Chapter 21

21. Raise and build! (2)

“Oh, thank you, boss.”

“Yes, sell a lot.”

50 kilos of potato tubers and 30 layers of sweet potato slips. All in all, it was less than 30,000 won.

Crop seeds were quite expensive. Still, it was said that good seeds could be used to produce good harvests when planted again later.

He put what he bought in his car and smoked a cigarette. It had been a while, but it was still bright. Summer seemed to be coming.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll stop by the junkyard and get the equipment I ordered. What else is there to do? We’ll be busy from now on, so I’ll have to take care of everything.’

He drove out of the farm.

The country village was quiet and laid back. The lukewarm air coming through the window smelled of manure. Ko Byeong-gap didn’t like the smell.

It took some time as he drove through some hills. Ko Byeong-gap found something and stopped the car.

“Are they throwing all this away?”

The small vacant lot next to the car was piled up with waste vinyl.

It wasn’t just plastic waste. It was lined that seemed to come from the farmhouse. It seemed to have been left in that state for well enough years.

“It looks like it’s worth it… Can I pick it up?”

He sent everything that seemed useful to Ashvilam, such as a watering can with a broken snout, a bucket with a broken handle, a dented drum, a rolled vinyl, etc.

He was about to go, but there was something that caught his eye.

“Hey…even If I were to sell this to a junk shop, I think I will get a fair amount of money.”

It was a very large iron cauldron. It was more than 100 centimeters in diameter and 50 centimeters in depth. The handle was broken in some places and rusted, but not to the point of being unusable. It would be perfect for boiling potatoes and sweet potatoes with it.

After he carefully checked the surrounding area, he sent over the iron pot to Ashvilam.

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Ko Byeong-gap went back to the car with a grin. Things that were treated like trash by others were valuable base materials to him.

It was already late in the evening when he came back to Seoul. However, it wasn’t the end of his daily routine.

He prepared for tomorrow with the Goblins and sorted out the supplies he brought in that day. It wasn’t until late at night that he was able to wash up and go to bed.

The next day dawned.

Ko Byeong-gap had been busy since morning. At least, he was thinking of going to every junk store or waste furniture disposal plant nearby.

Abandoned tents, torn mats, soiled furniture. He picked up even fallen doors and steel bars he randomly found. After all, Ashvilam was spacious. It was enough to pile up materials they didn’t need right away.

He got a call when he tried to hit a bowl of rice soup for lunch.

“Hello?”

-Oh, boss. It’s Agora hardware. I’m calling because I think the delivery will be completed around 2 pm. Can I go to the location you mentioned without any changes?

“Yes, please come.”

– Yes, I’ll see you then.

He looked at the clock, and there was less than an hour left until 2 pm. Ko Byeong-gap quickly ate his rice soup and left his seat.

The location where Ko Byeong-gap decided to receive the agricultural equipment was a vacant lot.

By the time he arrived, the goods had already arrived. The hardware store employee groaned as he unloaded farm equipment from the truck. He went quickly and helped me with the work. The work was done quickly when he helped out.

‘It’s a lot.’

Farming tools in bags. When I laid it on the floor, it was quite bulky. Of course. It was about 200 bags.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Yes, I’ll take a look.”

After he sent the hardware store staff off, Ko Byeong-gap looked at his new equipment.

‘No one’s watching, right?’

There was no one passing by. It was worth requesting for delivery to an abandoned place on purpose.

He sent all the farming equipment to Ashvilam. It took less than a minute.

‘Let’s run a few more laps because we still have time.’

Ko Byeong-gap moved without a break.

He visited a junkyard, a waste furniture disposal site, and a neighborhood collection point just by the roadside.

The sun went down by the time the smell of trash blew all over his body. Only then did Ko Byeong-gap return home.

Of course, he immediately moved on to Ashvilam to clear up supplies. It was around midnight when he washed up and laid down on the bed.

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“Oh, my God. It’s harder than subjugating cracks.”

His body was tired, but it felt rewarding. Every time he sent things in the empty Ashvilam, it felt like his heart was enriched.

“Tomorrow, I’ll be in Ashvilam all day.”

Ko Byeong-gap relieved his pounding heart and fell asleep.

* * *

“Oh, yeah. Pull it all the way. Keep pulling.”

“Ah, I got it!”

The Normal Goblin unfolded the rolled vinyl and walked backward. The tightly stretched vinyl sat gently on top of the ground. The other Goblins followed and covered the plastic edges with dirt. It was a measure to prevent the vinyl from shriveling or flying away.

On one side, the Goblins sat together and trimmed the seed potatoes he brought in the day before yesterday.

“There you go!”

“Good job. Let’s take a break.”

Ko Byeong-gap straightened his back and looked at the work he had done.

‘Have we done about ten furrows now?”

Ko Byeong-gap elected 15 Normal Goblins and created farmland in the morning.

It was composed of two sizes, 30 meters wide and 16 meters long, just under 300 pyeong in terms of square foot. They were going to divide it in half and plant potatoes and sweet potatoes, respectively.

It would take half a day if he did it alone, but working with the Goblins was quick.

“Take a rest. I’ll take a look around for a second.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, when that happens, say ‘I understand.'”

“Huh?”

“… No.”

Ko Byeong-gap grinned and walked into the woods.

Up! Up! Up!

The sound of axing was in full swing in the woods.

It was necessary to cut down some trees to create a large campsite.

Up! Up!

“Let’s go. Here we go!”

The Giant Goblin, Turka, shouted. The Hob Goblins nearby fled.

‘As expected of Turka. His skills in axing are amazing.’

The Giant Goblin was very powerful. With a few axes, it skimmed over a tree. Soon the Hob Goblins came and moved the tree.

“Turka, I think that’s enough. Lay down your ax and get some rest.”

“Yes, sir, Lord.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s see… Hey, little friend.”

Ko Byeong-gap called a Normal Goblin who was picking up rocks. The one who was pointed out opened his eyes and looked up at Ko Byeong-gap.

“Oh, Lord. Why?”

“Go to the cave and get all the Goblins. Everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Hurry up and call them. I’m dizzy. Run! Run! Hurry up!!”

“Oh, I see!”

“Run faster!”

“Okay!”

The Normal Goblin rushed off. Ko Byeong-gap had fun teasing the Normal Goblin.

Soon, the Goblins who were digging for crystals from the cave gathered. Except for the ten people who work in the field, everyone had gathered.

“Let’s call it a day. Let’s create a campsite together.”

“Okay, sir.”

“First, take the items you organized yesterday and lay them all out.”

“Yep!”

‘Hmm, I have to look here as well as the farmland.’

Ko Byeong-gap thought briefly as he touched his chin. He had a lot of work to do, but it was a pity that he had only one director.

“Gobung and Kiriyan.”

“Did you call me?”

“Yes, Lord!”

‘They’re smart,so why don’t I let them do the job?’

“You two come with me.”

He returned to the farmland with Gobung and Kiriyan. He pointed to the farmland that two Goblins had plowed.

“I have something to leave to you guys. Do you see the fields?”

“Yes, I can see it.”

“Take the kids and make the rest the same. They’ll know how to do it. Can you do it?”

“I can. I can. It’s the same.”

“No problem, Lord.”

Gobung and Kiriyan were very motivated.

“Yeah, it’s something that shouldn’t be done lightly, so if you don’t know what to do, come to me right away.”

“Yep!”

“Don’t overdo it, just take it easy.”

Gobung and Kiryan were put into the field. Before leaving for the forest, he took a peek and saw that they were doing well with the Normal Goblins.

Ko Byeong-gap returned to the forest. The Goblins laid out supplies one by one as he told them to. He skimmed through them and drew a rough bird’s eye view in his head.

‘The basics of the camp are five and ten.’

The idea was soon over. After taking a deep breath, he clapped his hands and drew attention.

“Come on! Let’s start with the largest tent and spread it out in the middle!”

“Okay!”

The Goblins became Ko Byeong-gap’s hands and feet, and they did their job well. Things went smoothly as they were in good spirits.

* * *

The sun had already set.

The results of that day’s hard work were quite grand. Ko Byeong-gap and the Goblins were thrilled to see the completed campsite.

‘There is nothing wrong with it.’

None of the materials brought were used in vain. All of them were placed in the right places and performed their roles faithfully.

There was a large tent in the center, around which small tents lined up. The interiors were simple but cozy since the mat and the vinyl were well laid out underneath, they wouldn’t be able to sleep with dirt on themselves.

A ditch was dug around the tents to prepare for possible heavy rain.

Near the campsite, there was a place for the Goblins to gather and eat. The brazier made of bricks was truly a masterpiece. The icing on the cake was the cauldron on top of it.

They also made a warehouse by combining steel bars and board vinyl. That was for storing supplies that weren’t in use immediately.

The surrounding landscape had become cleaner with the warehouse.

“We’ve done one hell of a job. Don’t you think so?”

“That’s right!”

“It’s so. So cool!”

“As expected, Lord!”

“Come on, you’ve worked hard too.”

It was spacious enough to accommodate 300 or 400 people. For the time being, there were no troubles with the number of people.

By the time the campsite was completed, work on the farmland was also completed.

The result was very satisfactory. Gobung and Kiriyan did a very meticulous job; they were his aces.

‘I feel good.’

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He felt good. It was much better than when Kim Hana doubled his salary.

On a day like that, alcohol and meat couldn’t be left out.

“How much meat do you have left?”

“A little. Left.”

“Is that so…? Then wash up and stay away from eating for now.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ko Byeong-gap got out of Ashvilam. The quiet room greeted him in darkness. Seeing the empty bedroom, he felt somewhat lonely.

Once upon a time, that small private room was his only haven… Now it wasn’t like that.

Ko Byeong-gap hurriedly went to the market near his house. It was around 9 pm, and the shops were closing one by one. He headed to his favorite butcher shop. The owner of the butcher’s shop welcomed Ko Byeong-gap while trimming a piece of meat.

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“Hello, One pound of that pork belly…”

Something caught Ko Byeong-gap’s eyes as he looked around the meat. It was a large barrel next to the chopping board.

It was full of by-products that had fallen off during trimming. Most of them were fat and rare lean meat or intestines.

“Boss, are you throwing that away?”

Ko Byeong-gap asked, pointing to the barrel.

“This one? Well, yes.”

“Then can you give it to me?”

“Yes?”

The butcher’s head tilted his head and spoke to dissuade him.

“Oh, you can’t eat this. I feed them to animals, you know?”

“It’s okay. Can you give it to me? Please.”

“…”

Well, that was a weird guy. The butcher thought so.

“Well, then take it.”

“Thank you!”

Ko Byeong-gap received a pound of pork belly and a bag full of by-products. After that, he stopped by the mart and bought a few bottles of soju. He returned to Ashvilam with excitement.

The clean Goblins were preparing dinner.

“I got you some meat! Put the fire on the cauldron!”

“Yes!”

The goblins set fire to the brazier with excitement. The cauldron was also cleaned with water, so there was no problem using it. They poured all the pork by-products into the cauldron and stir-fried them with thick branches.

All the cooked meat was transferred to the stainless steel trays he had picked up.

“Thank you. I’ll eat!”

“Come, eat a lot.”

“Eat. Deliciously. Do it!”

He had dinner with the Goblins while roasting pork belly. Along with alcohol and cigarettes, he didn’t envy a king’s table.

They laughed and chatted, sang and danced, and shook off their body’s weariness. Ko Byeong-gap felt absolutely marvelous. Had he ever laughed that hard in the last three years of his career as a hunter?

His daily life began with depression and ended with depression.

Worried about work, worried about debt, worried about his mom.

Worry, worry, worry.

His life was full of worry and anxiety. There was never a day when tears disappeared from his face, let alone one with laughter.

He thought it wouldn’t change for the rest of his life…

“Hahahaha!”

“Hahahaha!”

He watched the Goblins play while drinking soju over a pork belly meal. Ko Byeong-gap was happy.

Ko Byeong-gap thought he was doing well as the Goblin Lord.