Chapter 2
[We are approaching Cairo International Airport. Passengers, for your safety...]
"Wow... That was a long flight, huh?"
"......."
It was a flight that lasted more than seventeen hours. Clutching my aching backside, I spoke to the escort officer beside me, but he remained silent.
Even though he was a foreigner, I thought he'd at least give me a glance.
'Yeah... what's the point? It's not like I'm going to be friends with some long-nose.'
He was a high-and-mighty C-rank agent, so he probably didn't want to exchange a word with an E-rank criminal like me.
I gave up and leaned back in my seat. But then,
"Ah... I need to pee."
"Oh, miss, you need to pee? Hold it just a little... Ah, no! Hey!"
He reacted violently to the groan of the woman sitting on the other side of the long-nose.
He then called over a flight attendant and rattled off something to her.
My mouth fell open at the sight.
......Wow.
This is fucking ridiculous.
Aside from the fact that she could speak Korean, wasn't this woman an even worse criminal than me?
I'd heard that before coming here, she'd wiped out an entire raid party. Apparently, she'd done it to monopolize the loot.
"Hey, Mr. Long Nose. I need to pee too."
"We're landing soon, so hold it. If you piss right there, I'll summarily try you for terrorism."
Gulp—
'Let's not say anything.'
Actually, I didn't need to pee that badly. Men were predictable, so I'd better hold it.
After the plane landed, I was taken somewhere by the escort officer.
"Hey—hey! Over here, over here!"
A middle-aged man was waving his arms in front of an old van. He was wearing a flashy floral shirt and sunglasses.
He shook hands with the escort officer who had brought us here.
"Thanks for your hard work! Thank you!"
"......."
The escort officer left without another word. Watching his back, the man muttered,
"Man, he's such a taciturn bastard every time I see him. Look at him—not even batting an eye in front of such a pretty woman."
'Bullshit.'
"Oh, right, what am I doing? ...I'm Kim Young-hak, and I'll be in charge of you from now on. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Na Ji-hoon. I look forward to working with you!"
Squeeze—
Kim Young-hak gave me a firm handshake. I'd expected it from the start, but this man was also...
'A Hunter.'
"Hey, mister, it's hot. Could we get in the car first and do the introductions later?"
"......."
Kim Young-hak released my hand and stared at the woman. Then he clenched his fist, and his hand shot up in the blink of an eye.
WHAM—!
"Eek!"
The woman who'd been punched in the mouth collapsed. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, and she wiped it away with trembling fingertips.
"W-What...?"
She looked unable to understand what had happened. But soon, her eyes filled with rage as they turned toward Kim Young-hak.
Without even looking at her, Kim Young-hak shook the blood off his hand.
"Ah, my apologies. It seems you haven't been properly educated despite being a criminal. Since you're not worth the trouble of explaining things to in words, I had no choice but to use an easier, faster method."
'......He's no joke.'
Fear surged through me at the sight.
They say people who smile with narrowed eyes are all psychos, and this man certainly wasn't normal either.
The woman, unable to contain her anger, charged at him, but she was utterly helpless against him. Even after she began begging for forgiveness, Kim Young-hak didn't stop until she passed out.
With blood dripping from his fist, he asked me,
"Mr. Na Ji-hoon, you aren't going to cause any trouble, are you?"
"O-Of course not."
'As if I would...!'
Even without the show of force he'd just given, his rank alone was enough to give me pause.
The unconscious woman was D-rank.
That meant Kim Young-hak was at least C-rank, so I would never dare provoke him. No, I couldn't afford to.
I vowed to avoid getting on his bad side and obediently climbed into the car.
"Mr. Na Ji-hoon?"
"Yes?"
"You need to load the woman too. Why are you pretending not to know when you were the one who caused this?"
"...What?"
I caused this...? What the hell was he talking about?
"Move. Before I lose my temper."
"Huh? Ah, yes, yes, sorry!"
I felt a little uneasy, but for the moment, I did as I was told.
The car set off the moment I sat in the passenger seat, and he immediately opened his mouth, still smiling.
"Surprised?"
"......A-about what?"
"Because I handled the woman so roughly."
"......."
...No way.
That earlier remark—'I caused this.' And now, since he was deliberately bringing it up, I began to understand what he intended.
‘He’s telling me to keep my mouth shut.’
I firmly declared my willingness to cooperate.
"I didn't see anything."
"Oh? Then why is the woman so battered?"
"She must have fallen on her own."
"Her face is far too swollen for that, though. It could be troublesome if someone else asks."
"Well, now that I think about it, maybe she did get into a fight with me."
Kim Young-hak let out a hearty laugh. Then he patted my shoulder and said,
"Heh heh... Good, very good! Mr. Na Ji-hoon! Let's get along!"
Fortunately, it seemed I'd passed my first-impression test.
'Yeah. I can play along as much as needed. I'll survive this, no matter what.'
I'd been living at rock bottom for two years. I could read a room like this in my sleep.
I kept the conversation going while matching Kim Young-hak's mood. A little while later, we dropped off the unconscious woman at some office-like place,
and the car continued racing along for several more hours.
At last, we reached our destination. When I got out of the car, I saw a small building.
"Here we are. The facility's a little shabby, isn't it?"
"It's more than I deserve."
"Heh heh, you're a real likable fellow. Anyway, a water tanker will come every two weeks, and you'll receive groceries once a week. As for the rest... you know, right?"
"Yes. You don't have to tell me."
I guess I'm on my own.
A building stood smack in the middle of some unknown desert. Solar panels were installed on the roof, and the walls had no windows—only a weathered wooden door.
The only thing worth looking at was a water tank taller than a person.
"Well then, let's go inside."
When he opened the creaking door, a cloud of dust burst out from inside. He swept a hand through the air before stepping inside.
Surprisingly, there were amenities inside.
It was cramped, but there was still a bed big enough for an adult to lie down on, along with a refrigerator, a light, and a bathroom. The toilet was a pit latrine, of course.
'Mr. Kang Ilhwan said a budget had been allocated to replace it with a modern system...'
I didn't need to see whose pocket that money had gone into.
"Still, it's got everything you need. What am I supposed to do here?"
"What else? Whatever you want, I suppose?"
"......."
"Heh heh, I'm joking. There should be all sorts of seeds stored in the refrigerator. Normally, we focus on crops produced in large quantities, like wheat or corn, but..."
He gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"That's the government's recommendation, but peaches sell for a high price here."
......That's not a recommendation. It's an order.
"Trees take a little time to grow. Are you sure that's okay?"
"Kheh-heh! One has to be patient! Of course it's fine! Besides... it won't take that long just because you're E-rank, right? Right?"
“Haha…”
Damn. I'd be drained of every last bit of energy and dead before I even finished serving my sentence.
Growing vines and growing trees were worlds apart.
To make matters worse, the climate here was far too harsh for peach trees,
and the thought of having to spend even my sustaining mana to keep them from drying up was already giving me a headache.
'Still, what can I do? If they tell me to do it, I have to.'
"......I'll do my best."
Kim Young-hak smiled gently. Then he waved and abruptly left.
Only after he'd gone far enough that I could no longer hear the car engine did I finally slump to the ground.
"I'm so screwed..."
What am I supposed to do now?
I might have muddled through things like this at first, but that would only work once or twice.
He was obsessed with money, so eventually I'd have to show results...
'The problem is that I'm E-rank.'
An E-rank's mana clearly had its limits.
If I made one wrong move, I could be 'accidentally' killed and replaced by someone else.
"So I need to find a way..."
The one saving grace was that my ability specialized in growing trees.
I wasn't confident in controlling their growth rate or maintaining their size, but growing trees 'beautifully' was easy.
"…Right, I'll decorate it in an elven style and turn it into a tourist farm. That way, the bastard won't be able to mess with it easily."
***
Starting the next day, I kept myself busy.
Using the available seeds and fertilizer, I germinated peach trees. Rather than laying them out like an ordinary orchard, I arranged them like a garden. I even grew them into the shape of living chairs.
But producing fruit in a single day was still beyond me, so I spent two days completing them, then collapsed, repeating the process over and over.
"Haa..."
And on the tenth day, I began to grow anxious.
'I'm working hard, but...'
It's not enough.
The officer said he would visit once every two weeks, so Kim Young-hak would probably come in three or four days. There was no way he'd be satisfied with just a few peaches.
How had things ended up like this?
I came here to recuperate in peace, but somehow I was stuck playing a survival game...
That day, feeling especially miserable about my situation, I flopped onto the sand.
"......I've prepared a pretty garden for you, Mr. Young-hak."
There was no way that cold-blooded bastard would fall for something like this.
Come to think of it, it's funny.
Kim Youngjin, Kim Young-hak.
They all have names that start with Kim Young-. Are people with names like that just psychos by nature?
"Ugh—I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!!!! Just kill me already—kill me!!"
Tap—
"...Huh?"
While flapping my arms around, I felt something catch on my hand. I wiggled my fingers a little, felt it again, and clenched my hand around it, lifting it up.
Rustle—
As the sand poured down like water, I opened my hand and saw what I'd found.
"This is..."
'A wooden ring?'
A wooden ring with an ornament resembling a horned mask. It was incredibly intricate yet captivating.
It was more beautiful than anything I'd ever made, and, feeling inexplicably annoyed, I muttered under my breath,
"......It's remarkably well made for a tourist souvenir. I wonder how it feels to wear it."
Slide—
Click!