Chapter 308 - 307

"I am a person of no consequence."

The Garden said.

"I step on all kinds of land barefoot, look at the sky, and taste the air."

His mesmerizing eyes smiled.

"Isn’t that something quite a lot of people can do?"

"...You are right."

"But this is different, because it’s a magic hat."

"Magic, you say."

"Yes, magic. Isn’t it amazing?"

He turned the empty hat upside down and showed it.

"What could be inside here?"

"I... I do not know anything. Nothing..."

"Oh my, are you scared? I understand that feeling. But look, the inside is empty. Don’t you want to fill it up? Aren’t you curious about what’s inside? Don’t you want to put your hand in?"

"But how could I, dare to..."

"Reach out your hand and touch it."

"..."

The Gardener put his hand in.

"What do you feel? Ah, please tell me quickly. I’m so curious."

"...It feels like... a hard mineral."

"What is the temperature of that mineral? Is it cold? Is it hot? Lukewarm? Cool? Warm?"

"...Is it... cold?"

"Is it moving?"

"It is not moving."

"Hmm, well."

Light-colored hair flows down.

"How about this."

The hat in his hand playfully shook, and the Gardener who had put his hand inside it felt the vibration as well. The hard and cold mineral he grabbed shook along with him in accordance with that playful act...

And the Garden asked.

"Did it shake?"

"...Yes, it shook. And so did I."

"Is it still not moving now?"

"..."

"Is it still cold now?"

"..."

"Is it still, hard?"

"...Ah..."

Unconsciously, the Gardener pulled his hand out and looked at what he was holding.

"...No."

It was a clunky-looking mole.

"It was, a mole. A mole..."

"Oh my...! Such a cute little friend came out, I’m touched! A mole, there probably isn’t a greater troublemaker in this lush field."

"I’m worried because a mole will gnaw on the field’s crops."

"But it’s fine, look. This little guy doesn’t eat crops. Didn’t you touch it? Didn’t you see it with your own two eyes? Now, you may speak. You’ve held it in for a long time. Give this friend a name."

"..."

"Hurry."

"...M-My..."

A smile formed on the Gardener’s previously dry face.

"It’s my Garden, and my field."

It wasn’t hard. It was soft dirt.

It wasn’t cold either. It was lukewarm dirt.

It was moving. It was living dirt.

"Ha, hahaha... T-To think a mole would come to my field. To my field..."

"Since they are friends who hide and live underground so much, it will probably be hard to see them often."

"I’m not good with words, so that might be better. That would be better, yes. That’s right. Rather than a boring person like me, it should be in the warm underground. Because that’s what a mole is."

"Seeing as you will raise it beautifully, the heart of this irresponsible person feels lighter."

"What are you?"

"I am a person."

The Garden said, calling himself a person.

***

"I am a person of no consequence."

The Garden said.

"The only thing I know how to do is make a flower crown out of these pretty flowers. That’s all."

"...A flower crown... Could you make one for me too? Because I’m curious."

"That’s truly not difficult. I’m very dexterous, and you seem to know that well. It’s truly surprising. How did you know? Tell only me."

"Your fingers are long and delicate, so I thought that perhaps that might be the case."

"The hands of a mischievous Wanderer must always be elegant, after all. Since you guessed the correct answer, I will give you a prize. It’s a flower crown that suits you very well."

It was a fluffy flower crown.

"...It seems too beautiful for me to wear."

It was a flower crown from which warm life could be felt.

"Ah, it is beautiful as expected... Even though they were definitely cut, they are alive. They are alive while woven together. What should I call this? Perhaps people might call this artwork a mutant."

"That is for the viewer to decide, not for others to decide for them."

"Flowers that are alive even after being plucked are beautiful by nature. I have decided it as such. A flower crown that is undeserved for me. A crown made from the flesh of my flower garden. It’s truly wonderful, truly."

"If you wish, you can wear this on your head."

"It really is too much for me. I am just thankful that you showed it to me. When will I ever be able to reach that level? To become one with the flower garden, life, and Mystery, harming nothing... their own..."

"Since you are so busy lowering yourself, I suppose I have no choice either."

The Garden showed the hat. He flipped it over, put the flower crown inside, and covered it with his hand.

"What do you think will happen inside here?"

"I have no way of knowing anything."

"Such pure and noble love, it’s very coveted for a lonely Wanderer. Your flower garden has received a mesmerizingly good Priest."

"To think the day would come when my love is acknowledged by a noble one, it feels like a dream. Will a day like this ever come to me again? Do I truly deserve this..."

"Now, take a guess."

"..."

"Close your eyes."

"..."

"Listen closely."

He closed his eyes. He listened closely. He put his two hands together and prayed.

"What do you hear?"

"...I hear the soft sound of fluttering breaths."

"Delicate breaths, you say. How are they breathing? These frail petals?"

"They are so delicate, perhaps... are they flying? Like the petals covering this flower garden? Like the warm air?"

"Where did those fluttering breaths come from?"

"They came from the flapping of their wings."

"You guessed exactly right, Priest of the flower garden. You heard the correct answer."

The Garden removes his hand. The hat opens. From within, butterflies...

"..."

Hundreds, thousands of butterflies soar into the air.

"...Ah, aaaaaah..."

"Oh my, your flower crown turned into butterflies and flew away. What should we do about this?"

"In m-my flower garden... Butterflies are flying in my flower garden. Ah, it’s so beautiful. So..."

"They are so light that if you lose focus for even a moment, you won’t even realize they’ve landed on you. Wouldn’t the butterflies be truly sad then? They don’t even have mouths to call out to you with..."

"How could I ever dare to do that? I revere them, I worship them. I love them. If they ever wish to use me as a perch at any time, I will gladly serve them."

"So you must focus now, my friend. You will have to."

The Garden holds the Gardener’s hand.

"Focus."

On the back of the Gardener’s raised hand, a butterfly as colorful as a petal lands.

"This is the weight of the Garden calling you, Priest full of love."

"...Could there be such a delicate call..."

"Do you hear the sound of the wings as your flower garden pesters you?"

"...I don’t think I’ll be able to capture it in my ears if I don’t focus for even a moment."

"Always love, you must do so as well. The moment you lose your form, they cannot call out to you."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Remain human."

The Garden said.

"Just as I sought to do."

The Garden told him to love.

***

"I am a person of no consequence."

The Gardener retorted.

"No, you are a Garden. A Garden that walks on two feet and sees the world with all its eyes."

The Garden shrugged.

"Oh my, I didn’t expect to be rebutted so soon."

"I heard news that you are creating families for the Gardeners. Will you do the same for me? Is that the mercy of one who is a Garden?"

"It is love."

"I don’t quite understand."

The Gardener could not understand.

"If you love everyone, how can that be called love?"

"Some say that is heartlessness. Do you also think I am such a callous person?"

"Because you are abundant enough to contain anything, you are all the more heartless."

"That might be my love."

The Garden spread his arms.

"Look broadly, very broadly. Just as I could become everything because I am nothing."

The Gardener dared not rebut those words.

"...Someday, I wish to become like you. But that would be difficult, wouldn’t it? So I want to become the eyes, the flesh, and the blood of an entity like you."

"It seems you do not wish to remain human."

"I often imagine that my end is destined to be as a cell of the Garden."

"That is also a very romantic thing, I like things like that very much. It’s wonderful."

"You are generous with your praise..."

It was very different from his own blunt Garden.

"..."

It was truly hot here.

"...What should I call you?"

On top of a desert dune, he looked at the Garden’s shadowless two feet. His feet seemed like spotless, pure white marble, yet for some reason, they also seemed connected to the desert sand. They were indistinguishably one.

Like a heat haze. Thinking thus, the Gardener called out to him.

"Lord Garden?"

"That is good too."

"If you wish, I can call you a person."

"Ah, that’s fine too."

"Then what about Wanderer."

"That is also mesmerizing."

"Why do you not deny anything?"

"Because that is my love."

"...Isn’t that just trash..."

Strangely enough, he felt a sense of despondency.

"You claim to want to be a person and take the form of a person, yet you say such irresponsible things."

"You saw correctly, my love is truly irresponsible. Teasing a bunch of fun people like you and leisurely leaving is one of my joys."

"The people who fall deeply in love with that will be so desperate just to receive your touch once again."

"There is a saying in Hanja, ’a beauty that overthrows nations’. How many times do you think I’ve ruined a country? Once? Ten times? A hundred times? Perhaps trying to gauge it is meaningless."

"You are quite toxic, I am truly terrified."

To sway mere humans to this extent.

"And cruel."

"That is how love always is."

"Why do you bestow love in such a way?"

"Why try to put limits on my love for people? If you start looking at me with such a narrow perspective, you’ll only see a fragment. Why don’t you just try to look at me as I am."

"People don’t go out of their way to stare directly at the sun."

They would go blind.

"This place is a desert. Not a single blade of grass, not a single drop of water, just a completely parched desert. However, I like this desert very much. My Garden puts me at ease."

"Do you wish to become a cell of the Garden?"

"I want to become a grain of sand here. Someday, if I harden into solid stone, or my physical body sinks and reaches the very end, that peace will be granted to me as well. I need neither life nor shade."

"Is that also the will of the Garden?"

"..."

"I don’t think it is?"

The Garden plops down.

Sitting down like a child, he fills the thick hat with sand. The fine, reddish sand piles up inside it step by step.

Suddenly, the Gardener felt sorry for that hat. It really is being pushed around.

"...Doesn’t the hat get angry if you treat it so roughly?"

"It’s a friend who bears many of my burdens with me, so I believe it will let this much slide."

"You are irresponsible as expected."

"You are too."

The hat was soon dumped over and lifted up again. Another mound was created on top of the desert dune.

"Let’s see, who could be inside here."

"There might not be anything."

"Aren’t you curious? Why don’t you come here and clear the sand away with me?"

"You’re trying to burden me with a responsibility that even you won’t bear..."

Even so, he played along with that prank.

"..."

Because my desert might have called me. Because my love and loyalty towards him are certainly not lies.

"Can I just brush it away like this?"

"I will clear it first. Now, I stick the magic wand in here, and..."

"I’ve seen young children play similar games."

"There’s no reason to lose one’s childlike innocence just because one has aged."

"Haa..."

The Garden once. The Gardener once. The Garden once again. The Gardener once. Hand by hand, they scoop away the sand bit by bit. Even after scooping away for quite a while, for some reason, the sand doesn’t decrease.

He didn’t know how he could play such a childish prank.

"..."

"...Ta-da."

From within the sand, a fennec fox shakes its body with a flutter and reveals itself.

"Oh my goodness, you’ve gotten a new family member. Whatever shall we do?"

"What is your reason for wanting to keep me human so much?"

"Why would there be a need for a reason to remain human and die as a human?"

The Garden picks up the tiny fox and places it on top of the Gardener’s head.

"I can’t believe how well it suits you."

And then, he presses his lips to the prone fox.

"Please do not run away from fate, from responsibility. The Garden does not wish for that, so how could you treat yourself so recklessly? In the end, fading away as a human will also be a path back to the Garden’s providence..."

"...That takes too long."

"That is exactly the responsibility a human must bear. Since you were born from nature and possess reason, see the world with those two eyes and devote yourself to life as a human. That is what a person is. That is the qualification of a person. It is the duty and right given to you. Please, do not forsake it."

"You are..."

This Mystery, this world...

"Irresponsible to the very end."

"That is what love is."

"It must also be nature. It is providence, and it is fate."

He laughed hollowly.

"...Damn it."

The fox on his head was truly fluffy.

"It’s hard as hell, living as a human."

"Yet struggling through it all is what we humans do, isn’t it?"

"Will you bestow your mercy?"

"No, I will simply love."

"You sure love a hell of a lot."

"I show favoritism to everything in the world and capture it in my eyes."

A hand of lukewarm warmth stroked the Gardener. So light, so very light, it was almost like a ghost.

"..."

"Live as a human."

The Garden told him to survive.

***

"Uh, wait a second."

Yoo Sung-woon asked Ji-oh upon his return.

"But why am I the only one who got 194 of them."

"I wonder if it’s still exactly 194 of them even now?"

"Don’t make me more anxious. Is this favoritism?"

"If so, it would be the Garden’s favoritism."

"Aren’t you essentially the Garden?"

"If you want to view it that way, I suppose so."

"You’re the most ambiguous Ji-oh I’ve ever seen, really..."

"Isn’t that my charm, Yoo Sung-woon?"

Jeorge simply smiled.

"But you’re still going to keep me clean and well-managed, right? You’ll drop by frequently and ask about my mood for the day. You’ll put me in a pure white gallery and taxidermy me, joyfully admiring my constantly changing colors. I cherish that diligence of yours very much, Yoo Sung-woon."

"...Hearing you say it like that is truly a different experience, Ji-oh."

"I’ve never made up things that aren’t true, but your reaction is worse than I expected. What a pity."

"More importantly... why are you making families for the Gardeners?"

"...? That’s..."

Ji-oh answered simply.

"Because family is the easiest thing to love."

Of course, Ji-oh also knew that there were many families in the world that weren’t like that. But even so, the title of ’family’ held a magical power that made you love beings who didn’t even share your blood.

It would be even more so for Gardeners who are always lonely. They needed love. A very grand love, a childish and bare love.

"In other words, it’s a gift of love that I am placing in their hands."

"You sure have a lot of love to give."

"If I didn’t have this much love, how could I have remained a human until now."

"...Do you still want to claim you’re a person? Even now, looking like that?"

"There’s no reason not to, right?"

Ji-oh brought his hat to his mouth like a fan and smiled.

"Love makes people endure."

In whatever way that might be.

"So what’s needed now is, as expected..."

"A labor union, huh."

"Welfare, I’d say."

Ji-oh called for Cha Eun-hyuk, who had been waiting on standby in his cabin.

"Cha Eun-hyuk."

"..."

"Let’s go."

"...Where...?"

Cha Eun-hyuk asked inwardly.

’To the afterlife?’

It was the most plausible destination as of right now.

***

A Collector staff member asked Joo-hyun.

"I heard bunggeoppang has been added to Ji-oh’s food stall too."

"Ah, rather than added... it’s been planned for quite a while now."

"You said the person joining him is Cha Eun-hyuk? He’s going to suffer a bit, I should pack him some snacks."

"...I see, that would be nice too."

Joo-hyun nodded.

"Though ultimately, Ji-oh will stuff him full before bringing him back out."

"Pardon? Wasn’t he going there to run a business? Was it actually more like a food tour, not a business?"

"There’s no way Ji-oh wouldn’t eat his own cooking when he’s the one making it."

His haunted portrait friend had quite a large stomach.

"And he’s not the type of person to not feed the person next to him while he’s eating..."

Joo-hyun smiled bitterly.

’Just looking at this person saying they should pack him some snacks, well.’

Pig-like tendencies were contagious. Ji-oh had that kind of power.

Though why it had to be... ’that’ kind of power, he didn’t quite know.