Chapter 52: Collision
Seon-woo was fiddling with a beehive, doing something or other.
"Kim Deacon!"
"Oh, my lord. I hope you've been well all this time?"
"You need to watch more historical dramas. Is that the best you can do?"
"What? Darn it!"
"Anyway, what about my parents?"
"They're coming this weekend for now. They said they need time to mentally prepare."
Entering a gate was no small decision for ordinary people. Of course, they needed time, so there was nothing to do but give it to them.
"Good work. So, how's the beekeeping going?"
"Last time, we caught the queen bees and sealed them up. Now it's time to let them out."
"Got it. Let me know when you have results. I'm heading to see Mom."
"Sure."
After confirming that all the human territory folk had gathered, I headed to where my mother was. Her spot was on the opposite side of the apiary. Mom didn't really mind, but the female orcs hated bees. It seemed women hating bugs had nothing to do with race.
"Mom."
"You're here? Take a look at this."
"Sure."
What Mom handed me was a vest reinforced with leather. It wasn't quite armor—more like a work vest.
Item: Temperature Control Vest (Lv. 2)
Wearing this vest maintains the wearer's body temperature at their preferred comfortable level.
"Whoa. So this means..."
I explained the item's details to Mom, and she was thrilled.
"I was just thinking it would be nice if this kept me cooler when I wore it while making them. And it actually does! It's not the pain reduction option or anything, but maybe it's the leather? What do you think of this one? It's made from that fabric."
She showed me another vest. It was thin, more like a suit vest than a work one. Fortunately, this one had the pain reduction option I'd hoped for.
"Looks like it was the fabric issue. This one has the proper option. Things made from that fabric seem to get pain reduction."
"I see. Then I should make a few more of those."
"Yeah, do that. But aren't you tired?"
"Tired? This is the most fun I've had in my life. And with my stamina stat, how could I get tired? I'm the highest in stamina in our family, aren't I?"
Mom, being a tank class, even had higher stamina than me. She'd gotten a massive bonus to it upon job change. So she probably wasn't struggling at all.
"Still, take it easy. Look around at the scenery now and then. Ride around on horseback."
"Alright, I will."
"You'll sleep here, right Mom?"
"Yeah. Probably with Si-yeon. You're going out with Dad to the company tomorrow?"
"Yep. Gonna start by setting up the feed company outside. Oh, we'll need to make dog clothes later too."
"Oho, good idea. You really do love animals."
"Thanks to Hoya."
Without Hoya, I'd just been your average animal liker. But after getting her, my baby was so cute that others started looking cute too. Seeing suffering animals tore my heart. In a way, I'd landed in the perfect job for my temperament.
"Yeah, dog and cat clothes sound great."
"Sure."
Mom packed a few samples for me to test outside. I took them.
"Baekya! Where are you?"
At my call, Baekya came charging like mad and headbutted me.
Grrrowl!
He must've been sulking. I hadn't spent much time with him lately. I'd tamed him but neglected him.
"Let's go rest."
Baekya bit my arm and led me to our usual spot. A beast who wouldn't have tamed to humans before now acted like a big cat—no, dog. That's just his personality.
At our spot, Kkamangi and Mungchi were already waiting. They were a bit more dignified. Baekya lay down like a bed, and Kkamangi and Mungchi settled beside. Hoya was naturally burrowed in my arms. In this peace, I closed my eyes and slipped into dreamland.
Sleeping with the kids felt amazing. My Animal Affinity skill had even leveled up to 8. I could understand animals' stories even better. As I healed like this, Karak approached.
"What?"
Krak krak krak!
He'd caught baby boars. At the orc-built pigsty, it was even better than mine. The builder? Karak. He'd gained the Construction skill and leveled it to 4 already.
"Good job."
I petted his head, and he purred like gorong gorong.
"Hey, that's not yours, is it?"
He flinched. Imitating Hoya and Baekya, huh? An orc purring? Astonishing.
"Keep it up, and you'll be my favorite worker."
Krak!
He was thrilled, and the others looked jealous.
"So, how many... whoa."
Over 40 baby boars. Mothers probably eaten. Anyway, time to raise pigs. I was about to instruct on good crops when Dad appeared.
"We should feed these guys this."
Dad pulled a cart full of milk from island dairy cows. Checking it:
◈ Extremely nutty flavor that maximizes taste in the mouth.
◈ Consuming promotes growth.
"Growth promotion!"
"Hm?"
"This milk promotes growth."
"Whoa, jackpot? Does it work on me too?"
"Dunno. Try it. System says the taste is killer."
"The flavor's insane."
"Me too."
I drank from the glass Dad poured. The container was wine-barrel-like, made by me. Seon-woo owned it, so the milk didn't spoil. What a useful guy.
Gulp gulp gulp.
"Ahh. The nuttiness is off the charts."
"Right? They're still nursing age, so I brought it."
"Perfect. This'll do."
We fed the babies, and they devoured it. I ordered Karak to keep supplying milk till they grew. Then Dad and I strolled leisurely to Seon-woo.
"Hey, check this out quick."
Seon-woo offered honey. He'd filled external jars and shared some with Dad and me. Observation showed hangover relief. Honey water's good for hangovers, they say, but I rarely drink so who knows. If the system says so, it's true.
"This is killer for hangovers?"
"Oho. That's money right there."
I chuckled at Seon-woo's words.
"If we really tried to make cash, it'd be no joke."
"True. Bringing Dad means you have something to say?"
"Oh, right. So today..."
I recounted meeting Burgoss—him being a lord, his territory's knights undead too.
"I see. So territory downfall happens like that?"
Dad nodded at Seon-woo's words, then asked:
"Why tell this without your mom or Si-yeon?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?"
Seon-woo grinned slyly.
"Sexist."
"Not really... maybe subconsciously? Funny. Mom and Si-yeon aren't lacking compared to us."
Dad and Seon-woo nodded.
"Then let's call them."
"Yeah. Baekya, Kkamangi."
They moved instantly. Soon we all gathered, and I shared about Burgoss.
"No other territory folk?"
Mom asked.
"Nope. And I wiped his knight order, so just Burgoss left."
"We'll watch this closely. Hard to judge yet."
Si-yeon gave a surprisingly level-headed response.
"Did you give our Si-yeon coffee?"
I asked Dad.
"Yeah, she drank it well."
"I see..."
"What? This creepy feeling?"
"Nah, coffee's good."
"Perfect fit. Totally!"
"Good job."
"Feels bad."
"Just your imagination."
"I said it feels bad!"
"It's fine."
Si-yeon pouted but didn't climb on her big bro.
"So you need to let Burgoss rest as lord."
"Yeah, seems right. After going out with Dad."
"Alright. And from now on, we all meet for big matters."
"Yes, Dad."
We agreed, ending our territory meeting.
We headed out the next morning. Dad would scout buildings for the company; I'd look for factories. The current factory with its manager couldn't handle other feeds.
Before leaving, the TV we'd left on blared breaking news.
Fukushima had finally caused trouble. Goblins bred like crazy—worse than orcs. As bottom of the food chain, that's their trait for ecosystem balance. Problem: no predators to control them there.
Then another breaking news.
"Dad, let's watch a bit."
"Sure."
The hunter group, geared up, numbered about a thousand. Observation wouldn't reach, but they didn't feel high-level. Confident expressions, though—not newbies. And so the first clash began.