a glass case from my bosom, and showed it to him.

” A pill and a metal feather… so what do these two have to do with each other? ”

” Those who take this pill will have their physical abilities enhanced. They will be able to move their limbs even if they are amputated. Of course, those who take it will become infected, which was a big problem in the past.

But if an Awakened person eats it, they will become infected and gain new abilities. ”

” Really… Infected… Ha! That damn zombie monster? Shit… Wait? What did you just say? If an Awakened person eats it, they gain one more ability? ”

” Yes, but I don’t know if it’s just one more ability or multiple abilities. So we were going to head to the Blue House settlement, but we came here because we thought this place needed help too. ”

” Haa, if it was something like this, you wouldn’t have come… Rather than this, it’s more important to convey that story quickly, so why did you come here?! ”

Although he was grateful, he quickly realized the seriousness of the situation and asked with a bewildered expression why we had come here.

Clearly, this person is saying this because he knows that quickly conveying the story about this pill is more important in the future than helping his current settlement.

‘The issue of his own settlement must be important, but seeing him speak like that, it seems like he’s not a bad person.’

I pointed to the feather and told him why we came here.

” Do you know the story of the Mokdong settlement being attacked? ”

” I know. I heard it through my summons and also from Hancheol hyung. ”

Yeonseo began to focus on the story, her ears perking up as she listened to the summoner’s story.

” My ability is the ability to create summoned creatures made of water. Our settlement has weak combat power, but I am covering for it.

Since I’m also collecting information, I have a rough idea of how the surrounding settlements are doing. ”

” Really? Then you know the name of the raider. The outlaw group Falcon led by Han Jin-oh raided the Mokdong settlement and we took care of it.

That’s how we got this pill. After that, the management took him away, but they said it failed.

So I was checking out the place on my way here, and that’s where I found this feather. ”

When I finished talking, Ryu Jinseong rubbed his forehead with his hand and looked like he was waiting for what I would say next.

” That is, either Han Jin-oh ate the pills he had been secretly hiding, or someone who attacked him while he was being transported with the management team may have forced him to take the pills.

We’re not sure yet. Anyway, we think that the strange demon that suddenly appeared is Han Jin-oh who mutated after taking the pill. ”

” Haa, now I understand why the harpies were in such a mess, both when the management was attacked and when they found the feathers. ”

He sighed, quickly got up from his seat, and walked to the door.

” Okay, that’s enough talking for now. Come with me. I’ll tell you where you’ll be staying for the time being. ”

” Oh, that’s okay. ”

When Ryu Jin-seong tried to show us where we would stay, Hyun-seok quickly responded and instead started asking if there was a place to pitch a tent.

” A tent? Hey, no matter what, I can’t stand making guests stay in a place like that. ”

” No, that’s not it. It’s a special tent. It’s like an artifact you get as a reward from the top, so it’s pretty good. ”

Ryu Jin-seong shrugged his shoulders as if he understood what I said and kindly decided to show me where to pitch my tent.

” Oh, right. I’ll introduce you to the settlement while I’m guiding you anyway. It’ll be convenient to know where everything is as you stay. ”

” Thank you. ”

Yeonseo also came out of the office, following Ryu Jinseong and Hyeonseok, who were leading the way.

*****

” Okay! First of all, this is the greenhouse. We are preserving the plants that were previously incapable of overwintering, but since this is a world where people live, we are looking for seedlings that can be grown in the winter and planting them to keep them. ”

” Oh, are you a guest? Come in. ”

An old man with white hair who had been trimming vines from a distance approached us.

” Mr. Bin! Is there a problem with the greenhouse? ”

Ryu Jin-seong started introducing himself to us, smiling and putting his arm around his shoulder.

” This is Mr. Bean. Well, we call him ‘Uncle Bean’. You can just call him ‘Uncle Bean’ or ‘Uncle Bean’. ”

” My name is Vincent. I’m in charge of all the plant growing here. Come visit sometime. When things get tough, looking at the lush green garden and drinking some herbal tea that I’ve grown myself can really help you relax. ”

” Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte and this is Yeonseo and Hyunseok. ”

” Yes, please take care of it. Yes, sir. Now that I think about it, there seems to be a problem with the water supply system. Could you check it out with your summoned creature? ”

” No, is that it? Okay, I got it. I’ll check later. Then we’ll go somewhere else, so if anything happens, please let me know. ”

” Okay. See you later. ”

So, leaving Mr. Vincent behind to go trim the vines and trees again, I followed Ryu Jinseong to the next location.

I left the greenhouse and looked to the right, and saw children playing even though it was getting dark. I smiled slightly and watched them.

Ryu Jin-seong also explained with a smile.

” That place used to be Seonyudo Park. It’s called ‘Environmental Stream’, but it’s just a place for kids to play. You can play in the water or play in the sand next to it. ”

” It’s a pretty nice place. There’s a place where kids can play and laugh like that. ”

” Right? Actually, the reason I’m wearing this outfit is because there are a lot of kids in our settlement. In this world, there are a lot of kids who lost their parents, right?

I was an orphan too. So I feel bad about leaving those kids alone. So I started going around and bringing in kids, and this is what happened. ”

” I see. ”

I thought he was just someone with a strange hobby, but his eyes were overflowing with warm emotions as he watched the children.

My heart began to soften a little when I saw him caring for children in a world where it was difficult to protect oneself or make a living.

” Does Charlotte like kids too? ”

Suddenly, Hyunseok asked me something like that next to me. I looked at the children.

” Well, I feel at ease when I look at it. That’s why I like it. Because when you’re young, you can smile brightly without any worries. ”

” I see. Charlotte will be a good mother. ”

” What…what…?! What are you…suddenly saying! ”

Suddenly he asks me if I like kids and why I would be a good mother…

Of course…now I have a woman’s body that can have children.

Well… irony… that’s unexpected.

‘ But, if I have a child… that wouldn’t be so bad… ‘

While I was thinking like that, covering my face with both hands, Yeonseo came closer and started whispering in my ear.

” What do you think of Hyunseok’s child? ”

” That… That… I… Might not be pretty… No, wait, what are you talking about! So… Sir! Next! Let’s go next! ”

When I pushed Ryu Jin-seong and asked him to guide me to the next location, he smiled and said something like, “Young man!” and told me the next location.

After that, we saw quite a few places. There was a garden and an aquatic plant garden, so we could see flowers floating in a pond.

Next to it was a place called the Story Hall, where people lived, and next to it was a cafe building, where people would eat or rest in the remaining cafe space.

In the building where the cafe is, Oh Ha-neul, as Won-gyeong mentioned, is said to be working.

” Okay! And this is the last observatory. How is it? Is the view nice? The night view of the city from here was really pretty. Well, it’s still pretty now. ”

As he said, it must have been a really cool place to see back when the city was still alive.

Of course, the sight of the ruins blending in with the night sky still had quite an atmosphere.

” Oh, and if you go down here, there’s a grassy field, so you can camp there. There won’t be any settlement residents going that far, so it’ll be quiet. Then I’ll go investigate what Uncle Bean said. ”

” Yes, thank you for your guidance. I will visit the collection office again tomorrow. ”

After parting ways with him, we took a moment to admire the scenery from the observatory and also took a look at the Seonyudo settlement.

Although it was a small island, the appearance of the settlement, which blended in with the old atmosphere of the people who fought hard to survive, was different from the Mokdong settlement.

It is a settlement where the children’s voices may be noisy, as the saying goes, there are more children, but the sight of the garden and the greenhouse visible from afar make one feel at ease.

This time, I decided to hurry up and conquer the tower in order to protect this place and find out what happened in the place where the management was attacked, so I went to sleep with the night sky as my blanket.