24 Guardian and Ainos the tribe of the fores (1/2)

He didn't seem to instill fear as he mildly scolded those around him. It seemed like he was warning them to not cause too much trouble. However, it could not stop the drunken young blood completely. After a while, one of the men walked to the fire and started roasting the meat and vegetables he had chosen.

He chose the apples and pineapples.

'Pineapples are really sweet when baked,' Joonbum thought as he watched the man bake the pineapple, humming with his red face. He seemed to feel good. The other men watched him enviously as he continued roasting with a pincer tool as if he was the owner. It seemed like they wanted to it try out for themselves also.

'I was lucky.'

He sure was lucky. Joonbum glanced at the hole with the thickness of his finger on the table. It was the spot where the arrow had suddenly pierced into it a few hours ago.

Joonbum remembered the moment he saw an arrow in front of him before realizing what had happened. His body was completely frozen with fear.

It was a fear that was completely different from when he fought the monsters. There was part of him that started introducing intense curiosity against the intruders.

Joonbum thought about the saying where man is an animal of curiosity and that people die because of it. It was the same mentality that could be seen in horror movies when the main character goes down to the basement and opens the door that should not be opened, or crawls into an abandoned house. It was human curiosity that opened Pandora's Box in the myth.

'Am I that kind of person?'

Joonbum thought for a second.

'Oh well...'

Joonbum was filled with confidence as he watched the remains left from the arrow. He suddenly emptied his glass of beer as he became proud of himself. He was getting drunk.

”Oh!”

”Wow!”

The dishes on the table were refreshed. The Ainos who started cooking by himself brought back cooked food and started to eat proudly. It seemed like he had figured out what to do by watching Joonbum as the meat was sprayed with pepper and salt. It was too salty, but he seemed to like it better that way.

Joonbum ate the baked pineapple which was even sweeter than before. The sweet taste filled his mouth.

The other Ainos slightly frowned upon the man's sudden behavior, but they began to enjoy the food again with laughter.

As the first came back successfully, the other Ainos joined in on the cooking by putting what they wanted to eat themselves. One liked mushrooms when another liked green onions. As they brought their food according to their tastes, Joonbum brought fresh strawberries and the lettuce from the refrigerator.

The Ainos watched as Joonbum wrapped the food with lettuce before eating it, and they started copying him.

'Hey, we don't need any talking.'

There was no need for conversation. From the moment they started eating, they exchanged emotions. Joonbum no longer felt threatened despite the fact that men were armed with weapons.

'Hope they don't turn to me and say, 'You'll be the last meat we eat today.' Or something of that sort.'

The wild imagination soon faded as he drank another beer. He was now filled with interest and curiosity about these people. It was a very pleasant meeting with these strangers. It might have been a similar experience to meeting someone when traveling to a foreign country. They were uninvited intruders to his solitary life, but it was pleasant. But it was almost time to end.

The party ended with the last remaining food vanishing into the mouth.

”Thank you for your hospitality. We will come back to pay the debt of saving my child when we finish dealing with our tribe's problems.”

Howen, the head of the Ainos, bowed and said something that Joonbum did not understand.

”Ah! Yes! Goodbye,” he answered as he realized that they were getting ready to leave. He didn't understand what Howen said, but he was able to get the gist of it.

'They're leaving.'

Joonbum suddenly felt lonely.He realized that he had been alone in both worlds. Although he always was proud of him living alone in the wild, it still felt lonely. It might have been the reason for all his endurance against danger and all the mindless labor.

As such, Joonbum welcomed the intruders who had even shot an arrow at him. It was sad to see them leave.

”Just a moment.”

The five men were stepping out the door and when they were stopped. Joonbum, who made a gesture to wait to the Ainos, dropped the cover near the table and pulled out items that were hidden underneath it.

”Is it salt?”

”Oh! It's salt!”

”Salt!”

”Pepper?”

”What is that?”

They were surprised at items Joonbum gave them.

'I knew it!'

They figured out the salt and pepper as they used it once while cooking. It was the sugar and chocolate box that they could not recognize.

”It's a sugar! Sugar! This is Choco Pie! Choco Pie!”

Joonbum took a small bowl of white powder and tasted it himself with his finger. The Ainos copied how Joonbum tasted the sugar and gave an astonished look.

Joonbum then pointed to the box containing the Choco Pies and gave them an opened one, demonstrating how to eat it.

”Wow!”

”It's really sweet and delicious. He was saying it was sugar. What would that be?”

”Chieftain, this black thing is really soft and sweet. It's filled with some white substance.”

”Ah! It's very sweet and delicious.”

Howen's looked embarrassed as his men grew excited childishly.

”Gift! It's a gift.”

Joonbum shouted after looking at Howen's face and gestured for him to take it. Howen thought for a moment but nodded to show thanks and left the fortress.

'Hope they felt my love from it?'