Chapter 76
Early weekend morning.
* Baa\~
I opened my eyes at the sound.
Turning my gaze that way, I saw Lapin playing with the sea otter and the lamb as usual.
Perhaps noticing my stare, Lapin waved at me gently.
I got up from bed and washed my face.
‘She could at least eat breakfast before coming here…….’
I went into the storage room and naturally prepared a meal for two.
I had told her that if she wanted to come to the livestock shed, she should eat breakfast first, but Lapin had never listened.
Since it felt awkward to eat alone while she quietly watched, I ended up preparing a portion for Lapin too.
‘Looks like my cooking skills have improved quite a bit.’
Before I knew it, I had begun to take pride in it.
I took out salmon neck meat from subspace.
It was seasoned with olive oil, pink salt, pepper, and rosemary.
‘Exactly as I put it in subspace yesterday.’
Since it wasn’t frozen, there was no need to thaw it.
It seemed that time didn’t flow inside subspace.
‘I was worried about how to get a refrigerator, but this solves the problem.’
Thanks to that, storing food was convenient.
While searching for flint to light the fire, I suddenly thought.
‘Don’t I not need this anymore……?’
I touched my index finger to the firewood in the hearth.
A flame the size of a lighter caught onto the firewood.
Whoosh! Black fire began to blaze up.
‘……No reason to look for flint anymore.’
Hwayo’s ability had been too powerful for practical use in daily life.
‘But this fusion technique is really convenient.’
It didn’t consume any cost, and the intensity of the flame could be adjusted.
My growth had even extended to making daily life easier.
Sizzle!
The sound and smell of meat grilling spread through the air.
Soon enough, Lapin came trotting over, peeking her head through the door.
Just then, I was dividing the meat onto plates.
“It’s ready, come in.”
I used a large box as a table and placed the dishes on top.
Lapin sat on a small box and stared at it.
“Oh……”
Looking at the plate full of salmon steak and eggs, Lapin let out a small sigh of admiration.
When I placed vegetables on it, Lapin’s eyebrows furrowed in an X-shape.
“I don’t like vegetables.”
“I don’t want to bother throwing away food waste, so eat it all.”
“Ugh.”
Lapin hesitated for a moment, then ate everything, not leaving a single vegetable.
* Chomp, chomp.
Even the sea otter in Lapin’s arms carried salmon to its mouth, making sounds of enjoyment.
After the meal, I resumed livestock shed work.
As payment for breakfast, Lapin helped with some small chores.
‘They say humans are creatures of adaptation, huh.’
Livestock shed work had become ingrained in my body.
Thanks to building up my muscles and stamina, I didn’t tire easily.
Before the sun was high in the sky, I had already finished the livestock shed quest.
I entered the storage room.
It was the weekend, so I could rest all day, but I turned my eyes to the corner of the storage room.
In that corner lay several bundles.
They were seeds I had obtained the day before.
‘Should I try planting them?’
The weekend, with its spare time, was suitable for farming.
‘It’s not serious farming, just an experiment for now.’
Since it was the first attempt, I approached it with the lighthearted thought of tending only a small garden.
I took out a portion of each seed and placed them in a small storage case.
Carrying that along with farm tools, I walked to the back of the storage room.
‘Just preparing a plot this size took several days.’
A garden about 50 pyeong in size.
Now it looked like fertile soil.
But only a few days ago, it had been unused land, covered with small weeds and dry straw.
At first, I doubted whether this land could be used at all, but I had removed stones and crushed clumps of dirt.
When I raised furrows in the soil with farm tools, possibilities began to show.
That alone seemed to have taken about two days.
‘Even if crops grow quickly, preparing the field itself takes quite some time.’
Perhaps my effort had paid off.
The crumbly soil had already turned soft.
I had even mixed in some ‘special fertilizer’ into this soil.
Goddess’s Natural Fertilizer.
It’s odorless and full of nutrients.
With this alone, you can harvest very special and high-quality crops.
Where it came from is apparently a secret.
This item had been unlocked in the shop after clearing the latest episode.
Since I had been planning to farm anyway, I couldn’t resist buying it.
‘Everything sold in the shop has outstanding effects.’
I hadn’t checked it yet, but.
It should become good soil just as the description said.
It was a shop item worth trusting.
‘Now I just need to finish leveling the soil and plant.’
After finishing the last bit of work with the farm tools, I began sowing.
As the system instructed, I placed a few seeds at a time and covered them with soil.
On top of that, I poured plenty of water with a watering can.
‘Tomatoes, lettuce too……. Let’s try planting a variety.’
I was repeating the process at proper intervals when it happened.
“Villed, what are you doing?”
Lapin had come, probably out of curiosity.
I didn’t pay much attention and continued my work while speaking.
“Vegetables and other things…… right now I’m planting wheat.”
“I see.”
Lapin might not know.
But originally, wheat was said to be planted in winter.
‘But now it’s moving toward summer.’
Planting at the time when it should be harvested.
Anyone watching might think I looked strange.
‘But I have Boogie.’
A special ability that rapidly accelerates the growth of crops.
If I used that, I would be able to harvest quickly.
‘Crops are heavily influenced by their environment.’
Normally, one would have to build a greenhouse to maintain temperature, or wait for the seasons to change.
It seemed I could harvest crops while ignoring those environmental conditions.
……It was definitely a broken ability.
‘Planting itself is hard work though.’
I wiped away my sweat with the towel draped over my shoulder.
Even if it was tiring, I judged that it was worth the effort.
‘Ordinary crops can be obtained anytime.’
What I wanted were ‘special crops.’
‘In games, eating special consumables would permanently increase stats.’
Of course, it was only by something small, like 0.1.
But if accumulated over a long time, it would result in significant growth.
‘They were also extremely rare and expensive items to obtain.’
Maybe I could harvest such things from my own garden.
‘Of course, there’s no guarantee that crops raising stats will actually appear…….’
But the thought of what they might grow into was exciting.
They said farming was like raising children.
I felt like I was starting to understand that sentiment.
Time passed, and after finishing the sowing.
I stared intently at the area where I had planted tomatoes.
Before long, a system message appeared.
Estimated Time.
2399: 23: 57.
‘2400 hours…….’
That meant about 100 days.
‘As expected, farming normally takes quite a long time…….’
After checking the system message, I opened my palm.
A soil-dust card appeared in my hand, and a summoning circle shaped like a star was drawn in the air.
From the summoning circle, a turtle burst out.
* Squeak.
Boogie appeared from there.
I caught Boogie in my arms as he fell from the air.
He felt heavy.
“……Were you always this heavy?”
* Squeak.
Boogie tilted his head, as if he didn’t know either.
At some point, his body had grown enough to be obvious at a glance.
Whereas before I could hold him with one hand, now I needed both arms.
‘Even though my strength has improved, he feels heavier than before. He must really weigh more now.’
As Boogie’s level had risen, he showed clear signs of growth.
‘Maybe he’ll evolve into an adolescent soon?’
Such expectations came to mind.
But what mattered now were the crops.
“Anyway, Boogie. Can you help me?”
I asked while pointing out the field, and Boogie slowly looked around.
* Squeak!
He nodded, as if it was obvious.
“Thanks.”
I set Boogie down at the edge of the field.
When he closed his eyes, a faint green light began to spread through the surrounding soil.
‘……The effect kicked in.’
After confirming Boogie’s effect, I looked again at the tomato patch.
Estimated Time: 233: 37: 55.
If constantly blessed by Boogie, it would take this long.
‘About 10 days?’
The time had been cut down to about one-tenth.
The effect was remarkable, and at the same time—
‘Is this really okay?’
I couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
It meant I would need to keep Boogie summoned for more than 10 days.
Of course, I didn’t need to spend cost for now.
The problem wasn’t me, but Boogie.
‘This might harm Boogie.’
Since it was such a special ability, he might experience fatigue.
I had no intention of working him like a slave driver 24/7.
“Hey, Boogie. You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
* Squeak?
Boogie just looked at me as usual.
“Well…… you’re not tired, or exhausted or anything?”
* Squeak, squeak.
It seemed like he was saying not at all.
I couldn’t communicate in words, but the feeling was conveyed clearly.
“Don’t push yourself. If it gets hard, tell me anytime.”
* Squeak.
Boogie nodded, as if to say he understood.
After confirming that, I turned my gaze to the corner of the field.
‘How long will wheat take?’
When I stared at the wheat plot, the system message appeared.
Estimated Time: 504: 45: 39.
A crop that normally took months to grow could now be harvested in only about 20 days.
‘Looks like I might be able to harvest it somehow before the exam.’
After checking that, I was about to turn back toward the storage room.
“Villed!”
I turned toward the voice and saw Karin running over.
She was holding a bundle of papers in her arms as if it were something very precious.
“I’ve been preparing this, but keep in mind it’s only a draft and read it.”
I skimmed through the paper Karin handed me.
‘She really captured my idea.’
There were dozens of cited references.
Of course, I was the one who had told her all of them.
“You practically lived in the library, huh.”
“This much is basic!”
I looked at Karin, who answered as if it were nothing.
‘They say she already has two other papers on totems.’
According to setting, she was considered a once-in-a-century genius when it came to totems.
Even her teacher, Professor Capella, had praised her as a talent surpassing himself.
I returned the paper to Karin and spoke.
“……Well done. Just fix up the little details, review it, and then submit it.”
“Yeah, now I just need to study for the exam. I really need to avoid failing. My biggest problem is definitely Understanding of Basic Magic……”
Karin let out a big sigh.
“Professor Belzrover said this exam will be super difficult too. Even the top students are nervous.”
“……Belzrover?”
A name I shouldn’t have heard entered my ears.
I asked Karin again.
“That professor is still at the school?”
Karin tilted her head and blinked.
“Mm-hm, of course. He’s doing fine……? Did he go on an external assignment or something? As far as I know, he doesn’t have those…… Why, is something wrong?”
“……No.”
I clicked my tongue and let out a short sigh.
‘Why.’
After the Victory Festival incident.
He was supposed to be gone from his position, yet he was still at Yggdrasil.
‘The timeline has shifted.’
Professor Belzrover’s departure had failed.
The main storyline had been thrown off course.