The Search and the Scarecrow

Now the rest was up to the others.

They temporarily moved Garam to Lee Jaehun’s room and searched it from top to bottom.

They started with the wardrobe and checked every place they could, but found no unusual items.

“These are just clothes.

This one too.

He doesn’t have as many things as I thought.”

A middle-aged woman with a gentle impression put the clothes down and spoke.

Everyone called her Mama.

She was an awoken debuffer from the Haechi guild, exceptional at countering curses.

“He’s been at the farm most of the time.”

“Why tell us that only now?

Then the curse’s medium is likely there.

Let’s search there first.”

“The farm is pretty big, though.”

“Then bring more people.”

“I’ll ask for permission.”

Not many people knew Garam’s profession right away.

Bringing others into the farm risked exposing his identity.

“I give permission.”

Contrary to Kang Yujun’s concern, Lee Jaehun easily agreed to call in more people.

Ailen, who had wandered off earlier, was summoned again.

Not only her.

Guild members who could handle magic and understood curses were all called to the farm.

“Wow, I didn’t know our Haechi Guild farm was this big.

Our future looks bright, bright.”

Ailen looked around the farm with a weary expression.

In truth, the area Garam used was less than half of half, but the problem was the medium could be in an unused area.

“Mama, is it really here?”

“We won’t know until we search.

All right, let’s give it our best.”

Mama rolled up her sleeves and led the way.

“The storage is huge too, and there are harvested crops already.

We should check in between these as well, right?”

“Right.”

“If we find the one who put the curse on him, we’ll kill them.”

“I’ll lend a hand.”

“Me too!”

Everyone eagerly raised their hands.

Thus the long search began.

Or rather, it almost began.

If only the scarecrow in the center hadn’t suddenly gone wild.

“Ah!”

Someone screamed after being struck on the back of the head by the scarecrow.

“What the—what’s going on?”

“The scarecrow hit a person!”

“Just subdue it.

Why all this fuss over one scarecrow?”

“This thing is pretty strong, huh?”

“A scarecrow can’t be that strong.”

“No, I’m serious!”

The mages didn’t dare cast big spells for fear of damaging the crops and were chased around by the scarecrow.

Two swordsmen finally stepped in and managed to catch up, but it wasn’t easy.

“This thing actually knows how to fight?”

“Yeah.

It mixes offense and defense well.”

“A scarecrow?”

Surprisingly, it was true.

In the end, a few more mages helped and bound the scarecrow tightly.

It tried to break free, but to no avail.

“Wow, that’s amazing.

How can a scarecrow be like this?”

“Indeed.”

They paused their work for a brief moment to marvel, but then another scream came from the other side.

“What is this! Why are they shooting people?”

Bees in a corner began attacking the unfamiliar people.

“Block them with magic!”

“Should we burn them?”

“No.

Even insects have owners.”

A mage stepped in and set a shield around the hive.

Fortunately, the bees could not break through it.

Only after resolving those two incidents could they start the search in earnest.

“Why is the ground so deep here?”

Someone stabbed the ground with a staff one by one, another overturned it with a sword.

Sensitive ones sat on it trying to sense energy.

“This won’t be easy.

Mana is lingering in the crops themselves.

Maybe that’s why finding other energies is difficult.

If you think you found something it’s a potato, then next it’s corn.”

“This crop even shows a status window?”

[This crop was grown by a farmer.

It restores a bit of HP and permanently increases a small amount of mana. -Producer: Park Garam]

“Crops that increase mana?”

The person reading the status window swallowed hard.

Increasing mana was a dream for many mages.

They couldn’t help feeling tempted.

“Ahem, hey, hold on!”

Just as someone reached out for a crop, a sharp-faced man suddenly blocked him.

“What, what is it?”

“All these crops have owners.

They’re not free.

Buy them properly later.”

“Who said anyone was going to take them for free?”

The sharp-faced man Park Deokpal pointed to his eyes with two fingers.

“I’ve been watching.”

“Okay, sorry.

Can I reserve crops?”

“We’ll accept reservations later.”

“Can I book ahead?”

“No, you can’t.”

Park Deokpal shook his head.

The woman looking at the crops pouted.

“Please let me know when they go on sale?”

“I will.”

Only then did she give up and move on.

Similar scenes repeated at intervals.

Each time Park Deokpal and Kang Jungbae busied themselves and told people to reserve later.

“Attention.

These crops have owners.”

Finally Kang Yujun stepped forward to announce.

“Please don’t touch the crops and search for traces instead.

They’ll be sold by reservation later, so please buy then.”

At that, Ailen in the back raised her hand and hopped up and down.

“The stats are written vaguely.

Can’t we get exact numbers?”

“The crop owner knows.”

“The crop owner is the guildmaster’s lover, right?”

“Yes.”

At that, those who had been greedy cooled off.

These were the guildmaster’s lover’s crops.

If they got greedy now, they might get nothing later.

Whether they said it knowingly or not, Ailen’s remark helped a lot.

“All right, let’s search quickly.”

They searched the farm thoroughly through the night.

“Garam.”

Garam was having another nightmare.

Water dripped from the ceiling and screams echoed somewhere.

As if the nightmare would never end, suddenly something warm wrapped around him.

Then a sharp pain in his nose followed.

“Ouch.”

Moaning from the pain, he opened his eyes and saw Lee Jaehun’s face right in front of him.

He was pinching the tip of Garam’s nose with his hand.

“…What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You’re pinching my nose.”

“Then that’s what I’m doing.”

Garam took a deep breath and smacked the back of Jaehun’s hand.

He hit firmly, yet Jaehun withdrew his hand without any sign of annoyance.

“You could wake me up another way.”

“I’ll slap you next time.”

“Who are you trying to kill?”

“I’ll be gentle.”

“Just shake me.”

“That doesn’t wake you that well.”

Jaehun answered as if troubled.

The deeper the nightmare, the harder it was to wake.

And when that happened, he found himself missing someone more and more.

‘It’s not Seo Taeju.’

He had long since lost all feeling for him; he wouldn’t suddenly miss him now.

Then who did he long for?

Garam slumped and thought.

“I think it’s better not to sleep.

If I sleep, I only have nightmares.”

All of this was because of a curse.

Who and why?

Could it be Seo Taeju?

Garam suspected him.

Given his personality, he could well be the one cursing him.

“Fine, do as you like.”

Lee Jaehun picked up a book and sat on the chair by the bed.

“You being awake is enough for me.”

“What if you fall asleep though.

You’d need someone to wake you.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You already are a bother.

Don’t worry about that.”

Listening to him, Garam felt sorry for having once treated him like a madman.

‘Wait a minute.’

He had saved his life, but did he forget the time he was dragged and left to pick stones in the backyard?

How hard that was.

And the potions he drank until he was full.

‘Who knows if he’s a good person or not.’

Garam gave up thinking any further.

Instead he got up and sat opposite Jaehun.

“Do you have a book I could read?”

At that, Jaehun pulled out a book and tossed it to him.

The blue cover bore the black letters ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’

“That’s the play we saw the other day, right?”

“Yes.”

“You had a book like this?”

“By chance.”

“Is it really by chance?”

Garam looked at Jaehun suspiciously but couldn’t tell his intention.

So he decided to read the picture book.

[Once upon a time, there lived a little girl in a red hood.]

Garam slowly read the lines.

Each page had few words, so it was easy to read.

As he turned the pages, he suddenly heard someone calling him.

At first he thought it was his imagination, but it wasn’t.

Someone was definitely calling him.

A voice he missed and longed for.

Garam looked at Jaehun who was absorbed in the book, then rose from his chair.