What Do You Need for Gardening?

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Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.

Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.

【Earth Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the Earth Fortress spell.

【Water-Ice Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the Ice Age spell.

【Fire Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the Flare Fall spell.

【Storm Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the Storm Edge spell.

【Dark Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the Abyss Gate spell.

【Command】 level has increased.

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You logged in. The effects of the Twentino incident spread beyond the players, affecting the entire Kingdom of Lichtesburg. The disruption at the trade port apparently stalled the flow of goods throughout the country, driving up prices everywhere. The rising prices led players to relocate, increasing the number of players traveling to other countries and continents.

The Luxresia Continent had other countries besides the Kingdom of Lichtesburg, the players' initial respawn point, and apparently some of them had set sail for other continents. It seems even countries that had done nothing but drive out monsters suffered considerable damage. Kukuku, this is what you call delightful!

The extermination party was beaten to a pulp by the ballista we gave them and apparently returned in a sorry state. They subsequently searched the entire sea area, but couldn't find the 'Austin Gang.' However, that wasn't to say they had achieved nothing. In addition to the uninhabited island the pirates had used as a base, they apparently discovered an island no one had found before in waters even more infested with monsters.

Apparently, rare medicinal herbs grow wild on the undiscovered island, and anyone capable of crossing the sea can make a substantial profit. I heard in a message that Conrart promptly used armed merchant ships to harvest and sell them himself, turning a profit. His nose for business is truly impressive!

After the pirate incident ended, I repeatedly hunted and gathered while overseeing the town's construction and leading our residents, such as the Scars and Centaurs. Thanks to that, I leveled up once and learned several new spells.

"Well, the event is about to start, and somehow or other, everyone has shown up."

"Of course we did. If we miss the starting dash, we won't win a match we could otherwise take."

"Indeed. Jigorou speaks truth."

Today was the day the official autumn event, 'The Wonderful Side of Autumn: Food,' began. It was an event about growing plants, and even Jigorou and the others, who hadn't been enthusiastic about it, had all properly gathered in the palace conference room. It was merely a coincidence that everyone happened to have the day off, but it seemed that when it came to competition, everyone's motivation changed.

The administrators hadn't prepared anything for ranking the plants, but we had decided to hold a contest for plants grown within our clan. We had already selected thirty-two judges from the four Races. They were evenly balanced by age and gender, so the results would surely be fair.

Incidentally, we decided that one elder or leader from each Race ought to be included, so we invited one representative from each. At the time, they asked in a roundabout way whether any special consideration would be necessary. They were probably trying to be considerate since I was their king. I politely declined, since it would go against my principles and Jigorou would probably beat me to death for it.

"Oh, the event's starting!"

"Um... Oh! Looks like we can claim a planter from the menu."

"The seeds become items after we choose them, huh?"

While we were doing that, the autumn event began. I read the message from the administrators, and the general details were the same as the advance information. However, one new feature had been added. After the event ended, a dedicated auction would be held for buying and selling the plants created during the event.

Apparently, there had been many requests from production-class players, especially those in Jobs that used a lot of plants, such as farmers, apothecaries, and alchemists. Once the event ended, an Auction option would be added to the menu, letting players list plants they had grown and participate in auctions. If I played my cards right, I might be able to make a fortune.

The planter in the menu was called the 'Goddess's Planter.' Isn't that a little too on-the-nose? Personally, I like how easy it is to understand, but I imagine plenty of people would have preferred something a little more creative.

"Let's split up here. Until the plants grow, don't try to find out what the others are doing."

"Sure thing."

"Guhuhuhuhu! Now then, what kind of plant should I grow?"

Shiitake skipped out of the conference room. I knew she was the one who had been looking forward to this event the most, so everyone, myself included, watched her leave with wry smiles.

No one else dashed out like she did, but we all left the conference room. Some people already seemed to have decided what they would do, while others were still worrying over something. I was among the latter—in other words, I still had something left to decide.

"Hmm, I have the basic idea of what I want to do, but... I feel like I want to add one more touch."

I sat in a chair in my room in the palace, turning various ideas over in my mind. The plant I wanted to create was a tree that could be used for lumber and would thrive in the vegetation around our base town. When I asked the Dark Elves, they told me that none of the trees they used as homes were suitable for lumber. Apparently, the properties of a living tree and the wood it became were two different matters.

So, in my spare time, I researched trees on the Internet. I was surprised to learn that there were so many kinds of lumber, but the beech tree was the one I found particularly interesting.

The beech tree, said to symbolize the richness of a forest, makes excellent lumber and even drops fruit—in other words, acorns. If I planted a grove, I could secure both lumber and food, and since beeches apparently grow tall, planting one in the town square as a symbol would be a good idea too.

There are issues, such as the difficulty of turning it into lumber and the complicated process required to make acorns edible, but this is a game, and magic exists, so I wanted to believe we could work around anything. If I ran into trouble, I could always borrow the wisdom of the Dark Elves, the plant specialists. For now, I should simply focus on creating it.

I had also decided what to use as soil, just as I had decided what plant to grow. It would be ash, which could be obtained without limit here in the Ashfall Hills. Since I planned to grow it in the town's environment, I couldn't use soil that had to be gathered from somewhere else. It would also give it a nice local-ingredient feel, so it seemed perfect.

What I was still unsure about was the fertilizer. Without it, I thought the tree would merely resemble a Mist-Spitting Ash Oak. If I was going to go to the trouble, I wanted to make a tree no one had ever seen before. For that, I felt I should add some kind of distinctive touch through the fertilizer. I couldn't help thinking that ash might count as fertilizer too, but I decided not to dwell on that.

"Using Cal's materials is a given, but... hmm."

I had already decided to use materials obtained from Cal. There were two of them: scales he had shed and his feces. Cal was intelligent, so he took care of his business outside the town. When I went hunting outside with him, I collected some for this event. Here was the result of using 【Appraisal】 on them as items.

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Dragon Feces　Quality: Excellent　Rarity: S (Special Grade)

The excrement of a dragon. It retains the dragon's magic power and the nutrients of the various monsters it consumed.

The condition of the feces reveals that the dragon is a healthy and happy individual, both physically and mentally, with a balanced diet, sufficient exercise, and little stress.

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After seeing the results of 【Appraisal】, I think I sat there alone with a creepy, delighted grin on my face. The feces had revealed that Cal was in good physical and mental condition. I was especially thrilled that it explicitly stated he was happy. Needless to say, I petted him so much afterward that Cal became confused.

Setting that aside, I had learned during an elementary or middle school field trip that cow and chicken manure were used as fertilizer, so I figured dragon feces would work too. There was no doubt that this manure, which still contained nutrients and magic power, would be useful. I also mixed in powder made by grinding Cal's old, shed scales in a mortar. That completed the fertilizer.

This might be enough by itself. However, as someone who likes to obsess over details, I couldn't help wondering whether there was one more thing I could do. I still hadn't thought of anything concrete, but I felt the idea was right on the tip of my tongue.

"I can't even imagine how to do something like intensify the sunlight... Should I add something else to the fertilizer? No, that would feel like adulterating Cal's dragon feces, and I personally can't accept that. I haven't grown a plant since summer vacation in elementary school... Hmmmm... Hmm? What did I do back then?"

When it came to growing plants, I had been thinking only about soil and fertilizer. But I decided to return to the basics. During summer vacation in elementary school, we had been assigned to keep an observation diary. I laid a net in a blue plastic planter, put small stones on top of it, and covered them with bagged soil. I planted cherry tomato seeds, set up a stake, and poured in plenty of water.

That's right, I watered it. Since the soil had been provided, I hadn't needed to think about its quality or fertilizer or anything complicated like that. The important thing was to water it every day without fail. I remember anxiously wondering when it would finally sprout, rejoicing when its first two leaves appeared and it grew steadily, and then writhing in agony when the cherry tomatoes it produced turned out to be sour.

My childhood memories aside, water was another point I should be particular about. Water it with magical water? That was too obvious. River water? That was too ordinary as well. Seawater... If I used that, it might become something that could only be grown near the sea.

"Water... moisture... seawater... liquid? That's right, I don't have to limit myself to fresh water. Some kind of solution, perhaps... Hmm."

All right, I've decided. If my idea works, I should be able to collect the items I need while leveling up. But for that, I'll need companions willing to help. At the very least, I absolutely want Moss-san to come. I'll recruit people willing to come along through clan chat right away!