Chapter 218 – I Will Give You This Instead, Meow

The 97th floor of the tower.

“Is that where Taru’s friend is, meow?!”

Theo asked, looking at a village in the middle of a wasteland far away.

“No. What is over there is my hometown, Rhino Village, and you see the mountain at the edge of the village, right?”

Taru spoke, pointing to the mountain behind the village.

“I see it, meow!”

“At the entrance of that mountain is my friend’s workshop. And… Theo, please do not call my name inside the village. I want to meet my friend quietly.”

Taru spoke as he readjusted the hood he wore to hide his face.

“Understood, meow! Then let’s go quickly, meow!”

Theo, who wanted to quickly buy the jars and return proudly to Se-jun, urged Taru and ran toward the entrance of the village.

“Has it been 100 years?”

Taru, who was visiting his hometown after a long time, slowly followed Theo while taking in the views of his hometown. Since the mountain served as a landmark, they would be able to find the friend’s workshop quickly, so there would be no chance of getting separated from Theo.

While Taru was walking along without worry like that,

“Hiss! Do not lie, meow!!!”

He heard Theo’s angry voice arguing with the village guard.

***

‘I will buy the jars and return to Chairman Park’s lap, meow!’

Theo, who wanted to buy the jars and quickly return to Se-jun, ran fast and arrived at the entrance of Rhino Village.

However,

“Stop!”

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

The guards blocking the entrance of the village stood in front of Theo and demanded a toll.

“Our village does not receive anything like a toll, so why do you receive it, meow?”

Theo questioned the guards who blocked his way. Although 100 Tower Coins was pocket change compared to the money Theo possessed, meekly getting ripped off was something only a fool would do. ‘Puhuhut. I am no longer a fool, meow!’

“What are you talking about?!”

“Should I just beat up this tiny thing!”

The giant-sized guards threatened Theo as they spoke.

“Puhuhut. How dare you, to the great…”

Just as Theo was about to introduce his identity to intimidate the guards,

“What is the commotion?”

A being who was a head taller than the guards appeared.

“So… Sorry. Lord Radun, this cat is refusing to pay the toll and resisting… We will clear this up quickly!”

As Radun, the leader of Rhino Village, appeared, the guards spoke in tense voices.

“Kekek. No. To a fearless fellow like this, I will personally show the dread of the world.”

Radun spoke, rolling up his left sleeve to show off the black dragon tattoo engraved on his forearm as if boasting.

“Oh! That is the great black dragon tattoo that Lord Radun received after fighting the Bull Demon King for three days, having his strength recognized by the Bull Demon King who engraved it himself!”

“Probably, Lord Radun, who returned without a single scratch, is much stronger than Storm Tank Taru, who was said to have survived after fighting the Bull Demon King 100 years ago.”

The two guards burst into a fuss while looking at Radun’s tattoo.

‘Kekek. Yes. Praise my greatness even more!’

Radun moved here and there so that his tattoo would be seen better at the guards’ words.

When the Bull Demon King visited the village a while ago, Radun had boldly said in front of the villagers that they should fight 1-on-1 in a place where no one was, but as soon as they went to an empty place,

Thud!

“Please spare me! I surrender!”

He knelt in a hurry and surrendered to the Bull Demon King.

The Bull Demon King showed the black dragon tattoo engraved on his own chest, telling him to show absolute loyalty in the future whenever he saw a black dragon tattoo, and then returned.

However, once the Bull Demon King returned, Radun boldly engraved a similar black dragon tattoo on his own left arm, returned to the village, and lied that he had received it from the Bull Demon King.

Since then, Radun’s prestige had become grand, and Radun was living like a king in Rhino Village.

Theo had caught the eye of Radun, who was patrolling the village after eating lunch every day to see the villagers who feared him.

‘A perfect target.’

Radun, who thought it was about time to choose one to display his dreadfulness. As soon as he saw Theo talking back to the guards, Radun picked him as his sacrifice. Since Theo looked weak, he thought it would highlight his own strength well.

***

‘What is that strange tattoo, meow?!!!’

Theo felt enraged as he saw the black dragon tattoo engraved on Radun’s arm. It was because the only one who had a spare scale of Kaiser was himself, Se-jun’s right arm.

The Bull Demon King did not possess a spare scale of Kaiser. Naturally, Radun’s black dragon tattoo was a fake.

Furthermore, because the tattoo was so shoddy, Theo felt as if the black dragon tattoo engraved on his own paw pad was being insulted.

‘How dare he lie about being Chairman Park’s subordinate with such an ugly tattoo!!! I am angry, meow!!!’

Tremble. Tremble.

As the black dragon tattoo Se-jun had engraved for him was insulted, Theo trembled in anger. Of course, to the other party, it appeared as if he was trembling in fear.

“Hiss! Do not lie, meow!!!”

Theo shouted toward Radun, full of anger.

“What?! What do you mean by a lie?! You rascal!”

‘How did this fellow know?’

Radun, who felt guilty at Theo’s shout, hurriedly attacked to shut Theo’s mouth.

“I will punish you, meow!”

Sparkle.

Theo also extended his dragon claws as he saw Radun’s fist approaching him.

Crash!

Taru blocked the front of Theo, taking Radun’s fist with his face.

“Meow?! Ta… Friend, are you okay, meow?!”

Theo, who was about to call Taru’s name, recalled Taru’s words not to call his name and hurriedly changed the address.

“Theo, I am fine. I do not know what the matter is, but let’s resolve it with dialogue if possible.”

Taru spoke to Radun while reassuring Theo.

And,

“Theo, what happened?”

“When I tried to enter the entrance, they blocked the way and demanded a toll…”

“What?!”

Having heard the reason for the fight from Theo, he was shocked. Why would Rhino Village charge a toll?! It was not the Rhino Village he used to know.

Although he wanted to argue why they were taking a toll, he was a being who had abandoned the village and left. He did not want to involve himself any further.

“Here is the toll of 200 Tower Coins. Take it.”

“Yes?! Yes!”

Taru handed the money into the hand of the blank-faced guard and entered the village in a hurry.

“Vice Chairman Theo, let’s go.”

‘See you later, meow!’ Having decided to secure the jars first at Taru’s call, Theo glared at Radun, then followed Taru into the village.

“Why is the village so deserted, meow?”

Theo spoke as he walked down the main road running through the village.

The inside of the village was lifeless, as if no one lived there.

“I do not know either. Let’s head to the workshop first.”

Taru, who had become eager to ask his friend about the village quickly, hurried toward the workshop.

As they passed the village like that and arrived at the entrance of the mountain,

[Trikera Workshop]

The workshop sign was visible.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Taru knocked on the door and entered the workshop,

“Excuse me, meow!”

Theo also followed Taru into the workshop.

Inside, various pottery made of clay or stone, both large and small, was on display.

“Meow! Chairman Park would like this, meow!”

Theo spoke, looking at a stone pot carved from stone.

“Puhuhut. I think this would be good too, meow!”

Just as Theo was packing items that Se-jun would like like that,

Shatter!

He heard the sound of a jar shattering from the back of the workshop.

“Meow?!”

This cannot be, meow! Who is breaking my jars, meow?! Recalling his purpose of coming here at the sound of the shattering jar, Theo hurriedly ran toward the source of the sound.

And,

Shatter!

He discovered Taru’s friend, Trikera, breaking a jar with a hammer.

“What are you doing, meow?!”

“Is this your first time seeing a jar being broken?”

Trikera, who had been finding and breaking defective jars with fine cracks, replied half-heartedly as he saw Theo getting angry at him.

At that moment,

“Trikera.”

Taru, who had followed behind Theo, called his friend’s name.

“Huh?! You are?!”

“Yes. It is me, Taru. Long time no see.”

“Taru!!!”

Trikera rushed past Theo, charging rapidly toward Taru as if looking at an enemy.

“Meow? Did you not say you were friends, meow?!”

While Theo was flustered,

“Trikera!”

Taru also ran toward Trikera with a momentum as if he would kill him.

Boom!

An explosive sound rang out as their shoulders collided. Although it sounded like someone might have died,

“Hahaha. How long has it been?!”

“Taru, how have you been?”

The two shook hands and shared a deep hug as if nothing had happened. It was a rough greeting fitting for rhinos.

After a while,

“So, you came to buy jars?”

“That is right, meow! I want to buy 1,500 jars, meow!”

“Hmm… 1,500 is exactly what I have made so far. Good. I will sell them.”

“How much is it, meow?!”

“Since you came through a friend’s introduction, I will give them to you by charging only for labor. I will give them to you for 0.5 Tower Coins each.”

Honestly, it was an amount that did not even cover labor costs. Trikera bestowed immense generosity on Theo, who had come with Taru.

But,

“Give me a discount, meow!”

Theo, who had no way of knowing that, attempted the 3-discount technique this time too.

“Sigh… Just take them.”

Since merchants looking for jars rarely visited lately anyway, Trikera decided to hand them all over to Theo.

“Thank you, meow! I will give you this instead, meow!”

Theo handed a handful of Five-Colored Beans to the admirable(?) gullible person who had offered the jars for free.

And,

“Help me, meow!”

Theo confidently requested help from Taru and Trikera and packed the jars into his bundle.

“Thank you, meow!”

As Theo greeted them and went outside first,

“Trikera, thank you. Take this.”

Taru handed a stack of money to Trikera. It was the money Theo had paid for the drawings until now.

“But is something going on in the village?”

Taru asked what he had been curious about since earlier.

***

“Puhuhut. Now I can return to Chairman Park, meow!”

When Theo, who had secured all 3,000 jars Se-jun had ordered, left the workshop with a proud heart,

“There is that fellow’s companion from earlier over there!”

A voice shouted toward Theo.

“What is it, meow?”

Looking toward the source of the sound, Radun, whom he had met at the entrance earlier, was instructing his subordinates.

“Yes!”

Dadadada.

At Radun’s instruction, the surrounding guards moved quickly, surrounding Theo and narrowing the encirclement.

‘Well planned. First, I will take that fellow as a hostage and capture the other guy.’

Radun smiled insidiously as he looked at Theo. Because of Taru, who was perfectly fine even after taking his punch in front of the guards earlier, his own appearance had become ridiculous.

Therefore, he had gathered all the guards to capture Taru, but thankfully, the weak(?) Theo had come out first.

But,

‘I wanted to punish him earlier anyway, so this is perfect, meow!’

The same was true for Theo regarding being thankful.

Theo jumped and

Sparkle.

“Nya-nya-nyan! Nya-nya-nyan!”

Extended his dragon claws in the air, rapidly swinging them toward Radun, and

Land.

Landed lightly.

……

Theo’s Meow Meow Storm Fist, which no one would have known of if not for Theo’s voice, defeated the enemy.

“Puhahaha.”

“What did you just do?”

The guards burst into laughter as they looked at Theo.

At that moment,

Pop!

With the sound of something popping, Radun turned to dust and disappeared.

“Huh?!”

“……”

When the laughter of the guards, who were overwhelmed by Theo’s strength, vanished,

“Huh?! Theo!”

Taru, who came out of the workshop, discovered the guards surrounding Theo.

And,

Crash!

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

‘How dare you! How dare you!’

Tremble. Tremble.

Theo was trembling in anger, which had not yet subsided, toward Radun, who had arbitrarily engraved the mark of Se-jun’s subordinate.

But,

“Vice Chairman Theo, rest assured. There is something I did not tell you, but I was originally the boss of the 97th floor of the tower. Come at me! I, Storm Tank Taru, will deal with you!”

Taru, who thought Theo was trembling in fear, roared while revealing his identity to reassure him, and

“Argh! Spare us!”

The guards, who snapped out of it, fled in panic.

‘Hmph. My reputation is not dead yet.’

Taru felt proud, thinking the guards had run away because of him.

“Vice Chairman Theo, let’s go.”

“Understood, meow!”

Thus, Theo and Taru left, and

“I should plant this, right?”

Trikera planted the Five-Colored Beans Theo had given him. Not knowing that kudzu seeds were mixed in… thanks to that, the food worries of the villagers of Rhino Village, who had been starving due to a lack of food, vanished.