Farming Druid - Chapter 125



Only Noblemtl

125. Huh?

The tree that hung up the phone stared blankly at the yard.

The tree was astonished at Haneum’s words.

‘You closed it due to pressure from within the hospital?’

He said he would come down in the evening to talk about the details.

‘How on earth does it work? Then aren’t we short-handed?’

The tree decided to wait until Haneum arrived.

Nyanannya―

The kittens approached the tree and began climbing its legs and back.

“Ah— ouch— you guys. It hurts.”

It must hurt when you climb up while stamping on your legs and back with sharp claws.

He carefully took the cats off his back and placed them on his lap.

The kittens seemed to finally like it.

After putting on the golgolsong, he started licking my whole body.

Now that I had chosen a place to sleep, the next thing I wanted to do was take a bath.

“Guys… .”

The tree realized that the kittens had no names.

I remembered that I had said I would give it a name, but then kept putting it off.

“Hmm―. I need to give you guys names… .”

Four kittens.

And then there was another kitten, for a total of eight.

Sitting around the sofa with your arms crossed and your knees crossed.

I looked at the cats in the monaite pose.

“What should I name you guys?”

At the murmur of the trees, mother cats approached and opened their little triangular mouths.

Nyaa―

“Is it the Guardian who gives the names to our jewel-like children?”

“That’s right. I can’t just call them ‘This guy, that guy. Hey— Inma— Jeomma—’”

Minyaong―

The two mother cats nodded.

Just that appearance alone made her look cute.

‘They are jewels… From a parent’s perspective, the children they have hurt might seem like jewels. In fact, the love that animals give to their children might be even stronger than the love that humans give to their children… What should I name them? Ah!’

“Friends― I guess we should name you after your birthstones. Your birth month is October… Your birthstone is opal. Its meaning is hope, innocence, and the love between gods and humans… Yes, hope. Love. Let’s go with garnet, crystal, aqua, marine, ruby, and pearl.”

The mother cats looked at their children, recalling the names given to them.

Wooyaang―

Miang―

I heard the mother cats’ words of gratitude.

“Now tell each of your children’s names.”

Woof―

The tree sighed as it saw the mother cats nod their heads.

“I’ll rest for a bit now. When Han-eum comes, I’ll go to town for dinner and eat something. I’m tired.”

The tree is warm because of the cats sitting on its lap.

I closed my eyes without realizing it.

Swoosh— Swoosh—

When you hear even breathing.

A gust of wind tickled the tree’s forehead and then dispersed.

A pair of green leaves appeared on his forehead and then disappeared.

* * *

Tiee …

The tree sat up, startled by the sound of the doorbell ringing in its ear.

The kittens also yawned and sat up.

Lesser-

It seemed like Abel had gone out and opened the door for me.

Thud, thud, thud

Haneum asked as she put her luggage down on the porch.

“What? Did you sleep?”

The tree said, twisting its whole body and stretching.

“Yeah. I guess I was tired after staying out for a few days.”

king-

Abel barked softly.

He put his nose on Haneum’s hand and continued to stroke her body as if asking her to pet him.

Then Haneum said.

“Oh my― Did our Abel miss his brother?”

Woof-woof-wang-

At Abel’s barking, Haneum looked up at the tree.

“What is he saying?”

“I want to show you something this evening.”

“Huh? What?”

Abel barked, and the tree interpreted his bark.

“It’s a secret… That guy is telling me a secret too?”

Haneum ended up laughing at the tree’s words.

I don’t know what they’ll show, but I’m a little excited.

“Want some coffee?”

“Huh? Huh―. Give it to me.”

Haneum petted Abel and the cats and felt comforted by her furry friends.

“Did our cat friends miss you too, hyung?”

Let’s approach the cats with a loud voice.

The cats were pretending to be friendly, rubbing their heads against Haneum’s forearms and ankles and bunting.

Swish swish

He put ice in an Americano from the coffee machine and handed it to Han-eum.

“Tell me. What happened that made you so angry? My friend?”

Haneum let out a hollow laugh at the tree’s words.

“Hey—am I your animal friend?”

At Haneum’s words, the tree shrugged its shoulders.

“People are animals too. So they are our friends, right?”

“… … .”

Haneum took a sip of coffee.

He said, putting down his glass.

“That’s true. Thanks to that, I feel a little less angry.”

“Why? Tell me what’s wrong and why you’re so angry. I’ll listen.”

“That’s right. Not long ago, there was an incident where all the residents resigned.”

“…. Resident ramen specialists?”

“Yeah. There was a situation where all the residents were quitting, patients were pouring in but there was no one to see them, and there were incidents where people were running around the emergency room and dying.”

“… … .”

At Haneum’s words, the tree unconsciously bit its lip and listened to the story with its arms crossed.

“But the hospital board of directors told me that they would put a first-year specialist on leave and told him not to come to the hospital.”

“Don’t come to the hospital? Why?”

“It’s a bit complicated because of the political entanglement, but I don’t know much about it, so I’ll skip the political talk for now. Anyway, I said I’d work, so they didn’t have to deal with it. Then they told me to discharge my younger brother.”

The tree’s eyes narrowed at Haneum’s words.

A tree that knows it is telling the truth.

I felt secretly angry at Haneum’s words.

“So, you’re saying that you’re going to discharge your brother from the hospital because you’re working? Your brother is currently in a vegetative state?”

“Uh―. I was so angry. I asked for a few days to think about it, but then I came down after throwing away all my vacation days. Hauuuu―.”

Cats who felt Haneum’s anger approached.

He jumped onto Haneum’s lap and hugged her tightly to his chest.

“Igu―. Our pretty girls thought you were angry and came up to appease you?”

He quietly accepted the cats’ affection, making a short, tongue-tied sound.

Haneum was regaining her composure at the sound of the cats’ purring and cuteness.

“Thank you for your short words. So what are you going to do about your little brother?”

“… Honestly, if you let me, I’d like to bring you here.”

“Home?”

“Think about it. A father who has just started a new household knows that his new wife will have a hard time, so would he take care of his younger sibling?”

“… … .”

At Haneum’s words, the tree scratched its cheek.

I wanted to ask if it wasn’t a bit too much.

Because of Han-eum’s family circumstances, he couldn’t open his mouth.

A tree that reminds me of my younger brother’s condition.

“My younger sibling needs medical equipment and things like that.”

“I have some of the money from the gold and jewel auction you gave me. I can use that to purchase and install all the medical equipment.”

“… … .”

dump-

The tree is silent.

Haneum knelt in front of the tree.

“Hey—what are you doing?”

“Friend―. Lend me the annex. Okay? I’ll bring my younger brother here and I’ll help you with the farm work and stuff. I’ll help you with everything you do. Okay?”

Hooooo―

The tree that had swept its bangs up stood up and raised its voice.

“You don’t kneel to your friends.”

At the low bass sound of the tree, Haneum flinched and raised her head.

The tree’s index finger touched Haneum’s forehead.

“Say it—don’t kneel. What kind of god am I? Kneel only before God.”

Taak-

Haneum looked up at the tree, startled by the flashes of light before her eyes and the pain she felt on her forehead.

Let’s look at a friend who is laughing like a rascal.

Haneum opened her mouth and rubbed her forehead.

“So, can I bring my little brother here?”

“Just—build a small clinic in this neighborhood.”

“There’s a councilman in this neighborhood.”

The tree shook its head at Haneum’s question.

“None – there is a small clinic in town, and you have to go out to the city to find a general hospital.”

“Really? Is it safe to say that there is almost no medical infrastructure?”

“Uh—there’s a Korean medicine clinic in town, and a small family medicine clinic.”

“The land next to you is your land?”

“It’s my land, but… the animals have already taken over… It would be nice if your little brother woke up and took care of the animals, but…”

Let’s talk in a mumbling manner while looking at Haneum’s expression.

My friend said in an excited voice, snapping his fingers.

“Oh! That’s a good idea. If you come to a place with good mountains, water, and air, your little brother might wake up soon.”

“Egg-. I don’t know. Just eat dinner first and think about it carefully.”

At the tree’s words, Haneum’s expression quickly became calm.

Your own career.

My brother’s recovery.

Haneum, who had to think about her relationship with her parents and other things, looked up at the ceiling.

“I need to think carefully.”

“Okay―. Think about it carefully. Ah―. Let’s go out and eat dinner. I’m tired.”

The tree that spoke went into the room.

Sigh-

Haneum ended up laughing as she watched the tree’s actions.

I was grateful for my friend’s kindness that blew away all my worries in one go.

I thought I needed to think carefully before coming to a conclusion.

* * *

Two people having dinner in town.

After coming home.

The two men lit a fire in the yard.

I don’t know where you got it from.

They cut a drum, also known as a ‘Doramu-kang’, in half, put firewood inside, and started a fire.

“Why does this always feel like I’m playing with fire?”

The tree creaked at Haneum’s words.

“Should I prepare the key tomorrow?”

“key?”

“Ah—you don’t know.”

The tree went to Grandma’s magic storehouse.

In the hand of the tree that emerged from the warehouse was a somewhat flat, tangled bamboo tool.

“This is the key.”

Haneum on the tree’s horse felt the key with his hand.

He looked at the tree with a curious expression.

“What do you use this for?”

“It’s a process of grinding grains to remove impurities and dirt. When I was young, I would draw a map on my blanket and wear it on my head while going to my neighbor’s house to get salt…”

Hehehehe―

At Haneum’s laughter, the tree looked up at him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“You seem to know what this is for. I guess you must have drawn maps on your blanket when you were little.”

“…does not exist.”

“But how do you know what this is for?”

“My grandmother told me a story. She said that when she was little, if she peed while playing with fire, she would put a key on her and make her go get salt.”

Haneum nodded at the tree’s explanation.

I thought that might be the case for my grandmother’s generation.

“Ah, do you want some green tea? I have some tea leaves that my forest friends brought me before.”

“Huh? Huh? It’s a national rule to have tea or coffee in your hand while staring blankly.”

“… Really? Then, should I get you a beer?”

“no-.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll drink it when I go into the hot spring. It’s winter.”

“I see.”

The smiling tree went into the kitchen and came out with two mugs of warm green tea.

“ruler-.”

“Uh―. Thank you―.”

With a mug in hand.

Two people sitting on camping chairs.

Each of them stared at the flames of the cut drum, lost in thought.

Knock knock knock

For a while, the slurping sound of green tea and the crackling of sparks filled the yard.

Sabak- Sabak-

The sound of small footsteps was heard and then stopped.

At the sound of footsteps, the tree looked in the direction from which it was heard.

There was no sign of life.

‘what?’

The sound of footsteps was heard again, cautiously.

Haneum, who had been staring at the tree, turned her head at its actions.

“what’s the matter?”

“I heard footsteps.”

“Footsteps?”

“uh.”

The tree and Haneum rose from their seats.

It was a completely different sound from the cat and Abel’s footsteps.

Sasa-sak

A shadow appears with the sound of footsteps.

Haneum gasped in surprise when she saw the shadow.

“Huh?”