Chapter 27
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Kim Garam (Around 20)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kim Garam (around 20 years old)
The next morning, Tae-jin woke up fervently praying for contact from Gramin. If he joined the group, he could look forward to happy dreams every night.
Of course, they were only dreams, but what did it matter if even his dreams were enjoyable? People spent a third of their lives asleep, after all.
Amid this hazy anticipation, Tae-jin felt an overwhelming sense of happiness.
"Slept well? You look absolutely radiant."
His expression must have been that blissful, because not only Pavilion and old man Richer, but even the castle servants were commenting as they passed him by.
"With the territory's worries resolved, how could I not be happy?"
Of course, he brushed it off with a suitable bit of lip service. The servants and Viscount Helio smiled warmly, treating the three to an excellent meal.
And that evening, Tae-jin sensed an inexplicable strangeness in his room. It felt just like the sensation from yesterday when Gramin had used his shamanry. Pavilion still sensed nothing.
Just then, old man Richer, who was in the next room, must have felt the same thing—he came barreling into Tae-jin's room in a fluster.
"What is it?"
"Gramin said he'd contact us today, right?"
"I figured he'd send a letter or something. What kind of shamanry is this?"
At that moment, Tae-jin's pillow burst open with a pop. Feathers scattered into the air. As the three of them startled and looked around, the feathers formed letters and settled on the floor.
Tomorrow morning, in front of the castle gate
The message was clear.
That night, Tae-jin slept without a pillow.
The viscount, insisting he hadn't paid them enough money, prepared a carriage for the group. It was the one he used himself.
It wasn't extravagantly decorated, but it was sturdy and spotlessly clean. After more than ten days of traveling on foot from Gate Frontier City, they could finally ride in one.
He wasn't some high-ranking noble, but with the noble crest on the carriage, they could expect a trouble-free, comfortable journey.
Tae-jin was so moved he could barely speak. Memories of all that endless walking flashed through his mind.
The next morning, the three rode out to the castle gate in the carriage. There stood Gramin, a large bag slung over his shoulder, dressed in a long coat and jeans.
Good lord—a coat and jeans in spring weather. Weather aside, those clothes were unmistakably off-the-shelf Korean products.
Where the hell did he get those?
A troll with blue skin and long tusks protruding from his mouth wearing a coat and jeans was somehow passable. His well-developed muscles made the outfit hang nicely.
But the moment you saw his bare feet below the jeans, the whole fashion statement turned into a surreal spectacle.
Still, it was a hundred times better than the animal hide he'd been wearing yesterday—that much was undeniable.
Tae-jin asked the coachman to pull up beside Gramin. Gramin peered into the carriage, then casually opened the door and climbed in.
The carriage was big enough for six slender women, but with Pavilion and Gramin's massive builds, it was a tight fit even for the four of them.
The carriage slowly set off. The spring day made for a pleasant ride.
How much time passed like that? Gramin began unpacking and organizing his bag.
It was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items, neatly arranged in some kind of order: bird feathers and minerals, herbs and unidentifiable reagents. Clearly materials for shamanry, just like the stories described.
Out of curiosity, old man Richer pointed at them one by one, asking questions.
"What's this?"
"The skull of a deer less than a day old. I grind it up bit by bit when I need it."
"And this?"
"Dried skyfire fruit. Also called skytangle."
Richer showed no signs of tiring, endlessly pointing at the exotic items and asking their uses.
Tae-jin joined in, pointing at one.
"What's this? Looks weird."
"Skyhorseweed. Grows well in shady spots."
A question suddenly crossed his mind. This guy... how old is he, exactly?
He had so little experience with trolls that he couldn't guess from his face alone. He didn't seem old, given he'd only recently started learning shamanry.
"Gramin. How old are you, anyway?"
"Me? A little over twenty."
Twenty? By this world's standards, that'd make him well over a hundred in Korean years.
"Ah... I see..."
He was about to accept the casual reply and move on when something caught his attention. Trolls weren't a long-lived race. They barely made it past a little over twenty in continental years, at best.
"Twenty? Isn't that elderly for a troll? How'd you become the successor at that age?"
Gramin looked at him like he was some weirdo.
"You're not Korean?"
"I am."
"I was being polite and giving it to you in Korean years, and that's how you react? Do I look like some decrepit old troll to you?"
"How am I supposed to tell a troll's age from his face? I've barely met any... But how do you know Korean years?"
Continental folk knew next to nothing about Korea or Earth. Gate Frontier City residents had only fragmentary info at best.
Step outside the city, and most didn't even know the nation beyond the Gate was called Korea.
Most who naturalized only learned about Korea after arriving at the Gate City, then chose naturalization after much deliberation.
High nobles and officials gathered info through various channels, but Gramin wasn't one of them. Definitely not.
"Why wouldn't I know?"
"You're a troll shaman, right? Lived around Gate Frontier City long? I'd have recognized your face if you had."
"Nah. Not around Gate Frontier City—Busan."
"What?"
Busan. Did a city called Busan exist in this world too?
"Nice place overall, but the sea breeze kept mold growing on the walls."
Even if there was a city named Busan on this continent, it wouldn't have sea breezes.
His head spun.
"How do you know about Busan?"
"Told you—I lived there. For about a year."
"No, how? Are there Gates besides Gate Frontier City?"
His heart pounded wildly. Had he struck a massive clue right after recruiting Gramin?
"Nah, I came through Gate Frontier City. Isn't that the only Gate to Korea?"
"You... you! How'd you get through the Gate? Some trick?"
"Trick? Just filled out a few forms."
Gramin rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a familiar plastic card. A resident registration card. In the corner was his face, printed with the name "Kim Garam."
"Kim Garam? What's that?"
"New name I picked when I naturalized. Sounds kinda like Gramin, and it has a nice ring."
The barrage of unbelievable info hit him all at once. Tae-jin went from excited to dizzy. Disconnected facts tangled in his head.
"Gramin? Kim Garam?"
"Call me whichever you like."
"Alright, Garam. Let's sort this from the top. You're twenty in Korean years, right?"
"Yeah. A little over four here."
"And you just... went through the Gate? They let you naturalize?"
"Yep."
"How? You're a shaman."
"Put 'unemployed' on the naturalization form instead of shaman. Saw how mages couldn't pass, figured they'd nitpick shamans too. But even idiot orc shamans naturalize without issue, so writing the truth probably would've been fine."
His reason teetered on the brink. If even a troll shaman could pass the Gate, why couldn't he?
"The mages guarding the Gate should've stopped you... Fuck."
"How would mages spot a shaman?"
Garam was right. Shamans had no mana in their bodies and had never cast spells—there was no reason for mages to stop them.
Even Richer and Tae-jin couldn't tell Garam was a shaman from a regular troll unless he used his powers.
A surge of rage he'd not felt in ages made his head spin more.
"No, this pisses me off. How does this make sense? Mages can't even go home, causing all this chaos, but shamans waltz through and naturalize?"
Logically, he got it. Troll shamans were obscure; most mages, Richer aside, only thought of drugged-up orcs when hearing "shaman."
The Korean government wouldn't know info that even mages and locals barely did.
But emotionally? No way he could accept it. He wanted to rush back to Gate Frontier City and spread the word about troll shamans.
"Fuck... What a messed-up world..."
Tae-jin buried his head between his knees and muttered.
The weather was still fine, and the carriage rattled toward its destination.