Chapter 78: Count Brant Khalodian’s Territory (Khaloda Village)
Joonbum did not intend to cause any trouble. He was a member of Bran Town and was a warrior. He knew there would be consequences for any wrong actions.
‘I can’t underestimate people’s greediness.’
The preparation continued for two days. The town was pretty new, so they did not gather much other than the Kerox and Oringo leathers. However, nobody looked concerned as they now had three or more years worth of food in storage. Not only that, but the carts also had hundreds of wooden boxes carefully wrapped in linen.
The boxes consisted various decorated dishes that Sunsook purchased at a cheap price from restaurants that were closing down. These were things that did not exist in this world. Although they were cheap dishes on Earth, their worth here was much more. They also prepared a lighter and some other goods that were brought from Earth.
Joonbum also kept busy with his preparations. He began checking all parts of the Marauder from the tire pressure to the oils. He then connected the RV that was altered after it was delivered to the other world. It was a necessary preparation for a two-month-long journey outside of town. He stacked all kinds of emergency food, extra fuels, and weapons inside the Marauder. Even after he finished loading, the Marauder still had room for more.
‘Maybe I overdid it,’ Joonbum thought as he checked on the Marauder one the last time by starting the engine. The engine roared to life and Joonbum turned it off.
‘This really is a monster by itself.’
He felt like he could just run over anything when he got up into the Marauder. It almost urged him to run over any type of terrain, trees, or walls.
‘What if I get the urge to run over a charging knight or something?’
Joonbum got out of the Marauder.
“Let’s connect it!”
Doral and the young warriors approached and began connecting thick iron chains to the Marauder. At the front end of the chain were ten huge Durans lined up in two lines, eager to move.
“This is crazy.”
“Wow.”
“A carriage pulled by ten Durans…”
“I heard emperors do it like that.”
“Gramp Yodor, is that true?”
“What, you think I’m lying? Humans have carriages pulled by Galims and some nobles use Durans too. We didn’t do it because we have no need for such a big carriage.”
“I heard the Emperor from the West uses his house as a carriage.”
People were talking about different things as they watched what was in front of them in astonishment. The kids in particular were beyond excited.
“Sabu! You’re so cool!”
“It’s so amazing!”
“Can I ride it?”
Kids shouted loudly as they got up on the Marauder and enjoyed themselves. Joonbum grinned at everyone’s reaction.
The biggest problem he had with the Humvee was the fuel. He had stocked loads of fuel, but the Humvee consumed too much. Yet when he saw the giant animal named the Duran, he thought of an elephant. There were times where people on Earth used to use elephants as a means of transportation. What was more perfect was that Durans were already being used for such transportation purposes.
‘Galims look better, but I will need too many of them.’
He thought about the Galim as it was also a large horse, but he had to rule it out since the Marauder was way too heavy. Sure, he could’ve used over twenty Galims to pull the Marauder, but the cost of keeping and raising that many Galims would pose a problem.
With the Durans, he only needed ten. They also fed themselves by grazing the grass on the ground so they did not require much attention. The animals also ate and drink very little, but they were calm and strong at the same time.
‘It also becomes meat in the end.’
The Duran was a very useful animal for them.
Joonbum got back onto the Marauder as the chain was connected and he opened the top hatch of the vehicle. There should’ve been an M-245 or a Browning heavy machine gun in that spot, but those were stored inside, replaced by the reins that were connected to the Durans.
“Let’s move out!”
With Howen’s shout, all the carts began moving out. Light carts pulled by Galims took the lead as warriors sat on the carts. As all of the carts in front of him began moving, Joonbum shouted and pulled his reins to signal the Durans to move.
The Marauder began moving as the Durans started pulling it. The RV that was connected in the back also moved without any effort.
“Oh!”
“Sabu! Have a safe trip!”
Kids shouted in excitement and the adults grinned at such a sight.
‘Finally, I’m going.’
Two flags were on top of the Marauder: one for South Korea and one with Galfus’s head, symbolizing Joonbum’s family.
“Heeya!”
Sunsook shouted as she effortlessly waved the reins. The Duran that was in the lead turned in the direction of the signal.
“It’s a really smart animal.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never seen an animal that obedient.”
Sunsook took the reins multiple times as they moved. She practiced doing it a few times in town, so there was no problem. She looked like she enjoyed doing it. The Duran moved slowly but steadily. Its speed was very stable and it did not need to be guided to simply follow the road. When the road was one-sided like their current state, it did not require guidance.
The group first moved to Trina Village via the road they worked to create last year. It took them two days to get to the village.
“Howen! Welcome. How is Bran Town?”
“We’re doing good over there. Had any problems?”
“Doral, welcome back.”
“Joonbum, welcome.”
A small feast was held at Trina Village as the people from Bran Town arrived.
“Mayze, are you going on the trip too?”
“You’re becoming more beautiful! Your skin got smoother also!”
“What’s all these jewelry? Where did you get such beautiful jewelry?”
“Look at this silk! Did Sunsook make this for you? A sewing machine? Wow. I wish I could learn how to do it.”
“You can’t Erin. You’re bad at crafting.”
“Ugh.”
“It’s okay, I’ll make you one.”
Everyone seemed to be busy answering questions that their former townsfolk had for them. Mayze, who joined the trip with Sunsook, was one of them. Sunsook was also busy answering questions from older Ainos women as they asked about the greenhouse.
“Oh, by the way. When is your son getting married?”
“I heard he’s already twenty-four years old?”
“How about my daughter?”
“Hena! Didn’t you know Mayze loves him?”
There were useless questions too.
The feast was held and people from the Green Leaves tribe and the Duran tribe also joined them. It was the first time they met since the beginning of the year, so the heat continued.
“Joonbum! Where are you going? Aren’t you going to do the dance again?”
“I know! What was that, drink and run? Not doing it anymore?”
“Come! Drink up!”
Everyone called Joonbum, asking for another round of the song and dance that he wanted to forget.
‘Ugh. I guess they’ll never forget it.’
Joonbum sighed and quietly drank his beer away. Then he realized the beer was really good.
‘It’s nice.’
It was the draft beer made by the Ainos. All the villages now had machines to make beer and it led to the birth of brewmasters in the villages. The beer was one of the trade items.
“I think this will be popular. It’s better than regular beer.”
“Right! It is! I think we can trade these with those liquor-loving Magnos too. ”
Hesett, who was waiting for Joonbum’s comment, answered in delight.
‘Magnos.’
It was the name of another race that inhabited this mountain range. They somewhat resembled dwarves from common fantasy movies. When Joonbum showed Doral a picture and a video of dwarves, he asked if they were small. The Magnos averaged 5’8″ in height. They also had thick, large upper bodies with large fists that resembled the character Ralph from an animation.
‘But the women also look like that too, so…’
It was shocking but true. They were born to be warriors and miners with the might that allowed them to fight any monster in hand-to-hand combat. Doral also told him that they loved to fight.
They were also famous for their love of liquor. They began their feast by drinking liquor as if it were water and ended them with fist fights. They were fights, but they did not involve any hatred or anger. The fights would be filled with laughter and excitement.
-I think they will love boxing. They love fighting alone and they also love fighting in groups. I think they just love any kind of fight.-
Joonbum remembered Doral’s explanation about the Magnos.
“Oh, those Magnos act just like you when they’re drunk. I guess you’ll like them.”
Joonbum spit and snorted beer out of his mouth and nose at the comment.
“Did you see that? Haha!”
“Haha, I sure did!”
Everyone burst into laughter at Joonbum.
