Surviving in the 121st Century - Chapter 50



Only Noblemtl

A vast land where nothing could block the view to the end. In the distant western sky, only the horizon was burning with a red flash. And the spectrum of the dark blue sky and the earth starting from the east was like a curtain closing up and down toward the red horizon.

The round world, the only place where light comes in is the horizon. Jincheol felt like it was the world inside a giant’s eye. As the western eyelid closed, this world was also closing. Tomorrow, the eastern eyelid will open again.

I turned my head and saw a crackling campfire and a group of people sitting around it.

Stone Fist Galtharullo. A reckless gorilla who eats anything without discrimination. A mercenary who flew all the way to the far east for money.

Pilot Ramien. A fighter pilot for the rabbit fascist nation. On his way to the enemy country to meet his lover.

Little Maro. A little Rabito who joined by accident. I’m not sure exactly how young he is because he’s unfamiliar with the Rabito race. Anyway, he’s the one who’s most confused by the current situation.

And then there was Jincheol. A frozen soldier who woke up after a hundred-century slumber.

A fool who had kicked out the kind and innocent tribe of Atukai and rolled all the way to Shiol, where the arrogant races were mixed and seething like a mud pit. A fool who had run away from there and rolled all the way across the sea to this place, presumably the old American land, in search of some clue to humanity.

Jincheol thought as he broke off a piece of sackcloth and threw it into the bonfire. Still, I should look for any remaining humans. I’m also curious about the place called America’s Arsenal. In that era, wouldn’t there really be some kind of bipedal robot sleeping there? And I don’t know what the people at the Meditation Gathering are going to do with the relics that are sleeping there. Are they trying to erase that place as they erased all traces of humans?

As he sat still, useless thoughts kept coming to his mind. Jincheol, who was rubbing his eyes, found Ramien looking at him from across the campfire. He said with a sly smile.

“What happened, Ravi Navigation? You’re homeless again today.”

“···What is Ravigation? Don’t give it a weird nickname. And there are actually fewer people living around here than on the coast. If you run at night, you might be able to reach the village, but that’s too dangerous.”

Flying away on a hover bike in the middle of the night. It was definitely something you would do if you wanted to die. Jincheol didn’t really mean to blame her, so he shrugged and changed the subject.

“We’ll get there eventually. The problem is that hog.”

“Hog? Why a hog?”

“How much fuel is left in that thing?”

Jincheol got up from his seat and approached the hog that was standing on one side. When he touched its body, it felt warm. The heat from the afternoon had not yet cooled down. Ramien, who quickly approached, also touched its body.

“It’s warm.”

“It’s not that it’s warm, it’s that it’s how much fuel is left. What should I look at on the dashboard?”

“Hmm. This is probably it.”

I looked at the needle gauge she was pointing at and saw that it was hanging off one end.

“I have to start it.”

When I tried to start the engine with Ramien’s stroke, the needle stopped a little short of the middle. There was about a third left.

“It’ll be over if I run tomorrow. What does it use for fuel? Oil?”

As Jincheol looked around the hog, Ramien, who had already climbed onto the saddle, answered.

“It gets fuel from the battleship’s engines. That’s why Hogg always stays with the battleship.”

“···Then what fuel does the battleship engine use?”

“A battleship’s engine? It runs on its own. If the core is intact, it doesn’t need fuel or anything like that. The other auxiliary facilities are powered by oil or steam facilities, but the core engine itself is a complete artifact.”

“···”

It’s as shocking as stabilizing nuclear fusion energy in liquid form. Does that mean the flying ship’s engine has infinite power?

“Of course, the deep engine can also shut down. It does so when it gets really old. That’s why there are frequent attempts to find and excavate new engines. A flying battleship is a very valuable strategic asset, and if you have two or more of them, you can easily subdue neighboring countries.”

“You guys can’t even make your own engine, right?”

“The Deep Engine is a very valuable artifact. Many scientists have tried to uncover the secrets of its workings and power, but no one has succeeded. In fact, such research has not been permitted.”

“why?”

Ramien’s eyes sank deeply.

“To investigate the operating principle, it is necessary to dismantle the deep engine, but that is not allowed. If the deep engine breaks down or cannot be reassembled after dismantling it, the country’s flying warship will not be able to take off, and not only will it not be able to respond to threats from neighboring countries, but it will also diminish the dignity of the general…”

She said it with her mouth, but her heart seemed unable to accept it. After all, it was an artifact that could launch a large flying ship. If it were used in a different way than as a weapon of war, it could do much more wonderful things.

Even now, they could have created a trade route that would connect this eastern continent to the entire world. Wouldn’t they be able to shorten a distance that would take dozens of days by ship to four or five days?

But as we have seen so far, the moment a country gives up its weapons like that, its neighbors will try to tear that country apart.

Jincheol, who had been quietly watching her, said with a smile.

“I can tell from what I’ve seen of you yesterday and today, but you don’t seem to like generals or the military?”

“···Isn’t it strange to like a general unless you’re a party member? If you worship the general after seeing all that death, suffering, and sorrow, who else would be such a fool···”

Ramien, who was answering while looking at the distant, fading sunset, stopped talking, her ears perking up as if surprised by her own words. She looked at Jincheol with puzzled eyes. Jincheol smiled bitterly.

“I’m not Rabito. I have nowhere to complain.”

“···There are also party members who are not Rabitos. They are very rare though.”

“Are you saying that there are fools who came all the way across the sea to serve General Rabbit?”

Ramien also smiled slightly at Jincheol’s expression of exaggerated surprise. Jincheol also smiled while looking at that face.

“Those guys must be really dirty. Who serves the sun, who serves the mother of revenge, who serves another person… Who should I serve now?

“Don’t you believe in any god?”

“Well, I’ve seen so many horrifying and shocking things in the past. I guess I kind of believe it…”

Jincheol suddenly raised his head. A large, unknown bird was flying over the darkening blue sky. It was a bird that looked black due to the lack of sunlight. Jincheol muttered as he followed the shadow of the bird flying far north.

“···Believe it. It’s just not God.”

Jincheol, who had been looking up at the sky, lowered his head. Ramien, whose eyes met his again, was blinking as if she was deep in thought and staring blankly at Jincheol.

Then a voice was heard calling them.

“Dinner is ready! Come and eat!”

It was a stone fist. He was holding a small ladle and calling out to two people. Surprisingly, he had taken various food and cooking utensils with him when he left the previous village. He probably took them when he left the inn, but Jincheol didn’t notice it at the time.

“···That guy became a chef naturally.”

“looks delicious.”

Jincheol turned off the hog’s engine and went back to the campfire with Ramien. Maro was already holding a bowl and swallowing his saliva. He seemed to be adapting much better than expected. Well, that’s probably why he could survive in the village.

“ruler.”

Doljumeok served Jincheol food first. After that, it was himself, Ramien, and Maro in that order, which seemed to be the order of the group he thought of. Jincheol was dumbfounded, but he shook his head and focused on the food. In any case, since he was considered the leader, he didn’t think he would suddenly start yelling at Ramien or Maro to eat them.

“oh.”

The dinner of the Stone Fist was a thick stew with lots of ingredients, and it was very delicious. Compared to what they used to eat on the flying battleships of the Jasso Federation, it was about the difference between porridge and a high-class restaurant stew.

“Wow, this is so damn delicious.”

“hmm.”

Despite Jincheol’s admiration, Doljumeok simply continued to eat his own stew. If one corner of his mouth hadn’t been twitching, he would have looked like a camping cooking expert.

“Oh···”

“Wow! It’s delicious!”

Ramien and Maro were also impressed by the taste, and Doljumeok’s face became even more disgusting as the corners of his mouth went up. He filled the plates of all the people who asked for more with that expression.

And after a while, when I realized that there was nothing left to eat except my plate, the three of us had already finished eating.

“···”

That evening’s evening ended with the sound of a stone fist scraping a pot.

*

The next day, the group rode the hogs again and raced across the plains. Since they couldn’t recharge anyway, they decided to run until their fuel ran out.

The roar of the hog’s engine under the bright sun, the harsh wind, and the sand and dust covered the group. It seemed as if a small whirlpool was following them as they galloped across the plains.

Today, behind Jincheol, Ramien rode. She was tightly wrapped around Jincheol’s back and buried her face in it. It seemed to be because of the dust. Jincheol glanced at the fuel gauge. It was still far from noon, but the hour hand was already hitting the bottom. There really wasn’t much left now.

Shit, walking around this vast land? Considering the distance I ran on the hog yesterday and today, walking on foot was a really bad choice. The month I had saved by riding the airship was going to be extended to several months.

“···!”

At that moment, Jincheol saw something far away near the horizon. Buildings jutting out on a low hill. Could it be a village?

Anyway, there wasn’t much fuel left. Jincheol raised his right hand to signal to Doljumeok who was following him and changed direction slightly. Doljumeok also followed behind Jincheol.

It seemed like the village was right. At that point, Jincheol slowly slowed down. Ramien, who had been burying her face in his back, raised her head.

“fuel?”

“Not yet. Instead, I think I found a village.”

As the speed decreased and the engine noise became quieter, her voice became more audible. She poked her head out from between Jincheol’s sides to check the front.

“I think the village is right. Let’s take the hog.”

“What? Won’t there be a problem?”

“I’ve put enough distance between me and Urata. It would be better to sell Hog’s parts at the town’s general store or repair shop for a small fee. You can then buy another vehicle instead.”

That was good. Even if he couldn’t fly like a hog, it was good to have something to ride. Slowing down, his eyes began to see the lights of the village.

The buildings built on low hills were made of a mixture of wood and ash. The buildings taller than three stories were made of ash, and the buildings below that were low and made of wood. It was a cute village with houses of various sizes crowded together.

But what caught Jincheol’s eye was a large pump erected on one side of the village. The large arm swayed like a pendulum and moved the lower pump, and no matter how he looked at it, it looked like an oil well pump extracting oil.

“···Do you use oil?”

“The bikers won’t come all the way to the countryside like this. If they don’t have oil or a compressed steam engine, they’ll have to use something like that. Over there! That’s the repair shop over there!”

Don’t you know that Seongyu is coming from Shiol? Jincheol thought as he turned the steering wheel toward the building she was pointing at.

It was like a small junk shop. A garage-like building centered around the yard was a yard filled with brass engines, screws, and steel frames, and piles of gears and wheels of all kinds.

As Jincheol and Doljumeok Hog landed on the yard, the plump Rabito inside walked out, draping a towel soaked in sweat and oil over his shoulder. His hands and face were also covered in black oil.

He looked at the hog that had landed in front of him and nodded with a look of satisfaction on his face for some reason.

He even spoke to Jincheol first as he turned off the engine and came down.

“Hog?”

“that’s right.”

“It’s a great ending. It looks like the work of our friends from the South.”

“It’s yours now.”

His eyes grew wide.

“···Is this true?”

“As long as you pay a reasonable price.”

But he tilted his head with a slightly ambiguous expression.

“Well, I don’t think I could sell my garage for the price of two perfectly good hogs.”

“If there is something to ride instead, we can come to a reasonable agreement.”

Rabito smiled strangely, as if he understood.

“Aha. So that thing isn’t rechargeable… I happen to have something that can run.”

The mechanic went straight to the garage without any further introduction and pulled back the sheet that had been covering something in the corner. What was revealed under the sheet was a truck that was close to an armored vehicle by Rabito standards. The mechanic said as he showed off the truck.

“I dug it up in a nearby abandoned mine a few years ago. I thought it would be a good deal since the engine was still alive… but I couldn’t separate it from the main frame. I held onto it and repaired it, but it was too big for a person, or rather, for our species, to ride. So it was left as a plaything.”

Jincheol looked around the truck. It was big for Rabito, but just the right size for him and Doljumeok.

“Fuel?”

“Originally it was holy oil. But I fixed it so that it could turn into oil. Since it was extracted in our village, I told you to take it in a large container.”

Doljumeokdo also approached the truck and his eyes sparkled. He didn’t say anything, but he seemed to really like the truck. Come to think of it, in the northwest where there are many Ologs, what kind of tanks do they ride and lead a nomadic life?

Jincheol, who was inspecting the truck, looked at the mechanic again.

“Is it just a truck?”

“What? Why? If you just touch that a little bit, I can run right now.”

“It’s a bit narrow for four people to ride.”

“Oh, really?”

In fact, it wasn’t that narrow. However, it was true that Jincheol’s space was greatly threatened by the muscular, hairless gorilla that looked like a stone fist. There was a cargo area in the back, but it wasn’t a good place for people to ride.

The mechanic, who had been scratching his chin for a moment, soon let out an “Ah!” and went further inside, dragging something out. It was a complex mass of brass pipes and gears, and it looked like some kind of engine.

The mechanic brought it over and said proudly.

“This is the engine I bought last month. Originally, I was going to take the steel frame off and put it in a farm machine, but if you want, I can put new wheels on the front and back. Then it will run just like a hog!”

Can you believe that? When you look closely, it really does look like a bike with wheels. Maybe it was because the feeling of riding a hog was so good. Jincheol was attracted to the machine.

The mechanic spoke again.

“This and that, and I’ll throw in some silver coins too. Will thirty be enough?”

“Fifty coins. Fill it with oil too.”

The mechanic didn’t answer right away, but blinked between the hog and the truck, as if calculating the pros and cons. Then he smiled brightly and held out his oily hand.

“Okay! Let’s make a deal!”

Jincheol shook his hand. The mechanic looked very happy. He seemed to be delighted at the prospect of tearing down that hog. Since it was already stolen, Jincheol decided not to drag it along any further and just let it go.

“How long does maintenance take?”

“Huh? It won’t take that long. Let’s go to the bar over there and have a drink.”

As we exchanged greetings and left the repair shop, Doljumeok was the first to speak.

“Can I drive it after the maintenance is done?”

“That’s why I brought a small one. You drive with the other two people.”

Doljumeok’s expression brightened noticeably and he took the lead. Jincheol shook his head as he watched Doljumeok. Don’t you like it too much?

Ramien said while watching the conversation between the two people.

“The deal looks familiar. Isn’t this your first time here?”

“Didn’t that mechanic look a lot more familiar than me? He didn’t pay any attention to me or Stone Fist after seeing Hog.”

“Yeah. He seemed a bit weird.”

“···”

With Maro quietly following behind, the four of them crossed the village street and walked to the bar that the mechanic had pointed out. The eyes of the surrounding rabitos glanced at them, but no one came up to them directly and said anything. Jincheol and his group walked confidently.

But the moment they entered the bar, they couldn’t help but pause in front of the gazes that were all around them. This was especially true because of the military uniforms that filled one side of the bar.

“···”

However, Jincheol, who had been looking around the bar, approached the bar table with an indifferent expression and put down the silver coin as he spoke.

“Let’s each have a drink.”

“···”

The bartender, who looked somewhat gloomy, began to prepare the glasses without saying a word, and Jincheol also headed to the empty table without a care. As he moved like that, the rest of the group followed suit and sat down without saying a word.

“···”

After a while, a glass of wine was placed in front of each of them as they sat at the table – and a white drink that looked like milk was placed in front of Maro – the silence of the bar was broken. The soldiers began to chat among themselves.

Jincheol took a sip from his glass and leaned back against the back of his chair, when he suddenly saw Ramien’s expression. Her face was frozen hard.

Jincheol whispered.

“Relax. If you’re too tense, people will think you’re weird.”

“···It’s not the soldiers that make me nervous.”

“Then why?”

Ramien whispered with his jaw clenched.

“Doctor Pig. He’s over there.”

Pig Doctor? Who was that?

“ah.”

Rebels. The reason for the defeat of the Jaso Federation that General Donchava had revealed at the Shiol Council. And a clue to finding the White Butcher, Ishanka’s daughter. Jincheol’s eyes looked through the soldiers.

There was a rabbit there.

He had shackles on his hands for some reason, his clothes were dirty, and his face was wounded. He was barely able to drink a glass of water with his shackled hands. His clothes and his unkempt face were extremely shabby. And even in that small action of drinking water, the military-uniformed rabbits around him were watching his movements closely. They looked threatening, as if they would shoot him if he did anything rash.

But his two eyes, only his two pupils, were shining brightly in his shabby face. Eyes that were burning with firm determination and conviction. A will that could not be compared to that of an ordinary Rabito was naturally flowing out.

As it happened, he met Jincheol’s eyes. For some reason, he smiled faintly at that moment.

Then one of the soldiers shouted.

“What happened to Esai and Olog all the way to a rural village like this?”