We finished visiting my father’s grave and slowly came down from the mountain.

“Isn’t it Junho? Hey Junho, where are you going with your father and mother?”

An old lady who was resting in front of the wooden pavilion shook a hand fan and talked to Junho.

“I’m on my way from the mountain behind because we had to stop by the grave.”

“The mountain behind? It’s not even time for your grandfather’s death anniversary. Why did you go there at this time? What are you going to do if you get stung by wasps?”

When the old lady replied as if it was strange, Uncle, who was next to Junho, stepped out.

“Grandma, can’t you recognize who that is?”

Uncle spoke to the old lady pointing to me and my mother

“Huh? They? I think I’ve seen somewhere…”

“Don’t you remember the big cow man down the mountain on the way to the town? This is the Lim’s family.”

“…Oh, my! Now I remember, I remember!”

The old lady jumped from her seat and came our way.

After taking turns looking at me and my mother, she smiled brightly enough to deepen the wrinkles on her face.

“It’s Saya, right? How are you doing? Is that your son?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I saw you. How have you been?”

“I’m fine. But why did you come after such a long time? I haven’t seen you in a while, so I completely forgot.”

“I’m sorry. We’ve had a lot of things to do.”

The old lady realized something in response, and my mother’s eyes got filled with tears.

The old lady comforted my mother by gently sweeping my mother’s arms.

“I see. You did a great job. You did a great job. You’re all right now, aren’t you?”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry.”

With a little fuss, the rest of the elderly, who were resting under the wooden pavilion, swarmed around us one by one.

“Who’s the old lady talking to?”

“Madam Ji! Don’t you recognize her? She’s the wife of that cattle owner…”

It’s not a big town, so we couldn’t help but know each other’s faces.

Even the elderly, who were unsure for a while, quickly came out and recognized my mother’s face.

“Huh! Did Lim’s son grow this big?”

“Saya hasn’t changed at all from the past.”

I was so busy for a while with questions and greetings from the elderly.

And very naturally, the attention turned to Speranza, who was holding my hand.

Although she had a slightly disparate appearance, the elderly didn’t care much.

Since it was a rural village where young children cannot be easily seen, interest in Speranza exceeded imagination.

“Oh! So cute! Did you bring this girl, Si?”

“Yes, she’s my daughter.”

Speranza hid behind me and crouched.

The smile didn’t leave the face of the elderly because even that appearance of Speranza was cute.

“Hey, little girl, what’s your name?”

“Speranza…”

“Your name is Speranza? That’s a pretty name. Do you want this delicious candy?”

The elderly began to take snacks out of their arms and hand them to Speranza.

Starting with small candies, Korean honey cookies (yakgwa), chocolate, and sweet bean jelly.

One old lady even brought home homemade Rice punch (sikhye) and handed it to her.

“I want to eat something delicious, too! Popi!”

Pow wo woooo!

Gyuri and Akum showed their presence as they stepped forward.

Naturally, the elders were very happy and gave them as many delicious snacks as they wanted.

Speranza also ate the snacks that were given to her while staying close to me.

Thanks to the children, the elderly got more excited and brought more and more snacks.

Around us, not only the elderly who were resting in the pavilion but also other villagers who were passing by gathered little by little.

While it was a little cluttered, I heard a murmur looking at me and my mother.

“Who’s next to the young man next to the strawberry field Junho?”

“Don’t you know? There used to be a farm where monsters invaded and ruined cattle.”

“Really?”

“That’s a long time ago, too. I think the place where there is a fuss about building the factory now is probably the place where the farm used to be.”

‘Building a factory……?’

I listened to the story because I wanted to know more about it, but I couldn’t hear the details because I was buried in the uproar around me.

A few elderly who were giving out snacks excitedly began to take out alcohol from somewhere.

Uncle whispered to me with an uncomfortable look on his face.

“Si, hurry up, take the kids and go. It will be troublesome once they start drinking.”

“Ah… okay, uncle.”

I took the children and moved as advised.

The children, who had already eaten a lot of delicious snacks, followed me with happy expressions.

As my uncle said, there was a drinking party in the pavilion.

We were able to get out of there without getting caught up in the booze thanks to our quick action.

We came back to Uncle’s house.

The children ran around the mountain hard and filled their stomachs with a lot of snacks, so they fell asleep quickly.

Akum and Gyuri settled on a soft cushion prepared by Aunt, while Speranza fell asleep with a comfortable look in my arms.

“Si, can I hug Speranza once?”

Uncle asked me with a desperate look on his face.

I accepted his request with a gentle nod.

“Yes, please be careful not to wake her up.”

He hugged Speranza slowly and very carefully.

Speranza, who was in sleep, naturally fell into Uncle’s arms.

Uncle looked pleased looking at Speranza in his arms.

And the corners of his mouth continued to twitch, unable to resist the leaking laughter.

My mother and Aunt burst into laughter at the sight.

“Ho-ho! Is it that good?”

“He’s a little rough on the outside, but he loves babies.”

“Hahaha… I hope Junho gets married soon and brings a cute granddaughter…”

Aunt looked at Junho with a deep sigh and Junho sneaked away from that gaze and glared at me.

Feeling the complicated emotions in his eyes, I shook my head with a look of resentment.

‘No… I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?’

“Are there no talks about Junho’s wedding yet?”

“Don’t talk about that, sister. He’s stuck in the strawberry field all day, then, how could there be a woman in his life?”

As soon as Aunt’s nagging began, Uncle holding Speranza cut in between.

“I’m sure he’ll take care of it. Don’t worry too much. And there’s a rumor about Junho and the nurse who works at the town hospital….”

“Oh, father. Come on!…”

Junho was visibly embarrassed and blocked Uncle’s words.

Aunt’s eyes sparkled at the interesting news.

“Junho, is that true?”

Feeling the aunt’s gaze burdensome, Junho came to me and led me outside.

“I’m going to get some fresh air with Sihy.”

“Where are you going? We’re going to have dinner soon.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Junho and I left the house and headed for a hill where there were not many people.

Even though it was not even 6 o’clock, there was already a calm atmosphere in the village.

We sat side by side on an old wooden chair.

“Can I smoke?”

“Do you smoke?”

“It’s been a while since I started smoking. After learning from the villagers, I naturally followed them.”

Junho lit a cigarette in his mouth and inhaled the smoke deeply.

The sight of him smoking skillfully felt awkward.

Junho, who took a sip of cigarette smoke, asked in a calm voice.

“Doesn’t your mother tell you to get married quickly?”

“Me? Not yet.”

“You’re lucky. They’ve been giving a lot of hints these days about getting married….”

“Until a while ago, we weren’t in a position to think about that.”

“That’s true.”

He sighed with cigarette smoke.

Aunt’s marriage pressure seems to be more severe than I thought.

To evoke the slightly gloomy atmosphere, I brought up the story that Uncle told earlier.

“What about Miss nurse? Aren’t you seeing each other?”

“No. We just had a meal together.”

“Then, it’s a date, huh?”

“Hmmm…”

Junho coughed as if he was trying to hide his shyness.

I was curious about his sweet love story, but I decided to stop here today.

It’s not polite to dig in too much.

And I had a topic that bothered me more.

“Brother….”

“Huh?”

“I overheard a village lady talking. Is it true they’re building a factory where our farm used to be?”

Junho’s face hardened in an instant because of my question.

“Did you hear that? It’s not confirmed yet. I think it’s getting more and more likely.”

Slightly shocked, my expression clouded.

I thought it might just be a passing rumor.

“Did the villagers approve of the factory being built?”

“Of course not. They had a plan to build a factory long back, but it didn’t work out because of too much opposition from the villagers.”

“Then why all of a sudden…”

“Phew… that’s because of those damn wasps.”

“…??”

I frowned and Junho puffed out a puff of cigarette smoke.

“After the monsters took control of the wasps, the damage to the village continued to increase, and we couldn’t find a way to deal with it.”

“How about calling the Awakened and clearing them? You can also ask a Guild?”

“Of course. We thought of it too. In fact, I made a request, but even the guild’s awakeners couldn’t completely eliminate them. It will be quiet for a while, and soon, it will be back to normal.”

“Ummm….”

“I’d like to keep putting requests to the guilds until it’s resolved, but the guild’s request fee is a little expensive. And it doesn’t really get commissioned because it’s a rural area. I paid more than a few times asking them to send someone who can stay here until the issue is resolved, but no one came.”

I nodded at Junho’s grumbling explanation.

It was not like yesterday or today that awakeners were reluctant to live in rural areas.

As the newly awakened young people naturally headed only to the big city, it was inevitable.

“But what does the story have to do with the factory?”

“A suggestion came in the midst of the raging wasps. If we stop opposing the construction of the factory, they told that they will continue to provide support for the eradication of wild wasps and monsters.”

It was certainly not a bad suggestion.

However, Junho’s expression was full of distrust.

“Honestly, I don’t trust those guys. All they want is to build factories here, and they are trying to convince the villagers in every way possible. People in other villages are slowly changing their minds little by little.”

“There are more and more elderly people who get hurt, and some people suffer because they can’t farm. We can’t just keep on opposing it….”

Junho muttered looking at the nearly burned cigarette.

For a moment I was quietly lost in thought.

The old house I saw as soon as I had arrived at the village, my father’s grave, the elderly who welcomed us, and finally, Uncle’s family came to mind one after another.

Even if my father’s farm was gone, I didn’t want anyone to tear down the empty house that still remains.

I wanted to prevent the factory from being built there.

I didn’t want to feel the feeling of having to sink into helplessness like the time looking at the burning farm.

A memory that still lingers in my mind like a stigma.

I didn’t want to give up like I did when I was young!

“Brother Junho.”

“Ah?”

Junho, who was going to take out another cigarette, stopped his hand and turned his head toward me.

“If we can solve the wasp problem, you won’t let them build a factory, right?”

“Of course, not a single villager wants a factory to be built here. Ugh… There are probably a few.”

I smiled at the confident answer.

As soon as he tried to light a new cigarette, Junho’s cell phone rang.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,”

Junho answered shortly after receiving the call.

He stood up from his seat again, putting his cigarette in the cigarette case.

“My mother said dinner will be ready soon, so we should go quickly.”

“Brother, I’m sorry, I’ll come a little bit later. I have to call someone urgently…”

“Really? Okay. I’ll tell everyone, come slowly.”

“Thank you.”

First, I looked at Brother Junho’s back as he went down the hill.

By the time his figure was completely out of sight, I took out my phone and dialed a number.

“…Hello? Director Lee?”

– Yes, it’s been a while. How have you been?

“I want to talk to you about something a little bit.”