Chapter 42: The Withering Rice Paddy

“Even if I tell you not to come, you will. Do as you please. You know where the Rice Paddy is, don’t you?”

“I know. It’s just down from Sun-young’s The Field.”

“That’s right. Drop by later. If you find out anything, let me know.”

“I will.”

“This is for the Tea.”

Mister Dusik coolly took out 30,000 won and placed it on the table.

“…I think this is too much. You could give me half of that.”

“If an adult gives you something, just take it; you talk too much. Consider it payment for listening to my complaints. I’m off.”

With that, Mister Dusik waved his hand and left the Home.

His steps looked a bit more relaxed than when he had first entered.

However, it was only ‘a bit.’

‘It’s just a temporary solution.’

If the problem gripping the man’s heart wasn’t solved, the flowers of anxiety would bloom once again.

Before that happened, I needed to check the situation.

“I’ll probably understand once I see the Rice Paddy.”

“Mister, is something wrong?”

Perhaps because we had shared a deep conversation, Naru, who had stepped away for a moment, approached and asked cautiously.

Smiling at Naru’s consideration, I stroked her head.

“No, it’s nothing big. I just hope you can help me later, Naru.”

As a reminder, Naru is a Spirit of wood.

Since Naru has the closest influence over plants, I might see something different if I go with her.

Naru thumped her chest confidently and said, “Tell me anything. I’ll help with everything.”

“I feel reassured because of Naru. Have you finished the drawing?”

“Yes. Do you want to see?”

Naru went to her seat and brought back the completed drawing.

That drawing was, well, how should I put it?

‘…It’s very avant-garde.’

It looked like something that might become trendy twenty years from now.

No, I wasn’t sure if twenty years would be enough.

Maybe thirty years? No, perhaps I should add another zero.

“This is what the Spirit realm looks like.”

“Uh, yeah… you drew it well. So this is the Spirit realm?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s very… intriguing.”

Is this what the Spirit realm looks like, or is it the demon realm?

Looking at the various colored whirlwinds blowing and dots scattered everywhere, I wondered if this was really a place suitable for living beings.

The expression ‘demon realm’ felt more appropriate.

“I expressed it really well. I drew it exactly as it looks.”

“I don’t think so. President, look at this. This is more accurate.”

As I continued to look at Naru’s drawing, Siu, who had followed her out of the room, placed her drawing on top.

Hmm… to be honest, they both looked the same.

Whether it was Siu’s drawing or Naru’s drawing.

I couldn’t tell which way was up or down, or where the center of the world was.

The only similarity was something like a tree in the middle.

As I looked at Siu’s drawing, Naru snorted.

“Siu Unni. I knew you couldn’t draw, but you’re really bad at it.”

“What? No, I’m not. This is better than what you drew, Naru.”

“No, it isn’t. Look. This is that place. You can tell just by looking, right?”

“How can you express that place like this? No one would recognize it.”

“…Yes, they would!”

Naru and Siu began to bicker over a single whirlwind in the drawing.

I didn’t know where ‘that place’ was or who would recognize it, but…

“Children, don’t fight. Um, by the way, what is this tree?”

“Oh, this?”

“This is the tree where we Spirits are born. All Spirits are born here.”

“Is that so?”

It looked strangely familiar.

Was it just my imagination?

There was no way I could have ever seen the Spirit realm.

“Thank you both. Do you want to try drawing something else now?”

“Another drawing?”

“Yeah. For example, Udi.”

Tap!

Then, Udi tapped the table once and flew over.

Caught in my hand, Udi hummed as if delighted.

Cute Udi was happy just to have his name called.

Stroking Udi, I spoke to the two children.

“Do you want to try drawing Udi?”

“Sure!”

“Drawing Udi isn’t hard. I’ll finish it quickly.”

The two children spread out their paper again and began to draw.

They quickly drew lines and layered colors on top.

Watching the drawings being completed, I realized something.

‘…Should I call it artistic, or should I say they have no talent?’

One thing was for sure: what was being completed on the paper was not Udi himself.

Udi trembled while looking at those drawings, then left my hand and began to move.

I wondered where he was going and what he was doing, when suddenly—

“Ah, cold!”

“Udi! What are you doing!”

Tap, tap, tap, tap-tap-tap.

He had taken a Cup of water from the purifier and poured it over the two drawings.

It seemed he couldn’t stand to let them exist.

“A masterpiece of the era was being completed!”

“We were drawing you nicely. Why are you getting angry?”

Woowoooong! Wooyong! Tap tap tap tap!! Tak-tak!

“You don’t like it? Your behavior is the bigger problem! Come here, I’m going to turn you back into a divine wood today!”

Woowooong!

Naru jumped up and began a chase with Udi.

The child-like appearance she showed occasionally.

That was Naru’s charm.

“President.”

“Yes?”

“By any chance, are our drawings very strange?”

“Well…”

Should I tell a happy lie, or choose the cold truth?

While I was agonizing over it, Siu dropped her head as if depressed.

“We’re bad at drawing.”

“Ha, haha…”

The only thing I could do for the two children who had discovered the truth was to offer consolation that they would improve.

***

“Then Siu, we’ll be back. Please take care of Noran-i when she arrives.”

“Yes, have a safe trip.”

With Siu seeing us off, I stepped out of the Tea shop.

Since business hours were over, I turned the sign to < CLOSE > and took Naru’s hand as she stood beside me.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

As I headed toward Mister Dusik’s Rice Paddy with Naru, I suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Come to think of it, I felt like I had been spending a lot of time with Naru lately.

“Naru, are you okay with going around with me?”

“Yes, I like it.”

“Really?”

“Interesting things happen when I’m with you, Mister. And I get to eat a lot of delicious food.”

Since she said she could eat a lot of delicious food, it sounded like I was bribing her with food.

Well, it wasn’t much different.

“Aren’t you sad that you don’t see Noran-i often?”

“I’ll see her when I go Home later. It’s okay.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried I might be taking you around too much.”

It was a small concern.

Naru gave a beaming smile as if my worry was nothing.

As we walked hand in hand, I asked her various things that came to mind.

“Naru, you said you’re a Spirit of wood. But the trees in the Spirit realm seem different from ordinary trees.”

“Hmm… mostly they’re similar to the trees in the human world. It’s just that special trees appear sometimes.”

“Aha. Like the divine wood that created Udi?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing.”

Excited, Naru told me stories of various trees.

She said there was a tree that ate lightning and had to be struck by lightning periodically to survive, and a tree that bloomed on the ground but stretched its roots toward the sky while growing underground.

Every single one of them was a peculiar tree.

“I inherited a little bit of the power from those trees. That’s why I can use various powers, even if only a little.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Not really. In the end, it’s weak compared to the power of other Spirits who use similar abilities. It’s only at a basic level.”

Naru created a small green powder in her hand and then made it vanish.

“…Even so, I’ve become much stronger thanks to the ‘Green Dawn’ you made for me, Mister. The trees all over the Spirit realm are also growing very well.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“The trees wanted to say hello to you. They said they are always grateful.”

I gave a warm smile and stroked her head at Naru’s words.

I had only done what was natural, but hearing their gratitude was touching.

“Then, are there Spirits related to plants in a Rice Paddy or The Field?”

“Hmm… there are flower Spirits and grass Spirits. I’m close with them.”

“Really?”

“I’ll ask them to come visit when there’s a chance. They’re very busy, so they won’t be able to come often, but they could probably visit once or twice.”

Flower Spirits and grass Spirits.

Hearing that I might meet new children made my heart flutter with curiosity.

***

As I walked and talked with Naru, we eventually arrived in front of Mister Dusik’s Rice Paddy.

The first thing I noticed upon seeing it was…

“It’s… not good.”

Even to my non-expert eyes, there seemed to be a problem with this Rice Paddy and the rice plants.

The water in the Rice Paddy was muddy rather than clear, and the leaves of the rice plants were riddled with holes as if they had been eaten by insects.

“…Why is the state of the rice like this?”

I stepped down into the Rice Paddy and touched the rice.

I couldn’t feel even a hint of the plants’ freshness.

Only a dark, gloomy feeling that they might die at any moment hit me intensely.

“At this rate, it’s no wonder Mister Dusik is so distressed.”

Furthermore, what I was seeing now was only a very small part of the Rice Paddy.

It was a mystery how much of the vast Rice Paddy was in this state without looking at it all directly.

The only thing I was certain of was a hunch that it wouldn’t be a small area.

“How did it become like this?”

“Mister, can I take a look for a moment?”

“Sure. Come here.”

Even if Naru was taller than Noran-i, she was still only the height of an elementary schooler.

I picked up the still-small Naru to prevent her from sinking deep into the Rice Paddy ridge.

Naru was momentarily conscious of her weight as soon as I held her, but that was only for a second.

After touching the rice once, Naru spoke seriously.

“It’s really bad. It looks like they’ve caught three kinds of diseases at once.”

“…That much?”

“If it were a person, they’d be at a level where they need to be hospitalized immediately.”

Comparing it to a person made it hit home just how bad the condition was.

Naru also touched the water in the Rice Paddy.

“The water is also very dirty.”

“It does look that way to the eye.”

“It feels like the energy has been fouled. I don’t know where this water was drawn from, but the crops have no choice but to spoil.”

“Hmm, could you check one more time? That seems a bit strange.”

The water that recently filled Mister Dusik’s Rice Paddy was Siu’s Rain.

Unlike other rain, Siu’s Rain makes crops healthy and is full of vitality.

They would have collected that rain to use as water, but the state of the water is bad?

It was strange.

“Just a moment.”

Naru closed her eyes and dipped her hand into the Rice Paddy.

Green powder blooming from her fingertips spread throughout the Rice Paddy.

When the powder that had spread out returned, Naru’s expression was even worse than before.

“Looking more closely, the water isn’t the problem. The soil is a mess right now too. Honestly, growing plants in a place like this doesn’t make any sense.”

Naru showed visible anger.

“Right now, this is like planting a building on top of a grave where people died. You’re trying to raise life on top of a land of death. Do you think that’s going to be good? There’s no way. This is as if someone is trying to kill all the plants…”

“I get it, I get it. Calm down, Naru.”

“How can I be calm! All the children here are sick and dying…”

Naru looked at the rice plants before her with sad eyes.

To Naru, plants must be something closer than humans, so I understood why she was so indignant and angry.

Naru bit her lip and released more green powder from her fingertips.

That powder spread out and touched the rice plants.

The rice plants regained a bit of energy, but conversely, the vitality vanished somewhat from Naru’s expression.

“Naru?”

“Ugh… ugh. Haa, haa.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes…”

Naru slumped as if collapsing.

I held her tightly.

Just as she had healed Noran-i’s wound before, it was clear that Naru had used her own power to save the lives of the rice plants.

“You overdid it, didn’t you?”

“It’s okay. I’ll recover in a little while. But those children won’t be able to recover easily. What I did was just a temporary measure.”

It was nothing more than emergency treatment.

That’s what Naru said.

As I looked at the Rice Paddy, Naru grabbed my hand tightly.

“Mister, you can save the rice here, right? You can do it, Mister.”

With her eyes looking at me as if I were a superhero, there was only one thing for me to say.

“Trust me.”

I will save them.

I will save them and bring back the smiles of Mister Dusik and Naru.