Seisan Mahoushi no Rakuraku Henkyou Kaitaku – Saikyou no Ajintachi to Howaito Kokka wo Kizukimasu!

Chapter 101 – Fully Grown?

I was driving the carriage back to Fendel village.

We had left Solm and the others at Varthburg fortress early in the morning, and we were now traveling between the trees on the forest road. By now, the sky near the horizon was already turning a pale red.

Normally, it would have taken us another half hour to reach the village, but it looked like it would only take us ten minutes.

Because normally, we would not have been able to travel through the forest in a carriage.

“I didn’t know the Ents could do such things.”

Melk sounded impressed as she rode in the back.

The trees that were in front of us moved as if opening a path. This tunnel of trees was quite fantastical.

Iria nodded with agreement.

“It really is amazing, Ms. Ecleshia!”

The woman with long green hair, who walked ahead… Ecleshia, the Ent, turned around and said,

“It is nothing. For us, merely having the trees move is much easier than cutting them down. And you prefer it this way, don’t you, Joshua?”

“Indeed. If there was a real road, then it would also be easier for the humans and Demon King army to attack. The forest is like a natural wall.”

If we were to trade with Solm and the others, then having a road that connected to the village would be ideal.

However, it was possible that such a road would be used by others as well. And so for our own safety, it was better for Fendel to be surrounded by a forest.

As Ecleshia started walking again, Mette called out to her.

“But more importantly, Ecleshia. Why did you come?”

“I-I just happened to be around, tending to the forest. Like Joshua says, this forest is very important to Fendel. And it was only as I was inspecting the trees that I came upon you coming down the road.”

Mette looked at Ecleshia with suspicion.

“Still, it was good timing. You just suddenly appeared as we were about to enter the forest…”

“I think Ecleshia was just worried about Joshua. Though, the same could be said for Mette and Asuha as well.”

Melk declared, and then Mette’s face turned red.

“No-no! As I said this morning, I was following some monsters!”

“I in no way acted based on any personal desires.”

Asuha also denied all accusations.

“Well, never mind that. In the end, everyone is safe, and we’re able to return sooner than expected. So it was for the best. Besides, the village’s defenses are enough now. As for assigning job roles, the elders of each tribe can do that. So there is no need to worry so much.”

“Indeed. If they are capable of speech, then we will not be the first to attack. And so if anyone sees someone or a living creature they have never seen before, they are instructed to run back to the walls… Even the children understand this.”

I nodded at Iria’s words.

We had a wall and even a moat. There were tall watch towers as well. And in every direction, we had Tengu and slime scouts. Our defense structure was more than adequate.

And so, there was nothing to worry about… It was just as I was thinking this.

“Baaahhh! This is madness! Maaadness!!”

Shouted a hairball as it ran towards us, its footsteps echoing loudly.

It was Celes the Mope.

She had been sheared yesterday, but her wool had already grown… That was how Mopes were.

Mette looked at her with exasperation.

“You’ll have to be more specific, Celes. What happened?”

“Ye-yes. It’s the fields! It’s insane!”

“The fields? The crows… Have the Arrow Crows come back?”

“That’s not it! It’s not in danger or anything, but… You have to come and see!”

‘Baahhh!’ Celes shouted as she thundered back down the path she had come.

“I was just thinking about how to expand the fields. So I suppose I’ll take a look before it gets dark.”

And so we followed after Celes and headed to the fields.

We came out of the forest and drove along the side of the walls to the south, towards the fields near the river.

Here, we had planted Grank wheat and Demon King turnips. Perhaps the turnips are fully grown now? It has been nearly a month since we planted them. While it was a little early, the Ents had the power to accelerate the growth of plants.

As I was thinking this, what came into view was…

“This is…!”

A carpet of gold… Along the river, spread out a vast field of wheat that glimmered in a golden color beneath the setting sun.

I gasped at the sheer beauty of it and stopped the carriage.

Iria, Melk and the others also looked astonished by it.

“It’s so pretty…”

“…Reeds? I’ve never seen such a thing.”

As Melk said, it did look like a reed bed.

However, there was no doubt about it. This was where we had planted the Grank wheat.

I hesitantly turned towards Ecleshia.

“Did we grow such a thing? Ecleshia?”

Ecleshia also stood there as if stunned.

“Wh-why? It was a type of wheat. And this morning, there wasn’t so much as an ear to be seen…”

Apparently, this was also a surprise for Ecleshia and the Ents.

I thought back on Bayron of the Grank mercenaries had said when he gave the wheat to me. He said that they grew strong with just a little water, and that we might find it difficult to keep up with the harvest.

The Grank mercenaries were tigerfolk whose homeland was originally in desert territory.

In other words, the Grank wheat would have been grown in the desert or in some oasis.

As it was land where food supplies were hard to secure, they might have modified them to grow faster.

And because this was Grank wheat, this Fendel soil and the power of the Ents combined had made them grow this quickly. But even then, it seemed too fast…

Regardless, I drove the carriage closer to the fields.

It was a lot shinier than a normal wheat field. It really did look like a carpet made of gold thread.

And when I got down from the carriage to have a closer look, I saw that they were fully grown.

“It smells so nice…”

Melk took in a deep breath. The others did the same.

Judging by the smell alone, it seemed that they had grown enough to eat.

There were also birds pecking at them, so they were clearly not poisonous.

“We’ll be able to make bread now.”

“That thing you were eating at the fortress? It was surprisingly chewy and good.”

Melk said, and I nodded.

“Aye. And that was baked to be extra hard, so it would preserve. But freshly baked bread is a lot softer and delicious.”

“I don’t know much about bread, but this smell… It must be something very delicious indeed. I want to eat it too!”

Said Mette, and then Celes raised her voice with a ‘I want to eat bread too! It’s amazing!’ So the Mopes knew about bread. As they had talked about how bad the food was with the Demon King Army, perhaps bread was a rare treat for them.

“…Very well. Let’s harvest the wheat then. Not only must we expand the wheat fields, but we also have to plant the seeds we got from Varthburg… But today…”

Iria smiled at my words and nodded.

“It is such a beautiful sight. Can we not gaze at the fields until it is night time?”

“You’re right.”

And so as the sun set, we took in the view of the wheat fields swaying in the wind.