She was no different from a beast

Chapter 10

—–CROW—– 

While Yuri’s father and his fishing buddies were having a drinking party…

“Look over there, Yuri. It’s Dolsan! Isn’t it cool, standing so tall?”

“Y-Yeah, so where are we…?”

“I don’t know.”

“*Hiccup!*”

Yuri, along with the human-disqualified animal and the actual animal, arrived at Bipasan.

Named after the musical instrument *bipa* due to its resemblance, it was also once called Guksusan (Noodle Mountain) because of its noodle-like cracked rocks.  It was a mountain… no, a cliff, about 300 meters high.

Calling it a mountain felt inadequate, and a rock too small.  Hmm.  “Cliff” perfectly suited this landmark. Yuna sat down in front of it, wiping the light sweat from her forehead.

Now, let me explain the distance between Bipasan and Tonggumi, where Yuna lives, for those who can’t quite grasp it…

There’s no conventional way to get to Bipasan. It’s surrounded by mountains; how would you even get there? Crazy.

If you had to pick the closest village, it would be Namyang. You could take a bus from the Tonggumi bus stop and get off at the Namyang bus stop, about a 5-minute ride.

Five minutes might not seem far, but don’t think of it as a bus stop you can reach in 5-10 minutes on foot in a mainland city.

It’s about a 30-40 minute walk.

Anyway, if you look towards the mountain from the village with the Namyang bus stop, you can roughly see Bipasan.

You can only see the back of the cliff from the village; the front, where Yuna, Yuri, and Burari were, was completely hidden.

Now, the path from the Namyang bus stop to Bipasan… it’s difficult to explain because there isn’t one, but if you were to run in a straight line, it would take about an hour and a half.

That’s roughly how long it would take to walk uphill without stopping, but let’s not try that.

“Burari, shall we sleep nearby tonight?”

“Oink!”

“What?! N-No! Here?!”

?? Why not? What’s wrong with sleeping in the mountains?

Yuna was genuinely curious.

In the military, she had slept huddled together in places worse than where hibernating mammals slept in midwinter, and she had eaten expired emergency rations because the food truck couldn’t reach the training grounds.

In contrast, the spring mountains of Ulleungdo, though a bit chilly, were bearable if you huddled together, and relatively safe with no venomous snakes or dangerous animals.

The only danger was bees… but the stings of those frail bees were just an itch to Yuna’s tough skin, and even to Burari, the tank whose resilience had greatly increased thanks to Yuna.

“Why not? There’s so much to eat in the mountains! And if we gather fallen leaves, it’ll be super comfy!”

“H-Huh? E-Even so…”

It’s true! This is why city kids are so weak, always saying they can’t do things without even trying!

Sighing at Yuri, who was fidgeting and sniffling, Yuna got up and sniffed the air.

The fresh scent of soil and grass, and the clean air.

And a faint, foul odor.

‘It’s here too!’

The corners of her mouth turned up as she caught a whiff of a smell like poop.

“Yuri! I’ll give you something super delicious! Just wait a little~”

Even if it’s a bit of a hassle and takes a lot of work! A little effort will reward you with something delicious!

“Huh? W-Where are you going?”

“To get dinner!”

“??”

Well, I’ll have to show this city girl how amazing a country girl can be.

Yuna ran towards the source of the smell, marking the trees along the way to avoid getting lost again.  And there it was!

*Buzz~ Buzz~*

Small, black insects covered in yellow fur!

The mascot that would become the target of fetishists in the future with the meme “I’ll put it in~”! Bees!

A swarm of bees were gathered, protecting their home hanging from a tree.

They looked creepy and disgusting, making you want to stay away, but if you swat them down and crack open their home… oh wow.  Sweet honey.  *Drools*.

It’s honey~ honey~ sweet, sweet honey~

You’re dead. You’re all dead.

All the bees are dead.

Yuna climbed the tree, and as she got close enough to reach the beehive, the bee army, startled by the giant invader, launched their attack!!

Heehee. It tickles! It tickles! She knocked the hive down with a chop of her hand and flicked the bees that tried to sting her, knocking them unconscious.

These little guys are living beings too. How unfair would it be to not only rob their home but also kill them?

It’s okay to rob, but not to kill!

The remaining bees, still trying to take down the giant… unfortunately, this is where your lives end!

She climbed down the tree and rolled on the ground. The bees cried, “Oh no! This giant is crazy! Oh dear! Oh dear!” and ran away, while the more dedicated ones were crushed to death.

After the bees that were guarding their home became homeless bums, running away to start a new life… it was time to chase away the bees that were probably scratching their bellies and napping inside!

Grandpa with the tractor once said that if you make a fire and smoke them out, the bees will be startled and flee…

‘But you can’t make a fire in the mountains. Then how do I chase them away?’

Hmm. I didn’t want to be violent, but it couldn’t be helped.

She scratched her head.

Since she couldn’t think of any other peaceful way to rob their home, she carefully grabbed the beehive and shook it up and down, spinning it around.

She flipped it over and did some somersaults, turning the hive into a 360-degree disco pang pang.  The bum bees, startled, jumped out and ran away, yelling, “Argh! It’s a crazy water deer!”

Well, I hope you all find a peaceful new life.

Now~ that I’ve got the beehive!  Let’s gather some things to eat with the honey.

With the large beehive in one hand, she washed the mulberries, raspberries, young shoots of wild garlic, and the *deodeok* she dug up at a nearby stream.

She stuffed her pockets and panties full of them and returned to Yuri and Burari. The sun was already setting.

Phew~ Good thing we’re back before it gets dark!

“W-Welcome back? I-I thought you… a-abandoned me…”

“No way~ I’m not a bad person who abandons friends?!”

It wasn’t something a girl who brought her friend to the middle of nowhere and got lost together should say, but a person’s gotta have loyalty!  Right?!

Yuri’s expression relaxed slightly, as if relieved by my words.  She then looked around nervously and cautiously spoke.

“U-Um… do you have anything to drink? I’m thirsty…”

“Something to drink? Why bother looking for it?”

There’s drinkable stuff everywhere here.

“But we don’t have any water.”

*Tap. Tap.*

“Why wouldn’t we? It’s right here.”

“??”

I tapped a nearby tree, and Yuri tilted her head again, as if she didn’t understand.

Sigh.  It’s hard to entertain kids who are used to city life~

Seeing is believing.

I punched a tree with leaves similar to maple leaves, but with shallower curves and no serrated edges, right in the middle… One Punch!!!

*Crack! Drip. Drip.*

“?!?!”

“Just wait and drink it.”

“Huh?”

“It’s good stuff.”

I knew this would happen, so I picked up an empty water bottle someone threw away during our walk!

To be precise, I picked it up because I was annoyed by the litter, but who knew it would come in handy like this?

I roughly plugged the hole with a clean, smooth leaf and placed the water bottle underneath.  Sap dripped into the bottle with a *plink, plink* sound.

If we waited for 30 minutes to an hour, the bottle would be half full.

Maple sap.

The water that’s good for your bones, which the grandpas love and drink like water during this time of year!

I like it too because of its sweet and refreshing taste.

“Ah~ I’m hungry! I’m hungry! Let’s eat! Food~ food~”

I broke the beehive, the highlight of the day, with my bare hands… Oh wow.  Clean and glistening beeswax and honey, without a single bum bee or queen bee.

“W-Wow…”

“Heehee. Looks delicious, right? Here! Ah~”

“Ah, ah…!!”

I broke off some honey and beeswax and put it in her mouth. She smiled and munched happily.

“!!”

“How is it? Delicious, right?”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

Look at her chewing on the beeswax and enjoying it.

A bright smile spread across Yuri’s previously gloomy face, and she puffed out her cheeks, nodding.

Sigh.  So cute. It’s much better to see her smile like this than cry.

“Try it with these mulberries and raspberries.  Honey and *deodeok* go well together too.”

“Ugh. I don’t like *deodeok*; it’s bitter.”

“The honey is sweet, so it won’t be bitter. Try it.  Here, Burari, have some too.”

“Oink!”

Sharing honey and berries with a child and a pig, and finishing off with maple sap… this might not be so bad.

…And then it hit me.

“Come to think of it, there’s a road down there, so we can just go back down, right?”

“Ah.”

“Oink.”

That’s what common sense would dictate.

If we got lost because we just climbed up mindlessly… we can just go back down mindlessly, right?

It’s pathetic that neither I, Burari, nor Yuri thought of this simple idea, but who cares. It was fun, wasn’t it? We had honey, maple sap, and healthy *deodeok*. This is totally lucky!

If we start now and don’t go in a different direction, we should arrive before dawn.

“*Snore~ Ugh~ *Burp*…”

“…”

“Wow.”

“Oink.”

Just before 10 PM, we arrived back in Tonggumi and found the men, drunk and asleep in front of their tents by Turtle Rock… and Dad, passed out among them, probably having joined their drinking party.

No, wait.  Why is Dad here?

—–CROW—– 

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