Chapter 449: The Insect Farm (3)

“Be honest, are you sure you’re not a half?”

“I told you, I’m not.”

Tess returned exactly three hours later, and he started doubting Seo Jun-Ho.

"What are you, them?"

"Human. I’m a hundred percent pure-blooded human."

“Listen here, patient. Ordinary human beings do not simply recover from so many injuries in just three hours."

"Well, I didn’t say I was an ordinary human," said Seo Jun-Ho with a shrug.

He just said that he was human.

Tess laughed dryly. "Well… it doesn’t matter. I'm happy to see my patient’s recovery.”

Seo Jun-Ho got up after saying that he didn’t need any more treatment.

"What are you going to do? If you were an ordinary patient, I would have told you not to move a single muscle in the meantime...”

"May I walk a little?”

"Hmm." Tess thought for a moment and nodded. "You probably do not even know the layout of the Farm yet, so I will show you around."

"Thank you."

Seo Jun-Ho grabbed Tess’ hand to stand up. Then, he started stretching.

‘My legs, spine, and neck are roughly aligned.’

His shoulders should set on their own soon. Unfortunately, the bones that had split into two didn’t manage to recover in just three hours.

"I was born and raised on this Farm, so I don't know much about the world, but I’ve heard from the others that this Farm is the largest Farm that they have ever seen.”

Upon leaving the cave, which was apparently being used as a medical ward, Seo Jun-Ho saw numerous lanterns on the walls and the ceilings. Obviously, they were being used to drive out the darkness.

Seo Jun-Ho grabbed onto the nearby wooden railing and looked around, starting from the bottom floor to the highest.

"It seems that there are ten floors in total.”

"Yes, it is very big, isn't it? There are more than a thousand residents here. Come to think of it, I still haven’t heard your—”

"I'm Seo Jun-Ho."

"S-shuh Chu-No?"

"Just call me Sonny."

It seemed that Vita’s translation function couldn’t handle words that were a bit difficult to pronounce.

"That's a good name! Mr. Sonny, did you come from a different Farm?”

"Well, yes."

Seo Jun-Ho roughly nodded.

"What was your role on that Farm?"

"I just, uh, I beat up the bad guys and protected our people."

"I knew it! You were a sheriff! Indeed, it makes sense with your muscles and physique."

Tess seemed to have gotten convinced by Seo Jun-Ho’s body.

With that being said, they continued their tour.

“The king is staying on the tenth floor. It looks flashy even when staring at it from the bottom, right?”

“The nobles and knights serving the king are on the ninth floor. If you somehow end up arriving on the ninth floor, then you will have to pay your respects to them.”

"The eighth floor is the professional space. All sorts of work are being done there, and that is why the medical ward is located there.”

“Floors 4th to 7th are the residential spaces of the commoners. There’s nothing for us to see here; we should hurry up and go down.”

"This is the third floor. It is quite active, isn’t it? There are exchanges, markets, and restaurants here, so this floor always has the most number of people."

They eventually came down to the second floor, and Seo Jun-Ho noticed that the number of lanterns and people had decreased significantly compared to the third floor.

Seo Jun-Ho approached the railing. He looked down at the vacant lot on the first floor, which seemed to be as huge as a school playground.

“What’s that lot being used for?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

"What else are we supposed to use that huge vacant lot for? We obviously use it to pay tribute."

"You’re paying tribute to that king, whom you call a half?”

"…Hmm, I think you will fail as a comedian,” Tess replied. Seo Jun-Ho’s words sounded ridiculous and absurd in his ears.

Tess stepped back from the railing and said, "It’s not really a decent place, and everyone doesn’t really have any good memories about that place, so I think we should go up once again."

When Seo Jun-Ho stepped on the stairs that would lead them upstairs, he could feel gazes landing on him, and they were coming from the first and second floors.

Seo Jun-Ho swept his gaze at the onlookers and asked, "Who are those people?"

"…They are those who dared to defy the king and were enslaved."

"They’re slaves?"

Seo Jun-Ho frowned and quickly counted the number of people on the first and second floors.

'Wait. I think there are at least four hundred people here.’

There were apparently 1,000 people here, but 40% of them were actually slaves?

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t help but stare at Tess.

Tess seemed confused as he spoke up. “You’re a sheriff, right? You should be familiar with them. Why do you care so much about the people below you?”

"There were no slaves from where I lived,” replied Seo Jun-Ho.

"There’s still a Farm like that?" Tess’ eyes widened. Eventually, he shook his head and said, "Well, I guess you won’t be able to quickly accept and understand the workings of this Farm."

Tess seemed troubled as he scratched his face. He looked up the stairs warily and said in a low voice, "I will give you a piece of advice, then. On this Farm, do not pay even the slightest attention to the people on the lower floors. You could be accused of being a rebellion group for no reason and be thrown into slavery."

"What…?”

"Not, what. I’m saying this because it actually happens. Didn’t I tell you earlier?” Tess revealed a grim look. "The king here is cruel. If he does not like someone, he will directly send them to rot on the lower floors, no matter the reason."

"Why are the people here not doing anything about it?"

"So what if we aren’t doing anything?" Tess said coldly, "He is a half. We will never be able to defeat him and his knights, no matter our numbers. Especially in this place where magic is basically non-existent.”

“…” Seo Jun-Ho remained silent.

At that, Tess asked, "Do you understand what I’m saying ?”

"Yes…” Seo Jun-Ho nodded quickly. It seemed that he would have to stay quiet until he was done recovering.

***

"A cooked mole meat and two bowls of moss soup, please."

The two arrived at a restaurant on the third floor. Tess sat down after ordering at the counter.

Seo Jun-Ho sat in front of him. He swept his gaze at the people around him before asking, "Do they give you money here?"

"No, but there are meal coupons being distributed based on your occupation. We simply trade those coupons for meals."

"If you're a doctor, you must get a lot of coupons."

"Well, it's not too difficult to treat a patient," said Tess with a smile.

Tess’ smile widened when the moss soup finally arrived. He took a big spoonful and exclaimed, "Ku~ This is the taste. You should try it.”

The moss soup honestly looked horrendous, especially because it looked like stagnant scum. Seo Jun-Ho looked around and saw that the people around them were enjoying the moss soup, so Seo Jun-Ho could only close his eyes and take a big spoonful.

“…!” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes widened the moment the soup made contact with his tongue.

His head jerked in the direction of the kitchen.

‘M-Mio…? Is Mio here?’

However, the person manning the kitchen was a middle-aged man with a heavy beard.

Seo Jun-Ho slowly put down the spoon in disappointment.

Tess stared at him with expectations and asked, "Does it not suit your tastes?"

"Yes, my body isn’t taking it well yet."

"That’s not good. You have to eat lots because you’re still recovering," said Tess with a disappointed look.

He was about to munch on the mole meat, but—

Crash!

The sound of tableware shattering into pieces interrupted Tess’ meal.

"I finally got you, you thief!"

"Let go of me!"

The restaurant owner caught a child. The child looked like he had just turned ten years old, and he looked so thin from the lack of nutrients that one could vividly make out the bones beneath his skin.

Slap!

The child’s lip split open and started bleeding after the slap.

"You thief! It’s a good thing that I caught you today!"

A flurry of punches landed on the child, but no one stepped up to stop the abuse.

Seo Jun-Ho was about to stand up, but—

Tess stopped him. He shook his head and stood up in Seo Jun-Ho’s stead..

"I think we should stop there.”

"What? Who the hell are you?!"

The angry restaurant owner turned and glared at Tess.

Tess flinched and raised his hands to try and calm the restaurant owner down.

"Oh, sir, the king is concerned about the decreased mining output. I’m just concerned that killing the child would decrease the output even more…”

"But this slave stole—”

"That slave will definitely die if you hit him more."

"Ugh."

All slaves belonged to the king. The king didn’t really care about his slaves, but the king’s mood had always been fickle. Therefore, no one would really try and test the king’s mood if they could help it.

The restaurant owner clicked his tongue and got up.

"The next time I catch you, there will be no mercy," he said fiercely to the child.

Afterward, he started casually cleaning up the store. After a while, some slaves went over and left with the child on their backs. Tess returned to his seat and calmly bit off a chunk of the mole meat dish he had ordered.

"You’ll survive if you’re lucky. Otherwise, you’ll simply die."

“…” Seo Jun-Ho didn’t reply. He simply stared at Tess, but two men were caught in his peripheral vision. The two men had been observing the two of them, but they were finally leaving.

***

Night soon arrived, and the lanterns inside the massive cave where the floors were located started to extinguish one by one. The nocturnal spiders and centipedes finally emerged from their nests. Seo Jun-Ho also got up and headed out.

‘It's dark.’

The ninth and tenth floors were still brightly lit, but the rest of the cave was enveloped with complete darkness.

However, Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t really having any trouble navigating through the darkness. It made sense because he had achieved body transformation and even ate a Vermillion Fruit.

‘Now, let's see where they’re going.’

While standing on the wooden railing, Seo Jun-Ho saw someone moving swiftly in the darkness. Seo Jun-Ho jumped down the railing and quietly went down the floors one by one.

‘On the first floor?’

The night was extremely terrifying on the first floor.

Seo Jun-Ho could hear people talking to each other somewhere.

‘Where is it?’

'O-over there.’

‘Lead the way.’

The conversation got clearer the nearer he got to where the conversation was happening.

"Doc, my child keeps gasping like he’s about to die."

"... Die? Is Brother going to die?"

"Uaahhh!"

Amidst the cries of the children, Seo Jun-ho heard a familiar voice.

"That's why I’m here. Everyone stop crying. It’d be bad if other people came here.”

‘Tess?’

The young doctor examined the child's condition and started feeding the child some medicine.

Tess examined the child for quite a while, and he finally came to a conclusion as he said, "The fever has gone down a bit, but he will have to rest for a week."

"A week..."

"I brought some mole meat and bones. Please make some soup and feed him diligently."

Seo Jun-Ho observed the scene while hiding in the dark. All of a sudden, he was forced to look behind him. They were approaching very quietly, but they didn’t manage to escape Seo Jun-Ho’s senses.

A few figures were approaching while carrying weapons.

‘Hmm.’

Seo Jun-Ho stroked his chin and contemplated.

***

"Apply this ointment over the wound every six hours, and make sure to hide this ointment by burying it."

"Oh, thank you. Thank you very, very much for saving my baby."

"This debt… I'll work really hard to become a commoner, so I’ll be able to repay you.”

Small candles lit up the crying faces of children and their parents. Tess hurriedly lowered his head to hide his bitter expression. He knew that no matter how hard these people worked, there was no way that they could become commoners.

"The time…The guards are about to switch shifts soon, so I have to go."

"Oh, please head up."

"Thank you very much,"

Tess said goodbye to them and slipped out of the cave with his hat pressed down.

“…!”

However, his heart sank to the bottom when he saw a few figures waiting for her near the entrance.

Chiiik!

A man kindled the torch he was holding, and the fire illuminated the surroundings.

"…Jupiter?"

Tess placed upon recognizing the man.

Jupiter was one of the king’s knights. Tess realized that it would only be a matter of time before he got caught, even if he were lucky enough to escape their encirclement.

“The leader told me to keep an eye on you. I didn’t think it was necessary, but wheeew, I really didn’t expect it to be true.” Jupiter sighed slightly. He looked at Tess as if the latter were pathetic and clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk. Just why are you doing this? You could have lived a decent life on this Farm with your expertise.”

“…” Tess bit his lips without saying anything.

Jupiter illuminated Tess’ face with the torch and smirked. "I guess you feel close to them because your parents were born with the disgusting blood of commoners—"

"Shut up!" Tess furiously pounced on Jupiter. However, Jupiter was a knight, so he smoothly and quickly buried his elbow into Tess’ face.

"Argh!"

Tess collapsed to the floor with a bleeding nose. Jupiter stepped on his head with his military boots. Tess struggled and started thrashing around because his nose and mouth were facing the dirt and sand on the floor.

Unfortunately, Jupiter’s foot remained motionless no matter how hard he struggled.

“It’s a bit unfortunate, but this dumb doctor is the only doctor here, so I can’t just kill him.”

"How about we drag him up and re-educate him?"

"Hm, will it work? He was already re-educated once when he was still a child."

"I think this issue stems from his bloodline. I mean, his parents rebelled against the king, and now, their child is doing the same thing. History is repeating itself!"

The other knights started muttering among themselves.

Jupiter suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! I almost forgot.”

He looked into the cave with an amused smile. "The king told me to make an example by killing the person he treated.”

"You can’t…!” Tess was outraged.

However, he couldn’t even stand up, not to mention do anything else. Even if he managed to stand up somehow, he still wouldn’t be able to do anything against the three knights because the gap between their power was simply that huge.

It was so unfair and frustrating that Tess started crying.

"P-please! Please! Not the child…!"

"We will receive the punishment in the child’s stead! Please!"

"You dare to touch me?!"

A parent was kicked in the stomach, and they crumpled to the floor. A child who looked like he would die anytime soon was quickly found and was harshly dragged across the floor by a knight.

"Hey! You killed that one last time, so it's my turn today—Huh?”

The knight excitedly dragging the child across the floor abruptly stopped. The knight was sure that three people, including himself, had come down here. Since he left to drag the child from the cave, there should only be two people standing over there.

“W-Who is that?”

In that case, who was that person wearing a black mask standing next to his smiling comrades? As soon as the question popped up in the knight’s mind, the person who suddenly appeared without making a noise slowly raised their head.