Farming Druid - Chapter 98
Only Noblemtl
098. But now… .
“What… do I have to do?”
“That’s right.”
“that is…….”
“Saving marine life as a guardian of nature.”
“Save the sea creatures?”
Grandma pointed to the TV.
Then, the miserable sight of the sea in front of Gijang came into view.
ah-.
The tree began to feel a pain in its heart.
The emotions of the giant sea creatures watching the fish from afar were conveyed through the TV screen.
The feeling was regret.
scream.
A cry for help.
Among them, what shook the tree was a small voice heard within it.
―Guardian―. Please save us.
The tree watched as the grandmother’s expression disappeared.
And Haneum’s expression also seemed to be distorted with regret.
My mind started to wander about what my first job as a Guardian would be.
It’s a strange feeling.
It was an emotion.
My mind was filled with thoughts of the ravages of those sea creatures and of having to stop their tears.
* * *
tutelar
The dictionary meaning is ‘one who guards’ something.
If the word nature is attached, it will become something that protects nature, right?
Wheeeeee―
Oh my gosh―
The three of us, Grandma, Han-eum, and I, finished simple yoga.
I was out at sea to finish the ‘work’ that I had to do, as my grandmother said.
“Oh my—the sea is a little scary at this hour of the night.”
“… … .”
Haneum didn’t say anything in response to the words.
While standing on a gravel road.
I saw something approaching from a distance.
at that time.
“Han-eum, do you get motion sickness?”
I heard my grandmother’s jade beads rolling.
Is that guy getting motion sickness?
“I do, but it’s not that bad… … .”
“I see.”
“But… …what happens?”
In response to Han Eum’s question, the grandmother smiled and looked up at the tree.
“So—young guardian? Do you see that thing approaching?”
Nod―.
I don’t want to believe it, but I know what’s coming.
It was a huge leaf.
“Huh? Oh? Wow?”
I just found this guy… .
The first thing that changed after becoming a Guardian was my eyesight.
Objects in the distance were seen very clearly.
Swish—
As the giant leaf boat approaches.
Grandma stepped on it without hesitation.
The leaves, which seemed like they would sway, were as sturdy as a boat.
“Both of you come up.”
“…Uh. Yes.”
Haneum hesitantly climbed onto the leaf boat.
“How does this ship not sink?”
He muttered while stepping on the leaf pear with his foot curiously.
As the tree finally rises.
“But where are we going…?”
The tree remained silent to Haneum’s question.
The tree’s gaze was directed toward the distant sea.
-Then let’s go.
Haneum was taken aback by the words she heard from somewhere.
The tree, not knowing whose voice it was, lowered its head slightly and spoke.
“Please take good care of me, Windy Rile.”
-Yes. I will ask you to take good care of the newborn guardian.
Choaaaak―
The wind blew from behind, wrapping itself around a giant leaf boat.
Swish—
The boat moved very smoothly.
“Tree―”
“why?”
“Who is Windy Rile?”
“The Spirit King of the Wind.”
Oh? Oh-
Haneum started making strange sounds.
The tree heard that sound and chuckled and put its arm around Haneum’s shoulder.
“Hey— you thank me. I shouldn’t have taken you with me in the first place. You get bored when you’re home alone. That’s why I’m taking you with me so that you can help me out more in the future. Stay still.”
“…Can I tell you how I feel now?”
“What is it?”
“When I was in elementary school, I went up the mountain behind the house and found a bunker.”
“huh.”
“It feels like I discovered that bunker and explored it.”
iced coffee-
I think I know how you feel.
That excitement and curiosity of childhood.
The two of them were feeling nostalgic for those days together.
“Han-eum-ah.”
Han-eum answered her grandmother’s call cheerfully.
“Yes, Grandma!”
“From now on―. There will be a lot of work to do with trees. Please help me a lot.”
“Hahaha – don’t worry.”
Grandmother smiled at Haneum’s words.
Haneum couldn’t take her eyes off that smile for a moment.
“They all came.”
At her grandmother’s words, Haneum looked up at the tree.
The tree simply shrugged.
-I’ll blow away the bad smell around you for the sake of the people I’m with.
The wind began to blow along with the voice.
A gentle, soft wind.
And then, Haneum began to see the surroundings to some extent in the moonlight.
“Three, my goodness… … .”
All around were dead fish with their stomachs capsized.
Haneum felt like she was going to get a headache at the sight that smelled so bad.
The tree muttered as it saw that sight.
“It won’t smell.”
“Yeah – but why did they die?”
“By humans… … .”
Haneum, who heard the tree’s words, felt a stinging sensation for a moment.
“In this case… … it seems like the incident was committed in the country over there.”
The tree spoke exactly as it felt, staring blankly at the sea.
Okay then.
“The tree is right. This incident was caused by the country over there.”
When Haneum was called the country on the other side.
Something came to mind.
It was news that emerged as the hottest potato recently.
“… No way. Nuclear power plant wastewater?”
At Haneum’s words, the tree and the grandmother nodded simultaneously.
“Then this is very serious.”
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s serious.”
“Grandma— How do I handle this? There’s too much information coming into my head… .”
“Just wait a minute.”
At the tree’s words, the grandmother pretended to put her hand somewhere in the air.
Although the tree was not visible, Han-eum’s eyes turned into an owl’s and looked at the grandmother.
‘S, no way… … .’
When Haneum’s eyes sparkle.
What the grandmother took out was a wooden piece of a new model.
Let’s throw the piece of wood into the sea.
It soon transformed into a giant pelican.
The pelican quickly opened its mouth and drew in seawater.
Karuk-
The dead fish floating on the surface of the water began to rapidly enter the pelican’s mouth along with the seawater.
Kwarururuk―
Haneum was amazing.
I was very curious about what the piece of wood that suddenly turned into a pelican bird would do.
“Oh—what is that, Grandma?”
“Ocean purification filter.”
Not caring about my grandmother’s short answer.
Haneum looked at the ‘geureumsae’ with curiosity.
After several dozen minutes had passed.
The grandmother sighed lightly and said.
“That’s enough… Let’s move Windy.”
-huh.
At Grandma’s words, the leaf boat began to move gently again.
Although Han-eum didn’t seem to be able to sense it, the tree felt the speed of this leaf boat.
‘It’s so fast… … Faster than a normal high-speed ship… … I don’t know about that dumbass… .’
Let’s stop at some point.
The grandmother took the ‘fish’ out of the air and threw it towards the sea.
He held out the wooden staff he was holding to the tree.
“Try it.”
“Huh? What…?”
“Listen to this.”
“… … .”
I looked closely at the wooden cane my grandmother held out to me.
After that.
When I looked at my grandmother, she gestured to me to hurry up.
Are you telling me to do something out of the blue?
This is a bit… … .
The tree grumbled inwardly and picked up the cane.
“Huh? Huh… … Wow―.”
The information flowing from the cane on what to do was brief but clear.
It started to appear before my eyes like a game.
[Would you like to connect (link) to ‘Gureumsae’? Y/N]
The tree chose ‘Y’ inwardly.
Then, all of a sudden, I felt like my energy was drained.
Swaying―
I thought I would collapse because my legs gave out.
Let’s try to stand properly, leaning on our canes.
I looked at the letters in front of me.
[Requesting the use of auxiliary energy due to lack of ‘energy’. Do you approve? Y/N]
This one also chose ‘Y’.
Then, the snail naturally grew larger and began to suck up seawater.
Haneum, who was watching the scene, came closer and whispered.
“Why do you have that expression? Did the status window appear like in a fantasy?”
The tree turned its eyes towards Han-eum.
Is this guy sharp?
“Uh— similar. Only, I guess it’s only possible if you’re holding this staff. And it’s really strong.”
“What? That’s incredible?”
“I’m losing strength on my own… … .”
For a moment, my eyes met with my grandmother’s.
Shhhhhhhhhh
Grandma’s eyes became crescent moons.
And that gaze seemed to ask:
‘Now do you understand why this old lady eats so much?’
He said.
Nod—
It was the first time I felt this hungry, lethargic and dehydrated.
After finishing quickly, I cooked rice in the cauldron.
All I could think of was mixing rice into kimchi stew and eating it.
Let’s think about it that way.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
‘Now… … Am I going to become a goblin like my grandmother?’
Kwarrrrrrrr—
The snail slowly began to swallow all the dead fish and vomit the sea water back out through its throat.
[The stomach of the ‘Geurumsae’ is 98% full.]
[Purification rate 98% completed.]
[Do you want to transform it into ‘Marine Life Feed’? Y/N]
The tree, seeing the message from the cane, looked at the grandmother.
“Grandma – I told you to transform this into feed, okay?”
“Don’t do that, just give me the cane. What is the purification rate?”
“98%.”
“You did a good job for your first time.”
The tree smiled awkwardly at the grandmother’s praise.
The tree handed over its cane to the old woman who reached out her hand.
“Let’s see… … .”
The grandmother took the cane from the tree’s hand and stood still for a moment, as if thinking.
“At this point… … the sea can purify itself. I’m hungry. Let’s go home now.”
The tree simply nodded at the grandmother’s words.
Haneum whispered while looking at the tired-looking tree.
“What on earth did you do?”
He started answering all of Haneum’s questions.
“First of all― all the fish that died in the nuclear wastewater entered the stomach of that ‘filter.’ In the process, you can see that the seawater was completely filtered out by the filter inside that ‘filter.’”
“…Is that possible?”
“… Hmm―. I also want to say that it’s impossible from a human perspective. Isn’t this the Guardian’s ability?”
“……all.”
“what?”
“It’s so damn cool.”
I watched from the side, but I couldn’t tell what had changed, but as soon as the two people finished their actions.
Haneum saw shadows approaching her surroundings.
“What is all that?”
“Marine creatures… … .”
“Are you coming here to say thank you?”
“Uh-. Maybe. In terms of humans. You could say that we performed CPR on the ocean that had gone into cardiac arrest due to nuclear wastewater. As you know, if marine life dies, half of the humans die.”
Haneum nodded at the cynical words of the tree.
“That’s right… … Because life is ‘cyclical’… … .”
Haneum brought to mind the flow of energy of life.
The voice of the tree continued.
“When we were in school, we learned about the flow of the ecosystem.”
“uh-.”
“What does it say there? Life is born with the sun, water, and soil.”
“yes?”
“You can think of nature’s guardians as beings who free the flow of the ecosystem from anything that blocks it.”
“What you’re saying is… …Can the existence of a guardian be interpreted as something like a ‘doctor’ for nature?”
“… I think you can think of it as being similar.”
The only thought in the tree’s head was wanting to go home quickly.
“hungry.”
“I ate a little before you came.”
Haneum looked at the tree’s words with surprised eyes.
“You should try this too. I’m so hungry. I think I know why my grandmother can eat dozens of servings in one sitting. It really feels like there’s a beggar sitting inside my stomach.”
Gulp –
As soon as the words were finished, Han-eum ended up laughing at the sound of thunder echoing from the boat with her grandmother.
“Guys, let’s go now.”
To Grandmother’s words, the tree and Haneum answered loudly.
The ship started moving again.
Haneum looked at her grandmother and asked her what she had been curious about.
It was a tree that thought that the question was like that of an elementary school student.
“Grandma―. Is the sea okay now?”
“At least the nuclear wastewater will be filtered by this invisible ‘filter’ for the time being.”
“Grandma – If you link that, it makes me really hungry. Do you have to keep it on?”
“Leaving it behind is okay. If you swallow dead fish, they will self-transform in your stomach.”
The tree’s eyes narrowed when it heard the words ‘self-transformation’.
If I use that feature, won’t I ever get hungry again?
The grandmother’s words continued as she read the tree’s thoughts.
“It’s very inefficient, so the role of the ‘Guardian’ is to do it yourself, so don’t worry about it.”
It ended well.
I thought that if I just left it alone, it would purify itself.
Although it was my first time doing this, I wanted to get the most out of this tree with the least amount of efficiency.
‘How can I… … get a lot of output with a little input?’
I looked up at the sky with my arms crossed on the returning leaf boat.
The round moon was seen slowly waning.
* * *
The next morning.
The reporter on TV was amazed as he showed the sea as if spitting saliva.
[This is the sea in front of Gijang-myeon. Until yesterday, this was a place where fish were dying, capsizing their boats, and being swept away by the waves. But now… … .]
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