Chapter 161: Chapter 161 - Farming in the tower alone

Chapter 161

TL: Hanguk

"I trusted you, Kellion, how could you do this?"

-Well... It's...

As Sejun interrogated Kellion, who was caught red-handed,

-Hahaha. Good job. Theo, you did well.

Kaiser, who had returned after attending to his business, praised Theo for capturing Kellion.

"That's right, meow! I'm amazing, meow! Listen closely, Lord Kaiser, meow! I was sleeping when I felt a tremendous malicious energy, meow! So I woke up feeling something was off, meow! And then..."

The proud Theo began to excitedly exaggerate the story of how he caught Kellion.

And then,

"I'm sorry. Actually..."

Sejun heard about Kellion's grandson, Ajax.

"So, your grandson has become a tower farmer of the White Tower, but his magic power is too strong to grow crops?"

-Yes. But when I saw the Grade-A Elixir Cherry Tomatoes, I couldn't help but get greedy...

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

If he had been honest from the start, Sejun would have simply given him the seeds. Of course, in exchange for 10-20% of the harvest.

For Sejun, it was a bit of a concession, but he would've been satisfied with that deal since he couldn't plant it himself.

However, since Kellion was caught stealing, Sejun gained leverage for a much more favorable contract.

Did I save a country in my past life? No, not just a country. I must have saved the world. Otherwise, how could I be this lucky?

Or did I do a great favor for Theo in a past life? Sejun smiled as he watched Theo bragging excitedly to Kaiser, then turned his gaze back to Kellion.

"Let's do this."

-What?

"I'll give you 100 seeds of the Grade-A Elixir Cherry Tomatoes."

That was all the seeds Sejun had, excluding those in the Golden Box of Abundance.

-Really?!

Kellion spoke in disbelief. He didn't expect Sejun to hand over the seeds so easily after he tried to steal them. But Sejun had his own plans.

"But there are two conditions."

-Two conditions?

"Yes. Firstly, for the next 100 years, give me 90% of the harvest. After 100 years, 20%."

-Fine.

Although a 9:1 split was unfavorable, to dragons, 100 years wasn't that long. And if they failed, there was no risk. If the harvest was zero, there was nothing to give.

-Okay. What's the second condition?

"Give me 100 dragon tooth warriors."

-What?! 100 dragon tooth warriors? Can't I just pay you in cash?

100 dragon tooth warriors could be exchanged for 100,000 bottles of regular makgeolli. It would have been easier to just pay cash.

But,

"No. I want the dragon tooth warriors."

Sejun firmly declined. To him, dragon tooth warriors were more valuable than money.

He planned to arm the Wolf Tribe and the rabbit kingdom on the 55th floor, the Banana Farm on the 77th floor, and the Chestnut Farm on the 83rd floor, so they could guard the farms better.

"Vice-Chairman Theo."

"Chairman Park, here's the contract, meow!"

Theo, having finished his conversation with Kaiser, quickly handed over the contract.

Swish.

Receiving the contract, Sejun quickly wrote down the agreement and stamped it.

"Lord Kellion, please stamp here, meow!"

Theo handed the contract to Kellion. With the contract completed, Sejun and Kellion exchanged 100 Grade-A Elixir Cherry Tomato seeds and 100 dragon tooth warriors.

"Just to let you know, these Grade-A Elixir Cherry Tomatoes are exclusively cultivated by me in the tower. In other words, you can't plant them without my permission."

It was a warning not to steal the crops.

-Exclusive cultivation rights? There's such a thing?

"Yes. It's a privilege given only to tower farmers who harvest new varieties. So don't deceive me about the yield and think about planting behind my back."

-I see. Understood.

With Kellion's reply, the white dragon statue stopped. He quickly left to give the seeds to his grandson. Kellion too had been through a lot for his grandson.

"Vice Chairman Theo, let's go to sleep."

"Chairman Park, aren't you going to praise me, meow?"

He had caught a thief, but when Sejun tried to sleep without any celebration, Theo spoke with disappointment. It was typical of Theo to pay attention to such details.

"Alright. One month extension for Vice Chairman term."

"It feels a bit lacking! I wish there was a slogan like last time!"

Is that what it was about? Sejun shook his body, hyping up the mood.

Then,

"Who's the cat with the ability to catch thieves at night?"

He said rhythmically, like rapping, then he handed the imaginary microphone to Theo.

"It's me, Theo Park, meow!"

"Then, who's the brave cat that shouts 'thief' in front of a dragon?"

"It's me, Theo Park, meow!"

"And, who's the cool cat that confidently hands the contract to the dragon?"

"It's me, Theo Park, meow!"

"You say Theo, I say Park."

"Theo, meow!"

"Park!"

...

"Shall we sleep now?"

"Not yet, meow! Theo, meow!"

"Park..."

The elated Theo went wild.

After about an hour of celebrations,

"Meooooowww... Chairman Park, I'm sleepy now, meow. Let's sleep, meow."

Finally, Theo was satisfied.

"Okay..."

Sejun, having barely satisfied Theo, fell asleep. A very long day had finally come to an end.

***

"Why did you call me again, Grandpa?! Don't you know I'm busy farming?"

Ajax, with dirt all over him, appeared grumbling at the call of Kellion.

"Stop complaining and plant these."

Kellion handed Ajax 100 seeds of elixir cherry tomato.

"What are these?"

"They’re from the Black Tower's farmer."

"What?! The Black Tower?!"

Ajax was surprised by Kellion's words. He knew how much his grandfather despised the Black Tower. He thought the seeds weren’t acquired in a good way.

"Alright, I'll plant them for now."

Ajax said gloomily and then teleported back to the 99th floor of the tower.

And

Whoosh.

He threw the 100 elixir cherry tomato seeds into a field where other seeds were already planted. It was more bothersome to summon monsters and instruct them to plant.

"They'll grow on their own. Yawn. I should sleep."

As Ajax was about to return to his dwelling after scattering the seeds,

Whooosh.

"Huh?!"

He felt the surrounding magic power being rapidly absorbed towards where he had just scattered the seeds.

Thud.

The seeds grew at an alarming rate. Using the abundant magic power, the elixir cherry tomatoes grew rapidly and bore fruit almost immediately.

“Muahahaha! I did it!”

Ajax cheered. Finally, the crops had grown from the spot where he had sown the seeds.

Pop.

Ajax plucked one of the newly formed cherry tomatoes and ate it.

"Oh! Delicious!"

The tangy flavor made his eyes widen in surprise.

“Hehehehe. It’s tasty.”

And so, Ajax ate cherry tomatoes until he was full and said,

"I should plant some more."

He started to plant more seeds from the cherry tomatoes.

Then

[You have planted the crops of Park Sejun, the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower, who has exclusive cultivation rights, without permission.]

[According to the Tower's law...]

A message appeared in front of Ajax.

"What?! Without permission?"

It was Kellion's mistake. Kellion didn't expect the tomatoes to grow so fast and intended to inform Ajax about the exclusive cultivation rights and contract details later on.

“How dare you! You dare impose the Tower's law on me, the great White Dragon?!”

Of course, even if Kellion had informed him about the contract, Ajax would likely have planted them anyway given his nature.

***

The next morning.

"..."

Sejun woke up.

And

"I caught a thief trying to steal Chairman Park's belongings last night, meow!"

Krueng!

[Big brother, you're amazing!]

The animals' conversation could be heard. Theo was bragging about his exploits to Cuengi from the night before.

Krueng! Krueng!

[Dad's awake! Dad, Cuengi is hungry!]

As soon as Sejun woke up, Cuengi started to whine about being hungry.

"Just wait a moment."

Sejun headed to the cooking area with the animals.

While Sejun was preparing breakfast,

Krueng!

[Our big bro caught a thief last night!]

Cuengi bragged to the rabbits and monkeys about Theo's achievement.

And

"Hehe. Our fourth sibling is doing well, meow!"

Theo, looking proudly at Cuengi.

Then

Krueng... Krueng?

[So big brother said... Huh? What came after that?]

Cuengi, who had been eagerly recounting the story, suddenly stopped.

"That's when I said to the evil dragon, meow! Stop stealing right now..."

Krueng! Krueng...

[That's right! Big bro said that! And then big bro...]

"Kids, let's eat."

Theo continued the story where Cuengi left off, and in the meantime, breakfast was ready.

After breakfast,

"Let's have colorful flowers bloom behind the dragon. And at the end, make fireworks where everyone appears."

"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Okay!"

Sejun discussed the fireworks display for the birthday party finale with Iona. They should've discussed this matter yesterday, but their schedule was delayed due to waking up an earth dragon in the north.

Now, only two days were left until the birthday party. They needed to finalize the fireworks display today so that Iona and her subordinate wizards could complete the preparations on time.

"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. I'll head to the Wizard Tower now to work on the fireworks display.”

"Okay. Thanks for your help."

Sejun finished discussing with Iona.

"Chairman Park, if there's nothing left to do, let's sleep, meow!"

Theo, who had been recounting his stories to the animals, clung to Sejun's knee and suggested.

"No, we're going to make rice cakes now."

Sejun planned to stack honey Sirutteok (rice cake) like bricks to make a giant cake for the birthday party.

Krueng! Krueng!

[Rice cakes! They're delicious when dipped in honey!]

Cuengi, who followed Theo, got excited when he heard Sejun mention making the rice cakes.

"No, you can't eat the rice cakes we're making today."

Krueng?

[So are you going to eat them all by yourself?]

Cuengi said, sounding disappointed.

"No, if I were to eat them, I would share with Cuengi. The rice cakes we're making today are for our birthday party. So you can resist eating them, right?"

Sejun said, patting Cuengi’s head.

Krueng?

[So, I can eat them during the birthday party?]

"Yes, after we sing, you can eat. For now, eat this Crop Gigantification."

Sejun consoled Cuengi by using his skill to enlarge a sweet potato into a giant 3-meter sweet potato and gave it to him.

Krueng! Krueng!

[I understand! I'll wait!]

With determination, Cuengi climbed onto the huge sweet potato and eagerly dug into it, disappearing inside.

"Chairman Park, what about me, meow?"

Seeing Cuengi receiving something, Theo immediately demanded something for himself.

"Do you want a churu?"

"That's boring, meow!"

"Huh?!"

Sejun was shocked to see Theo refusing the churu.

But then,

"How about two churus?"

"That's better, meow!"

Fortunately, Theo wasn't actually rejecting the churus.

"Just wait a moment."

Sejun quickly put down the rice cakes and handed Theo two churus, one tuna-flavored and one chicken-flavored.

Slurp slurp.

"Delicious, meow!"

Theo happily licked the churus one by one.

As Sejun watched Theo enjoying his treat,

[The Tower Farmer of the White Tower, Ajax Mamebe, has been confirmed to have planted the Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Powerful Magic Power without permission.]

A message appeared in front of Sejun. There always seems to be those who do what they're told not to.

Just as Sejun was wondering what to make of this,

[According to the Tower's Laws, any tower farmer who plants crops without permission that someone else has exclusive rights to must work for that person for 100 years.]

[According to the Tower's Laws, Park Sejun, the tower farmer of the Black Tower, will have Ajax Mamebe, the tower farmer of the White Tower, work for him for the next 100 years.]

Another message appeared.

"Huh?"

Sejun had just acquired a slave for 100 years.

*****