TL: Hanguk
It was obvious who had stolen the makgeolli from Sejun’s farm. There was no need for deduction. It could only be Aileen’s grandfather and alcohol lover, Kaiser.
“I was careless.”
It was a mistake to not hide the makgeolli, thinking he wouldn’t show up because he had been busy lately. It was his fault for leaving the grilled fish in front of Theo, honey in front of Cuengi, and makgeolli in front of Kaiser.
“No, but still, he shouldn’t have taken it all. I haven’t even tasted it yet…”
‘There were 10 bottles of regular makgeolli, and about 50 bottles of makgeolli mixed with crops…’
“Then, I need to get scales equivalent to 160 bottles of makgeolli.”
He decided to charge a threefold premium for the makgeolli mixed with crops since it took more effort to make.
As Sejun was doing the calculations in his head,
-Our Sejun was here!
Flap. Flap.
Kaiser flew quickly, calling out to Sejun.
“Yes?!”
‘Our Sejun?’ Sejun was startled by Kaiser’s way of addressing him. When did he change from calling him ‘rascal Sejun’ to ‘our Sejun’?
As Sejun was puzzled by Kaiser’s tone,
-You wonderful fellow! When did you make such makgeolli?!
Kaiser began to praise Sejun outright.
***
A few hours earlier.
“Kahahaha. Let’s drink again!”
The dragons continued their drinking session with the makgeolli brought by Kaiser.
“Oh! There was makgeolli in the Black Tower too!”
“Kahahaha. Our tower farmer made it for me!”
Kaiser, who believed strongly that it was made for him, even though he had stolen it without permission, served the regular makgeolli to the dragons.
Slurp.
“Should we try it?”
Gulp. Gulp.
Each dragon took a bottle of makgeolli and drank it as they chatted.
“Hmph! Still, it’s not as good as our tower farmer’s, right?”
Artemis, whose pride was a bit hurt by the unexpectedly delicious makgeolli, spoke with a sentiment that he couldn’t lose.
“What?! Are you belittling the makgeolli made by our Sejun?! Come out! It’s a duel!”
Kaiser shouted, infuriated by Artemis’s comment. Inside the tower, he might disregard him, but outside, disrespecting Sejun’s makgeolli was equivalent to belittling him.
“You think I won’t come out if you ask me to?!”
Thud! Bang!
As Kaiser and Artemis started to fight outside,
“Come on. Drink up! Cheer up, Kellion. Ajax will surely succeed in farming someday.”
“Thanks, even if it’s just words.”
Regardless of the two fighting, Brachio and Kellion continued to drink makgeolli.
“Heh. Good! What? It’s already gone?”
“There’s more here.”
Kellion and Brachio, who quickly emptied a bottle of makgeolli each, used magic to move a bottle each from what Kaiser had brought, to in front of them.
And then,
Click.
Opened the cap,
Pour.
Poured into the glass,
“Cheers!”
“Wishing for Ajax’s good harvest!”
Clink.
They clinked their glasses and drank.
Then,
“Heh. Huh?!”
“Oh my?!”
Both exclaimed at the same time because an unexpected taste came from the makgeolli.
“Sweet potato?”
“Corn?”
“Corn?”
“Sweet potato? Let’s switch and try!”
They switched bottles and drank again,
“Let’s try the others too!”
“Yeah!”
They opened the bottles brought by Kaiser and started tasting them one sip at a time.
“How many flavors are there?!”
“Exactly…”
Sweet potato, potato, corn, carrot, cherry tomato, peanut, watermelon, mango, banana, and even chestnut makgeolli that hadn’t fully matured yet. A total of 10 different flavors of makgeolli!
Furthermore, the makgeolli made with crops grown by Sejun tasted much better, and there was even a subtle sensation that it had an effect on their body.
“Park Sejun, this incredible guy… Let’s see… My dragon tooth…”
Kellion praised Sejun and thought about how many dragon tooth he had left. With one dragon tooth, he thought he could get 10 bottles of each of the 10 flavored makgeollis.
Sejun thought about a threefold premium, but Kellion was thinking of giving a tenfold premium.
However,
“Park Sejun… The tower farmer of the Black Tower…”
Seeing Brachio’s expression, Kellion thought he might not even be able to get 10 bottles.
‘Let’s just drink for now!’
Gulp. Gulp.
As Kellion started to drink the makgeolli, forgetting about his grandson’s worries,
“Ah! Are you going to drink it all alone?!”
Brachio came to his senses and started drinking makgeolli again.
A little later,
“Kahahaha!”
“Uhhahaha!”
Kaiser and Artemis entered shoulder to shoulder, their faces swollen and bruised, laughing with each other. They seemed to have bonded over a fight.
“Huh?! What?!!!”
“Who drank it all?!”
Dozens of empty bottles of makgeolli were scattered on the ground in front of them. Kellion and Brachio had almost finished all the makgeolli while they were out.
“Huh?! You’re here?”
Kellion noticed them late and spoke.
“Huh?! You’re here?! Is that what you say now?!”
“Try this. Then you’ll understand why I’m like this… Kaiser, you’re lucky to have a tower farmer like Sejun.”
With a voice full of envy, Kellion handed the makgeolli to Kaiser.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
Gulp.
Kaiser drank the makgeolli while giving Kellion a strange look. His throat was dry from the exertion.
And then,
“…!!!”
After tasting the sweet potato makgeolli, he understood Kellion’s words.
“Sejun made 10 new types of makgeolli.”
Kellion provided additional explanation to the shocked Kaiser.
‘What have I done…’
Kaiser regretted bringing the makgeolli from Sejun’s brewery. He had brought this precious drink to share with the other dragons.
“What does it taste like?”
Gulp.
“…This?!”
Curious about Kaiser’s reaction, Artemis also took a sip of the makgeolli and was shocked. It was undeniable. It was too delicious!
“Hehehe. It’s not just us who think so.”
“Let’s drink quickly before they come to their senses.”
Ignoring the shocked Kaiser and Artemis, Kellion and Brachio started drinking the makgeolli again.
“Stop! Stop drinking! I’m not giving you any more!”
Kaiser, regaining his senses, tried to gather the remaining makgeolli, but all that was left were two cups’ worth at the bottom of 10 bottles that Kellion had deliberately left.
The taste of the 10 makgeollis was meant to be tasted.
“What is this flavor? It has a unique flavor?”
“Hehehe. This is watermelon.”
Kaiser, smugly, explained the watermelon flavor to Artemis, who was unfamiliar with it.
So, when Kaiser and Artemis finished tasting all 10 flavors of makgeolli,
“Kaiser! Hand over Park Sejun to me!”
Brachio demanded Sejun from Kaiser.
“What are you talking about?! Hand over the tower farmer?! Don’t you know that once someone becomes a tower farmer, they have to live as the tower farmer of that tower until they die? And even if that were possible, our Sejun is definitely not allowed!”
Kaiser responded angrily to Brachio’s words. What nonsense! How dare he ask for our Sejun?!
“Hmm… I wonder if that’s really the case?”
Brachio spoke with a reluctant expression.
“What?! Then let’s discuss it at the next meeting!”
Kaiser hurriedly returned to the black tower. He planned to ask Sejun to make more makgeolli as soon as possible.
***
– Is there anything our Sejun needs? Ah, right! I will compensate you for the alcohol I took earlier with 20 scales! And for the new makgeolli in the future, I’ll give one scale for every two bottles!”
“Huh?! Really?! Thank you! Ah! But Kaiser, this is not the time for that.”
Sejun, who was happy with Kaiser’s offer, remembered Aileen, who should be training hard right now.
– Why? What’s the matter? I’ll handle everything!
Kaiser, eager to get Sejun to make makgeolli quickly, actively tried to solve the issue, but it was not about Sejun, it was about Aileen.
“Aileen is currently…”
Sejun explained that Theo had accidentally obtained a fragment of the Black Dragon’s Dragonheart and that Aileen had gone into training to repair the Dragonheart using it.
– What?! Our Aileen has a fragment of the Dragonheart?
“Do you think it’ll be okay?”
Sejun asked with a worried voice. Aileen had spoken confidently, but that made him even more worried.
– Don’t worry. For a dragon, resonating with the Dragonheart is as simple as breathing. There won’t be any problems. Hahaha. Theo, that guy! He did a great job.
Kaiser, answering Sejun’s question, praised Theo. Although it was a very small fragment of the Dragonheart, it was still remarkable that he had managed to obtain it.
A Dragon Heart naturally and quickly returns to nature when a dragon dies, so it cannot be saved. Kaiser had only heard that there are cases where it does not return. But Theo had brought one.
The issue wasn’t the makgeolli right now. Not that he couldn’t drink it, but it was okay if it was delayed a bit.
– Since you helped the great black dragon clan, I, as the lord of the Pritani clan, will bestow a reward upon you with my authority!
“What, meow?! What will you give, meow?!”
Theo got excited at Kaiser’s words. Theo was thrilled at the thought of receiving a nice gift from Kaiser and giving it to Sejun.
Theo’s mind equation went like this:
‘If I give money to Park Sejun, I get Park Sejun’s lap, Churu, and an extension of my vice chairman term, meow!’
‘If I give a dagger to Park Sejun, I get Park Sejun’s lap, Churu, and an extension of my vice chairman term, meow!’
…
..
.
Theo thought of Sejun as a vending machine where the rights to Sejun’s lap, Churu, and the vice chairman term extension would come out depending on what he gave.
– I will specially allow you to use the title of ‘Pritani’.
“Meow?”
Theo, who could not judge whether receiving the title of Pritani was good or bad, looked at Sejun. His front paws did not react to intangible things.
Sejun shook his head. What changes by adding one more title to the name? Practicality was more important than honor.
“It’s not good, meow! I want something else, meow!”
– Hmm… Unexpected. Until a thousand years ago, everyone liked it… Then I will give you my claw.
Nod. Nod.
“Okay, meow!”
At Sejun’s nod, Theo decided to accept Kaiser’s claw.
– Done.
“Meow?! What is done, meow? I haven’t received the claw yet, meow!”
– Pull out your claw.
Snap!
When Theo pulled out the claw of his front paw, ten black claws appeared. Kaiser had replaced Theo’s claws with dragon claws.
“Meow!”
Theo looked at his changed claws with wonder.
“Meow… I can’t give this to Chairman Park, meow…”
Theo was sad that he could not give the claws to Sejun.
“It’s okay. Instead, Vice Chairman Theo has become stronger.”
“Meow! Yes, meow! I will protect Chairman Park with these claws, meows! But I’m sleepy, meow.”
“Yeah. Kaiser, we need to go to sleep now.”
Sejun said, stroking Theo’s head.
– Okay. See you in the morning.
And so, Sejun and Theo went home to sleep.
– Hm. Have we been too inactive lately?
Kaiser, who felt that the presence of the dragon clan had diminished, was lost in thought.
He did not show it earlier because of his pride, but he was a bit shocked that Theo rejected the title of Pritani. Being allowed to use the title of Pritani means being treated as a black dragon inside the tower.
– But he rejected it?
However, this was not because the presence of the dragon clan had diminished, but simply a happening caused by Sejun, who knew nothing.
Snore.
Gororong.
So, without even knowing that they missed a great opportunity to wield absolute power in the black tower, the two slept well.
On the 312th day of being stranded, Theo obtained the dragon’s claws.
And there were 5 days left until the birthday party.
*****
*****
4/5
