Chapter 299

Chapter 299

I open the door and call out to him, but he just stares blankly at me, chewing on his lettuce.

"Dulchan?"

When I called his name, he realized I had called him and stopped mumbling.

"Oh, yeah, me, are we there?"

The old man took a step back in disbelief as he saw the kid coming out of the warehouse, looking around in a panic.

"What the hell! Eugene, are you a kidnapper?"

Uh......how can being kidnapped be considered kidnapping?

"Me, what kind of kidnapping is that? I was just bringing a lost kid home."

As I said that, I turned to look at Dulchan, who was still looking around, wide-eyed.

"Dulchan, what do you think, can you find your family?"

"Wait!"

He's already realized that we're near the DMZ, and he starts to look around eagerly, sniffing the grass and trees.

The sight is bizarre enough, but the old man shakes his head in disbelief and asks me.

"What is he, then? He's an animal by the way he behaves."

"An animal, yes, he is."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Just then, Dulchan's body began to glow blue.

"Ah, look at that."

He transformed into a large deer, bathed in light, and turned its head to look at us, nodding at us to follow.

"You think he wants us to follow him?"

"Did that kid just turn into that deer?"

"Yes, as you can see......he’s no ordinary kid."

-Poof. Poof.

He scratches the ground with his hooves in our direction, as if to tell us to hurry up and follow him.

"Let's talk as we go."

And with that, we trotted off after him.

"Aha, I remembered! That's the deer that came into the zoo the other day, the Shinrok."

I thought he'd been thinking about something, but it turns out he'd been thinking about the deer.

"Well, I heard that some pervert showed up and took it away, but......why is it with you?"

Heh.

"Well, I had to go to the black market the other day and they were selling him at auction, so I bought him."

"Shinrok?"

"I'm like you, I must have a thing for elixirs."

This is probably understandable for an old man who has an extensive collection of elixirs.

"But why did you bring him here instead of eating him?"

Ugh, I can't believe you're saying such harsh things to a child.

"Well, I heard he was wounded and captured in the DMZ, so I did a little research to see what happened, and then I thought he could be a good guide."

A master of escape, to be sure.

It's mysterious how he moves as if there are no trees.

It was hard to keep up with him because he was running around like a fish in the water.

He keeps looking back to see if we're following him.

Apparently, this speed wasn't his full strength.

"What's with an injured guy running so fast?"

"......He ate most of my elixirs, so he has to be fast."

"Ah."

Of course, I'd get my money's worth.

How many minutes had it been since we'd gone deeper and deeper into the mountains?

The pace of the beast ahead of us began to slow, then stop altogether.

He transformed back into human form.

"This is where I was separated from my family."

He stops and looks around.

"Heh, what the hell happened."

The place was full of charred trees, with a fire in the center but there was something strange.

"Old man, isn't something wrong?"

"......Yes. Strangely, there's not a hint of charring."

Indeed.

Of course, there's not even a hint of the burnt odor that should be present if there was a fire.

"By the way......may I ask the two of you a favor?"

"A favor?"

"What favor?"

He pointed a little off course from our question.

"I think I can smell my family now that I'm deeper in, so can I just check on my mom and brother for a second to make sure they're okay?"

For some reason, while continuing to move forward, I thought he would glance in a different direction, and that seems to have been the case.

"Oh, it's not that far, just a little bit at this pace, I think I can run a little bit more, okay?"

I looked at the old man, since he was the one who had to make the decision in this situation.

The old man stroked his chin and thought for a moment.

"A shinrok family......."

The old man smiled.

"That's not bad. You want to make sure your family is safe, don't you? Let's go."

"It's......!"

The old man grinned broadly and started running again. I glanced back at him as I followed.

"Hey, old man."

"What is it?"

"You're not going to eat......or something, are you?"

The old man shook his head as if he didn't know what I was talking about.

"What? Eat what?"

"No, it's kind of......It's weird to say this, but I was a little scared when you laughed just now."

This must have been the expression on people’s faces when they discover an expensive wild ginseng.

"What? Phew! Hahahahaha!"

The old man's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he started laughing out loud.

"Hey, you bastard, no matter how cold-blooded I am, do you really think I would eat that little thing in front of me, let alone cut off its horns?"

"Horns? Cut them off?"

"Eh, cruel, cruel! I don't cut off the horns, wretch! I merely listened to you and thought there might be something in it."

Listening to me? What did I ever say?

I was about to ask the old man about that, too, when I saw a lake and a small cave in front of me.

"This is it! This is where I smell my mom and brother!"

That's what Dulchan, who had arrived at the front of the cave and changed his appearance, shouted at us.

"Old man."

"Yes."

A strange aura emanates from inside the cave.

The old man and I move forward, blocking the way for Dulchan.

"Dulchan, are you sure your family is in here?"

"Yes......! The smell is the strongest here."

"I see."

The stale air from the cave was thick with mana.

Luckily, it didn't smell bloody, but it certainly didn't seem like they were the only ones inside.

"I'll lead the way, you take the middle, with that little brat in the back."

"Yes."

In fact, this level of concentration could be called a dungeon.

What could possibly be in there that could cause such a concentration of mana?

We step slowly into the dark cave, wary of our surroundings.

At the entrance, the cave looks no different than any other.

But

"Eugene, this is......."

"It's definitely crazy."

As we went deeper into the cave, we saw something they never imagined.

There was a giant hole in the cave.

The sun was shining brightly above, and below, a large field was formed around a small lake and every single plant was nothing but elixirs.

Perhaps the mana felt outside originated here.

In the center of the field was a giant grate.

"Mom!"

Within it, two shinroks were trapped in the blue crystal, with their eyes closed.

"Elder."

"Yes, this is......."

An artificial elixir plantation.