The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 280

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

Chapter 280   Strength

“I mean, if you want the position of a king, I could hand it over right now?”

I think you should strive to be suitable for it, but since it was thrust upon me in the first place, I’m willing to give it away if someone wants it.

“I don’t need it.”

“Exactly. Besides, I can be beneficial to you. So, you won’t use me or betray me. Because, frankly, ‘it doesn’t bring in money.'”

“…That’s true.”

While this guy may not have any loyalty to me, my existence is profitable for him. Therefore, he won’t discard me easily. However, it’s not an absolute guarantee. If he finds something more profitable than me, he will betray me. I trust him on this point more than anything else.

“But… if you ever really betray me and try to harm our comrades, I won’t hesitate to crush you, regardless of the cost-benefit analysis.”

I don’t mind being betrayed. I don’t mind if he discards me to find a new king.

However, if, as a result, our comrades get hurt, I’ll turn everything upside down and crush him without a second thought.

The flower garden with the Sacred Tree and this Karakas are already within my territory. I might lose in a direct confrontation, but if it’s just assassination, I’m confident that I can kill everyone in this city, even if they all band together. If I implant seeds in the city’s water sources and food supplies, I can kill them all by letting them grow simultaneously a few hours later.

So, don’t betray me, okay? I don’t want to kill if I don’t have to.

“…Black sword. This is truly your son. The feeling of taking everything by force is quite similar.”

Seeing me like that, Edward frowned. Then, with a visibly dissatisfied expression, he let out a grand sigh and spoke to my father.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. …He’s the type I find most difficult to deal with.”

“From my perspective, you’re the most difficult opponent, though.”

While Edward says he finds me difficult, I also find Edward difficult. If he decides to do something behind the scenes, I have no idea what he might do. I don’t feel confident in winning a battle of wits, and if he runs wild, it would be a tremendous hassle.

“That’s just because of your personality. It would be different if it were someone like Isaac.”

However, Edward shook his head in response to my words and started to explain the meaning of his previous statement. Isaac, wasn’t that the name of the boss from the west? Why is his name coming up? Does that mean he was like Isaac, someone who would flaunt his power and rampage recklessly?

As if sensing my question, Edward looked at me intently and began to explain the meaning of his words from earlier.

“If the power remains within a certain range, money is the easiest to obtain and shows the most effective results. Next is authority, and finally, violence. However, once this surpasses a certain limit, it reverses. Money becomes the least useful, followed by authority, and violence becomes the strongest. The two of you have surpassed that ‘certain’ limit, so the power of money doesn’t reach you.”

I can understand that. But even so, money’s power doesn’t disappear entirely, right? Anytime, under any circumstance, the power of money is strong.

“…No, that’s not entirely true, is it? Both I and father, we desire wealth, don’t we?”

“That’s true. But is it really necessary? If you want it, you can take everything by force. That’s the strength of your ‘power,’ isn’t it?”

Well, if you ask whether I can or cannot, I can. I have the power to execute my will and take whatever I want whenever I want. At least, I’m confident I can beat regular people, soldiers, knights, adventurers, and the like. I might answer differently if I were facing an abnormality like my father.

“Ordinary people with less than a certain level of violence will eventually be manipulated by money or authority. Or they might be killed by someone who moves with these. However, everyone values their own life. Offer them a reward of an amount of money they couldn’t spend in their lifetime. Grant them the honor of being the country’s finest warrior and an amazing position. In most cases, people would accept an assassination job. However, if you have acquired a level of violence that seems disproportionate to the value of money or authority, no one would dare oppose you. After all, fighting you would inevitably lead to death.”

Well, yeah, even I wouldn’t want to go into battle against someone who might kill me.

No matter how much money you offer, no one would challenge a dragon, because they’ll die. Offering money won’t change the fact that you’ll be killed by a dragon, and the same goes for wielding authority.

I see. Thinking about it that way, violence being the most powerful makes sense. My belief that violence was meaningless might be because I was thinking on Earth’s standards. After all, no matter how much you train, you can’t stop bullets.

But this world is different. If you push yourself to the limit, you can defend against bullets, and maybe even missiles. Perhaps there are those who can defend against nuclear weapons?

In my case, it seems impossible, but I can prevent them from being fired and intercept them. Dealing with the aftermath of radiation is probably impossible, so I might die anyway—oh, no, if I use the skill “Protection,” I might manage somehow. I would have to use it for the rest of my life, though.

Well, in a world where you can overwhelm any opponent with individual effort alone, the value of violence changes.

“Even if you receive an amount of gold you can’t spend in a lifetime, you can’t take it with you to the afterlife. No matter how splendid the position or honor bestowed upon you, it’s meaningless if you’re dead. Everything becomes mere trash. That’s why, in the face of overwhelming violence, neither gold nor power is useful. You can’t pay to defeat an enemy, and your status and honor won’t protect you when you’re about to be killed. Gold is a form of power, but it’s not martial power.”

However, there’s one flaw in Edward’s reasoning. That is, you need to possess the so-called ‘overwhelming violence.’ Do I really have that kind of power? I understand that I’m not entirely ordinary, and I believe I can hold my own to some extent. But when it comes to being strong enough to do whatever I want without consequences, it’s a bit doubtful.

I mean, even in sparring with my father, I can’t land a single hit, you know? While I won’t claim to be as strong as my father, thinking about facing a combat professional from the tenth tier, it seems challenging to assert myself. In this war, the only reason I’m acting is because we have my father, an absolute guarantee. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to mess with a country that owns several tenth-tier warriors.

“…For someone doing absurd things like almost single-handedly dealing with a local army and then soon challenging the national military, saying ‘I’m not strong’ is quite ridiculous.”

Edward frowned, expressing his disbelief, but even with all those soldiers, they’re just like ants. Even if there are a hundred thousand ants, you can defeat them with a flamethrower. It’s similar. It’s meaningless against opponents who nullify flames or, worse, ones you can’t even hit.

However, following Edward’s exasperation, Old lady showed a similarly stunned expression and turned to Father, voicing her thoughts.

“What kind of education did you give your son? It’s amazing he could remain this delusional.”

“Well, in this kid’s case, it’s probably because I was around. There were opponents he couldn’t beat. So he must be thinking something like, ‘I’m still weak,’ right?”

“The strength of the teacher affects the student, for better or worse.”

Despite Old lady’s words, Father, looking unusually troubled compared to his usual nonchalant demeanor, essentially meant that I’m strong enough for him to acknowledge. Well, I wonder about that, though…

“… I got the gist of the conversation, but am I really that strong? I’ve been practicing with my father for the past few months, and I couldn’t land a single hit.”

Not being able to land a decent attack even after all that could certainly undermine one’s confidence.

“Well, that’s probably due to a difference in aptitude. You’re not particularly skilled in close combat to begin with, and your aptitude leans more towards a support role, right? After all, you’re a ‘farmer.’ You’re not a combatant. Besides, if you fight within your natural range, you’re plenty strong. You could even legitimately call yourself a Demon King.”

“Eh? Even if I’m told I can call myself a Demon King, I can’t fully believe it when there’s a monster in front of me that can effortlessly dodge all my attacks.”

“At least, given the right circumstances, you should be able to handle the Eight Heavens this time. So, don’t worry.”

Even though I’m being told that, I still don’t quite feel it, but if my father says so, it might be true.

I do have some awareness that I possess some level of power. Whether it’s considered overwhelming is debatable, but my father said that if I arrange the situation appropriately, I can handle even a Tenth-tier opponent. If I go all out before they get close, it should work, even against a Tenth-tier warrior.

“Anyway, let’s get back to the main topic. Um, what was it again?”

“Assassinating the king is rejected. Let’s defeat the incoming enemies, that’s the plan. Can we leave dealing with the enemy to you?”

“I’m fine with it. I think. Probably.”

“I’m also fine. Well, if we know when they’re coming in advance, we can handle it. The enemy soldiers themselves shouldn’t be a problem; I’ve faced a similar number before, and I believe I can reduce them to at least around a third.”

Regardless of the number of soldiers, it shouldn’t be an issue. If anything, I might have my skill uses reduced, but even if a few thousand uses were cut, it wouldn’t be a significant problem. Typically, having a hundred uses reduced would be a major issue for further combat, but in my case, it’s not a concern.

“If you can manage that, it’s more than enough. There shouldn’t be any fundamental issues.”

“When you say ‘fundamental,’ you’re still referring to the Five from the Tenth tier, right?”

In the end, that’s the crux of the matter. Well, with my father there, it should be fine.

“Yes, that’s the one thing I can’t predict. I’ve never actually seen them.”

“A gamble, huh?”

“I have some information from rumors and a general sense of their abilities, but unfortunately, I don’t know their trump cards.”

“Well, we’ll just have to prepare as much as we can and face them head-on.”

For now, I’ll prepare as much as I can.