“If no one wants it, I guess it’s okay to take it, right?”
“We can grow rice freely here, right?”
When I said that to Nara-kun, he looked around with a puzzled expression.
“Is this a farming village? But there’s no one around, and there aren’t any crops at all…”
The buildings and land are in the form of a farming village, but there are no farmers or crops here.
I’ll tell Nara-kun, who is wondering about that, the answer.
“Well, yeah. This is Lindor’s farming village, after all.”
“…”
When I told Nara-kun the answer, he looked apologetic.
“Isn’t that like looting a fire scene…?”
“Why? The farmers here already took their belongings and ran. What’s wrong with us using the land that they abandoned?”
This is now free land with no ownership.
After all, the country that managed it is gone.
When I reminded him of that fact, Nara-kun said “Ah” and looked convinced.
“That’s true. Well then, Jonas-san, shall we begin?”
Nara-kun was convinced, so I called out to Jonas, who I brought for agricultural guidance, but Jonas was squatting down, touching the soil, and had a stern look on his face.
“…Kenta-dono said there was a good place, so I came, but… Kenta-dono.”
“What is it?”
“This is no good. The soil has no power. Nothing will grow in this soil.”
Oh, as expected of Jonas, who makes his living from agriculture. He immediately noticed the problem with this land.
But…
“Yeah, I know it’s no good as it is.”
That’s the reason why Lindor fell in the first place.
“No, if you knew, then why…”
“Well, there’s a way that the soil might be revived. I want to try it once.”
When I said that, Jonas’s eyes widened.
“R-really? This soil? How…”
“In the first place, the reason why Lindor’s land became barren is because the Summoning Magic Circle absorbed the magic power within Lindor.”
Not only Lindor, but some of the surrounding countries were also affected, so it seems that the second summoning in a short period was truly fatal.
Thinking about it, wasn’t the first time pretty dangerous too?
Maybe there were reports of reduced harvests from the farming villages.
But what if the upper echelons, including the Royal Family, ignored that information as insignificant?
Well, that’s highly likely, but there’s no way to know now.
Anyway, the cause of this is that the magic power disappeared from the land.
If it’s gone…
“If we replenish that magic power…”
I squatted down and started pouring magic power into what used to be a field.
I wasn’t just letting the magic power flow, but carefully and meticulously blending it into the soil.
After pouring magic power for a while, I had Jonas check it again.
Jonas had a doubtful look on his face, but the moment he touched the soil where I had replenished and blended the magic power, his eyes widened.
“What!? The soil! The soil is reviving!!”
“Eh? Seriously?”
When Nara-kun said that, he touched the soil just like Jonas.
Then, he said with a serious face.
“…I can’t tell the difference.”
I thought so.
“Compare the magic power content with the soil from other fields. Then you’ll understand.”
“Ah, yes.”
Nara-kun replied to my words and picked up the soil from a field where I hadn’t yet poured magic power.
Then, just like Jonas, his eyes widened.
“Eh!? Is this for real!? It’s completely different!?”
He finally understood the difference.
I mean, Nara-kun is training in magic, so he can tell the difference in magic power content, but Jonas, being a Human Tribe, isn’t good at controlling magic power.
Yet, he can tell the difference in the soil… As expected of Jonas, a capable man.
“That’s the solution I was talking about. If the magic power is gone from the soil and it’s unusable, then we just need to add magic power.”
“…But then, why didn’t Lindor do that?”
Nara-kun is saying that, but aren’t you forgetting something?
“It’s impossible. You have to carefully blend the soil and magic power like I just did. It’s an impossible task for the Human Tribe, who have little magic power in the first place. I doubt even the Demon Tribe could do it.”
The soil and magic power wouldn’t blend without such delicate magic power manipulation.
It’s easy to take it away, though.
When it comes to blending it, the difficulty suddenly skyrockets.
Not to mention the Human Tribe, who struggle even to control a small amount of magic power, it’s doubtful whether even the Demon Tribe, who are good at magic power manipulation, could do it.
“For now, I’ll revive the soil in the fields of this village, and then Jonas, teach Nara-kun how to make rice paddies.”
“Alright. I understand.”
“Please take care of me, Jonas-san!!”
Nara-kun replied energetically and is learning how to make rice paddies from Jonas.
In the meantime, I’ll blend magic power into all the fields in the village.
By the time Nara-kun and Jonas started actually making rice paddies, I had finished infusing magic power into all the fields.
“Well, Nara-kun being able to use magic is just too convenient. The work of filling the paddies with water was finished right away.”
“Hehe. After all, Maya-san is training me hard.”
“Ah…”
When Nara-kun proudly told Jonas that he was receiving my guidance, Jonas looked at Nara-kun with a very pitiful gaze.
“W-what is it?”
“No… I just thought Nara-kun is having a hard time.”
When Jonas said that, Nara-kun looked at me with a glare.
“Maya-san.”
“What is it?”
“What did you do to Jonas-san? I just got a look from Jonas-san like I’m a very pitiful person.”
“I didn’t do anything to Jonas.”
That’s the truth.
Because Jonas is a capable man.
“To Jonas-san ‘specifically’?”
Ah, this guy noticed.
“That’s right. When Kenta-dono first came to our village, the village chief’s son was the one who dealt with him… Well, at that time, it was so refreshing to watch… He was so pitifully cornered. It was sad.”
“Eh, Jonas-san, didn’t you almost say ‘refreshing’ just now?”
Yeah, he almost said it.
“…The village chief’s son couldn’t do his job, but he acted all high and mighty just because he was the village chief’s son.”
Ah, he’s ignoring it and continuing the story.
“Even though he couldn’t do his job, no one could say anything because he was the village chief’s son. But Kenta-dono didn’t care about that, so he was asked a bunch of mean questions by Kenta-dono, and he couldn’t answer anything, and in the end, he was made fun of. Then that guy got angry…”
“…At Maya-san?”
“Yeah… At Kenta-dono.”
“…I can pretty much imagine it, but I’ll listen to the rest.”
“Is that so? Well, the village chief’s son who tried to punch Kenta-dono was easily defeated by Kenta-dono… He was almost killed, but the village chief begged for his life and somehow it was resolved.”
“Wow… That’s exactly how I imagined it.”
Nara-kun, you’re starting to pick up Jonas’s way of speaking.
“But, how did Maya-san allow that? This person kills anyone who goes against him, right?”
“What do you mean ‘kills instantly’? I’ve never heard that before.”
“No, it was really that close. That’s when the village chief stepped in.”
Huh? My retort was ignored?
…Well, it’s Jonas, so it’s fine.
“Hee. That’s really life-threatening. Were you moved by his spirit or something?”
“No. I said that someone who leaves such an incompetent person in charge shouldn’t be the chief. I said that the condition for saving him was for you to step down as chief. The village chief was fired on the spot, and I became the village chief instead.”
“Eh!? Jonas-san, you were the village chief!?”
Jonas is the most capable person in that village.
I appointed him on the spot.
“Yeah. Since then, the atmosphere in the village has improved, and everyone in that village is grateful to Kenta-dono.”
“Hee. So that’s what happened.”
“Yeah. So, I thought that receiving the guidance of Kenta-dono, who is so strict, must be really tough, and I felt sorry for you.”
I’m not particularly strict.
I just got angry because I asked obvious questions and didn’t get obvious answers.
I’m only giving Nara-kun normal guidance too.
“Ahaha. But, Maya-san has never given me unreasonable guidance.”
When Nara-kun said that, Jonas looked at me with admiration.
“So, that Wanted poster is probably a mistake.”
“Eh? Jonas-san, do you know that Maya-san is a wanted criminal?”
Oh, Nara-kun, isn’t that a bit of a rude question?
“Hahaha. You think I’d get that kind of information in such a remote mountain village?”
“N-no, that’s not it! It’s just that Jonas-san is accepting Maya-san so normally, I thought he didn’t know that he was a wanted criminal.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. Well, I only found out after Kenta-dono came to the village, though. From that time, I thought it was some kind of mistake. That’s why, even after you came to the village several times, I just treated you normally.”
I visited Jonas’s village after I half-destroyed Lindor and ran away.
I had seen a description that a former Summoner had been experimenting in a village deep in the Tanda mountains to make Japanese food.
Since my top priority was to escape, I fled to that village, which I thought no one would know about.
By the way, I met Meileen after this.
In that village, I first encountered a strange event, but after that, Jonas and the others treated me very well.
That’s why, although the rice is so-so, I regularly go to buy things like miso, soy sauce, and pickles.
As a way of repaying their kindness.
Well, I don’t intend to say that, though.
Jonas also seems to have sensed that, and he hasn’t told Nara-kun anything more unnecessary.
As expected of Jonas, a capable man.
While we were talking, the rice paddy was completed, and I used plant growth acceleration magic to finish the day’s work.
And then, during the days of selective breeding, I resolved to make sure Nara-kun absolutely learned Teleportation Magic.
Betrayal or whatever, I don’t care anymore.
It’s just, it’s such a pain in the ass!