The Vampire
“...Got it.”
Mae gave a light reply before approaching Seunghwa.
“...Huh?”
He used his beak to pry Sua off Seunghwa, then grabbed the soldier with his sharp talons. The other soldiers just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing how to react.
I shouted strongly through the penguin statue.
“I'll take him with me.”
“Wait!! I'll go too, as his protector!!”
Sua tried to come here with us. I wondered if an officer should really leave in a situation like this, but Sergeant Park Hyunwoo nodded as if it was no big deal.
Sua immediately grabbed onto Mae's ankle.
“Grip tight!!!”
“Got it!”
Mae shot into the sky in an instant. Seeing that Sua and Seunghwa were properly hanging on, I relaxed and looked away from the screen.
“Everyone, run to the warehouse right now!!!”
“Got it, nyang!!!”
“Understood!”
“Woo!”
I dashed to the warehouse with my companions, heading for the storage box full of seeds. Ever since picking up a variety from Haven, I had seeds for pretty much every common plant.
I had to find one among these that could definitely save Seunghwa.
“Alright, Turtle. Let's think this through.”
“Leave it to this one.”
“Turning someone into a familiar is like a debuff, right?”
“It could be a status ailment or curse.”
“So, out of these plants, what could nullify something like that?”
“Hmm... If this one may suggest, what about garlic? They say it repels vampires.”
“I was thinking the same. Garlic first.”
As I grabbed the garlic seeds first, Nyangnyang hopped onto a shelf and nudged a bag with her paw.
“What about this, nyang?”
“What's that?”
“Sunflower seeds, nyang.”
“Good call.”
Vampires are weak to sunlight, so that should work too.
“We'll test everything useful. Suggest whatever you can think of!”
“Why not just plant every seed here one by one, nyang?”
“That's not a bad idea, but...”
Planting one of each to get variety sounded good, but what if one dose wasn't enough? For example, onions didn't give a dramatic shield effect from just one. What did they even do? It was confusing.
Wouldn't it be better to feed him a ton of garlic, which hits vampires straight on?
“...I'll go with my judgment for now.”
I grabbed just the sunflower and garlic seeds and headed out of the warehouse. Past the Tree of Life in the front yard, I reached a sunny spot.
But there were a lot of weeds, so I cupped my hands and said,
“Mind clearing some space?”
The plants parted to the sides, creating a wide field.
I divided the area and scattered the garlic and sunflower seeds.
“Water!!!”
“Right away!!!”
Turtle sprayed water with a whoosh.
The soil got thoroughly soaked around the seeds. I cupped my hands again and shouted,
“Rapid Growth!!!!”
“High-speed growth, nyang.”
The plants started growing fast. On the left, green little shoots sprouted. On the right, tall sunflowers stood proudly.
Oh, so that's what garlic looks like raw.
Just as I was about to make the finished plants harvest themselves—
“...Huh?”
Suddenly, the sunflowers shook their heads.
What? Why?
I closed my eyes and listened to the sunflowers' voices.
'We need to grow more to produce seeds.'
'But we have power only in flower form.'
Did flowers and seeds have different effects?
I approached a sunflower slowly. It turned its head to follow me.
Looking at it, I started wondering if I should even pick it.
I shook my head to clear the random thoughts and examined it closely. The flower was fully bloomed, but the seeds weren't ripe yet.
“Ah, it hasn't fully matured yet.”
“Is that so? Flowers and fruits must serve different roles.”
“Like Bomb Flowers.”
Bomb Flowers had separate flower and fruit effects too. That's why I picked the flowers and kept high-speed growth to make fruits.
“So, pick the flower then use high-speed growth again?”
As I reached out, the sunflower shook its head again.
“Hmm... No?”
“Picking the flower means no seeds, nyang?”
“Seems we choose one or the other.”
I could get both from Bomb Flowers, but sunflowers only allowed one.
Well, I didn't know the effects anyway.
“...Let's try one of each.”
They wouldn't wither if left here.
I picked one flower and used the remaining mana to fully ripen another sunflower. I shook the dried flower head, and sunflower seeds spilled out from the center.
“That settles sunflowers.”
Next, garlic. Simple. They popped out of the ground as soon as I glanced at them. I just watched my companions process them.
Auto-harvest is the best. The best.
“They should be here soon.”
Time passed, and sunset began. Mae still hadn't arrived.
“He'll make it before the sun sets completely, right?”
“Look over there!!”
Following Turtle's point, I spotted Mae in the distance.
“Here! Over here!!!”
I waited under the Tree of Life. Mae landed right in the front yard. No issues on the flight, thankfully.
Sua carried Seunghwa toward me.
“H-Hayun!!!”
“Lay him here first!!”
We put Seunghwa on the mat under the Tree of Life. He was already unconscious.
But things weren't good.
“This red crystal is growing bigger.”
“It hasn't fully formed yet.”
The crystal was slowly taking shape. Looked like it'd finish in about an hour.
“So, what's the plan? You said bring him here because you could handle it, right?”
“Yeah. Starting now.”
I stood and headed to the Tree of Life. Since Seunghwa was out, I couldn't feed him directly—I'd use the tree to apply plant effects.
“Potato first...”
Holding a potato to the tree's base, it melted away. The Tree of Life glowed, and a warm energy settled over me.
“...What's this?”
“A new skill.”
“From this tree?”
“Yeah. Feed it my plants, and it gives their effects to everyone in range.”
“That's amazing!!”
As we chatted, the potato's healing effect descended on Seunghwa. The crystal's growth visibly slowed.
Did it count as a wound? Maybe bleeding damage or something.
But potatoes couldn't solve the crystal. Obviously. If they could, they'd have used one on-site or called a healer.
The real deal started now.
“Next, garlic.”
“What's garlic do?”
“Not sure. Testing now.”
“Vampires hate garlic, classic!”
Sua's face had improved a bit. I placed garlic under the tree. It melted and absorbed.
A strange sensation settled.
“...Huh?”
“What is this?”
A thin orange protective film appeared around me, Seunghwa, and Sua. Totally different from onions.
To test, I looked at the cat.
“Nyangnyang! Punch Turtle!!!”
“Got it, nyang!!!”
Thwack—Nyangnyang landed a light paw punch. Turtle flopped over, whining That's too much!, but I ignored it.
“Not a shield?”
“...Something comes to mind.”
Whistle—Sua whistled, and a snake slithered over from afar.
“Eek?!”
I hid behind Turtle in surprise, but Sua laughed and said it was fine.
“Don't worry. Not venomous. Just slows you down.”
“That's not poison?”
“Is it?”
The snake bit Sua's arm. Before I could yell about the rude beast attacking its master, Sua smiled knowingly.
“Garlic seems to nullify one status ailment or debuff.”
“Oh.”
Sure enough, the orange film around Sua vanished.
“...If we'd known about garlic sooner, Seunghwa wouldn't have ended up like this.”
If I'd figured it out earlier and given some to the soldiers, that vampire wouldn't have turned anyone so easily.
“But why isn't the crystal...”
“Probably can't remove an already-applied one? Like how a shield doesn't heal wounds.”
“Ah, got it.”
So garlic had immense power to block the vampire's familiar-making, but couldn't reverse it once applied.
Disappointing. I'd hoped garlic would solve everything.
“...Next.”
“Alright.”
Sunflower flower and seeds left. Flower first under the tree.
But...
“...Huh?”
“What?”
“The flower won't absorb.”
Why? Some condition? Intermediate stages don't absorb?
I set the flower aside and tried the seeds.
“...”
Tense moment. The seeds absorbed instantly, and a cool sensation settled.
“Anything different?”
“...Not sure.”
Then Sua stared at me intently.
“What? Problem?”
“Was your skin always this good?”
“...Pardon?”
She touched her cheek, then nodded confidently.
“Sunflower seeds make skin smooth? It's super silky now.”
No way such a useless effect. I flopped over dramatically.
“So... what about Seunghwa?”
“We confirmed potatoes slow familiarization, so beat the vampire and it'll be fine? Garlic should make it manageable.”
Sua smiled awkwardly, a hint of disappointment—she'd hoped I'd fix it completely.
Me too. I'd been sure sunflower or garlic would do it.
“...Not over yet.”
More seeds in the warehouse. It ain't over till it's over.
As I turned to head back—
Sunset darkened into night.
“Night already...”
Reaching for my flashlight—
Flash—intense light hit my eyes.
“...Huh?”
“Sunflowers...?”
The field sunflowers blazed brightly. Even the cut one on the mat.
Warm. Like lifelong yearning for the sun. Sunflowers became the sun, illuminating the night.
The warm light drove away surrounding darkness.
Not just night's dark—the darkness on the human body too.
“The crystal...?!”
The sunflowers' light pushed back the vampire's familiarization. The red crystal crumbled to powder bit by bit.
I shouted urgently,
“Move Seunghwa to the sunflower field!!”
“Got it!!!”
Sua and I lifted him together. A bit heavy, though.
I called to my companions,
“Everyone, help!!”
“Of course!!!”
“Trust only me, nyang!”
“I'll help.”
“Leave it to me!”
With Sua and my four companions, we carried Seunghwa slowly to the sunflower field. The strong, warm light touched his body, melting the red crystal.
“Carefully...!!”
“Setting him down!!!”
We gently laid him in the field, careful not to damage the sunflowers.
“...”
Seunghwa's furrowed face relaxed instantly. He looked so peaceful.
“Th-the crystal's gone!!!”
Like summer ice left out, it melted away without a trace. Didn't take long.
“S-success?!”
“Thank goodness!!”
Sua suddenly burst into tears.
“Wha? Wh-why am I...?”
She looked embarrassed and stepped away.
Leaving her, I checked Seunghwa. Hand on his left chest where the crystal was—heartbeat.
“...Uh...”
Seunghwa slowly opened his eyes. His gaze met mine, surprise turning to understanding. He nodded lightly, smiled, and said,
“Did the Druid save me?”
“You okay? No issues?”
“None. In fact, it's the most comfortable I've felt in my life.”
“...Good.”
Saved Seunghwa Jeong. Thanks to me, the perfect EX-rank Druid.
The two regained their senses and rushed back to the battlefield. I told them to rest, but things were too urgent. So I gave them garlic for the road. They thanked me profusely and took it.
Next time, maybe attach a radio. Anyway.
After yesterday's ordeal, I realized something. The counter to that rude vampire is me.
Dare attack my Mae? Turn countless people into familiars? Ruin the army I've got my eye on?
Time for some proper schooling.
Namely, the Carnation Operation.