Chapter 044
< Growing Greatly in Silence >
44
The next morning.
I came out to check the garden and stopped my steps at a bizarre sight.
“Hmm?”
Hasuo was tightly hugging something smaller than its body.
And that small body was even trembling finely.
“Hasuo? What's wrong?”
When I approached, Hasuo slowly raised its head.
“······Something changed?”
I couldn't see properly yesterday because it was dark, but seeing it now, something seemed to have happened overnight.
A body that had become white and smooth.
The green leaf sprout that had been cutely poking out on its head for a while had also vanished, leaving a smooth bald head.
It looked like a plump brown radish that had been well-polished.
“······Huh?”
However, the energy wafting from Hasuo had changed from before.
As a result of sensing with Internal Energy, the explosive and powerful energy from before wasn't felt.
Instead, only a purely clear and stable energy with all impurities filtered out was flowing calmly.
Like an ascetic who had cast off all delusions and attained enlightenment.
“Pwa-aeng······.”
The fellow looked at me and then, as if relieved, held out the small seed it was hugging toward me.
“What is this?”
It was clearly a seed I was seeing for the first time, yet it didn't feel unfamiliar.
The same pure life energy as what was felt from the previous Hasuo, but much more concentrated, was felt from the seed.
[Item: Wish-imbued Fleeceflower Seed]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Description: A miracle seed separated from the Primordial Fleeceflower. Only pure healing power is contained in this seed, so any existence can absorb the energy without side effects. If planted in land with special energy like the Absolute's Herb Garden, it might bloom an unpredictable miracle. *Caution! It only fulfills its mission as a spiritual medicine once, then its purpose ends; it does not possess an ego on its own.]
“A seed separated from Hasuo, huh.”
Seeing the part marked as caution, it seemed the difference was that it didn't possess an ego like this Hasuo.
Furthermore.
‘······Without side effects.’
Those words caught my eye more than any other description.
And the words Khalif's Great Grimoire said came to mind.
An existence with the authority of creation or initialization.
Did it mean this was the key that could cure So-ye’s illness?
I stroked Hasuo’s head as it handed me the seed.
“Thank you, Hasuo.”
“Pwa-aeng!”
Hasuo just rubbed its body against my hand as if it were happy.
“Let's see.”
I headed toward the land with the best energy in the garden, right next to the [Sun Bird Heart Seedling].
I picked up the old hand hoe after a long time.
I personally refined the soil and picked out stones.
I put the heart wishing for So-ye to become healthy into every handful of soil.
“Hup.”
And I fetched the purely purified [Moon-White Spiritual Water].
I sprinkled water carefully so the soil wouldn't dry out, but also wouldn't be too muddy.
And when it had absorbed enough moisture.
“Hasuo, where do you think is best?”
Hasuo, who was watching from the side, waddled over.
Then it busily dug the soil with its short root hands and looked at me with a "Heh" smile.
Perhaps because the sprout on its head was gone, its bald head was staring at me plumply.
“Is there the best?”
“Pwa-aeng!”
I carefully lowered the [Wish-imbued Fleeceflower Seed] into the hole Hasuo dug.
And I finished by covering it with soft soil.
The commendable heart of Hasuo and the earnestness wishing for So-ye to smile again.
I planted everything together with this small seed.
Since I planted a new hope.
Now only waiting remained.
* * *
Gangnam, Chef’s Atelier Cooking Class parking lot.
“It's always crowded here.”
Choi Yu-ri, who was sitting in the passenger seat of I-hana’s car, grumbled while looking at the foreign cars lined up in the parking lot.
“Oh? Hana, look over there.”
Choi Yu-ri pointed toward a corner of the parking lot with her finger.
“Who?”
“You know, that person you mentioned last time. The man who said he’s a Baeksu (unemployed).”
At Choi Yu-ri’s words, I-hana’s gaze also headed that way.
Across the way, an old and worn-out silver old-model Avante was parking.
“Wow, that car is still running. Was he really serious about being a Baeksu?”
The appearance of the man getting out of the driver's seat was truly that Baeksu.
“I thought maybe he was a wealthy Baeksu like a building owner's son because the tuition here is so expensive. Maybe he won a course voucher somewhere.”
“Hey, don't judge a person by their car.”
I-hana gave a scolding.
But I-hana’s gaze also couldn't fall away from that man.
Especially, the giant icebox he was struggling to take out from the car trunk.
Just what on earth was inside that, for him to bring it directly like that every time?
That curiosity was becoming larger and larger.
“Now, today's dish is chicken potage with plenty of fresh vegetables. Please prepare the chicken and vegetables.”
Today, too, I-hana’s neighbor was that man.
I-hana wanted to steal a look at his mysterious knife work once more.
When he opened the icebox, I-hana inadvertently gulped.
‘The energy is unusual, indeed.’
What came out from inside were carrots, potatoes, and onions as fresh as if they were just pulled from the field.
But from those vegetables, it felt as if a clear and spiritual energy was coming out, though it couldn't be explained.
However, it wasn't mana like what's contained in a potion.
Tang-tang-tang-
When that man started his knife work, she ended up staring blankly again.
Just then, his terminal rang.
“Ah, Old Man No. Yes? I’m not at home. Right now······ Seoul. Here? What are you saying you're sending? Pardon? It's urgent? Right.”
She wasn't eavesdropping.
Because his voice sounded so troubled over the phone, she had no choice but to hear.
“Ah, I got it. I’ll send the address first. Toward the large main road? Understood.”
The man who finished the call focused on cooking again.
Today was different from last time.
Not only the preparation of ingredients but all the processes of making broth and stir-frying ingredients were skillful and natural.
Watching him look at the completed potage with a proud face, I-hana also showed a smile without realizing it.
‘Hmm······ he makes it pretty well now? He learns quickly.’
But why does that look so appetizing?
The smell is also no joke. I want to taste it too.
I-hana thought so, then shook her head in surprise.
‘Look at my mind. I had an appointment today, I’ll be late!’
She hurriedly packed her things and left the place first.
* * *
After the class ended and I-hana left, Choi Yu-ri remained alone and tapped her terminal.
‘Ah, really. Why does the car have to break down today of all days.’
After asking a colleague nearby for a pickup, she went out to the street and waited for the car.
It was then.
“Yu-ri!”
Turning her head at the familiar voice.
‘Hmm?’
That Baeksu man from earlier was seen standing nearby.
A heavy trailer was stopping before him.
And on top of that truck.
‘······Crazy.’
A deep blue Maserati Ghibli, boasting a dazzling appearance, was loaded.
Choi Yu-ri almost dropped the phone she was holding.
The delivery driver who got off the truck bowed politely and spoke.
“Are you Mr. Jang Kang-hyun?”
“Pardon? Yes, I am.”
“Here is your vehicle, Mr. Jang Kang-hyun. Now, please take the receipt.”
“Pardon?”
At the delivery driver's words, the man received the receipt with a look of disbelief and hurriedly called somewhere.
But the other party didn't seem to pick up, as his expression only became more troubled.
“If it's a VVIP customer, who is it?”
“Ah, it should be written on that receipt.”
After staring at that receipt for a long time, the man spoke.
“Uh······ I’m sorry, but I can't accept this.”
“Customer, I’m sorry but I’m just a driver who only does the delivery. If you don't accept it, I can't go home today, haha. It takes five hours even if I start back right now······ could you please help me out?”
The delivery driver made a jest and once again asked him to sign the document.
“I heard it's a gift sent by a customer. Please just sign here.”
“A gift······.”
At the delivery driver's words, both Kang-hyun and Choi Yu-ri, who was peeking at the scene, all had surprised expressions.
‘What? That car······ received as a gift?’
Choi Yu-ri doubted her eyes.
A Baeksu who rode a worn-out Avante, what on earth is this unrealistic scene of receiving a 300-million-won Maserati as a gift?
“Jackpot.”
She immediately picked up her terminal and began to send messages to I-hana like crazy.
* * *
‘Something got tangled with what I was going to give my nephew so it has nowhere to go. Please just hold onto it for a while.’
Recalling Old Man No’s voice shamelessly lying, I smirked.
Did he think I’d believe that now.
While he won't even take it back.
Vroom······ VROOOOM!
I drove the high-end foreign car, which I was driving for the first time, awkwardly back to the country house.
A feeling as if the heart would sink even if the accelerator was pressed slightly.
The old car was taken away by them saying they’d handle it.
Since it was a piece of junk that might only get a scrap fee, it was a relief for me.
‘Can I just accept this.’
Of course, it must be because he knew what I had been sending him was worth that much.
Perhaps to Old Man No, who overflows with money, this car price might be an amount with no great meaning.
However, even so, receiving this immense gift and staying quiet was not the right thing to do.
‘I should think about it. How to repay.’
I entered the house with a complicated heart.
“I’m back.”
“!!!”
The fellows who discovered me all ran and welcomed me as if by appointment.
We shared and ate the chicken potage I made in the cooking class.
In the taste of the combination of soft chicken and vegetables, the bowls were emptied in an instant.
-Hmyo?!
The curious Muryong was tapping the old film camera in my hand with its front paw.
“Ah, this?”
And lately, I found a new pleasure.
The trigger was discovering an old film camera in the deepest part of the storage.
Click-
Minolta X-700.
It was a masterwork that once dominated an era, even if it was old.
I liked the heavy and pleasant mechanical sound of the shutter curtain going down and up, incomparable to the electronic sound of a digital camera.
Sitting on the veranda, I looked at the world through the viewfinder.
“Kkiyot!”
The dynamic appearance of the Gorani running through the yard chasing the Gryphon feather.
The small expression of Muryong being happy while licking a honey jelly as large as its body.
And even the peaceful appearance of Hasuo dozing while listening to the music box next to the rainbow bean I planted.
Film cameras are inconvenient.
Results couldn't be checked immediately, and a single roll of film could only hold thirty-six photos.
But that's why it was good.
The process of carefully pressing the shutter one by one.
And the flutter of waiting for the developed results at the town photo studio a few days later.
‘During Bureau days, waiting felt only terrible······.’
A society where "fast-fast" is a virtue.
A place where one is branded as incompetent if results aren't produced immediately, and where one is marginalized if falling behind even by a day.
I was always being chased by something and had never once waited for something leisurely.
‘This is also an enlightenment obtained while tilling the garden.’
I came to know that waiting is an essential process for a seed to sprout and bear fruit.
I had never had the leisure to wait for something.
Through the viewfinder, I recorded these precious pieces of daily life I protected and cultivated, one by one.
Ding!
Just then, the terminal in my pocket rang.
It was Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market).
[Genie: Gorani Man 12-nim. Thank you this time too.]
Inadvertently passing over Yu Seo-jin’s notification, one thing suddenly came to mind.
“Ah, why didn't I think of that?”
* * *
Valhalla Guild, inside a VIP limousine.
Yu Seo-jin was lost in thought while looking out the window.
But, in the moment the car passed before a certain building.
“······Hmm?”
Something was felt.
“T-this is······.”
Yu Seo-jin felt her spine chill involuntarily.
A far-off and fundamental intimidation.
It felt as if she was breathless at the primal fear and awe felt for the first time.
In the car passing quickly without even hitting a signal, she thought it would soon vanish like a passing afterglow.
But this sensation was not a sense to be easily passed over.
“Wait, can you go back again?”
Returning to that location, Yu Seo-jin got off with an elegant movement without disarray.
The building in front was Seoul Central University Hospital.
It was just a plain hospital.
“Where is it?”
Yu Seo-jin walked slowly around the hospital, trying to find the source of that energy.
However, the energy had already vanished like a lie.
‘Was it an illusion.’
Clearly if it was that feeling from earlier, it couldn't have vanished this quickly.
As if a giant abyss's will, which perceived her presence, intentionally erased every trace.
‘Naturally it must be an illusion.’
Because such a thing being in the middle of this city was a nonsensical thing.
< Growing Greatly in Silence > END