Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Junny
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The children were feeding hay to the cows in the stable.
The Satadi tribe farmed and raised livestock. They hardly did any hunting. If there was such a thing as paradise on earth, it would feel like this. The fertile land yielded decent crops, meat was available without needing to hunt, and the river offered fish as thick as an arm.
“There aren’t many men around.”
Do-young remarked as he surveyed the village. Tora, who was carrying dozens of bundles of firewood stacked up at once, replied.
“We have more women.”
Do-young scanned Tora up and down.
“Must be heaven for you.”
“I’m just a toy to them.”
Tora said this without any particular expression. If anything, he seemed as mildly excited as usual.
He turned around in that state and asked.
“But aren’t you going to help?”
Do-young stared at Tora.
“A vampire talking to a human.”
“Vampires find heavy things heavy, too.”
“Then what do you think it’s like for a human?”
Tora shook his head.
The Satadi tribe didn’t seem to need carts or cranes. They had living carts and cranes with superior mobility—two legs that could go anywhere.
That was why their houses were quite large and sturdy log cabins, despite their primitive lifestyle.
Do-young said that, but he ended up helping with the carrying anyway.
“Why not just get married? With you, you could have a whole line of wives.”
“That won’t do. I can’t have kids. It would end the tribe’s line.”
That suddenly sparked a thought.
“Come to think of it.”
Do-young turned to Gamal, who was moving a pile of firewood taller than himself.
“How did you become a vampire?”
Tora and the twins had been turned by Gamal, but he’d never heard how Gamal got infected. Unless she had her own patron...
“Don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Do-young repeated, and Gamal nodded.
“One day, it just happened.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“Yeah.”
Do-young furrowed his brow.
“That doesn’t make sense. Something must have happened.”
“I... fell into a swamp.”
Gamal answered cautiously, as if wondering if she should even say it.
“What?”
But Do-young’s startled reaction was bigger than expected, so Gamal asked back instead.
“Huh?”
“You fell into a swamp?”
“Uh... yeah.”
Gamal replied, wondering if something was wrong. Do-young pressed again.
“Was there a vampire hiding in the swamp?”
“No. I don’t remember anyone biting me. Why?”
Do-young started to say something, then waved it off and walked away.
“Nothing.”
Behind him, Tora gave Gamal a look that said, ‘What’s with him?’ Gamal shook her head with a clueless expression.
“Very rarely, there are reports of people falling into swamps and turning into vampires.”
He recalled something a researcher had said long ago.
“As I mentioned, the first vampires were people infected by the primordial X Virus that crash-landed on Earth from space. But those original vampires went extinct like the dinosaurs, and so did that primordial virus.”
The researcher, exhausted from overtime and low on sugar, kept talking while sucking on a lollipop.
“But you’ve heard those stories, right? Mummies from thousands of years ago found in swamps, perfectly preserved without rotting. On the same principle, traces of the primordial X Virus sometimes lingered at the bottom of swamps. So occasionally, people who accidentally fell in would get infected.”
In other words, vampires being born from swamps was plausible. But...
“Indiscriminate development has wiped out even those swamps now. It’s a shame. If any had survived, they would’ve been invaluable samples. Anyway, that was only possible in ancient times.”
‘14th century BCE.’
Gamal was born in ancient times.
Do-young turned back with a face full of things to say. But Gamal and Tora were whispering with lowered voices. Do-young raised one eyebrow.
“What are you two muttering about?”
Tora turned with a smile.
“We were talking about what to have for dinner.”
“I hope that dinner isn’t me.”
Their vibe made him wonder if they were debating how to cook him.
Gamal shook her head vigorously.
“We’re not eating Do-young.”
“Don’t talk like you could but choose not to. So what’s for dinner?”
Gamal looked at Do-young.
“Uh...”
“Tora stew.”
Tora answered. Do-young looked somewhat exasperated.
“We always have that. Do you really need to discuss it?”
“We were thinking of adding different ingredients.”
Do-young stared blankly. Realizing what the look meant, Tora said playfully.
“Ta’s body has too much muscle; it’d be chewy, so no thanks.”
“So it’d be okay if it wasn’t chewy?”
Do-young turned away. It wasn’t the right time to bring up the swamp yet. It wasn’t confirmed. Gamal might just not remember being bitten by a vampire hiding in there.
Watching Do-young disappear, Tora said quietly.
「Be careful. His instincts are sharp; he might catch on.」
Gamal nodded with a tense face. She started to leave, but Tora grabbed her.
「But you really won’t tell him? Why Mati’s hiding on this island.」
「That’s...」
Gamal hesitated. But then she turned away, muttering.
「I don’t want to be hated.」
***
Do-young lay in the hut, staring at the ceiling.
The tribe members all seemed honest and kind, and he’d come to somewhat understand why Gamal never left the island. If anything, that made things more complicated.
Occam’s Razor: in complicated situations, simpler is better. Despite all these premises, he still had to ‘get home.’ Living on the island as a dead man from the outside world was impossible.
It wasn’t like there was no way off the island; he could leave if he just convinced Gamal or Tora properly.
Lost in thought, Gamal poked her head in from the hut entrance.
“Do-young, come to our field.”
She was wearing the hat he’d woven for her.
“Want to come, Do-young?”
“I’m good.”
He had some thinking to do.
“Okay, then...”
As Gamal started to say, Tora passed by, ready for the field, and said.
“2 Thessalonians 3:10. ‘If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.’”
Then he grinned.
“It’s my favorite verse.”
Nagging with Bible quotes. He couldn’t tell if the guy was a foster son or a mother-in-law.
***
The green field of grass rippled in the wind. The sun blazed, and the air was clear.
“Living like this isn’t bad, right? It’s stress-free life incarnate.”
Tora boasted, holding a hoe that looked like it belonged in a museum.
Today, too, dressed in just an extra leather vest over clothes that would make women scream and flee—or rush toward him—in the civilized world’s streets, he looked utterly impractical.
“I’m a soldier, not a farmer.”
Do-young said without stopping his scything.
The sunlight was intense, so he’d borrowed a straw hat. It didn’t match his fatigues well, but with his t-shirt already torn to shreds near holes, it wasn’t that jarring.
“Living here makes that distinction meaningless.”
“Tora, spin the wheel, too.”
Gamal chimed in.
Do-young had seen Tora sitting with the women, spinning the wheel like Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, despite a body that would make Mars weep.
Anyway, while working the field, Do-young said.
“Who do you think I am, an idiot? Your body is built for fighting.”
Gamal and Tora froze. But Do-young continued in a completely casual tone.
“It’s not just naturally developed because you’re Luas; it’s from deliberate, long-term training for combat.”
The smile vanished from Tora’s face. But Do-young still didn’t look back.
“I keep telling you, I’m a soldier. You think I can’t tell that much? Which means you’re still hiding something from me.”
Do-young straightened up like someone with a sore back from kimchi-making and gazed into the distance.
“I get that it’s not something harmful to me. That’s why I’m still here.”
Then he bent back to work.
“But life’s like that. Just because no direct harm comes doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. Hell, how is it not harmful that I can’t even let anyone know if I’m alive or dead?”
Tora said nothing, just stared at Do-young’s back.
“And your tribe has an extreme shortage of young men. In an environment with no enemy tribes, no hunting, no dangers at all.”
“......”
“If it were a fishing village, I’d think they were all out on boats, but I don’t even see any fishing vessels. The young men—the manpower—are missing somewhere.”
Do-young kept cutting grass. Then, hearing no response, he turned. Gamal and Tora stared at him, speechless.
But Do-young looked confused instead.
“What?”
Tora snapped out of it and let out a wry chuckle.
“We hid our tribe from the captain for a different reason. We were worried about stuff like this.”
As if to say what took so long, Do-young shrugged. Tora sighed and said.
“It’s because of Mati’s brother.”
“Gamal’s brother?”
It was an unexpected answer.
“Tora, don’t say it.”
Gamal suddenly grew urgent and tried to stop Tora.
“Do-young will hate me.”
Do-young looked at Gamal.
“Your brother’s alive?”
Gamal clamped her lips shut and didn’t answer. Tora spoke gently.
“Mati, telling him might actually help the captain adjust here easier.”
Gamal still hesitated, lips twitching open and closed. Tora grimaced, as if loath to say it herself, but continued.
“He’s alive. A monster. And he’s hunting Mati.”
Do-young still couldn’t comprehend.
“He’s your brother. Why would he...”
Then it hit him like lightning.
Do-young shot to his feet. While Gamal and Tora watched puzzled, he snatched the sickle-knife and pointed it at them.
“Do-young?”
Gamal was startled. It was an expression she’d never seen on him before. Rage, shock, and despair all mixed.
“What’s your relation to the Grand Duke?”
His voice came out husky, choked by disbelief.
Do-young had finally realized who Gamal resembled.
Codename ‘Grand Duke (ANTIAIRCRAFT).’ The leader of the Luas terrorist group ‘SN’ who terrorized the world until his capture and imprisonment three years ago.