Chapter 70

70 On a Grapevine Resembling the World Tree

Kim Nari, who had been making "hoo-eung" sounds with Mandragora, tilted her head.

"Can't I do it?"

"No, you can't. The goal is to put those Rootlets to sleep. If you join in and make 'hoo-eung' sounds, the Mandragoras' morale will increase even more."

"Ah, right. That's right. The goal was to put them to sleep. I forgot because it was fun spinning around with you, Mister."

Kim Nari turned around with a look of realization. The three Root Mandragoras were looking around with dignified faces.

-Hoo-eung!

The sound of them searching for their kin was also full of spirit.

But if you listened closely, their voices were a little hoarse, as if they were tired.

"Mister, the kids seem really tired."

"They probably are. They're not originally monsters with strong stamina."

Originally, they were monsters that spent most of the day sleeping underground.

Even when they came above ground, all they did was lie on the ground and enjoy sunbathing, being plant-based monsters.

There was no way they would feel good walking around for such a long time.

'This one is an exception, though.'

Cheon Dowoon looked at Dodak in his waist bag.

Dodak was already asleep with a comfortable expression. Other than not being underground, he wasn't much different from other Mandragoras in that he slept a lot.

"We need to put the ones in the vegetable patch to sleep somehow too."

Cheon Dowoon took out a moisturizing cream from his bag.

"Kim Nari, hold this."

"Okay."

Kim Nari opened the lid of the moisturizing cream and waited.

Meanwhile, Cheon Dowoon picked up the largest Mandragora.

-Hoo, hoo-eung?

The Mandragora that had had two Rootlets torn off by Cheon Dowoon at some point.

The Mandragora, lying face down on Cheon Dowoon's palm, was startled.

The memory of its stinging butt from the same situation flashed through its mind.

-Hoo, hoo-eung!

It wouldn't be fooled twice. It knew that you couldn't trust all adults.

There was no way it could lose its newly grown Rootlets.

The Mandragora quickly waved its Rootlets.

Whish, whish.

The defense was perfect. But it was anxious. The opponent was a much larger adult Mandragora than itself.

-Hoo, hoo-eung….

Its eyes, looking back at Cheon Dowoon, were trembling slightly.

"I feel a little sorry for it."

Was that incident such a shock?

Cheon Dowoon scooped up a generous amount of moisturizing cream with a sorry heart. He gently applied it to the Mandragora's back.

-Hoo, hoo-eung?

Root looked back with a surprised face. The dry roots, parched from wandering around on the ground, were soaked with moist moisture.

Ah, its body was melting. What on earth was this? The large Root collapsed on Cheon Dowoon's palm.

'Was this where I tore off the Rootlets before?'

When he put cream on that part and patted it, Root trembled. Its leaves fluttered.

-Hoo-eung, hoo-eung!

It feels so good. The Mandragora closed its eyes and enjoyed the massage.

"Good. The back is all done."

He turned it over and evenly applied moisturizing cream to the front as well.

After applying it to all the leaves and tapping them with his fingers, the Mandragora's mouth opened slightly.

Doro-rong… doro-rong.

The large Mandragora in the vegetable patch fell asleep with its mouth slightly open.

A moisturizing cream massage that came in the midst of fatigue. It was still too young to withstand that.

"Got one down."

Cheon Dowoon gently inserted the Mandragora into a hole in the vegetable patch. He gathered soil and covered it, and it fell asleep and didn't come out.

"Are there only two Roots left now?"

Cheon Dowoon looked back at the two small Mandragoras.

-Hoo-eung?

The Mandragoras with poor eyesight were standing behind Cheon Dowoon, unaware of the future that would befall them.

* * *

Lee Un-soo (Chairman) of the Hunter Association.

He was over 80 years old, but he was still working as an active member.

The reason that was possible was because Lee Un-soo (Chairman) was a C+ grade Awakened.

His aging started later than ordinary people, and he looked 20 years younger than his actual age.

"So, you're saying that the gag Spell cast on these 150 people can't be broken?"

Lee Un-soo (Chairman) asked, looking at the documents in front of him.

"It's as written in the report. The Mana Barrier covering the Spell Matrix is the same as the incident 57 years ago."

The gag Spell that had been engraved by some Alchemist 57 years ago.

Who cast it, what kind of gag it was, nothing had been revealed.

"As a result of several Awakened examining it, they say that the owner of the overlaid Mana is the same person. The quality of the Mana is the same."

Lee Un-soo (Chairman) was not surprised by the secretary's words.

There was no way there could be another person in the world who could handle such a vast amount of Mana. Then it was naturally the same person.

He simply nodded, as he had expected it to some extent.

"I guess we can't know who that person is?"

"Yes. It's highly likely that they're a Hunter who works freelance without registering with the association."

"Or maybe they're a Hunter who has already retired. If they're the same person as the one from 57 years ago, they must be from the old days."

Someone who had experienced the same era as himself. Maybe someone he had met before.

'No, that's thinking too far ahead.'

Lee Un-soo (Chairman) laughed at his own silly thought.

"Anyway. Impose sanctions on those 150 people and bring them to court. We still haven't caught the person who ordered them to do it?"

"Not yet. But there will be news soon."

"Be sure to catch them and make them receive a fair punishment."

"I understand."

"What about the whereabouts of the young Hunter who was used?"

The secretary shook his head.

"It seems they planned to take him away from the moment he came to measure his grade. They didn't even leave a record of the measurement. We're making inquiries, but… there are no reports at all."

"I see. I understand. You can go now."

The secretary bowed lightly and left. Lee Un-soo (Chairman), left alone, sighed softly.

In the circumstances, the death of the boy who was used was as good as confirmed.

'I was going to find his bereaved family and compensate them. But if there's this little information, that'll be difficult too.'

This was the fault of himself, the chairman of the association. Lee Un-soo (Chairman) closed the documents with a bitter face.

'Nameless child, I'm sorry. I hope your last journey wasn't painful….'

He quietly mourned Oh Bong-soo, who was alive and well.

* * *

At the same time, Cheon Dowoon wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down at the vegetable patch.

In that place, the Mandragoras who had been subjected to the moisturizing cream massage were neatly planted.

Buried in the ground, they seemed to be sound asleep, and a gentle snoring sound occasionally flowed out.

"Phew… good. I've taken care of all three of them with this."

Cheon Dowoon, who had put the Mandragoras in the vegetable patch to sleep, looked relieved.

He didn't know that putting children to sleep was such a difficult task.

"Let's see. Sasa is still sleeping."

He looked at a corner of the vegetable patch. Sasa was still asleep, as the molting had taken a toll on her stamina.

"Guu and the Chimeras are… over there."

There was a pit dug next to the log house.

Guu and the Chimeras were huddled together and sleeping in that place.

When the Yellow Ore barricade that had been piled up in the yard disappeared, they dug a pit and hid.

"It seems like they're adapting well."

There was nothing to worry about separately. Cheon Dowoon took one last look around the forest.

The forest area, facing winter, had already turned colorful with autumn foliage.

"It's autumn anyway. Should I pick some fruit for dessert?"

"Fruit?"

"It looks like it'll take Nam Ki-seok quite a while to finish cooking."

It would take time to make enough for over 30 Chimeras.

Cheon Dowoon, who had decided to get dessert in the meantime, slung an empty bag over his shoulder. Kim Nari, who saw this, quickly slung a bag over her back as well.

"I'll pick fruit too. Can I come with you?"

"Sure."

Cheon Dowoon stroked Kim Nari's head and entered the forest. Kim Nari looked around with an excited face and asked.

"But Mister, are there any edible fruits in the Demon Realm?"

"Almost none. Most of them are poisonous."

"Then what should we pick?"

"Red grapes. It's the only fruit known to be edible among Hunters. Now is the perfect time for them to ripen."

Cheon Dowoon said, walking along the sweet scent.

He himself didn't care if they were poisonous, but considering the Chimeras sleeping in the yard, he had to pick edible fruits.

"The thing to watch out for is that you can't eat these grapes right away either. They have a component that causes hallucinations."

"Hallucination poison?"

"Yeah. The reaction varies from person to person, but there are people who hallucinate just by smelling the sweet scent near the grapes."

Then how should they eat them? When Kim Nari looked up, Cheon Dowoon continued.

"You can eat them cooked. The poison disappears when you apply heat."

"Fruit that you cook?"

"That's right. Actually, it's more like you just apply a little heat to the outside. It's surprisingly delicious."

Kim Nari's eyes became expectant at the word delicious.

A faint human voice cut in between the two of them.

"Please save me… is anyone there?"

The voice of a young man who could still be called youthful. Kim Nari stared in the direction of the sound.

"Mister. There's someone there."

"I know."

"50 meters ahead. There's a person in the tree. A large pack of wolves below it. It's the direction we're going."

"Looks like it."

The two walked, exchanging friendly words.

When they pushed through the bushes, a huge tree that resembled the World Tree was revealed.

A young man was up in it. Below, as Kim Nari had said, dozens of wolves were surrounding the tree.

"A, a person…! Hey, over here! Please save me!"

The young Hunter waved his hand when he saw Cheon Dowoon.

Instead of answering, Cheon Dowoon looked at the tree he was standing on.

"That tree. You see the grapes growing?"

"Ooh. I see them. There are a lot. But the grapes are yellow and red. Which ones should we pick?"

"The red ones. Don't pick the yellow ones, they're not ripe. Don't get close to that person. He might be hallucinating."

You never know what someone like that might do. Kim Nari nodded at Cheon Dowoon's warning.

The two opened the bags they had brought and approached. The young Hunter was horrified by this and shouted.

"W, wait! It's dangerous if you come that close! Those wolves have more hidden around… uh?"

The Hunter's mouth dropped open at the situation in front of him.

The wolves that saw Cheon Dowoon were slowly backing away. They instinctively recognized the forest's territory owner and slinked away.

'Wh, what is that? What did I just see?'

While he was blankly staring, Cheon Dowoon and Kim Nari jumped up into the tree.

Standing on a thick branch, they began to pick grapes and put them in their bags.

"Th, there. Thank you for saving me…?"

You did save me, right? The young Hunter looked at Cheon Dowoon with a flustered face.

He was confused about what to say, as they were ignoring him and only picking grapes.

'Wait. Is it possible to meet people at such a good time in the Demon Realm?'

Moreover, the person he met was picking grapes out of the blue.

Demon Realm grapes were edible, but no one deliberately sought them out because of the risk of getting intoxicated by the hallucination poison.

Then what on earth were the people in front of him?

'Su, surely. Am I hallucinating because of the grape smell?'

If so, that meant that the wolves retreating was also his hallucination. The two people who appeared in front of him were all fake.

Once he had that thought, he began to see strange things.

'That person doesn't have any weapons.'

He wasn't wearing any weapons, let alone any armor, and was dressed in plain clothes.

That alone was bizarre, but a 7 or 8-year-old kid was picking grapes with him.

It was a hallucination after all. The young Hunter was frustrated.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized that the hope he had grasped was false.

Even though he knew it was a hallucination, he couldn't take his eyes off Cheon Dowoon. It looked so vivid that it didn't seem like a hallucination at all.

"Th, there. If you're a person, please answer me."

Was this what it meant to grasp at straws? He approached Cheon Dowoon even though he thought it was a hallucination.

"I'll be sure to repay you if you help me. It, it's hard to believe, but I'm the grandson of the Hunter Association chairman. I'll give you a generous reward, so…."

He reached out his hand to Cheon Dowoon. If it wasn't a hallucination, there would definitely be a tactile sensation.

The moment his hand was about to touch him, Dodak poked his head out of Cheon Dowoon's waist bag.

-Hoo-eung!

"Whoa! You scared me! Wh, what is that?"

The Hunter was startled by the moving Rootlets and stepped back. Dodak glared at the Hunter with fierce eyes.

You sly thing. How dare you try to touch my helper.

Dodak waved his Rootlets at the Hunter. It was a ferocious movement, as if he wouldn't allow him to approach.

"Wh, what… what is that…."

The Hunter looked at Dodak with a blank face.

A moving plant suddenly popped out of the bag. It was waving its Rootlets and doing a dance of unknown origin.

"Whoa! Mister, look at this. These grapes are really big."

"I know. The berries are really plump. Pack them carefully so they don't burst."

"Okay. Ooh, the berries on those grapes over there are really thick too. I'm going to pick those."

The remaining two were discussing how plump the Demon Realm grapes were.

The Hunter blankly stared for a while, then sat down on a thick branch.

"Hehe… hehehe. It was a hallucination after all."

Why was he seeing such a bizarre hallucination? He wanted to cry a little. He leaned his head against the tree trunk and sobbed.