Chapter 91

Power Level Increased

「…Ugh…」

As soon as I swallowed the concoction, indescribable bitterness took over my entire mouth. Still it was a lot better than I had expected. I thought for sure it wouldn’t get past my throat, but it simply tasted horrible.

The moment I downed it all, I felt my body warm up inside. I think that means my Skill’s level went up.

「Steam Explosion.」

Once again I used the spell to test its power. The next instant, an earth-shattering roar – way louder than my first attempt earlier – rolled through the air. Nearby trees and those in the distance were uprooted and blown away.

「There’s this much difference in power with just one level, huh…」I muttered to myself.

The change was too much. I had almost all my Skills maxed out in BBO so it’s been a while since I’ve levelled up a Skill.

Just a step from level one to level two and Steam Explosion was like a completely different spell. I had to resort to using combos and tricks to kill monsters in the Forest of Death, but now I can take them all down by simply chanting this one Skill.

It seems I was right in deciding to level up Steam Explosion. I’m sure it’ll come in handy in a time of crisis.

◇

Five days later.

I’m at the belladonna plantation to supervise the operation. I was only supposed to be a guard, but I had too much time to spare so I took on this role as well. Also I’m the one who’s the most familiar with how to grow belladonnas. I thought I’d teach people first about how to do it.

「The amount of harvest is just as originally expected. We’re doing great!」

The one who gave me the report was Saibin, the manager of this plantation. His job class is『Grappler』, a hand-to-hand combat type that belonged to the inferior classes. Before he came here, he utilized his outstanding physical abilities to work on a farm.

「Good. Belladonnas sure grow fast.」

They were already almost ready for harvest. The amount is also just as we had forecasted – just right for the huge plantation that Count Meigis had created. We’ll be able to harvest 2,000 of them today which will make 40 healing medicines.

「Yeah. I thought growing belladonnas was impossible at first, but was I wrong. I’ve never grown anything as easy as this.」Saibin said, smiling.

There were bags under his eyes. Belladonnas grow fast, sure, but they’re not easy to manage either. You’ll end up with half the normal harvest if you don’t handle them well. If you want to increase the amount of harvest, you’d have to give it more time and effort as well.

Count Meigis is doing his best to gather people, but since he’s rounding up only people he can trust, it’s taking some time. Even if they’re willing to take the job, they still have their daily livelihood so they can’t really work during the day. They might come if ordered by the Count. But one of the reasons he was popular, is because he doesn’t do things like that.

As a result, we only have half the number of people than what we estimated. I thought for sure it would take at least a month to harvest this much, but contrary to my expectations, the belladonnas had grown the entire plantation area right off the start. It was Saibin who made this possible.

「It must’ve been tough. You look like you barely had any rest.」

I haven’t seen Saibin sleep or take a break the past few days. He’d spend all day watching the plantation, removing weeds, adjusting the number of monster corpses so the sun beans grow uniformly, or doing some fine tuning on the amount of water for the plants. I’d explained beforehand what to do to increase the amount of harvest, but I never thought they’d be able to pull it off perfectly with the current manpower.

「I’m going to fulfill the duty Count Meigis had entrusted to me even if it costs me my life.」Saibin muttered.

I can see why Saibin was designated as this secret farm’s first manager. Even among the Count’s subjects, he was extremely loyal to his lord.

Saibin was originally an adventurer. When his party encountered a strong monster, they abandoned him and he suffered career-ending injuries, which made him unable to fight anymore. As horrible as it sounds, this wasn’t that unusual for those with inferior job classes. It was easy for people to make excuses like “It’s not our fault. It’s because of his awful class.”

Having lost his source of income and almost starving to death, he was saved by Count Meigis and received a plot of land. That was how he became a farmer. As such, he was especially loyal to the Count.

「You should get some shut-eye. You’re going to collapse at this rate.」I said, pointing at the cabin built in the corner of the secret farm.

We had taken a few measures to keep this farm a secret and one of them is the cabin. Living quarters were built so that people can stay here while working. As such there was no need to return to town, thereby keeping the chances of our operation getting leaked low.

Saibin, however, had only used the living quarters during the first two days – when the sun beans were ready and before the work on the belladonnas started. Once the belladonnas were planted, he literally had kept working without rest.

「Count Meigis saved me and I’d gladly lay down my life for him.」he said as he staggered towards the field, pulling out sun beans sprouting on the belladonna plantation, roots and all.

Sun beans are vigorous. If they start sprouting around the belladonnas, they’ll destroy the plantation.

He has an important duty to fulfill, all right…