The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 237

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

Chapter 237   Well calm down

“Father, it seems like some army is attacking!”

“Oh, I heard, I heard. Seems like you’ve noticed.”

After sending the messenger to deliver the message, I borrowed a magical creature that the elves used as transportation and rushed from Flower town to Kakaras. I headed to the room where my father was likely to be.

However, despite hearing my report, my father appeared rather relaxed.

“You noticed… Father, did you already know about this?”

Given his demeanor, it was clear that my father wasn’t particularly alarmed. His calm attitude in the face of a potential threat indicated that he probably knew about the arrival of a group of people for some time now.

“Well, yeah. I’ve said it before. The most troublesome are neither competent enemies nor incompetent allies. It’s those small fry who can’t even step onto the stage. This world extends beyond what you see. There are others acting outside of your awareness, and dealing with such types is a pain because they’re beyond our control. If there’s anything you can do, it’s to quickly grasp that information and deal with it. However, being outside of your jurisdiction takes time to gather information. If you can’t get the information quickly, dealing with it becomes troublesome.”

I felt like I’ve heard that before. It’s like dealing with nuisances who interfere, more troublesome than enemies who openly oppose you, and even more so than allies who are just a hindrance. However, it makes sense. If the enemy is openly hostile, you can anticipate their actions. If allies are just causing trouble, you can expect them to do something. But when something ‘beyond that’ gets involved, it becomes unclear. Because it was never considered in the first place. In any situation, you have to avoid creating a ‘Joker’ that can overturn the situation.

Therefore, information gathering becomes crucial to avoid creating such an ‘other.’ But I lacked that. Hence, despite my father being relaxed, I found myself rushing into action.

I don’t know about the west, but probably, Edward, the boss in the north, and Carmena, the boss in the south, would also be aware that a large number of people were coming. Whether they knew the extent of the force is uncertain.

“Like me right now, huh?”

“Exactly. Well, in your case, it’s not a problem. You noticed before being attacked, and you can deal with it from here.”

My father says that, but is he consoling me? However, right now, I probably have a frustrated expression. Entrusting the city management to Edward was not a wrong decision. The judgment itself was not wrong. I couldn’t have developed that place in such a short time. However, just because Edward was there, and he wouldn’t betray us, it didn’t mean I could slack off on gathering and analyzing information.

Since I started the Flower Town, I focused on becoming stronger and gathering information about the king and his surroundings. Still, I should have paid more attention to my surroundings.

This time, if Flora hadn’t warned me, I would have been attacked without noticing anything.

“Well, the response is something I’ll work on moving forward, but what’s your plan, Father? Are we evacuating everyone?”

But that’s a separate matter.

There are regrets. Countless thoughts about what I could have done differently.

However, thinking about that now is meaningless. If I’ve learned the importance of gathering information and being prepared, I should apply it in the next situation.

What needs to be done now is how to respond to the approaching enemy.

Flower town has a decent number of individuals hired as “security personnel” to ensure protection. However, the city has recently been established, and there isn’t a well-organized army in place. Moreover, the number of security personnel is limited. Therefore, the actions of Karakas will determine how Flower town over there will respond.

Well, even if we say it depends on Karakas, there aren’t many fighters in the city. This karakas city lacks a military force. In terms of armed groups, there are my father and our allies, and there are also those in the west, but they are in a somewhat ambiguous position, so their numbers are low.

Still, if my father gives the order, strong individuals of at least the fifth, sixth, or even seventh and eighth tiers will repel a force of around ten thousand. The forces from the west will likely join in at that time. Therefore, there shouldn’t be a problem regarding the defensive forces of karakas itself.

The key is how many surplus forces can be allocated to Flower town. If my father takes the field, it would be a piece of cake to deal with around ten thousand. If he can perform monstrous feats like cutting down a castle, dealing with an army should be a cakewalk.

But…

“Huh? Me? Ah, I’ll just watch. You handle it on your end.”

My father said something like that.

However, I couldn’t understand those words for a moment.

Just watching? A military force is attacking, right? The boss in charge of combat is fine with that? Seriously?

“…Aren’t you supposed to be one of the bosses in this city? One of those responsible for dealing with matters related to force?”

If you neglect your duty to defend the city, other bosses will surely criticize you. While we might manage with the bosses from the north and south, those in the west will seize this opportunity to blame us. Being a useless leader who doesn’t handle external threats during an invasion is unacceptable. That’s a serious issue…

“Even if you say that, with just that scale, you can handle it on your own, right? Their numbers might reach a bit over a hundred thousand at most. They don’t have the strength to bring more than that.”

“Well, if it’s just that much, I can handle it…”

Speaking of whether I can or cannot, I can handle it. After all, I’ve already defeated enemies on the scale of tens of thousands during the border battles to help Mom. There’s no way I can’t handle around ten thousand now.

“Wait, did you say a hundred thousand just now?”

From Flora’s words, it should have been around ten thousand, right?

“Hmm? Ah, I see. You only confirmed one group, didn’t you?”

“Just one? Are there others?”

“It seems all eight territories are collaborating.”

Certainly, I had only confirmed one military group. I thought there was only one.

Eight of them? That’s a considerably large extermination force, damn it.

“Eight? That many…”

“Yeah. Among them, one big territory is lending a hand behind the scenes. The planner seems to be a small noble, but apparently, significant influence is involved behind the scenes. They won’t show up openly, but effectively, it’ll be a clash between that major noble and this city.”

“Major noble…”

“Don’t worry about it. Even if it’s a major noble, the things we need to do won’t change.”

Even though I think small noble families around here could be managed, dealing with those considered major nobles might be tough. Especially if they’re bringing nearly a hundred thousand troops, but when I thought about it that way, my father seemed to have a different perspective as he casually waved his hand and replied.

“Anyway, what’s got you so flustered? With your skills, you can figure out how many troops are coming, right?”

“Ah…”

“Did you forget in the panic?”

Come to think of it, that’s right. I was satisfied with what Flora told me and what I saw visually, but as my father pointed out, I have a skill that allows me to communicate with plants. I’ve been using it to gather information until now, so I should have used it this time as well.

Realizing this now… How frantic was I? It’s embarrassing.

“Well, it’s the first time we’ve had a defense battle. Even if there were some hiccups, that’s expected.”

“Even so, it’s my own skill, right?… Father seems calm. I guess that’s expected?”

“Well, I got more experience, you know. And, in the first place, there’s no need to panic. The enemy is attacking. So, let’s crush them. Isn’t that good enough? Besides, haven’t you already defeated a force of fifty thousand plus a dragon on your own? Dealing with less than a hundred thousand should be a breeze. And it’s not just you; we have our folks here too.”

…Yeah, now that it’s said, I wonder why I was in such a rush. Before, when I charged into the enemy forces to save my mother, there were fifty thousand soldiers, tens of thousands of monsters, and a dragon. I defeated them.

Back then, I was on the sixth tier, but now, after a period of training, I’m on the ninth tier. I’ve become stronger than I was then, so dealing with a situation like this should be manageable on my own.

Even if there’s a tenth-tier enemy or dozens of eighth and ninth-tier opponents, that’s probably not going to happen. Realistically, there might be a few individuals. In that case, I should be able to handle them alone.

…Really, now that it’s pointed out, why was I in such a panic? Did the situation of my city being attacked throw me into confusion? Logically, being attacked by a force of a hundred thousand is abnormal in itself, and with my lingering common sense from being Japanese, it felt like a dangerously sudden situation.

“And, this is a good opportunity.”

Father asked me why I was panicking, and although I’ve started to calm down, he grinned and said that.

“A good opportunity? What do you mean?”

“This is practice for when you inherit this place. If you’ve chosen to come back here without becoming royalty, well, sooner or later, you’ll probably be called the boss. It’s about how you’ll handle it when that time comes and building achievements for that moment.”

“Inherit this place, huh…”

Well, I am his son, so it’s probably inevitable. But what’s that feeling? It’s kind of… indescribable.

“Unwilling, huh?”

“I mean, I can’t really grasp the reality of it. I’ve never seen you doing anything that looks like passing down something in particular.”

I’ve always seen my old man lounging around. Of course, that’s not all there is to it. I’ve seen him at a desk with documents, and I’ve seen him practicing or swinging a sword.

But doing a job that feels like passing something down… no, that’s not it. Or maybe it is. Maybe I just haven’t seen it.

I haven’t really matured until now, and my old man hasn’t burdened me with responsibilities or forced a path onto me. He made sure I studied, but he never imposed responsibilities or a way of life on me.

But maybe I just haven’t seen it, or he hasn’t shown it to me. The prime example is the protection of the girls who were kidnapped . According to the stories, that has been going on for years, but I didn’t know about it. I wasn’t informed, and I didn’t try to find out.

But if I’m going to… inherit this place, follow in my old man’s footsteps, then I’ll have to learn about all those things I didn’t know until now.

In addition to that, if I’m going to take over, there are many things I need to know. Entrusting this enemy to me, as my old man said, is probably part of those necessary things.

“Well, I’m not going to interfere with that. If you’re seriously thinking of becoming the boss, I’ll tell you about those things when the time comes.”

“Yeah, well, when that time comes.”

Honestly, I came back to this town, but I don’t have the determination to take over from my old man. I had a vague expectation that it might happen, but when I ask myself again, I can’t give a clear answer.

So, right now, I can only give an evasive answer like that.