Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Even If They Get Along, Siblings Are Siblings
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By the time the fence was about halfway done, Guu asked with a puzzled expression.
-I’ve been meaning to ask. What is that in your pocket? It seems different from the ones you planted in the garden.
In Cheon Doun’s pocket was the leader root, sleeping with only its face peeking out.
Being so close to him, it had absorbed plenty of mana. The pocket held its body firmly, making it feel as if it were buried in the ground.
The root breathed softly, looking as if there could be no more comfortable place in the world.
“It’s a root I met when I was young. It seems to have high intelligence, considering it remembers me.”
Cheon Doun brought a deep bowl from the house. He filled it with soil from the vegetable garden and then buried the root.
The change in environment caused the root to open its eyes. Soil was piling up cozily on its body.
Ah, this soil is overflowing with my benefactor’s energy. The root shifted its body to get comfortable, a look of satisfaction on its face.
“You’re awake. Go back to sleep.”
-Hoo-oong?
“I said, sleep. It’s okay to sleep.”
Cheon Doun buried the root completely, leaving only its leaf exposed.
-Hoo-oong!
The root popped its head out. It had to see its benefactor one more time before sleeping. It had to confirm he was right in front of it. It looked at Cheon Doun with such determination in its eyes.
“I told you to sleep.”
Cheon Doun pressed down on the root’s head. Like a game of whack-a-mole, the root went down and didn’t pop its head back out.
My benefactor is still beside me. Reassured by this, it fell asleep. Watching this, Guu wore an expression of interest.
-It seems to like you quite a bit. Aren’t you going to plant it in the garden?
“There are already independent individuals there.”
He couldn’t plant the leader, who had turned back so gallantly with the wind, in that place.
If he planted them in the same spot, the roots would surely look at each other awkwardly.
-Hoo… Hoo-oong?
You’ve come again, leader.
-Hoo… Hoong.
It just sort of happened. The roots would awkwardly avoid each other’s gaze. He didn’t particularly want to see that.
“Besides, I didn’t bring this one here with the intention of raising it. I’ll keep it buried in the bowl and return it when I go to the snowy mountain.”
-Return it? Why not just raise it? It seems satisfied with the current situation.
“I can’t do that. This one has its own group to lead.”
It was the leader of over a hundred Mandragoras.
He had brought it along because it wanted to come, but he had no intention of raising it here.
“I was thinking of digging up a few more roots once the ones in the garden get used to the environment. But I’m holding off on that for now. I want to observe the situation a little longer.”
The five Mandragoras in the garden. Because their numbers were small, they took special care of one another.
If the group grew larger, their attention would be divided, and the unity they had now might disappear.
He found great joy in watching the five roots stick together, so he didn’t want to suddenly introduce a change.
-I see. If that’s what you think. In any case, that root will decide for itself where it wants to live. If it chooses to stay by your side, it will probably delegate the leader position to another.
“Can the leader position be delegated that easily?”
-Didn’t the Mandragoras in the garden get recognized as a single group and form a new leader? The method is different, but for monsters that form packs, the leader tends to change easily.
It was only because the Mandragoras had a gentle nature that no bloodshed occurred.
In monster packs, life-or-death struggles for dominance were frequent. It was common for the leader to change through such events.
-The flock of parrot-like birds you ride is a prime example. They’re such a ferocious species that their leader changes at the drop of a hat.
Guu looked at Blue, sleeping in a corner of the yard. Blue had flown over and fallen asleep sometime after Cheon Doun expanded the yard.
It must be tired from the long flight, so let’s let it sleep for now. Cheon Doun turned his gaze to Sasa.
Sasa, sleeping on Guu’s head, stirred as if about to wake up.
“Looks like Sasa is about to get up. Let’s give it some space.”
If he and Guu were present, it might hide its post-molting instincts.
Cheon Doun placed Sasa near the vegetable garden. Holding the bowl where the leader root slept, he and Guu hid behind a bush.
The ability of the orange flower that bloomed on Sasa’s head. It was time to find out what it was.
* * *
Waking up, Sasa looked around. There was no one in the yard.
Blue was sleeping in a corner, but Sasa paid it no mind.
When the size difference was this great, a creature was often not even recognized as a predator.
-Peep…!
The mission begins. Unlike its usual self, Sasa lay its body flat on the ground. Wiggling its chick-like legs, it advanced toward the garden. That alone was enough to make the garden soil stir.
-Hoo-oong?
A Mandragora popped its head out. Sasa froze, not moving an inch.
Sasa, lying flat on the ground, looked different than usual. To the poor-sighted Mandragora, the elongated Sasa looked like a tree branch.
As the wind blew, the orange flower on Sasa’s head swayed. A sweet floral scent wafted from it.
-Hoong, hoong.
All clear. That is just a flower. The sentry Mandragora reported to its kin before retreating back into the ground.
It had deceived the enemy as planned. Sasa’s heart pounded with joy. Let’s ride this momentum and go all at once. Slowly, carefully. But boldly.
Before long, its head touched the stone wall of the garden. Sasa quickly climbed over it.
As soon as it entered the Mandragoras’ territory, Sasa curled its body into a coil.
-Hoo-oong?
This is the smell of an invader. Where is it coming from? The Mandragoras popped their heads out.
This time, all five roots emerged and stared at Sasa.
The first thing that caught their eyes was the flower. Below it was something round and yellow.
It was the coiled Sasa, but to the poor-sighted Mandragoras, it looked like nothing more than a yellow lump.
The Mandragoras surrounded Sasa. They circled it slowly, inspecting it. Sasa did not move.
I am a flowerpot. A round, yellow flowerpot. A flower has grown in the middle of this flowerpot.
Sasa repeated the suggestion to itself.
-Hoong!
One of the inspecting Mandragoras swung a rootlet.
Thwack. The rootlet struck Sasa without mercy. Sasa’s body trembled as its bottom stung. It bit its lip against the sharp pain.
-Hoo-oong?
Another Mandragora swung its rootlet.
Thwack. It hit the same spot on its bottom again. Tears welled up in Sasa’s eyes. To hit the same spot twice, what utterly cruel beings.
The Mandragoras circled Sasa a few more times before stopping.
No reaction. This is not an enemy. It is a plant. That yellow, round thing must be the flower’s root.
Once they reached a conclusion, the problem was what to do with it.
This flower was different from the saplings that coveted their territory. It was an ordinary plant, not a monster.
And yet, it smelled of snakes, their natural enemy. In that case, there was only one conclusion.
The Mandragoras’ gazes turned to the flower stalk planted in a corner of the garden.
They could see a single flower that had been brutally devoured. The flower that had just appeared in their garden must have suffered the same fate.
This time, it must have been completely uprooted and thrown here.
-Hoo-oong!
-Hoong, hoong!
The five roots pushed Sasa to a corner of the garden. They dug a hole next to where the flower stalk was planted and began to bury Sasa.
‘Pee… Peep?’
Is this right? Sasa blinked as it was being buried in the garden.
At this rate, its face would be buried too. Sasa darted its eyes around before cautiously poking its head upward.
-Hoo-oong!
-Hoong, hoong!
Having buried Sasa in the ground, the Mandragoras patted the soil with their rootlets.
A gesture of mourning for a fellow plant species. This flower still had its root attached, so it might survive.
After finishing their work, the Mandragoras returned to their original spots and went back underground.
-Peep…?
Sasa darted its eyes around again. The infiltration was a success, but for some reason, it was now buried in the ground.
-Peep…!
It wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but it had at least lowered the Mandragoras’ guard. It had crossed the garden’s stone wall, which had been an insurmountable barrier until now.
Sasa smiled triumphantly. The infiltration was a success, but it had no intention of moving just yet.
Let’s pretend to be a flower until their guard is completely down. When they fully trust me, I will pluck a leaf and eat it.
-Peep…!
I’ll eat a rootlet, too. Sasa thought cruel thoughts as it swayed its flower.
* * *
At the very moment Sasa was being buried in the ground.
Cheon Doun, who had been watching the situation from hiding, was silent. Guu was also silent.
The two had been ready to intervene immediately if it looked like the garden would be harmed.
All that preparation was for nothing.
“That was… um… as a fellow volcanic monster, give me your opinion. What do you think Sasa just did?”
-I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a completely unexpected move.
Crawling, coiling, and getting buried in the garden. What on earth could be the meaning behind those actions?
The two went to the garden to check on Sasa.
Zzz. Zzz. Sasa was snoring softly. The fatigue from molting was severe, and it had fallen asleep again.
“It’s sleeping.”
-It’s sleeping.
“This is… well, I guess. They say babies sleep a lot.”
-Perhaps it’s conserving its energy for a battle with the roots.
“For momentum?”
-For momentum.
Could that be it? The two fell silent. Even as they said it, they felt that couldn’t be right.
“Is it possible for a monster’s species to change through molting? Like a snake’s nature changing to that of a plant-type monster.”
-Hmm. I don’t think that’s possible…
Why would it be so happy sleeping while buried in the ground? Whatever the case, it was clear there was no danger.
Having confirmed that, Cheon Doun went to the house to get a bowl.
Sasa would be put on hold for now. He went to the Mandragoras and dug up the dry root and the metal root.
-Hoo-uh…?
The roots wriggled in Cheon Doun’s palm.
-Why are you digging those up?
“I’m going to have Manager Kim examine them. I’ve been watching them all this time. No matter how much demonic energy I pour into them, they don’t seem to be gaining any weight.”
Artificially cultivated Mandragoras grown outside a Gate.
They had put on some weight since he first brought them, but they were not even half as plump as the wild Mandragoras.
Even their cries were still a weak ‘Hoo-uh.’
Compared to the spirited ‘Hoong’ of the wild ones, their cries sounded hopelessly weak.
“Manager Kim is an alchemist, so he’ll know a lot about cultivated Mandragoras. I’m going to ask him to find out why they’re not gaining weight.”
Cheon Doun looked at the metal root.
“Especially this one. It’s a chimera made to track Kim Nari. There’s a high chance it was hastily created.”
Cheon Doun patted the metal root with his thumb.
-Hoo-uh…!
As he patted its belly, the Mandragora flailed the thick root it used as a leg. It rubbed its belly with its rootlets, as if ticklish.
“If worse comes to worst, I’ll have him make a nutritional supplement and hook it up to an IV.”
-A root on an IV… You certainly make full use of that Manager Kim person.
“He’s competent. Want to come with me to the snowy mountain this time?”
Guu shook his head.
-I will guard the house. I do not like the cold.
As a monster from a volcanic region, Guu chose to sunbathe in front of the vegetable garden.
From there, Guu’s eyes spotted Yu Beom flying in from a distance.
Landing in the yard, Yu Beom saw the half-finished fence and looked intrigued.
“This looks pretty good. It’ll be quite a sight at night.”
Slicing the luminous stones thinly and placing them inside the ore was a stroke of genius. After a moment of admiration, he went over to Cheon Doun.
“Seeing you here must mean something happened at the snowy mountain.”
“Something did. After you left, the Hunters tried to rise up.”
Yu Beom spoke as if he’d witnessed something amusing.
“I was with the kid O Bongsu, and you were gone. Manager Kim isn’t a combat-type awakener, right? So the number of supervisors was effectively reduced to just one, Yu Jia. They must’ve thought they had a chance if they used their numbers.”
Humans repeat the same mistakes. The Hunters applied the same thinking they had used against Cheon Doun to Yu Jia.
“Half of those Hunters won’t be able to recover.”
“Why? Did she cripple them?”
“Not physically. Manager Kim treated them. But mentally… they’re a bit gone, you could say. They’ll probably be afraid of fighting anyone from now on.”
What in the world did she do? As Cheon Doun looked interested, Yu Beom scratched his head.
“She’s my sister, but that Yu Jia has a scary side to her. Gloomy, you might say.”
Yu Jia had once described Yu Beom’s personality as gloomy. Yu Beom now evaluated her the same way.
The avian siblings, each secretly thinking the other was gloomy.
‘They really are siblings.’
No matter how well they got along, siblings were siblings.