The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 107

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 107   Results of Selfishness

“——So, Eris. How did today’s hunt go?”

Having arrived at the mansion, I cleaned off the dirt from my body and changed into fresh clothes before heading to the dining hall as usual.

As expected, I had dinner as usual and was about to return to my room, but today, just like always, I was stopped by Father.

However, this was not surprising. I had arranged for the soldiers and understood that a report was necessary.

“No issues. I will summarize and report the results later.”

As I rode back to the mansion in the carriage, I instructed a knight among the guards to tally the number of monsters hunted and report it to Father. So, I’ll go to report later.

Ah, right. I should mention this.

“However, there was a slight oversight on the part of the soldiers. Perhaps we should reinforce their understanding in that regard? At least concerning this matter, should there be some form of reprimand?”

“In what specific aspect did they show oversight?”

“They left the hunted game right near my carriage, resulting in a strong unpleasant odor. Furthermore, it significantly affected the aesthetics. While the hunt itself was successful, don’t you think it would be better to place the spoils out of sight? Oh, and I also found their efforts somewhat lacking. Considering the financial support we provide, they should exert more effort. Could it be that we are being too lenient?”

“Soldiers are individuals and our subjects. Being excessively strict won’t work. Besides, concerning the hunted game, there’s little we can do. If we leave it in a distant location, there’s a significant possibility it will attract unwanted attention. That would dilute the purpose of the hunt, though not entirely negate it. Managing both the hunt and security with a limited number is a delicate balance.”

Father shook his head while saying this, but perhaps there’s a different perspective.

Kindness might be a virtue, but when taken to an extreme, it turns into indulgence, becoming poison for both soldiers and subjects. One must choose recipients for their kindness wisely; otherwise, the populace, being foolish, will quickly take advantage. Hence, I believe Father should be stricter. Implement stringent management. It’s the duty of nobility.

“However, Father, nobility is about considering the bigger picture and acting accordingly. Trivial matters like this should be handled by the soldiers themselves, in both thought and action.”

Moreover, fundamentally speaking, bothering me with such trivialities is a sin. It’s about what those individuals should do, what they must do, not about unnecessary or unreasonable things. Hence, those matters should be resolved by them.

“…Ah, yes. The discussion is over. You may go. Will you be going hunting again for the sake of the wager tomorrow?”

Father seemed to understand my words and expressed agreement.

“Yes. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

Oh? Come to think of it, did I tell Father about the wager? …No, I don’t think I did. Which means, Father has finally acknowledged the validity of my argument. So, he let the matter of the wager with that person go this time.

“…While there were concerns regarding involvement with that person, I had hoped this incident would serve as a lesson…”

As I left the dining hall, I thought I heard Father’s voice, but it’s irrelevant, isn’t it? After all, if there was something he wanted to say to me, he would have said it clearly.

And so, on the final day, although I may have already surpassed my achievements from the days leading up to today, I will not slack off until the very end.

“Alright, let’s go! I won’t lose to that person, no matter what!”

Arriving at the hunting grounds just like before, I stepped down from the carriage and issued orders to the soldiers, who began moving as usual.

“Miss? When you say ‘won’t lose,’ are you in a competition with someone?”

As I watched, one of the knights nearby asked.

Come to think of it, I had kept the wager with that person a secret, but… well, it doesn’t matter. Father seems to know already, so there’s no need to hide it.

“Yes. It’s with a foolish individual who showed disrespect towards me. They got carried away and challenged me to a wager, so I decided to accept. More importantly, start the hunt already!”

I gave additional orders to the soldiers who were still moving sluggishly by my side. Honestly, even when giving instructions like this, they slack off and don’t work properly. Father really is too lenient. He should be stricter!

“…They’re being slow.”

Afterward, while waiting inside the carriage for a while, none of the soldiers had returned today. Even though normally they would have come back at least once by this time, not even once.

There’s a possibility they’re slacking off, but if not, perhaps they’ve already hunted all the monsters around here? Considering I’ve been leading the soldiers on this hunt for a week, it wouldn’t be surprising…

However, what should I do? Even with the current results, it seems like I could win the wager with that person, but it’s a bit embarrassing to return without any achievements after coming all this way. If I decide to return, it would be better to at least defeat some monsters before leaving…

“Yes, that’s true. There’s no room for hesitation….. Did some kind of threat appear?”

“A threat? What do you mean? Are you talking about aberrant species?”

Ah, yes. That’s right. Come to think of it, that’s a possibility.

I may be fine, but the soldiers are just commoners after all. If a slightly stronger monster were to appear, they might be wiped out.

But an aberrant species… If we can hunt that, it should be sufficient for today’s accomplishments. If we hunt an aberrant species, not only in quantity but also in quality, I can far surpass them. If that happens, they won’t have anything to say.

“There’s also the possibility of monsters migrating from other areas…”

Listening to the knights’ conversation, I made up my mind on what to do next.

“Let’s go.”

Saying that, I descended from the carriage and instructed a knight to prepare a horse for me, the one pulling my carriage.

However…

“Miss!?”

The knight was surprised at my words, his eyes widening. Was there a problem?

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s not a matter of ‘what’ but… If it’s an aberrant species, shouldn’t we return and report first?”

“But shouldn’t we confirm if it really is an aberrant species first?”

“Even so, Miss, it’s not advisable for you to lead the way!”

Certainly, his words hold some merit to consider. However, they are not correct. In fact, they are mistaken.

“We came here for the hunt! We can’t afford to be afraid and flee without knowing what’s happening!”

It’s the duty of the subjects to report if an aberrant species appears. But I’m a noble, and a lord’s daughter at that. Running away without even confirming a possibility of an aberrant species, what a disgrace that would be. Moreover, if nothing happens, it would be compounding the shame. Being labeled a coward who fled based on falsehoods. I can’t allow such a thing.

“…Very well. We’ll conduct an investigation, but please make sure not to stray from us, and don’t act on your own.”

“I understand. Come on, let’s go.”

Perhaps understanding that my perspective is valid, the knight seemed to have made up his mind and took a deep breath before offering me the caution.

However, I don’t need to be told such things. Besides, who does he think I am? There’s no problem with a little danger.

“There it is…!”

With that, while riding my horse and leaving one of the knights to guard the carriage as usual, we ventured into the forest. After advancing for a while, we found the soldiers lying on the slightly open area in the forest.

Being down means they were attacked by something, but in that case, the assumption of an aberrant species seems to be correct.

While it’s unavoidable in itself… sigh. It’s frustrating. That they would die so easily from something of this level.

“All units, be on guard!”

At the words of one of the knights, the remaining three readied their weapons and began to cautiously survey the surroundings, enclosing me.

“What will you do?”

“…Maintain vigilance and proceed to verify —— is that acceptable?”

Somehow, the slightly haughty tone is bothering me more than usual, but oh well. Assuming there’s an aberrant species, confirming the bodies will tell us the monster’s classification.

When I nodded, the knights, maintaining their vigilance, started to walk slowly. Following them, I urged my horse forward.

However…

“This is… bad! Young lady! It’s a trap! Quickly, run—”

Just as the knight ahead of me tried to investigate a corpse by touching it, smoke gushed out from the body, obscuring the surroundings.

At the same time, I heard what seemed like screams coming from around me. No, not ‘seemed like,’ these were genuine screams.

“W-What!? What’s happening? Someone, explain what’s going on!”

Sudden smoke and screams. Unable to comprehend what was happening, I scanned the surroundings from horseback, but the persistent smoke made everything incomprehensible.

What’s this smoke? What was that scream about!? What on earth is happening!?

There shouldn’t be any monsters in this area capable of producing such smoke. Even if they were aberrant species, aberrant species were mutations of the original creatures in that area, so they shouldn’t deviate significantly from those creatures.

Yet here we were, dealing with this bizarre smoke. I truly couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“Aaaah!”

Lost in the chaos, I looked around, unsure of what to do. However, thinking that I couldn’t just stay like this, I tried to move my horse forward when suddenly the horse I was riding neighed and lifted its upper body, throwing me off.

Confused, I looked at the horse, but after throwing me off, it charged into the smoke, making it disappear from my sight.

Left dumbfounded in the midst of the smoke where nothing was visible, I felt something touch my hand as it rested on the ground.

“This… huh.”

Feeling a slimy sensation, I turned my gaze to its source. There lay the knight who was supposed to protect me, bleeding and fallen.

I sat on the ground and inadvertently retreated, feeling a jolt as if something had hit my back.

I didn’t think there was anything in this area that could collide with me…

Thinking this, I turned my face towards the back, where I saw men leering at me, their faces twisted in a vile smirk.

Their demeanor was anything but friendly.

“W-Who do you think you are!”

I couldn’t help but shout, but I recognized these faces.

The day I encountered that irritating person. Another event that happened that day—namely, the bandits. They had the same faces.

So these guys—

“What do you mean ‘who’? Obviously, we’re here to abduct people. Can’t you figure that out in this situation?”

“Th-The knights! And the soldiers! What happened to them!”

I knew what happened to the knights. I saw one of them being taken down earlier. If one had fallen, it was a certainty that the others, whose voices I could no longer hear, had suffered the same fate. And the soldiers? They’re long gone. There’s no way they survived. I saw it just a while ago. That’s why I came all the way here.

I saw about five of them lying on the ground, but considering that not a single one had returned to the carriage, it was only logical to assume that all of them had been defeated…

“The knights, huh? Hehe… It’s a breeze to break their coordination with such a small number.”

“Especially those fools who hunt day in and day out. They’re bound to be exhausted, and they probably let their guard down, thinking today would end just like any other.”

“It was worth shifting the hunting ground so easily like this.”

“All that’s left is to regroup with the separate unit.”

“Hehe. We’ve caught quite the big fish. Our victory for this match is assured, isn’t it?”

Gradually, the smoke cleared, and I could see the figures of those around me.

However, to my dismay, there were no knights or soldiers as I had hoped. There were only men looking down on me like an object.

“W-What are you going to do to me? My father won’t stay silent! I might forgive you if you let me go now. So release me!”

“Oh, sure, sure. Daddy this, daddy that. How impressive. Not that it’ll save you.”

I could foresee the unfolding events and was terrified, so I invoked my father’s name. But to these men, my father’s name meant nothing. They simply laughed.

“Now, we’ve captured her. Should we go for a ransom?”

“Come to think of it, we didn’t discuss that. Is a ransom alright?”

A ransom meant they wouldn’t kill me. It was a way to avoid the worst-case scenario, so be prepared if the time comes when they accept the ransom and release me. As long as I’m saved, my father will kill you without a second thought.

However, it was different.

“No, let’s go with the original plan. We’ll head to Karakas. Depending on how we sell her, we might get a good price, and more importantly, it won’t leave any trace. We’d be finished if we fall into a trap due to overconfidence.”

“A trap? Seriously? We’ve got a hostage here, you know?”

“True, this one’s the second daughter, right? She has an older brother and sister. As a lord, there’s a possibility he might sacrifice his daughter to kill us.”

Hearing those words, my eyes widened. But that couldn’t be true, right? Father abandoning me? Unthinkable. That would never happen.

…But maybe, just maybe, could it really be possible?

No. There’s no way! Help will come! Father won’t abandon me; he’ll rescue me!

“Fa-Father would never do such a thing!”

I shouted, but once such a thought surfaced, I couldn’t completely deny it anymore.

In reality, Father didn’t pay much attention to me compared to my older siblings. Was it because I didn’t matter to him?

Even if I was right, he would get angry. He would negate what I did.

Maybe I’m just an unwanted child. I couldn’t deny that thought.

But all I could do now was scream.

“Huh? Well. Either way, it doesn’t matter since you’ve already been decided to be sold, not for ransom.”

Why… why is this happening?

No, not yet. It’s not over yet. I won’t let it end like this! I can’t let it end! These people, I could burn them all with my magic, and that would be the end of it!

“《Flames, gather——》”

“Whoops. Quit with the annoying stuff.”

“Guuh——”

But just as I was trying to chant the spell, a rough kick to my stomach interrupted my incantation, dispersing the gathered magical energy.

“It’s troublesome if you go berserk. For now, just go to sleep.”

Saying this, one of the men poured some liquid into my mouth. Even though I wanted to spit it out, I couldn’t, as I had already swallowed it. I could only clutch my throat and struggle.

But doing that was futile.

After being forced to drink something, my vision gradually blurred, and my eyelids grew heavier.

Father… help——

At that moment, my consciousness descended into a pitch-black world.