Chapter 24: Little Pepper

As soon as I picked the pepper, information windows popped up.

As I slowly read through them, a shiver ran down my entire body.

This was it. A State Authority-Level Gochu.

[Pepper – 200% Symbiosis Completed]

(Condition) Plant the crop with utmost affection – fulfilled

(Hidden Condition) Show spiciness while ripening – fulfilled

200% Achievement Effect: When ‘Special Conditions’ are met, a Guardian is born.

• As the initial symbiosis bonus, the peppers gain ‘Special Effects.’ Additionally, one Guardian is born.

[Peppers – S]

A luxuriously cultivated, fully ripened pepper.

It grew on fertile land imbued with the power of earth spirits and was nourished with healthy chicken manure fertilizer.

After hearing both praise and insults from its owner, it developed two contrasting traits, becoming a pepper that turns as spicy as the consumer desires.

Guardian Bonus: +1 level

• Permanently increases Agility by 1 upon consumption. (One-time only)
• Special Effect: The pepper becomes as spicy as the consumer wishes, and there are no side effects even if consumed excessively.

I swallowed hard without realizing it.

No, to be more precise, it felt like it swallowed me.

I was utterly captivated by that ‘S’ grade.

Had there ever been an S-Grade agricultural product revealed before? Not that I knew of.

There had only been one Artifact ever.

So that made me the first producer of S-Grade agricultural goods!?

Ugh! This is insane.

Such luck coming to me!

But I would never brag about it.

There was already a precedent where premature boasting caused trouble in another country.

In America, once.

Four years ago, a hunter named Jod, famous for becoming the youngest S-Grade Hunter, had shown off an item obtained from an S-Grade Dungeon in front of cameras.

It wasn’t a pre-planned act, but a young child who had gained incredible power at such an early age proudly flaunting his ‘loot.’

The expressions of his guild members were priceless.

The world was turned upside down.

Until then, only nine S-Grade Dungeons had been cleared, but no S-Grade items had ever been revealed before.

Some harshly criticized the hunters who cleared S-Grade Dungeons earlier.

They argued that since such items couldn’t be stolen anyway, hunters could at least reveal their existence for curious people. Was that so hard?

But this world isn’t inhabited solely by decent people.

They acted as they did for their own safety.

In reality, the young hunter who revealed the S-Grade item was found dead at home a month later.

Of course, the item was gone.

Anyway, no S-Grade agricultural product has ever been revealed.

There were many rumors that such products must exist as much as S-Grade items do, but few cared about agricultural goods, so the rumors died out quickly.

Only chefs or the wealthy showed interest.

So it became an accepted fact that the highest rank for agricultural goods was A+.

“Haha… haha… To think I cultivated an S-Grade agricultural product with my own hands, something that doesn’t even exist in this world…”

Frozen in disbelief, someone poked my leg.

Wanting to savor the moment with the ‘S’ a bit longer, I ignored it and tried to imagine the wealth, honor, and everything beyond that I could gain from this.

When I registered the item at the Auction House, I planned to set the seller’s information to private, so there would be no reporters or assassins showing up.

They said the security was airtight.

Even if I were kidnapped, they wouldn’t kill me.

Unlike items, agricultural goods can be continuously cultivated.

‘Should I cut open the belly of the Golden Goose that lays golden eggs?’

Poke, poke.

My happy imagination kept being interrupted.

Only Goldie would roam the field and poke my leg like this.

“Goldie, Dad is imagining living in a luxurious mansion, swimming in a money-filled pool, and even buying a yacht for a villa. Why do you keep poking? Are you worried Goldie might forget?”

Letting out a small sigh, I looked down and saw something familiar yet new staring up at me.

“Giant Pepper…?”

A giant pepper, deep green and reaching about knee height, was poking my leg.

But what was poking me… a blazing skewer?

“Ah, hot! It’s on fire!”

Startled, I jumped back a step and quickly brushed the spot that had been poked.

Huh?

But it’s not hot?

My pants were fine, too.

(!!)

An unfamiliar creature that I couldn’t understand spoke.

And those eyes… trust?

I’d felt this once before.

Now that I thought about it, I had been so fixated on the ‘S’ that I barely glanced at the rest of the info window.

I quickly checked again and unintentionally shouted.

“A Guardian! It’s you!”

A new Guardian was born.

Since Ddakkongi, born from peanuts, was so dependable and helpful, I had high hopes for the other newly born Guardians.

(Peek!)

As if to show off, the giant pepper swung a flaming sword it held in its hand and performed a sword dance.

On closer inspection, it wasn’t an ordinary sword but a burning Honggochu.

Its body was green, wearing a cap-like stem on its head, and below that, a deep green immature pepper with thin limbs.

“How do those limbs even hold the Pepper Sword Technique? It looks like it would break…”

I had expected something more, but it was just a giant pepper born from a pepper.

Speaking in a disappointed tone, the creature seemed to understand and its body began reddening.

Then, it appeared to grow, stretching from knee height up to the waist.

(GoOOOO!!)

The Pepper Guardian let out a roar.

Its once thin, unimpressive arms thickened into bolder lines.

Still not all that great, but it swung the growing pepper sword with a whoosh, proudly showing off its strength.

The wind from the swung pepper sword was strong enough to blow hair back.

“Oh! Impressive! I don’t know much about swords, but your swordsmanship is quite good. Just watching it feels intimidating!”

Praising it, the Pepper Guardian shrugged its shoulders proudly and even did a tumbling move, performing even cooler maneuvers.

Then, as if pouring all its energy into it, it quickly turned dark green and shrank, planting the small sword into the ground and leaning on it to catch its breath.

(HooHoo… HooHoo…)

The burning pepper sword seemed separate from the creature; it still blazed and looked magnificent.

“If we’re going to communicate, I need to give you a name… What should it be?”

Once named, I’d have to call it that forever, so I couldn’t just pick anything.

‘Giant Pepper? No, that sounds lame. Flame Sword Pepper? Too long. Fire Blade… Also too long.’

While I pondered, the Pepper Guardian, seemingly recovered, took the sword again and moved as if demonstrating martial arts sword techniques from wuxia stories.

It seemed to be saying, “Give me a cool name as cool as this.”

‘A top-tier master pepper… Supreme Pepper? Ugh, I don’t like any name with ‘pepper’ in it. Maybe in English? Pepper…’

“Yes! From now on, your name is ‘Little Pepper!’ How about that? Like it?”

The Pepper Guardian suddenly radiated a dazzling, multicolored light from its entire body.

[You have named the Guardian you’ve symbiotically bonded with.

Skill ‘Communication-Gochu’ activated.]

[Communication-Gochu]

Allows conversation with pepper crops.

The light slowly faded.

When it lowered its covered arm, I met the eyes of a creature pouting with its lower lip pushed out.

“Oh…? I thought you’d like the cute name, but you don’t…?”

(I’m not small, chu! Why ‘Little’ Pepper, chu!)

Firmly sulking.

It was indeed a big pepper among peppers.

It was a Guardian, after all.

But it only reached my knee…?

“You might not know, but there’s a saying in our country: ‘Small peppers are spicy.’ That means you’re an extremely spicy pepper. Oh, are you not spicy? Then I’ll rename you.”

(Oh! Is that so! Small peppers are spicy… Then I’m an extremely small pepper! So I’m an incredibly spicy pepper!)

Yeah.

I figured the spicy trait of peppers was also their pride and dignity.

So if I touched on that, it would accept it easily.

“Like the name? Little Pepper, the incredibly spicy pepper.”

(I like it! I am Little Pepper!)

The pout vanished, replaced by a bright smile.

With the mood lightened, it was time to learn more about the newly born Little Pepper.

Ddakkongi said its mission was to protect me and the field.

What about Little Pepper?

“Little Pepper, what’s your mission? Let’s get to know each other.”

(Peek!)

Moved by my desire to know, Little Pepper looked up at me with eyes full of emotion.

(I am the sword that protects my master. I will mercilessly cut down anything that threatens my master!)

“Wow~ Little Pepper, that’s so cool!”

Encouraged by the praise, it proudly shared more about its abilities.

(And the burning sword is a nightmare to enemies. To allies! It has! Absolutely! No! Effect! Don’t worry!)

It emphasized that there was no effect on allies.

It seemed to understand everything I said.

Its face flushed.

I wished I could take back all the fuss I made over it not being hot.

Oh, how embarrassing.

“Ahem. That’s what I thought. Right now you’re a green pepper, but earlier you changed to a Honggochu. When does that happen?”

I quickly changed the subject.

(I change when I’m angry. Earlier change was just that — changed. I’m not, not angry, chu… And the sword changes into a greatsword! When that happens, wounds blaze!)

The Guardian resembled me in that it also tried to dodge the question.

But the more it dodged, the more fun it was to tease.

“So, you were angry because I said your limbs looked like they might break?”

Hehe.

I had no intention of letting that slide.

Grinning, I hit the mark with a straightforward remark.

(It’s not that! I changed to show off how cool I am! Believe me, chu! And when I calm down, all my strength leaves my body.)

The earnest excuse and constant looking around for a hole to hide in was very cute.

“Pfft! Okay, got it. So you’re like a berserker. When the buff fades, you get powerless.”

(Still, I will definitely protect my master!)

Pounding its chest with a firm and sincere gaze, Little Pepper declared.

From that reliable stance came genuine sincerity.

There were now two solid allies who would never betray me: Ddakkongi, the Peanut Guardian, and Little Pepper, the Pepper Guardian.

Though they seemed to follow a master-servant relationship from birth, I had no intention of treating them that way.

I needed friends, not subordinates.

I appreciated their desire to protect me, but there would be no real danger.

“I want you to protect me and this field together with Ddakkongi.”

(Understood! Call us anytime you’re in danger!)

Seeing the confident response was reassuring.

“It’ll be time for Ddakkongi to wake up soon, and since you’re both Guardians, you should meet.”

(Of course!)

As we talked more while waiting for Ddakkongi to wake, I learned a new fact.

Little Pepper was stronger in strong sunlight.

‘Since Ddakkongi works night shifts, I can assign Little Pepper to daytime duty.’

Guarding was a duty, not a choice.

Yeah, I’m not a cruel master or anything.

As the sun set, Ddakkongi, who had buried itself underground, began to stir.

But glancing at Little Pepper beside me, it suddenly shouted out.

(Master! Greetings! Ready for night shift!)

“Uh, okay. Thanks, Ddakkongi. You’ve been working hard.”

I was slightly taken aback.

Usually, when it woke, it looked clearly tired, but today it seemed full of energy.

At that moment, Ddakkongi glanced at Little Pepper and smirked.

That expression clearly said, ‘This is my level.’

(Hmph. So this is turf war? I accept it gladly.)

Little Pepper didn’t seem willing to back down either.

It drew the flaming sword it had hanging at its waist.

The sword blazed fiercely as it left the sheath, showing off its presence.

(Wh-what are you doing! Turf war?!)

Thinking close combat was unfavorable, Ddakkongi leapt back, gaining distance.

(Hmph! Distance doesn’t matter! GoOOOO!)

Little Pepper’s body reddened and grew larger.

The blazing sword also grew, transforming into a greatsword.

(New recruit~! Take this~!)

It charged at Ddakkongi wielding the greatsword.

Little Pepper was not an easy new recruit Guardian.

“Stop-!!”

I couldn’t let them fight.

Even if they were Guardians, they needed to get along.

“What are you two doing right now? Guardians should be friendly!”

To prevent future fights, I had to set rules and give them education from the start.

Both Ddakkongi, retreating while raising its gun to its shoulder, and Little Pepper, charging with the greatsword, froze in place and looked at me as if time had stopped.

“You! You deliberately greeted Little Pepper loudly, didn’t you! Little Pepper, you too! You’re older than Ddakkongi, but Ddakkongi is your senior. How can you draw your sword first? What’s your mission?”

Scolding Ddakkongi, Little Pepper’s mouth curled up slightly, then back down as it got scolded itself, returning to normal.

Its transformation ended and it looked completely deflated.

(I protect the master and this field…)

“Exactly! Then what if someone hurts Ddakkongi, who guards the field at night!”

(I wouldn’t be able to guard the field at night…)

“Then it’s your fault. Did you do it or not?”

(…….)

“CHEN!”

(I was wrong…)

“You should apologize to Ddakkongi.”

(I’m sorry for threatening you, Ddakkongi…)

In a meek voice, Little Pepper apologized.

Ddakkongi flared its nostrils but barely held back a grin.

(I’m Ddakkongi, master! Like you said, I’m the senior!)

“Ddakkongi, I’m not taking sides. If you’ve got a new friend, treat them well. That’s not very senior-like behavior, ahem! What’s that about?”

(…….)

Yeah.

“Accept the apology, and you should apologize too.”

(It’s okay. Sorry for the turf war earlier…)

Who would’ve thought these cute creatures would engage in a power struggle?

Thankfully, it ended without bloodshed.

I approached, knelt down, and wrapped both arms around the two dejected Guardians.

Their small frames fit perfectly within my arms.

“The only enemies are those who threaten the field. We don’t fight among ourselves. Got it?”

They nodded in my embrace.

They hugged me back.

“Sorry for getting angry. Let’s get along from now on.”

As I stroked their heads, both shoulders slowly grew wet.

The quarrel over weapons and dominance disappeared, replaced by the image of children I knew.

“Pfft!”

They had cried more sadly than I expected, their swollen eyes looking up at me.

Who would believe these were the Guardians protecting this place?

To my eyes, they were just adorable kids.