Season 4: Chapter 124. Fire Watching (1)
“Haaah. Finally done.” Potato Servant sprawled back, arms stretched wide.
He had just finished filtering out the names to cut from the DM list.
“Now we just need to call in the rest for interviews.”
“But you know...” Almond was about to say something.
As night fell, it was almost time for the operation against ForeverAlone.
Bang!
Radish Servant burst in through the front door. “Boss! Look at this!!!”
He held up a sign, waving it furiously.
Almond tilted his head as he read it.
[The Union never forgets. The Union never forgives.]
Those words sounded quite serious and grim.
“I found this among the debris from the explosion! That means they came carrying it!”
“What, Zelo and Choco Shroom...?”
“Yes! Both of them were from the Union, weren’t they!?”
— ?
— No, they weren’t
— ??? Wait, Donuts was Union?
— Lmao
— Why is everyone Union now? lol
— Purge all Farmer spies!
They had never considered Zelo and Choco Shroom as members of the Nonghyup Union, but who could argue with such blatant evidence? Besides, Almond hadn’t even known that Donuts belonged to the Union at first. It didn’t take long for doubt to creep in.
“Were they... Union after all?”
Maybe they had been.
“Seems so. At the very least, they were acting under the Union’s orders.”
“Damn, the Union has gone completely insane! This is crossing the line!” Potato Servant fumed beside him.
“They’re like terrorists! Pulling off suicide bombings!” Even Radish Servant’s anger boiled over the more he thought about it.
— Gasp
— Holy...
— Suicide bombing lmao
— Honestly, it does look like that hahaha
— Crazy lol
— That’s exactly what it was hahaha
While the others raged, Almond remained calm. Only he had seen the incident firsthand.
‘Hmm... It’s not that simple.’
If the Union had truly sent Zelo and Choco Shroom to deliver a warning, they would have said more. They would’ve left a clear message. Instead, Almond had just caught them sneaking away. Aside from stealing gear, their actions didn’t contain much malice.
‘Wait.’
Almond reconsidered everything. Right now, the Knights needed justified anger toward the Union.
“You know you’ve got to beat Assistant Tae-Won’s numbers, right? Keep your head straight!!”
In any organization, hostility toward rivals fueled morale. Ah-Sung had exploited this relentlessly. Childish as it seemed, people within a group always absorbed that mentality for the sake of belonging. It was neither good nor bad, just human instinct. And it could be used. Otherwise, the group would splinter like the Union previously.
Almond nodded. “Yeah, they’re lunatics. That’s why they went as far as a suicide bombing.”
— ?
— Lmao what
— Wait, you pressed the button hahaha
— Official: a madman calling others madmen
— This is comedy gold
The way he calmly declared them crazy, as if stating the obvious, was almost funny. To the enraged Knights, such nuance was lost.
“We’ve got to do something!”
“Donuts is already gaining public favor by claiming that he drove out the outsiders! Meanwhile, we look useless!” Radish Servant raised the very concern that had been nagging them.
“This isn’t the time to raid another village. We need to get our own house in order first.”
“Hmm...”
Radish Servant’s advice made Almond pause.
“There’s something we have to do first.” Almond postponed delivering judgment because of the immediate task at hand.
“Huh?”
“Night is coming.”
At those words, everyone tensed.
‘Of course.’
‘So, it’s tonight.’
Most likely, monsters would swarm ForeverAlone’s house tonight.
“We need to take care of ForeverAlone first.”
— Take care?!
— Take care of him in a good way, right?!
— Didn’t know caring for someone could sound so scary...
Radish Servant’s eyes wavered. “T-That plan... Are we really going through with it?”
He had burned with conviction when they first discussed profit ratios, but now he faltered again. His heart wasn’t firm.
Almond tapped the sign Radish Servant had brought. “If we don’t, the Union will.”
Gulp.
The truth struck the Knights like a hammer.
“If the Union exterminates the monsters first, what happens to the Knights’ reputation?”
If the Union took credit for clearing the monsters on top of repelling the outsiders, the Knights’ very purpose would be in jeopardy.
“Then... do you think the Union will go over to ForeverAlone’s farm tonight too?”
“Who knows?”
In reality, Almond had no idea. He just said it to push them.
“What if we run into them there?”
“Who knows?” He had no plans for that either.
— What? lol
— No strategy hahaha
— Radish Servant, isn’t that your job??
— ??? Thought you were the walnut...
“I... I see. Hmm...” Radish Servant fell silent while staring at the sign.
He was a soft-hearted man, but anger welled up in him as he recalled the explosion and the words carved into the board. And from that anger came a plan.
“Let’s burn it all.”
— Whoa
— Burn everything for fertilizer hahaha
— Why punish ForeverAlone for the Union’s crimes... :(
— Lmao
— He’s snapped!
“I’ll draft the plan.” Radish Servant’s eyes gleamed like an Ah-Sung employee fresh out of a workshop.
Almond placed a hand on his shoulder like an Ah-Sung executive. “I like that fire in your eyes. You’ll be promoted soon.”
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— Promote Almond to the board of directors!
— Lmao his Ah-Sung past is showing
“I’ll do my best, sir!”
Fwoooosh!
Fierce and wild flames lit up in Radish Servant’s gaze like the inferno that would soon blaze through ForeverAlone’s fields.
***
Almond didn’t truly believe that the Nonghyup Union would show up at ForeverAlone’s fields to fight off the monsters. The possibility existed, but he hadn’t been sincere.
“Tonight...!” Donuts hammered down the last piece of iron equipment.
Clang!
Sparks flew from his hammer as he declared, “We’ll drive out the monsters.”
He meant to hammer the final nail into public opinion.
“The Knights still haven’t recruited anyone. We’ve got more gear and more people! There’s no reason we can’t do it!”
“Ooooooh!”
The Union had armed themselves faster than Almond imagined. They moved and decided quickly. Still, they couldn’t surpass Almond’s speed when it came to simply carrying out actions.
He had only tossed out the idea that the Union could show up to protect ForeverAlone. It had been nothing more than a spur-of-the-moment comment to ignite Radish Servant’s determination. He hadn’t believed in the likelihood of it happening at all.
However, Radish Servant took it seriously and prepared thoroughly. The Union had no idea.
“They’ll definitely come to rescue ForeverAlone, but they won’t know we’re coming.”
“They’ll never expect it.”
“So, we move in afterward and sweep them all up.”
— For real
— They’ll never see it coming
— Backstab them and crush them lol
— They’re gonna be so shocked
— But won’t you go Red if you kill them??
It was a complete miscalculation.
***
Night fell. Outside Cheese Village, darkness blanketed the fields so deeply that nothing could be seen without torches. No one had moved yet. The tension was palpable. Two great factions watched one another in silence.
Donuts repeated his plan in his head. ‘We have to enter after.’
The trick was to let the enemy fight the monsters first. Then, they would swoop in from behind, striking both the monsters and the enemy at once.
One problem existed.
‘If we kill them outright, we’ll go Red and lose public support.’
Of course, killing fellow villagers was strictly forbidden.
Donuts glanced behind him. “You kept what Zelo gave you, right? Somaek duo?”
Soju and Maekju, the bottom duo who once fought alongside ForeverAlone in the LIL tournament, nodded firmly.
“Of course.”
“Think you can do it?”
“If it can save Gi-Chan... I’ll gladly throw it.”
“I’ll send them to Solia’s side.”
— These guys sound like resistance fighters lol
— Cult vibes hahaha
— What salvation??
— Another bombing??
— This is gonna be wild
Killing fellow villagers would turn them Red, so Donuts planned on using bombs. Zelo hadn’t only traded iron equipment with them.
‘Who would’ve thought that bombs don’t trigger the Red status?’
Donuts smirked. This time, he would surely get his revenge.
The night deepened, and the Ahwooolves’ long howl pierced the air.
“Awoooooo!”
The monsters began to arrive.
At that very moment, a scout’s whisper reached them.
[(Whisper) GreenTea: The Knights’ lights are out. Looks like they’ve moved out.]
The Knights had departed.
“The scout’s report is in! The Knights are already on the move.”
Everyone nodded with tense faces. They were thirty strong. Even the regular members who rarely stepped up had joined the Union’s forces tonight. All of them wore iron armor.
“Let’s go.”
Tap.
Donuts marched forward and cut through the darkness of the square. The Union members followed him toward ForeverAlone’s house.
Rustle.
In the shadows of the Union’s branch office, someone stirred within the bushes. It was Maid Black Tea, who had been hiding there all along. She sent a whisper.
[(Whisper) BlackTea: The Union is on the move.]
— Whoa
— The tension omg
— This feels like a spy thriller hahaha
— My heart is racing!
— The Union is screwed
Translator’s Notes
[Maekju means beer! Somaek is a popular soju + beer cocktail. You should try it!]