Chapter 144

144

Neighbors (2)

The unexpected arrival of new neighbors.

I didn’t know why the raccoon family had moved here, but it certainly wasn’t bad news.

For starters, the raccoon was intelligent and polite. That alone was enough to make it far more likable than the gorillas.

Moreover, it was skilled at handling fire, so if we cooperated while living here, it would be a great help.

To make that happen, I first needed to understand what this family wanted.

’The most basic thing would be food...’

Regardless of how difficult hunting might be, the Forest of Four Seasons was abundant in food.

I didn’t know exactly what raccoons ate, but they were probably omnivores.

Besides, they were my "neighbors," not "family" who lived with me like the Swift Sloth and Wonmo. They should be able to take care of themselves to some extent.

’That shouldn’t be a problem... right?’

It would be enough for us to help one another in genuine emergencies.

"Keng. Keeeng."

"That’s your home?"

The raccoon family showed me where their home was.

It was in a tree not far from the cave—no, it would be fair to say it was right nearby.

There was a large hollow in the middle of the thick trunk.

Apparently, they lived inside it.

’Fortunately, I wasn’t planning to cut down any trees around here.’

It would have been slightly troublesome if their home had overlapped with the area I planned to clear.

Thankfully, not only was it outside that area, but it was also close enough for us to visit each other frequently.

I watched as the raccoon family entered the hollow.

A moment later, one raccoon poked its head back out. The baby raccoon appeared beside it.

There was no way I could resist taking a picture of this. I immediately snapped one for the gallery.

Title: A raccoon family moved in

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the raccoon family appearing before me)

(Photo of the medicinal herb the raccoon gave me)

(Photo of the raccoon family poking their heads out of their home)

(Photo of the raccoon waving happily)

The family of the raccoon that visited my cave moved into the neighborhood. I don’t know if this is their version of handing out rice cakes to celebrate moving in, but they gave me a medicinal herb.

Their home is a hollow in a nearby tree. Looks like we’ll be visiting each other pretty often from now on.

At least these guys are far more sociable than those gorilla bastards. I’m happy to have neighbors too.

└ Heavenly Demon: What adorable neighbors. I hope you get along well.

└ SwordMaster: Wow, I’m jealous. I don’t even have any neighbors.

└ Heavenly Demon: You never leave your home anyway. What use would you have for neighbors?

└ SwordMaster: Tch. Do you have neighbors, then? You never go outside either.

└ Heavenly Demon: They are not neighbors, but this lady’s subjects. Like that raccoon, they occasionally bring me valuable gifts. Have you ever exchanged anything with your neighbors?

└ SwordMaster: ...

└ ...No?

└ Heavenly Demon: You should at least show your face occasionally. Some people would be delighted simply to see you. Of course, if you possess an ugly countenance, it may have the opposite effect.

└ SwordMaster: I’m pretty, you know—

└ Pics or it didn’t happen.

└ Can’t believe it without proof, lol.

└ Heavenly Demon, you should post proof too. Who are you to call anyone uglier than you? Lol.

└ Heavenly Demon: As this lady has said before, I was once given the title of the Greatest Beauty Under Heaven.

└ SwordMaster: If that’s what counts, then I’m widely renowned as a beauty too, haha.

└ What a clash of titans, lololol.

└ Who’s considered the Greatest Beauty Under Heaven in the Central Plains?

└ In the previous generation, it was Yang Seolhwa. Now it’s the Heavenly Demon, though the rumors about her are a little terrifying.

└ What rumors?

└ Something like, "Even drenched in another’s blood, her beauty could not be concealed." It’s chilling, but that’s what I heard.

└ Before people realized she was the Heavenly Demon, wasn’t her alias the Blood Flower?

└ A flower soaked in blood, da-da-da!

└ CCCC

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Hmm! How adorable! Unfortunately, I must ban you for one hour!

└ Wild Grylls: ??? Why? What did I do wrong?

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: There’s no video! No video! If you upload one, I may let you off!

└ Wild Grylls: (Video of the raccoon family) Is this enough?

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: I’ll let it slide just this once!

└ Just this once...

└ The admin tells the mods not to abuse their authority, but now he’s abusing it himself, lololol.

└ Hypocrisy is a built-in passive skill for anyone with a badge, lol.

└ They really are cute, though, lol.

└ Is that one a baby? I want to hold it.

└ What happens if Grylls takes the baby away?

└ It’s just visiting the house next door, lol.

└ Ah, I see.

└ More importantly, wouldn’t Wonmo eat it?

└ Wonmo: Why is there more emergency food than there was before I went to sleep?

└ Who was the original emergency food? Don’t tell me it was Grylls.

└ Of course he’s emergency food, lololol.

We joked about it, but I couldn’t dismiss the matter as nothing more than a joke.

Even if I accepted the raccoons as neighbors, would Wonmo acknowledge them?

The Swift Sloth appeared to have accepted them, but I had no idea what Wonmo’s appetite might drive him to do.

’The weather seems to be warming up, so Wonmo should wake up soon.’

I looked up at the sky instead of the tree and exhaled.

The temperature had risen enough for me to feel the difference. Even the cloud of breath leaving my mouth had grown fainter.

By tomorrow, the weather would either change completely or begin showing clear signs of doing so.

’I’ll know once Wonmo wakes up.’

Wonmo had started hibernating as soon as winter began, so the reverse should also be true.

After staring at the raccoon family for a while, I returned to the cave.

Since they were good at handling fire, I planned to keep a campfire burning in the yard for them.

Crackle! Pop!

I made a campfire for the raccoons to use, then went inside the cave.

First, I needed to identify the medicinal herb they had given me instead of rice cakes.

’The Heavenly Demon is usually good with things like this, right?’

The Heavenly Demon was knowledgeable about inner cores and medicinal herbs of this kind.

Even if she didn’t recognize it, she could quickly determine what sort of energy it contained.

After examining the snow-white ginseng from different angles, I sent her a message.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon, are you there?]

[Heavenly Demon: Speak.]

[Wild Grylls: You know the picture from the post I uploaded? The one that looks like white ginseng.]

[Heavenly Demon: I was examining it. It appeared to be no ordinary medicinal herb. This lady suspects it is Snow Ginseng saturated with yin energy.]

[Wild Grylls: I’ll send it to you. Would you mind examining it? I’m a little hesitant to eat it immediately.]

[Heavenly Demon: Very well. I shall contact you after inspecting it.]

I sent the white ginseng to the Heavenly Demon. She would probably reply before long.

In the meantime, I considered how I could maintain a good relationship with the raccoon family.

Simply keeping a campfire burning might not be enough.

’If they’re good at finding medicinal herbs, they might become a huge help.’

What if the white ginseng proved highly effective?

I would make them a direct offer: I would provide them with food, and in exchange, they would bring me medicinal herbs.

I could either consume the herbs myself or give them to the Heavenly Demon so she could make Fasting Pills.

This was mutual aid—the very principle that kept an economy moving.

It was debatable whether it could be called an economy without any currency, but never mind that.

[Heavenly Demon: Sir, are you still there?]

[Wild Grylls: Yes, I am. Have you identified it?]

[Heavenly Demon: That raccoon has given you an extraordinarily rare medicinal herb. It is no ordinary ginseng. It contains an amount of internal energy comparable to that of thousand-year-old ginseng.]

[Wild Grylls: So it’s extremely valuable?]

[Heavenly Demon: It may not compare to Humanoid Snow Ginseng or the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King, the king of all ginseng, but it is still exceedingly rare. Its powerful yin energy poses a problem, but since you already possess cold energy, it should not cause you any great difficulty.]

[Wild Grylls: Can you use it to make Fasting Pills?]

[Heavenly Demon: It is possible, but doing so would feel wasteful. This lady believes it would be better for you to consume it.]

[Wild Grylls: Then how long until the Fasting Pills are ready?]

[Heavenly Demon: A full sack will be complete soon.]

[Wild Grylls: I’ll use that as payment instead. I already have trouble controlling my current energy. If I ate this too, I think I’d be in serious trouble.]

[Heavenly Demon: That is a reasonable argument. I shall give this to a close aide. He should be able to sell it for a high price.]

That would be far more helpful to her than giving it to me.

I asked the Heavenly Demon to wait for a moment, then headed outside.

There was something I wanted to ask the raccoon.

"Keeeeng."

"King, king."

When I went outside, I found the raccoon family gathered cozily around the campfire.

All three were holding out their paws to warm their chilled bodies.

The sight of the baby raccoon stretching out its tiny paws was especially adorable.

’This is nice, but...’

I was happy to have neighbors, but someday, I would have to leave this place.

Still, we would be living alongside one another until that day came.

Since they had been the first to show goodwill, I also felt more comfortable around them.

Until I left, we could cooperate and benefit one another.

"Raccoon."

"Keng?"

Perhaps it understood that I was calling it, because it poked up its head.

The other two did the same. Its mate and baby both lifted their heads and looked at me.

’Should I give them names?’

Or perhaps calling this one Papa Raccoon would be enough.

In any case, I took Papa Raccoon aside for a moment. He followed me without showing the slightest wariness.

I brought him into the cave and led him to none other than my map—the one on which I had marked everything I had discovered during my explorations.

"Okay, Papa Raccoon. You see this thing you gave me?"

"Keng."

"If you find anything similar, could you bring it to me? If you do..."

Scrape—

I showed him the white Snow Ginseng he had given me, then dragged over an iron container.

It still held fish frozen solid—naturally frozen fish kept in eco-friendly cold storage.

"I’ll give you these fish. They’re frozen now, but the weather should warm soon, and then you’ll be able to eat them."

"If you don’t like fish, I can give you something else. I’ll be receiving some Fasting Pills soon. I can give you those."

Pat—

As soon as I said that, I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head and found the Swift Sloth staring at me.

Its expression seemed to say, We barely have enough for ourselves, and you’re giving those away?

The Swift Sloth was ordinarily almost entirely free of greed, but Fasting Pills were a different matter.

It had become especially sensitive about them after the gorilla stole them last time.

"You already eat them one at a time. Besides, we can make more with the medicinal herbs this guy brings us."

"..."

"He might effectively become our supplier of ingredients for Fasting Pills, so let it slide."

Perhaps persuaded by my argument, the Swift Sloth withdrew its hand.

The Forest of Four Seasons might have been overflowing with medicinal herbs, but I knew next to nothing about them.

Wouldn’t it be better to leave the job to an expert(?)? Naturally, the expert would receive appropriate compensation.

"..."

Papa Raccoon appeared to contemplate my offer for quite some time.

Perhaps he didn’t trust me. More importantly, this was essentially a business transaction.

If things went poorly, he might end up suffering a loss. He had a family to support.

Despite the risks, however, perhaps he had decided that I was trustworthy.

"Keng!"

The raccoon extended a paw, readily accepting my offer.

I clasped his tiny paw to signify that our deal had been concluded.

But we weren’t finished yet. There were still things I needed to tell him.

That was why I had brought him to the map.

"Okay. See these two places? The gorillas live here. They’re hostile toward intruders, so you must never enter their territory."

"Keng."

"And this is the cave where the kangaroos live together. See that pig-like creature over there? It was attacked the moment it entered. They’re not friendly. And down here is the lake, but on the path leading to it, there’s a deer..."

I carefully taught him about every dangerous area in case something happened to the raccoons.

They might have known their previous territory well, but they might not have been familiar with this area.

After concluding my agreement with Papa Raccoon, I sent the white ginseng to the Heavenly Demon.

’I’m glad I found such good neighbors.’

Although perhaps we were business partners now rather than neighbors.

Either way, it didn’t matter as long as we got along.

’That aside, should I build them a little shelter near the campfire?’

It was something worth considering.

***

Around the same time, at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—

"I FOUND GINSENG!"

A demonic practitioner clutched the snow-white ginseng and shouted loudly enough to shake the heavens.

The man was Wi Seorak. In his hand was the pristine white ginseng.

The Heavenly Demon had summoned him and abruptly given it to him as a gift.

He had been confused at first, but it hadn’t taken him long to realize that it contained an enormous amount of internal energy.

’I-I’m sure Grylls gave this to her, but... I can’t believe she’s giving me something like this...!’

Converted into money, it was worth several years of their budget.

Selling inner cores was troublesome because their origins could be identified, but ginseng was a different matter.

They could simply claim it had been buried in the mountain behind the cult and leave it at that.

In a world ruled by money and martial strength, this was worth far more to Wi Seorak than rain after a long drought.

No, rather than mere rain, it might be the first sign of an abundant harvest.

’The Heavenly Demon is a goddess. And Grylls is invincible.’

His affection for Grylls began to soar.

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