Chapter 504

Chapter 504

Batula spoke with a bitter smile.

“Ah, you mean the grain seeds.”

“Yes. Where did you get these?”

“We barely managed to obtain them from the outskirts of Moder’s nest.”

“Moder?”

Hearing the unfamiliar word, Zeon tilted his head.

Batula spoke with a gloomy expression.

“It’s a monster that lives in the stone forest about three days west of here.”

“Stone forest?”

“Yes. A bizarre place where tree-shaped rocks form a forest. Moder is the beast that guards that place. Fitting for a beast of such a grotesque stone forest, its appearance is strange. It has a deer-like body, but a human torso is attached where the head should be. But it doesn’t have a human head—its eyes and mouth are on the torso. Its height is over five meters, and from head to tail it exceeds ten meters. Yet it’s faster than a flame wolf, and fires a destructive beam that melts large beasts in a single strike.”

“There’s really a monster like that?”

Zeon asked, surprised.

He had encountered countless beasts up to now, but never one with such an appearance as Batula described.

Batula took a glass bottle from the subspace wagon.

“There were piles of these glass bottles scattered inside Moder’s nest.”

“Is that true?”

“Why would I lie to my savior? This glass bottle was something our colony’s awakened barely snatched from the outskirts of the stone forest at the cost of their life. We were keeping it safe, planning to plant it should we ever find fertile land. Though our colony is gone now, and who knows when we’ll ever find fertile land.”

“Your colony collapsed?”

“Yes. While our caravan was away, it was attacked by beasts and destroyed. The awakened who brought this bottle also died.”

“I’m sorry. I made you recall painful memories.”

“It’s fine. But… are you really okay with just this? Honestly, we don’t know what kind of species these seeds are. They might already be dead. It doesn’t sit well with me to repay the one who saved our lives with something like this.”

Batula bowed his head in embarrassment.

Zeon took the glass bottle from his hand.

“This is more than enough repayment. I don’t need anything else.”

“If you say so.”

At Zeon’s firm answer, Batula’s expression eased.

The items inside the subspace wagon were the lifeline of his clan.

Even if they found another colony or survivor settlement, it would be difficult to settle if they had nothing. They needed goods to trade just to get by.

Zeon asked Batula,

“Do you have a place to go?”

“Yes. There’s a survivor settlement we have ties with. We’ve traded several times, so we know each other well. They don’t have a caravan, so they’ll welcome us. We encountered the sandstorm on our way there.”

“That’s fortunate.”

He understood well what awaited a caravan that had lost its home.

A caravan must have a base to survive.

And just at a glance, he could tell that this caravan’s awakened weren’t particularly strong.

Sending such people toward Neo Seoul would be no different from telling them to commit suicide.

They would be wiped out by beasts long before they got halfway.

It was far better for them to settle in a nearby colony or survivor village.

Zeon tucked the glass bottle into his clothes.

“Then this is where we part.”

“What? You’re leaving already?”

“I have companions as well.”

“Ah.”

“I’d like to escort you to the survivor village, but we also have urgent business…”

“Don’t worry about us. We’ve traveled this path dozens of times. We didn’t expect the sandstorm, which caused great damage, but we know the road well.”

“Understood. Then I hope you reach the settlement safely.”

“Thank you. And may Zeon-nim also reach your destination safely.”

“Yes. Then…”

Zeon bowed lightly in farewell and turned away without hesitation.

Watching Zeon’s back grow smaller in the distance, Zahira asked Batula,

“Why didn’t you ask him?”

“What do you mean?”

“To take us to the survivor village.”

“And what would change?”

“He’s a powerful man with a rare ability. If we could keep him with us somehow, he would be a great help.”

“And how would you keep him?”

“If necessary… with my own body—”

“Did you not see his eyes? Cold as ice. A man with eyes like that—do you think he’d settle somewhere just because of a woman?”

“That’s…”

Zahira couldn’t continue.

Batula gently stroked her hair.

“You certainly are beautiful. But in his eyes, I saw no emotion at all. How would you seduce such a man, and how would you keep him? Even if you succeeded in seducing him, he would leave us without a shred of regret. How could I bear to watch that? Better to cut off such lingering thoughts here.”

“Haa… I know. I just said it because I couldn’t help feeling regretful.”

“I know. Wise Zahira. You simply wanted to help our caravan in any way you could. But he was never meant to be tied to us. Passing by like the wind is better for us as well.”

Batula gazed toward the direction Zeon had disappeared.

＊＊＊

“Welcome back!”

“You’re okay, right? Zeon!”

“Hyung!”

When Zeon returned, Tesserina, Brielle, and Levin greeted him.

Thanks to Liri, they already knew Zeon was safe, so they hadn’t been worried.

Zeon smiled.

“As you can see, I’m fine.”

“What about the caravan people?”

“We parted ways. They said they’d head to a nearby survivor village.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Oh, right. And this.”

Zeon took out the glass bottle he’d received from Batula.

Brielle’s eyes widened.

“Is that…?”

“Grain seeds.”

“Can I take a look?”

“Of course.”

He handed it to her immediately.

As a High Elf, Brielle was more sensitive to plants than any other being.

“These little ones are still alive. If we take them to our village and plant them, they’ll sprout.”

“I thought so.”

Zeon nodded.

It would be useless to give it to anyone else.

Seeds planted in sand would certainly die.

But in the High Elf village, it was different.

Under the blessing of the World Tree, they would thrive.

“Where did they get it?”

“They said it came from the nest of a beast called Moder.”

“Moder?”

Brielle looked at Tesserina.

Maybe she’d know. But Tesserina shook her head.

“I’ve never heard of it. Probably a variant born on Earth.”

Most beasts originally came from Kurayan. But numerous variants had since appeared—formed by merging with Earth’s organisms or arising naturally.

Even Tesserina couldn’t know all beasts born on Earth.

Zeon spoke.

“It supposedly has a human torso for a head, with a deer-like body.”

“Ugh! Just hearing it is disgusting.”

Tesserina shuddered, but Zeon continued.

“The important thing is that Moder’s nest contains more of these seed-filled bottles.”

“Really?”

“An awakened who went there said so. I think the place where Moder nested might be an ancient seed vault.”

“Seed vault? There was such a thing?”

Brielle blinked in surprise.

“I only heard stories. In the old days, they built facilities to preserve grain seeds, storing them in glass bottles like this.”

“I’ve heard something like that too. That’s why awakened in Neo Seoul say finding a seed vault would be a jackpot.”

Levin supported Zeon’s theory.

Brielle’s eyes sparkled.

“Such a place actually exists?”

“We won’t know until we check, but it seems likely.”

“Then we absolutely must visit Moder’s nest first. If more seeds remain, we must retrieve them. I’m sorry, Tesserina unnie… I know your situation, saying this must seem selfish.”

She especially felt guilty toward Tesserina.

Tesserina’s true body was in poor condition, and she knew it.

Tesserina smiled lightly.

“It’s fine. Being delayed a day or two doesn’t matter.”

“Really?”

“A dragon doesn’t lie.”

“Ah… thank you.”

“Instead, promise me something.”

“What is it?”

“When you raise the crops, you’ll share them with me.”

“Of course. When we harvest, you’ll be the first I give them to.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Tesserina gently patted Brielle’s head.

Levin interlocked his hands behind his head and muttered,

“Moder, huh. I wonder what kind of abilities that beast has.”

“From what I heard, it fires a devastating destructive beam.”

“Really? We’ll need to be careful.”

Everyone knew beasts with abilities were dangerous.

Such abilities were mainly used by powerful B-class or higher beasts.

But Levin wasn’t too worried.

He hadn’t told the others yet, but he had recently become A-class.

One day, the wall blocking his growth simply shattered, and his rank rose.

He was shocked, but Zeon said it was only natural.

Levin had fought more battles and gained more experience than any other awakened.

Everything he’d accumulated had finally fused and Hyungken the barrier before him.

Thanks to that, he was now an A-class awakened—and by his side were Zeon, whose rank couldn’t even be estimated, and Tesserina the dragon.

There was no reason to fear.

He was tense, but not afraid.

Brielle decided to keep the seed bottle.

She stored it carefully in the subspace inside her pointed hat.

“Hehe!”

Seeing her giggle foolishly, Levin made an exasperated face.

“Is it that good?”

“Of course!”

“Your mouth’s going to split from smiling.”

“It can split today. It’s fine.”

“Oh boy.”

“Keep that up and I won’t give you any even if we harvest.”

“No—don’t do that.”

“Then be nice to me.”

“Fine. Tch. You’re impossible.”

Levin grumbled, unable to win.

But he didn’t look truly upset.

Zeon said,

“If you’re done chatting, let’s get moving.”

“Okay!”

“Yes, Hyung.”

They immediately set out for Moder’s nest.

Walking at the front, Zeon thought:

‘The Primordial Forest… the High Elf village… and now a seed vault. Is Earth showing signs of recovery?’

Too many good things were happening in a row; it made him uneasy.

Experience taught him that when this happened, disaster often followed.

‘Probably not…’