Chapter 43: Dine and dash

TL: Hanguk

Thud. Thud.

The Minotaur King, having left the Black Minotaur territory, started to run quickly. As the boss of the 99th floor of the tower, the Minotaur King could not leave the waypoint for more than 1 hour a month.

Huff.

‘This is where Woo Cheon-sam’s (Minotaur 1003) scent is coming from.’

The Minotaur King followed Woo Cheon-sam (Minotaur 1003) scent at a rapid pace.

While moving, following the scent

Moo?!

‘What?! Why do I smell Woo Cheon-sa (Minotaur 1004) with Woo Cheon-sam (Minotaur 1003) scent? Could it be?! Have they fallen for each other? Those rascals!’

That explains everything. Why they hadn’t been coming back into the territory for days. It was clear that Woo Cheon-sam (Minotaur 1003) must have seduced Woo Cheon-sa (Minotaur 1004) with delicious grass.

Now, there was no Minotaur King who was worrying about his subordinate. There was only a Minotaur King who was cursing the couple.

Moo!

The Minotaur King roared in anger and again moved fiercely following the scent.

Just then,

Huff. Huff.

Another scent mixed into the Minotaur King’s nose.

This is?!

It was one of the delicious grass scents the Minotaur King had ordered Woo Cheon-sam (Minotaur 1003) to find. And the scents of his subordinates followed the direction of the grass scent.

‘Got them! These rascals!’

The Minotaur King quickly rushed towards where the scent was coming from. As he followed the scent, the scents of his subordinates and the grass became more intense.

And before the Minotaur King’s eyes, a spectacle unfolded. A green onion forest appeared in a place that used to be a wasteland. It was clear those two rascals were in there.

They’re Eating delicious grass while also breeding!

Trying to have both!

At least give one up for me!

Moo!

Thump. Thump.

Although the Red-haired Beasts was visible next to the green onion field, the Minotaur King, who was only thinking of punishing the happy Black Minotaur couple, didn’t notice.

The Minotaur King, losing his sanity, ran towards the green onion field.

***

[Tower’s 99th Floor Boss Black Minotaur King]

“Minotaur King?”

Sejun was startled, seeing the giant Black Minotaur charging towards his green onion field.

Roar!!!

The mother Crimson Giant Bear quickly sent baby bear to Sejun and blocked the Minotaur King’s path.

The Minotaur King may be the strongest being on the 99th floor, but a promise was a promise. The mother Crimson Giant Bear risked her life as she had promised to protect this place.

Just then,

Rustle. Rustle.

The Minotaur King was frantically searching through the green onion field as if he had no interest in them.

But when he found nothing,

Munch. Munch.

He started chewing on the green onion leaves without even cutting them.

Munch. Munch.

The delicious smell of grass filled the Minotaur King’s mouth. And it had a soft yet chewy texture.

Moo~

The Minotaur King was so happy he couldn’t control his excitement and roared cheerfully. He then sat on the ground and began to pluck the onions by their roots and eat them.

Munch. Munch.

In an instant, about a quarter of the green onion field disappeared.

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Roar?

Grr?

Peep?

Bbang?

Sejun and the animals looked at the Minotaur King with curiosity. Fear of the Minotaur King had completely disappeared. It was just a cow. A very large cow that loved green onions.

And a while later,

Minotaur King seemed regretful that he couldn’t eat more. He got up from his spot, clutching a handful of green onions, and ran back in the direction of the waypoint.

“That’s the boss of the 99th floor?”

Sejun looked despondently at Minotaur King as he ran away. He regretted not thinking of going to the waypoint sooner.

“I should have gone to him with green onions sooner.”

But now there was no need for that. Minotaur King made a mistake. He destroyed Sejun’s green onion firld, and even ate without paying.

“He ruined my field and even had the audacity to dine and dash.”

When he spoke with Woo Cheon-sam (Minotaur 1003), it was clear that Black Minotaurs valued a warrior’s honor. Undoubtedly, The Minotaur King would do the same. Or even more so, as the leader of the Black Minotaurs, he would prioritize honor above all else.

Sejun began calculating in his head with a sinister smile. A good idea came to his mind, to turn the tables.

Sejun wanted to rush to the waypoint right now to negotiate with the Minotaur King, but he decided to wait for Theo, who could translate for a smooth negotiation with Minotaur King.

Aileen was also capable of translating, but it was a bit worrisome as Aileen sometimes suddenly falls asleep.

Sejun began to clean up the green onion field that the Minotaur King had ruined. Although it was undoubtedly an annoying task, there was no annoyance visible on Sejun’s face.

‘Hehe. He is trying to make a good impression on me, a intermediate wandering merchant, meow.’

Although the price was reduced considerably, Theo still needed to haggle twice more as Sejun had instructed.

“Give me another discount, meow!”

“Again?”

At Theo’s second haggle, the shopkeeper replied with a voice on verge of crying.

“Or else...”

“No... No! I’ll give it to you for 0.5 tower coins!”

The shopkeeper shouted out with a pale face. Selling each jar at a loss, considering the actual cost was 0.1 tower coin each, but he didn’t want to end up as a corpse on the shoulders of those Black Minotaurs.

‘What, meow? I was about to say I’d leave but...’

Theo felt something was off but attempted to haggle one more time.

“Give me another discount, meow!”

“I was foolish and didn’t understand. Just take them. Please spare my life!”

The shopkeeper fell to the floor and begged.

“Uh...? Thanks, meow.”

Theo, looking puzzled, gathered up the 20 glass jars and left the general store.

“As expected, Park Sejun’s words are always true, meow!”

Theo once again realized the greatness of Sejun.

And when Theo tried to haggle three more times at the blacksmith’s shop,

“Just take them, please.”

“Thank you, meow!”

They even let him draw equipment for free at the blacksmith’s shop.

However,

“There’s nothing that catches my attention, meow.”

Still, since it was free, he just picked something randomly.

“Let’s go, meow!”

Having finished his tasks, Theo used the merchant route again to ascend to the 99th floor of the tower with the Black Minotaurs.

In the shopping area swept through by Theo and the Minotaurs,

Rumors spread that a Black Minotaur was threatening a cat merchant, establishing a freelance mercenary contract, and causing havoc, making the conditions for hiring a Black Minotaur as a freelance mercenary more stringent.

***

When Sejun came down to eat dinner after cutting green onion leaves three times in the bountiful harvest green onion field,

“Huh?!”

The Black Rabbit was nowhere to be seen. Sejun realized he hadn’t seen the Black Rabbit since lunchtime.

Peep!

Pee-yah!

The other White Rabbits also noticed that the Black Rabbit had disappeared and began searching for it.

At that moment

Splash!

The Black Rabbit emerged, releasing the breath it had been holding underwater.

“Huh?! I’m sure I checked the pond too.”

As Sejun was puzzling over this,

Pyaang!

The Black Rabbit, having taken a breath, pointed to a hole in the pond. Upon closer inspection, the hole in the pond had considerably widened.

Pyaang!

The Black Rabbit imitated hitting the wall with the end of its hammer. I broke it!

After the pond poisoning incident, when no piranhas or crayfish came near the pond, the Black Rabbit went out through the hole in the pond in search of prey.

“Hey! That’s dangerous!”

Though the pond water was diluted and not toxic, Sejun, knowing that there were dangerous monsters like giant electric eels outside, besides piranhas and crayfish, was angry.

But,

Pyaang! Pyaang!

The Black Rabbit argued back. I am also a warrior! Warriors need to get stronger! It felt a duty to protect Sejun, its family, and the field as a warrior.

However...

The Black Rabbit knew. It was the weakest here. Only stronger than Sejun.

Sejun was unaware that he was being treated as the weakest.

So, when the piranhas and crayfish, which gave experience points, disappeared, the Black Rabbit felt anxious and ventured outside the pond. The fact that Sejun mentioned a giant electric eel outside the pond also played a part.

“Black Rabbit, you...”

Sejun realized that he had been completely ignorant of the Black Rabbit’s feelings. Did you want to eat meat that badly?

Pyaang!

The Black Rabbit thought Sejun understood its intentions and nodded its head.

They were like two people dreaming different dreams in the same bed.

On 206th day of being stranded. Despite living together for almost half a year, Sejun and the Black Rabbit still had misunderstandings.

*****

I have translated the names of the minotaurs in this chapter using both terms. If this does not affect the reading experience, I will continue translating in this way. Otherwise, I will decide on one of the options I mentioned in the based on the feedback received.

So, once again, please let me know if I should continue in the above-mentioned way or choose only one way.

On another note, we have come to know that Minotaur 1004 (Woo Cheon-sa) is a female. I have made the necessary changes in the previous translations to reflect that.

Lastly, I have one more thing for which I would like to get your feedback. It is the use of the Meow dialect for Theo. Should I use “nya” instead of “meow”? In anime, this type of dialect is often expressed as “nya,” which might be a better way. It would be great if you could let me know your thoughts on this as well.

*****