Chapter 314
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Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your 【Increased Health Recovery Speed】 level has increased.
Your 【Increased Mana Recovery Speed】 level has increased.
Your 【Precise Mana Control】 level has increased.
Your 【Talisman Arts】 level has increased.
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The construction work was progressing smoothly. Only a few buildings remained to be demolished, and new houses were rapidly beginning to rise on the cleared lots. The place was transforming from a desolate ruin into a lively city. It was deeply moving.
Personally, I found the construction work enjoyable, but Jigoro and Genjuro occasionally dragged me out into the field to fight on the grounds that I would become rusty otherwise, so my level had risen as well. I was close to learning new spells for nearly every elemental school of magic, but for now I had mainly been using 【Necromancy】 and 【Dark Arts】, which I had not been able to use much lately. If I could only use ordinary magic, there would be no point in having learned those other arts.
Fighting the monsters in 『Spear Rock Fortune Mine』 had been enjoyable as well. They had high resistance to physical attacks, but many of them seemed weak to every kind of magic except certain elements, making them perfect prey for me.
However, I was concerned that my instant-death attacks with 【Dark Arts】 had clearly become easier to land. Was that because my level had increased, because I had become an Undead Lord or an Evil Lord, or all of the above? I had no way to verify it without anything to compare it against.
I had never encountered an enemy with a Skill called Instant Death Resistance, but anyone who fought me seriously would surely take precautions. There were probably items that granted resistance as well, so I must never become complacent.
"That is why I humbly propose that we search for special sand!"
"...What brought this on all of a sudden?"
When I logged in and headed for the city square, Shiitake was standing in front of Cal with her arms folded. For some reason, she had begun telling me to search for sand without explaining anything at all.
There was no way I could agree to that. As I looked at her suspiciously, Iris, who had been riding a transport Golem and scrubbing Cal's back with a brush, stopped and came over to us.
"Sorry, Izaam. Shiitake was saying things like, 'If I push hard enough, you'll give us the go-ahead...'"
"Grrrrrrrr..."
It was hardly Iris's fault. Cal, on the other hand, was moaning sadly because the brushing had been interrupted. Brushing with so many tentacles must have felt exceptionally good. Just wait a little longer; I'll have her resume it right away.
"Explain everything in order. What do you mean when you say we need special sand?"
"Researcher Iris! Explain yourself!"
"Researcher...? Sigh... Um, you remember how we learned that we could obtain cement by mining anthills? We found out that mixing items into it while hardening it can imbue the cement with some kind of effect."
"What...? That's a major discovery!"
A large quantity of stone and cement would be needed to reinforce the city walls. The hard stone would have patterns carved into it by the Scars, but it would be even better if the cement connecting those stones possessed some kind of power as well.
So that was why Shiitake had suggested searching for sand to mix in. She should have started with that explanation; it left me at a loss otherwise. I wished Shiitake would fix that habit, though I doubted it would ever happen.
"It doesn't have to be sand, strictly speaking. Powder made by crushing ore seems to grant physical resistance, while mixing in Magic Stones grants magical resistance. However, there is a limit to how much can be mixed in, so I want samples to find the best combination."
"I see. So you want various kinds of sand for that purpose. Do you have any idea where to look?"
"Remember the scenery we saw when we came to this continent!"
The scenery we saw when we came to this continent...? Let's see. From Shiratsuki, we saw places we had already visited, a burning forest, a blizzard-swept ice field, and a poisonous swamp, and... Ah! Come to think of it, there was a strange desert, too!
In other words, she wanted to retrieve sand from that desert where purple sandstorms swirled. It was a familiar trope that items from harsh environments tended to have superior performance. Certainly, sand from that world-ending desert might meet Shiitake's standards.
"Our next objective is decided, then. Where was it again? I think..."
"According to the data Shiratsuki scanned, it seems to be beyond the 'Dark Forest of Temptation,' where the Dark Elves live."
"Does that mean we will have to hide from that centipede monster and pass through the forest again?"
The giant centipede we had seen in the 'Dark Forest of Temptation' was a Planshell Emperor Centipede called Experiment No. 0802. Crossing the forest to reach the desert without fighting that monstrous aberration would be arduous. We would have to ask the Dark Elves whether they knew of a shortcut.
However, we had a conspiracy underway with Conrad. We would probably have to investigate the desert after that was finished. With so few of us, it was difficult to pursue several projects at once. For now, we needed to focus on rebuilding and bringing our conspiracy to fruition.
"Aiming for the desert sounds interesting, but we need to prepare first. I want you to keep it low on the priority list until all the projects currently underway are finished."
"Aye, Your Majesty! As you command~"
"It's rare to hear someone call you King with so little respect... Oh, there's an event announcement from the administrators!"
As if it had been waiting for us to finish talking, a message from the administrators arrived for all of us Players. As Iris had said, it was an announcement for an event beginning one week later.
Oh? This event seemed to be an unusual affair. Its title was 'A Wonderful Aspect of Autumn: Food.' As for what kind of event it was, the administrators would distribute one flowerpot to each person, and we would grow a plant in it over the course of two weeks.
It seemed we could choose what to plant, with a wide selection limited to edible plants, from vegetables and tubers to grains and fruit-tree saplings. The harvested vegetables and fruit would belong to the Player who grew them, while at the end of the event, the flowerpot and the plant growing in it would disappear, leaving behind its seeds instead.
The flowerpots were items made by the goddess specifically for the event and could not be given to anyone else. Plants grown in them would never wither, and no matter which seed we chose, the plant would inevitably produce a harvest within two weeks. The announcement warned us that it was the specially made flowerpots that were so remarkable; the seeds left after the event would wither quickly if cultivated carelessly.
It also stated that plants grown in the flowerpots were prone to mutation, and that new species might be born depending on the fertilizer and growing environment. Only a game could claim that mutations that occurred at low rates in reality would happen frequently.
If I succeeded in mutating a plant into a new species, I would be guaranteed to obtain its seeds. If I managed to create a plant with useful effects, the value of those seeds would be immeasurable.
This did not seem to be the sort of event where Players competed against one another, but that was precisely why even Players who could not hope to shine in combat tournaments would have a chance to become heroes. Even beginners might be able to make a fortune. It was an unusual event, but it looked like it would be an interesting one.
"Jigoro probably won't be interested in an event like this, but I think it's a good idea regardless. We might be able to create crops suited to this continent's environment."
"We might even be able to create fruit trees that don't exist in the 'Dark Forest of Temptation.' Once the event begins, let's ask the Dark Elves what they think."
"Whoa! This is a tough choice! Should I aim for an edible medicine packed with medicinal effects? Or go for a deadly poison that sends you straight to heaven with a single lick? Which one should I choose?!"
Iris and I thought we might be able to create plants useful to the people living in the city, but Shiitake was fired up over creating a plant suited to her own 【Alchemy】. This event would surely delight Players with production Jobs, beginning with 【Alchemy】.
"Hey, bros. So there's another event coming up, huh?"
"It's more like a home vegetable garden than gardening, isn't it?"
As we were getting excited about the event, Jigoro arrived with Ruby perched on his head. The two of them had apparently finished reading the event announcement as well. Jigoro seemed uninterested and scratched his butt, while Ruby trembled as if she was looking forward to it.
"If it ain't a fight, I couldn't care less."
"Huh? It's a special event, so let's all enjoy it."
"Enjoy it? I don't care unless it's a brawl or something where the outcome matters."
Ruby shaped its surface into a hand and repeatedly smacked Jigoro's head and tugged on his horns, but the two of them remained unenthusiastic. This was simply a matter of Jigoro's preferences, so there was nothing to be done about it. That was why I had no intention of taking either side.
However, Iris was the one to shake things up. As she returned to brushing Cal, she opened her mouth with an idea that had just occurred to her.
"What if we held a competition just among ourselves?"
"What do you mean?"
"Um, we could recruit a few judges and have them eat the plants we grow for the event. Whoever receives the highest rating for taste wins... Something like that?"
"Hmm, so it would be a taste-test competition? Sounds good to me."
Iris had probably made the suggestion on a whim, but I thought it was an excellent idea. We could choose the impartial judges from among the city's residents. If we told them to grow the plants in the fields once reconstruction was complete, they would give us an unbiased verdict.
Many of the Scars had been settled here from the beginning, of course, but surprisingly many Centaurs who had only just found permanent homes also wanted to take up farming. This seemed particularly common among those who were poor at hunting.
People had different aptitudes, so there was nothing wrong with wanting to till the soil. Everyone was delighted to have been freed from a situation in which hunting and gathering had been their only options.
"How about selecting around two representatives from among each Race's notable members? We could also divide it into categories: a gourmet division for simply competing over taste, and a staple-food division for grains and tubers eaten every day. If we end up with several varieties that contain poison and can't be eaten... we can add a poison division. How does that sound?"
"Yes! This way, I might be able to beat Jigoro!"
"If it's gonna be a competition, that's a different story. I'll grow mine seriously!"
The moment we turned it into a competition, Jigoro became enthusiastic as well. Then it was settled. It would be fun to use the event as an excuse to play together within the clan. After prefacing my announcement by saying that participation was not mandatory, I told everyone in clan chat that we would be holding a taste-test competition and explained its general outline.