Episode 3-a. The Flower That Smells of Rotting Corpses
“So you're saying there's a flower that smells like rotting corpses?”
“Aigoo, that's right, hyungnim! The villagers told me! They said the stench hits you hard up close. And get this—they call it the village's pride even with that!”
On the second day, Gold Sun had already switched to calling me hyungnim.
“Hmm. Where is it?”
“According to the villagers, it's in a valley right next to the hill behind the village. Pretty wild, right? So how about we check it out together later, hyungnim!”
He was a remarkably affable guy. Even while I lounged in the hayloft, he was buzzing around, smiling and chatting with folks everywhere. He'd probably picked up this tidbit the same way.
“Sounds kinda annoying... My body's still all stiff from the trip. Not feeling up for climbing hills.”
“Aw, come on! That's exactly when you gotta move to shake it off! Plus, they say these fruits grow from that flower—got a few already. Whaddya think? Pretty, right?”
Gold Sun grinned brightly, ignoring my sprawled-out mess in the straw, and held something out.
And—dare I say it—his palms cradled bright red, round fruits that looked exactly like droplets of blood.
“...They look like blood drops.”
“Aw, c'mon, say they look like shiny red jewels!”
“Eh, sure, whatever.”
“See? Aren't you curious, hyungnim? They say if you wait a few days, you can watch new fruits bud! One batch per month! Wild, huh? Haha!”
“Hmm. I'll think about it.”
“Me and the girls are heading out tonight, hyungnim!”
With that, Gold Sun slung his arms around his childhood-friend wives and sauntered out of the barn.
The barn fell silent in an instant, leaving just me and my companions. In that quiet, I mulled it over.
A flower that reeks of rotting corpses and bears blood-drop fruits every month.
A bizarre bloom in this little village we'd stumbled into on our way east. Even though we'd only stopped to rest, would the prophecy letter really overlook something this strange?
I turned to my other companions.
“What do you all think?”
They were all wiped out, sprawled in exhaustion, but I was a little curious about their takes.
“Eh, dunno. World's full of weird shit. Probably just another one of those.”
“...Yeah?”
“Yeah. Hell, that's not even that weird. A flower stinking of corpses bearing red fruits? I've lived a few hundred years—ain't impressed.”
Horn grumbled it out like that, then promptly dropped his head back into snores.
The kids crawled over, clambering onto my legs, and stared up at me with wide, sparkling eyes.
“We're curious! Right, Tori?”
“Honestly, I'm not that curious, but since Yaki is, I'll say I am.”
“Liar, Tori. Your eyes lit up when you heard!”
“That's you, dummy.”
“...Both of you, shut it.”
Of course, the twins were too busy bickering on my legs to offer anything useful.
But Aberly's input, at least, had some merit.
“F-First off, it might have re, research value, Ain. New ma, materials are important...”
“The flower? Or the fruit?”
He pondered, head bowed, then nodded at me.
“I-Ideal if we could get both, but they won't hand over the village's pride flower just like that... The f-fruit alone's worth studying.”
“Guess we should check it out, then.”
“Haha... Th-then I'll come too.”
He didn't look the most reliable, but he was pulling the biggest load among my companions right now—burning the midnight oil alone on a permanent cure or long-term suppressant for the gray curse.
Still.
“But if you pull that '20% success rate' or 'third try's the charm' bullshit again, I'm really gonna deck you.”
“N-No...”
“Just say the odds suck upfront, asshole. Don't get people hyped for nothing.”
He'd blown through stacks of materials already, always swearing this time it'd work. I didn't mind the waste, but the false hope pissed me off.
“B-But it could work this time...?”
“You little shit. You torched over a hundred sunflowers saying that crap. Wanna die?”
“Haha... At least the data's piling up. You're the best for supplies, Ain...!”
So I kicked Aberly in the ribs as he wriggled away, trying to play innocent.
“Ack... V-Violence is bad...”
“Don't you know beatings only work if they're hard enough?”
“Urk... Th-then cure the gray with a beating...”
Whoa.
Look at this guy. You're dead today, for real.
Night fell.
The pitiful screams from the barn had died down before dinner, and now Aberly, the twins, and I followed Gold Sun up the hill.
“That's too much... P-People can joke around sometimes...”
“You crossed a line.”
Telling someone fighting for the gray that a beating would fix it? Where'd he learn that crap?
“Y-You hit first.”
“And this punk's still yapping?”
Heat rising again, I raised my fist. Aberly yelped and scooted away.
Our usual WWE antics drew laughs from Gold Sun and the gals up ahead.
“Haha! You and your crew look great together, hyungnim! Real tight-knit vibe!”
“This?”
“Yeah! Only friends bicker like that. Awkward folks couldn't even show that side before splitting!”
“Well... Fair point.”
He had a point, but it wasn't the kind of scene you'd say that about.
And then.
“...The smell.”
A pungent stench stabbed at my nose. I wrinkled it in disgust.
“Eup, the smell...”
“No way, it's worse than I thought... Sniff.”
We all grimaced climbing the hill, soon pinching our noses and holding our breath.
Way stronger than expected.
Folks who'd never smelled a rotting corpse wouldn't know, but the moment it hit—bam—instinctual revulsion kicked in.
Not the fishy reek of blood from a fresh death, nor the foulness of leaking shit. Something else.
It soured even the kids' excited faces, so I scooped up the twins.
“Pinch those noses tight.”
““Yes... (sniffles)””
They already were, voices all nasally, but that first whiff lingered like a bad aftertaste.
Anyway.
We crested the hill into the valley, faces twisted.
“That's the flower? That thing's... a tree, right?”
I muttered at the massive bloom filling the valley.
Too big for a mere flower—stem and petals towering like a building toward the sky.
Hidden by the hill before, its vibrant petals were roof-sized each, stem and protruding roots absurdly thick.
Even at night, moonlight scattered over it, making the sight almost beautiful.
We gawked, then inhaled—and grimaced again.
“Whoa, what a huge, weird flower, hyungnim! Smell's... urk... intense, though.”
“Ehh~ That's a flower~? Super huge... Blech. The smell's for real...!”
““Wow, so big... Eek.””
“Hmm... If I can't snag a petal, maybe a bit of stem...”
We stared at it for a good long while.
Of course, back at the barn, we grimaced again at the stench soaked into our clothes.
Put simply.
Yeah, it was worth the villagers' proud smiles.
Even the eerie undertone in that rotting-corpse smell faded as you gazed at it—a damn fine sight.
Though for some reason, that just creeped me out more.
We burrowed back into the hay and slept.