Chapter 69.2

Even the ruthless medieval lords didn’t demand that high a tax rate. “I don’t quite understand. If you want food, I can understand that. But 90%, that’s essentially just providing the labor, isn’t it?”

“That’s not the case. I’m confident I can profit even with just the remaining 10%.”

“What?”

“Like the lady Jung-sook over there… I’m an awakened one. But due to some circumstances, I haven’t been able to fully utilize my abilities.”

As he said that, Cheol-wook reached into his chest.

And he showed the palm of his hand.

On the calloused hand was the seed of an unknown plant.

And then,

Fwooosh!

‘Unbelievable.’

On that seed,

A sprout suddenly sprouted.

“My profession is that of a farmer.”

“…Damn.”

“That farmland was the land I had been cultivating. It’s land that has been passed down through my family for generations. Since it’s right next to you, I’ve been close with the soldiers and officers of the Ammunition Battalion. They’d come help with community support when things got busy, and I’m grateful for that.”

So that’s why he was so gloomy when he heard about the Ammunition Battalion’s annihilation.

“In this world where civilization has collapsed, I have no intention of claiming ownership over that land. The world has become one where power reigns supreme, and unfortunately, the profession of a farmer is not a combat role.”

“It must have been difficult to secure farmland.”

“Most of the skills and abilities I had were rendered useless.”

In other words,

If we guarantee his safety and give him the land to cultivate,

“Honestly, I’m confident I can produce a harvest so bountiful that I can still give you 90% of it.”

There was one problem with the diet of our unit.

The soldiers don’t complain that much,

But from the perspective of the one cooking, it’s inevitably a concern.

‘The ingredients are too heavily meat based.’

They had only recently succeeded in securing a market,

But most of the vegetables were already rotten.

Even when cooking meat dishes, it’s rare for it to be just pure meat.

There’s the sauce, garnish, and so on.

But,

To improve the quality of the cooking, we need ‘ingredients from the land.’

But wait,

This man is an awakened farmer?

“…Please feel free to let us know if you need anything. We’ll provide full support.”

“Ah, I see. Your food situation isn’t exactly abundant either, is it?”

He doesn’t know.

The ingredients he will provide.

How much they will boost the fighting power of our unit.

“You’re quite remarkable,”

After the meeting with the survivors was over,

Corporal Seo Su-hyeok, who had followed me back, said.

“Remarkable!!”

To draw in the survivors and build a society, with our guild on top of that society… It was a direction he hadn’t even considered.

As I looked at Corporal Seo Su-hyeok speaking like that,

I thought to myself,

‘This guy is someone who thoroughly pursues practicality and efficiency.’

Sergeant Lee Min-jae is similar, but a bit different.

Min-jae hyung also pursues practicality and efficiency.

But he also gets caught up in the emotional aspect.

While he claims to exclude emotion and focus on practicality, there are times when he leaves the choice to me, hoping I’ll choose the other way.

‘This guy is different.’

Unlike Min-jae hyung,

He doesn’t have the slightest consideration for the emotional aspect.

After hearing the stories of the survivors who wanted to settle nearby,

The first thing he argued was that we should ‘drive them out.’

We were not going to drive them enough to push them to death.

But still…

In this kind of world, it’s no different from condemning them to death.

It’s not about being selfish or anything like that.

Unless the group itself has gone completely off the rails,

Even a selfish person would feel squeamish about directly pushing others to their deaths.

But this guy showed no such hesitation.

It felt like something was missing.

However,

“My idea of driving out those who wouldn’t be helpful was shortsighted. I have to admit that.”

He’s basically a capable guy,

And as long as I don’t make the wrong choice, he listens well.

For now, there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Did you think that far in that brief moment?”

“It’s not that remarkable, I just shifted my perspective a little.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a chef, right?”

The more people there are to eat my cooking,

The better it is for me.

A direction that benefits me while everyone lives well together.

Thinking about it that way,

The conclusion came to me quickly.

“But no matter what, if you focus too much on just efficiency, you might miss some important things.”

“…I understand.”

The way he responded, dragging out his words.

‘I’m not sure if he really understood it or not.’

For now, I don’t need to worry about it.

And so, the survivors began to settle around our unit.

Fundamentally, the area around the unit was close to a vast open field, with only a few buildings remaining.

Our engineers lent a hand, and we started building a village in the vicinity.

After a few days had passed,

“Here is the first harvest,”

Cheol-wook said as he placed a large basket at the unit’s mess hall.

Damn.

Has he already started harvesting?

“I’m sorry, but the amount isn’t very large.”

“It doesn’t seem to be an issue of quantity. You just started farming, yet you’ve already harvested…”

“It’s a matter of skill. Farming is one thing, but having food to eat right away is more important, you see. I at least wanted to produce a small amount to start with.”

“So that means…”

“We will begin to scale up the production from tomorrow onwards.”

I looked at the vegetables in the basket.

The vegetables that were probably just seeds not long ago.

Could be grown and be harvested this quickly is quite amazing.

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If proper farming truly begins,

Our unit can break free from relying on hunting for food supplies,

And enter an agricultural society.

“We’re grateful that you’ve decided to settle near us.”

“No, I should be the one thankful. The fact that I was able to farm this quickly is all thanks to the help from your military personnel. Especially this fellow here.”