Chapter 43
[0043] Liquor of the appendicitis (1)
I only tilted my head because I didn’t know what insurance was. But ultimately, Jean’s words were the most seductive.
If we invest less money now, we may not face a huge future crisis. The golden age of insurance did not come for nothing. There are only a few people in the world who can not fall for it.
Seongju was also lost in thought. The hunter’s words make sense, and the sinkhole is actually discovered as the hunter predicts.
You should abandon this castle, clear out the termites, or choose one of the two options. Obviously, it is impossible to regain this environment in the North of the Korean Peninsula.
“Even if you’re lying, if you wipe out the termites, our scouts won’t be taken from us with open eyes.”
In this case, Seongju considered the benefits in many ways, and he remembered that even if the castle did not collapse due to falling into the sinkhole, there would be sufficient benefits. She smiled again and looked at Jin.
“So, shall we discuss repayment?”
“I want 400 in advance, 400 in cash.”
In total, 800 chips, Seong-ju couldn’t hide her embarrassment.
“You, too…. That’s a lot of money.”
“It’s not about catching one or two termites, it’s about wiping out a whole flock. I think this is cheap enough.”
“Hunter, we can’t afford the energy consumption of the castle for a week if we pay for that chip. I’m having a hard time finding chips…”
Of course, the amount of chips the Castle has is less than the City of Liberty. Unlike its commercial hub and floating free cities, Castle is centrally rural and has low commercial share, making it unlikely to have many flowing chips.
Juuling there was in a fairly deep ridge, so the amount of chips was only gradually reduced.
But Gene shakes his head.
“This is the only business you’ll ever have left.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The ants are underground, so even if they succeed in clearing them out, I won’t be able to retrieve their chips. You pay me 800 chips, extract the chips from the ground up, and you’ll be able to recover more chips than you paid me.”
“… You’re not going to retrieve it?”
“We have places to go, so it’s hard to spend a lot of time digging up so many ants in the ground. But you and the people of Castle should be enough.”
The number of termites exceeded a thousand for gin to guess. Five chips were extracted for each one. Five hundred chips, even if you dig up a handful of dead termites in a dungeon.
“Hmm…. But I think we’re talking about dead termites in the ground, right? I don’t know how to hunt termites… I don’t know.”
“It’s a hunter’s errand, but if you’re curious, you can see for yourself.”
“Hmm….”
The Holy Spirit pondered for a long time. Even at best, this hunter seemed to be right or wrong. Is this quest worth spending 800 chips on?
“This is the first time a hunter has asked for a quest in my life. But okay, let’s trust you. But I’ll be watching the whole process.”
Above all, Seong-ju wondered what one of the hunters who hunted the ants was doing.
“I need some supplies first.”
“Preparation?”
Preparation for the hunt? I wanted to ask for a weapon, but she tilted her head, but what came out of Jean’s mouth was unimaginable.
“We need sick livestock first. I need one more chicken, and I need another one as big as a pig or a cow. And a cat needs a cat bone, to be exact. Without it, it’s weak, but it’s also good for chicken bones. And a handful of seeds from any plant. And I need cotton. The thread I used to sew my clothes will be enough, so it won’t be hard to get.”
“W-what… I thought you were hunting.”
She was surprised by the strange preparations, and Jean stared closely at him.
“Just tell me if you can or can’t prepare.”
She thought for a moment, but soon opened her mouth.
“I can prepare…. There is.”
“Then prepare yourself.”
The Holy Spirit looked surprised, but he said he would be ready until tomorrow and then went back.
Gin and Leona are ready to go to bed. Leona was soaking on her bed and duvet to see if sleeping in a clean place was a stranger. After a while, Leona glances up and calls out to the camp lying on the other bed.
“Mister.”
“Why.”
“Back home, there were drug dealers once in a while. What’s better than eating this?”
“Well, some people do.”
“But every time I see them, I see them as a fraud.”
“What was that all about?”
“You were just like that druggist.”
“…….”
It’s like saying you looked like a fraud.
“Well, actually, if you take care of the termites, the juju won’t collapse, so there’s nothing to be scammed about.”
You will never know that you have overcome an impending crisis. For example, this hunt is like a prophylactic shot.
Gene said that if you don’t have a quest, you can make it, and you did.
The veteran hunter seems to be off hunting and doing some crazy things, and Leona thinks.
“Then why did you say you needed it?”
“We need the right approach to catch the ones we can’t reach.”
Gene didn’t explain the specific method, so Leona didn’t even notice what the method was. Gene stares at Leona, smiling deeply.
“You don’t have to shoot and swing your sword to call it a hunt.”
“Hmm…. I have no idea.”
“You’ll see.”
There are many ways to catch monsters, and shooting them with guns and arrows isn’t necessarily the only thing hunting them.
In the end, it’s as if Moro only has to go to Seoul. Gene was delighted when he thought about avenging the stolen red bear and taking the chips.
The next day,
Jean and Leona washed their hair, washed their bodies, and changed their clothes in the morning, following Juul’s rules. When it comes to cleanliness, Juul’s rules were very strict. Those who refused to wash were encouraged to stay clean enough to be executed by the guards.
Chuul’s residents lived by rather tricky rules, such as having to change clothes at least once every two days.
The guards assembled during the weather were followed by a townhouse, and each was put to work according to schedule after the communal meal was completed.
“Something…. That’s thorough.”
Leona and Jean shared a meal in the dining room with the residents, and the people who finished their meals began to move to the area that was assigned to me.
“This is usually how Castle looks like.”
Maintain a strict military lifestyle and it is controlled by guards.
“I can’t live in a place like this.”
Someone shudders to see if the situation itself is terrible for Leona. Breakfast was mashed potatoes in meat soup, but breakfast was a luxury. Of course, Jean and Leona, outsiders, had to pay for the meal like knives.
The self-employed crowd organizes the restaurant, and everyone moves.
Seongju also shared a meal with the residents. When the residents saw him, they greeted him in the morning, and he was kind to everyone.
Whether it was because of the fact that he doesn’t live specifically, he was looking very favorable to the guards, residents, or the Holy Spirit.
After washing her hands with soap, she wiped her hands on her apron and approached Gin and Leona.
“I’ve got all the supplies I need for the night. I don’t know why I need it….”
“I’ll need some guards to transport the supplies outside the castle. This better be as far away from the castle as possible.”
“Okay.”
Jeans wore cotton, leather trousers and sandals, which were common clothing for residents to pick up, and Leona was wearing the same white dress as yesterday. Leona is not doing anything, but she is dressed like no one who hunts Gindo.
“I’ve hung up my laundry now. They’ll all be dry by noon.”
Everything from the coat of gin to Leona’s clothes was hanging on the clothing line where the Holy Spirit pointed. She shakes her head, saying that she used two soaps every now and then.
“Is that the color of my clothes?”
Leona tilted her head to see if she had ever seen the original color of her clothes stripped off. Some of the guards who were waiting rushed to the Holy Spirit’s words and began dragging the supplies.
It was an ox raised in Juul. However, the bull was a diseased cow with furry hair everywhere and blurry eyes that made it hard to walk properly. The cow had a bag tied, the bag had exactly what Gene had told you about, and a sick chicken tied up.
“All the other supplies are weird, but why do you need a sick animal? I brought a sick cow, though…”
“It doesn’t have to be a sick animal. It would be a shame to sacrifice a healthy animal.”
“Sacrifice….”
His expression darkened. Gene will make the termites take the diseased animals. Gene asked if there were dead animals or sick animals.
“You can’t eat a diseased animal, and you won’t be of any use to it.”
Gin and Leona, who eat monsters, thought that Gin wouldn’t eat diseased animals if it was juicy. The princess wiped the sick cow’s back with a bitter smile.
“Too bad. He worked hard, though.”
When she didn’t say no, she was unwilling to make this sacrifice for Castle’s well-being.
Jinn, Leona, two guards, and a group of Seongju walk far past the fields to the foothills. The sick cow looked like it was hard to walk. Jin arrives quite far from the castle, seats the bull, pulls the guards, the Holy Spirit, and Leona back.
“I’ll explain what to do from now on, so listen carefully.”
Jinn began explaining how to hunt in order to persuade her that she would never know what was going on.
“Like all anthill tunnels, all caves are made to work together.”
“Of course.”
“I will put a curse on this cow.”
“I…. Curse?”
The word “curse” made me look like dirt, not only the face of the Holy Spirit, but Leona and the guards.
“Yes, and I will curse this cow with a plague and make the termites take it. The epidemic will spread again in the termites that ate the corpse, and the termites that shared the corpse of the cow will also hit and move with the other termites to spread the epidemic.”
“Ah…. Does that mean…?”
“By the time the curse was released on the ants, they’d already been infected with their food warehouses, ant eggs, and queens. As the plague kicks in, the colony will slowly die, and eventually all the termites will die.”
This cow will be torn to shreds, and the plague from it will infect the entire food depot. By the time the latent epidemic was activated, the entire colony would have eaten all the meat in the food warehouse once, and the epidemic would have already covered the entire colony.
Seong-ju suddenly said as if he had remembered.
“Wait, so there’s no possibility of soil contamination?”
“Land’s fine, but don’t dig too deep for a couple of months. The curse isn’t permanent, so by the time it wears off, the plague will be gone. After about two months, you might want to dig up the remains of the termites and extract the chips.”
That’s why Gene couldn’t stay here for two months after killing the termites. The colony of termites was enormous enough to require a two-month curse.
“May I begin?”
She hesitates for a moment and nods. Once you’ve decided to trust Gene, you should follow the hunter’s methods.