Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Let's Farm
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"You said you were hiding out in a human city, right?"
"Yes."
During the interrogation of Erzsebet's kin before, I'd heard that these demons had been living in hiding in a human city before they invaded the ruins.
They'd used the leader guy's illusion ability to change their appearances and infiltrate among the humans...
"That ability. You said it's not possible now, right? So infiltrating human cities is impossible too?"
"It's just harder than before, but infiltration itself is plenty possible. We've lived among those pale humans for over ten years, after all."
After I 'collected' and sold that [Essence of Illusion] from the leader, Phantom, he hadn't been able to produce illusions again. Whether it was because I sold the essence or because Dryad was sucking up their demonic energy, I wasn't sure...
Well, they said infiltration was still possible without illusions anyway.
'I was planning to send them out after making a more systematic plan...'
I have this dogshit restriction that keeps me from leaving the [Cleaning Zone]. That's why I'm stuck in these ruins, quietly cleaning and waiting for intruders in the first place.
But that's a restriction that only applies to me. There's no rule saying my employees or kin can't go outside. So from the moment Erzsebet made her kin, I'd planned to send them into human society soon for shopping and intel gathering... This was just earlier than expected.
"You have money to use right away, right?"
"We have money left over from when we lived in human society."
"Good. Take this money pouch too..."
I had quite a bit of money on hand. I'd gathered all the cash from intruders who'd died in the ruins so far, and especially the heroes we caught this time had fat pouches.
"Priority one is food. Then, if possible, buy seedlings and seeds, daily necessities including clothes, and also..."
"Jewels for me..."
"Stay quiet, Erzsebet."
We had money we could use right away, but not enough to splurge on luxuries, okay?
Since I was sending them to a human city anyway, I listed off all sorts of items we'd missed while living in the ruins and told them to buy them. And on top of that, if possible, find out how this ruin was known among humans right now, how things changed after the heroes who came died, and so on...
I figured they'd probably just leave it alone... Yeah, because of that previous emperor's policy to maintain dungeons.
"The rest... buy whatever seems appropriate. Things needed to live here."
"Indeed. Things needed for the dungeon, you mean?"
"Hm?"
"Understood."
Since nothing else came to mind and I told them to buy whatever on their own judgment, Phantom—who was still their leader even as kin—nodded as if he understood everything.
After receiving Erzsebet's blood and becoming kin, infinite loyalty toward her was imprinted in the minds of Phantom and the other kin. In exchange, their judgment got a bit cloudy and their speech a bit clumsy...
And that injected loyalty shook their mindset to the roots.
"As Master commands..."
Having received Eugene's orders, Phantom set off without delay for the nearest city, Delron, disguised as a human. They'd stopped by Delron on the way to the dungeon to gather rumors before, so finding the city was a piece of cake.
As long as he didn't go straight to a temple or take off his hairpiece and such for the disguise, he wouldn't get caught.
The five kin—excluding the two left behind in the dungeon—scattered upon arriving in the city to carry out their mission. They bought food in divided batches from various shops to avoid suspicion, and purchased seedlings, fertilizer, and such from farmers for farming.
All the while, they steadily gathered rumors in back alleys and taverns.
"That hero, the disciple of the Radiant One... he must've destroyed the dungeon by now, right?"
"The hero who's super famous in the capital, huh? Ugh... jealous. Traveling with three women and all."
Rumors of Chris's corpse reaching the 'Temple of Return' in the capital hadn't spread to Delron yet, so the citizens calmly believed that Chris's party, who'd come not long ago, was tackling the dungeon.
'Foolish idiots.'
While gathering info, Phantom sneered at the hopelessly foolish humans. He wanted to barge in among them and brag that the heroes they believed in had knelt before the great Master's power. But he suppressed that urge and tried to just pass by.
"What... it's just a new dungeon anyway, right?"
"Yeah. It's weird for heroes to fall to a dungeon like that."
Such human nonsense reached Phantom's ears.
Was it because peace had lasted too long since the policy to maintain dungeons was set? Humans who'd only hunted weak demons living outside for so long had forgotten the danger of dungeons and were belittling the new one just as the temple announced.
"...No..."
"Hm? What, mister?"
And before they knew it, Phantom had slipped in among them.
The infinite loyalty injected upon becoming kin. And Phantom's personal obsession with 'dungeons' that he'd always had. With all that combined into his current mindset, he couldn't just let those human words slide.
Of course, he wouldn't reveal his identity or try to kill humans. That would go against Master's orders to sneak in and out of the city. But...
"...Hey, you guys. Then have you heard that rumor?"
"Hm? What about you?"
Distorted rumors about the dungeon needed correcting.
Phantom and the kin hadn't rested since entering the city. Buying the items Master ordered was the bare minimum. But on top of that, Master had said this at the end.
'Things needed to live here.'
The 'here' in Master's words meant the dungeon. In other words, buy items needed for the dungeon.
Phantom, who'd long dreamed of claiming a dungeon, immediately understood what his master wanted. Without hesitation, he headed to a blacksmith.
"Whoa. Heading off to war or something?"
The blacksmith gawked at the items Phantom was picking out. An enormous quantity of arrows. Traps for hunters who occasionally went demon-hunting. And tools whose use was unclear.
"Well... feels like I can make a killing this time."
"Oh? Found a demon village or something?"
There were plenty of human hunters who made a living demon-hunting, so a suitable excuse made the blacksmith just nod along. To avoid suspicion, the kin split up and bought from different smithies in multiple trips.
"By the way, boss. Heard any rumors about the new dungeon?"
"Hm? Yeah, I've heard..."
"Actually, that dungeon is insanely..."
All the while, they didn't forget to spread one particular rumor.
When a customer placing a huge bulk order brought up something suspicious, the blacksmith scratched his head and humored him, then gossiped with later customers, starting with 'I heard somewhere that...'
"They're doing fine, right?"
I worried a bit about the kin I'd sent to buy stuff, then shook my head. What problem could arise from just gathering rumors and buying food?
Instead, while waiting for them, I decided to do something else.
"Bigger than I thought?"
"Hm. Maybe quite a few people used to live here in the past."
While clearing the garden where Dryad was, I'd found spots that seemed good for growing plants, and focusing on that area revealed a surprisingly large farmland. Enough to secure a good amount of food if we could grow crops there.
I didn't know much about farming, but scooping up some soil showed it was pretty fertile.
"Of course. It's land where a dryad dwells."
Erzsebet stated the obvious, and Dryad proudly wiggled her roots as she tilled the soil. Meanwhile, roots hanging from one side were still sucking the demonic energy out of Desmond dry.
Since she started sucking that, Dryad seemed oddly full of energy... but no real problems would arise, right?
"But doesn't growing plants and harvesting take forever?"
"Master. Dryads are more amazing than you think. With Dryad's power, speeding up crop growth is no problem."
Erzsebet was the one who'd talked me out of just buying food and insisted on getting seedlings for various crops too. I knew Dryad had plant powers, but I hadn't realized she could speed up growth itself.
"Let's... test it. Dryad. Can you speed up this seed's growth?"
To check performance, I planted a small flower seed I'd found while clearing, watered it, and asked Dryad.
"Master. Keep watering it."
"Hm? I've given plenty. Any more would be bad..."
-Sprout.
"...A sprout?"
Right after planting and watering—making my resolve to observe pointless—a fresh green sprout popped up.
"Keep watering. Dryad can speed growth, but it still needs water."
"Uh, yeah."
At Erzsebet's words, I kept spraying low-power [High-Pressure Cleaner] water, and the little stem madly sucked it up, sprouted leaves, grew a stalk, and even formed a flower bud.
"...Insane."
"She's focusing power on one plant. Still, for a field this size, plant suitable crops and you can harvest in a week."
I patted Dryad as she proudly shook her roots. You're the one doing the most to earn your keep here.
Unlike some people.
"...Me?"
Ah. Slipped out loud. Whatever.
'But farming needs a lot of manpower...'
If I assign kin to farming, they can't clean anymore, right? The point of kin was to handle cleaning with lots of hands... Using them for farming to feed them would be putting the cart before the horse.
Unless I can recruit more hands from somewhere...