The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 323

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

Chapter 323   Help my sister’s friend

It’s a natural thing to consider, but Filia was attacked when she was in the castle. In that case, she wouldn’t have been alone at that time; there should have been attendants or something around her.

“Come to think of it, that was the story… But is it just Lene?”

“If possible, I would like to help the others as well. Is that acceptable? I thought it would be sufficient to rescue her at the very least, but if you’re willing…”

“So, you’re saying you’d abandon the others just to save her?”

“Well, yes. She is the person I am closest to.”

Closest person, huh?

Filia spoke with a slightly hesitant tone, but Lene is probably a friend to her. For someone like Filia, who is a royal, trustworthy companions may be limited, and she might not have been able to forge close relationships other than mother until now.

For her, Lene, who is straightforward, might have been a pleasant presence.

…Such thoughts crossed my mind.

However, my goal is my mother and Filia. I honestly don’t want any unnecessary baggage.

If I help extra people, it might cause additional movements from the enemy, potentially hindering my father from rescuing mother.

Just as I was thinking about this, a report came from the plants. It seems my father has reached the location where my mother was captured. He hasn’t rescued her or escaped yet, but if he managed to get there, knowing my father, the rest should be manageable.

Now, it’s our problem.

“Well… can’t be helped. I’ll help everyone as much as possible. They’re probably all in the same place anyway.”

According to the information gathered by the plants before coming here, the servants were gathered in several rooms. They might be among them, and if that’s the case, rescuing one person or rescuing everyone won’t make much of a difference.

There were some servants doing their regular work, but the difference between them and the ones captured is probably whether they were assigned to the royal family or not. If everyone is captured, the castle can’t function properly in terms of maintenance and meal preparation.

Well, even if I decide to help, I can’t promise to save everyone. As the number increases, it becomes more troublesome to move, easier to be found, and frankly, harder to escape. Some of them might die when trying to escape.

But Filia probably knows that. She’s not blindly trusting me and relying on me completely. She’s firm about that. I don’t think she intends to be completely dependent on me.

“Thank you.”

“By the way, what about the guys around here?”

There are other people captured in this tower besides Filia.

If she plans to rescue Lene and others during that time, wouldn’t it be better to save these guys too?

“Oh, it doesn’t matter about them. They are not my subordinates, and I don’t have much authority.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s probably to avoid strange cooperation. The master and his subordinates seem to be imprisoned in separate places. The ones here are under the second eldest brother, so there’s no need to help them. …Ah, I mean, please open it after all.”

“Your opinion changed completely in an instant. What are you up to?”

“Calling it a scheme is quite harsh. Knights are beings who exist to protect their master and take pride in doing so. I just thought that if they were released, they would head towards their master and contribute to the fight, that’s all.”

While the words might not fully convey the intended meaning, the desired action is not necessarily wrong. If that’s the case…

“A diversion, huh. If they head to the second prince’s place, it’ll make things easier for us.”

“No, no, I didn’t think of anything like that. However, if that happens, it might make things easier for us here.”

Responding to my sister’s somewhat foolish answer, I merely shrugged my shoulders in response.

So, it was decided to move to rescue those captured, with Lene as the main focus. Now, what should we do? First, let’s confirm their location.

Although we could find that out by asking the plants, maybe I should check where they are for now. Asking might save us some time instead of relying on the plants to investigate.

“Do you know their location?”

I asked, but Filia shook her head in response.

“No, but it shouldn’t be a problem for you, Onii-sama. It hasn’t been much time since the attack, so non-knight royal attendants are likely gathered somewhere. As for Lene, it’s a bit delicate, but she should be with a group of people rather than in a private room. She’s a civil official, and as long as she doesn’t do anything foolish, she shouldn’t be killed. Even if they claim to have suppressed the situation, if they plan to continue governing the country, they will inevitably need civil officials who are familiar with the previous state.”

Well, that makes sense. Those who were confined wouldn’t know the locations of others.

But, as Filia mentioned, I should be able to figure out where the captured individuals are. Some flowers may have withered, but I won’t be completely clueless. They probably haven’t separated and confined the servants too far away, and Filia’s thoughts align with mine. So, even if they’ve been somewhat divided, if I can find several locations, they should be among them.

“That’s the plan. Is there a place where people are gathering, especially where there’s a girl?”

I asked the plants.

While waiting for the response from the plants and casually reviewing the upcoming flow of events, I suddenly felt a gaze from nearby and turned my face to it. There, Filia was watching me with keen interest. I might have explained before that I can talk to plants, but seeing it again might still be unusual.

…It’s a bit late to think about it, but from an outsider’s perspective, I might look like a dangerous person talking to himself. Well, I usually don’t use it in public, but I should be more careful from now on, maybe?

“I found them. They are with people dressed in expensive-looking clothes.”

As I was pondering, news came from the plants. It seems they managed to find them.

“She is probably with other civil officials. As for the location… well, it’s somewhere in a room. It’s difficult to explain.”

“Well, whatever. No matter what you say, it’s not going to change anything, and it’s probably better to stick together.”

“As expected of my older brother. You’re protecting your little sister.”

“Well, yeah, that’s true, but… Somehow, it feels weird when you say it.”

Both she and I treat each other as sister and brother, but deep down, we don’t truly feel that way. We understand that we are family, blood-related siblings, and we’re willing to act as such when necessary, like helping each other in situations like this.

However, the time we spent together as siblings is too short. I only recently found out about her existence. Even if she introduces herself as my sister, I can’t immediately accept it from the bottom of my heart.

Well, in her case, unlike me, she seems to have been informed about my existence from a young age. They probably instilled the idea that ‘a brother is family!’ into her. I think that perspective is twisted, but if she can treat me as a brother despite that, it doesn’t really matter. I do feel a bit uncomfortable being treated as a brother, but I’ll overlook it.

Anyway, let’s get going.

“Anyway, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

So, we left the room where Filia had been confined, opened the doors to the rooms where the knights and nobles from the Second Prince’s camp were imprisoned, and left them unlocked. After unlocking a few doors, we told them to find the keys themselves, leaving the rest up to them. We started running again. We couldn’t afford to unlock all the rooms, considering the circumstances.

“On our way, it would be helpful to procure some weapons.”

Oh, right. I hadn’t thought about that. Even if she’s a knight, it’s not practical to fight with just fists. While it’s not impossible, considering the indoor combat scenario, a sword would be more suitable.

But a sword…

“Is this okay as a weapon?”

Saying that, I presented a small scythe-like blade created with the Harvest skill… or rather, it’s the opposite, a scythe-like blade resembling a sword. After all, my skill is to create scythes. Well, I handed it over to Filia.

“It’s not a straight sword, huh?”

“It’s classified as a ‘scythe’ for now.”

Taking the curved blade I offered, Filia examined it, adjusting her grip and lightly swinging it to check its feel. After a brief confirmation that lasted less than a minute, Filia nodded once and turned towards me.

“Hmm. Well, it’s not unusable, and it seems to fall within the skill’s range, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Considering her current condition, it seemed fine, and with this, she should be able to handle herself if she encounters enemies. However, it would still be better to find a proper straight sword somewhere. Also, a shield. It would be great if we could come across a knight or something.

With our preparations done, we proceeded towards the location where Lene and the others were being held captive.