Chapter 82. We Are One!

Chapter 82. We Are One!

"Will no one pass by today?"

Scaram hid in the corner of the building as usual, looking for a new victim to scam.

Then,

Beep beep~

A white rabbit passed by Scaram, singing a song with a light step, seemingly very excited.

‘It’s just a rabbit...’

Just as Scaram was about to turn his gaze back to look for a victim,

‘What’s that?’

The red ribbon on the white rabbit’s ear caught Scaram’s attention. The crescent moon and rabbit drawn on the ribbon were the symbol of the now-defunct Red Ribbon royal family.

And,

‘No way?!”

A single item flashed through Scaram’s mind.

‘Red Ribbon?!”

It was definitely the Red Ribbon, the item that Grid, the landlord, had put a bounty on and was looking for through the Dark Association.

‘Hehe. My luck is good today.’

Scaram smiled and put on his hood to cover his face, then followed the white rabbit.

Then,

Whoosh.

After waiting for the right moment, Scaram shot his poison needle at the white rabbit as it passed through a quiet area, causing it to faint.

Beep beep~

Thud.

The white rabbit fell unconscious.

“Hehe.”

Scaram approached, laughing, and placed the unconscious white rabbit in his bag.

Since there could be various problems with just taking the Red Ribbon and disposing of the rabbit here, Scaram planned to hand over the rabbit to Grid as well for a clean resolution.

As Scaram was leaving the market area with his bag on his shoulder,

Click.

Someone put their hand on his bag.

“What?!”

Scaram glared at the one who dared to touch his bag.

And,

“You?!”

He met the eyes of Theo, the customer he had scammed.

***

“Huh?!”

Theo was startled by his own front paw reaching out to someone else’s bag, but he regained his composure upon recognizing Scaram as the owner.

And,

“Scammer! Give me back Cwip!”

He shouted at Scaram.

“Cwip?”

“Yes! Cwip is definitely in your bag!”

Iona, who knew about Theo’s golden front paw, explained Cwip’s appearance and the Red Ribbon item Cwip possessed.

“The Red Ribbon is a relic item of which there are only ten in the Black Tower. Theo’s front paw will definitely be drawn to it.”

When Theo grabbed the straw hat, a relic item, from Scaram’s bag, he felt a similar pull.

“What... what are you talking about?!”

“Iona!”

As Scaram tried to leave the market area in a panic, Theo quickly called out to Iona.

“Mr. Theo, have you found Cwip?”

Iona, who was nearby, hurriedly flew over at Theo’s call.

“It seems so! This wandering merchant’s bag is very suspicious!”

“Is that so? Goblin wandering merchant, can you show me your bag? I am Iona, the president of the Mage Association. I will give you 10,000 Tower Coins just to show me your bag.”

Iona politely asked Scaram to show his bag, offering a significant amount of money. There was no reason to refuse if he had nothing to hide.

However,

“I refuse.”

Scaram, who had something to hide, refused.

“Cwip—open the bag!”

Iona, now in her Anger Level 1 state, used magic.

Swoosh.

Iona’s command caused the bag to start opening on its own, as she used her magic to force it open.

Rustle.

Items began to spill out of the bag. Most of them were Earth items, like tumblers.

“Huh?”

Scaram was startled as his bag opened on its own.

Then, a pure white rabbit emerged from the bag.

“Cwip!”

As Theo had suspected, Cwip was found in Scaram’s bag.

“Cwip!”

...

Cwip did not respond to Iona’s call.

“Absolute Recovery.”

While Iona was using the highest-level recovery magic to revive Cwip,

Sneak.

Scaram began to run away.

However,

Rumble.

Elka and the wolves, who arrived late, surrounded Scaram.

And,

“Puhuhu. Where are you going with so much to settle?!”

Theo, along with the cat interns, stepped forward. Theo planned to get revenge for the scam, separate from the Cwip kidnapping.

***

Day 255 of the Stranding. Morning.

“Ah.”

Sejun woke up feeling good. Perhaps because he had burned the western forest yesterday, the branch scouts did not come this morning.

“I need to set it on fire from time to time.”

Sejun added burning the western forest to his farming tasks. It would give him experience points and prevent the corrupted ents in the western forest from expanding their territory, a win-win situation.

Swoosh.

Sejun added another stroke to the wall in his bedroom, completing a 正, and then went outside.

Since he woke up early, the only being wandering the ground fields was the diligent venomous honeybee.

“Maybe I’ll have some morning coffee.”

Sejun filled a tumbler with hot water, added coffee, and sat in a chair in front of his house to drink it.

Slurp.

“Ah. Good.”

The hot coffee flowed down his throat and into his stomach, making him feel as if he had just eaten a hearty meal.

While enjoying his coffee,

Buzz...

A venomous honeybee, struggling to fly, crashed to the ground.

“Huh?”

Sejun, who was drinking coffee, quickly put down the tumbler and ran to the fallen venomous honeybee.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you?”

Sejun touched the venomous honeybee’s body. Its condition was poor; its wings were slightly torn, and one of its legs was missing.

Buzz...

[East... venomous honeybees...]

“East?”

The east was the original habitat of the venomous honeybees that lived on the 99th floor of the tower.

Unlike the venomous honeybees Sejun raised, which were non-aggressive and herbivorous, the eastern venomous honeybees were aggressive and carnivorous. Sejun had instructed his venomous honeybees not to go near the eastern area.

Buzz...

[They crossed into our territory... and fought...]

“Rest for now.”

Sejun placed the venomous honeybee in the hive.

“I need to go to the east.”

With the west somewhat settled, the east was now the problem. Sejun began preparing to go to the east.

First,

“Black Rabbit! Gweung!”

He called his bodyguards, the Black Rabbit and Gweung. Sejun did not go outside the farm alone.

While the venomous honeybee’s sting could be neutralized with a large garlic, that was only if it stung a few times.

The venomous honeybee’s sting was 10 cm long and as thick as a pen. Moreover, they moved in groups of a hundred. One could die from excessive bleeding even without the venom.

Thud!

Gweung!

The Black Rabbit and Gweung ran over at Sejun’s call.

“Gweung, transform!”

Gweung!

Sejun rode the giant Gweung and moved to the eastern border area.

***

“Everyone, help me! These guys are trying to kill me!”

Scaram called for help from the surrounding area, hoping to create an opportunity to escape amidst the chaos if other merchants gathered to watch.

However,

Click.

“I am Jeras, a secret inspector of the Wandering Merchant Association! This goblin wandering merchant, Scaram, is a current criminal for attempting to kidnap a white rabbit. I will now conduct a summary trial.”

Jeras quickly stepped forward, showing his secret inspector badge. For Jeras, who had struggled to catch Scaram as a current criminal, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Click.

Jeras handcuffed Scaram’s hands.

“Huh?!”

Scaram was startled by the sudden appearance of a secret inspector.

“Goblin wandering merchant Scaram, you are permanently expelled from the Wandering Merchant Association. You are no longer a wandering merchant.”

As Jeras spoke, Scaram’s Wandering Merchant certification and his name on the Wandering Merchant Association’s sales ranking board were erased.

“No!”

Scaram despaired at Jeras’s judgment. Being permanently expelled from the Wandering Merchant Association was a significant matter.

Once permanently expelled, not only the Wandering Merchant Association but also the Free Mercenary Association and the Mage Association would sever all ties with him.

In other words, it would be impossible for him to officially operate in the tower. Moreover, the Wandering Merchant Association did not protect those who were not wandering merchants.

“Do as you please now.”

Jeras handed the handcuffed Scaram over to Theo.

“I don’t know what it is, but thank you! And I have a secret too. I am actually a great...”

Just as Theo was about to reveal his true identity,

“Cwip-cwip! How dare you touch my disciple! I will not forgive you!”

Iona, who saw her disciple almost kidnapped, reached her Anger Level 2.

“It’s Anger Level 2!”

“Run!”

“Get away from here!”

The merchants, recognizing the Great Destroyer Mage Iona, began to run. Anger Level 2 could destroy at least a small town, and up to a quarter of the market area could be obliterated.

Gulp.

Jeras was also tense. If Iona used a destruction spell here, his life would be in danger.

Then,

“Iona, calm down. This scammer needs to be taken to President Park.”

“Cwip-cwip! To Mr. Sejun?”

“Yes!”

“Cwip? Why?”

As Iona and Theo conversed, Iona’s Anger Level gradually decreased.

“It’s because President Park asked me to bring this scammer.”

Sejun had become suspicious while looking at the items Scaram had scammed from the cats. The number of Earth items Scaram was selling was disproportionately high compared to the number of Awakened entering the tower through Vanishing.

And,

‘Why are they all Korean items?’

Most of the items Scaram was selling were Korean. It was unlikely that only Koreans were entering the tower through Vanishing.

Therefore, Sejun suspected that Scaram was trading with someone in Korea.

“I understand. Then let’s go to Mr. Sejun together.”

“Cwip?! I don’t want to! Iona, you are not allowed to come to the 99th floor of the tower!”

Theo immediately became wary of Iona’s suggestion to go together. He had even helped find his disciple, and now she wanted to follow him to the 99th floor!

“No! Going to the 99th floor is my decision!”

“Then I will get to the 99th floor first!”

Theo placed Scaram on another wolf and climbed onto Elka’s back.

“Elka, let’s go!”

“Yes!”

The wolves set off for the 99th floor of the tower.

And,

“Mr. Theo!”

“Let’s go together!”

Da-da-da.

The interns ran hard to follow behind.

“Cwip-cwip. We can’t lose. Cwip! Let’s go!”

Iona casually climbed onto Cwip’s back.

Cwip!

Cwip, with Iona on its back, ran quickly.

Thus, the race between Theo and Iona began.

However,

“Cwip-cwip. High-speed merchant passage for two!”

The winner was already decided.

***

On the way to the east,

Buzz...

Sejun saw the venomous honeybees fighting even before he reached the eastern border. The eastern venomous honeybees had already expanded their patrol to this area.

“Let’s help too!”

But soon, he found a problem.

“Our babies and the enemies can’t be distinguished.”

The venomous honeybees looked identical, making it impossible to tell them apart.

Gweung!

[We can tell by smell!]

Gweung pointed to his nose, saying that Sejun’s venomous honeybees smelled sweet, while the others smelled of meat.

“You’re the only one who can do that.”

Gweung?

Gweung was puzzled by why he couldn’t do such a simple thing.

While they were talking,

Buzz.

One of the fighting venomous honeybees flew toward Sejun.

“Gweung, what smell is it?”

Gweung!

[Meat smell!]

“Got it.”

Sejun threw his hatchet at the venomous honeybee.

But,

Buzz.

The venomous honeybee easily dodged Sejun’s hatchet.

And,

Thud!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the end, the Black Rabbit had to clean up.

“I’ve prepared a slogan for us.”

Sejun suddenly spoke with a serious expression.

Thud?

Gweung?

Sejun’s sudden words made the Black Rabbit and Gweung curious.

“Repeat after me. We are one!”

Thud! (We are one!)

Gweung! (We are one!)

The Black Rabbit and Gweung followed Sejun’s lead.

Day 255 of the Stranding. Sejun’s journey to independence still had a long way to go.