Chapter 73. It's now!

Chapter 73. It's now!

Day 245 of the disaster.

While Sejun was harvesting cherry tomatoes,

[The Seed Shop is open.]

[Mr. Park Sejun's rank is Ordinary.]

[4 types of seeds are randomly displayed for sale today.]

[You can purchase as many seeds as you want within 5 Tower Coins at your current rank.]

The Seed Shop opened, and the seeds available for purchase today appeared.

[50 Black Bean Seeds - 5 Tower Coins]

[100 Radish Seeds - 1 Tower Coin]

[25 Butternut Squash Seeds - 5 Tower Coins]

[500 Onion Seeds - 5 Tower Coins]

"Huh?!"

The prices of the seeds had risen significantly compared to the last time he saw them. Previously, 100 radish seeds cost 0.1 Tower Coins, but now they cost 1 Tower Coin, a tenfold increase.

"Is this because the price of food has gone up?"

The wolves, who had been coming and going on the 67th floor of the Tower, brought various news. One of them was that the price of food in the Tower had skyrocketed due to the Red Locusts.

At first, it seemed illogical. How could the price of food go up when there was an abundance of food due to the Red Locusts?

But thinking a few months ahead, it made sense. Even if plants started growing now, it would take several months before they could be eaten.

However, the 67th floor of the Tower was almost a wasteland, meaning that the entire floor had stopped producing food.

Moreover, other floors of the Tower, which had experienced a great famine 100 years ago, were stockpiling food in large quantities upon hearing the news of the Red Locusts. The landowner Grid of the 55th floor, the largest granary of the Black Tower, was not releasing food, causing the price of food to soar sharply.

The wolves wagged their tails and looked at him with admiration, making Sejun feel a bit proud.

"But what should I buy?"

Sejun pondered over the seeds. The prices were ambiguous. Buying two would exceed 5 Tower Coins, so he could only buy one.

"Hmm..."

After much thought, Sejun decided to buy onions. Onions could remove fishy odors and add sweetness, making them suitable for most dishes.

And with the limited ingredients he had recently, the rabbits were not satisfied with his cooking. With these onions, he thought he could restore his pride.

"Hehe. I'll show those rabbits what real flavor is like."

Sejun bought the onions with a villainous tone.

[500 Onion Seeds purchased.]

[5 Tower Coins have been deducted from Mr. Park Sejun's Seed Bank account.]

[50 Seed Shop Mileage points have been earned.]

[Total Seed Shop Mileage points: 106.]

Rustle.

A small leather bag containing onion seeds appeared in Sejun's hand.

[Thank you for using the Seed Shop.]

[You can use the Seed Shop Level 2 again after 30 days.]

Sejun planted 500 onion seeds in the remaining field in the cave and resumed harvesting cherry tomatoes.

At that moment,

[The Tower's manager asks what your grandfather and father talked about.]

Aileen, after the Blue Moon, spoke to him for the first time.

***

"Yawn! I slept well!"

Aileen, who had been shouting during the Blue Moon, woke up after a few days of deep sleep, stretching widely. She had been in a deep sleep due to the aftereffects of the Dragon Heart frenzy.

"I slept too much. What is that clever human doing? Crystal ball, summon."

Aileen summoned the crystal ball to see Sejun.

[You have over 1,000 unread notifications.]

[Please clear your notifications.]

"Again."

The notifications that had accumulated over a few days were obstructing Aileen's view.

Aileen quickly scrolled through the notifications. A few red notifications caught her eye, but she assumed they were from the 67th floor of the Tower.

After clearing the notifications, Aileen looked at the farm to find Sejun. The farm had grown so large that she had to search like this now.

"It's grown even more in a few days."

While Aileen was looking around the farm for Sejun,

"Huh?!"

She saw Gweungi swinging a branch. It was not a normal branch that grew and shrank.

"What is that?"

When Aileen asked Gweungi,

[It says it's a corrupted Ent's branch that absorbed the energy of the Blue Moon.]

"A corrupted Ent that absorbed the energy of the Blue Moon?! That's incredibly strong. Where did it come from?"

[It says its father gave it to it.]

"From the clever human?"

Clearly, something had happened while she was asleep.

Aileen asked her mother, the Crimson Giant Bear, for more details.

"Gweung? The statue at the fountain moved?"

"My grandfather and father talked to him?"

She learned that her grandfather and father had communicated with Sejun through the black dragon statue.

"What did they talk about?"

[The Tower Farmer Park Sejun said he would take good care of Aileen and help manage the Tower.]

"Take good care of me?!"

Sejun's words shocked Aileen. Take good care of her?!

"Did I get permission to marry?"

[The Tower Farmer Park Sejun waves his hands and strongly denies it.]

[He quickly corrects himself, saying that he meant he would help treat Aileen's Dragon Heart.]

But

"Hehe. Then I'll wait for 300 years."

Aileen was lost in her own imagination and didn't pay attention to Sejun's message.

***

When Theo arrived at the 75th floor of the Tower with Oren, Oren remembered his father's words before leaving Granier Village: the Black Wolf tribe would stay in the village for a month and hunt something, due to a request from the Mage Guild.

'The Black Wolf tribe, stronger than the Silver Wolf tribe on the 85th floor, are on the 89th floor.'

That's why Oren suggested going to Granier Village to Theo.

Oren thought that hiring just three Black Wolf tribe members would be enough to overpower Theo and the Silver Wolf tribe and take the contract.

'And once I have the contract...'

He planned to use the contract invalidation potion at home to nullify the contract.

'When that happens, I won't let you off, Theo!'

While Oren was planning his revenge, Theo and his party arrived at the entrance of Granier Village.

"I'll go home first to inform my father and prepare to welcome Mr. Theo."

"Sure, meow!"

Oren's offer to prepare for his arrival made Theo agree happily.

Rumble.

Elka growled quietly as she watched Oren run home. Theo hadn't noticed yet, but Elka could see through Oren's schemes.

Throughout the journey to Granier Village, Elka kept glaring at Theo's back, and it was impressive that he hadn't noticed.

But Elka remained silent. She was even grateful for Oren's schemes.

'Then I can get more ransom money.'

Influenced by Sejun and Theo, Elka now connected everything to money.

However,

"Meow."

Elka felt a bit uneasy seeing Iona whistling as she moved away.

At that moment,

"Let's go, meow!"

Theo confidently entered the village. It had been almost a year since he fled the village in the middle of the night.

But seeing the lifeless village, Theo was taken aback.

"Why is everyone like this, meow?"

The cats looked emaciated, as if they hadn't eaten for days, and lacked energy. Most of them reacted indifferently or ignored Theo. This made it impossible for him to announce his grand return to the village.

"What, meow? Why are the cats so listless, meow? Jeff intern, what happened to Granier Village, meow?!"

Theo grabbed Jeff by the collar and demanded an answer.

"Well... it wasn't like this when I left..."

From Jeff's and other cats' expressions, it was clear they didn't know what was happening. Their eyes showed worry and anxiety for their families.

"Go home and find out what happened, meow!"

Feeling soft-hearted, Theo sent the interns home.

"Thank you, Mr. Theo!"

"If you run away, I'll double the contract period, meow!"

"Yes!"

"And take this, meow."

Theo took grilled fish from his backpack and distributed it to the interns.

"Thank you!"

The cats, grateful for Theo's consideration, hurried home.

Then Theo went to his regular grilled fish shop.

"Welcome... Theo, meow?"

"Owner, it's been a while, meow. But why is the village like this, meow?"

Theo asked the fish shop owner. Sending the interns to find out what happened was just an excuse. Theo was a tsundere cat.

"Recently, frog-like monsters have appeared in Zenka Lake, and we can't even catch fish, meow."

"Frog-like monsters, meow?"

"Yes, meow. So all the cats in the village are starving, meow."

According to the grilled fish shop owner, 70% of the fish that the cats in Granier Village ate came from Zenka Lake, where frog-like monsters called Frogs had appeared a week ago, preventing any fish from being caught.

"Here, eat this, meow."

Theo, who had received fish from the shop owner a few times when he was short on money, wanted to repay the favor. He gave 50 grilled fish to the shop owner and left.

"Let's go to Oren's house, meow!"

Theo led the remaining party members to Oren's house.

***

"Father!"

"Oren! Why are you so late?!"

Oren's father, Israel, greeted him.

"Well..."

To hide his mistake, Oren altered the story of being scammed by Scaram and said that Theo had threatened him and made him sign a contract to work for 10,000 days.

"What?! Theo hired Silver Wolf tribe mercenaries to threaten you and make you sign a contract?!"

"Yes. Theo will be here soon. Father, please ask the Black Wolf tribe to take the contract from Theo."

"Alright! Trust me! By the way, the chief of the Black Wolf tribe, Hegel, is staying at our house. He will help if I ask."

Israel, speaking loudly, took Oren to the room where Hegel was staying.

"Alright. Three Silver Wolf tribe members are enough for me to handle."

Hegel, who felt indebted for the hospitality he had received, readily agreed to Israel's request.

At that moment,

"Oren! Where are you, meow?!"

Theo arrived at Oren's house.

"I have a good plan. If I take action first, Hegel will be able to subdue them more easily."

"There's no need... I understand."

Although Hegel felt uneasy about Oren's confident words, he agreed because Oren was the son of the house.

"Let's go."

"Understood."

Hegel followed Israel and Oren to where Theo and his party were.

Then,

"Don't move! Or this hamster will die! Hegel, now!"

Oren, approaching Theo, suddenly grabbed Iona from Elka's head and threatened her with his claws, shouting at Hegel.

'Hey! You crazy bastard!'

Hegel was shocked to see Oren threatening the Mage Guild's Grandmaster Iona with his claws.