I Turned a B-Class Magic Beast into a Potato Plow
She hadn't even finished speaking.
The Blade Wild Boar clawed at the ground with its front hooves.
Kwaduk!
The packed earth heaved up like a wave. The beast was easily twice the size of any Blade Wild Boar I'd ever known. Its shoulders rose past Aileen's chest, and the tusks jutting from either side of its snout looked less like sickles and more like battering rams.
Aileen's eyes narrowed.
"That is no ordinary Blade Wild Boar."
"Did it pad its résumé with fake credentials?"
"A normal specimen is C-class. With that size and raw power, it's B-class at minimum."
The Blade Wild Boar snorted a blast of hot breath.
Hwoooong!
The bread on the table rolled off in the gust.
"There's a B-class roaming the outskirts?"
"Apparently, in this forest."
I looked from the fields to the massive boar and back again. For a month now, the crops had grown unnaturally well even without heavy use of Amplification. The potatoes were the size of a human head, and a single tomato could fill a whole pot of soup.
I'd just thought it was good soil.
But of course it wasn't only the crops that thrived.
"So when the potatoes get big, the pigs get big too, huh."
"Save the epiphanies for later. It's coming!"
The Blade Wild Boar charged. Every time its hooves struck the ground, dirt exploded outward.
I tried to dodge, but Aileen stepped in front of me first. Her dark crimson cloak flared wide.
"Stay behind me."
"Isn't this drinking on the job?"
"I had half a glass!"
"You bragged about stashing half a bottle in your stomach."
"Is that what matters right now?!"
Aileen didn't lower her spear tip. Instead she angled the shaft and drove it between the two tusks.
Kwang!
Human and magic beast collided head-on. Dirt skidded out in long furrows beneath Aileen's boots—but the Blade Wild Boar couldn't knock her down.
She dropped her center of gravity. Using the spear shaft as a pivot, she twisted her body, and the beast's charge glanced off into empty air. That massive frame swung clean around.
Kwaaaang!
The Blade Wild Boar missed the fence and slammed into an empty plot. Three thick tree roots ripped free at once and went flying.
I clapped.
"Wow. Even after drinking, your parking guidance is flawless."
"Who parked a magic beast?!"
"You parked it very neatly in the vacant lot."
Aileen leveled her spear again.
"Next time I'll guide it toward you."
"Workplace injuries never stop for this employer, do they."
The Blade Wild Boar heaved itself up. A little blood ran from the shoulder scraped by her tusk-work. Right before our eyes, the wound slowly closed.
Huh?
Aileen saw it too.
"Its regeneration is fast as well."
"And its appetite."
The beast looked past us at the overturned table—more precisely, at the bread that had fallen to the ground.
I picked up the bread and moved it left. The boar's head swung left. I shifted it right. It followed again.
"Yep. Its interview priorities are crystal clear."
"It's more interested in the bread than your neck."
"I'm hurt."
"I meant that as good news."
I tossed the bread toward the eastern clearing. The Blade Wild Boar bolted after it.
Kwadududuk!
The instant it pounced on the bread, its tusks and front hooves carved deep into the hard ground. A long furrow opened in its wake.
I pressed the furrow with my foot. Soil that would have taken hours with a shovel was turned all the way through.
"Security Chief."
"What nonsense are you about to spout now."
"That applicant is definitely experienced."
"I have not hired it."
"Field-tilling manpower… no, horsepower is precious."
The Blade Wild Boar swallowed the bread and looked at us again—specifically at my hands. Confirming there was nothing more to eat, it scraped the ground with its front hooves once more.
Aileen raised her spear.
"This time I subdue it."
"Hold it for a moment, please."
"What are you planning?"
I sprinted toward the house.
"Preparing the final-interview benefits package."
"You're going to cook right now?"
"A hungry applicant needs to be fed first! You can't kill it!"
An explosion of impact roared behind me.
Kwang!
That was Aileen deflecting another charge sideways.
"Make it fast!"
"No rushing the kitchen!"
From the storage cellar I pulled the biggest potato we had. True to something grown in the Braken Forest, it was the size of a small pumpkin.
I scrubbed the skin clean and scored it with a knife. A thin coat of oil, then a rub of coarse salt, dried garlic, and spices. I buried the potato in the embers of the hearth.
Outside, wood splintered and Aileen's shouts kept coming.
"Luka! How long?!"
"Cooking is the art of waiting!"
"My patience is going to finish cooking first! Potatoes take forever!"
While the potato baked, I sliced cheese thin. Then I used Amplification on the hearth itself.
The flames surged high.
"Okay. Firepower's good."
A short while later I raked the ash aside and pulled out a potato blackened all over in its skin.
"As long as the inside's done, that's enough."
I split it down the middle with a knife.
Pusshuk.
Hot steam erupted from the golden flesh. I lightly mashed the fluffy potato with a spoon, drizzled a ring of garlic oil, and piled cheese high on top. Residual heat melted the cheese into slow rivulets between the potato.
Finally I amplified the potato's aroma and flavor. A rich, savory smell filled the house.
"Whoa… haah. I kind of want this myself."
A cheese-baked whole potato with two layers of Amplification on it.
I stepped outside. The scent rolled past the farm and into the forest. The crashing outside cut off at once.
When I opened the door, an unbelievable sight waited. The Blade Wild Boar stood frozen in front of Aileen's spear tip, eyes locked on the potato in my hands. Drool poured uncontrollably from its mouth.
Aileen panted and asked,
"What in the world did you make?"
"Cheese-baked whole potato."
"Why am I looking in the same direction as that magic beast?"
"Want a bite?"
"We are in the middle of combat."
She said that, but her eyes never left the potato.
I scooped a bite from the edge with the spoon and held it out.
"Think of it as a toxicity test."
"Why would I test something meant for a magic beast?"
And yet her mouth opened.
Aileen's eyes widened a little. The crunch of the skin, the fluffy potato inside, the salty garlic, the long pull of rich melted cheese. She worked her jaw slowly, as if savoring every note.
"How is it?"
"……Suitable for combat use."
"Which part?"
"Morale rises."
A little melted cheese clung to the corner of her mouth. I wiped it off lightly with my thumb.
Aileen froze. Her red eyes tracked my fingertip, then lifted to my face.
"You had cheese on you."
"Warn me first."
"Do I need a permit to wipe it off?"
"……Yes."
"I'll file a request form next time."
Aileen's ears went red.
"Deal with that one first!"
The Blade Wild Boar had been sitting quietly the whole time it waited. All the dignity of a B-class magic beast was gone; only a giant puddle of drool remained.
"Grrk, grrruk…."
I amplified the potato's satiety one more time. Three Amplifications total on the cheese-baked whole potato. I cut off a large half and set it down in front of the beast.
"Sit."
It was already sitting. The Blade Wild Boar was whipping its thin tail around like a helicopter rotor.
"Fast learner."
The moment I took my hand away, it swallowed the cheese potato whole.
Chomp.
Once.
Twice.
Its rough snorting gradually eased. The scraping of its front hooves stopped. The Blade Wild Boar swayed for a moment, then flopped onto its belly.
"Grrrrung!"
A thoroughly satisfied sound rumbled out.
I approached slowly and stroked its head. Instead of growling, it rubbed its snout into my palm. The bulk of it was so huge that my body slid back two steps.
"Its affection is basically a blunt-force weapon."
Aileen still held her spear as she asked,
"Are your fingers still attached?"
"All ten of them."
"Good."
"Were you worried?"
"If the farm owner gets eaten, the paperwork is a nuisance."
"You translate every bit of kindness into administrative jargon, don't you."
The Blade Wild Boar approached Aileen this time. She stepped back, wary. It sniffed her hand—probably catching the leftover potato scent.
"Why is it doing this to me?"
"It must have registered you as a food provider."
"I never gave it anything."
Aileen glanced around, then held out a leftover scrap of potato from the plate. The Blade Wild Boar accepted it carefully.
Lick-lick—!!
"You've grown attached."
"It's supplementary feeding to maintain combat readiness."
"Every expression of affection is turning into military logistics."
I patted the beast's broad forehead.
"We'll call him Mongchi."
"Mongchi for a B-class magic beast?"
"His technique for headbutting people is excellent."
As if answering, Mongchi rammed my side.
"Oof."
"An appropriate name."
Tossing food to tame something and putting it to work as labor were entirely different problems. First I made a harness that fit his body.
I pulled out leather straps and thick rope bought at the market. I wove them so the force would distribute across the chest and shoulders instead of choking the neck, and lined the inside with thick cloth so it wouldn't chafe the skin.
Aileen tugged the knots and checked Mongchi's range of motion.
"Leave enough slack here for two fingers."
"Do knights learn harness-making too?"
"Warhorse equipment is basic knightly literacy."
"From housework to livestock husbandry—Chief, your versatility never ceases to amaze."
A leather strap flew at my neck.
"Just kidding."
I also built a plow from an old shovel blade and Braken wood. Trees grown in this forest were heavier and harder than ordinary timber. I amplified the durability of both the plow blade and the harness.
Once connected, I had Mongchi walk a few steps, checking for chafing and whether the weight pulled to one side. Mongchi showed no discomfort—just kept nudging me with his nose for potato.
"Demanding performance bonuses before benefits, I see."
I stationed Mongchi at the eastern clearing we meant to turn into a new field. The moment I held up a potato, his ears pricked.
"One potato per finished row."
Aileen asked with curious eyes,
"Does it understand speech?"
"Payroll systems transcend species. There's no bargaining with an empty stomach."
I walked forward, waving the potato. Mongchi charged, dragging the plow.
Kugugugu!
Black soil surged up on both sides. Thick grass roots tore free; stones bigger than fists popped out. A single furrow ran the full length of the clearing in one go.
"Holy crap."
Second row.
Third row.
Mongchi never stopped running toward the potato. Aileen guided his direction from the far end with her spear shaft while I cleared the stones and roots that surfaced.
Two hours later, a clearing that would have taken me days alone had become a neat field—roughly two hundred pyeong.
Aileen looked down at the new plot.
"With three of us, it wouldn't even take a day."
"You naturally calculated it as three."
"Mongchi and you and…."
She closed her mouth.
"An extension of security duties."
"Who's arguing."
The soil of the Braken Forest was black and rich. But already, here and there, the fine roots of weeds were stirring again. New shoots had sprouted from the ends of vines I'd cut that morning.
Aileen stepped on one.
"This forest recovers unnaturally fast."
"So it wasn't just the crops that thrived."
I looked toward the vast forest stretching into the center. This was only the outskirts. The deeper you went, the bigger the crops, the resources—and the magic beasts—would become.
"Ordinary people couldn't live here."
I surveyed the new field.
"But if it can be managed, this land could feed an entire kingdom."
The corner of Aileen's mouth lifted, just a little.
"Then we manage it."
The words were short. But it was "we manage," not "you manage."
We divided and planted wheat, barley, and pumpkin seeds. I amplified the soil's aeration and gave the seeds a single layer of germination boost.
By the time the sun was tipping past the treeline, the black earth began to rustle. One first sprout lifted its head. Then another beside it. Then another. Moments later, hundreds of green shoots rose from the field all at once.
A breeze passed, and the young leaves swayed like a wave.
Aileen watched the scene in silence. Mongchi lay on his belly beside a furrow, chewing a potato.
Aileen said quietly,
"This is… the field we made today."
"Yes."
"There was nothing here."
"There will be more from now on."
She looked at me and asked,
"How far?"
I gazed toward the center of the forest.
"As far as the number of people we need to feed grows."
As Aileen unfastened the harness, a thin cut showed on her palm. I caught her wrist.
"Open your hand."
"This much is not even a wound."
"The Security Chief's hands are critical farm assets."
I spread a thin layer of herbal salve. Aileen started to pull away, then left her hand where it was. Every time my fingers passed over the cut, a little more tension gathered in her hand.
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
"Then why are you holding my hand?"
Only then did Aileen notice that her own hand was clenched tight around my fingers. The tips of her ears flushed red again.
"You weren't applying it properly, so I fixed it in place."
"The treatment's done, though."
"Until the salve dries."
"It looks dry to me."
"I decide that!"
In the end, Aileen didn't let go while she watched the sprouts.
We made Mongchi's bed under the eaves beside the stone house—a rain-blocking roof from leftover timber, a thick layer of dry straw on the floor. A large water trough and a feed bin, too. We didn't tie him with a rope. If he wanted to leave, he could leave.
When evening came, Mongchi curled up beside our table instead of leaving.
Aileen and I shared the remaining cheese-baked potato and bread. For Mongchi I set out plain boiled potatoes without salt or spices, plus acorns and bean pods.
Aileen dropped one more potato into the feed bin.
"He shouldn't overeat. Look at that bulk."
"He worked hard today."
"Not attachment, then?"
"A performance bonus."
"The farm's board director is looking after welfare now, too."
"Don't call me director."
"Our entire-fortune investor, then?"
"That got worse."
Mongchi finished eating and flopped down at my feet. His massive body shoved the table a little toward Aileen. Our knees touched under the table.
Aileen didn't pull away. She simply lifted her wine glass and said,
"The farm is cramped."
"We'll have to expand the house."
"……I approve of that."
Just then Mongchi's ears pricked. Eyes that had been half-closed for sleep snapped open. He rose and stared toward the old patrol road.
From far off came the sound of wagon wheels spinning uselessly.
Squeeeak.
Then a frantic shout rang down the forest path.
"Is anyone there?! Our wagon's stuck in the mud!"
Aileen grabbed her spear.
"Please help us! Is anyone there…!"
I picked up a new rope and patted Mongchi's back.
"Overtime on day one of employment."
"Are we going to help?"
"We should test our employee's towing capacity too."
Mongchi snorted hard. Then, a potato clamped in his mouth, he bolted down the forest path.