“I want to know a little about that Gang Jaeho fellow who’s been suspicious of me.”
“Pardon?”
After meeting that man called Gang Jaeho at the orchard.
I went to the shaman who told me to come by anytime if I needed something.
I asked Han Iseo what I was curious about.
“Well—about that.”
“?”
“I trust you, Youngjun... but I do have my position to consider.”
Still.
Han Iseo hesitated a little before answering my question.
“Jaeho suspects that I might be being controlled by you. I don’t want to say it lightly, but that suspicion is fairly reasonable.”
“And?”
“To be honest, I can’t entirely shake the suspicion that I might be deceived by some ability you have....”
Then she bowed her head deeply.
“Sorry! I can’t accept requests to disclose personal information about group members!”
“.......”
“Whether you realize it or not, someone’s job or ability is like the only lifeline they have in this world. Telling others what someone’s ability is is an enormous taboo....”
“No, I didn’t ask for that.”
“Pardon?”
Job or ability.
‘Those I’ve already seen and know.’
Asking that would be rude — it seemed the same in Gangwon or Gyeonggi.
Among the Awakened who have appeared in this world, that culture had naturally settled in.
“What I want to ask is about something else.”
“About what...? Well, what I know is only that Jaeho used to be an extremely strong combat-class Awakener.”
“Rather, I mean that orchard of his.”
“Oh — that?”
She looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected me to ask about that.
Her eyes went wide.
‘So she thinks I’m a combat-class guy.’
Of course she would expect combat questions.
She hadn’t thought I’d ask about that kind of supply-related matter.
“Um... orchard might not be the exact word. It’s not just fruit — anything that grows on trees, actually.”
“So that was made by that man Jaeho’s ability, right?”
“Hmm... that’s something everyone around here, not just the group, knows....”
After a brief thought she nodded.
“Yes. That’s right.”
“How did he obtain those seeds?”
“Jaeho is quite a strong Awakener. Before the cold got this intense, he went around collecting seedlings and seeds. Then he used his ability to rapidly grow those seeds.”
“Then—”
I feigned ignorance for effect.
I asked her.
“Does he need any help?”
“Help?”
“You know. If I’m going to operate properly here I should buy that man’s trust first. The fastest way would be to help with what he’s struggling with and gain his favor.”
“Ah... that’s true.”
She thought about what worries Jaeho might have, then opened her mouth with an “ah.”
“Actually, it’s about that orchard-cum-farm you mentioned.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard that recently producing food there has become a bit difficult.”
At that I nodded in answer.
“I saw it when we met earlier. He’s trying to grow trees, but they don’t seem to grow well. What’s the reason?”
“Well... that skill is certainly amazing in that it can provide food even in extreme environments, but it has limitations.”
“What limitation?”
“I’ve heard it consumes the soil’s fertility tremendously.”
Of course.
It was the problem I expected.
“Because it consumes so much, it’s hard to keep producing food continuously in one place. So Jaeho tended to move between several bases.”
“Then can’t he just keep moving now?”
“It seems he’s already been to all the bases where he can draw vitality from the ground.”
She told me the situation Gang Jaeho was in.
You needed a suitable base to produce food stably.
With the current abnormal climate, making a new base was impossible.
I roughly understood the situation.
Then, hmm.
“If I solve that problem.”
“Pardon?”
“If I fix that, I should be able to earn his trust, right?”
“......Wha—?”
At my words Han Iseo’s eyes widened.
“Well, if that happens it would mean a tremendous thing...! It would make stable food supply possible.”
“Is food supply really that difficult here?”
“Isn’t that obvious? The world collapsed and all the infrastructure was destroyed....”
From that I could infer one more thing.
‘At least near here there isn’t a [Chef], or they’re not cooperating with the other humans.’
The people near my base weren’t suffering from lack of food, at least.
“There are fewer than ten people in the entire Association who can produce food. And half of those can’t make food in this winter.”
“Hmm.”
Our unit’s farmer Awakener also suffered seasonal effects.
Even if he came here, he’d probably fall into that latter half.
“Our Association is a group of humans who cooperate so that everyone can survive... those five people basically feed the whole Association.”
“So one of those five is about to have their food production cut off.”
“Yes. If that could be solved, it would be an enormous contribution... but...!”
Her face darkened sharply.
“Probably impossible.”
“Hmm?”
“Helping would mean... you’d be helping to create a base on different land, right?”
“...Tell me why you think that.”
“You’re an extremely strong person, aren’t you? Maybe on a level similar to the Chair....”
She still seemed to think I was an enormous powerhouse who fought countless monsters beyond Monsterland and survived every day.
Someone who survived against so many monsters.
A person of tremendous force.
‘...I’m not at all.’
Now that the [Absolute Palate] enhancement is gone.
To be honest, if that Junggu fellow charged me I’d probably raise both hands and surrender immediately....
‘No need to say that out loud!’
I had come to help, so I couldn’t speak weakly.
“But even if someone like you helped, it would be difficult. To build a base we’d have to call the Association’s architect. His architectural skill is excellent, but building one barrier takes at least three days.”
“An architect.”
“In this cold his work speed will slow. And as food becomes scarce, the monsters left around here have become sharper in their aggression.”
Not all monsters had gone to that wall.
Monsters with some cold resistance still roamed the area.
Compared to Gangwon they were fewer, but not a number to ignore.
“If the sound of building a barrier is heard, those things will rush in. No matter how strong you are, protecting the site from the monsters that rush in while the barrier is being constructed in this cold....”
“Mm. That does sound hard.”
“Yes. Regrettably, you should give up on taking that approach....”
“Understood.”
At my words she looked at me with a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) puzzled expression.
“You gave up more easily than I expected?”
It wasn’t that I gave up.
I never intended to solve it that way in the first place.
“Instead, one more question.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Do you know if there’s any particular reason Gang Jaeho is especially suspicious of me... anything like that?”
The reason I asked was simple.
‘Why is he so overt in his suspicion of me?’
It seemed more than a rational judgment for the group’s safety.
There was something subtly off, and that made me curious.
“Well... we haven’t been in the same group that long, so I don’t know much about the past.”
“So you don’t know that far back.”
“No. Especially about past matters... in this world they’re a bit taboo.”
Right.
There would be many traumas from the world’s collapse.
They tacitly avoid asking those things.
“If I had asked he might have answered, but I never really asked.”
Hmm.
Then.
“So he might answer if I ask... is that it?”
“...Pardon?”
It seemed unavoidable.
I’d have to ask him myself.
****
“....Unbelievable. I told you to leave, and yet you came back?”
“Haha. Sorry about that.”
A few days later.
I stood again in front of the orchard Gang Jaeho managed.
“You took my warning too lightly.”
He came out of the orchard as if my approaching it offended him, and walked up to me.
“I’ll warn you — if you set one foot inside there... I don’t care about Sister Iseo or anything else, I will kill you on the spot.”
A vicious warning.
And to that vicious warning, I answered....
“Why?”
“...Pardon?”
“Why? What do you mean by that?”
“Stepping into that orchard isn’t a crime worthy of death. So why are you trying to kill me?”
“...Well. You’re a suspicious person right now.”
“That’s exactly what I want to know.”
I stepped toward a corner.
I scooped up the snow piled there and said,
“Why are you so suspicious of me?”
“...Would you not be suspicious in your position?”
“Well, I guess I would be.”
I couldn’t really argue.
Even I would find my current situation suspicious.
“If you’re so suspicious you should at least suggest a way for me to prove my innocence. It’s unpleasant for me that you continue sending suspicion my way without any intention of doing that.”
“...What do you want to say?”
“The other two leaders of this group decided to trust me to some extent and let it be. I don’t think they did that just because they don’t care about this group.”
Han Iseo used her ability and trusted me.
Park Junggu trusted me because he trusted Han Iseo’s ability.
So then.
A man who probably knows Han Iseo’s ability just like Park Junggu.
“But why, of all people, only you—!”
Why was Gang Jaeho the only one who would not let go of that suspicion?
To find out that reason I....
I lightly rubbed my finger along the finished snowball.
[Kitchen Chef’s Special Sauce - Honesty]
I tossed it gently toward Gang Jaeho.
He looked at the flying snowball with displeasure.
He didn’t dodge; he just took it straight in the face.
“I’m curious why you suspect me so much.”
It didn’t feel like purely a rational judgment for the group’s sake.
Something else was going on.
“You’re under no obligation to tell me that....”
He turned his back as if he had no duty to answer, but then after a moment,
“...No. Well, it’s not exactly a secret. I suppose it’s not something I can’t tell you.”
He looked at me again.
‘Hm. I’m a bit sorry, but—’
I didn’t have the luxury to be picky about means and methods right now.
The cooking that soaked into him made him more ‘honest’ than usual.
He opened his mouth cautiously.
“...You might not know, but there are more kinds of monsters in this world than you’d think.”
Hmm.
Probably few people knew as much as I did.
“And these monsters aren’t just strong.”
I knew that.
Monsters pouring in from various worlds.
They had as many kinds of abilities as their numbers.
“Some of them can control others.”
“Oh, that’s why the leaders are fixed at three? I’ve heard that.”
“Is that so? Then I wonder if you’ve heard this story too.”
At Gang Jaeho’s next words I could only gape.
“The group I led was annihilated by exactly those kinds of monsters.”
“.......”
