Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 218

“Is that where Taru’s friend is, meow?!” Theo asked, looking at a village far away in the desolate wasteland.

Taru pointed to a mountain behind the village. “No. My hometown, Rhino Village, is there. See that mountain at the end of the village? My friend’s workshop is at the entrance of that mountain.”

Taru adjusted his hood to hide his face. “And Theo, please don’t call me by my name in the village. I just want to meet my friend quietly.”

“Okay, meow! Then let’s go quickly, meow!” Theo said. He wanted to buy a jar and return to Sejun as soon as possible.

Taru admired the scenery of his hometown, which he hadn’t seen in a long time, and followed Theo slowly. He knew the mountain would guide them to his friend’s workshop, so he wasn’t worried about getting lost. They walked for a little longer, enjoying the quiet village path. Then, suddenly…

“Haaah! Don’t lie, meow!!!” Theo’s angry voice arguing with the village guards echoed.

Theo wanted to buy a jar and return to Sejun quickly, so he ran ahead and arrived at the entrance of Rhino Village.

“Stop!” the guards shouted.

“If you want to enter the village, pay a toll of 100 Tower Coins!”

“Our village doesn’t charge tolls. Why are you charging now, meow?” Theo asked. 100 Tower Coins wasn’t much money, but Theo didn’t like being cheated. ‘I am not weak anymore!’ he thought.

“What are you saying?!” one of the guards yelled.

“Should we persuade him?” the other guard said.

Just as Theo was about to introduce himself to intimidate the guards, a being a head taller than the guards appeared.

“What’s all the commotion?” Radun asked.

“I-I’m sorry, Lord Radun. This cat is refusing to pay the toll… I’ll take care of it quickly!” the guards said nervously.

Radun rolled up his left sleeve, showing off a black dragon tattoo on his forearm. “Heh heh. No. I will personally teach this fearless fellow the terrors of the world.”

“Oh! That’s the great black dragon tattoo that Lord Radun got after fighting with the Ox King for three days! The Ox King himself recognized Lord Radun’s strength and engraved it!” one of the guards exclaimed.

“Lord Radun fought with the Ox King 100 years ago and returned without a single scratch! He is probably much stronger than Storm Chariot Taru!” the other guard added.

Radun was pleased the guards liked his tattoo. He turned his arm so they could see it better. Radun was always looking for ways to feel important. Today, it was this little cat’s turn.

When the Ox King had visited the village, Radun had boldly challenged him to a one-on-one fight where no one could see. But as soon as they were alone, he knelt down and surrendered.

The Ox King, seeing Radun’s desire, told him to be loyal and showed him the black dragon tattoo engraved on his chest. Then, the Ox King left.

After the Ox King left, Radun had a similar black dragon tattoo engraved on his left arm and returned to the village, lying that he had received it from the Ox King.

Radun’s power grew, and he lived like a king in Rhino Village. He toured the village every day after lunch to see the villagers who feared him.

Radun thought it was time to pick on someone to show how scary he was. He saw Theo arguing with the guards and marked him as his target. He looked weak, so Radun thought he would highlight his strength well.

‘What is that strange tattoo, meow?!!!’ Theo thought, furious as he looked at the black dragon tattoo on Radun’s arm. Only Sejun, Kaiser’s right-hand man, had spare scales of Kaiser.

The Ox King did not have spare scales of Kaiser. Radun’s black dragon tattoo was fake.

Besides, the tattoo was so shabby that Theo felt like the black dragon tattoo on his sole was being insulted.

‘How dare he lie about being Chairman Park’s subordinate with such an ugly tattoo!!! I’m angry, meow!!!’ Theo’s fur bristled. His tail twitched with anger. ‘How dare he!’ Theo thought, his claws itching to scratch.

“Haaah! Don’t lie, meow!!!” Theo shouted at Radun.

“What?! What’s a lie?! You!” Radun said, wondering how Theo knew.

Radun swung his big fist at Theo, trying to shut him up.

“I’ll punish you, meow!” Theo shouted.

Theo leaped into the air, a flash of white claws appearing from his paws. *Paching!* He slashed at Radun with incredible speed.

Bang! Taru blocked Theo and took Radun’s fist in the face.

“Meow!? Tar… Friend, are you okay, meow?!” Theo asked, remembering not to call Taru’s name.

“Theo, I’m okay. I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s try to resolve it through conversation if possible,” Taru said, reassuring Theo.

“Theo, what’s going on?” Taru asked.

“I was trying to enter the entrance, but they blocked me and charged a toll…”

“What?!” Taru was shocked. Why was Rhino Village charging a toll?! It wasn’t the Rhino Village he knew.

He wanted to ask why they were charging a toll, but he had abandoned the village and left. He didn’t want to get involved anymore.

“Here’s 200 Tower Coins for the toll. Take it,” Taru said.

“Yes?! Yes!” The guard took the money with a dazed expression.

“Theo, let’s go.” Taru said and hurried into the village.

Theo glared at Radun and followed Taru into the village. “See you later, meow!”

“Why is the village so deserted, meow?” Theo asked as they walked down the main street. The village was lifeless, as if no one lived there.

“I don’t know either. Let’s go to the workshop first,” Taru said. He wanted to ask his friend about the village quickly.

They passed through the village and arrived at the entrance of the mountain.

[Tricera Workshop]

Taru knocked on the door and entered the workshop. “Excuse me!”

Theo followed Taru into the workshop. Inside, pots of all shapes and sizes filled the room. Some were made of smooth, red clay, others of rough, grey stone. Theo saw tall vases with swirling patterns, and small bowls perfect for holding seeds. The air smelled earthy, like wet clay.

“Meow! Chairman Park will like this, meow!” Theo said, looking at a stone pot.

“Phu-hu-hut. This one looks good too, meow!”

Clang!

The sound of a jar breaking came from the back of the workshop.

“Meow?!” Theo jumped. ‘It can’t be, meow! Who is breaking my jar, meow?!’ The sound of breaking jars made Theo jump. ‘The jar!’ he thought. ‘I need to buy a jar for Sejun!’

Theo ran towards the sound.

Clang!

He found Taru’s friend, Tricera, breaking a jar with a hammer.

“What are you doing, meow?!” Theo asked.

“Have you never seen someone breaking a jar before?” Tricera retorted, looking at Theo.

“Tricera,” Taru said, following Theo.

“Oh?! You?!” Tricera said.

“Yes. It’s me. Taru. It’s been a while,” Taru replied.

Tricera shouted “Taru!” and charged forward. Taru ran to meet him. They didn’t hug like humans. Instead, they crashed into each other shoulder to shoulder with a loud *Bang!* It was a rhinoceros greeting, a way of showing they were happy to see each other.

“Meow? You said he was your friend, meow?!” Theo asked, flustered.

“Tricera!” Taru also ran towards Tricera.

Bang!

“Heh heh heh. How long has it been?!” Tricera said.

“Taru, how have you been?” Taru asked.

The two shook hands and hugged. It was a rough greeting befitting a rhinoceros.

A while later, Tricera asked, “So you came to buy a jar?”

“That’s right, meow! I want to buy 1500 jars, meow!” Theo replied.

“Hmm… 1500 is about how much I’ve made so far. Okay. I’ll sell them to you,” Tricera said.

“How much, meow?!” Theo asked.

“Since you came through a friend’s introduction, I’ll give it to you for just the labor cost. I’ll give it to you for 0.5 Tower Coins per jar,” Tricera said.

Honestly, it was an amount that didn’t even cover the labor cost. Tricera was doing Theo a huge favor.

“Discount, meow!” Theo said.

“Sigh… Just take it,” Tricera said. Since merchants looking for jars didn’t come often these days anyway, Tricera decided to hand them all over to Theo.

“Thank you, meow! I’ll give you this instead, meow!” Theo handed a handful of Five-Colored Beans to Tricera.

“Help me, meow!” Theo confidently asked Taru and Tricera for help and put the jars in a bundle.

“Thank you, meow!” Theo said goodbye and went outside first.

“Tricera, thank you. Take this,” Taru handed a wad of money to Tricera. It was the money that Theo had spent on the gacha so far.

“But what’s going on in the village?” Taru asked.

“Phu-hu-hut. I can finally return to Chairman Park, meow!” Theo came out of the workshop with a proud heart, carrying all 3,000 jars that Sejun had ordered.

“There’s the other guy’s party!” a voice shouted.

“What, meow?” Theo looked towards the sound. Radun was giving instructions to his subordinates.

“Yes!” the guards replied.

The guards moved quickly, surrounding Theo and narrowing the circle.

‘Good. I’ll take that guy hostage first and catch him,’ Radun thought, smiling slyly. Because Taru was fine even after being hit by his fist, his appearance became ridiculous.

So he had summoned all the guards to catch Taru, but thankfully Theo came out first.

‘I was going to punish him anyway, but this is good, meow!’ Theo thought.

Theo jumped and *Paching!* He slashed at Radun with incredible speed, then landed softly on the ground, as light as a feather.

If it weren’t for Theo’s sound, no one would have known that the Nyanyang Storm Fist had defeated the enemy.

“Puhahaha,” the guards laughed.

“What did you do?” one of the guards asked.

Thwack!

With the sound of something exploding, Radun turned into powder and disappeared.

“Huh?!” the guards exclaimed.

The laughter of the guards disappeared.

“Huh?! Theo!” Taru came out of the workshop and found the guards surrounding Theo.

Bang!

He ran quickly, pushed the guards away, and stood in front of Theo.

‘How dare you! How dare you!’ Theo thought, still trembling with anger at Radun.

“Theo, don’t worry. I didn’t tell you, but I was originally the boss of the 97th floor of the Tower. Come on! I, Storm Chariot Taru, will take you on!” Taru roared, thinking that Theo was trembling.

“Aaaargh! Save me!” The guards scattered in panic.

‘Hmph. My reputation hasn’t died yet,’ Taru thought.

“Theo, let’s go.” Taru said.

“Okay, meow!” Theo replied.

Theo and Taru left.

“I should plant this, right?” Tricera planted the Five-Colored Beans that Theo had given him. Not knowing that kudzu fruit was mixed in with it… Thanks to this, the Rhino Village residents, who had been starving due to lack of food, no longer had to worry about food.