#051. This Harvest Festival Event is Too Generous (3)

#051. This Harvest Festival Event is Too Generous (3)

Never, in all my previous lives, had I managed to sway Diego to my side after slaying Shoah.

He was always an enemy to be overcome.

The standard strategy among players was to push him with overwhelming force, so powerful that it wasn’t worth the trouble, forcing him to retreat from the battlefield and abandon the village.

Deliberately trying to subdue him was the kind of extreme, contorted play reserved for hardened veterans.

He was, in short, someone so fiercely opposed to alliance that even brainwashing him would shatter every existing bond, whether brainwashed or not, and ultimately destroy the guild. An utterly impossible recruitment.

But now, with Shoah’s death averted, I kept a close eye on Diego.

‘As things stand, the burden on Mom is far too great.’

I felt it keenly, watching Mom overworked from the onslaught of high-tier monsters, a direct result of the bountiful harvest.

If Diego’s party were to leave as well, Teresa’s party would only grow more exhausted, and with increasingly powerful monsters appearing as time went on, injuries were inevitable.

Moreover, while observing Diego’s party, a realization dawned on me.

‘Diego isn’t just a bad person.’

He was more akin to a mercenary, valuing his worth both in good and bad ways.

He wouldn’t take on work that didn’t pay, and he only delivered work commensurate with his value.

In truth, judging by his inclinations, Diego should have already left the village.

But he hadn’t.

He led adventurers who, like him, belonged to the Gomorrah faction but weren’t committed enough to die alongside it, adventurers of a more neutral leaning, forming his own independent party and using Sodom Village as his base.

“Foolish lot. If you sought out a backwater guild because of my name, you should at least know not to get swindled out of your worth.”

“We are truly sorry…”

“Learn properly, then. I’ll only teach you to the point where it’s worthwhile for me.”

Diego’s concept of “worthwhile” wasn’t solely about money.

All Gomorrah could offer him was coin.

The younger adventurers who had followed him from afar instilled a sense of pride and responsibility in Diego.

Until his responsibility was fulfilled, he intended to take care of the adventurers who had recklessly followed him to the outskirts, only to find themselves stranded.

That sense of duty moved me.

“One doesn’t need permission to help someone who has done what is right. My actions are solely dictated by the voice of my heart.”

There was guilt.

It was a cruel act, to bind such a fine person with brainwashing, forcing him to remain in Sodom Village and within the guild. To introduce ‘good deeds’, something previously unconsidered, as a new standard for his judgment, was a burden an evil brainwasher would have to carry for life.

Perhaps it was because my heart was already corrupted.

Despite the remorse I felt for Diego, there was also a sense of relief for Mom Teresa.

‘I’m glad I gathered the courage to accept him.’

Having officially been recognized as members of the village and the guild, Diego’s party unleashed their combat prowess, a force equivalent to a hundred men.

As a Rank 6 Adventurer, a rank higher than Mom, who was a Rank 5, Diego fearlessly cleaved through not only high-tier monsters but also the increasingly frequent apex-tier monsters.

The high level of skill and coordinated tactics of his party members were also incredibly impressive.

“This is a formation I learned in the capital. Take a good look, you backwater monsters!”

“Hmph. Even if they *are* a Superior Species, martial arts…”

*‘It was fortunate Diego and those other adventurers didn’t join the enemy during the last Battle of Gomorrah.’*

They’re reliable allies, but the mere thought of facing that sturdy party as enemies is enough to make one sigh.

“The time-sensitive food harvest is complete. Burn the rest and dedicate yourselves entirely to harvesting the clothing!”

This world has a peculiar gimmick in its ‘Internal Affairs’ sector.

Whatever you plant in the fields grows.

We’re so busy trying to obtain food that not just anyone can cultivate anything, but if you’re willing to risk monsterification, you can attempt specialized cultivation.

“Any sign of the Living Socks yet?”

“We’ve been preventing monsters from the food fields, so we have some leeway for now. Still, everyone should watch their feet, in case there are Living Socks hiding in the bushes.”

“Anyone who doesn’t want their ankles bitten off, watch your step!”

Living Socks are a variation of Living Armor-type monsters.

Armor in which a Mana Core nests, allowing it to move on its own.

Living Armor are monsters that swallow victims whole inside their armor, either digesting them or killing them with curses.

Living Socks pose similar dangers.

They can make the wearer walk of their own accord, or slowly digest the flesh inside the sock.

But if you can defeat these Living Socks, you can obtain high-quality socks to wear yourself or sell.

“Ian. Do humans usually plant strange things in fields? I understand potatoes, sweet potatoes, and arrows, but planting socks… that’s just bizarre.”

“When crafting magical equipment, high-quality thread is usually used for tops, bottoms, hats, or gloves, rarely for socks. There’s surprisingly high demand.”

“Is that so? Hmm. I’ve never even heard of magical socks.”

Nina readily agreed.

Though, coming from a Centaur beastfolk clan that plants arrows in fields, she wasn’t exactly in a position to judge.

“The sun is setting!”

“Withdraw!”

“Don’t get greedy. Night is the Living Socks’ time.”

“Everyone retreat if you don’t want your ankles gnawed on!”

“Protect your ankles!”

After diligently working all day, everyone evacuated the fields and retreated as night fell.

Nina grimaced at the scarecrows planted by the farmers.

“Ugh. Why do those scarecrows have so many feet?”

“That way, the Living Socks won’t hide in improper places and will obediently stick to the scarecrow’s feet.”

“So you all have a plan?”

The direction where no scarecrows are planted is where monster waves come crashing in from other hunting grounds.

If Living Socks gnaw off the ankles of the approaching monsters, there’s no reason to stop them.

* * *

Pinky, the martial artist of the second-string Warrior Party.

After a long time, Pinky headed to the hunting grounds near her domain village to collect a bounty of high-value loot.

“How’s the harvest?”

“A poor one.”

“Excellent!”

The guide from the domain village assigned to Pinky reported on the village’s recent state.

It was essential to manage things this way, lest a monster too grand be birthed from overreaching ambition, resulting in the wholesale slaughter of the village folk.

“Side hustle?”

“Planted shoes and socks.”

“Socks? You didn’t plant those before.”

“When Sodom Village crumbles, wouldn’t everything they planted be prone to monstrous transformation?”

“True enough.”

“The number of shoes we can harvest will be less than in previous years, but we can sell magical socks for much higher prices instead.”

“Heh. Figuring out how to make money without being told, eh? Keep doing just that!”

The rabbit-kin were swift.

The perfect race to chase down and slay Living Shoes with their rapid mobility, or to evade shoes lunging to attack.

Living Socks were no different.

Sodom Village’s downfall was nothing but good fortune for Pinky Village.

Her tail already quivered of its own accord at the thought of gouging merchants struggling to find magical socks, selling them at several times the usual price.

“The location of the wild beast-kin beehive is here.”

“Heehee. If I eat a ton of royal jelly, my mana resistance will skyrocket. How many days before the Sodom Village’s large-scale monster wave aggro lures them away, and they come back?”

“I can’t guarantee it since they’re flying-type monsters, but at least we’ll have a day.”

“Good. Then, we’ll start a fire near the hive and sneak in while the workers are preoccupied!”

Pinky equipped the ＜Purifying Air Mask＞ she borrowed from Ronowe, covering her nose and mouth.

Startled by the sudden fire and smoke, the small beast-kin bees rushed out of the hive in droves.

Flustered and bewildered, the smaller ones bumped their heads together and collapsed, but the few remaining soldier-class larger beast-kin bees remaining in the hive pulled themselves together.

*Pabababat*

Judging from how they gathered sand to throw into the blaze, the fire might be extinguished sooner than expected.

Pinky quickly entered the hive.

‘The paths are more complex than I thought. It’ll take time with this size, but that also means I can steal more royal jelly if I find the storage.’

Dashing and beating to death any beast-kin bees she happened to encounter, time and time again, she finally found the storage.

“Jackpot!”

She filled the containers she brought with royal jelly and sucked on the jelly smeared on her gloves.

Judging by the mana flowing through her meridians, feeling less disruptive than before, she felt she could use more mana for body enhancement without trouble.

She could give some to Ronowe, offer some to the first platoon, and sell what’s left for a big profit.

‘Then I can buy golden carrots and craft new equipment!’

Pinky ran out of the hive, dreaming of a golden future.

She was taken aback.

The scout who was supposed to buy time by firing fire arrows was hanging from a tree, three bee stingers lodged in their abdomen, screaming.

What’s more, near the exit she emerged from were hundreds of flying soldier-class beast-kin bees and three knight-class beast-kin bee captains leading them.

“Idiot! What do you mean, at least a day? They all came back in five hours!”

“Did you think… we’d empty the hive?”

“Yeah! And aren’t you guys idiots too? There’s so much meat to eat in Sodom Village, why did you come back so soon? It would have been good for all of us!”

“The idiot… is you.”

“Huh?”

“Human village, stalwart. Invaders, all dead.”

The honeybee chieftain’s meaning was clear.

Sodom Village had successfully defended against the monster wave.

It also meant the socks cultivated to exploit the magical socks’ scarcity would now be sold dirt cheap.

“Eeeeek! Morons. Not a single thing right! You utter fools!”

“Fool, you are. Price of invasion, now paid.”

Pinky had slain many a honeybee humanoid, but there was no contending with sheer numbers.

Only after fleeing back to Pinky Village and receiving support from the rabbit humanoids did they manage to repel the attackers, though it came at the cost of a significant reduction in the village’s population.

They managed to harvest royal jelly, but considering the cost of restoring the lost humanoids and rebuilding the village, it was hardly a break-even endeavor; a definite loss.

All the disaster that should have befallen Sodom Village had instead befallen Pinky Village.

Pinky was further enraged by the realization of the difference in their levels, between her and Teresa.

“Now, the only way to even break even is to sell the magical socks at a high price. If Sodom Village doesn’t fall, our village will. Even if Lonoewe tries to stop me, I won’t listen. I’m going to, break it!”

Pinky and the rabbit humanoids began to target Sodom Village.