The Best Farming Method
The best way to farm? The time of harvest had arrived. It had only been a little over a month since they started farming, yet the rice stalks were already golden and bowing their heads humbly. The corn planted behind them was also fresh enough to pick and eat.
“My god…… How is this even possible……?”
“We only just started farming.”
The farmers stared in awe and disbelief at the beautiful golden waves rippling in the breeze.
“Even if the soil is good, this is ridiculous.”
“Doesn’t normal farming take five or six months?”
“I thought we’d barely make it before winter……”
Normally, rice takes five to six months from planting to harvest. Yet the current state of the rice suggested it could be reaped right now. The growth rate was abnormal.
“Is this even possible?”
“The rice looks ripe and delicious……”
The corn kernels were plump and firm, promising a tasty roast.
“We should report this and start harvesting……”
Just then, a farmer who had been looking at the sky spotted something black in the distance and gasped in shock.
“L-Look over there!”
“H-Holy crap! I completely forgot!”
“It’s the Rice Eaters!!”
Rice Eaters. A type of eagle monster and a literal disaster for farmers. While eagles are carnivorous, Rice Eaters are a mutant variant that prefers rice over meat. Their sense of smell is thousands of times sharper than a human’s, allowing them to detect the scent of ripe rice carried on the wind from afar.
“H-How do we stop them!?”
“Shouldn’t we contact the guards?”
Disaster was approaching. Rice Eaters possessed monstrous appetites; once they swept through, nothing remained. There had been territories whose entire yearly harvest was ruined by these creatures. That was why preparations against Rice Eaters were essential when the rice ripened.
“We didn’t expect it to ripen this fast.”
“What do we do? We haven’t even set up proper countermeasures……”
“The guards……”
“What’s going on?”
At that moment, while the people were panicking and running about in confusion, Albert, who had been leisurely inspecting the territory, arrived.
The villagers hurriedly tried to bow in greeting, but Albert raised a hand to stop them.
“Skip it.”
“Pardon?”
“Skip the greetings. What’s happening?”
The farmers hesitated, unsure how to speak. No matter how approachable Albert was, he was still a noble.
What’s with them? Why are they so cautious around me?
[Because you’re a noble, sir.]
Even after I’ve been so accommodating……
[Even if you treat them kindly, the gap created by rank isn’t easy to close.]
[Just because the president acts friendly during election season doesn’t mean people can casually chat with him.]
[If they tried and got dragged off in chains……]
[(;° ロ°)]
[Even if I said “I ate with the president and went to the sauna together!”, it wouldn’t work, would it?]
Well, I guess that makes sense.
No matter how friendly he was, Albert was ultimately a noble. Honestly, living in the other world had stripped away most of his sense of authority.
[By noble standards, your behavior is quite unconventional, Lord Albert.]
Whatever. Doesn’t matter.
He had no intention of conforming to this world’s ways now. Though he was a noble, he had spent more time in the other world. Unless necessary, he saw no reason to act authoritarian.
A certain level of dignity and authority might be needed. But cross the line and you become an old fossil in an instant.
“Enough. What’s going on? Explain.”
“Ah, understood.”
“Rice Eaters are coming right now.”
“Rice Eaters? Rice thieves?”
[Not rice thieves, but rice eaters.]
I know…… I was just saying it.
“Rice Eaters? What are those?”
“Please look over there.”
One farmer pointed, and in that direction, a black flock could be seen flying toward them. Albert narrowed his eyes.
Bald eagles?
They were bald eagles, but oddly, each had a single feather stuck on its crown. Strange-looking creatures.
System, what are those?
[I don’t know either.]
[They appear to be a type of eagle, but my clearance is too low to identify them.]
[Insufficient information.]
[Requesting information!]
[Information! Please give me information! You promised, didn’t you? With the books!!]
[Isn’t it too much to break your promise!?]
[Waaahhh!!]
……Fine. Once this is over, I’ll take you to the grand library so you can read books.
Albert had no choice but to surrender to the System’s whining. But this was necessary. The System was his support, and the more information it had, the easier things would be for him. To make things easier, he needed to gather information through books.
Since there’s no internet.
“What are those things?”
“They’re called Rice Eaters, and they’re the worst enemy of us farmers.”
“Worst enemy?”
“Their staple food is rice, so when harvest time approaches, they catch the scent and come to turn everything into a wasteland.”
“Ah……”
Now he remembered. His mother had once sighed and mentioned how a neighboring territory’s harvest was ruined by Rice Eaters, causing rice prices to spike. They had to pay extra to buy rice.
So those are the bastards.
“Then we just kill them, right?”
“Yes. But they’re cunning. They won’t land if there are people nearby. Yet if we station too few……”
“Those sneaky bastards…… And if we station too many, they won’t come down at all.”
“Also……”
One farmer trembled as if the memory disgusted him.
“Those damn things, their droppings are filthy……”
“Each one poops once, but there are hundreds of them. The amount……”
“And the smell is awful, and it doesn’t wash off easily…… I got hit on the head once and had to shave it all off.”
“……”
Rice Eaters were problematic for multiple reasons. Albert responded indifferently. After all, what needed to be done was already decided.
“Then we kill them.”
“But they’re high in the sky.”
“That’s right! They fly at a height arrows can’t reach, so they’re hard to catch.”
“Then how do you usually catch them?”
“Well……”
“We prepare huge baskets, put rice inside……”
Albert continued the farmer’s words with a dubious expression.
“And wait for them to come down and eat the rice in the basket…… then catch them?”
“Oh! How did you know?”
“Correct. We can’t catch them all at once, but if we reduce their numbers that way, it takes about a week……”
[……They catch them with such an outdated method?]
“Ah, but they’re monsters, so it’s not easy. That’s why we coat the rice with paralytics……”
“……Enough. Who has time to catch them like that?”
“But.”
“Don’t worry. I’m used to dealing with creatures like that.”
Albert walked leisurely. There was still distance to cover, so he planned to take his time killing them. But then, one farmer spoke as if remembering something.
“Come to think of it, the feather on a Rice Eater’s crown is popular as a quill pen among nobles……”
“Ah, I’ve heard. They’re quite valuable, right?”
“That’s why there are hunters who specialize in catching Rice Eaters just to get those feathers……”
Just then, Albert’s figure, which had been walking leisurely until now, shot forward in an instant. His speed was truly swift! Like stretching taffy, he extended forward and ran as if folding space. Greed was etched on his face as he ran.
[Lord Albert, multiple humans detected ahead.]
[Judging by their equipment, they appear to be hunters.]
Albert, who had thought he couldn’t go any faster, stomped the ground hard. With a boom, a cloud of dust rose as his body accelerated once more.
“All the feathers are mine! Anyone who touches them dies!!”
[……If Grid saw Lord Albert…… Really…… Still……]
[This is why humans are interesting.]
“They’re here.”
The merchant smirked as he looked at the Rice Eaters soaring in the sky. All of that was money. The lonely, solitary feathers sprouting from their heads fetched high prices among nobles.
“Each one’s worth 50 gold.”
Catching just four and plucking their feathers would easily earn 200 gold, the average monthly wage of a commoner. Of course, it wasn’t easy. First, they had to catch the ones flying in the sky, and the feathers had to be plucked while the creatures were still alive.
If they die, the value drops, so we have to pluck them alive.
Dropping them dead would be easy, but since they needed to be alive, harvesting was extremely tricky. Not only that, even plucking the feathers while they were asleep or unconscious wouldn’t work. It was incredibly demanding, but if you succeeded, the profit was worth it. It was a hunt worth doing.
“Alright! Catch them! 5 gold bonus per feather!!”
“Nice!”
“Hey! You lot! Aim carefully! Don’t damage the goods!”
“Don’t kill them!!”
At the shout, the mercenaries holding bows wore irritated expressions.
“Does he think that’s as easy as it sounds?”
“Hitting something flying like that is already hard enough, and now he’s demanding all this.”
“I wonder if the arrows even have the range.”
The Rice Eaters were flying quite high, making it uncertain whether arrows could reach them.
“Hey! Hurry up! That side is Monster Land!!”
“But why are the Rice Eaters heading that way?”
“Who knows? Maybe there’s a territory there?”
“Why would there be a territory in a place like this?”
“I heard some fallen noble family is supposedly there? Well, I don’t know the details.”
“Let’s just do our job.”
The archers drew their bowstrings. These were specially crafted bows designed to reach the high-flying Rice Eaters. Though harder to aim than regular bows, they had extended range.
“Huh?”
“But what’s that……?”
Just then, something entered their view—a cloud of dust rising in the distance. They thought it might be a carriage, but what emerged from the dust was a human running.
“A human……?”
“What? Why’s there a human here?”
The running human approached like a gust of wind, then suddenly stopped in place and leaped high. Vertically. The force was so powerful that even the archers staggered amid the dust cloud.
“Kuh! What the!?”
“H-He flew into the sky!”
“Magic?”
“My god…… Huh? He’s plucking them! He plucked them!!”
At that moment, he had leaped to where the Rice Eaters were and, in an instant, weaved between them, plucking the feathers from their crowns. Thud! Falling from that height should have splattered him like a watermelon, yet the man stood there as if nothing had happened. In his hands were dozens of Rice Eater feathers.
Looking up, the Rice Eaters seemed confused. A natural reaction—some strange human had suddenly appeared and stolen their one and only cherished feather. Some researcher had once said that a Rice Eater’s feather was like their last remaining pride.
But more than that—
“How did he……?”
The man grinned and waved the feathers.
“Sorry, but I got here first.”
He boldly declared his claim. This was his hunting ground, so they should scram.
“What……”
Just then, the merchant who had been staring blankly finally grasped the situation and shouted in fury.
“What are you doing! That bastard stole our prey! Even if you have to kill him, get it back right now!!”
At the cry filled with greed and rage, the mercenaries drew their swords while the archers hurriedly nocked arrows. Seeing their reaction, the man smirked.
“When it comes to the best farming method, nothing beats farming humans.”
[Whether he’s a noble…… or a bandit……]
[(つд｀)]
Only a sigh escaped.