Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 156

It was clear who had stolen the *makgeolli*, that sweet Korean rice wine, from Sejun’s farm. He didn’t need to guess. It could only be Kaiser, Aileen’s grandfather, and a dragon with a serious love for alcohol.

“I wasn’t careful,” Sejun muttered to himself.

Kaiser hadn’t visited in a while. Sejun had thought he was busy with dragon business. Because of this, Sejun had been careless and left the makgeolli out in the open. It was his own fault, really. He should have known better than to put grilled fish where Theo could smell it, honey near Kkuengi, and delicious makgeolli anywhere near Kaiser.

“Still,” Sejun grumbled, “he shouldn’t have taken *all* of it. I haven’t even tried it yet…”

*There were about ten bottles of regular makgeolli missing, and almost fifty of the special crop-flavored ones…* Sejun thought, tapping his finger on his knee as he calculated.

“Then I’ll need to ask for the value of 160 bottles in dragon scales,” he decided.

The makgeolli mixed with crops had taken much more of his effort, so he decided to calculate it with a triple premium.

Just as Sejun finished his mental math, a loud *WHOOSH* of wings filled the air.

“-Our Sejun is here!” Kaiser boomed, landing heavily nearby.

“Yes?!” Sejun replied, startled.

*Our Sejun?* Sejun blinked, confused. When had Kaiser switched from calling him ‘Sejun-you-rascal’ to suddenly ‘our Sejun’? He was still trying to understand this change in tone when Kaiser continued, his voice full of excitement.

“-You clever boy! When did you make such amazing makgeolli?!”

Kaiser abruptly began to praise Sejun.

A few hours earlier.

“Kuhahaha. Let’s drink again!”

The dragons began to continue their drinking party with the makgeolli Kaiser had brought.

“Oh! There was makgeolli in the Black Tower too!”

“Kuhahaha. Our Tower Farmer made it for *me* to eat!”

Kaiser had secretly stolen it without the owner’s permission, but he was convinced Sejun had made it *especially* for him. Kaiser first took out the regular makgeolli and gave it to the dragons.

Pour.

“Where should I taste it?”

Gulp. Gulp.

The dragons each held a bottle of makgeolli and drank it themselves.

“Hmph! Still, it won’t be as good as our Tower Farmer’s, will it?”

Artemis, her pride hurt by the unexpectedly delicious makgeolli, spoke as if she couldn’t lose.

“What?! Are you ignoring the makgeolli Sejun made?! Are you saying it’s not good? Let’s settle this outside, right now!”

Kaiser roared with anger at Artemis’s words. He had thought so little of it inside the tower, but now that Sejun’s makgeolli was being ignored outside, Kaiser acted as if he himself was being ignored.

“You think I won’t come out if you tell me to?!”

Thud! Bang!

Just as Kaiser and Artemis began to argue outside,

“Come on, let’s drink! Cheer up, Kellion. Surely Ajax will succeed in farming someday.”

“Thanks for the thought.”

Whether the two fought or not, Brachio and Kellion drank makgeolli.

“Kuh. Good! What? Already finished?”

“There’s more here.”

Kellion and Brachio quickly emptied a bottle of makgeolli each. Brachio used magic to move a bottle each in front of himself and Kellion from the makgeolli Kaiser had brought.

And then,

Click.

Opening the lid,

Pour.

Pouring into a glass,

“Cheers!”

“Wishing for Ajax’s bumper crop!”

Clink.

They clinked glasses and drank.

At that moment,

“Kuh. Uh?!”

“Oh my?!”

Both exclaimed at the same time. Because they tasted an unexpected flavor in the makgeolli.

“Sweet potato?”

“Corn?”

“Corn, you say?”

“Sweet potato? Let’s switch and try each other’s!”

So the two switched bottles and drank again,

“Let’s open another one!”

“Yeah!”

They started opening the bottles Kaiser had brought and tasting them one by one.

“How many flavors are there?!”

“Let’s see…”

Sweet potato, potato, corn, carrot, cherry tomato, peanut, watermelon, mango, banana, and even chestnut makgeolli that wasn’t fully aged yet. A total of ten flavors of makgeolli!

Moreover, the makgeolli made with crops grown by Sejun tasted much better and even had a subtle feeling of changing the body.

“Park Sejun, you amazing fellow… Hold on… My dragon tooth soldiers…”

Kellion praised Sejun to himself and thought about how many dragon tooth soldiers he had left. With one dragon tooth soldier, he thought he could get ten bottles of each of the ten flavors of makgeolli.

Sejun was thinking of a premium of about three times, but Kellion was thinking of attaching a premium of ten times.

However,

“Park Sejun… the Black Tower’s Tower Farmer…”

Looking at Brachio’s expression, he thought he might not even get ten bottles.

‘Let’s drink first!’

Gulp. Gulp.

As Kellion forgot about his grandson’s worries and began to drink makgeolli diligently,

“Hey! Are you selfishly drinking alone?!”

Brachio also came to his senses and began to drink makgeolli again.

A little later,

“Kuhahaha!”

“Euhahaha!”

Kaiser and Artemis came in with faces flushed red and puffy from arguing (and maybe a little makgeolli), their arms around each other’s shoulders. Not like children, but the two had become friends after fighting.

“Huh?! What?!!!”

“Who ate it all?!”

Before them were dozens of empty makgeolli bottles scattered on the floor. While they were out, Kellion and Brachio had eaten almost all the makgeolli.

“Oh?! You’re here?”

Kellion said, belatedly discovering the two.

“Oh?! You’re here?! Is that what you’re saying now?!”

“Try this. Then you’ll know why I’m like this… Kaiser, you’re lucky. You even have a Tower Farmer like Sejun.”

Kellion handed the makgeolli to Kaiser and said with an envious voice.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Gulp.

Kaiser looked at Kellion with strange eyes and gulped down the makgeolli. He was thirsty from using his body.

And then,

“…!!!”

Upon tasting the sweet potato makgeolli, he could understand Kellion’s words.

“Sejun made ten new kinds of makgeolli.”

Kellion gave an additional explanation to Kaiser, who was shocked by the taste.

‘What have I done…?’

Kaiser regretted bringing the makgeolli from Sejun’s brewery. He had brought the alcohol, which was too precious to eat alone, to share with the other dragons.

“What does it taste like?”

Sip.

“This is?!”

Artemis, who was curious about Kaiser’s reaction next to him, also took a sip of makgeolli and fell into shock. This was undeniable. It was so delicious!

“Hehe. I guess it’s not just us.”

“Let’s drink quickly before they come to their senses.”

Kellion and Brachio started drinking makgeolli again, leaving Kaiser and Artemis in shock.

“Stop! Stop eating! I won’t give it to you anymore!”

Kaiser belatedly came to his senses and tried to collect the makgeolli, but all that was left was about two glasses’ worth of makgeolli left on the bottom of each of the ten bottles that Kellion had deliberately left behind.

It was meant to show the taste of the ten kinds of makgeolli.

“What flavor is this? The scent is unique?”

“Kuhuhu. This is called watermelon.”

Kaiser proudly explained to Artemis, who didn’t know the taste of watermelon.

When Kaiser and Artemis had tasted all ten flavors of makgeolli,

“Kaiser! Hand over Park Sejun to me!”

Brachio demanded Sejun from Kaiser.

“What are you talking about?! Handing over the Tower Farmer?! Don’t you know that once you become a Tower Farmer, you have to live as the Tower Farmer of that tower until you die? And even if it were possible, our Sejun would never do it!”

Kaiser said, getting angry at Brachio’s words. What nonsense! How dare you ask for our Sejun?!

“Hmm… Is that really so?”

Brachio said with a dubious look.

“What?! Then let’s see at the next meeting!”

Kaiser hurriedly returned to the Black Tower. He was thinking of telling Sejun to make makgeolli quickly.

“-Our Sejun, is there anything you need? Oh, right! I will repay you with 20 dragon scales for the alcohol I took earlier! And in the future, I will pay one scale for every two bottles of new makgeolli!”

“Oh?! Really?! Thank you! Ah! But Kaiser, this is not the time for you to be doing this.”

Sejun, who was happy with Kaiser’s offer, said, thinking of Aileen, who would be training hard now.

“-Why? What’s wrong? I’ll solve everything!”

Kaiser was trying to solve the problem proactively, thinking of making Sejun make makgeolli quickly, but it wasn’t Sejun’s problem, it was Aileen’s problem.

“Aileen is now…”

Sejun explained that Theo had accidentally obtained a fragment of the Black Dragon’s Dragon Heart and that Aileen was now training to fix the Dragon Heart using it.

“-What?! Our Aileen has a Dragon Heart fragment?”

“Will it be okay?”

Sejun said with a worried voice. Aileen had said it confidently, but that made him even more worried.

“-Don’t worry. Resonating with the Dragon Heart is as simple as breathing for a dragon. Nothing will happen. Kuhahaha. Theo, you rascal! You’ve done a great job.”

Kaiser, who had answered Sejun’s question, praised Theo. It was amazing that he had obtained even a very small fragment of the Dragon Heart.

Dragon Hearts naturally and quickly revert to nature when a dragon dies, so they cannot be obtained. Kaiser had only heard that there were cases where they did not revert. But Theo had brought it.

Makgeolli wasn’t the problem now. No, it’s not that he didn’t have to eat it, but it was okay to eat it a little later.

“-Since you have helped the great Black Dragon clan, I will give you a reward as the head of the Pritani family! The Pritani name is the highest honor among dragons!”

“What is it? What are you going to give me?!”

Theo was excited at Kaiser’s words. Theo was excited at the thought of receiving a good gift from Kaiser and giving it to Sejun.

Theo’s formula in his head was like this.

‘If I give Park Sejun money, I’ll get Park Sejun’s lap, Churu, and an extension of my term as Vice President Te!’

‘If I give Park Sejun a dagger, I’ll get Park Sejun’s lap, Churu, and an extension of my term as Vice President Te!’

…

..

.

Theo thought that if he gave Sejun something, he would get his lap, Churu, and an extension of his term as Vice President Te like a vending machine.

“-I will allow you to use the name Pritani.”

“Meow?”

Theo, unable to judge whether receiving the name Pritani was good or bad, looked at Sejun. His forepaws did not react to intangible things.

Shakes head.

Sejun shook his head. What would change if he added another family name to his name? It was more about practicality than honor.

“That’s no good! Give me something else!”

“-Hmm… That’s unexpected. Everyone liked it until a thousand years ago… Then I’ll give you my claws.”

Nod. Nod.

“Good!”

Theo decided to receive Kaiser’s claws at Sejun’s nod.

“-It’s done.”

“Meow?! What’s done? I haven’t received my claws yet!”

“-Pull out your claws.”

Ppatting!

When Theo pulled out his forepaw claws, ten black dragon claws appeared. Kaiser had immediately replaced Theo’s claws with dragon claws.

“Meow!”

Theo looked at his changed claws in amazement and then,

“Nyaa… I can’t give this to Chairman Park…”

He was sad that he couldn’t give the claws to Sejun.

“It’s okay. Instead, Vice President Te has become stronger.”

“Meow! That’s right! I will protect Chairman Park with these claws! But I’m sleepy.”

“Okay. Kaiser, I think we should go to sleep now.”

Sejun said, stroking Theo’s head.

“-Okay. See you in the morning.”

So Sejun and Theo went home to sleep and,

“-Ahem. Have we been too inactive lately?”

Kaiser felt that the presence of the dragon clan had diminished and was lost in thought.

He didn’t show it because of his pride, but he was a little shocked by Theo’s rejection of the name Pritani. Being able to use the name Pritani meant being treated as a Black Dragon inside the tower.

“-But he rejected it?”

But this wasn’t because the presence of the dragon clan had diminished, but just a happening caused by Sejun, who didn’t know anything.

Cooer.

Groll.

So the two slept well, unaware that they had missed a great opportunity to wield absolute power in the Black Tower.

Day 312 of being stranded: Theo obtained dragon claws.

And 5 days were left until his birthday party.