The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 113

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

Chapter 113   Thieves’ nest

“Well, we’ve taken care of them. They’re not completely dead yet, so we’ll need to keep an eye on them for a while. But we can just surround this place for now. If they come out, we can kill them again.”

There’s always a chance that the ones who are completely buried in the ground will come back to life. But I’m not going to worry about that anymore.

If they say they don’t want to kill them, I can’t do anything about it. I’ve already helped them this far, so they can take care of themselves.

“Uh, yeah…”

I turned around and called out to Scott, who was behind me. But his reaction was somehow distant and unfocused. I guess he didn’t really think I could take on twenty bandits.

Scott was still stunned, but after a few seconds, he seemed to realize what I was saying. He turned to face me.

“But there are still more of them than this!”

“I’ll take care of them now, so it’s no problem.”

“N-now?”

“Sofia.”

“Yes. The carriage is ready.”

“Thank you. Let’s go then.”

While I was talking to the bandits, Sofia had disappeared somewhere, but she was preparing the carriage. I had told her that we would go to the bandit’s hideout after defeating them, and the bandits had arrived as expected, so I had her prepare the carriage.

I didn’t have it ready from the start in case this area got caught up in a battle. And to keep the horses from getting too stressed.

We got on the carriage that had been prepared for us, and after giving Scott a quick greeting, we started heading for the bandit’s hideout.

“The carriage will be here. …Sorry, but can you guard the carriage here, Sofia?”

After traveling for a while, we reached the edge of the forest. There were paths and traces that seemed to have been used by the bandits, but it would be dangerous to go straight down that path. So we decided to leave the carriage at the entrance to the forest.

However, if we just leave it there, it could be found by bandits or monsters and destroyed. And Sofia is to guard it.

Sofia doesn’t have a combat-related class, but she seems to have raised her “Farmer” class to the third tier, and she’s seen my fighting style, so she should be able to handle most enemies without a problem.

“Leave it to me. I won’t let anyone near.”

“If it gets dangerous, you can run away, even if it means leaving me and the carriage behind?”

“Yes. I understand.”

Sofia nodded firmly, but…she doesn’t really understand, does she? She wouldn’t run away even if something happened, would she?

But there was

“Well, I’m going. I don’t think it will take long, but be careful.”

“Yes. See you later.”

So I started walking through the forest…

“With [Mindlink], tracking in the forest would be a piece of cake.”

In the forest, where I am surrounded by plants, [Mindlink] is a bit too noisy and makes my head hurt, but the information is still useful. All the plants around me are allies, and I know everything that has happened in this forest.

One problem is that plants and humans have different time senses, so there may be some discrepancies in that area. For plants, something that happened recently may be years ago for us.

However, if you are careful about that point, it is a power that is more convenient than anything else.

“I found them.”

I was following the information from the plants, and I finally made it to the vicinity of the bandits’ hideout.

The bandits had built a small village along a cliff in the forest, with a sturdy earthen wall instead of a wooden one. Probably that was made by an earth magic user.

The bandits are said to have nearly a hundred people, and I don’t know they’re main jobs or sub-jobs, but it wouldn’t be strange if there were a few magic users.

The bandits’ village is surrounded by a dirt wall, and there is a sheer cliff behind it, making it impossible to attack from the rear. In addition, there are watchtowers and guards, making a direct assault unlikely to succeed.

Even if a knight order dispatched from a large territory or the royal capital found this place, they would be limited by the narrow road leading to the village. The forest that surrounds the road makes it difficult to transport large objects, such as siege weapons.

That means we have to attack it with just humans.

In this world, humans have much greater individual fighting power than on Earth. Some people can even wield weapons that are equivalent to tanks.

However, even with this increased fighting power, it will still be difficult to attack the bandits’ village. The dirt wall and the sheer cliff make it difficult to approach the village, and the watchtowers and guards will make it difficult to launch a surprise attack.

I have to come up with a plan that will take into account the bandits defenses and my own limited resources.

“Is it okay to do it as usual?”

I didn’t feel any pressure, so I held the seeds in my hand and approached the enemy gatekeeper. As soon as he noticed me, I used my skill.

“Sowing, Sowing. Then, “Grow”.”

The lookouts, who had found me and raised their weapons to shout, suddenly felt pain all over their bodies. They screamed in pain instead of shouting, and dropped their weapons.

I approached them as they were still, and grabbed their necks and turned them into fertilizer.

The lookouts necks melted away, and their heads and bodies separated without being able to make a sound.

“It’s like a routine now.”

I created a pattern by creating an opening, approaching, grabbing the opponent, and using the “Fertilizer Generation” skill. It’s not a bad thing that I can move on to the attack smoothly, but I can’t help but feel that this is too easy. Well, I’ll keep doing it anyway.

“What was that noise just now? Did the guys who went to collect come back?”

Perhaps because of the scream, one more bandit came from the other side of the gate where the lookouts were.

“What the—?!”

The bandit who came out of the gate, outside the dirt wall, frowned when he saw me, but I used my skill without hesitation.

I shot the seed into his forehead and approached him as he staggered back, and grabbed his neck and turned him into fertilizer in the same way as before.

The result is the same as before, but this time it doesn’t end there.

I saw the bandits on the other side of the earthen wall see the moment the bandit who came out of the gate fell.

Well, the gate was open, and I was doing it in a mood that I could be found, so it doesn’t matter. I was going to cause a commotion anyway and be found. That way, most of the guys, including the boss here, will show up, right?

I acted on that idea, and it was correct, as bandits came pouring in.

However, it hasn’t become a big commotion yet. It’s just enough to attract the guys around here.

However, since some of them are gathered, if I keep up this commotion, the boss will come eventually, and if I kill the guys who have gathered, I can speed up the time when everyone will gather.

So, let’s kill the gathered bandits.

“What are you doing?”

A man who looked much more arrogant than the other bandits appeared while I was clearing out the bandits who had gathered in front of the gate. He must be the boss.

“I’m a traveler who came to do a little charity work.”

“A traveler? What are you joking about–”

The boss opened his mouth with an irritated look on his face at my joking words.

However, the boss’s words stopped halfway, and he looked at me with a puzzled look.

“You’re the shit kid from the East, aren’t you? What are you doing here?”

“Huh? What do you mean, you guys? You know me?” …Oh, right, I heard there was a guy from Karakas or something.

If there’s a guy from Karakas, it’s not surprising that they know I’m the son of the boss in the East. I’m pretty famous, you know. The orphans and the guys who live in the alleys might not know me, but a lot of the higher-ups know me.

“Shit! What are you doing here?”

“I told you. I came to kill the bandits who are raiding a village that’s been bothering me.”

“Bothering you? You’re the type of guy who would help out just because you’re bored?”

“Well… if I’m in the mood?”

The boss said that, and at that moment, an arrow flew from the lookout tower.

I knew it was coming thanks to the plants, but the bandits also moved at the same time as the arrow flew.

“Go! Kill him!”

At the boss’s words, everyone in the area charged at me, each with their weapon drawn.

Swords, spears, axes, fists, bows, magic, knives, rocks, and all sorts of attacks came at me.

It was an attack with no escape. If I took it head-on, I would easily die. But…

“Earth Reversal”

The attacks that filled my field of vision were suddenly blocked by the ground rising in front of me.

Earth Reversal is not just a skill for dropping people into pitfalls. Well, it’s not really supposed to be used as a pitfall, but let’s put that aside.

This skill raises and flips a designated area of ground, but the raised ground can be held in the air for a while without having to flip it immediately.

So I used Earth Reversal to raise a semi-spherical area of ground about three meters in diameter and held it in the air as a shield.

However, it was just a raised piece of ground. I couldn’t throw it or anything. But that was enough.

The mages and archers who had their attacks blocked were surprised by the sudden rise of the ground in front of them and stopped attacking, and the bandits who were trying to approach me and attack me also stopped moving.

And they’re all looking at what will happen when the raised ground flips over, but I’m sorry. That doesn’t really mean anything. Just flipping it over and dropping it is the effect of the skill.

Taking advantage of the opening that was created, I moved to a position where I could see everyone in my field of vision, and I reached into my pouch and pulled out the seeds inside.

At the same time as the ground that was floating due to the skill fell with a sound, I used the Sowing skill to scatter the seeds.

From there, it’s always the same. The bandits who ate the seeds scream and drop their weapons, press their faces, or thrash around on the ground… well, that’s about it.

If I use Growth on top of that, it’s over. It’s not a battle anymore, it’s just one-sided devastation.

Amidst the screams, I approached the boss man.

“So, why are you bandits here?”

I didn’t need to ask, but I was curious. Bandit attacks have been on the rise lately, and we even encountered some ourselves. I wondered why someone from Karakas would be doing this, so I decided to ask.

“Damn it! It’s your fault! Because you killed our comrades who went to the elves’ forest, they got stronger against us! If we had stayed there, we would have been exploited and eventually died! That’s why we came here, you piece of crap! Are you satisfied now? Huh!?”

I see. So, it’s my fault. But I don’t intend to regret what happened back then. Because at that time, that was the best option. Otherwise, we would have been killed, and the elves would have been captured.

Actually, this is just blaming me for their misfortune. If you don’t want to be intercepted, don’t attack in the first place.

I should probably send a letter to my old man later. Incidents like this are common in that town nowadays. After all, one of the Five Emperors died. It’s natural to have this kind of chaos and people leaving with it.

Some might have left because they couldn’t keep up with the changes my old man brought. And without the pig, it might become slightly more livable, but there will be people who don’t like that. After all, they’re the kind who thrive on crime.

With the boss in the central district gone, it wouldn’t be surprising if the dissatisfaction that was suppressed until now starts to overflow.

“Yeah, I’m satisfied—goodbye.”

“Aaaaah!”

Even though they didn’t have weapons, they tried to attack. The man took a step and fell to the ground, writhing and screaming.

And finally, setting the point right below where the thieves were gathered, I activated ‘Earth Reversal’ over a fairly large area of ground.

The ground, large enough to resemble a mountain, rose with the thieves on it, flipped around as usual, and fell, crushing the thieves beneath.

Is this the end? Are there any left in their hideout?

After disposing of the thieves who couldn’t be caught with just a rough ‘Earth Reversal’, I asked the plants if there were any remnants in the village. But it seems there are no remnants of the thieves in the village.

However, within the village. In the depths of the village, on a steep cliff, there seems to be a cave, and there are people inside.

“Hmm, there are still people left. This is troublesome.”

But if there are still people inside, why aren’t they coming out? If they have friends inside, they would have called them. Is there a reason?

“Oh, right, they kidnapped the women. That’s it, then.”

It makes sense that they would keep them locked up in a cave instead of making a place inside the easily accessible village. The cave is surrounded by rocks, so it would be harder for them to escape than if they were locked up in a building.

“Well, I guess I’ll go check it out.”

There are apparently eight people, so I can’t carry them by myself. Since they’re captured, they might be weak and unable to move immediately, so I can’t make them walk.

So, I need to call Sofia, who is waiting in front of the forest, and bring the carriage. But I need to make sure that there are no bandits left inside. If there are any bandits left, and Sofia and I meet up, and then we’re ambushed here or taken hostage, that would be troublesome.