Chapter 71 (2/2)
”Is it good?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Yeah!”
She grinned brightly and continued to bite into the bread. He found her so adorable and couldn't help but smile. She quickly polished the bread off, then her eyes sparkled even more at the sight of the dried meat.
He handed it over to her, and the widest smile imaginable formed on her face as if she just got a present from Santa Claus.
”Thank you.”
”There, there. Ah, right. Do you want to eat this, too?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu pushed forward a fruit to the boy, but the kid hesitated briefly before shaking his head.
”….No, I'm fine….”
”You can take it. You bravely stepped forward to rescue your little sister, so you should be rewarded, right?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu encouraged the boy to take it. The child hesitated for some more, but eventually, he took the fruit. He hurriedly bit into it, but then, realised Seol Ji-Hu was still there and quickly bowed his head.
”Thank you very much.”
”You're quite mature for your age. You two live in this village?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Y-yes.”
The boy nodded before cautiously asking a question of his own.
”What about you, Mister Earthling, sir?”
”You don't have to call me sir or a Mister Earthling, you know. Just call me ‘hyung'. I'll get embarra.s.sed if you keep calling me that.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Hyung…. Did you come here because of the request, hyung?”
”That's right. Don't worry about it, though. We'll definitely beat them back.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu's gentle demeanour worked wonders, and the boy's wariness had lessened somewhat. His stiff expression had softened just a tad as well.
”I'm not worried. My sis and I aren't allowed to go near the night fog zone, anyway.”
”But, that's obvious. It's dangerous over there.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Well… I don't know.”
Seol Ji-Hu stopped smiling and tilted his head at this unexpected answer from the boy.
”You… don't know?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Yes. Grandma Hans did go there once before, but she came back all fine and the like, you see? Well, she speaks funny things now, though.”
The boy must've been unhappy for a while, because he was quick to unload what was on his mind. Seol Ji-Hu remembered back to the old lady shouting something by the village's entrance.
”I mean, honestly, I'm not a six or seven year old kid anymore, so I can't understand why I'm not allowed to go there.”
Seol Ji-Hu formed a wry smile.
”It's probably because variants keep appearing there periodically, that's why. The grown-ups are just worried about you, that's all.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”I know. But still, things become safe again once you beat them back, right? But they don't want to let us out, busy coming up with strange excuses and calling them three taboos and all….”
The boy grumbled softly to himself.
”Hng. A monster will kidnap you to another world if you break one of the three taboos? Does anyone think I'll fall for that childish story?”
Seol Ji-Hu's eyes opened very wide.
”Three taboos? Another world?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”That's right. Hyung, you also think it's just nonsense, right?”
Seol Ji-Hu's eyes were withdrawn deeply now.
”Can you tell me more about those three taboos?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”U-uhm, that is….”
Groan… The boy ma.s.saged his temples before carrying on.
”Ah, right! First, never go towards the voice coming out from the fog. Second, never go where the hand is beckoning you. Third, if you see people wearing grey clothes, don't go near and run away. Those are the three taboos.”
”Who told you about those? Was it your parents?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”My parents told me, but I think the village head asked them to tell us. I know everything, you see.”
”Can you tell me where the village head lives?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
That question immediately caused the boy to stop answering diligently and signs of hesitation reappeared on his face again.
”Uhm… W-why?”
”I wish to stop by and talk to him about something. I can't?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Well, it's not like you can't, but….”
The boy's voice became progressively smaller.
”If you wish to ask for more reward money, then….”
”Reward?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu finally figured out why the other villagers were behaving so oddly towards him and his teammates.
”No, that's definitely not it. The amount of reward money is set in stone the moment I accepted the request, you know. So, you don't have to worry about that, okay?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”….Really?”
The boy asked with a pair of bright, innocent eyes. Seol Ji-Hu could only sigh inwardly.
”Of course. I promise it's the truth.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Soon the boy told him the directions, and Seol Ji-Hu moved towards his next destination. The abode of the village head was a proper house with scale-like tiles added to the walls, quite different from the mud huts of other villagers.
More importantly, though - it didn't have any colour in ‘Nine Eyes'.
Seol Ji-Hu's eyes narrowed to a slit.
‘Man, this is so frustrating.' (Seol Ji-Hu)
If only he knew what this ‘no colour' thing could mean. That would make his life so much easier. But, what could he do? Gula told him to stop dreaming of unlocking that part so easily, after all.
Regardless, this was the first place that didn't s.h.i.+ne in green within this village. He wasn't sure whether this would lead him to anywhere or not, but he'd lose nothing by finding out.
He climbed up the short stairs and knocked on the front door. He heard a soft cough and the door was slowly opened, revealing an old man with a thick head of white hair, his wrinkle-covered eyes growing wider.
”Who might you be, young man?”
”Ah, h.e.l.lo there. I'm the guy who accepted your subjugation request this time.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
The village head let out a soft groan when he heard Seol Ji-Hu's introduction.
”Ah, I see. I beg your pardon. I've been having health issues lately, and I couldn't come personally to receive you.”
”Oh, no. It's fine. Besides that, I'd like to have a word with you about something. I only need a moment.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”M-mm. If it's about the rewards, we don't have much to discuss here, I believe….”
The village head continued on.
”Truthfully, majority of the money for the request rewards come from the support funds provided by the kingdom. If you wish for additional rewards, I fear it'd be more productive to speak to the kingdom's officials, instead. Haramark's royals are known to favour the Earthlings, so it could be the best solution for both sides.”
Maybe this wasn't his first time, because the village head recited his words as if he had them memorised to the very last letter.
”Actually, I'm not here for the talk of additional rewards. I'm here to ask you about a couple of things regarding this request, instead.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Mm? If you mean the contents of the request, in the night fog zone, you will…..”
”I'm sorry for stopping you there, but I know all about those. What I'd like to ask you about is something else.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Y-you wish to ask me something? An Earthling wants to ask me?”
”Yes.”
The village head looked very, very surprised then.
”Huh… What an odd development this is.”
The village head tilted his head as if he couldn't understand anything and muttered softly to himself after lightly coughing to clear his throat.
”You must be the second time, since that man, Like 'em t.i.tties.”
”………Eh? You like what now?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu couldn't help but doubt his own hearing.
”Ahh, that. There was another Earthling who came to see me, wanting to talk to me about the request as well. I thought he and I were about the same age, and because his name was so unique that I ended up remembering him.”
”What… what did you say his name was?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Like 'em t.i.tties. He said that his surname was t.i.tties and his given name was Like 'em. Well, I let it be since he told me that it was a common name in the world he came from. He sure was a funny man, that guy.”
”………..”
Seol Ji-Hu thought that the village head might start ripping Ian's beard off after learning the truth. He only regained his wits after seeing the village head turn around.
”In any case, please come in. We're a poor village, so we can't treat you well, but as a client, I can certainly talk to you about the request.”
Finally being let inside, Seol Ji-Hu settled down on a chair the village head pulled out for him. The décor itself was pretty bare-bones, but there were books aplenty in the bookshelf. He did his best not to look around too much, though.
Because, he was acutely aware of how uncomfortable the villagers felt about the Earthlings overall, that was why.
‘I should leave right after asking the questions.' (Seol Ji-Hu)
”So, what would you like to ask me?”
Seol Ji-Hu quickly organised his thoughts when the village head settled down in front of him. He had spotted more than a few suspicious points when he went through all the records. If some of his questions could be answered, then he just knew that he'd find that elusive clue, a thread to unravel this mystery once and for all.
”From what I know, there had been around twenty subjugation requests issued so far. And the whole thing started from quite a while ago, as well.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”That sounds about right.”
”And the request is always been issued by you, the village head.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”That's correct.”
In that moment….
”If that's the case,” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seeing the village head keep agreeing without holding anything back, Seol Ji-Hu's eyes began gleaming elegantly.
”Please take a look at this.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
He pulled out a piece of a doc.u.ment from his inner pocket and presented it before the old man.
….Towards the elderly man with no colour coming off of him.
< 71.=”” taboo=””> Fin.